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throwaway-yandere · 2 years

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(Nutjob anon)

Everyone simping after Tighnari or Haitham, and then there's me, going feral because FELIXFELIXFELIXFELIX MY BELOVED FELIX SNFJEJJEVGRRRRRR this chapter's insults were endorsed by Felix. Not a lot of boars, but the vibe was there so it's a win for me! I would nominate him as possible next underboss... but we both know that that's a bad idea lmao.

And since you are adding 3h characters, ai have a feeling Childe and Sylvain could be good friends! ... Only for them to talk trash behind the other's back ("I swear! His personality is so fake. How come you can stand him?")

And I'll also like to raise you: Linhardt and Tighnari being friends: Green, sassy, doesn't care for titles and only his research? Yes, they'd be very good friends.

I am also getting Lysithea vibes from the capo: wanting to do a lot but little time, and everyone needs to give them a vibe check for that attitude lol I hope Barbara can smack some sense into them, because I can't help but think that capo is also operating under the "there's nothing more terrifying than a man who has nothing left to lose". Yes, they are fighting for their men, but they personally don't care about what might happen to them, so we better watch out that sanity meter, or else the capo will turn into the real hazard all along the way.

And dunno Ansy, I know you want to help us with hinting that bringing Cyno is bad, but the one that I don't trust is Haitham lmao Cyno said it himself: don't kill Tighnari. Even if what he did makes his blood boil, at least he is conscious enough to first get the cure. But Haitham is quite prideful, so maybe he'll come with some shit that he is the only one we need and he can always steal what Tighnari have done and finish it. After all, the main point is to cure you, right? Anything else is expendable. And maybe having Cyno there might help him clarify some questions he might have.

I don't like how autorithive Haitham is, with ordering us to leave (even if it was good for us). That means he has no reservations in misleading us if what we are doing doesn't go with his agenda. So with Tighnari, someone who is... somewhat on the same ground as him in terms of research, he might not think as your underboss but as an academic rival when acting.

Anyways, angst hurts me but boy that I will spin that death wheel with gusto 😎

HDIAOAOAK I TRY MY BEST TO MAKE THE FE:TH CHARACTERS SUBTLE HERE (that very much failed with dimitri cause first off I'm a simp and second it's weird if the reader doesn't grieve for at least one chapter lol) SO I CAN'T MAKE FELIX THE UNDERBOSS EVEN IF I WANT TO 😭😭 (i actually added him in cuz I thought of you lolol)

(kazuha was almost the underboss tho but Alhaitham won lol)

I think not a lot of genshin players are major FE:TH fans so I gotta be real sneaky with the characters lol... But that sylvain idea 🤔🤔🤔 considering childe's whole comical side story with lumine rn I could invite mister steal your girl for some dumb sht lol. Lindhart is a rather european name so I could have him as another one of Focalor's people ehe, though he'd probably ask for Tighnari to do his job for him cause he's too lazy–

AND YES LYSITHEA AND CAPO WOULD HAVE BEEN BESTIES 😭😭😭 THEY'D UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND THEY'D PROBABLY FEEL LESS ALONE USIAOWO THESE POOR PEOPLE– the difference between the two of them is that lysithea always feels like she's being looked down on like a kid while the capo feels like they have too many burdens to bear– making these two vent to one another would probably be therapeutic for them ;;----;;;

My two au's right now both have nothing left to lose vibes, although capo!reader has that a lot less than our unhinged hyshum!reader. The only thing holding them back is that some of their men are still alive. They do care, it's just that they don't want to overthink:

These men have families, wives, husbands, children– what would become of them if they recklessly charged for revenge? There's no need to drag these people into nonsensical slaughter. It's your problem Capo, it's YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. And it's selfish to make them die for you when they have a better reason for living.

Their conscience won't allow it.

These type of thoughts just pull them back. It's all true, of course, their reasoning is sound but it is suffocating. Hence, most of their inner turmoil are repressed.

Oh and don't get me wrong! I respect your choices for bringing Cyno along– I love the chaos. I'm just tryina warn those certain simps that "something bad is about to happen to you and you should definitely question what happens of one of them dies-"

Or you know, I may be misleading everyone because I want a bad ending.

: )

Since when was I known for writing happy endings for my fics? Ehehehehehehehehehhehehehehheheheehehehehhehehehehhe–

And oh my darling nutjob anon...

Both Cyno and Alhaitham want to take credit for your cure. That's one of the many things that made these three idiot's truce work.

Alhaitham is authoritative, no doubt about that, but he respects you a ton. He could've done something stupid like kidnap you or try to remove you from being a Capo– but he'd rather spend some (very limited) time with you as someone you won't forget this time, (N/n).

You can consider Cyno the one with the "hidden agenda" because he's loyal to the church. He considers it his personal blessing that he was the one assigned to monitor you. Cyno is a very lonely person here. He is very prone to making idealized versions of you that fits his imaginations, and fortunately for him the Cardinals acknowledge his devotion to his missionary works.

And then there's our used-to-be-Innamorati-Familia's-informant, Professor Tighnari.

"The main point is to cure you, everything else is expendable." is exactly the dangerous mindset he is on. We'll get to him soon! It's about time he sees his Capo again!

#ansytea-talks #tag: ocmc - cta #FELIX FELIX FELIX #nutjob anon

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pikahlua · 2 years

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Been seeing a lot of tweet about how Izuku is avoiding Katsuki.

One led me to remember a certain post how Izuku is an unreliable narrator and after seeing chapter 342, it felt weird that there was a lot of panel without even a single narration. In chapters before the doom, Izuku would have some kind of narration like thoughts on what to come. He's not just probably avoiding Katsuki, but also himself. What do you think?

This may surprise everyone to know, but with chapter 342, the morning when class 1-A moves to Troy is the third morning Izuku has awoken at UA. It’s only the beginning of the third day since Katsuki’s apology.

Day 2 was Izuku learning of Star(s) and Stripe(s)’s death and then training outside with his classmates and then all the Aoyama shenanigans and then Mei repairing his equipment and then going out on patrol and then returning and talking with All Might about their action plan. That all happened in one day. I’m gonna go against the grain here and say Izuku isn’t avoiding anything on day 2--he’s just busy as fuck.

Day 1 is a mystery. We can probably assume Izuku took the time to rest. All we know about it for sure is this:

and maybe this:

and even then, there’s no way to know if this second panel set is referring to a conversation that occurred on day 1 or perhaps early on day 2.

There is a chance day 1 did contain some sort of reconciliation between Izuku and Katsuki that we’ll only become privy to via a flashback at a crucial moment à la chapter 284. But even if we say Izuku just slept all day, I would still feel comfortable saying this:

Izuku is not avoiding Katsuki.

This is not Izuku avoiding Katsuki. This is Izuku noticing his chance to thank Ochako and taking it.

This is not Katsuki being shunned by Izuku. This is Katsuki caring about Shouto and being a good friend.

There are even bigger hints in all these panels.

“Kacchan and the others even agreed to spar with me to help me complete One For All.”

This could be implying Izuku has updated his class on pretty much everything to do with One For All, including what he knows about the Second and Third and whatever else the vestiges all told him in his hospital coma dream.

“Sorry for making you all worry. I’m fine now.”

This could be implying Shouto just had a moment and we weren’t shown it, but his friends were there and followed him to his room as emotional support.

You brought up all the panels that lack narration like we’re used to, but there was narration. It just wasn’t clearly marked as narration.

And it wasn’t from Izuku.

This is our big hint about what the next panels are telling us. The next panels are showing us which characters are the “small number of people” who get to know the whole plan.

These are the major players.

The roles some of them have to play in the endgame are obvious. But there are definitely some faces here that are curious. Like, sure, we know Katsuki has a big role to play because of META, but...in-universe, what are they asking him to do? Why are they singling him out in the plan?

Ohhhh I’ve had such fun theorizing about that this past week.

But I digress. Now to address your other two major points:

1. Izuku the Unreliable Narrator

I do agree Izuku is an unreliable narrator (I mean, I wrote an article titled that), but be careful about what that means: he’s unreliable to us, the audience.

There are different types of unreliable narrators. Izuku never outright lies to us when he misleads us. He either shows us a limited perspective (his own perspective) or he leaves out key information either by speaking ambiguously or not mentioning important things. My go-to examples are:

Chapter 1: “I forgot to mention this, but...” and then he proceeds to tell us information that would have contextualized the whole story had he said it at the beginning of the chapter.

Chapter 9: “[Kacchan] wasn’t ‘bad’ or ‘good.’ Just full of confidence, and I admired him for that. But after his quirk manifested... he started down the path towards ‘bad.’” This primes us to expect Katsuki to defect and become a villain, which is why his rejection of Tomura at Kamino was so unexpected for many--and thus, epic.

Chapter 1: “...this is the story of how I became the greatest hero.” Horikoshi drops this at the end of the chapter so that we don’t get as suspicious of it as we would IF he had put it at the beginning of chapter like I mentioned in bullet-point #1. But who the hell gives away the ending in the first chapter? That should have been the largest warning sign that there was something about this line we were not understanding, which ultimately was revealed in chapter 324: the Japanese language can be ambiguous about plurality, which means Izuku’s chapter 1 narration actually is meant to be read as “...this is the story of how I became [a part of] the greatest heroes.”

So what’s happening in chapter 342 with all those silent panels? It’s very simple.

It’s serving the same purpose as this moment from FMA:

Horikoshi is showing us that the heroes have strategized, but he just won’t tell us what the strategy is yet. That’s for later. That’s for the big dramatic moments in the endgame fights/arc. That’s for when the heroes get to flip over the trap card and read the description to their opponents in a very smarmy voice.

It’s just a standard narrative device.

2. Avoidant Izuku

Now, let me be clear: just because I said Izuku isn’t actively avoiding Katsuki or anyone else right now doesn’t mean he has opened up.

Two days (or really just one day of rest) isn’t much time for Izuku to fully process all that has happened. I don’t think he’s avoiding thinking or talking about things actively, but it is in his character to bottle up his feelings on certain important topics.

I do think there are some things Izuku has not yet properly grappled with, and they are likely to come to a head mid-battle during the final arc (or crop up at the end if there’s an additional reckoning after the second war). I think it’d be a little excessive if Horikoshi showed Izuku trying to avoid those topics right now because it would feel like too much hubris for Izuku to carry with him into the war. MHA has always been very good about avoiding overly-contrived hubris. Izuku’s got just the right, tiny amount of fate-tempting naivety that results from his overarching character flaw since the beginning of the story, and that’s the kind of subtle storytelling I’m here for. He would have benefited from being more honest with himself about his feelings a long time ago, but that’s also a part of growing up.

And what is the shounen genre if it’s not chock-full of coming-of-age stories?

#ask pika #anon ask #izuku midoriya #katsuki bakugou #bakudeku #not shippy but like this is important to their relationship #shouto todoroki #all might #toshinori yagi #mha spoilers #mha manga spoilers #my hero academia spoilers #my hero academia manga spoilers #meta #theory #one (1) son boy needs to open up about his feelings like yesterday #foreshadowing?

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oddshroom · 2 years

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|Asking Tokyo Revenger Characters a Question When Your Suppose to Sleep|

Characters: Manjiro “Mikey” Sano, Chifuyu Matsuno, Baji Keisuke, Kazutora, Nahoya Kawata “Smiley”

Summary: You asked a question and Baji what else 👁👄👁

Prompt: None. I used my remaining brain capacity to think of this 😶🤌

“Do you think if we scream loud enough they’ll hear us?”

Type of Fic: Fluff and Crack

Delivery: 📦 January 4th, Tuesday 2022 📦

Style: 🎀 HC’S 🎀

Manjiro “Mikey” Sano:

Mikey was laying next to you passed out with drool dripping down his mouth

You were staring at the ceiling unable to sleep (me to buddy me to 😔)

Contemplating whether to wake up Mikey to ask him something or not

It was a dangerous choice when it came to waking him

But you were taking that risk anyway

Turning to his side you rolled over to him

Hovering slightly above him but close enough to his ear

“Mikey, Mikey, Mikey, Mikey-“

Letting out a small irritated but tired sigh

“(N/N)-chin your suppose to be asleep”

He whined…and pouted

“I know but listen, do you think if we scream loud enough they’ll hear us? As in Darien and Emma”

Soon enough he turned your way to look you in the eyes

So enough you were by the window

“KEN-CHINN”

“EMMAA”

“KEN-CHINNN”

“EMMA-“

“SHUT IT YOU STUPID BRATS”

Looking at each other

You grinned and ran down stairs to Draken with a tired Emma ready to fight you both <3

Isn’t that sweet

Chifuyu Matsuno:

I must say it’s bold of you to assume he has the energy to do it

You better believe he had to keep Baji under a leash the entire day before he could beat anyone else up

But you ask anyway

“Chifyuu, I have a very a scientific question that I would like to test out and I would be very grateful if you could just inS-”

“I love you, but what is it 🤨”

*cricket*

“Do you think if we scream loud enough they’ll hear us? Like Kazutora and Baji”

Silence that was to loud right before he just pulled you towards him

“You need sleep and so do I, good night”

Let me tell you, it hadn’t even been 15 minutes yet before both of you started hearing both of your names

“(Y/NNN)”

“CHIFYUUU”

And in front of your eyes you saw a pissed Chifyuu

He looked very dead though

Baji Keisuke:

He was already ahead of you

I know the title said it would be you asking although titles can be misleading 🤧

So trying to sleep

Key word: Trying

When this man woke you up as if he burned some cars down in the middle of the night

“(N/N) do you think if we scream loud enough they’ll hear us? Like both Kazutora and Chifyuu”

All you did was squint your eyes at him before you could say anything you were outside screaming their names

Well he was

“Baji, you realize your mom-”

He slowly turned to you before realizing his mom, only to look up and see her staring at him

His soul

You went back inside sleeping in his hoodie perfectly safe and sound

While him on the other hand…you can imagine

After he came back seeing you asleep making him smile, he crawled back in only to be kicked in the leg by no one other than you <3

Kazutora Hanemiya:

This banana split wanted to annoy Baji

You found out about it when he was ranting about random things to you

So here you are at night looking out the window thinking

While he sleeps next to you

That’s when the idea struck you

“Kazutora, wake up”

After his few twist and turns

“Hmm, what”

“Do you think if we scream loud enough Baji would hear us?”

He slowly got out of bed letting you know your having a sore throat tomorrow

“BAJII”

“BAJI BAJI”

He heard you both

Man’s was downstairs taking your snacks and all he heard were “BAJI’S”

Nahoya Kawata:

This man is energetic like very energetic

So he most likely wasn’t even asleep yet probably just in the living room

You were kinda of sleeping but you didn’t want to

Getting bored of just laying there you went to the living room

The moment you went down you proceeded to ask

“Do you think if we scream loud enough they’ll hear us?”

“Wanna test it out?”

