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#i am feeling incredibly normal emotions about glass animals
lemonous-snake · 2 years
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Glass Animals will write some of the most soul-ripping lyrics you've ever heard and completely alter the way you look at your own childhood and then the next song will contain the lyric "you're a fucking coconut can't even put 'em on". Multidimensional legends
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promenadewithme · 4 months
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Chapter 2 (The Kiss of Eros)
a/n: here is chapter 2! all feedback is always welcome <3 pairing: Spencer Reid x Rebecca Sanders (original character) warnings: whirlwind of emotions here, be ready. someone gets hurt, blood, guns, fire, feelings so many feelings. word count: about 3k
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The hot humidity of the subway hits me like a slap on the face. I remove my sweater, leaving me in my white button-up, and tie it around my shoulders. 
“Have you ever taken the LA metro?” he asks beside me.
He’s also wearing a white button down, but his are rolled up at his arms, covered by a gray sweater vest and paired with charcoal pants.
“Nope, you?”
“I thought you were experienced.” he jabs and my face twitches.
“At public transportation, not specifically Los Angeles. Vegan city isn’t exactly my go-to holiday destination.” I answer while switching back to my normal square glasses.
“Where, then?”
“Where what?” I ask, trying to figure out which rail to take.
“Where is your go-to holiday destination?” he turns towards me, hands in his pockets, and I pause.
Is he trying to make small talk?
“I-I’ve always wanted to visit Scotland.” I offer.
He nods, looking at the map.
“Did you know that Scotland's official animal is the unicorn?” he asks.
“Yes, I did know that.” I offer a smile.
“Odd, though, isn’t it? That an official animal isn’t even a real animal?”
“Y-yes, I guess so.” I stutter.
“The first record of unicorn myths actually dates back to Mesopotamia.” he gesticulates while looking at the map “Many people think it originated from Greek mythology, but they just confuse the unicorn with the pegasus. Even though they are completely different, their only common factor being the body of a horse. Unicorns have a single horn on their head, while Pegasuses - or Pegasi - have wings.”
I gawk at him.
He’s actually talking to me. About unicorns. I am so incredibly confused right now. This is probably the most he’s ever said directly to me.
His gaze meets mine and he immediately turns away, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. I look back at the map, searching for the rail that takes us to the address Pen sent. 
“We should take rail C.” I say, turning to look at him.
He’s already looking at me. All I get is a nod before he spins on his heel and walks towards the railway.
We wait behind the yellow line in silence until the metal tube arrives. The station filled with a few people after we arrived, but not enough to mean there wouldn’t be seats for us. Good, my feet are starting to hurt from the heels and I chide myself for not packing more comfortable shoes.
As soon as the doors open, I move to sit close to the exit when a large hand closes around my upper arm. 
“No you don’t.” He orders, lifting me before I have the chance to sit. “Do you know how many microbes are on that seat?” 
“I don’t and I really don’t want to know, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway.”
“Trillions, Sanders. Trillions.”
I grimace and notice his hand still holds my arm. I’m pretty sure this is the first time he has ever touched me. So much for Dr ‘I don’t do handshakes’.
Snatching my arm from his grip, I ask “Well you don’t even shake peoples hands, so I doubt you’ll hold the support bars. Without them, you’ll be falling more than a sailor in the north sea, so what’s your solution?”
He doesn’t answer me, instead he opens his satchel and takes out two wet wipes, holding one out to me. 
“We’ll sanitize our hands when we get there.” he states, grabbing the rod with the wipe as a barrier between it and his hand.
I hate to admit it, but that’s kind of genius. I’ll never tell him, though.
“Fine.” I huff and copy his actions, just in time for the metro to start moving.
He keeps his free hand tight on the strap of his satchel, eyes drifting between me and the floor. He’s nervous. Over the past year I’ve known Spencer, I’ve learned about his germophobia. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him to be stuck in a metal tube swarming with trillions of microbes. Maybe if I can get his mind off of it…
“Let’s play a game.” I suggest, immediately regretting it.
This man is a genius and you want to play a game with him? Like a little kid? That voice reprimands in my mind.
“A game?” he asks slowly.
“You know what? Never mind, it’s stupid. I don’t know what I was th-” I splutter before he interrupts me in a soft voice.
“What game?”
My mouth opens and closes as I scour my mind for a game worthy of his intelligence. Dear lord, is there even one?
I think of every game possible. Rock, paper, scissors. Never have I ever. I spy. Truth or dare. He looks at me expectantly and I blurt out the first game on my mind “20 questions.”
“20 questions?” he asks.
I’m so dumb. So fucking stupid. I just suggested that Dr Spencer Reid play 20 questions with me.
“How do you play?” He looks interested.
Oh, okay.
 “You’ve never played 20 questions?”
“I um,” he scratches his neck, crimson tingeing his cheeks. “I didn’t have all that many friends growing up.”
“Oh, well… that’s ok. I’ll teach you.” I nod.
When he doesn’t say anything, I start explaining the rules of the game.
“So, basically, person number 1 thinks of something - anything. A person, an object, a band, a place. That person then says ‘I am a country’, for instance. Then person number 2 has 20 yes or no questions to figure out what country that person is. Got it?”
He nods and asks “Can I start?”
“Sure.”
Okay, we’re eager. Good. 
“I am a person.” he states.
“Alright, are you a woman?”
“Yes.” he nods.
“Are you from this century?”
“No, she’s actually from-” he starts, but cuts himself off before mumbling to himself “Yes or no questions. Just yes or no.”
I nod and hide my smile.
“Are you a monarch?” 
“No.”
“A writer?”
“Nope.”
“A scientist?”
“Yes!” he exclaims with a smile.
He has a very nice smile. It’s a rare sight for me. He does smile a lot, but it usually fades when I enter the room.
“Is there a Disney princess based on you?”
“No, not Jane.”
“Did you study dark matter?” 
“Not Freese either.” I can tell that he’s dying to tell me and his excitement is contagious “Come on, Becca. Think about the most obvious answer.”
Becca. He’s never called me that before. I like it.
“Rosalind Franklin?” I try.
“So close, come on. Just one step before her.”
“Marie Curie!” I exclaim.
“Yes!” he laughs. 
“I love Marie! I have a magnet of her on my fridge.” 
“You have a Marie Curie magnet?”
“Yes.” I smile and he just stares.
But this time, it isn’t a bad stare. I wouldn’t mind if he stared at me like this.
“Okay, okay. My turn.” I say.
I already knew what I would pick from the start, so I hint “I am a book.”
“A book?” he tilts his head.
“Is that your first question, doc?” I joke.
“No, no.” he shakes his head and brings his fingers to rest on his chin “Let me think.”
We’re closer to each other than we were before. Close enough for me to see the light stubble beginning to grow on his face and how his lips look slightly chapped.
Is he not drinking enough water? A voice whispers in my mind.
I notice I’m staring at his lips when he asks “Are you a romance book?”
“Yes.” I focus my attention on his eyes and, for the first time, he holds contact with mine.
At least he does for a few seconds, which is enough for me to notice the amber streaks in the midst of his chocolate brown irises.
“Are you from this century?”
“No.”
“Pride and Prejudice.”
I blink at him, mouth agape “How did you do that?”
“You read a lot of romance books.” He shrugs “I thought it could be your current read, but you’re reading a christmas rewrite of groundhog day so definitely not. Statistically, in these situations, we tend to pick something we can see at the moment, have seen recently or a favorite of ours. Considering there aren’t any books around and it’s not your current read, your pick could only have been your favorite.”
“How did you know Pride and Prejudice is my favorite?” I ask, completely shocked that he knows my reading preferences. 
Though, thinking rationally about it, he is a profiler. He’s just doing his job and noticing his surroundings.
“It’s the only book you’ve repeated in the last year. You’ve read it three times. Plus all the times I’ve found you watching the 2005 version with Garcia in her office while going on about something you called the ‘hand flex’ scene.” He looks confused at that last part, but shakes his head before looking expectantly at me.
I realize he’s waiting for me to confirm his answer.
“Yes, you’re right. You won.”
“I never lose.” he simply answers before looking away with a small smile. 
Maybe working with him won’t be so bad after all.
***
Spencer knocks on the last partner’s house, his black Ray-Ban sunglasses perched on the tip of his nose. We wait a few beats, but there is no reply. Strange. 
“FBI, open up.” Reid bangs against the door.
“Maybe they aren’t home?” I suggest.
“Do you have your gun?” he asks.
I move my hand to hike up my skirt and his gaze follows as I remove my glock gen 5 from the holster strapped to my thigh.
“Do you think we’ll need it?” I question, but hear the answering sound of glass shattering inside the house.
We exchange looks and snap into action. Reid jogs to the left side of the house and I stick to the right, checking the corners and bushes for movement with my gun held in defensive. I dial Pen’s number and leave the ringing phone in my pocket. I reach a window and look inside quickly. Clear. Clear and unlocked.
The smell of benzene reaches my nose before I completely open the window. He’s here. Why did he change his pattern? He just set a fire a couple of hours ago. 
Maybe he thought we wouldn’t expect it. He was right, I certainly wasn’t. Maybe he was afraid he was going to get caught and was eager to finish the job. 
I hear Reid’s voice and follow it to the living room, where the whole family is held hostage. They are each tied to a chair and completely wet with what I assume is the benzene. Four chairs. Two adults, two kids. Their screams of terror are muffled by his makeshift gags. There is a stuffed teddy on the floor next to white flowers and what looks like a broken vase. Their tiny faces are red from screaming and crying. He is going to kill the kids.
I thought I escaped this side of the job when I left CASMIRC. Adults can fight back, adults have flaws and maybe could have done something to deserve what they got, but the kids? They still have the hope and innocence that humanity takes from us once we reach a certain age. They are too young to know what is happening, but what does happen scars them for life. And if it doesn’t, that means I was too late. That means their lifeless faces scar me for life. Haunt me every minute that I am awake and in my nightmares. No, the kids never deserve it.
Spencer’s calm voice brings me back from my thoughts. “I know it was unfair. I know that what they did was wrong, but you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.” his voice booms and the woman cries behind her gag “They have to pay for what they have done to me. Put your gun down!”
He slowly lowers the gun to the floor before saying “You want revenge.” Reid looks at me for a millisecond, he’s buying me time “I understand the feeling.”
I take a step closer, still out of sight, and try to come up with a plan. 
Think! That voice yells in my minds
He has a gun and a lighter. The lighter is on. If I shoot, it falls and we all die.
“You have been wronged?” the unsub, Anthony Lewis, asks.
“I have.” he nods. 
When Anthony doesn’t say anything, he continues “I used to be considered the smartest guy at my job. Then, about a year ago, they hired someone new. I’ll tell you,” he laughs humorlessly “everyone thinks she’s so smart.”
“She?” Anthony questions.
He’s talking about me? Why the hell is he talking about me?
“Oh, yes. She. Everybody loves her. She’s so perfect and so smart and so young and so sweet. That’s what they say about her.” He scoffs and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him gesticulate this much. My heart races and constricts in my chest as he continues “But I’ll tell you what I think. I think she’s nothing more than a pretty face, that’s honestly not even that pretty. She’s not smart, she’s a far cry from perfect. I’m better than her in every single way”
I hold in my gasp. I try to tell myself that he’s just distracting the UnSub, that his speech means nothing, but tears still well up in my eyes.
He doesn’t mean it, he doesn’t mean it, he doesn’t mean it, it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true, …
I repeat it over and over in my head, but it’s no use. It’s no use because it’s what my mind tells me every single moment of every day. 
You’re not good enough, Rebecca. 
You’re not smart enough. You are not pretty enough. You are not brave enough. You! Are! Not! Enough!
“But, you know what? There is something that comforts me, something that helps me keep going. One thought that I play over and over in my head to keep me sane.”
“What is it?” he asks. 
His hand drops and I see that his grip loosened on the lighter. There is no longer a flame. He still has a gun so I have to be smart with this, but I walk in his direction, keeping to the wall.
“That someday, hopefully soon, they will see right through her little facade and realize that I’m the best.”
That’s enough. 
I kick the lighter out of the UnSub’s hand and move to disarm him, but he’s faster. Before I can react, he pulls the trigger. I push his hand down, but I think it still hits my leg. I can’t tell, it doesn’t hurt. 
Where the fuck is my gun?
I grab his gun by the barrel with my left hand and upper-cut his nose with my right. Taking advantage of the distraction his broken nose brought him, I twist the gun right off his hand and point it at him. 
“Anthony Lewis, you are under arrest for the murders of the Phillips family, the Jones family and the Martinez family,” Reid comes from behind the unsub and cuffs him “as well as the attempted murder of the Andersons.”
FBI agents swarm the room and take him away. Hotch and Emily are already taking the family to the ambulance, so I grab my phone from my pocket and see that Pen is still on the line.
“Hey.” I greet.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” she exasperates.
“I’ll be fine.” I say, picking up my gun on the floor. What Reid said hurt, but I’ll get over it. Maybe not now, maybe in a few years, maybe after a bottle of wine and a good cry, but I will get over it.
I am a little dizzy, though. Must be all this benzene. Even my tights are wet with it.
“Are you sure? I heard gunshots.” 
Oh, shit. Right. 
I look down and see the red blood oozing down my leg, the bullet lodged somewhere on my upper thigh. Well, fuck. I really liked this skirt.
Adrenaline must still be coursing through my veins because I take a tentative step forward and it only stings a little. I keep limping around the house, trying my best to keep pressure on the wound while walking.
“Yeah, um- Pen? I’ll talk to you later. There are some uh- pressing matters I have to attend to.”
“You got shot, didn’t you?” she gasps.
I sigh. Why does she have to know me so well? 
“Just a little, yeah.” I wince at a painful step.
“There is no such thing as getting a little shot!” she exclaims in my ear and the dizziness gets worse. 
Pain shoots everywhere with every step I take, slowly but surely becoming unbearable. Shit, I think I might pass out.
I reach the front of the house feeling lightheaded and I think my phone is slipping from my hand. I look back at the trail of blood I left behind and just stare as the world spins around me. 
Two hands grip my shoulders and I think Spencer is trying to say something. I push him away, but he doesn’t even move. I’m so mad at him. 
So, so mad.
The last thing I see before the world fades to black are his wide eyes.
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dr4cary-s · 3 years
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— UPSIDEDOWN WORLD. . . !
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chapter one. — new user
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— ♡ ❪ masterlist ❫ — ❪ next episode ❫
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summary: a strange page that can take you to a upsidedown world. this is how Y/N's life changed just by watching anime online. never trust those pages that they not have pornographic ads.
a/n: okay I know but. . . I COULDN'T RESIST MYSELF. i don't know how to control my emotions i'm too anxious lmfao. so here is it... welcome to the upsidedown world!!! the summary is not the best thing that i do, but i promise you from the bed of oikawa u will love it. the taglist is open, so hurry up if you want to be added to this crazy world.
pairing: haikyuu! various x f!reader
warnings: none
w/c: 790 this is to short :(
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"Arami (Y/N)!"
You groan.
"What?!" You yelled from your room.
"I told you to fold the clothes! You did not do it!"
You made a complaining sound.
"I'll do it in a bit! Let me see some chap—"
"None of that miss! First fold the clothes and then you see those your cartoons!"
"But—"
"(Y/N)!" She threatened.
You let out a long sigh and got up from your bed, going to carry out your mother's order.
You had arrived a few minutes ago from school and you just wanted to see the chapters of your beloved anime: Haikyuu!!. The new season is fantastic! And the characters! Oh my God...
Just thinking about them makes your mouth produce more saliva than normal. Why can't they exist?! It's so unfair! Although... On second thought, if they existed, you wouldn't be able to talk to almost anyone, since they would be in their business and many girls would be around them.
You shook your head, pushing those thoughts out. The faster you finish the task you mother asked you, the more time you will have to watch anime.
"What's in that cartoons that you always watch? Aren't you a little big already...?"
You looked at her indignantly. "What?!"
"What?" She said, not understanding your reaction.
"Mom, better... Don't say anything, okay? Shut up"
"Just saying! You could, I don't know, watch series with real people" She remark the real.
"Why? The result is the same: I would never know them"
She hesitated for a few seconds before speaking. "Yes but... At least they exist"
"Mommy!" You reproached, hurt by her words.
She laughed heartily, she did it on purpose.
You grumbled under your breath as you folded the laundry at a technically inhuman speed, resulting in a poorly made ball of cloth.
Your mother cleared her throat.
You groan.
"I got it, I'll do it again" You spoke reluctantly.
"Good that we understand each other"
You sighed. I just wanted to see anime peacefully... You think to yourself.
(...)
You stretched your body and looked at the laptop on your bed. You smiled as you drank from the straw in your glass. You came prepared for a beautiful marathon of your beautiful boys.
You lay down and started looking for the page but when you entered a poster appeared.
'Page in maintenance. The x / xx / xxxx will be enabled again.'
"Why the fuc…" You sighed. Let's see what other page you can find...
'Watch anime in 4k quality! I bet you will feel into the anime itself because of the perfect quality. Free!'
"Uh, that sounds good"
You clicked on the page and as incredible as it sounds, it did not contain annoying ads or anything that contains... porn. A grimace escaped your face as you remembered all those annoying virus-filled ads. You put the name in the search engine and there it was.
You smiled when you saw that all the seasons were found, even the new one. You clicked on the chapter to start watching it.
"Please! Choose the quality:
° Low quality
° Normal quality
° High quality
> REAL quality (it is recommended to be careful with this quality. The feeling can be extreme)
"Aha, yeah. Give me the real quality!" You selected the option and hit play.
"Wow..." You closed your eyes due to an annoying light and instantly pain seized your ass.
You opened your eyes and stroked your butt. You frowned. Where the fuck am I? I fell? Is this...? You looked everywhere, without getting up from the ground. You must be imagining things. Your eyes went up and there you saw a screen. My room!. The screen closed, disappearing.
"Enjoy user 1! You are the first to enter our experimental page. Congratulations!"
The mini poster disappeared.
You know this gym. TOO MUCH.
The doors opened and from these, the main characters made their appearance. They stopped laughing and chatting with each other. They stopped talking when they noticed your presence. They looked at you and you looked at them.
"What?!" Hinata was the first to speak. "Arami (Y/N) is here! In real life! Are you watching this Kageyama?! Arami is here! In the flesh!"
"My favorite character is real! Is this real?!" Nishinoya spoke euphorically.
Sugawara along with Asahi fainted.
You just looked at them in immense confusion and shock.
The fuck is going on here?!
"It must be someone like her, Shoyo. It can't be her, she doesn't exist" Ennoshita clarified sweetly.
"E-Eh... Guys...? Is it... you?
They stopped seeing each other to now look at you.
"She speaks! It is real!" Tanaka announced happily.
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I'm not sure Gojo has ever even shown an interest to any girls.
He calls Utahime weak and teases her by making fun of her, essentially- which she hates. Mei Mei is incredibly strong and beautiful, and Gojo acknowledges her skill but that's it. I also noticed that in the anime (the manga doesn't have honorifics, so please correct me if I'm wrong) but he calls her Mei-san rather than Mei Mei. Therefore, I don't think he ever tried to get much closer to her than the interactions we've seen. When she asks him if he'd comfort her if she cried, he tells her that's she strong- she wouldn't cry. I thought it was interesting that while Mei Mei's question was slightly flirty, Gojo answered so simply, without any teasing.
He calls Shoko by her first name, which is understandable since they spend more time together being in the same grade. He realizes that her ability is rare and useful, but like with Utahime and Mei Mei he doesn't go any further than that. He mostly speaks to her about work related things and doesn't flirt or tease much at all.
Honestly, I think Gojo actually respects his female colleagues and mostly pokes fun at Utahime because she's so uptight and strict. Shoko and Mei Mei are more relaxed and self-assured, and Gojo recognizes their skills and compliments them for it rather than teasing them. I doubt Gojo really thinks Utahime is truly weak more than he just loves riling her up. Other than that, Gojo's pretty respectful.
Also, in the Hidden Inventory arc, Gojo was bombarded with screaming from all the girls excited to see him. Other than pulling his shades down so they could see his face- after they asked him to, btw- he didn't really do much else. He didn't even react much to the teacher giving him her phone number. His only comment was "what a fun school," and it's interesting to see that while lots of girls do appreciate his looks, he acts only mildly amused.
Other than that one model as his wallpaper, we don't really see Gojo flirt or show interest with anyone. He only really teases Utahime to piss her off- I suspect he hates how much she follows the rules like Nanami does, who he teases often as well. He likely just enjoys annoying people so stern because rules just don't sit well with him (especially because of what those "rules" had done to Geto).
It's just a possibility, but he could be one of those guys who's more interested in work than pleasure- I know, he's handsome, but not all handsome people are players and cheaters. I think that's a horrible stigma and a lot of attractive people irl are judged and criticized solely for their looks. People make too many assumptions on someone just based on their genes, and I think it's pretty shallow to think Gojo's a womanizer just because he's attractive. And he knows he's attractive- but when did being confident in yourself make you a philanderer? Gojo has never used his looks manipulatively at all.
It's definitely a possibility that he would be a womanizer, but I'd say it's unlikely based in what we've seen. To sum it all up, Gojo doesn't show interest in anyone. He teases Utahime often, likely for the same reason be teases Nanami- they're too uptight. Shoko and Mei Mei are both incredibly skilled and beautiful sorcerers, and he does acknowledge and compliment them for it, but he doesn't tease or flirt with them. He's respectful, and he works with them as his colleagues. He didn't get distracted by the teen girls fawning over him either, or suddenly get overtly cocky or show off, only sliding his glasses down so they could see his face, and even then he acted only mildly amused. Also, when Miwa asked him for a picture, he didn't even stay and chat with her or anything (I know she's a minor, but if he truly was a womanizer, he would have at least stayed to hear her compliment him or anything to feed his ego) Maybe ask her "Oh, you want a picture with me? The strongest? How cute~" A flirty comment, a joke, something to fuel his own ego, but he doesn't do that. He doesn't act in a way that conveys he openly pursues attention from women. He just takes the picture with her and walks off casually.
Therefore, other than the fact that he's handsome- and I know many people who would assume things about someone based on their attractiveness, which is a terrible stereotype- Gojo doesn't show much interest in flirting at all. He could be the type of guy who works more than plays- and there's plenty of guys who are handsome but aren't super interested in playing around. Being handsome doesn't automatically mean he's the type to sneak around and have affairs here and there. It's completely realistic for a handsome man to be uninterested in any kind of relationships- not all men are sex crazed, and being a tease to his friends doesn't make Gojo a flirt either. Teasing your friends is perfectly normal.
Therefore, Gojo being a 28 year old virgin is totally possible- not everyone's a sex crazed teen who only thinks about what's between their legs, and basing it on what normal Japanese teens do is unfair. Neither Gojo or his lifestyle is exactly normal, and there's definitely barriers when it comes to experiencing normal youth activities for Gojo's generation- especially Gojo's generation. Yuji's generation definitely has more freedom to do fun things because of what Gojo has done to give the youth more freedom- things he hasn't been able to experience himself in his youth, like playing baseball during the exchange event. That was the first time they ever did something different to tradition, and that was only because of Gojo's consideration.
Gojo's youth was filled with blood, exorcising, and choosing between life and death. The deaths Yuji and co. witnessed were what Gojo experienced as well, if not worse. Gojo's task in his youth was to protect the weak, and he found that burdensome. At least, until Geto betrayed them, and Gojo realized the new burden he had to bear in changing the Jujutsu world because of what it had done to his only best friend.
