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#he was Deadlock and he was doing terrible things
keferon · 2 months
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I’ve been thinking about the fact that Drift and Deadlock are actually the same person
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I want to talk about one of the most terrifying and interesting bsd characters who almost no fan remembers.
This character nearly tore down the ADA without ever getting involved herself, yet the entire fandom has ignored her because of her terrible anime adaptation.
Who am I talking about?
Nobuko Sasaki
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If you haven't read Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam, then you probably don't even know who this character is, in the anime she is watered down to the lovesick girlfriend of an actual villain, and you probably dismissed her immediately. But in the light novel, we get to see how dangerous and cunning she really is, to the point she nearly gets the better of Dazai and almost causes the ADA to be shut down. (Fukuzawa says he would have closed the agency if they hadn't caught her)
In terms of intelligence I'd put her on the same level as Mori, just slightly below the super human genius characters i.e. Dazai, Fyodor and Ranpo
The Azure Apostle
For those who don't remember, Sasaki was the Azure Apostle, a mysterious figure who challenged the agency with several horrifying cases, which would all lead to mass casualties if the agency failed to stop them. These were; uncovering an underground organ smuggling operation (which the agency failed to stop and which massively hurt their reputation) stopping a bombing of Yokohama port which could have killed hundreds of people, and preventing a commercial aeroplane from crashing into the city (this was not included in the anime)
Each of the people, who committed these crimes, had no Idea they were being manipulated and thought it was their own idea the whole time. There was no evidence that anyone else had been involved at all, and the agency had no way to connect her to any of the crimes. And she even makes the genius move of framing Dazai, the mysterious new member with suspicious knowledge of the underworld and a hidden past, as the true culprit.
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In fact, she only made one mistake, challenging Dazai. If Dazai had been basically anyone else, they would have been cornered and arrested, but since Dazai's mind works on a level even master strategists can't imagine, he was able to turn the tables on her.
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But even after Dazai sees through her plans, the ADA still has to act exactly the way she wants them too and stop the plane crash. Even when they know they're being manipulated, they still have to do exactly what she wanted.
Finally, after Dazai and Kunikida confront her and get her to admit to being behind all those crimes, even then they are powerless to stop her.
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Even after being involved with so many massive crimes, Sasaki herself hadn't done anything illegal, so within the law the ADA is completely powerless to stop her.
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They can't arrest her, and if they try then the agency will be put in even more danger as will many innocent lives. She has completely trapped the ADA, and even Dazai in a choice to follow the law and let her go or take justice into their own hands and prove they will stoop as low as she did.
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In the end, there she has them in a perfect deadlock, let her continue her mission, or kill her themselves. Both are bad outcomes for the ADA.
In the end, Dazai has her killed by using a third party (Rokuzo) to shoot her, so the agency can't be blamed for her murder, though this ends her plans it deeply scars Kunikida and shakes his resolve in his ideals.
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The trauma from this event still haunts Kunikida to this day, we see that when he is affected by Q's curse, Sasaki is who he sees.
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So thats the Azure Apostle, a terrifying master mind who nearly brought down the Armed Detective Agency, but now lets look at the other side of this character.
Nobuko Sasaki Herself
We know several things about Sasaki as a character and her history from the light novel. That she was a brilliant criminal psychologist and was internationally recognised despite being so young
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,that she was the ex-lover of the Azure King and the real mastermind behind his plans, and that she had very little motivation of her own.
That's not meant to be an insult to the character, she says herself that she never really had much direction in life, even with her incredible intelligence she never really had anything she wanted to achieve.
But the Azure King was the opposite, he had powerful drive and strong ideals, he wanted to punish criminals who couldn't be touched by the law and when he failed to change the law as a bureaucrat, she offered him an alternative.
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A very important thing here is that neither of them were manipulating or forcing the other into this path, as far as we see they genuinely loved each other, each providing something the other couldn't, Sasaki her mind and the Azure King his drive.
When the Azure king died, Sasaki had no path of her own to follow, so she simply kept following his, even though she doesn't seem to have really cared about his cause.
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All of this creates a very unique character, you can't say she was driven by revenge, because she wasn't really driven at all. It's more like she was running on momentum, she had chosen a path to follow and could not stop even though there was nothing pushing her down it any more.
She's a perfect antithesis of Kunikida and was the best possible villain a light novel about him could have had.
A man who brings his ideals into reality with his own hands against a woman who uses others to enforce ideals that were never hers to begin with.
Anyway, I made this because Sasaki is criminally underrated in this fandom, If you haven't read "Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam" I highly recommend it, I've only put a tiny fraction of the amazing story here.
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waynewifey · 8 months
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aporia — b.w
part one : dear mr. wayne
part two: aftermath
part three: aporia
epilogue
sumary: aporia suggests “an impasse”, a knot or an inherent contradiction found in any text, an insuperable deadlock, or “double bind” of incompatible or contradictory meanings which are “undecidable”. [reference]
pairing: battinson/bruce wayne x reader
genre: drama & romance
warnings: mental health struggle, miscarriage, car crash, a lot of internal dialogue
word count: 2k
A/N: the more i write, the more i put myself in this story. i feel like this ‘you’ is so complex i can’t help but try to explain her further. part four will be bruce’s perspective on all of this + an epilogue. i’m so grateful for the amazing feedback given on the last two parts and for the new followers, thank you so so much. i hope you enjoy this. (also this gif??? HELLO???)
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GOTHAM. USA.
— bargaining.
the uncomfortable silence makes you want to scream. she told you that was a normal reaction and they couldn't get rid of those moments, they were essential for your self reflection. the problem was being alone with your thoughts, even for just one minute. they keep deciding you won't recover any time soon. everyone keeps holding you like a cracked vase. even negligence was better than being put under the microscope.
"i don't know what you want me to say" you respond, your gaze anxiously shuffling between the objects in the room. the woman's eyes, however, don't ever leave your face. she holds that journal like a scientist analysing a mutation. like you're some weird thing.
"you should say whatever you feel like saying." that's what she always answers. dr. quinn was extremely stoic, even for a therapist. you still liked her, though, because her pragmatic approach helped you shift your point of view and see yourself from an outside perspective, which made you want to help yourself. after weeks of feeling extra irritable, still trying to forgive your husband for lying to you, you realised maybe everything was too much for you to handle by yourself. you wanted to go back to the real world but before that, you had to do this. a quick chat with your psychiatrist and he gave you the contact to harley quinn.
"i think i've been way too mean to bruce" your confession has her nodding, like that observation had been made sessions before and she was waiting for you to realise that. "he's been so supportive and helpful, but sometimes words just fly out of my mouth and i don't even mean them"
"do you think it's easier to blame him than to come to terms with what actually happened?" you can't answer, because this was all you've asked yourself lately. you were a coward, hiding behind his suffering to prevent confronting yours. it's easy to curse him, to reject him, but it's not what you want to do. lately it feels like you don't have any control over your emotions and actions. you thought maybe if you pushed away the last person that still cared for you, you could disappear in your loneliness and finally stop hurting. "y/n you've been through something terrible. the kind of thing we never think it's gonna happen to us. i know it doesn't feel real, but you have to face it that it is. the thing about trauma... you have to keep living with it. you have to keep going, because it doesn't go away. but this is your life and you don't get to stay on standby. you hurt the people you love because it's better than hurting yourself. you told me you feel bad about it, so why won't you change?"
why won't you? you don't even know where to start. it felt comfortable living in sorrow forever. horrible, but comfortable. again, it was in fact easier to blame him than to accept this was reality. but he's right outside, been waiting for you for two hours, as he has done twice a week for over a month. you weren't being fair to him. he didn't deserve this. dr. quinn sees the defeat in your eyes and sighs in a mission accomplished type of breath.
"think about this, okay? we'll talk on friday." you nod, as if you weren't already overthinking it.
bruce sees you before listening to you. he's created the habit to stay in the waiting room with headphones in, blasting loud music. he didn't want you to feel like he was prying on you. he also didn't want to listen anything you had to say about him. you had the right to be mad at him, given everything that had happened. he knew you didn't mean it when you bomb dropped the word 'divorce' every now and then. it would take you some time to get back to normal and he wouldn't rush you.
you walk to the car quietly and get into the driver's seat. he agreed to let you drive to and from therapy. the office was actually in dr. quinn's house, a little bit on the country side of the city, if you could call it that. it was a 50 minute drive with no traffic, roads empty enough for you to drift off in you thoughts. he watches you drive, eyes brightening up a little more everyday. he realised that trying to shield you from the world wasn't going to work out. you need to learn how to be on your own. he needs to learn how to care for you while away.
"i'm sorry," you caught him off guard, observing the curves of your face. he frowns at the unexplained sentence. you glance at him but look back at the road. "for the way i've been acting. for pushing you away. for being too complicated. i know you're trying to help… thank you for staying."
"darling, of course. for better or for worse, remember? i'm never leaving you. we're getting through this, together. and don't you worry about me, i'll be okay when you are too, alright? you're doing great, i can see how much you're working towards it." he holds out a hand for you and you take it, intertwining your fingers. his calloused palms are softer now, courtesy of the months without batman-ing. they still embrace yours entirely and warm the cold tips of your fingers.
"i love you" the sweetness of that feeling dominates your tastebuds and it's almost like the day you started dating. that innocent type of love that consist of the pure enjoyment of each others company. however, your attempt to savour the moment is ruined by a shape in your peripheral eyesight.
