#on the other hand it could be a genuine attempt to start a rebellion from the inside especially from a close position to belos

[honestlywtfisgoingon]

Holding On To A Memory — Cassian Andor

A CASSIAN ANDOR x READER ONE-SHOT

description: was it so wrong? were you betraying him simply by wanting someone else?

warnings: some angst, loss, n a lil tad of fluff to make up for it :,)

a/n: hahharwhshjdjsjd this is my first fic for cassian bc my 2016 thirst has been reawakened ahh and idk why but i needed some angst lol

words: 2962

It felt wrong. You loved your fiancé. You were here because of him. all the loyalty you had for him was now given to the rebellion so that the empire might be brought to justice for his death; a bullet in every imperial head for the one that blew through his. You didn't need this new guilt; you already had enough knowing that maybe if you took the shift at the garage that day like you were supposed to, he might still be here. He was stubborn, and so were you, but he won that time, insisting that you should stay home after the careless injury you gave yourself the day before. You didn't know that his stubbornness, his refusal to shove all his other work aside and service a rather drunk imperial who had crashed his speeder right in front of the shop, demanding he fix it all up for free despite his carelessness, would cost him his life. It was petty. That's what they all were. Petty bastards in a uniform, the worst ones wearing a medal for every atrocity they've committed.

So here you were, doing something about it, hiding at a rebel base, helping those with stories like yours of love and loss dealt by black leather gloves wrapped around a blaster. Until now, your story, your fiancé's memory, emphasized by the ring you still wore, is what drove you. But now you felt his memory was tainted as another man's face had started to fill your dreams in his stead—dark, messy hair, deep brown eyes, thin lips that parted for his Kenarian accent.

Cassian Andor had been with the rebellion long before you joined and captained one of your first missions. You had many together after that, and then the two of you began to seek each other out apart from missions. It didn't matter if you hung out in a group or by yourselves as long as you were in each other's orbit. It wasn't intentional; you were just drawn to each other. There was a balance of playful sarcasm, genuine care, and honesty between the two of you that you had only ever had with one person before. At first, you counted yourself lucky to have found a friend with whom you could have that connection until you realized that it was the sort of connection that led beyond friendship.

It led to hands grazing each other when you were working and pretending every area was smaller than it was so that you had no choice but to stand where you could feel his soft breath fanning on your neck.

Eventually, you imagined that breath in between your legs and those hands grazing every part of your body. Those thoughts became increasingly frequent until you finally decided to take care of them. As soon as your hand slipped past the band of your shorts, your heart stopped.

This is wrong.

You rolled over, squeezing your eyes shut in an attempt to internalize the tears that were hitting your pillow in a now incessant pour that could almost be compared to heavy rain. Your erratic sniffles persisted even when your body was too spent to cry anymore, falling into a deep sleep. You didn't know precisely when you drifted off in the night and woke up with a feeling akin to waking up from a blackout. Your head hurt, no doubt, from the continuous use of the muscles that pulled your brows together in your sorrow. Stretching your face to loosen up the tension, you opened your eyes widely to see the wrong numbers on the clock on your bedside table. Well, you wished they were wrong because if they were right, you were late for a briefing on your next mission.

Success wouldn't just ensure that you were able to actually come back from your mission, but it would also ensure that there was something left to come back to. A list of weapons, food, and other resource suppliers to the rebellion was being built up in one of the imperial intel centers. It was frighteningly close to being finished and sent through the entire imperial system. If that happened, there would be no way to rectify it or salvage safety for any rebel. Galaxy-wide. From then on, it would simply be a waiting game, waiting for stormtroopers to rush for a slaughter knowing all of you were either starving or unarmed. You knew you and a few others—

Cassian

—would have to get your hands on and destroy that list, but right now, you were missing how to actually do that. You yanked on some pants and pulled your hair back before running to where you could hear Mon Mothma's voice, followed by Cassian's. You barreled into the room, cutting him off as everyone swiveled to look at you. It was silent, apart from the heavy breathing you were trying to cover up.

"Y/n. Go ahead and take your place around the table." Mon Mothma said, not fazed or annoyed by your late arrival in the slightest, or at least she didn't show it. She was impressively good at concealing reactions; she was a politician, after all.

The logical space for you to stand in was the gap between Cassian and Hera straight in front of you, but you took the long way around and found a spot on the opposite end of the table. What didn't make much of a difference to anyone else made all the difference to you, and to Cassian. You tried not to meet the stare you knew he was giving you, but your eyes flicked up practically on their own accord. His usually warm eyes were now riddled with confusion…and concern.

"Is something wrong?" he mouthed to you. You shook your head just barely, not wanting anyone to take notice of your side conversation. You took a deep breath and looked down again, ignoring him and refocusing on the holo-map in the middle of the table you surrounded.

You stayed back just a little after the briefing to get caught up on what you missed. When you exited the room, you nearly crashed into a waiting Cassian leaning back against the wall, presumably for you.

"y/n. You've been crying," he told you, voice laced with the same concern you saw in his eyes before. It was a statement, not a question. The puffy lids that circled your bloodshot eyes chronicled last night's sobbing clearly enough. You sniffled, holding back the new set of tears that threatened to form with every second you spent in his presence. He continued when the little noise was your only response, saying, "did I do something wrong? the other end of the table, I—" he sighed, "There's something you're not telling me."

"Cassian, there's just…" you replaced the end of your sentence with a sigh.

"I need you to tell me you're alright," He stepped closer, his hands twitching by his side, wanting so badly to reach up and place them on your flushed cheeks.

"I'm alright," you tried to play it off with the best casual laugh and roll of your eyes you could manage.

"You can do better than that," he folded his arms, one of his brows raising, telling you to give it up already. He wasn't going to be fooled. "I need you to say you're alright and mean it."

"I am alright," you said a little harshly, your defenses rising.

"If you say so," he shrugged and threw his hands up in defeat, but his face turned sincere only a moment after. "But when you're ready to talk about it, Pequena, I'm here," he said softly before nodding and walking past you and down the other end of the hallway.

It's not like the base was that big, and you and Cassian always frequented the same parts. That's why you got to spending more time with him in the first place. But you didn't run into him for the rest of the day, which you knew was on purpose. He was giving you space, but you didn't realize how much space until days passed and conversations got shorter, and he no longer stood by you. It was by no means rude, you were still close friends on the outside, but on the inside, you two had been separated by a wall you had built. It wasn't that you didn't want to talk about it; Almost everyone in the rebellion had their own secrets and stories that they'd rather keep to themselves; no, it was that he thought it was because of him. Something he had done had caused you not just to cry, but to fall apart. The fact that you didn't want to tell him either felt like a blaster shot, and he had had a few. He cared about you, which was rare. He couldn't count the women he had slept with, but the few he had ever actually cared about, he could count on only one hand. Maarva, Bix, his sister…you. He had made himself vulnerable on accident and told himself that now he was paying the price for it.

His absence pained you. Each night you couldn't help but wonder if he was in his room trying to glean something out of the few words you gave him, or maybe he wasn't thinking of you at all. You didn't know which was worse: the idea that you left him tormented or the reality that you might have truly pushed him away. Your head hurt from your conscience being rapidly eaten up. Tonight you couldn't take it. Lying in bed would only provide a playground for those intrusive thoughts, so you tried to tune them out with a toolbox and the company of your astromech. At least your relationship with him wasn't complicated.

GG-58 chirped at you happily, enjoying their little spa day as you cleaned and fixed one of the legs that had gotten a little wobbly.

"I'm glad one of us is having a good time, GG," you sighed out into the empty hangar you decided to haunt at this hour of the night. GG let out a few beeps voicing her concern. "Don't worry. I'm alright. I guess I just miss him,"

"I hope you're talking about me," the very same smooth voice you craved came from behind, "…because I miss you too," Cassian sat down next to you.

"Cass…" you started, but you had no idea what you were planning to say. At first, a small part of you was excited to talk to him alone again, but your gut turned a little when you realized you didn't know if you were ready to have this conversation. You didn't expect him to be here. In fact, you were here for the sole purpose of trying to escape him.

"Y/n, I've thought about it, and… and you don't have to tell me everything, but I need to know what's been going on so that I can fix it," he leaned in, his brows knit with care as he pleaded. He was being gentle and deliberate with his words, afraid that he would commit another offense towards you and push you away once more. If only he knew that he hadn't done anything wrong in the first place. It would end his agony. You always thought that you would take on his pain for him in a heartbeat if you could, yet here you were, the only one who could do anything about it, remaining silent. With each second of prolonged pause, his anxieties grew until he couldn't bear it. "Please, y/n, it's… it's killing me. I can't stand the thought of you hating me,"

"I don't hate you," you were quick to stop him from that thought, at least.

"But you're not happy with me." He pursed his lips. "Anyone else could be pissed off at me, and I wouldn't give a damn, but you're not anyone else. You mean something to me,"

"You mean something to me too, Cass," you couldn't help but let some of your feelings slip out just so that you could reassure him instinctually. "But that's the problem. I mean it when I said you haven't done anything wrong,"

"Then why have you been avoiding me?"

"You've been avoiding me,"

"No, I haven't. But I have to admit it's a little hard to go up to someone who won't even look at you," you didn't realize what it looked like from his end. You had been just as cold as you had perceived his actions to be.

"I'm sorry, so sorry that I've been letting my own guilt come between us," he stayed silent, allowing you the time to find your words, lest his interruption scare you away from even searching for them. "The thing is—“ you let out a shuddering breath, forcing yourself to be open if it meant having him back. It had to happen eventually. “—I want you."

His heart began to beat harder. He had always wanted to hear you say that, but when he imagined that admission falling from your lips, it was followed by him taking you in his arms, not a sense of dread over what you were going to say next.

"I want you like I've never wanted anything before, and that's what's wrong. I can't want anyone else. The one person I ever wanted is gone, and I can't do that again. I can't lose you," Your confession and the tear that ran along your cheek were unexpected. Then, it suddenly and painfully clicked.

What you initially thought was guilt over betraying your past relationship was only something you had provided for your fears to impersonate. You had convinced yourself that it was in the name of your fiancé, that you owed it to him. The truth is, the part of you that shut down after his death, that blocked out any development of a close relationship, would rather hold onto a memory. You couldn't lose a memory.

"You're not going to lose me,"

"You know you can't promise that," You answered him immediately. "Even I can't promise that,"

"You're right. I can't promise that, but I can promise that you deserve to be happy. Don't lose your chance at that. You know he would want that for you," he had never met your fiancé, and he had only heard about him once from you, but from your description of him as kind, thoughtful, and willing to do anything for you, he had gleaned enough to be right about what he had just said.

"I'd always imagine an imperial gun pointing at the back of your head."

"But we'd always imagine what could've been. Let's just—" Cassian wrapped his hands around yours, which had been clasped so tightly that your knuckles were white. "Let's just try. Hold on to each other as long as we can, just as long as we get to hold onto each other at all. I'd rather go out there every day with something to lose rather than wondering if there's even something left for me after this war to fight for," He let one hand go from holding yours to cupping your cheek, "You say that there's no way to guarantee I'll come back, but I can't imagine a better reason to come back alive than you,"

His face was now only a breadth away, your eyes flicking between his blown out pupils and his lips that were offering such sweet words. He caught the quick shifting of your gaze and took it as a sign you wouldn't pull away when he pressed his lips to yours…and you didn't. Just as he had hoped, your lips had slotted perfectly between his. The kiss only lasted what Cassian felt was all too short when you pulled away, his lips still leaning after yours just after. You took a little breath, pressing your forehead against his. He wrapped his hands around your waist, pulling you closer so that you were almost in his lap.

A small smile that you couldn't help but leave stamped on your face as you warned him playfully, "You better come back, or I'll kill you myself," He chuckled, his laugh filling your heart with warmth.

"I believe you," he kissed the tip of your nose.

You jolted as you felt a small poke in your back from a metal arm. You didn't even realize that GG had gone off to wander around during the middle of Cassian's and your talk.

Thoughtful little droid.

You and Cassian laughed at the rapid beeping.

"Yes, G, I'm feeling better. Cassian did help me," you smiled at him.

"Do you want to go to my room?" He looked at you tenderly. "Just to sleep, of course," he corrected himself quickly, in case you weren't ready for that yet. You nodded and rose with him, walking to his room with his arm slung around you in such a way that you knew he was only going to let go in order to hold you close to him in bed.

You no longer felt robbed by the empire, fueled by revenge. In fact, the love that had now taken over you was the best revenge. To continue living your life, to be happy despite their bullets, bombs, and best efforts to crush you, meant they could never get to you because if you don't keep going, they've taken your life away with your fiancé's as well. No, it was time to take off the ring that had shackled you. Cassian was now your life, your hope, and rebellions are built on hope, not on pain as you had operated until this moment; wrapped up in blankets, your head buried in his neck, hands running through the hair on his chest as you meditated on the rythm of his heartbeat. As you were lulled to sleep, you were comforted by the thought that, as long as you were with him, you'd already won.

#star wars #cassian #cassian andor #andor #rogue one #cassian andor x reader #cassian x reader #andor x reader #cassian andor x female reader #cassian andor x you #cassian andor fanfiction #andor fanfiction #andor fluff #andor angst

[possessionisamyth]

If you don't mind, could you elaborate on how Ada is inconsistent?

It's less about how she's inconsistent, and more about how various writers treat her role in the overall narrative of the series. For a non existent attempt at brevity, I will not be talking about how she's handled in the remakes or any of the alternate raccoon city focused games. 1998 RE2 only!

So in the original RE2, Ada is a woman who's looking for her boyfriend who is a researcher at Umbrella. She was actually dating the man to get information on/a sample of the G-Virus, and whether or not her concern was sincere for this man is debatable as she plays it up. It's a useful truth that functions as a genuine cover story. After finding out the dude's dead, she seduces Leon so he'll follow her around like a lost puppy. (He's super whiny puppy but that was entertaining to watch). Plus when she doesn't shoot to kill to get the G-Virus sample from Leon, it turns out her affection for him is real. Whether this is her working from the rebound after figuring out her current boyfriend is dead is also debatable. I can only speculate that she might have been. Ada isn't heartless. Fake dating someone for months meant there had to be some chemistry as she could've picked literally any umbrella scientist to date to get to the same result. When we look at the epilogue scene from RE3, we see she is changed by her experience.

She's not the same woman anymore. Or at least she doesn't think she is. She wasn't so much a femme fatale in the first RE2 as much as she was a mercenary/spy playing her cards right until the smoke cleared.

And then we get Resident Evil 4.

In RE4, they hammer that femme fatale persona in HARD. She's sexy. She's teasing. She's always in the right place at the right time. She doesn't get hurt and comes out on top. Ashley's existence delays the damsel role she would be tossed in so Leon can save her, but doesn't prevent it. The time she spent between 1998 and 2004 was her building this persona to put emotional walls and distance up so she can better do her job. Hell, due to the great reception the game got, this version of Ada is who gets left in the hands of every future writer who has/wants to handle her. Yet, Leon being there in RE4 puts a few splinters in this persona. Wesker's kill order for Leon absolutely cracks it. Leon may be experiencing his own personal hell, but so! is! Ada! Wong! She doesn't have to do shit. She doesn't have to save Leon. She doesn't have to kill him. She can honestly just do her job and get out, but she hasn't changed. She's just gotten really fucking good at lying to herself. So we once again see her putting everything on the line for Leon, and risking her own neck so he can get out. And this is great! And you want to see more.

And then we get RE:Damnation.

Why was she there? Look. Look at me. I love Ada. She's my wife. Why was she in the Eastern Slav Republic pretending to work for the BSAA? Oh, to collect a sample of las plagas! Wait. Wasn't she in the village where there was a fuck ton of them before this event? Why wouldn't Wesker have that already? Oh no, she needs the special plagas that let's people control lickers for a limited period of time before the parasite develops and the host become one of those twisty head zombies. Ah. A failed plagas then? She wants a failed plagas? Well, she would've had a much easier time just stealing that from the rebellion. It then would've made her running into Leon a more natural outcome. They started that movie putting Ashley in the proverbial trunk to eliminate that romantic venue and brought in Ada to go "hey! remember! leon likes her! nobody else! we promise!". They're not risking anything for each other. Ada isn't doing what she has been doing the last two stories, and it's off. The femme fatale stuff is happening, but you can cut her out and lose nothing from the movie other than a cat fight. You can't do the same thing in RE4. You can't do the same thing in RE2!

And then we get Resident Evil 6.

I enjoyed watching the Ada storyline in the game despite all the strange mechanic choices they made with the game's play style. Up until this point in the games, her and Leon keep risking their lives and/or job credibility for each other. That's what they do regardless if people view their relationship as platonic or romantic.

This game with Ada's story was a great opportunity to show how she's also wearing a mask she's built up over the years. The one that gets cracked in RE4 with Leon's mere appearance and a genuine concern for his safety. The thing is in RE6, she's kind of all over the place. We first see her doppleganger not knowing it's a different woman, and every fan is up in arms about how reasonably OOC the act is. And they're right. Next we see the real Ada, and she seems just as natural as she was in RE4. We just assume it's an outfit change until she starts investigating. Then she goes from mercenary/spy to playing superhero.

The one thing I like about the resident evil games, is that when 2 characters are supposed to be on equal ground, they'll often save each other the same amount of times. They meet in the middle, and there's something sweet about it. In RE6, Ada is constantly covering Leon's ass the closer we get to the end. Leon gets to save her with that final Simmon's confrontation. We are not counting Leon protecting fake Ada from Chris because it wasn't her. RE6 was trying so hard to make the real Ada likable by having her go out of her way to do good for everyone as a sharp contrast to doppleganger Ada's actions. However, they lost some of what makes Ada so complex with these narrative decisions.

It's nice we get to see her hurt and anger by taking out doppleganger Ada's final experiment before it hatches, but that's the end of the game! We don't get a little epilogue scene of what she's doing or how she feels like everyone else gets! They say "oh yeah, she's fine, she has more work now. Nothing's changed." When we get to see the result of hurt like we did in RE2, or the knowledge she'll gladly disobey orders for her own peace of mind in RE4.

This was a lot of words to say RE2 and RE4 remember Ada's more than just a femme fatale, whilst later appearances in the series forget this.

The remakes for now don't do that. In the remakes, we know from the get go she's looking out for herself first, and other people come second. Leon ranks a little higher on this list than everyone else, and I'm very eager to see the depiction expanded on if we get a remake Separate Ways DLC.

EDIT: Oop, just realized she was constantly covering Leon's ass in RE4 too based on the OG separate ways. Ignore that one segment, but the rest still stands!

#resident evil #re #ada wong #aris asks #ask me to talk about my faves and you will get an essay #heh nothing personal kid #re analysis

[oncedied]

Talking About My Fanfics As If I'm Not The One Writing It: Megatron in To All Things Housed In Her Silence

okay. let's talk about him. because i am head over heels for him and the execution of his character. so this is a summary and discussion about him. be warned it's long. have fun.

Megatron of all things is a nuanced character, and an elaborate one at that. Initially he was what you'd expect from Megatron -- a bloody tyrant that would slaughter everyone around him if they did so much as look at him with even the smallest pinprick of rebellion. But he was not always like this. And I want to talk about it.

