#i do realize that i made some assumptions here but i think they're sound ones

[the-sage-libriomancer]

i've had dysfunctional Honda family on the brain lately, and i got to thinking about Katsuya's sister—better known as Tohru's bitchy aunt who had no respect for Tohru's boundries and treated her like shit. she and Tohru's cousins are set up as an inconsequential first boss, out of Tohru's life and the story halfway through the first act, and then she's barely in the series ever again. canon-wise there's not really much to be said about her: she's a shrill, selfish woman who's basically a Japanese Karen. there isn't anything more to her character, and in the context of the story there doesn't need to be.

but i just got to thinking—what was she like as a kid? what was it like for her growing up, when she had a strict and uncompromising father, a mother who died when she was a teen/young adult, and an older brother who grew up frustrated and repressed?

Tohru's grandfather said that he and Katsuya were always struggling, with Katsuya striving to meet his father's unfair expectations and Tohru's grandfather (who henceforth is going to be called Toshiro bc i can't keep typing out "Tohru's grandfather") unwilling to accept that his son wasn't the person Toshiro wanted him to be. imagine having to live in a house where your older brother and your father are always fighting, where your brother slowly becomes a different person over the years and your father won't stop pointing out everything that's "wrong" with your brother.

(i think it's also important to note that the story takes place approximately from 1999-2001, which means Toshiro is very firmly from the war generation. that almost certainly influenced his values and approach to life, from the sharp focus on education to how he expected "good etiquette" from his children. and i dunno—not to drag a far bigger can of worms into the mix, but i think there is something to be said about how horrific worldwide cruelty deflates into systematic national cruelty which trickles down into mundane societal cruelty that somehow becomes "just the way things are", which feeds nicely into the series' themes of generational trauma and how people come to normalize abuse.)

we don't know much about the Hondas' domestic life, but we do know this: Toshiro was unhappy with his kids and his kids were unhappy with their father. then the mother died and Toshiro lost what was probably his strongest connection to both of them. Katsuya and Toshiro didn't really get along until after Kyoko came into their lives, which was probably a good several years later. meanwhile, we don't know anything about Toshiro's relationship with his daughter, but clearly there isn't the same kind of bad blood between them as there was Katsuya and Toshiro.

and it's just. Katsuya's sister. his younger sister, the one who grew up beside him. a woman who married a faceless (but respectable) man, who has enough money to take vacations and hire private detectives and completely renovate houses, who looks down on Kyoko and can't stop judging her own brother's child for being raised by an ex-delinquent.

do you ever think about it? how the unnamed sister spent her formulative years in a house that was never at peace. her father was proud and stubborn, clearly not willing to deal with anything other than what HE thought was right. her mother likely tried to play peacekeeper, because that's often what the wife is reduced to in a fight between family members, and who knows what her relationships with her kids were like in the face of that. her brother started out as someone like Tohru, but slowly became a different person as their father's expectations pressured him into walling off entire parts of himself. she constantly heard her father talk derisively about Katsuya for being less than his ideal (maybe even to Katsuya's face). and she clearly comes from a high-status family who have no qualms with being assholes toward "unsavory" family members, if the flashbacks to Katsuya's funeral are anything to go by. every time she met with family—aunts and uncles, grandparents, cousins, in-laws, what have you—she was reminded that you had to marry the right sort of person or you would be openly sneered at, receive no help or support, and be virtually disowned.

do you ever think about how she probably absorbed her father's ideas of an acceptable life because that's all she ever learned to value? how she took cues from her other family members and crafted a respectable persona that they would all approve of? that she possibly dotes on her family and supports her son's dream because she never got any of that love and acceptance for herself? her life is one of a stereotypical upper-middle-class suburban housewife, the kind who's obsessed with status and appearances to the point of becoming a shallow, cruel miniboss in a story about far worse cruelties and far less shallow motivations.

listen. listen. Tohru's aunt is an annoying person but also one that's easy to read. she felt "uneasy" around Kyoko. she wanted her son to succeed in life. she judged Tohru—a sweet girl who had literally never done anything of suspicion in her entire life—solely because of Tohru's parentage. she loved her father. she thought her father would support her in deriding the "distasteful" member of the family and she was wrong. she lost her mother at a young age. she refused to see Kyoko as worthy of respect. she thought Tohru was a delinquent like Kyoko who was shacking up with three strange men, but she still called to inform Tohru of Toshiro's illness and offered to go to the parent-teacher's conference with Tohru. her own father called her and her children "nasty by nature." she is a product of her childhood and also a deeply unpleasant person because she never chooses to extend compassion or kindness to others, much less any inklings of good faith.

and it all drives me a little nuts because Tohru's aunt is decidedly a minor character, and i don't think much thought was put into her characterization or backstory—she's the shitty judgmental family member who's there to be a roadblock for Tohru, and that's it. but the nuggets of information we get on Katsuya's past also creates a path for his sister's backstory, one that points to a quietly dysfunctional family, high pressure to be an acceptable member of society, and other unfortunate circumstances that led her aunt to becoming such a shallow, hardhearted person.

anyway. dysfunctional Honda family is very interesting.

#sorry about the toshiro thing but i simply can't organize a post while being forced to write “tohru's grandfather” every other sentence #toshiro is literally the first japanese name i could think of so it's not that deep or anything lol #anyway i just think it's fascinating reading between the lines #and seeing all the examples of malformed personalities and generational trauma even in the nameless bit characters #i do realize that i made some assumptions here but i think they're sound ones #there's a lot of crumbs and i'm baking a damn cake #fruits basket #tohru honda #tohru's grandfather #tohru's aunt #(ffs these people need names) #analysis #sage speaketh #edited for your convenience #(<-capitalized names and reworked a bunch of wording)

[asherlockstudy]

Hey there, we talked R&L theories in the past, but then I got locked out of my account and was too busy to make a new one until now. I just wanted to say I read your R&L post and the ''WHY THE CHICKEN CROSSED THE ROAD'' theory and yet again I found myself agreeing with you.

(the only thing I disagree with you it's the timeline as I think things started to get real way later than 2013)

Anyway, the way people don't seem to see the hints being dropped in these videos confuses me.

I'm left there wondering whether it's just me having an overactive imagination or if most people watching their videos are just not predisposed to recognize this level of subtlety. I really think that saying things like ''that can't be because R&L wouldn't lie to us'' like fans often do is very naive. Do people really think that they aren't capable of omitting uncomfortable truths to present a certain image that is beneficial to them? Because they definitely are.

I don't want to sound mean, but I think most of viewers aren't clever enough to pick up on recurring patterns and themes. Because there ARE recurring patterns and themes, these videos all look like random attempts at humor until you find out that there is an underlying thread uniting them.

There is NO way that all of the many puzzle pieces (metaphors, creative decisions etc…) would line up so perfectly and so perfectly match the idea we both have discussed before in DMs. It would be too big of a coincidence, and what really convinces me that this is what is actually going on, is that many of these creative choices make no sense UNLESS our at least our general assumption is correct.

People saying ''lol R&L doing things randomly just because it's funny'' and Rhett not liking the comment and ironically saying ''you get us'' is so emblematic of why there IS something deeper going on here, especially seeing how he has liked other comments that at least acknowledged that there is some depth to them (although I don't think that those commenters figured anything out).

Have you seen the happy, sincere reaction of Link when Rhett said that they're tired of asking permission to be themselves? in their '' we're done'' video? that stood out to me. What Rhett said seemed to hit him for a different more and more personal reason than most would think, it seemed like a private, genuine moment between them.

I don't know if an official coming out is what they are trying to head towards, the chicken video (when they resort to using a smart trick, in order to reach the goal when they realize the chicken isn't actually capable of crossing the road because it's too difficult) made me think that maybe THIS is their way they of coming out: outing themselves with their own creative projects and leaving it all up to interpretation. Although I am not ruling out the possibility that this is a soft launch.

The chicken video was genius if you think about it, because with a single concept (and using the chiken imagery as the linchpin), they managed to touch upon a lot of different topics all related to the same issue. The word ''chicken'' is used to describe people who are afraid to take risks, while the crossing of a busy street metaphor is perfect to describe the hardships of attempting to get from point A to point B when there are obstacles standing in between. It also gave them the chance to incorporate the ''how do you like the eggs?'' joke to talk about sex/sexuality in a way that is obvious but subtle at the same time. I would like to get to talk about some of the details in the video because I want to hear your opinions on some things. Anyway, I just wrote to say that no, you're not the only one seeing this :)

Heyyy sorry for the late reply… it’s been a little crazy.

I am always so glad to hear from a person seeing the things I see. I am just as confused about the stubborn insistence of the viewers to not pick up on the countless clues Rhett and Link have left in all those videos. I think, well, I get it to be honest butI don’t think it is that they are not clever enough but they are really not concerning themselves with these things. Let’s be honest, the vast majority of Mythical Beasts are very young or are there for lighthearted brainless content that will ease their mind off of their everyday problems. Most of them do not want to dig deeper and cause unnecessary worries to themselves. Because what is about to happen is going to be shocking for a lot of the viewers, a lot will feel betrayed or like the innocence and the childlike dynamics between these two brothers from another mother will take an unrecoverable blow. So I think they subconsciously suppress all suspicions. I have also noticed this to be part of the American culture; they still tend to have more romantic, beautified views on their celebrities. If someone appears good on screen, then they must be a “soft bean” in their real life as well. I find it funny how often Americans view their favourite celebrities as soft beans too pure for this world, despite the inconvenient fact that very few people are actually that soft and pure. So there is this image of great friends who are great husbands and great fathers. And they don’t want this image to be challenged. They choose to see everything as a meaningless joke or as a coincidence. And then of course there are the plenty ones who are determined to not think much (or at all) whenever they watch R&L content.

Yes, I noticed how disproportionately excited Link was when Rhett said they will stop asking permission to be who they are. It felt like Link had been waiting for a long time for Rhett to make a statement this clear on camera.

Link said something lately that made me lean towards what you think. He said in his spiritual deconstruction update video that the best way to reveal an uncomfortable truth is step by step, slowly slowly until it gets so evident that the recipients have started figuring it out on their own without you spelling out the thing. My theory was that they wanted to condition the viewers into accepting it with their numerous implications and suggestive images and now I think both of these are their intent.

(BTW the reason I believe it all started between late 2013 - early 2015 is because of the Puzzle video and the rest of the Sketchtober videos made in mid/late 2015. I have thorough analyses of these if you are interested. Watching these oldies around the same time as the new videos blew my mind and put everything into perspective. Also the last Christian entry in Link’s journal was one day after the newsical kiss episode was released.)

I will be happy to discuss this more. You said we used to send each other DMs, in your next ask / text please tell me your old username, I am curious hahaha ❤️

#rhink #rhett and link #mail #fullperfectionpoetry

[lastlycoris]

I am caught in a meltdown between Surgery, Radiology, and Risk Management (the hospital's department of "oh shit we might get sued"). The reason is that I got a liver donor surgery canceled the day of - which brought up red flags- and the people involved, both the donor and recipient, are related to a hospital bigwig, which means they're coming down hard on all those involved in this near mishap.

Now live liver donation is always a tricky business. You need to strike a balance between how much liver you'll harvest to give the recipient and how much you'll need to keep for the donor to stay healthy. Killing your donor in an elective surgery is frowned upon after all. Now after you've figured that bit out, you then need to figure out if the donor has strange anatomy that would complicate the harvest like the bile ducts and vasculature.

MRI imaging of the liver is particularly important in this case. The patient had one the week prior, but the radiologist didn't seem to realize that the scan was for liver donation. Now in Radiology's defense, the original order said the scan was for "liver transplant" (which a radiologist typically assumes it's an MRI for the one getting the liver), and also no one on the transplant team seemed to think it weird that the final read was "no cirrhosis" and "no hepatic masses", which is again a report more suited for the liver recipient. I'm guessing the surgeons thought, since radiology didn't say anything, everything was normal and we can proceed.

Things unfortunately weren't normal. The donating patient has some odd anatomy of his blood vessels and bile ducts. Now they're common enough that we call them normal variants, and they don't cause problems in normal circumstances, but for liver transplantation, they can be disastrous. Variant vasculature risks compromise of the donated liver and also complicates the actual transplant later because instead of having to connect one vessel, you might need more. Not to mention of the dangers of cutting a vessel you didn't know was there during your donation surgery.

Variant bile ducts are also pretty bad because not knowing you cut a major one means that the donor could get a bile leak. Y'know bile, that stuff that helps you digest food, except it's now leaking everywhere in your abdomen instead. It's as bad it sounds.

As it is, I'm at ground zero right now. The Radiology director was glaring daggers at my head earlier, and my chief resident Kevin, who I made look bad, looks like he wants to throttle me. The only person who doesn't look like he wants to maim me is my attending surgeon, but I suspect it's because he's too pissed at Radiology for this slip-up and also pissed at Kevin that he didn't check the images when he claimed he did.

Anyway, I've been in the same room for four hours repeating my story to Surgery, Radiology, and Risk Management, and I'm hungry.

If you're going to embroil me in drama, the least you can do is feed me.

In all honesty, I think everyone is the asshole here. Even me too, since I did see Radiology's read two days back, thought it a little strange, but still made the same assumption everyone did until I actually did check the imaging before the surgery and saw it had problems.

#🌹~ [ left blooming alone ] || ic

[weirdlyhornyforegos]

what do you think nights temple looks like and what do you think the surroundings of it look like. ive been writing a fic for a while where ur an archaeology person or something thats like. spent way too much time looking for this one specific temple "because it's my job not for any other reason" (spoiler alert, there is another reason) and you've been walking for miles, have absolutely no idea where you are and suddenly you trip over something that wasn't there before and fall three feet into a temple. the temple itself looks completely untouched by the outside world, it's pristine like someones been caring for it since it's creation and it sticks out so much that you realize you've found it.

the alternate is 'man i wonder where that temple is' magic teleportation happens 'oh wow im here'

i just love worldbuilding sm and ive been hyperfixating on this for sO LONG--and i imagine its got different branching (tall and v huge) hallways made of sandstone or smth and its got this one room with an alter and a throne (wink wink sexy times) the physics might not add up but i like my little brain assumption what abt u

Never thought much about it before, but now I have!

I really like the idea of getting teleported there, that is exists somewhere else than earth. Perhaps it has portals spread around the world, and maybe those most devoted to Night can create their own.

I imagine the ceilings being very tall, and they're painted to look like a night sky. The floor is open, nothing obstructing the view of temple and it's decorations.

It's always dark, not so dark that you can't see, but the lights aren't bright, just there so you can comfortably see. They're mostly lined up against the wall, never in the ceilings.

And you know those late summer nights? Those nights where you just about need to wear a thin jacket if you're sitting still, but take it off as soon as you start moving since it gets too hot? That is always what it is like inside temperature wise.

Despite the floor being stone, marble, or some other hard material, and the temple having few decorations, sounds don't really echo here. The only thing that does, is if Night chooses to visit, and then he can make his voice appear anywhere inside his temple.

Maybe there are private rooms for his worshipers, sparsely decorated, but always with at least a very nice bed, since you can't have a bad nights sleep in Nights temple.

#night #drabble #ffreddyvibess #please anyone feel free to add anything or comment

[girlwholovesturtles]

The Great Beast

Okay, I assume this is the Hunt domain? I'm worried we're gonna see Daisy and it'll be sad.

Fecken Wimdy?

Shadow? We just did the Dark, soooo...

I'm realizing that this is not the Hunt domain... what the hell fear is this?

The Vast? I only assume the Vast because of all the wind? Oh, wait, Jon just called the being vast. I'm guessing that's right then.

OH! So this vast monster is a collection of people who have been made into sort of a massive flesh golem. Hate that... Though it does remind me a story I heard of forever go. Can't remember the name but it was like two cities/town joined together and make monsters out of their own bodies and then they fought to kill each other. Two guys saw it, with one mystified and wanting to join the mass and the other horrified and killed as a result of the thing.

Oh, this all just sounds so bad but I guess that's the point. NO! I don't like heights! Don't want to think about any of this.

Really? I honestly don't think I would want to be alive in this world. I think I would choose death in literally every one of these domains.

"Is it much further." Martin, hon, it's the Vast, it's gonna be far. Oh, god, Jon just said the exact some thing!

Okay, don't be snippy.

What even counts as a day here? Martin asked that too! I'm on fire today, apparently... and Jon doesn't have an answer. Lovely.

These two are adorable.

Wait, Simon? Like Fairchild? Oooooo! Are we gonna get more old man murder?!

WHAT?! Crash? Did Simon just crash land in front of them?! Sir?!

Why are you still so delightful?!

I'm laughing so hard, this guy is just kinda fun to listen to. I want to hate you sir but you really are a fun character. He's so flippant and if he were around all the time it would probably get quite grating but right now he really is just fun to listen to.

Oh my lord! Pause!

More of this "no one is actually important" nonsense. That's the big thing I don't like about all the powers that be in this story, they're all so convinced that no one actually matters but it's so infuriating to listen to. I have some pretty strong opinions about the idea here and I don't care for the idea that people are inherently worthless unless they serve some greater power. I assumed that the series' story would challenge that idea at some point and I suppose there's still time to do so but it does feel like it's dodged acknowledging it so far.

Alright, unpause.

Wow, Martin, straight into the murder again. You are such an angry man. Like agree with you but maybe you should have a code word instead of "kill him!" You know, a little subtlety.

I don't know what's funnier to me, Simon asking "Can he do that?" or going "Seems a bit rude to be honest."

Jon! Murder, this man! JON! You let him go! Yeah, I agree with Martin!

What do you mean you didn't want to kill him?! He threatened your man! You know that, right?! I agree so much with Martin right now!

Like, look, I get it, this is certainly something to do with holding on to his humanity but Simon Fairchild is objectively a bad person. Even if the only way to undo the horrors of the world is to undo the Watcher's Crown, the assumption is that the world will go right back to what it was and Fairchild will just go back to what he was doing before. I hate to be that person but I'm all about side quests, so I think I would go through and get rid of as many of the mini bosses as possible. That way when the world is put back together, there will be less monsters in it.

Oh, hello Helen. "Honestly, I feel a little cheated." I do too!

"You're really not helping." "I'm not trying to." I love you both so much.

I agree with Jon that the apocalypse can not be saved. This world will be bad for as long as it is what it is. BUT I stand by my statement that once the world is right again, those people not being there will make the world better.

Helen, you got so mean!

"Hanging out inside myself..." What an interesting line. Literally no other series could make a line like that work and I respect TMA for that.

"You really want that old man dead." Every other line in this episode has me smiling! Because, YES, I also want all of these old men dead. They are objectively evil, bad people!

Did Jon not know he threatened Martin? I thought he listened to all the tapes? Would Jon have felt differently if he knew that I wonder?

Jon, you better kill Magnus or we're gonna have words!

AH! These two are seriously adorable sometimes.

You know what, it's been a while since I've genuinely had so much fun with an episode. For a few episodes now they've just made me feel very self-conscious and gross and sad and small. I get that that's the point, but still. Interesting that it was the Vast episode that didn't do that...

#the magnus archives #tma #live blogging #episode 174 #long post

[angsty-nerd]

Meta: Echo’s Big Fight in 3x09

Let's talk about the Big Echo fight. Because wandering around in the fandom this past week, I’ve seen a lot of very specific conclusions as far as what they were or weren't arguing about, and I’m not sure my take on that scene really aligns with other folks. So let me try to break it down a bit and give y’all an alternative perspective on it.

To start with, the scene opens with Max on edge because they're breaking and entering. Liz is singularly focused on the mission, and he's kinda freaking out. Instead of responding to his concerns, Liz gets straight to business.

"Ooh, ooh, this is interesting. Heath left Genoryx two days after I did. Must have realized he didn't need to be working underneath their corporate thumb."