"i love you too" bruce's voice is muffled by the anxious thoughts taking over your mind. the panic starts to overflow. he notices your body getting stiff and the wheel looking loose on your hand. your breathing lost it's rhythm to creaking gasps. there's something wrong. your eyes are frozen in a vehicle. he's seen this van before. maybe not this one, but an identical one, in a security camera tape in court. it looks exactly like the one that took you. "baby, hey, hey. i'm right here." you don't pay any mind to the man beside you. you can't, not when your instincts are telling you to run. not when you can feel the gun getting knocked on your head over and over again. bruce is saying something. the tears are blurring your sight. this is too much.
he's calling you screaming at this point, tears are rolling down your cheeks and you still haven't looked away from the van. there's a bump coming up, the car is dangerously fast and you're not driving at all. he goes for the wheel but isn't quick enough. the tires wiggle, going in their own direction. the car changes lanes, getting in the wrong way of the street. another car is coming and the impact isn't light. your head is thrown forwards, the airbag covering your face. the windshield shatters and little pieces of glass get stuck in your hair. the crash isn't too bad, you're both still awake and only the front has been smashed. but you get out hyperventilating, falling onto the ground and weeping.
bruce gets out as well, only a scratch on the forehead. he has to kneel on the dirt to hold you up. for a while, he doesn't say anything. the other driver is standing, phone in the ear. he's also fine. the cars were the only damage. two other drivers stop by, offering help. you wish he could help you, but it seems as if there's something inherently wrong with you.
— depression.
the weeks following the accident were harsh. it took a while to get you believing in recovery again. you still weren't sure. somehow there was press at the site, so pictures of you crying next to a car crash made it to the papers. there's minor commentary online about you faking it for your husbands popularity. most of the netizens feel desperately sorry for you and have painted you to be their new princess diana, the comparison seems wild to you.
you only go online every three days or so, because you can't resist the urge to know what bruce hasn't been telling you. jokes on you, he's actually been a lot more transparent lately. you agreed that the batman would show up to the sentence of edward nashton, to pressure the jury with his presence. it worked and the criminal got life without parole. the lawyers said that your public presence impacted on his trial, as 20 years was the standard. you were just glad he wouldn't do that to anybody else ever again. the case got national and your family from outside the state, that you not-so-kindly kept in the dark, started making contact, victimising you all over again.
but things were getting better, gradually. it had been almost a year and it felt like that chapter of your life was finally being finished. you were trying to get your life back, including your driver's license. it was suspended for a while after the accident, so now you had to submit a bunch of medical records to prove that you were mentally fine to drive again. that's how you found yourself in bruce's home office, searching everywhere for your documents. you could've asked him where he put it, but he had just fallen asleep in the living room and you didn't want to disturb him.
in one of the desk's drawers, you find a folder with the local hospital logo on it. you open it, shuffling through the papers you've seen before. only one stands out, with "ob/gyn" on the top of the sheet. you wonder if there's anything helpful there. your eyes start reading the words one by one, listing the examinations they've done on you. the subject changes abruptly.
the ultrasound analysis reports the miscarriage of an unknown pregnancy to the patient's spouse.
you feel like you're about to throw up. the world starts spinning as you force yourself to continue to read.
the fetus was estimated to be in the development stage of the beginning of the second trimester. the miscarriage was most likely a result of several mechanical trauma. dilation and curettage was performed with the patient in a medically induced coma.
you try to remember to breathe in and breathe out just like dr. quinn taught you. you expect the tears but they don't come out. the panic doesn't come. it's suddenly so quiet. it's not like a hole has been punched through your chest, it's like you have no chest at all. it's like you don't even exist. you somehow sit down, your body does. you feel as if it's moving on it's own and you're just watching from afar. your thoughts sound so distant, so irrelevant. you can only think of the baby that had once been inside of you and you didn't even realised. you didn't have the time to love him. you've had him there, right there, the thing you wanted the most in the world and he was taken from you. everything was taken from you.
if a tree falls on a forest, and there's no one around to hear, does it still make a sound? it felt like your fall was silent.
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art-missy · 24 days
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Overwhelmed (Gekko x Reader)
Part. 1
Part. 2
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Sorry in advance for my terrible English. I'm actually more of an English reader and listener than an actual speaker or writer. I also apologize for the dull writing style that could seem quite childish. I just wanted to test something by posting this.
If a few months ago somebody had told you that you would be spotted by a secret organization whose job is to protect your world against the threat of agents from another dimension, you would have laughed so hard that your guts would have spitted out. If that ‘somebody’ had continued with the fact that this organization would contact you in some way to recruit you just because you maybe took down a K-SEC facility by yourself and also because your skills interested them, you would have told them to sell their idea to a filmmaker. If that ‘somebody’ had then insisted that you would spend one of your days off with a few other agents of that organization by watching Disney movies and hearing them sing their guts out, you would have told them to stop.
Well, look at you now, exchanging astounded glances with Iso as Neon reached a note so terrifying that you were pretty sure she could have won the Oscar of the best scream in a horror movie. You were slightly worried about the state of her vocal cords. 
“And she’s not even drunk.” Muttered Yoru when he saw your dumbfounded expression as he finished his can of soda. Phoenix let out a booming laugh and nudged your and Iso’s arms playfully.
What the hell were you doing here ? You were so at peace in your hideout. How did Valorant find you ? Oh yeah. Cypher. No one can hide from the Moroccan sentinel and you understood it quite quickly when he appeared in each of your hideouts everytime you tried to run away. Hard to hide from someone whose eyes are literally everywhere. It has been quite hard for him too to convince you that the intentions of Valorant were noble when he appeared each time in the middle of the night like a sleep paralysis demon. The process of convincing you had been long and hard but Cypher was patient and quite stubborn. Especially when it came to visiting each of your hideouts (even the one under the Mediterranean Sea) and finishing all your different packs of tea. Well, at least you had now Big Brother as a mentor.
You jolted a little, startled when Raze and Killjoy suddenly stood up to start a duet while waltzing around the room. The level of love and affection in their eyes made you wonder if they weren't from a Disney movie themselves. You could literally see their eyes changing form to turn into hearts as their souls were screaming ‘I love you’ in their respective languages. And you found it adorable despite your exhaustion.
Jett playfully threw some popcorn at the couple, telling them to get a room. You’re pretty sure she didn't notice the few candy and crumbs of snacks in her ponytail. 
Clove were jumping on the different bean bag chairs, singing as if their life depended on it while Wingman cheered at their antics.
And you, you let out a small sigh as you took a sip of your bubbletea. All this chaos because of Frozen.
You swore that if you heard the songs ‘Love is an open door’ or ‘Let it go’ again, you would go apeshit.
You maybe should have join Deadlock for a reading session in her quarters instead of accepting Gekko’s invitation. Or just listening to music in your room. Or maybe drawing. You were certain that it would have been more peaceful and less mentally draining than this Disney night. And when you shared another glance with Iso, you knew he thought the same thing. It was visibly way too much for your introverted asses.
“Hey,” Gekko put a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Are you okay ?”
You shot him a tired look. 
You sometimes miss your old life. You missed your different hideouts where you could see the sunset over the mountains, the sea creatures under the Mediterranean Sea, the snow in the Siberian desert or the rain falling on the trees of a random forest. Where you didn't have to interact with people every single day of the week.
You loved the Valorant protocol and you got along with the people you met there. But sometimes it was too much. You took down this K-SEC facility because you knew how shady the experimentations they were running were, not because you wanted to attract the attention of a secret organization. You sometimes resented Cypher for finding you, for stealing you from these calm moments, even though you knew that you accepted to be an agent of Valorant of your own free will and for a good cause. 
“Hey,” Repeated Gekko. “Are you okay ?”
You gently pushed his hand off your shoulder and stood up from your bean bag chair.
“Sorry.” You muttered.
And you rushed out of the room as Gekko called for you, his tone full of worry. You speed-walked towards the garden of the base, putting your headphones on your ears and slightly relaxing when the music reached your brain. You took a deep breath and the wind caressed your skin as you finally walked into the gardens. You took off your shoes and let the grass tickle your bare feet. The night sky watched over you as you finally took a seat on a bench.
Better.
You felt better. You breathed better. You lived better. The music in your ears relaxed your muscles, and the wind murmured on your skin, bringing the fragrance of the different flowers of the garden. You definitely had to compliment Sky and Sage. 
Your phone suddenly vibrated and you noticed that Iso sent you a link to a playlist. 
⟨Here. To relax your nerves.⟩
You internally smiled and sent a text message to the Chinese duelist to thank him. You started the playlist and relaxed even more when the first note of the first song reached your ears. Iso really did have good taste in music.
You were about to close your eyes when you suddenly felt a finger patting your shoulder. You jolted a little and turned your head to the side to see Cypher’s blue lenses staring back at you. You pulled your headphones down and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Big Brother is watching me ?” 
The sentinel let out a small chuckle and sat down beside you, a trap wire traveling on his knuckles.
“Overwhelmed ?”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“I thought I was Big Brother.”
You rolled your eyes but a small smile tugged the corners of your lips. You leaned on the backrest of the bench and let out a deep sigh.
“I’m not in the mood for a game of chess, Cypher.” 
The masked man nodded and hummed softly.
“I suspected it.”
“Then why are you here, Optimus Prime ?” You groaned, stretching your arms over your head.
Cypher’s head tilted slightly and by his body language you suspected a smirk to be present under his mask.
“To check on you, dear.”
You raised a skeptical eyebrow and your eyes squinted slightly.
“Right. And may I ask why, dear ?” You scoffed as you rolled your eyes again. “Wait. Let me guess. You saw me walking away from the common room through these cute little cameras of yours, got curious when you couldn't see me then came here.” You interrupted yourself then shook your head. “Nope. There are also cameras in the garden. Then why did you come here ?”
Cypher let out another small chuckle and patted your head with an odd but paternal affection. 
“Look who’s playing Sherlock, now.” 
You let out an annoyed groan as you tried to push his hand away from your head but Cypher’s mood stayed playful.
“What kind of mentor would I be if I didn't worry about my protégé ?”
You snorted but nodded with a sarcastic smile.“More of a stalker than a mentor.” 
“A stalker who is worried about you, then.”
You couldn't see it but you heard the soft smile in his voice. He leaned a bit more towards you, the brim of his long hat hid you from the night sky and the usual faint glow of his blue lenses looked like two little will-o’-the-wisps in the obscurity of the garden. It reminded you of the first time you met each other, a few days after you took down this K-SEC facility. It was in a dark alleyway and the first thing you saw was these blue lenses before you could make out his long and slender figure. But because of his long hat and the darkness of the alleyway, you had almost taken him for a mutated palm tree. Even today you facepalmed yourself when you remembered those thoughts as your eyes stared into his lenses.