There are definitely more important things in Gojo's mind than just losing his virginity, like saving people and choosing who to save, whether he should kill or not kill.
Gojo is the strongest, but he also bears the biggest burden- and that burden is something he chose to bear, and being the strongest is something he chose to be. Because before Geto left, it was "We are the Strongest." Now, Gojo worked tirelessly so that he could say "I am the Strongest."
And that's not something you can do while sleeping around. I think a lot of people fail to recognize just how hard Gojo works for himself and others. They just think, oh he's the strongest, so it should be easy for him. But it's really, really not that simple, is it? Especially when you have to do it on your own, and even then Gojo realizes that his strength alone isn't enough to save people. He can't save everyone by himself- It's not enough for just him to be the Strongest, so he works diligently to build and inspire his students to stand with him.
He's actually a very deep and emotional man who cares about his students and especially, even now, his best friend. Everything he does is for their sake- he sacrifices the normal life he could have lived, like Nanami had done, for their sake. And he fights with the higher ups, takes the brunt of their ire, and laughs it off, acting as if he fine, like a dad pretending he's superman for his kid's sake. But Gojo is burdened, and he's tired, and he hardly sleeps, and he has the most missions- he's the Strongest, which means everyone needs him, and he bears it.
Sorry for ranting again tho. I think I went into two different topics lol oops- 🤔
OUR SAVIOR 🤔 EDUCATING PEOPLE pay attention ya'll another thing I've noticed in the latest episode is that in his phone contacts he actually writes Utahime's name properly like formally no emojis or teasing shit he actually sees them as his colleagues people he can rely on his field of work and yes about the whole thing when he bursted into riko's class man was absolutely clueless just silent as a teacher tries to give him his number. I'm pretty sure as a child Gojo wasn't allowed to attend public schools due him being in danger or putting others in danger so he doesn't know much about public schools or normal people in general since he spends all his time with people from the jujutsu society.
That is definitely true just because someone is good looking that doesnt mean he's some cheap womanizer. I see a lot of people shipping him and Utahime together which is understandable ship who you like but I don't think Gojo as any ulterior motives like wooing Utahime by teasing her he just is plainly teasing ya know like friends do but in this case Utahime hates his guts and he doesnt know. I mean it takes some amount of hate to try to throw hot tea at someone 😂
While certainly I agree Gojo's teen like wasn't the best it was like he literally had a full time job at that age but who's to stay he didn't go messing around one time? I'm sure during his teen days he wanted to experience things he didnt get to to but now could because he lives on his own now. But maybe he didnt at all who knows? Which also raises another question, I wonder if he has any romantic experiences? And this was all before what happened in the hidden inventory arc after that I can see him more becoming invested in his duty and with what happened with geto as well would of definitely had a huge impact on him to try harder even though hes the strongest so that the next generation wouldn't have to experience the things he went through.
It's really sad if you really think about it what hes been through and what he has to shoulder all while keeping the facade that he's okay, I bet there were times he cursed his powers and his life....but he bears with it anyways because everyone is counting on him....
And don't be sorry at all! I am actually really learning alot about Gojo from you. Please continue to tell us your thoughts and feelings. I don't mind at all ❤ and thank you for taking the time to write 💕
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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years
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What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House
Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.
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...
...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!
Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!
HOW!
HOW!
...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.
Now, let's review, shall we?
WHAT I LIKED
Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.
Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.
Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.
Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.
Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?
Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.
Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.
Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.
...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!
Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.
Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.
Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.
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That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.
Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.
How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.
The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.
I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.
Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.
Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.
Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.
Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.
Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.
Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*
Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.
With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.
Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:
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She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--
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...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.
That is all. Let's move on.
Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.
Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.
Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.
“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.
King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.
King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.
King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!
Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!
What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.
...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!
IN CONCLUSION
"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.
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meruz · 3 years
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Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.
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Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.
1. When did you get into art?
Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.
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2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 
LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.
In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.
3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.
Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.
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4. What defines your artistic style?
You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...
Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.
5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?
I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?
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I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.
One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.
6. What levels of artistic education have you had?
I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.
7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.
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heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...
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assorted valentines prep doodles
8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?
Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.
10. What do you like most about your art?
I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:
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So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.
14. What do you like drawing the most?
Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.
oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.
15. What do you like drawing the least?
mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.
18. What is your purpose for drawing?
This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 
20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)
Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL
In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.
22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”
This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.
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And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.
24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)
I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look
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25. Draw a picture!
Man I’m so tired now but here.
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I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.
OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.
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I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!
I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!
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That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.
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Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:
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from top > bottom
- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen
- tombow fudenosuke
- muji 0.38 ballpoint
- medium size poscas
- grey tombow double brush pens
- good ol bic mechanical pencil
not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.
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You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3
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Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...
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uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.
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I assume these asks are related? LOL
1) Yeah totally true. I love David.
2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at [email protected].
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alicanta77 · 4 years
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Chapter 1: Tomorrow Never Dies
Pairing: y/n x Jeno
Themes: mutant au, angst, fluff
Warnings: mind control, experiments performed on people, needles, violence, minor character death, blood, descriptions of injury, swearing
Words: 14k
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Finale
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The repetitive high pitched beeping drew you out of your heavy sleep. You winced as the ceiling light switched on automatically, the brightness glaring down at you. You heard a groan from your roommate, signalling that he was also awake. You lay there for a second, your eyes trying to adjust, before pulling yourself up into a sitting position.
You turned your head towards the boy on your left, wincing once again as your neck cracked loudly. His eyes moved towards you, one eyebrow raised questioningly.
‘Lab last night?’ He asked, the three words asking the question that all of you dreaded.
Did they take you into the lab last night? Did they experiment on you? What did they do to you? What do you remember? Do you remember anything?
‘Yep.’ You muttered. ‘Routine 2b.’
It was Jeno’s turn to wince at your revelation. He knew that 2b was a painful routine that they could put you through, involving a lot of needles and a heavy focus on your neck.
You simply let out a dry chuckle and shrugged, a short yet sharp pain shooting through your neck and upper back as you did so.
‘Still feeling it?’ He asked again, clearly noticing your obvious discomfort.
‘How could you tell?’ You gave him a small smile, a sad but familiar one that was always exchanged between the two of you the morning after a visit to the lab.
The door of your cell buzzed, signalling that it was open, and in walked a single guard. He was wearing protective gear from head to toe, from thick boots, to a bullet proof vest, to his gloves, all the way to the helmet covering his face. You never knew who was behind all the gear, having never seen the face of a single guard in this facility for as long as you’d been here. The pistol strapped to his boot, or the knife at his side, or even the machine gun across his back probably should have scared you, but when that’s all you’ve known, you don’t see anything wrong with it.
Besides, you’re only in this facility to protect the outside world from dangers like you. The facility you’re in holds some of the most dangerous people in the world. The upper levels of the facility held criminals, each getting more threatening as you ventured down through the floors of the building. Those arrested for petty theft or vandalism were kept at the top, then the serial killers and mass murders were contained one floor above the bottom. You were kept in the most secured sub basement section of the facility. The lowest possible layer. You were watched at all time by guards and cameras, taken into labs for tests and experiments. Doctors would perform these on you, taking samples and notes, figuring out how to help you control yourselves.
The sub section you were kept in held around 150 people, most of them teenagers and young adults like you. You were different, called mutants of some kind. That was the closest you had ever come to an actual answer about what you were. What you did know was that you had abilities, something that the average human didn’t have, and that was what made you dangerous. Out of all the years you had been here, you had only managed to figure out a few other subject’s abilities. The seven other boys you shared your area with, to be exact.
You first found out about your roommate, Lee Jeno, subject A7, weather manipulation. He could create a storm by narrowing his eyes or make the sun shine brighter by simply smiling. His abilities were often affected by his emotions. The happier he was, the easier it was to create a sunny environment, but when he was angry or frustrated, he often found it difficult to control the storm that started brewing. There was something oddly poetic about his abilities though. This thought occurred to you the one and only time you saw him cry. To this day, you still have no idea what happened to break his heart like that, but, you watched one day as the guard pulled him aside and delivered some news. The next thing you knew, Jeno had collapsed to the ground, sobs tearing from his chest. Even though you were inside, rain droplets started to fall on your head. It was as if the sky had decided to cry with him. 
There was Mark Lee, subject A3, healing and super speed. Apparently it’s incredibly rare to have more than one ability. That’s why they call Mark Lee the ‘Golden Boy’. He often finds the world running at a pace that was too slow for him, his naturally faster system getting bored easily. He would spend some time running laps around the training room faster than you could blink. His healing skill is the one he has most trouble with. It doesn’t come as easily to him as his speed does. Instead, he has to learn it. Without thinking much, he can mend cuts and fade bruises, and, when he really focuses, he finds a way to stop serious pain or bleeding, and often pulls the body back together slightly.
Next, Huang Renjun, subject D9, image manipulation. He is the hardest to get a read on. You often can’t tell if he’s really in front of you, or if it’s simply just an image of him. He can make you see anything he wants you to see. Whether that is an empty training room when there’s actually ten people in there, or if it’s suddenly transporting you to a beach in the Caribbean. He seems to have the most control over his abilities out of all of you. Focusing now on making multiple people see what he wants them to, rather than just an individual.
After him, Lee Donghyuck, subject B5, he sees the future. No one knows how much he can see or how accurate it is, but he always know more than you do. You often think that he knows a lot more than he’s letting on. He likes to use his ability for trivial things, like telling people what’s for lunch or what to expect in training today. He has a much more serious and caring side to him though. You suspect that he uses his ability to keep an eye on your emotions as somehow, he always seems to know when you’re having a bad day.
Also, Na Jaemin, subject D2, mind control. Sweet as sugar but just as artificial, he could send you the deadliest smile, all while secretly enticing you into doing something for him. Normally it’s nothing drastic, fetching his lunch for him or asking a guard the question he doesn’t want to. But you never know when he’ll get bored of that and make you do something you really don’t want to. You always make sure to keep him on your good side. Similar to Donghyuck, no one really knows the true extent of his powers, making him even more mysterious. Even the guards seem nervous of him because you can never quite tell when he’s enchanting you, not until it’s too late.
Then comes Zhong Chenle, subject C6, a shapeshifter. Can transform easily if he’s looking at the animal, harder if he has to remember it and really has to focus if he wants to take on the form of another human. He always seems to be in a good mood. How he manages that you have no idea, but you’re always thankful. He takes the whole situation less seriously than the others. Choosing to randomly turn into birds and fly into the guards helmets or run up their legs as a mouse. No matter what, he always manages to make you laugh. 
And finally, Park Jisung, subject D4, super strength. Not exactly what you would expect the boy to have, considering his personality. He seems too sweet for this reality. He always wants the best for people and sees the good in everyone. Sometimes, you wish that you could have that mindset. He’s such a pure soul that you often forget he could squish you in between his fingers like a fly if you weren’t careful. He constantly seemed to forget that he was incredibly strong, often banging the table when laughing and knocking off a leg, or clapping Hyuck on the back and sending him sprawling to the floor. He was a bit clumsy but had a heart of gold.
Rounding out the floor, there was you, subject A1, telekinesis. You could move a glass simply by looking at it, pick something up by blinking or shake your head and watch the overhead lights swing. If you focused hard you could lift or move heavier things, but moving people took almost all of your energy. Like Jeno, your emotions affect how powerful you were. Unlike with Renjun and Chenle who seem to lose control the angrier or more emotional or worked up they get, with Renjun’s images flickering and Chenle shifting uncontrollably from animal to animal, you and Jeno seem to be able to do more. Jeno could make a thunder storm powerful enough to blow the windows out by clenching his jaw and you could lift impossibly heavy objects and even throw them. Pushing people to the side also only took a slight flick of your hand. Sometimes your powers scared yourself. What would you do if one day you lost control and hurt someone you loved? If you were already dangerous enough to be locked in a facility like this, what would that make you? You would be worse than a monster.
As well as sharing the same floor with you, you also shared the same training room and dining hall. You even shared the same lab. It terrified you every time you walked into or past it and got a glimpse of the blood coating the doctor’s hands from their previous procedures.
The guard back out of your doorway, keeping an eye on the two of you at all times. You tilted your head to the left slightly, narrowing your eyes at him, watching as the guard’s moves sped up. He tripped over his own feet slightly in a bid to leave the room as fast as possible, causing both you and Jeno to burst out laughing when the door was shut.
‘You really have to stop doing that. It’s mean.’ Jeno lightly scolded you, the smile still present on his face.
‘Oh please, I am nowhere near as bad as Chenle. You know, Jisung told me that the last time the guard went into their room, Chenle had hidden himself as a moth under the bed, and then dropped in front of the poor guard and turned himself into a bear.’ You recited the story of yesterday morning to Jeno’s disbelieving face. ‘It’s true! Besides, at least we get to wake up to a smile on our faces.’
‘Yeah, you have a point.’ He paused for a second before giggling again. ‘Chenle is ruthless.’
You couldn’t help but laugh as well, treasuring the rare moments like this. Moments where everything seemed ok, seemed normal, and you could enjoy life and laugh with friends as if nothing else was wrong. However, those moments only ever last a few seconds.
The speakers in your room buzzed to life as a voice cracked through them.
‘All subjects to the rose room in five minutes. All subjects to the rose room in five minutes.’
You both looked at each other and sighed, before climbing out of your beds and grabbing the clothes provided. The guards come in every morning to drop them off. A simple grey jumpsuit, that was all you wore, everyday. You grabbed yours and headed into the bathroom to change. You pulled it on and spared yourself a short look in the mirror. The dark bags around your eyes were prominent, as were the small red dots on your neck. The only traces of what you went through the previous night. You rubbed them, trying to soften the aching before turning to leave the bathroom.
You knocked on the door, waiting for a shout from Jeno to say that it was okay for you to come out, before exiting. Together you waited for the trademark low pitched buzz that signalled your cell door being unlocked, and headed out into the hallway.
As you left you spotted the doctor waiting by your door. The other cells on your floor made the same low pitched buzz, and, gradually, out walked the other six boys. There were doctors positioned by each door, prepared with an injection. You received it every day, a numbing agent, that dulled your abilities for a period of time. It was given to you in the morning, allowing you to do your work and have lunch before it wore off and you went to your training sessions. 
The doctor extended a gloved hand to you, silently asking for your arm. You handed it to her and she rolled up your sleeve. She turned over your wrist and held you by the elbow as she positioned the syringe just below the joint.
The syringe wasn’t the kind they used in the labs. It wasn’t glass with a long metal needle on one end, it was thicker, something that had to be properly gripped with a button on the top to administer whatever was inside.
The doctor gave you no warning before she pushed the button and you winced as the machine let out a hiss, injecting the blue serum into you. You watched as she held out a hand to Jeno and repeated the same procedure. You blinked slowly a few times, the effects of the drug already taking hold.
‘Make your way to the rose room. Now.’ A guard to your left barked.
You turned robotically, your mind fuzzy and clouded. You began the journey to the rose room, your entire being occupied with the simple task of getting there. You had no thought process, no questions running around your mind, you weren’t thinking of anything. You just did what you were told.
You walked down with Jeno by your side, the white walls and floors passing you by with every step you took. You vaguely registered Jaemin joining you in your peripheral vision, but you didn’t turn to look at him. You kept your head straight, your face emotionless and your mouth shut. None of you looked at each other, none of you looked anywhere but straight ahead, and none of you uttered a word. None of you gave an inclination that you were more that walking robots, fully compliant and prepared to carry out any instruction given.
Because, in reality, under this drug, that was all that you were reduced to. You just didn’t realise the danger of that yet.
---
The door to the rose room was already open when you arrived, a guard standing there holding it for you. You didn’t spare a look towards him, your dull eyes kept focus on what was in front of you. You trudged towards your position, finding the spot labelled with your subject number and began your work.
The rose room was a large greenhouse. Inside it was a maze of rose bushes, sporting roses of all kinds and colours. If you were more awake then maybe you would appreciate the reds, blue, yellows and purples a lot more, but in your zombified state, you only knew work. In the middle of the room, however, was a large conveyer belt. 
Your job was to extract certain things from these roses, place them on the conveyer belt, and move onto the next thing. You did this for three hours in the morning everyday.
It was only in the rose room that you saw more of the subjects that were kept in the facility. You were just conscious enough to be aware of the girl and boy on either side of you, and of the fact that you didn’t recognise them.
However, you were blissfully unaware of the guards stalking through the rows of you. They stopped by the boy on your left and grabbed him by the shoulders. You didn’t register the guards movements. You didn’t register the boy being violently yanked out of his position. You didn’t register him being dragged down the halls. You didn’t register his screams.
You did your work.
---
Due to the numbing agent of the serum, time didn’t seem to exist during your work and lunch, so, before you knew it, it was time to train. 
The training room was a very large open space, with an area of it dedicated to a certain activity. Your training works in a circuit. Each of you has an individual routine, specific activities and exercises to work on each day that are tailored towards your abilities. As well as the ability training, you all have fitness training and agility and other physical exercises to complete as well. You weren’t sure what you were training for, but you had been doing it all your life.
Yesterday you had been working on distance training. This was one exercise that was centred around your ability and focused on you trying to move the same object from a further distance each time. It was repetitive and mentally draining, but always gave you good results. Since that was yesterday, it meant that today you were working on your physical agility and assisting it with your abilities. It involved things such as jumping from narrow beams and using your telekinesis to help and support your movements.
You always began without using abilities, trying it by yourself so that you knew where you needed to direct your energy. You started on two long beams that were only around two feet off the floor, and you simply jumped between them, trying to keep your balance. You had to make your way down them while jumping from one to the other, speeding up each time you completed it.
Then, once the instructor watching you was satisfied, you were told to use your abilities. You now used telekinesis to manipulate the air around you to help you jump. It made you jump further and faster, also with safer landings. You continued with this for a short while before the instructor stopped you.
‘Right, now let’s actually put it to the test.’ They said, turning away from you.
You watched them, confused, bending over slightly with you hands on your knees as you tried to catch your breath. You had been hoping for a break so that you could rest briefly but you had no such luck. Your instructor turned around and pointed above them.
‘Up you go’ They said nonchalantly. You followed to where they were pointing and you let out a breath of disbelief. Above you, hanging from the ceiling, were thin beams that were swaying the the minute breeze cause by the movement.
‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ You thought. But you instructor simply looked at you expectantly and you knew that you weren’t getting out of this. All the other boys were drawing to a close with their exercises, which didn’t go unnoticed by your instructor, so they decided to make a small change to their plan.
‘You get through this once, and then we’re done for the day. Okay?’ They said, nodding with a smile that was anything but friendly.
You took a deep breath and climbed the stairs to the side of the room. On the way up you looked down and watched as Jisung finished his final exercise, meaning that all the boys were officially done. You reached the top and looked out in front of you.
The beams were much thinner than those you had been working on below, and, not to mention, the ropes holding them up looked suspiciously frail. They creaked as they moved and the wooden beams swayed gently in front of you. You knew that you weren’t getting out of here without completing this task, so you jumped.
The first jump was easy. It wasn’t even half a meter long and your telekineses helped you to keep the beam steady. You took careful steps, wincing every time the beam creaked underneath your weight. The ropes groaned as you moved but you kept going, knowing that slowing down would be more dangerous. 
You cleared the second jump again, with a little more effort required, but you couldn’t quite figure out why it was more difficult. You made you way across this one swiftly, keeping you steps as light as possible due to the trembling ropes. The last thing you wanted was to fall now. It wasn’t until you reached the third jump that you realised why it was getting harder.
The jumps were getting bigger.
You swallowed, risking a look down and seeing the seven boys watching you carefully. You took a shaky breath, keeping your eyes on them as you saw Jeno give you a nod of encouragement. You nodded back and lifted your head, determined to finish this. You focused your mind on using the air around you and pictured pushing the particles together to form a barrier. You jumped forward and used that barrier to lift you slightly higher. You let out a sigh of relief when you cleared the distance, but you relaxed too early as you hadn’t taken into account the weight of you landing.
The ropes creaked dangerously loudly and you watched in fear as they began to fray. You knew you had to finish this quickly, or else you would be taking the quick way down. You took step after step, walking as fast as you possibly could to reach the second to last jump. You lifted off again, this time with less preparation due to you worry of the beam snapping, and you almost didn’t make it. You landed, roughly on the edge of the beam, holding onto it desperately in an attempt to pull yourself up.
You could hear the worried intakes of breath from the boys below you, but they didn’t say a thing. They weren’t allowed to. Interfering with another subject’s training had painful repercussions. 
‘Come on y/n.’ You heard Jaemin’s voice echo through your head. You spared a look down to find him looking at you intently. You realised that he must be using his abilities to speak with you telepathically. You didn’t know he could do that. ‘Pull yourself up. You can do this.’
You forced yourself to focus, using your ability to help your legs up and you got onto the beam. You had just straightened up when it started to shake, the ropes of the verge of breaking.
‘Run!’ Jaemin’s voice shattered your dazed mind and you took off. One foot in front of the other, just trying to reach the end. You only had two jumps left to make, one to the final beam and one to the solid platform at the end with the stairs to take you back down to the safety of the ground. 
You launched off the beam and onto the final one, the impact of your landing causing the ropes to tremble. You began to run and they properly gave out. You felt the beam beneath you begin to give way and you placed a final foot as close to the edge as you could, and leaped.
You used your ability the best you could, but you could tell that you weren’t going to make it. Then you felt a sudden gust of air push you up slightly, allowing you to just clear the distance and land in a heap, safely on the other side. 
You lay there on the ground for a second, catching your breath. The instructor’s voice echoed around the training room.
‘Head back to your cells! We’re done for the day!’
---
You and Jeno were making your way back to your cell after dinner. The events of the training room hadn’t left your mind. That final gust of air had saved you. And you knew that it had to have come from Jeno. No one else could do that.
‘Hey Jeno?’ You asked, keeping your eyes on the floor as you walked.
He hummed in response.
‘Thank you for earlier. I don’t know what I would have done without you.’ You said honestly.
He stopped you walking, forcing you to look at him.
‘You don’t ever need to thank me. I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine. No matter what, we’re always gonna protect each other yeah?’
You nodded, a smile etching its way onto your face.
‘Yeah.’
You kept walking, turning the corner into your corridor that your cell was near the other end of. On the way to your cell, you passed the lab with its door open. You looked into it as you passed and stopped in your tracks. Donghyuck was on the operating table they had in the middle of the room, being restrained by two guards as he whimpered and resisted. You watched as they clamped metal restraints over his wrists and ankles, keeping him in place. A doctor began to approach him with a scalpel in his hand when the two of you were noticed. The doctor gestured towards the guard who reach forward and slammed the door shut, the lock clicking afterwards.
You and Jeno shared a sad look. The familiar whirring noise of the doctor’s instruments radiated through the door and you winced. You both recognised that sound and knew what Donghyuck was about to be put though. Jeno’s arm came up to your back to begin to guide you back to your shared cell. You accepted and walked with him. You knew that there was nothing you could do.
You hadn’t even got halfway down the corridor before Donghyuck began to scream.
---
9 days had passed since your last lab visit, meaning that you would be back in there tonight. And you were. You hadn’t even finished eating when the guards came to collect you. The other boys watched you sadly as you were escorted away.
You lay down on the operating table waiting for them to proceed. You felt the two guards approach you and you instinctively began to draw yourself away.
‘Strap her down. We don’t have time for this.’ The doctor instructed, frustration already present in his tone.
The guard stepped towards you again, grabbing your hands and pushed them down onto the table you were lying at. He ignored your begs and pleads to let you go and, instead, clamped the metal restraints down over your wrists. He repeated this process with your feet, effectively locking you in place.
