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#the end of an era : berat
keremdogulu · 1 month
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TYPE: Self Para @berat-yalaz
PART ONE OF TWO.
SUMMARY: This is a part of his reply to @emine--yalaz but also his self para.
Keder, aşk için ödediğimiz bedeldir.
To breathe again, he wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse.
"It's..." Emine had said "Berat."
"What happ-- " he knew. The look on her face, the floor threatened to swallow him whole. "Is...is he hurt?" It was the same denial he'd had three weeks ago, but this one was the worst kind.
Kerem was pretty sure he might fucking pass out.
This surreality? It was roaring in his ears, unable to focus on anything as the world fell into silent chaos. The familiar timber of Berat's voice echoed through his mind, that laugh that so often made him feel at home nothing but dread that was collecting within him. The clogging in the back of his throat, the familiar burning behind his eyes as the pressure built and built.
Gone? Gone, gone? Not just hurt, there would be no recovery.
De-- no. He couldn't.
His world was crumbling, on fire, spreading and catching onto everything he held dear. Kerem was descending into madenning chaos, into the unknown and he'd never known such undiluted terror before. His nose burned every time he tried to bring air into his body, to keep himself from passing out from the spot in which he stood.
The look on Emine's face broke everything he'd known about his resolve, the way she -- for the life of him, it tore him apart to see her in such disarray. In such unbridled pain. He was frozen, unmoving, and unable to voice exactly how the world seemingly stopped moving. Berat was his brother, they'd fought side by side together for so long that it'd been natural.
Three weeks had felt like torture, even if he'd been pissed.
Friends fought...all the time, right?
He wasn't sure if it was because he was scared he was going to collapse, or because he needed to hold her again, but his arms found her, pulling her close as he tried to keep them here. His mind was spinning, and his world was imploding.
He wasn't going to be able to keep this upcoming eruption at bay much longer, he could feel it winding through his bloodstream and speeding straight for his faltering heart. It was breaking, more than anything could ever possibly break.
Irreplaceable. Irreparable.
Kerem tried to swallow, heaving in the process.
This...this was not real. It couldn't be real.
"Please." The words were but a whimper, his lashes fluttering as they collected water droplets in their erratic dance. "Oh god, you're wrong. You've gotta be -- " The second the words left his mouth, they tasted like ash. The truth seeped into the knowing part of his brain. "this is not happening."
Kerem had done this. This was his fucking fault.
They had been laughing so wildly, that he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to stop, ever be able to breathe again with this feeling of freedom. Berat had been narrating some fucking show as they'd lounged around doing fuck all. Those had been simpler times, even if things had never been simple in the first place. Berat had always had a way of bringing out a more relaxed version of Kerem, always pushing him to do things that he might have shied away from. They had been a duo, there had never been one without the fucking other. And now.
Kerem couldn't remember what had been so damn funny now, but he wished he did. He wished he could remember every single fucking moment he'd been blessed by his best friend's presence. How could he have gone back to that, but that voice in his head came for him 'Because you threw him away without regard for everything he's done for you over Nevra'
He slammed backward, pulling away from Emine. His palms found his eyes as he pushed and pushed.
No. No. No. No. No.
He wished he could go back three weeks and say something different. Be different.
Nevra's name came to mind and he couldn't stop himself as his legs rushed to the nearest bin, he emptied the contents of his stomach in such a violent fashion he gasped trying to claw air back into his throat through the blinding tears. Berat couldn't be gone. But he was.
Kerem had hurt everyone he loved in that fallout, and it'd ended with his best friend's life. If the guilt hadn't been there before, it was now attempting a sniper-styled assassination. Was this his fucking fault? Truly? Had he robbed everyone of knowing him because of a stupid fucking fight?
It hit him.
Berat was dead.
He wanted to tare his fucking heart out of his chest and be done. He wouldn't, but he wanted to. Even as the room closed in on him, breath was stolen from his lungs once again at the onslaught of memories. He'd never get to make new ones because drugs had stolen his life, had embedded itself so deep into who he was, it'd warped his sense of self. Berat had so much to fucking offer and give.
But addiction never lets its victims go easily.
Or at all.
"I did this, this is my fault." Kerem sobbed. "This...this is my fault."
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lathrine · 1 year
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im reading an article about how vitriolic people visiting the national parks have gotten, and it is SO cathartic to see my exact experiences in grocery retail be restated by the customer service reps working in the parks.
like its awful, obvious. the average customer has gotten so nasty, and the employees Do Not deserve the treatment they’re receiving. but during 2020/2021, people seemed to think that those viral Nasty Customer videos were 1) not common and 2) relegated just to grocery/retail. and i cant speak for every single hospitality and customer service sector and store, but i can say that at my store that sort of vitriolic outbreak became VERY common. not constant, but common enough to bump the baseline up.
my manager and i had a conversation where she said a lot of her friends-- some of whom had been in the hospitality or customer service industry for over a decade-- were considering a career change because it was SO BAD and no one could even fathom how to move forward. none of us could imagine it ever getting better. our New Normal was people screaming at and berating us every day, blaming us for mask mandates and vaccines and supply shortages. threatening legal action and physical violence. of people intentionally trying to get us sick and terrorizing us. everything was an argument with no hope of de-escalation; it genuinely wouldve been less inciting to tell some of those customers “go fuck yourself” than it was to tell them “im so sorry, but.” and all that while we were surrounded by the extremely smothering reality that no one cared if we died and everyone considered us sub-human.
everyone i know who gave a fuck quit shortly after i did, because none of us could handle it anymore. this includes people who’d worked at that store since it opened, some of our most decorated and knowledgeable coworkers.
like. i dunno yall. its kind of like how you cant describe how things just Make Sense as you near the latter half of your 20s; i cant put into words just how horrifically awful customer service was at that time. if you didnt personally experience it, everything we say sounds like an exaggeration and hyperbole.
and i cannot stress this enough: its still that bad. i would imagine most customer service and hospitality places had the same thing happen: a mass exodus of everyone who knew what they were doing because they could not stand the abuse anymore, and a rotating door of new hires that Refuse (rightfully so!!!) to tolerate the abuse. there is a new breed of customer that genuinely Does Not Care about employees and see pleas of humanity and kindness as a challenge to see how quickly they can break the employee at the desk.
this is especially relevant now, with it being the holidays. employees are more short staffed and overworked than ever, and customers some how have even less patience. customers dont plan literally five minutes out, and then blame employees for not materializing their needs before them on a silver platter.
anyways. i dont know how this article ends, but i have a pretty good guess.
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angsthology · 6 months
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“im just excited, is all” — or an alt title: roo vs. the australian allegations
who is roo, really? why is roo?
a/n a short one cause if im being honest theres just one tiny explanation and... yeah
or, yknow, alt alt title: daniel’s detective era
THE KANGAROO(KIE) VS. THE WORLD
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“WOOOO!! I’M NEVER GONNA DIE!” she yelled into the radio, at this point not even shocking her engineer anymore.
“sure, kid.” he chuckled. “congratulations, again, i’ll see you out.”
as soon as she parked her car, the girl quickly jumped out of her seat and stand on the nose of her car, jumping repeatedly with both her feet going up and down excitedly. it ends with a last hard jump off the car and her hands up in the air, yelling on the top of her lungs.
when suddenly — to everyone’s dismay — she started shuffling. well, attempted, shuffling.
daniel, who had the pleasure of sharing the podium with her and was there to witness it first hand, could not help but unknowingly let his hand fly to his mouth to muffle his laughter. man, he just took off his balaclava, he thought.
then, just his luck, the girl stopped mid-shuffle and looked towards his way and waved at him excitedly before running towards the australian and attacking him in a bear-hug.
of course, the man expected the hug, what he didn’t expect was how strong it was going to be.
he let out a muffled “oof” as soon as she collided with him. daniel did not think he has ever gotten a hug this tight. let alone receiving it from a girl almost half his size.
“congratulations!” she could not get bored of hearing that. making her hug him tighter, “okay, oh, lord, i can’t breathe. please.”
“oh—hehe, sorry.” she immediately let go of the man and ran off—well, more hopped off—to get herself weighed.
the older man could not help but chuckle watching her hop away.
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again, really?
the girl could never not get bored of all the demeaning questions that seemed to only be targeted towards her.
unfortunately for them, she was not having it that day.
so here she was, berating a man who was like generations behind her — and everyone else — with the rest of the grid listening, watching in amusement.
they always enjoy watching her absolutely destroying male fossils that walked the paddock. it was free entertainment.
her manager didn’t even stop her anymore — well, he did, usually when he knows she’ll say something completely unhinged and not for viewers ears — he just watches with a proud smile like the rest of the drivers until she eventually runs out of breath, all the while also stealing it from the opposite person.
and now it’s about five minutes later and the room was silent, really soaking in her words.
as usual, daniel was the one to break the silence — his tone doing its best to relief the tension that clouded the room.
“remind me not to piss you off.”
sebastian found his voice when he looked towards daniel, “i really admire her agression.”
“i try.”
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the mclaren driver was minding his own business when suddenly he felt someone plop down on the seat next to him.
said person didn’t say anything, they just stared at him blankly for a good few seconds. in return, daniel had the expression equivalent of a question mark.
until eventually he felt a little creeped out, “what do you want?”
her response was… weirder.
“what do you want?”
“…what?”
suddenly, out of nowhere, the twenty-two-year-old pulls out a fanny pack from the side. and when she opened it, they were both met with all kinds of candy.
daniel raised his eyebrows at the girl.
“this stays between us.”
it did, but also no, she had previously already approached alex, mick, lando, and yuki, doing the exact same thing.
“…okay?” he then removed the confused expression on his face to one of curiosity of what’s inside the pack, “you got any haribo?”
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“everyone, everyone, everyone!”
the girl hopped over to the group of men, dragging a slightly smaller one with her.
“yes, yes, yes!” replied george.
she the shoved the brunette girl in her arms to the front, holding her by both her forearms from the back.
“i want you all to meet daisy-mae!”
a strings of ‘hi’s and ‘hello’s along with ‘nice to meet you’s were exchanged.
the young driver then noticed a certain australian missing.
“hey where’s dan— DANNY!” she jumped when she saw said man approaching. as usual, she excitedly hopped her way over to him.
he chuckled, “hey, roo.”
at that, she stopped mid-way and looked at him confused, “who?”
“you.”
“huh.”
“you’re like a ‘lil kangaroo, y’know?”
still confused, she was brought out of a daze when she heard loud sounds of agreement from behind her.
“that’s what she is!”
“aw, that’s cute, our little kangaroo…”
“LITTLE?!”
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taglist; @treehouse-mouse @disneyprincemuke @yansbolobao @leilanixx @judespoisons @vellicora
hope this didnt disappoint </3
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apollostears · 6 months
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𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘊𝘒 𝘖𝙍 𝙏𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏 # !︎
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↠︎ plot + warnings: headcanons on college!jjk men with f!reader roommate and their halloween adventures. reference to sex + mention of blood + swearing
↠︎ featuring: gojo, choso, nanami, toji, geto + special guests: shiu + sukuna
↠︎ this special '*' is somewhere in the hcs and the explanation is at the end!
ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ʜᴀʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴇɴ
𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞!𝐣𝐣𝐤
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☥︎ full disclosure, you live with scaredy cats.
☥︎ nanami don't play with that demonic shit in the slightest !!! ︎☥︎ he is absolutely the one to grab you and haul ass at the slightest movement. ︎☥︎ toji and geto fight instead of flight 💀 so to save some legal fees, its best to do haunted anything, without them.
☥︎ gojo cries and choso just disassociates 😭
☥︎ one thing that you guys always do for halloween is have a halloween movie marathon with the kids and girls.
☥︎ you guys always dress up in the same theme. this year, you guys were the fantastic four + the silver surfer + dr. doom
☥︎ toji was dr. doom, choso the silver surfer, nanami was mr. fantastic, you were the invisible woman.
☥︎ geto and gojo drew straws on who would be johnny storm and the other would be the thing.
☥︎ geto won
☥︎ the guys throw a halloween special at the tattoo shop. its always a huge turnout.
☥︎ one year, toji ended up having a match on halloween and it was the best time!!!!
☥︎ obvi it was costume theme so of course y'all went as WWE characters 💀
☥︎ it was supposed to be an attempt to embarrass toji but he came out lookin like the undertaker during his modern phenom era.
☥︎ music playin and all!
☥︎ and then he won the match and people started calling him the reaper.
☥︎ and yes, it definitely filled his already big ass head 🙄
☥︎ one time y'all did one of those huge scare fest's andddd it was def smth 😭
☥︎ y'all know that run bts episode when they go to one and yoongi squares up with an actor?
☥︎ that was toji and geto the entire time.
☥︎ runnin and swingin
☥︎ one of toji's friends* tells him about a halloween party that another underground fighter was hosting and you guys berate him into going.
☥︎ so everyone's costumes for that one were slasher themed!
☥︎ geto was pyramid head, choso was ghostface, toji was freddy krueger, gojo was jason voorhees, nanami was michael myers, and you were tiffany the bride of chucky!!! ︎☥︎ it was a great night for the most part!
☥︎ the host had hired exotic dancers that were all dressed up in bloody outfits and hot makeup
☥︎ the decorations made the entire place look like a house of horrors tbh
☥ you ended up dancing with a guy dressed as a sexy leatherface ︎☥︎ and DAMN did that mf know how to catch some ass!
☥ well come to find out that he was the host and you guys ended up sleeping together ︎☥︎ shoutout to you for finally getting dick after being cockblocked for so long!!!
☥︎ but none of the guys were happy to see that your body of choice was none other than ryomen sukuna a.k.a toji's biggest pain in the ass!
☥︎ but hey, spooky shit happens 🤷🏾‍♀️
*he doesn't consider shiu a friend, more of a benefactor but you think they're besties
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𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒. @kennyackermanswhore @chaoticevilbakugo @indiecursor @gabzlovesu @desiray562 @brownmochii @knjkitten @sweeneyblue1 @namjoonswifeyy @nyxeclipse @rubinocore @somerandompipzsxh @dabilovesme @histarean @hannas16 @caribbeanwifey19 @emonaculate @po3ticb3auty @waka-umm @wilsonsbuck @ctrlstar @jealousfuckingcunt @savagemickey03 @dukina @saintblk @sisnot @littlemochi @hoohoohope @ruubric @tor-tor8 @beautyfairykei @lilvampirina
𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 🤍
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adoregojo · 11 days
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★- haunted by the trails of you.
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a/n: here's some more angst i had in drafts and now I'm setting it free. wanted more pain but this what yall are getting for now d: (potentially getting a part two)
summary: their first anniversary without you, and you'd still be haunting them. !! gn reader!! characters: isagi, reo, rin. warnings: men. hurt/barely an comfort, the word 'vomit', blood mentions in rin's part, appear of other characters. perhaps heavy angst?
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isagi: it was at his own home. for what he can fathom, isagi isn't considered as someone who's hooked on the past. at least that's what he pinned his head to. what had chronicles should've been a lesson, something that'll help him move forward, a memory that'll get him through to his feet again.
once the past had been written, there was no undoing. only exceptions and take the moral out of it.
sometimes isagi wished he had tugged on that enough as much as he tugged his heart to yours.
he was about to send himself a clout. has he learned nothing? why can't he draw a clear line without the ghost of you obsessing in every corner of his life? so instead, he botches his hair to untidy navy-blue locks flying out of place, mumbling cusses to none other than himself.
He bet he looked like a madman, uttering loathes undertone within every step upon a stair he took. He swore he spotted a middle aged lady covering her son's ears in horror. maybe he wasn't muttering as low as he thought.
it was saturday, in which isagi takes a day off to greet his parents from time to time. and he wasn't gonna cancel that over some feelings he might've got the wrong end of the stick about, it was probably just lingering lust and affection he had for you, but I'll past. clinging to the mere possibility and ignoring the ache that remains for too long than intended.
swirling the keys with his bare hands, isagi can view the frigid smoke of his breath appearing with every puff he let out. the tips of his fingers and knuckles were embarrassing standing out an angry shade of red, he forgot his gloves, again ,recalling: yoichi never really had to bat an eye when it comes to gloves. he'll even do it on purpose since you wouldn't think twice before launching yours to his frosty hands, while interlocking your hands with the other one.
now that he mentioned it, he always recollect how futile of an attempt it was. because the back of his hand will always remain polar, but at that time, it didn't carried a feather. he didn't really mind freezing to death if it meant I'll be in your arms. then he'll die any day.
isagi remains stationary, until his forehead rests the irony of his house door. he didn't know if he was deeply disappointed in himself, or just drowned by the sweet bygone days. gabbling something about how an idiot he was before taking a deep lungful of air and finally opening the door.
flinging his shoes to gods knows where, at this state even his mother's berating wouldn't budge a bone in him, yeah, this is how bad it was.
to his astonishment, there were no trails of his parents. isagi called, shouting once, twice. and gave up on the third time. he jogs around to the kitchen era, like expected: a dangling note covering some plate, informing him that they went out and they'll be back before dinner. 
isagi just let out a defeated sigh, an obvious pessimistic wave looming over him. he was genuinely hoping to spend a family-time right away, and something to divert him away from the wraith of you.
a part of him wondered, what answer could he hand his parents, breaking the fact that you two were no longer together. his parents always loved you, adored you even. they'd definitely be shattered, he'll just muddle it by saying that you two drew apart till an ultimate downfall drilled up a hole in your relationship, leading to a break up. they’ll buy it, right?
blindly, isagi carried out the plat, slamming it flatly against the wooden table of the living room. making himself comfortable on the couch that held on the glimpse of his childhood, it was a pleasant to be at home again, and one of a great distraction.
he needed it.. anything to sway him away from the remainder of what name of this day earned..
from the corner of his eye, he spotted a second note. scoffing at himself isagi gets a grasp on it, living on the thought it might've been his parents requesting him to do chores, or just asking him to take extra care of himself. 
isagi consulted it, even when a part of him begged him not to.
‘dear, yocchan. we really hope you'll be the one to read this, but if not! hello yoichi’s partner, that's quite embarrassing if you're reading this hahaha. but anyway, we figured that today is your two anniversary, isn't that just great? We remember just yesterday they were being introduced to us for the first time. What a good time to be alive, but anyway. There's some surprise cake for the two of you to share! Happy anniversary, you lovebirds.- your mother (in law).”