Liz is kinda projecting here. Heath never once displayed any discomfort with Genoryx as a company the way that she did. He wanted her to stay. He wanted the resources there. We know these things as an audience, and Liz would too if she was thinking through the big picture at this point in time.

Max, on the other hand, doesn't know any of that. Here's what Max hears from Liz: he hears surprise. He hears Liz acknowledge that this is unexpected news. And right as he’s processing this unexpected reveal...Max sees Heath's Wild Pony t-shirt.

Weird coincidence #1 from Max's POV was Heath (the guy who is currently so pissed at Liz that he won't take her calls) supposedly rescuing Liz's science out of the good of his heart so that Genoryx doesn’t get their hands on it? This doesn't add up.

Weird coincidence #2 was Heath quitting Genoryx - a decision Heath made that Liz wasn't expecting.

The Wild Pony t-shirt is now the 3rd thing that doesn't add up. And if the t-shirt clue isn't adding up for you, see my post about it here:

The T-shirt is strike 3 for Max. He can't really pretend that he's not suspicious of Heath anymore. So he broaches the subject with her.

"How much do you know about this guy, Heath? How close were you?"

Max is feeling uncomfortable and looking for more information. He's trying to make the clue make sense. Why would Heath have the T-shirt? Does he have a connection to Roswell that Liz doesn't know about? And Liz doesn’t listen.

"This isn't the time to be jealous about a boy I met."

For all that Liz is clinical and on mission, she jumps very quickly to assuming that Max is NOT on mission. Yes, Max is inherently more emotional than she is. But throughout the episode he's been asking questions about Heath and NOT JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS. That's one of the keys to me here. Max really is trying to give her the benefit of the doubt about him.

At Liz's house, he asked about "the boyfriend" but he wasn't doing it in a jealous or judgy way. If anything it could almost be interpreted as concern. He started with "were you happy" and only when Liz kind of metaphorically admitted that any happiness was a façade...that's when he brought Heath into it. And yeah, Liz says that he impacted her life and helped her grow, but she didn't exactly express romantic feelings that would make Max jealous. So when she basically jumped straight to the jealousy assumption instead of actually discussing this with him, he starts getting worked up. Because she is not hearing him. She is not acknowledging that the facts they have found during this investigation are not adding up. So he is honest and blunt about what he's thinking.

"I'm just saying it's possible that he took your one-of-a-kind alien spores and quit, so that, just like you, he could use the research himself, free of Genoryx."

Max is the one who brings the science into this conversation. Not Liz. And he's not criticizing or questioning HER application of the science. He's questioning the trustworthiness of Heath. Because the lies are starting to jump out at him like a friggin’ neon light.

BUT — now that he's specifically brought up the science, he has her attention. Because Max questioning her science is HER sore spot. So what does she say back to him? Something kinda judgy.

"That grand trust speech certainly had a short shelf life."

Side note: I really don't think there actually was a "grand trust speech" in this episode. I can think of a few scenes where there might have been an opportunity for one. In particular during the milkshake scene when he admits to saving her tapes. But they actually don't talk about trust in that scene. They talk about having hard conversations. They talk about moving forward instead of looking backwards. But they don't talk about trust. My guess is that there might have been content cut for time at some point in this episode, that may have included some grand declaration from Max, but that's really just speculation on my part.

Regardless…Liz's response to Max bringing up the science is to basically accuse him of not trusting her. Which is not what he was saying. He was not questioning her use of the science. He was questioning her trust in Heath through the context of her science. So he elaborates on what he IS saying, and as he does, he's getting more and more worked up...because this does relate directly to his personal fears, and, frankly, his buried trauma that he's never properly addressed.

"I trust you. Okay? But I don't trust some guy I have barely met with a secret that could endanger me, could endanger my family and break the frickin' Internet if it came out."

Max doesn't know Heath, and he doesn't trust Heath with a secret that could endanger Michael and Isobel. His emotions are escalating, because now he's thinking about the science that scares him in the hands of a guy that all signs points to being potentially untrustworthy, and he's triggered.

BUT he doesn't back up his argument. He doesn't point out the very specific evidence he's identified that Heath is probably lying to Liz.

And Liz is inherently reactive and sometimes overly defensive (see 1x09 list of Liz's flaws). So even though he's focused on Heath, she immediately reacts defensively and takes it as a criticism of HER.

"You think I would let myself be conned?"

"No, I think you came out here looking for a partner, and it could blind you."

*deep breath* and this is where it starts to get personal. And rough. Max isn't entirely wrong here. But he also kind of is. Liz didn't choose Genoryx for partnership. She was looking for resources, freedom to do the science she wanted to do, and to save her father from deportation.

But partnership? Yeah, Liz wanted that. But she wanted that from MAX. She was looking for partnership in life, not in science.

And now that Max has thrown that direct criticism out there, Liz is going to throw a bomb right back at him.

"Just because you sabotaged me when I thought you were mine does not mean that Heath would take the same path."

Ouch. This is the hardest line in this whole scene for me to work with. Because it is combative. And purposefully hurtful.

BUT…she is NOT TALKING ABOUT HER SCIENCE. She has not said a single word about her science in this argument. She moved past that. She had the epiphany that she was wrong and she apologized (3x03). That is in the past for her.

This argument, for Liz, is about betrayal. This is about her believing that they were going to be partners and move their lives forward together (2x12), and right when she believed in that future, Max made another massive decision that directly impacted her life (just like he did in 1x13) instead of working with her to make big decisions together.

"And just because you changed the wallpaper doesn't mean you've mended your blind spots."

I really hate this "change the wallpaper" line. It feels like they're mixing metaphors. Liz called her life a commercial. Max is saying that she's changed her decor. Like...pick one and stick with it.

That aside… I think this barb is about her arrogance. Earlier in the scene, she seemed baffled at the idea that Max believes she could have been conned by Heath, because Liz is used to always being the smartest person in the room. She thought she was smarter than Diego and he figured her out. She believed her lab was secure, but Diego (possibly) got in. Sometimes, like most scientists, Liz is so bogged down in the complicated, brilliant details she’s thinking through, that she misses simple things that contribute to the big picture. And I think that's what Max is getting at here. In her arrogance, she believes that she can control the Heath situation. But she's not acknowledging the human factor here - that Heath is a person who may have his own unspoken ulterior motives driving him. Just like Diego did. She's just not seeing what Max is seeing.

BUT - again I'll say. Max is also not communicating the scope of the evidence he is collecting. They're both wrong here.

"I have learned my lessons, but you... oh, my God, you sound an awful lot like the guy who blew up my lab. So forgive me, but you're making it perfectly clear why I felt like I had to go and change the wallpaper."

This is the only line where Liz even comes close to talking about her science, but again, she's talking about his betrayal. She's talking about him undermining their partnership. She's talking about her need for a change of scenery from HIM.

And that’s when Max blows out the safe and they put the fight on hold to finish their investigation.

But, to sum it up…the fight was all about trust and betrayal. It was necessary for them to work through it, though frankly? I wish they could have finished the discussion. Because instead of them coming to some sort of peace with their trust in each other, the truth came out about Heath, Liz realized that she was wrong, she apologized, and they moved forward together, on mission.

I can’t help pointing out though…after the fight and Liz's epiphany about Heath, Max and Liz spent at least 15 hours in a car together. And I'm sorry, I refuse to believe that they didn't talk about anything important for 15 hours. Fic writers assemble? 😆

Many thanks to @ober-affen-geil for doing a quick review and checking me on opinions vs facts. Very important.

And for my next trick… road trips, life choices, and Robert Frost! Coming soon to a Tumblr near you…

#rnm echo #rnm season 3 #roswell new mexico #max&liz #my meta #max evans #liz ortecho #rnm meta

[violet-knox]

Hi 🤗

Can I ask for young!Severus when he has a crush on a reader, but he's to shy to admit it and she's so nice to him and they're starting to talk and spend more time together and become friends (maybe finally even more than just friends)?😊

A New World With You

Pairing: Young!Severus x Slytherin!Pureblood!Reader

Summary: Tension between Muggles and Wizards grow worse during your final year at Hogwarts, and in an attempt to help educate the students, you’re taken on a class trip where you end up exploring London with Severus. 

Word Count: 8777

A/N: This was inspired by Midnight Stars Tree by @bush-viper-cutie. I’ve been thinking about this story a lot lately because I loved it so much. It’s so creative and so well written, I definitely recommend giving it a read. I think I veered from the original ask a bit, but I think I hit all the major points. Either way, I hope you enjoy. This one was a lot of fun to write and I love how it turned out.

It was supposed to be a fun get-a-way, a break from schoolwork and all the stress that came with it. But now, not only did you have to give up your weekend to complete a school assignment, you were randomly being paired with someone in your class. It wasn’t fair. Professor Polliwog could have at least let you pick your own partner, you didn’t need to be paired with someone who’d lived in the Muggle world to explore it. All you needed was a sense of adventure and some good company, which you thought you had this morning when you and your best friends got up early to prepare for the trip, excited to explore the city you’d always passed through on your way to the Hogwarts express, never giving it a second glance. 

You couldn’t help the fact your parents had introduced you to most of your Hogwarts friends before you’d even gotten your letter, or that none of you had thought to visit the Muggle world before now. Why would you when everything you could possibly need was right there in the Wizarding world? But now that you were being given the chance to explore the unknown, to get to know how Muggles lived, you wanted to do it on your own terms without a Muggleborn tour guide. 

“Gather around everyone, gather around,” Professor Polliwog ushered everyone around her on the platform as the last of the students jumped off the Hogwarts Express. You and your friends stuck together, frowning with anticipation of who you’d be paired with. You barely knew anyone who wasn’t raised in the Wizarding world, especially since your house was filled with so many Pureblood and Halfbloods, you didn’t have the slightest clue who you’d be paired with. You wondered if there were even enough Muggleborns to pair with the rest of the school. “I will read out your names in pairs and you will have eight hours to explore the town and return with enough information to write your papers. We will meet back here at 9:20 and make our way to the hotel for the night so don’t lose your tickets!”

“Why do we have to stay in a Muggle hotel? Can’t we at the very least have the night to recover from our visit to the zoo?” One of the students on the other end of the crowd spoke, his friends chuckling at his humourless joke. You shrugged at the attitude many of your Slytherin peers shared with one another, feeling like you were the only one excited to spend a night in a Muggle town. Even your friends weren’t as enthusiastic as you about the idea of sleeping at a Muggle hotel, acting like they were being forced to sleep in an uncivilized reservation with no running water or heating. 

“You know very well Mr. Nott that returning to the Wizarding world would defeat the purpose of this trip. Tensions between Muggles and Wizards have risen quite a bit in the last few years, and this trip is meant to teach you Muggles aren’t so different from us. We must learn how they live so that we may learn to live in peace amongst them.”

Severus rolled his eyes, the irony of Polliwog’s words lost on him when it was clear she barely knew anything about the Muggle world herself, her outfit making her look more like a clown than a Muggle civilian. He felt a nudge against his side, looking over to see Avery smirking at him as Polliwog spoke, knowing exactly what was on his mind. He nervously smirked back, growing concerned he would end up paired with one of his own friends and they would find out where he really grew up. For so long he’d wanted to escape the judgment that came with living on Spinner’s End, from the Muggle’s living in Cokeworth and then to all the friends who’d accepted him into their circle at Hogwarts. 

The day Lucius had introduced him to Avery, he’d decided he wouldn’t let Spinner’s End define him anymore, that he would forge his own identity and let the others make the assumption he’d grown up in the Wizarding world. He’d finally felt like he belonged when none of them questioned his origins, accepting him and everything he knew about the Wizarding world. When he heard about this trip, he tried to get out of it, begging Slughorn to excuse him, trying to give Dumbledore any excuse he could come up with, but when that failed, and Polliwog decided it was a fantastic idea to figure out who already had experience in the Muggle world, all he could do was hope Merlin would have pity on him and help him keep his secret. 

“Now, once I call your name, you may find your partner and start exploring.” One by one your friends were paired up and ran off to explore the wonders of the Muggle world, and one by one the students drizzled down, leaving you concerned you’d end up stuck with Polliwog in the end, told there was no one to pair you with. The only thing that could possibly make this worse was spending the day with your professor and the more names spoken, the more Severus realized the second worst thing that could happen is if he got paired with the one person he’d been trying to talk to for the longest time.

“Severus and (Y/N).” Severus froze, his ears ringing as his heart raced, trying to run away from this horrible day. He’d been so busy worrying over what his friends might think of him, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of being paired with you. He couldn’t bring himself to look for you, feeling rather silly just standing there alone, thoughts of all the times he’d tried to talk to you rushing back to him. So many times he’d tried to plan out what he could say to you, how he could start a conversation, but he could never find the nerve to do it, scared he’d ruin his chance with you like he had with Lily. 

“Severus?” You spoke his name, standing behind him and as he slowly turned around, trying to face you. His eyes were wide, blank and unblinking. He looked as though he’d just been struck by the most terrifying news and you felt all hope for a nice day in London slither away. He was clearly unhappy about being paired with you, his frown giving away the feelings he was trying to suppress, but it wasn’t like you’d chosen him. This wasn’t exactly the ideal weekend for you either, but you both had to try and make do with what you were given. “Shall we make our way?”

Severus blinked and found himself back in his body again, swallowing hard as he nodded. He walked after you as you jogged towards the wall separating platforms 9 and 10. Running after you, he found you on the other side, waiting for him and a small part of him began to panic as he realized how real this all was. He tried to think through his vocabulary, trying to find at least one single word to speak to you that wouldn’t sound absolutely pathetic. But he searched with no avail, thickening the awkward silence between you instead.

You walked out of the station unsure of what to say or how to proceed. It was bad enough you got stuck with someone who didn’t want to spend the day with you, but you were stranded in an unknown city with nothing but a tourist map Polliwog had passed out on the train. You had so many questions, yet you felt like you couldn’t ask any of them, Severus looking as though he would rather fall 100 feet than speak with you. You’d known Severus quite a while, at least from a far, so to say you were surprised that you’d been paired with him was an understatement. It had never crossed your mind that a Halfblood would have grown up in the Muggle world. You knew there had to be a story for him to share, you just weren’t sure he’d want to share it with you. 

“H-have you explored London before?” you asked cautiously as you stood outside the train station, away from the crowd. Your eyes went straight to his frown, thinking back to the little interactions you’d had with him over the last seven years and you realized you’d only ever once seen him so unhappy. It was after rumours about James Potter saving Severus from the Whomping Willow had spread, chatter amongst the Gryffindors splattered across the halls about how Severus was crying outside their common room. He looked so defeated that morning when you saw him again, huddled into a ball by the fireplace. You watched him from the stairs and tried to will yourself to walk over to him, but you knew nothing you could say would sound right, especially since you were sure he had no clue who you were. 

“No.”

“Then where in the Muggle world do you live?” You tried again, hoping to relax the tension between you and get to know him a little bit, but the annoyed expression on his face made it clear he didn’t want to talk.

“Lived,” he lied, his tone giving you the impression your correct assumption had offended him. Crossing his arms, Severus mumbled a truthful answer, hoping you wouldn’t press further. “Nowhere you’d know.”

A frown of your own appeared on your lips, fed up with his tone and attitude. You’d never thought Severus would be this rude, always seeing how kind he was to his friends. But it was clear that kindness was reserved for people he actually liked, and you weren’t one of them. Still, you had to try and get on his good side, otherwise the day would be completely lost and you’d never get to see the Muggle world.

“Alright. Well, any idea where we should start?” You opened up the map in your hand and looked over the odd looking shapes and words scribbled all over, finding it a bit difficult to read. Turning it upside down, you wondered if Muggles had their own secret way of reading maps, but clearly, you just hadn’t paid enough attention in your Muggle studies course, that or Polliwog had no idea what she was talking about all these years. 

Looking back over to Severus, you watched him roll his eyes, pouting as he shook his head in disapproval. You couldn’t take it anymore. Even when he wasn’t talking, he still brought down your mood, making you wish you’d never gone on this trip, embarrassed that you were actually excited for it last night. 

“Look Severus, I understand that you didn’t want to be paired with me, but there’s nothing we can do to change that. So why not try to make the most of it and have a bit of fun?” You did what you could to lighten the mood, hoping he’d agree and make both your lives just a little bit more bearable, but clearly your hopes were completely misplaced and you hadn’t caught on to the fact nothing would change his mind about you. 

“Fun? What could you possibly hope to find fun in a Muggle city?” he said in disgust, looking down at the Muggles breezing past them on the street. He would never use the word ‘fun’ to describe the Muggle world, not the one he’d been born into. He couldn’t believe he was being forced to spend a day here when he’d spent every summer counting the days to escape Cokeworth. He especially couldn’t believe the fact that this would be your first impression of him, that of all the horrific scenarios he dreamt up, Merlin managed to come up with something worse.

He wanted so badly to start off your interaction with him in a positive light, to do with you what he couldn’t with Lily. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He’d waited so long to come up with the best introduction, to have his first words spoken to you be those you’d hang onto for the rest of your life. But the irony in your words told him he was far from such a position, your view of him now tainted by the idea that he didn’t like you.

“I-I don’t know I just thought-” You tried to oppose his views, knowing you had no ground to stand on when the only interaction with the Muggle world you’d had was passing it by on your way to the Hogwarts Express. You just could never imagine it being as horrible as everyone said, not willing to accept the tone Severus took when speaking of London.

“Muggles don’t live like us and even if they had our… skillset, they couldn’t possibly dream of creating a world like ours.” Severus rambled on without considering how you felt about his words or his attitude. Instead, he let his defensive tone once again ruin the chance of any sort of relationship with someone he admired. Looking over to you, he watched your frown match his own, your arms crossed and brows furrowed with anger. You’d had enough of his attitude, no matter how he felt about the Muggle world, he had no right to talk this way when this trip was supposed to let you form your own opinion about Muggles.

“Are you going to be this sour the entire day?” you snapped at him, ready to walk away and never turn back.

“I’m not sour! I’m telling the truth.” The words flew out of his mouth before he could even think, the need to hide himself from everyone around him ingrained too deep in his chest to let it go, even for you. He’d spent the better part of last semester trying to approach you, admiring your passion during class, your beauty during lunch, your kindness in the halls, and now he was throwing away any chance he had to befriend you with a sour attitude and bleak words.

You huffed in frustration, storming away without regarding Severus in the slightest. You couldn’t take being around him anymore, your weekend completely ruined after the discussion you’d just had with him. You’d rather aimlessly walk around in this unknown city, having no clue where to go or where you were than listen to another word from him. You were so disappointed in this trip, in Severus and his attitude. You’d always wondered how a conversation with him would go, how nice it would be to talk to someone about the subjects you learned in class. Severus always seemed to be the only one passionate about them, but clearly his passion extended further than his school subjects, a pleasant conversation with him now a thing of dreams.  

“W-where are you going?” Severus’ voice followed you, leaving behind his awful tone. You were surprised he continued to walk behind you, despite your furious pace to get away from him and a part of you was glad for it, still hopeful this weekend would turn around. 

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to stand there and listen to your rambles. The point of this trip is to explore the unknown and you're just spewing on like Muggles still live in the dark ages!” you said as he caught up with you. Severus wasn’t sure what to say, feeling horrible knowing he was the reason you were so upset.

“But here, look.” You stopped in your tracks, picking up an odd looking stick, intrigued by its bright red colour. “If Muggles are so unimaginative as you say, how can they come up with this? … Whatever it is.”

You examined the object, spotting a small dab of dried ink on the end and wondered if this was some sort of writing utensil. You couldn’t imagine how Muggles would use it, the dab of ink too small to write a single letter, let alone entire essays.