Let’s just say both of you were screaming whatever names you knew

Mikey was one of them

Did hear? No. Man’s to far gone in sleep

But the others like Draken or Chifuyu yes, yes they did hear you

Angry had to shut up smiley before he screamed anymore

You already had became quiet the moment you were tired

It was an interesting moment when Smiley attended the next meeting in Toman

#tokyo revengers #tokyo manji revengers #tokyo rev x you #tmr #fluff #crack #anime headcanons #writing #anime #x reader #manjiro sano x reader #chifuyu x reader #baji keisuke x reader #kazutora x reader #nahoya kawata x reader #anime fluff

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cinnamonest · 3 years

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I am still thinking about modern Xiao being a horrible porn/hentai addict... Why talk to 3D girls (who might get mad at you or say no or reject you and break your heart or judge you) when you have anime girl figurines and porn and girls you can pay online to do things on camera?? It's only logical.

And consequently he has built up a... Collection. Multiple Google chrome bookmark tabs, not even just a single "porn" folder no, our boy has the Library of Alexandria going on over here with organized categories (it's the only organized thing in his life really). And while vanilla things are good, the preferences tend to very clearly lean in a... Darker direction.

Once he *does* get a nice little captive girlfriend, it's only normal to want to try these things out right? For so long all he could do was jerk off to the image of these things... But the back of a girl's throat probably feels a lot better than imagining his hand is the back of a girl's throat. And so far, really, he's appalled that those fleshlights he owns at least one or two of were such false advertising. It absolutely does NOT feel like the real thing. How could he have gone so long thinking cold plastic felt anything like wet and slick and warm fleshy insides? How misleading. To think he had nearly resigned himself to be content with that for the rest of his life.

But now he doesn't think he ever COULD go back to that. It would be torture. Almost seems like a waste of the collection, but he'll never need porn again. Except... as reference material.

His logic is that if she can do it, so can you. I mean, why wouldn't you be able to pull off the same acts as a seasoned porn star? It's the same parts you're working with right? You're just... not relaxing enough. You're too tense. I mean, look, the girl on screen shoves that guys entire dick down her throat with ease, so clearly it's very easy, if you just relax you'll be fine.

Or, stop whining, your body can totally bend that way, with some... Help. Come on, this is only #37 of the 122 positions he has listed to try, and if you don't get them done quick enough he won't remember them well enough to make a comprehensive mental ranking and remember which ones were best.

And anal's not that bad, really. There wouldn't be so much porn of it if it was that bad. See, they do it just fine. You just have to get used to it. It'll just take a few times or ten. But don't worry, it's ok if it hurts or you cry, painal is a favored category for a reason, that just means it's going well and you're getting stretched out so it'll hurt less next time. But it feels really really nice, so, you can't blame him for not stopping, right? What, you want him to pull out?? Do you realize how utterly torturous that would be? Cruel, even. You can't honestly expect him to pull out of you, when just railing you harder and cumming deep inside is an option, can you? Besides, it'll help you get used to it.

He finds credible resources (read: pornhub tutorial videos and reddit threads) on how to... Properly train your body. Lots of plugs and lube. And you can have a dildo to practice deepthroating and train your gag reflex while he plays games. For that purpose only. Don't think about using it for anything else. Make sure you practice breathing exercises too so you can hold your breath.

As much as he likes watching it, though, he's not quite patient enough for the rope stuff. It's so complicated. You two tried it once, but it takes so much time that he could be spending balls deep in you already. Well, there's always the type of restraints that can be easily locked on and off instead.

It occurs to you from a glance that some of the... Preferred categories are a little concerning. Facial abuse and heavy bdsm and lots of titles with words like "forced" or "brutal" in them. He doesn't seem to think anything of it when he loads a page on his phone and holds out the video as a demonstration of what he's talking about doing with you, and doesn't get why your eyes widen with horror and you cringe as your watch some of the most brutal acts of intercourse you've ever witnessed go down. Why are you shrinking away? It'll be fun. This is only like, slightly a bit non-vanilla, really.

But, also, you seem to have another problem. You just whimper kinda quietly. You don't squeal and scream the same way the porn girls do. Hmph. Well, whatever. That's only a minor issue. What's much worse is that, apparently, rawing you for a minute and a half with no foreplay whatsoever doesn't make you cum? Why is that? It's supposed to, you know. That's what they do.

See, again, you're not relaxing enough. If you did, you'd scream and squirt from like 45 seconds of rough PIV too. Or maybe the issue is a mental block. You're still insecure and getting over this whole "trapped here forever" thing. Well, practice makes perfect. Once you go at it a lot more times, you'll get more comfortable.

Besides, he already made a forum post asking how to get you to like him more. A follow-up post to the whole "how to get this girl I like to date me?" one he made a few months ago, where they told him to "be direct", which he thinks he followed pretty well by snatching you off the street directly into his car. Internet stranger advice worked before, so it'll work now, probably. And their advice is to just keep having more sex. There was something in there about asking you what you want, but he thinks that was less important.

#releasing this from drafts bc my queue is empty ahhhh #i will be going through the inbox and answering asks later today #.x

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generallybrontidefeelings · 3 years

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Stressed

Rating: NC-17

A/N: Brought to you by this post. I'm tired and sleepy and don't want to make any decisions. The degree is an actual MS you can get from American University in DC. U of Tennessee’s anthropology dept. hosts what’s called a body farm. It's a lab for forensic pathology students. Do NOT I repeat DO NOT look up pictures.

Pairing: Marcus Pike x reader, Marcus Pike x you

Summary: Marcus Pike is an associate faculty member at your forensics college. You ask him to be your second reader for your thesis, even though you have a huge crush on him. Nothing is better than something, right? By the time you pass your exam, you're so pent up you could scream.

Warnings: cadaver talk, pining, age difference, some power dynamics?, annoying college talk, sex, dirty talk, a God awful metaphor curtesy of Blanche Devereaux, 39

“Take a deep breath.”

You huff in a small shallow breath. Then let it out, and take in a longer, fuller one.

“Now let it out.” You let your cheeks puff up as cool air streams past your lips. “You’ve made huge improvements, and you’ve studied hard. The paper exam will be easy, and the oral will be a cinch.”

You gulp. “I know. It’s just...pre-show jitters, you know?”

He gives you a full smile, and flips the document shut. You hand him the binder clip, accidentally brushing his fingers when you do.

"Anything else I can do for you?"

You swallow, fiddling with your paper edge. God you feel like a twelve year old. You're fucking twenty-seven and about to apply for the FBI, why are you such a sap? He’s not available. Not even remotely. He will be gone in a year, back to the Bureau. There is no reason to nurse a crush. And you curse yourself for asking a man you’re attracted to - you, idiot, idiot! - to spend more time with you. Even if it is reading your dull chapter.

"No, I have everything I need, thanks."

"Then scoot. I have to read like...thirty pages of Tanner's chapter before he gets here."

You pull your bag to your shoulder. "you're not going to get that far," you scoff. The tensing in your shoulders relaxes a little when you stand to leave.

"We'll see," he says. He opens the door of his office for you. You glance back once more, and he's still in the doorway watching you go. "See you tomorrow."

"See you." Your mind swirls back and forth between thoughts of Mr. Pike, your thesis, Pike, your oral defence, your paper exam in two days, Marcus crossing his ankles in his reading chair. And you walk. Straight ahead, not looking back. But when you get to the door handle you turn around. And he's still there. Watching.

You've never been so stressed in your life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

You met Marcus Pike on a muggy afternoon in August deep in the heart of Tennessee. The air warped off the pavement as you drove together to the School of Anthropology to visit your cadaver lying relaxed and prostrate in the middle of a fenced field. The air is already warm, then lightning flashes in the clouds to your right, and plopping rain drops scatter across the lawn, and dampens A-0017’s second hand suit. His raisinette hands lie against the grass almost like he’s communing with the earth. You watched the water hit his face, and permanently closed eyelids, and shaved head.

You had no business being so fidgety while kneeling next to a cadaver. Agent Marcus Pike and the facility director chat a couple feet away, leaving you to your business with A-0017. Pike had never been to the school’s mysterious forensics lab, even though he had plenty of time to when he was earning his own masters. That’s what he said in his email to you three weeks earlier. He’d heard a first-year student was running a fibrous material experiment and asked to tag along. And you said yes. Why not? He was faculty. It wasn’t unheard of. His email was so polite too, letting you know if you weren’t comfortable he understood. Pike. The name rattled a memory somewhere. So you emailed him back, and the next morning he sent you his itinerary: he would meet you in Tennessee. He’d even pay for the rental car.

You sent your advisor a quick text to ask if he was ‘crazy.’ She’d sent back the laughing emoji. No, she said, Marcus Pike isn’t a crazy. You’ll like him.

You did like him. He was waiting for you at the Hertz desk, and heat licked up your skin when you realized - he was striking. He was the type of man you’d make eyes at in a bar without any hope of even getting a number. His brown hair was neatly trimmed, and he had a softness brought on by a light scruff that didn’t hide his dimples. You barely registered that he was apologizing for not getting to introduce himself before flying out, but promised he was who he said he was. Even pulled out his credentials.

“Bureau?” you said to his badge. “I thought you were an associate professor?” You want to smack yourself.

Oh, “I am,” he replied. He dug in his wallet and pulled out a campus ID that matched yours. “I’m taking an interim year. I thought teaching would be a nice way to ease into DC life.”

Now he was here, sweating under the storm clouds while watching you unbutton A-0017’s shirt, and half listening to the director tell him all about how they kept the lawn looking green despite, ahem, fluids. You sternly told A-0017 to be on their best behavior while you pulled their shirt back to examine some fiber swatches stapled to his rubbery chest.

On the flight back Pike asked you all about your thesis plans. You stuttered as you began. He waited, patient. You were writing on how the FBI could contribute to cultural repatriation efforts internationally by returning art pieces. Do you know what it could do to boost scholarly opportunities? The doors it could open! Why put it in cold storage when it could revitalize movements? Art breathes, after all. You were exhausted by the time the plane landed. Both from answering questions, and from keeping a steadily building tension under wraps. You hoped he didn’t notice how you crossed your legs.

“I’d love to read it.” He handed your backpack down from the overhead bin.

“Maybe you should be my second reader.” You got serious when his face perked up. “I still need one.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

That was nine months ago.

Your exams are in a week, and instead of thinking about preparing, all you can think of is that once everything is turned in, you probably won’t see Marcus again. He’s been your anchor these last months, and you’ve gotten used to his solid presence and encouraging platitudes. You cup your hot cheeks because it’s a dirty thought.

He lets you work in his office for a couple hours a week every week. The crammed little space is tight quarters, but he makes room for your laptop anyway. Sometimes you worked together heads bent for full time. Sometimes he read pages from your thesis, and you help him grade some papers from his first-year art history course. And sometimes you drink three pm coffee together and don’t work at all. It’s your favorite time of the week. The glow his praise gives you is embarrassing. And he’s an easy companion - nope, colleague. Your heart beats and your mouth waters every time you’re fifteen feet from his office door. The cold door knob jolts you took. You harbor a secret. Keep it warm in your belly. It swirls hungrily deep in you.

But now it’s a problem. You’re so distracted. Every time you leave his office, you’re tense from want. Your body is already over-caffeinated and achy from sitting in hard library chairs so long. But you keep going. Every time an anxious heat lights up the alarms in your head your instinct is to ask him what to do. You have to rest your hands in your head and remind yourself: he isn’t your babysitter, he’s a grown man who doesn’t have boundless time to tell you what to do. You have to figure it out yourself. Even if you really just want him to tell you what this or that section needs, is the title here misleading, is it lunch time, do you think the tone here is condescending?

What do you think? What do you want it to look like?

You think you want to grab his dumb button down collars and bite his lip. You want it to look flushed and tousled and desperate. You want to ride him in his reading chair with the door locked. It just isn’t fair.

The night before your first exam you take z-quil, drink lavender tea, and read a chapter of your favorite book to relax. Your phone buzzes at nine. It’s Marcus: good luck! You’re going to do great! Well. Better take some more Z-quill now that your heart is palpitating.

You pass both tests in excellent standing - MS in International Relations: complete. Pike attends the oral exam. Your skin goes hot when he smiles at you when the committee declares you exceed expectations. He invites you for a celebratory drink in the next couple days, which means you have two days to sternly wrangle your crush back into the dirty corner she came from.

You fail miserably.

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“Look,” he says, setting his beer down on the glass bar counter. “I know it’s not my business, but you still look stressed out. Are your grades bothering you?”

The rim of your gin and tonic is wet with condensation from where your finger circles it. “No, they’re great.”

He bumps your shoulder with his. “Then what’s the damage? You’re jumpier than a…” he trails off thinking a good metaphor. He squints at you a little.

“A virgin at a prison rodeo?” you supply. He inhales sharply, eyes wide. “You can laugh.”

“I didn’t know you watched ‘The Golden Girls,” he says. His tone is admiring. “I was going to say jumpier than a graduate student giving their defense.” You purse your lips when he raises his eyebrows at you. “Can I help at all?”

You watch his Adam’s apple bob when he takes another sip of his beer. The soft orange lights in the bar spill around his jaw and throat, they flicker in his irises. His face in three quarter profile is august. You’re utterly exhausted from the polite ‘student mentor’ dance you’ve had to do for months while keeping your desire at bay. And more than that, you didn’t want to answer. You wanted to show him and let him decide. The sultry washboard and piano music give you that last boost.

You make sure he’s watching you, then you slowly reach out and wrap your fingers around his wrist.

Then you wait.

Marcus pauses from lifting his beer bottle, eyes glued to your hand on his wrist. It’s petite against him. He stares at your baby blue fingernails pairing beautifully with his Stirling watch - and he feels himself harden.

All the skin on your body stands at attention when he meets your eyes. Everything in them tells you he wants you just as bad. There’s a hesitant curve above his eyebrow though. You get it. You were his student - he’s such a sweet man he wouldn’t even dream of using a power dynamic like that to get laid. Your breath comes in short heaves.

“The semester ended thirty-six minutes ago,” you say over the music. He takes a deep breath. You aren’t his student anymore. Not according to the school, anyway.

You want him to decide. If he doesn’t, you’ll go home and fall apart under your fingertips thinking about how hot it would have been to lift your dress and sit on his cock while wearing your thigh highs.

“Do you want to leave?” You nod, resisting the urge to bite your lip.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Marcus’s apartment is homey. Streetlights flood the floor of the living room through the street facing windows. You turn this way and that to inspect the dark areas that look like bookshelves while he hangs up your coat. You squeeze your hands at your sides, because this is happening. You’re in his house. The hardwood floor is cold under your stocking feet.

You jump when he puts his hands on your shoulders from behind you, holding you a mere inch from his body. You bite your lip when his nose bumps into the back of your head.

“Are you sure about this?”

“You already asked me that,” you reply, letting your head fall back on his shoulder. You want so badly to tell him to tell you what to do. That you don’t want to make any decisions. Brain is worn out. That you want to please him, and not think. Oh, to be a freshmen simply sponging up information.

“I know,” he slides his hands to your biceps and turns you around. “I can check in again, can’t I? He cups your face when you nod. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes, please,” you have to stop yourself from saying something incriminating, like mister Pike, or sir, or professor.

