#we should've gotten the option to save him

[ca-8]

"Thank You, Angel..." (Part 1 of ???)

Silence screamed.

Drops of decay either echoed in the distance or fell inches from his withered nose. They aided in the cackles and chirps and growls that erupted from within each shadow. Each shadow that held home of the little critters with those little desperate, famished white eyes and wide toothless grins ready to devour anything with even a hint of a pulse. And when those critters couldn't stand the empty pits of their stomachs, those cackles and chirps and growls and drops of decay sang along with the tormenting squelches and tears of his miserly flesh ripping off and into those widened, toothless grins. And when they were done, after hours of slow, burning agony and screaming filling their stomachs, and the decay hushed to sleep as those horrible little critters scurried off toward their master -

silence screamed.

DogDay hated it all. He hated each sound of falling wood or concrete or spare intestine hitting the floor. He despised the critter's sounds as they drew near. But most of all, he hated the silence, because it was a constant reminder that his friends were gone and no hope gave a breath.

All alone. Always alone. With nothing but a wonder as to when he would finally draw his last breath.

Poppy's words once gave him back a lifelike glimmer. She speculated that someone had to come back here to save them all, an ex-worker, a total stranger -

an Angel, perhaps.

Just someone, anyone who can release them of this constant, lingering, rotting despair.

But so much time has passed. DogDay lost count at…he didn't even know, it's just been years and years and years, perhaps even decades. An eternity of this sickening silence since the day their revolutionary feast took place.

That glimmer was smothered out long ago.

.

.

.

.

.

Were those footsteps?

Not the little pitter-patter of those godforsaken critters, no - human footsteps. They were distant, but carefully drew near. As they closed the distance, a shriek from those little monsters echoed throughout the prison.

DogDay's head perked up, but only slightly. If he had a little more energy he'd call out for help, and more certainty too. Maybe he was finally going mad. Maybe what's left inside his head is feeding him false hope with these made up sounds hinting to a rescue.

No, not a rescue. Whatever he had left was drowned in the past.

His head slumped back down, and critter's shrieks halted. But the footsteps grew closer. DogDay didn't want to remove his gaze from the floor and risk disappointment, he knew it was nothing, that even if someone managed to sneak in here, there was no way they would survive this hell. He knew that thing was right, no one was coming to save-

"Oooooh nooo…"

His head sprung up, earning a little gasp from a

a human. An actual human, standing right there in front of him. It - They - couldn't be a hallucination, could it?

No. No hallucination. No human either. With how those lights beamed down on their glowing, moving skin and illuminating the life in those eyes, this was a blessing from Above. "Hello…?"

DogDay realized they were inching closer, but he was too stunned to flinch or tell them to get away. He could only voice his stagger.

"You…You're Poppy's Angel," he choked out through his voice box. "Come to save us…!"

The Angel blinked. "Uh, yeah…" Their eyes were widened; no surprise, anyone not too familiar with this decrepit place would be shocked to see him like this. A pathetic, filthy excuse of a dog wasting away. That's what they were thinking. They had to be. "Nothing left to save, not here…" He held his head back down.

"What're you talking about?" Their voice was as sweet as honey, so filled with life.

"You're in CatNap's home, Angel. Their home." Just saying that thing's name left a disgusting bittersweet taste in DogDay's mouth, but he was given a second chance at being useful, he had to take it.

"A million of pairs of eyes are on you right now," he continued. "Watching…waiting….hungry." A faint spark of terror flooded the (e/c) in those beautiful, breathing eyes. "They want nothing more than to crawl beneath your skin and eat away at you bit by little bit." He spat out the last word before heaving in a gasp. "…fill what feels empty inside themselves."

"I-Is that…what happened to you, DogDay….?" they asked, eyeing the bitter remains of his lower half.

They knew his name. He appreciated that, although couldn't express it too much. "I'm afraid so, Angel. Because of…that…that thing. CatNap. The Prototype is his god, and this is what he does to heretics."

The Angel snuck a glance at the darkened hallway outside their halo and quickly returned their gaze to DogDay. He continued.

"These little toys follow CatNap to avoid that very fate, and in return, they are fed." DogDay coughed. Black substance spewed out of his mouth and onto the floor. "We tried to fight it, the Prototype's control. I'm…the last of the smiling cri-"

His right arm fell to his side.

…Wait.

DogDay's ears bucked up and he turned to his side. His right arm dangled heavily right by his torso, and the belts that were supposed to be supporting it up to the ceiling were cut short. His gaze whirled to his left side and saw the Angel reaching up to cut off the other belts.

"Angel! Wh-Wh-What're you doing?" he frantically yelped, swinging his torso back and forth.

"Sorry to cut your speech-thing off so quickly, but I think we may have a problem!"

It was at that moment DogDay heard the heightening shrills and screeches from the critters. A sharp chill ran down him and his heart stopped. They were coming; so many were coming! Coming for him! He was about to die if they couldn't get away!

"Angel, please, go! Leave me! Save yourself!" he pleaded desperately. A growl erupted right next to his ear, and DogDay turned to come face-to-face with a miniature Bobby Bearhug. A scream almost escaped his throat until a small flare flew past his face and shot mini Bobby back into the darkness.