“It’s a pen.” Severus frowned, crossing his arms, unimpressed with Polliwog’s failure of illustrating something as simple as a pen. It wasn’t like the bloody things were expensive or rare, she could have easily bought a couple to show the class, but no, it was all about the textbooks and whatever words they possessed. Theory was all that mattered, Merlin forbit a professor at Hogwarts actually teach the students to apply their knowledge. At least McGonagall and Flitwick had the sense to demonstrate the spells they were teaching.

“Right, a pen,” you said, rather pleased your guess was right. Pressing the pen to his chest, you let it go and turned back to walk away, feeling like your mini triumph was ruined by his hatred towards Muggles. Severus caught the pen before it fell, looking at it in his hand and immediately tossing it to the ground, disregarding it without a second thought. He could never learn to appreciate Muggles or their trinkets like you did. He knew they were bright, that they had progressed in some ways further than the Wizarding world, but he just couldn’t get past the awful parts of their realm. He admired your open mind, he truly did, but you hadn’t lived like him, you hadn’t experienced the worst of what Muggles can do. 

“Leave me alone, Severus, I’ll roam the city on my own,” you said when you realized he’d continued to follow behind. Severus felt his heart sliced up into pieces by your harsh words. But he knew he deserved it, that he’d caused your mood to shift to such an angry tone. He slowed his speed and watched you walk away as he stood there on the sidewalk like the fool he was. He’d completely ruined any chance of a friendship with you like he had with Lily and it was clear to him now that it was him who’d pushed others away all his life. When Lily stopped talking to him, he’d blamed Potter like he blamed his father when his mother left them last year. But it was him all along. He was the only common denominator between you, Lily and his mother, so it only made sense that he was the problem. 

He’d lost sight of you, your figure disappeared into the crowd of Muggles passing him by, and he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He didn’t want to explore London like everyone else, he wanted to go home. Stuffing his hands in his pocket, he began making his way back to the train station, clutching his ticket in his hand. Perhaps the train was still there and he’d be allowed to pass the time in one of the compartments. At least in the train, he’d be as close to Hogwarts as he could, and he wouldn’t have to suffer through another day amongst people who could care less about him. 

He walked as fast as he could, running through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, finally finding himself relax when he found the Hogwarts Express still sitting there, waiting for him to return. Without thinking, he ran to the door and tugged on the handle, finding it locked. Pulling out his wand, he cast a silent alohomora unsurprised to find the door still locked. He tried a few more charms, unhopeful they would work until he gave up and walked back to one of the pillars in the middle of the platform, sinking down to the ground, facing his only ride back home.

He hugged his knees and thought back to the horrendous day he’d had, starting it off horrified his friends would find out the truth about him, afraid he’d be paired with you, then finding himself living in a complete nightmare as he watched you storm off from his less than delightful attitude. He’d spent the better half of the day building up his defenses, too scared to let the world see him and who he was that he’d pushed yet another person away. A year he’d spent pining for you, trying to build up the courage to at least say hello, but his fear of repeating history had him putting it off until the universe decided enough was enough. He wasn’t ready. If only he had some time to prepare, if he’d spoken to you at Hogwarts with the conversation planned out… it would have still ended in a disaster because he was destined to live in agony and resentment. 

He groaned in frustration, tears prickling his eyes as his mind dreamt up scenarios where he’d made a good impression on you, the friendship he could have built, the fun you could have had together. He could have finally talked to someone who appreciated Potions, Herbology, Defense, Charms and every other subject in school. You could have studied together, excelled together and helped each other build such promising careers. But of course, none of that would come to pass after what he’d just done. Hope told him to grab hold of the possibility you’d forgive him, that if he just found the right words, the right thing to say, you’d give him a second chance, but he knew fate would never allow for such a thing. He couldn’t break the cycle no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he wanted it, he felt completely helpless. 

He tried to clear his mind, quickly wiping away his tears to hide his disappointment, but he couldn’t help but think of you and how you were wandering around London on your own while the rest of the class all had company. He thought of you trying to ask Muggles for help, completely lost in this giant city. He thought about how you’d struggle to make your way back here, missing the deadline Polliwog set and forced to spend the night in some unknown Muggle street. It tore at him thinking of some Muggle finding you alone, taking advantage of your helplessness like he knew they would back in Cokeworth. 

Jumping to his feet, he found himself running back out the train station and leaving behind the only sliver of his home he’d get until the trip ended. He needed to find you, to try and make it up to you or to at least make sure you were alright. He couldn’t let the Muggle world tarnish you like it had him and perhaps, by Merlin’s grace, you’d find it in your heart to forgive him for such a horrible first impression.

He looked down the steps outside the train station and began to retrace your movements, stopping when he spotted the pen he’d so carelessly brushed off after you’d admired it. Picking it up, he noticed how damaged it was, how beat up the casing had become after being tossed aside like trash. Pressing the tip to his finger, he dragged the pen across his skin and watched as it left behind a strong trail of red ink. It still worked after everything it had been through. Stuffing the pen in his pocket, he made his way down the street, looking everywhere for a sign, anything at all that could tell him where you were. It felt like a helpless case trying to find you in this city, but he had to try, he couldn’t give up now. 

You’d really tried to brush off Severus’ words, but they stuck with you as you walked onwards, ringing in your ear with every step you took. You entered shops, hoping to find something that could help keep your mind off of him and your disappointment in this weekend, but nothing could lift your spirits after what he’d done. He’d hurt you more than you’d cared to admit, not just because of the way he spoke about the Muggle world, but his hateful tone shunned you away from any relationship you’d previously hoped to have with him. He wasn’t the boy you imagined, and it crushed you to know that. 

Still, you marched forward and tried your best to do what you’d set out to do and make the most of this opportunity. You entered clothing shops and wondered how Muggles could possibly find some of these items comfortable or appealing to the eye. You passed by a toy store and was rather unimpressed at their odd boring selection. You rifled through a bookstore and bought a few items to give Muggle authors a try, starting to feel better about what had happened today. You walked the streets until you finally found a diner where you felt normal. Glaring at the menu, you smiled as you finally found something in common with the Muggles. You took your time, decided you’d spend the day here, eating and reading one of your new books and that would have to be enough for you to salvage the day. 

The waitress brought you your food and you took a moment to admire the delicacy of the presentation. It looked very well made, like they were prepared by a dozen house elves. The burger wasn’t as large as those you’d seen at Hogwarts, but the fries were definitely much more crispy and the milkshake was absolutely astounding. You happily drank, wondering what Muggles would think of Butterbeer if they ever got the chance to taste it as you pulled out one of your books, flipping it over to read about the author. The picture was still, and for a moment you thought perhaps you’d seen her blink, but it was clear Muggles were unable to capture moving pictures like Wizards could. It was an interesting sight, but you weren’t sure you liked it. The constant stare of the woman creeped you out. Shaking your head, you turned the book back around and flipped it open, reading the first few words of the first Muggle book you would ever enjoy. 

Severus felt hopeless walking down the streets of London, beginning to get lost himself as he tried every street, every store he passed by until his feet ached with pain. He’d lost track of time, but it had felt like he’d been walking for days, his heart slowing as he tried to catch his breath. He’d been in such a panic for so long, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to stay standing for very much longer if he didn’t rest. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop, his guilt growing the more time ticked away. He’d wanted to try and make it up to you, but the more time he wasted looking for you, the less time he’d have to try and salvage your happiness. 

He was almost about to give up, when he saw a waitress in the diner across the street setting down a plate of fries on a table where someone very familiar sat, reading a book. He stopped in his tracks, looking through the window, wondering if he was hallucinating, if his mind was playing tricks on him just to get him to stop looking for you. He crossed the street and the closer he got, the more he wondered if fate was trying to make things up to him after putting him between a rock and a hard place these last few days. 

He walked into the diner and looked over to the side, admiring you as you read. You looked like you’d made up for his outburst all on your own. His shoulders dropped as he realized all he would do now if he walked up to you was remind you of how he’d ruined your day. He sighed and turned back to look at the door, knowing he should leave, but the need for repentance kept him from stepping out that door. He wanted a second chance, another go at a first impression with you. He wanted to have a real conversation with you, to make you smile and enjoy his time like you were doing right now. 

“Severus?” He stopped his motions when he heard his name, turning his head back to you as he let the door swing shut. You’d seen him and if he ran out now, he’d have no chance of redeeming himself in the future. Walking over to you, he stood beside your table, unsure of what to say. “What are you doing here?”

He stood there hoping Merlin would help him find the right thing to say to you so what happened this morning wouldn’t happen again. Stuffing his hands in his pocket, he froze and suddenly found himself feeling calm, his mind clear. Slowly, he pulled out his right hand and gently placed on the table before you the red pen you’d picked up off the street. 

“I-I’m sorry.” The words left his lips without a thought, knowing it’s what you needed to hear. “I shouldn’t have said those things, acted like that and I’m really sorry.”

You looked at him in astonishment, your eyes unable to leave the beat-up pen on the table. You were completely floored at the idea he’d found you just to apologize, that he’d kept the pen you were so infatuated with and you were touched. You smiled at his gesture, feeling your faith in him restore as he stood there in desperation, his eyes begging for your forgiveness. Picking up the pen, you held it between your fingertips for a moment, examining it like it was the most fascinating thing you’d seen all day.

“Do you want to sit?” you offered. Severus couldn’t believe your willingness to hear him out, but he didn’t hesitate to take the second chance you gave him, learning from Lily to never again take forgiveness for granted. He sat across from you and watched your every movement, worried that if he took his eyes off you now, he’d realize it wasn’t real.

“Do you want some fries?” You pushed the plate to him, noticing how shriveled he looked and realized he probably hadn’t eaten all day if he’d spent it looking for you. Severus peered down at the fries, trying to resist, feeling like he hadn’t earned the right to eat the food you’d paid for, but your smile was so inviting, and he’d used up his energy trying to find you. Picking out a fry, he slowly chewed on it and watched as you slid over your half-drunk milkshake with a smile. You were so kind, so generous; a Slytherin with a heart as many would joke at Hogwarts.

“Why do you hate the Muggle world so much?” you asked softly, hoping this discussion wouldn’t lead to another explosion of hatred, but you just couldn’t let it go and if there was any hope for you to build any sort of friendship with him, you had to get to know him more. You needed an explanation for what he’d done before you could move past it. 

Severus shrugged in response, his wall building itself back up again as he tried to fight the urge to hide himself again. After he’d opened up to Lily about his life on Spinner’s End, he promised himself he would never do it again, not after she picked Potter’s side over his. He didn’t want to talk about the past, he just wanted to move forward and build himself a new future, one that wasn’t controlled by his parents or Potter or anyone else. “I suppose that I was quick to judge.”

“Well, they don’t seem so bad to me,” you retorted, finding yourself having enjoyed the day despite everything that had happened, though you were sure the mends Severus was making now was the only reason you felt as happy as you did. You were moved by his sentiment, never once feeling as special as he made you feel before today. “Have-have you been searching for me all day?”

Severus leaned back in his seat, cherishing the smile on your face, your curiosity and worry over him. He felt the heat rise to his face as he realized how embarrassing what he’d done was. It was bad enough he’d admired you from afar this past year, but to admit he’d ran down the streets of London searching for you was something he could never live down. 

“No,” he shook his head and stared down at the nearly empty plate of fries, surprised he’d eaten so much when he’d given you his full attention. Your smile grew wider as you kept your eyes on him, knowing he was lying through his teeth. “I just-I didn’t want to leave you roaming around London alone.”

Your smile grew wider and he couldn’t help but return it. You leaned forward, setting your arms on the table as you narrowed your eyes. You wanted so badly to trust him, to have with him what you thought you’d never find with anyone else, but you were scared. You didn’t know him, not really. You’d seen him in class, seen his achievements, watched him pick his friends and fight with the Gryffindors, but you didn’t know the real him. The only thing you’d learned from today was his resentment towards Muggles and that wasn’t exactly something that gave you confidence in him.

“Well, we have a few more hours before we have to go back. Got anywhere in mind?” you asked, wanting to give this friendship a chance, wanting so badly to see him for who he truly was. You’d felt like you’d seen so many versions of him, you weren’t sure which one was real anymore.

“Have you seen the cinema yet?” He leaned in, eager for how well things were turning out, how forgiving you seemed to be. 

“What’s a cinema?”

Severus chuckled, almost forgetting your lack of knowledge on the Muggle world. More than ever, he wanted to build at least a friendship with you, to be around you more and see through your eyes. Perhaps if he was given that chance, his outlook on the Muggle world wouldn’t cause him to explode like he did this morning. “They play movies there, like moving pictures that tell a story.”

Your eyes lit up, your back straightened as you smiled with fascination. You felt all your anger towards him completely melt away as you took him up on his offer to at least end the day on a happy note. “That sounds amazing! But I thought Muggles weren’t allowed to handle magical objects.”

“It’s not magic. It’s technology.” He grinned at your obliviousness of the Muggle world, looking forward to seeing it in a new light through your eyes. Finishing off the fries, you put away your book and red pen, then grabbed your milkshake to follow Severus down the street. The sun was already setting and for a moment, you felt a bit resentful towards him, realizing how lovely of an evening you could have had with him if he’d only acted proper this morning. But as much as you wished you could rewrite time, as much as you wanted to redo the day, you couldn’t and that was okay. He’d come back for you, he’d wanted to try again and perhaps it was because he felt guilty, but oh how you hoped it was because he saw the potential for such a strong relationship between you both. 

There was so much you wanted to explore with him, but you knew nothing would come of this small spark of a friendship if Severus didn’t want it, if he didn’t tear down those walls. He’d always been such a mystery to you, but you realized now just how complex he was, how he was more than that lanky boy at the end of the library, studying until the lights went out. He was more than the Slytherin that had fought with Gryffindor’s Quidditch star, more than what everyone made him out to be and you could only hope he’d open himself up enough to let you see him for who he truly was. 

The more you walked alongside him, talking to him about the Muggle world, already learning so much from him, the more you felt like you were getting to see a side of him he rarely showed anyone. You wondered if he was comfortable around you, if he was open to building at least a friendship with you, but you were too afraid to read into it or ask him how he felt. You’d started off the day so rocky, you didn’t want to risk ruining what you had now. You wanted to enjoy the moment and at least you would have this evening to look back on when you went back to Hogwarts.

The cinema wasn’t far from where you were, and you almost wished it was, enjoying the walk there with him more than the idea of seeing this ‘movie’ Severus spoke of. But, as you approached the doors, your curiosity for the Muggle world overtook you, your eyes trying to take in as much of the humongous building as they could. After your walk today, you’d assumed all Muggle buildings were small, nothing even coming close to the size of some of the shops you’ve been to in the Wizarding world, let alone Hogwarts. But this building looked endless, Severus claiming every room was twice as large as a classroom.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked as you both looked up at the billboard displaying the movies and their showtimes. You shrugged at his question, completely lost as to what you were looking at. You weren’t sure it would even matter what you ended up watching, just the experience alone was enough to keep you satisfied and the fact that it was Severus who was introducing you to this new world made it all the more special.

“Well, what was that book you were reading about?” he asked instead, hoping to pick a movie to your liking and get to know you a bit better. He wanted so badly to progress whatever it was between you both, to fast forward to the part where he knew everything about you and he’d trusted you to know everything about him. But he knew great relationships weren’t created with one measly conversation and trust had to be earned, so he settled for the opportunity to get to know you one bit at a time instead. 

“It’s about this girl and her friends who plan on exploring rumours about buried treasure. It’s called ‘The Secret of the Forgotten City’’,” you said, unsure on how you felt about the book just yet since you’d only read a couple of chapters. But the bookshop owner had said it was a popular story amongst the Muggles, and it had yet to disappoint you so far.

“A mystery. Then perhaps we can watch that one?” Severus points at the title ‘Return from Witch Mountain’ with a smirk and you couldn’t help but burst into laughter, finding the name ironic considering your destination to Hogwarts tomorrow. Nodding, you agreed to watch whatever these moving pictures entailed.

Severus walked up to a booth where a man sat entrapped in some glass, which you thought was rather odd. But when Severus asked the man for two tickets to see the next showing of ‘Return from Witch Mountain’, you realized he was no prisoner, but a worker who’d chosen to remain incased, selling people tickets to see the moving pictures. The man gave you the price to be paid for the tickets and you both began to rummage through your pockets, Severus picking out as many coins as he could before he realized he was short. He patted himself down in a panic, feeling completely saddened at the fact that money had once again become a barrier between him and the thing he wanted most; a friendship with you. He could hardly believe his luck, utterly crushed at the thought of disappointing you a second time. He couldn’t face the idea of ruining your plans again, a look of anger on his face as he triple checked every pocket. He’d ruined his second chance, knowing there was no chance for a third. 

Setting your money on the counter, you looked over to Severus, watching him struggle to come up with the full amount and immediately grabbed a few more coins of your own to make up the difference. Severus looked up when he heard your coins hit the countertop and watched as they were exchanged for two tickets. He was in shock at what you’d done. The tickets weren’t exactly cheap and it was him who’d suggested watching a movie in the first place. You had no idea what you’d paid for, yet you were happy to fork over your coins to have him by your side while you watched the movie.

“W-why did you do that?” he asked as you made your way inside the theater to find your seats. He wanted to be mad, his own ego objecting to the humiliation of a stranger paying for what he couldn’t. But he felt grateful, not for the money, but for your kindness and willingness to give up something so valuable just for a few hours of fun with him.

“Because I want to watch the movie with you Severus.” He smiled, feeling overjoyed at your words, your confirmation of interest in him, but how could you not after you’d admired him for so long? You’d wanted nothing more than to spend time with him and money wasn’t going to stand in the way of that.

“I’ll pay you back,” he promised, not wanting any reason for resentment between either of you, especially now during such a fragile state in your relationship.

“You don’t have to. Consider it a thank you for bringing me here.” You playfully nudged his arm with a smile. Severus felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he tried to suppress his ever-growing smirk. He was beyond relieved that he’d managed to redeem himself, that you’d accepted his apology and attempted to make things up to you after this morning.

You saw all the Muggles heading into the theater carrying snacks and noticed the absurd prices at the counter where they were selling popcorn, drinks and candy. You didn’t think twice about passing up on those knowing full well Severus would only feel worse if you spent more money on him and besides, you’d had quite the meal not thirty minutes ago, your stomach full and your heart happy with the company you kept. Severus led the way to the middle of the second to back row claiming they were always the best seats and you didn’t argue. You had no idea what to expect, but you were excited nonetheless. 

“So, what now?” you asked eagerly as you sat in the dark room waiting for something to happen.

“Now we wait,” Severus told you, leaning on the arm rest between you. “The movie is set to start in fifteen minutes so they should start playing commercials soon.”

“Not even Muggles can escape the power of advertisement,” you chuckled knowing everyone around you would likely be completely bored by them, but you were looking forward to it. You wanted to know as much of the Muggle world as possible and what better way to do that then sit through some advertisements about Muggle objects or odd looking inventions. 

As Severus had promised, a flash of light appeared before your eyes, colours spilling all over the screen as the first commercial began to play. Sound filled the theater and you could barely hear yourself think, wondering how anyone was able to speak over all this noise. The pictures moved before you, an image of a bed displayed with a woman slipping under it’s covers, some unknown voice speaking of the amazing mattress she was sleeping on. The commercial was dull and uninspired, but you loved every moment of it. The next commercial began playing and you found yourself completely lost at the object being sold. 

“WHAT’S A TV?” You turned to Severus and asked him. Immediately everyone in front of you turned and looked at you funny, some shushing you, others looking like you’d gone mad. You looked back at them wide eyed, unsure of what you did wrong. You turned to Severus to see him trying to suppress a smile, chuckling under his breath as he looked at you. 