You clutch the front of his button down to anchor yourself when his lips brush yours. His mouth is soft. It coaxes you to open so he can dive into you, his tongue swipes your bottom lip, and you respond by pressing into him. You stay pliant under him, letting him lead. Your legs feel on the verge of collapse when you break away. You can’t stand it anymore.

“I want to suck your cock.”

Both of you freeze. For a second you wonder if you’ve given him a heart attack. But you watched his thighs on the car ride back and couldn’t stop thinking about kneeling between them. Your mouth waters. Marcus can’t breathe. He’s straining against his zipper. After your declaration he wants it too.

“Okay, honey,” he breathes. He brushes your ear with his thumb. “If that’s what you want, we’ll do that.”

He tries to draw you backward toward his room where he can turn on a lamp and properly pay tribute to your body, but you pull him back. You tug him to his mid-century armchair - he has the twin to it in his office. His mouth goes dry. You have to know. He looks into your face, and from the way you’ve averted your eyes, you know.

“Please?” you say. It sounds like a sob.

From this close you can smell the vanilla and bergamot of his soap. He sits, waiting for you. When you don’t move he holds his hand out for you to take.

“Come here, honey,” he draws you close. The top of your dress swings a little and he groans when he sees the break of your dress to what he thought were tights. Marcus studies your face in the second hand street light - your mouth parted, your eyes blown wide. Your hand in his is hot. “Hey, if this is overwhelming, or not what you want-”

“It is,” you correct him.

“Tell me what’s wrong then,” he requests. You feel pained. If you don’t say it now you never will.

“Tell me what to do.” Your head aches from the stress of carrying it for so long. “I’ve had to make my own decisions for months, and I don’t want to anymore. Just - for five minutes-” you bring your hands to your cheeks and press them against your hot skin. You watch as he realizes what you want. He nods in slow motion.

“Okay,” he says. “Kneel for me.” He gets even harder when you sink to your knees. Your hands rest in your lap. Waiting. He can’t believe this is happening. Thank goodness he’s going back to the Bureau in three months. He couldn’t face the other faculty - fuck, your advisor - after this. Leaning forward he cups your chin and kisses you. You squeeze your thighs together. He kisses your ear and says lowly, “take my cock out, honey. I want you to suck me off.”

When you take him in your mouth as far as you can, you look into his face. His mouth has fallen open. His ears have turned red from flushing. It’s indescribable. It makes your mouth water further around his hard length. It’s heavy on your tongue. You move up and down his shaft leisurely, trying to savor it. Letting saliva run down onto his skin as your tongue works the spongy head. You reach up to work the base with your hand when he tells you ‘no’.

“Just your mouth.” Fuck. You moan around him as a ripple pulls from deep in your core. The vibrations of you moaning make him jolt and heave. For a few moments he apologies while you breathe deeply, then resume. You take a mouthful of him. It’s feasting. It’s mindless.

His fingers brush the side of your face, and tenderly cups the back of your head. You want to make him understand this is what you want. So you slide down as far as you can comfortably, and wait. Swallowing thickly around his length

“Fuck, honey,” he groans. He gets it, taking both hands and moving your head the pace he wants. You can tell he hasn’t been asked for this often. Maybe ever. You close your eyes and just feel. His cock filling your mouth. Aches forming around your jaw. Tears leaking out of your eyes from your concentration. Your pussy wetting through your underwear. Marcus pulling your hair. You swallow hard, then he stops. And pushes you off.

You whine in protest.

“I hear you, honey,” he says softly. His voice is hoarse. “Another time. I want you to unwind right now.” Your pussy clenches.

He takes you back to his bedroom and helps you undress. He lifts your dress over your head, and kneels to help you out of your thigh highs. One day, if you’ll let him, he’ll fuck you with them on, but he likes to see all of a woman the first time he does anything to her. He kisses the bit of skin above the waistband of your panties before standing to kiss your lips. Your help him push them down your hips until they fall to your ankles. The soft gasp he lets out at the sight of your underwear and bare body is nothing short of gluttonous.

“Lay down.”

He strips while you watch. He does it without taking his eyes off of you. There’s hunger in them. This man has an appetite, you know it. The fabric rustles pleasantly between the sound of both of you breathing. Far away, ambulance sirens blare in another neighborhood, but here in his apartment the wet sound of cars passing in the rainy street are the closest accompaniment.

“I want to touch you here,” he tells you, palming your sex and making you squeak. It’s so forward.

“Do it,” you breathe, and part your legs further for him. He leans in and kisses your temple, murmuring ‘good girl’ and you swear you could black out.

You’re already so wet when his fingers part your folds to greet the new territory. “Did sucking my cock get you wet?” He sounds amazed. He tastes one fingertip before putting it back to tease your folds. “I wonder how wet you would be just holding it in your mouth while you read.”

“Oh-” a ripple works down your spine. He smirks. The tip of his finger brushes just inside your lips to tease your entrance.

“I’m going to put my fingers in you. You,” he pauses to kiss your cheek, “relax. You earned it.” He rubs his nose up and down yours, and you nudge him back just as he slips one long finger into you. You’re glad he’s being sweet like this. It’s the perfect blend of firmness and care. You want him to dominate you one someday, maybe, but right here and now, the combination of his low voice and steady fingers is ideal. Marcus kisses your cheek and mouth as he works his finger in and out of you. It’s thick and reaches further than you ever could. You spread your legs even further to tell him, more.

Without removing his hand he moves down your body to lick your clit. He sucks and flicks it as he coaxes more wetness out of your leaking cunt. Carefully he pulls the finger out and presses his wet hand to the inside of your thigh to keep you open. He laps into you, covering the muscles with lubricant because you’re going to need it. You see his face just as he decides you’re ready; it’s contemplative, like he’s concentrating. Then he slides two fingers deep into you.

“Oh, fuck, that’s so fucking good,” your voice crescendos. You reach for his shoulder as he comes up to lie beside you. His skin is warm under your palm. You buck your hips looking for something else, seeking, wanting-

“Stay still.” You still immediately. “Just feel it, baby. I want you to be ready for me.” You know what he means. His cock is thick and smearing against your hip. He was big in your mouth, he’s going to be big while pushing into you. His fingers keep moving while he kisses the tips of your nipples. When he takes one between his teeth and tugs you break. Your mouth opens, and your legs clamp reflexively around his wrist. Your pussy gushes around his fingers - you can feel it. You can feel how his movements change from a drag as a slide. He keeps pumping. He doesn’t give up until he’s sure you’ve felt every aftershock. He’d love to take his time and work a third in one day - if he can - but tonight, he wants to move on. After you swallowed his cock in his sitting room chair he’s been thinking of rewarding you.

You feel him slip his fingers out, and roll away to the nightstand. He looks back at you, and his eyes soften a little before he asks, “do you want me to use a condom?”

“No,” you say and reach for his bicep to pull him back toward you. He comes willingly. “I have an IUD. And I’m clean.” He smiles, flinging the packet over his shoulder. It makes you giggle, but it sounds hysterical to your ears. You watch him reach down and pump his cock with the hand that was just inside you. You close your eyes and take a deep breath.

“Look at me,” he orders. Your eyes snap open. Marcus crashes his lips on yours. The hand not dripping from your cunt cups the back of your head. “I want to see your eyes while I fuck you.”

His blunt head breaks into you, you lose all thought. He sinks further in, until you’re squirming on his length because he’s stretching you. You suck air in and will your body will stay still like he suggested for his fingers. You look into Marcus’s eyes the whole time, trying to tell him how good he feels. You can’t make the words leave your throat. He pulls your head to him, kisses your mouth until you compose yourself and lie still. Then he gets to work. The breadth of him stills you anew. For the first time in months you fully relax, hardly making a sound as he thrusts steadily. You stare into Marcus’s eyes while your mouth falls open as he slides into you, and listen to the wet sounds of your pussy and the bed frame creaking.

Then he starts talking.

“Do you know how good you look in those blue trousers? I want to grab your ass every time you wear them,” he rumbles. His pace picks up a hair, and he feels harder in you somehow. He drops to his forearm. “I love watching it when you walk out of my office.” You knew it. “And that damn cardigan you never wear a shirt under? Those buttons slip right open, don’t they?” He punctuates it with a deep thrust that makes you squeak. “Answer me.”

“Yes.”

“Wear it over for dinner. I’ll bite your tits through it.”

He fucks into you harder, sending shivers up your spine with every thrust. It moves you up the bed until you have to reach a hand up and press back against the headboard. You clutch him with the other, looping around his shoulder to feel the muscles in his arms pull and tug as he moves in you, working you up to another release Soon enough, the coil in your belly tightens and he reaches to worry your clit with deft fingers. His eyes never leave you. You think this man could make the hardest fuck feel like making love.

“I need more,” you tell him. You’re too embarrassed to ask for what you want. A tear leaks out of your eye because his thickness is so good, but you want something else too. You always underestimate him. He grins because he knows - he’s a detective. He figured it out. He leans down to rest his forehead on your temple.

“You’re doing so well,” he says. You arch up into him, your breasts brush his chest. “Your wet pussy is so sweet. It’s taking me so well. Are you gonna be respectful? Gonna listen?” You have to hold your breath as your hips tense. “Be good and come on my cock.” Oh fuck. “Say it.”

Your voice is wet with joy. “Yes, sir.”

“Such a good girl.”

Sparks lick up your back and through your cunt, forcing Marcus deeper into when you lift your lips. He slows to let you enjoy all your release. He kisses your neck, your jaw, your lips. Then when he hears your content sigh, he buries his face in your neck and chases his own release. He comes with an accompanying rumble from deep in his chest. You moan in return and lift your lips to catch him as he slumps, barely holding his weight off of you.

Water runs in the washroom as you tug the sheets back. The light clicks off, and Marcus appears with a washcloth. His dimple appears when you lean back and let him clean your tender flesh. He sits on the edge of the bed next to your hips, running his knuckles on the soft side of your breast.

“Stay the night,” says. “I’ll cook you breakfast.”

“Hm,” you say, mock contemplative. You run your fingers down his chest. He preens under the affection. “I will. I feel really good.” Your cheeks tingle at the admission. He smiles wide and bright.

He comes back from putting the cloth in the hamper. You roll so he can run his hands the length of your side

“Thank you,” you murmur. He lifts his face from where he’s been peppering your waist with kisses. His brow is furrowed in amused confusion. “For being good to me. For caring about what happened to me.” You’ll tell him the horror stories your friends have from their college another time.

He sighs and cups your cheek. “I like doing it. You’re bright. Supporting you is a privilege. Especially when I know that brain is going to put us all to shame one day.” You could cry.

“I’ve liked you since the body farm,” you admit. He wrinkles his nose. “I know. Not very romantic.”

“I liked you since you thought my campus ID was more official than my FBI badge.”

“I didn’t think that!”

“Get some sleep,” he says. A wicked glint comes to his eye. “I am going to wear you out before lunch.” You wiggle to get comfortable in the sheets and he curls over your back to hold you to his chest.

Orange light peeks through the gap in his blackout drapes. You eye him over your shoulder then settle into the pillow. All the tension in your shoulders is gone.

part 2

#marcus pike #marcus pike fanfiction #the mentalist #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike x you #reader insert #fanfiction #writing #the mentalist fanfiction #I took some liberties with UT's school of anthros forensics lab #it does exist #DO NOT LOOK UP PICTURES #IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH #DON'T DO IT #I AM NOT SQUEAMISH AND DO RESEARCH WITH CADAVERS #BUT IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH #DONT #DO #IT

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chubbletea · 2 years

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Sparkling Cookie: The Truth we never knew

HAHA the title may be a bit misleading but I couldn't think of anything else to put there soooooo it's there LOL

Anyways, this is an analysis about Sparkling Cookie (obv), and the point I'm trying to prove is that I think he's suppressing emotions as a response to emotional manipulation. I have some evidence and I could probably scavenge for more but I'll just go off of what I already have lmao

also just to clarify I also suppress my emotions as a response to emotional manipulation so I'm not just pulling this out of my ass

most of this was copied and pasted from discord LMAO

anyways enough of the introduction and let's dive right into sparkling's character

‼️ tropical soda island spoilers!! ‼️

1. The Effort he puts into seeming Happy/Calm

notice how on one of the loading screens, it states something along the lines of "everyday before opening his juice bar, sparkling cookie practices smiling in front of the mirror"

like yeah he wants to come off as pleasant to his customers but isn't that a bit much?? he shouldn't have to force himself to appear happy especially if he always talks so highly of his bartending talents

also you notice how good he is at masking

in the tropical soda islands, he's literally BEING HELD HOSTAGE WITHOUT EVERYONE ELSE, and could POSSIBLY BE THROWN INTO THE OCEAN AND PAINFULLY KILLED, he does not show one ounce of fear, even though we KNOW he's scared

even when he's around the others, who are also probably scared, he doesn't

It's almost like he's been through it a thousand damn times before. god forbid

and after the tropical soda islands his captors are?? never seen or mentioned again????

sparkling cookie likely never told anyone about this, and from my experience;

no outlet = no emotions released = suppression

and that just adds fuel to my point

2. His Wealth

okay I know this may seem irrelevant to my main point but TRUST ME IT'S VERY RELEVANT

so sparkling cookie is pretty wealthy right

he's friends with cheesecake cookie (who is also rich) and hosts fancy parties a lot

and I'm SURE that money can't be purely from bartending

so where tf is he getting his money from?? /rhe

plausible answer: his manipulator

the person who emotionally manipulated him is stocking his money, so he can't get away from them or he loses his money, which is probably what's keeping him stable; we know how much he loves parties, and usually, that costs money

even if that's not the case wherever he gets his massive amount of money from is DEFINITELY questionable

3. The Vibes

okay this isn't anything legit at all I just wanted to point this out

c'mon just look at him

look at him and tell me he doesn't look like that one character that seems pretty chill/cool but go absolutely batshit when they finally snap. c'mon

he ABSOLUTELY looks like that one character and you cannot convince me otherwise

anywho that's it for the analysis. sorry it was pretty short for my usual analysis'

in conclusion

bye

#sparkling cookie #cookie run #cookie run: kingdom #cookie run: ovenbreak #cookie run kingdom #cookie run ovenbreak #cr #crk #crob #cr kingdom #cr ovenbreak #character analysis #analysis #theory #🎮.rant #🎮.comfort #🎮.txt

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hardlystrictlystarwars · 3 years

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Choosing Baby Names(Rex x F!Reader)

Masterlist || Tag list || Requests/Prompt sheet || Requests

Captain Rex x Pregnant!F!Reader oneshot

Rex really hasn’t thought about baby names... but for a really good reason.

A/N: Hey! So the title might be a little bit misleading(not really but maybe?), it still is about baby names though! Also, I know I haven’t posted anything in a hot minute but I got a second job so writing has taking sorta a backseat. Don’t worry I have no plan on leaving this blog. Anyways I hope you like it!