“Who eats alone, chokes alone.” He finally whispered with a conspiratorial tone. Something was telling you that he winked under his mask.
“What ?” You facepalmed.
“It’s an Arabic proverb.” He leaned back and his head tilted again. “Loneliness is neither your ally, nor your enemy. It is impartial. In your case, you use it to recharge yourself, but it can also drain you without you noticing, making you depend on it. Use your loneliness but don’t be alone.” His voice dropped a few octaves lower and you felt his eyes sinking deeply into yours. “Use your balance.”
Something was telling you that he was speaking from experience. A slight twitch in his body language maybe. Or a tiny heaviness in his already thick accent, indication of the unusual emotions in his voice. And you realized just now how little you knew about your mentor.
Cypher nodded, as if satisfied by your visible confusion, stood up from the bench and started to walk away.
“Wait a minute, Darth Vader !” You exclaimed, pointing a frustrated finger at him. “I don't speak proverbial shit and neither does google translate. Come back here or I’ll tell Sky you put cameras in the garden !”
Cypher kept walking away, humming a soft tune.
“Speaking of balance…”
“I don’t understand the proverbial shit, you cheap Cyberpunk shit !”
“Have a good night, dear.” He turned towards you briefly. “Oh, and your strawberry teas are delicious.”
This fucker.
He kept walking away until going back inside and you suddenly heard hurried footsteps. You turned your head and saw Gekko and Wingman running in your direction before stopping in front of you. 
How did you know it was Gekko with the lack of light ? First of all, Wingman. Second of all, his hair.
Gekko was catching his breath with his hands on his knees while Wingman jumped on your lap, making a few garbling sounds. You raised an eyebrow and looked at them, confused.
“Are you dying ?” You asked Gekko and your eyes widened slightly when he started to wheeze. “Gekko ?”
“Dios !” He exclaimed as he finally caught his breath. “I looked for you throughout the whole base !”
“Did you have to run a marathon for that ?” 
Despite your dry tone, your eyes only showed concern for him. You patted the space beside you on the bench and he gladly sat down. He then looked at you and despite the obscurity, you were certain his brows furrowed in worry.
“Are you okay ?”
You shot him a deadpanned look.
“You put your legs through a nocturnal torture by running like a possessed fool throughout the whole base, found me here relaxing in the garden while the soft fragrance of flowers and the night sky kept me company, and ended up wheezing like a dying man about to spew his lungs out and you are asking me if I’m okay ?” 
You looked at his figure from head to toe as he chuckled at your small outburst. He was still a bit out of breath from his little run but he seemed quite fine.
“Damn ! Your descriptions are always so…special. Clove would definitely love you to be the Dungeon Master of their next DnD game.” His laugh calmed down and he nervously cleared his throat. “Anyway. I wanted to check on you. You didn't seem fine in the common room. Are you feeling a bit better now ?”
You shot him a bored look and let a deep sigh out of your lungs. Wingman made a few high chirped noises indicating his worry.
“You really love wasting your time, don’t you ?” Your eyes wandered on the night sky. “Aren't you missing the end of the movie ? Shouldn't you be inside with your friends ?”
Gekko frowned and looked at you funny.
“You’re my friend too.”
You let out a small snort that only deepened his frown.
“I’m serious.” He insisted. “We’re maybe not as close as you are with Cypher or Deadlock or… Iso, but I see you as my friend and I will always have your back.”
You looked back at him and even though you couldn't see him clearly because of the obscurity, you felt his eyes looking at you with a fierce determination.
“Plus,” he continued, “you always have my back on the field, fighting like a total badass against the enemies. Remember our last mission in Lotus ? I would have been dead meat if you weren't there.”
Wingman (who had gotten comfy on your lap) nodded with vehemence, agreeing with Gekko’s words.
“I’m not quite sure if you can be ‘dead meat’ when someone like Sage is around.” You said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
Gekko made a noise between an amused chuckle and a sigh of frustration. You couldn't figure out what was on his mind, which is quite surprising since he was usually so expressive. He then suddenly got closer to you on the bench, grabbed your shoulders and leaned a bit more towards you.
“My point is : you got my back and I got yours. You're my friend and I won’t leave you alone.” His fingers gently squeezed your shoulders. “And I’m sorry.”
It was now your turn to frown as you did not understand why he was apologizing for.
“I invited you to this movie night so I could have an occasion to get to know you better, so we could get to know each other and bond on something that is not mission related.” He explained. “But you clearly weren't at ease. I thought you were about to have a panic attack, back there.”
You felt his thumbs caressing your shoulders as his hands squeezed you a bit more tightly.
“I’m sorry.”
You shook your head and let out another sigh. “Don’t apologize. Your intentions were innocent and sweet.”
You couldn't see the blush on his cheeks but you noticed the slight twitch in his body language.
“Everything's fine.” You insisted. “I’m perfectly fine. Plus, with the new playlist Iso sent me, I can just relax and enjoy the quietude of the garden.”
“Oh.” He said simply.
His voice showed disappointment, sadness even. You vaguely felt his grip on your shoulder faltering a little while Wingman made a few sad garbling sounds.
“Gekko ?”
You couldn't see his face, but his body language showed a slight dispiritedness that didn't match his usual playful and confident personality.
“You and Iso are really close, huh.” He said with an uncharacteristically neutral tone.
His shoulders were now slightly slumped.
“Well, we had heard about each other before we joined Valorant. It was funny to finally meet the infamous ‘Dead Lilac’ in this secret organization.” You chuckled little, finding the circumstances of your first meeting with the Chinese duelist quite embarrassing. You remembered knocking your head so hard against his chest that it spinned a little.
“That’s…uhm…kinda cute, I guess.”
You wondered what was on the mind of the piece of sweet-woman-heartthrob-trope that Gekko was.
“Well I don't know if it’s cute, but we’ve been exchanging playlists and book recommendations since.” You shrugged and Gekko’s hands slided down your arms at your action. “He’s cool. He has a sweet ‘older sibling’ vibe that put me at ease.”
The young initiator seemed to perk at your words and so was his radivore critter.
“‘Older sibling’ vibe ?” He repeated. “What do you mean ?”
“Well, you see how siblings sometimes banter with each other but always have each other's back ?” You started to explain and you saw his figure tilting his head. “Well that's our relationship with Iso. You probably know what I’m talking about. I noticed that you had quite the same thing with Neon.” You shrugged again.
His whole demeanor seemed to relax when he let out a laugh filled with relief. You frowned a little, not understanding this sudden outburst of joy.
“You alright ?” You raised a worried eyebrow and squinted your eyes a little. “Maybe you should get some sleep.”
It was at this moment that the moon finally decided to come out of behind the clouds, illuminating both of your faces. You both looked at each other, admiring your features. Your eyes wandered on his freckles without noticing his lovestruck gaze on you. 
“Maybe I'm a bit tired.” He whispered with a lost tone, as if he didn't understand what he just said.
“Hm.” You looked down on your lap to notice Wingman shrinking and hopping towards Gekko’s shoulder. “Wanna go back inside ?”
“You’re going back inside ?” Gekko asked.
“No.”
“Then I’ll stay with you.” He got more comfortable on the bench and you felt him lean a bit more towards you. “Unless my presence is overwhelming.”
You shook your head and leaned against the backrest of the bench. 
“No. You’re fine.”
“Cool.” He nodded and let out a small sigh of relief.
A comfortable silence settled between you, slightly disturbed by the faint music from your headphones. Your eyes wandered on the night sky, unaware of Gekko’s longing glances in your direction. You are completely oblivious to his poor heart beating so fast and so loud that he feared you could hear it. You did not notice. You never did. Ever since you set your foot into the base for the first time, his eyes were always on you. At first it was curiosity. Curious about the agent recommended by the mysterious man that was Cypher. Then it was admiration for the fierce fighter that you turned into once on the field. And finally, it bloomed to be a small crush that never ceased to grow. Your charisma hypnotized him. His feelings for you were so obvious that his friends never stopped to tease him. Even Reyna said that he looked like a lost puppy everytime you were around and Harbor often asked him to focus when you were in his field of view. And of course, he was jealous of how close Iso was with you. The duelist could talk to you without any problem, he could receive your smiles, your laughs, your friendly fist-bumps while the only times Gekko could have a proper interaction with you was during missions or briefings. Even during training you stayed in your corner, avoiding interactions.
But right now, he felt so happy. This was the longest interaction you’ve ever had with each other and he couldn't help but smile.
He turned his head in your direction and softly called you.
“Yeah ?”
“I heard that you love to draw.” He nervously rubbed his neck but kept his eyes on yours. “We could someday, you know, draw together while chilling in my room. If it’s okay with you of course.”
You shot him an indescribable glance and he suddenly felt so stupid for not using drawing as a way to bond with you sooner instead of the movie night. But he relaxed a little when you ended up shrugging.
“Why not.”
It was a start. He will not confess his feelings for now. It was way too soon. But he will certainly enjoy these moments with you. He will enjoy bonding with you and get to know you better.
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Anecdote : the Arabic proverb mentioned by Cypher is something the father of a friend once told me when I was a kid. It's stuck in my mind, ever since.
I'm not proud of the ending ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ But it's fine. It is just a test, after all.
I don't know if I'll post the part. 2. I'll most probably keep it in my drafts.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I wish you a lovely day/night.
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decepti-thots · 3 months
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the thing about Autocracy is that yeah, it does a terrible job justifying why on earth Hot Rod would join the autobots, i absolutely agree- it fails to solve a problem it creates in setting up a history and dynamic for Hot Rod that just does not clearly lead into him becoming an autobot at all. (spoiler alert: Autocracy's not a very good comic. water, wet.)
but i can't get on board with AUs where people are like 'clearly, he should have joined the Decepticons' either because like. the exact same reasons for why he has no reason to join the Autobots apply there, AND there's the issue of Megatron giving a speech where he straight up admits/gloats about how he uses violence as an explicit means of control through fear in a big ol' supervillain speech. (and like, the one thing I can give Autocracy is that this speech about how torture exists as a tool of demoralization and not pragmatism is like... accurate?) really if you want to try and do an IDW1 continuity 'Hot Rod refuses to join the autobots because of that Autocracy BS' concept, the obvious route is probably that he remains neutral.
anyway, all this is to say that a hot rod/deadlock AU where they met not in the decepticons or whatever but while deadlock/drift was neutral, that would be SUPER interesting actually, i think. remember, most of the time between drift defecting and drift joining the autobots, he spent unaffiliated; he only joined the autobots at the very end of the war. there's a whole period in there where he was a neutral!