“You aren’t supposed to speak in the theaters,” he whispered in your ear. He leaned back in his chair and saw a look of disappointment and embarrassment wash over your face. He suddenly felt very guilty for not informing you sooner of the general rules of the theater and leaned back to whisper the answer to your question, hoping if he tried to have a light conversation, you would cheer up. “A TV is like a portable theater. You can use it to watch movies at home.”

You smiled when Severus answered your question, feeling better about shouting in a place where talking was forbidden. But for the second time today, Severus was there to make it up to you, to make you smile when you felt so down. Placing your hand on his, you silently thanked him, not daring to try and whisper your gratitude to him. Severus felt his heart skip a beat when he felt the gentle graze of your fingers slipping over his hand. He looked down at the armrest between you and saw your hand over his and slowly, he turned his over to hold yours, returning your smile as the commercials continued to blaze the room. 

Neither of you wanted to move away when the movie finally started, half your focus on his thumb mindlessly caressing your knuckles, stopping when you squeezed his hand in approval. Severus wasn’t sure what to make of your small gesture having convinced himself you’d hate him after what happened this morning, that you’d never want to speak with him again after tonight. Your hand in his kept him hopeful that you’d want to explore whatever it was between you, that you’d at least be willing to keep him as a friend during your last year at Hogwarts. 

He cautiously turned his head towards you, trying to catch a glance of your face as you watched the movie. Your eyes were so full of wonder and he could only imagine how happy you both could have been if you’d spent the entire day exploring the city like you were meant to do. He would never forgive himself for passing up such an opportunity, promising himself he’d spend as long as he could trying to make up for that time you lost. But for now, he was happy to watch your eyes sparkle and your soft smile. 

You easily lost track of time, your thoughts wandering from the movie to the boy sitting next to you. Any other day you would be infatuated with questions about how Muggles had managed to make moving pictures, how they could capture and tell a story in such an amazing way. But all you could think about was Severus and everything he’d done to mend your first impression of him, of how hard he tried to lift your mood and how amazing it would be to have such a person by your side during your last year at Hogwarts. You fantasized study sessions with him late in the Slytherin common room, cuddling up to him as you both crammed for your N.E.W.T exams. You dreamt of a future where you kept in touch with Severus after graduation and saw all the mesmerizing achievements you knew he would accomplish.  

Peeling your eyes away from the screen, you glanced over at Severus to catch a glimpse of his eyes before he quickly turned away from you, his hair falling before his face and his hand retreating to his lap. He looked like you’d just caught him stealing from the Potion’s cupboard, ashamed of what he’d done and you felt your heart sink at the empty feeling in your hand. Abandoning all care for the movie, you kept your eyes on Severus, your hand slowly moving to find his again. You gently placed your hand in his, hoping he wouldn’t pull away, hoping if you tried to be forward with your emotions, he might return them. 

Severus held your hand and looked up to find you looking so softly at him, a gentle smile tugging at the corner of your parted lips. He locked his eyes with yours and lost himself in your admiration for him. You opened your mouth like you had something important to tell him until you remembered what happened the last time you spoke in this theater. Your eyes fell from his a moment as you rethought your approach, needing to tell him how you felt. Severus tried to read your expression, wanting to know what was going through your mind. He hoped you weren’t having second thoughts, that you didn’t regret taking him up on his offer.

He waited anxiously to see you pull back and walk away from him. But instead, you slowly leaned forward, your eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips. His heart raced at the idea of a kiss from you, his body leaping at the chance as he leaned forward. You smiled when he mirrored your movements, giving you enough courage to close the distance between you and press your lips against his. Severus eagerly kissed you back, bewildered by the emotions you conveyed. You were pouring out your heart to him, showing him how you felt, how infatuated you were with him, how much you admired him, needing him in your life. You wanted to be close with him, to earn his trust and him yours. It felt so right, and you were overjoyed to see Severus return your feelings. 

You finally parted and suddenly became very thankful Severus had picked the second last row with no one sitting behind you. If you were judged for speaking in the theater, you could only imagine how people would react if they caught you both so passionately declaring your love for each other through that kiss. Your grin stretched from one ear to the other as you opened your eyes, never wanting to lean too far back from him. You looked at him with such glee, his own smile growing larger than you’d ever seen. His happiness seemed so pure, so real, and you felt your heart flutter at the thought that one kiss from you had him floating on clouds. You watched his eyes flicker down to your lips again and you could hardly contain your giggle as his free hand reached to cup your jaw, his thumb caressing your cheek as he leaned in for a few more soft playful kisses. 

His lips were thin, but his adoration for you was ever present as they met yours over and over again. He lightly tugged on your bottom lip with his teeth and just when you thought you’d find yourself kicked out of the theater for all the affection flowing between you, Severus stopped and leaned back, admiring your eyes as his hand slipped down from your face to his lap. You happily interlocked your fingers with his and looked back to the movie, leaning as far towards Severus as the seat would allow. You felt his arm press against yours as he mimicked your movements, hardly able to take his eyes off you. 

He did his best to pay attention, or at least to appear as though he was watching the film, but his thoughts were all fixed on you. He wanted so badly to hear you explain what had just happened, to ask why you’d done such a thing when you barely knew him, when you knew he wasn’t perfect. But that was the precise reason why you admired him so much. His imperfections had never been something he’d tried to hide, whether it be his large hooked nose, his greasy hair, his lanky body, his need to lean on others or gullibility. He never tried to keep the world from seeing his flaws like many others would. He instead displayed strength trying to improve himself, showing you the same ambition he carried during class when he came to find you at that diner tonight. He was perfectly imperfect and you couldn’t wait to get to know him better. You couldn’t wait to build a relationship in this new world you’d created with him.

 ~

@dracos-mudblood @darkthought15 @severuslovebot @mitchiesdungeon @bush-viper-cutie @wanderingtrails @sleepysnapesnake @fluffymadamina

#Severus Snape #severus x reader #severus snape x reader #snape x reader #young severus snape #my writing #pro snape #snapedom #snape community #slytherin reader #pureblood reader

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Your writing is always so fun to read! Could I ask for fake dating or fake marriage for Zena Lorell x Din Djarin? And if that doesn’t quite float your boat, maybe One Bed trope?

Let's go with the Fake Marriage AU AND the One Bed Trope

So Zena and Din get to a planet where marriage is extremely important to the culture

Basically if you're a man or a woman, you live in separately unless you're married

Very hetero-normative, but what are you going to do

Point being, Zena and Din walking off a ship together with a baby between them, assumption are made and since they're trying to lay low, Zena just lets them keep believing it

Din would get easily flustered by the entire situation, luckily his face is covered and Zena can think quick on her feet when the situation calls for it

She also really, really wants to sleep on a proper mattress

So, they get a room for the next week while the re-coup and decide on what to do next

Din immediately offers the sleep on the floor the moment he realizes there is only one bed, but Zena thinks of a solution

She takes the top cover of the bed and then finds a rope and some clothing pins

Just like back on the ship, she divides the room in half, using the sheet to act as a barrior between them, right down the middle of the bed

She tells him if he's unconfortable with that, they'll just switch off the bed every night

Din thinks about it, but does agree

That night Grogu gets tucked away in his cradle and Din and Zena get ready for bed

It really is just like back on the ship, but some how the idea of getting into the same bed makes Zena a lot more nervous

It only spikes when she hears the unmistakable sound of Din's armor being placed on the chair

Din confessed to her he almost never takes his armor off while sleeping in a strange place; does that mean he trusts her that much?

She tries not to think about it while she sinks onto the bed, careful not even to touch the cover between them

It was her idea, but now more than ever, such a small piece of fabric feels insufficient

She feels the weight of the bed shift as Din settles in beside her

They say their goodnights and somehow both of them fall asleep

The next morning, Zena wakes up to feel a hand in hers

Her eyes meet the cloth still between them

She's on her side, and her hand has slipped under the hanging sheet

The first thing she notices is the warmth, then the calluses and finally the understanding that his hand is completely bare

Her eyes shoot open as heat and embarrassment fill her

Is this allowed? Did she break a rule? Why is his hand so comforting in hers?

She moves to pull it back only for his grip to tighten and his thumb to run over her knuckles

Din voice comes rough and unfiltered: "You don't have to let go, if you don't want to."

Zena's heart races, but she doesn't pull away wishing now more than ever she could see his face; "I'll stay here then."

Send Me Two Tropes + an OC Ship

#star wars #the mandalorian #din djarin #the mandalorian x oc #din djarin x oc #zena lorell #star wars oc #the mandalorian oc

[fyeahnix]

Pathfinder's Quest — Bangalore/Wraith, Voidstrike Shipping Speculation? (7/7)

I'm going to talk about my thoughts on the Apex Legends lore book in a series of smaller posts. I have a LOT of fractured thoughts on this book and it would be unnecessarily long if I were to list them out in the same post. If you want to skip to some other post because the content in this one doesn't sound interesting, please do so! I will be numbering the posts and tagging them with "nix talks apex book lore" if you'd like to follow these specific posts and "apex book spoilers" if you'd like to avoid them.

This special post will strictly be about Voidstrike speculation. Keep in mind that this is speculation with a theory based on available lore. You don't have to take this seriously, but if you ship Voidstrike in any capacity, you might want to read this. Caution that this post will be very long and will contain quite a few images from the book as well as Broken Ghost and other supporting material. Let's go!

Book Content + Supporting Material

All right. I've been waiting an entire month to write up this post. You all know by now that Voidstrike is my OTP for Apex Legends. The unfortunate problem with this ship, like some other ships in Apex, is that they have the bare minimum of interaction with each other. Even in this book that proves to be true, except for one interesting little exchange through Pathfinder...

Do you see this comment? I asked Tom Casiello, Senior Writer of Apex Legends and Target of Internet Scorn (just poking fun at his twitter bio here), about it on Twitter and this is what he said:

Yes, that's right, y'all. These two have beef. I can imagine Wraith is little pissed about the whole "headcase" thing from Season 5's Broken Ghost quest:

I mean, can you blame Wraith? Anita’s kind of an asshole in canon, if we’re being honest, so Wraith wanting to get back at her in some way makes sense. She went the fuck off on Mirage when he made a similar comment about her in the Season 6 comic posted on Twitter. What's even weirder is Anita's response when Pathfinder tells her what Wraith said:

Now. I know what you’re thinking. “Nix, it’s not that deep, Anita’s just being a sarcastic dick.” And you would likely be correct, and I would not disagree with you. On the next page, however, this exchange happens:

First of all, why would Anita ask "why would Wraith tell me anything?" Has she tried talking to Wraith before and Wraith may have been closed off and/or hesitant? Or maybe she doesn't fully trust Anita because Anita has such strong feelings about the IMC? Is she... hurt by Wraith not telling her things? Did Wraith try to open up once before, get shot down by Anita's reaction to the IMC, and Anita's been a little salty about it since, henceforth, the shitty "headcase" comment? Maybe Wraith is being a little shit and getting back at her in a weird way. This comment initially sounded vaguely flirty but what do I know except the writers haven't been known to just write things for literally no reason...

Lots to think about here, but I'm hoping we'll get a follow-up to this in-game at some point.

And second of all, why would Pathfinder ask if they're best friends? I know he has an interesting view of who he considers friends...generally people who have talked to him for more than a minute:

But a “best friend”? What would give him that assumption about these two? Is it because they have some things in common? Or has he seen them interacting more than we (the players and lorehounds) know of? Is it because of their one exchange in Broken Ghost? I don’t think so at all. Granted, right on the next page Anita calls Wraith a lab rat (pretty shitty!), but as we learn later on, she is really sensitive and defensive about people who speak badly about the IMC (more on this in my post about Bangalore). I'm thinking Path mentioning Wraith being IMC pissed her off because Wraith, overall, blames them for what happened to her.

In any case, it's an interesting question to ask, and I do have to wonder if Wraith and Anita have been seen talking to one another for more than a minute lol. But Anita's answer is intriguing. She doesn't flat out say no. We know Anita to be very direct—sarcastic, sure—but generally you'd expect a straight fucking answer from her. Here, she doesn't even give one. She beats around the bush for an answer. What I think is happening here is about the same as her talking about Octane and Mirage. Remember that loading screen from Season 3? No? Well, let me refresh your memory...

Send in the Clowns (Season 3 Loading Screen)

Numbnuts! That’s what Mama used to call guys like that. You know the type. Big jokes, big trucks, big wallets...they need all that big to cover up what’s small. I got four brothers. Real gentlemen, raised with respect. They don’t have to woo-hoo their way through a battlefield like it’s a joke and they’re the punchline. Sorry, Laughtrack. The only punchline is you’re going home in a box.

Maybe Silva isn’t so bad. He’d take a bullet for anyone… mostly ‘cause he’s already fifty paces ahead, charging in with no game plan and even less strategy. Witt’s had my back more than once. And whatever, he’s gotten a chuckle out of me. Occasionally. Maybe they’re good. For morale, I mean. I mean… I just need them to stay out of my way.

She's just... like that. Anita is the type of person who won't openly admit that she actually likes or respects anyone. She's guarded, and she's probably been this way since her brother Jackson died. And that's where Loba comes in.

See, I think Loba has been making Anita rethink some things about opening up. Anita initially pegged Loba wrong, and in her chapter, Pathfinder basically figures out that she initially hated Loba because Loba reminds her of her older brother's shitty girlfriend:

I think Loba's purpose in her and Anita's budding friendship is to eventually lead Anita to opening up to others, especially Wraith, since Path mentioned they have a lot in common, which is something I've been saying for fucking months. Now, Wraith and Anita haven't really had any interaction that we know of outside of Broken Ghost and the book, but there have been some....very minor hints/foreshadowing. I'm going to preface this by saying you may think I'm being a little...out there with these points, but trust me, we'll touch on why these matter later. For now:

Back in Season 1, both Bangalore and Wraith were the first two Legends to get Legendary skins in the Legendary Hunt themed event. First occurence is an incident.

In the Season 3 opening trailer, Caustic throws a gas canister inside a room and you can vaguely see Bangalore and Wraith in the room on the same team:

In the Legend select screen, these two were right next to each other up until they were separated in Season 6. They were together. Five. Straight. Seasons. Was there another, more subtle reason they were separated? Common sense would say no, it's because we're getting more Legends and the UI needs to change to accommodate. Shipping and speculation sense would say maybe it's metaphorical and foreshadowing a story element. Maybe something happened between them that we aren't aware of yet and they've separated.

At the end of Season 6 for the Fight or Fright Halloween event, we got a bundle of skins called the Wicked Wraith bundle. Guess who's in it? Bangalore and Wraith plus some gun skins. But only these two Legends.. Hm.. Two's a coincidence.

In Season 7, we got the Black Friday event where we got both Airship Assassin and Outland Warrior back in the shop, two beloved Wraith and Bangalore skins respectively. Three's a pattern, and with this lovely banner:

In Season 8, for the Two-Year Anniversary Event, both Bangalore and Wraith received stat trackers of their concept art... We typically only get two Legends' trackers per each event with a prize track, and we got these two for this event? I predicted back in October 2020 that they would get stat trackers in the same event, but I didn't expect this event out of everything.

If one's an incident, two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern, then what's four very similar occurrences?

If you've read up to this point, you're either deprived for Voidstrike content like I am, or wondering just how much further I'm willing to dig for hints to support this ship. Trust me, I have a little more.

I am predicting that Anita and Wraith will start having some interaction starting Season 9 or 10. Why? Well, back at the start of Season 7, there was a Reddit AMA with the senior team members of Respawn. It was mostly to address the battlepass issue, but Manny Hagopian, the Lead Writer for Apex Legends, was also there answering questions, so I took a shot and asked him one:

You can totally chalk this up to typical “I can’t say anything right now” PR talk, sure, but I think he's hinting that this was in the plans. Tom has also said something:

Now, granted, this is Tom and mostly everyone takes whatever he says with a grain of salt, myself included, but it's worth keeping an eye on since what Manny says kind of lines up. We were supposed to get a follow-up to Broken Ghost, but that story, whatever it was, ended up being... let's say, "altered"? Tom has a thread on what actually happened on Twitter (that I did link here, but removed for fear of this post not appearing in the tags), but the follow-up was essentially "axed" and bits and pieces of it had to be kicked down the road in various different formats in the lore. What does this have to do with Season 9 and my theory?

Well, there's supposed to be some crazy stuff happening in Season 9 and I think we're going to start to see some elements pop up from what was supposed to happen in Broken Ghost. Why? Well another thing Tom said from that same Twitter thread:

I think whatever Tom was working on was related to IMC, Bangalore, and Wraith. And the reason I believe this is because of a now-deleted video from Chris Edgerly’s twitch stream from back around May 27th, 2020 or so where Tom was a guest. I unfortunately didn’t think to archive the page or video so I don’t have it, but I can say with confidence that I asked a question about Anita and Wraith having some future interaction about the IMC stuff, and the answer he gave was...suspiciously vague. He said something along the lines of:

"I just started writing something dealing with that and you should get to see it before the end of the year [2020]. And that’s all I’ll say on that :]"

I know that’s...well it doesn't say MUCH, but it is making me think that it's the same content he may have been working on. I have a feeling it may be in comic form, but who knows how the format may change. Season 9 is supposed to be fairly game-changing for Apex overall, according to the devs.

The last bit I wanted to mention was character development. I said earlier how I think Loba is helping Anita open up a bit more overall, and eventually that will turn towards others as well as Wraith. Anita, compared to other Legends, has seen character development through voice lines. And Wraith is kind of doing the same. Like sure Loba talks to Anita, but she hasn't really...progressed as a character much. She's remained fairly flat so far. We're actively seeing Anita's walls break down as she becomes more vulnerable as a person. And no one else is really doing this much except for, arguably, Wraith.

Wraith has had some very introspective voice lines to herself while on Olympus, basically wondering if the Rift explosion was a result of her experiments, wondering what type of person she was to have partnered with Singh. Wattson even mentions she looks more lost than usual, and Wraith responds that she needs to handle this on her own for now. We know from the end of Season 6's comics that she's learned she was apparently a shitty person in her past life with anger issues and a severe lack of empathy. She wonders about this and is actively working towards... not being like that lol. She's also fairly sarcastic as we've seen with her voice lines with Rampart, but she's developing as a character, albeit slowly and more subtly than Anita.

So now that that's all out of the way. Where do we go from here? Well, this brings me to a theory I've manifested due to the points in the post so far.

The Theory

What if Anita and Wraith were on pretty okay terms with each other previously and we just haven't heard about it yet? What if they’ve known each other for a while?

Anita has been in the Outlands with a small group of IMC soldiers, her brother Jackson and General Lewis included, for about 18 years. She's been in the Apex Games for about 3 years and the Hestia incident happened about 3 years ago:

That lines up. Since the start of the Apex Legends lore takes place in 2733 (as of Season 8 we are now in the year 2734 in lore), that would mean she had to have joined around 2730. What about Wraith?

Well... I think Anita and Wraith joined the Apex Games around the same time. In the book Wraith mentions that she took a few years to hone her skills before she ended up in a qualifying match:

She arrived at our Kings Canyon in 2727. If she took a few years, she had to have joined around 2730-2731. What if they met and actually were amicable? Closed-off on both ends, but mutually respectful towards each other as coworkers? And maybe this is what causes Pathfinder to assume they're "best friends" in the book.

...That is until the Repulsor incident happened and the IMC labs under Kings Canyon were eventually unearthed. Wraith learned her real name and what the IMC (ARES more specifically) did to her and so did the rest of the Legends she was somewhat close to—Mirage, Pathfinder, and...Anita.

What if Anita took the IMC disrespect personally, thought Wraith was placing blame on the IMC instead of taking responsibility for her own actions like Anita mentions in the book, and Anita blew up about it? Wraith would probably feel extremely hurt by this and withdraw from opening up even more. At this point, Anita would hold a bit of a grudge about the IMC bad-mouthing.