Warnings/notes: Pregnancy and fluff

GIF is not mine, credit goes to the original creator

Reblogs, comments, and likes are appreciated!

“What about Zalge?” You asked, reading out of the book in your hands.

Rex responded with the silence of his head shaking no.

“Okay then,” You flipped a couple more pages, scanning over some more names, “What about Zedne?”

Rex responded with more silence.

Over the last couple of hours, you had gone through an entire baby naming book while Rex had put together your future newborn’s speeder seat. Over ten thousand possible names from a book that “Guaranteed to Help You Pick The Very Best Name in the Galaxy For Your Baby” and Rex still hadn’t given you a single reaction to any of them you suggested.

“Oh baby,” You looked down at your third trimester bump, “At this rate I don’t think your daddy is ever gonna find a name he likes,”

Rex huffed a small laugh and briefly looked up from his half-complete project that sat on the dining table, “ You know Fives suggested we should name our kid after him,”

“Absolutely not,” You refused immediately which made Rex laugh, “That soldier’s ego was already bigger than Coruscant, I don’t need our baby adding to it,”

Rex shrugged and agreed with you. It was probably for the best that the two of you didn’t. Rex couldn’t imagine how it would be after your delivery and sharing a barrack with the trooper and his unfiltered mouth talking about how you two named a baby after him.

“Besides Rex,” You waddled yourself over to sit next to him “What’s the point in having a baby naming book if you’re not going to use it?”

“That book was a gag gift from Jesse. I didn’t actually think I’d ever use it,” He looked down at it in your hands.

“What? You never told me that” You said.

Rex originally gave you the book a few days after you told him the two of you were expecting, right after your daily morning session in the refresher due to your pregnancy nausea. He didn’t know much about pregnancy, nonetheless morning sickness at the time so he thought you could read it while you were in the fresher during those times.

Oh how wrong he was about that. However the two of you could only laugh about it now. Instead, most of the times when he was home, he ended up being right beside you, keeping your hair out of the way.

“I don’t know why I kept it,” He shrugged.

You looked at him as if you could spot his lie from a mile away, “Oh come on Rex, that’s a lie if I ever heard one,” You called him out with a smile. You knew he only kept things he really treasured. Kriff, you had spent ten minutes trying to convince him not to throw away the instructions to the speeder seat before he begrudgingly agreed.

“Well you know cyar'ika,” He sighed, leaning away from his project and towards you, “What are pipe dreams if they don’t occasionally come true?” His hard, calloused hands came to rest over your bump.

Rex had never thought kids would be in his future, specifically kids of his own. Simply because he never thought he would live long enough with half of his time spent at war. But there you were, sitting at a table he had baby-proofed not too long ago with the child you would have together. Yeah he wouldn’t lie. It was hard, everything from leaving you to go on a mission to having to remove pickled ruik root from his diet because you couldn’t stand the smell of it.

But then there would be good times that would come to outweigh anything else. The doctor appointments, lots of beebleberry ice cream in the freezer to keep up with your cravings and your baby kicking were just a few.

All of those were so far out of reach for him for so long because he was just a clone captain and nothing else. Yet there you were. Not afraid to be with him, to carry his baby, start a family with him and let him be something else than just property.

Tags:

@justanothersadperson93

#captain rex #captain rex x reader #captain rex x you #captain rex fanfic #captain rex fic #rex x reader #rex x you #star wars the clone wars #the clone wars #the clone wars imagine #the clone wars fanfiction #the clone wars fic #tcw fic #tcw #tcw imagine #tcw rex #star wars #star wars fanfiction #my writing

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howtofightwrite · 3 years

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Q&A: Fantasy Pirate Wanted, Exerience Welcome, but not Needed

Would it make sense for pirate characters in fantasy to be skilled in combat? if so, what combat would be the most likely? I’m not sure if a bunch of pirates being good at wielding swords would make sense, since their job is basically sailing. Would pirates fighting like a Retiarius Gladiator make sense? or would it be basically whatever the could get their hands on sort of deal? sawed off harpoons and knives?

threeeyesslitthroat

So, several questions, let’s hit them in order.

I should probably preface this with a reminder: Pirates have been a part of nautical civilization since the beginning of commercial shipping. They’re a natural, criminal, response to people moving anything valuable by sea. If it’s out there on the water, someone else will see that as an opportunity to take it.

It’s common to think of The Golden Age of Piracy as, “that’s pirates,” but the truth is, they’ve always been there. Piracy still exists in the modern world. It will continue into the future. In a random tangent, there’s a lot of realism behind the idea of space pirates, even if the implementation is fantastical.

So, with that said, when you’re shaping a fantasy setting, if there’s sea travel, there’s a place for pirates if you want them.

Your character’s background could be anything. Many Golden Age pirates were naval veterans, mutineers, or deserters. They learned to operate on military vessels, and then took that skillset and made a lot of money as criminals.

So, it’s entirely reasonable your pirates would have military backgrounds, and as a result be very well acquainted with how to fight effectively.

Conversely, during the golden age of piracy, a pirate in the Caribbean could make a small fortune on a single raid. This made piracy a very attractive career, in spite of the personal danger. Even resulting in labor shortages in some pirate cities, like Port Royale, as the available workers preferred to take the risk and work as pirates.

The short answer on your pirate’s combat training comes down to the simple question of, “what did they do before they became a pirate?” As I said, it’s entirely reasonable your pirate was a sailor in an imperial navy. It’s possible they were a mercenary. It’s possible they used to work on a farm, ran away from home, found a job cleaning a tavern in the port, and hired on as a pirate at the first opportunity.

It makes sense for pirates to learn how to fight, because that is a part of making money. They need know how to operate their ship. They’ll need most of the essential positions, and some redundancies. A ship needs a helmsman, it needs a navigator. If you don’t have those two, you cannot set out to sea at all. You need deckhands, you want a boatswain to manage them. You need a cook. You need a surgeon or medic, because people are going to be injured. Golden Age pirates needed a quartermaster, though the job title is a little misleading, as they acted as a kind of dispute adjudicator, and ensured that the loot was shared equitably, they would also take command of captured vessels. In the age of sail, you needed crew to man the cannons. Finally, you need boarding parties to assault and capture enemy vessels.

Your boarding parties needed to know how to fight, because they’d be going up against armed crews. Even if your character didn’t have a naval background, it is reasonable that they’d get on-the-job training to get them up and going if they didn’t have a background. Alternately, if they did have a naval or military background, it’s quite possible they’d be tasked with training some of the new recruits.

So, would it make sense for them to fight in the style of a Retiarius? No. We’ve talked about this before, but the Roman gladiator types were not designed to be efficient. In fact, they were specifically equipped in ways that would hamper their ability to swiftly kill their foes. The entire point of gladiatorial combat was to prolong the fight, with a focus on wounding rather than inflicting fatal blows. The Retiarius was armed with a weighted net and and a trident. While both of these items would make sense on a sailing vessel. Either would allow the crew members to supplement the ships stores with fresh fish, however, neither makes a particularly good weapon, especially during boarding actions.

This loops back to the question about the sword. The term “sword,” is very generic, and includes a massive array of bladed weapons. Some of these are very well adapted to shipboard combat, and it would make sense that pirates would use those.

Polearms are, in general, less well suited to close quarters, and you’d probably see fewer of those during a boarding actions. There might be a few on the ship, and some of the crew might choose to use them if they were engaging in coastal raiding.

There might be an element of, “whatever they could get their hands on,” but remember, piracy was a very lucrative career, so while their options were somewhat limited by what’s available at the ports they dock at, and the gear they plunder, “whatever they could get their hands on,” would leave them pretty well equipped.

The one thing I’ll point out from that list is knives. Knives are a must. Not, necessarily as weapons, but they’re extremely important as a utility tool, and their combat application is secondary to that. So, your pirates probably have knives, in addition to cutlasses, muskets, pistols, and blunderbusses. They might even have some halberds and other heavy weapons squirrelled away below decks in case they find a situation where those would be useful.

Obviously, that weapon list would be a little different if your pirates are operating in a bronze or iron age setting, but the basic idea is the same. If you have pirates in a pseudo-Roman Empire, then it would make sense if your pirates are using Gladiuses, and pelting the enemy ships with arrow fire. It’s all about the technology that exists.

So, yeah, it makes sense for your fantasy pirates to have a background. It’s part of the job. It also makes sense for them to be pretty well equipped after a successful raid or two. Though, they probably wouldn’t talk like they’d just walked out of the English West Country in the early 20th century.

-Starke

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Q&A: Fantasy Pirate Wanted, Exerience Welcome, but not Needed was originally published on How to Fight Write.

#fightwrite answers #Starke answers #writing advice #writing reference #writing tips

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the-lone-witch-and-secret-room · 3 years

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So, i'm seeing people saying that Amity may sabotage Luz's attempts to get home, judging by the episode's title Yesterday's lie. What are your thoughts?

This post just about sums it up. Amity isn’t even mentioned in the episode synopsis, and it’s not like Luz is planning to leave for good. I feel like people are jumping the gun on that one.

I don’t think we should be taking the “yesterday” in that statement so literally. I don’t actually think it’s about what happened the day before (we don’t even have confirmation that Eclipse Lake takes place a day before this episode). It seems way more likely that it’s just referring to something that just in general happened in the past. On that note, keep in mind, they have to keep the titles in line with the message that the episodes spell out. There’s only so many words that begin with Y and would make sense in this context.

(Also nobody would title an episode “that lie from three months ago”, lol)

And consider: we’ve had episode titles that were intentionally misleading before. “The Intruder” was meant to trick the viewers into thinking someone actually broke into the house, rather than the monster being cursed Eda.

Rather than Amity lying to Luz, there’s a way more obvious ongoing lie related to Luz in the show that I’m pretty sure this is referring to. It’s how she’s been lying to her mom about what she’s up to. Since Camila is in the trailers for the season 1A promo, I feel like the episode is about Camila finding out the truth/Luz being forced to come clean to her once she’s stepped back through the portal into her world. That’s what Luz isn’t sure she’s ready for.

Also I feel like the whole “Amity tries to prevent Luz from going home”-idea is kind of stupid to begin with? Amity was in love with Luz before the portal blew up. We didn’t see her attempting to destroy the portal back then.

Like guys this girl is fourteen, not some manipulative evil mastermind??? I like angst as much as the next person but like… that’s taking it a bit far. Amity attempting to force Luz to stay in the Boiling Isles would cause a major falling out, and not one they could just bounce back from. We’re likely only getting this one season and then three 40 minute specials. That’s not enough time to cover Luz and Amity trying to repair their relationship after a mess like this and everything else that’s been set up to happen.

There’s also another reason why I don’t think this title is referring to Amity, and that’s how Amity in general has been portrayed so far. She’s been raised to think of love as something conditional. Something you need to earn and something you lose if you don’t do what that person wants—which is why she tries so hard to prove herself to her parents (something she’s now finally starting to break out of). She is used to putting other people’s wishes before her own when she seeks their approval.

Amity loves Luz. And I think more than anything, she wants Luz to be happy. She wants to be with her, but she’s not going to force Luz to stay if that’s not what Luz wishes to do. Amity has been forced to do a whole bunch of things throughout her life by people that supposedly love her, and I just can’t see her doing the same thing to Luz when she’s been through that kind of manipulation a million times over and knows exactly what it feels like.

If she manipulates Luz like that and Luz catches her, she’d also risk losing her for good, and Amity doesn’t take risks that big easily. She’s used to having to give 120% because even 110% aren’t enough for her parents, and if there’s the ghost of a chance she could fail, she doesn’t even try. Up until she meets Luz, she doesn’t do anything against her parents wishes, despite knowing how much the twins get away with, because there’s a chance that she wouldn’t get away with it. She’s afraid of rejection, and since there’s a chance Luz could say no to her, she doesn’t ask her out. She’s also lost the most important person in her life (Willow) through her own actions once before, and I just cannot see her risking that again.

Amity is starting to take more risks now, because Luz inspires her to, but she’s changing as a person way beyond “she’s willing to take more risks”.

Screwing other people over to get what she wants (which is very much something she probably internalized considering the household she grew up in) is something Amity would’ve done before she met Luz, before Luz inspired her to be better. She cut Willow off because her parents asked her to. She used to tattle on the twins all the time because she wanted her parents’ approval. She burned Willow’s photo so people wouldn’t find out they were friends, even if it meant hurting Willow in the progress.

She did everything she could so her parents would be proud of her, so they would love her, even if it meant hurting others.

And Luz slowly changed everything. Luz, who is reckless, and selfless, and always stands up for the people she cares about, even when it means putting herself in harm’s way in the progress. Luz, who helped Amity fix things with Willow. Luz and her current friends inspire Amity to be a better person. “They’re nice to each other. They listen to each other. They make me think about the kind of person I really want to be”, to directly quote Escaping Expulsion. And that person isn’t the kind of manipulator her parents are, who will stop at nothing to get what they want, even if people get hurt in the progress.

That person is selfless, and does the right thing, no matter what. She made her first step towards that in Understanding Willow, when she fixes her mistake and faces her past misdeeds in the progress, even if it’s hard, even if she doesn’t want to, because it’s the right thing to do. Because she owes it to Willow, and she owes her an apology. In Wing it like Witches, she follows through on her promise to stand up for Willow and breaks ties with her old friends, even if her parents will definitely hear of that. Even at the risk of painting a target on her back for Boscha, Skara and their friends. Heck, she puts herself in harm’s way in the literal sense to give Luz a chance to win the game.

And in Escaping Expulsion, she even risks angering her parents to help Luz and her friends. The parental approval that she’s worked for for so hard for so many years is at stake, and she chooses to do risk everything to do the right thing, to help her friends. She chooses the people who treat her right, who make her happy.

Her powerful speech would be meaningless if Amity would then turn around and sabotage Luz. It says a ton about how much Luz trusts Amity that she trusts Amity to get something portal-related for her in Eclipse Lake, and I just cannot see Amity betraying that trust. It’s possible that Amity struggles with the thought of Luz going home in that episode, but I cannot see her doing anything to sabotage something that’s this important to Luz. That would be a huge disservice to her character in my opinion.

Seeing that episode title and going “this means Amity is lying to Luz and sabotaging her for her own selfish desires” is to completely ignore all of Amity’s character development. Amity isn’t that person anymore. She’s trying really hard to be better. If she were to sabotage Luz’s attempts at going home, and choosing that over open communication, it would be a huge step back for her.

Honestly, it feels more likely that Amity ends up choosing to openly communicate her feelings, which would be a huge, huge thing for her. Maybe when they say their temporary goodbye she says something like “you better come back soon” and kisses Luz before she leaves (which would align with her allowing herself to take more risks if they’ll make her happy that we’ve seen a bunch of lately).

To circle back to the beginning, like I said, it’s very likely that Yesteday’s Lie focuses on Luz’s relationship with her mom, and Luz freaking out at the prospect of telling her everything. How much of a role her friends and Amity play in it is very up in the air, even if as mentioned I could see this scenario leading into a confession scene.

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cacoetheswriting · 3 years

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champagne problems, ch.4

Spencer is in love with you, but you’re engaged to someone else.