He used to be a very wounded individual, working a job he hated that constantly exploited him at every single turn, and with the support of his then-best-friend he had his revolution against these oppressive forces, opening many peoples' eyes and angering others. This ended in the formation of the Decepticons and Optimus being who he is ended up betraying his lifelong best friend slash childhood sweetheart and eventually ended up leaving the Autobots. Queue mutual pining, stubbornness, and by all the gods above someone please put them in a room alone together I SWEAR.

Funnily enough exactly that happens and there's a very sweet passionate moment between them and about a year later Megatron has his first child, a son named Shiverblaze. Now nobody was allowed to know who his sire was so he was mostly kept secret or treated like he was adopted for some reason even though it was very odd for someone as violent as Megatron. Like he was not fit for kids and this shows.

He was always a bit cruel to Shiverblaze, especially because he wanted him to be just like him. But Shiverblaze was coming out more similar to Optimus and he DID NOT LIKE THAT. Reminded him too much about what he lost or what things could possibly be. Especially because as Shiverblaze grew he started growing more and more defiant to Megatron which reached a climax when Shiverblaze expressed his anger and commented that he would prefer Starscream as a leader which ended in his death at the hands of his own father.

Now the war goes on, blah blah, he has destroyed so much and killed so many just for his pathetic petty war. Which literally didn't have a purpose anymore other than a sour habit. He was haunted by his past mistakes, haunted by his actions, tormented by dreams of Shiverblaze and visions of him following him around corridors. And it was driving him mad.

So he tries to swear off the war but there's just so many people that are loyal to either cause that it was like his words meant nothing, and the disbanding of the Decepticons only made him a target by loyalists that considered him a traitor. So he has no choice but to tell Optimus where he's going, and disappear into the woods for like sixteen years, his old weapons and past buried below the cabin he resided in, off the grid.

His second child was born here -- Frozenflame, named after Shiverblaze; in part to give him a form of do-over where he would never make the same mistakes again. BUT growing up in those secluded woods he obviously struggled at times, but also refused to tell Frozenflame about his past. Primarily to save his own skin but it also has another use lmao. character conflict babeyyy

Nobody believed him when he changed, believing it to be some other manipulation tactic rather than a genuine attempt to undo the past that will never leave him. He knows not everyone would forgive him, and he doesn't think he's worthy of forgiveness -- but his problem is not his acceptance of his past, but the fact that he hides from it and shelters Frozenflame from it primarily out of fear to how they'd take the truth.

Now our lovely father-child duo is attacked by this drone thing and have to leave home. Megatron feels that this is a sign that it's time for Frozenflame to prove to him that they're ready for everything the universe will throw at them. But what Megatron could never prepare them for was the truth. Little snippets of the past rear their ugly heads and Frozenflame asks their questions, but Megatron still refuses to come forward which starts to put strain on their bond.

And this comes to a head when they come upon a settlement consisting entirely of victims of Megatron's war and to say the most and the least they separate Frozenflame and Megatron trying to get Megatron to leave their settlement, where Frozenflame basically learns the truth and has no idea how to process it, especially because of their new knowledge of Shiverblaze and what happened to him.

now when Frozenflame is reunited with Megs their attitude's changed -- they're snippy, make nasty comments, and distance themself emotionally from megs. now this concerns him but he knows DAMN well why it's happening. And Frozenflame is hurt that this was kept away for so long. ends in a huge fight between them and Frozen's nasty comments trying to goad megs into killing them to prove that "that old monster you kept locked away is still in there"

Now they eventually calm down and Megs states his apology and promises nothing but the truth from here on out and they work on fixing their bond with optimal success by the end of the fic.

Now Megatron is such an interesting character because of how he's haunted by the past, his regrets crushing him inside and out, and he would do anything to protect his child from it even if it wasn't the best in the end. He can acknowledge his errors and his shortcomings and be better from it as a result. the universe may spit at him despite everything but what matters most to him is frozenflame and how they'd continue his legacy after breaking what would've been a cycle of pain.

he is a very fragile individual. he is ruled by his emotions even if it's not shown, but only displayed in the most subtle fashion. he learns how to face his past head-on and embrace it rather than hide from it -- because even if his past was ugly, if it didn't happen he wouldn't be able to become the person he is now. he's even able to put shiverblaze to rest, and while the scars of the past and grief are still there he's able to face it now.

he just wants to do good by frozenflame, even if it possibly endangers him. but it ended up backfiring, but they worked through it. his is a story of healing, of pain, of recovery, of doing better.

and it's beautiful. and i love him and all of his nuances and ins and outs.

#to all things housed in her silence #megatron #transformers #macadam #transformers earthspark #Frozenflame #Talking about my fanfics as if i'm not the one writing it (to garner interest) #shiverblaze

[suau-raised-by-corrupted-gems]

"I wish... I could know you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can't have a Steven Universe AU without the one that started it all, now could be? [Well, to be fair, the ones who created her started it all, but you get the gist of it.]

Let's delve in to how she's portrayed here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Being the child of a team leader, he's obviously, he's gonna be hearing a whole lot about her. He hears about her is about how she had lead a rebellion against this Diamond empire in order to protect earth from being "colonized" or in other words, destroyed. She even cried a whole fountain for those who had fallen, and wanted to look for a cure to corruption.

Now don't get him wrong, he was genuinely impressed with the story, and was even honored to have been borne from such a brave soul. Heck, he even found himself to aspiring to be like her.

He just wished his teammates wouldn't loom this over his head so much.

Well, he wished the Pearl wouldn't hang her over his head so much.

Yes, she was the leader, but trying to force that role onto him when he's still grasping Crystal Gem life can be very tiring.

Whenever he'd fuss about going on a mission, or just slacked off in general, the Pearl would always use Rose as an example. She'd say something like "Rose wouldn't want you to--" or "Rose would want you to--" or her personal favorite line "If Rose saw what you were doing-"

Amethyst would try to make Pearl back off with the Rose stuff, but Pearl insisted that she was only using Rose as an example, so he'd follow his destiny better.

However, she only achieved giving Steven the impression that Rose may have been just as, if not more, uptight as the Pearl was. And for that he started to harbor a bit of a distaste for her.

Garnet would always reassure him that she wasn't really like that, but she would've appreciated trying to go on a mission like a Crystal Gem should would.

But then, whenever he went to hangout with Greg, it was a different story entirely. According to him, she was curious, fun-loving and would have likely let him do whatever he wanted, as long as he enjoyed himself.

It was here that Greg made her sound like his mama Fluffy, which gave him a sense of longing.

But, then again, the destiny she had "given" him is anything but enjoyable. Was this truly the life she thought he'd enjoy??

But whenever he brought up these claims to Pearl, either in defense, or just a question in general; She'd just get all uptight and defensive, affirming that she knew Rose better than Greg ever did.

It was at this point, he just didn't know how to see her anymore.

Was she a strict or lenient?

He knew he should trust Greg, own his father but Rose's teammates knew her longer than he did. Or rather the Pearl knew her longer.

Even then, part of him suspects she's withholding more information about her to begin with.

Who was Rose?

Why did she do this?

...Why him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite baring the weight of the expectations she left, he always found himself returning to Rose's fountain to soak his feet, and stare contemplatively at the statue before him.

He felt so conflicted with her. On one hand, he had resented her, or rather, the destiny she had put before him. How could she ever expect a child to live upto her name?

But on the other hand... he couldn't help but long to know her. While he'll always love his mama Fluffy, it was Rose who had been gracious enough to give up her physical form for him to live. And the fact she had created this very fountain to heal others...

He couldn't decide what he thought about her.

Why did she have to be born to someone so... complex?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm... in lion's mane?"

He only discovered lion's mane plain was when he tried to dig himself into lion's mane in an attempt to relive the feeling of security he felt with his mama Fluffy. It was here that he realized that maybe Rose had more to her than even the Gems knew.

He finds the tape and the other stuff, but he doesn't think to tamper with any of it yet.

But he didn't bother to tell the gems about it; he knew they either wouldn't believe him or the Pearl would be upset with him poking around Rose's stuff.

But he knew that eventually he'd need to come clean. After all, Rose was their leader.

It's not like anything bad would happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the record, I don't think season 1 canon Pearl would stoop low enough to sort of use Rose as a way to get Steven to cooperate, but I've already established that Pearl on this AU's kind of antagonistic.

But yeah, this version of Pearl doesn't hide her salt anymore.

The backgrounds (Rose’s fountain and Lion’s mane dimension) is by Steven Sugar.

#classic steven #steven universe au #corrupted au #steven universe #corrupt gem #corrupted steven #feral child #alternate universe #angsty #conflicted emotions #confused #poor child

[allxthingsxglxtter]

Look who just woke up- is that PETER GADIOT? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s SHADE BARROW from RED QUEEN. I heard he is 28 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a AWARE IF HIS SURROUNDINGS, TELEPORTING OUT OF DANGER, FIGHTING FOR WHAT HE BELIEVES IN, USED TO HIDING IN THE SHADOWS, FAMILY FIRST impression. But here, they are working as a THIEF/MERCENARY. They’re known to be quite LOYAL AND SELFLESS but have a tendency to be SECRETIVE AND RESTLESS on their bad days

Gender/Pronouns : 

Cismale, He/Him

How long have they been in Sydney : 

He's been in Sydney for a year now

Which suburb do they live in? 

He lives in Woolloomooloo

Personality description: 

Shade genuinely cares about people, and it always shows in how he interacts with anyone. He is patient, and kind, but is always watching and studying others. He's gotten used to having to anticipate others motives and manipulations, mostly because he's been in situations where he's had to do the same thing to others. Whenever someone is close to him he is loyal, and fiercely protective. His family and loved ones come before all else, and he'll do anything to ensure they're safe and happy.

Memories of their real life : 

Shade was born to a pretty close family, and from a young age all he wanted was to protect it. His two older brothers, Tramy and Bree, were admittedly not his two favorite people in the world, but he loved them even if he thought they were a bit dim. And then there was his younger sister Mare. He adored her, and did what he could to be close to he as they grew up. His youngest sister Gisa was also precious to him, but it was Mare he found a kindred spirit in, and there was no doubts they were closest.

As a boy in the world they lived in, Shade always knew he'd be forced into the army when he turned 18 to fight for the Silvers, the super-powered people with silver-blood that ruled over their kingdom and pretty much kept non-powered red-blooded people like his family enslaved. All he wanted to do was scrape a better life out of the world for his family, but he knew the possibility was slim. As the years passed, he watched his brothers go off to war, and when his eighteenth birthday came he met the same fate. Saying goodbye to his family and being hauled off to a war he wasn't sure he'd come back from.

He ended up with a good job as an aide to one of the officers, and it was because of this position that he ended up in contact with Diane Farley, a member of a rebellion group called the Scarlet Guard. They were reds who were trying to fight back against the Silvers, and Shade started helping them; feeding them information. When he discovered the Scarlet Guard's hideout had been discovered and they were to be arrested, Shade was able to warn them just in time, and as they were escaping his life changed again. He suddenly was able to teleport him and Farley away, Shade now finding himself to be the first Red with powers the Scarlet Guard had ever encountered, and knowing powers existed among Reds changed everything.

He tried to continue on as he was, doing his job and relaying intelligence until he found out he was being transferred to the front line, the Silver's knowing what he was and sending him off to be killed. Shade's life as he knew it was gone, and when they attempted to execute him, the Scarlet Guard ended up saving his life, and he and Farley had no choice but to fake his death. Shade hated it, knowing it would hurt his family, but there wasn't any other choice and he just did his best to focus on the task at hand, while also getting closer to Farley. She was incredible, and overtime it grew into more. First just physical but it was obviously growing into more, despite the circumstances.

Things were going fairly smoothly for awhile, until Mare fell into the Queenstrial and revealed that she too had abilities. Shade couldn't remember being so scared, seeing his little sister in such imminent danger and not being able to do a thing about it. All he could do was immediately begin planning for her rescue, no matter how complicated that might be given she was to be wed to one of the Princes now in an effort to cover up Red's having abilities, and the Scarlet Guard was going to have to infiltrate the palace to get her. The only reason he didn't lose it with worry was his ability to teleport, using it to check in on her when she wouldn't see him and ensure she was alive. Due to a long, complicated twist of circumstance, Mare and the Crown Prince Cal found themselves in an arena about to be put to death, and finally the Scarlet Guard made their desperate move. Shade was reunited with his sister and could explain everything to her, as well as help her as she started the complicated journey that was joining and helping fuel a rebellion.

His role now was one of guard, Shade at his sister's side for every step that he could be, determined to keep her safe. Not only because of how desperately important she was for their cause, but because of how important she was to him. She was his baby sister, and he was honestly so proud of her. Mare was unapologetic and bold, and Shade had no issue following her on their mission to find and save more newbloods like them. Shade was also thankful to have Farley along on the journey, their feelings definitely becoming love, and he knew she would be the woman he spent the rest of his life with if the war ever ended. He loved her more than he'd loved anyone, and Shade knew she was the love of his life.

Unfortunately however, a happy ending was not to be for him. A critical mission ended up going sideways, Shade trying to save Mare and teleport her to safety when he ended up getting a sharp spike through the heart that was intended for his sister. He died how he would've wished to, saving the people he loved.

He died at nineteen not knowing about his daughter, but was hopeful that maybe he'd helped build a better world for his loved ones for the future.

What was their fake life like : 

TBD

Job:

Shade is a mercenary of sorts, using his teleportation ability as a skill that can be rented for one thing or another. Easy getaway, need something stolen, Shade is your guy.

Wanted Connections:

Any of the rest of the Barrow family, cause that'd be great

Wanna complicate his life by a LOT you bring in Farley, as that would be awesome and terrible as he is currently with in love with someone else now

Quote:

"The truth is a weapon, and anyone can wield it."

#rise red as the dawn: shade barrow #thebridge: intro

[puppyeared]

These two probably won’t interact but I can dream a little

[ reblogs > likes ]

#tomorrow!!! and raine is non binary I’m allll here for it #actually I’m a little wary of raine cause they’re one of the coven heads and directly affiliated with belos #and considering belos isn’t above using Lilith to get to Eda I have a hunch he could be doing the same thing with Raine but differently #like... obviously we know Raine is an important figure in Eda’s past especially if they were hinted to in season 1 #so we know they have a big role to play especially if the episode has a lot to do with revisiting the past #my guess is what if Belos is using raine to stage a rebellion to get close to Eda? or planting them as a mole?? #they already have a past so it shouldn’t be as difficult and compared to Lilith because she openly stated she wanted Eda to join the coven #on the other hand it could be a genuine attempt to start a rebellion from the inside especially from a close position to belos #but that’s just me... Its always a little sussy to me #my art #myart #the owl house #toh #toh s2 #raine whispers #luz noceda #toh raine #or is it #toh rayne #toh luz #toh fanart #fanart #eda's requiem #luz #edit: tumblr crashed hell i dont even know if this is visible

[blahblahwritings]

Breathe.

A/N: Here is some whump. First time writing in over a year go easy. Might write a part two if enough people want it.

Words: 1226

Warnings: Death (maybe), Blood, panic attack, crashing.

You were no stranger to close calls. Working with the rebellion often placed you in harm's way. Although, you never really gave it a second thought, more than happy to throw yourself into whatever work you could to help the resistance, to fight the good fight. Having lost everything to the first order when they wiped out your planet, you devoted yourself to banishing them from the galaxy no matter the cost. Even if that cost was your life.

But then you met Poe and everything changed.

After a recon mission to gather intel on hidden first order bases, you two became fast friends. Then, drunken lovers. Now, each other’s whole worlds. You never thought you would find something worth slowing down for, or someone worth coming home for again. Yet there he was. Of course, you tried to resist it at first. After losing everything you couldn't bear the thought of getting close to someone only to lose them again. But Poe Dameron knew just how to bypass your fears and unlock your heart again. You healed.

Missions would go wrong every now and then, sure. One of you would argue about staying safe out of fear of losing the other but, neither of you would stay angry because it was never genuine anger, just panic and fear. In the end, you were both still alive and that’s all that mattered.

Then today happened. 

You had been sent on a mission with black squadron to take out what was supposed to be a small first order base on a nearby planet. Upon arrival, you had all found it to be much larger than the intel had shown and with far more cannons. As usual, you all stayed focussed despite the circumstances. The team almost finished disabling their guns, then Poe got cocky. He sped directly toward the last working cannon, cheering over the comms in a too-early victory. 

The last you heard was an explosion as his X-Wing was hit. His comms crackled over your headset. Then a ceaseless, unforgiving ringing in your ears. A fireball of metal collided with the surface. You screamed, heart sinking, stomach lurching as you brought yourself down to land. You couldn’t hear anything, not your voice shouting his name, not your feet tearing into the ground below as you rushed to the mangled wreckage of his fighter, not the rest of the team crying out for you to slow down. Just. That. Ringing. 

Your mouth was dry, chest heaving, adrenaline pumping through your veins as you reached the heap of scrap. The cockpit was broken open, the man you love lay face down, flung a few feet from the ship. Grabbing his flight jacket, you hauled him onto his back. He wasn’t breathing. 

Glass stuck out of his gut, blood quickly staining the orange material. Hands roamed his abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding before trailing to his chest to start compressions.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five… Nothing

One, Two, Three, Four, Five… Still nothing

You kept going, reaching thirty and then putting your mouth to his in an attempt to bring him back. You still couldn’t hear anything aside from the ringing. Snap tried to pull you from your lover’s body, from pushing on his chest, from saving him but you shrieked at him to let you go. Smacking his hand away, you crawled back through the dirt to Poe. Still. Lifeless. Sobs tore through you as you continued to try and bring him back. Jess and Kare stared in horror, tears silently trailing down their cheeks. One friend dead, another going mad with grief.

“Come on.” You whimpered, hands forcing his chest down again. “COME BACK.” A shout this time, hands beating on his ribcage. “You don’t get to do this. COME. BACK.” The last two words were exaggerated by your hands bringing two final hard smacks down on his sternum. 

A crackled breath. The shaky rise and fall of a bloodied chest. Familiar parted lips gasping for air. He was alive. Unconscious, but alive. You howled, voice hoarse as you were torn from him. Jess pulled you against her as arriving medics placed him on a gurney to take him home. They kept working on him as you were gently guided alongside him. Your eyes never left the inhale, exhale of his breathing. Even as you were taken home and he was brought to a medical bay, you stared, convinced that if you looked away even for a fraction of a second, it would stop again. 

Medical droids and doctors worked to remove the glass from his center, stitching the gashes left behind and placing a mask over his mouth to aid his breathing. They scanned his vitals, checked him over for other injuries until finally the busy room became quieter. Someone tried to check you over, asking questions about how you were but you still could only hear that ringing, slowly driving you insane. Then you vomited.

Bile splattered across the white flooring, the ringing slowly fading as the adrenaline and shock wore off. Every muscle in your aching body quaked as the events physically caught up with you. Jess was quick to catch you as you fell to the floor, a hand bracing for an impact that didn’t come. Instead, your outstretched hand made you realize you were covered in blood. Poe’s blood. More acid rose in your throat, you moved to cover your mouth but stopped short, not wanting his blood on your face. Jess shushed you, rocking you slowly in an attempt to calm you down as your breathing became erratic. A panic attack surged through you and tears blurred your vision. He was dead. He died and you didn’t think he was coming back. Your head shot up. Was he still breathing? Is his heart beating? Is he still bleeding?