They continue to work as coworkers and on a team when necessary, but the mutual respect has been...lost. Wraith finds friendship elsewhere in Wattson. Fast forward to the events of Broken Ghost. Anita is stressed, annoyed, dealing with too much shit at leading the operation, and hurls an insult at Wraith, the infamous "headcase" comment. It's extremely shitty and uncalled for and while Wraith doesn't explode at her in the moment because of dire circumstances, she absolutely doesn't forget it. It hurts her deeply.

What if after the events of Broken Ghost, their connection is severed. There's some bad blood between them. Wraith's friendship grows with Wattson while Anita's friendship grows with Loba. That separation in the Legend Select screen starting from Season 6 onwards seems a lot more metaphorical...

So fast forward once again to Wraith's comment directed at Anita in the book. It was an opening Pathfinder inadvertently provided and it was an opportunity to take a jab at Anita. But instead of being overtly shitty, she makes a relatively teasing comment. Maybe an olive branch to squash what they have and move on? Anita's response is to thank Wraith when she sees her again. Sarcasm? Maybe. But what if she's being genuine? What if the comment was a joke reflective of the type of humor they shared when they were on better terms with each other?

Anita has been opening up more to Loba, and though shes's still sensitive about the IMC, what if she's more willing to...apologize for the initial shitty comment?

The Theory Continued

Anita has recently, in canon, mentioned Jackson to Loba. Jackson is a VERY sensitive topic for her, and so far, the only two people we know of who have heard her discuss Jackson are Loba and Pathfinder. An interesting thing about Jackson that can be tied back to Wraith is this:

Anita clearly does not accept the ARES Division as part of the IMC, but more than that...Jackson found out the ugly truth about the IMC overall and believed it. Wraith was part of ARES Division and it's why Anita doesn't consider her IMC. Here's where the connection can work:

Continuing the same theory, what if Wraith reminds Anita of Jackson in the worst way possible because of what he told her about the IMC and ARES? Wraith revealing her name and what happened to her conjured up old, painful memories and caused Anita to lash out and close herself off again. Now that Loba is bringing out discussions of Jackson in canon, what if this leads to Anita and Wraith coming back together and rekindling their friendship? There's a lovely quote from Jackson's letter in the book that I feel could foreshadow that happening, too:

"...But in all seriousness, I'm so proud of you. And always remember, what's broken can be fixed. What's shredded can be mended. And what's torn apart can always be put back together again. Love always, Jackson." (82)

What if eventually—slowly, but surely—rekindling this lost friendship leads to Anita opening up to Wraith again? What if it leads to Anita being open and vulnerable enough to learn more about the IMC and ARES Division with/through Wraith via the labs under Kings Canyon? That place is a goldmine of classified information and she very well can see and hear firsthand all the terrible shit they've done. It would be extremely hard to do this, of course. And that's where Manny's comment from the Reddit AMA comes into effect: "...There's much more for both characters to learn and when they do, it's very possible to experience a moment between them, but patience is important."

This is, of course, all just a theory based on what we know about the lore. Is it ridiculous? Possibly! But I also don't think it's entirely farfetched either.

In Conclusion...

I imagine once we get to Season 9—potentially 10 at the latest for quarantine padding and last-minute changes—maybe we'll start seeing them begin to acknowledge each other in some way, and I'm thinking mostly negatively at first. And I don't think it'll be a lot either. Maybe a snarky location voice line or two. Maybe a little mention in a comic or Twitter lore bit. But only a little.

I definitely do think we can expect to see them getting to the point of interacting in the future, but it'll be a slow ride and slow burn. And hey even if we don't... I'll have this post to keep me warm for the rest of my days playing Apex.

Anyway, that's all I have for you! Thanks for reading if you made it this far, I do appreciate it. I love this pairing a lot, and this was really fun to write! Remember, it's just speculation based on....stuff, haha. You don't have to take it or like it at all, but what else am I to do when I'm starved for interaction of my ship? :]

#Apex Legends #Bangalore #Wraith #Voidstrike #Bangawraith #Apex book spoilers #nix talks apex book lore

[tiedyexuxi]

between the lines. [part one of two.]

yooha x fem!reader.

a/n: my dislike of the Taehee bias in-game makes itself pretty prevalent here, so if you don't like some mild Taehee bashing then don't read. The second part will be NSFW. ♡ Enjoy!

PART ONE. [SFW]

YOUR PINKIE DIDN'T ache for Taehee anymore. It took you a while to realize it, being around him as often as you were, of course; you never attributed the shift because where Yooha was, Taehee was somewhere nearby always monopolizing your attention from even the smallest of things.

You had, at first, liked the monopolization. It was something to keep your mind off of your mom, off of the situation you had landed yourself in by some foolish childish promise you had made that you barely even remembered. It was a distraction--Taehee was a distraction.

So whenever Yooha was jealous or hurt over the eldest goblin, you didn't notice. You were so wrapped up in Taehee, and Hansol and Biho, that somehow, he fell to the wayside despite most of your days being spent with him at shoots or meetings. So close, and yet the distance between the both of you was so far that you only noticed it when it was a gaping chasm filled with cold shoulders, stiff silences, and not-quite-sincere smiles.

And then, slowly, like petals upon fresh grass, your fondness for Taehee started to wither. Or rather, the fate that had tied you to him had started to fade completely and Yooha was becoming an unusually common centerpiece in your thoughts and dreams. Dreams that not even Biho could stop, evidenced by the peculiar look on his face every time you woke up in the morning for breakfast.

You barely even noticed when you stopped rubbing your pinkie in his presence. You were sure he noticed, looking back on it, blue eyes noticing as you shoved your hands in your short pockets more often, or twisting them behind your back as you spoke, but never in that anxious, almost nervous habit that helped the ache in your finger and your nerves. He never said anything about it, but his actions spoke for him; he watched you more closely, after that, seeing which goblin it was that made your finger hurt and not him.

It was none of them, as it turned out.

Over the past weeks or so that you had been coming to terms with your lack of fondness for Taehee, Yooha had been a ghost--at home, at least. He would engage in light banter with you at work when you crossed paths, would do the shoots with you whenever your managers choreographed them in, but past that, you never saw him. You would catch glimpses of him here and there: a tuft of silver hair vanishing into his room; a tail waving as he spoke to Hansol; his blue shirt fluttering in the breeze as he left the cafe you had just sat down in...

Even though you could have called his name and forced him to come to you, you didn't. You hesitated instead, knowing deep down that if he was avoiding you, it had to be because of something you did--you had gone out of your way just to catch those small glimpses of him. He was hard to find when he didn't want to be, and when it was you, it was... painful.

The dull throb in your finger, late at night, reminded you of it. It even kept you awake, sometimes. But you couldn't resist it.

It was why you were awake, now, at two in the morning. The goblins all were asleep; you had checked. Yooha was conspicuously absent, likely doing anything but coming home, and usually that meant he was busy with work of some kind.

But you couldn't wait. This had been eating at you since you had noticed it.

"Yooha."

There was the familiar rush of cool, calming magic. And then he was there, a warm weight resting against your back in your bed, arm closing around your waist to hold you there.

He was quiet, for a moment, silently pondering. You could almost hear the gears whirring inside his head. And then, carefully, he lowered his head down to your pillow. He waited for you to push him away, evident by the way he tensed up, but you didn't--you didn't have the heart to fight him off anymore.

Not with your fate tied to him so thoroughly that not even a goblin could break it.

"You called?" Yooha kept his voice to a whisper, wary of Taehee's keen hearing, but you detected the edge in his tone. He was still... off. Angry, perhaps.

"I did." You reached down and linked his fingers with yours. There was a quiet little inhale of surprise right next to your ear. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" You wished you could roll over and look at him. "Calling me here?"

There was a bitter thread in his voice. You could read between the lines: 'Calling me here... and not Taehee.'

His jealousy for the goblin ran deep, almost as deep as his feelings for you, you would wager. At first his feelings had been nothing more than something to irritate Taehee with, you knew that now. But it had turned into something genuine somewhere along the line. Sometime when your thread had moved down the list.

Sometime when you had, somehow, started feeling the same.

"No." You took a deep, shaky breath. "I... I'm sorry for not telling you that... that my thread of fate has moved to you."

He was so silent that for a moment you thought he had left, if his fingers still weren't laced with yours. Then, so quiet that his whisper was a breath against your shoulder, he said,"I know."

"You knew?"

"I can see it. It's faint, but it's there. I honestly didn't think you would notice it."

Again, more reading between the lines: 'Because you were so wrapped up in Tahee'.

"Why didn't you...?"

"Say anything?" He laughed and you couldn't help the goosebumps that erupted over your skin. "Taehee would have killed me ten times over if I did. You would have let him. So I distanced myself."

"I wouldn't have," you argued.

"You would have, you know you would." Yooha's nose drew a line down the bare flesh of your throat. His lips followed, barely a brush of air. "You would have let self sacrificing, sad, guilty Taehee tear me to ribbons and you wouldn't have made a sound."

"Don't make assumptions for me."

"They're not assumptions when they're true, [Name]."

Your name. Not 'master'; your actual name. And his voice was hard, sharp, laced with an edge meant to cut, to hurt, to maim. And once upon a time, he might have been right; you might have let Taehee get rid of him, once, but now it was different. It had changed.

Your feelings had changed.

"Yooha." You turned over to face him, almost shocked when your nose brushed his. You were so close that you could see the individual flecks of iridescent silver in his eyes. He could see you far better than you could see him with those fox eyes, an unusual green reflection in them from the moonlight. "That's not true."

"Sure it isn't." His fingers tightened against yours. "What do you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't keep doing this with you." Yooha's eyes were practically slits. "I can't keep wanting your love, watching you fawn over Taehee, and completely reject me as an option. You won't even accept me as a friend. Just someone who lives here, happens to be bound to you, and comes when called."

You could read between the lines there, too: 'Like your pet.'

"You don't have to." You watched his eyes widen slightly as you reached up to gently brush strands of hair from his face, as soft as his fur. His tails paused in their rioting behind him, frozen in time. "Not anymore."

"You're lying." His tone said he wanted to believe.

"No, I'm not." And with nothing else to say, you kissed him.

His lips were impossibly soft, softer than you had imagined. When you pulled away, his eyes were wide, pupils blown out to cover his iris. Before you could even try to speak, he was dragging you on top of him and crushing your body to his like his life depended on it. You settled into him, two pieces of a puzzle fit perfectly together, and when your lips met again, your finger burned as if someone had set it on fire.

And then, blissful numbness.

#wannabe challenge #yooha x reader

[jjmaybanksblog]

Magic Touch- JJ Maybank

(Not my gif, credit to the owner!)

Summary: After JJ finds out a secret you've been keeping for a long time, he's right by your side to help take care of you. 

Word count: 1,822

Warnings: verbal and physical abuse/violence, mentions of blood, cursing.

You tiptoed through your bedroom window, not trying to attract your mother as you packed your bag to spend the week at John B's. Your mother was just like JJ's father, always smuggling or doing drugs, drinking until they're unconscious, or just passed out on the couch for days on end.

Your mother was never supportive of you, you worked everyday and your mother didn't even have a job. She would take her anger out on you everytime she remembered your dad wasn't in the picture. If you said or did something she didn't like, she would verbally and physically tell you how she felt about it.

No one in the Pogue friend group knew about your struggles at home. Every time you showed up with a new cut or bruise, you always managed to find a new excuse on what happened. You figured you would have to tell them at some point, you just didn't know it would have to be so soon.

You snuck around in your room, packing bathing suits and clothes. Bagging some more essentials you would need just in case. Scanning your room, you quietly zipped your bag shut before opening and closing your bedroom door. Turning around you froze in your tracks to see your mother standing there with her arms crossed.

"Are you staying at that Josh B's house?" Her mother slurred, nearly falling over from just standing there. "His name is John B, and yes I am." You stated, your tone firm even though your legs were shaking. You threw your backpack over your shoulders and walked by your mom

"Is that JJ boy going to be there too?" You ignored her question as you kept your focus on the front door. You had your hand on the doorknob before she shouted at you, "he's just gonna use you!"

Your jaw clenched as you bit your tongue. Turning around to face her you felt anger bubbling from the center of your chest. "JJ is not going to 'use' me. You don't even know him so keep his name out of your mouth." You stepped back after you spoke, not knowing just how harsh your tone sounded.

"Your father would be ashamed of you," she started, "you look just like him. And I fucking hate that, you know why? Because he should be here, and not you. Everytime I look at you, you make me wanna scream!" She spat, her voice was laced with venom and pure hatred.

"I wish you were the one who left and not him." You raised your voice back at your mother whose eyes were widened with fury. Before you could even process what happened, your mother grabbed the nearest empty beer bottle and chucked it at you.

You let out a cry of pain as you felt a sharp blow right above your right eyebrow. You stood there in fear as your fingers reached up to touch the area that had been hit. You lowered your hand to see a small drop of blood on your finger. You flicked the drop of blood away as you quickly swung the front door open. The moment you stepped out of the house, you slammed the door shut and just ran as fast as you could to John B's

Tears threatened to spill from your eyes, feeling mentally drained from those 5 minutes near your mother. You were tired, tired of both the physical and emotional pain every time you were in that house. You wanted to get as far away from there as possible. Your wound went numb as the summer breeze hit it. You were too focused on your legs running to focus on the pain.

Finally running up the driveway to John B's house, you stopped at the front door as you bent over to catch your breath. Calming yourself down, you walked inside to find it was empty. You threw your bag onto the couch and headed into the backyard to see your friends fishing. "Hi guys!" You greeted them with a forced smile as you walked up to them.

"Hey Y/N! Wait, what happened?" Kie asked from the spot she was sitting in. You immediately turned back around and headed back into the house, only to be followed by JJ who dropped his fishing rod. You picked up your pace, knowing he was following you to find out what happened. You ran into the bathroom with him close behind you. Closing the bathroom door on him, you took a look at the small gash on your face.

"Y/N, if you don't open this door right now I will break it down, and you know I will." JJ demanded from the other side of the door. You sighed as you slowly opened the door, watching his face drop in horror and sadness as he saw the wound. "Y/N…" he stepped forward, entering the bathroom with you.

He quickly closed the door behind them as you stared at the cut in the mirror once more. A mixture of sadness and anger bubbled in his veins as he took in the sight of your wound, along with the look of sadness on your face. "Let's get you cleaned up, buttercup." JJ said, pushing his feelings away as to not upset you anymore then you already were. 

Before you could protest, he easily picked you up by the waist and sat you down on the sink counter. He stood between your legs, his arm reaching behind your head to grab a washcloth and a bar of soap.

Your eyes watched his hands as he lathered the washcloth with soap and water before carefully rubbing the cut. You flinched at the painful tingling sensation, backing away from his hand for a moment. "I know, I know, I'm sorry." JJ whispered, his heart aching as she held onto his non busy hand. 

"Who did this to you?" He knew the answer since you had explained to him that you had to go home, but he didn't want to believe it. You took a deep breath, your eyes focused on the bathroom floor. "It was your mom, wasn't it?" He whispered after a moment of silence. You flickered your eyes up to meet his, and that's when he knew his assumptions were correct.

"Y/N, princess… How long has this been going on for?" He asked, tucking a piece of loose hair behind your ear. "Pretty much since we moved here. After my dad just left, she always got mad and constantly told me I reminded her of him. How she wants him here instead of me. It started out verbal but then things just kind of… escalated." You opened up, your voice just above a whisper.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner? Why didn't you tell me?" He was hurt that you had known him your entire life, but never told him about it. "I don't want people thinking I'm asking for attention or lying. And I didn't want to be a burden, I mean you guys have your own issues to deal with, I didn't want to add onto it."

 

He gently held the bottom of your chin in between his thumb and index finger. "Princess, listen to me. You aren't and never will be a burden or any of us, and you never will be. Especially with stuff like this. I mean, I would've let you stay over more often if I knew. I know for a fucking fact John B or Kie would. And Pope will always be there for you, whether a shoulder to cry on or someone who will make you laugh. We're your family, Y/n, we're here for you." JJ couldn't help but feel like a hypocrite for saying these words when he was going through the same things with his father.

"I don't want to talk about it with them right now, especially with John B's dad still possibly out there. I just want us to focus on him." You bit down on your bottom lip, trying to control your shaky breath.

You had always been a tough girl in JJ's eyes. You could take a joke, you weren't afraid to fight your own battles, you knew how to stand up for yourself and your friends. It broke his heart to see you so beaten up, both mentally and physically.

JJ entangled his hand through your hair and pulled you towards him, resting your head on his chest. You inhaled deeply before breaking down into tears, your body trembling against his. His other hand held your back, tracing small shapes onto your skin in an attempt to calm you down.

"Shh. It's okay baby, I got you. You're safe with us." He softly hummed a soft tune in your ear as you clutched onto the fabric of his shirt. "You're okay. I'm right here." He held you tightly in his arms as he heard you slowly calm down. You slowly pulled away from him, wiping your nose with a tissue.

"There we go, princess." He held your face in his hands and gently wiped away the trails of tears with his thumbs. You placed your hands on top of his and held them in their position. His eyes trailed down to your lips, wondering what they would feel like pressed against his.

He softly cleared his throat, his eyes dropping to the ground as he released you. "Let's get you patched up." Your cheeks turned a light pink as you shyly grinned as his back was turned. He reached behind you again to grab a box of bandaids. He quickly ripped one open and placed it on your wound, gently pressing the sides down to make it stay in place. He leaned forward and pressed a delicate kiss to the covered up wound, pulling back to see a soft grin on your lips.

You hopped off the counter and stood on your tiptoes, one hand using his shoulder to keep balance the other placed on the side of his cheek. You pressed a kiss to the left cheek, both of their heartbeats picking up speed. You got back onto your feet, your face warming up as he returned the kind gesture to you. 

As he pulled away, you two made eye contact realizing both of you wanted the same thing. "Can I-" he started, "kiss me." You mumbled. His hands snaked their way around your waist as yours wrapped around his neck. His lips gently and carefully danced with yours, as if you were a glass doll and one wrong move would break you.

Pulling back, he rested his forehead against yours. "It feels better already." You grinned, pressing your lips against his one more time. He opened the bathroom door, his arm still around your waist. "I got the magic touch. That's not the only thing I could touch though."

"JJ."

#jj maybank x you #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #jj outer banks #obx jj #rudy obx #rudy x reader #rudy pankow imagine #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow #john b #john b imagine #john b obx #john booker routledge #john b routledge #chase stokes x reader #chase stokes #rafe cameron x y/n #rafe cameron x you #rafe obx #rafe outer banks #rafe cameron #rafe fanfiction #rafe smut #rafe imagine #drew starkey x y/n #drew starkey x reader #drew starkey x you

[luxuriantegg]

POV: you're watching Loki episode 5. Loki and Sylvie share a blanket, and then five minutes later sylvie’s like “we’re the same :)” which comes after them holding hands to cause a Nexus event, Mobius implying they're in love, and Loki appearing to want to confess some sort of adoration for her before being pruned,,, and so far, it seems the showrunners/writers are on board w/ calling it a love story,,,,,,,,,,

let’s dive a bit into this ship.

(note: i'm not going to tag this as "syl//ki," and i will not put any ship in the body text without the "//", but tumblr may take the "syl//ki" out of "anti syl//ki" and put it in the ship tag. that's out of my hands. you need to block "anti syl//ki" if you don't want to see that.)

when it comes to defending or being anti syl//ki, I think a lot of people sort of missed the memo on or forgot about the fact that Loki is a frost giant. I have looked on both Twitter and Tumblr and literally have not seen a single person talk about it in the selfcest debate so far. I've probably missed something. So if you have seen this argument, well, here it is again!

so, syl//ki defenders will say,

It’s not selfcest because they are genetically different. They might have different parents since they were adopted by the Asgardians.