Chapter Four: Hope Is A Heartache: A glimpse into your past with Spencer as you tour wedding venues together. A/N: chapter titled after this song if you want to listen while reading. Word Count: 2.6k Warnings: mild cursing, heartbreak, unrequited / unreciprocated love, very angsty, jealousy, this series is a real slow burn babyyy

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A/N: you guys are incredible omg!! i’d love to reply to you all under each chapter but unfortunately this is not my main account but my messages are open so feel free to say hi!! i’m so happy you’re all enjoying the story so far, honestly lost for words!

It was a cold day. Cold enough to make your atoms shiver. Dark grey clouds covered every inch of the sky above, hiding the winter sun. The air was brisk. It was harsh against your skin as you got out of the car. And the unwelcoming breeze that followed made you wish that you hadn't forgotten your scarf.

“What a terrible miserable day.” You muttered while slamming your car door shut. You ambled your way around the hood as Spencer gently closed the passenger side door. You noticed immediately how he shivered slightly when the chilly air bushed against him. A sigh escaped your lips.

“Honestly Spencer, I can reschedule. I’m sure you would much rather spend this dull day reading in the comfort of your own apartment rather than driving around touring venues with me.”

“If you promise we stop for coffee before the next place, then I’m all good.” He replied, mouth twitching into an awkward half-smile.

You smiled back at him. “I’ll get you all the coffee you want doctor.”

“One is fine Y/N.” Spencer said, the smile on his face widening. “You know there are side effects to having too much caffeine. Anxiety, insomnia, and digestive issues to name a few.”

You couldn't help but roll your eyes. “I’ll repeat that back to you next time we’re working a case and you’re on your fifth cup of coffee in the space of three hours.”

Spencer chuckled lightly at your response. “I guess that’s fair.”

There was a brief moment of silence in which the two of you once again found yourselves simply looking into each others eyes. Blocking off the surroundings. Basking in the comforting warm presence of one another. Something that ever since your dinner date a couple of weeks ago happened more often than it probably should have.

The brunette doctor enjoyed these seconds. To him, they were pure bliss. To him, these moments of uninterrupted silence said more than either of you could ever say with words. Because truth be told Spencer was afraid to talk around you in case he ever said too much.

Which is why he only agreed to tag along today because Garcia was supposed to be here. As the maid of honour she volunteered to join you today since your fiancé couldn't make it. So when Spencer approached the car this morning, noticing immediately how the passenger seat was empty, he half wanted to turn back. He only stayed because of the promise he made your dad.

Although, he really was going to have to be careful not to slip up and reveal something he probably shouldn't.

After what seemed like eternity, you tilted your head and looked away. Palms of your hands sweating inside your jacket pockets. Heart beating fast. The cold air no longer a nuisance.

Unknown to the brunette doctor you also quite liked these silent moments. But unlike Spencer, you always felt incredibly guilty afterward. As if you were being dishonest and misleading somehow; rather your heart was.

With an inaudible sigh, you began making your way toward the entrance.

“Come on doctor, maybe they’ll have coffee here.” You called out after you, and shortly Spencer was by your side once again.

The venue was beautiful. You had only stepped in the door and already you were mesmerised. Even though the space was currently empty, you had no trouble at all visualising what you hoped it would look like on your big day. From the colour scheme, to the flowers, and the decorations.

“I am so glad you made it Y/N!” The wedding planner, Gina, appeared as you were basking in your surroundings. She hugged you briefly before turning her attention to Spencer. “And this must be the infamous Ethan.”

“Oh actually, no.” You cut in before Spencer could say anything. Gina glanced at you once again, one brow raised. “Ethan couldn't make it.” You advised with a timid smile. “This is Spencer.”

Gina nodded slowly. She looked at Spencer, and as she was eyeing him up you were hoping that she wouldn't recognise the name. See you have known Gina for some time now. You had initially reached out to her about a year and a half ago when you were hoping to marry the very young doctor stood beside you.

“Well, Spencer it’s nice to meet you.” She spoke, flashing him a pearly white smile. “I’m Gina, the wedding planner.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Gina.” Spencer responded, returning the smile. You could tell he was feeling slightly uncomfortable being mistaken by your fiancé, and you took a mental note to apologise for that in the car.

“Shall we get started?” Gina asked, turning her attention to you. “Lead the way.” You replied.

About an hour later the tour had concluded. You made plans to meet Gina at the next venue and after getting the exact address from her, you and Spencer ambled back to the car.

“What did you think?” You asked while hopping inside the vehicle.

“I liked it.” Spencer responded while fastening his seatbelt. You shot him a quick glance before securing your own strap. He smiled at you. “What?” “Just checking if you’re lying.” Spencer laughed at your response. “And am I?” You shook your head. “No. It appears you are telling the truth.”

You turned to look ahead before starting the engine. Soon the two of you were on the road.

“I think it’s more important if you liked it.” Spencer spoke. “I loved it.” “Why do I sense a but.” Spencer enquired with a soft laugh. You giggled. “But I don’t think Ethan would’ve liked it.” “Ah.”

“You can say it.” You retorted. “What?” Spencer asked. “That he’s not here so he shouldn’t get a say.” From the corner of his eye, Spencer noticed how your grip around the wheel tightened ever so slightly.

“I’d never say that.” He replied.

“Now that was a lie doctor.”

There was a brief moment of silence.

You sighed. “He promised me he’d be here. Just like he promised he wouldn't get called to work during our engagement party.” You stopped the car at a red light and glanced glanced at Spencer who was already looking at you. “So you can say it. Heck, I’m fucking thinking it.”

Spencer swallowed. He knew he shouldn't get involved. At least more than he already was. He knew he shouldn't indulge you. And he definitely knew that he shouldn't try to steer you away from Ethan. Because even though he really wanted to win you back, he knew that was unfair to you.

So Spencer was glad the light turned green and your attention was back on the road before he got a chance to respond.

“You know what was odd?” He said, quickly changing the subject. “What?” You asked. “How Gina didn't try to shake my hand when we met.” He noted, and immediately you bit your bottom lip. Fuck. You didn't realise it then. How could you have not realised? It means that she recognised the name and remembered how you told her he was a germaphobe.

“She must have just been eager to get going to be honest.” You lied calmly.

Spencer didn't buy your excuse. “I don’t think that’s it.” He said, trying to get a reaction out of you. “It’s almost as if she knew not to shake my hand.”

“Honestly Spencer, I wouldn't read too much into it.” You countered. “I mean we are on a tight schedu-.”

“Why are you lying to me Y/N?” He interrupted causing the air to hitch in your throat. “Just like you know when I’m not being truthful Y/N, I can also tell when you’re lying and you’re doing so right now.”

There was no point evading him any longer. Spencer was stubborn, almost as stubborn as you, and he wasn't going to stop pressing on the matter. Plus it was time he knew the truth. After all this time, he deserved to know the truth.

Taking a deep breath, you pulled the car over on the side of the road and cut the engine. You turned to look at the brunette doctor who was already looking at you.

“Do you remember the last time I visited you in prison?” You asked, your voice so timid you weren't even sure Spencer heard you. But he did. And he nodded his head slowly. “Of course I do. It was one of the worst days of my life.” He responded, and you could detect the hurt in his sentence.

“Well, uhh-” You cleared your throat. Here goes nothing. “That day I came to see you I actually, eh, well I-I wanted to ask if you’d marry me.”

Spencer was taken aback by your admission. A puzzled expression spread across his face as his mouth parted in shock. He searched his mind for what words to say but nothing seemed quite right. You wanted to marry him? The day he broke your heart by ending things with you so abruptly, you wanted to propose? He couldn't believe it.

Of course you sensed that he had trouble with wrapping his brain around this, like you knew he would, so you continued.

“Spencer, I loved you so much and just like the rest of the team I knew in my heart you were innocent. I knew it was only a matter of time before you would get out.” Tears began forming in your eyes and the lump in your throat grew larger with every passing second.

“When you were locked away, and our life together was taken away from us without warning, I realised I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my days with you.” The salty droplets began trailing down your cheeks and along your jawline. Spencer wanted to reach out and wipe them but he couldn't bring himself to move an inch. He was completely frozen.

“But between trying to clear your name, working the normal caseload, and honestly trying to get out of bed every fucking morning, I needed help to planning what I wanted to be the most perfect day.” You paused to take a quick breath. “Which is why I hired Gina.”

“Why didn't you say anything?” Spencer asked quietly after a moment of silence. An uneasy yet somewhat freeing silence.

“You broke up with me Spencer.” You replied. “That day I came to visit you, before I could even finish saying ‘Hi Spencer, I missed you.’, you ended things.”

“Y/N...” He whispered, and without thinking he took your hands in his. “And I know you remember what happened after that so I’m sure you can figure out why I didn't tell you sooner.” You added, corner of your lips twirling into a half-smile. Spencer squeezed your hands and let out a deep sigh.

“If I-” The brunette agent began but you shook your head to cut him off. “I know you only ended things to protect me Spencer.” You freed your hands from his grasp and gently cupped his cheek. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that he leaned into your touch.

“Which is why I was never angry with you, why I never resented you. I cannot take back the words I said to you that day but you have to understand it was all the initial shock considering I thought I would be leaving the prison with a fiancé and not completely heartbroken.”

You let your hand fall from Spencer’s face and ran your fingers through your hair. You cleared your throat.

“I hope this doesn't change anything between us.” You muttered. “Because I like where we are now, and I would hate-” This time it was Spencer who cut you off. “You have nothing to worry about Y/N.” He said with a timid smile.

“Thank you for telling me.” Spencer added.

“It was time you knew.”

You smiled at him warmly one last time before turning your attention back to the wheel. You started the engine once again and within minutes you were back on the road.

The two of you drove in congenial silence. As you focused on the directions ahead, feeling grateful that the brunette doctor was understanding, Spencer’s mind raced.

He couldn't help but wonder where the two of you would be now if he hadn't been so rash - married, maybe with a child by now. He shook the thought away, it hurt too much.

Of course back then he did what he thought was the right thing to do. He was suspicious that whoever was framing him would come after you, and he knew he couldn't risk that. He would never risk anything bad happening to you. In the end his suspicions were proved correct when Cat and Lindsey kidnapped his mom. And when that happened you were there for him in unimaginable ways, you didn't leave his side for a minute.

He should have begged for your forgiveness the second the whole ordeal was over. He should have fought harder to win you back, especially since it didn't take long for him to admit he only broke up with you to protect you. Truthfully, he was a coward. He thought perhaps you wouldn't take him back after the hurtful things that were said.

After all this time, he learned that you only really said what you said because you thought Spencer was the love of your life.

“I would have said yes.” The brunette doctor whispered.

Stopping at a red light, you turned your head to look at him. A confused look gracing your facial features. Spencer cleared his throat before nervously meeting your gaze.

“I would have said yes.” He spoke louder. Now you definitely heard him.

“Spencer...”

“I know it doesn't matter now, but in case you ever wondered what I would have said if you got to ask me back then.” He paused. “I would have said yes.”

“You don’t have to say that.” You muttered with a soft smile. “I’m not just saying it Y/N. I really mean it.” He emphasised and your heart skipped a beat.

The thought that crossed your mind next was incredibly wrong. The sudden pull you felt toward the man sitting beside you was inappropriate, misguided even, however it was there. You wanted to kiss him. You really wanted to kiss him.

Perhaps if you knew that Spencer wanted to kiss you too, you would have leapt across from your seat to smash his lips against yours. To tangle your fingers in his hair, cradle his lap, feel his hands travel up your back and hold you close.

But you didn't know. So you hesitated. And as you hesitated, you were promptly brought back to reality by the car behind you. The beeping of the horn signalised the lights had turned green and it was time to move along.

With a timid smile, you broke eye contact and began to drive.

Heavy-sitting silence enveloped around you. Spencer noticed immediately the slight change in your demeanour but he chose not to comment on it.

See, just seconds ago the brunette agent noticed a look in your eyes that he hasn't seen since you were dating. A look of devotion, amity. A look that burned the hope inside of him even more.

An image formulated in his brain. Image of you walking down the aisle in a beautiful white dress, him standing at the end of the alter while your dad gives you away, both of you tearing up. It was foolish, yes. Spencer should have known better than to hold out hope that one day that image would become reality but he couldn't help it.

And as the image became more vivid, the pain he felt in his heart grew stronger. Knowing that one day you wanted to be his forever, and now he was helping you tour venues for a wedding he didn't want to happen. The perfect image came crumbling down. Reality hit.

No matter how much he wanted it, you weren't his anymore.

Keep thinking about us and how things get in between But if it is love, it doesn't matter, you don't belong to me But I can't let go

A/N: hello friends! i hope you liked the fourth chapter!! i’d love to hear your feedback and what you think will happen next! if you would like to be added to a taglist, please let me know. thank you for your continuous support. with love, mal. x

story taglist: @girloncorneliastreet, @haylaansmi, @rexorangecouny, @l0ve-0f-my-life, @obsssedwithjustaboutanything, @aperrywilliams, @sassy-hades, @rainsong01, @reverdevivre, @dracomikaelson, @softieekayy, @lunaofcrows, @andrewhoezierbyrne

spencer reid taglist: @no-honey-no, @calm-and-doctor, @idroppedmygourd

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bugsy-maria · 3 years

Text

Destial (Cass x Reader)

Ok, I know that the title is misleading but this is about one-sided love.

(Y/N)'s POV

"What if he doesn't like me back?" Cass said pacing back and forth at the foot of my bed.

"There is no need to worry, Cass," I said getting up from my bed and over to him. I grabbed his hands, making him stop. "He loves you so much I know he does, anyone would be lucky to have you. you are so amazing and perfect every day," I said looking into the electric blue eyes that I loved so much.

"But what if-"

"There is no what if, if he says no then he's the one missing out. but the probability of him saying no is nonexistent. ok?" I still held his hands.

"Ok," he said back.

"You ready?" I looked at him more intently.

"I think so."

"Well, you better because it's now or never," I said smiling and walking to the door. the angel following. we both made our way to the library. we saw only Dean in there doing something on his computer. sam would have been there too but he had a date tonight that would go into the wee hours of the night. I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned to see Cass staring at me before saying,

"I think I should do this alone, you can wait in the kitchen."

"Of course! remember what we practiced ok?" I smiled

"Of course."

"Go get 'em, tiger!" I gave a closed-eyed smile and patted him on the back. I opened my eyes to see the love of my life walk off to someone else. he looked over his shoulder and I gave a thumbs up in response. once he turned away I walked to the kitchen.

it was about 5 minutes later when I heard a crash from the library. I jolted up and ran down the hall to see Castiel's shiny blue eyes and the shadows of his wings on the wall.

"Dean go!" I shouted, I grabbed an angel blade from a drawer as dean left the bunker.

"You said that he wouldn't say no." I heard Cass' low monotone voice.

"I know but-"

"You lied to me."