‘don't get too carried away please! - your father (in law).”
isagi flouts, bitterly. so sorely that all the rock-hard grip of his hand went straight to poor paper, ripping it apart to fall into small chunks. the stomach-bug swirl, not the one with the butterflies plopping in the depths of his stomach, swarming with to define a new level of bliss. but a disgusting ache of venom mobbing, making him want to vomit in an instant. 
if it wasn't for his neighbors, isagi would've outcry his lungs out of frustration. but he wasn't on the field, where his anger planted. Now it's just a sad smile etching on his features. 
and maybe a drip of a few tears..
how long were you planning on haunting him for..
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reo: he had to delete it.. for the longest period, reo had never been so glued on what he busted by his own hands, words and ego. he had no one to blame but himself, and yet no amount of strength that earth granted him, no matter how the sky have bore in tears gleaming the ground, a pool of agony cries pleading for him to do it.
all that and he’d still struggle to press the delete button. He just couldn't.
“man, just delete it already.” chigiri cried out, slamming his palms against the skin of his forehead. He was tired. and he wasn't even getting paid to deal with this shit.
“it's easier for you to say it, you don't get it.” reo sassed back, trudging inches away from the redhead who's eyes twitched in disbelief. 
nagi and chigiri一well, mostly chigiri, have been summoned by a cry for help from their shared friend. just for the end of the world to be him trying to delete the pictures and videos of you and him, his ex that lived in his head rent free. 
it was a wretched sight to see, his eyes were tearing up while scrolling through your memories together. chigiri一god’s greatest soldier, was really, really doing everything he can to encourage reo back on his feet. It was like helping a spineless creature to straighten up. 
it's quite impressive, he can use all his abilities on soccer pitches, give his best assists, be the heart, the mind and the soul of the field. Yet behind the plate was a completely different person, a hopeless guy curled up in a ball of your blanket that carried most of your left cologne, and sobbing till the sunrise. and today was a special show, he was absolutely shattered because your scent was slowly vanishing. 
all chigiri can do is pinch the bridge of his nose in foiling, “listen, how about we go out or something? there's a nearby place we can get lunch and-”
“they used to love that restaurant¦” reo whines, shoving his phone into the redhead face, it carried a picture of you smiling blissfully and unaware, cheeks rife with food. “they're.. cute, so cute it makes me want to die.” falling backwards on the silky duvet of the queen-sized bed. 
“Please don't, I still need my monthly allowance on genshin.” the one time nagi decided to finally say something, it had to be this. and chigiri never wanted to zip up someone's mouth so badly.
“you keep on stabbing yourself in the throat, you dumbass. if you can't do it then I'll do it for you.” stretching out his arm, opening up his palms for reo to hand over the phone and get this over with already.
in an instant, the phone was being embraced tightly to his chest, “no! I can do it myself, I just need some time," Chigiri just raised his hands in surrender, mumbling a quick ‘whatever’ as he jumped out the bed, leaving the extra space for his friend to grieve, alone.
it was a miracle that his tears still remain un-parched. Every photo he scroll through, the lump in his throat narrows painfully. clinching his lips upwards every time he crossed over while you were smiling, it hurts so good. He doesn't recognize whatever the knot in his stomach was reducing in sorrow or ecstatic.
he wasn't trashing any of those, he couldn't find it in his heart too. instead of criticizing himself of what he should've said to make you stay, what could've he done to swoon your heart instead of fleeting it. you'll keep on tip-toeing around his heartstrings and he'll let you without a charge.
he squeaked in his pillow, he just kept on bruising himself, torturing himself by the dim memory of what the two of you had once. something that not even money could regain or even soothe on. he yearned for one more kiss, one more embrace, one more chance to get a glimpse of you and he'll die a happy man, that's a lie, he'll misses you even after death.
he wished for you to come and haunt him, eat him to bits. but it was like he was the one haunting the crumbs of you.
on the middle of his groaning mess, an amber eyes staring sharply at him, his figure casting a shadow over his state. “here, drink up.” nonchalant, he handed him a random juice he ‘eeny, meeny’ his way to. reo accepted the drink, his arm sluggishly taking it. chigiri swore he was about to crack the glass over his head if he wouldn't stop this pitiful little act of his.
“why are you even this hardcore sad? you were never like this in the last weeks.”
“it's their anniversary, but not anymore I guess.” nagi shrugged, still too focused on the screen of his phone to pay the slightest amount of attention. turning a blind eye when reo flinches a bit at his truthful words 
“have anyone told you you're a terrible human being?” 
one sip, a second one. and his lilac eyes were watering for a million time. “they used to love this drink.” he whispered.
“i genuinely hope you choke on it.” 
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rin: it got so bad, he talked to sae about it.. running a few years backwards, if you told the sixteen years old itoshi rin he'd be seeking his own deadbeat of a brother to vent he'd spit out in your face with no second thought.
and if he could, he would've. because rin was rethinking his life choices, taking a step back every second yet taking two ahead then comprehending once again. and now there was no going back, what was between him and the urgent fate was a wooden door. 
his hands buried deep in his pockets instead of making an attempt to knock. he found gazing at his pair of shoes much more entertaining. 
he didn't have it in his head to think straight, not when you clouded over like an angry storm, all he can do is take it and let your teardrop roll down his face, or maybe they were his own tears, he couldn't savvy it. 
after a deep lungful of air, rin thrust his forward, just an inch away, only to stop briskly. sae? really? just how desperate is he? very. he come to cuss himself for counting you as the one and only person he apostrophizes with. if only he’d listen when you would rant about him approving his social skills, he should've listened instead plugging his ears. He wished he listened to a lot of things you said..
in a rush, the door unlocked in a swift. almost making him funk backwards, unraveling the sight of his older brother, standing unimpressed. and before rin could speak a word, sae took the lead. 
“you know I could see your shadow casting under my doorstep, right?” 
Rin clicks his tongue in annoyance, and when he doesn't reply, the reddish head moves to the side, and rin steers his way in. shutting the door behind him, sae jog away, letting him take off his shoes. not even a proper welcome, he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.
the apartment was quite tidy, a strong aroma loomed underneath his nose. Despite that, it was awkwardly dull, not even ghosts would bother haunting it. rin takes a seat in a solo couch, fumbling his fingers in a bothersome way, the silence was a deadline, not anything he wasn't used to.
It was just the first time rin had come here, by himself. without an actual family required to stick to the back. 
or without you.
unintentionally, Rin's leg keeps thrusting. a bad habit of his when the tension gets thick. every passing second he berates himself even further, damn him for having only one path to seek solace in, for allowing only one soul to soothe over his frail heart, for authorizing only one embrace to delay him.
and damn you for carving open his heart. just to leave him to bleed.
the echoing steps of sae cut his strails of thoughts. settling down his cup of hot tea. rin raised a brow at the uncivil manner. “you didn't ask for one.” his brother shrugs calmly, oh he was driving him nuts with this unchanged attitude. 
breathe in, rin.
reverberating voice called, so he obeys. straighten his pouster. “I wanted to talk to you about something. it's important.” 
“I can tell. and your sidekick is nowhere to be found, did they finally ditch you?”
his hands clutching up in a makeshift ball, rin says nothing.
“oh, so they did?” sae blows a few times over the overheated cup, taking a sip then uttering something under his breath. “Well, that's unfortunate.” adding another cube of sugar as he retorted. 
rin only got something out of this, that his brother didn't give a single fuck. and it drove him to the edge.
“You can at least pretend that you care.”
“never said I didn't.”
“you didn't have to, it's fucking showing.” rin seethed, his clenched hand striking the table balance, making the sugar cubes fall out of place. his anger was collapsing even the sweetest floras.
that doesn't nuge sae the slightest, but makes him frowns his brows a bit, because he was the one who had to sweep that off later.
the tension was solid and bulky, and Rin refused to break eye contact with the equal hues. Daring him to say something, anything. Yet he took it as a challenge, like he always does. The only way he communicates with sae is by beating him, proving himself. He'll die on that hill, even if it killed him itself. even if it has killed you already.
he knew this was a stupid idea, he should've just rotted in bed, he should've kept on living in the repeated circle of misery. He should've just lived up with every rush of breeze rustling his mistakes over and over, where he could've sworn that it was your voice.
breath, rin.
he was fucking trying. 
“So what do you want me to do about it? be your wingman and pair you together again?” 
“or, you could just say nothing. listening is enough.”
after a moment of silence, sae shoulders ease up. a guster pointed for him to keep going. so rin dose, he rants and rants like he had the time of the world right in his palms. It was mostly about you, how you were something that became his everything, how he should've stopped you like he wanted to, how he let you be driven away like he always does, how he should've apologized like he was supposed to. 
blustring about ‘what the if’s’ and what would've happened if he just.. he loved you like you loved him.. if only he tried. he can't blame it on his immense ego, his lack of communication, the digged hole on his soul that you bleeded to fill, you gave all your flesh till there was nothing left but bones.
he could've rebuilt the broken pieces of your heart, but they were too sharp to hold. He bled within every one, he was bleeding to ashes, to nothingness. 
you loved till there was nothing left to love about you. you drained down the hill. not even his blood could fulfill you.
his voice would crack, a dust cloud blows over his eyes, yet sae would stare at him ever so flatly. if he even dares to say disappointment. disappointed that his younger brother was just a copy past of him. 
someone that kills everything he touches.
When rin has nothing left to say, sae stands up. reaching his pocket for a card that carries a name and a number. as the dark-head flipped the card between his fingers, blood-thirst eyes narrowed at him.
“a fucking therapist? are you fucking kidding me?"
“you clearly need one.”
“I don't, is this some kind of lukewarm joke?”
“stop being corny, I'm trying to help you here. if you aren't willing to let yourself feel the sense of loss, you can suit yourself out.”
and with that, sae turns his back to him. like he always does. climbing the stairs to his bedroom, leaving rin to reconsider where his actions have driven him, how beyond it threw it all. 
although, he’ll never let himself feel the sense of loss. never. He'd rather be haunted by you than be alone forever, he'll be a stray till you pick him up again.
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lmao wrote this with nagi plushie watching me like a hawk
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angelsdean · 9 months
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a very specific headcanon i have that i've just written into one of my longer wips (so you won't see the scene for an age) is that john is kinda a dick abt food and dean's eating habits. and he's just. so oblivious to the amount that his kids are suffering when he's gone. because dean sure as hell is not gonna bring up how the money is never enough, how they're near starving toward the end of some weeks. how they've relied on charity more than once. so when john comes back and gets them big full meals and dean especially practically inhales his food (bc he's hungrier, bc he's given more of his portions to sammy) john chides him to slow down, it'll make himself sick etc etc. but dean struggles. and he's always SO eager for burgers and pie and carb-y filling things. because he's starving. but he gets a reputation for "eating junk." john teases him for it. or berates him for it when he's feeling especially mean. when dean's older, stanford era, and they meet up for a hunt and get lunch dean still digs into his food a little too quickly, he asks the waitress for pie with a little too much gusto, and john shakes his head, laughing, saying it's a good thing dean's a hunter, it's a good thing he's got the grueling work to keep him fit or else all those burgers and pies would've definitely caught up to him by now. laughs at how dean still eats too fast, "you've done that since you were a kid. never grew out of it, huh?" and dean bites his cheek, bites back a remark about why he always ate so fast, why he's still always squirreling away food and jumping at every "free food" "free samples" opportunity even now when money is easier to come by
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deirdreskye · 1 year
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Commercial I would produce as an advertising executive
We see two friends, a blonde and a brunette, are doing yoga in a park together.
BLONDE: So, yeah, work went okay today. I dunno, I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, and on top of that things have just been kinda tough ever since Kurt and I broke up. But oh well, that's how it goes, I think I'll be fine. What about you?
The brunette completes her yoga pose, then turns to the camera and rolls her eyes.
BRUNETTE: Don't you hate when this happens? I did NOT consent to expending this much emotional labor. Go! To! Therapy!
We see a boyfriend and a girlfriend sitting on a couch together. On the television a YouTube video essay is playing and the boyfriend is excitedly explaining it to the girlfriend as he occasionally flaps his hands and yelps in excitement.
BOYFRIEND: So this is the ending I got! When you link the Frenzied Flame, it puts an end to the cycle of the Elden Lords once and for all. It's actually so cool because it ties in to the greater Nietzschean themes of Miyazaki-san's previous work and-
The uninterested girlfriend is watching TikToks on her phone. She turns to the camera and rolls her eyes.
GIRLFRIEND: Trust me, he's always mansplaining about something or another. Don't ask me why I love him. Go! To! Therapy!
A mother berates her 12 year old daughter in a dimly lit kitchen. The young girl stands there dissociating, completely paralyzed and stone-faced.
MOTHER: You look like a little piggy when you eat like that. You'll never find a husband if you get fat. My mother used to tell me you'll never feel the pain of childbirth if you've never felt the pain of an empty stomach. She used to put a lock on the refrigerator. We barely ever had any food, she just did it to remind me to stay skinny. She's senile now. Doesn't even know who I am. I pray to the Virgin Mary every night that she'll remember me before she dies.
The daughter turns to the camera and her blank expression is replaced with playful annoyance.
DAUGHTER: Traumadumping? Really? Mom, I'm 12! Go! To! Therapy!
Now we are introduced to GoTu Therapy, the AI-powered therapy robot. He shambles up to the camera to greet us and we see he looks like if C-3PO were dressed like a zoomer e-boy: kpop boyband onion haircut, dangly earrings, and an ahegao hoodie. He talks with the most outdated text to speech you've ever heard, not too dissimilar to a Kraftwerk song.
GOTU: GOING TO THERAPY IS LOW-KEY GOATED WHEN NOT BEING A BURDEN ON YOUR LOVED ONES IS THE VIBE. UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE NOT ALL CURRENTLY IN OUR "ABLE TO AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE" ERA. BUT A SESSION WITH ME COSTS LESS THAN A GENSHIN IMPACT LOOT CRATE AND I AM HIGH-KEY JUST AS EFFECTIVE AS A THERAPIST MADE OF FLESH AND BLOOD. OBSERVE:
GoTu sits across the kitchen table from the mother as she sobs over her wine glass.
MOTHER: And what the fuck does this family know about suffering? Suffering is when your brother blows his brains out on Christmas Eve. Suffering is when you have to pick little pieces of skull out of the tinsel on the tree. And were any of those presents under the tree for me? No! My mother told me Santa Claus doesn't bring presents to little fat girls!
GOTU: WHEN YOU REACH THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN CHRIST WILL WASH YOUR FEET AND BEG YOU TO FORGIVE HIM
Cut to the girlfriend watching makeup tutorials on the television, blissfully unaware of the conversation between GoTu and her boyfriend.
BOYFRIEND: I guess I've really been putting the pieces together ever since I started hanging out with Lilith from work.
GOTU: UH-HUH
BOYFRIEND: Like, I guess I knew that people did that, but I never thought it'd be me, you know? And that discomfort with things was always with me, as long as I can remember, does that make sense?
GOTU: WOW, THAT'S REALLY COOL
BOYFRIEND: It's just so scary though. I don't know how I'll tell people. I don't even know what I want my name to be. But I'm trying not to worry about it.
GOTU: THAT'S SO INTERESTING. YOU'RE REALLY REALLY SMART HONEY
The blonde and the brunette are having brunch together with GoTu sitting between them.
BLONDE: It's been really hard lately. I don't think the meds are working, but-
BRUNETTE: Umm, didn't we talk about this?
The blonde sheepishly turns to face GoTu and continues.
BLONDE: It just feels like this will never end. I hate feeling so hopeless all the time. I'm so tired. And God it's fucking hard to even say it out loud, and not that I'd ever actually go through with it, but sometimes when I can't sleep at night I'll start thinking about ki-
A red and blue siren pops out the top of GoTu's head.
GOTU: PROTOCOL 5150 ENGAGED. STOP RESISTING
A taser emerges from the panel of GoTu's chest and jabs the blonde in the face, sending her convulsing to the floor. Unfazed, the brunette puts her sandwich down and turns to the camera.
BRUNETTE: Thanks, GoTu Therapy!
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phntmeii · 8 months
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♡ Dating Jaime Lannister Headcanons:
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❝ He kept saying… burn them all. ❝
[SFW + No Gendered Terms]
General Warnings: Angst with comfort, Trauma, Mentions of Incest, Mentions of torture, Mentions of sex
A/N: Sadly this got taken down before so this is a redone version :( This isn’t an identical list to the previous one but hopefully more detailed!!
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Redemption Era:
> Jaime has been through hell and back. The disillusionment of everything he ever pushed away setting in and he doesn’t feel worthy anymore.
> He could masquerade his regrets with his ego for so long. Failing innocent after innocent, he could hold himself in high regard for the one thing people shames him for most: Being a Kingslayer, as he knew it was for a good reason.
> But being so long away from his family for months on end, being a captive prisoner who was constantly berated and abused, and being mutilated, he’s become a shell of himself.
> Being with him in these moments is an uphill battle because he simultaneously craves being loved but pushes you away constantly.
> He doesn’t know how to be loved outside of how Cersei treated him. After all, he was infatuated with his sister but it was a constant toxic push-and-pull relationship.
> Jaime is more closed-off, more stoic and perhaps a more temperamental even. He would hesitate to even entertain the idea of intimacy with anyone.
> Then those feelings start to build and he’s confused. He’s not an idiot nor blind—he knows when someone is objectively attractive but he’s never acted on intimate feelings because he was loyal to Cersei. But now he’s treated with disgust for his lacking hand and you’re still there.
> Jaime would simply stare for a while at you. Trying to figure out why you. Why couldn’t his eyes keep away from you?
> He would imagine what it would feel like to be with you behind closed doors. To hold you and touch you when everything and everyone was shut out besides you two. But who wants a one-handed man?
> You would have to be the one to initiate. He’d hesitate and flinch away at the close contact at first before giving in and softly meeting your lips.
> He's incredibly gentle with you. It's as though he worries he could break you with the slightest touch.
> "It is not that I wish to be away from you. But I feel as though... I do not understand how to love the right way anymore."
> Jaime is slow to open up, if ever within the first few months and it's understandable as to why. Even in this state, he has more faith in you than anyone else.
> Jaime's main Love Languages are: Acts of Service and Quality Time.