You struggled against the cuffs with all you might but couldn’t budge one bit. You were used to being cuffed at your wrists and ankles, but it was when the guard approached you with a large belt, strapping your stomach to the table, that you really began to freak out. Your whole body thrashed from side to side as you tried to break free, but eventually, you found yourself unable to move.
The doctor leaned forward and pushed the guard out of the way. You noticed that, for the first time, there were three doctors preparing to work on you, rather than the normal one. This, and the intense measures that they went to to ensure that you couldn’t move, caused your fear to shoot through the roof.
‘The new procedure today Doc?’ One of the younger doctors asked.
‘Yes. We should be able to get some good data.’ The doctor leaning over you answered. 
You whimpered slightly, terrified of what was about to happen. The doctor leaned further over you, adjusting the scalpel in his hand. You tried to move away from it, but you had no power. The other two doctors held you head and chest, exposing you neck.
You felt the small knife make a long incision on the back of your neck and you couldn’t stop the scream that ripped from your throat. Something was on this knife that was making it unbelievably painful.
‘Don’t panic, she’s just reacting to the acid that’s on the tools.’ The first doctor’s voice cut through.
Acid.
Whatever was happening to you, it was going to be the most painful experience of your life.
And it was.
You screamed and thrashed and sobbed, trying everything you could to escape the merciless torture that was being inflicted upon you. You were cut in areas, injected, and hit with other objects. The doctors measured you reactions to each of these and took notes on how your body reacted.
You eventually transcended the level of pain, you body and mind too broken for you to register the full extent of what you were going through. You couldn’t even scream anymore, your lungs and vocal cords exhausted from the amount you’d used them in the previous hours.
‘Ok that’s enough.’ You heard a voice say. You tried to pry your eyes open to see who was speaking, but you couldn’t move. You could barely even focus on the words that were being said.
‘It’s not your job to tell us what to do.’ You recognised the main doctor’s voice.
The previous voice replied again. ‘It’s my job to keep them alive. Now stop.’
You managed to pry open your eyes and noticed a guard standing in front of the doctor, staring him down. You could’t process what was going on. The guards never stood up for you.
However, something in the guard’s words made the doctor turn back towards you, and when he saw the state that you were in, he swore.
‘Fuck.’ The words left his mouth softly and he suddenly began to rummage through the drawers. ‘Save the data, we need to eradicate this experience. She couldn’t take as much as we thought she could.’
The younger doctor’s voice piped up, a sentence that sent a chill down your spine. ‘We could try it on subject A3. The higher levels of speed mean that he heals faster, we would probably get further on him.’
‘Good idea.’ The first doctor replied.
Subject A3... Mark.
‘Now this is going to wake her up for about thirty seconds before knocking her out again. But she still isn’t going to have control over her limbs so you need to get her back to her cell, understand?’
You assumed the doctor was talking to the guard, but your eyes had closed again. The weight of your eyelids being too much to hold open in your current state. You tried to protest as the doctor tiled your head to the side, but all that came out was a choked whine. You hissed as the needle pierced your skin and something was injected into you.
You head spun violently as your body registered the new drug and you felt as though you were going to throw up. Your eye shot open as you gulped for air, your newly freed arms coming up to scratch at you throat.
Not even two seconds later, your entire body was numb. You couldn’t move, stand or pick yourself up even if you wanted to. The guard approached you, holding one of your arms over his shoulder and supporting your waist with the other. He lifted you up and walked you out of the door. Until the doctor’s voice caused a sudden stop to his movements
‘Ten? Not a word of this to anyone.’
The guard, Ten, didn’t move, didn’t even turn back to look at the doctor, but he didn’t need to in order to understand the threat. He made his way down the corridor, swearing as you slipped slightly from his grip. You watched the floor begin to spin under you feet as you were carried back to your cell. He finally reached the door, swiping his key card in the lock and kicking it open before throwing you back inside.
Your limp body hit the floor with a hard thud and the door closed behind the guard as he exited, locking with a click and a buzz. The ceiling spun above you and you couldn’t move to pull yourself up from the floor to get to your bed. You just registered Jeno’s worried face coming into your vision when it all went black.
---
You woke to the same high pitched beeping you did every morning. This time, however, to the view of Jeno’s head on your bed too. He had fallen asleep on the floor, watching over you throughout the night.
He stirred slightly, groaning as the beeping woke him from his slumber. He lifted his head, turning suddenly to look at you, his eyes widening when he saw that you were awake.
‘Y/n? Are you okay?’ He asked, concern etched on his features.
You opened your mouth to speak, but all that came out was a hoarse croak. You throat burned from the previous night and you winced at the pain. Jeno stood quickly, running into the bathroom to get you a glass of water. He came back and handed it you, watching as you gulped it down.
‘What did they do to you?’ He whispered, watching you form sadly. 
‘I don’t know.’ You whispered back, unable to speak any louder.
The door buzzed open and a guard walked in, the number 10 easily visible on the strap on his upper right arm. He placed the new grey jumpsuits on the end of your bed began to walk away again. The guard stopped in the doorway and turned back.
‘The rose room has been cancelled.’ He informed the two of you. ‘Instead, you train in the morning, then go for lunch and have a free afternoon. Get out of bed y/n.’
Both yours and Jeno’s heads shot towards the guard as he left, the two of you frozen in shock as the door locked shut.
‘Tell me you heard that too.’ Jeno breathed.
‘Yep.’ You confirmed, your brain running at a mile a minute.
‘They never address us by our names.’ He stated, and he was right. You were always addressed by subject number, nothing else.
‘Yep.’ You repeated.
‘Only by subject number.’
‘Yep.’
‘What do you think it means?’ He asked, turning away from the shut door to look at you.
‘I don’t know.’ You shook your head, your eyes still locked on the cell door that was staring back at you.
‘Why was it only you?’ Jeno wondered aloud.
‘I don’t know.’ You knew about as much as Jeno did so you honestly had no idea why he was asking you all these questions.
‘How do you feel about it?’
You paused, not knowing how to answer the final question that, for some reason, made your blood run cold. You turned to look at him.
‘... I don’t know.’
---
You and Jeno were the last to enter the training room. You both scanned the guards surrounding you all, but when none of them had the number 10 on their armour, you shared a disappointed look. Before arriving, you had decided to keep a look out for that guard, to see if there was something that separated him from the others. Something you could notice that would give you a reason as to why he used your name rather than your number. Once the eight of you were in the room, the guards turned and left, shutting the door behind them. You all stared at the shut door, then at each other. You had never been left alone in the training room before. Never.
What was wrong with this day?
You walked towards the physical agility station, confused when you saw Chenle standing there, preparing for his training. You weren’t sure why he was there when it was your turn for that station. He turned around when you approached him, his confused features mirroring your own.
‘Umm I’m meant to be on this station today.’ You informed him, not quite understanding why he didn’t already know that. You had all been on this training timetable for as long as you could remember.
‘No you’re not.’ Chenle replied bluntly, staring at you as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
‘Yeah, I am.’ Chenle shook his head at you but you persisted. ‘Yes, I am! I was on distance training yesterday so now I’m on this. Aren’t you on strength and conditioning?’ You stared at him expectantly but instead watched as worry spread across his face.
‘Y/n...’ His voice was low, quite as if he wasn’t sure how to tell you this. ‘You did physical agility three days ago.’
‘What do you mean?’ You asked, unable to quite wrap your mind around this new piece of information.
‘I mean you did this activity three days ago.’ He repeated, his eyes widening with worry. ‘Don’t you remember?’
You shook your head and took a shaky step back. By this point the other boys had begun to notice the conversation between the two of you, prompting them to come over and see what was wrong. Jeno placed a hand on your should, having just overheard the last two sentences.
‘Y/n, what do you remember?’ He looked you straight in the eyes.
‘I don’t know.’ You repeated the words you had already said multiple times today, fear and frustration growing. 
‘What did they do to you in that lab?’ He questioned, desperate for an answer.
‘I don’t know.’ You could hear the emotion creeping out in your voice.
‘Think!’ Jeno said, shaking you by the shoulders gently.
‘I don’t know! I don’t remember!’ You raised your voice, your body beginning to shake. All of the other boys stared at you in horror and you fell into Jeno’s hug whispering a scared. ‘Why don’t I remember?’
It was Jaemin’s voice that spoke the words you were all thinking but too afraid to say, scared of what it would mean for you all.
‘They wiped her memory.’
---
You eyes opened to the harsh light above you as the same rhythmic beeping woke you up. Even though you have woke up to the same noise for as long as you can remember, it still drives you insane to listen to it.
You rolled over, pulling your pillow over your head as you waited for it to stop. You felt a weight on the side of your bed and hands gently pull the pillow off your face. You opened one eye to be greeted with Jeno’s smiling face. You couldn’t help but let out a smile at the little crescents his eyes made each time he smiled. It always managed to make you happy as well.
You rolled onto your back and shut your eyes again, pulling one arm over to help block out some of the light that was still making its way though. Jeno’s hand came up to rub your arm comfortingly.
‘How are you feeling today?’ He asked, his voice slightly raspy from just having woken up.
You groaned out as a response
‘I don’t know. Better, I guess. We talked about it a lot yesterday which helped. At least now we know how much I’m missing.’
You removed your arm from your eyes and looked at the boy above you who was nodding.
‘Three days, including an entire visit to the lab. We have to assume that something happened that they didn’t want you to remember.’ He mused, the logical and rational side of his brain showing.
‘But what?’ You wondered. It annoyed you so much that the only person who had these answers was you, and you couldn’t even remember them.
The cell door buzzed and a guard walked in. You lifted your head to get a look at his number. 23. No luck. He threw the jumpsuits onto the end of your bed and then proceeded to stare at the two of you.
‘Stay apart. No need to be that close.’ He ordered, but neither of you moved. ‘I said, keep distance between the two of you. Stay on your own bed!’ 
He took a step forward, as if he was preparing to pull the two of you away from each other, but you acted faster. You threw your hand out, making a pushing motion and watched as the guard flew out of the door, landing on his bum a few feet back. 
He stumbled to his feet, attempting to stammer out an insult or some other kind of attempt to show off his power, but instead just settled on slamming the door shut. 
The lock buzzed and Jeno turned to look at you, shock and amazement clear on his face.
‘How did you manage that? That took almost no effort.’
You sighed.
‘I’m tired.’
Jeno’s brows furrowed at your reply.
‘But you’re like me in that being tired means it takes more effort and focus to use your abilities.’
You nodded at him as you explained yourself.
‘Yep. But I’m not that kind of tired. I mean I am, but most of all, I’m tired of this. This life, whatever it is. I’m tired of being treated like I’m a monster, I’m tired of the experiments, I’m tired of the training, I’m fed up with being here.’ You turned your head to look at Jeno after your confession and watched as he nodded with a sad but understanding smile on his face.
‘Yeah... me too.’ He admitted, his voice soft.
‘I know.’ You whispered.
---
You exited your cell, ready for the day and saw guards lined up by your door. You and Jeno shared a confused look, wondering where the doctor’s were, when the guard next to Jisung began to speak.
‘From now on, we’ll be administering your serum.’ He then turned to the boy in front of him. ‘Arm out.’
The guard by your door did the same, grabbing your wrist and exposing your inner elbow. He placed the syringe just below the joint and pressed down. You winced at the feeling that you were unfortunately used to and stepped away so that Jeno could get his. You then waited for the usual symptoms to hit you, watching as your friends turned into the comatose shells of themselves that you were expecting.
But they never came.
Your mind remained as sharp and aware as ever, and you could feel every thought that ran through your mind. You turned back to look at Jeno and, one look at his eyes told you that he was feeling the exact same thing. Your eyes flickered towards the guard who administered your serum and you focused on the number on his arm.
10.
Jeno followed your gaze and looked back at you with wide eyes. The guard began to walk towards the two of you and, out of the corner of your eye, you could see the other guards doing the same so you didn’t think too much of it. Until he began to speak.
‘You’re heading to the rose room.’ He then made sure to look the both of you directly in the eyes. ‘And you’re under the usual effects of the serum.’
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving both you and Jeno alone. You decided to just do what he said and head to the rose room, but you made sure to act as though you were feeling the usual effects of the serum. You moved lethargically, dragging your feet and keeping your eyes ahead at all times. Jeno did the same, both of you faking it the entire way there, while wondering what the hell was going on.
---
You stood at your usual position in the rose room, gathering ingredients and putting them on the conveyer belt like you always did. When you entered the room it was hard not to react to anything. The range of brilliant colours blinded you as you entered and it took everything in you not to just stop and stare.
You noticed that, out of the all the subjects there, that you guessed would be around one hundred, it only looked like your group was under the serum. The rest of them seemed very much aware of their surroundings and what they were doing. When gathering the ingredients you took a quick look at what it was exactly that you were gathering. When you got a glimpse of the label, your heart stopped. These were the same bottles that were found in the lab. It wasn’t until you managed to look over every different object obtained from the genetically modified roses, that you realised you had spent your entire life gathering the solutions and serums that the doctors had used to perform experiments on you.
You had been assisting in your own torture.
You found yourself standing at your final station, a girl you didn’t recognise on your right and the space to your left was empty. The guards began to march between you all, weaving their way through the working subjects. They stopped next to you, so close that you could feel their breath on the back on your neck.
The hairs on your arm began to rise and goosebumps began to form at the close contact. You prayed that they couldn’t see your reaction, knowing that it would give away your state. But they weren’t there for you.
The guards grabbed the girl on your right by her shoulders and pulled her backwards. They held her underneath each arm and dragged her out of the rose room. Her screams, struggles and pleas for help went completely ignored as she was eventually pulled out of sight. No one took any notice, not single subject seemed to realise what had just happened. You could her your heart pounding louder than every before, the girl’s screams still echoing in your head, haunting your thoughts.
A sudden bell sounded through the rose room, one that you recognised as signalling the end of the session. You turned in your spot, waiting for your turn to leave as all the subjects filed out of the rose room in orderly fashion. The fact that the girl was taken at the end of the session made you nervous. Is that what the guards were doing when walking through you all? Looking for their next target? And how long it would be until it was one of you?
---
After the longest day yet, you and Jeno were back in your cell. The door locked behind you and you both turned and stared at each other in disbelief.
‘How much have we missed by being under the serum?’ You asked.
‘They must only put us under it so that they can get away with doing all those things, it’s not to protect us at all.’ Jeno stated and you nodded in agreement.
‘And did you see what we were gathering in the rose room?’ You brought up, watching as Jeno’s eyes widened in realisation.
‘The solutions they use in the lab! And what did they do to that poor girl?’ His voice softened as you both thought about the subject being dragged away from you all, begging for help.
‘I didn’t even know her name.’ You muttered.
‘Me neither.’ Jeno admitted. ‘But did you notice, I don’t think anyone other than our group was under the simulation.’
‘Yes!’ You agreed. ‘I saw that too. Everyone else seemed perfectly aware of what was going on.’
Jeno nodded and you sat down on your bed, your brain feeling as though it was about to explode.
‘Huh...’ You mumbled, a sudden thought crossing your mind.
Jeno turned his head towards you, his eyebrows furrowing at the confused look on your face.
‘What?’ He questioned.
‘It’s just... the other subjects were definitely awake. It was obvious that they hadn’t been given the serum that we normally are. So, why didn’t they react to that girl being taken by the guards.’ You pondered.
Jeno thought for a moment, sitting down on his own bed opposite you.
‘Maybe they’re used to it.’ He suggested. ‘We don’t know how often that happens, it could be considered normal.’
‘I guess.’ You conceded. ‘But they didn’t react at all... I mean, even if you’re used to it, she was screaming for her life and they didn’t even spare a glance. It’s strange not to take any notice of that. I mean, we only didn’t because we had to act as if we were still under the serum.’
Jeno didn’t reply for a second, his eyes fixated on his hands that fiddling were in his lap.
‘Why do you think we weren’t given the serum?’ He asked, looking up at you.
You opened your mouth to tell him that you had no idea, but the lock on your door buzzed, and it swung open. Four guards stalked in causing you and Jeno to both stand out of shock. You were never disturbed at this time unless it was to take you to the lab, and it was Renjun’s night tonight.
Two of the guards approached you, the other two heading towards Jeno.
‘What’s happening?’ Jeno asked, but he was ignored.
Not a words was uttered by the guards as they grabbed you by the arms and began to drag you out of your cell. You began to kick and scream, struggling with all your might to break free.
‘Jesus, why can’t she go quiet?’ One of the guards complained, earning a groan from his partner.
‘Just get her to the lab and stop complaining.’
The lab...
You began to throw yourself about, desperate to not go back there, whatever the cost. You had no idea what it was that was making you react this violently, but your instincts kicked it and told you to fight with all your might.
Upon seeing you reaction, Jeno tried to reach for you, but he was stopped by the other two guards who grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him back. They held onto him tight as he tried to break through them.
‘Y/n! Let go!’ He yelled out, trying to land a hit on one of the guards.
‘Jeno!’ You called back, kicking out with your feet in an attempt to throw the guards off balance.
‘Y/N!’ You could hear Jeno crying out for you as you were pulled out of the cell completely. You just managed to see the two guards holding Jeno throw him to the floor before they turned to leave. They locked the door, with you on the outside and Jeno on the inside.
You continued to be dragged away, crying out for dear life, begging someone to come and help you. But no one did. They all acted as if you didn’t exist. You couldn’t help but wonder if this was how that girl had felt earlier. Screaming and pleading for someone to save her, only to be treated like a ghost.
Jeno’s screams for you could still be heard halfway down the corridor, along with the heavy banging against the door from him throwing his body against it in an attempt to get out.
As you approached the lab door, every morsel of your being was telling you, screaming at you, not to go back in there. But you didn’t have a choice. The two guards threw you into the lab, one of them following you in, before the door was locked shut. You were stuck in the lab with one doctor and one guard, and you were terrified.
You banged on the door, trying desperately to get out. You were so frantic that you couldn’t hear the doctor trying to get your attention. It was only when you realised that they were making no effort to restrain or cuff you that you managed to calm yourself down slightly.
You turned away from the door, the tear tracks down your face prominent. You weren’t sure when you had started crying, the utter terror you had been feeling having taken over your entire body.
The doctor took one step towards you, holding up his hands as if in surrender, but also to show you that he wasn’t holding anything.
‘Well done y/n. Just try to keep yourself calm okay? Breathe... Can you do that for me?’
You didn’t reply to him, simply staring at the man that seemed to act as if he cared for you. These doctors didn’t care for you. Normally you would be handcuffed to the table, screaming in pain by now, but for some reason you were standing upright being told to breathe.
The guard to your left took off his helmet, causing you to take a breath of surprise. You had never seen a guard with his helmet off before, much less one this close. You gawked as the man smiled at you, a genuine, comforting smile that for some reason made you feel safe.
The doctor began to speak again.
‘Y/n, we’re not going to hurt you. In fact, we’re trying to help you. My name’s Doyoung and this is Ten.’ 
‘Uh huh...’ You stuttered, not really managing to get any real words out.
‘Ten administered your serum this morning, the serum I created for you. And you probably don’t need me to tell you that it was a fake.’
You nodded at the doctor’s words, still trying to calm your racing heart.
‘We did that because there’s a lot that you don’t know about this place that we think you should.’ The doctor, Doyoung, then turned to the guard. ‘Ten can you get her some water?’
The guard, who you assumed went by his uniform number 10, nodded before standing up.
‘Do you want to sit down?’ Doyoung asked, pulling up a chair for you.
You nodded, gladly taking the chair and very grateful that he didn’t ask you to sit on the table. Ten offered you a glass of water, which you took with a small smile as thanks. You took a sip, relishing in how the cool liquid managed to calm your mind.
‘Ok, keep going.’ You said and Doyoung’s eyebrows raised in surprise. ‘Why are you surprised? Like you said, after what I’ve seen today, I’m not so sure that this place is really meant to keep me safe.’
Doyoung sighed and looked down sadly.
‘It isn’t. This place isn’t designed to keep you safe, but rather to keep you in. It’s a prison. I know that to you it seems as though there are hundreds of people here, but there aren’t. Only the eight of you on your floor are being kept here.’
You let out a deep breath you didn’t even know you were holding.
‘A prison...’ You whispered. ‘Only for the eight of us?’
Doyoung nodded and Ten placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.
‘Why us?’ You asked.
Doyoung and Ten shared a look, making you dread what was coming next.
‘Please, just tell me what I am.’ You begged, so tired of having spent your entire life not knowing the most basic thing about you.
‘Doyoung, she needs to know.’ Ten said, as Doyoung sighed.
‘Yeah, I know. There’s no easy way to tell you this y/n. The world fell into chaos slightly. Political leaders began to clash more and more with each other and, before we knew it, we were on the brink of a third world war. One that, this time, really would involve the whole world, and with the creation of nuclear weapons, our government want something that would set us apart from everywhere else. He decided to turn his intentions to modifying humans. He exposed children to certain chemicals and levels of radiation when they were young to see if anything had an affect on them. Eventually he found success, but at a very large cost.’
‘How large?’ You whispered, scared of the answer. Ten spoke up this time, making you turn your head towards him.
‘He tested on over three hundred thousand children. You eight are the only survivors.’
You didn’t know how to react. Eight out of three hundred thousand. Who would be willing to pay that high of a price?
‘What does that make me? A weapon?’ You asked, your voice quiet, almost inaudible.
‘You were human, at some point. Now, we’re not sure. I would believe the closest definition is a mutant of some kind, but y/n, you have to remember that this doesn’t define you.’ Doyoung leaned forward but you shook your head.
‘I’m not human, I’m a mutant, a weapon, an experiment. I’m nothing more than an experiment, a toy for you to play with in your lab. That why I’m prisoner here. I’m a monster.’ You were spiralling, caught up in a mess of reality and new information, you couldn’t control where your mind was heading.
‘Y/n, Doyoung is right, this doesn’t define who you are.’ Ten tried to reassure you but you whirled on him.
‘Doesn’t define me? Yes it does! It literally is what I am, how can you say it doesn’t define me?’ You accused.
‘Because you’re more than that! Beneath all that’s been done to you, all we’ve done to you, we know that you’re people. You are human, you think and feel as we do, you love like we do, you die like we do. And who gives a damn about what made you what you are. It’s who you are that matters.’ Doyoung stood up during his small speech. He somehow managed to verbally slap some sense into you, allowing you a brief moment to calm your mind.
‘The others need to know.’ You blurted, your thoughts suddenly drifting back to Jeno.
‘Yes, and we will tell them.’ Ten reassured.
‘Tonight.’ You insisted. ‘They’ve been through exactly the same thing I have. Why should I get to know the truth and they shouldn’t?’
Both Doyoung and Ten looked at each other, having short, silent conversation before Doyoung sighed and agreed with you.
‘Ok, tonight. Ten go and fetch them from their cells. The doors are locked so the corridors should be empty of guards.’
Ten nodded and left the room quickly, stopping briefly to scan the hallways and only continuing once he knew it was clear. The door automatically shut softly behind him. You suddenly remembered something else Doyoung said, causing you to turn back to face him once more.
‘What changed your mind?’ You asked, only receiving a very confused look from the doctor in return. ‘You’ve worked on us for years, as a trainee then as a real doctor. You haven’t had this position long, so why are you risking everything you’ve worked for? When did you start to think of us as humans?’
A guilty look crossed Doyoung’s face.