“He’s alright, Y/N, he’s still breathing, the bleeding stopped and they said he's stable.” Jess cooed, rubbing your back as she answered your questions. You hadn’t noticed you’d said them aloud. She grabbed a washcloth from the basin nearby with her free hand, placing it under running water. Gently, she moved you to the chair by Poe’s bedside as your panic attack started to pass. Your whole body felt heavy as she began cleaning the blood off your hands. Every minute or so, your eyes drifted back to Poe’s breathing, then back to your hands as she rubbed them down. When she was finished, she threw the fabric to the side.

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to come away and eat something?” You shook your head in a silent ‘no’. “I’ll let the others know how he’s doing, I’ll be back later.” She finished and left you alone with an unconscious Poe. Slowly, hesitantly, you lifted one of your hands to carefully trace his own, he was warm, his touch familiar and comforting. You intertwined your fingers, leaning forward on the bed. 

There were so many things you wanted to say to him, even when he was out of it. Instead, your head rested on the mattress, eyes watching the rise and fall of his chest. The beeping of his heartbeat on the screens lulling you into a restless slumber. He was alive. That’s all that mattered. 

#poe dameron #poe dameron x reader #whump #star wars #star wars imagine

[sentinelpri]

How do you think Megatron would react when he finally admits to himself he has feelings for an organic?

Man, I love writing Megatron in love. Headcanons/scenario below the cut, thanks for the request; enjoy!

I feel like Megatron would try to ignore it at first, just like he would with feelings for another Cybertronian, but much, much worse.

Organic aside, relationships aren’t really something he believes are meant for him. He’s a Decepticon leader, he can’t show weakness, and if he dares to get close to someone, there’s a good chance that they could be used against him. So generally speaking, he keeps his distance.

But then you come along.

You have a bad interaction with the Autobots; one of them accidentally wrecks your house in a battle and offers you no compensation or even another place to say, only apologizing before running off, so you do some research on Cybertronians, find out about the Decepticons, and somehow do enough digging to find their base.

Megatron is shocked when you show up one day and pledge your allegiance to him and to the Decepticon cause, but when you explain your reasoning, he can tell that you’re genuine; Autobots are martyr-complex-having, inconsiderate fools who do what they can to look good and act like they’re doing ‘right’, their council is a bunch of stuck up pricks who don’t allow anyone to be an individual or have freedom, and they all act like they’re a working part of a system instead of their own mech/femme with an actual personality. Megatron is kinda like... yeah, okay, whatever. He almost tries to blow you off, but Shockwave and Soundwave argue that you could reveal some weaknesses that the humans have and that you’re an unthreatening enough figure that you could be used as a productive spy. So, he keeps you around and gives you a place to stay on base.

At first, he acts indifferent towards you; you’re a gross, human fleshbag that he wants nothing to do with outside of work, but he sees that you and Soundwave get along since you share a lot of the same ideals about humans needing to do their own work instead of relying on robots to do it for them, and you and Shockwave are actually quite friendly. Hell, you and Lugnut and Blitzwing even make a great trio. So, indirectly, without even realizing it at first, Megatron becomes fond of you through observing your conversations with the others. You’re respectable, brave, bold, honest, and you’re fully self-aware. He finds that, unlike the other humans, he doesn’t mind you; you don’t see him or his cause as evil and actually treat him with respect, and you don’t run or cower or act shy around him either- that shit gets on his nerves.

He knows it’s a bad idea, but he starts talking to you personally. In his berth room, you two exchange intel you’ve collected, and afterwards, you always hang around for an hour or so for in-depth discussions, about your lives and dreams and hopes and philosophies. He frequently finds himself sharing ancient data tablets containing Decepticon works of literature on them with you, and eventually, the two of you have/develop a lot in common.

Not all humans are gross like he thought they were initially, he realizes... In fact, though he’d never say so out loud, you smell nice and the few fleeting touches he’s had with you are always pleasant because of how warm and soft you are.

The first time he thinks about the rapid pace of the relationship the two of you have cultivated and about his feelings for you is after you’re injured. Your cover as a spy gets blown and surprisingly enough, you mention to escape Optimus Prime and the other four members of his team, but you come back sustaining some rough cuts/gashes from when Prowl chucked his shuriken at your clothes to try to pin you to the wall with them; they’re all along your arms, legs, and a few even managed to graze your sides.

You return to the base bloodied and beaten from their attempts to detain you, and though Soundwave and Shockwave (who are easily your best friends at that point) insist that they’re fully capable of handling your medical care, Megatron realizes that he wants to do it himself- doesn’t know why he wants to do it, just knows that he does and that no one is going to stop him. So, he takes you to the med bay and uses the small amount of human medical equipment they obtained for you to disinfect your wounds as you walk him through the process verbally, stitches the ones that need stitching, and wraps/bandages them. It involves you being half-clothed, and though he certainly isn’t going to ogle you like a pervert, he can’t help how his intake hitches at being so close to you when you’re so exposed and vulnerable. It just feels very intimate, and it’s something he’s not used to; no one has dared touch him in thousands of years outside of battle, nor has he touched another outside of such context.

You have to stay in the med bay overnight so that your vitals can be monitored and you can have your dressings changed and antibiotics given to you to prevent your wounds from getting infected. Megatron is also sure to give you painkillers if you need them and keep you well-fed/hydrated so you can heal properly.

He stays by your side while you sleep even though he doesn’t need to, watching you. He can’t help but think about how fascinating it is that your body is so fragile, so prone to bloody injuries when even slightly harmed, but you’re so strong and determined and courageous; completely dedicating yourself to his work, his cause, him when you didn’t have to. Part of that was out of your spite and dislike for the Autobots, but he admired that, too. You uprooted your entire life to come help him and the Decepticons, and even though he didn’t dare say something so kind out loud, he couldn’t help but appreciate you. Him taking care of you was just paying it forward.

You sleep peacefully, chest rising and falling with every breath you take and (s/c) cheeks dusted red. Occasionally, you’ll toss and turn, but at one point, you reach out for his servo in your sleep, so he takes your hand and holds it tight. If anyone ever saw him so tender and weak, he’d be done for, but you were asleep, so he figured it was fine- no one needed to know how much he loved you, not even you.

Oh.

Oh no. He loved you. As fate would have it, it all crashed down on him at once as he sat there, holding your hand. He had gone from assuming you were some disgusting human bag of flesh he wanted nothing to do with, to begrudgingly accepting you to help his cause, to respecting you, to befriending you, to... Falling in love with you. What terrible luck... Maybe it was his punishment for terrorizing organics for so many years, that he just so happened to fall in love with one.

The second he realizes it, he can’t deny it. You recover from your injuries well with Megatron by your side assisting you, but the more time he spends around you, the worse his feelings get, and he’s old enough that he’s not the kind of fool who pushes his feelings away. Instead, he wallows in them, bathes in them, drowns in them, and he drowns in you. It’s really horrible that he, a being so large and powerful and responsible for mass destruction, is so enamored with you, a being so small and delicate and honest. You’re an unfortunate soul, and if you love him back, it’s even worse.

It comes out naturally one of the nights that you’re locked up in his room together discussing some Decepticon poetry you read recently. It was one of his favorite works, and you seemed like you’d enjoyed it, too. Silence falls between you for a moment before he says, “I love you, (y/n). I never thought I’d stoop as low as to fall for an organic, but you’re the only one worth falling for, and Primus, have I fallen.”. The atmosphere doesn’t go tense or awkward, and you only smile up at him, putting the data tablet with the poem on it down on his night table before turning to him.

“And I thought I’d never fall for the leader of an alien robot rebellion, but here I am, and you’re worth falling for, too.”

It’s peaceful, nothing heated or tense but tender and relaxing as he pulls you into his arms and holds you close to him... Maybe being in love with an organic wasn’t so bad, after all.

#tfa #transformers #transformers animated #megatron #tfa megatron #megatron x reader #tfa megatron x reader #ask #asks #my asks #request #requests

[lavendercodes]

Miss You

warnings: slight manipulation

fairly short fic

fluff (?), angst - catra x gn!reader

it was hard to keep your composure once you saw her. you hadn’t expected to, it wasn’t like you left the Horde with the intention of seeing anyone from there again. you swallowed your anxiety and turned away from the entrance. you hoped you would get the chance to see her again.

unfortunately, you wouldn’t be as lucky as to have your wish granted. Adora and Glimmer were busy planning something due to Catra’s sudden appearance. and Bow was off having a fun time with Perfuma. you didn’t want to bother him with your anxieties. it would only worry him and it was bad enough you didn’t really fit in with the group.

you needed some fresh air. you looked around and quietly walked out to the balcony. it was dark outside, you could see the bright lights slowly pouring out of the building.

the music was slightly muffled and it kept you somewhat calm. ever since you left the Fright Zone, you had felt weak. you thought it was the best decision, leaving with Adora and joining the rebellion. they were supposed to be the good guys. the Horde was doing so many horrible things, but the more you thought about it, the more you realized that you didn’t fit in with the ‘good guys’.

constantly, you would mess up or say something that didn’t seem very friendly. it would end up with you being scolded by Adora or Glimmer. and every time, it just made you feel more and more useless. you arms rested in the railing as you looked down at the ground.

“(Name).” a smooth voice called out.

your eyes widened and you stiffened. they seemed to notice this as a low chuckle left their lips. you turned around and met gazes with Catra. for a split second, you wanted to wrap your arms around her and next let go. however, you currently didn’t have that option.

“Catra...” you said breathlessly.

the girl approached you, her tail flicking side to side. as she stopped in front of you, it distantly attempted to curl around you out of habit.

“i take it you missed me.” Catra tilted her head to the side, “how precious...”

you squeezed your eyes shut, “please leave me alone.” you said.

Catra carefully lifted her hand to your face. you felt her palms touch your skin and immediately, a comforting sensation flooded your body. as much as you wanted to resist, you could help, but lean into Catra’s touch. she grinned at your lack of resistance to her and caressed your cheekbone a bit more.

“you shouldn’t be here.” you said softly, turning away from her hand.

“and why’s that?” Catra asked.

a sigh left your lips as you turned back to face her. “you know exactly why, Catra. Adora knows you’re planning something.” you said.

“and do you know what i’m planning?” Catra questioned.

there was a moment of hesitation. it was fairly obvious what the plan was. maybe the Rebellion didn’t realize it, but for someone who was trained in the Horde. with Catra, it was easy to find out what the plan was.

“if i had to guess, it would be to kidnap Glimmer or Bow.” you said, “or both.”

Catra smiled, “you always were smart.”

you scoffed and looked down at the stupid, fancy shoes you were wearing. “says you.”

“everyone here thinks i’m useless. i’m not even allowed in on plans because they still think i’ll betray them.” you chuckled, shaking your head.

“that’s how the Princesses are, (Name). you should know this by now.” Catra said.

you nodded in agreement.

the Horde taught you all from a young age how spineless the Princesses were. not caring for anybody, but themselves. when you left the Horde, you realized that their exaggerated tales weren’t that far off from the real story. how they only included people they felt fit in with them, how they left out others they called their friends.

without giving you a chance, they decided that you weren’t trustworthy. even Adora, who you had grown up with, slowly stopped trusting you. it hurt more than you could put into words.

“you could always come back with us.” Catra offered.

your teeth gently sunk into your lower lip, “go back? where i’ll be criticized for leaving in the first place? i’m a traitor, Catra.”

“you made a stupid decision.” Catra’s hand cupped your cheek once more, “we all mess up sometimes.”

once again, you leaned into her touch, but this time you didn’t pull away. her tail carefully curled around your waist and the both of you fell into a comfortable silence. you wanted to go back with Catra. it would be better if you stayed with her, you wouldn’t be judged. you could continue doing what you were trained to do and nothing would feel unnatural.

“i miss you.” Catra said softly.

you blinked a few times. you could hear a genuine tone in her voice. a smile slowly creeped on to your face, even an idiot could tell when they’re being manipulated. however, you really didn’t mind. as long as you could be with Catra again, you didn’t care what had to happen.

“i miss you too.” you whispered.

“will you come back with me?” Catra asked.

just as you were about to answer, Adora walked outside on to the balcony. she saw the both of you and you could see her face shift from confusion to anger. Adora quickly approached you both and pulled you away from Catra. you stumbled behind Adora and barely managed to regain your balance.

“what do you think you’re doing, Catra?”

the girl smirked and shrugged, “simply chatting with a good friend. is there something wrong with that? or is that illegal too?” she teased.

“you’re planning something. i know it.” Adora grumbled.

Catra smirked, “oh i’m sure you’re right.”

“(Name).”

your eyes turned back toward Catra. she winked at you and gave you a small wave before walking away. silence settled around you all as your eyes followed Catra walking back into the castle. Adora turned to face you and grabbed you by the shoulders.

“what are you thinking?” she practically yelled.

you winced, “stop yelling.” you said.

“do you know how dangerous Catra is? it’s already hard enough to trust you, (Name)!”

that’s what set you off.

“trust me?” you scoffed, “we were raised together and suddenly, you drag me away from all that i know to join the Rebellion. a group of idiotic Princesses who have no clue what they’re doing!”

“sorry, that i don’t fit in with your perfect group of sparkly princesses! sorry that i don’t wear a crown, or fancy outfits, or have magic!”

Adora’s eyes widened as she started to process everything you were saying. she hadn’t meant to make you so upset. she was simply frustrated that she couldn’t figure out what Catra was doing. the music inside the castle started to get slower and that was Adora’s signal to go back inside. you pushed past Adora and walked to the other side of the balcony.

she looked back at you one last time before walking back into the castle. your hands clenched tightly around the railing. this was the first time in a long time where you got unbelievably angry.

a sigh left your lips as you realized your grip on the railing. you could still feel the frustration bubbling up inside of you, but you didn’t really have the energy to deal with it. all you wanted to do was get out of that stupid outfit you were wearing and go back home, back to the Fright Zone. you pushed yourself away from the balcony and walked back into the castle.

by that point, everything appeared to be in shambles.

it seemed like Catra’s plan was already taking place. Adora was frozen on the floor and Glimmer was running after Catra. you approached the ice chamber and kneeled down next to Adora. she looked at you and practically pleaded to you with her eyes to release her. you smiled lightly and placed a hand on one of the ice shards.

“i guess you were right about one thing.” you admitted, “i can’t be trusted.”

with that, you got up and walked away from her. it get so refreshing to finally speak your mind. slowly, you rushed out on to one of the other balcony and saw an incapacitated Glimmer being dragged on a ship with Bow. you scanned over them, not being able to find Catra. you assumed she was still doing things around.

Scorpia looked at you and immediately recognized you. “(Name)!” she said excitedly.

you leaned off the edge of the ship a bit as you were headed back for the Fright Zone. admittedly, you were nervous to go back, it had been awhile and you had betrayed them. you looked down at your palms and squeezed them shut out of frustration.

“nervous?” you nodded as you felt a soft tail carefully curl itself around your waist.

“i feel guilty.” you said, “i left everything i had. everything we had all because i thought i could trust Adora. i thought she was right.”

you sighed and shook your head. “i don’t belong in a place full of princesses. they don’t like people different to them. no matter how much i tried to prove myself, they always denied me anything.”

Catra gripped your hands tightly and you turned you body to face her. the look on her face was upset, but it was obvious in her eyes that she held care for you. you chuckled lightly and brought your hand up to Catra’s cheek. she flinched a bit before relaxing and closing her eyes.

“you look good in that suit.” you hummed.

“shut up.” Catra hissed.

she turned to walk away and you burst out laughing, quickly going after her.

“Catra! stop, you know i can keep up with you right?”

“you ruined the moment, (Name).”

“oh, come on! Catra!”

#catra x reader #catra #adora #she ra #catra she ra #glimmer #bow #bow she ra #scorpia #adora x reader #she ra princess of power #fanfic #she ra fanfic #imagine #fluff #angst #x reader #gender neutral

[wkil-109-fmx-radio]

[Zone Info]

Events:

Helium I - Fought between 1993 and 1998 when tensions between governments around the world finally turned to war. Nuclear warfare wiped out Northern-Middle Eurasia, most of South America, South-Eastern North America, and Southern Africa. The war ended when what was left of Europe and Asia surrendered.

The Rise of Better Living Industries - BL/ind started as a weapons manufacturing/power company that rose into a major monopoly and self-governing body that overthrew the US toward the end of the first Helium War. It immediately began an effort to bring “peace” to the nation by ridding the country of all individualism and “radical” beliefs, believing that different ideas would turn into conflict. This quickly turned into ridding the country of creativity and self-expression to make a perfect, crime-free society.

Helium II - Fought between 2006 and 2011 when Better Living Industries had taken control of what was left of North and South America and began attacking the rest of the world, trying to rid the planet of ideas that didn’t match theirs. The East Coast started rebelling against the West Coast, where BL/ind had established their capital in what was once Los Angeles but had been renamed Battery City. A wall of nuclear bombs was dropped around the Rocky Mountains and thanks to the radiation around the globe affecting the radio waves, no one knows for sure whether there is anyone else living on the planet outside of Battery City and its surrounding Zones.

The Rise of the Rebels - Since the very beginning of Better Living Industries’ reign, rebels had appeared. When Battery City was established as BL/ind’s capital city, settlements started popping up in the desert outside of the city. On the East Coast of North America, a massive rebellion effort was led against BL/ind during the second Helium War. As the years passed, more rebels started appearing in Battery City and moving to the desert, eventually renamed The Zones, especially after BL/ind seemed to have destroyed the East Coast rebels. Rebels in the Zones became known as Killjoys and rebels in the city became known as Juvie Halls. Rebels began attacking Better Living Industries factories and facilities, hoping to weaken the company but only resulting in angering BL/ind.

The Fires of 2012 - From April till August of 2012, Better Living Industries began lighting fires across the Zones in an attempt to destroy the Killjoys, as they had grown out of BL/ind’s control. The Fires got out of control and ended up spreading to some Better Living Industries camps and buildings that were still stationed in the Zones. As a result, BL/ind blamed the rebels for the Fires and denied any claims of the truth. The blame being placed on the rebels sparked the start of the Analog Wars.

The Analog Wars - Fought between 2012 and 2017 or, to some, from 2012 to the present. The Analog War wasn’t your usual war; it was mostly small battles in the Zones or sabotage of BL/ind or rebel facilities. Better Living Industries describes it as “an effort to suppress the rebels and their radical and dangerous ideals.” During the war, BL/ind established the Draculoid and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units.

The Pig Bombs of 2017 - On July 4, 2017, Better Living Industries dropped a series of bombs in Zone 8 to destroy the Killjoy farming communities that were settled there. BL/ind had previously withheld using nuclear weapons in the Zones because they didn’t want the radiation destroying Battery City so they settled for dropping them in Zone 8, although they ended up also destroying several important Better Living Industries facilities in the process. The bombs wiped Zones 7, 8, and 9 off the map, left some places in Zone 6 uninhabitable, and created a wall of radiation around the Zones and Battery City, trapping them and isolating them from the rest of the world. This marked the end of the Analog Wars, although some believe that since there was no official surrender or treaty, the war is still going on.