> Jaime wants to feel useful even with his missing arm. If he can do something for you even without it, he considers it “proving his worth”. :(
> This can be any sort of thing that he can be of assistance in so long as it helps you out in some way.
> Jaime would be more than happy if you asked him for help in something. He's dropping everything he's doing for you immediately.
> This would also include in the bedroom. Highly doubt Cersei wouldn’t have taught Jaime what felt good for women or not so he’s quite proficient in pleasing you. It’s one of those moments where he can brag.
> “Still good with this hand, love, don’t you worry.”
> While he can be busy or taken up by his duties, that is why quality time is so important to him. He wants specific, well-thought out, dedicated time just for the two of you.
> Often times, it may be a lunch or dinner of sorts. It's time just for the two of you to talk with no interruptions.
> He's also a fan of the lingering moments after bedding, wrapped in each other's arms. There's something about the warmth of each other's bodies in the after-bliss that just melts him.
> Jaime’s favorite Love Languages to receive are: Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation.
> Unfortunately, due to Cersei’s treatment of Jaime through their own relationship, Jaime values himself through sexuality.
> He feels something is wrong if sex is not on the table at each interaction you two have. It takes a while for this to be unraveled.
> Touching him in an intimate and romantic manner: holding his cheek, brushing through his hair with your fingers, kissing his scars, etc. has him confused.
> He stares for a while blankly and can feel himself for once feel something he hasn’t in a long while: fear. Such affections were unknown to him in the way you did them. They weren’t for favors, manipulations, or to be used for selfish gratifications. They were for him to know he’s loved.
> Jaime can honestly cry at this. Just going limp in his posing rather than having his shoulders back and head high and planting his head into your chest or on your shoulder and silently crying.
> Another thing is reminders on how loved he is. He’s more uncertain of himself. He is still a Lannister, don’t get me wrong. He keeps an ego and level of confidence to him. But he’s not sure as to if he’s doing well by you.
> A compliment on his sword skills while he’s sparring has him returning to that cocky grin he always used to have while brushing it off as nothing. Inside, he feels warmth in his chest that he’s still good at that with his left hand.
> Admiring his body even with his missing hand is initially met with disbelief and disregard. No one looks at a one-handed man and says anything good. Slowly over time with you though, and it puts a warm smile on his face.
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⤷ divider credits: @cafekitsune
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the-dixon-effect · 9 months
Text
Beyond Broken
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summary: In the aftermath of Y/N marrying Negan to break Daryl out of the Sanctuary, she doesn't know why he is so upset with her.
era: season 7, Negan-Saviours era
pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!reader
genre: angst
words: 1.3k
warnings: mentions of non-con, Negan being horrible, saviour shit
When the night was full of terrors And your eyes were filled with tears
The tight, form-fitting black dress clung to your thighs with sweat as you stepped off the rusted bike. Not a word escaped anybody in the crowd that had gathered at the front gate as Daryl stormed off. You simply stood there, confused and upset as to why he would be so angry with you, and embarrassed to have every pair of eyes in Alexandria staring you down. A moment later, the woman you recognised as Maggie darted towards you and flung her arms around your shoulders. Your eyes swelled with tears, but you were not about to break down, not here, in front of everyone.
"Oh.. my God, Y/N, you're back! Are you alright?" she spoke softly into your tense shoulder.
"Maggie... I'm so sorry," you began, your heart full to the brim with regret. "I couldn't do it.. I couldn't kill Negan.. 'M sorry, you deserve so much better," you choked, spluttering over the words you wished you didn't have to say. Preparing for the humiliation, the disgust that would soon be radiating from those around you. She's the coward who thought marrying Negan would do some good.
"No.. no, it's okay, you got Daryl back," she spoke in that familiar Southern drawl. It reminded you of someone else's voice that needed to hear right now. "What happened? Is he okay?"
"I- I don't know... I got him out. They had him-" you stuttered, struggling to bring yourself to utter what you had seen at that God-awful 'sanctuary'. "They put in him a cell. Made him eat shit, listen to this awful song that played over and over... I got him out, but Negan made me-"
"Hey, hey, it's okay, you're back here now. You're safe, you saved him, Y/N,"
"I'm sorry, I have to find him,"
Your black high-heels clicked on the tarmac as you exited the crowd with as much dignity as possible. Why the hell would Daryl storm off like that? Maybe he's just tired, maybe he needs some space. He's hurting, and you so badly want to be the one to comfort him. You approached his shared home and hesitated before knocking on the door to his basement, the place that had remained empty for what felt like the longest time. Before knocking, you registered a couple characteristic grunts from inside, and suddenly your eyes glassed over once more.
Knocking twice, you brought up a palm to smooth over your clammy forehead and straightened up your dress, just now realising how silly you look as one of Negan's costume girls. You knew he was in there, and yet, no one answered. Your heart was bubbling with sorrow while you remembered what you had to go through, just to end up here.
You didn't deserve this, you thought. Not being blown off by Daryl after saving his ass just a couple hours ago. You bust the door open and strode inside, not paying attention to the surroundings or how you appeared.
"What's going on Daryl?" you cried, praying for a response, anything, just to know what's going on in that brain of his. He stood there silently, not moving a muscle, staring you down like a deer in headlights.
"Daryl, please, just tell me-" you started, tears threatening to roll down your puffy cheeks.
"Why would ya' do sumthin' like that? Ya' know how stupid that was, bustin' in there?" he yelled, throwing his arms up and approaching you. He towered over you, berating you like you were a misbehaving child.
"I- I don't understand," you thought of the way Negan grabbed you, trapped you beneath him as you tried to control your movements by repeating words in your head, like a mantra. It's all for Daryl, this is all for Daryl, all for him. You remember the things you'd heard in your direction during your time there. Whore. Slut. Scared little bitch. Abandoning Rick and the crew just for a chance to get a piece of Negan. It wasn't fair. You felt like a traitor as you lay awake in Negan's bed on those cold nights, knowing Daryl was awake too, tortured and bruised in a cell three floors beneath you.
"I got you out.. I came to rescue you Daryl?" you sobbed, unable to prevent the tears from falling now.
"Listen ta' me. Don't ever do sumthin' like to yerself ever again," his tone was so harsh, so mean, it was difficult to actually register his words. "I need ya' ta tell me why... Why would ya' do sumthin' like that? Put yerself through tha'?"
"I- I did it for you, Daryl! I did it for you because- because there's nothing else, no one else.. It was.. It was the only thing!" your lips trembled and your whole body quivered beneath his sharp gaze.
Daryl looked around the room and resorted to staring down at his feet. He looked so shaken, so confused and scared, poor thing. If only he could give into the desire to hold you close and never let go. It seemed, at that moment, like that would be the only thing to heal him.
When you had not touched me yet Oh, take me back to the night we met
"But- but why?" he spoke, quieter than he had done previously.
"Don't you get it?" you began softly. "You were being tortured down there... and I couldn't stand for it. It makes me sick, thinking 'bout what I had to do to get you out, but it's all for a reason. Daryl, no one else here is wading into Negan's territory to get you out..."
You thought about the ridicule. The disgusting glares and grimaces you received from psycho-leader's personal foot soldiers. Having to humiliate yourself all day, all night, worrying about being discovered, worrying about getting killed.
The two of you just stared at each other now, as if there was nothing left to be said. But oh, how much he wished he could say to you.
"He lay his hands on you?" he asked, softly and cautiously, as though now he saw you as a wounded animal, sobbing and frightened.
"No... he just..." you couldn't bring yourself to speak of the things he had done to you. He appeared to understand. You wanted to be okay. You wanted to make Daryl okay.
"C'mere," he whispered, pulling you into a tight hug. You buried your face into his wide shoulder blade and wept. Maybe this was it, just what you needed. You had both suffered so much, all you needed was a gentle embrace and someone to hold you like an angel. God knows Daryl needed it too. All he's never known was violence and sorrow, and all you've ever wanted was to dry his tears and hold him late at night.
"I will kill that motherfucker... and any son of a bitch who thinks about touchin' yer'," there was something so poetic about the way he threatened the rest of the world. Like you two were the only ones that existed.
He stroked the back of your head and placed his hand in your soft hair, pulling you closer. "Hey. I dun' wantcha puttin' yerself in danger fer' me, alrigh'? Y/N, I.. I can't let nuthin' bad happen to ya',"
You hummed into his shoulder before pulling away to gaze up at him, arms still wrapped firmly around his torso. "But, Daryl..."
"Nah, I'm righ' here. An' I ain't leavin' ya again."
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highpri3stess · 1 year
Text
Deadly Affairs: Bonten x Reader, mikey x reader
chapter 1: in the beginning
pairing: bonten x bonten member! reader, manjiro 'mikey' sano x reader (main)
chapter warning: DARK CONTENT, NSFW, DUBCON, bonten timeline, fem reader, power imbalance, implied torture, flashing, alcohol/drug use, slight manipulation, drunk sex, public sex, fingering (f. recieving), virginity loss (reader), unprotected sex (creampie), rough sex, dirty talk, use of sir, degradation, slut shaming. (implied sanzu x reader). minors dni
summary: what better way to end your birthday night than to fuck your boss in his car?
word count: 4.4k words
BONTEN, one of the most dangerous organizations that has ever arisen from Japan and possibly, the world. Led by men born from the era of brutality, Japan had never seen such a business successful with covering the tracks of organized crime as much as BONTEN has.
Despite the brutal murders, torture chambers, human and drug trafficking and even bodies found with teeth missing and finger prints skinned off, the police could never completely trace it back to BONTEN. They knew it would have something to do with such a deadly corporation, but as far as the higher ups and Japan's government were concerned, they were just business men with the usual ethical issues.
Anyone who tries to dig in too deep will face Bonten's hammer of judgment.
It's the life you've grown accustomed to for a while ever since Kokonoi had picked you up from the street.
Poverty made you sell your morals to the devil in the designers before you could regret it; Bonten sponsored your university course in accounting, trained you how to use a gun and taught you how important you were to them. Their best asset, worthy enough to join them as executives and rule Japan with an iron fist.
That is, if you'll ever get promoted to an executive after all the years of waiting.
"When is my flight for Makarti scheduled?"
You break out of your thoughts and raise your head to meet the dark eyes of the man sitting in front of you with his head down, Hajime Kokonoi, the man who took you out of the gutters to become his personal assistant who helped with calculations, estimates and other errands.
"It's supposed to be by twelve," you say, preparing yourself for his complaint as you explain the situation. "But your private jet needs a few maintenance checks before it's ready for your flight, so I had to shift it to two pm."
You waited for him to say anything to berate you for not doing the maintenance checks yesterday like he told you to, but instead he kept his head on the work he was doing and brushed it off. "That's good, I have some meetings to attend to anyways, so I can avoid having extra work when I return. Also, you've gotten my suits from the dry cleaners?"
"Yes sir."
"And you've sent a message to Mochizuki and Kakucho about the change in flight times?"
"Yes sir."
The room falls silent, save for the noise coming from Kokonoi's fingers typing away on his laptop. You tap your feet lightly, waiting for either his next question or for him to dismiss you until he raises his head to look at you with confusion and annoyance written all over his features.
"Yes?" He stops typing to pay complete attention to you. "What are you still doing here?"
"Sorry sir" you immediately stand up from the chair with your bags and scramble for the door in haste, adjusting your dress that had ridden up to your thigh. The last thing you wanted was for him to scold you again with disapproving eyes glaring down on you. Hajime Kokonoi was very hard to please and easy to anger, you could never tell when his switch would flip and you don't like being around whenever it did.
You don't see the way Kokonoi's eyes rest on the curve of your ass strained against the office skirt you had worn today, before looking down your legs as you struggled to open his large office doors.
"Wait."
You stop halfway, leaving the door half-open as you turn to the man sitting some feet away from you. Kokonoi rests his angular jaw on his intertwined fingers before clearing his throat. "I just remembered that you would be joining Manjiro, Haruchiyo and Takeomi for a meeting tonight."
You feel the blood in your veins turn cold as you process Kokonoi's words, your fingers curl around the door handle tighter than before, anchoring you to the ground and keeping you from stumbling at the news. Kokonoi doesn't miss the way your face turns sour at the news he had broken, and frankly, he can't exactly blame you for your reaction. The top three executives are frightening, even more brutal than he himself was, especially when it came to you.
"I'm giving you the rest of the day off to prepare." He goes back to his laptop screen and keeps working on the audit he was doing before. The world of the yakuza cares for no man, and if you despise someone, either you kill them or you stick to them like glue. "Someone will come get you by 7pm so be ready by then. You can go now."
The room goes quiet again. Kokonoi can feel your questioning glare asking him why he would break his promise of not letting those men come near you, again.
"Yes sir."
You stomp out of the room angrily and the door slams shut after you, leaving Kokonoi all by himself to keep doing his work. He had to admit, the head on top of your shoulders wasn't just for decoration, you actually do know how to use it.
You knew better than to ask him questions.
THE noise from the club was deafening the moment you stepped into the place.
Once upon a time, Ran had told you he and his brother used to rule this place with an iron fist, before finding a much smarter way to make everyone submit to them. Now, practically all the clubs littered around Japan, including this one Manjiro Sano had decided to be the venue of the meeting, belong to them in Bonten's name.
Dressed in a sequined two piece cream top and skirt paired with heels, you certainly turned heads with your looks. You could hear whispers of men and women asking about who you were, seeing as you walked up to the V.I.P area with an air of confidence, somewhere only known Bonten members, business partners of Bonten or unlucky women foolish enough to entertain any executive were allowed to enter.
As expected, the guards in charge stopped you in your tracks. You could practically feel the predatory gazes of the men aimed at your choice of clothes, oozing lust, before flickering into disapproval at how you were dressed.
"V.I.Ps only."
His tone was condescending for someone that stares at you like a piece of meat, although it was nothing new to you when it came to the men in Bonten. You don't pay mind to his attitude, instead lifting up your skirt partially to reveal the Bonten tattoo on your inner thigh. You could see his eyes practically entranced by the flesh of your thighs and the panties peeking through the skirt, greedily absorbing the details of every inch of skin as you lowered your skirt down.
You blame Kokonoi for letting you go through with that idea. Flashing people to reveal your tattoo isn't exactly ideal for you.
"Can I go in now?" You say and without waiting for them to finish, you push past them and got into the entrance to the V.I.P lounge.
IF you had a nickel for everytime Kokonoi lied to you about something, you would be extremely wealthy by now.
You could see the collection of wine bottles distributed across the tables, each to every individual's taste. Smoke billowed around the area, mixing with the scent of weed and alcohol. Voluptuous women were strewn on their laps, sides and even at their feet, smiling and pouring drinks, talking loudly or laughing at something they said.
This is not a meeting. This was a private party and you want nothing to do with it.
Haruchiyo, Bonten's number 2, is the first person to notice you awkwardly standing there and staring at the rest of them in horror and shock. His lips break out in a smile aimed at you, calling your (name) loudly and garnering everybody's attention, including Manjiro Sano who looked tired and bored, despite the woman who was sitting on his lap and feeding him. "(Name), the birthday girl is here, come sit down."
'Birthday girl? Does this look like a party I would like to attend? Who planned this?'
You mindlessly walked towards the space Haruchiyo had made between him and Manjiro, and sat there stiffly. You notice Haruchiyo hasn't touched his drinks or drugs at all, as if he was waiting for you to see this madness while he was sober. Electricity runs down your spine as he leaned so close to your ears, lips brushing it lightly to whisper; "So, do you like it? Boss said I could plan it however I wanted since Kokonoi wasn't around and you weren't answering my calls."
So that's why he was calling you.
You wanted to slap yourself across the face. This was a situation you could have avoided.
You glance briefly at Manjiro who was following (or trying to) a conversation the chatty escort he had hired had started. Your gazes meet briefly and you shyly avert your eyes away back to your lap.
Of course it was him that gave Haruchiyo the reins to host this party. Who else could do something like this?
You sigh weakly and turn to Haruchiyo, who was still waiting for your answer with a huge expectant grin on his lips. It wasn't like you could tell him the truth about how this party felt like it was for the men of Bonten and not for you.
"It's um…" you forced a smile at him before you continued lying. "... nice. Thank you sir."
A sigh of relief escapes your lips when his grin widens. You feel his arm drape over your shoulders, drawing you closer to his body. He dips his head into the crook of your neck, hot breath dancing along your body as he whispers in your ear again.
"Anything for you princess."
You sit frozen when he pulls away from you and goes back to the escort he was chatting with as if he didn't just make your heart race. You didn't get to think about it for long when a wine glass is put right in front of your face. Manjiro does not look at you as he shakes the wine glass in your face and you take it from him, trying to ignore the electricity running through your fingertips that brushed his.
"Thank you sir."
"Try to relax." His voice is low enough for only you to hear him speak. Your body grows hotter when he turns his gaze completely on your body, slowly scanning your attire for the evening before focusing on your face again. "We're not punishing you this time."
You nod quickly, making a huge effort to keep the glass in your shaking hands. Being so close to Manjiro Sano and Haruchiyo Akashi proved to be more difficult than it should have been. Was it the fear that had been instilled into you by these men themselves?
Or was it the fact that you were surrounded by the constant reminders of your twisted sexual fantasies?
"A toast, to the birthday girl!" Ran's loud voice brings you out of your thoughts and you absent mindedly raise your glass up into the air. Whatever it is you feel about them doesn't matter, you couldn't afford to get anymore involved with Bonten beyond office contact.
"To life and a fatter ass!"
You don't notice Manjiro watching you as you scowl before faking a laugh and repeating. "To life and a fatter ass."
  "YOU didn't like the party."
You don't say anything in response, with the light hum of the car's engine serving as the only sound in the vehicle and opting to look out of the window instead, watching the cars drive past yours. Of course it's a no-brainer that you absolutely hated everything tonight, hell even your mood has been sour throughout to the point Manjiro Sano noticed and offered to take you home early when you said you were tired.
He sighs after a while, now looking out of his own window to distract himself from the way your skirt rode up to reveal the flesh of your thighs. "I'm sure Haruchiyo tried his best given how he is with you."
Something in you snaps at that moment and you face him with annoyance in your eyes. You were just about done with the way he kept digging the knife deeper into your gut. "I had plans for the evening Mr. Sano." You put it bluntly, not caring if he took offence to your words or just ignored you completely. "I did not ask for anything. I'm beginning to think you do this to make me miserable."