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tessatales · 5 months
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The Sins of the Winter Soldier Chapter 2
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Pairing: Bucky x Female reader
Warning: Non really, Nightmares still?
Notes: slow burn romance, find the first chapter here.
A/n: Hey! Thank you everyone who read the first chapter! Here’s the second with several more backed up ready to go :)
Tags: @scott-loki-barnes @kandis-mom @identity2212
Chapter 2
It took exactly one week for you to break your promise. You never intended too, but something about that night had drawn you to exactly where you shouldn’t be.
You’d woken up from another nightmare, your alarm clock clutched in your hand like a weapon as you scrambled to ground yourself. Once the demons had run away and your heart rate had calmed, you’d decided to go for a walk, the shadows in your room looking more and more like bad memories the longer you stared into the dark. Padding through the halls, you’d picked up a bag of cookies you kept for bad night’s as you passed the kitchen; your feet silent as you wondered the dark corridors.
You’d been wondering for a while before you realised where you were, the normal halls and doors being replaced with the reinforced scaffoldings and deadlock entrances.
Shit
You were stood in the doorway of the Pit then. Panic rising in your throat as you wondered if you’d already messed everything up.
Does he know? Can he sense me? I’ll have to leave again. Shit shit shit
Placing your hand on the door, you took several deep breaths, imagining the square technique Natasha had told you about. The memory of her hand on your back from the first time you’d experienced an attack at the tower throwing itself to the forefront of your mind as it battled against itself. When your breathing finally steadied, you watched as the subtle glow from your powers faded from your skin. With the room around you no longer spinning, you steeled yourself for something stupid.
With a final deep breath, you engaged the lock on the Pit deck. Striding into the quarters before you had chance to bottle it.
The room was dark, the only light coming from the edges of the cell itself. Since your first visit, the Winter Soldiers cell had been furnished with a simple bed. Or at least it looked like a bed. The remains of it were scattered about the cell floor like they’d been imploded from the inside. The only thing intact being the thin army style blanket that must of once covered the frame.
He wasn’t stood this time. Instead he sat amongst the chaos, legs crossed and eyes closed as he seemed to sleep. You knew he was awake though. You knew it in the slight hitching of his arm as he heard you approach.
“Hello” You said to the dark, your voice loud in the empty observation deck. The Winter Solider didn’t move.
“I know you’re awake.” You carry on, taking a step closer till you stood at the very edge of the main cell deck. He opened his eyes then. You couldn’t see him properly in the dim light, but you felt the chill of his gaze as it settled.
“Are you comfortable?” Your hands fiddled with the bag of cookie clutched in front of you as your voice echoed around the room. He said nothing.
Unsure what to do, you took a seat on the top step, opening the cookies and taking one out.
“These are my favourite. When I was younger, I had a terribly good imagination. Still do really.” You began to ramble, needing to fill the silence.
“My issue was my imagination was very good at taking bad things I’d see on tv and such and making them worse. So I’d have a lot of nightmares” You continue, taking a small bite of the cookie.
“So when I’d wake up after a nightmare, my mom would scoop me up and take me down to the kitchen. We’d bake any cookie or cake I wanted, then stay up eating them with milk until I was so full I’d fall asleep” You finish, taking the final bite. The Winter Soldier remained motionless, nothing in his posture showing that he was even listening.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I shouldn’t even be here. Your handlers want me for my powers. Though I’m sure you already know that. You’ve probably been plotting how to get out and take me to Hydra since I was stupid enough to wander in here.” You say, your voice becoming fragile as you thought out loud.
“But I’ll tell you a secret. I’ve decided I’m not going to fear you. You know why?” You ask the motionless man before you.
“Steve doesn’t shut up about you. You’re his best friend. And if he believes the old you is in there somewhere. I’ll believe it too.” You finish, brushing the crumbs off your legs as you got up.
“Goodnight” you say over your shoulder, never looking back at the man in the cell as you left.
A/n: Chapter 3 can be found here
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pinkanonwrites · 22 days
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Oooooo your Starscream ramble got me thinking, what about deadlock? Could a fairy be useful to him? Like a little boost of magic he could use or something
Drift is incredibly kind, gentle, and careful with the fairies nowadays, and a huge part of that is because of guilt. When he was Deadlock he was willing to do just about anything to survive, fight, and get stronger, and capturing and torturing fairy folk is definitely something he did on more than one occasion.
Drift can't help but step in whenever he sees an injured fairy, because he can't forget the times he kept them in tiny jars, half-starved and shaking and vibrant colors fading each time he forced them to give him their magic. He didn't understand at the time that far magic would get significantly weaker when they were removed from their home forest, and in his attempts to capture even a fraction of the power they held in their domain he bled more than a few dry. He's incredibly tolerant of their pranks because he remembers the way they'd shriek in pain, sharp and jagged like nails on a chalkboard as he pinched their wings between his sharp fingernails, and how their jingle-bell laughter sounds so much sweeter in comparison.
He can't undo the terrible things he did in the past, but at the very least he can choose to be kind now.
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archie-sunshine · 1 month
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I got a question or a couple more. In the last post with hotlock and ratchet, with deadlock being madly desperate for ratchet but still fooling around with hot rod just bc Rod kinda reminds him of ratchet.
Do you think that hot rod catches some feelings for deadlock because of their fooling around?
And hot Rod dosent realize that deadlock wants ratchet-
Do you think he gets like depressed when he finds out that deadlock dosent feel the same way for example.
Hot rod is in the medbay being fixed up again, and deadlock is there just staring or giving glances at Ratchet and then hot rod sees it and then it hits him that deadlock might have just been (not really) "using" him just hopping that it was Ratchet in his place.
And then like he stops seeing with deadlock from that point?
I have no idea what I'm saying here, to be honest. I just want hot rod to be sad and desperate for love.
oooouuuhh im not usually an angst guy but absolutely. I can fully imagine this to be true, but in my world I think things end up better.
there's a constant miscommunication you have to deal with whenever you're around deadlock, but i do think that he likes hot rod for more than his connection to ratchet, if i didnt make that clear- I think he likes his company, because i picture deadlock as a VERY lonely individual. I feel like deadlock and him are kindred spirits in that sense.
to be honest, sometimes i struggle with hotlock because i GENUINELY think at that point in their lives they would not be good for one another. I don't think that deadlock is very good for anyone during that period in time.
I see hotlock and ratchlock more like a right person wrong time story than anything too terribly horrifically angsty and sad. in my head all this angst would happen and then they'd mend things again, probably on the lost light :]
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yandere-genji · 1 year
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Heyo! Could you do some headcannons for Ashe and Cassidy realizing they're after the same darling? Bonus points if the darling is highly skittish or elusive.
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Ashe and Cassidy have a complicated relationship, to say the least. As the leader of the Deadlock Gang, it’s Ashe’s responsibility to keep everyone in check. And Cassidy has always been a rebel, he thrives as a lone wolf. When they were young, Ashe was always trying to tame him. She would bark at him for not obeying orders and he would flash her that signature smug grin of his with a half assed “sorry” and a chuckle. But she had to admit, Cassidy’s aim and quick wit was unmatched among her crew. He got away with shit nothing else would be able to. Still, his confidence and disobedience was spreading to them like a disease and she was determined to stamp it out. 
Cassidy got a kick out of Ashes tantrums and would always tease her about them. He was the gasoline to her fire. And when she was fired up, she was near unstoppable. As far as he was concerned, he was doing her a service by entertaining her anger. During his time in the gang, they saw their most success. It was no coincidence, it was their synergy that they were able to make a name for themselves. But they got sloppy, the gang got caught and Cassidy was absorbed by Blackwatch. 
Years later, they met yet again, facing each other head to head when Cassidy retrieved Ashe’s stolen contraband. And they realized nothing had changed. Ashe was still as stubborn as an ox and Cassidy was the same smug bastard as ever before. 
However defiant Cassidy was out on the field, he was always on his best behavior when it came to you. Keeping a respectful distance, but never missing an opportunity to breach it. That is to say, he’ll play by your rules until he can coax you into playing by his. And he’s charming, it’s easy to let your guard down with him, and you do. You’re slippery as an eel, though, and it’s hard for him to pin you down when you’re vulnerable because you shy aware from him when you are. He’s like a hunter patiently waiting to snare you in his trap. 
Ashe is different. She’s impatient and forceful, she lacks the graces that Cassidy has but has some of her own. She can’t lull you into security like he does, but she’s a natural born leader and it’s hard to say no to her when she gives you an order. You find yourself doing as she asks without even realizing it. She loves your obedient nature, adores how easily you fold under her. She’s never really had to seduce anyone before, she’s so used to getting what she wants just by asking for it. But she has to go through the song and dance with you and she’s terrible at it. She usually has all the graces of a socialite but loses it when she realizes her weakness is you. 
When the two discover that they’re both pining for you, things get…out of hand. Ashe is absolutely livid and you have to beg her to drop her coach gun and listen to reason. It doesn’t go far and it isn’t long before she mets Cassidy out in the barren desert and threatens to snuff the life out of him then and there. Cassidy calls her bluff, saunters out to meet her, hand hovering over his peacekeeper. He stops, about 20 feet away from her, positioned as if ready to draw in a moments notice. 
He’s in his element. Cassidy knows that out of the two of them, he’s easily the most suitable romantic partner. So he faces the conflict as confident as ever, rest assured in his ability to woo you. But that’s not what Ashe is concerned about. It didn’t matter if you prefer Cassidy or not, she was going to take you regardless. But he always had to make himself an obstacle in her path, one she still couldn’t best. Because of him, nabbing you is going to be much more difficult than expected. 