Places:

Battery City - The capital of whatever is left of the US that Better Living Industries can control. In Battery City, the citizens are required to take “Happy Pills.” In the city, BL/ind controls the weather, the way people dress, where kids go to school, and where adults work. Every citizen has a set routine, sent to them in the morning along with their medication. In the center of Battery City is the Better Living Industries headquarters which is the tallest building and largest complex in the city and home to the Director, the head of BL/ind.

The Underground - The subway systems under Battery City where many juvie halls live and plot against Better Living Industries. “The Underground” doesn’t always literally mean the subway systems and can be used as a relative term for anywhere juvie halls may live.

The Outskirts - The edge of Battery City, bordering Zone 1. This is where lower-class citizens live, along with some juvie halls, as this is the least regulated part of the city.

The Zones - The desert surrounding Battery City, where the Killjoys live. As the number of the Zone gets higher, so does the population, as the Killjoys like to be as far away from Battery City and BL/ind headquarters as possible.

Route Guano - The most used interstate in the Zones, running from south-eastern Battery City all the way out past Zone 6.

The Getaway Mile - The interstate south of Route Guano, which is shorter and goes more south but is often used for quick escapes from Battery City.

Death Valley - The area outside of Zone 6 that is dangerous and completely uninhabitable due to the extreme radiation.

Lighthouses - Well-known places across the Zones that provide sanctuary for Killjoys on the run

Train Station Avenue - A popular lighthouse along Route Guano in Zone 5 that is notorious for fights, food, and hitchhikers

The Nest - The largest lighthouse in the Zones, located next to DESTROYA in Zone 4

DESTROYA Site - The home of DESTROYA, a massive droid built by Better Living Industries to destroy the Killjoys during the Analog Wars but ended up malfunctioning and turning against them. The droid was shot down and has remained there ever since.

The Bunker - An underground bunker turned nightclub in Zone 6, popular for raves and huge amounts of attendees

Witch’s Hut - A small hut in Zone 6 where a supposed prophet of the Phoenix Witch lives

The Tracks - A race track in Zone 5 used for competitive drag races where parties are held and bets are placed for your favorite racers

Vocabulary:

Angel Cake - Killjoys who travel across the Zones selling food for cheaper prices

Audition - Initiation rituals that gangs in or outside of Battery City may have for you to be able to join. What you have to do varies from gang to gang

Babysitter - a term used to poke fun at a gang leader but also used as a genuine term for gang leaders who may be visibly older than the rest of the gang

Bacon - dead or dying Dracs and Crows

Batt out of hell - a term for new Killjoys but not used in a derogatory way

Batt Rat - a derogatory term used by Sand Pups to describe new Killjoys who just escaped the city and don’t know the Zone ways

Black Smith - someone who’s good at repairing or modifying technology or cars

Bifrost - places in the Zones that were so greatly affected by bombs, that the sand turned to glass

Blanket drive - driving at night with the headlights off, the windows down, and the music turned up loud

Carbons - The currency used in Battery City and the Zones. One carbon equals four dollars

Chilly - something or someone that’s suspicious

Clap - a physical fight

Cloud - A large group of Draculoids and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W traveling through the Zones

Compass Rose - a Killjoy who knows the desert like the back of their hand

Costa Rica - things that went crazy or got out of control

Crash Queen - a daredevil or thrill seeker who is known for doing things that could easily get them killed and doesn’t care

Deadfaced - taking Battery Acid

Dead Pegasus - a fuel company in the Zones

Debut album - someone’s first love

Digital - An important moment shared amongst two or more rebels that they know they will never forget

Draculoid - droids and brainwashed Killjoys designed to kill rebels. Also called "bats" or "Dracs"

Drifter - someone who lives a nomadic lifestyle and strays from commitment in relationships

Drifting - A relationship that isn’t strictly anything but simply some sort of attraction between two individuals. A sort of go-with-the-flow, whatever happens, happens kind of relationship

Drive sidestreet - another way to tell someone to piss off. Also could use “get off the highway”

Dust Trail - an urban legend or a term used by non-religious Killjoys to describe religious Killjoys’ beliefs

ElectroKat - the most popular battery brand in Battery City and the Zones

Exterminators - High ranking Better Living Industries officials placed in charge of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W units

Fact News - The one news program in Battery City, notorious for spreading lies to the citizens

Favorite Record - someone’s significant other

Firefight - a fight using ray guns

Fly half-mast - that state after having recently lost someone close to you

Gearhead - someone who’s obsessed with all things mechanical

Gemini - someone suspected of being a spy for Better Living Industries

Ghost Chase - Searching the Zones for someone who is possibly, or most likely, dead

Ghosted - killed. Also can use "dusted"

Graffiti Bible - A collection of religious writings across the Zones, mostly talking about how DESTROYA will come back to life and destroy Battery City and the Phoenix Witch

Gravehead - crazy Killjoys who have lost everyone and everything and throw themselves into dangerous situations

Gravity - anything that brings you down

Groupie - someone who travels with different gangs and trades favors for food, water, and protection

Halo Head - religious Killjoys who believe their beliefs put them above everyone else, especially non-religious Killjoys

Happy Pills - Pills issued by Better Living Industries that they say will lift your spirits and protect you from the radiation but make you more submissive and easier for BL to control. The rebels call them "Battery Acid"

Hit the red line - run away, usually from a bad/dangerous situation

Icy - when someone dies or goes missing in a suspicious way

Juvie Hall - rebels who haven’t left the city, usually because they can’t or because they’re working with the Killjoys to smuggle supplies out to the Zones and/or give them information from the city

Killjoy - rebels who live in the Zones

Lawyer - someone who ruins all the fun

Mailbox - small landmarks in the Zones where an old mailbox is painted and decorated and filled with letters, mostly to people that other Killjoys have lost. The more religious Killjoys believe the Phoenix Witch delivers the letters put in the mailboxes to the dead

Maple Plaza - Places in Zone 6 where radiation is still very thick and dangerous

Mega - interchangeable with "wicked"

Motorbabies - people who live and breathe all things car-related

Mousekat - a cartoon character from Battery City

Murder - a magazine in the Zones with Zone news

Pangea - A friendly gathering of two or more gangs

Paperboy - someone who travels across the Zones collecting news, gossip, and reporting deaths, usually for Dr. D or Murder magazine

Phoenix Witch - a supposed deity of the Zones, looking out for the rebels and carrying the souls of the dead into the afterlife

Pigs - another term for Dracs and Crows

Plus - A battery replenisher used by droids that are known for being highly addictive

Power Pup - a pre-moistened dog kibble brand that is often the only source of food in the Zones

Ray Gun - guns that shoot high-powered lasers instead of bullets. Rebels often customize them

Rebel - anyone who actively works against Better Living Industries

Ritalin Rat - drug addicts, usually used for those addicted to Happy Pills but can be used for Zoneweed addicts as well

Robin Hood Honey - party going Killjoys that look beautiful but don’t act like it

Rongee Kay - Killjoys who wander from party to party

Royal - something fancy or high end

Runners - juvie halls who smuggle supplies into the Zones

Sand Pup - someone born in the Zones or someone who has lived there most of their life

Sand Worm - a derogatory term for Killjoys used by Better Living Industries

S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W - BL loyalists specially trained to destroy anything they deem worthy of destroying. Also called "Crows"

Screwhead - someone who parties too much and thinks too little

Shiny Magazine - a magazine for mature readers in the Zones

Shiny - interchangeable with "awesome" or "cool"

Shower Curtain - A rare day when the sun is behind the clouds and the heat isn’t so unbearable

Smiley - someone acting suspiciously

Sour - something off

Squeaky - not having committed a crime against Better Living Industries but still wanting to rebel against them. Also used when someone seems to avoid fights or dangerous situations even though they’ve never done that before

Static - another word for sand or remote areas of the Zones

Trojan Horse - a painfully obvious lie

Tumbleweed - someone who wanders the Zones, living a nomadic lifestyle, having no home or gang

Vend-a-Hack - A device used by Killjoys to hack into Better Living Industries vending machines to steal various supplies

Vending Machine - Dispense a variety of items, including ray guns, batteries, ammo, stickers, stress toys, Plus, Power Pup, and water

WKIL 109 FMX - Doctor D’s pirate radio station that plays news and music

Zone Rat - a derogatory term for Killjoys used by Better Living Industries and some Battery City citizens

Zoneweed - a popular drug grown and passed around in the Zones

#mcr #my chemical romance #killjoys #the zones #danger days #better living industries #bl/ind #party poison #fun ghoul #jet star #kobra kid #death tw #drugs tw

[bluestmoons]

@myloyalty​​ didn’t know what she was giving me permission for​

   The first time Leonie saw Jeremiah again was at a rather droll meeting. 

   Though the voices of her superiors were wickedly boring and unspirited, their message was anything but. They were sharing intel on the platoon that’d recently ravaged the ghettos, and they were all attempting to put together ways to strike back effectively. 

   ( This hardly ever worked. They were barely hanging on as was -- they simply didn’t have the time or resources to dismantle individual platoons. Still, extra information never hurt, did it...? ) 

   Leonie was flipping through the profiles on a device before her, skimming faces, names, sparse bios with a spattering of their accomplishments, when... 

   Tanned skin. Curled, dark hair. Thin gold eyes that pierced even in a photograph. The words, above his picture: MARGRAVE GOTTWALD, JEREMIAH. 

   Her throat dropped through the floor. 

   No one noticed her sink entirely into herself as she met Jeremiah’s eyes for the first time since she’d been a teen. No one else saw the world fade to grays. Only her memories were in stunning color -- his red cheeks under the moonlight, his amber glance caught in a camera flash, his pink lips moving against hers, his pale face at the funeral, the last time she ever--... 

   No. God, no. No. Please. 

   It couldn’t really be him, could it?

   The meeting ended, eventually, and Leonie sought the first empty room she could find. Her eyes swallowed the words as though she were a fish searching for water. Eldest son of--... In the Britannian army since--... Promoted on--... It was all matching up, too perfectly, and there was no denying that face. It was exactly the same expression he’d scowled at her with ever since their first meeting when she’d kissed his hand in his very own banquet hall.

   It was a torrential downpour. A beginning that seemed to’ve already started, somehow, without her knowledge, perhaps many, many years ago. Leonie sobbed, wretchedly, openly like a starving babe, like an abandoned child, nothing at all like the warrior she’d long carved and crafted herself to be. Every memory, thought, feeling of him that was once held inside was suddenly at the forefront. 

   For the first time since she left him, Leonie let herself truly think of him. 

   No -- not see something that reminded her of him and immediately barricade the thought away. Not think she heard his voice, or saw his face, but abandon the consideration before her heart could even begin to ache. But think of him. Fully, and truly. Her and him grappling on the floor of the banquet hall, her in laughter. The two of them having a picnic beneath her mother’s window with stale bread in the middle of the night. The long battle at daybreak and him running desperately home. Him sweeping her across ballroom as elegantly as they were a natural pair that’d been training to dance with one another since birth. Her hand in his, and them knee-deep in pond water, and their first hug, with their clothes wet and foul-smelling, and him showing her how to aim a gun, and-- 

   Where are you

   Her last text to him. And -- and he was here! 

   God... God... of all the places in all of the world, why did he have to be here?

   There was nothing beautiful or poetic about the way she crumbled that night, the way she screamed for the memory of a friend she’d thought she’d lost. Her face was coated in tears, snot, and she gasped and grappled with breath so long she was certain she’d stop breathing altogether.

   They were on opposite sides of a war. A war she was truly committed to. And she recalled his stubborn gaze -- he would not back down from his side so easily. Especially with the handiwork she had just seen of him. God, to compare the young boy she knew with the man who left bodies of innocents strewn around... how could he! She was nauseated with the dissonance, had to bite on her fists to stave the bile.

   Maybe she should run away again. For even were he to be wretched now, how could she raise her sword to him? He, who had once meant so much to her? How could she lose him, after...

   “Is he okay?” 

   Her phone was tucked away before she slipped down into the opening, reached forward to link her fingers with the outstretched hand leaning back. “Certainly.” 

   “Are-- are you confident?” 

   “Undoubtedly so. He was far too coarse to be in any real danger.” 

   Alexei’s thin frame sighed in relief, and he looked genuinely soothed. “Thank God...” 

   How easily that outcome could’ve been different -- a few words from her, and his face would’ve twisted up in pain, eyes would’ve shined terror. But, no, it wasn’t just for memory of Alexei! Leonie could recall the way her own stomach flopped when she recognized the direction the assailants were coming from, when she waited for a return message. She’d felt faint with the thought that something could’ve happened. 

   She never would’ve considered that she’d be the thing that could-- 

   If she weren’t careful, she would lose her stomach completely. She was far too warm, body ran clean with unbounding feeling. 

   ... ... No. If Leonie ran away, someone else would certainly kill him in her stead. That would be no better than killing him herself. She had to do something. She had to do something-- 

   For the first night, of course, she just cried. Hopeless, and aching, and shards of her soul splayed so open that she didn’t drift off for even a minute. 

   Her little outburst did not go unnoticed by the others in her company. They whispered of womanly hormones and chuckled to themselves. If Leonie were in any other mood, she’d’ve had a sharp remark and thwack upside the head for them. But -- no. It was better than the truth. Let them think of her as a raving woman until she could prove to herself that she wasn’t.

   She worked herself harder than, perhaps, she should’ve in order to suffer through her feelings -- and to punish herself for her slip, of course. She wound her bandages tighter, she hit harder, she ran further. She’d run herself so ragged that emotions were the least of her concerns by the night the broadcast was on. 

   Jeremiah Gottwald -- because, of course, why wouldn’t it be him, right? -- was leading an honorary Britannian to a public execution and all of Japan and Britannia was watching. That smug expression, that confident stature... a rush of annoyance and a need to protect bubbled up within her, hand-in-hand.

   God, she hated him. 

   And then, with the world as his audience, he did something completely unexpected. 

   He gave the young Japanese man being sent to his death back to the resistance. Leonie wasn’t the only one to watch in stunned shock, but she was very likely the only one to shed tears at his action. ( This time, she did knock sense into someone who dared to tease her for the display. ) What did this mean? Had he come to his senses? Was this a small act of rebellion, the only spot of himself he could force out?

   What would happen to him now that he’d disobeyed Britannia so publicly, so obviously? 

   For starters, he was stripped of his title, hidden among the masses as a disgrace. As for what would come next -- she didn’t want to wait around to find out. 

   It took a great deal of convincing her superior, but she’d been a reliable fighter and had worked way through the ranks enough that her opinion held some weight, even though she was a foreigner. Finally he’d assented, sent her off with a small team and a wary gaze. 

   The world was warm, heady with rainfall that’d begin late in the night and was scheduled to continue well into the next few days. A perfect day for a kidnapping, Leonie mused, sullenly. If she was wrong -- if she’d misread that drastic flip in him -- he’d be furious with her. 

   Furious and alive, though, which was more than what she could promise with Britannia. Besides -- furious was like a default setting with him. He was always mad, wasn’t he...?

   Jeremiah was in his office, in a rather secluded part of a government building, and his shadow was slow, still. Hopefully the concern wouldn’t rouse him too much -- just enough to stand, and exit. Leonie set up some gunmen in perches and had one of them call his last name in a desperate tone. 

   Curiosity appeared to eventually get the better of him, and he stumbled to his door and wandered into the hall. Oh God... his footsteps were dragging, sluggish. The ground didn’t even need to whisper it; she heard it. Drunk. 

   From a bannister, still, she sunk, dressed darkly and holding no weapon at the ready. Instead -- she stretched forward a hand.

   “Jeremiah.” A gentle tone, kind, lulling. Her eyes shine easily -- a color and mischief that seemed to play that she’d had no feelings at all to wrestle through prior to their meeting here.

   “I’m here to save you.” 

#( the rising of. ) leonie. #( the lively lady. ) leonie. #( v. code geass. ) leonie. #i'm here to save you

[yanderart]

   Once you found Shouto on the Anti-Purge forums, it felt so wonderful to be understood. So comforting to finally have someone you could rely on...

So, when you got a letter notifying you of your selection for the Annual Purge later on, of course you went to seek his help.

Should’ve known better than to trust strangers online, though.

My fic/portrait convo for the Yandere Purge Collab, from the Lovesick Discord. And please check the rest of the m. list for other amazing works set in the same AU!

Under the cut is the actual fic (Todoroki x Reader, nsfw, dark themes, 10k), as well as the respective TWs. Hope y'all enjoy 🥀

-------

Tws: Usual yandere ones (stalking, manipulation, delusion). Dub-con/Non-con. Non-consensual Drug Use, aka Aphrodisiacs. Death threats and sexism (from randoms on the forum, not Todo). 

-------

   You couldn’t think straight —hadn’t been able to since waking up again. All you could recognize amidst the fog currently obscuring your thoughts was the longing, prolonged, and tangible in its hold over your being.

You felt hot all over, the flames licking at your skin burning brightly as you squirmed from your place, eagerly attempting to get closer to the cold reprieve emanating from the man that held you. 

“Tell me what’s wrong, Y/N." One of his hands was steering you on his lap, the other one gently massaging your shoulders in a comforting motion. “I can only help you if you do."

If your judgment had not been overcast by the desire pushing away your self-awareness, then perhaps you could’ve heard the faint hint of amusement in his voice. Perhaps you would’ve thought to look up and finally encounter the content shine of his heterochromatic eyes.

“I feel…" speaking was laborious, your tongue impossibly weighty and your mind swirling with thoughts that escaped any semblance of coherence. “I feel hot all over. It hurts.”

The hand positioned around your waist went to search for one of your clenched ones, easily engulfing it in his grip as he nudged the side of your face with his chin rather tenderly. A gentle encouragement for you to stay attentive, anchoring you to the moment despite your dazed mindset. 

“Show me then,” his low timbre tickled your skin, sending another wave of excruciating heat to wreak havoc inside your body, “Let me know where it hurts.”

With a stuttering sigh, you proceeded to press both of your hands to your lower stomach, gulping audibly before bringing them further down. Dancing just short of your underwear while your eyelids fluttered shut. 

You knew your actions were out of character deep down. Even recognized the shadow of wrongness that distorted the current scene. You weren't supposed to do such things, weren't supposed to feel like that…

But the reality was that you were so excruciatingly warm by that point, and his palm felt so deliciously cold. 

When you heard the dreadful siren going off in the distance, the instantly recognizable sound of the Purge starting at last, you were already too far gone to think of anything else but the fingers brushing against the thin cotton of your panties, so close to the evidence of your need soaking through them. 

Your parents had told you not to trust strangers online once upon a time. You should’ve really taken their advice more to heart.

。。。。。

   But first, perhaps a little tracing of your steps is in order —some necessary context to fully understand the extension of your plight. 

You see, earlier that day you had woken up full of a peculiar mix of drive and determination. It was indeed Purge Day, the single day of the year you had grown to fear the most  ever since childhood, and yet for once you found yourself oddly relaxed, filled to the brim with resolve instead of your usual nerves. 

Which was already an unexpected turn of events, considering you had just gotten a letter notifying you of your selection as one of the accursed Darlings of the Night. 

A gentle reminder that, if caught, your life would stop belonging to yourself for an entire dreadful year. 

Because a Yandere had their sight on you now, or so the notice had informed you in impeccable typography. Anxious fingertips memorized the slight raise of inked words, inspecting every single detail the letter carried.