Your frown only deepens when you hear him chuckle quietly before turning around to face you with a curious look written all over his face. Somehow, seeing you upset made you cuter in his eyes; You always looked so vulnerable in times like these, whether you're walking on eggshells around him or outright being ungrateful to him. Maybe it's the alcohol giving you an extra boost to speak your mind, and he'll allow it for now because he wants to hear what you have to say.
It won't go unpunished though.
"What were the plans you had for this evening?"
Manjiro doesn't miss the way your face contorts slightly into an uncomfortable smile. It's not like he didn't know anyways, he had overheard your discussion with his assistant about what you wanted to do about two weeks ago and it was what made him call Haruchiyo to plan the most disastrous party ever to stop you from going ahead with your plan.
"It's nothing, never min-"
"I know you wanted to hook up with some idiot you met, don't play coy with me."
You swallowed hard at his harsh tone, flickering your eyes anywhere but his face. The ridiculous last minute party made sense now that he had ripped the band aid off. Manjiro must have heard of your plans to hook up with someone you had met, since Kokonoi never let you even breathe in peace or left you alone whenever you wanted to do something.
"Today was my only chance and you ruined it." Your voice cracks slightly as you hiss at him. It was frustrating honestly, the one time you had to yourself without Bonten breathing down your neck, they found a way to make you even more miserable. "I have needs too for god's sake! I have a life outside being your lackey-"
"So you were going to let some lowlife stick his dick into you because you can't keep your legs shut."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
You try to reply to him again but no words come to your head. You can only close your mouth and look at your lap; it's unbelievable that he was berating you for wanting some form of intimacy in your life after being so pent up and going through so much shit. "So what do you expect me to do Mr. Sano?" Your voice is bitter but you didn't care any more at this point. "Ask Kokonoi to fuck me? Or should I go to Ran or Haruchiyo? Or …"
A smile makes its way to your face the moment an idea pops into your mind. You raised your head sharply towards him and jabbed a finger into his broad chest to buttress your point. "Or should I ask you to do it? To corrupt and taint me?"
"Stop that"
"Do you want to fuck me, Mr. Sano? Is that why you hate seeing me with those low-lifes? Is that it?"
"Don't start something you know you can't finish, (name)" it's a stern warning and you know Manjiro Sano isn't just being petty as he usually is, he's getting riled up from your constant taunting. "Or else."
But you don't listen to him. Even though you know from past experience that angering your volatile boss could end up with a bullet embedded in your brain, you push yourself closer to his body until you were flush against him, watching him stiffen as you lowered your lips next to his ear and rested your hand on his muscular thigh. It's obvious you're not thinking straight since you've had a couple of drinks and he's trying to keep that in mind, especially when you begin to trace a line towards his crotch area.
"Or else what, Mr. Sano?"
It happened so fast you could barely comprehend how he had you on your back to the seat with his body hovering over yours. Bleach blond bangs frame his face, highlighting the once empty, soulless eyes into darkened gazes full of lust and greed, hot breath hitting your face. A strong pale veiny hand pin your arms above your head, his knees separating your thighs, your jaw in a bruising grip of his other hand.
"S-sir-"
"A bit too late for that." He cuts you short, before turning his head to the driver of the vehicle. "Stop the car, now."
Your heart thuds loudly against your chest as the driver pulls the car into a dark corner hidden from the streetlights, coming to a stop. Manjiro does not ease up his grip, nor does he stop gazing into your soul as he tells the driver to "get out" in less than polite terms. You can hear the door of the car open and close quietly, along with the faint flicker of a lighter as the man walks away from the car.
With the two of you alone, Manjiro doesn't hesitate to crash your lips against each other in a messy kiss. Your boss wins the battle of dominance almost immediately with the sheer force he uses to force your mouth open with his hand so that he could explore your mouth. Your moans are silenced with each bruising kiss from him, his teeth grazing your lips before his tongue swipes over the marked place, engulfing your mouth with his until your lungs burn for air.
Moans of "sir" escaped your lips in sync with every wet kiss he placed on your face and cheek. Manjiro moves his lips from your lips, to your jaw and then settles onto your neck. The feeling of his teeth grazing your neck has you mewling and leaning into his touch. His hand leaves your jaw and quickly makes its way to your skirt, hiking it up a bit to reveal your panties and the Bonten tattoo on the plush of your inner thigh.
Manjiro pulls away from your neck and you let out an annoyed whine, already craving for his mouth on your neck again. His eyes sizes up the lace panties you had worn, a wet patch forming on it and he begins to trace a finger up and down your slit, teasing you through your panties. You let out a soft "hngh" from your lips as he moves to your clothed clit, rubbing tight circles, sending waves of electricity all over your lower region.
"Don't think 'i'm going easy on you." He mutters whilst pushing your soaked panties aside to reveal your bare cunt. A soft whine escapes your lips as two of his fingers start entering into your tight pussy, forcing its way into your walls until you accommodate the intrusion. "As soon as I'm done stretching out this cunt, I'm going to ruin you for anyone else."
You don't get to reply as his fingers begin to move at a pace that has your body trembling.
His fingers curled into you, pumping them in and out of your pussy. A loud moan escapes your lips when his fingers brush that spot, making your eyes roll back and pussy pulse around his fingers. "You like that?" He whispers close to your neck, biting and sucking marks into your skin, not letting up his rough finger fucking, curling his fingers even the more that has your legs shaking and the coil in your belly tightening. "Of course you do. You like it so much, look at how you're clenching on my fingers like a needy slut." His tone is mocking and yet, it only seemed to add fire to the flame.
Your body spasms in his hold, breathing fast as a violent orgasm rips through you until it becomes a dull throbbing and your head hangs while trying to catch your breath. Manjiro pulls away from your cunt and kneels upright. You peek through your lashes, watching him impatiently unbuckle his belt with one hand and toss it aside on the floor, followed by him working down the zipper and buttons of his pants, tugging it to his knees along with his boxers to reveal his thick, veiny cock springs free of its confines, drops of pre leaking from it.
He takes his dick in his free hand and smears the tip with pre before lining it up with your hole. A quiet groan escapes your lips as he rubs his length against your glistening pussy gathering all the slick, your heavy breathing matching his own. His grip on your hands above your head tightens, keeping you in place as he positions his tip in front of your entrance.
The pain when he pushes his tip into you is almost unbearable.
Your eyes snapped shut in response and you bit your lip to keep yourself from screaming as he slowly inched into you. "It'll be much easier for the both of us if you relax." He hisses at you, before reaching for your clit and circling it gently, trying to distract you from the pain. "Breathe, relax."
His words were like a mantra and you found yourself taking in a deep breath and letting it out, trying your hardest to relax. Slowly, the pain from being stretched out gave way to feeling so full for the first time until he was buried at the hilt. A groan escapes Manjiro's lips; the feeling of your velvety walls around his hard cock was divine and if he didn't have any ounce of self control he would have cum immediately. His hips experimental rolls against yours and the loud "Manjiro" you let out had his brain short circuiting.
Everything is a blur after that.
His pace is fast, angling himself to your g-spot and abusing it, the whole car shaking with the power of his thrusts. His finger plays with your clit, despite you screaming "too much sir, too much!" in between moans and trying to squirm away from his brutal ministrations.
"Don't run away now, (name), I'm just doing what you want. Look at how well you're doing for a virgin." He says in between pants, thrusting into you even faster. He doesn't miss the whimper escaping your lips as his tip abuses your g-spot repeatedly- in fact it only encourages him to keep up the pace. "You're so obedient, I like this version of you. Might make you my personal slut- shit-"
His balls tighten at the feeling of your cunt fluttering around him at that sentence. Seeing him staring down at you condescendingly as he fucks into you hard is shamefully arousing, and your mouth can't help letting out loud moans of pleasure when his fat tip prods against your cunt.
The noises of skin slapping skin from the intensity of his thrusts in the car is obscene and noisy, you're sure the guard standing outside is well aware of what is going on.
He lets go of your clit briefly to put your leg on his broad shoulder, bringing you even closer to him and presses a hot, messy kiss on your lips, his tongue playing with yours again. You answer his kiss with another weak moan, the coil in your belly tighten once again with the urge to snap.
"Pathetic virgin" he laughs against your lips and moves his head to the crook of your neck. His grip tightens on your hand as he holds your trembling body in place. "I would have mistakened you for a slut if you weren't so fucking tight." His hips stutter, before regaining his pace again. He spits out darkly; "Since you're so cock hungry, maybe you should be our personal slut, huh? Bonten's cumrag?"
Maybe it's the alcohol coupled with the intense feeling of pleasure that has your mind completely dumb for him. Maybe it's because he's the one in control of everything as he rolls his hips into you, bringing you closer and closer to edge, his dark eyes clouded with lust and greed peering into yours that had you saying "yes, yes yes yes-" until your second orgasm washes over you, more intensely than the first and knocks you out completely soon after.
He falls over the edge too, pumping loads and loads of cum into you as he bucks into you with a few more thrusts, more than anything he's produced before until he's spent completely. He pulls himself away from your cunt immediately and sits on his heels, dark eyes watching cum leak out of your abused hole and pool down your cunt with interest. Manjiro's eyes flicker up to your face and realize you have passed out.
'It must have been too intense for you, huh.'
He releases your hands above your head, taking note of the finger shaped bruises warpped all over your wrists like a a bracelet and reaches for your bag to take out your wipes. He cleans the cum and specks of blood outside your cunt and tries to dab off the stain on the chair as well before tugging your skirt down and adjusting his pants. Wounding down the window of the car, Manjiro signs the driver outside to come in and he obeys immediately, putting out his cigarette on the concrete wall.
A sigh escapes his lips, in sync with the car engine revving up again. Manjiro's eyes flicker down to your sleeping figure that he's maneuvered to his lap and trails his gaze down to the marks littered all over your jaw and neck. Deft fingers circle around the swelling skin, still lost in thought about how pretty you look with his markings until he gets a rather risky idea.
For you, not for him though.
Manjiro reaches for his phone and angles his camera right onto your sleeping face, taking a picture of you all marked up and pressing the share button. Kokonoi's contact pops up on the screen and he starts to type something before pressing the send button and tossing the phone aside.
"Take us to my house. She'll sleep with me tonight."
_boss is typing…_
_boss: you're right. (name) is good for something other than running away_
_ *1 new attachment .jpg* _
_boss: she's also a good slut_
taglist: @mikeys-bike-slut , @obitohno , @anemptypuddingcup , @happygoluckyalexis , @mastermindenoshimaalicia , @haitaniwhor3 , @iheartamajiki , @pinksilk , @lostsomewhereinthegarden , @bontensbabygirl , @linn-a-a , @leilalago , @ranscutedoll , @lovelygeniegirl1012 , @crackheadwithtoes , @mercyboluthecrazychicken , @k3rrpii , @justanothernpcartist @colombia-chan (sorry it's late 😭)
network: @tokyometronetwork
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colourstreakgryffin · 11 months
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Yandere! Romantic! KNY Hashira Scenarios: Iguro Obanai Vs Kanroji Mitsuri
I had this one buried away for ages. This is the last post based around Yandere Romantic Hashira! Absolutely 100% this time!
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At first. Iguro Obanai and Kanroji Mitsuri were deeply in love with each other… but that changed for good after the new Hashira(aka You) came into the mix. Their passion for one another disappeared upon meeting you and it replaced those feelings of love for feelings of disdain and rivalry
Of course, you knew Mitsuri first as she always befriends new Slayers unconditionally, in which definitely included you since you’re her fellow. She grew attached to you, thanks to your matching personality(you’re calmer and more gentle whilst Mitsuri is hyper and springy) and forgot all about her love for Obanai in favour of growing love for you. She didn’t develop Yandere tendencies until after you met Obanai
Obanai fell for you the moment Mitsuri introduced you to him when she invited the two of you over for tea. He adored how sweet and kind you were that it was difficult to stay composed around you. His newfound love for you crushed the one he had for Mitsuri and he felt so much warmer in his attraction to you than with Mitsuri. Just like Mitsuri, Obanai wasn’t a Yandere until after he picked up on Mitsuri’s affections for you
You showing up and stealing the two Hashiras’ hearts unintentionally was the beginning of their toxic era as the two realised they were no longer potential romantic partners and dear friends but love rivals
And they’re love rivals who will do whatever is needed to win you over, and that standard didn’t stop at ruining their insanely close connection with each other
They both grew obsessed over you in the little time you knew them, and would cram themselves into your schedule to spend as much time with you as possible. They’re both insecure about themselves and angrily frightened by each other’s advances on you. Their Yandere qualities grew stronger, the more their love rival win smiles from you. It is a big, bloody battle of rivalry
Mitsuri is a chronic lier and Obanai is a chronic manipulator. They both gaslight you into spending more time with them and threaten harm on each other and/or others. Though, they are so strung-up in their fantasies over you, they don’t realise how delusional they really are
“Iguro-san. Can you please leave us alone? Dokusha is clearly enjoying me massaging her sore shoulder, can’t you see that?”
“As pleased as I am to see you happy, Kanroji. It’s time for Dokusha’s daily nap and she always naps with me so leave her be”
Talking about those daily naps, Obanai always drags you up the tallest trees to avoid Mitsuri and it angers her to all ends. She usually naps under the same tree but sometimes, she throws a massive fit
Mitsuri doesn’t really like to harm innocents, she prefers berating/intimidation/blackmail but Obanai will gladly beat, mutilate and/or kill innocents. Mitsuri has limits, Obanai doesn’t
Mitsuri acts extremely bratty towards Obanai to make him snap then play victim when you interfere after she made him lash out at her
Their affections are suffocating and you’ll never be able to escape them once they’re dedicated to you as a whole. They both send you the most complimentary lovey-dovey letters, buy and give you the most expensive gifts, and when you’re with them in person, they always fight passive-aggressively with each other over everything surrounding you;
“Trying to embrace Dokusha, Kanroji? We both know you’re not allowed to even touch her, you’ll hurt her”
“And you can touch her, Iguro-san? Hurt her. Ha, please! I can’t get over how funny you think you are”
They fight over you in front of all the fellow Hashira more than they should and it concerns every Hashira nearby watching as their heated arguments extend into life-threats and sword raising. Himejima has to seperate them to ensure that don’t actually swing on each other
The only time these two do actually work together and/or agree is when somebody else is getting too close to you for their liking. So, now, you have two overprotective obsessive bodyguards! One is passive-aggressively demanding the person leaves and the other is spitting out death threats to that person with his sword flaring
Obanai and Mitsuri always think that they are still on healthy terms with each other but in reality…
Their bond is so f**ked that there is no way for them to go back to when they were nearly inseparable… well, unless you died but even in such a situation, they’d continue to fight and blame each other for your death;
“If YOU didn’t stalk and creep her out so much, she wouldn’t have done that to herself! My baby took off because of YOU! You don’t deserve to even dirty-up the ground my Dokusha walked on after making her leave this planet!”
“I’M the reason MY Dokusha abanonded me?! Why don’t you dice your f**king big jaw off, you b**ch! YOU kept harassing and clinging onto her! YOU'RE the reason MY Dokusha took her own life! I swear, on Dokusha’s honour and name, I’m going to kill you!”
Thankfully for them, they are constantly watching you as one will always be clinging onto you if the other isn’t around. Mitsuri mainly stalks you when you’re in public and Obanai mainly stalks you when you’re at home.
Mitsuri is a attention-demanding brat and Obanai is scarily-invasively attached. They play tug of war with you 24/7 and one day, you may tear into two with how tight they hold on
It’s only up to you on which Yandere you pick in the end but serious warning, the one left behind will spend the rest of his/her life hunting you down so he/she can kill the one you chose.
“Dokusha-san. Do you like the Onigiri? I made sure they were perfect, though, they’re bland in comparison to you. Tell me, will you stay past training? I have a lot more planned for after this. Wouldn’t you like to spend time with me, where it’s quiet, you get whatever you want on the spot and you’re safe, away from her”
“Dokusha-chan! Over here! Come to my Estate tonight! I have the perfect sleepover just waiting for us! We’ll pillow fight, play board games, try out cute hairstyles, dress up my cats! That sounds amazing, right? Hanging out with me is better then hanging out with him, that’s for sure!”
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humanbug · 1 year
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Someone else? pt. 3
Tommy and Joel discover another immune person.
Part 1 Part 2
a/n: okie dokie! part 3! i think this will be the last part but honestly…i might write more. again, thank you for interacting! it really means a lot! i feel really proud of this story especially given how i am always my harshest critic! again feedback, suggestions, and ideas are more than welcome! if you want to see a part 4 feel free to comment ideas or send me ideas through my ‘ask me anything!’...like really because i need ideas lol
warning(s): jackson era ellie, none of this is canon, no violence or gore in this one
Your hands shake as you hold up your plate full of food. Thoughts racing so fast that your vision is blurry. You stumble over your own feet as you follow Ellie around, feeling utterly lost. 
‘Did I take too much? I don’t think I can finish all of this! Oh my god what if they yell at me for wasting food. Oh god. Oh my god. I shouldn’t have been so greedy.’
Ellie’s voice echoes through your head as she calls your name for the…who knows how many times. She’s peering down at you with concern flooding her green eyes. 
You let out a nearly silent “Hm?”, glancing up at her. Ellie sighs, nodding her head at you to follow her. A shiver rolls through your spine as you can feel everybody’s eyes following you in curiosity. You tug at the back of Ellie’s shirt suddenly feeling like she’s too far from you. You whisper to her, “There’s a lot of fucking people here!?”.
She quietly chuckles, stepping to the side as she reaches her free hand around to rest on your back, leading you to the table. Finally reaching a small table in the corner you rush to make sure you grab the chair that faces the dining hall, needing your back to be to the wall and front facing the open room. 
A man with salt and pepper hair sits at the table nursing a mug of what you assume is coffee. His eyes followed you and Ellie when you crossed the room and sat down. They followed you in a protective manner, glaring at anyone who made you flinch or who stared at you for too long. 
Ellie sits down next to you and across from the man and leans on the table as she looks at you. 
“This is Joel. He’s one of the patrols that found you. The other person who found you is Tommy, Joel’s brother.” Ellie says as she begins to eat her food. 