In the midst of their fighting, you make yourself scarce, eager to remove yourself from the situation. You weren’t sure how you got into this mess, but now you had the two most notorious outlaws in the New West on your trail. Still, you weren’t completely hopeless. Having been so close to Ashe and Cassidy, you discovered their blind spots and could evade them for a considerable amount of time. When you slipped through their fingers, Ashe jumped at Cassidy’s throat, accusing him of some kind of plot to steal you away. Cassidy was caught completely off guard. He was ready to win your heart for good, defend your honor and you just up and left him to fend for himself. Neither of them were happy with you scurrying off. 
Just like the old days, they teamed up again on a mission to search for you. And when they find you, they work together in punishing you for wondering off. It’s in these moments that you belong to the both of them, pushed towards Cassidy and pulled back into the arms of Ashe. They find their camaraderie again in torturing and toying with you. It quells their conflict, if only for a moment. But there’s no way they can share you like this for long. 
Cassidy is a passive combattant at first, still confident that you’ll be running to him by the end of this. He’s an experienced playboy that can play your body like a fiddle. But Ashe is more emotionally invested in you than physically, and her sincerity is touching. Sure, she’s harsh and controlling but she cares for you like a doting mother. If he finds you’ve grown more partial to her, that’s when hell breaks loose. 
Then, the situation becomes more dire. It’s turned from a playful show into a fight for your favor. Now that bedding you hasn’t worked, Cassidy is much more forceful and violent in his approach, and Ashe doesn’t like this one bit. He might put his hands on you if you misbehave, and if she sees any marks that aren’t hers, these two will spend all day screaming at each other. You’d never seen Cassidy invested in these arguments until now, but it seems like he’s taking this more seriously than before. 
There are plenty of times when you slip away from them, but they always find you. Cassidy used to be impressed with your evasiveness, he seemed to get a kick out of your little game of cat and mouse. But once things turned sour, he was swift to make an example of you. Ashe was never entertained, though, and is happy to punish you once Cassidy hardened up a bit. 
If you ever feed into your Stockholm syndrome and they break you in, you’re basically their baby. Cassidy will soften up towards you and spoil you rotten, Ashe will still be the disciplinarian that barks orders at you. They still fight over you, and sometimes one or the other will take off with you by themselves for a while. But they always come back to meet each other in the middle, if only to please you.
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transingthoseformers · 11 months
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ORIGINAL DIVORCE AU ANON
Galvatron the MegaLord Baby ACCEPTED! Damus is convinced that Megatron reproduced asexually and refuses to accept Overlord had any part in this.
Hot Rod is the oldest and is terribly fond of his slightly feral baby brother. Hotlock doesn't intend to help escalate them but Hot Rod is weak to puppy eyes when Damus asks for things he really shouldn't have and Deadlock wants to impresses his not-yet-maybe boyfriend and proceeds to teach Damus how to properly stab someone. Damus gives a disturbingly articulate speech about Deadlock serving the Cause well that Deadlock thinks is cute.
Damus is the equivalent of eleven, so Overlord has beef with a whole ass child, but Megatron is convinced "they're just playing" (and has informed Overlord of what will happen if it goes beyond what a ex-gladitor parent considers just playing in explicit non-sexy detail). Overlord mainly treats Baby Damus's assassination attempts like a cat treats a kitten and paps at him in what he'd consider playful.
Damus is convinced if his stepdad just dies horrifically he can swing his parents getting back together. He's even got a power point about Optimus keeping Ratchet if he really wants him. Megatron has Soundwave after all.
This is another point in Optimus's "I sometimes think about my exes new wife meeting an unfortunate accident".
They do switch off weekends at the Cyberverse esque wall splitting Cybertron. And sometimes have to cohabitate areas when they are visiting for events like Hot Rod's First Big Race or Damus's musical recital or holidays.
The baby DJD is forged by Optomus sending Damus to Summer Camp to socialize more because he's concerned about the increase in blood thirsty commentary since Megatron had Galvatron and Ratchet and he adopted First Aid. He gave Bumblebee nightmares and Arcee has been encouraging him. Damus proceeds to sort everyone by usefulness, genuinely befriend the weirdest kids there in a semi-positive manner, burn down the arts and crafts room, incite several riots, blackmail a riny medic jet into being his minion and tried to sneak him back home in his luggage, start a cabin gang war with the other weird kid gang in Cabin 3 (the Scavengers), and helped kidnap a Beastformer kid who was just watching the chaos go down fascinated while Ultra Magnus frantically tried to help with a missing child case.
The main portion of the story is Damus's adventures in Summer Camp.
The fact that Damus is younger than I anticipated makes it even funnier, like damn this kid has red flags. Especially with Hotlock and a weeeeee bit Optimus enabling him! I adore how Overlord is basically going "aww, too bad buddy😁" to this disturbed preteen who tried to poison his energon that morning. Damus trying to demote Ratchet to sidechick status.
Sbkkdh yES THE CYBERVERSE STYLE WALL IS BACKKKKKKK
The summer camp section is just. Sweet jesus Damus my little guy, if that's the main portion i am highly intrigued and i would read the hell out of that. This menace. He's just. You can practically see the fire crackling behind his optics with how much he can accomplish
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knowltonsrangers · 1 year
Text
ideal location [ch.5]
Nathan Hale x F!Reader
[a/n: ⚠️minor/major angst, several mentions of death/execution ahead, and swearing. please read at your own discretion⚠️
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy."
-George Washington, 1780.
“You found something out!”
Nathan yelps, pointing an accusing finger your way, negligent to the burning pancake behind him. You quickly stagger to stand, running into the kitchen to take the pan off the burner, switching it off.
“I-I don’t think—“
Is it fair, to tell him? That if the last he recalls is September of 1776, that he’s likely deadlocked in a catastrophic accident of blended timeline chaos? Fuck, the whole thing makes your stomach drop and chest tight, words failing you as you stare dumbly down at the burnt pancake.
“It must not be good news, then,”
He murmurs above you, setting the spatula on the counter with a soft click. There’s a silence that envelops the small kitchen, and once your heart quelled it’s pounding enough to throw out a few words, you reach out and take his hand, guiding him towards your laptop.
“Nathan,”
You start, feeling that he should have some sort of warning before he sees the information he’s going to have to stomach.
“This isn’t going to be easy, and…and I’m still gonna try my damndest to get you back home. This doesn’t equal that it’s over, but it’s…it does make things a little bit more complicated—“
“I’d rather not read it, y/n.”
For some reason, you feel the sting of defeat in your eyes.
“We’re in this together, yes? Break it to me, I can take it,”
“I—I don’t think I can–I…I don’t know how—“
You make the terrible mistake of glancing up to catch his stare, and there’s something in those blue eyes that makes you feel like he’s offering you his entire soul to keep safe.
“You were a spy,”
It’s a start, and you do your best to give the necessary information before the big blow. He nods his head yes, flaxen curls bobbing in agreement as he urges you to continue.
“You were on a mission for General Washington, in New York, yeah?”
“y/n, I know all of this—“
“But you were caught,”
Continuing is hard, and it feels like someone’s taken a fist to your gut, knocking all of the air out of your lungs.
“And you died on that mission. Executed for committing treason against the crown, on September 22nd, 1776.”
If you were going to do anything in that moment, it was going to involve crying, and/or throwing up. Sniffling, you open your laptop, showing him the bold words you had read moments before. Gone were the previous moments of innocent flirting and poor jokes.
This was a moment in your journey together that you knew would come, but so soon?
Why did you look his name up anyways? Because that’s what you promised him, that you were going to help him home, regardless of obstacles. Fate had decided that you two were meant to find this out today, and if it weren’t for your morbid curiosity, you could have looked it up in the solitude of your own bed, so you could figure out a better way to break it to him.
Not like this.
“Why do you look as if you’re going to cry, y/n?”
It’s the first he’s said since you dropped the absolute bomb of information, and you’ve been hiding behind your hair as you furiously push away rogue tears.
Why are you so upset? You told yourself that there were no consequences of feelings in this mission.
He failed his, and you failed yours.
“So maybe this puts a good roadblock in our efforts to get me home. There’s no need to cry,”
He’s the one comforting you, and you suddenly feel like the biggest asshole ever.
“I’m so sorry!”
You wail, throwing yourself into his arms, latching him into a tight hug.
“I should be the one comforting you, the one being here for you! I’m just—it’s so sad! Why didn’t you tell me you were a spy?”
“Are spies still not men of their mission? I was supposed to keep that a secret,”
A calloused hand comes to run through your hair as you hold him, and an arm rounds your shoulders to hold you in place.
“I’m so sorry,”
It falls from your lips before it can be stopped, and something in your sentence causes him to go ridged once more.
That silence calls back, and as you both stand holding each other in your kitchen, you’re vaguely aware that Nathan has been playing with the ends of your hair.
When you try to pull away from the embrace, just to see if he was any semblance of okay, he pulls you tighter, unable to escape his hold.
The shudder of his shoulders tell you that he’s not okay, not at all.
“Hey,”
You tap his back, trying to get his attention as he stares blankly at the wall in front of him, directly over your head.
“I failed,”
Is all he says, and you know that it’s all going downhill at a rather rapid pace. Stifling your emotions, you pull back, a bit forcefully, and reach up to grab his cheeks, smushing them between your palms.
“Captain Nathan Hale,”
You say it sternly, so he’ll listen. His blue eyes move from the wall to your eyes, so full of defeat and foundering that it makes you want to cry even more.
“You did not fail, you were set up.”
“I remember it now,”
He replies stiffly, completely averting the question.
“It was all my fault. I was found out the moment I entered that tavern.”
“You don’t know that!”
You aren’t sure to which part of the story he’s referring, but his expression slumps, causing his hair to be swept in front of his face. You pull one hand away to tuck a lock of it behind his ear.
“No schoolteachers have a gunpowder burn…not one’s that aren’t involved in the war.”
Moving, you catch a glimpse of his scar once more as the hair moves away.
“If I am deceased…there is no way home. There is nothing to return to.”
Pulling away, your hands drop from his face as he stands back up. For once, your words falter, and you can’t think of a single thing to say. Because he’s right.