"Castiel I know I lied but I did it for good reason. I gave you hope yes but it was better for you to ask him with confidence or ask him scared. now calm down before someone gets hurt!" I shouted walking to him with the blade at my side. I wasn't going to stab him, it was for insurance.

"Well he would have said no either way!" he shouted, turning to me and throwing books in my direction. I knelt over after getting hit over and over again.

"Exactly! there's no use in crying over spilled milk Cass! there is nothing you could have done." he flung the weapons display causing knives to fly at me. I screamed in pain when a knife stabbed me in the shoulder.

I did what I didn't want to do but it was obvious that he wasn't going to calm down anytime soon. I light my lighter and threw it on the holy oil circle we made months ago when we thought Michael was going to come after us. I walked over to the wall and leaned against a bookshelf. I grab my shoulder, hoping to stop some of the blood loss.

"Cass you need to calm down," I grunted

"It's easy for you to say," he mumbled, his wings now gone but his eyes still glowing a bit.

"I know how you feel Cass, but trust me when I say that you have the easy rejection."

"You don't know anything!" he shouted, staring at me, mad and not caring that he had stabbed me.

"It's a good thing he said no. if he said yes, your whole relationship would have been one-sided, and trust me you don't want that. the first real love of my life I dated for a bit. a month before he broke up with me and left me for my friend. and during that whole month, I blamed myself for him feeling bad because I loved him so much I thought that if I was the one feeling bad then he could be happy. and when we dated again I loved him so much but I also knew that if he didn't love me anymore, he'd break up with me. I knew that the relationship was one-sided so I spent that month I had with him happy but in pain. so trust me you have the easy fix." I looked at him the whole time, tears leaving my eyes, not from the pain of the knife but the pain of the memories.

his eyes dimmed and he visibly relaxed.

"Now if you promise to be calm we can work through it. we can go see a movie, or even stay in and watch tv all day and never leaving your bed. you can cry all you want and I'll be there for you and you'll soon be out and about in no time. it'll be ok, and I'm not lying this time." I got up and walked to the ring of fire.

"That sounds nice." a sad smile spread across his face.

"Ok." I grabbed a bottle of water from the table and poured it onto the fire. I went up to him and hugged him. it hurt like hell because of the knife on my arm but I didn't care. I just wanted him to be happy again. I felt him snake his arm around me. we stood like that for some time before I felt the knife get pulled from my arm, but was soon healed.

"Sorry for hurting you," he mumbled when I let go, still holding onto his hand.

"No need, want to go into hiding now?" I looked into his blue orbs that looked at the ground. with a quiet 'yes' we were on our way. we spent weeks in his room watching all of the stupid tv shows that were on Netflix. he cried all that he could and I was there for him the whole way.

"How do you know how to comfort me in this situation if you never been through it before," he mumbled into my chest, about two daying into the third week.

"Sam did the same thing with me when I found out that the person I loved didn't love me back." I smiled while petting his hair.

"Did you ever tell them that you loved them?"

"No, but they told me that they loved someone else and wanted my help to tell them."

"I'm sorry." he sniffled

"No, it's not your fault you loved someone else." I smiled. "But that's what love makes you do, you let them go so they could be happy. cause at the end of the day, it's not being with them that makes you happy, it's seeing them being happy. wether it's with you or not."

"Thank you."

"Of course." I kissed the top of his head, resting my head on the bedboard, closing my eyes.

#x reader #spn #spn fanfiction #destiel #castiel #one sided #angst #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #dean x cas #angst fanfic #castiel x reader #castiel x y/n #castiel x dean #x you #x y/n #xreader #reader insert #spn reader insert

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clumsytornado · 3 years

Text

ML HM SIDE NINO AU

(Yes I know the title sucks but I'll think of something better)

Nino felt lonely.

This is the 12th time Alya has ditched him and he's exhausted of listening to her excuses about how she has to babysit her sisters when she doesn't have to.

He knows she's lying to him. He went to suprise her at her house and found Nora with the twins and Nora clearly confused since she thought Alya was with him.

He's not confronted her as of yet because she probably has a good reason for it. What makes it worse is Adrien isn't free to hang out with him either.

Or so he says.

Nino isn't stupid and Paris isn't large. It's easy to spot a blonde model talking to a certain bluenette( Not Marinette). Nino's happy Adrien has a friend in Kagami, he just wishes Adrien could tell him that instead of lying which Adrien does really well.

The lies flow smoothly out of his best friend's tongue just as easy as it was to breathe. Nino's seen him lie and honestly Adrien can convince anyone about anything. It's terrifying and amazing at the same time.

Sometimes it even fools Nino. Sometimes.

Ironically he doesn't even know if Adrien is dating Kagami and he's his best friend. He doesn't even know how to ask Adrien about it and shouldn't Adrien tell him about it?

After a week of overthinking about it he finally decides to ask Adrien about it when Alya of all people tells him that Adrien and Kagami broke up.

And he didn't even know they were dating.

He wonders why Adrien doesn't tell him. He wonders if Adrien is even affected by it because if you see the smile on his face, you'll be fooled.

He did ask Adrien about it but he said it was fine and brushed him away.

Nino had to admit it hurt but he understood, Adrien needs his own space and anyway Nino blames Gabriel Agreste for it.

Gabriel Agreste.

Nino doesn't know where to start but he knows if he does, he risks getting akumatised and he doesn't want that to happen again, not after last time.

Alya told him about a him being a sentimonster and how his senti self would have done something had it not been for Ladybug's quick thinking.

What's bad is the fact that Hawkmoth knows his identity and he used him to get to Ladybug. He won't blame Ladybug for not trusting him again.

Maybe that's why Alya is avoiding him. She's afraid.

It's the worst thought Nino could have had. He still doesn't even understand the sentimonster concept. And how does Hawkmoth have 2 miraculouses? It's confusing and depressing at the same time.

He pushes all these emotions down and listens to his music, while on the bridge. He cannot risk getting akumatised. He is done letting people down.

That's before he spots Rena Rouge and LB on the roof of a nearby building. It's suprising how close they've become or how Rena joins for every villain fight or the fact that Alya keeps lying to him eventhough he knows her identity.

He frowns before noticing a presence behind him.

He turns only to find Chat Noir looking at the duo on the roof as well.

Looks like he's not the only one who's been mislead nowdays.

"Hey Chat Noir", he greets the hero in black.

"Oh hi you're Nino right, the DJ?"

Nino doesn't know whether to be insulted that even after so many encounters Chat Noir isn't sure he's Nino or to be complimented by the fact that Chat remembers he is a DJ.

"Yep I'm the guy who makes music. So what's the hero of Paris doing talking with me and not by Ladybug's side?" he asks curious to know the answer.

"Aah well Ladybug kind of defeated the akumatised villain before I arrived so I guess i have free time now", he replies hand behind on his neck and laughing weakly.

Nino can see plainly behind his happy face. He's clearly upset but pretending not to be. Hmmmm reminds him of someone.

Chat's looking back at the fox and bug duo and his smile drops for a second. It's so subtle and lasts for such a shirt time you would miss it if you weren't watching him closely.

Nino can empathise with him and decides that since he's all alone, with Adrien doing something and Alya ditching him (even his brother Chris is on a field trip with his mom) ,he asks Chat if he wants to hang out since he has nothing to do.

He didn't even get to hang out with Chat even when he was Carapace. This might give him a chance to actually talk to the hero without the looming threat of an akuma.

Happily, Chat agrees.

While talking with Chat he figures out they have a lot of interests in common and he even let's Chat to listen to his music which Chat appreciates.

Nino's just so glad to finally have someone to talk to that he doesn't realise he's telling Chat about Alya ditching him( well not the Rena part) and Adrien never showing up.

It's kind of a relief to talk to someone who's not Alya or Adrien about these kind of things because well they wouldn't understand and he doesn't want them to know.

"So this guy Adrien he keeps leaving you hanging", Chat asks his head away from Nino.

"It's not his fault though. It's his father's fault for keeping him cooped up in the swanky mansion all day. I mean the boy needs sunlight" Nino jokes and Chat chuckles at him.

"But really the dude has a schedule of the next 3 years planned out and has absolutely no free time", Nino complains to Chat.

He still has free time to see Kagami and Marinette and anyone else who isn't you.

He pushes that thought down. No he is not doing that right now.

"I think all you have to do is talk to your friend about it. Things will go back to normal in no time" Chat replies enthusiastically.

Nino wished he shared Chat's optimism because he didn't.

"It's not just that. It's the fact that even if I do ask him something, he'll find a way to deflect the question and continue talking about some other topic. What makes it worse is his this extraordinary ability to lie. It even fools me! And what makes it even worser is that he has to lie to me! I don't know why he has to lie to me, I would support him throughout anything. I'm his best friend. If he can't trust me with his secrets, who can he trust?"

Nino didn't mean to rant but once he started, he couldn't stop and saying it out loud that Adrien didn't trust him, it made him feel more depressed. And that once joyful atmosphere created by Chat's presence deflated.

"It can't be that bad", Chat said, but even he seemed worried and a bit sad.

"I'm sorry for all of that. I shouldn't have said it", Nino sighed his head in his hands.

"Don't sweat it", Chat replied before the shriek of the ring beeping caused both of them to jump.

"Seems like I have to go. Nice talking to you Nino and don't feel bad about it okay", he said it so gently and kindly Nino could almost believe him.

In the distance he saw Alya walking to their agreed meeting spot and she was smiling.

He has to confront her. After all that talking with Chat he has to.

Alya's face beamed when she saw him. His didn't.

"Hey Nino."

"Alya."

"Wait you didn't say hey to me, is there something wrong", she worried looking at him and checking if he had a fever.

"Yes there is, you're an hour late for our date for the twelfth time", he sighed, upset and angry.

"Well you know the twins were-"

He interrupted her before she continued to make up her fictional lie.

"Cut the crap Alya, I saw Rena on the roof with Ladybug. If you didn't want me to find out you shouldn't have gone to a roof where everyone can see you", he cried out.

"Oh ummmm well" she stammered.

That's when he saw it.

The miraculous.

She had it with her. She didn't give it back to Ladybug.

"Alya why do you have your fox necklace?"he asks with dread.

Alya froze.

Alya never froze.

"I-I-I " she kept stammering, her eyes never looking at his face.

He let her go on waiting patiently for an explanation.

"I couldn't trust you."

She whispers it so sofly you would think that you were hearing things.

Nino stopped breathing.

If your girlfriend of 2 and a half years and your best friend cannot trust you, who will?

Nino should be angry or upset or even screaming but he's just disappointed in himself.

He can't blame Alya for it. After that recent episode of sentinino he wouldn't trust himself either.

"I'm sorry I keep lying to you but I can't telk you everything because it's too dangerous. Afther what happened last time and then even Ladybug and now Hawkmoth knows and it's so complicated"

She goes on frantically but all Nino hears is that she couldn't trust him and on top of that Adrien doesn't either.

He needs to get away. He needs to be alone.

"Sorry Alya, I -I need to go" he says quickly and turns around to get away. Away from this situation and away from these negative thoughts.

He hears her calling out to him but she doesn't follow him and maybe that's for the better really.

But seems like luck just isn't on his side.

He sees him.

Adrien

Who is supposed to be in a fencing class.

Nino calms himself down and decides not to overthink. The simplest thing is that the class got canceled or ended early or something.

Just to be sure, Nino sends Adrien a text asking him if he's free now.

Nino observes as Adrien receives the text, frowns as he reads it, and sends a reply and puts the phone back.

Nino looks at his own phone just to see that Adrien replied that he's still at his fencing class.

Adrien lied to him.

Nino wants the ground to gulp him whole.

He's not even angry at Alya and Adrien. He's angry at himself for making them not trust him. He's a terrible friend and a boyfriend.

As all those painful emotions and negative thoughts that he pushed down come rushing above and make him feel even worse.

He's so consumed by the self hate that he doesn't see the akuma coming.

Here you go @marichat-ninoir-for-life

#ml #ml fanfic #nino lahiffe #chat noir #alya cesaire #ml au

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thomaslightwood · 3 years

Text

Blackthorn Detective Agency - Part 2

Part 1 || Ao3 || Masterlist

This is the KitTy Sherlock AU! (Just changed its name with something more like a fic's title)

It’s set in 1930s, slow burn & will have a few parts!

Words: 3 024

Ty rubbed his fingertips on the frame. It was old, its angels were soft.

“Peru, 1890,” he read at the bottom of the photo. “This photograph is from more than 40 years ago.”

Which wasn’t unusual for a warlock - they lived for centuries. To keep photos from 40 years ago was logical. But why was this the only thing in this flat that was actually… personal?

“It's the only personal piece here,” Kit said. Ty almost smiled - they had the exact same thought. “Probably in the whole flat, except the Spanish books.”

“You have a point,” Ty agreed. Between the pages of that book were papers with conjugated verbs in Spanish. Someone had written them there and Ragnor had copied them. That’s why Ty knew this wasn’t Ragnor’s handwriting on the photo. “But this is not his-”

A sharp sound interrupted him. It was the front door. Someone was trying to break it. Not as good at it as Kit, Ty noticed.

They had no time to worry too much. Ty grabbed Kit by the hand, opened the wood door with the other that was still holding the frame and dragged them both inside.

Ty was conscious he overstepped in Kit's personal space but a moment later they heard how the stranger broke the lock and their steps as they came inside.

The room was small and extremely dark. Ty couldn't see anything and he didn't have the space to draw a rune on himself about it. And he actually didn't have his stele in him. The bigger problem - the room was unknown to them. He was worried if they moved too much they'd make noise and would be exposed.

He heard or rather felt how Kit's breath fastened. Was he claustrophobic? Was it a bad idea to bring them in this small room?

Ty heard the slow steps as they were wandering around the room. They were coming dangerously close to the bedroom.

This was probably inappropriate and Ty didn't know if it would help at all but he must try. He carefully raised a hand and hurried it in Kit's hair. He dragged him closer to Ty until Kit's head was in Ty's neck.

He squeezed a little and Kit pressed against Ty. They both hold into each other in the sea of darkness, trying not to lose balance.

Ty was hearing the stranger's step in the room. They murmured something angrily. Ty was barely breathing. If they heard him and Kit in the closet…

A loud shatter interrupted his thoughts. Ty recognized it was a man's voice by the angry murmur.

For a few more minutes he walked around the apartment, like he… he was searching for something. And he couldn't find it. Eventually the man breathed out heavily and opened the door, not bothering to shut it quietly after himself.

They waited a few more minutes, just to be safe. Then Ty carefully let go of Kit and opened the door. The sudden light hurt his eyes so he squinted for a while to get used to it.

The bed was untouched but Ty couldn't say the same about the living room. There were books on the floor, the table was inverted.

“He was searching for something,” Kit quietly said as he carefully grabbed a book from the floor. Was Ty imagining it or his face was a little flushed?

“Yes,” Ty agreed. He was still holding the frame with the photo. “But what? Could it possibly be this?” He handed the frame to Kit.

Kit took it and shrugged. “Maybe. But why is one old photo important?”