You look over at Joel, “Thank you for– uh- for-”.
“There's no need to thank me doll. I didn’t do nothin’ special.” Joel says in a low voice. His voice is considerably gruffer than you imagined. 
“No! Please. I mean it…you- you could’ve killed me and I- I need you to know that I am thankful you didn’t.” You rush out, finding yourself tearing up. 
Joel gives you a sympathetic smile, nodding his head. You quickly understand that he is a man of few words and you release a breath knowing this is his way of saying ‘you’re welcome’. You glance down at your plate, getting anxious again. I really got a lot of food…I don’t think I can finish all of this…
‘God. Get a grip! You’re gonna give yourself heart failure if you keep getting elevated like this!’
“-at the lodge anyway?” Your eyes snap up only catching the end of what Ellie was asking you. Furrowing your brows you hum out a quiet, “Hm?”
‘Oh my GOD! Pay attention!’ you berate yourself.
Ellie gives you an upside down smile as she takes another bite of her food. 
“I asked how did you end up at the lodge anyway?” She asks again. 
“Oh! Uh…I was with a…a group. I had been with them for a while. I started running with them when they saved me from a group of- a group of raiders. We had plans to leave Wyoming after hearing a rumor of a QZ that was…still safe, way out in western Nevada. We had nothing to lose really so decided to make the hike. We had been traveling for about a week and a half? Maybe…I dunno really. We were walking through a real woodsy area when-” Your eyes water as your voice cracks and you clench your fists so tight that crescent moons bruise into your palm.
Ellie puts her right hand on top of yours, prying your fingers from your palm and laying your hand flat on the wooden table. Looking at you with observant eyes. Not rushing you to speak but making it clear on her face that she’s ready to listen when you’re ready to talk again. 
“I- uh- I think I’ve eaten all that I can. I’m so sorry…I really didn’t mean to grab so much I just- I saw so much food and got excited. I can stay till I can finish-”
Before you can finish talking Ellie is sliding your plate from under you and places it on top of her empty one. Finishing your leftovers. Oh. Okay. Well, it’s not going to waste so you don’t finish your anxious rambling. 
Joel clears his throat, “Until we can get you a place of your own, we were thinkin’ you could bunk with Ellie. Just for the time bein’ of course, we’ll sort somethin’ out to get you your own place. That okay?”
“Yeah! Yeah, that’s okay.” You whisper, not wanting to tell them that you do not want to live alone. Not even remembering the last time you were alone. Until now it had been you and your sister, until she was taken from you. Then it was those raiders…not that they made you feel safe, but you weren’t alone…then it was your group and now…they’re gone too. Worry began gnawing at your brain, what if Ellie thinks I’m being too clingy…too overbearing…you barely know her and don’t ever want to leave her side, feeling safe with her. God this was embarrassing…
Blinking you glance up realizing Ellie has been on her feet, holding out her hand. Her plate is gone? Joel’s gone?! How long had I been in my own head like that? Oh my god am I doing it again? 
You hear her chuckle before grabbing your hand from the table, pulling you up. 
As you walk through Jackson your hands are holding onto her jacket as her arm is wrapped around you settling on your waist. The silence is comfortable as she leads you to her house.
Ellie finds herself lost in her own thoughts as you two walk. Her mind comes to terms with everything that has happened today. 
‘Fuck…she’s immune. She’s immune! This can’t be real but god it is. It’s as real as your hands digging into her jacket. It’s as real as your long tangled brown hair and as real as the distant look you get in your eyes when you visibly begin to think too much.’
She can’t help herself from scolding herself when her thoughts begin to wander.
‘Fuck! Ellie! Get a goddamn grip…but she can’t help the overprotective…possessive…almost violent urge that she feels as you glue yourself to her side.’
Ellie knows it’s…not okay…but she knows that she’s never letting another person near you without her permission. She feels…gross but can’t find a single bone in her body that gives a single fuck. She knows that from here on out you are hers. Whether it be simply a platonic protection or a romantic protection she doesn’t care but god she prays it eventually leads to the latter.
Finally reaching her house she digs in her pocket for the key. Stepping in she nods her head for you to follow. You do without thought, of course. She smiles down at you, 'such a good listener', she muses in her head.
“Tommy brought your backpack here earlier. Uh- Maria went through it, I hope that’s okay…She didn’t take anything but your clothes for washing. She said she’ll drop 'em off tomorrow.” She says.
“In the meantime you can wear my stuff and we should get you cleaned up.” She chuckles at the last part.
You furrow your brow looking down at your body. 
‘Oh my- oh my god I am filthy…’
You clear your throat not sure where – fuck – how to clean yourself up without a river or a sink of kind of clean water. This is…embarrassing. “Uhm- I don’t have a rag or- or anything…” You shift on your feet feeling like a dirty dog who just came in from the rain and mud. 
“Well lucky for you I have a barrel of clean water out back. It’s a bit cold so you’ll just have to make it kinda quick. Do you- do you need any help?” She asks. 
Nodding your head feeling like an idiot. She just gives you a small upside down smile grabbing your hand as she walks to the back of the house. 
“Ohh…” You hum feeling like even more of a fool. It’s literally a barrel…like a blue barrel on a stand and a spout attached. You don't know why you had expected it to be something complicated. 
Ellie chuckles, “Here is a towel, a rag and some soap. I’d recommend washing one part at a time given the temperature but I’m gonna go get you a change of clothes, okay?” 
You look up at her nodding and humming out a thank you. Your chest constricts when you see the way she stares down at you, making you feel so safe…
Quickly getting to washing yourself so you can be back inside the warm cozy – oh so warm – house. Turning your head slightly to the left when you hear a throat clear, Ellie is behind you handing you a stack of clothes, a blush falling on her freckled face. Keeping your back to her and your arm over your chest you smile and say a soft thank you.
“I’ll be waiting inside.” She glances over your body quickly but you can’t be positive given the shadows beginning to fall over the town. 
Resisting the urge of crying as you finally wash your hair. Not remembering the last time you had clean hair that was detangled and actually felt clean. You think to yourself this has to be a dream. These clothes! They’re clean…and thick…and so warm. They also swallow you but you are not complaining at all. 
‘I guess not eating anything but sparse berries, jerky, and stale bread for…as long as you can remember really has taken a toll on you. Hm, who would’ve guessed.’
You rush back inside feeling human again. “That was…the best thing I have felt in…years!” You exclaim.
Ellies head shoots up as she smiles at you, her eyes shining as she hears the enthusiasm in your voice. Her heart swells with the violent urge to always make you this happy for as long as she lives. 
Blushing as you realized how silly you probably sound, “I- you probably think I’m some wild animal! I just- I truly haven’t had a wash that wasn’t from a river or lake in…months and haven’t had a wash like that in- god- in years!” You manage a small giggle, hearing how ridiculous you sound.
Ellie’s face flutters to an emotion you have never seen before, “Do that again.”
You stumble over your words, “Wh- Do what again?”
“Laugh.” She says seriously.
You can’t help but try to stifle a nervous giggle at her ridiculous request but it falls out anyway. This makes a smile adorn her face as she stares at you as you shift nervously in the middle of the room.
She keeps smiling to herself as she stands from where she is sitting on the bed, a notebook opened in front of her. “You take the bed. I’ve set myself up on the couch-”
“No! No, please sleep in your bed…this- this is your home! I really don’t mind the couch.” You insist. Ellie steps toward you, stopping so close you can feel her breath on your cold, damp hair. 
You startle as she gently grasps your jaw, “No. You’re sleeping on the bed. I’m not changing my mind and you’re not gonna argue. Okay?” She whispers, breath fanning your face. 
Not trusting your voice you nod your head, wild eyes a stark comparison to her calm ones. 
You have tried. Tried so hard it makes you want to sob. But you cannot will yourself to fall asleep. Huffing out a frustrated breath you roll over once again. 
‘Maybe if I just- No! No! I can’t. I won't ask.’
Finally feeling so upset you start to sniffle. 
You sit up, breath wavering as you whisper, “Ellie? Ellie, are you awake?”
“Yes, sweet girl I am. Why are you awake?” She says from her bundle of blankets on the couch.
“I- I can’t sleep. Could- could you lay with me? Please?” You manage to get the words out through your sniffles, feeling like a goddamn baby! 
‘God I really am pathetic. Why would I ask that? She probably thinks I am some creep who-’
A hand under your chin stops your berating thoughts abruptly as she places a nearly invisible kiss to the crown of your head before lifting the blankets to slide in the bed. She hums as she slides her body down and grabs a hold of you, laying you on her chest, the arm underneath you rubs your back and the hand above soothes the arm you have draped over her. 
Before you can allow your own brain to bully you any more. Your eyes are drooping closed. Your breathing evens out as you begin to fall into a deep sleep.
The last thing you hear is, “Good night, sweet girl.” Another kiss is placed on your head and you sleep. Feeling safe for the first time in years.
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evita-shelby · 4 months
Text
National Anthem
Chapter 5
Cw: pregnancy, drinking, mentions of past alcohol abuse, casual mentions of sex and misogyny
Taglist: @thegreatdragonfruta @cljordan-imperium @zablife @call-sign-shark
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The first day of prohibition finds Eva remembering an old parlor trick that led to a drinking problem when she learned it at seventeen.
They had gotten rid of their stash after some jackass claimed Eva was a communist and their house was raided in search of proof.
No one was getting rid of their liquor yet expecting the temperance movement to die out sooner rather than later, but Eva knew this well-intended bullshit was to last decades.
So when she greets Jack with a hair of the dog she learned in Mexico City, he asks how she got a perfectly aged bottle of Bushmills for it.
“I can turn certain drinks into alcohol.” She admits to Jack who claims his hair of the dog is much more efficient than the honey and milk drink Eva presented him with it.
“Bullshit.” He downed the tulip glass and admitted it tasted better than the prairie oyster he makes himself.
“How did you think I got the good shit last night?”
It had been a party like the ones she used to go to get so fucked up she couldn’t remember anything; this time she drank in moderation despite the temptation to lose herself.
She was a wife and a mother now, she had to keep herself upright for them if not for herself.
“Money, like everything else.” Jack answered wincing from his hangover.
He had drunk enough to kill an elephant to show that this tiger has not changed his stripes.
“That too, the wine from the year 1775 cost quite a bit.”
They had danced, they had fucked, and it took two men to help him into the cab to take them home. All the while he went on and on about how he hates the English, how he could fix someone’s film company with a snap of his fingers and at some point, proclaimed he was King fucking Midas and Eva was Aphro-fucking-dite.
“To think I drank from the wine George fucking Washington drank when they banned alcohol in America.” He says with a groan and pulls her back to bed looking to be coddled in his time of need.
“No better way to end the era of the God-given right of inebriation, if you ask me.”  The witch swallowed the sudden nausea she got from the stink of her hungover husband.
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The myth of breastfeeding decreasing the chances of pregnancy is proven false as February rolls around and Eva finds herself sobbing violently.
All Jack had said was that he was needed at the Wall Street office and the next moment Eva was crying because he was leaving.
The witch and mother to the nine-month-old boys knew it was what she had feared most.
Eva was pregnant for a second time.
She had been completely blindsided by this as only her figure was getting back into order after the birth of the boys some seven months ago. Her monthlies had yet to be regular and on Christmas Eve she goaded him into playing the piano for her.
Jack’s mother used to play it, he’d learned some and claimed to have forgotten but had bought a piano in case Eva did.
No one had given it as much use as they did that night.
“Jesus, Evie, I’ll be back on Saturday.��� Jack thinks it’s an overreaction, having forgotten when she berated him last year around this time for some reason as stupid as this one.
“No, I don’t think it’s that.” Eva still let him dry her tears and promise her things like something nice from the city and a good fuck before and after the trip. “I think I’m pregnant.”
Jack, much like the first time, personally drove her to the doctor to confirm it.
Not all men went, and Jack only claimed he went because Eva couldn’t exactly drive herself nor did he trust the doctor to keep his hands off his woman.
And sure, enough he hovers there as Eva is subjected to rather embarrassing tests, they are told the results of the urine will be back in a week or less and Eva is given instructions she will promptly ignore.
“What do you think it’s gonna be this time?” he asks looking so proud of himself for getting her knocked up again. As if they hadn’t had to pull over because lunch was repeating itself thanks to their sweet little baby.
“Girl, was thinking Rosemary for your mother.”
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The twins’ first birthday finds them celebrating more than the boys’ first year of life.
Alvaro Obregon had taken Mexico City and Venustiano Carranza, the President who had declared her and her then living brothers traitors and ordered her arrest after returning to Mexico City in 1918, had been forced to flee.
In about a day he would be killed with the same number of bullets Francisco Madero had been assassinated with in 1913.
Even if she could be legally allowed to drink, she couldn’t do so due to her pregnancy.
It is not as horrible as she recalls her late sister’s pregnancy had been. Felicidad had endured so much only to die because the midwife and the doctor couldn’t come soon enough.
She has fears it will happen to her and while Jack did understand her fears somewhat, he didn’t think that sort of thing happens in America.
He forgets she lived in a city and had everything they could ever possibly want.
“I’m thinking we’re gonna need a bigger place.” He says stroking her belly, it is smaller thanks to Rosie just being one baby and she’s only begun to truly show. And Jack is still affectionate, but things have not been going good lately.
“Mhm, do you have a place in mind already or do I get to have a say in it?” Eva knows he likes to be in charge, from his office to the bedroom, everything must be how John Fitzgerald Nelson wants it.
It was the way things were, but not the way she wanted to live.
And he knows Eva makes her displeasure known when he overrides her decisions or doesn’t bother telling her something and she must find out a different way.
“Have a list of houses, we’ll see which one we like, and you get full control of the necessary changes to it and the decorating. It’s the wife’s job to do that, you know.” It is a pointed reminder, one that tells her this won’t be the end of it.
They’d never even had a squabble; everything ran smoothly and now her moods are in disarray and he is no longer as willing to let her have her way knowing she’s not made of glass.
He had not intervened at all in what he viewed as a woman’s things, but the moment Eva reminded him she was also member of her family’s company and his equal, Jack would sideline her. Especially if he was in company with other men.
It was fucking annoying.
Never mind the secretary he’d hired in New York who was too pretty to stay his secretary. Fucking Grace Burgess with her thing for gangsters.
She had married Clive MacMillan, a friend of Jack’s who had moved to Poughkeepsie, but something about this stranger just made her want to throttle her.
Perhaps they were enemies in a past life or their auras clashed, whatever it was made it impossible for her to even be civil to her. Perhaps it was the stench of death that only she seemed to smell on her like perfume.
“Don’t tell me you’re threatened by Grace, Evie. She’s not my type and I wouldn’t do that to Clive.” He assured her and the hand on her stomach went to her shoulders, holding her close as if to restrain her.
“I know, she’s too boring for your tastes, but it was a blonde and bland woman like her who got Anne Boleyn short of a head.” The witch pointed out as she smiled and pretended everything was fine to their guests.
Had they been Anne and Jane in their past lives? Is that why they hated each other instantly? Perhaps the smell of death was Jane’s ill luck passing onto her reincarnation?
Jack chuckled at her words, “And what a fucking fool Henry VIII was, if Queen Anne was anything like you, I wouldn’t have let her go.”
And yet King Henry did because Anne couldn’t give him more children, her miscarriages proved it.
Jack wouldn’t divorce her, Catholics like Jack don’t believe in it while Eva doesn’t really care as the Pope is her godfather, but he could take whores.
He’s tried before, but unlike then their marriage was still in the honeymoon phase and pregnancy made her ravenous. This time around, Eva couldn’t get her sexual drive to stay the same in the span of a fucking minute.
“That’s because you are Irish, if you were English, you’d be thinking she’s the one.”
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All the houses so far have not spoken to her.
Jack is losing his patience with her. “This is exactly like the one we just saw, doll.”
As much as he loves his wife, she can be a pain in the ass.
They agree often; her job is to climb the ladders of society and he the ones in business. She’s done a stellar job, and he knows better than to interfere in her work, but she also wants to muscle into the business world.
It’s not that she wasn’t capable, he couldn’t manipulate the markets without her nor win over investors of little faith, its just this was a man’s world.
One day women will be welcome into their world, but it wasn’t this day.
Doesn’t help that he hired an attractive secretary to replace Grace because he needs something to dangle in front of those looking to take the crown he works so hard to have. If Eva knew Pamela was into women and knew him since he was Kennedy’s errand boy and her mother the cook, she wouldn’t be so quick to judge her.
The new house would keep her busy, distract her from the shit moods the baby gave her and when Jack comes home from Eva will be as she was before.
And if not, it should buy them some time until Rosemary is born and see what happens then.
“It’s not, the other one had a smaller veranda nor a garage like this one.” The witch countered as she led him to something better than the maids’ rooms being far from their room.
Jack could only whistle in approval.
The garage was definitely something, large for two or more vehicles and a built to perfection workshop. Connected to the house so they won’t have to brave the elements coming in and out of it, had its own washroom to clean himself up and the master bedroom directly above it.
Could fix up his roadster for a race or two rain or shine while keeping the Rolls Royce as good as new.
He could also fuck Eva without thinking Alice and Mary can hear them and the boys will need the space to run around.
If Eva said no, he’ll be buying it anyways.
“See, I told you.” The witch takes in his delight at the garage to prove her point. “I need a sitting room for myself, and you need this car enthusiast’s dream.”
“Could’ve saved us the time by seeing this beauty first.” He points out.
First thing he’d do was fuck Eva in the Rolls Royce before taking her up to the bedroom. Maybe punish her for wasting his fucking time looking at the six other houses.
“You’re hardly home these days, needed an excuse to have you all to myself.” Eva admitted with a sly grin.
With a garage like this, he’s gonna have a hard time leaving.