If you understood anything about timelines and whatever the hell you were dealing with, if he died, there was no place after September 22nd, 1776 to return him to.
“Maybe…I will take you up on your offer.”
You watch as he turns around, headed for the couch.
“Maybe sitting on the couch all day will make me feel better.”
There’s nothing you can do. You watch as he grabs one of your pillows, hugging it close to his chest as he slumps into the sofa, staring out the window.
“Nate…”
It’s a hoarse whisper that dissolves so that the only sound that remains is the buzzing of the light overhead.
[a/n: this chapter got me. I listened to King of Pain by the Police on loop while writing this chapter. I hate this. I promise, better days ahead in the next chapters.]
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thousand autumns donghua, episode 9~
shen qiao is COUGHING UP BLOOD NOW OH MY GOD!!! FETCH A DOCTOR!! FETCH A PRIEST!! FETCH HIS CRAZY HUSBAND!! FETCH SOMEONE!!! wtf his cab is taking him out of the city, what terrible servi--OH NO IT'S BAI RONG D: bai rong: why are u asking about that old driver for, when there's a pretty lady in front of u??? 😘😘😘 shen qiao: ….i'm blind :( (also gay) OH NO SHE KILLED THE OLD MAN ;A; poor old man, rip lao wei, we never saw u but i assume u had friends or family who are missing u rn…. f in the chat for the tart's victim 😔 ahh she was hiding the sexy outfit under the plain one!! clever!! no one EVER expects the Double Outfit Gambit!! 👘👗 bai rong: come nowww yan wushi is so old and weird!!! i don't like ur boyfriend!! but i could be ur girlfriend!! i want to be ur girlfriend! hEY. HEYYYYY >:) shen qiao: pls stop touching me :( GIRL STOP THIS IS WEIRD THIS IS WEIRDDDDD ;A; oh SHIT GET EM SHEN QIAO!! THAT'S RIGHT!! DON'T LET HER BULLY U!!! everyone thinks they can take advantage of u bc ur a nice lad!! i hate it when ppl do that!! just bc he's nice doesn't mean u can hurt him! it doesn't mean u can mistreat him!! he may be KIND but he's not a fucking door mat!! >:V HE EVEN APOLOGISES TO HORSES FOR FUCK'S SAKE. HE'S SUCH A GOOD BOY ;A; shen qiao: *swoons* the old man arrives just in time to catch him again lmaooo shen qiao be looking at the sword of woe like it's a sword of WHOA D: yws: ur dying lol. why don't u be evil with me?? it'll be fun~ remember how ur pet hobo betrayed u??? didn't that suck?? aren't u tired of being nice?? don't u just want to go apeshit??? >:D SHEN QIAO JUST WANTS TO BE TRUE TO HIMSELF ;A; aww yissss more evil laughter :D ngl i really missed it, it never fails to make me laugh as well 🤣 AWW THEYRE BOTH HAPPY NOW!!!! OH MY GOD THEY'RE SO ADORABLE!!! THEY'RE BOTH JUST. SO HAPPY. I LOVE THEM. I LOVE THEM ;A; oh good he's got his stick back!! i was worried, since that twat broke it before!! poor shen qiao just can't catch a break smh 😔 maybe a broken arm, the way things are going for him 😔 THE MONK!!! i remember him!! is he going to say it?? IS HE GONNA SAY THE THING??? I'M WAITING FOR HIM TO SAY THE THINGGGG yws: i'm gonna go fetch what's his name, u go on ahead ok?? sq: wh-- yws: VIBE CHECK!!! *yeets shen qiao into the building* UH WHO IS WAIT YUWEN YOU???? IS THAT THE FUCKING EMPEROR WHAT THE FUCK I'M SO CONFUSED??? A GO DEADLOCK??? WHY ARE WHY ARE THERE SOLDIERMANS HERE??? ARE THEY MOVING?? IS THIS HOW EMPERORS PLAY GO?? BY MAKING SOLDIERS KILL EACH OTHER??? WTF???? well it's a good thing shen qiao can just. jump onto the life-sized game board. i. i sort of thought that would be cheating but. i guess not??? WTF HE WON HOW???? WHAT JUST???? WHAT JUST HAPPENED???? shen qiao beats the emperor and then politely compliments him like it was nothing. shen qiao who are u. shen qiao WHAT are u. shen qiao are u single OK WE'RE GETTING AN EXPLANATION THEN???? yeah no totally didn't understand at all :D i'm not even sure what go is called in chinese?? i think i heard.......qi?? something??? idk. also wHY ARE THERE SUCH COOL NAMES FOR GAME MANOEUVRES. WHAT IS HAPPENING emperor: lol ur good at board games, u want a job?? shen qiao, thinking: i'm in danger :) OH MY GODDD THE OLD MAN IS CALLING HIM ~A-QIAO~ IN FRONT OF THE FUCKING EMPEROR. IN FRONT OF EVERYONEEEE OH MY GOD uh-oh the monk made emperor angy. somebody better say emituofo for HIM now O_O seeing yan wushi acting polite is. EARTH SHATTERING. so strange. i'm…..shocked??? weird 👀
yws: anyway here are my evil plans. u should stay and help bc ppl will keep trying to kill u without my protection >:) sq: no thanks :) if i just let u shelter me, isn't that the same as being sheltered by mt xuandu?? i'll head out on my own :) yws, thinking: ppl keep treating him badly, but he just perseveres!! it makes me want to……HURT HIM MORE >:) wtf yan wushi u are a strange man. u are a weirdo. pls don't step on shen qiao. he's wearing white the stains will never come out yan wushi PLS lmao yan wushi trying to tempt shen qiao into going to dongkang with him is hilarious, i love the bg music as well!! it's so whimsical~ WELL WELL WHO MIGHT THIS BE??? idk him YET but he's??? kinda hot??? ngl i have a Type and it's. embarrassingly obvious smh rip birb….😔 also: the monk did NOT say emituofo. heartbreaking 😔
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furrbbyx · 1 year
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I’m missing spoopy season
So here’s a throwback to the writing prompt: Dare. A young group of friends ends up daring one member too far.
SFW violence and gore. Mention of being eaten alive. Talk about cannabis use.
About 2k words
Isn't this how every horror movie starts? I think to myself before pushing my heavy deadlocks back from my sweating face.
I'm pretty sure there's an unspoken rule among Black people that we don't do stupid dares that end us up in the cemetery at night!
Yet here I was huffing in the suddenly cool and misty air. I was trying not to let the frantic beat of my heart and the sweat sticking my shirt to my back distract me from the object of my dare.
It was hard though.
Just 30 minutes before I had been out with my unruly group of friends sitting on some fallen over logs around a very illegal fire in the woods behind Timnit Jackson's house. Jacelyn, Avery and 'Quan were there too. After our first year in college we'd come back home fore the summer and met up at our usual haunts. For weeks we'd been stalking through the town lamenting the boredom and how we'd outgrown our little town.
So tonight we'd been reckless. Avery had stolen some alcoholic seltzers from the corner store and I had brought a little cannabis. We rolled, smoked, drank, and complained. And then the dares started.
At first it was little things like guzzling the seltzers. That had been a terrible idea but at least we'd all laughed as a gush of fizzy vomit spilled out of Timnit and tears streamed down their eyes as they coughed.
Then the boys had gotten into a contest of strength and athleticism that had me Jacelyn and Timnit hyping them up way too much. They'd actually gotten into a fight over pushups!
After they'd calmed down and we'd all grabbed another drink Jacelyn looked to me.
"I know you got more tree right Chioma?"
I scoffed. "Nah. I only swiped a little before Mike got home. I don't want no smoke. I said holding my hands up to my chest"
"Yeah but we do" Avery laughed.
"Well then you go get it" I sneered
"Fuck it." 'Quan burped then tossed his empty into the fire pit. "We got drinks at least. And I'm high as hell anyway. That's the only reason I lost the push-up dare." He slurred and sent a belligerent look toward Avery.
We all hollered
"Stop the cap, man"
"Aint no way"
"Bruhhhh"
"shiii"
"What?!" he stamped a foot. He ripped up the sleeve of his shirt to show us his thickly muscled arm. "You try me when I'm sober man, you know you ain't got nothin on me" 'Quan slapped his arm for emphasis.
"Whatever Bruh. Sit down with all that!" said Avery.
Timnit rose to their feet taking off their soaked shirt to hang it on a stick jammed into in the ground next to the fire. 'Quan watched them and weaved a bit on his feet.
"Uh here" He untied the flannel around his waist and handed it to Timnit.
Jacelyn and I exchanged looks as Timnit pulled the shirt on over their modest chest binding.
Both of them sat back down and 'Quan watched them roll the sleeves up their slender arms
"Thanks man" Timnit said with a half smile.
"it's cool" "Quan said unable to look away. 'Quan was a really sweet person. The type that always did nice things, and acted like people mattered even if he'd just met them. He was sensitive and empathetic even if he could be bullish and swaggered too much. I blamed his parents who were firm but also worshiped the ground he walked on because he was their only child. He looked like a total dick in a backwards cap college tshirt and jeans with fucking flip flops like a white person, though.
Jacelyn's clear voice rung out in the night
"Well who's gonna dare me? Or are we over this baby game"
With the attention on her the awkward crushy-ness of the night dissipated.
"Girl, this aint no baby game" Timnit said. "You just mad we can't smoke more. So I dare you to go get some more from Mike!"
"Aww no way!" Jacelyn booed. "Mike is an asshole. How that junior even get the tree anyway Chioma? He pushin' now?"
I shrugged "I don't ask him nuthin, that's his business. I just take a little off the top now and then. Sister tax." I giggled.
"Well that's the dare." Timnit said smugly. "Don't be a baby"
"I'm not!" Jacelyn whined "Their house is like two blocks away. What? You want me to walk there and come back"
We all murmured and shrugged. It was kind of a bad dare
"sounds like sumthin a baby would say" Timnit dug in. I admired their boldness and guessed maybe they wanted to smoke a bit more too. Or maybe they were just a bit insulted because the game had been their idea.