More questions. Even though they were in the very beginning and everything was unclear, Ty felt the thrill every new case evoked in him. The burning curiosity that tickled his insides, the thirst to know everything about the subject.

“I think we should go,” Kit said. He took the photo off the frame and put it in the pocket of his coat. “They may return or a neighbor heard the noise.”

Kit had a point, Ty thought but there was something that made him feel uneasy.

Kit was heading for the door but Ty slowed down before leaving the flat. He looked around once more. The books on the floor, the almost empty shelves and the open door to the bedroom. Ty grabbed one list with Spanish verbs and closed the door after himself.

After this they went to the train station. It was surprisingly hard to find the schedule for the trains from a few days ago.

The guy they talked with wasn't happy about it. Kit could see he just wanted to enjoy his lunch. And probably was tempted to call the security to throw them out.

But then Ty pulled out cash and the man was suddenly more friendly.

Ty didn't talk much nor did he look man in the eyes. Kit was feeling like he just wanted to get the information as fast as possible.

After the man was gone for a few minutes he returned with paper with what they asked for.

“Thank you very much,” Kit said as Ty put the list in the inside of his coat. “We appreciate your help.”

The man murmured something and sat heavily on his chair, finally able to eat.

“That was smart,” Ty said as they came out on the street, waiting to catch a taxi.

“What?” Kit asked.

“To ask for the people who worked on the train that day. I didn't think about it.”

“It's nothing, really. I was just thinking about what I can do to help yesterday.”

The truth was Kit just wanted to be useful. Part of him was afraid if Ty noticed Kit wasn't doing anything he would fire him. He probably wasn't as good as Sherlock but he could understand how a criminal thinks. What they may have missed.

“I assume you already know because you're good at what you do, but,” Kit said. “People are important. They witness, tell, see and do crimes. They... they are the driving machine. Evidence is important but a person is the key. So I just thought about what people we can talk with.”

There was something thoughtful in Ty's expression as he watched Kit's cheek. “I'm not quite sure I agree.”

Before Kit could answer, a taxi stopped in front of them.

As soon as Ty told the driver the direction, Kit said “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don't you agree with me?”

“Well,” Ty said and the thoughtful look returned on his face. “It's true a person is the subject that commits the crime. But people… they are not what they appear to be. They're often hard to understand and you can't be sure who they are. They lie. And have inaccurate memories and sometimes are too afraid to tell the truth and to help. What I'm trying to say is that they're too often an unreliable source. While evidence… it's unchangeable on its own. Oneself is true to the very end. It's up to you to interpret how it fits in the whole picture. If it's wrong, it's your mistake. You're the only one to blame. While a person's words… you can't control that. Or trust it enough to interpret it rightfully.“

Ty stopped for a second, looking outside the taxi's window.

“What I'm trying to say is that a person can mislead you. Evidence never does.”

Kit was silent. The taxi pulled over in front of a small cafe, nestled between two clothing shops. Taki's Diner .

Kit remembered this was the name of the place Katarina and Ragnor met.

“We are going to question the employees?”

“Not quite,” Ty said simply and headed towards the restaurant. Kit followed, curiously looking at the surroundings.

There weren't many people. It was still early and most of them seemed sleepy. There were Downworlders as well as mundanes. Kit spotted a warlock with fully orange eyes flirting with a pale girl, probably a vampire.

There was also a mundane man who was reading a newspaper and murmured something to himself.

Ty headed at one table on the back, a bit hidden from the rest. The tables around it were empty. From the radio quietly came a Louis Armstrong's song. Kit smiled at that. He loved jazz.

Ty and Kit sat on the table. Kit took off his coat and cap.

A faerie waitress appeared in front of them and smiled. She was a short blonde who had two many bracelets on her arms.

“Hello gentlemen,” she smiled at them. “Here are your menus - look at it, choose a meal and I'll come to take your order.”

“Thank you,” Kit smiled at her. She winked in return and headed towards another table.

He returned his eyes on Ty. He had taken off his coat. It was carefully placed on the third chair on the table. He was looking around the cafe, touching the corners of his menu.

“If we're not here to interview the staff,” Kit said. “What are we here for?”

“To watch,” Ty said simply. “Observe. Talk with the regular clients.”

Kit looked around again, looking for something else this time. A woman who Kit immediately recognized as faerie sat on a table, crossed her legs and took out a book from her bag.

The waitress returned after a few minutes.

“Are you ready?” She had a notebook and pencil in her hands.

Kit hesitated. He didn't want to spend too much money but nothing here was too expensive.

“Onion omelet for me.”

“Chipped potatoes please.”

She hurriedly wrote their orders down and smiled again. “Is that all?”

“Yes, thank you,” Ty said.

“Actually,” Kit said suddenly. Ty quickly looked at him but didn't say anything. He looked at the waitress pin with her name. “Nancy, right? My friend and I were wondering about something and it would be amazing if you can help us.”

“Of course,” she said and curiosity burned in her eyes. They were very blue.

“We thought a friend of ours arrived in the city a few days ago. He tends to like this place and we were wondering if he was here a few days ago perhaps?”

“What is he like?” she asked.

Kit took out the photo from Peru of Ragnor and his friends.

She took and Kit could see on her face she recognized someone in the photo. She nodded enthusiastically.

“I have seen two of these people! The man with the white hair. He was here around three days ago with the woman.”

“Can you tell us something… unusual you noticed about them?”

The waitress - Nancy - shrugged.

“The usual warlocks. They stayed for an hour or two and then left. At the end of my shift he returned though.”

“Really?” Kit said casually, like he was merely curious for a friend. “Was he alone?” Then he leaned forward a little and said more quietly with a playful smile. “We suspect he may hide a lover from us.”

The faerie chuckled. “I don't know sweetheart. When I was leaving he just sat on a table. I left before seeing anything. You can ask my friend Lizzy. She was the one who took his order.”

“Oh. When can we find her?” Kit asked.

“She starts at 11 p.m. Earlier if it's cloudy.”

She must be a vampire , Kit thought.

“Thank you so much,” Kit smiled at her one more time. “We deeply appreciate it.”

“You're welcome,” she chuckled again and left them alone.

Kit turned to Ty and caught him watching him.

“You see?”

Ty looked confused. “See what?”

“People are useful. You need witnesses.”

Unexpectedly, Ty smiled. It warmed up something in Kit's chest.

“I have never said I don't.”

“But you hinted at it.”

“I did not,” Ty said. Without taking his eyes off Kit he reached to his coat and pulled off his notebook. “I stated that people are often misleading.”

“But when I said people are important for a case, you said you're not sure you agree.”

“You also said a person is the key. With which I'm not sure I agree. I didn't say a person can't or isn't important.”

Kit exhaled. Damn , he thought. He is good.

“Good. You win. This time.”

Ty shook his head with a smile. He started to write something on the open notebook in front of him. Probably the information the faerie told them.

After a few minutes their meals arrived. Onion omelet and chipped potatoes. Ty barely looked at his food. At some point he finished writing and took the fork for the potatoes.

“So,” Kit said after swallowing a bite from the omelet. “If you're Sherlock Holmes then who am I?”

“What do you mean?” Ty glanced at him.

“Well,” Kit slowly cut out another bite from his food. “You and Livvy are a team. And you're Sherlock. I can't be a Sherlock with you. I'm not her. So I probably need another name.”

“Good point,” Ty said. He looked thoughtful while he chewed. “How do you wanna be called then?”

Kit was caught off guard a little. He expected Ty to dismiss it or leave it for later.

“I haven't thought about it,” Kit admitted and slowly moved an omelet piece from one side of the plate to the other.

“We can think about it later,” Ty said. “My sister can help us with that.”

“You mean Livvy?”

“No,” Ty said, looking around the restaurant. “My other sister, Dru.”

Kit blinked at him. “How many siblings do you have?”

“Three sisters and three brothers,” Ty said and took a potato piece in his mouth.

“Whoa,” Kit said, forgetting the food in front of him. “Big family.”

“Indeed.”

Kit wondered what it would be like to have so many relatives. So many brothers and sisters. People close to you, to thrust, to be sure they would have your back.

His father's voice rang in his head. And more people to run away with. Harder to get away. Harder to live with.

The food's taste in Kit's mouth turned into ash. He lost his appetite. Carefully left on the fork and the knife in the plate.

Ty didn't seem to notice Kit's inner thought for which he was glad.

“The woman,” Ty said quietly. “The one faerie that sat after we came. She's a regular.”

“How would you know?” unconsciously, Kit leaned forward to hear what Ty had to say.

“Nancy, the waitress, didn’t ask her for her order. She even didn’t give her a menu. She directly put a coffee and a muffin in front of her. And the woman called Nancy by name - they know each other.”

“Impressive,” Kit murmured inattentively. “So, you want to talk with her?”

“Well,” Ty shrugged. “A few minutes ago - yes. Now, when we know Ragnor was here at nighttime, at the end of Nancy’s shift, I’m not sure she’d be useful.”

Kit rose up. “Let's find out.”

After a few minutes in which Kit started a conversation with her about borrowing the salt, he returned to their table with a salt shaker. He signed, disappointed.

“Nothing,” Kit said. “She had no idea what I'm talking about. And thought I'm just flirting with her.”

“Were you?”

“What?” Kit blinked.

“Flirting with her,” Ty said, not taking his eyes off the notebook in front of him.

“Well,” Kit felt a little uncomfortable. “Yes, I kind of did. But it was just for the sake of the case. I'm not… interested in her that way.”

Ty glanced at Kit's face for a few seconds then returned to writing in his notebook. Kit didn't notice. He was suddenly anxious that Ty would think of him as a flirting careless man.

“Sometimes,” Kit started, carefully picking his words. “I flirt with people to get what I want. When I was in my early teens - to get away with something.”

Ty curiously gave him a glance.

“Did you have to do it often?”

“Well,” Kit said thoughtfully. “No, no that often. But I did it anyway. I… I think I liked to give strangers pieces of me that are… safe to give. And gender doesn't matter to me anyway.” Nothing too personal. Nothing long. Only a flirt, a few minutes of other people's time. The only kind of relationship Kit could afford.

“I can see why people like you,” Ty said, rolling the pen in his hands. “You're a rather charming man.”

Kit couldn't help but laugh.

Ty frowned.

“Did I say something out of place?”

Kit shook his head. “No, no. It's just that I don't think I'm charming. Or that people like me . ”

"Charm" was an abstract idea for him. He may pass for good looking but he didn't think of himself as "charming". Charm meant power. It attracted people to you. It made them like you.

Kit didn't make people like him. He let them make an idea for him in their heads and allowed them to believe it. This wasn't a charm. It was lying.

Ty arched an eyebrow.

“Well. I would say I like you,” then he returned his gaze back at his notebook, adding something to the already written text.

His words caught Kit completely off-guard. He was holding his fork and it just levitated in space.

Kit didn't know how to react. No one before had said something like that to him. He knew Ty probably said it to make him feel better. But something made him think Ty Blackthorn didn't say things he doesn't mean.

“Anyway,” Ty said and closed his notebook. “We're done here.”

“Really? What about questioning the waitress Lizzy?”

“We will return here after sunset for this,” Ty said. “But now we can do something more useful with our time.”

Kit felt dread in his stomach. He couldn't stay after dark. Or could he? Would his father notice? He always did.

Should he tell Ty? No, no, he was going to figure something out.

“What are we going to do now?” he asked, hoping Ty didn't notice anything strange.

He looked at the watch on his hand.

“We will meet my sister. Dru.”

To be continued...

#kit herondale #ty blackthorn #kitty #tda #tsc #twp #the dark artifices #the shadowhunter chronicles #the wicked powers #kit rook #dru blackthorn #tsc fanfiction #tsc fanfic #sherlock holmes #sherlock au #sav's writing #my post #tsccreatenet

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ectonurites · 3 years

Text

Conner Kent in Suicide Squad/the Infinite Frontier era: wtf is going on

Alright lads hello I just need to type out some theories/thoughts about what’s going on with my boy Kon right now. This is more for myself than anything else (just trying to organize my thoughts) but since some of y’all like to hear me talk about comics (and some of this discussion has already been happenin in my inbox) I figured i’d format it and put it on here too! its like 4k words and written over the last few days mostly at 3am. sorry <3

this is basically just me going like

Also fair warning that like, I can be wrong and misinterpret things just as much as anyone else can, like I use panels to support why I think what I do but a lot of this stuff is subjective/complicated to understand so like... in general somethings should be taken with a grain of salt, especially because exactly what changes to the universe were made by Death Metal/Infinite Frontier haven’t been super super clearly defined yet. Also sometimes comic writers make the most random nonsensical shit happen, so I as a fan am also allowed to theorize about random nonsensical shit.

But to start: let’s backtrack!

Many months ago when Infinite Frontier was first announced they dropped some promotional art, and I remember being a little confused because. Well:

(Variant Cover spread for Justice League (2018) #59)

(Variant Cover spread for Superman (2018) #29)

Notice how Conner is back to his Teen Titans 2003 look up top, but in his YJ 2019 look at the bottom? This seemed weird to me! But then they announced that Conner would be part of the Suicide Squad ongoing title, in the T-shirt look, so I wrote this discrepancy off in my brain as ‘oh I guess that cover was just the last hurrah for punk Kon’ and moved on with life.

In Suicide Squad right away we learn he’s very much so there against his will:

(Suicide Squad (2021) #1)

Which corroborates more or less what we were also shown in Future State: Suicide Squad, although admittedly it tells... a slightly different version of the events. When I first saw both of these together I just chalked it up to being a bit inaccurate as it’s shown as a memory in Future State:

(Future State: Suicide Squad #2)

Issue 2 we saw him in action with the Squad, trying to do his best to still be a hero despite the team, but things get a little more interesting in the following issue. It starts off with an account of his history

(Suicide Squad (2021) #3)

This page gave me a few immediate red flags, mostly minor things that had to do with coloring, so more irl problems than things to take seriously in-universe (Kon’s pants are the wrong color in the first Superboy shot, and Bart’s Impulse costume is in Kid Flash colors instead of the correct Impulse ones) but then also it just bugged me the phrasing “he joined Young Justice” when he was a founder of the team, he didn’t join it he made it with Tim and Bart.

But again, chalked that stuff up to just.... writers/artists being inconsistent/unaware of things that they should be aware of, or even Nocturna just not being specific with details. But it did still strike me as a little odd considering the very accurate use of villains in those same shots, Scavenger who was a reoccurring bad guy from Kon’s solo days and showed up basically nowhere else (even holding the Spear of Lono and everything!) and Billy/Harm (Greta’s brother) from Young Justice.

But then a few pages later we got this:

(Suicide Squad (2021) #3)

Which is interesting. My first instinct was to think he’s being drugged w kryptonite or something thats leaving him hazy/out of it, but my thoughts on that have kinda changed, we’ll get there in a bit. But in general the context of ‘something’s wrong’ made the slight discrepancies on some details of his own history make more sense.

I also want to then bring up the next part to this story, the crossover issue in Teen Titans Academy.