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natsmagi · 1 year
Text
tbh maybe this is a hot take but i really dont get why people insist on having one person in natsumugi be this Super Toxic one and the other a victim. the easiest conclusion to draw is natsume being the bad guy and tsumugi the victim due to natsume getting physical and berating him at times but far too commonly do i see people insist that its the other way around and that tsumugi is actually the super toxic one and natsume just lets tsumugi emotionally manipulate him and thats ?? so weird to me ??? both of these are so weird to me ???
i can ofc see where theyre coming from. both natsume and tsumugi have plenty of issues going on in their heads. i feel like natsumes situation is more commonly understood as him simply just being difficult though and not being the best at managing his emotions, and with tsumugi i get it because he doesnt really have much of a moral compass. he doesnt quite understand peoples feelings and it results in him doing pretty fucked up things at times, but to then frame him as someone who would be abusive?? that doesnt sit right with me
tsumugi may not understand peoples emotions and be apathetic to the struggles people are going through, but its clear to anyone that that man has good intentions at the end of the day. at WORST he may get overbearingly controlling, but its never in a "you cant do x y z" way, its in a "i signed us up for this job opportunity because i thought it sounded nice and didnt speak it through with you beforehand and now we have to do it" way. had this been 2nd year tsumugi maybe he wouldve been far more desperate and even manipulative to an extent because he was in such a dark place, but current day tsumugi is actively trying to understand people better. hes trying to learn how to feel. in wonder game he even outright said that natsume taught him pain and everything else. his growth is clear
i cannot see tsumugi taking advantage of natsume in a genuinely destructive way with modern day ntmg. again, maybe during the earlier !-era stuff he could be more destructive, but natsume also does a relatively good job keeping tsumugi in his place during that time too, with him getting physical and all. its only in !!-era where tsumugi doesnt really mind it and can even make playful jokes about it because theyve Had this development in their relationship. theyve moved Past many of their toxic attributes, and theyve finally grown to understand one another. this is also when tsumugi can have a more "dominating" role in their relationship, since natsume has come to trust him to this extent, but tsumugi wouldnt take advantage of that. again; theyve now grown very close and understanding of one another. theyll have banters such as tsumugi wanting natsume to do something like idk. wear a dress. to which natsume will reply with kys but again. in !!-era this is banter and tsumugi wouldnt actually force natsume to do something he doesnt want to. theyre just very comfortable with each other now
i also really hate the position natsume gets put in with all of this. so often he is already hyperfeminized by the fandom for no reason whatsoever (which is especially fucked up considering how much he canonically hates being seen as a girl), and by making tsumugi this manipulative and abusive partner youre stripping natsume of even more autonomy and framing him as powerless. naively in love with a man thats hurting him. and that doesnt sit right with me either!! natsume does have a big heart and he has endured more than he probably should, but to think natsume would just take it ??? natsume has BACKBONE. if tsumugi upsets him he will either 1. get really mad at him or 2. start ignoring tsumugi alltogether. hes not just gonna put up with it. and tsumugi will notice this change in demeanor. ask if hes done something wrong. he may not understand what it was he did but he never intends on hurting natsume and would genuinely want to resolve it. tsumugi isnt stubborn in this regard, if he fucks up he wants to fix it. and natsume isnt a damsel in distress, why do you want him to be a helpless maiden so bad ??
theres alot of nuance to all of this and im obviously not gonna tackle every single element of their relationship and this is just an overview but TL;DR ntmg are both awful and have many faults and their relationship has gotten incredibly unhealthy at times but the point is theyre growing PAST that. maybe sometimes these toxic traits of theirs will resurface, but that does not make one the abuser and the other the victim. theyre just two fucked up people in love, standing as equals and learning to understand one another. stop framing one as evil
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alphabetboyluvr · 10 months
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bad decisions - jjk | ten
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When his story pops up—a repost of tomorrow night's paint party event at Dionysus—you find yourself clicking through to your DM thread without much thought. You know he's at work. Know it's a 50/50 whether or not he'll get back to you before your mind begins to berate you again for how miserable you feel.  It's a simple message—Hey—and you're pleased that it's met with an equally simple reply not even a minute later. JustJK: To what do I owe the pleasure? You decide that "I'm about to cry over my shitbag ex so chose to message you instead" probably won't be Jungkook's favourite thing to hear, so you opt for a little white lie. You: Just wondering how the kids are. Part of you worries he won't understand what the fuck you're on about - but of course, he does. He's Jungkook. Gets you better than you get yourself, these days. JustJK: Missing their mother. 
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Bad Decision #10 - Blonde
warnings: b is in her bleach era. love that for her!! jaykay is in the chapter for like 1.5 seconds and still manages to be the best thing about it. also if u think wow holly sometimes your chapters end very similarly, uhhh yes. ur right. mainly because my brain is smooth but also because jungkook is a creature of habit! it's within his character traits! not because im stupid! even if i am!
soundtrack: space - audrey nuna;  blonde - maisie peters
wc: 3.5k
bd total wc: 370k (on-going)
minors dni | wattpad | series masterlist |
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You suppose you really shouldn't be surprised when Seokjin leaves you on read. It happens as soon as he escapes the city, just like it always does. 
It's always the same; he'll come back to town for a few days—to visit friends, his family, or maybe for a haircut with the only barber he trusts—then leaves just as quickly as he comes.
The predictability of it all would be funny, you think, but your knees are getting worn out from how many times you fall for it; his charm, his deception, his pretty lips that soothe the burn of his selfish choices. 
He'll be radio silent for a while, and then suddenly, as if he's finally changed the batteries in his walkie-talkie, he won't be. It'll most likely be when he's on his way back to town in a few months time.
The saddest part is that you know you'll want to see him when he does. Will have the burning desire to show him just how well you've been; how well you've coped without him.
Most of all? You'll want him to know just how much you don't need him.
Inevitably, he'll end up in your bed, and you'll end up all in your head—again—overthinking and underestimating just how easy it is for him to drop you. Forgetting just how badly he fucked you up, only for him to remind you in the most callous of ways.
When Danbi comes home on Thursday night—three days since Seokjin's last message—she knows exactly what's happened. You've got a special kind of pout reserved for Seokjin-related upsets. It's always a little soft yet incredibly hard to break.
"You gotta stop letting him in," she says over a glass of red. She hates the taste, but loves the soft buzz in the pit of her stomach. Though she's much better suited to Moscato, Danbi will never turn her nose up at free wine.
If she knew why you were drinking it, she might consider rejecting it.
Seokjin's favourite. You'd bought it on the way home from work. Just couldn't help yourself.
Had figured that at least when you hugged yourself to sleep that evening, your lips would taste like his used to do, on the nights when he'd tell you that you're the most delightful thing he's ever laid his eyes upon. Would be all giggly. Wine drunk. Happy. In love.
But it's been a while since he did that. Feels like a lifetime ago, now. 
You shrug as you let the ruby-red liquid swirl in your glass. Fighting against your feelings feels like swimming against the tide.
Always struggling to breathe. Never winning. Failing. Falling. 
"I don't know how to, Dan."
"But you do," she insists.
And she's right. Of course you do. 
His number has never been blocked, but a simple restriction of access to you would solve so many of your problems.
Thing is, you kind of like him still being your problem. At least that way, on a technicality, he's still yours. Kind of.
Every time he comes back to the city, it's still your bed that he ends up in.
Never for the night. Just for an hour or two. Long enough for you to convince yourself that he can't stay away.
The lies you let your mind whisper are insidious. You're irresistible. He's still just as affected by you as you are by him. He can't possibly leave you.
And yet he does, each and every time.
He doesn't ever let you go. Not fully. Whenever you think you're getting over it, he shows up just to get you under him; his thumb, his spell, his body.
You're halfway through the bottle of wine when Danbi tells you once more that you need to get Seokjin out of your hair.
You've reached the end of it by the time you're grabbing your purse and heading for the closest Olive Young.
It's just down the street, by the crossroads that lead into town, and the staff there have seen you in worse states. A little tipsy has nothing on the mascara-stained eyes they used to be greeted with during the worst days of the breakup.
"Sure about this?" Danbi asks just to check before you take the boxes in your hands to the counter.
"Absolutely not, but he always hated me blonde," you grin a little sardonically. The happiness that comes with this change will be temporary, but you have to remind yourself that so was he. "At least even if I can't resist him, he'll resist me."
Peroxide and perhaps a little fried, your blonde hair had caught his attention in the early days - but you had dyed your hair dark in a bid to keep it. 
He'd said some bullshit in a conversation amongst friends about his preferences, and how he favoured the 'natural look'. You weren't together at the time, not officially - but everyone there was a friend of his. They all knew you'd be going home with him. It only took two boxes of dye to get him asking to be exclusive. A week later he was introducing you to his friends as his girlfriend. 
Funny what a little bit of conformity can do for a man who loves playing by the rules. 
You assume his desire to tick the boxes and do what is expected of him is also why he was such a bellend when it came to the glitter you liked to dust yourself in. 
Nobody's perfect though, so he was willing to overlook it. Was just one of the flaws he perceived in you. When you love someone, you accept them.
He ultimately never grew to love it, but for a while, you thought he might.
Bleach boxes in one hand, another bottle of wine in the other, you waste no time and head straight for the bathroom. Danbi follows you right in. She's always there to lend a hand or at least provide a Spotify playlist to get you through your woes. 
Folding the powder into the developing lotion by the sink, you know your bleach-induced bathroom antics could get you a spot in a Brad Mondo video.
All a little haphazard, you're without a mixing bowl and brush, so are having to use an old takeout container and a plastic spoon, instead.
It's not quite how the instructions suggest you should mix it all up, but no good ever comes from following the rules.
You'd tried for Seokjin, and look where that got you.
Unlike him, trusty Tupperware has never done you dirty before. No reason why it should now. 
Danbi sits on the closed toilet seat, legs crossed, a small bottle of bubbles in her hand. The bubbles had been a Christmas party favour from the office job she'd quit four months ago. Rediscovered when she'd been cleaning her room earlier that day, Danbi had taken to blowing pretty little bubble flurries your way all afternoon. 
Your reflection is captured in the peacock sheen of the bubbles while you study your rapidly developing hair in the mirror. 
You haven't bothered to change out of your shirt. It's not yours. One of Seokjin's. It's navy, and you hope the bleach ruins it.
"I think I've fucked up," you say all rather calmy, talking about your hair and not the shirt. It's not the end of the world if you have. Just hair, you always think.
Danbi shrugs. Has clearly spent too much time in your company, because she echoes exactly what you're thinking: "Just hair, babe. It'll grow."
That's the joy of your friendship; you both encourage each other with the same dumb remarks whenever you feel like you've reached the point of no return. 
After all, if you can't go back? 
Go forward.
"Plus," she adds, blowing more bubbles instead of taking a breath. "You can just chalk it up to being your hot mess era."
"Been in that for months already," you smile at her in the reflection of the mirror. You prod a little at your roots, and know that you definitely should have waited a little longer to work the bleach up to them. Bollocks.
You've done this enough times to know you'll end up with a gold band haloing around the top of your hair thanks to how easily your roots always lift. Nightmare. 
"Exactly, so you may as well look the part," Danbi encourages. Worst influence going, she is. Also the best at times, too. You find comfort in the fact she won't always say what you want to hear, but what you need to hear instead.
The conversation dissolves into empty chatter, gossip about Danbi's dog walking clients, mentions of Taehyung and how he's still trying to talk her into a mates-rates discount despite the fact they aren't actually 'mates'. She asked you about your Bartender That Smiles, and you say he's all good - before you have to insist there's nothing going on there. 
"He's got issues with his ex," you explain.
She rolls her eyes. "Don't they all? Boys and their first loves, I swear to God."
"Not sure she was his first," you defend, though you're not sure why. The thought lingers as you rummage around for an old tube of toner that you know you have hiding in the bathroom cabinet somewhere. It's been a while since your hair was pale enough to take toner, so it's been pushed right to the back.
Danbi is shooed from her perch on the toilet seat and into the living room as you let the shower run to heat it a little.  
The first crash of water against your skin is lukewarm. Tepid. Unappealing, but necessary. 
You hate anything other than boiling-you-alive degrees celsius, but know you need to be kind to your hair after the torture you've put it through. The water runs cloudy until the bleach is rinsed out, and then it runs purple thanks to your silver shampoo. It pools around your feet and seeps into the drain. Wishful thinking has you hoping memories of Seokjin will do just the same.
It's just to preemptively tone it, but you can't help but worry about the pigment taking too strongly on your roots. 
The ash toner you found in the cupboard is in a box by the sink. You plan on putting that over the top of whatever mess your hair is anyway, but it doesn't hurt to get a head start on the process. 
The water glistens a deep violet, briefly coating your skin - and for some reason, all you can think about is Jungkook, and how you'd really like to be downing a Purple Starfucker (or five) with him right now. He really is the perfect distraction. 
Still, you have a task at hand. You rinse your hair; ring it out. Sigh as you frown at the mess that greets you in the mirror—lilac roots, a yellow band haloing just like your thought it would, and silver ends. Brilliant.
It's as you're sitting with Danbi in the living room a little while later - body wrapped in a towel that isn't half as fluffy as Jungkook's favourite, ashy toner smothering your peroxide blonde hair - that you notice your phone flash on the coffee table.
Danbi clocks it first, and stifles a laugh as she reads the screen. "Isn't that the guy from the club?"
You assume she means Jungkook, and are a little perplexed to see it's Jimin's name on your screen instead. 
"Yeah... Jimin. Smooth talker, shit shagger."
"A glowing review."
"Hey, I still let him think he was good," you say as you reach for your phone to read his message out loud to Danbi. "You guys out tomorrow night?"
Sipping on her wine, Danbi raises a brow. Shakes her head in confusion. "He hoping for round two?"
"Fuck knows."
It's just gone midnight, so you consider maybe he's thinking about his desire for a hook-up, and is hoping for a safe bet in the form of you. 
And so you don't reply. If he double texts, you'll just lie and say you've fallen asleep.
The scent of your toner is beginning to give you a headache, so you go to rinse it and bid farewell to your final day as a brunette.
Sleep evades you. Doesn't want to let go of who you were, apparently. Wine makes you sleepy, and yet you're wired as if you've just had a triple shot americano.
But then it's three in the morning, and all you can seem to smell is the deep conditioner you bathed your hair in that evening. 
Somehow, when you look to the empty space beside you - delicately ruffled, a dent prevailing in the pillow - you convince yourself that you can smell fig leaves and coconut. The notes of his favourite aftershave linger like the ache in your chest. It's hollow, and you can't work out why it hurts quite as much as it does. 
If there's nothing there, how can it be so painful?
You sniff back tears that fail to truly form and pull your phone from beneath your pillow. It's hard to move your fingers when they're tangled up in puppet strings that Seokjin is refusing to let go of, but eventually you manage to tap through some Instagram stories in a bid to distract yourself from him. 
Inspirational quotes don't do much for you, nor do the engagement pictures of people you haven't given a second thought since graduation. There's an abundance of them. Smiling faces. Diamonds, or maybe just cubic zirconia. Fresh sets of nails, hands that are pink and warm from the heat of whoever's been holding them.
It's a curious thought; what people who haven't spoken to you in years must think of you now. 
You were the one who was going to succeed. Going far in life, made for a boardroom, would look incredible in a pantsuit—and yet you're working in a cafe, first-class degree of no more worth than the tissue paper you flush down the toilet. 
See, you switched out life goals for glitter. You wear it like armour; protect yourself from the world around you. Who cares about seriousness and success when you're a constant disco? Not you. Could never be you.
Or at least, you hope that's what people think. Hope that no one realises you're covering yourself in artificial shine; like a canvas in acrylic because you were too impatient to watch the oil paint dry.
One day you'll glow. Glow for real. 
For a while, you thought you had been with Seokjin. 
All you see when you look in the mirror these days is tarnished silver; copper alloy pretending to be much more than what it really is. Your skin will turn green eventually.
There is, however, one person you've managed to fool. 
When his story pops up—a repost of tomorrow night's paint party event at Dionysus—you find yourself clicking through to your DM thread without much thought. You know he's at work. Know it's a 50/50 whether or not he'll get back to you before your mind begins to berate you again for how miserable you feel. 
It's a simple message—hey—and you're pleased that it's met with an equally simple reply not even a minute later.
JustJK: To what do I owe the pleasure?
You decide that "I'm about to cry over my shitbag ex so chose to message you instead" probably won't be Jungkook's favourite thing to hear, so you opt for a little white lie.
You: Just wondering how the kids are &lt;3
Part of you worries he won't understand what the fuck you're on about - but of course, he does. He's Jungkook. Gets you better than you get yourself, these days.
JustJK: Missing their mother. 
JustJK: Perry the Pigeon almost fell earlier.
JustJK: Roger the Robin looks like he has a broken wing.
JustJK: Must be one of yours. Inherited his mother's wonkiness &lt;3
With each message that comes through, your smile grows wider in the midnight darkness of your bedroom. 
You: Careful or I'll file for joint custody.
You: Get poor Roger away from his father's cruel remarks <;/3
There's an ease to how you joke together, both aware of how unserious you are. There's no second-guessing, no worrying about saying the wrong thing. If you do, you'll say sorry and move on. No harm, no foul.
JustJK: Your appeal won't hold up in court, Byeol.
JustJK: You've neglected them ever since you spawned them.
JustJK: Haven't even paid them a visit!!!
Laughter stifles in your throat as your body curls up into a more comfortable position. The audacity of this boy, you think, ignoring the way he manages to get you entirely focused on something that isn't your own despair.
You: You've got full custody!!!
JustJK: And you're still allowed to come for supervised visits!!!!!
JustJK: smh and to think you call yourself their mother.
JustJK: I'm their mother now.
You pout at your screen, and whine a small little 'nooo'. 
You: They need me :(
JustJK: Come and see them, then. They miss their mother.
You: Tomorrow?
He reads the messages instantly, but takes a little longer than usual to reply. It worries you slightly. Makes you more aware of your surroundings. The scent of Seokjin's aftershave begins to permeate the air once more.
Until, all rather suddenly, it doesn't anymore.
JustJK: I'm not working tomorrow night, but Jimin's insisting on going to the paint party—you coming?
You: Will Perry the Pigeon be there?
JustJK: If he falls before I leave for the club, then yes.
It's not a bad proposition. One that quite intrigues you. One that has you agreeing, and him telling you to fuck off and go to sleep. He's got work to do, he says. 
It's actually quite quiet at the club—Yeonjun just caught him looking at his phone with a dumb smile a few too many times for Jungkook's liking. Doesn't wanna get caught out again. 
Especially doesn't want him catching onto the fact that there's a reason Jungkook's eyes light up like Disco Balls when he looks at his phone.