If they were genetically similar, then they would also be genetically similar to Boastful Loki and Alligator Loki.

First of all. Loki’s last name is Laufeyson. Sylvie’s last name is Laufeydottir. Due to the naming conventions used here, both can be assumed to be children of Laufey. I realize we haven’t seen Sylvie’s Laufey, but who’s to say they look any different than the one we saw in Thor? Furthermore, there’s nothing to suggest that they weren’t adopted by the same exact couple (i.e., Odin and Frigga or some variation), and if you’re not ok with Thor and Loki, you probably should consider this. Probably. We'll really just have to see what happens if they develop Sylvie further. Who knows, they might get cold feet in the last episode and actually make her Enchantress (Sylvie Lushton) proper.

The second point really pisses me off not just as someone who loves Norse mythology but also just. The race card. Does no one remember the fact that Loki is actually supposed to be blue? He’s not genetically white. There is nothing in his genes that command him to be white. That is a disguise (originally put on him by Odin if I’m not mistaken? feel free to check me on that).

Loki could literally be any gender and/or any color he wants to be. Hell, we've seen him shapeshift into Steve Rogers briefly and Odin presumably for a good while. Really, it's hard to pass judgement on the relationships that the other Lokis have to their respective timelines. We can only make assumptions based on the evidence we have. (but also have fun with headcanons of course)

(also the funny part about bringing up Boastful Loki is ,, everyone is always like “well, are you trying to tell me that our Loki has the same genes as Boastful/Hammer Loki? 🙄🙄🙄” and like, they won’t come out and just say one is white and one is black like,,, :) they’re trying so hard not to sound racist it’s hilarious. AND THEN TO PUT ALLIGATOR LOKI IN THE SAME CATEGORY. LAUGHABLE. str8 up.)

But concerning the alligator, in Norse mythology, frost giants can have kids that are really just. Out there. Jormungand is a snake that can wrap itself around the world, Fenris is a gargantuan wolf, and Hel is a half dead child. Those are just Loki’s kids (note: in the mythology. they also exist in the comics as his children, but I am also aware that Fenris and Hela are not his children in the MCU and trust me, that peeves me a lot). I’m sure there’s more examples though. So like. Potentially????? Yeah, Loki Prime could be genetically similar to Alligator Loki.

Furthermore, according to this Gizmodo article, Alligator Loki is a Loki (2021) creation, and they admit to playing with the idea that Alligator Loki may not even be a Loki. So take that how you will.

So my verdict is that Loki and Sylvie are the same person with different looks, possibly some difference in genetics, depending on the mother.

(note: Loki is marked in his file as genderfluid, technically we cannot know what he was assigned at birth. we only know his pronouns. he could be AFAB. Sylvie may be AMAB.)

I don’t ship lok//ius, and I don’t care if Loki gets with a girl (I actually really like Loki and Darcy) so don’t come at me with the biphobia excuse that’s running around. I will say that yes, I would adore seeing Loki in an mlm or wlw relationship. Yes, it is really cliché to have the two opposite gender-presenting leads get together. Yes, I want to see Loki and Sylvie as friends/family. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I’m just here to ask if this is selfcest or not.

So yes, Syl//ki really does appear to be a selfcest ship and like, if you’re willing to own that, own it. It looks like that’s how the show’s going so far so,, uh,,, enjoy it if that’s something you want to do I guess. I’m ,, probably not going to though. But congrats on the canon! If it is!

I’m not asking you to stop shipping it, if you do. I'm not even asking you to ship with caution. Overall, I just hope I made you think a little more about it and maybe get a discussion going that doesn't revolve around the same arguments we've heard for the past three weeks.

Because like, it's not hurting anyone to ship it, and if you send hate speech to any shippers or the showrunners, literally what is wrong with you???? there are civil ways to discourse, my lord.

Personally, if I had to ship it, I would only do so as a self-love metaphor, and I think that's as far as I would take it. As it currently stands, it's on the same level of Oncest, so like. it's weird but honestly it doesn't hurt anyone. (and if you don't know what Oncest is, give this video by Sarah Z a watch.) Really it all just amounts to this test from Buzzfeed that you've probably seen in fandom memes before. So you can use that as your squick-o-meter when it comes to this ship.

I will end this by saying I am not pro-ship. Inc//est and pedo//philia have no place in fandom and thinking these are okay could lead to harmful thinking in real life, especially with regards to children in fandom.

Selfcest is not technically on the same level as inc//est, and yes, I know, in the words of the great Buzzfeed Unsolved team, "anytime you have to say technically that's not great" but I really mean it here. We can still say technically here.

TL;DR: yeah syl//ki is more than likely selfcest. don't send hate to people who ship it tho (this includes the showrunners).

#antisylki #loki spoilers #tw selfcest #ALSO IF REY//LOS DONT SHUT UP ABOUT HOW SIMILAR THE SHIPS ARE I WILL GO FERAL #i was already a little peeved with the boastful loki discourse but they just pushed me over the edge #AND WHERE IS SYLVIE'S POSTMAN #am i the only one who remembers that #also you might think im waffling but im really just trying to cover all my bases

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes

Now safely headed home and rescued the hostages, Soap discovers something from the four corners of the infirmary. It's basically a chapter that happened inside the infirmary. Yeah.

Previous Chapter : Alex - Dé jàvu

Chapter 5 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

"Reunited"

John 'Soap' MacTavish

Task Force 141

Task Force 141 Base - Infirmary

Soap grunted at the initial moment he felt consciousness. The faint tune of the radio started to fill his ears followed by soft hushes from within the room.

If I lay here… If I just lay here…

Sharp pain struck his abdomen as he tried to get up, making him wince ang grunt loud enough that the two ladies beside him noticed. He shot a pained glare at them and breathed heavily.

"Look who finally decided to get up." The pale brunette greeted him with a soft smile. This was Samantha, the Daughter of America's Head of Defense, she really looked different from her photos from the briefing and Soap thought maybe it's the continuous days of being unconscious draining her out.

"Hm." Soap muttered as he laid back on his bed. He wasn't strong enough to fully get up yet and it frustrated him that he let out a heavy sigh. He rolled his eyes to France who was giggled beside him. Guess she found his misery satisfying.

"What's funny?" he finally gave in and asked.

"Oh nothing. It's just no matter how fast we ran the bullets will always be faster, huh?" she joked, but there was a hint of grief on her tone, something Soap knew and realized just then. It was unfair, it was the harsh reality. They were both considered fit for those conditions but they were the ones who sustained most injuries.

"Heh." Soap chuckled and leaned to face Maxine. She had a few stitches on her forehead an bandages wrapped most of her arm. Her smile was warm and welcoming, but Soap knew what's hidden underneath. Samantha wore the same smile but hers was just happy to be away from her captors.

"So I assume your British, like the rest of the people here?" Samantha asked Soap.

"What made you ask that?" He replied, curious as to her assumptions.

"You sound different than the doctors and nurses around here. I was just curious." She replied almost intimidated.

"Don't mind him, Samantha. He's just grumpy he got injured because he thinks he's so good at everything." France mocked and they both giggled.

"So you two got something going on? I may have lost my memory but not my senses." She winked. France fell silent and Soap immediately replied.

"It's Scottish, Maam and no. We do not have something. If anything it's rivals. She wants to be better than me."

"Oh. I knew that accent stands out among the others!" she mused. Soap turned his attention to the glass window as Alex and General Shepherd passed by discussing something. Samantha caught up with his behavior and looked as well.

"Shit!" She cursed, loud enough to get the two's attention.

"What's wrong?" France asked, holding her arm.

"That guy… his face… looked familiar." she whispered, her hands covered her hands almost scared. 

"Oh him? General Shepherd. Basically our boss. Why, you met him?" France replied calmly.

"No.. those arm tattooes. I swear I saw those before… they're very familiar." she spoke softly. Soap and France turned to each other and nodded, agreeing not to force her too much on remembering things.

"Arm tattoes are the new thing now. I could get one myself anytime you know." Soap informed, trying to divert attention.

"Really? It won't look good on you. You got noodle arms." France retorted, mocking the Scotsman. This seemed to work as Samantha turned to them and laughed.

"You two are the worst liars." she giggled. Soap didn't mind this but he was glad that Samantha was okay.

Time passed by and Soap continued conversing to the two ladies, sharing thoughts and ideas on each other. For someone who's memory had been played with, Samantha recalls quite well. Her descriptions were very detailed up to the last dot. Soap wondered why this was the case and decided to consult Alex when he had the chance.

When it comes to talking, the girls really took their time, they were discussing a lot of things and Soap wasn't able to catch up with them.

"So, Why France? Is it because of the city?" Samantha asked. Soap gulped as he knew it would be asked to him next.

"It's actually short for Francine." She smiled, Soap just stared at her. 

"What about you, tough guy?" Samantha asked as MacTavish snapped back to reality.

"Got beef with someone back at the parachute regiment. Threw a bar of soap straight into his eye." he muttered, almost embarrassed.

"Quite the marksman…" France mused jokingly.

"Oh, bug off. Bet you can't do it square in the eye at a far distance." he boasted, finally getting up.

"I could try. Why don't you stand there so we can test it out." she retorted and Soap just rolled his eyes at her, convincing himself that arguing with her is a waste of time.

The doors slowly opened and a short blonde girl on a wheelchair was being pushed by a nurse. Everyone turned their heads towards the door and Soap noticed France's soft sobs.

"Maxine… I finally found you." she cried. Maxine just sat still, her eyes were open but it felt like she was looking at the vast nothingness.

"She's still recovering her memory lapses. She could hear you and see you but while her brain is still repairing itself, you couldn't expect any response from her." The nurse added and set her on the bed beside Samantha's.

"Sleep restores most minor brain damages we have. So I advise you to do it as well." the nurse patted Samantha and she nodded as the nurse made it's way out.

"How do you know her?" Soap asked, breaking the silence that occured since Maxine entered.

"She's my roommate." Samantha replied in unison to France's "She's my sister."

The girls turned to each other and started crying. Soap just sat there in awe, knowing nothing about calming the situation down.

"I'm sorry I dragged her into this." Samantha sniffled, wanting to hug France.

"You don't have to… It's not your fault." France replied.

~

The rest of the squad arrived when they were permitted to visit the infirmary, except for Price, who was busy about another upcoming move from Nero. In a small room, on a huge circle like formation. Alex was by the door, crossing his arms and staring momentarily at Samantha and turning back to the squad when she turns to him. Soap was aware they had a past mission together but something happened that made him act that way, another reason why he wanted to talk to him.

Ghost and Roach sat by the sofa, finally addressing his raccon story to the group.

"And so there I was by the dumpster. Spreading my arms establishing dominance toward him." Gary narrated, spreading his arms like that of his story.

"It's all over now Rocky Raccoon. I have you cornered. Now give me back my watch! I yelled and you know what happens next? The raccoon actually dropped my watch and scurried back to the forest! Isn't that amazing!" Gary continued adding sound effects and ambiance in the story. He was always the jolly one in the group. He turned to the girls who were laughing along Roach's story while Ghost and Alex forced themselves not to chuckle.

"What's the value of that watch?" Samantha asked.

"Oh about a few hundred British pounds." 

"No no. The sentimental value. The memories it holds. Why is it important to you?" She corrected. Soap caught Alex staring at her intently, his fists were gripping some sort of pendant.

"My mother gave it to me when I left home and joined the force. She said time is golden and I have to enjoy every second of it." he replied showing his watch to the group.

"Aww.. Roach.." France sniffed and Soap rolled his eyes. It wasn't that sad. He thought.

"Well, your Mum's right." Ghost patted Roach's back and he smiled.

The PA Systems rang again and alerted their little group. It announced about another briefing with the exception of those injured and Alex. Ghost and Roach bid their goodbyes at the remaining people, and they waved back except for Maxine who was still asleep.

As soon as the door closed the atmosphere began to shift as Alex slowly walks toward Samantha. Soap and France quietly trailed their eyes at the event and observed intently.

"You!" Samantha finally yelled and slapped Alex as soon as he was reachable.

"Ow! What gives!" he hissed in pain, rubbing his red cheeks.

"You were that creep I met by my apartment! What are you doing here!" she grabbed a pillow and gestured to hit the man. France tried to calm her.

"That's Alex. One of our allies." She whispered softly.

"Alex? Hmmm. Yeah. He looked like that creep who chased me to the supermarket. But that creep had longer hair and complete legs." she noted, calming herself down and lowering his weapon.

"That was actually me. Samantha." he muttered. Soap and France sat quietly as the drama began to unfold.

"You dropped this. That's why I chased you to give it back." Alex handed her a golden pendant. Samantha quickly recognized the thing and held it tight. 

"Daddy's gift." she sighed.

"You dropped it when you were walking home." Alex added and looked down on the floor.

"Thanks, Alex. I'm sorry if I slapped you." She smiled at him and Alex stared back. It was quite long and France whispered to Soap that "things are heating up'. Do these two have some history or something? Like Romantically? Cause, I can sense it." 

Soap shrugged her idea and looked back at Alex who was now leaving.

"It's okay, Maam. Afterall, I'm just nothing but a complete stranger to you." he smiled and closed the door shut, leaving the four of them in silence.

Next Chapter : A Walk to Remember

#yeouch #horRAYfic #alex echo 3 1 #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #gary roach sanderson #codmw #codmwfic

[seoafin]

tbh,, i havent read the raws of the interview yet, only the translated ver from fan-translator and b4 i start, i think that this will be just me talking in circle and in no particular order AND a real mess (my brain does weird things after exams) but uhh here we go

gojou collects talented people, and by doing so he finds the people he can most probably relate to, except that he can't, not really, because something in the universe shifted when he was born. and it makes me think of how he's always known it, that he is special, and he's proven it, time and time again— he wants to take in talented ppl and he does, but there rly isn't much he can do for them. for they are talented, more talented than the world can understand,,

but they aren't gojou satoru

gojou took in megumi, bc he knew megumi was strong, and would grow up to be someone even stronger, but gojou can't facilitate or encourage his growth, bc for all they're similar, they are so fundamentally different. ALSO,, while geto was in his life, gojou rly judged everything according to his understanding of geto’s moral compass. gojou wears a human suit and geto is how he learnt to wear it well 🏃

the dragonfly analogy regarding to geto’s response to gojo, who was shown wearing a dragonfly patterned yukata in HI arc,, i’m trying to not think abt the fact that dragonfly symbolized victory in jpn....pain. i quoted from a web here for more explanation : In Japan the dragonfly is known as the "victory insect", or kachimushi, because of its hunting prowess and also because it is known to never retreat. Dragonflies are agile and fast fliers and can even hover, but never fly backwards

and bringing this up again, matricide and patricide are 2 of the 5 worst act to commit in buddhism, and it was said that if u commit one of those act u’re going to spend a real long time in the deepest pit of hell before continuing the samsaric cycle (higher chances to be born as an animal after that probs)— this might be geto’s divine retribution. held no power over his own body and could be considered that he’s the same as those “monkeys” 💀

ALSO the fact that sukuna's interest is "eating" rly drives home his hedonistic philosophy of seeking pleasure for himself. and he’s a cannibal...makes me think if he’ll just chomp on ppl with the mouth on his stomach

randomly, to date i think he hasn't really called himself a human, shaman, or a curse, and has held himself apart from all 3, and we've also the intro of the cursed wombs so i wonder if he’s trying to become, or is, a different entity altogether

so onmyoji got mentioned in the interview and what they practice is called onmyodo and abe no seimei and kano no yasunori were the notable practitioners,, and the kamo in jjk is the same as irl who served the imperial court back then

maybe i was right when i said that the relation between the govt. and jujutsu elders are similar to how the shogunate and imperial court work (ie, the former holds the actual power) but... lets see later,,

and i cant believe that i actually nailed it on the analogy of jujutsu practices by religion,,, so mahayana buddhism, shintoism, and taoism is present in jjk along with their respective jujutsu practices...but between the 3, it shld (?) be taoism > shintoism > mahayana buddhism (which could took a path to pure land buddhism)

it’s weird that the number of curses are supposedly higher in jpn comparable to other countries when taoism was brought from china....tengen sus

so the zenin family tree is sth like :

brothers: [toji's dad] ; naobito ; ougi

so toji, naoya, and maki & mai are cousins of the same generation

[toji's dad] → jinichi (probs) ; toji → megumi

naobito → other brothers, naoya

ougi → maki, mai

but yea i’d call anyone who’s within/close or below my age range as cousins and others above 30 as uncles/ aunts LMFAO,, i dont rly memorize my own family tree 😭😭 especially since most call the other by honorifics instead of names : aunt, uncles etc or attaching said honorifics at the end of a name for an older sibling figure/ older cousins [but like ppl in my country also call the other who are older with sibling honorific even if we’re strangers,,, rly similar to korea’s hyung/oppa—eonnie(unnie)/noona but some uses more genderless honorific] (1)

tw // topic of incest, mentions of abuse

if anyone got the wrong idea when reading this : i am not glorifying/ romanticising incest(uous themes),, i’m looking at this with absolutely no lenses of bias even tho im rly against it

初恋 = literally : first love, or puppy love

恋 = romantic love/ deep longing

i literally don't know how else to put this...🧍and with language barrier...using a western interpretation of the eng word "love" to explain a jpnese term is not quite that simple, unfortunately

that thread omg,, i rly do understand how exactly someone could associated kindness with love bc of my upbringing, it was when i was slightly older that i was just...oh so its not like that orz,,, so the most plausible explanation would be that

but the problem is that,, akutami never specify when exactly she had a crush on them,, and when megumi answered todo’s question she had a “♡” reaction 😶,, uhmmm there’s rly no way to look past this if its this way or be in denial

i’ve seen some of "why wouldn't mai react that way after hearing megumi say he'd like someone who's compassionate when she's surrounded by men like naoya",, well I MEAN,,, that, but also mai probs admires that megumi grew up so well out of the clan, regardless of the fact that he had the foundation (10 shadows) to do so. imo she seems happy for him the way she can't be for maki, bc maki ultimately had to leave her behind

hate to say it but yea,, the 3 clans most likely still practice inbreeding in order to preserve their power and presumably their wealth too 😀

i had an idle thought abt it at first but i filed it deep in the back of my mind asap,, bc i ont wanna jump to conclusion abt this out of all things too early. it’s probably not even in jjk, but all those elite clans in other ani/mangas that produce powerful heirs and whatnot also do the same,,, but this way of (my personal) thinking was influenced when i first got into tsukihime (type-moon),,, i read abt the nanaya family background and found out that they practice that in order to keep their bloodline “pure” (to keep it short : they have an optical power),, and i had this kind of assumption ever since so there’s that

i’m,, convinced the zenins' inbreeding made it more difficult for them to get powerful shamans bc they got 2 jujutsu technique-less children with heavenly restrictions in the same generation: toji & maki

even more convinced that maki might be a bit stronger than toji bc toji could see curses without aid while maki can't so the pay-off must be higher,,, SJJASN IDK ,,, plus naoya sort of implies his older brothers are nothing compared to him, and idk if we should take that as his arrogance or that his older brothers rly are weak/powerless. it would make sense as to why naobito had a lot of sons, ig, as head of clan

i feel so bad that if one of the factors that can caused heavenly restriction is inbreeding,, toji and maki and mai had no say in how they wanted to be born but are scorned for it,, typical asian families projecting their traumas and ideals onto their kids but get mad when they realize that those ideals are ugly...😁😁😁

since the zenin are conservative,, i wonder if they still hold onto old jpnese dining traditions. where in ancient jpn, hierarchical relationships were made readily apparent even within families. a dining table where everybody sat down and ate as equals would be unheard of. rather, each individual is given their own table that indicates their status,,, someone who is not considered “strong” according to the zenin’s views most likely have no place at the table, and probs eat when those who are “strong” finished/ serve them when they are eating

if toji was tossed into a swarm of curses,, i dont think abuse during said time is below them,,,

the zenin clan was already great, but they further amassed power and strength by, what i assume to be, marrying and adopting powerful individuals into the clan 🤔 ,,, i imagine they're like the hiiragi but without doing what they did to shinya (ons reference)

BUT after all that, i like to think that since akutami’s a big horror fan, jjk might be an outlet to explore said topics or even darker ones, so i wouldnt be that surpised abt it. given that there’s more than enough “red flags” before this was dropped : a reference to “tale of hikaru genji” when a grown woman asked for gojou’s number in HI arc (out of all things); granny who transformed into the man’s daughter, sat on his lap and man just touched her waist; mei mei and ui ui ; and...this (incestous theme is in the novel btw)

lets not start with whatever the fuck in kubo’s head in the interview otherwise i’m writing paragraphs with every curse words possible,, those big 3 mangakas are so— UGH,, a planet w out (cis) men like him sounds real good rn 😌 if one of yall out there decide to do it,, pls hmu rly cant do this shit anymore

akutami said i like my men pretty and i like women who will step on my neck and spit in my face (I REMEMBERED TATSUKI FUJIMOTO’S INTERVIEW WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABT MAKIMA AND IT WAS SO 😭😭😭😭) but ykw,, love that for both of them <3

when i said 3 : one piece, bleach, naruto. aside from the blatant depiction/ characterize of women in those 3,, idk if some ppl arent aware yet but oda is friends with two (2) convicted pedos,, man...the major disappointment and disgust when i first find out abt it

anyways this is just my 2 cents (which i think rightfully belong to the trash can) so pls just take this w a lil to no grain of salt - 🐱

YEAH THE ♡ LMFAO I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A “good answer ♡“ heart BUT NOW IM RE-EXAMINING?????

honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if the three clans practiced inbreeding. but ik people are going to be  😡😡😡😡😡 about it when the queen of fucking england is literally married to her (something) cousin. i’m not justifying it but like....love the double standards, just as always with the west 😍

DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT FUCKING PED* LIST THEY SHOULD ALL BE IN JAIL. JAILLLLL. it’s all so gross. that’s why i fucking hate when people look towards manga for positive representation because the chances of that are super slim to zero, especially since the industry is saturated with misogyny and ped******* and a lot of other gross stuff.

i think ppl forget jjk is a horror manga LOL so obviously it’s going to confront darker themes. the question is whether it’s going to be done tastefully or not......