‘I’ve done some terrible things to you, to all of you, over the years, and I cannot apologise enough for that. I always thought... that we were doing the right thing, the thing that should be done. We needed something to set us apart or, before we knew it, we would be a speck of dust on the ground, bombed within an inch of our lives. But that was over ten years ago, and you guys haven’t left the facility once. I kept telling myself that it would be worth it, that this was all being done for a reason, and that you would understand that. But then I was in the lab and something made me look at a subject differently. The way he acted, it was something so vulnerable, so human, that it changed my perspective completely.’
‘What was it?’ You asked, immersed in Doyoung emotional words.
‘It was Jeno. He was undergoing a procedure that had been done a thousand times before, but the head doctor that day decided to make some changes. I don’t know what he did, but Jeno started to scream, and not just shout out in a bit of pain, I mean, properly scream. I could hear the strain on his vocal cords and he started crying out and begging for help like I had never heard anyone beg before and he kept calling for the same person over and over.’
‘Who did he call out for?’ Your voice was shaking slightly, your emotions running high at the thought of what could have made Jeno scream out like that.
Doyoung looked at you, complete sincerity in his eyes.
‘You. He called out for you.’
Before you could reply, or even process this information, the door to the lab burst open and the other boys all piled in. Jeno spotted you, alive, awake and well and made his way towards you immediately. He pulled you in for a tight hug as soon as he reached you, wrapping his arms securely around your waist. 
‘Oh thank god, you’re okay.’ He whispered. He pulled back and brushed the hair out of your face, holding your cheeks in his hands while he searched your face for any sign of pain. ‘Are you okay?’
You nodded in response. ‘Yeah I’m okay. But you guys need to hear this.’
You watched as Doyoung and Ten explained to the other boys what they had just told you. You watched as they went through exactly the same reactions that you did. And you watched as each of them managed to process this information in their own way.
‘There’s only one thing left to tell you all.’ Ten said, watching as eight pairs of scared eyes looked up at him. ‘We’re going to break you out.’
‘I’m sorry, you’re gonna what?’ Renjun asked, voicing the shock you were all feeling.
‘You’re more than just subjects, more than just experiments, you’re people. And you don’t get the chance to just be people when you’re trapped here. So tomorrow, we’re gonna break you out.’ Doyoung explained.
‘Tomorrow?’ Chenle questioned and both Doyoung and Ten nodded in confirmation.
‘What’s happens after that? Where do we go next? All we’ve known is this facility, so what will we do outside of it?’ Jaemin piped up, thankfully thinking ahead for all of you.
‘I already have a truck ready for us to escape in tomorrow, from there we will drive out of range so that they can’t detect us. Doyoung and I know some people who are willing to help. We’ll stay with them for a while and then, eventually, reintegrate the eight of you back into the world, and allow you to lie the normal life you’ve always been deprived of.’ Ten spoke. You sat there silently, just taking all this information in. You were getting out, and not only that, but also going to get the life you never thought you would ever be able to. You weren’t sure what life would be like on the outside, but as long as you had the guys there, you knew you would be okay.
You felt a pair of eyes on you and turned your head, only to catch Jeno staring at you with an unreadable expression on his face. He looked away as soon as you noticed him, clearing his throat before asking one last question.
‘So... how are we getting out of here?’
---
You lay in bed that night, unable to sleep. You knew that you could probably do with a good rest, but your mind was so active that it was impossible. You couldn’t tell if Jeno was awake too, worried that if he wasn’t you might wake him from your constant moving. Doyoung revelation about him calling out for you when in pain was plaguing your mind as well. You had often found yourself thinking of Jeno when you were undergoing procedures in the lab, but you had always dismissed it as wondering what state you would be in when you were returned to your roommate. Was it possible that it was something more? You can’t deny that you’ve felt something for Jeno, he was kind, compassionate, empathetic and so damn loyal to you.
‘Y/n?’ Jeno’s voice disrupted your thoughts, causing you to jump out of your skin.
You swallowed before replying.
‘Yeah?’
‘Oh you’re awake too.’ He mumbled.
‘Yeah... I can’t sleep.’ You admitted.
‘Me neither.’
The conversation stopped for a minute and, for the first time since you met him, you didn’t know what to say to Jeno. You felt colder in your bed than you ever had before and you wanted nothing more than to crawl into his and fall asleep there.
‘Y/n?’ Jeno spoke again, much softer this time.
‘Yeah?’ You whispered back.
‘I’m cold...’ He confessed and you could almost hear the blush that you knew would be dusting his cheeks.
Before you let the surge of courage you felt pass, you climbed out of your bed and padded softly over to his.
‘Move over.’ You instructed, gently tapping his side.
He did just as you told him too, moving himself to the edge so that you could climb in. You lay facing each other for a while and you found yourself unable to tear your gaze away from his eyes. He lifted up a hand to move a stray piece of hair out of your face and sighed.
You shut your eyes slowly, hoping that by being closer to him you would be able to get some rest. The only problem was, the beds that you slept on were not the largest and could only really fit one person. You found yourself almost pressed up against his chest and that made it very hard for you to calm your rapidly beating heart.
‘Hold on, bear with me for a second.’ Jeno mumbled as he moved himself around slightly. You squeaked in surprise when you felt his hands come to waist, pulling you halfway onto his chest as he settled down on his back.
‘Is this ok?’ He asked hesitantly, and you nodded in response.
Even though you were practically lying on top of him, you couldn’t deny that this position was much more comfortable. From here you could hear his heartbeat and you allowed the consistent rhythm of it to help lull you to sleep.
You wrapped your arm around his waist, the other coming up to rest on his chest as his arms found their way around your shoulder and stroking your hair. You closed your eyes and felt yourself finally drift off to sleep, almost missing the soft sentence Jeno whispered into your hair.
‘I don’t know what will happen once we get out of here, but please just... don’t leave me. I think I need you more than you know.’
---
For as long as you can remember, you have woken up to the sound of the high pitched repetitive beep of the alarm. Not today.
You were quickly pulled out of your sleep to the sound of alarms blaring, red lights flashing and shouting in the corridor. You and Jeno shared a sleepy but scared look before quickly climbing out of bed. You bit your lip slightly in embarrassment as you remembered the position that the two of you slept in last night. Jeno approached your door and pushed on it gently. The door swung open and the two of you stared in disbelief.
You followed him out into the corridor and found yourself standing in the middle of the chaos. Guards and doctors were running up and down the corridors shouting commands and arguing with each other while the eight of you all stood in your doorways, confused to high heavens.
‘Grab them now!’ You heard one of the doctors yell as you were finally noticed. ‘They’re not getting away.’
You saw a guard lunge for Chenle, who quickly turned into a fly and disappeared from sight. Three other guards ran towards you and Jeno, their intentions obvious and the two of you immediately began to move. Jeno threw up a gust of air, knocking them off their feet, while you pulled doors open and moved their legs so that they were constantly tripping over.
‘Guys we have to get out of here now!’ Mark yelled over the noise.
He suddenly appeared from nowhere, making you jump.
‘They somehow found out about our plan, either we leave now, or we’re never getting out.’ And with that he was gone, disappearing at the speed of light.
Jeno opened up a hailstorm on the guard in front of him, his efforts useless against the tough armour that they were wearing. You pulled out a metal drawer from one of the cells and used your telekinesis to ram in into the guard’s leg.
He crumpled where he stood, his head landing hard on the concrete. Your eyes went wide as he lay there unmoving for a second, until he let out a breath and groaned in pain. Jeno’s grabbed your arm and shouted something at you that you didn’t quite catch, you eye still fixated on the guard in front of you.
You really were dangerous. You had hurt someone. And it had taken very little effort from you to do so. What could you do if you really wanted to hurt someone? How badly could you hurt someone without meaning to? 
You lost focus on your surroundings, Jeno’s sudden pull on your arm causing you to lose balance. You managed not to fall over, but it slowed you down. You forced yourself to focus, to think rationally, to prioritise leaving and then you could figure out the extent of your abilities.
But you were too late. One of the doctors noticed your stumble and grabbed a taser from a fallen guard. They quickly pushed it into, electrocuting you where you stood. You mouth fell open as a scream tore out of it and your body collapsed onto the ground.
Your mind went fuzzy, everything around you slowing down as you tried to take it all in. You vaguely registered Jeno screaming out for you as you lay on the cold floor. You lifted your eyes and stared into the open door in front of you. It took you a few seconds to realise that you were staring into the lab. You watched as one of the guards cornered Doyoung, who stood with his hands up trying to explain something. They didn’t listen however, and you watched as the guard pulled a gun out of nowhere and squeezed the trigger.
Doyoung doubled over, a red patch forming on his stomach. His back hit the counter behind him and he sank down towards the ground, the pain evident on his face. The red mark on his shirt was growing by the second until it covered half of his lower stomach. You found yourself staring into the dull, lifeless eyes of the one doctor here who had actually tried to look out for you.
Your eyes welled up with tears, blurring your vision. You barely felt the arms that hooked under your elbows and began to drag you down the corridor. The last things you registered before you blacked out were Jeno screaming for you, and Doyoung’s dead body.
--- 
‘God this kid is a pain.’
‘I know man, I don’t get why we have to be stuck here with her.’
‘Doyoung though? Hmmm, I didn’t see that betrayal coming.’
‘Really? Out of everyone, I’m least surprised that it was him. He always had the weakest stomach when it came to things like this.’
You heard the voices before you even realised that you were awake. The guards in your room were having a casual chat while they waited for you to wake up. Your head was pounding and your mouth tasted like pennies. You scrunched up your face in discomfort, trying to open your eyes but with little success.
‘Oh, look. I think she’s coming back...’
You groaned out slightly, your mind suddenly becoming aware of the pain your body was in. You forced your eyes open, regretting that choice as soon as you were blinded by the harsh white light of whatever room you were currently being kept in.
You blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to your surroundings, before taking a quick look around. You definitely weren’t in your cell anymore. You found yourself chained to the wall, literally. There were heavy metal cuffs around your wrists, ankles, stomach and even your neck. Each of those cuffs were attached to a chain that was embedded into the wall behind you.
They had taken every measure possible to imprison you somewhere they knew you wouldn’t be able to escape from.
You lifted your head and found yourself staring at two guards, both with their helmets off. They looked at you with such patronising looks on their faces, but you couldn’t focus on them. Your eyes were trained on the cupboard behind them, an open cupboard that you could see was filled with guard uniforms.
One of the guards followed your line of sight and laughed.
‘You’re not in our cloak room, don’t worry sweet heart. You’re in the maximum security room at the end of the hall.’ 
Your blood ran cold at his revelation. No one who entered this room ever made it out alive. But then, that was before you learnt that there were only eight of you actually being held in this facility... You really had no idea what this meant for you.
‘Allow me to explain.’ The other guard took a step forwards. ‘Every time you get drugged and tiptoe off the the rose room to do your work, we walk in and grab a random person standing next to one of you and drag them back here. Now their job is to just scream and kick and draw as much attention to themselves as they can while everyone else ignores them. Once they get here do you know what they do? They get back into their guard uniform and go back to work. All those people you know, everyone in the rose room with you, all of them are one of us.’ He let out a laugh. ‘I can’t believe you were stupid enough to think that they were real subjects!’
The first guard joined in, enjoying taunting you when you were at your most vulnerable.
‘God you really are stupid aren’t you?’ He commented. ‘You thought you were getting out? You’re never going to get out of here. You’re simply going to be stuck here for the rest of your life.’
The other guard laughed again.
‘Yeah, you know that war you were made for. It’s not going to happen so you really aren’t ever getting out. You’re too scared to hurt one of us, how would you ever be useful in a war?’
‘God you’re such a waste of space. I can’t believe that out of the hundreds of thousands that went through the initial testing, she was one of the few to survive.’
‘Tell me about it. Why is she even in maximum security? She probably wouldn’t hurt a fly.’
The guards continued with their taunts, each one crueler than the last. You tried everything you could to block them out, but it was difficult. Especially when they were right, you had been useless. It’s because you were too scared to hurt a guard’s leg that all of you are stuck here forever. This is your fault.
‘No it isn’t.’ Jaemin’s voice echoed through your head, startling you. ‘Ignore them y/n. None of this is your fault, it’s theirs. Don’t forget who put you there in the first place. Now, listen to me, you need to get out of there. Now. I don’t care how you do it, but y/n, it’s time to go.’
The guards continued to taunt you, telling you how powerless you were and you started to feel your anger grow. Jaemin was right, these people did put you in here. They imprisoned you, tortured you and the people you care about. They put you through hours upon hours of pain, just to tell you that you weren’t good enough.
You pulled your hands closed into fists and focused your mind like you never have before. You channelled your anger into your being, thinking of everything you’ve lost, everything they’ve taken from you. A family, a normal life, the ability to just be human. You felt the power rumble from within you. It was like nothing you had ever felt before. It grew from your soul, feeding off your raw emotions, evolving and mutating as it made its way throughout your limbs. It finally reached your head and your opened your eyes. They were pure gold.
The guards stopped their conversation and stared at you in fear, completely at a loss as to what they should do.
You finally understood. You weren’t human. You were so much more than that. And it was time they learnt just how powerful you could be.
You threw your head back, and screamed.
You unleashed all the power within you as a sheer bolt of energy. The chains imprisoning you shattered, falling to the floor. The guards were throw backwards, both of them hitting the wall with a sickening crack, and your door was blown off its hinges. You stood and began to move, feeling every part and every being in the universe working with you and you knew, this is what true power felt like.
You had no idea how to come down from it, you were so taken over that you didn’t feel the hand that gently found its way into yours until you were being turned where you stood and found yourself looking into Jeno’s eyes.
‘Come back to me y/n.’ He whispered, pulling you into his chest and stroking your hair. You let go of all the anger you were feeling, choosing instead to ground yourself with the boy in front of you. ‘We have to go.’
‘I heard.’ You mumbled, pulling yourself away from him chest.
You ran through the corridor, gathering all the boys on the way. Jeno had managed to create a mini hurricane in his room, effectively blowing his way out of the cell he was in. Jisung quite literally just barrelled straight through his door, but he once again misjudged his strength and couldn’t stop himself. He kept going straight into the door on the opposite side of the corridor, luckily bursting it open it for Renjun.
It the situation weren’t so dire you probably would have fallen over laughing at the scene in front of you. 
Chenle turned into a midge and flew through the key hole of his cell door, making you admire the boy’s talent to find a loophole in every scenario. Jaemin used his mind control to get the guard who was watching him to open the door for him. Also making the guard bow for him as he walked out as a finishing touch. You couldn’t help but smile at that. Jisung pulled off the doors of both Mark’s and Donghyuck’s cells and the eight of you ran.
You turned a corner and barrelled straight into a guard. All of you threw up your hands, ready to fight, until you saw that it was Ten. Instead of getting a punch in the face, Ten found himself with eight superhuman teens hugging him with all their might.
‘Ok, let’s do this later, the truck’s outside. Go!’
He pushed you all off his and pointed towards the door in front of you. You ran towards it, turning your head to the left as you passed the lab and not missing Doyoung’s body, still lying there on the floor. You swallowed back your tears, promising that you would mourn him properly later, and pushed forwards. You burst out of the doors, shocked beyond belief to find yourself in a lobby of some kind. Your entire life, you thought you had been in the sub basement section of a facility, but really you had been above ground the whole time.
You didn’t have time to marvel however, because, as soon as you were spotted, the alarms went off. They blared through the building and you took that as your cue to leave.
Jisung ran first, easily breaking the main doors open, despite their heavy lock, and the eight of you poured outside. You saw the truck that Ten had mentioned, the trademark number 10 a sign that it was yours. It was on the outside of the barbed wire fence that surrounded the facility. The fence was too high to climb so you took a deep breath and held your arms out. You pulled them apart, imaging a rip and watched as the fence tore in two.
You all sprinted through the fence and piled into the truck that was waiting for you. There was a fabric roof and some metal beams making the skeleton on the inside so you held onto that as you climbed in. Mark moved around to the front seat and you look out, waiting for Ten. You needed him to drive this truck as none of you could. 
Ten finally appeared, running at full speed towards you.
‘Go!’ He screamed. ‘Just go!’
You wanted to shout back to him but you never got the chance to. The gunshot rang out loudly and Ten fell straight to the ground. He lay face down in the grass, not breathing, not moving a muscle. 
He was dead.
‘Mark... Mark drive. We need to go.’ Donghyuck’s shaky voice tore you out of your trance. Mark moved himself so that he was in the driver’s seat and turned the key.
‘Ok, I can figure this out.’ He reassured himself.
‘Well can you do it now because we have some rather unfriendly company arriving in about thirty seconds. And you don’t want to know what they’ll do if they catch us.’ Donghyuck warned, making all your eyes widen in fear. When the boy who can see the future tells you that something is going to happen, you’ve learnt that the best thing to do would be to listen to him.
Mark moved the gear stick into ‘D’ and slammed his foot down on a random pedal. Luckily he seemed to get the right one because you all lurched forwards, speeding away from the facility. Mark’s super speed means that he has extremely fast reflexes, making it very useful for when he needs to learn a new skill. He reacted quickly to the movements of the car and it didn’t take long before you were smoothly driving away from the prison that was also happened to be the only home you’ve ever know.
Renjun shuffled in his seat, facing his body out the back of the truck and towards the facility. He lifted up his hands, turning his palms out before suddenly clenching them into fists. He then sat back down, his back hitting the seat as he let out a deep sigh.
‘Just a quick image of an empty field. It’ll throw them off the scent long enough for us to get out of here.’ He explained before leaning his head back and shutting his eyes.
You looked back at the large building that was disappearing rapidly into the distance and thought of Doyoung and Ten. The two who risked everything so that you could all be where you are now. And they were the two who paid the ultimate price.
You felt your eyes beginning to droop, the gentle movements of the car lulling your tiring body to sleep. You felt Jeno’s arm come around your shoulder and you leant into his warmth, relishing in the comfort of being close to him. Only now did you realise how exhausted you really were. You allowed your head to fall onto Jeno’s shoulder, feeling his arm tighten slightly around you, and you felt safe.
For the first time, ever, you felt safe.
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sevfanfic · 3 years
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A Touch in the Dark: Chapter 18 - Instincts
Word count: 1,928
It’s so cold. Where am I?  
Darkness clouded your vision. The sound of your heartbeat in your ears boomed as you slowly regained consciousness.  
The solid ground beneath you was jagged with ice, it pocked at you through your layers of winter clothes and reminded you that you were outside. You groaned at the stabbing headache that throbbed behind your eyes. 
“Mmm.” You brought a hand to hold your forehead, your cool skin eased the pain. As you began to push yourself up your vision started coming back to you. The world around you was covered in white and snow was now falling more heavily. It was still daylight and the brightness of the sun glared in your face making it difficult to open your eyes completely. “Ow.” You rubbed at your head then realized warm blood was still dripping from your nose. 
You managed to stand and steady yourself before looking around. There were no signs of the dementor from earlier. The blood warmed the skin of your cheek and neck as it saturated your scarf. That’s a lot of blood, you thought to yourself and pinched your nose. The steps you took were slow as you attempted to maintain your balance. You made it to the castle vaguely aware of the few students that were gathered in the hall now staring at you. Severus was still sitting at his desk when you stumbled into his office. Your mind still spun with images of the horrifying creature. 
“What happened?” He stood and hurried to you placing his hands over your cheeks. When he noticed the blood he began grabbing at your clothes earnestly looking for any injuries. After looking you over he noticed that you stood still pinching your nose and your eyes were closed. “What. Happened?” he asked again with more of a stern tone. His brow furrowed as he held you by the shoulders and shook you slightly.  
“My head, ugh, hurts,” you moved your hand from your nose, the bleeding had stopped. You groaned when Severus pulled you closer and began using the corner of his robes to start whipping the blood off of your face. “There was a dementor.” You blurted out sounding more shocked as you began to process what had occurred.  
The rubbing at your cheek ceased. Your eyes fluttered open to a grave look on Severus’ face. The urge to comfort him overtook you but your muscles felt too weak to even hold yourself up. You peered into his eyes and watched as tried to hide the storm of anger that began to churn. The spell had drained you, made you feel so incredibly sleepy. You began to lean more into his touch, trying to support yourself in any way you could. His hands were warm and gentle, his calloused skin a contradiction to the softness he emitted for you. 
“Are you positive?” He spoke slowly and when you nodded he pursed his lips. The man before you took a deep breath, he looked you over once more with concerned eyes then guided you to sit on his couch. He lit a fire and you relaxed a bit in the heat. Hands began undoing your bloodied winter layers. Severus wondered for a moment about how you had been able to defend yourself. He thought about the healing spell you had performed and how much it took out of you. 
Then he spoke, “you conjured a Patronus.” It wasn’t a question, he knew you were clever. He knew you were too smart for your own good. You looked up at him bleary-eyed and nodded again. Severus huffed in response then rummaged through a closet to find a rag to clean the rest of the blood. He knelt before you taking your hands in his. His lips pecked at your wrist before cleaning them. He let them fall gently in your lap and then began scrubbing at your neck. Anger began building within him as he sifted through anyone who could be responsible. It wasn’t some random occurrence. This was no accident and he was going to impose his wrath on whoever was responsible. 
But right now all that mattered was you. He hid his anger as he soothed your tense muscles. The overwhelming feelings of vengefulness were nothing compared to the relief of knowing that you were safe.  
“Why was it here?” Your voice trembled as all the fear came rushing back to you from that moment. It wasn’t of the wretched creature itself but fear of all that you had to lose. With a hand clutching at your stomach you brought your other hand to grasp Severus’ wrist. You squeezed him hoping he’d comfort you more. 
“I will find out how this happened.” Severus gazed up at you, his dark eyes hiding the rage within him. His calm exterior attempting to quiet your fear but he felt his blood boiling as he seethed internally. After he finished cleaning your skin he sat next to you and pulled you into his lap. His strong arms encircled you in a protective embrace. You melted against him absorbing heat into your chilled bones and burying your face in his neck. 
“Are you okay?” He asked, his deep voice vibrating against your skin.  
“I think so,” you whispered, “I passed out but I think we’re okay.” You felt him look down and his hand that had been clutching at your leg moved up your thigh and gently rested on your belly. He inhaled deeply, trying to breathe all of you in to keep you safe. You snuggled deeper into his tight embrace and sighed. 
“How long were you unconscious?” Severus didn’t really want to know the answer to the question. Whatever the answer was he knew it would only fuel his anger. He kept his eyes focused on the small space between you and waited. 
“I- I don’t know, not long.” The sleepiness you felt earlier was now taking over and you fought to keep your eyes open. It wasn’t long before the drowsiness forced you asleep and Severus stayed silent as he watched over you. 
-
The door to the Headmistress’s office was already open when Severus strode in closing it behind him. He approached the desk Minerva sat at with such high velocity that she believed for a moment he’d slam right into it. When his hands landed firmly in front of her she looked at him with wide baffled eyes.  
“Are you aware that Miss Y/L/N was attacked by a dementor today? On. School. Grounds.” He spoke through clenched teeth attempting to hold back his fury. A fire tore through him and he felt his blood boiling in the heat. 
“What?” The bewildered look on the headmistress's face was almost enough to make Severus implode. “Is she alright? Where is-” 
“She-” he pulled back with fists clenched at his sides, “She is fine, but-”  Severus paused. His mind flooded with everything he wanted to say. All of the pent-up emotion threatened to escape but he contained himself in his tightened hands. Minerva had been his most trusted friend for years, he wanted to tell her the truth. That he was deeply in love with the new professor, he had let her heal his wounds and made him feel whole again. We wanted to tell her how pissed he was you were put in that situation and he wanted to rage over the fact that his unborn child had been put in harm’s way. But he didn’t and his whole body felt stretched thin as he contained himself. The shallow rise and fall of his chest were the only movements he could manage because he felt like a teacup teetering on an edge like any movement could shatter him. He knew Minerva was not responsible but he had no one else to go to. 