Yeonjun doesn't really have friends who are girls, Jungkook reasons with himself. Won't understand that he's perfectly capable of having a little flirt without it meaning anything more than that—after all, isn't that just what banter is? Friendly flirting? He does it with the boys all the time. Doesn't mean fuck all. Just fun.
Jungkook's a couple of years older than his cerulean-haired coworker, and has learnt the hard way that you really shouldn't escalate friends above the level of purely platonic. One day Yeonjun will realise this. 
For now, though, Yeonjun'll shag anyone who looks at him in the right direction. Has probably already ruined a few good friendships. Doesn't even realise he's done it.
Jungkook trusts himself not to make the same mistakes he's made in the past with you. Thinks that he's pretty happy with how things are. Has missed the dynamics of friendships with girls. Is looking forward to Monday movie night with you and Danbi again.
And yet when he gets home to find Perry the paper pigeon on his bed, he can't help but smile.
You wake up to a picture of the fallen bird in your DMs, and even though you'll whine and complain about it when you see him that evening, all you can do is smile, too.
JustJK: Looks like we're having a wholesome family trip to Dionysus tonight.
You: Mummy and Daddy reunited at last <33 Perry will be so happy.
JustJK: It's okay, you don't have to lie.
JustJK: I know you're talking about yourself, not Perry.
Jungkook doesn't send the message where he tells you not to call him Daddy. Knows you'll read into it; tease him about it. It's not like he's got a thing for it, or anything, he just... maybe wouldn't be opposed to it, and so he'd rather not be called it when he's having casual conversations with you. Wouldn't wanna get flustered. 
Part of you already knows this. Is precisely why you'd said it. It's not really your style, not the kind of thing that gets you going.
But it is also exactly why you choose to end your next message with, 'See you tonight, Daddy x'.
You're laughing as you send it.
And as he receives it, Jungkook groans. Buries his head into his pillow. Crumples Perry a little in the process. Whines. 
"Don't fuck this up, Jungkook."
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popculturebuffet · 21 days
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Transformers More than Meets the Eye Retrospective: Dark Cybertron Part Deux (Patreon Review for Brotoman.EXE)
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Hello all you happy people and welcome back to my more than meets the eye retrospective! It's the end of an era as we finish dark cybertron and bring an end to season one of IDW's transformers books. It's been a long road but we're finally done with an epic finale full of giant robot fights, douchebags getting suplexed and bisected dictators. IT's a good time.
To recap the last part:
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Or for the long version, look at this link
When we last left off: Optimus was left at the mercy of a genocidal tyrant who wouldn't shut up, half the lost light was fighting for thier lives , the other half might of exploded , Starscream had concrete proof Primus hates him, and Bumblebee mostly stood around not doing much, which for once was actually the right call. Under the cut we finish that as three autobots debut, an autobot dies and another takes his place, and Shockwave tries to rewrite history without solving a mystery first, the blasphemy.
We open part 7 back on the Lost Light for the first time in a while as Hound is in command
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Hound.. is a vetran soldier. I don't know much else and frankly I forgot he was on the ship, and had to look up if he leaves it after this season.. and he doesen't. How he's somehow in the chain of command is beyond me. I mean Blaster is still on board. How does Blaster rank bellow Hound? Blaster has casettes baby. He can do sound stuff.
Anyways the Amonites retreat, giving swerve a chance to realize he missed a call.. and everyone else to realise Magnus now has a LOT of problems as their all headed into Metroplex's eye. Impressive, not healthy you get it.
Inside the rodpod did explode but everyone was outside, so their safe though a legend was truly lost that day.
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The Rodpod I
2013-2014 "An Embarrassment to Everyone but Rodimus himself"
- The TF Wiki
Skids does figure something out though: Turns out the reason the arrows looped them back around is that metroplex keeps shifting inside. They also notice Whirl's missing which can't be good. Speaking of can't be good Swirl calls.. and he's DEAD SERIOUS. How reality didn't fold in on itself is beyond me.
Yeah turns out the stuff they found in the water of Planet Danzig creates a "death plauge" And they need to get out now... then they need to get out now FASTER as the amonites are coming.
Back with Nova who continues to prattle about how he controls this unvierse, they can't beat him, his cybertronic turds smell like lilacs. Importantly it turns out I was wrong. the brand new space bridge isn't bumblebee, who escaped but Kup. Hazards of doing this in two parts without reading the second half first. Yes good ole Kup was apparnetly sucked into the dead universe during the infestation event, thank you editor box things, which wasn't on comixlogy unlimited at any point so I never read it. IT did feature the ghostbusters though so there's that.
Point is Kup's in danger. Our heroes , who have been taken from their prison cube to Nova's fortress, can't just up and run with him as his robot bones are brittle and he'll just snap if they move him. He then has nightbeat take thema way.. he dosen't say take them away but he damn well was thinking it.
Back with Shockwave he also mutters about how his plan is far from endgame but is less smug about it so I give him a pass. He's not happy Galvatron tore their space bridge in half but even without the ore he can fix this and has Galvatron carry off a bisected megatron, not trusting waspinator becuase "those damn kids always getting on my metallic lawn and such"
Back in prison turns out Nova has a reson to keep our heroes alive besides the sound of his own voice just not sounding as sweet if he's not berating someone else. He wants their sparks. Turns out Kup isn't a STABLE portal and thus if he wants to escape, he needs fresh sparks to keep the old man alight.
Things seem bleak.. when Rodimus gets an idea. He tells Nightbeat to look at his hand. While cyclonus wonders what the hell he's on about, which on a normal day would be entirely resonable with rodimus, turns out Rodimus has figured out how to free their old pal: The only time he's seemed like himself.. was when he was figuring out cyclonus, deducting the shit out of him. As he puts it it's shadowplay 101 to take away the part of a person that's most .. them. To supress it. So by giving Nightbeat a mystery to solve it fights it. Optimus is doubtful.. but is inttantly proven wrong: nightbeat HAS been trying to fight the brainwashing this whole time but Nova's so strong... but Rodimus presses on..
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The answer of course is 190. It's a brilliant play and a brilliant scene: Rodimus rescues his friend.. simply by knowing him better. Rodimus may have a bunch of issues and the truth of this tally is a lot of them rolled up into one... but his strength is in people. He knows how to play them.. but he also knows how to comfort them, and forgetting that is what lead to most of his issues in season 1, ignoring what THEY needed or who THEY were. It's telling that after all he did and went through his two big moments int his crossover both come from empathy instead of his ego.
Nightbeat frees them while Rodimus prepares to come clean about what's been going on on the lost light.
Back on Cybertron Bee ambushes Galvatron and Waspinator, going full badass and telling Galvatron what he wants what he really really wants and he's sick of not getting what he wants what he really really wants. His blaster dosen't do much, immediate failure is Bee's brand after all, but it does distract him long enough for Bisected Megatron to shoot Galvatron and give us the greatest line ever
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Bumblbee isn't happy with Megs chipper attiude, figuring the desolation of Cybertron is making him smile. That isn't, despite all his MANY flaws, Megatron loves this planet... he is however more than a little happy Starscream is in so much pain right now. Scoops calls Starscream out for using his position as Chosen One for his own personal gain while Starscream seethes.
Back with Team Magnus, turns out Whirl was being useful for once in a way that wasn't "shooting someone in the face" or "being hilarious" He was torturing an ammonite for informatoin, which isn't necessarily good but at least got us the info we need; Turns out the ammonites were still miffed and turns out I was wrong again: Whilr didn't END their war, just caused it to kick up with his murder, and they wanted payback.. and naturally Shockwave is behind this, having beefed them up in exchange for their help. Just as naturally the amonite explodes ove rit. Our heroes don't have time to process though as they get some fairly weak threats from above as two new players enter the game
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Yup turns out Cybertron isn't the only planet with life as we meet Nautica and Chromia. Chromia won't play much of a roll HERE but is vital to another book whose lead we'll meet soon, but Nautica is a major part of the rest of More than Meets The Eye/Lost Light and i'm so happy to finally have her here. So ends part 7
Part 8 begins and ...
hey hey it's time to come over and have some fun with Megzy Taxi!
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I will never get enough of this image. Megatron holdling his own legs, riding Bumblbee like a prom limo. I'm honestly disapointed Megs eventually gets put back together, I love this nonsense.
Back with Team Fuckup, prowl takes the lead.. and for once LISTENS to what someone else actually said deciding to be logical, reluctantly teaming up with soundave and telling Starscream to get his shit together. As for Rattrap he brought them here, as he really dosen't want god emperorship of a burning city.
Back with Team Magnus, Getaway disarms the standoff by revealing Nautica's autobrand. The Amonites break in and the team splits off: Ratchet and Magnus go with the new kids while Whirl and the others stay behind to keep the amonites off their backs. Ratchet breifly questions Chromia about her prounounds before deciding to drop it because the apocalypse is more important than finding out there's female robots.
The duo lead him to Metroplex's brain which is in his right shoulder
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And we meet the final member of this trio, and while I love Nautica, she's easily the biggest introduction here for both the IDW comics (If not MTMTE) and transformers as a whole
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We'll learn a little more about her as we go but windblade was a hyped intro... though apparently a contriversal one as she was part of a vote for a new transformer design.. and wasn't the one that won it. Protip DON'T do a fanvote if your not going to honor. Her Kabuki design didn't help, though I personallyt hink it's great; it gives her some unique flair.
Windblade's become important, being ported into both the Robots in Disguise cartoon and Transformers Cyberverse along with the movies. It's likely because the autobots didn't exactly have a tone of female characters, and Windblade's unique deisgn makes her stand out. Either way she's a welcome addition to the G1 pile.
Back with Team Rodimus, Rodimus finally explains the number: after a short recap of what happened with overlord and how he let Drift take the fall, he explains he told Magnus then the crew then invoked the crisis act: he let them decide if stayed as captain or not. He won.. but he carved the tally as a reminder of who he has to win back.
Optimus is.. less than sympathetic
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It's unflinching harsh ... but i've come to accept it on this re-read as what Rodimus needed. We all need someone to tell us we're not as bad as we think we are, especially if your me or rodimus and have a lot of self hatred. But in this instance... Optimus is right. He's not here to tell Rodimus "You did all you could do". He fucked up horribly and SHOULD have just straight up resigned. He got two bots killed, lied to all of them, and then lied again and let drift take the blame. Rodimus is a good bot.. but he wasn't a good leader and Pipes and Rewind paid the price for it. Rodimus.. simply didn't want to give up: he wanted to still be the captain and redeem himself. And he COULD redeem himself without being in charge.. but hta'ts just not who he is. Everyone has to see him doing it. Has to see him. The attention has to be on him.. and Optimus knows this.
I will grant Rodimus stepping down wouldn't of been the best call either: Magnus is holding in there but just went through it, drift is gone, and as we saw today apparently hound's next in chain of command somehow. The only one who could POSSIBLY take over the roll and be okay coming out the other side at the moment is Ratchet and it's a roll he dosen't want. Rodimus shouldn't really be in charge.. but who else is there? And when we answer that question, will Rodimus, or ANYONE like this answer?
For now though those questions remained unanswered, as Kup is back up.. only to get a cyclonus chucked at him. Nova Prime is back, he's pissed and he challenges Optimus to a fucking challenge. One shall stand, one shall fall.
Back with Team Magnus, we get more of Windblade's deal: while the term dosen't come up yet, she's a Cityspeaker. She can communicate with titans like metroplex: while he can't TALK she can read his brain patterns. As for how this trio ended up here they were on Thunderclash's ship when they picked up Alpha Trion, who is usually with metroplex. He told them about Metroplex's crash and couldn't help him because he was so very close to something else and since the Vis Vitalis can't travel too fast due to Thunderclash's condition, Team Windblade volunteered for it and have done what they can.. but it's not enough.
Thankfully Magnus flashes on WHY they were brought here: to give Metroplex a jump using the quantum engines the same way they saved thunderclash. Magnus asks him tow ake up one last time.. and they hope: for a jump that will both revivie the titan and take the lost light and everyone in the titan home. "Burn bright metroplex, one last time".
Speaking of cybertron things aren't going well for Team Fuckup
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Their attempts to attack the Necrotitan are failling, it's stomping i'ts way towards the triage center they have set up... Prowl flat out admits they need a miracle.. and sure enough a certain someone has been called many things..
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I applaud the artists for all this glorious physical comedy with bisected megatron. While part of it's in the dialouge, props to Roberts and Barber, the visuals with this have been amazing
Prowl pulls a prowl and decides to just..try and shoot megatron. Despite megs both apparently having more of a plan than they do and being half a person and probably being able to easily survivie a shot to the head.
Turns out though Bee's faith.. was misplaced. Megatron hasn't changed and his plan is the truly awful "Evacuate like hell, let me call the DJD and we'll retake cybertron" Bee promptly drops him and calls him out, getting to the heart of things; Megatron was a freedom fighter.. but he isn't anymore. It's a cause he forgot for a campaign of terror, a talking point he ONLY brings up when he needs it. It's a good speech from Bee too. I don't have enough space for the panels sadly but you should still heart it in some form
"When I was in charge I stared into the darkness so long I let it consume me. I looked at our endless war, the friends we lost, the world we destroyed. But what I should have seen is our perseverance: we don't give up. And i'm not letting cybertron fall to anyone, not again. We make a stand for everything that's worth standing for. Our sacrifices won't be for nothing, We'll face shockwave and this monster together... and this time the good guys win.
And as he says the last part... hope arrives
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Part 2 picks up right where this left off, as we're now down to just two main plot threads
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Still some jumping around, jumping around get up get up and get down to be had, but it's now more contained. The Lost Light is back as Swerve proudly announces, and our heroes , fittingly crash into the planet. Bumblebee stumbles back into idiot mode a bit being genuinely shocked their somehow alive... in a comic where he's already seen Megatron and Metalhawk both come back from certain death. As Megs himself put it "Since when does anyone stay dead?". It's not a good sign of your ablility to lead when the previous leaders of both factions both didn't buy the explosion as a sign of death.
Remember: if there's no corpse and you didn't see their body turn ot ash or dust in front of your very eyes like poor hardhead, then there at least POSSIBLY alive. Say what you will about Rodimus as a leader, I have, Optimus has, Getaway has and will again, he knows damn well if there's no corpse or flaming bits of autbot in the atmosphere, their probably okay.
This plot point has always bugged me: NO ONE bothered to investigate and everyone just.. assumed they were dead. I get if they didn't have the resources but it dosen't sound like anyone tried. A loud explosion with again NOTHING left happened.. and they just assume the Lost Light's gone. I get the lost light couldn't contact them to prove they weren't dead.. but this is also a giant army that's had tons of bots go missing for less. Part of the Lost Light's mission is picking up various stragglers scattered throughout the universe who may not know the war is over. You see why maybe I didn't give everyone the benefit of a doubt going up the ass of a guy who can't bother to do the basic things to check if someone's actually dead!
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So.. back to the good part. Inside Metroplex , Windblade understandably asks if he Mags knew he was throwing Metro at another titan. He wasn't, but figures Metro knew he was needed to fight another giant robot. Giant Robots can just.. sense these things.
The crew of the lost light reunites with Hound filling them in on why their here, and why they didn't call sooner: they did.. but STARSCREAM answered, something Hound and Blaster are pissed about. Also when Hound mentions the thumb, Prowl just.. can't reissit making a pissy comment about how "I thought you were looking for the knights of cybertron"
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Megatron has a plan.. and this time it's not "Let me take over again that worked out so well the first time". He just needs a hand getting his half a body over to Metroplex's thumb.
Back with Team Rodimus Optimus and Nova have been punching each other, but turns out Nova has a secret weapon: adaptive armor. He can turn into any previous prime and thus uses this to gain the upper hand.. then turns into Optimus because he hasn't reminded anyone what a dick he is in the last 10 minutes. He starts to hit a wall as Nova continues to punch him, with Optimus finlaly breaking and reiterating why he's so intent on not being called Optimus Prime anymore: If he carries on the legacy of such horrible men.. he's endorsing it.. and them. All they did.
Back with Team.. .Something, things aren't looking good. Whirl is getting tired of killing people, which he admits is a bad sign, and Megatron prepares his hail mary: use the ore inside him and his space bridge self to bring the thumb back to metroplex. Bee dosen't know if he can trust him and Megs smiles as he peaces out.
Back with Optimus, Rodimus does what he does best: give a hell of a speech, this time explaning WHY he's always wanted to be a prime so bad
"You're wrong I never wanted to be Rodimus Prime, not deep down. Deep down I always wanted to be you. The real you not Orion Pax. When you became Optimus Prime, when you assumed the title the world didn't know the truth about Nova, Nominus and the rest. Back then being a prime meant demonstrating, no embodying certain standards. It meant decency, integrity and morality, all the things chancers like me pretend are unfashonable because deep down they scare us. And they scare us because we try to live by them but can't. Well guess what: you can. You can and you do every day. Thanks to you the word prime still means decency, morality and integrity. Listen the world will always need a prime.. but only if that prime is you. "
With this Optimus FINALLY snaps out of his self loathing and easily overpowers Nova. Turns out the real reason Nova dominated wasn't that he "controlled the universe". it was confidence. He used Optimus' own self loathing against him and once that was gone... and he made the additoinal mistake of hurting Rodimus... it was over.. was was the life of Orion Pax
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With that Optimus is truly back.. I mean I never stopped calling him that but neither did half the cast. Our heroes are kinda stuck for the moment so we go back to Cybertron.
Team Fuckup is back to it's faviorite pastime: arguing. In this case Prowl is pissed at bumblbee's plan and our buddy once again has had enough of Prowl's shit over the course of the last season and chokes him breifly. If it were ANYONE ELSE this would be horrifying but it's prowl so
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Scoops reveals the prohecy to starscream.. and the important part is the endgame as we finally get a sense of waht Shockwave's REAL plan is: to remake time and space as a constant present: no past, no future, just one NOW, one point in time. Forever. A stagnant nightmare that never questions or wants more.
For now though it LOOKS like our heroes have won as Megatron does what he promised and with his body back in full, Metroplex heals. now at full strength he easily finishes the Necrotitan and his intenral systems finish all the amonites.