(Teen Titans Academy #3)

So a few things. Does it feel weird to anyone else that Conner Kent, a known previous Titan who literally has a framed picture of himself in a case there, would set off alarm sensors like that? Wouldn’t he be... recognized as a Titan not an intruder by their sensors? Interesting! Anyways.

He looks really pained looking at that picture, and sad, and almost frustrated, which ya know makes sense and hurts my heart because he misses them! He misses his friends and being happy.

But, importantly for a criticism I wanna make thats less theory related and more just me bein annoyed at Tim Sheridan, that’s a picture of Conner. Right there. That’s Superboy, on display at Teen Titans Academy, so the people who frequent this building would know who he is and what he looks like and be able to recognize him, he’s even in the same outfit and everything. Alinta recognized him at the end of Suicide Squad #3.

So why does only one person during this big fight then comment on his presence?? Why doesn’t it get a bigger reaction???

(Teen Titans Academy #3)

And after the fight we don’t see any on panel moment of Wallace going up to the staff Titans (who weren’t present for the fight) and saying like “HEY NIGHTWING UHHH SUPERBOY WAS WITH THE SUICIDE SQUAD?” we just see him talking with his friends upset about Crush leaving. We see Alinta talking to them but we don’t see the exact dialogue. So I do just wanna take the writer by the shoulders and shake him a little bit and ask WHY because that just feels like... something you’d wanna address on panel! This is like the first time since joining the squad that Kon’s at all in contact with people from his life before Waller got involved, I feel like not addressing those people’s reactions to it/not discussing it at least a little bit on panel (especially when Conner CAME UP in the previous TTA issue, Dick brought him up and everything!!!) is a really odd choice. Maybe it’ll happen next issue and i’m just impatient, but who knows. Anyways, gripes with Sheridan aside, lets move on.

I wanna bring up how Conner... doesn’t really respond to Wallace’s question? At all? Except to just fight him off, not even an attempt at a ‘Sorry’ or anything? (the ‘Ha! That all you got?!’ seems to be coming from Culebra not Conner, although the placement of the bubble is vague enough it could be that it was supposed to be Conner? but it seems more like what she’d say, especially as she’s grabbing Emiko like that) That just feels weird. It feels off. In general he speaks so little in Suicide Squad #3 and this issue. Tbh it almost feels like he doesn’t really recognize Wallace which I mean I suppose they never exactly met (they would have theoretically during Death Metal, basically all past/present Titans were together for a while during that), but Kon’s been back in existing long enough he’d have a sense of who current heroes are anyways.

But right, so, lots of little things that feel weird... that gets us caught up to the most recently released comics... but in this household we look at solicits as they drop. Which gives us some info on what’s coming up a few months ahead of time, albeit without full context obviously. Issues #4 and #5 don’t mention Conner in their descriptions or show him on the covers at all, because there’s just other plot things going on, so ya know seems things will be quiet for him for a bit.

But then we got the August solicitations and oh BOY it’s a doozey for him! And some things start to kinda connect perhaps!

I want to just take a moment to look at that specific wording. “The teen calling himself Conner Kent” I’m probably reading too much into it but that feels deliberate, like why wouldn’t you just say ‘Conner Kent’? Usually these kinds of descriptions are trying to keep a low word count, not add in extra words that don’t need to be there. It makes it feel like that’s a name he’s using that... doesn’t actually belong to him.

So the theory I want to propose (that has been floating around already) is that based on these covers and the description, and how the Conner we’ve been seeing in Suicide Squad apparently talks about his own personal history like he’s ‘reading a wikipedia entry’ and had little response to people he should be aware of like Wallace and apparently isn’t recognized as a Titan through a bio-scan and also bearing in mind those initial promo arts with two separate looks at the same time for him... I think we're looking at a situation where the Conner in Suicide Squad so far has actually been a clone of original Conner (like... like he’s Match 2.0 or somethin) the whole time, that’s just not aware he’s not the original.

Now that’s the base theory I wanna work with and build off of, but there’s MANY different directions that could go in/ways that could work.

For example, one idea is that the Conner we saw in #1 who was chained up is the original Conner, and he’s been being cloned and held captive, so everything else with Conner in Suicide Squad so far has been this Match 2.0

Another idea could be the original Conner in #1 is also the Conner in #2 who Waller had then commented wasn’t ready during the mission in Arkham and had zapped with a lil Kryptonite, and after that moment she took him off the field because his spirit hadn’t been broken enough to be obedient (as he was a lot quieter in Issue #3 & the TTA crossover compared to #2, and #3 is when the Nocturna thing with the history happened)

Or it could even be original Conner in #1, then in #2 was one clone that wasn’t ‘ready’ that after that point she stopped using him, and switched to a diff clone for #3, because like that first cover did show a LOT of clones. That could be more just ‘artistic interpretation’ or something, covers sometimes do exaggerate/mislead, but it also could indicate we’re looking at a lot of clones.

(Suicide Squad (2021) #2)

With all of those in mind I also wanna bring up this little bit from Future State Suicide Squad:

(Future State: Suicide Squad #2)

Again Future State is a ‘possible future’ so stuff from it isn’t set in stone, but the idea of ‘she still has his YJ 2019 outfit somewhere’ makes me think it could be something along the lines of like, Clone!Conner finds original Conner and frees him and he gets back his YJ outfit, which could lead to like the imagery on that variant cover/the idea from my very first part of this post where I was talking about Kon being shown in both outfits in different places.

Alternatively entirely from all that, another option is that she maybe got ahold of what was needed to clone Kon, but doesn’t even have the original Kon in her possession. (again with the Future State thing, she could be lying since elsewhere in Future State we did also see a copy of YJ 2019 Kon’s costume in one of the Jon-focused Future State comics in a display case 🤷‍♂️) Which could also lead to that confrontation on the variant cover & the promo art thing... and could also explain why we have seen nothing about anyone looking for him, because in that sort of scenario he wouldn’t have even been missing in the first place.

There’s a lot of possibilities! It’s still too early to solidly know anything, but I feel pretty confident we’re entering another cloning related plot with our Clone Boy so it’s... ya know. Clone time. On the one hand it’s annoying because god we have done clone/multiple Kons plots before. We’ve done them so much.

BUT on the other hand, I think it could be interesting to use this situation to tie into some older stuff from pre-reboot that I can see some connections to, because due to Infinite Frontier altering the world and people’s memories it’s all technically fair game storytelling-wise again (and like, the use of Scavenger specifically in that flashback way above, who’s not a super well known villain in general, makes me think maaaaybe the writer did do some of their Kon homework)

Something also just dawned on me that i’m not quite sure what it means but still is worth mentioning: The Conner here in Suicide Squad is back in his Teen Titans Vol. 3 outfit, and his history as he tells it stops during Teen Titans Vol. 3. And doesn’t... mention when he died? It feels like it... stopped before that, because like I feel if he was telling his life history (even the wiki version LMAO) the part where he died and came back would be pretty important to bring up?? And Nocturna specifically says that he didn’t explain how that stuff from TT Vol. 3 then led to him in his current situation. That’s a pretty big gap (like uhhh everything from resurrection until he got lost on Gemworld + all the rest of the Young Justice 2019 stuff?) So like.. there could be something funky going on here that has to do with that.

Similarly when he flashes back in Future State: Suicide Squad to his past it also goes right from Teen Titans Vol. 3 to the current Suicide Squad run? Like I get it’s one page so they can’t show that much, but the fact that there’s now two places that flash back to that same specific time period and nothing past it until the Suicide Squad feels just... noticeable! Not concretely indicative of something, but noteworthy.

(Future State: Suicide Squad #2)

Like...this almost has me thinking maybe it could be something where like, they tampered with his dead body and cloned from that? BECAUSE, for those of you who may not be familiar with how Kon’s resurrection (during Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds) worked, when he came back there was time travel involved! He was brought back to life in the future (like. Legion of Superheroes era) because it was a process that took that thousand or so years to work/heal him (essentially because of his hybrid dna the process that healed Clark when he had died back in Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen in the 90s just took a lot longer, but its the same Kryptonian healing chamber thing) meaning when he came back to the present alive again, his dead body was still also in the present just in it’s process of healing. Meaning especially if we’re bringing back stuff from before the reboot, Kon likely has his dead body just vibing out there while he’s goin around living life 🤷‍♂️

SO them doing something related to that could explain the choice to put him back in the T-shirt (since thats what he wore in the era his brain would be caught up to if we’re relating this to when he died) and why he’d recognize himself in a group photo with Bart, Cassie and Tim but maybe not someone like Wallace who didn’t exist back then. I don’t know, this branch of thought is still half baked. Will maybe come back and elaborate on this later. But I’m now really thinking there might be a connection to the early Teen Titans Vol. 3 era specifically because of it being referenced twice in stuff with this Suicide Squad.

ANYWAYS moving on, this is probably a shot in the dark and I only thought of it because I just was reading 90′s Superboy, but right away when thinking about ‘Amanda Waller’ and ‘Cloning Kon’ I was reminded of some stuff about the circumstances around the first clone that was made of Conner: Match.

(Superboy (1994) #35)

Match was created by an organization called ‘The Agenda’, that was after a while primarily under the control of The Contessa, Lex Luthor’s ex-wife, aided by Amanda Spence who had a personal grudge against Kon bc her dad was Paul Westfield the guy Kon was originally cloned from (before the Lex/Clark retcon). They were the big bad guys of an arc called The Evil Factory in Superboy (where Cadmus personnel got replaced with clones) which also then tied into the Sins of Youth event over in Young Justice (Remember how Match was posing as Superboy for a while there? yeah). After those plot lines finished the Agenda was pretty defeated (Amanda Spence was still out there and came back later but still) and... who got their hands on the remaining Agenda tech?

(Superboy (1994) #87)

Why none other than Amanda Waller herself!

If they re-canonized pieces of this (which also tied into Young Justice which ya know, YJ 2019 was all about re-establishing stuff from YJ even before Death Metal happened soooo) it would totally make sense for Waller to have complete access to the exact technology used to clone Conner before.

Now, a thing to consider here though is what happened to Kon after he’d been cloned that first time, where his DNA got all destabilized by the process (and he needed to go through a procedure with Roxy as a genetic template to keep him together, which was how he got stuck at age 16 for a while). This was something where he was fine for a period of time before the side effects began to kick in. Now, I think it’s worth mentioning that was also back in the days where he was not yet Lex & Clark’s clone, but still Paul Westfield’s. So there could easily be a ‘now that certain Kryptonian genes have kicked in as he got his newer powers it doesn’t destabilize him the same way’ reasoning or something along those lines to avoid this problem. Alternatively, it could be an interesting thing to embrace rather than retcon away, especially if we’ve been seeing Clone Conner in action and Original Conner hasn’t been in our focus, things could be wrong with him that we just don’t know about.

Another branch of thinking that I think is even MORE a shot in the dark but could be interesting (or again even related to what I just said, could be a combo of things) is if this somehow ended up related to those clones that were reverse engineered from the remains of Match from the very end of Teen Titans Vol. 3

(Teen Titans (2003) #99)

All of them were then taken down with Kryptonite and killed in battle (by Rose & Damian)

(Teen Titans (2003) #100)

But like... idk man if Waller got her hands on those corpses or even just the data from Dr. Caligan that he extracted from Match to make them... that could also be a potential way to make some new Conner clones, and that could be why the bio-scan thing at Titans Tower wouldn’t work properly because of the thing he says above about it not being a “complete match’

One thing I don’t think is the case, but has been brought up to me, is stuff with New 52 Kon. I’ve talked extensively about New 52 Kon in recent weeks because I read through all his stuff, but the thing that makes me shy away from him being part of this situation is the fact that... he’s not interchangeable with Kon the way I think some people think he is. He wouldn’t visually be recognized as Original Kon because he is literally on a genetic level a separate person. They’d prob look related, sure, like they’d pass for brothers because they both have Clark’s DNA, but New 52 Kon has Lois’ DNA and Original Kon has Lex’s. New 52 Kon would likely look more like Jon, rather than Kon. Lois specifically commented in an Action Comics issue that Kon had some resemblance to Lex, even. So like, things like Wallace recognizing him or him looking at his own matching reflection alongside the group picture at the Tower... those wouldn’t happen the same way if this was New 52 Kon.

Now I think it coooould theoretically be possible for Waller to have gotten her hands on that future N.O.W.H.E.R.E. cloning tech that had been used to make New 52 Kon, like I wouldn’t rule that out. Because she knows where the remains of their bases are as shown in Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #16-17, and like, Harvest is dead so she could easily just send teams out there to gather shit if she wanted.

Onto some other things I don’t think are actually related but that I was reminded of/wanted to address:

I feel i’d be a bad timkon fan if during all of this discussion of past stories with cloning Kon I didn’t even bring up Tim’s cloning attempt stuff, but I think it would ultimately be unrelated. His tech was stolen from Luthor, and his attempts didn’t succeed because he was trying to build from scratch without Cadmus’ the data about how they altered the DNA from the original process.

(Teen Titans Vol. 3 #34)

Then that initial cover for the annual really reminded me of part of the Hollow Men story from Superboy Vol. 5 just with like... Kon in a room full of copies of himself. I don’t think this story would be related either because it was more magic Tannarak stuff rather than regular cloning, but ya know. It’s the imagery.

(Superboy Vol. 5 #9)

It also really reminded me of the stuff from Hyper-Tension which was hypertime stuff not cloning but again just... visually.

(Superboy Vol. 4 #62)

In general I don’t think we’re EVER gonna see Black Zero or any of these multiverse Superboys again LMAO.

To try to sum up all of this in a way that might make sense here’s kinda a... flowchart of some of my main ideas for what the cloning situation could be/how the logic could work. Again this is borrowing stuff from across continuities because Infinite Frontier means theoretically anything’s fair game. (Also I don’t think I mentioned this earlier but I do mention it in the chart, but I think it’s also reasonable that Waller could get her hands on Cadmus tech if Cadmus is like properly made canon again. She just has funky government connections!)

Also I just now thought of this now several hours after I already made the chart and I don’t wanna remake it so sorry not incorporating it there but I remembered there was also that bit during House of Kent where Clark took Kon to the Hall of Justice and they were running some tests on him, so I’m thinking it’s also possible Waller got ahold of that data/that might be how she found out about Kon in the first place for this timeline. And they indicated that there was something wrong with him there, where he might eventually lose his powers or something, so maybe she tried to do cloning stuff to be able to have a copy of Superboy in his prime or something??? before that started kicking in. I don’t know, just more things to consider:

(Action Comics (2016) #1028)

ANYWAYS in conclusion: there is clone fuckery of some sort happening, I’m curious where it’s gonna go, and I just want Kon to be okay.

If you actually read this uhm. props to you bc this probably makes no sense to anyone but me its just word vomit <3

#this is very long! and disorganized! i am sorry #this doesn't have one theory abt things it has like. many #its basically just brainstorming/spitballing ideas #i could also be entirely off base! with much of this! i just feel i need that disclaimer #grandpa max is god? i go to church now #i need a kon talk tag bc i swear i write more analysis stuff like this for him than anyone else

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