You had imagined a monster ready to pounce just outside your door then, fitting enough to be the carrier of your bad news. A preternaturally grotesque being, built from all the Yandere themed horror stories you had heard throughout the years.  

And yet there you were, feeling safer in that instant than you had in years; Because this time you had a plan. He made sure to give you one you could easily follow.

Just like he later made sure to welcome you in with a kind smile and awfully persistent hospitality. 

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

You should've known better than to accept.

。。。。。

   In the present, fingers were now dipping under the elastic of your panties, ghosting across feverish skin and encouraging your whimpers to grow louder. 

"Is this what you want, then?" The man's breath tickled one of your ears, rough digits gathering your slickness with practiced ease. And he sounded genuinely concerned too, as if your discomfort was not a consequence of his own machinations. "Because I wanna ease your pain, baby. Give you what you truly need."

He barely even touched you yet you were already struggling not to crumble, the desire governing your mind mixing with the new sensations to create a new delirious kind of torment. 

Continuing to tease you, the man was relentless in his torture, barely even brushing over your neediest spots. A gentle press of his palm to stimulate you for a moment before pulling back, much to your shameful frustration; Better than nothing, but not close enough. 

In his own way, though, he was urging you to speak up. Expecting you to demand what you truly wanted. 

Yet as a retort, all you could come up with was gasping out his name, dripping from your lips like honeyed prayers as your hips fought to buck up against his hand. 

 A sound you afterward repeated a hundred times over. Chanted until its melody became engraved on your tongue and the man was finally caving in, sliding his fingers inside with a smirk. 

He had known you'd end up caving, had planned for it for months now, and yet nothing had prepared him for the actual view.

。。。。。

   Shou, actually, had been his username when you first met him. Once upon a time recited with a genuine smile and an eagerness to please, such a far cry from the anguished whines it would later lead up to.

You started frequenting the forum he inhabited a few months back. A place which happened to be a hidden corner of the internet for people who did not just stumble upon it, but actually sought it out. A part of the web where its occupants challenged societal norms and, against what society had tried to condition you all into thinking,  chose to voice their taboo Anti-Purge sentiments instead. 

Sentiments perhaps born either due to the inherent discriminatory nature of the holiday (why was it that Yanderes were accommodated for, while Darlings barely got a warning before they were made prey?), a need for contrarianism (when opposing open kidnappings, assault and other debauchery became an act of rebellion), or just a tenuous moral high ground which made it unbearable to stomach. Whatever the reason, it was your first time encountering such a density of like-minded peers.

Despite attempting to commit yourself to being a lurker, deciding to never post or reply to others, your days had still quickly become consumed by the need to read each and every topic. You were simply fascinated with this new dark corner of the web. 

That was, of course, until the aforementioned Shou became the main focus of your attention, a dash of intriguing brightness to break the monotony of your existence.

And like moths rushing to the flame, your curiosity would be your undoing.  

There was something about him that pulled you in (along with many others from the community, which tended to flock on his posts whenever he grazed the forums). His username was clearly just a nickname instead of a carefully crafted pseudonym; profile picture just an image of the back of what you all assumed to be his hair, dual-toned strands catching the light in a hypnotic way.

Truly, his disregard for anonymity within those parts was a bigger statement than you were expecting, almost as commendable as it was dumbfounding. There was the nature of his postings too, never subtle about his inclinations or ideas. 

   How to disarm and reutilize Purge Traps. 

   Most effective ways to incapacitate a violent assailant.  

   Government lies and why they matter. 

   Faking a BOPC (breach of purge code) and getting away with it.

There was little method to the madness that was his forum activity, besides the hint that he was evidently more knowledgeable about the subject than most. Plus the fact that he was proactive about his advice, actually seeking to teach others to fight back instead of just hide away and hope for the best. For another self-proclaimed Darling, Shou was ruthless with his methods —it was hard not to admire him.

And admire you did, keeping tabs of his sporadic bursts of activity and speeding to try and interact with him whenever you caught him online. You were, to voice it simply, simply star-truck by him (and perhaps becoming a bit of a fangirl). 

Because whoever Shou was, it felt like he understood you. And so, against every ounce of your common sense or natural paranoia, you had finally decided to break your golden rule and reach out for the first time since you joined the niche forum. 

And not to just leave a vague comment agreeing on public discourse, but to actually send him a private message. In your defense, how were you supposed to know the chains of events your actions would start?

   Do you actually believe what you post?, had been your lame conversation starter. 

Luckily for you, he did not leave you hanging. You made sure to send the message while he was still active, one of the few days a week you knew he devoted to his presence on the site (and wasn't it slightly creepy, how you had taken the time to learn his schedule by that point?)

   I wouldn't be here if I didn't, dry, to the point and leaving you embarrassed to have even sent the first question. 

Yet for some reason, something about Shou reverted you back into a middle school kid seeking to impress a way cooler senior. 

Perhaps it was what he symbolized (a change for the better), what he appeared to be (everything you wish you were) —whatever it was, your fingers were frantically typing a reply as soon as his appeared on your screen. 

   I just think it's amazingThe things you know

   How you share them with everyone

   The way you see through the lies

   I just think you're— , your digits hovered over the keyboard as you were about to type out the last sentence before quickly deleting it. Even in your excitement, you knew how obsessed you'd sound if you started complimenting him personally in your very first conversation. 

So instead you sent your thoughts on his posts and awaited his answer with bated breath. A few minutes ticked by this time, your anxiety making you count down the seconds in mortified silence, slowly weighted down by your doubts until your notifications for the forum were going off again with a distinct ping. 

   I've seen your replies around. I think you're great too. 

Whatever your hang ups for praising him directly had been, he clearly did not harbor any. As the prongs of nervousness alleviated their hold over your body, you struggled to see any problems with it either…this was a person you had come to idolize, and they thought you were great?

Your smile, while still anxious, was considerable while you quickly responded. 

   I'm just a n00b. Learning from the pros. 

A moment of thought, biting your bottom lip as you decided whether to add a second message or not. Fuck it, you told yourself. 

   I wasn't even supposed to be posting anything, but you made me wanna reach out. 

Was that too forward? Oh god, it was, wasn't it? You must've sounded creepy, must've sounded desperate and…

   That's cute. Did my ramblings teach you anything? 

An actual squeal left you then, sounding like it came from an altogether different person. You were an adult, with a career and responsibilities… Yet somehow, this stranger online indirectly calling you cute made you more excited than you were comfortable admitting.

   Ofc. I didn't even know what a BOPC was before. Didn't know most of the purge traps you mentioned, either. 

The spaces between replies were getting smaller, the conversation turning fluent as you both seemed to be staring straight into the screen, waiting for the other to finish typing. 

   So you really are a n00b then. 

Shit, did you fail some sort of forum etiquette by admitting that? Somehow, the need to impress Shou was more palpable than ever. 

   And you clearly know your stuff. Makes me wanna up my game. 

Be more like you, you left unsaid. 

   So am I your senpai then? 

Your fingers froze just above the keyboards, eyes scanning over Shou's last message and reverted back to staring at his profile pic for a solid minute. You would've squealed again, if you weren't so taken aback. 

   You make it sound like I am, his second message lit up your screen, coming in quickly after your rare pause in replies.

   I don't think that's bad, though. Third message from him, and you were close to fainting now. 

   Then in that case I suppose you are. You wondered whether Shou wouldn't think you were pathetic admitting that, or whether he had been honest by saying he didn't mind... 

   I've also noticed you agreeing with some of my more polarizing views. 

A welcomed change in topics. 

You thought to ask him which ones (most of his posts tended to have a polarizing effect, with people finding him either too radicalized or not radicalized enough), but before you could formulate the question you saw the twinkling circles symbolizing he was typing up another sentence.

   Do you actually believe them? And now it was his turn to spit your words back at you. 

   Well, yah. You make compelling arguments. 

   Color me impressed then, the start of his new retort left your mind spinning. Never met a n00b like you before. 

After his declaration, you found yourself writing and rewriting your answer, hesitating on your word choice, and yet pure elation coursed through your veins. 

He said he's impressed with me, your brain kept supplying on loop. You had no way of knowing just how much of a lasting impression you were leaving. 

   I don't wanna stay one tho. I'd like to jump a few levels. Improve.

Barely a moment's notice before his last message provoked a noticeable hitch in your breath. 

   I can help you with that. 

Which, as short of a reply as it was, left you giddier than would’ve been healthier to admit. 

Perhaps it could be chalked up to your work shifts growing more monotonous and tiresome, your social life becoming a faint echo of what it used to be, or just the regular wear and tear from a too-plain existence —a routine where you didn’t tend to engage with life, but just passively watched it go by.

Whatever the true reason was, that night you went to sleep with such a wide grin that the apples of your cheeks had started to hurt from the exertion, infinitely excited after getting to talk firsthand with someone you had already come to admire by that point. 

It almost made you self-conscious, knowing just how much it all meant to you, how such a small gesture on his part happened to mean the world to you. 

But there was really no reason to feel ashamed or overzealous over your own reaction. If you could’ve seen Shou, you would’ve known you weren’t the only one smiling.

。。。。。

   Almost as open of a smile as the one adorning his features right now, currently hidden from your view as his fingers set a maddening pace. Tortuously slow at first until his knuckles started brushing against your opening with each thrust. 

All you could hear now were the wet sounds of your arousal facilitating his movements, motions whose only purpose seemed to be to drive you more rambling and disoriented by the second. 

"Is this what you want? What you need, perhaps?" His usually calm voice was uncharacteristically affected as he gasped against your ear, the torture he was making you endure clearly getting to him as well. 

You were much too preoccupied with the waves of pleasure and warmth overflowing your body to give a proper response, but your lack of one did not deter him. 

If anything, your needy gasps and whines were the only encouragement he required. 

"Don't worry, Y/N. I'll take care of you, make you feel good."

By that point, the hand that had been petting your hair had found its way to your sopping heat too, calloused pads circling around your pearl while the man continued feeding you his eager promises. 

"I get you, baby. Just like you get me." So close, your entire body taut and ready to snap. "And you want me to take care of you too, right?"

You weren't conscious enough to understand the implications, your impaired judgment prohibiting you from reading further into the meaning of his words. He sounded so encouraging, so deceivingly tender despite stuffing you full of his fingers as you squirmed on his lap. 

All you could do was nod furiously.

And later on, when your senses sadly returned, dedicated yourself to lamenting over which of your actions brought you down this unfortunate path. 

。。。。。

    Perhaps, your consciousness supplied, it had been the fact that you opened up so readily. That you had dared to share with a supposed new friend, things that should’ve better stayed hidden in the first place.   

But goddamn it, you felt downright honored that he even considered you worthy enough to entertain in the first place. From the very first second, Shouto already had the upper hand. 

During the first few conversations, the topics you two discussed were all closely related to the purge and your mutual hang ups with it. Concise and carefully typed out messages were exchanged, discussing opinions you had never expected anyone to be interested in hearing—not from you, at least. 

But then, as the weeks slowly progressed, the subjects of conversation began shifting to both of your lives, to your occupations, hobbies, and, directly against the forum's policy for privacy, the people you two were outside the confines of your online corner. 

Even without actually exchanging any real data or supplying him with your name or age, you found yourself starting to open up more and more with each day.

You told him about your grueling office job, the friends you hadn’t seen or texted in weeks, and the reality of an apartment which more closely resembled a containment cell than a home…

Revelations that you had kept hidden for so long, which now came pouring out without regard for how mortified they made you feel. You were conscious of the limits blurring between you two the further you kept going, of how you were telling him things best left unsaid, cramped and buried in a hard to reach place. 

And yet, for some obscure reason, everything Shou represented made it impossible for you to resist the temptation to speak up, to demand to be heard for the first time in an eternity of quietness. 

You’re pathetic, is what you expected him to say in return. Pathetic, weak, meager, and worthless. Anticipating him, somehow, to echo all the doubts and deeply held fears you carried inside. 

   Most of my friends don’t understand either, was instead the response you  received. But most people don’t see what's wrong, what needs to be changed. You feel lonely because you do.

It wasn’t clear what you would’ve wanted to hear beforehand, the things you had fantasized someone would reply if you ever gathered the courage to share your anxieties. Whatever those expectations had been an eternity ago, they now vastly paled when compared to what your new friend was dangling in front of you. 

It felt like he was giving an excuse for things you had always perceived as personal failings. If what he said was true, it would mean it wasn’t your social ineptitude that kept people away, your uselessness, or uninteresting personality.

It would mean the shadows around you could still be dispelled somehow, exorcising the silhouettes of a suffering that had become a regular companion in your day to day life.

Brandishing a courage that only anonymity could give you, your fingers were a blur on your keyboard as you tried to ignore the rapid heartbeat in your chest, the fear, and exhilaration from opening up for the first time in forever. 

Something you would later regret a thousand times over.

   And you do too, and it wasn’t a question, a nervous comment or a stuttered retort. With the aid of the text format, you could look as confident as you knew you weren’t. You understand as well. 

You understand me, was the tacit meaning behind it. The prickling of unshed tears made it so you were furiously blinking, fighting against the downpour despite your eyes refusing to leave the screen for longer than an instant. 

   I do. More than you realize.

For all intents and purposes, your first mistake was indeed opening up. 

And your second one was being naive enough to let him in. Seriously, why hadn’t you heeded your parent’s advice about stranger danger?

。。。。。

   ...If they could only see you now, coming apart at the seams and with the name of your tormentor being the only word you were able to string together. 

"Such a beauty, and all for me," his praises accompanied you through the rough orgasm ripping through your body, lips kissing your forehead in stark contrast to the digits still pumping inside your heat. "Let me hear your voice, baby. Let me hear how beautiful my name sounds on your lips."

And you obeyed, because what other choice did you have. Mindless, broken, and oh, so needy. 

You continued to audibly moan as your climax unwound, crying out his name in absolute reverence while Shouto's smile deepened against your skin. The chill of his touch was still as soothing as ever, calming down the embers of a lust that refused to completely die down.

When he finally pulled his hands from your core, you felt excruciatingly empty. But you were not given enough time to wallow in your despair, because who you once considered your friend was then grasping your face gently between his hands, leading your gaze to meet his—forcing you to witness the intensity and adoration present there. 

"My Y/N."

Even in your deeply intoxicated state, the last few dredges of your senses supplied just how utterly abhorrent the situation was. 

The sirens signaling the start of the Purge had died down a while ago, drowned out by your own cries of pleasure, but you could still see the remnants of the government logo still plastered all over the TV, its bright glow bathing you both in an eerily scarlet ambiance. 

From the same weak place of coherence, a shiver of fear managed to break through your stupor. 

"You're going to continue to be a good girl for me, aren't you?" 

When he kissed you then, slow and almost ironically hesitant despite what had just transpired moments before, you couldn't begin to tell your body to refuse. Much to your own horror, you were soon eagerly kissing your tormentor back. 

。。。。。                                                      

   The second mistake leading up to your downfall, on the other hand, took a little longer to occur. It was after a few more weeks of conversation. You vented and talked way too much, while Shou listened intently and even rewarded you with a few crumbs of advice of his own.  

So wrapped up in your new seemingly innocuous friendship you were in, you failed to recognize the magnitude of an event that should've sent you scrambling to shut off your monitor. A warning so loud it would've put the Purge sirens themselves to shame. 

You see, with Shou's help, you were slowly becoming more of an active user around those parts. You didn't just stick to replying to his posts or lurking until he shot you a private message anymore; no, you were now officially a contributor, deciding to step out of your anonymity to share what you thought was a fairly interesting article. It was a rather long-winded thinkpiece on the morality of Darlings’ treatment after the Purge had ended—the reality of that year spent in captivity that most people tended to just brush under the carpet, all in the name of making the entire ordeal more palatable to digest. 

In all your eagerness, however, you had failed to realize a very crucial detail, which was that the article was a whole two days old. Already an ancient text by forum's standards, apparently. 

So with that in mind, of course you should've expected the hate, an outpouring of bitterness fit for a community of loners and acidic underdogs. You were on an anonymous forum on one of the darkest parts of the internet, somewhere most sane people actively stayed away from—Clearly, a rookie unwittingly reposting something was the perfect target for a lot of your bitter comrades. An excuse to finally take out all of their pent up frustration.  

   Fuck1ng pleb, thanks for copy-pasting the same post for the 55th time. 

   This is why we shouldn't let newbies post. Look at this mess @mods.

   Time to hang it up, n00b. And by “it”, I mean your f****** neck.  

   i bet ur a girl, [Username]. u type like a b1tch. 

And the icing on the cake for internet interactions, a myriad of wall spamming "KYS" being plastered all across the comment section, bold and daunting as they filled your notification box with the repetitions of hate. If you weren't so sure of your safety behind your screen, perhaps you would've felt intimidated. 

As it stood, you were just embarrassed, mortified at the fact that you had seemingly botched your only attempt at leaving a positive first impression. If anything, it only seemed you had given everyone a common enemy to pick on for once...

Or that was, at least, until Shou happened to log in at exactly that precise moment. You knew he was usually busy around that day and time (he never actually told you whether he had a job, but you had surmised as much from your past chats), so his instantly recognizable profile picture and username popping up had you genuinely gasping at first. It was one hell of a coincidence, but you couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief at what looked to be your savior.

   Everyone, stop getting your panties in a twist. This is why no new users end up staying, the environment is abhorrent. 

It was vague enough not to betray the fact that you two weren’t just strangers anymore, as well as keeping Shou’s reputation as a lone wolf from completely shattering.

And a comment which, surprisingly, instantly dulled most of the incoming messages your post was being flooded with. 

People respected him there, his status as a renowned user giving him a genuine sort of power and hold over the rest of the community. One of the first things you had recognized on the forums was the distinct hierarchical structures amongst its users, and there Shou might’ve as well be granted the title of mayor for all the weight his every sentence carried.

Or at least they did with the majority of the community. As in every place where large numbers of people gathered, there were always a few rotten apples just begging to be tossed. 

   and ofc ur whiteknighting for her, Shou The Great. shes sucking ur dick under evry single post u make

You cringed, studying the bitter user that had decided to be a contrarian and easily recognizing him from unsavory past encounters you witnessed. Although, if you were completely honest, this time you couldn't exactly say his words didn't carry a certain degree of validity.

Shou had told you he was glad that was the case with you, that his post resonating with anyone was one of the main reasons why he hadn't just disappeared from the site completely. But in reality, saying you weren't subtle about your agreement with his ideas would be an understatement. 

You were like a puppy skipping behind him, trailing his interactions and always ready to write an eager comment backing him up. Yet you had never thought others actually paid attention to your mostly one-sided interactions, the occasional meager downvote or emote being the only thing that made you aware your comments weren’t just lost in the sea of spam Shou’s posts were usually showered in. 

For the longest time, your support had just felt like leaving letters for the man to find. Letters you hadn’t even been sure had reached their target until a few weeks back...

Suddenly, the sharp sound of Shou's incoming reply drove you from your tribulations.  

   Well, maybe if you weren't such a crude man you wouldn't be permabanned from starting topics yourself. Although I doubt anyone would be sucking your dick either way, shitty ideology considered. [Image attached]

A grimace was quick to grow on your face as you aptly studied the picture Shou decided to close his reply with.