“Severus,” Minerva spoke his name tenderly as if she could read his mind, “I will investigate this and find out how a dementor ended up on school grounds.” 
“Thank you,” Severus was curt with his response.  
“You love her.” It wasn't a question, Minerva knew he had been developing feelings for you. She saw how his eyes lit up when you were near and noticed the sharpness in his voice softened when he spoke to you. 
“I-” the air left Severus’ lungs as he looked at Minerva wide-eyed. He furrowed his brow and relaxed his tensed hand. “Yes, I love her,” words left his mouth before he could stop them, “and I love the child, my child, that she carries. I will find out how this happened, I will protect her.” 
-
After painfully sitting through Minerva’s ecstatic ramblings and congratulations, Severus found his way back to his office where you slept curled up on his couch. He felt his heartache for you as he watched you sleep for a moment. The desire to protect what was his came from somewhere deep inside him, some primal instinct to bare his teeth like a wild animal backed into a corner. This was unfamiliar to him, normally he’d steel himself from feeling like this but right now he was embracing it. Letting himself feel what it means to love deeply and it scared him. 
When you opened your eyes again your upper body shot up with a gasp, you expected to be outside again as if stumbling into Severus office bloodied and bleary was a dream. You took in your surroundings and realized it was real. A relieved sigh left you. You stood from the couch hoping to find Severus at his desk but he wasn’t there. Then you heard the clinking of glass from his classroom and you followed the noise.   
“I spoke with Minerva,” Severus stated when he saw you enter his classroom, “she will help me find out why that thing was on these grounds.” He kept working on the task in front of him as he spoke.
“Good,” you responded quietly and approached the table he was standing over. His normally precise hands moved roughly with a tension that he normally didn’t have. The center of his brow scrunched together as he worked. “Sev,” you whispered and watched him stop. He paused for a moment before shaking his head slowly. 
“She knows,” he spoke curtly without looking up from the table, “I told her about us.” 
“Oh, that’s fine.” You noticed the tension that remained in his eyes when he finally looked up. “I don’t mind if she knows,” you tried to reassure him as you walked around the table to stand closer to him, “are you -”
“I can’t lose you,” he uttered before you could finish. The word made your chest tighten as your heart fluttered within. He jutted a hand out to grasp at your wrist, he squeezed it gently as if that was all he could bear to say as if that was enough emotional spillage for him to stress over. 
“You won’t.” The space between you and the tall man shortened as you put yourself between him and the table. He let you pull him closer into an embrace, your arms circling his neck. When you drew away slightly he pressed his forehead against yours. His hands greedily sliding down your sides and under the seam of your shirt to feel the soft skin of your hips and lower back. You felt the tension melt away from his skin. When he pressed his lips against yours you felt his whole body loosen as if every muscle let out a sigh of relief.  
TAGS: @ayamenimthiriel @marvelschriss @debiraquel @mitsuhkai @the-not-so-iconic @darkthought15 @rubym13 @4everflowercore @otherxstories @thottywithoutthebody @setsuna-meiou31 @krazykatkay456
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hairycooterlips69 · 4 years
Text
Service with a Smile
Howdy y’all, I had a wild hair up my ass to write a fanfic. It’s my first one, be gentle 😅 I’m obsessed with Hawks so I hope I do him proud. Also I was gonna name it Kentucky Fried Fuckin but i don’t wanna be ganked by the Colonel so... Takami Keigo x Fem!Reader
word count : 4k
[ (nsfw 18+) ]  
Warnings: edging, fingering, soft dom/sub, oral sex, nipple play, anal play, choking, unprotected sex
yuhh, get into it~
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Tonight’s shift couldn’t get any worse.
As you glance at your watch, you internally groan after realizing that you had been on your feet for the last 8 hours stuck behind a cash register. Between some brat spilling juice not once, but twice, on the floor you mopped, a woman berating you for not having any more barbeque sauce, and your closing partner quitting the night before, you were at your wit’s end. Working at a fried chicken shop wasn’t the most glamourous place of employment, but it paid the bills and your quirk did come in handy. Your empathic quirk allowed you to ease the negative emotions of others with the cost of others’ emotions somewhat rubbing off on you. While customers left satisfied and in good spirits, most nights you were left feeling exhausted and impatient. Well at least there’s only 5 minutes until close, you contemplate, mentally preparing yourself to clean and lock up the store.
Lost in thoughts, you hear a soft jingling and the thudding of boots against the tiled floor. “Heyo~, are you guys still open?” The first thing you notice about this customer is his ruby-red wings. Upon further inspection, you see that he is wearing a black body suit, beige pants, and a fur-trimmed coat accessorized with protective glasses and headgear, along with some pompous, feathery hairstyle. You felt as if this person was familiar. I mean, how could you not recognize a guy with massive birdlike appendages? You must have seen him somewhere, maybe around the city or at a bar. Or maybe you’ve seen him at the park, or maybe at the –
“Uh, hello. Earth to Y/N. Sorry for coming in so late, but I’ve been patrolling the area tonight and it seemed like this place was still open. I get pretty hungry around this time. Will you be able to serve me?” You snap back to reality, your cheeks tinged in embarrassment. “How do you know my name? D-do I know you?” you stammer. “Well, I read your nametag. But if you want to get to know me, you most certainly can, kid.” he quipped cheekily. What an ass. Your embarrassment quickly turned into annoyance, but you swallowed your pride and politely responded “yes sir, we are still open. How can I help you?” “Sir? I like that. Well, you can start me off with a four-piece meal and a soda, and after I’m done eating you can help me by giving me your number.” You audibly gasp, astounded at the audacity of this honey-haired jerk. Without a word, you quickly turned on your heels to put together the combo and get away from this man.
He must have noticed how upset you were as you placed his food on the counter rather abruptly. His expression softened from a cocky grin to a repentant half-smile. “I apologize if I’ve offended you. It’s just that I get pretty bored protecting the city and lurking on top of buildings. It’s nice to have some human contact, even if it’s teasing the cutie working at a fried chicken shop.” If you weren’t already flustered before, your face blushed crimson red yet again. Without the arrogance, you notice that this stranger was cherubically handsome, donning bushy blonde eyebrows, golden, catlike eyes, and the beginnings of scruffy facial hair. He must have been around your age or maybe a couple years older. You could tell that he was in almost, if not completely, perfect physical shape by the way his body suit hugged his chest. You hated to admit it, but his flirting was actually coaxing you out of your previously terrible mood. You manually willed yourself to reply, retorting “yeah, well don’t vigilantes like you have anything better to do than harassing a stranger while at work?” “Ouch, kid. A vigilante? Try number-two Pro Hero. I guess that’s what I get for coming in so late and giving you a tough time. I go by Hawks, but the name is Takami Keigo. But, I prefer if you call me yours for the evening.” At this point you couldn’t help but laugh at his boldness. After catching your breath, you responded “Alright Big Bird, enjoy your meal. Just please don’t leave too much of a mess, I already have to wait for you to finish so I can clean up and get the hell out of here.” For a split second, you saw his face twitch in an unreadable manner before his switching back to seasoned professionality. “Ah, of course. I won’t be too long. Thank you again y/n for the food. I’m sure it will be delicious.”
Your eyes followed him as he walked to the table and sat down, wings folding flat to his back as he prepared to dig in. You watched him as he removed his gloves, finger by finger. You couldn’t help but notice how long and graceful they were. Carefully, he teared apart slivers of each piece of chicken before bringing the greasy bits to his mouth. As he prepared his food, he would often glance up at you only to avoid your eyes and look back down at his food. What was with those looks he keeps giving me? It was almost like I angered him, or got offended by what I said, you mused to yourself. I’ll just activate my quirk. That way if he’s pissed, I can smooth things over. I don’t need to be bitched at by the manager again. With slight concentration, you activated your quirk. Suddenly you could feel what he felt – hunger. Besides this, there was another feeling. Similar to hunger, combined with a dull, growing ache. It almost felt like – yearning? Or something more? Once realizing the feeling, you quickly ducked your head. This bastard was aroused! You felt conflicted. He must be feeling confused by what I said to him, but also… I think he enjoyed it? You begin to feel a warming sensation in your midsection. Damnit, I think he is aroused. I’m starting to feel it too. Why would a Pro Hero be interested in someone who’s been covered in grease and sweat all day? You start to feel a little self-conscious at this point. There was no way that he couldn’t smell all the herbs and spices permeating off your overworked body. I smell like the deep fryer and I’m starting to thirst over some big-shot hero. I need to distract myself. “Hey, Hawks? If it’s alright with you, I’m gonna start cleaning up a bit.”
Hawks barely glanced at you as he responded “sure kid, do what you need to do. Don’t stop on my account.” You grabbed a rag and started to wipe down the tables with practiced ease. You closed on most nights and were able to get the store tidied up within 30 minutes or so. This night was different though, and you were somewhat nervous doing your nightly tasks as Hawks observed your work. When your back was turned, you could still sense eyes on you along with the steadily growing ache emitting from the Pro Hero and your own growing desire welling from within your body. Shit, the fact that he’s turned on right now is insane. I guess it is a compliment, he’s hot as hell. I actually kind of like it, you admitted to yourself. This realization combined with your quirk stirred up your own desire of being touched, and the growing warmth of arousal spread through your body like a slow burn. The more you attempted to distract yourself by sweeping the floor and wiping down tables, the deeper this yearning grew. Your watch indicated that it was definitely past the time you normally locked up and left. Fuck, I’m super turned on. What’s with him? And what’s up with me? You decide that you would quash this feeling right then and there. “Hey Hawks, are you okay? Cuz it’s getting late and I-“
As you turned around, you saw the Pro Hero had been standing a few feet behind you, wings fluttering rhythmically to the beat of his pulse. “You know, no one’s ever insulted me like that before and yeah, kid, it was cute, but it was also incredibly rude.” Before you could react, Hawks reached up and grazed the left side of your face with his right hand. “Now, how are you going to make it up to me?”
“I, uh- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just-“
“Just what?”
“I can feel you. I mean, I can feel what you feel, that’s my quirk and obviously you didn’t know that but I’m sensing that you’re-“
“You can sense how I feel, at this moment? Tell me, kid. Let’s see how accurate that quirk of yours is.”
“Well, um… earlier after I called you Big Bird and I got a vibe that you were annoyed but also intrigued? Also, uh – when you were eating and I was cleaning up, I kind of got the feeling that you were interested… in that way.”
“’That way?’ And what way would that be?”
You could tell that Hawks took pleasure in watching you squirm and shade brighter than his pinions. “That way. You know, an… intimate sort of feeling.”
You flinched, expecting Hawks to jerk his hand away from you and walk off in disgust. Instead, a sly, borderline wicked grin began to spread across his face. “Now that’s an impressive quirk. What if I told you that you were correct in that I am turned on by you? In fact, the more I watch you, the more I want to touch every single part of your body and own that delicious ass of yours.” He stepped closer, inches away from you, and began to trail his hand from your cheek down to the nape of your neck. You barely registered Hawks’ wings spreading out and almost immersing the two of you. “You can feel what I feel, right? So that can only mean that you want me almost as badly as I want you. If you let me, I’ll be more than happy to satisfy us both.” Hawks must have misread the look of disbelief slapped across your face. He backtracked, “Was that too far, kid?”
“N-no. Keep going. I want this.”
You had barely finished your sentence when the pro hero lunged forward, pushing his lips against your own with the urgency of a rabid animal. You quickly returned his kiss with equal hunger, pressing back against the soft, inviting landscape of his mouth. Lip-locked and frenzied, you felt him slowly run his hands down the side of your body and onto your hips, grasping them so intensely you felt his nails dig into your skin sending small shocks of pleasure directly to your core. You unconsciously leaned your hips toward, your body responding to the sensation building within your intimacy. You felt the pressure of Hawks’ reciprocating excitement against your leg as he moaned at the growing constraint between his manhood and his uniform.
“Y/n, are you sure you’re up for this? Because I can’t hold back much longer. I would cut my wings off just to flip you onto that counter and ram the shit out of you until you beg me to stop making you cum.”
“Hawks-“
“Call me Keigo, fuck. Call me Keigo, I want to hear you scream my name at the top of your lungs.”
“Keigo, shut the hell up and do what you said. Please just fuck me already.”
He practically flung you across the store, wrapping you up in a tight, muscular embrace with his vibrant, elongated wings beating erratically. Hawks placed you on the counter rather gently, attaching himself to your mouth again. You could feel his tongue softly graze your bottom lip in an attempt to explore you. Ever so slightly, your lips parted to meet his tongue in a battle for dominance. Hawks eventually overpowered you, and you could slightly taste the remnants of his meal as he ran his tongue vertically against the sinew of your cheeks. While Hawks commanded your mouth, you used your knee to tease and stimulate his aching member, pre-cum threatening to bleed through his pants. “Hrrnh, y/n. My cock is practically begging for you,” he groaned. You responded, “for someone who wants to fuck me senseless, you sure are taking your sweet ass time.”
Charged by your smart remark, he pulled away from your lips to focus on his next mission: undressing you before you could even open your mouth to land some other sarcastic comment. With surprising dexterity, he peeled off your shirt and pants while you worked on unclasping your bra. Keigo paused to admire your bare chest. “God y/n, as if you weren’t already looking like a five-course meal. I just might have to devour you until there’s nothing left.” Before you could come up with another response, Hawks enveloped his eager mouth to your right nipple while reaching to attend to your left bud. He began to suck rhythmically as if attuned to your wildly beating heart, lazily switching from massaging your left nipple between his graceful fingers to rubbing it in a clockwise fashion. You groaned animalistically into his ear, clenching your vaginal muscles and grinding your heat against the corner of the counter in desperation.
“Keigo, stop fucking teasing me. Please do something, you’re driving me crazy.”
Obliging, Hawks abandoned your left nipple to pull your drenched panties to one side of your private area. “Jeez, kid, you’re practically drooling down there. I wonder how wet for me you’ll get once I stick my fingers inside that pretty pussy.” Something about the snarky comment sent you over the edge. It was as if something inside your brain snapped, and the need to control this bird-brained asshole overtook you. Oh, I’m gonna give this fucker a show, you mused. You grabbed Keigo’s wrist and shoved it directly inside your clenched hole, violently abusing his fingers akin to a human dildo to escalate your pleasure. Hawks’ mouth practically dropped to the floor, his gaze shifting frantically from you using him as your fuck toy to the canvas of your naked body.
“Holy fuck, kid. That’s so goddamn hot. You really are such a slut, fucking yourself with my own hand. God, y/n. I want to be inside you so fucking bad.”
“That sounds like a personal problem,” you huffed. “Now take off your clothes while you watch me play with myself.”
You grabbed his wrist again to remove his fingers, replacing them with your own to appease the gnawing desire. “Don’t look away from me, Keigo. Make direct eye contact, or I’ll kick your ass out of here with nothing but a pulsating cock and a hope for a wet dream about me.” Hawks quickly stripped down to his boxers, awaiting eagerly for your next demand. You could see the evident staining where the fabric was constricting his shaft. “Such an obedient pigeon,” you purred. “Now stroke your cock slowly like the good little bird boy you are.” His right hand began to slip down the band of his tightening boxers. “Ah-ah-ah, I said to take off your clothes. I didn’t say you could take it out and touch it. Now I’ll allow you to jerk it outside of your boxers.”
“Fuck, kid. Who the hell are you talking to like that? I don’t like that bratty ass attitude you have. I may just have to sh-”
You interrupted his monologue to jump off the counter and engulf his clothed manhood as deeply as your throat would allow. Even as it threatened to touch the back of your esophagus, you could see that you weren’t able to completely fill it with your mouth. You worked quickly to moisten his stiff cock. He moaned and grabbed the base of your head as you proceeded to bob back and forth, driving him insane by your refusal to let him be in charge.
“You filthy whore. If you’re gonna suck me off at least do it properly.” Hawks was growing feral with desire to feel your slobbery mouth on the skin of his member. “I guess you have been a good birdie. Here, I’ll make this easier for you.” You removed him from your mouth long enough to yank down his underwear and return to his massive source of heat. You grabbed Keigo’s cockhead and placed it strategically between your lips, outlining the contours of your mouth and using his wetness as a lipliner. “Fuuuck, you are so good, so good to me baby bird,” he whimpered pathetically before taking him inside your mouth once again. You continued to pleasure him with an absurd amount of oral pressure and saliva which began to leak out the corners of your lips. After a couple minutes of sucking him off, you felt him start to quiver. “Ungh, y/n. I’m about to cum.”
You immediately pulled away. There was no way in hell Hawks was going to come in the store and take up your time without getting you off. “It’s my turn now Keigo. You talked all that shit and now I want to see what you can do. I doubt you’ll be able to get me to cum.” As you planned, this lit a fire under Takami’s ass to drill you harder than an army sergeant. Without a word, Hawks yanked you up from the roots of your hair, shredded off your panties, and proceeded to flip you on top of the counter with your dripping cunt exposed in the air.
“You’ll regret you said that. You’re about to sing my name until your pussy screams and it’ll be music to my ears. I’m gonna make you my dirty little songbird bitch.”
Your heart was racing as you were sprawled out on the counter, your most intimate parts displayed for Hawks’ viewing. You began to turn your head to face him when you felt a strong grip on the base of your scalp again. “I didn’t say you could look at me. Now turn back around or I’ll leave you with a sopping cunt and a hope for a wet dream,” Hawks mimicked. You regretted being so saucy with him before; he now had the upper hand but at the same time, you felt a wicked delight at what was in store. You could feel him tracing the outer folds of your womanhood meticulously and painfully slow before sliding upwards to reach the sensitive skin on your asshole. You involuntarily twitched as he touched this spot, not used to this area being so vulnerable. “It looks like I found your weak spot, baby bird. I think it’s time to show you what happens to bratty bitches who talk so impolitely to me.” You heard a soft whoosh from behind you, similar to a sailing dart. You gasped in shock as you felt the tip of a feather tickling your rim as two fingers began to penetrate the saturation built up in your twinging cunt. Hawks continued this assault as he began to fist his own member using the slick he swiped from your saturated hole, picking up speed to pump synchronously with his digits. “Shit, y/n. I can’t hold out much longer, your slutty pussy is soaking my hand. I want to feel how wet you are. Are you gonna be a good girl and let me fill you with my cum?”
“Keigo, PLEASE! Please fuck me, I can’t take this anymore, ahh-. I’m begging you, I want you to stuff me with your fat cock.”  
Hawks countered your begging by shoving his length into your sopping cavern. You cried out with a mixture of surprise and pain as he began to pump into you with determination. You could feel your walls clamp down on his manhood as he massaged your insides. Despite your best efforts, you couldn’t help but to moan, your mind succumbing to the overwhelming pleasure you felt in your overheating pussy. Hawks felt like absolute nirvana, reaching parts of you that had not been touched in a very long time. He continued his strides in an exaggerated manner, ensuring that you felt every single inch of him from the base all the way to his engorged cockhead. Your wails of satisfaction began to match the reverberation of Keigo’s swollen balls slapping against your perineum, applauding the unification of two strangers and their primitive needs.  “I told you, baby bird. I knew my cock would drive you insane. Who’s your owner now? Tell me, huh? I want you to say it, to scream it at the top of your lungs. Who’s fucking up this tight cunt, yeah? Who’s filling this slutty little hole of yours, songbird?”
“You are, Keigo, fuck. Fuck the shit out of me, please. Keep ramming my pussy, baby. I’m you-” He cut off your anguished whines by shoving his fingers in your mouth, forcing you to taste your own slick mixed with the flavors of his earlier meal. “Y/N, you sure are talkative for someone who can barely handle a cock inside her. Is papa bird too big for you to handle?”
“Hu-hrd-rr!”
“What was that, filthy girl? You’re mumbling.”
Hawks began to hammer into you, his breathing becoming ragged; the way you took such brutal pounding threatened to buckle his knees. He took his fingers out of your mouth so you could scream “I said, HARDER, you bastard!” You couldn’t help but to whine as he continued to fill your ears with lewd comments and grunts, his rhythm beginning to slightly falter with each clench as he fought to reach your cervix. You attempted to regain regularity in your breathing to no avail.
“Aah, aah, fuck Keigo. This is your pussy, don’t stop. Oh fuck, I’m gonna cum!”
“Shit baby bird, you’re so fucking tight it hurts. Fuck, I’m gonna fill you with all my seed. You’re gonna be begging for my cock from now on out and I’ll make sure to give it to you every night. Now cum for me, baby. Sing me a song, songbird. I wanna hear you fucking say whose cock is claiming your pussy!” The screech you let out was inhumane, your legs shaking savagely as a deep, almost painful orgasm rippled from your center. The lilt of your voice sent Hawks into a frenzy, his thrusts becoming unstable and jolting as he moaned your name. You saw Hawks’ eyes begin to glaze over and saw your opportunity to attack. You turned to reach for his throat and pressed firmly with your thumb and index finger with just enough pressure to surprise him, cutting him off mid-groan. “Awhk, f-feels sh-so good. Almost th-there.” You wrapped your legs around Takami’s hips and squeezed as tightly as possible, leaving the pro hero no choice but to release himself inside you, hips bucking as his load emptied in rivets.  
“Ahh shit, y/n. I meant to pull out. I should’ve asked you first.” He sighed as he slowly removed himself from you. You both watched his fatigued member leave your orifice covered in the combination of juices. “Well normally when people order food here, they don’t end up balls deep in me so…” you retorted. Hawks chuckled, a dash of pink beginning to spread on his cheeks. “Well pro heroes don’t normally meet such gorgeous and smart-ass chicks working at fried chicken shops.” You rolled your eyes but couldn’t suppress a grin. You weren’t immune to his charm, and you were wondering what just transpired. Hawks searched for a clean towel and began to wipe you off, erasing evidence of the night’s events. “I guess I’ll see you around then,” you offered as you both began to redress yourselves. You hoped deeply you would see him again someday, even if it was just to order food. Hawks planted a soft kiss on your cheek, then asked “when’s your next day off, y/n?” You sighed lightly, “I actually have the next day off. Thank All Might, I’m exhausted.”
Hawks smiled, ruffled your hair, and replied “hope you’re not too exhausted. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to take you out on a proper date. I know this great little place that sells the best chicken.”  
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Text
My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s S02E03 (“Call from the Dead”)
My thoughts after watching Season Two, Episode Three:
01. Taiju and Yuzuriha have different types of shoes – that’s a nice detail 😊
02. Leave it to Yuzuriha the arts and crafts club member to notice a detail like the dirt around the grave being different!
03. Day after day… I wasn’t expecting them to visit the grave THAT often. I like that they used the same phrase (“mainichi mainichi”) as last time – in Season One, Senku used it to describe Kohaku’s dedication to her sister, and now in Season Two, Nikki used it to describe Taiju and Yuzuriha’s dedication to their friend 😊
04. I liked Kohaku and Ginro’s excitement at hearing Taiju’s voice. This is the first time they’ve heard an outsider who they knew right away wasn’t an enemy! (Well, second time for Kohaku, since Senku saved her the day they met.)