#honestly I don't have high hopes unfortunately 😭 #but who knows I might be...pleasantly surprised #idk I don't have high hopes in manga nowadays so hmmm #anyway as always I enjoy ur thoughts <3 ❤️❤️ #hope ur doing well!!! #and getting all those genshin impact goodies #🐱 anon #long post

[rixxy8173571m3w1p3]

A Helping Hand

a/n: It’s been a while since I’ve posted a fic. Ive been working on my health considering how much stress I was under at my old job, but I’m doing much better now. Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this.

This fic is set before Zeta 7 and the reader were dating, and when they were still friends. Set during and before the beginning of The Fluffy Adventures With Your Boyfriend Doofus Rick series.

In this fic the reader only wants to help.

————-

It was almost time for you to eat again. At times it almost seemed to be more of a chore than a necessity to have a meal or to follow the routine of it, but hunger had led you here. And although there were many other things you might've preferred to do, this was what had to be done at the moment. Anticipatory feelings were lacking as you opened up the fridge; had it been conveniently full of delicious food which didn't need to be put together, and could simply be warmed up, that would have been great, but that was wishful thinking. Of course, you hadn't gone food shopping yet, so your old fridge was bare; eating out was an option, but you already did that for lunch and it didn't feel worth getting properly dressed for.

It had been while you were thinking of a creative way to use elbow pasta and ketchup when a song played through the tiny speakers of your phone; it was a phone call and you didn't have to hesitate to answer; it was from your favorite person; from Rick. You tried not to get too excited whenever he would call, but you couldn't help yourself; hearing his voice alone could make you happy. Pressing the green answer button on your touch screen, you smiled despite his inability to see it. “Hello Rick. How are you?”

“He-hello? I'm um - I'm fine. I hope this - is this a-a good time?”

His usual soft, cheerful voice seemed reluctant, almost shy tonight. You always thought he sounded sweeter over the phone, and it just made you want to tease him a little. Leaning against your kitchen counter, you could not help but laugh. “A good time? It is now. So, what’s up? Other than the ceiling. ”

He chuckled at that and you were relieved he couldn't see you at this moment, for the warmth in your cheeks would take a couple of minutes to recover from. “Gosh," he started, "I-I-I-I-I was just wondering if y-you would like to come over. It’s almost time for dinner and I um - I finished cooking, but…”

“You cooked too much again?”

“Y-yeah.”

"You're going to go through all your groceries that way."

"I-I couldn't help it." he confessed. "This recipe called f-for a certain amount of ingredients, but then a-again I guess it's f-for multiple servings."

You heard him sigh, and the thought of his frowning face came to mind. So, this was simply to invite you to dinner: it didn't matter what he might've called you for; the answer was almost always yes. As of late, Rick had been cooking more than one person could eat at a time; you always did think it was odd that he'd cook in abundance, especially since he lived alone, but he'd blame it on old habits. However, it made you wonder if he was looking for reasons not to eat alone; not that you minded. Interrupting the silence, you commented. “Well, I guess I'll have to help you make it disappear then."

"Huh?" he brightened, "Is that a-a yes?"

"What do you think it means? Yes, that's a yes. Goodness," you giggled. "I'll see you soon.”

You hung up and rushed back upstairs to change. What a silly man you thought. Such a silly…but adorable man, who had so much room for kindness and doubt.

——————

It was lovely to see him, and to listen to what he'd call gossip but was only the latest development of the pigeons which had made a nest in one of his fruit trees. "Y-you gotta see how they've made their nest. Boy, it's - it's fascinating how they used s-some old magazine clippings and hair ties."

Touching his hand lightly, you wondered. "Do you have any pics of them that you can show me?"

With raised brow, he started. “Sh-sh-show you?"

"Yeah," You leaned forward a little, and smiled. "I want to see what you've been telling me about."

Without hesitation, he searched his labcoat pockets and retrieved his phone; scrolling through his gallery until he came across said pictures. "I-I-I-I took these a couple of - of days ago."

Your fingers lightly brushed his palm as you grabbed his phone to glance through the pictures; he had a good eye for angles and lighting, and from the looks of it, the pigeons seemed to be relaxed so he might've fed them first; how nice. "They're so cute. I can’t get over how fluffy they look."

Replacing the phone into his palm, he visibly tensed; your fingers had brushed his palm again. Now, the urge to allow your hand to linger there was strong and the thought of lacing your fingers with his had been tempting, but you did neither. You quickly withdrew, with a new sense of embarrassment over such thoughts. He wouldn't understand how you felt, because he didn't see you that way.

“How do y-y-you like them?”

Hiding behind your water glass, you answered. “Way more than I thought I would.”

_________

Rick was still eating, but not with the same vigor from earlier. You wondered if you had insulted him or something; he had been avoiding direct eye contact for a while. You were no reader of minds, so there was no telling of the feelings inside; of those senses which couldn't be touched. "Rick, is something wrong? Have I….. have I overstayed my welcome and you don't know how to tell me? Is...is that why you won't look at me?"

"N-no, that's not it."

"Then, did I hurt your feelings? I hope not."

He sagged a little in his seat, and he didn't answer, but he shook his head no. You thought back to earlier, and how you had looked at the pictures he took and called them cute, but other than that, you didn't say anything problematic. Was it because you asked? Maybe it wasn't.

It was easy to hurt his feelings being as sensitive as he was, and although it might've been against your better judgment, you reached out and touched the back of his hand. "Please talk to me. I don't know what I did, but I'm so sorry. I don't want you to be upset at me."

With widened eyes, he's gazed at your hand, then back towards you. "No, that’s not th-the problem."

"Then why are you so quiet all of a sudden? It isn't like you."

"It's because I…I'm s-s-sorry I talk so much."

"What do you mean? Where is this coming from?"

"It appeared as though y-you were getting tired of all my talking.” He started in an almost accusatory manner but must've realized how it sounded and continued with more calmness. “Gee, I-I didn't want to sour the evening, s-s-so I thought I should just sh-shut up."

"But I don't want you to do that. I love all your talking."

"R-really?"

His surprise at this pained you. How could he think that you'd tire of it and him? Maybe when you were thinking, he mistook it as disinterest. How could you show him you cared? You did what only seemed natural and squeezed his hand but he stiffened.

You realized that when he didn't answer right away, that the napkin he had been using had been dropped and was now on the floor; a faint blush dusting his cheeks and the tops of his ears. You didn't think that it'd be such a big deal to randomly touch him, but you thought it was sweet that he'd get flustered like that; if he wasn't so shy at times, you'd think there was more to it; if only there was. "It's fun hearing you talk.” You confessed. “I feel as though I have so much I can learn from you. So feel free to talk to me."

The relief that washed over him was palpable and he smiled warmly at this. It made your heart swell, and you withdrew your hand although it appeared that he wouldn't have minded. Still, you didn't want to upset him again with misunderstandings. "Y-you're a really nice person. It's - I'm glad t-to know someone like you."

You were glad too.

____________

"Anyway, it's interesting how they can take one man's trash and turn it into a home, but what could they do if given better materials?"

Taking a drink of water, he managed to recover a little. "I-I bet they could make a-a work of art if given the right materials. Wh-why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to know what you were thinking in that brain of yours. Must be interesting, especially with all the things you can come up with."

Yes, you did find the topic of pigeons fascinating but not as much as you found that toothy grin of his inviting. Having finished eating, you listened happily to his delightful little tales and knowings; watching as he'd start eating but then forget his food when he was at the peak of his explanation. He always did seem more cheerful when you were over and had so much to tell you when you were here, but you attributed that to the fact that he didn't have many friends. Though, you didn't mind his need for conversation; rather you enjoyed how random and easy it was to talk with him; his sweetness enriched your soul whenever he was especially happy and attentive in conversation. Handing him a new napkin, you teased. "I'm surprised you haven't made a mini-mansion type birdhouse for them out of whatever spare wood you have in the garage. Unless you already have. I bet it'd be all tricked out with a little warm birdbath and a small mirror so they can check themselves out, fluff their feathers and such."

"Gosh," he sighed, waving his fork a little as he ruminated on his thoughts before the beginnings of a boyish smile appeared on his lips. "did I already tell y-you about that?"

"No," you giggled; happy that your assumptions weren't farfetched. "but I took a wild guess."

He was that kind of guy after all; soft-hearted and fond of the living things around him; it was one of the many qualities that endeared him to you. You wished you could've taken part in its construction. "If you had told me sooner," you mentioned. "I would have helped. I could've helped painting it or something."

"Gosh, I thought y-you had other things to do so I…it wasn't a-a big deal. It was simply an um - an old man's hobby."

"It's just….it sounded like fun. I know it might not mean much saying this, but I would've enjoyed spending that time with you. Working side by side and discussing little details about it. I would…. You see, I love spending time with you."

It was only after you had said all that, in which you realized how easy it would've been to misconstrued. Sitting there, you resisted the urge to bury your face in your hands; wondering what was with you these days. Since when was it okay to get bold and be frank like that? Every so often, when you did say such things, you saw, for fractions of moments, confusion and more….as though he ought to say something; there were no tears and there never was, but you thought he seemed hurt; glassy-eyed and lost. Studying you, he opened his mouth to speak but closed it again; preferring to examine his napkin and tableware then to continue that thought.

He did this often, especially when you surprised him; for better or worse. Perhaps he didn't want to appear foolish, but whatever he could've said was interrupted by your sudden movement. You reached over for his empty dish and went over to the sink to begin on the dishes. However, he jumped up and insisted that you needn't help to clean, snapping out of whatever mood which might've overcome him a moment ago. You thought it was the least you could do; if you had been a decent cook you would've offered a meal in return, but it wasn't likely that it was going to happen. "Rick, you cooked so I might as well help you clean."

"Gosh, y-you don't have to do that. I was the one that invited you over. As th-the host, it's my responsibility."

"That may be true," you reasoned, feeling responsible for him in some way. "but you're always doing stuff for me, so I thought I'd stay and help for a bit."

"Huh? Wh-what?"

"Yeah. I mean what good are friends if you can't put them to work every so often? Besides," you quieted a bit as you scrubbed away at the baking pan. "I want to help you."

It's not like you were using this as an excuse to stay a little longer now. Right? Well, just a little. It was still early and you didn't want to go home yet. Grabbing a kitchen towel, he chuckled lightly. "Well, I-I guess I'll help y-you dry."

Standing beside you, his warmth radiated off him, and from this close, you could smell spices, a hint of vanilla, and motor oil? Perhaps it was the scent of his house, but it was comforting. Good thing you had the excuse of concentrating on scrubbing because otherwise, it would've been obvious on how affected you were by him.

_______

After you finished wiping down the counters, you checked the time and thought you'd be better off heading on home. Grabbing your keys you were ready to say goodbye, but he followed you to the door. "Are y-y-you going?"

Without facing him, you nodded. "I am."

"Then I'll walk y-you home."

"Okay."

In the past, you had told him that it wasn't necessary since you lived so close, but you came to enjoy those small moments of kindness; of his sincere care for your well-being that made the world a slightly easier place to live. The walk didn't take long since you only lived a few doors down, but it was lovely nonetheless. "Thank you for the food. It was really good."

Scratching the back of his neck, he answered. "I-I hoped you would. I um - I enjoyed y-your company."

"Me too."

You played with your keys a little, wondering why you should be so nervous. It's not like you two were dating; it's not like he'd even consider the possibility, but it was moments like this that made you hope and contemplate if you should just tell him. It was always on tip of your tongue; the words which begged to be said, but you weren't feeling brave yet. You needed more time; just enough to be ready for a change. There was no rush, but logic and feelings didn't coincide. "Rick," you started, unsure of what you were doing. "can I um….can I ask you something?"

"Y-yes! Of c-course. What's on y-your mind?"

Think of something you thought. "You'd tell me if you needed help, wouldn't you? I'm not talking about what we did this evening, but stuff that….like if you need help with your chores or something. I know you get busy sometimes and I'd hate it if you weren't all caught up on the latest news about your pigeons or if there were dishes that needed washing."

"Gosh, I-I thought I was doing f-fine with all that," he confessed. "but it - I'll be sure t-to let you know."

"Good, that's...that's good because I'm always happy to help you."

Gathering whatever foolishness which laid at the pit of your stomach and daydreams, you rested a hand on his arm and smiled up at him. "Rick, I'd do almost about anything for you….that is…if that's….. that is what friends are for, right? At least that's what I think."

Though, was that what you thought? Wasn't this just a roundabout way of saying you wanted to be around him more? Oh, if only he could understand. You knew it wasn't right to mislead him, but he never reacted the way you thought he should.

Glancing down at where your hand still laid, a wistful, almost sad quality passed across his stormy eyes before continuing. "Boy, th-that's thoughtful," he began, though as easily as a summer sky could change so did his words. "but I-I wouldn't want t-to bother you or take up your time with anything like that."

"That's the thing, it wouldn't be a bother at all."

This is where you thought you'd messed up, but you couldn't seem to keep quiet when he was involved. It felt as though you were trying to monopolize your way into spending more time with him; as though you were desperate to get him to be around you. "I mean, as a writer, I can just do my job whenever. So, you don't have to hesitate."

That familiar flit of sadness passed over his eyes again and you thought that maybe he pitied you because all you had in the world was yourself and a house you simply inherited. You didn't want to tell him you were lonely, because if you did, you didn't want him to think that it was the only reason you spent time with him; it'd break your heart if you hurt this sensitive creature, but you couldn't help yourself; it was your selfishness talking. True, you were making this more complicated than it had to be, but you didn't know how to fix that yet. "I just…I don't mind being around you more and hanging out. That's all."

Although, it might've not been as complicated after all for it didn't take much for him to lift up your moods. All he had to do was smile, and to pull you into his arms for a big hug. Did he know?

"Rick?"

Squeezing you a fraction tighter, he confessed. "Gee, it's - I-I appreciate your worrying a-about me," he started, his soft, warm voice brushing past your ear and giving you goosebumps. "but I can't - can't help but wonder why y-you look as though you could use a friend right now. Are you al-alright? Did y-you want t-t-to talk about it?"

Your fingers dug into the worn fabric of his sweater and you wanted to cry because he was so devastatingly kind, and you knew in that one moment it didn't matter how long you held on to him; he'd let you hold him for as long as you needed because he was great at empathizing. Little did he know it unraveled your heart every time. "You're right Rick, I do need a friend. I…I need...."

You; the word which refused to leave your mouth. His assumption filled in the blank. "You probably miss your dad on nights like this huh? It's hard t-to go home to an empty house."

That was partly true. "Mhm."

Rubbing your back, he sighed. "Th-there there. Everything is going t-t-to be alright."

Is it? Would it be alright? No, he didn't know or if he did, he ignored it. Though, like this, you could almost believe there was more to this relationship than… then being good friends.

With your face hidden in the softness of his sweater, held so sure and firm, with such strength that seemed unnatural for one his age, he was as you thought of him; as a man you held in the highest regard, beyond reason or doubt that you could love if…if it was appropriate. Why couldn't he stay that friend that you needed and why did you wish for more than this? Was this to be your punishment? To adore someone who made you happy but couldn't be more than society should allow?

"Will I be alright?" you confessed more to yourself than to him.

Squeezing you a fraction tighter, you felt him nod. "Y-you're young, so y-you will be."

That's right, you were young; too young for him. While you had been ready to beat yourself up for it, he continued in a voice that was above a whisper. "I'd like t-t-to help you if I can but only if y-you want me to. Is that o-okay? Do you want me t-to?"

You wanted so much, but more than anything you wanted what he was willing to give. Rubbing his back in a similar, soothing motion, you softened. "Please do."

Another sigh escaped him, but he continued to rub your back; the warmth of his hands and sounds of his breathing making you a little sleepy. You hadn't been checking the time, but you were sure that it had been a while. What you hadn't been sure of was what the neighbors were going to think if they saw you two in such a warm embrace at this time of the evening or anytime for that matter; you didn't care because this felt right. It was as though you could melt into him with how comforting it was. Who knows how long you must've held onto him, but eventually you heard him say softly, albeit oddly disappointed. "It's getting late and I-I should let you go. It's…and you…but y-you can always call me if you - if you can't sleep."

Glancing up at him, you wondered why it ever had to end. However, with reluctance, you pulled away, but only enough so that you could hold him a little longer. "You're right. I…I should go to bed. Thank you for the lovely evening, my wonderful… my friend."

And with that, you released your hold on him. However, if you hadn't known any better, the look he gave you was softer than his usual ones. Was…no…it must've been nothing. A trick of the dim porch light. Half hidden by the dark, he confessed. "Thank you f-for being my - for being my friend. It makes me happy t-to have you around. I'll um - I'll be sure t-to make myself more available to you if you need me."

Your heart ached with half affection, half guilt. You really were asking for so much you didn't deserve. "Oh Rick, I'd appreciate that."

For a quick second, you saw him stretch out his hand but just as quickly let it fall back to his side. Then, he stepped back and reminded you. "Don't forget t-to lock the door."

"I won't."

You opened your front door, and smiled up at him from your doorway, trying to channel all that you felt in a single word; knowing that was all you could do for now. "Goodnight."