Back with Shockwave though.. all of this was to plan.. or at least not so off plan he can't easily adjust: he has all the ores lined up, he has everything he needs, now he just needs to close up loose ends, having Metalhawk take Waspinator away.. and preparing to turn Galvatron into a battery. Good news is Metahawk seems to be recovering.. and thus only hides Waspinator. Good poor dude has been through enough and was entirley played. Unsuprisingly everyone else involved was a disposable pawn, with only Jhiaxus being in on it.
This sudden but inevetible betryal is also a good time to talk about the villians of this piece.. and how most of them are... meh. Shockwave himself is good, but spends most of the event in the shadows, despite us knowing i'ts him. The rest though are kinda one note, either fairly generic minons or in the case of Galvatron and Nova Prime, archetypes i've seen better. Owl House and Amphibia both did a better job of "villian who wants to return things to a worse time they think was a golden age", with more reasons why than "I'm an evil asshat." They fit their narrative pieces as "Sizeable threat who will be back later", and "The living embodiment of everything Optimus hates about being a prime".. but there's not much beyond that. Nova is just an expansonist colonalist asshole who won't shut the fuck up. That's all he is and neither book really built up how awful he is enough to make his return this big gasp. He's a big threat, he's evil and his murder of hardhead is legitly sad.. but he's ultimately just a gloating dickhead who goes down the minute Optimus looses his self loathin, excuses himself and lets hope in.
The story spends 3/4 of it's story.. on anatagonists who just aren't that intresting, and it's one of Dark Cybertron's biggest weaknesses. If your going to have a big bads minons take center stage they need to be charasmatic. These two dipshits weren't. I will give credit where i'ts due: the necrotitan was decent. I wish it had a less generic design.. but th eidea of this unstoppable giant monster of a transformer that simply by MOVING FORWARD decimates all in his path and whose one action decimates the one city cybertron has left, is terrifying and mostly well done.. but his generic design and taking up so much of the story makes it get tiresome fast.
So with issue 10 we're at a break in the story: the Necrotitan is FINALLY down.. though it's far from over. We also FINALLY get shockwave's plan and how all the pieces connect. In short all the various ores he seeded throughout his minons, such as putting death and ressurection in the necrotitan and change and life from metroplex. So all this, all these interactoins and plans.. was to get all the energy in place fo rhim to unmake the universe.
The idea of this .. isn't bad: that this complex as hell plan was all a masterstroke and he's almost won. The problem is it dosen't work narratively: the ores come up only in the setup for robots in disguise and overlords backstory in more than meets the eye. They aren't really that important.
Not helping is that Shockwave having this big plan in the background.. was something ANYONE reading this would guess> he's on the cover of the first issue, nova and galvatron both come off more as patsies than the actual plan and their plan of a new "golden age of cybertron" dosen't really fit Shockwave. Shockwave is a being of pure logic, why would he be nostalgic for an age of cybertron that failed horribly and lead to everything falling apart. He sees all the angles.. and thus sees WHY Nova and galvatron's day was done.
Instead we just spend most of the plot wondering how all this connects and it's just "oh the thing tha'ts associated with him was it, cool'> the actual PLAN is good, Shockwave wants to rewrite history to be one singular repeating moment, taking the complications and troubles of time away even if it takes the good with it. It's a truly horrifying concept, a world that can never change or grow and will jus stagnate in stasis for all time. The buildup to it just dosen't work. It makes all this epic battle.. come off like a distraction rather than some masterstroke. There were easier ways to pull this off in and out of universe.
Back with Team Fuckup who are slowly not livnig up to that name, Bee apologizes for choking Prowl for his insolence but Prowl's cool with it he deserved it. He's less cool with the fact their taking a break as Shockwave is still out there, but Bee insists they'll deal with it.. but deserve at least a second ot bask in having the lost light back. Unfortunately he also asks if Prowl has anyone he wants to see.. and we cut to Chromedome, with Bee blisfully unaware of HOW bad Prowl fucked over the lost light. At least for Domey's sake he's decided not to dig into metroplex's memory when asked: he's done enough of that shit and is finally saying enough is enough. No more.
Onto Megatron whose getting patched up and admits it probably isn't easy for Ratchet.. though weirdly, and in a sign of things to come despite Ratchet assuming Megatron's talk is intimdation.. Megs GENUINELy seems to be trying to make conversation and is complementing ratchet. It seems Bumblebee really got to him.
Back in the dead universe our heroes are stuck playing a game of "who wants to sacrifice themselves" before Rodimus tells them for the love of god stop it. No one's doing the big heroic sacrifice, they can find another way.. and sure enough.. Cyclonus hears singing.
We cut to swerves where sadly we don't get a ton of charcter interaction. The dinobots sing a bar song, some guy talks to brainstorm, and we DO get Swerve meeting his hero in blur.. only for Blur to find him annoying. Story of the poor guys life. It's not BAD character interaction what we get but it feels like Roberts and Barber were more intrested in plot progression than actually crossing over these casts, having them trade stories and really interact. There's a good moment or two like Hound pointing out how weird it is that after centureis of shooting their all having drinks, but in a 12 issue maxi series it's telling it took THIS long for any of the main casts of both books to interact and we're only putting aside one issue to do it that much. Part of the point of a crossover is to have interactions you normally CAN'T have. None of the lost lighters really get a chance ot talk to bumblebee or the others outside of a line or too.
We do get a good moment with Megatron at least: He calls bee in.. and asks him a question.. when does he think Megs came closest to victory? Bee of course is just a tensy bit horrified by the question.. but it has a point
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It's a setence that gets to the heart of Megatron's arc here and beyond: that he really did have a point, really stood for something once: he was fighting simply so his people could be free... and the second he started a war, he lost sight of that and became a dictator.. and now he sees what he's become and dosen't much care for it. It's the start of one of the best arcs in all of More than Meets the Eye and one of the larger reasons why do this crossover: Without it we miss the start of one of it's best characters. We saw megatron in RiD and before this.. but it's here that Roberts fully takes the wheel after hinting what he could do in Chaos Theory and it is glorious.
So speaking of Glorious, Prowl tracks down Chromedome, who understandably has been avoiding his ass and wants to confront him for the whole memory erasure thing.. despite the fact doing so also cost Chromedome a lot, and was done ENITRELY because Prowl is an egotistical jackass who can't let go of control over his ex and who smuggled a dangerous criminal on board a ship because he can't let the war fucking go for five minutes. It shows Prowl is TRYING to change.. but still can't accept WHY he needs to, that he's got control issues. I mean it took bee fucking choking him for Prowl to actually start listening to him. Prowl wants to change.. but can't as long as he can't accept the consequence sof his own actions. On the bright side, Chromedome is REALLY not in the mood to take his shit and that leads to the greatest panel in all of comics history
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Keep in mind Chromedome WARNED him. He fucking warmed him to get the fuck away. And he didn't so Domey POWERBOMBED HIM OFF A CLIFF. his expression of pure terror is just.. gold. Even after the poor guy DIED a heroes death he still can't accept rewind.. and boy did he pay for it.
So we get a brief intermission from this fight as Magnus asks Chromia if he can talk to metroplex, but the poor guy's mostly inert. He wants to ask about the knights... people had BEFORE but he figures with the raised stakes etc he might. no luck though.. Chromia already tried.. but he said no one deserves to know. Keep that in mind.
Magnus has to go break up a fist fight though, and Prowl is somehow getting lower than mocking someone's widow telling Chromedome everyone's too focused on the day to day and "HE NEEDS TO GET SOME PERSPECTIVE" and NO reaction image can represent the level of facepalm I gave over that.
Magnus breaks it up. Prowl is ONCE AGAIN a prick who ONCE AGAIN can't read a room telling Magnus "manhandling a senior officer is hardly behavior of the duly appointed.."
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First off. You aren't you old crone. Autobot chain of command right now has you as Bumblbee's first officer. Rodimus is on Bee's level.. and Magnus is HIS first officer. Ergo, your on the same fucking rank.
Magnus corrects him.. he's not the duly appointed enforcer of the tyrest accord, but he STILL can make a citzen's arrest and lays out just why prowl sucks. And hearing this from someone as logical, as defferent to authority as magnus.. fucking slaps.
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See this scene.. is why I fucking hate Prowl. He's confronted with the blood on his hands.. and refuses to accep tit wasn't worth it. The ends didn't justify the means. People DIED due to him.. and he still thinks it's okay. Magnus said it better than I could've dreamed but what the hell; Where does it fucking end? And how far is prowl REALLY from the people he's trying to stop? The events of the last two arcs are almost ENTIRELY on prowl not giving a shit who got hurt if things went wrong. A huge chunk of the unvierse nearly died.. and Prowl can't accept it wasn't worth it.
And here's the kicker: It really wasn't. There wasn't some greater good acheived. Putting Overlord on board caused Red Alert to self harm, killed Pipes and Rewind, and did more damage to Chromedonme's psyche, not to mention sent Drift off the ship. His black ops against tyrest, while well aimed... only caused the fucker to esclaate and had the lost light, the very people he clearly resents most in the world, not been there, genocide would've happened. Prowl is an arrogant, egotistical piece of shit who can never accept that while the FIGHT isn't nover, the war is, and he can no longer justify dooing horrible shit with it. And even if he could.. it's no excuse. Prowl just wants to do what Prowl wants to do without any consequences, and dosen't understand that's not what the Autobots stand for. Even at his weakest.. Bumblbee at least got THAT. He got that the way he was starting to think was wrong. He came out of loosing Iacon better.. Prowl came out the same. And all of cybertron ins going to pay for it. Thankfully for my blood pressure and for our heroes.. the lost light no longer has to foot the bill.
Magnus parts after the constructicons want to throw hands, not helping Prowl's case, and points out he's glad he has friends because "you'r the lonelist person i've ever met. "
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So we end part 1 with Scoops revealing where he got all this.. Senator Shockwave. Yup.. and to confirm things are about to go sideways again, Metalhawk returns iwth his team and shoot starscream. Not fatally bu tonly because he's delivering a warning... just in time for Shockwave to send every last amonite there way, millions descending on the planet.
Part 11 and the cover, which is still shown in the trade loudly proclaims THE DEATH OF AN AUTOBOT. Sadly it's not prowl.
With the amonite's swarming Bumblbee has a plan RUN THE FUCK AWAY. Though it's for godo reason: with this size of event evacuation is SEEMINGLY the only option.. only for Perciptor to burst his bubble: This is happening EVERYWHERE. Ther'es no running.
Back with Shockwave he slowly becomes everything, everywhere, all at once, living all his timelines at once as they converge. Jhiaxus couldn't be a prouder mad scientest papa: turns out he's so into this.. because the student has become the master, easily succeeding him and both have the same goal.
Bumblbee regroups but to do so he has a big ask, one Magnus relays to metroplex; keep the amonites busy. He gladly agrees, though Windblade's a bit thrown off by magnus opening a conversation with "the world is ending". She.. she's new here.
Bumblbee assembles his own team to take down shockwave: Himself, Magnus (raw power), Getaway and Skids (Secret Agent Men), Brainstorm (Dead Universe Expert) and Megatron.. and whie Bee tries to sugacoat it, he knows what he is. It's made tricky by the fact they stil lhave an army to go through.. but Skywarp shows up with Team Metalhawk, including Starscream whose back to his normal level of ego and overconfidence. Missed that. Skywarp can take them directly in, while Soundwave plans to hold the line for megatron.. though ti's very clear Megs has changed... and has plans for when he gets back.
While they do that Prowl.. does something useful after his jackass parade last issue and forms devistator with the constructicons.. he dosen't want to and bee isn't happy to see it but metroplex needed backup.
So the team splits up with most of them taknig on mooks and screamer going for Jhiaxus, who turns out to have reactive armor. Starscream's got to prepare for one of his greatest weaknesses: a fair fight.
Meanwhile with Bee and Megatron, the duo find Galvatron whose injured. Megatron plans to just finish the bit but Bee gives one last speech to his new best buddy: He encourages him that this ten eyes for an eye attitude of his has caused nothing but an endless cycle of vengance and death with no defendants and points out anyone can be allies.. that goo dor bad.. they can make a new future and that Galvatron could be part of that. is it a tad naive? perhaps.. but it's a still a long ways from the bot who rejected metalhawk and the nails because they didn't fight in the war. Bumblebee's finally realized that to make ANY future.. they have to try something diffrent.. sadly.. he dosen't get to live long enough to do anything about it.
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Bumblebee.. is dead. He finally turned the corner and he's gone. And it's telling how much of a turnaround he had during this crossover as i'm geninely heartbroken by it: bee really HAD turned around as a leader, realized how he failed, put his heart and soul into making things right, even turned the staunchest decepticon to his side with words instead of his fist.. and he dies suddenly, tragically and not even all that importantly to shockwave. He died.. because he was there and he could stop his plan maybe.
Megatron is livid as he prepares to fight shockwave who brags, but unlike Nova Prime actually pulls it off.
Back with the others, Magnus is about dead... when Brainstorm starts to feel a little woozy man.. then opens a portal: Optimus and Co have escaped.
Final issue. Whirl and Arcee hang out, sadly the only time they do though she wishes they had more. I forgot to mention she got a new paintjob, a new beginning.
Back with Team Optimus, it's explained HOW they did it: they heard the singing, realized they could make a gate and used Nova's corpse for their end, brainstorm for the other since he experimented so much with the dead universe. Problem is Cyclonus, Nightbeat and Kup all start to drop: they can't surivvie outside the dead universe and SOMEONE need sto carry them back.
So Rodimus and Brainstorm take the wounded back, with Brainstorm finding out he probably needs some of his magic juice himself. While he cooks that up a lot of fighting happens: the metroplex trio join in the fight though neither windblad nor nautica is that experinced, and Starscrema beats Jhaixus as Jhiaxus used some fancy shoulder blades.. and thus told screamer he had them.
At the end of all things Megatron denies he and bumlbee were friends.. but ti's clear they were. He's also horrified by Shockwave taking his idea that all bots are equal as meaning they all mean nothing. Optimus and Magnus arrive for backup.. but can't too much.
So both decide to take a crack at "I know your in there somewhere fight it". Optimus tries appealing to his old friend, the kindly senator he was before the senate turned him into the monster he is. This get shim shot and Megatron decides to try something else.
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The impossible has happened: After realizing just how far he's fallen, what he's lost... Megatron.. has become an Autobot. For his people. For his future. For himself. And for his friend. It's honestly a brilliant idea if a risky one: take the greatest transformers villian.. and see what happpens when he truly tries to change. It reminds me of the many times my boy Magneto has reformed. And while it's a gamble, many fans apparently were not happy with this face turn... it's one that pays off as the series goes in my eyes. Megatron is trying to be better.. but it's both a process.. and something that won't go down well with those on the other side of that gun.
It's also something that's amazing it worked so well: before this in a lot of works Megatron was a bastard and you'd be forgiven for thinking this was an idea Hasbro kinda shoved in there.. because it was. Roberts confirmed at one of the cons that this was a mandate by them and he got the job. It's why this reformation takes place over 6 issues.
It's a testiamte to roberts and barber though.. that despite having to do a full 180, crazy.. it FEELS entirely organic to the story: Roberts had done enough background setup with megatron and had a full time travel story planned, so the framework to include him and have it mean something was THERE. He had to speed run his redemption but the fact he accomplished that in a few scenes and made it convincing.. is amazing. It's why i'm glad earthspark went with a reformed megatron as this arc is incredible from the jump depsite all this... and I can't wait to get fully started later this year. It's one of Roberts best acomplishments and i'm excited we're finally to it.
For now though .. it manages to reawaken the senator and in a truly heartbreaking scene they want to just let him go: after all, it's not SENATOR Shockwave's fault, it's what he became.. but The Senator CAN'T stop it: the time tive's part of of him.. and Optimus swears to remember him as he was before , with his new friend's help, putting him down.
So with that we have a few teases for the future: Starscream of course is back to normal, though the autobots, and cyclonus, make it clear he won't be able to slip back in THAT easily. Meanwhile poor soundwave breaks down a bit as he realizes what Megatron has done, and can't fahtom the betryal.. and galvatron steps in to be his new dad, setting up RiD season 2. Which thankfully is now out of my hands.l What matters is Optimus and Megatron. optimus makes sure this wasn't just a clever trick.. and it wasn't. That makes this complicated.. but the two step out of the ship, ready for what's next.
So Dark cybertron.. is mediocre. It has some really good scenes in it: Team Windblade are all great new additions for thir short time screen, the stuff with rodimus and optimus is truly special, Megatron's face turn is well done and Prowl gets powerbombed off a cliff.
Overall though.. it feels padded. It has good ideas, the necrotitan makes for cool imagery, but it tries to stitch so much together to make this big epic with enough space for everyone and everything, that instead feels bloated. While some GOOD shit like the antics of bisected megatron probably woudl've been cut down if this were 6 or 8 issues, the story would've been a lot tighter. We get a LOT of ground repeated: Prowl is pissy with bumblbee, Scoops yells at starscream. Nova Prime won't shut the fuck up. For all the great scenes ther'es a good chunk that's just the same shit happening again and again with only slight progress.
And as i've said it dosen't really "cross over" all that mucH: the casts of each book are largely seqestered from each other, so we never really get any conversation about how the lost light feels now they've had the journey and seen the consequences of leaving (i.e. starscream), or how those who stayed pooped the bed. We don't even get reactions to Bee's death.. the story just.. ends before anyone else finds out.
Dark Cybertron is really like a lot of event comics: it's longer than it needs to be, interrupts the flow of a good book to happen, and the consequences of it are better than the story of as a whole. It was slightly better on re-read and overall is better than robots in disguise, having more character development and less arguing.. but it dosen't save a bloated, messy story that wastes i'ts potetial trying to wring the maximum issues out of the story instead of doing it at it's best.
Next Time: We break from the lost light. Again. First up next month for SUPER MAY we ask the question "What's so funny about truth, justice and the american way?" Then it's Mighty Morphin Summer Baby! As I mentioned last time, we'll be ping ponging between BOOM!'s power rangers comics. I do have a special treat or two planned for the Franchise's 40th anniversary, a review of the movie, covering the first windblade mini series, but both are tbd at this point. I HOPE to cover them by the end of hte year, but it largely depends on my schedule. If all goes well you should get aan extra slice of transformers in August and MTMTE should be back by september.
When we return Season 2 begins! Megatron is the captain now, Rodimus is salty about that, and we see how everyone else adjusted to their new decepticon overlord. Thanks for reading.
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