05. The next time I’m on the phone with somebody, I’m going to imagine the same huge arc of electricity that Kaseki did 😁
06. Senku was so emotional – eyes shining with tears, smiling as he listened to Taiju – and then it all went away because he had to remind his friend that HE was Senku 😆
07. Just like how Gen is the stand in for the audience (modern timers, but generally clueless compared to Senku), Kokuyou and Ruri are the stand-ins for how incredible the phone must seem to Ishigami Village 😁 Come to think of it, Kokuyou’s had that role since last season – he’s far away enough from the main cast that he doesn’t know all of their adventures (and that distance makes him like the “normal” villagers), but close enough that he gets to share his thoughts and theories. It was through his eyes that we saw the big impacts that bottling and furnaces had on Ishigami Village 😊
08. I know it was short, but I like how Senku greeted Yuzuriha separately. They haven’t had that much screentime together since the anime began, but I like how Senku and Yuzuriha have their own friendship, instead of Taiju being their go-between or something like that.
09. “He’s been screaming all day.” All day? Have they been there longer than just the few minutes we’ve seen?
10. Kohaku noticed the defensive reason for why they had to speed things up! 😊 And I liked her observation about Senku and Taiju 😊
11. It’s could be easy to just write Taiju off as a loud blockhead, but it’s scenes like his allowing Tsukasa to hit him in Season One and his question about bloodshed in Season Two that really show you the kind of admirable, pacifistic guy he is 😊
12. “Gen will be back tomorrow or so.” Okay, so we have an estimate of how far the two kingdoms/empires are from each other. I’m glad they mentioned this!
13. Magma and Chrome’s loud conversation really shows how much anime can improve upon manga. When you’re just reading, you do know characters are talking and being loud, but when you’re watching anime, it drives home the fact that they’re being SO LOUD and that they need to SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! Poor Gen… 😆
14. Thank you for finally saying Ukyo’s name, Gen 😆 Anime only folks get important information, and manga readers can sigh in relief that another character’s name has been revealed 😁
15. I’m with Magma. Chrome’s so selfish, worrying about his own life like that! 😡 Not like Magma, who’s strong and noble and self-sacrificing and only thinks of others and their safety 😁
16. You have to feel sorry for Gen… he’s trying to get the two of them to just SHUT UP 😆
17. I doubt Magma was seriously thinking that Chrome would go along with that plan, so he must have been joking… and the fact that we have Magma JOKING around with main characters after being the main antagonist in the middle part of Season One… they’re really pals now, aren’t they? 😲😊
18. Chrome’s battery has 15V… how much is that compared to an AAA battery for a remote control? I'll look it up later 😁
19. I’m a modern era person and it would have never occurred to me to use a wire to connect two ends of a battery and throw it into the grass to start a fire. Either Senku told him that battery stuff fairly recently and it was stuck Chrome’s mind because he was in charge of the heating team, or he’s just that much of a genius that nobody explained that to him but he intuited it anyway… or I’m just that stupid 😆
20. It’s expected that Chrome would sacrifice himself, but Magma… very impressive character development 😁 (I mean, I’m a manga reader, so I knew this was going to happen, but still 😁)
21. Gen’s eyes are blue? I never noticed until this episode.
22. Poor Gen… first, in Season One, he had to run like the wind from the shed of science to the Cave of Miracles while he was SEVERELY injured, and he had to do it as fast as possible to help Senku stay safe, and he was the only one who could do it… and now, he has to run like the wind while dealing with the knowledge and guilt that two of his comrades sacrificed himself for him, and he has to do it as fast as possible to be able to start his extremely important deception mission, and he’s the only one who can do it.
23. Gen really needs to get Kaseki to build him some kind of cable car system or a limousine so that he can travel in style between the two kingdoms/empires instead of exhausting himself all the time running back and forth 😲 Or at least a bicycle!
24. Since it’ll take Gen at least one day, possibly longer, to reach the shed of science, that means that Taiju and Yuzuriha must have talked to Nikki one or more days after they spoke with Senku. Anime helps with some things (like sound), but it can sure confuse people about the passage of time…
25. Copper swirly! 😊 I like Kaseki’s name for it better than Senku’s name for it 😆
26. Kohaku’s eyes! She’s SO fascinated by how the copper swirly is being used 😁
27. Nikki’s SO hostile 😲 I get that she’s a guard and everything, but she doesn’t really have a reason to be this hostile to Taiju and Yuzuriha, does she? It’s weird O.o Unless maybe she wanted to do something else (hunting/training/etc.) but she was forced to be their guard specifically because she’s a woman and can stick to Taiju AND Yuzuriha like glue? (Like Brienne from Game of Thrones.)
28. Why are her eyebrows a darker shade than her hair? This is sort of like Kokuyou’s weird hair colors, but to a lesser extent.
29. The punches are… she’s really hostile. Maybe it’s just to emphasize how much she changes later on and the episode, but it’s still so weird.
30. Didn’t Senku “die” on a cliff, out in the open? Kohaku was able to see him from (presumably) far away, and all that stuff with the gunpowder and the huge rock… am I remembering it wrong? Was it NOT a cliff after all? Because the rocks around this grave make it look like some kind of natural, concealed fortress!
31. Senku’s Sebastian voice sounds so silly 😆
32. I wish they had done Lilian’s voice differently. Gen’s fake Lilian doesn’t sound like a native English speaker while speaking English. Maybe they’re counting on the people they’re talking to not knowing the difference between foreign language accents… but still, this could have been done better. Maybe the studio just didn’t want to hire a new person to speak just a few lines. Or maybe they did this on purpose so that Nikki could notice something was off with her voice?
33. Yuzuriha being quick on the uptake again! 😁
34. This has to be the most stressful, rushed, and mathematical estimating of CD sales and body measurements ever 😆
35. The video game music was used in such a fun, light way last season (choosing the third mining team member) that hearing it in this scene for this situation sounds so weird 😲
36. That crouching backwards, pointing straight ahead Lilian pose seemed really out of place when the music is this really soft, gentle song 😲
37. I wonder if the stadium they showed us is based on a real stadium in Japan?
38. “Lilian doesn’t exist in this world anymore. Am I right?” Oh, Nikki… 😭
39. Senku’s eyes were shining when he replied to Nikki… I wonder if talking about Lilian reminded him of Byakuya… somebody who was in space with Lilian and also doesn’t exist in this world anymore… 😭
40. I love how Senku doesn’t lose anything or inconvenience himself at ALL by making that promise, since he’s going to protect the glass recording anyway because of Byakuya 😆
41. Okay, after Nikki committed to the plan (welcome, Nikki!), they zoomed out and the grave is seriously surrounded by all those vertical rocks. There is NO WAY this grave is in the same place Senku and Tsukasa last talked. No WAY.
42. I was SO surprised when the episode ended there 😲 That was NOT what I was expecting. This episode felt so short!
43. I still love this ending theme! 😁
44. About the ending theme (“Koe” / “Voice” by Hatena), songs mean a lot more to me when I understand what the lyrics mean, so I went to YouTube hoping to find an English cover or English subtitles or something. I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scv09Dtby-8) by a YouTube channel called AniComet Music, and from 0:12 to 0:34, the lyrics are, “I keep struggling and suffering, but still / I’ll gain strength from the feelings I’ve had for you / It’s a story that will never change / Even though I knew I’d never be a match for him.”
45. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel the song is from Senku’s point-of-view, and both the second and fourth lines could be about Byakuya (especially the fourth line) – in a father/son context, of course – of how he gets strength and inspiration from Byakuya and how he feels his father will always be beyond him and more than him 😭
46. With that said, even though my interpretation is really meaningful to me, it doesn’t really make sense, since “you” and “him” are obviously different people, and when you read more of the lyrics, “you” can’t really be referring to Byakuya. Maybe my interpretation will change when I listen to the song more and read more translations, but this is the first English translation of the ending song that I’ve read, and it really speaks to me 😊
https://firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr.tumblr.com/MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts
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Teenage Fantasy
Pairing: Henry Cavill x F!Reader
Warnings: Language, Smut, NSFW guys! Henry Cavill being a flirt
Summary: Your day couldn’t get any worse. Your plane was late, baggage lost, your phone dead and you get lost. But thankfully a hot stranger decides to help you out and make the night of this awful day a little bit better.
A/N: I am slowly coming back from my writer’s block so please be patient with me. @idjitmonkey​ I thought you make like it :) Comments and reblogs always welcomed. Please do not use my work without my concent!
I got lost in who wanted to be tagged in what, so please send me a message or an ask and I’ll make a list <3
TAGS are opened
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You exhaled heavily and looked at your phone, coursing your law battery. You have been trying to find your hotel but it seems you got lost. Like really lost, and you weren’t sure if it was due to your lack of road finding or just the mere fact that the universe just seem to hate you today.
The whole day seemed to be awful. Firstly your plane was late, then you lost your baggage, which was thankfully found, and now you lost yourself. How fun! All you wanted was just to sit down and cry. It was cold, windy and all you wanted was a nice beer some onion rings or wings and the bed. 
Of course, you could ask someone for directions, but well of course no one seemed to be around. Now when you really needed someone. Like its London, for crying out loud, how is that possible there was no one around. 
Oh! And let’s not forget about your battery completely and utterly dead in your phone. Yes. The Universe definitely hates you. 
You had two options just keep on walking, hoping to find a bar or something and ask for help, or come back the same way you came, and well… yeah… hope for the best. 
“You look lost!” You squealed and jumped hearing a low voice behind you. Dropping your backpack you turned around meeting the eyes of the stranger. “Forgive me! Did not want to scare you”, he chuckled and lifted your bag from the snowy sidewalk. “You seem to be staring at your dead phone for a long time, so I thought I’d come and maybe help?” You quietly thanked the man and took your bag. You gave him the piece of paper with the address of the hotel and sighed. 
“I haven’t noticed my battery was dying before like 5 minutes ago, and well I don’t really have a map and it’s cold and…” You sighed and dropped your head completely defeated. 
“This is London for you!” He chuckled, looking around. “Have you tried to ask people around?” You narrowed your eyes and crossed your arms around your chest. 
“Oh, why haven’t I thought about it. Oh, but wait!” You turned around in a circle, your hands spread. “No people around! I’m not an idiot, you know?!” He frowned and raised his brow. 
“Sorry, that was a stupid question.” He awkwardly shrugged, biting his lips in a cute boyish way.
"No. You have been nothing but a star. I'm sorry I'm being emotional." You took a deep breath to relax.. "It's been a shitty day really and getting lost in a city I have never been before is a great way to end it." He frowned and smiled softly. "I'm sorry, you're so nice helping me out and here I am acting like a spoiled brat!"
"It's fine, really. How about we'll go have a beer and then I'll call you a cab?" You opened your mouth to say yes, but then you reminded yourself that you don't know that man at all. But on the other hand you really needed that beer. Or two, eventually five. 
"Promise me you won't kidnap me and slit my throat?" There was a pause and then a booming laugh, which made you laugh as well. 
"Yeah, this coat was pretty expensive and blood is hard to clean. You're safe!" He send you a wink, going the other way, what you assumed to the pub. 
"I would tell you a good way to get rid of it, but I'll wait till we’re in a public place." He laughed again and you followed this strange, nice man. Oh and not to mention. Incredibly hot man! Well, you only live once, right?
**
"Oh gosh he's adorable!" You squealed gazing at the picture of the 'stranger's dog on his phone. You both went into the pub which was ironically close to where you were. You were able to charge your phone, that gave Henry, as he introduced himself, a possibility to buy you a drink. You ordered a beer, some onion rings and now you were on your second bowl and glass and the topic of your conversation turned into animals. On how you'd love to adopt a dog but your landlord is a dick and doesn't let you. And he told you about his best friend Kal and was showing you some photos and videos of him. 
"He's the best dog ever!" He smiled softly seeing your hyped expression whenever you were seeing another and another of the pictures. 
"Oh I bet he is!" You exclaimed happily, chuckling at the video of Kal and Henry playing around. You gave him back the phone when you noticed some personal pictures of his without Kal. He frowned and looked down, and could help but smile softly at your will to keep his personal life just his. "Oh I hope if I move I will be able to get one of those." You took a sip of your beer and sigh. "My dad hated dogs so we never got one. But now I wish my next landlord will not be such a… well…" 
"Dick?" You laughed and nodded. "So what brings you to London?" 
"Job interview actually. I got a job offer at the university as a second world war lecturer." He raised his brow and you smirked. "What? I don't look smart enough to be a lecturer?"
"Well, your road  reading skills didn't give a great first hand impression", you slapped him playfully in the shoulder and laughed. "I'm joking. You just look too young to be a professor." 
"Oh so you go from insults to flirting?" You bit your lip, giving him a playful stare. He widened his eyes and smirked at you, finishing his Guineas. He pointed at your almost empty glass and you nodded. Your job interview wasn't until 4 PM so you could get a little drink. And well who says you can't get flirty with a very handsome stranger, who also seems to be intelligent, charming and funny? "Thank you", you smiled at the waiter who brought another beer for you. 
"My trainer will kill me if I get another bowl of those rings" he sighed, visibly wanting another one. You chuckled and ordered another one, sending a flirty wink his way. "If you'll hear news of death on the gym, know it's your fault!" You bit your lip chuckling. 
"Life is too short to say no to a good beer and onion rings!" He raised his brow and shook his head in disbelief. 
"You're one of a kind, Y/N", you liked the way your name sounded from his lips. It shoot a jilt down your spine. The nice and very sinful one. The one you should not be feeling towards a stranger that you met just two hours ago. 
"Oh I'm missing the insult this time" he opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't as he laughed again. "But do tell me, Henry," you whispered his name in the same way he said yours. "Why am I one of a kind?" 
"Most women I meet are too focused on the aspect of a perfect body to eat whatever they want. And here you are, eating a third bowl of onion rings and enjoying yet another glass of beer. If you tell me you watch soccer I will have to marry you!" 
"Well get a ring then, because I do enjoy some sport in my life, including football", he rolled his eyes the way you corrected him in terms of the soccer term. "And did you just call me fat for not caring of my body?" His eyes widened and he made the most adorable impression of a fish. You put the most serious expression for as long as you could, which was about 10 seconds, before you burst into a fit of laughter. 
"You scared the shit out of me!" 
"That was fucking precious!" Boldly you put a hand on his, oh God, big thigh. "Relax, I know I don't have a body of a supermodel.  But hey, I do enjoy my life too much to be a masochist." He watched you in amusement when you tried to contain your laughter. "Plus", you licked your lip seductively, enjoying the way his Adam's apple uncontrollably bulged. "What's a woman without some curves, right?" Henry swallowed harder and his eyes lowered to your hand on his thigh. You weren't normally so bald but there was something about this man that made you less shy and more flirty than you normally were with guys. 
"You truly are perfect Y/N", he whispered in you ear making you blush just a little bit. Trying to blame it on the amount of alcohol, rather than the nice sensation of his breath on your neck. "Really one of a kind!" Your everyday you would probably scream at you for not stopping his hand that started to venture from your knee to your thigh. But today you had an awfully long day and every girl needed a good one night stand once in a while. And something told you that the man in front of you, knew how to make that awful day into a much better night. 
"I think I'd like some whisky…" he pulled away and smiled softly. You were sure you heard him whisper 'fucking perfect' before straightening. 
"I do have some of it back in my apartment" your heart skipped a bit. How was it possible that this perfect, incredibly handsome man wanted you? No. You wouldn't let your anxiety kill tonight. With no words you unplugged your phone and put it back into your bag. You took your purse out and asked for a receipt feeling Henry's eyes on you. "Y/N, listen if I read the situation wrongly…"
"We need to pay before we leave right?" You sent him a wink and noticed how he exhaled deeply. 
"In that occasion, there is no fucking way I'll let you pay. Don't fight me on it!" You left a quick peck on his lips, thanking him quietly, before standing up and putting a coat on. You chuckled hearing his hitched breath and quiet 'fuck' under his nose. 
**
You were standing in the middle of the living room gazing around his 'flat', as he was so kind to call it. It was huge. Your last flat could fit in that living room and that made you swallow hard. Just as you were about to say something you heard scratching on the floor and as you turned around to see what that was, a ball of fur jumped at you, making you land on your ass. A booming laugh escaped your lips, feeling a wet tongue traveling through your face. 
"Fuck, Kal get away!" You opened your eyes to see Henry standing above you, holding the dog by his collar. "I'm so sorry. I forgot to close the doors to his room when I left… are you ok?" He pulled you up but you only shook your head and kneaded in front of the dog. 
"Are you kidding me? This is the best way anyone has ever welcomed me", you started to pet Kal, smiling and giggling at his happy expression. "Aren't you the cutest? Yes… yes you are!!" You didn't care that you sounded mental. Dogs were the most amazing animals and if someone didn't like the fact well they don't have to be in your life. 
"Here!" You looked up seeing two glasses of Scotch in Henry's hand and you got up on your feet thanking him quietly. "Normally the girls don't give him that much attention," he smiled at you and looked down at you lips. You raised your brow and took a step closer, completely ignoring the personal space. 
"Oh, is someone jealous?" Your free hand landed on his chest, admiring how hard it was. Was this man fucking perfect? Now you really wanted to see him naked. 
"What if I am?" His husky, lowered voice made you involuntary close your thighs. You looked up into his darkened eyes. Your hand moving down, slowly. Until it stopped at his belt and without a word you lowered it a bit more and gripped where his, what you assumed and hoped, impressive cock was. You smiled when he groaned quietly at your action. With one sip he drunk all his whisky and closed his eyes when you started to unbutton his belt and Jeans. You followed his lead and finished the drink, handling the empty glass to him. He raised his brow, ready to ask, but shut his mouth, when you kneeled in front of him opening his trousers. Looking up you lowered his boxers, and couldn't help but lick your lips seeing him already semi-erect. Fuck he was so beautiful! He was big, but not too big, but what was more impressive was his girth. Oh yeah, you are going to have fun with the man. You smirked at him and not breaking the eye contact you licked the top of his penis, going from up to the base like a kitten enjoying the best of snacks.
"Holy fuck!" He growled when you swallowed him as slowly as possible, bobbing your head up and down, enjoying the sounds living his mouth. You closed your eyes and swirled you tongue around his clock, drinking up the precum that appeared on the top. "Fuck, sweetheart, baby you gotta stop!" He pulled you away and you looked up at his flashed face, smirking in the most flirty way. Yo stood up and smiled widely, when he pulled you close to him. "You are fucking amazing. Jesus I haven't felt that good in a while, but", you screamed when he took you over his shoulders and started walking to his bed. You giggled when he softly threw you on the bed and laid down towering over you. "Now sweetheart I will make sure you will forget about this awful day you had." You looked up and whined seeing him undressing himself. This man was perfection, and you weren't sure which God you were supposed to thank for this, but yes, for some bizarre reason you got lucky today. His sculpture body was something you only seen on the covers of magazines and not to mention that chest hair. Fuck. Yeah ok, you may have a weird kink for men with chest hair, but who wouldn't seeing the man in front of you? 
"You see something you like?" He hovered over you, planting his hands on both sides of your head. It was just now you noticed how beautiful his eyes were. Darkened by the lust they still held the beautiful blueness in them.
"You have this adorable patch of brown in the top of your left eye." He stilled and raised his brow in amusement. He leaned and captured your lips with his. 
"No one has ever described it as adorable before", he chuckled and you smiled shyly, embarrassed one of a sudden. 
"I like being your first", you sassed winking at him. And it was then when he lost it. He leaned down and covered his face in the crook of your neck laughing. You joined seconds later. It was the first time for you to have so much fun during sex. Even when you were in a relationship sex was always serious and not always something you practically enjoyed. But at this moment you were both excited and amused. 
"I'm so fucking happy I decided to take a walk tonight", you moaned when his lips attached themselves on the sensitive spot on your neck. You could feel a smirk on his lips, proud of himself for the sounds you were making. "You really are one of a kind", you jumped a little when he bit you under the ear, smirking at you. Oh this will definitely leave a mark. 
"I'll get you back for that!"  You hissed playfully. He shook his head and you raised a brow in question.
"I don't even want to know media's reaction if someone noticed a hickey on me!" This made you freeze and you pulled yourself on your arm to a sitting position. Confusion written on your face. 
"What do you mean?" You asked, hoping he was making some weird ass joke. At the same time trying to put his face to anyone you know. He sat down opposite you with the same confusion on his face. 
"You really have no fucking clue who I am right?" A sly smirked appeared on his handsome face. 
"You're scaring me now! Please tell me I'm not about to fuck some politician…" he widened his eyes and then laughed so hard that the tears appeared in his eyes. 
"I think I should blame myself for that. Haven't introduced myself properly. Henry Cavill." He extended his hand playfully and you frowned. You did recognise that name from somewhere. He grinned when your eyes widened. 
"Fuck! You’re the Witcher!" It was his turn to look surprised. He was expecting Superman. "Hallelujah. I'm about to fuck my teenage fantasy!" You leaned in and kissed him hard, turning him around and pushing on the bed, sitting on his hips. Enjoying the bulge you were feeling beneath you. 
"Your teenage fantasy?" He asked, putting his large hands on your hips, apparently enjoying his new position. You took a deep, happy breath when his hands started to move up your thighs. You stood up and undressed yourself. You sat back and captured his lips, your hands on his chest, admiring the Adonis under you. 
"I was a geeky kid. My nose was always stuck in books, mostly fantasies. My grandma is Polish and she once gave me Sapkowski's books and well let's say that you should not put a 16 years old horny teenager alone with a book about a broody, strong man, that wields his sword better than anyone else." You kissed his chest, shamefully nipping at his nipple, making his hip raise and a hiss leave his lips. 
"Don't tell me you got yourself laid with the Witcher!!" He couldn't control the laugh and looked up smirking, seductively licking your lips. 
"Not to the book itself but to the fantasies that my brain made." He shook his head in amusement. "But now that I actually have a really Geralt, let me tell you, kind sir, I will use that opportunity to the maximum." Your tongue traveled through his abdomen and kissed him right above his throbbing cock. 
You squealed when he turned, once again towering over you. The blue in his eyes was gone. Oh God, you will get properly fucked. And you couldn't wait for it. 
"You are a teaser, you know that?" You moaned when he bit on your sensitive nipple. "Don't want to destroy you fantasy, but I will be the one fucking you brainless, not Geralt", you sobbed when he pushed a finger inside your wet pussy. "Fuck you're tight! Yes baby, I will fuck you till you'll see the stars!" Another and another finger pushed inside you, twirling in a way that it touched this special place and you screamed his name. "Yes, sweety, that's right. I'll be your new fantasy!" 
"Henry I'm… fuck Henry… please don't stop!" He increased his pace and you moaned almost pornograpically, when the knot broke and you came like you never came before. 
"If that's what I can do with just fingers imagine how you're gonna feel when I'm finally inside of you." He smiled and kissed you softly on your lips. Your hands and legs circled him, getting him as close as possible. 
"Condom?" Your voice raspy and low almost as not yours. You could not believe he was able to bring you to that state with just his fingers. how are you supposed to find a man better than him? No, now was not a place nor time to think about that. "Give me that" you took the foil from him and opened it with your teeth. You pushed him off you and strangled him once again, sitting between his thighs. You looked up and smirked, putting a condom on his cock and with no words you lowered your mouth on him, putting the protection perfectly.
"Fuck!" He moaned when your lips left his cock. “That was the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen!" You chuckled and slowly positioned yourself on him.
"Can I ride you, Henry?" you felt his cock twitch at your words and you couldn't help but giggle. 