Softening, he turned away quickly, mostly hidden in the darkness, and waved. "D-don't let th-the bed bugs bite."

Closing the door behind you, you barely made it to the couch before you began to cry. What were you thinking? Playing around with a lonely man's feelings and possibly confusing him. Could you ever get over him? Would your heart let you?

Wrapping your arms around yourself, you thought back to only minutes ago when you were secure in his arms, and you felt as though you belonged to him. And how your blouse smelled like him now or that his care for you was almost enough. Though, were his actions like that of a parent? You could only wonder. Though, if you couldn't get over him, couldn't you help change his mind?

When you had calmed a little and had time to change and get a drink of water, you found that you still weren't sleepy. It was late but before you could give it much forethought, you dialed his number and he picked up right away. "C-can't sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Me either. I um - I was thinking a-about what you said about th-the birdhouse. While it is built, and I'd painted it, I would be happy t-t-to have you over when you're available and help me make it pretty. Gosh, it's - it's only if you want to."

"That would be lovely. Too bad it's late because I would've come over now if you'd asked."

"Y-you see, that wouldn't um - tomorrow would be better."

"What's the matter? A little sleepover never hurt anybody." You teased.

Right away you heard a clatter and then a crack. Did he drop his phone?

"Rick? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I-I-I-I just - my phone had fallen."

"I see. Sorry for the bad joke."

“It's o-okay. Just surprised me is -is all.”

A chair scraped the floor, and you heard the click of either a pen or a small appliance. "I-I don't think I'll be able to sleep t-tonight but I won't keep you up with m-my thoughts. It'd get kind of boring for you."

"I mean, I am tired, but I don't mind listening to you for a while. Could you just talk? It can be about anything."

He sighed into the phone, and you heard paper. Perhaps he was flipping through a book. “I-I was thinking of reading, but my eyes are a-a bit tired.”

“When you do read, do you only read nonfiction?”

“I-I like to read a little bit of everything.”

“You do? Well, how convenient. I happen to have a bunch of books and if you'd ever like to borrow any of them, you're free to do so.”

“Boy, I'll have to take a-a look the next time I’m over. Hey, um - I do have a-a story you might enjoy. It has t-t-to do with how I came to have jasmine in my backyard. Would you like t-to hear it?”

Grabbing a pillow, you nodded. “Yes, I really would. Though, tell it slowly so that I don't miss a thing.”

With a chuckle, he began to explain, and you placed the phone beside you; careful as to not drop it as his sing-song voice twisted and curled about you in your lonely room.

Fin

#doofus rick #doofus rick x reader #rick sanchez x reader #j19z7 #j-19-zeta-7 #rnm #rick x reader #rick and morty #rick j19zeta7 #j19zeta7 #rick and Marty fanfic #rick j19z7 #ram fanfic #my fanfic #my works #my writing #rnm fanfiction

[summonerscenarios]

So I remember that request about what would happen if all the characters involved (Shiro, Kengo, Ryota, Toji, Arc, Oniwaka, Zabaniyya, and Ophion) with the genocider chapter found out that MC kissed everyone else and felt hurt, I was wondering if you could do a reverse. Where everyone knows MC is a thirsty ho, but when it came to that kiss, they later find out they're the only one who got kissed on the lips, and maybe they confront MC about why they were the only one who they legit kissed?

Yesss We love a happy reverse of angst in this house. Also back at it again with midnight posting because heyy who needs sleep when you can write cute scenarios! 

Toji

Toji’s honestly tried to put the whole kiss out of his head after it happened - it was an intimate moment that the two of you shared but he doesn’t believe himself naive enough to think that it couldn’t have happened between some of the other members of your guild. It isn’t brought up again until he hears Ryota discussing what happened - the heartfelt discussions you shared with each of the Summoners, the hugs and the tears and...that’s it. The more that they talk the more that Toji starts to suspect that the kiss wasn’t a mutual experience, and it’s when Shiro notices Toji’s prolonged silence and asks what happened that the light bulb goes off and his expression is priceless. He gets to his feet and leaves so fast the other Summoners are confused, but he’s too focused on the feeling burning in his chest suddenly filling him with the urge to seek you out. He needs to find you and get answers - to what he isn’t even sure.

By the time he actually finds you you’re confused why he looks so serious (even more so than usual) when he approaches you, standing face to face as he demands to know what happened. At first you have no idea what he’s talking about because he doesn’t outright say it because ‘surely you know what this is about’ and it isn’t until you ask him what you did wrong this time that he blurts it out - was he the only one you kissed? The words come out in a jumble, less dignified than he’d hoped but it gets the point across. He expects you to laugh it off, to make some kind of joke to make light of the situation as you’ve done many times before, but when you tilt your head and say that of course you only kissed him that it hits him all over again. 

You’d kissed him. You. kissed. Him. 

There’s a moment where the color almost drains from his face before it comes back full force and he blushes right up to the tips of his ears. You’re pretty sure Toji chokes on the air as he tries in vain to hide his reaction behind his hand - he looks so flustered that he’d probably keel right over if you pointed it out. Instead you close the distance and take a hold of his free hand, smiling when his fingers instinctively interlock with yours as you tell him that it’s probably about time you cleared some things up between you two. Your smile is comforting and warm and Toji feels his breath catch in his throat when your eyes meet. 

Only to bury his head into his free hand with a groan when you wink and warn him not to get too flustered now. Of course you had to get a jab in - but this time around he doesn’t entirely mind, so long as you seriously mean what you’re about to say.

Ophion

As similarly mentioned before Ophion does not believe himself naive enough to not consider the possibility that another being could have caught your eye in his absence, a factor which he has promised himself to compensate for by proving with absolute resolution that his love for you surpasses all others. So it is when he learns about your interactions with the other players that even he finds himself pleasantly surprised. He was the only one to receive your kiss that day? To say that his pride takes a boost is an understatement - the dragon transient’s ego will be feeding off of this information for weeks, and will more than likely wave that little flag of information for everyone in the immediate (and outside) vicinity to hear, much to the complaints of Hakumen and the other Tycoons because after a while it just gets tiring. He takes this as a sign that you’re one step closer to finally accepting his devotion, that you yourself chose him and only him that day and would very well choose him again should the time come. 

With that being said however he desires to hear those very words from your mouth - for you to admit that what he’s inferring from these kisses is true. And so don’t be surprised if he ends up coming right up to the school just to whisk you away for a couple hours - be sure to give everyone a heads up after though, before they end up having to send out a missing person’s report in concern. Ophion takes you somewhere where there’s no concern of being interrupted while you bear your heart out to him (though he doesn’t even tell you why he wanted to meet with you until you’re actually there) and of course it also has to be somewhere that he deems suitable for you. You’re honestly just confused, but the usual sweet talk he peppers into his speech keeps you interested until he finally gets to the crux of why he’s brought you all the way out here. When Ophion mentions the kiss that you ‘reserved just for him in that moment’, a moment for him and no-one else you can’t stop yourself from blurting out - well duh, of course you only kissed him. Why would you have kissed anyone else?

The moment the words leave your mouth you realize you probably should have explained yourself because you quickly go from standing on your own to suddenly being held in very firm arms that are going to be incredibly reluctant to let you go now. If Ophion ever needed a reason to shower you in affection it’s hearing this, and you can be sure that he’s eager to recreate that first kiss and make each one feel better than the last. In a weird way it almost feels like he’s praising you for your commitment, in the way he holds you and moves his lips against yours, a hand coming up to trace a finger along your jaw just to get a reaction out of you. Well at least you don’t have to worry about confessing now!

Ryota

Ryota tries to focus on that moment you two shared looking over Tokyo as a means to both distract himself from all of the bad memories, and remind him of the promise that he made to you. He wants you to be able to rely on him like everyone relies on you, to share at least some of the burden on your shoulders so you don’t feel so alone. And of course with remembering that comes remembering the kiss, and his heart flutters just thinking about when you wrapped your arms around him and pulled him into a kiss - despite being exhausted, wounded and on the verge of overwhelmed tears you had just looked so alive that the image would have been burned into his brain even without the kiss. He wanted to talk to you about it, he really wanted to, but with everything else that happened as well as the worry that the version of you that he kissed might not even be the one that remembers made him back out of the idea and instead settled for just keeping that memory to himself. If you forgot than that’s fine, he’s just happy to be by your side now.

That’s what Ryota thought, at least until the Summoner’s bring up what happened during a recap of past events during a meeting. You weren’t there at the time, which is probably what sparked the debate about the whole ‘you multiplication’ situation among the members. He perks up as he listens to the others talk about their experiences with ‘you’ and what happened after you fought the exceptions - he’s so invested that by the time it comes around to his turn Ryota doesn’t even think to stop himself from letting the whole thing spill out, the kiss included. He only realizes when he receives a shocked “WHAT?!” from everyone in the room, with even poor Shiro choking on his drink in surprise at the revelation. When Ryota panics and asks if that really didn’t happen to anyone else he’s quickly informed that no - he was the only one. The emotions hit him all at once. He’s flabbergasted, conflicted and more than a little confused but above all else he is so, so happy. The joy practically burns away in his chest and he can’t sit still in his seat because now all he can think about is the possibility that your kiss was important, that you could have meant what you said.

The next time that Ryota sees you all the time he’s spent keeping the memory to himself ends with him all but pouring his heart out to you about what happened that day; the affection that he felt, the relief of surviving and fixing the destruction, all the things he’s been worried about telling you just come out all at once. When you take a hold of his hand Ryota can feel himself calm down, his worry transforming into hope as you pull him into your arms and hold him close. It feels different than before but in a good way - there’s no adrenaline of near death experiences, or the stress of something going wrong; there’s just the two of you, and the sound of your heartbeat as he rests his head against your chest has honestly never been more comforting to him than in this moment. You’re here for him, and that means more than you could know.

Zabaniyya

Out of all of them Zabaniyya would be the least likely to bring the kiss up again unprompted. Though he admits that the kiss which the two of you shared is a memory which he has carried with him ever since it is also, he also carries with it the assumption that you had no desire to leave that kiss in the past. He had allowed his greed to get the best of him for what was only meant to be a simple ranking kiss, and even now the reminder of the way his hands took hold of your body to swallow up the distance brings him pause from time to time. For all he knew this was simply what was meant to happen - that you kissed him to establish the hierarchy as you had seemingly done with the others involved in the fight against the exceptions, and so Zabaniyya chooses not to speak out about it unless you are the one to come up to him about it. And that time comes sooner than he realized.

Your confrontation comes out of nowhere, under the guise of dropping by with Ryota to say hello to Maria and the other missionaries Zabaniyya has no reasons to doubt that you have any ulterior motives until you all but drag him to somewhere more private to talk. Sure he could have quite easily stopped you if he wanted to but seeing how focused you are to bring him with you the transient ends up following you anyways. It’s only then that you ask him about what happened that day after the exceptions - having multiple trains of memory of the event to deal with undoubtedly leaves some things muddled, but you still remember everything. And more importantly you want to hear his side of the story, which upon your request is when he opens up about it. It’s right as he mentions the kiss, talking about how it had happened in a way similar to the others that you stop him, asking him to repeat himself with a look of what he quickly notes as bewilderment. As soon as you hear it for a second time you know there’s been some kind of misunderstanding, he thought you’d kissed everyone else(which coming from anyone else probably would have upset you but you know that he’d never mean any disrespect towards you. 

When you admit to Zabaniyya that he was the only one that you’ve kissed you can practically see the lightbulb go off above his head (literally his halo burns brighter) and the first words out of his mouth is an apology for assuming anything different. Even for how reserved Zabaniyya can be, the color that blossoms across his cheeks makes you smile at the sight, even more so when you point it out to him. He tries to find the words to best explain how he feels about the kiss, and about his feelings in general - he wants to give you an answer that he knows is the truth, however those words do not come as easily as he would like. He needs some time to sort through his thoughts before he can give you a proper answer, and he hopes above all else that you’ll be patient with him until that time comes.

Kengo

Kengo didn’t really think that you’d just go off and kiss other people after what happened between you and him like some of the others had assumed. Sure you were kind of a flirt and made some pretty dirty comments here and there but that was just part of what made you his partner! And he wasn’t going to doubt that unless he got told otherwise. So it comes as no surprise to him when some of the other Summoner’s start talking about the whole mess that the kiss isn’t a mutually shared experience. Having multiple of you in one place at once and knowing these things all happened at the same time still hurts to wrap his head around, but hearing everyone talk about it helps to piece together a solid narrative of any gaps that happened in between fights. And it’s when the only piece missing in the other’s stories is a kiss that Kengo starts to really think about what happened back there. You two had made a promise to stick with each other even after the game was over, to have each other's back no matter what when you’d kissed him. Anyone else could have probably passed it off as being fueled by adrenaline, but when you’d assured him that rather than Shiro or Ryota you wanted him and only him well, even looking back in hindsight it makes his chest burn with resolve.

Perhaps he should have talked to you about it sooner, it’s not like he was hard pressed for chances since the two of you spend practically every day glued at the hip (or fists). But Kengo figures if there’s any way to do it he’s gonna bring it up casually - no point adding unnecessary pressure to either of you and doing it this way gives either of you an out if you feel like it’s getting awkward. He wants you to be honest about it - did you seriously mean it? You didn’t go spouting this kind of affectionate spiel to anyone else right? He just wants to hear you say it for peace of mind but he trusts you - you wouldn’t play his feelings like that. And this is only further proven when you meet his eyes face to face, expression turning serious as you assure him that you meant every word that you told him, and you still do unless he feels different about it now. 

He all but shouts that of course he doesn’t feel differently about it! Surely you don’t think it’d be that easy to get him to back down out of a promise right? Plus he meant exactly what he said too! Sure he’s not the best when it comes to expressing things with words but he’ll do damn well all he can to prove to you that he’s going to be serious about what you two have got from now on, let’s just hope you’re ready for what comes next!

Oniwaka

You’d been meaning to talk to Oniwaka about everything that happened after that fight for a while, however with all of the other trouble which followed on top of the fact that the two of you had never been around each other long enough to talk since it was hard to find a spare moment to actually bring it up. It wasn’t as though either of you hadn’t thought about that day, the whole thing is burned into your brain in more ways than you’d like but Oniwaka would be lying if he wasn’t still hung up about it. Looking back he may have been a bit too harsh giving you a lecture about not being careful around others, but he still meant what he said when he told you that he’d look out for you. Still there’s a part of him that wonders if you actually took his words to heart, especially when you’re constantly swarmed with people willing to do just about anything to get your eyes on them alone. 

In the end you don’t have to tell him. You aren’t sure how Oniwaka finds out, maybe by talking to the other guild members or hearing enough talk for word to get back to him, but you sure can tell when the guy all but kicks the safehouse door down to confront you. The only thing he asks is if it’s true, and there’s a good couple of seconds where you have no idea what he’s talking about until you put two and two together going through the possible questions in your head. Not sure what reaction you’re going to get out of him you slowly drawl out a yes, confusion evident in your tone as you wait for some kind of response in return. For a moment the two of you are stuck staring each other down, waiting for the other to do something. Oni moves first.

He buries you in his arms when they wrap tightly around you and you’re pulled flush against his chest. He’s warm to the touch, even more so than usual, and his grip on you is so firm as though he’s trying to get out every word he can’t say into a single hug. If anything it’s comforting to have him holding you, as though nothing could get past him and for a while you feel content to stay like this. He doesn’t say anything, face hidden from your view but when you finally manage to catch a glimpse of his face you can tell that he’s bright red. It’s too good a chance to pass up making a comment about how cute he is when he blushes, which gains you a gruff ‘oi, knock it off!’ and a hand roughly making a mess of your hair to distract you from the fact that he’s grinning. You two still need to properly talk this out, but for now? This is enough.

Shiro

Shiro’s actually the one who brings it up to you - there’s a lot about that day that he can’t get out of his mind but the circumstances were just never the right time. Plus it’s not as though any of the Summoners had time/wanted to sit down and relive through the whole thing again when a lot (him included) were still struggling to piece plans together. But at the same time Shiro desperately wants to hear those answers. Hiding his feelings towards you isn’t exactly his strong suit and he wants to know where the two of you stand before it goes any further, even if you don’t feel the same he wants to at least hear it for himself (despite how much it’d undoubtedly hurt him).

A part of him has always hoped that he was the only one, but at the same time Shiro knows that he might not be the only one you’re interested in. Bringing up what happened is harder than he thought, battling the exceptions and coming so close to the entirety of Tokyo being destroyed almost feels like a far off nightmare but he knows better than to doubt it at this point - he can still remember everything, from the panic, to the fighting, and of course the kiss. Hell he can still feel the way your lips melded against his own and his cheeks turn ruddy at just the thought, but it’s these memories that even further drive him to wanting to know for sure. 

He feels awkward asking you if he was the only one you kissed, and ends up running circles around the topic when you guys finally get a chance to talk. It takes a little while before you catch on to what Shiro’s actually trying to ask you, and while at first he’s terrified that he’s offended you, that fluttering in his chest comes back full force when you instead narrow your eyes and shoot him a knowing grin. You tell him that while even you’re aware that you’ve got a reputation as a bit of a flirt you were serious when you decided to kiss him - only him.  Your tone is teasing but he knows you’re telling the truth, and though he’s embarrassed that you’re able to get him to blush so easily he’s also filled with such relief to know that you meant it. That kiss means something. He means something to you. He’s honestly just so happy to know that the feelings are at least reciprocated, however give him a little bit to calm down if you plan to properly confess because you can be sure his head’s going a mind a minute over the whole thing - god forbid you try to kiss him again he’d just about keel over from the mess of emotions (not before reciprocating said kiss though hehe).

Arc

At first the kiss that the two of you shared that day is something that Arc doesn’t put much thought into. Given the circumstances it provided a means to an end regarding the exceptions, and with everyone just glad to be alive they fully assumed that talk about what happened had ended that very same day. It’s not new news to hear about how often you flirt with people - even in the face of death you haven’t shied away from getting at least one comment to catch someone completely off guard, and it is partially because of this that Arc simply lived with the assumption that you also shared a kiss with the others involved in determining the game’s rankings. That is until they find out that they were the only one you’d ended up kissing. Ryota had brought up the incident and had been going on a tangent about how weird it was seeing you multiplied, wondering if you remembered what all the other ‘you’s did, like fighting all the exceptions at once or determining rank. When Arc mentions the kiss they honestly expected Ryota to nod along and talk about your other kisses, but instead Ryota just looks confused and asks what they mean which in turn baffles Arc. There’s a beat of silence as the two stare at each other.

And then it clicks.

Ryota’s asking them 101 questions - you guys kissed?!  When?! What happened!? Arc hesitates under the slew of questions but answers anyway, and by the time Ryota finally eases off their suspicions are all but confirmed and they know that they need to confront you about it. Arc waits until the next time you’re free to bring it up - they want to be able to take the time to just talk to you about it rather than spring it on you in the middle of everything else going on. Not to mention they need some time to sort out their own thoughts and feelings about the whole thing before the two of you finally talk. What exactly did your kiss mean to them? Compared to the other Summoners they've known you for the least amount of time, so what made them different enough that you shared a kiss with them and no-one else? Not even that long ago the two of you had been fighting against each other - so was it just the rush of the situation that changed things? 

Arc doesn't know how to feel - but even they have to admit that there’s something appealing about you. The way that you act and your burning desire to go against the grind to aim for an ending where everyone is happy even if it gets you hurt? It’s no surprise that they feel an affinity towards you, though they know they’re not the only one. Regardless of if their confrontation ends in a confession or something else entirely they decide that their feelings from before haven’t changed. They want to get to know the real you, to make memories with you in this timeline that they can carry with them long after this game has ended. And if that ends up blossoming into something more? They find themselves looking forward to that future all the more.

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