It was a screenshot of what looked to be someone's post history, a rather extensive list with alarmingly offensive titles such as "Why male darlings should be spared", "The purge is a form of cuckoldry" and “Feminist agenda: female yanderes and their biological advantage [Repost]". Almost all of them exhibited a tragic downvote ratio right as well, besides the red symbol signaling the posts had been archived by senior users or mods.

For someone who also loathed the terrible holiday, it was almost admirable how the man managed to be almost as detestable as the criminals you all rallied against. 

But even so, what disturbed you the most wasn't the clear bigotry of the user, but the fact that that screenshot couldn't have been taken from public records. A user's post history was hidden, just another measure on the site’s part to keep people from recognizing too many details about each other and possibly endangering themselves. 

No, it could only have been taken from inside the account. And judging from the other guy's quick reaction, you weren't the only one who came to that realization.

   how the fck did u get that

   I knew u were friends with the mods. fcking rats 

By that point, everyone else had stopped clogging the comments and, you assumed, instead opted to settle down and attentively observe the events transpiring. Apart from the emote reactions and the rapidly rising number of upvotes on Shou’s comments, you had all become a passive audience to the public ridicule.

Although you couldn’t help feeling slightly disjointed by Shou’s behavior. Below your wicked sense of pride at having him defend you, there was still the whispers of your gut telling you the man was going a little too far, his actions spelling a more sinister meaning than just “having a friend’s back”.

   You've been here for years, Minoru. Surprised you haven't yet noticed how much of a pest everyone sees you as. 

Minoru? You did a double-take, going back to read the username of the guy Shou was arguing with. But he just had a randomly generated number as a pseudonym, same as you and most others, and with just a picture of some anime sneezing girl to distinguish his profile from the rest. No trails or signs of what could Shouto be referencing to.

Nothing but an option you preferred not to consider. But it couldn't be, could it? your friend wouldn’t...

   fucking delete that right now, man.

   this isn't a joke, DELETE THAT. 

Only that the abrasive and desperate reaction told you everything you needed to know. Your heart was beating rapidly in your chest, shock mixing with equal parts horror and amazement you couldn’t even begin to try and disentangle. Because right that second, you were witnessing your friend breaking the forum’s number one rule with a front-row seat to the spectacle. 

And he was doing it all in your name.

   Then maybe think twice before you go out of your way to harass newbies. Or have you had too much time on your hands after being fired, is that it?

It was vague enough not to represent any kind of threat... if not for the context of the site. And yet you all knew the hidden message behind it, the warning for whoever Minoru was to understand Shou knew much more than what he was letting on. That he could expose much more than he was currently alluding to. 

   y are u even doing this, shou? y do u care wtf happens to this noobslut anyways?

Shou's reply took barely a moment to appear, lighting up your screen and, despite the slightly morbid nature of his protection, coaxing out a smile to adorn your lips. It was like a balm being applied to your worries, quieting down most of your incipient concerns in favor of rejoicing. 

   They're a friend. 

For fuck’s sake, you even screenshotted that for posterity. Somehow, him acknowledging the new bond you two had openly felt like a milestone. 

When a mod came in to archive the post and give everyone involved a stern warning later on, you were already way past your previous doubtful sentiments. 

Instead, the last thing you did before going to sleep that day was to open up your private conversation with Shou and send a quick yet heartfelt message of gratitude his way. 

Months prior, you wouldn’t have ever thought you’d be thanking anyone for semi doxxing another human being. How rapidly things were changing, though, and all while you got lost in the thrill of mattering.

   Thanks for sticking up for me. It meant a lot, you typed feeling slightly lightheaded, drunk on the idea that anyone would think you worthy of having your back.

You thought Shou went offline after dishing out his not so thinly veiled threats, but somehow he was back again in an instant, the sound of notifications going off shaking any remnants of your exhaustion.  

   Anything for you, [Y/N]. 

You were so tired, it didn't occur to you that you hadn't yet shared your real name with your friend either.

That night, for once, you fell asleep with a twinkle in your eye and the image of Shou's multicolored locks dancing against your eyelids. Imagining, ever so briefly, your fingers trailing down the back of a neck you now had memorized from analyzing his profile picture. 

And, while you slept with your phone clutched to your side, you also failed to notice the peculiar sound of your own camera going off, the soft glow from the red light beside your lense bathing your features in its subtle illumination, flickering against your eyelashes and the lingering grin on your curved lips. 

You truly looked angelic like that. 

Suffice it to say, Minoru never bothered you again after that day. In fact, his name disappeared from the site not too soon after. 

。。。。。                                                   

    But now, to continue the grueling task of giving a context for your inevitable end, it is necessary to jump a month further into the future, barely a week from the excruciating present. 

Because it was then that the last strike finished nailing the coffin of your proverbial undoing, burying you under the weight of your own ignorance.

You got your notice in the mail on the Day of Announcements, an inconspicuous letter lacking any further distinction beyond a scarlet government seal emblazoned across its front. But even before you opened and read the message, you already knew of its contents—easily recognizing the image before you from several of the varied posts you had seen floating around on the forums lately.

   Purge Notice!!! Help needed Urgently. 

   Just got my letter. Do I stay hidden or fight back? [Open poll]

   Third time getting mine. AMA about my methods. 

The range of how you had seen other users reacting to their own selections was diverse, with some of them being more experienced while others, such as you, had just gotten their first letter ever. If things played out differently for you, then you were sure you would've been another one of the numerous panicked voices, awkwardly trying to maneuver their way out of their new situation.

And maybe, then, your odds wouldn't have been so completely fucked from the start. 

As it stood, as soon as you laid eyes on the notice, the first thing you thought of was how quickly you could boot up your computer and open the forum’s private messages. Because, for the first time in forever, you were overwhelmed by the feeling of someone else being there for you. 

Shou was your friend, had earned that spot fair and square after months of listening to you venting and sharing deep discussions; faster than you could even realize it, and so it was only natural for you to seek his help once the news of your selection for the new yearly Purge reached you. 

He had even threatened another user for your sake, for fuck’s sake. So, really, what harm could come out of relying on someone you were sure was trustworthy?

Maybe it was too late by that point for you to snap out of it, but it was almost amusing seeing you being so easily deceived. 

Just another reason why you needed him, certainly.

 。。。。。

    Already told you I'd have your back, had been his immediate reply barely an instant after you attached a candid photo of your hand holding up the envelope. Whatever you need, I’m here.

His lack of hesitation was palpable through your screen, heart hammering in your chest as you were faced with a kindness you had thought yourself undeserving of not long ago. 

As soon as you closed your mailbox, you had immediately raced to send him the message, completely foregoing telling any of your other friends or family members when you doubted they would even understand you in the first place. Shou had been right when he told you people just didn’t want to see the truth, even if it slapped them right in the face, leaving dark imprints in the shape of their narrow mindedness.

But he was there, he was letting you know as much, in his own words. And for what felt like the hundredth time in the past few months, you felt incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon the Forums in the first place, to have traced whatever fortunate path had led you to find him—the one person able to distinguish you in a world you always thought you blended straight into. 

   Thank you, Shou, for everything. And at that moment, you really had been truthful, so much so that there were tears prickling at your eyes, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude drowning you with its intensity.

Indeed, your final mistake had been your desperate need for acceptance. A need that had, in the end, cost you everything.

   You can call me Shouto now. No use for nicknames anymore.

Amidst the chaos of your life possibly crashing down all around you, somehow his revelation put a trembling smile back in your face. 

   Then allow me to repeat: thank you, Shouto. 

   Np, Newbie. Told you I'd help you level up, didn't I? 

His teasing managed to garner a small stuttering laugh out of you despite the dreadfulness of your situation. 

But you couldn’t help it. Somehow, every reply Shouto sent you only served to wrap the illusion of safety tighter around you. So tight in fact, that you should’ve started worrying about suffocating. 

。。。。。

   On the other side of the screen, the man with the multicolored hair couldn’t help but keep staring at the picture you had sent him earlier. 

He was transfixed, eyes almost unblinking as they refused to separate from the image. The way your fingers tentatively held the letter up for the picture was simply adorable to him. Beautifully naive. 

It wasn't like he hadn't seen your face before, like he hadn't already memorized the texture of your skin and the everlasting trace of a frown always threatening to dampen your mood. He read your expressions like poetry, every mole and scar furthering the securing of his interest. 

But this was the first picture you had actually chosen to send him out of your own volition, the final symbol of a trust he had worked so tirelessly to earn. Used to catching prey as he was, the man wasn’t entirely sure when you had turned from a game into a priority, from a priority into the only thing he could even make himself care for.

And it didn’t help that it was his letter you were holding, too. His formal declaration of pursuit. 

With time, Shouto was sure you would find it in yourself to appreciate the beauty of such irony. 

But, for now, what he really needed to do was buy some tea. Couldn’t have your own stubbornness ruining your first encounter, could he?

。。。。。

   In the coming weeks, your friend aided you and even coached you as you jointly planned for the horrific holiday, not only suggesting ideas but tracing the safety measures needed for them to succeed. You really had no reason to doubt him by that point.

That evening, after you finished letting Shouto know you were back from work, you made sure to pack all of your supplies into an inconspicuous bag you had acquired for the occasion. Whoever your Yandere was, it was best to not give any hints of your new acquisitions, just in case they were already stalking your movements. 

Shouto had helped you devise the list, mentoring you in your selection of weapons as well as self-defense arsenal—what brands of pepper spray to get, which ammunitions were most efficient and reliable, even what kind of clothing was the least troublesome if the need to escape ever arose. If you had been sure he knew his craft before, now you were surprised at just how vast his wisdom genuinely was. 

After the last few finishing touches of preparations, you were already on your way to the direction you had both agreed on (supplied by him, approved by you). There were several hours until the start of the Purge still, but the adrenaline swimming through your bloodstream was already considerable. 

Shouto had suggested you visited him for the Holiday, quoting how the measures in place for his home made it nothing short of a fortified vault, impossible for any outsiders to break into (and for anyone to break out of, but let's not get ahead of ourselves). 

With that in mind, how could you have refused his offer? Your place was barely an excuse for an apartment, windows that didn't entirely close, and feeble doors that could be easily broken into. Even if you weren't partly driven by the curiosity of meeting your new internet idol turned friend, it would've been foolish to decline. 

So in a few hours, you were sporting a nervous smile on your face as you parked your car in front of the largest apartment complex you had ever encountered. It was luxurious in a way you had only seen staring back at you from a television screen, marble, and gold accents giving you the impression you were about to step into a drama set instead of visiting an online friend. 

Before the surrealism of the entire situation could begin to set in, however, you noticed the young man sitting on the ample stairs of the building. He had an air of effortless elegance, tall and lithe, yet sporting a black turtleneck which hugged his frame and made it clear just how much sheer strength hid behind his movements. 

And he also sported the same peculiarly colored locks you had already memorized from the last few months, the light softly reflecting on them proving to be an even more impressive show when admired live. 

You were dazzled for an instant, wondering if, somehow, this entire thing was a prank and the Shou from the forums had just schemed his way into making a fool out of you in front of a handsome stranger. Way too convoluted, yet entirely too plausible to your bewildered self. 

Until the man lifted his eyes—as beautifully dual-toned as his hair, and catching sight of you standing just beside your recently parked vehicle. 

"Y/N," he was sharply climbing to his feet as he called out your name, the shy hint of a smile in his lip contradicting the monotone cadence of his tone. "Good to finally meet you."

You had first been under the impression that the Shou you knew was cold, the way he interacted with others on the site reminding you of an emotionless robot at times, but the man addressing you seemed like he was ripped straight out of a stereotypical rom-com. 

Maybe he'd be the aloof, tormented heir? Which, in your fantasy drama land, would make you the nearly illiterate and poor love interest. Your feelings of inadequacy only grew at the comparison.

Almost cute, how that had been one of your greatest worries once upon a time. How foolishly eager you were to be liked back then.

"Shouto." The name still felt somewhat strange on your lips, even after he had insisted you started calling him that. "It's good to meet you, too."

He was by your side in an instant, taking your bags from you swiftly and shutting the door to your ride. From this up close, it became considerably harder to disguise your staring. 

Even the scar which covered his left eye, a splash of reddish textured skin, somehow came across like yet another enhancer of his appeal. An underlying harshness which you couldn't help but be intrigued by. 

"Your hair looks even better in person."

And leave it to you to once again find a way to screw first impressions. You were chastising yourself a mere second after the words left your mouth. 

But Shouto only sent you that same hint of a smirk your way, his eyes appearing genuinely pleased at your praise. If he thought you were a weirdo and was regretting ever inviting you to his house, then he was a good enough actor for you to be fooled.

And fooled you he did, but with completely different intentions. 

"You look just like in your pictures," came his serene retort not long after.

Which you assumed was a joke, keeping in mind that the only photo you had ever sent his way had been of the Purge letter you received a few days ago.

Laughing lightly, you tried to ignore the nerves tugging at your chest before catching up with him on the steps of the building. 

As you giddily barged straight into the open jaws of the beast, it once again struck Shouto how utterly unsuspecting you were. How you trusted him so wholeheartedly.

He couldn't wait to see it all come crashing down.

。。。。。

   Inside his honest to god penthouse, your previous feeling of insufficiency only became more severe. 

The interiors were decorated sparingly, albeit fashionably. Filled with different muted shades and being unexpectedly traditional in the way they were designed. It was a stunning abode, even if you couldn't help but mentally point out how utterly unlived in it appeared.

There was not a single cup, shoe, or book out of place, everything perfectly polished and organized to the point that you felt hesitance as your sock-covered feet continued making their way through the place.

"Make yourself at home," Shouto told you most matter-of-factly. If you weren't so sure of his intentions by now, perhaps you would've thought he was being sarcastic. 

Without any of your belongings to distract yourself with, you instead gravitated towards what you could see of the kitchen through one of the sliding doors. 

It was very modern despite the rest of the aesthetic the penthouse sported, shiny stainless steel and spotless dark countertops. It should've looked out of place when paired with the carpeted floors, wooden furniture, and sparse pieces of classical Japanese art…

Yet somehow, it strangely fits. Just like his owner, you supposed, thinking back to the oddities that amounted to his unique brand of appeal.

And you really needed to stop thinking of your friend like that. 

When you heard the door to the apartment being audibly locked with a resounding click, you instantly stopped your fingers grazing the smooth countertops. Your instincts flared up with worry for a moment, right before you forcefully willed yourself to calm down.  

After reminding yourself of the true reason why you were there, the exhale you released next was one of clear relief. 

"Want something to drink?" Shouto appeared in your line of sight again, hands buried in the pockets of his pants and looking like the picture of composure. 

You felt embarrassed once again, knowing he had given you a free pass to roam but still somewhat self-conscious about intruding on his space. 

"You don't need to make me anything. I'm fine." Your timbre was apologetic, not used to slipping into the role of a guest just yet. 

He seemed strangely dissatisfied with your answer, closing some of the distance between you with a presence that had you almost flinching back for a second. 

There was an intensity in his gaze, something which you could not quite yet place. 

"But I want to be a good host. So let me." He appeared very serious about it, too, with his face growing stern as his peculiar eyes bore into yours. 

Not wanting to cause further distress, you imagined relenting would be the best course of action. 

It was like you were molded to be the perfect Darling, so wonderfully meek and gullible.

"Okay then. Water is fine."

Yet Shouto shook his head, still somewhat dissatisfied with your answer. 

"Tea it is." His phrasing allowed little space for argument. "I know you mentioned liking a few brands before, so I took the liberty of stocking up on them."

A surprising burst of laughter broke through your anxious feelings then, drawing Shouto's eyes again from the particular cabinet they had drifted to as he mentioned the beverages. 

He looked at you puzzled, an unasked question written all over his otherwise blank expression, and so you decided to reply from the surge of unexpected amusement you were experiencing. 

"It's only a night, Shou," you didn't even realize you had slipped back into his nickname, too entertained by how much he had apparently overdone his hospitality. "There really wasn't any need for you to go buy my favorite teas."

His eyes blinked quite slowly your way, his expression back to his vacant mask before a smile reappeared.

"I wanted you to feel welcomed," he supplied as he approached the cabinet he was eyeing before, dedicating himself to searching for whatever kind of flavor of tea he had in mind. 

In response, you just shrugged your shoulders with another chuckle. 

"And I didn't get you anything. You're making me feel even more out of place."

"Nonsense," he cut you off in that deadpan way of his, hands rummaging through the most ridiculously vast tea collection you had ever seen. And then he added, decidedly quieter, "today is supposed to be about you, after all."

Too bad you didn't pick up on it. 

When he ushered you back to the salon with barely a wave next, pointing at one of the cushions arranged around the short-legged table, you decided to follow his suggestion and wait there while he finished brewing the drinks. By now, you understood the futility of offering any kind of help when he was still so intent on properly welcoming you. 

So, curious as you were, your eyes continued to inspect each and every inch of the apartment, drinking up all the pieces of info you could observe, that you didn't even think of the potential dangers of letting a stranger fix you a cup while you weren't looking.

Unbeknownst to the other, you were both actively counting down the seconds until the Purge started, minds lost to your own inner turmoils from opposite sides of the suite. 

And for entirely different reasons, you were both filled with anticipation.    

。。。。。

   Meanwhile, finally back in the present after retracing the steps that guided you there, it was becoming increasingly hard to compartmentalize the chaos brewing inside you.

Shouto’s lips were the personification of hunger against yours, an inescapable gluttony to mark and consume every single inch of you he could encompass. 

After a hint of understanding returned to your body post-orgasm, your vision and the sensations you endured were becoming disturbingly vivid. It was impossible to conceive anything beyond his hands ridding you of your flimsy camisole, palms cold in comparison to the heat you felt, splaying against your sides and slowly making their way up the sensitive mounds of your chest.

“All mine, baby.” You barely registered his teeth nipping at your bottom lip until a shock of pain snapped you out of your trance.

He bit you, and quite harshly too, but when you tried to instinctually pull back his response was to hold you even tighter. Before you could attempt to voice your complaints, his tongue was darting out to clean up the droplets of blood he spilled. 

“Out of all the Darlings I’ve played with, you’re the only one I’ve ever even considered keeping, you know?”

And now that had you freezing, even amidst the cloud of desire still muddling your cognizance. His arms pressed you closer still, forcing you to bury your face against his chest, completely unphased by the bloody mess your mouth had morphed into.  

Had he tricked others before then? Was that the reason why he was even on the Forums in the first place? 

You wanted to ask him what he meant, wanted to demand explanations for a phrase that had dread closing around your neck like a noose. But whatever he slipped into your drink to keep you so awfully responsive and pliable, also appeared to make forming any complex sentences incredibly hard…

Shou, ever the receptive one, caught onto your change in demeanor rather aptly. His face nuzzled your hair softly, humming a calming melody as if you were a scared child who could be so easily reassured. Meanwhile, his hands hadn’t abandoned your breasts, still tenderly kneading them with a touch bordering on worship.

“But I’m glad you weren’t my first, baby. Means I could be all ready for when we met.” He rocked you both as he rested his back further on the sofa, opening his legs wider below you and forcing you to settle closer to his clothed groin with a whimper. 

Your arms reached out to grasp his shoulders while you tried to stabilize yourself, the strain of his erection resting snuggly against your still sensitive slit. 