"You little minx… you'll pay for that" he joked and pushed inside of you with one harsh push. You screamed and fell on his chest to muffle the sound. "Fuck baby you're really tight…" he stopped and there was fear in his eyes. "Fuck please tell me…"
"Jesus no!" You laughed and kissed him softly. "It's just been a while. 2 years if I'm being precise." 
"I'm sorry." He whispered kissing your shoulders softly, apologetically. "I didn't want to hurt you. I'll go slow." You shook your head and moved up only to lay back down. 
"I'm not a glass doll, Henry. I won't break. You're just bigger than anyone I had and I needed to get used to it. Plus…" you straightened and smiled at him. He could swear it was the most beautiful smile he has ever seen. "You did promise to fuck me brainless!" There was nothing more you had to say. His hips moved in synchrony with your, pounding at you sensensly. It stunk for a bit but the pleasure tool from it really quickly. 
"Go on your knees. I wanna see that beautiful ass while I fuck you." You smiled and obeyed his order, enjoying his tone. Before you were able to get ready he shoved himself inside you. He squeezed your hip, for sure leaving yet another bruise on your body. But you didn't care. You felt your walls clenching second time this night. "Yes baby, come for me. Squeeze my dick!" And you once again obeyed him, feeling all the energy leaving you. You moaned when he didn't stop moving. Your sensitive pussy was still concluding from the orgasm and probably the upcoming one as well. "One more baby. Give me one more." The praise from him made you feel something you haven't felt for a while and you came, feeling something dripping down your thighs. 
"Fuck!" He whispered after coming inside the condom. He left you with a hiss and removed the foil from his softening penis.  "I don't think I have ever made a woman squirt." Out of any power in you, you fall on the pillow. You whined pathetically when he moved away. "I'm back. Come on spread for me a bit." You once again obeyed him and felt a wet towel between your folds. And you smiled and his softness. 
"I really, really like being your first" you whispered when he came back and laid down, inviting you to use his chest as a pillow. The soft movement of his chest put you to sleep before you even noticed. 
**
You looked at your vibrating phone and couldn't help but beam in happiness. When you woke up, Henry was still asleep. You knew it was just a one night stand, so to avoid awkwardness you decided to leave earlier. You did, however, felt compelled to leave a letter. You told him how much you enjoyed the night and how the media will never find out about it. And also you left him you number. In case he wanted to call. You wrote him that you didn't expect anything from him but you were open to see each other again. 
You really didn't expect anything. So that little text just made your day even better. 
'How was the interview?' H.C. 
'I will be staying in London for a bit longer', you answered, happy both about the text and your next job. 
'I know some good places to eat if you're not too tired.'
Your heart skipped a bit and you beamed at the prospect of spending some time with him. 
'How about we order pizza and watch Netflix at yours?'
'Netflix and chill? Yeah I'm in. I'll see you in a bit, baby!'  
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withoutmonsters · 3 years
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Maybe I’m Too Young (to Keep Good Love from Going Wrong)
tags: implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced child neglect, a little bit of period typical homophobia, pining, so much pining, post s2, pre-s3
link to ao3
The broccoli sizzled when it hit the hot oil. Steve grabbed a wooden spoon and stirred it, getting all nice and coated in oil, before turning back to his cutting board and finishing chopping the florets. He hummed as he did, a Tears for Fears song that he had heard on the radio on the ride home. The sound of knuckles against a window startled him, and he whipped around. Through the cutout on the wall and the sliding glass doors, Steve could see Billy, smirking like a cat who got the cream and looking like a supermodel. Steve cursed him for surprising him, but crossed out of the kitchen and the living room.
He pulled open the door, glaring a bit. “What the fuck, Hargrove?”
Billy smirked. “What, pretty boy? It’s seven, you should’ve been expecting me.”
Steve glanced at the clock. It was, indeed, seven. “That doesn’t give you carte blanche to just startle me out of nowhere, dick.”
Billy raised an eyebrow. “You do realize that your door was locked and I couldn’t get in, right? I wasn’t trying to startle you.”
Steve huffed, not bothering to give a reply. He knew Billy was right, as Billy was in most things, but that didn’t mean that he liked to admit it.
His friendship with Billy was a strange one. It was made up of equal parts aggression and secrecy. There were so many unspoken words between them that sometimes it felt like it was choking Steve, but he was never going to admit that, especially to Billy. He didn’t know a lot about the other boy, but he treasured what he did know. Like that Billy liked eating vegetables with his meat. If there wasn’t something green on his plate, he’d grumble about it until Steve found some. Steve knew that Billy was constantly licking him lips because they were always chapped. He knew that Billy had three freckles stretched across the expanse of his carotid artery on his neck, lined up like Orion’s Belt. He knew that Billy chewed on his cuticles and that his knuckles were constantly bleeding, not because of fights but because he was perpetually working on the Camaro. He knew that Billy liked his coffee so sweet that it puckered Steve’s lips when he tried it and that Billy would always wear the same three shirts over and over and over again. Steve learned that Billy tied his shoes incredibly tight and would always wrap himself up in about four layers of blankets if he came even remotely close to a bed.
The things that Steve didn’t know about Billy were, somehow, much more than what he did. They seemed to fill up the space around Billy, flooding the air and expanding like some sort of invisible gas. Steve choked on Billy’s secrets sometimes, when Billy showed up at 2 am, battered and hurt and looking like he just lost a fight against a grizzly. Those were the times when Steve had so many words and yet none at all, when he felt like he would suffocate on the lack of his reassurances. Billy never asked for them. All Billy asked for, the first time and all the times since, was a bathroom sink to spread out the first aid supplies he kept in his car. The first time Steve had volunteered his own supplies, Billy had pushed him away until Steve got in his face, eyes locked and mouth hardened in an unforgiving line. He had pulled the same expression he pulled when the party decided to go off and do something so incredibly stupid like venture into demodog infested tunnels just because their friend was in danger. He had worn the authority of his borrowed paternal status, like a mantle on his shoulders, chin held high and head canted like a crown rested on it, and Billy had given in, slumping like Atlas under the weight of the world, bags under his eyes and breath in his chest and he looked, for a moment, like a child, young and sad and so tired that Steve had wanted to wrap him up like a lost kitten and never let him go.
It had only been for a moment. Because the next was ruined with Billy’s words spilling from his mouth, because you could never forget that this was Billy Hargrove, a perpetual snake spewing poison, aggressive and angry and so on fire that sometimes it took Steve’s breath away. Billy burned like a bonfire; he was always so alive, like no one else Steve had ever known. Steve’s life had been a ceaseless suburbia, gray days bleeding into dark nights, and he hadn’t realized how much of it he had missed until Billy had blazed into the school parking lot, Scorpions on blast and an engine roaring like some kind of animal. It was like, through his whole life, Steve had been dreaming, lucid eyes wandering under closed lids, with flashes of decisions that usually ended up with him gripping a bat impaled with nails and waiting for a monster straight out of Dante’s ninth circle coming for him with shark teeth and a flower-petal face and in those moments, he wished with all his ardent heart that he’d lived differently, that he’d changed and loved and hoped and wanted but he never could find the energy to lift a finger when all was said and done and he’d gone home, bruised and tired and feeling a few centuries too old for his body. When it was all over, all Steve was good for was sleeping. Sleeping and waiting like some dragon, sitting on his trove with nostrils open and eyes closed.
And then Billy had been there, looking like a predator, and something had awoken in Steve, flaring to life in his chest and blazing a path through his mind until all he could see was Billy Hargrove, bedroom eyes and his sneer curling his lips. That was all, some nights. All Steve dreamed was Billy’s voice sliding through his ears, Billy’s eyes giving him so many mixed signals that they made cocktails in his lungs, gasping and burning and slurring until all Steve felt was an overwhelming exasperation with himself and the boy across from him. And some nights it was a blank panic that blacked out his vision until Billy found him like that, bruised and hurt but still concerned, because under all his hatred, he was just a boy with too big a heart. On those nights, it was Billy taking care of Steve, even if he was limping like a stray dog, like a broken machine. Steve would cling to him because he was real, because he was firm muscle grounded on strong legs attached to feet firmly planted to the ground and Steve felt like he would float away if he didn’t hold on hold tight to Billy’s biceps until he was sobbing crying breaking in his living room with all the lights blazing through the doors and then Billy would scoop him up and sit with him until early morning, when Steve was sleeping the exhausted sleep of a small child and Billy needed to get home before Neil decided that he had more of a problem than normal with Billy’s nocturnal habits.
This was the friendship that these two boys shared, stolen affections under the table, eyes locked and smirks exchanged and elaborate rituals concocted so that they could share one soft moment, because Hawkins didn’t like boys who dared to be soft; because Hawkins would punish boys who dared to be soft.
Nobody knew—not even Nancy, who was, arguably, still Steve’s best friend despite the breakup. He wasn’t doing too well with friends these days, to be honest. He had ditched Tommy and Carol when he’d started dating Nancy, and he didn’t really regret it until it was late in the day and Tommy was still throwing him those glances that were at once hateful and longing, like he couldn’t quite decide if he wanted Steve to be the scum in the storm drains or the king of the school. It was those days that Steve pushed Billy extra hard, meeting him glare-for-glare and shove-for-shove. Because he didn’t want to see those eyes watching hm from across the court, a sneer and tears in the same expression. He didn’t want to see Tommy, the boy who he’d loved and hated in equal measure since he was five years old and starting kindergarten.
And Billy was a nice distraction. A great one, in fact, from everything in his life. From demodogs and gates and girls with too-wise eyes that cut through the armor that Steve wore to the deep dark hole inside of him that ate up all his love, until he was an empty husk and everyone who’d ever made an effort to be his friend was standing six feet away, the same distance a coffin took up. But with Billy, the coffin was already there. Six feet of emotional distance, at all times. Enough space to shove a coffin, skeleton rotting through the body and all, placed like armor, because for Billy, anything that was living was potential to be hurt, and that meant weakness. And Billy wasn’t weak. Didn’t let himself be weak. Steve found it exhausting sometimes, the self-possession that Billy held. He kept it aloft, all the time, in rain or sun, through even his most deranged moments. At first, Steve thought he was wildly uncontrolled, a newborn colt kicking out at whatever he could reach, even if that was the life-giving mare right next to him. But the night at the Byers’ had made something painfully apparent: no, Billy wasn’t out of control. He was always, always in control, even if he was bashing his head into Steve’s like he didn’t care if he got a concussion. He knew everyone’s movements three steps ahead, and took the time to consider all of them and then make his own move; and most of the time, it was the worst move he could’ve made, designed specifically to hurt the most. He drove everyone away, with the careful precision of a surgeon overlaid by the brute force of a battering ram. It was distinctly Billy: strong and destructive and so completely unstoppable.
Billy leaned against the counter, blue eyes taking in too much as Steve fumbled with the broccoli florets. Steve’s nanny had taught him to cook in middle school. She had let him lurk in the kitchen as she moved about like a graceful ghost, hands quick and clever, eyes focused. Steve had asked to help one day, because the nights when she cooked were the closest he had gotten to family dinners in years, and she gave him a smile and showed him. When she was officially unemployed by the Harringtons, Steve kept in touch with her, receiving recipes weekly from her. It was something that endlessly fascinated Billy for some reason, Steve’s ability to cook. The first time he’d stayed for dinner, his eyes had been pinned to Steve the whole night. Steve had shifted, awkward under his stare, wondering if it would always be like that.
Steve added the broccoli heads, stirring until they were coated. After he was done with the broccoli, Steve added the chicken, cut up into bite sized pieces, to brown. Billy went to the fridge and pulled out a beer, silently offering to get one for Steve, too. Steve shook his head, motioning to the bottle of wine that he had opened when he started cooking dinner.
Billy’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Bougie wine mom,” he joked, voice gently teasing, and Steve wrinkled his nose at him.
They sat down to dinner in comfortable silence, forks clinking against plates and the sounds of chewing the only conversation. Steve didn’t mind; in fact, he enjoyed nights like these, where Billy was quietly soft, more focused on his own inner narrative than what is going on around him. The first few nights like this, Billy had swung between awkward and aggressive, until they had actually sat down to eat food and then Billy had dug in like a starving dog and suddenly the bubble of awkward dancing around each other was popped and it felt like they had been doing this since they were children.
“Damn,” Billy had muttered. “This is really good, Harrington.”
Steve’s cooking skills had spawned a slew of mom jokes from him, as well, but Steve weathered them good-naturedly because when Billy was teasing him about his cooking, he wasn’t flirting. And that was sort of the goal, for these nights. To avoid flirting with Billy Hargrove, because it was becoming more and more apparent that Steve was beginning to like him too much for his own good.
And he couldn’t like Billy, because liking Billy meant wanting Billy and if it was one thing that Steve knew for certain, it was that wanting Billy would kill him. It wouldn’t be the demodogs, it wouldn’t be the Mind Flayer—hell, it wouldn’t even be the snowy roads in the middle of bumfuck-nowhere, Indiana, that never got salted after a storm and were always perilous to drive. No, it would be the sheer wanting of Billy Hargrove.
And Steve couldn’t say he didn’t look forward to that day, but he also wasn’t the one who relished pain like Billy. He couldn’t laugh through a punch; he couldn’t make it seem like it was simultaneously all a big joke and deathly-serious at the same time. Steve didn’t like pain despite the number of fights he lost.
But Billy—Billy was the kind of pain he kept poking at. In the early mornings when the sun hadn’t quite risen yet, in the dark of night when the maws of the Demogorgon ate up his dreams, in the bright daylight at school when Steve could see Billy’s face all to clearly, he poked at it. It felt a little like a sore tooth; he could walk on it, chew with it, move with it, but it wasn’t comfortable.
Billy finished all the food on his plate in record time and got up to get more. Steve watched him go, thinking about how that broad back was always turned to him, even when Billy was walking toward him, and it hurt something deep inside of him, but he wouldn’t say anything.
There was nothing to say. There was food to eat, and a hungry boy to feed, and perhaps some bruises to tend. What there was not something between them. Steve could survive this strange friendship with Billy, but he couldn't survive love.
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horrorslashergirl · 3 years
Text
Decebal Avram Chirilă Symbols
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Swords/Twin Swords/Crossed Swords
“Passion is the sword of love that pierces through the wall of fears that hold us back.”
~Lewis Howes
The sword has lots of meanings; Aggression, Protection, Courage, Strength, Action, Unity, Justice, Leadership, Decision, Duplicity.
The saying “double-edged sword” simplifies the complex nature of the mind and ultimately of what we manifest in our lives. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions lead to positive results, and vice-versa. For Decebal is kind of a paradox, because he tries to think positive, always putting on a smile or grin, laughing in the face of danger, but his actions are despicable, thus leading to the life he has. Most view his style of life as horrible and dangerous, but the Outlaw views the full part of the glass, seeing his freedom.
The two swords represent two parts of his mind and persona; he can be your friend, your protector, your lover, your everything. Then the other part, if you cross the line with Decebal. He can turn into your biggest enemy, slicing, and dicing or even simply turning his back to you in a situation that is a life or death end, giving you a final lesson about back-stabbing.
These twin swords are divided yet again into two symbols, respectively two animals.
Lynx
"His sight was so good that he saw through all the lies and facade other people put on a show; through the darkness, he saw the prey from miles away."
-Anonymous
Decebal's eyes resemble much of the Lynx's sight. Some people call the Lynx “The Silent Witness.” The moniker originates from the fact that Lynx has exceptional night vision, remarkable hearing, and incredible instincts. The spiritual lesson Lynx carries to you is a reminder to partake of quiet observance, remembering there’s more to the world than what’s accessible through the physical eyes and ears alone. The quietness only applies to Decebal during the assassination mission, where he has to be incredibly stealthy and quiet. 
Lynx can also jump upwards of 22 feet; here, the creature’s tree-climbing and jumping skills give it ties to the Air Element. Decebal is a very good climber and he has powerful long legs that helped him a lot during running, jumping from trucks to trucks during traveling, climbing into buildings or houses to kill his targets. Decebal and this animal have the Air  Element in common, the signs of air.
Air signs are a little hard to nail down, much like the wind. Air signs are very social, adapt to new situations very easily, because of their open perspective, but also sometimes are a little lost in their own mind, not having their legs grounded and rather they prefer to go where the wind takes them. That's how Decebal is; very easy around people, charming, and always ready to make conversation, but also harbors strong emotions that make him lose reality, a prospect that leads him face to face with death many times.
The Lynx as a spirit animal sometimes comes to people who have forgotten the benefits of playing. The world contains many stressors which, if not released, end up destroying your progress. Lighthearted play will lift your spirits and liberate your mind. It helps clear your head and leads to a brighter perspective. That's how Decebal is when he comes into someone's life, even if it's for a few days or more, depending here on how he views you. He will make you forget about your problems, teach you to enjoy each moment, and cherish it because life is too short to be all tense and stressed.
Tiger
Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire. 
-Jorge Luis Borges
The primary meaning of the tiger is courage, willpower, determination, personal strength; something that Decebal didn't have when he was young and now he loves the feeling of it, but here also comes a downside. The tiger is also a shadow or part of you that you would normally try to hide or reject; Unpredictability in life, actions, or feelings.
As a positive part, the presence of the tiger spirit animal could connect with your appetite for life and sensuality, two main characteristics of Decebal who embraces life to the fullest and emanates sensuality like a volcano.
The tiger is a solitary animal and so is Decebal, but this characteristic clashes with his fully social side. One moment he can be all over you, the next he simply disappeared. He is a person that yearns for adventure.
The symbol of the tiger and Decebal being a hitman. It is heard that one single tiger killed 436 people in Nepal and India, and let's just say that Decebal lost count of how many people he killed.
They also say that the tiger is also one of the most vengeful animals on the planet and this characteristic applies to Decebal, because he isn't one to forget so easily. To understand this vengeful side better I am gonna tell you the most famous tiger revenge story. Russian poacher, Vladimir Markov, who in the winter of 1997, wounded a tiger and stole parts of his kill. The respective tiger found the poacher's cabin, destroyed his belongings, and waited half a day for the man's return, then killed and ate him.
Decebal, in a funny way, acts exactly like a tiger in mating. The male tiger does the deed with the female then leaves for good. That's how Decebal is in pretty much every one-night stand, leaving before the partner could wake up, but if you are lucky enough to make this man catch feelings for you... Well... I should probably ask you how do you tame a tiger?
I chose the tiger as a symbol for Decebal, along with the Lynx mostly because these are the two sides of him; he can be quite playful and childish, perfect sight in the night like a Lynx, but also very unpredictable, deadly along with a paw of pure courage like a Tiger.
Take it like this; as your friend, he will be a mischievous tomcat, but as your enemy, just like the tiger... chances are that you won't make it out alive.
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emikochan · 4 years
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Yandere allies with a darling that gets caught trying to fake her own death to get away? Its bad enough that they nearly lost their darling, would it be a good idea to say she was trying to escape?
Warning:
This one contains references to suicide, so if ya feel uncomfy, please skip this post🌸
~~~~~~~~
Yandere!America:
Those pills aren't candy, goddamnit!
Aw man, why would you do this? Alfred sighs as he sees the many pills spilled on the ground with you placed in the middle of them.
Did you do this on purpose or did he forget to tell you that he switched the packages of the sleeping pills with the strawberry flavoured vitamins? Anyways:
He raises your warm body up and sticks his finger into your mouth, down your throat and makes you puke. Al nods and rubs your back as you switch between loud sobbing and vomiting. He didn't come too late, wow, you are really lucky! It wasn't your fault you accidently tried to kill yourself.
Al makes sure to inform you next time :D He keeps an closer eye on his babe too.
~~~~~
Yandere!England:
What was that noise?
A plonk plonk plonk could be heard... almost like tapping on glass...A short gasp escaped him when he noticed the lifeless body that got pushed against the windows at his office by the wind and immediately rushes to cut the rope around it's neck.
That hair, that body, the beautiful skin- it seems to be you until he noticed the dead eyes of...
"A puppet?"
It was quite unfortunate for you that he saw you walking outside. Trying to fool him and not even leaving through the backdoor? My, that is stupid.
Arthur isn't even cussing or throwing hands, he just catches you with the deadliest glare on earth and drags you back to the house. Part of him is deeply angered and another one blames himself for the damage and that causes him to sulk for days on end. His inner conflict made him close the blindings throughout the whole house permanently and had you live in darkness for weeks. The sad atmosphere, that seemd to hover over the house forced you to run into the only company you had- which is Arthurs. Keeping him company makes you two have a heart to heart talk- just like when you first met. It's quite nice.
~~~~~
Yandere!France:
S C R E AM I N G
Francis fell to his knees and frantically took your limp body into his arms. The knife was buried deep into your stomache and your eyes were left wide and open- staring at nothing.
"(y/n)! Please, don't do this to me!" he sobbed and tears blurred his sight. He felt as if he was dying with you, his hand touching yoir face again and again trying to gain a reaction from you but-
You blinked.
And now Francis blinked too. The more he stood still and watched you the more difficult it was to hold your breath in until-
"I can't believe you." and he ripped the prop out of your abdomen. The fake knife made a funny noise as it hit the floor and you couldn't keep the act up anymore. You blinked and finally started breathing again.
He simply left you on the floor, Francis is incredibly disappointed you played with his heart like this.
~~~~~~~
Yandere!Russia:
His house was engulfed in flames.
Ivan's heavy body rested on the soft snow as he watched in horror how his beautiful home burned to the ground. It's not about the house, he couldn't care less about that- no, he heard you scream but after the second story crashed down he couldn't hear your voice anymore.
His leg is a bit burnt but he drags his body to back to the front door and speeds up as he makes out the silhuette of his darling stumbling out from under debris and into the snow. You trying to burn the place and leave without him noticing you failed.
He takes you into his arms and tries to drag you away from the fire with him. Nearly losing you made Ivan cherish you even more than before and he treats you much more gentle. No broken bones, no force or emotional manipulation, Ivan almost seems normal with the exception that his care can be overwhelming at times.
Instead of hurting you, he hurts others now, when he sees them as a threat.
~~~~~
Yandere!China:
He knew he shouldn't have left you on that boat alone. Sailing was dangerous damnit, but you just didn't listen to him and now you're gone.
"(y/n)!" Yao yelled once again while slowly moving the single paddle across the dark water. You just disappeared, but Yao didn't want to admit to himself, that you could have possibly drowned yet. You were still out there, he knew it, he felt it.
"(y/n)!" he barked once again but only the echo of his own voice greeted him.
Yao was right, you were still alive and hidden under a big root near the shore with half of your body still in the cold water and clearly on your best way to freezing to death.
If he could just paddle away, so that you could swim to the other side to the forest...
His flashlight hid you dead on ans made your tired eyes squint from the sudden pain. Ok, don't panic. Play it cool.
"Y-Yao?" you whimpered. "I-Is that you? I'm stuck and I can't see!" you put on your best fake sobbing and Yao immediately fell for it as he directed the boat over to you and "saved" you from your unfortunate situation.
It sounded like an accident, so Yao is not even mad at you.
~~~~~~
Yandere!Canada:
This was supposed to be a quick walk through the forest and now you're telling him, that a wild animal ate you?
When he lost you he was annoyed but when he saw the bloody remains of a once living creature in the snow he was panicking for real.
It was only when he wanted to examine your beautiful face one last time, that he noticed that the body was just a mashed up pile of all kinds of animals but no human hand or foot in sight.
This cadaver was just a mere distraction for your escap-
*Crack*
Mattie chuckles when he heard the familiar cursing of his darling from behind the bushes.