We were all drunk and hyped enough to do just about anything that night. Anything to make the mundane suburbs feel like the intense days and nights at our universities. The constant stimulus had us feeling some type of way about the place we'd grown up.
We made a plan to go with Jacelyn as she raided my house for Mike's stash. Honestly I don't know why I was going to watch my friend do this dare, it was my house so I probably should have volunteered.
We kicked dirt over the fire until a few embers remained, each of us grabbed another seltzer out of the box before Avery yeeted it into the woods behind us as we left.
'Quan was carrying Timnit's dirty shirt. Jacelyn and I giggled and sent meaningful looks to 'Quan who dragged a hand across his neck in warning. That boy had it bad and Timnit was in their own world.
I wondered if 'Quan was going to make a move as we walked out of the woods and into the sidewalk. We were way too loud for midnight in the suburbs but thankfully in this mostly Black neighborhood no one was going to call the cops on a bunch or rowdy neighborhood kids.
I looked back at him following Tinmit like a puppy and thought he was probably way too shy despite the drinks and herb.
Jacelyn was on her phone no doubt trying to keep up with her socials. She snapped a few pics and videos then moved on to scrolling instagram stories which blared out harsh noises. She laughed and leaned over to share one with Avery. Jacelyn and Avery were the tallest in the group. Jacelyn always knew the trends and dressed like it. She had a bone straight sew-in with dramatic baby hairs and definitely could fit in with the mean girls, but she was also very addicted to gaming.
As was Avery. He played sports on and off their field. He'd actually gotten a scholarship that way and now played soccer almost as seriously as a major league athlete. His tall frame didn't seem powerful until you watched his explosive power during a game. Usually though he was just another brownish face dressed like all the other kids in a plain tee, joggers, vans and a gold necklace.
Tinmit and I were the weird ones in the group. We'd been very close in high  school, writing terrible fanfiction about our favorite KPOP stans or marvel characters, reading too much fanfiction and dressing in each other's thrifted clothes. But of course things changed. Timnit applied to a different school entirely. It had broken our friendship a little bit. I think it was harder for them to imagine going to a regular university after they came out. I hadn't been able to really see past my feelings of betrayal. But I was glad we were still hanging out, and I think they were relieved that I wasn't still furiously angry. I was actually happy because they seemed to have really blossomed in the year at her liberal university. The sported the cutest mustache and dressed like a total art hoe in baggy cargo pants belted with a crocheted length of yarn.
Then there was me in all black. The goth of the group. Every group needs one.
We kept walking and laughing loudly until someone stopped and we all looked around. Across the street was the town cemetery. The huge iron gate usually stood closed at this time of night but they were wide open with pale mist shimmering and floating over the graves and the dark shadowed mausoleum on a hill.
"Eyyy" Jacelyn crooned. "I think I have the perfect dare for Chioma"
I barked a laugh "No way"
"Whaaat" she whined "I haven't even said what it is. I was just gonna say you should go up there in that mausoleum."
"NO way" I said again and started walking.
"Her scary ass ought to go up there." Avery chimed in "That's where your people are." He wiggled his fingers trying to be spooky.
I wasn't amused.
"I mean, they right. You can't be afraid of ghosts right? Since you always dress like you're going to a funeral"
"Fuck you!" I spat at 'Quan and stomped across the street in my huge black platfom boots.
I wasn't really afraid...well I mean I probably didn't need to be afraid right? Whoever was in that big limestone building was probably long dead and all I would find would be darkness and quiet and maybe some old flowers. And the sooner I finished this stupid dare the sooner we'd watch Jacelyn try to steal some herb off of my little brother.
But after I stepped through the open gate the summer air started to cool down and the mist seemed to thicken around my feet. I glanced back at my friends to flip them off before marching up the hill past other graves.
Was it getting a little darker too? I started to sweat but it was just because the hill was so steep and I was drunk, I told myself.
There were no lights in the cemetery and truly it got darker and seemed more claustrophobic the further away from the road I got. I caught the whiff of something burning as I raised my head. to look at the monument to death. A candle? Maybe I actually wouldn't find a dark room, maybe I'd stumble onto some dark ritual I thought with a bit of bravado that was belied by the goose flesh that suddenly rand down my arms and stomach.
As I walked closer I definitely felt that something wasn't right. But I was close. I just had to walk inside and my friends would be satisfied. And if I saw some satanists sacrificing an animal and writing runes in blood I could turn tail and run!
I could smell melted candle wax now as I slowly approached the door. I didn't want to hear the jeers from my friends so I didn't look back down the hill. I crept the to doorway. rubbing my cold arms. It was so dark inside it took a second for my eyes to adjust from the moonlight. The small room looked normal until I was finally able to make out the huge stone coffin pushed to the back.
As if something had pushed it. Because there were gouges in the floor just outside of the moonlight leaking in, and the top of the coffin was angled off  laying partially on the ground I saw remnants of a candle with wax and burn marks and then over the sound of my beating heart I heard a gurgle.
A fleshy riiiip.
A loud popping snap.
To my left in the shadows immediately inside the door lay a body in a shimmering black puddle of blood. It was only a puddle because nearly all of the blood was splashed on the wall beside it.
"What the fuck!?" I hissed
Teal green, glowing eyes snapped up to me out of the darkness. A hunched figure over the bloodied maimed body only a foot away.
I turn to run with a gasp and inescapably strong claws grasped my ankle bringing me to the ground before I could even run two steps. I screamed and clutched the door frame while kicking out at the creature's head. It yanked me viciously into the dark mausoleum braking nails and dislodging and arm from its socket.
I screamed again! Someone was coming right?! My friends wouldn't leave me to die!?
I cried and tried to fight the thing off as it struck at my arms and face with it's claws
"NO!"
"NO!" My flesh was torn by its claws becoming useless as bright bone glistened through on nasty gash. I still struggled until I caught the sight of its face in the dim light.
Sunken ashy skin stretched tightly over a the bones of its head showing the nose holes where the nose had fallen away and gnashing grotesque lip-less mouth. The eyes only cold light in the empty sockets of the face. I tried to breath to scream again in the same moment the creature reached down and ripped open my belly.
I nearly passed out at the pain and the feeling of its hand digging through my organs. I watched gasping mutely as it stuffed a length of my intestine into its maw already stained with ichor from the first body.
My head lolled to the side and my eyes rolled back.
This was a nightmare right?
My body jerked as it eviscerated another organ. I was slipping away quickly but I tried to open my mouth and call out for help. The gurgling sound of voice, like the gurgle I had heard early only alerted the beast  and it scrambled up my body. Took hold of my neck in its teeth and ripped out my throat meat.
As my vision faded I watched the horrible ghoul chewing and swallowing messily before it went after the skin on my cheeks and carved out an eyeball.
I twitched as my brain and body tried to fulfill the last commands of my panic, still tried to runaway from the my fate.
What a stupid dare.
NOTES on this prompt:
I pushed myself to write a lot more than usual and I think it was a good exercise even though I don't usually write horror or gore. So I hope it reads in a very creepy scary way.
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signedaiko · 2 years
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Hello! Head cannons or mini one shots, for Megatron, Drift, and Roddy (Mtmte), with a quiet but inspiring friend or s/o that is able to talk them out of a tough or dangerous situation- peacefully? Thank you, and take care!
Drift [MTMTE]
- It was hard to get Drift to crack - But this one asshole kept calling him Deadlock and asking all smug - Drift came to you, dropping a half-empty bottle of hyper energon to the ground before crying - You ended up bringing him to the medibay and keeping every form of intense drink far from him - The guilt was eating away at the poor mech - You were there by his side, though, tracing the little unseen patterns in his armour paint to help calm him down - He didn't drink much, so such sudden intake could have really harmed him - " I'm sorry for dragging you into this, y/n- " - " I am glad you came to me, ok? "
Megatron [MTMTE]
- As you had grown to know, he was most dangerous when he slept - And when the whole Tailgate situation happened, you were about the only person willing to be near him other than Ravage - He locked himself away for hours, not even leaving to get nutrition - Eventually, you stepped in despite his lack of response, bringing him some 'fool's energon' and a little treat from your own stash - " It's not your fault. " - " They want me gone. " - He eventually agreed to eat something, preferring to listen to you talk about every topic known to man while he did so - You caught him up on every drama in the ship, managing to crack a smile out of him
Rodimus [MTMTE]
- Sometimes, when the captain was distraught, he would flame up - And normally, it wasn't a problem, but he was sparking up directly above the oil reserves - You sat with you back against the wall, far from him to allow him space - Someone had left all kinds of horrible messages in his room, and he was taking the brunt of it - " They don't mean much, though, do they? " - You let him speak on, only interjecting in small phrases, and slowly his flame began to smoke terribly - The good thing was that it was a sign of him cooling down - It ended up making the sprinkles go off in the sector, and in seconds you were both drenched - The sizzling sound of his flames going out was nice to hear - He ended up laughing by the end of it; seeing you dripping with water was cute
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Authors Note - Just for future reference, I only do one-shots for 1 bot or love triangles/poly, so I went ahead and did headcanons! I also went for platonic because <3 Need more of that :)
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guettaes · 3 years
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Overwatch Voice Actor on McCree Name Change: It ‘Needed To Be Done’
as Matthew Mercer speaks.
Tumblr media
It has been quite turbulent over at Activision Blizzard. Some of these wavy waters have spilled over into its games as Blizzard decided last week to rename Overwatch‘s cowboy hero Jesse McCree. McCree has been a big part of Overwatch and Matthew Mercer has been a big part of McCree as he has provided the voice for the former Deadlock Gang member since his reveal in March 2015. In a recent interview with ComingSoon, Mercer recently gave his thoughts on the name change, saying that it “needed to be done” while not forgetting those that were abused by Activision Blizzard.
“I know this is a small consolation, but it’s one that needed to be done for a lot of people to feel comfortable moving forward with the story of Overwatch and the characters,” he said. “People have different opinions on it and some can say that it’s just a name and that it is ridiculous to change it, but it’s a name that also represents a connection to a lot of people’s pain and abuse. And if we have the opportunity to make it better and let that lie in the past and let the character live as something separate like it should, then I can’t help but be behind that.”