"Helped me to know when to pull back," he kept confessing, purposefully thrusting into you while he kept lovingly massaging your chest, fingers twisting your hardened peaks to coax a new kind of mewl to be uttered against his skin. "Wouldn't want you to break now that I've finally found you."

The fact that your bodies seemed to fit so perfectly, even in your impaired state, was not an irony lost on you. 

Abruptly, Shouto stopped fondling your breasts in order to maneuver your face again, both of your stares meeting in a vehement standoff before he continued. 

“I’ll make this as close to perfection as I can, I promise you.” And you got a direct view of the vulnerability in his uniquely colored eyes, the nature of his words clearly heartfelt despite the atrocities they alluded to. 

As you heard him drag his zipper down, the hand clutching your jaw trembling in anticipation, you couldn’t help the new wave of warmth spreading through your body, negating all the fear and anxiousness warring inside you in order to shamefully expose your baser desires.

Now that whatever had been clouding your  judgment was pulling back slightly, your thought process had begun to snap back into place, overflowing you with a terrible sense of shame at your own reactions.

He gave you something earlier with your drink, you were sure of it, and yet you couldn’t help but still be horrified at just how much you were enjoying it. Once you felt the flushed head of his cock placidly rubbing against your thigh, the sounds leaving your mouth weren’t ones of complaint, peril or dissent.

Quite the contrary, actually, and it only made Shouto grow bolder.

As the hand clutching your face grew tenser, gripping you with force before tugging harshly, you got the hint. Now painfully following his lead, it wasn't long before the previous pressure against your legs was now resting directly against your cunt. 

The pre-cum already gathered on him mixed in with your still oozing arousal, smearing the span of your outer lips as he lightly teased you one last time. 

You were so mortified by that point, that if he had offered to end your embarrassment right then and there with one of the several weapons you knew he kept, you would’ve been very inclined to accept. 

“... I didn’t even think there was such a thing as 'The One' before, actually.” You hadn’t even realized the man was still talking, ardent whispers getting lost on the intensity of the situation. 

His eyes were searching your face, a satisfied twinkle lighting them up as soon as you returned his stare of your very own volition. Perturbed, you wondered if his delusion made him see anything beyond a twisted mix of lust and fear reflected back at him. 

“But I now know just how wrong I was, Y/N.” So sure of himself, tone back to the stern cadence you previously associated with him for a moment, gripped by a gravity befitting of his obsession. “Indeed, I think you were always meant to be my darling… don't you agree?”

To your credit, you did struggle to speak up, to gain back the control over a body which had stopped listening long ago. Too bad you only managed a single pitiful word out.

“Shouto…”

But before you could even fathom attempting a better response, he was breaching into you, sheathing himself with an ease you wished you could overlook, turning your voice from an anguished plea into outrageously labored moans. 

You had once thought Shou had been interested in you because he somehow perceived you as anything but pathetic, but you were beginning to think it had been your weakness which drew him in all along. 

So deliciously frail, that even a predator like him had been driven with an urgent need to protect you. To break you down, just so he could be the one to build you back together.

As he started fucking you with shallow thrusts, hips bucking up from the sofa while he tenderly guided you until your body was mimicked his motion on its own, you couldn’t help but be the most disturbed at his oddly affectionate ways. 

As awful as it sounded, now that your mind had awakened from its stupor all you wanted was for him to bend you over and abuse you, manhandle you and mistreat you in a way which unequivocally screamed assault. You wanted bruises painting your skin, proof that you hadn’t just willingly given up and facilitated your own ruin. 

He was humiliating you despite the pretty words he decided to disguise it as—showing you how easily he could own you and even make you enjoy it, drug-addled drink or not. 

But as his mouth latched around one of your hardened nipples, sucking generously until his name was once again fast on your tongue, you also couldn’t deny the crystal clear responses you were giving.

You could attempt to lie to yourself later, could swear it was all a delusion born out of the deranged man's mind, but the particular brand of your screams was unmistakable.

When your own hand reached down to facilitate your release, you knew you were already acting beyond what you could've previously attributed to the drugs. Toying with your bundle of nerves, you rested your forehead against Shouto's shoulders, tears from the pleasure mixing in with the subjacent agony of your guilt. 

Why did it have to feel so good? And how far did the drugs truly affect you? Or had they just peeled back your inhibitions perhaps, baring you until all you had were dark desires and no self-control to contain them. 

You still tasted blood inside your mouth when your walls started clenching around his cock, the coppery flavor entirely too vivid on your tongue. Hearing his own choked groans gasping against your chest, you felt his mouth abandoning your bud with a pop before his kisses were trailing a path back up—eager in their search of your face, your lips. 

You were still cumming by the time a lascivious kiss connected you two again, unwinding in his grasp until his hands were the only thing keeping you whole. 

“Even if I wasn't taught how,” he began promising while his rhythm grew frantic, barely resisting the allure of your core fluttering around him. “I promise I’ll love you, Y/N. Love you so good, you won’t ever want to leave when the next Purge comes.” He was getting increasingly excited by his own words, imagining a future where you did not need the aid of a little cup of tea to eagerly kiss back. “I’ll fuck you every day, fill you up and show you just how much I care. How much you matter.”

Faced with his degenerate promises, all you could do was gasp out his name one last time, perhaps seeking to express your reticence, perhaps oddly excited by the image he was painting. 

You indulged him in the pitiful sound of your whimpers molding around its syllables, and it wasn’t long before you were coaxing him to join you with an orgasm of his own.

He actually came inside, you recognized inwardly after the aftershocks of enjoyment now quieted down to a lull, a new type of dread quickly following the realization. His cum was still shooting in hot ropes, stuffing you to the brim with the intent and purpose of a man bent on marking you, owning you.

But Shouto was so loving as he kissed you time and time again, painfully reminding you of just how nice he could be for you, how gentle and attentive. It made the lines between your tormentor and a traditional lover blur even further, the confusion clouding your sense not merely born out of narcotics any longer. 

You had been so preoccupied with a monster outside your house once. A creature ripped from the kind of movies that were ripe with cheap scares and considerably cheaper thrills. 

But monsters never were like that in real life, were they? As the man continued to cradle you in his arms like the most vulnerable of creatures, you were suddenly struck by how glaringly obvious things should’ve been from the beginning. 

Because your Yandere’s obsession had not come with claws and a row of sharp teeth. No, it came instead with a suit of deception to hug its frame, the bait of acceptance, and the promise of a reliable ear to comfortably listen. It arrived with whispers that assured you that you were not alone, that it was not you who was flawed, but the world for not welcoming you. 

It dangled everything your little heart desired, so by the time you were reaching out, you were simply too distracted to notice the dangers of the abyss you were throwing yourself at.

Luckily for you, Shouto had made such a void his home. And for however long it took you to consider the darkness as your own, his was a kind of hospitality that no amount of your struggles could ever hope to wear down. 

And if the worst came to pass, if you kept stubbornly refusing and fighting despite your odds? Well…

   He could always brew you another cup of tea.

-------

Well, I can finally rest now 💀

This monster of a one-shot took me a lot longer than expected, so I ended up being a lil later to the collab that I would’ve liked. Either way, I’d really appreciate hearing any feedback or opinions on either the fic or art (or both?)... I swear that’s what keeps me motivated ;___; 

So fr, thanks to everyone who takes the time to let me know your takes! y’all are the bests of the best 🖤 And speaking of bests of best, special thanks and gratitude to the actual angels who helped and gave me feedback for both the art and/or fic @reinawritesbnha , @drxwsyni​, @wootato, @snappysnapo and @coyambition. Don’t catch me seeing y’all drop your crowns bc it’s on sight  😠 👑

#bnha fanart #todoroki #yandere todoroki #todoroki x reader #bnha imagines #bnha #mha fanart #bnha x reader #todoroki fanart #todoroki smut #todoroki shouto #todoroki shoto #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #anime fanart #bnha smut #bnha art #artists on tumblr #just art tingz

[sepublic]

New Descriptions!!!

           Firstly, we have Hunting Palismen! Palisman Pairing Day… Eda mentioned in Witches before Wizards that witches get their STAFFS when they graduate, which;

           Does this mean that Witches get their Palismans prior to graduation… But they only get the staffs needed to wield them upon graduation? Or did the rules change in the last thirty or so years? Is Belos trying to get kids to graduate ASAP to enter his workforce, bind them into a coven as early as possible?

           WILL WE SEE THE OTHERS WITH THEIR OWN PALISMEN I am SO excited for this episode, will we see Willow, Gus, and Amity with palismen? Background characters with palismen, and cameos for Boscha, Skara, Viney and the Detention Kids??? Palismen would provide SUCH an opportunity for aesthetic and character symbolism, I am HYPED…!

           I do have to wonder- Will kids actually make their palismen, or are they just figuring out which type they’ll pair with? Eda said she made Owlbert, but she’s an exception- So it’s possible that Palismen are premade and assigned to witches… Is this another change from Belos, or how it’s always been?

           If kids aren’t making palismen anymore, could it be due to palisman wood dwindling as a resource, so they have to reuse some? That’d be interesting… And of course, Luz doesn’t pair with any particular palisman of her own! Is the Cardinal from the trailers a Palisman she tried to assign herself towards, but it just didn’t work out- And now the two are working together, perhaps to eventually find out that it CAN work?

           Will Luz perhaps go reach out to the Bat Queen to figure out what her Palisman should be, maybe even adopt one? Again, I adore the idea of Luz adopting a broken palisman for a HUGE list of reasons, found family and whatnot, and also the idea of conservation and rehabilitation, giving these palismans a new home of sorts, how it defies the prejudice that some people have about adopting previously-owned or abuse pets, shelter pets, etc.

           Perhaps Luz will start off with the idea of finding a lost and broken Palisman –like herself- with the Bat Queen, only to stumble across Kikimora and the Emperor’s Coven trying to attack! She of course helps, but this also makes me wonder- With the mention of a ‘foe’ that Luz is working with… Is she working with the Golden Guard? It’s an idea I’d considered beforehand, hence why she has his staff- After all, GG is a rather diplomatic person who will initiate deals and alliances with his enemies without anyone really asking him to!

           Again, there’s that shot from the trailer that looks like his own staff was made from a wild witch’s… Will we see the Golden Guard give a flashback, some backstory into how Belos killed and consumed his Palisman, before converting GG’s staff into the technological one we see today? Does the Golden Guard want to secretly, covertly defy Belos’ extermination of Palismen and their wood, due to his own sentimental feelings and morality- Or is he just trying to use Luz, and she sees a mutual goal she can help him with?

           Perhaps the Golden Guard arranges for a deal with Luz- He’ll stop hunting Palismen if she helps him with this… And/or he’s secretly going against Belos, but in a way that still benefits everyone! It’s possible the Cardinal that Luz has on her shoulder is a broken palisman she befriends- But what if it’s GG in disguise? What if that’s his own palisman, a new one he befriended after the first was killed by Belos, and GG has decided that no more… No more palismen will be hurt!

           Him siding with Luz for this one incident could add to the Golden Guard’s placement between Lilith and Kikimora in the intro… And it’d add to his general ambiguity as a character, as someone who DOES disagree with Belos and will gladly go against him from time to time, but otherwise supports him for the most part. GG could be a contrast and parallel to Lilith, as someone in the Emperor’s Coven with his own morals that makes him defy Belos behind his back, even if overall he still agrees- Except he’s operating more on moral principles, compared to Lilith’s needed bias with her own sister.

           We might see Kikimora figure out the Golden Guard’s treachery and get deeply angered, especially since she’s had to deal with this kid for so long- So she sees an opportunity for some vengeance and transforms into that Hand Dragon… And it’s possible we’ll see GG be banned from the Emperor’s Coven for this, which would REALLY change things up, quickly, as he becomes a rogue agent of his own, one that Luz begins to sympathize with and wants to convince to join her cause…

           Or, GG’s mistake will be tolerated. He might remain hidden, and/or he makes up for it… But he also might get punished, as I’ve speculated before!

           Then in Eda’s Requiem, we have a ‘special witch’ from Eda’s past, obviously Rayne… And they’re enlisting her help in a rebellion against Belos??? This could be a trap, what if it’s not public that Rayne has officially replaced the Bard Coven leader… Their promotion could be EXTREMELY recent, by the events of this episode actually!

           Are they rebelling in part because they don’t want this position, and/or they accepted it as a means of infiltrating Belos’ network and providing information to the rebellion? Could Rayne be associated with the investors at Blight Industries, who seemed interested in the Abomatons and other inventions of Alador- Because the Golden Guard implies the potential for a private army? We might see other pockets and cells of rebellion, some with less altruistic motives, come into play- Especially with Willow and Gus’ protest emboldening everyone.

           Is Rayne being ideological, or do they have their own motives? I’ve speculated before that the original Bard Head was their father… Did Belos kill their father, leading to Rayne’s disillusionment? Is Rayne trying to protect their father, and that’s how they were enlisted as his replacement in the first place? Did Rayne’s father also plot against Belos and was deposed and/or killed for this, and now Rayne is following in his footsteps?

          We could see the show suggest and delve into the idea of a full-blown rebellion against Belos, with Rayne possibly working at the helm, but who knows? Maybe they’ll have to betray Eda after all –again, for their father- or so they can prove themselves to Belos and be promoted as Coven Head… Either for personal gain, or because they’re trying to work against the Emperor from within! 

          Which could lead to a painful misunderstanding, fully justifiable on Eda’s behalf, that Rayne doesn’t care and just used her… Which isn’t entirely wrong, either- And Rayne can only accept this in agonizing silence, because they can’t tell the truth, at least not yet…

           Or, Eda and Rayne knowingly work together to get the latter the Bard Head position! Maybe Eda forgives Rayne a little when she finds out, and respects the mischief and trickery and scamming! Rayne’s betrayal could remind her of Lilith, but if Rayne was actually altruistic in THEIR motives, that could change things for Eda… But it’s called Eda’s Requiem, so we might expect angst and a genuine betrayal, a loss of friendship- And THAT would hurt!

           And then, Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door has him attempting to help the trio! Baseless speculation I shall throw out, will he try to turn himself into an autonomous creature to help, only to transform into a terrifying owl monster, the one from the trailer? Maybe from trying to split the curse further with Eda and Lilith? Or will this just be a breather episode where the characters are allowed to mostly just exist and interact with one another, enjoy each other? That’d be nice…

#the owl house #the owl house golden guard #palismen #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house rayne #the owl house hooty #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #the owl house bat queen #speculation #analysis #theory #the owl house kikimora #the owl house hunter #the owl house raine #raine whispers

[the-second-tonks]

The Dark Past | E.P

Part : 1 of the series

Warnings : Arranged marriage , awkward moments (not so awkward lol) , thunder and lightning , changing POV's , short span time skip , anything else?

Pairing : Edmund Pevensie x fem!reader , Lucy Pevensie x fem!reader (platonic)

Summary : After an alliance marriage with King Edmund , y/n begins the new chapter of her life only to be welcomed by her worst fears - thunder and lightning . But the thing to be noted was the fearless princess- y/n had a fear as such ..

Age : Edmund is 18 , reader is 17. (Golden age)

-----------

Reader's pov

I sat next to my husband , King Edmund , as we waited for the reception to end . Yes , marriage reception . I and King Edmund were trapped together in an arranged marriage . It wasn't that we weren't given time to talk and make things less awkward , but maybe we didn't utilise it . He was too quiet to talk , and I was too stubborn. How could I help , I didn't want to get married ! I kept fidgeting with my fingers , a sign that I was nervous as hell and uncomfortable , as me and King Edmund sat too close . Our knees kept brushing , sending waves of currents down my spine . I wanted this to end soon but as much as I wished it to end early , it kept on delaying . Till now , Lucy had helped me a lot . She was the only one I was comfortable with till now . The dress I was wearing made me feel itchy , but I couldn't care less . I decided to get lost in my thoughts about my past as a princess . I had dreams , ambitions and I was determined to fulfill them . People called me the fearless . But alas , life had different plans . Instead of learning advanced swordfighting , I was married to Narnia's best swordsman himself . Instead of letting me wear shirts and harem pants like I did since childhood , I was made wear long gowns and dresses . Instead of having my independence , I was made follow rules and traditions . Instead of letting me use my excellent resourcefulness to plan battles , I was married to a king who is better than me and won't even need my help in plannings . Instead of letting me speak as I used to , I was made shut so as to maintain my kingdom's reputation in Narnia and ofcourse in front of my oh-so beloved husband . It was all too much to control inside and I was shocked by my abilities to supress my anger , annoyance and rebellions so much . I just continued to sit there with a poker face and occasionally smile . I was looking around , just to spot my in-laws looking so happy , or maybe there were amazing in pretending (with the help of trainings ofcourse) or they were genuinely happy . Every narnian was enjoying themselves , but I liked the Narnians . They were very warm and welcoming .

Time skip**

Now , the complete hall was almost empty , except for the castle workers , who were cleaning everywhere . My back ached from sitting for so long , but I was more than eager to get up and get some sleep so to as to escape the reality for a while . I got up immediately , the warmth from king Edmund's body immediately got longed for- wait , wat?! No no no , u shouldn't be thinking this y/n . I shrugged the thought away quickly , and soon felt someone beside me . Ofcourse , king Edmund . As much as I sounded creepy , I wanted to hear the handsome man's voice . He had spoken to a few narnians but that wasn't enough to memorize his deep , alluring voice . He carefully kept a hand on my back , urging me to move . I kept walking with him behind me until Lucy came into my view . I turned to look at King Edmund and , for the first time , I spoke to him "King Edmund , if u would excuse me , I wanted to have a little talk with lucy .." I added as much politeness as I could , despite my sour mood. He looked shocked for a second , but soon recovered . He opened his mouth to speak something , and I waited for it , but it never came. He simply nodded and walked away . It caused my heart to clench a bit , but I pushed the feeling away and approached my only friend (well , I know she's my in-law , yet ) and saviour , Lucy Pevensie .

As soon as I approached the girl wearing a cute floral gown , she turned in my direction , smiled at me . She politely excused herself from the castle workersshe was talking and came to me . "How was it??" She asked , excited about who-knew-what. " What are u talking about Lucy?" I asked her , confused . " Oh come on , me , susan and Peter kept all the guests away from u for a reason . Don't tell me u didn't talk with Edmund !" She spoke . I slowly let my head fall , biting my lower lip , looking at the floor . She sighed sadly and spoke "U are a perfect match for my brother . I shipped u with him from the beginning , but u have to talk with him , y/n. U remember u came across as shy in front of me too , but see it now , u are the more talkative one . U have to get comfortable with him so as to let him know that u are shy at first but then , u talk non-stop.." lucy lectured . I smiled a bit at it and spoke with a grin "Sure , ma'am , I'll try my best !" I and lucy ended up laughing a bit , but she spoke "I was a bit serious by the way " . I nodded a bit and spoke "Yeah , u are ryt lucy , but it's just the first day . I'll try my best from tomorrow . " She smiled at me . I bid her a good night and saw her walk away and into her room .I'll remember the way to her room , i noted it and turned around to see king Edmund looking outside the window , the slight cool breeze making his dark brown hair fly out of his forehead . His choclate brown eyes shone with the beauty that Narnia reflected. His palms clutching the pane tightly. He was so concerntrated that he didn't notice me approaching him . I had to clear my throat to bring him out of his daze . His head shot in my direction and he smiled a bit , leading me to his room-our room.