You got him there for a second.
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mcnypieces · 3 years
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     A month later and at last I come bearing an update once again. It’s bound to be incredibly lengthy as life has not been its most placid, but I am here nonetheless.
     TL;DR for those also struggling with their time recently: Life stressful, Bun scare, WoW fun but friend/Mythic+ group is a mess due to losing a friend to toxicity, I will likely be remaking this multimuse blog and starting fresh there to give me more incentive to be around to write comfortably in a fresh, happy, non-cluttered place, complete with a new Birkan OC I talked about some months before now. Though I haven’t technically decided and was going to ask opinions, I will likely still be remaking, as everything here is a mess. Lulu’s blog will remain as is for now, as I am attached to it and has retained more activity from me ( not much more, however ), though I have also considered moving her with everyone as well to keep everyone in one place and maybe make my mind feel more focused in a collective space. I’m still very much on the fence about it. Thoughts on that are welcome.
     There was a bit of optimism at the beginning of my break to play WoW. However, a little less than a day into the launch, I noticed something off about the youngest of my rabbits. Hazel, a netherland dwarf gifted to me by a neighbor down the way during Christmas a couple years ago so she had friends and wasn’t alone during the day, developed a head tilt. It was enough to be noticeable, but nowhere near the cases most see posted in pictures. Head tilt in rabbits is often a very serious thing, as it can cause permanent damage and even death if not treated immediately. Anything from an injury to unkempt ears to a common parasite ( which is technically classified as a fungus ) to neurological troubles - the range is about as vast as self-diagnosing with WebMD. Torticollis in rabbits has a bunch of different causes, very few of which are relatively mild.
     I was - to say the least - in absolute hysterics. She was off balance, tripping over herself, curling up into herself trying to keep footing. To somebody that’s never seen it in person before, it looks like you’re watching an animal on the verge of passing from something neurological. I had no idea what was going on. To be frank, I was absolutely terrified. It was 1AM and very few vets were 24-hour, especially in this crisis, much less ones that could look at rabbits. I steeled myself to call the closest one for recommendations on what to do and where to go. Naturally, I was told there was nothing this place could do besides euthanasia ─ which, in my very emotional state, I was incredibly offended by the mere immediate suggestion of. Hazel had been acting completely normal up until then, and she still had her energy. She was trying to climb all over the place despite having no balance, and she showed no other symptoms of anything besides just tilting and falling over herself. At this point obviously I know they were simply stating that was the only thing they could do as they don’t take exotic pets, but in the moment, being offered it as the first and seemingly only solution made me upset. I’m sure that would be anybody in that situation. So, of course, I refused, and they told me of other places that would be able to at least see her at that time and give me more sound options.
     I find a 24 hour emergency pet clinic about thirty minutes away. There’s a place that for sure takes exotics, but it’s 2 hours away and closed at this hour. Okay, fine, I don’t have time to wait with this. I call the 24 hour clinic. They tell me they do see exotics and can treat the basics but they don’t have the equipment to properly diagnose anything for certain. Unfortunate, but I don’t have any other options at this point. They say they will take her and monitor her behavior to figure out where I should go from there. I take her there. I try not to break down again on the ride there, I try not to break down as they take her padded comfy box from me. They tell me they have another, more serious case they have to see to immediately but will monitor her and do a basic check-up. It will take them an hour at minimum, and I was welcome to stay in the parking lot. I decide against it, go home to clean up and prep a space for her while trying to steel myself more. It takes a couple hours for them to call back. 
     Lo and behold, they have no idea what’s wrong. As stated when I called, aside from the head tilting, she is acting completely normal. Eating, going to the bathroom, has her energy, no leg or eye issues that are common with the usual problems that lead to head tilting. What tests they can run are absolutely normal. They gave her what they referred to as “a bunny feast”, and she delighted herself in it with no problems, and they even brushed her down for me ( I didn’t get the chance yet, her winter coat was just coming in ). She just has a head tilt all of a sudden, out of nowhere. This is great news, but it’s also upsetting, because I still have no idea what’s going on. They give me medication for an infection and Metacam for the potential pain she could have been in, and sent me on my way to monitor her at home. If anything changed for the worse, I would take her to the vet in Raleigh two hours away to have actual tests done. 
     Okay, so I’m still in the dark on what’s wrong, but I have medication. Great. I watch her for two weeks, give her the infection medication every 12 hours and the pain medication the first 4 days. And, in time, her head tilt begins to disappear. That tells both the doctor and I that it was either 1) an ear infection, which was now cured, or 2) an injury. My mind has me leaning towards the latter, if only because I know how fast she runs all over the place and Jolyne, my cat, does play with her. They have done so for years now without issue, often times Jojo will be running away from Hazel rather than vice versa. Hazel will do loops back and forth and then suddenly charge at her in an attempt to catch her off guard. I have not let her out with Jojo since then in case roughhousing was in fact the cause, but Hazel is back to running around like the crazy thing she is. I’m still watching her every day, and all the rabbits will hopefully be getting new, large hutches for Christmas. Hazel’s has been ordered. To this moment, I still have no idea what caused her head tilt. What I did learn, however, is that there are a lot of rabbits that get euthanized due to head tilt, when most of the ailments - if caught early enough and with lengthy TLC - can be cured. Rabbits can even live happily with the tilt should it become permanent ( which it can be! ). Here is a happy bun who lived a wonderful life with a permanent head tilt. Much worse than the way Hazel’s was, but the common bad tilt nonetheless. I called to tell them the great news, how grateful I was they could do anything at all, and they were ecstatic to have me call them back. Things in that regard are now back to normal, but I keep an eye on her as per usual. Definitely not the kind of scare I was expecting out of nowhere, but one I received nonetheless.
     During the time I monitored her and kept her close at my side in her hutch ( I went out of the way to move her hutch in with me when I cleaned it, because why wouldn’t I? ), I enjoyed the launch of Shadowlands. My main WoW friend group, A/B/C/D/E, were all playing and content with what was happening. We even were talking to old friends, thinking about raiding, had two new friends coming to learn to play the game. It was great! But then base Mythics came out, and things went sour out of nowhere. 
     One of our long time friends in our original Mythic+ group became the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. We’ve all had our disagreements and issues with said friend for some time, as he has been very negative the past few months and a hamper on the friend group even before launch. Everyone knows things are at an all time low, and the world is not in its best state - but we come to play games to get away from the realities of things. We’re here to have fun and kid around, not to mope. This is not to say we’re not here to be supportive if something is genuinely wrong, or that sadness just isn’t allowed ever. That would be silly. We’re always here to support each other in rough times, and such is the reason we’re as tight-knit as we are to begin with. Always has been the case. 
     However, this was not your typical sad sort of negative. This was the permanent “Glass is Half Empty” mentality. Everything had to be negative. Win a BG match? He didn’t have fun because he got targeted down one time when he was alone on a caster. Clear base Mythics for the first time of the expansion? No time to celebrate, because he didn’t get a piece of gear out of it, or he didn’t do the burst he wanted on a trash pack because we didn’t cater to his pull plan. During the second week of Mythics, he was constantly complaining about not getting gear drops to the point it was making other members upset. No one likes doing eight dungeons, getting one or two drops, and both being pieces you don’t need. Hell, I did Mythic+ this entire week since it came out and I still have a Heroic neck on my body because it has a socket and great stats and I’ve not gotten another drop since. But to complain about not getting a drop and dunking on people who are getting the upgrade ─ which, in turn, betters the group ─ is just ridiculous. This was not exclusive to just WoW, either. Everything they played together when I was not present, he acted the same way ─ negative, upsetting, and very, very defensive whenever someone would tell him to knock it off. He’d pull the “oh you don’t care about me” card. He constantly felt like people were coming after him, even when nobody ever was, and that everyone just had something against him and we kept him there out of sheer pity ─ which was infuriating to all of us, the people who still considered him a friend and cared about him to tolerate the toxic behavior and try to work through it. He’d pretend to be a victim if you tried to call him out on bad behavior, acting as if he was being singled out, while also bad mouthing other people and poking fun at them and then disguising it as a joke ( or in his case, “a meme” ). When you’d do the same back, he’d pull the whole “dude that’s not cool, I get you’re joking but it’s not funny” attitude every time. He had to be right all the time, and if you tried to tell him he was wrong, he’d fight you on it until the bloody end, even when proven wrong earlier. He wanted to be catered to and, if things weren’t going the way he wanted, he was negative. If he wasn’t having fun, nobody else was allowed to have fun. 
     Friend A, who is essentially our leader that brought everybody together and often makes calls for the group ( though in reality we’re all just an aimless bunch of friends messing around and having fun ), has known Friend C for a longer than any of us. He considers him his best friend, and they have been close for many years since Cataclysm. We’re all friends, of course, but A and C have been close for a very long time. They are very supportive of one another, regardless of what happens, and always have been. However, even Friend A is getting very frustrated with Friend C’s behavior. Friend C has not always been like this. In fact, he used to be the complete opposite. He loves the guy to death and back, but the other members, particularly Friend D, is getting into mini verbal fisticuffs during dungeons disguised as friendly fun being poked and forth almost every night. Friend D complains about Friend C behind his back ( which he has been asked to tone down and, some nights, has been agreed with based on the issue at hand ). A new coworker of Friend A who is also a very chill, cool person had her own reservations about him when she joined due to his behavior and it kept her from joining voice calls. Hell, I got into an argument with him a week before launch due to his behavior, to which he tried to invalidate my argument by claiming I was “coming after him” and therefore my side was automatically invalid because I had a “personal vendetta” against him and me “shit-talking” him while making my points “comes off a certain way” ─ when the point I was making had absolutely nothing to do with him personally. Again, the same “I’m being attacked” mentality, when no such thing was happening.
     Eventually one night while he was complaining about loot, Friend A had a talk with him about not complaining about not getting loot anymore, as it was wearing on everyone’s nerves. Mythic+ would come out soon, loot would be flowing in, and everyone would eventually be geared, including him. This wasn’t the first time he was talked to in regards to the way he’d been acting in general. He agreed to tone it down, and that was that. But guess what? That didn’t happen. The next night we finish up our Mythics, and he has to physically stop himself from making a comment and covers it up with “nope, I promised I wouldn’t complain about loot” with a tone that sounds like someone is struggling really, really hard not to say something and is holding back. Normally this would be something nobody cares about and is part of the process but this isn’t the first time he said something about it. He then proceeds to complain anyway, spends night questioning the tank’s ( Friend D at the time ) pulls and complaining about being beat in DPS every other pull because “oh I don’t have gear cause the game hates me so-” when he’s not even doing his AoE rotation properly ( found this out later after everything fell through ). His attitude is so negative it’s affecting the way he plays and, to put it bluntly, he’s playing and acting like shit.
    So Friend A sits him down. Again. At this point he’s still trying his absolute best to work things out with him, but his foot has come down. His behavior for months has been toxic. People are getting fed up. He’s bringing down group morale. Everyone is worried his attitude is going to make the new people who are trying to learn the game quit because he’s constantly shit talking the game and pretending the world is ending in voice. Friend A tells him he’s here for him still and how he’s always here to talk if life is a mess and Friend C is still welcome, but he needs to get his shit straight. By the end of the chat, Friend C claims “that’s just how he is” and he can’t do anything about it ─ which is just such bullshit. We know good and well how he really is, and this ain’t it. He’s just too lazy, full of himself, and down on his luck to acknowledge he has a problem. He says it’s shitty of us not to “accept him for who he is” and how we all know his life is shit and that he’s justified. Friend A essentially tells him he doesn’t want somebody like that in his group. Friend C takes this as “oh I don’t want you here period”, essentially says “well I don’t want to be in a group that just pities me and takes me along because they feel bad and not because they’re actually my friends”, leaves the discord group, removes Friend A from discord, removes friend A from Battle.net, then blocks him in both places. Out of nowhere. Friend A then comes to announce that Friend C will no longer be a part of our group. This is a TL;DR, since I wasn’t there for the conversation and it’s been a little bit since I’ve asked Friend A exactly what was said and feel it inappropriate to ask for specifics again since it’s all behind us now and that night still upsets him to this moment.
    Since then, Friend C has come back to try and make amends to everyone, especially the group, as he dropped without telling anybody out of frustration and essentially said “fuck you” to the entire group because he was upset at his best friend. Friend A was very emotional about it after it happened as, like said, this was his best friend who essentially just claimed he didn’t care about him at all and just pitied him despite doing everything he could to try to keep everybody happy and even catering to Friend C at times against his better judgement. Despite that, however, Friend A has stated multiple times he would not even take Friend C back as a friend unless he had a life evaluation first. Friend A and Friend C sat down to have another talk after the dust settled so Friend C could apologize, as Friend C reached out supposedly to do so, but he still acted as though he didn’t do anything wrong. He swore constantly on his dog-who-he-loved-dearly’s ashes he didn’t say the shitty things he said to Friend A that night. He didn’t own up to anything he said or did, only apologized for leaving immediately and dipping on everyone else, as he worried he’d “burned the bridge”. Friend A did not welcome him back with open arms but told him his doors were still open to talk and were never closed to begin with ( Friend C closed them himself by leaving suddenly, after all ) and that he could talk to him again when he figured everything out. Everyone is at least on speaking terms again, but he has not rejoined the discord nor the game group, and wasn’t even playing for a time. Now he’s supposedly playing and having fun again on his own terms and doing things we haven’t. Supposedly. So our Mythic+ group had a gap in it, which was filled by one of the new friends who just started playing. Both new players in our group are learning fast, but it has slowed our progression down, which we accept. People have swapped around classes to find accommodations as well, with Friend A now tanking and Friend D healing as they did before, delaying progress further. But now with things decided and in place, we will begin to push again. After all, it’s only the first week of Mythic+. We haven’t really lost any important progress.
    Friend A was very upset and felt like there was more he could’ve done, but everyone in the group has told him day in and day out there was nothing else he could’ve done. Friend C still has a lot to sort out and has seemingly taken absolutely nothing from this situation.
    Both of these situations, on top of the seizures the person I consider a second mom to me still happening ( which she went in for today to be looked at again while she’s being treated for something else ), has made writing nigh impossible. I have been having a lot of fun playing WoW and the issue with Friend C, while a big hamper on things in the moment, hasn’t stopped me from enjoying it as is. Both the major hospitals near me have recently announced they are at full capacity on virus patients and will no longer be accepting more of them and, so long as there’s no immediate reason to do so, have asked people to stay inside as much as possible because of it. With Hazel’s emergency making me miss my dad’s small Thanksgiving as I was up all night that night and it was the next day, this means I will also not make it to his Christmas. I did not go to my mom’s get-together for Christmas either, as it was at her restaurant where she works and the number of people there made me nervous. She was sad, but there’s nothing I could really do to justify the risk. The fact people still want to have any kind of gathering even for the holidays blows my mind.
     That all being said, things have calmed down enough for me to consider making another attempt at writing again and retuning to the blogs I have missed dearly. The breaks are always nice, but I’ve had to take far too many of late, and struggling with the energy and mindset to write for months is really starting to get under this bun’s blue fur. In the time I’ve been away I’ve thought about remaking this blog, as it’s a complete mess and riddled with old things that are no longer a part of it. My tags are messed up, my info is all over the place, and I feel as though a fresh place filled with friends who are still active might speed up the process of getting me back on track. In addition to that, I’ve thought more about the OC idea I brought up some time ago and will be adding said OC to the roster once things are set-up, assuming I go through with the idea. I’ve also considered adding Lulubelle to the multimuse as well to keep everyone in one place, but as I’m attached to her blog and hers is more organized, I’m reluctant to do so. It is a thought and consideration, nonetheless. It will all take some time to do, but afterward, assuming it goes as expected, activity will resume once again.
      It will take some time, but hopefully things will be back to the way they were soon enough. ♥
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mnthpprt · 4 years
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Chapter 27: To Be A Mistake
[WARNING: Mentions of suicide, self harm, and disordered eating]
[Here’s a super angsty chapter that’s been on my mind for a while. It goes without saying that I do not condone any of the things mentioned above, and even though my MC engages in them, she is far from perfect, and definitely not an example to follow. As someone who has struggled with these things in the past, I think it is important to portray them realistically and without romanticizing.] 
Our conversation is suddenly interrupted by Mozart barging into the room. The expression on his face is the most emotion I’ve ever seen him show, but I am not happy about it. I can tell that something is wrong.
“It’s Jean,” he says, and I feel the urgency in his tone. Le Comte stands up from his armchair and walks towards Mozart. I follow. “He’s starving himself again. Leonardo is trying to talk him out of it, but it’s taking longer than usual, and I don’t know what to do.”
He’s panicking. Well, as close as someone so stoic can come to it. I reach for his hand and squeeze it tightly to reassure him, and to my surprise, he does not flinch away from my touch like he usually would. This is bad.
“Is he in his bedroom?” I ask. Mozart nods. “Let’s go. Comte?”
“I think it is better for me to stay here,” he explains. “My presence might just make things worse. Jean isn’t exactly fond of me.”
I silently nod and usher Mozart out of the study. He lets go of my hand and begins running through the hallway, in the direction of Jean’s bedroom. Shit, this is really bad. I sprint to catch up to him, and we finally come to a stop in front of Jean’s closed door. I lean on the wall to catch my breath.
Through it, I can hear Leonardo’s voice, pleading for Jean to please drink some rouge before he gets worse. I have not seen what happens to a starving vampire, and I do not want to.
“Stay away from me, you monster!” I hear him yell. “You cannot force me to live like this, I refuse.”
And then, a glass breaks.
Leonardo comes out of the room, closing the door behind him. His eyes look darker than usual. Mozart looks at him for an answer, and he simply shakes his head. It didn’t work.
“I’m going in,” I announce, full of determination. “Wait here. Do not come in.”
Before Leonardo has time to stop me, I slip into the bedroom and lock the door from the inside. It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dark. The curtains are drawn, blocking what little evening sunlight is left in the sky outside. I spot the source of the noise on the floor: a broken bottle of rouge, shards of glass surrounded by a deep red puddle. Over it stands Jean. His hands are shaking, and his dark blue eye is wide open. Oh no.
“Jean?” I say softly, approaching him like I would a wild animal. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“Please leave,” he mutters. His eye remains fixed on the puddle of blood seeping through the floorboards. “I am cursed, an abomination. I must repent for living a life gifted by the Devil.” He joins his hands and starts to pray, falling to his knees. There are tears on his cheeks. “Forgive me, my Lord, Heavenly Father, for I have sinned. For I have become sin itself-”
I kneel beside him and wrap my arms around his body in an attempt to calm him down. The rouge on the floor is staining my light blue dress, but I do not care. This is more important.
“Jean,” I whisper. “Jean, listen to me. You are not sin. You are not a sinner, okay?” He trails off halfway through his prayer, and his breathing slows almost to its normal pace. “That’s it. Focus on my voice. Good.” 
I gently lower his hands and begin to stroke his hair. Though he is calmer now, he keeps shaking uncontrollably, and the way his eye darts around the room is almost feral, unhinged. Is this what hunger does to him?
“Jean, you need to feed. This can’t go well, for you, or anyone else,” I softly tell him. My right hand keeps running through his hair, which seems to soothe him slightly, while the left reaches for the puddle. I dip two fingers in the rouge and slowly bring them up to his mouth. “Here. Have a drop, at least. It will make you feel better.”
“No!” Jean yells, abruptly pushing me off of him. “This... this is sinful! You will not convince me otherwise,” he snarls at me.
I sigh and get up from the floor. Clearly, talking does not work. At all. I don’t know what else to do. I spot a dagger on his nightstand, and carefully reach for it. I have an idea. An incredibly stupid one, at that, but it is better than nothing. It is better than letting Jean starve himself into oblivion.
“Is this how you want to do it? Fine,” I declare, staring defiantly at him across the room. I push my hair back, baring my neck, and point the sharp blade at my own throat. The metal feels cold against my skin. “It’s either your fangs or the dagger. We both know which option is more likely to kill me. The choice is yours.”
“Anaïs, don’t!” Leonardo yells from outside the room. I hear the clattering of the door handle behind me as he uselessly tries to turn it.
Meanwhile, Jean looks at me, incredulous.
“You wouldn’t,” he says, his voice shaking. I flinch when I press the tip of the dagger into my flesh. I can feel a thin stream of warm blood run from the wound and pool onto my collarbone. Jean gasps.
“You would,” I say, “so what makes you think we’re so different? You have ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight...”
“Stop! This is madness!” He yells at me, unmoving.
I press harder, clenching my teeth. More blood begins pouring out.
“...Four, three, two...”
Finally, he lunges forward and runs towards me before forcing the blade away and sinking his fangs into my neck. My hand lets go of the dagger, which falls onto the wooden floor with a loud clatter, as waves of pleasure expand from the bite like an electric shock through my body. I somehow manage to stay conscious enough to hear Leonardo break down the door and barge in.
“Ahh...! Stay... back...!” I force the words out of my mouth with all the strength I can muster. Leonardo’s footsteps stop. My body goes limp, and I fall into Jean’s strong arms. He holds me upright as I let him drink from me, and my eyelids grow heavy. I slowly become swallowed by darkness, a cold ocean, the waves of which pull me in, dragging me deeper and deeper. I let it take me.
I wake up in my bed and attempt to sit up, but I am too lightheaded, and fall back onto the plush pillows beneath me, uttering a curse in Spanish. 
“Cara mia.” Leonardo’s eyes shoot open and he abandons the chair he was sleeping on to sit on the edge of the bed, by my side.
“How long... was I out...?” I struggle to ask. I try to sit up once again, this time aided by Leonardo. My head is spinning.
“Shhh... Take it easy, cara mia,” he tells me. “You lost a lot of blood.” He tightly holds my hand in his, big and calloused and pleasantly warm. “What were you thinking? You could have died!”
His voice breaks when he says it. It pains me to make him worry like that. I run my thumb over his knuckles as I reassure him.
“I’m fine. See?” I smile. “Where is Jean?”
“Mozart is with him. He had to hold me back, you know? I could not bear the thought of anything happening to you.” He leans down to lay a tender kiss on my forehead.
“Don’t worry about me, Leonardo,” I say. “I knew exactly what I was doing.”
He looks at me with sadness in his eyes and shakes his head.
“Why?” he whispers. “Why did you have to risk your life like that?”
“I did it for Jean.” He does not seem satisfied with my answer. “It’s okay. It’s not my first time...”
“What do you mean, ‘your first time’? Do you want to die, cara mia?”
“For the longest time, I did... I tried to... But then I came here,” I smile. “When I met you, everything changed. Being with you... it makes everything else go away. Dying is no longer the only way to... make it stop.”
I lightly pull on his hand, motioning for him to come closer. When he does, I grab his collar and pull him into a kiss. He returns it gently, as if he is afraid that I will break under his touch. He pulls away, and I speak again.
“At the ball, Mozart and I talked. He said I sounded like Jean,” I recall. “Now I know what he meant. What I did... I would do it again if it meant I could help someone like that, even if it costs me my life. I’ve been there, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
“Cara mia,” Leonardo breathes out. “You are too kind for your own good. For the love of God, never scare me like that again, do you hear me?”
I nod and bring his hand to my lips. After I kiss his fingers, he cups my face, and I lean into it, closing my eyes.
“I’m sorry.” I kiss his palm. “I am so sorry for making you worry. I love you too much to make you feel this bad...” The words pour out of my mouth without me even noticing. I am so tired.
“You should rest, amore mio,” he whispers. I lazily nod and drift off to a dreamless slumber.
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