But this wasn’t a decision Blizzard came to without him. Blizzard actually called him to ask if he was OK with its plans, a formality that surprised him, especially since voice actors aren’t always in the loop when it comes to decisions regarding their roles.
“They called me and asked if I was aware of the situation and I said, ‘I very much am.’ And they said, ‘As a part of this process, we want to separate this character from the terrible circumstance and give the opportunity to make this right and it’s just one small way amongst many that need to be done. We just wanted to call and let you know and make sure you were OK with that.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, thank you for letting me know. That’s pretty cool.'”
Mercer doesn’t know what the cowboy will be called, but he appeared to be more focused on the healing process the name change was part of over the name change itself.
“If it was the one thing they did, it would be nowhere near enough,” he said. “But it’s just one facet of all the things they are seemingly doing internally to try to right a lot of wrongs. I feel so much for all of the people that were mistreated and were victims of individuals in the company that abused their power and positions. My heart has been breaking since the whole thing went down.”
The nameless cowboy still means a lot to Mercer, but he said that he hopes the industry takes this awful series of events and uses it for bigger structural change that protects its workers.
“The character means a lot to me,” said Mercer. “The whole experience of Overwatch has meant a tremendous amount to me and while I’ve had nothing but positive experiences in my limited time working with Blizzard, to see all this go down has been gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. I hope it’s a very, very important change in the industry. It’s a shame that it takes the scale of misuse, mismanagement, and abuse of power to really bring a light to it, but if there’s any good that can come from this, it’s that it should shape the industry. People should really reexamine how they run their development studios and the publishing process and ensure that these people are protected and given the respect and space.”
The real-life Jesse McCree was one of the key members embroiled in the accusations leveled at Activision Blizzard. The former Diablo 4 lead designer was seen in the infamous Cosby Suite picture and was let go in in early August. As such, Blizzard said it was no longer naming its characters after real-life people.
Fans had asked Blizzard to rename the hero. Overwatch League casters even voluntarily stopped calling McCree by his name and only referred to him with different nicknames. Blizzard said the name change will take time since it is trying to work it into the lore, but it is indeed coming.
Information for blizzard, Matthew Mercer and comingsoon web
Me: Matthew Mercer you are the best person I know. I fully understand all this. if it should be then.
and I say the same, I am strict by nature and I would be strict who hurt women. I was like that before but as a child.
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lantsovsupremacist · 3 years
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tiberias (cal) calore vii: illicit affairs
i’m only on the 3rd book so a) pls don’t spoil you’ll break my heart and b) my perception of the characters has only been developed to this point so if you come for me do it with the correct context lmao!!!
you knew what it was.
leaning your forehead against the cool metal post of your bed frame, a shaky exhale escaped from your lips. you wished just like that lost breath, you too could leave behind your body and with it, mind. a few minutes was all you needed, really; some semblance of relief.
even with your door shut tight with a deadbolt, the danger contaminating the palace lingered outside of it. you were not foolish enough to deny the cracks it could slip through. you would give any adversary a worthy fight, though. you could not afford not to, especially now.
for the first time in your life, you had truly encountered a problem that you could not use your abilities to maneuver out of. as much as your lungs screamed and your legs ached to run, you could not. being a swift, your first instinct was always to run. your speed always gave you the advantage in pursuit.
a familiar knock at the door broke you from your trance of pity. you stood up, sniffling as you ran the back of your hand across your nose and mouth. the action of clearing your throat sounded more like a whimper, but you managed as you gathered your skirts and headed for the door. you pushed down the nausea and wrung your hands to settle yourself.
your fingers shook on the deadlock before you pried the door open. the amount of weight on the wood, the length of the echo, and the momentary pause before the second, lighter knock gave away the identity of the person on the other side. you were in his arms before you could take another breath.
despite offering you the comfort you had craved all morning, his touch triggered the sobs caged in your chest. perhaps, it was because your heart was only safe in his hands. but, without the key to let them out, they messily tore through and paved their own path.
a year ago, your greatest worry would be the shame brought to your family on account of conceiving a child out of wedlock, let alone to the crowned prince. now, it seemed the impending war took precedence. you could have laughed; a red threatened your livelihood. a girl, really.
you were always careful, and it did not even happen very often. both you and the prince were very busy people, after all. send offs and reunions.
“we can fix this,” cal murmured into your hair.
“no, you don’t get it,” you broke out with a defiant shake of your head, “there’s nothing to fix.”
he pulled back, stroking your hair and pushing it behind your ears. your golden strategist was at a loss. your heart fell further into the pit of your stomach. you chewed on the inside of your lip, desperate to look anywhere but his eyes. yet, in the space of the same moment, you never wanted your gaze to leave his.
“i won’t leave you,” his warm hands ran up your arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake, “and i won’t let my father have a say in any of it.”
“it’s not the king i am frightened of,” you admitted with a sour taste in your mouth.
cal nodded with a grimace, “then i’ll be sure she is controlled until the end of the month.”
but who could control the queen who could twist minds? you chewed on the thought to avoid choking on it, forcing it down in distaste. both cal and yourself needed time neither of you had the privilege to claim.
cal communicated the importance of waiting until the traditional queenstrial to propose publicly. while the larger part of you agreed with this position, a small piece of your heart reserved for crippling doubt and senseless paranoia wondered if he was stalling for a different reason. if you could at any time expect desertion, it would be now but true to his word, cal had done no such thing—a loyal soldier until the end.
“and if they don’t chose me?” the secret fear you had harbored far before you had even become aware of your current condition felt a traitor to expose to the boy who had given you everything, kept every promise he could.
he studied your face carefully to ensure he held your full attention (though he was foolish to ever think otherwise), “make them, my dear.”
despite the event’s purpose of selecting a bride for the princes themselves, all of the noble houses knew the eldest had little choice in the matter. while your relationship with cal was not overt due to the inherently illicit nature of the affair, servants were known to talk. even in your deepest frustrations, you could not necessarily blame them.
his confidence in you was endearing but what other choice did you truly have?
you pulled away from his arms and lingering stare, wrapping your arms around your middle. pacing the length of the room, you suppressed a bitter laugh, “and then what? when a baby is born after less than eight months? and that’s to say we can persuade your father to rush a royal marriage.”
“let them talk,” his fingers twitched at his sides and you caught the scent of smoke, “nobody will be able to do anything.”
he thought he could protect from anything. sure, there would be little opportunity for any political action after a marriage was solidified but rumors would swirl. born into the pressures of eyes always watching you, they did not cut deep, but a queen needed a reputation demanding of respect. you did not want to be cruel but you decided that if need be, you could.
you wanted so terribly not to cry but willing it away only drew your focus to it more. you did not think the act made you weak but you would rather avoid the complete exhaustion it often caused. you were already so tired. but, some things were inevitable.
cal caught on before you did, “baby,” his voice was croaky, maybe laced his emotion of his own, “please don’t cry.”
you giggled at the irony. it was watery and your voice was nearly gone but it was there. confusion spread across cal’s features. you studied his face as he began to understand. a slow, crooked smile spread across his freckles and indicated the transition.
“suppose i could have chosen better words.”
“mhm.”
you had not noticed he was slowly rocking you in his arms. calm rushed into your senses. cal radiated your favorite kind of warmth. he monitored his body temperature around you, never too hot but always comfortable. it reminded you of home. he was your home. he smelled of pine and dying embers.
now nearing nineteen, you met the prince at fourteen. your elder sister married sooner than your parents expected, hastening your introduction into political meetings as a representative of the swift house of nornus.
who could blame a young and inexperienced teenage girl for falling in with a powerful, older boy who dared throw her an extra glance. what began as a benefit to palace life at fifteen soon turned into a vice. it was easy to tell yourself that you could stop any time you desired but you were addicted to the way he touched you, the way he tasted, the way he spoke your name.
for a while, you were foolish enough to believe he maybe even loved you. when you turned sixteen, you understood you were a pastime for the prince. so when at seventeen he told you he loved you, you did not believe him. he was gone for service quite a bit and your training schedule stole away any time for secret meetings when he was home. you began to purposefully avoid him but the withdrawal from the high that was cal left you dizzy.
when he did not make a move to find you, you tried even harder to move on. you had both made a mess of your hearts, left bleeding and shattered on the floors of the palace. you watched him escape the palace more often, always finding another place to be. one night, however, you followed him. you told yourself it was curiosity that caused you to slip out of your covers and into a warm coat, a coat you would not have needed if you left with him.
you caught up easily with your inhuman perception and speed and yet, he still saw you coming. he always did. that night, you wandered through a village and blended in. that night, you could be normal. he helped you clean up the mess between the two of you and things were different but the same again. they were better. you still took the long way to his room and pulled him into hidden corridors but the longing stares across meetings reignited.
you cleared your throat, “when you returned from delphie.” you tone held the pace of a simple comment, not the answer to the unspoken question pressing down on both of your minds.
cal turned his lips into his mouth and nodded, taking a deep breath, “i remember.”
it was a good memory, a good time. slow and gentle and loving. rane had worn you ragged sparring evangeline from sun up to sun down. you enjoyed the younger classes attending for the exposition but your muscles felt like weights lodged into your body and your breath had not yet fully returned after running circles around evangeline.
usually when one of you returned from an excursion outside of the palace, you wasted little time in attaching to every piece of each other. but, you were both exhausted—exhausted but greedy for the attention of the other. it had been a month ago, nearly to the day.
you and cal never discussed the prospect of children. even if one of you did not favor the idea, there was no choice in the matter. cal, as a future king, needed heirs, and if you wanted to be queen, you would have to bear them. but, you did want them and secretly, you knew cal did, too. it was more than a superficial requirement.
cal always looked at you, found you in a crowd, so it was hard to study him in secret. when he was with children, however, all attention transferred to those at his feet. it was then you saw him fully relax, the weight of his crown falling off his back. he loved them. you loved him more for it.
“and i don’t regret it,” he continued, dipping his head to place it gently on your shoulder. he kissed you neck once, twice, and then dropped his head back down.
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