As soon as I entered his room , I felt homely . I was so glad to see that his room was clean and super organized . I liked it that way . I smiled . Maybe the room won't be that bad to stay in , I thought . The room had a small desk and chair , piles of papers neatly kept on it . A big size bed , a few windows and a big balcony , curtains flying due to the slight breeze . The room was dimly lit since the light from the windows wasn't enough due to the cloudy weather .

Time skip**

After changing , I was about to sleep on the bed when I saw king Edmund picking up one of the pillows and going somewhere . While his back faced me , I knew what he was doing but decided to question him to stop him "Where are u headed to , my king?" I asked adding my king as my mother had taught me to . He turned around almost instantly and spoke "To the couch , Princess " he spoke in an obvious tone , ofcourse it was a stupid question . I knew king Edmund was highly sarcastic (info credits to Lucy) and I appreciated his attempt of answering me with the least sarcasm . "No .. don't ." I spoke but instantly regretted . He looked wide eyed at me , a blush could be seen on his cheeks despite the dark . An awkward silence settled , but I cut it , speaking "The bed is quite big for the two of us to sleep " I said . "At a comfortable distance " I added it immediately. He nodded , understanding my proposal .

Time skip**

I laid on my right side , facing the end of the bed . Edmund was facing the other side , maybe asleep by now. My eyes started dropping due to tiredness but before I cud fall into sleep , a loud crashing sound jolted thru the room . My eyes went wide with fear as blue light stuck out in the sky . Lightening and Thundering . I hated it , hated every bit of it . I always used to clutch onto my mother and later my sister whenever it was thundering or lightening . I never knew that , in Narnia , thunders and lightening was far more worse than it was in my kingdom . But now, I had nothing except the blanket to clutch on . Tears started pooling my eyes as another sound rang thru the room causing my eyes to go numb for a second . I cupped my lips to not let a yelp escape . I didn't want to wake King Edmund . He would definitely think this was a stupid fear , because it was . I didn't know why , but the thunder had always terrified me . It was one of my worst fears . I had to go somewhere , had to hold on to someone before I start to cry . I slowly got up , shocked at my bravery , but sneaked out of the room (thanks to my trainer who taught me sneaking techniques for emergency situations) . The thunder sounds causing my heart to stop for a mere second , pushing me a step next to crying . There were only the gaurds in the passageway and I was thankful for it . I ran to Lucy's room , happy that I remembered where her room was . As much as I knew , she wouldn't judge me .

Time skip**

Lucy's pov

After y/n had come running to my room , I let her sleep with me . I was sad to know that she had to face one of her worst fears during the time where she was away from her loved ones. As she held my hand , she was asleep . But I couldn't sleep yet . Edmund should've been the one to comfort her . I have to bring both of them close to each other . But just to wonder , quite curious to know why she , the fearless , was scared of thunder and lightning . Maybe , there was a past that I was yet to know about her ..

Part 2!

#edmund pevensie #king edmund #arranged marriage fic #arranged marriage trope #arranged marriage tw #narnia #the chronicles of narnia #golden age arc #narnia fic #narnia fandom #narnia fanfiction #fanfic #lucy pevensie #peter pevensie #queen susan the gentle #susan pevensie #king edmund the just #only one bed

[virlath]

The great betrayal

So far, we’ve only really heard what happened in ancient times based on Solas’ own words. But we also know that he speaks in half truths. His own dark legends as told by Felassan, his old friend, paints him as cunning and practiced in double-speak dark wisdom.

His MO is reminiscent of Imshael, a forbidden one who tricked Michel into releasing him (thereby reactivating the eluvian network, which was ultimately what Solas wanted). They both blur the line between spirit and demon and they both traverse the fade as if it is their home.

And I have to say, Solas’ version of events leading to Mythal’s death doesn’t add up.

He claims the precursor to the veil was the evanuris killing Mythal. Abelas reaffirms this version of events by specifically saying ‘the dread wolf had nothing to do with her murder. She was slain, if a god truly can be, by the people who also destroyed this temple’.

But at the end of the day, the only person who stood to gain the most from Mythal’s death was Fen’Harel and his slave rebellion, not the evanuris.

After all, the evanuris’ entire claim of divinity hinged on the claim that they were truly ‘immortal’.

"The gods, our Evanuris, claim divinity, yet they are naught but mortals powerful in magic who can die as you can. In this place, we teach those who join us to unravel their lies."

Based on ancient mosaics at Fen’Harel’s sanctuary, we can presume the evanuris knew the secret to ‘effective immortality’ by body hopping. I am assuming the method to do this is probably similar to Corypheus and his arch demon.

It seems that not many regular people knew of this secret however, which was why Solas took it upon himself to start his rebellion, expose their mortal flaws, and fight back against them to reclaim their freedom.

If the evanuris betrayed and killed Mythal as Solas says, they would have had to announce to everyone that the head of their pantheon, the goddess of love and protection, was dead and gone forever. But in doing so, they would also be exposing their own false divinity, revealing that they themselves can also be deposed.

According to Solas, Falon’Din started many wars to gain more worshippers. They likely started all these wars because the evanuris had the security of effective immortality. Their primary motive seems to gain more followers or slaves, rather than power over each other. In fact, Solas’ surprise at learning Corypheus also learned this secret proves it was not common knowledge even back in ancient Elvhenan.

So, knowing that the evanuris likely kept the secret of true immortality close to their chest, why would they want to off Mythal completely? Deposing her did not automatically mean they gained more power. Remember her killers destroyed her temple but left her well intact, and that was really where a lot of her power lay.

Maybe they were really were power hungry as he says, and mutinied against Mythal. Maybe they were poisoned by the void’s magic. Or maybe, they were manipulated by Fen’Harel to betray and kill her, to set an example and turn people against the false gods.

"The brand of the Evanuris can be lifted from you, that all may know you oppose their cruelties. None here are slaves. All are under our protection. All may choose to fight."

Fen’Harels sanctuary reveals his rebellion actually did attempt to try to fight against the gods. So imagine if Mythal, the head of the pantheon, was actually killed.

Mythal’s death would have sent a very clear message to the evanuris and everyone under their rule- the gods were not divine, and they were all mortals just as they were. This event would have been a huge turning of the tide for Fen’Harel’s rebellion to be honest.

I previously thought Solas and Mythal worked together in their rebellion, but maybe Solas was cunning enough to evade even her. Based on Cole’s dialogue, it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn he was also once a slave of Mythal’s (he left a scar when he burnt her off his face). And as to the reason why he doesn’t trust anyone? His distrust could simply be because he himself is the betrayer.

We can assume from DAI’s epilogue that Mythal and Solas were once close and Flemeth even calls him ‘old friend’. Perhaps Fen’Harel used his close relationship with Mythal as his shield, because the last person you expect to betray you is the person closest to you.

Just remember, an enemy can attack, but only an ally can betray you. Betrayal is always worse. 

Solas does seem genuinely remorseful about everything and his dialogue with Cole indicates he created the veil to save them. Maybe the evanuris were on a trajectory to destroy the world by using their magic and their slaves in their endless wars. Orchestrating Mythal’s death could have been a big part of his rebellion- he needed to resort to drastic measures to send a clear message.

I did not lead a slave-rebellion against immortal mage-kings without getting my hands bloody

There is also the propaganda on the dread wolf we can find in trespasser:

The pages of this book-memory?-warn of a terrible danger, a wolf with slavering black jaws and pits for eyes. The Evanuris-the elven gods-stand in a ring around it, as if preventing it from attacking.

"Beware the forms of Fen'Harel! The Dread Wolf comes in humble guises, a wanderer who knows much of the People and their spirits. He will offer advice that seems fair, but turns slowly to poison. Remember the price of treason, and keep in your heart the mercy of your gods."

It’s been assumed that this propaganda was released by the evanuris to dissuade people from joining Fen’Harel’s rebellion. But a lot of it also rings true, and it is one of those codices that has bugged me for ages in how foreboding and ominous it is.

It has parallels to the inquisitor’s own journey. It has elements of Solas’ own MO. And it reveals that Fen’Harel potentially even manipulated the false gods themselves.

From the dev notes in DAI, he will kill anyone- even Flemeth. He killed Felassan, his old friend. He says in Tevinter Nights, he will kill anyone without hesitation if they stand in his way.

I think there is a lot of solid evidence of his underhanded tactics in the events leading to Mythal’s death. Maybe he persuaded her killers to leave the well intact so that she could come back as a new being and reclaim her power. As he says ‘his people do not die so easily’. Mythal’s death and creation of the veil could have even enabled the blight as we know it today...

Because as told by Flemeth, Mythal became a wisp, just like Solas’ wisdom spirit friend. Based on dialogue with him, he insinuates wisps grow and reform in the void, where its assumed the blight’s magic is based on. 

Maybe his intention was to use Mythal as an example for his rebellion, but also attempt to reform her because she was his friend. But along the way, Mythal’s spirit corrupted into vengeance because she was ultimately betrayed by people she trusted.

If Mythal was Fen’Harel’s big sacrifice, it would also draw so many obvious symbolic parallels to Andraste, who as I’ve said before has a lot of suspicious links to Mythal. Remember Solas’ chess game with Bull in DAI? He sacrifices the queen in order to win the game.

This is of course all speculation and deduction- I don’t claim that Solas definitely betrayed Mythal. But from a story perspective, this would be an absolutely amazing plot twist, even bigger than the reveal of Solas being the dread wolf.

I mean....can you imagine that reveal in DA4?! It would explain so much of his regret and burden of guilt because Mythal was once his closest friend. On a thematic level the emphasis on power and sacrifice and revenge and forgiveness would all be there.

Fen’Harel being the betrayer but not the true killer but the orchestrator behind everything, completely embodying the trickster god trope...ahhh I just can’t stop thinking about this tbh.

#dragon age #da4 #da theories #solas #fen’harel #mythal #dread wolf rises #the evanuris #the great betrayal #elvhenan

[ohnopoe]

Hiya there!!!! Could i maybe please have some headcanons about the characters you write for being in love with a very domestic/ cottagecore/ disney-princess-loving sweet girl who works at a daycare (with babies) ?

Im sorry if that didnt make much sense im french but i love your writing!!! Have an amazing day!! 😊

Your patience is extraordinary. I’m so sorry this took so long, and I’m additionally sorry that I couldn’t provide more characters for this. Between it beginning to feel repetitive and just having a mental block on it, which has been practically consuming my ability to write, I’m afraid I was only able to give you five characters, but hopefully the accidental mini stories they turned into makes up for that!

Under the cut you will find headcanons or miniature fics tbh for Din Djarin, Ezra, Frankie Morales, Javier Peña and Poe Dameron

Din Djarin

Looking after Grogu is Din’s priority. So, when he sees his adoptive son clinging to your leg after he leaves him at the small daycare on Nevarro, utterly enraptured in your every movement as you finish putting away the colourful pencils the children had been playing with, well, he’s intrigued.

When Grogu is reluctant to leave the planet, putting on a fuss as he flies away, well, he’s fascinated.

Plenty of people got along with the little green baby, and it seemed people fell for his big bug eyes everywhere they went. But he hadn’t seen the child so enraptured before… It was almost the same kind of adoration he seemed to throw towards Din.

Weeks pass before he’s landing back in Nevarro, ready to take on another job, and he’s almost forgotten about you. But the way Grogu perks up at the familiar surroundings is an instant reminder.

He hadn’t even intended to leave the kid at the daycare this time, it was only meant to be a short trip after all, but who could say ‘no’ to those pleading eyes?

The day’s half over when he knocks on the door. Children of all species are spread about the room, and there’s an air of chaos to the scene, but as you meet his gaze through that vizor that keeps him shielded from the rest of the room, he finally understands the absolute sense of calm you exude.

He’s frozen.

Your smile cuts through him, it’s gentle and soft and reassuring and everything he didn’t know he’d been missing for so many years now.

He stutters, genuinely stutters when he hands Grogu over, asking if he can spend the rest of the day with the other children. And if you notice, well, you’re not about to mention it just yet.

He’s making more trips to Nevarro, even he refuses to acknowledge why. The kid needs to socialise more, jobs from Karga are smarter, it’s good to keep in contact with the Cara, to know what the rebellion is up to… Excuses seem to pile up upon one another. Of course it couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that every time he sees your smile directed at him, every time he watches the way you play with Grogu, the world seems a little lighter.

A dangerous mission is what changes things.

He knows it’ll bring good credits, and provide more safety for the kid in the long run, but bringing him along for the ride is too risky, and it’s exactly what the enemy would be expecting. So he asks if you’ll look after him, just for a few days.

Of course, you’re more than happy to take the little green menace, but it’s the way you tell him to be careful, the way he can almost see genuine worry in your gaze as you utter words of care that he’s so damn unused to that has him struck once more.

The sight of you there, looking at him with such a gentle look, with his kid in your arms, well, it distracts him more than he’d care to admit.

So when he comes back to Nevarro, to your house of all things, he’s a little worse for wear, and he’s certainly not expecting the way you usher him in, or the way you look after him. Suddenly, leaving Nevarro at all seems like the stupidest decision possible, when you’re there in your humble house that still screams home more than anything he can remember.

He stays for days, you’re insistent that he heal properly and take the time to rest before he goes rushing back into the universe. And it’s the most relaxed he’s ever felt.

Ezra

After his time in The Green, Ezra is certain of one thing, he’s had enough of that damn colour.

There’s only so long you can spend surrounded by shades of green before it starts to haunt you, and even the most poetic of people lose any sense of beauty they once found in it.

But then there was you.

You, who lived a life so far removed from what he had experienced, that the flowery poetics seemed to just flow from him once more.

His insecurities after losing his arm seemed to lessen in your presence, caught up in the whirlwind that was you.

Laughter and joy seemed to fill the days, and sometimes he’d even help you with your work simply to enjoy the bubble of joy you seemed to exude, to embrace every moment of happiness that he was lucky enough to experience.

Colours seemed brighter, and filled with a range he had only hoped to see, when you were around. And those poems he had loved so dearly were not just a distant dream, they were tangible and real.

Softness and beauty coloured his days once more, and his heart was full.

Even green seemed more beautiful now.

Frankie Morales

In all honesty? He’s terrified. You’re his daughter’s daycare worker and it doesn’t matter that you make him smile, make those damn butterflies fill his chest in a way he hasn’t felt since he was an awkward teenager. It doesn’t matter that your smile is so damn captivating that it has him smiling goofily to himself the whole damn drive to work after he drops his daughter off with you.

It doesn’t matter because it can’t. He won’t interfere with your work and he certainly won’t be that creep who asks you out when you look after his daughter, no, nope, absolutely not.

But then, a year later, and his daughter is off to preschool, and yeah, ok, he’s a bit of a wreck as he shops for school supplies, but suddenly you’re there. It hasn’t been long at all, and yet he can’t help but think how much he has missed that smile.

It’s so much harder to explain to his little girl that, despite the chance encounter, you won’t be a part of her life anymore, especially when she’s so darn excited to see you, and so he stumbles, he struggles and glances to you for help and, well, the help you give has him even more lost for words.

You suggest lunch, on the first weekend after she’s started school. Just Frankie, her and you, all meeting at a park where his daughter can tell you all about ‘big school’.

He’s silent so long that you worry you’ve overstepped, and just as you’re about to ramble off some excuse in a desperate attempt to backtrack, he offers you the most beaming smile you’ve ever seen.

Well, your not so little crush was doomed, and so was your heart. But after lunch that soon turned into a weekly affair, you soon came to realise, your heart was in very safe hands.

Javier Peña

I’m not going to lie, at first Javier is skeptical to say the least. He’s seen chaos and pain and suffering for so long, that seeing someone so damn gentle? Yeah, he’s wondering what your game is. But then it becomes something else, it becomes a fascination. You seem sincere in your softness, and he finds himself smiling back at you in an instant, before he can even question it.

So, skepticism turns to curiosity. Are you just naive to the horrors of the world? Are you really that sheltered that you believe what the fairytales told you the world would be? He has to know, even if he’s cursing himself the whole damn way.

He’s spending more time with you to figure you out, that’s what he tells himself. Of course, it’s obvious to everyone else the change that you bring. His shoulders are less tense, he’s not bitting people’s heads off at work, hell, he’s smiling more.

It’s different to what he’s used to. It’s softer, and slower, and he’s reluctant as hell, but things just seem to happen.

You’re at his place as often as your own. You’re sharing movies with him that he’s never even considered seeing before, you’re sharing your lives with one another, and there hasn’t been a single date so far.

You’re everything he’s fighting to protect, before he can even acknowledge his own feelings for you. But as oblivious as Javier can be to these things, you’re not. You know the stories, the tales of love that seemed to pass him by. You’re patient as he navigates his way through his feelings.

It’s a random moment in time, really. You’re on his couch, talking about the children you work with, it’s just another day. But it’s everything to him. It’s the moment he realises you’re his all, that being right there, in that moment, listening to you talk about children you clearly adore, children that aren’t even your own, it’s all he’s ever needed, and all he ever wants.

The progression from that odd friendship to something more is surprisingly smooth.

Of course, he’s bound to stumble along the way, it’s so far from what he’s used to that he’s terrified half the time of stuffing up to a point of no return. But it’s genuine, it’s real, and you can both simply be yourselves; even if he does tease you a little about the ‘childish’ decor that starts to fill the apartment when you finally move in.

Poe Dameron

It was an accident, the first time Poe quite literally ran into you. BB-8 assured him that it would be faster to get to his ship through the path he had never ventured before as he rushed to fly out for a sudden mission, and he was right. What the little droid had failed to mention, however, was that said path ran directly through the resistance’s schooling area.

It was a small group of rooms, with few children of resistance members actually living on base, but it was something so downright shocking that it had him stumbling in shock as he glanced about at the colourful finger paintings and bright array of plants that he didn’t even notice the way the group of preschoolers stared up at him in awe, or, for that matter, the fact that you were standing before him... until you weren’t. The force of his sprint landed you on the floor with nothing but a surprised “ooft!” coming from your lips, and an echoing round of shocked and anxious gasps from your students.

After an awkward round of apologising, and continuing to call out long after he had checked you were alright and helped you up, he was off, making his way once more, the sound of “sorry!” fading away as he drifted further down the corridors.

One chance meeting suddenly turned into more. It seemed wherever he turned, there you were. Grabbing a late meal at the same time, having your med-checks one after the other… it was as if fate itself had decided the two of you simply had to interact.

You filled his mind, someone so normal amongst the chaos of war. And while he may not have realised it, he began to seek you out.

Chatting with your kids about flying, bringing back interesting plants he saw on his adventures, there was always a reason to see you, after-all, Poe Dameron was the King of Excuses.

But you brought him a sense of hope and home, something he had missed for far too long, and he wasn’t about to give that up anytime soon.

#poe dameron #frankie morales #ezra #din djarin #javier pena x reader #Javier Pena #din djarin x reader #poe dameron x reader #frankie morales x reader #hc #poe dameron imagine #frankie morales imagine #Frankie morales fic #Triple Frontier #ezra (prospect) #ezra x reader #prospect #narcos #the mandalorian #star wars #my fic