"I'm sorry, but could you stop moving so much? This is hard enough as it is!" As they said that, their knife (which he noticed was strangely colorfully patched together) cut through the first of the two left belts. His body darted right towards the floor, but not until Angel caught him with their arm.

"Angel PLEASE! I beg you!" Tears pricked his empty sockets. The shrills were so loud they might as well be on top of them.

But the Angel kept their gaze glued onto the last belt, and as soon as mini CraftyCorn entered the cell, he was finally free.

The Angel hopped down and kicked mini CraftyCorn back into DogDay's worst nightmare: a sea of predators mirroring his friend's appearances. The Angel spun around and ran the opposite direction.

"Don't worry, I got yo- OOOOOO-!!!" The floor collapsed beneath them, and they landed right onto the bottom floor. Well, more like the Angel fell right onto the floor with DogDay cushioned safely on top of them.

This couldn't possible get any worse.

DogDay tried turning his head. "Angel? Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean it! I didn't mean for this to happen! I swear!" He wanted to get off of them to ease whatever pain they were in, but his arms were held up for so long, he could barely even feel anything in them anymore. 'Pathetic! I'm pathetic!'

"I'm fine…I think-!" The Angel got up and sprinted to the end of the hallway. "Just don't look back!"

They held DogDay in a position where his only option was to look back. Snuggled tightly underneath their arm, he watched as a tsunami of critters dashed towards them, snarling with hunger. Hunger for him and his Angel.

He whimpered loudly until they spun him around. "Sorry-! Sorry! I got you!" A flash of another critter was summoned to the right, then suddenly wished away by the bright flash of the Angel's flare. DogDay couldn't do anything, only let his heart squeeze and whimper at the sudden sight of painful reminders until they're blown away by the Angel. He looked up, their gaze was locked forward, doing what he should be doing.

But he couldn't. He was worthless. Just like that day.

The poor withered dog squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't watch anymore. If it weren't for his weak arms, he would cover his ears as the screams of the damned drew ever so near, or maybe do something actually useful. He felt himself get heaved up and a sudden wind blew against his tattered face. Then, he was lowered, and the Angel gasped for air.

Where were they going? Was there even an exit? He couldn't look. He didn't want to look. If he opened his eyes he would only see the Angel get devoured and it would be all his fault.

It wasn't until they were both thrusted into the air that his eyes were finally forced open. Below them was a deep pit of darkness with the critters nearing the edge they hurled over. For a second, he thought they had jumped towards an everlasting sleep, until the Angel landed right onto a lift.

The door shut behind them, and devastating shrills and shrieks were muffled. They were….safe. DogDay was safe, and the Angel didn't die. He hadn't killed them after all.

The Angel gently lowered him onto the floor of the lift and pressed the button to lower them back into, if he could remember correctly….Playcare. They collapsed onto the floor, and the thud snapped him back to reality.

"Angel! Are you okay? Are you hurt? I'm so sorry!" DogDay tried to haul himself towards them until they let out a strange chuckle.

"That…holy shit. That was awesome! But also terrifying. And tiring. God, my legs, I'll be surprised if I can even walk once we get down there. What were those things? You called them critters? I kinda feel bad for thinking they were kinda cute now, SHEESH those little devils were relentless!"

The Angel went on and on and on and…not a hint of anger was on their face. DogDay only stared at them in disbelief. They hopped on their knees and leaned closer to him, making him flinch.

"Anyways, are you okay? I don't know why you're asking me, you're clearly the one who needs help here! How long have you been down here? Actually don't answer that. What happened to you-? Wait, wait, don't answer that either, sorry!"

"You…." He finally choked out something. "You…saved me."

"…Well yeah!" A big smile graced their lips. How were they glowing even brighter than before?

"You…You saved me…!"

"….Yeah! Go team!"

Something was building up in his throat. More tears streamed down his face, but there weren't any rivers of regret or disappointment or self-hatred… DogDay leaned into his Angel's chest.

"Oh, hello!" they said cheerfully.

DogDay sniffed and looked up, and for once, a big, genuine smile filled his face. "Thank you, Angel…! Thank you so much!"

They froze there for a second, and their stunned expression melted to that of warmth. He felt their hands wrap around him and gently caress his back. Nothing could ever feel more soothing.

Softly, they giggled. "Hey, call me (Y/n), alright? You're giving me too much credit." ͙۪۪̥ ͙ ♡𐡘 𐡘 𐡘 𐡘♡ ͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙ ♡𐡘 𐡘 𐡘 𐡘♡ ͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙ ♡𐡘 𐡘 𐡘 𐡘♡ ͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙ ♡𐡘 𐡘 𐡘 𐡘♡ ͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙͙ ͙۪۪̥ ͙

Hey guys! Like what ya saw? Well you can commission your own private piece now!! Read more about that here! Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!~ 💜💜💜

#dogday #dogday x reader #poppy's playtime #catnap #poppy playtime chapter 3 #canon x reader #x reader #fanfiction #wholesome #my baby #baby boy #i love this boi so much #we should've gotten the option to save him #and Im doing dogday because people have been saying he's in his mid 20s #I am not comfortable with the (big bodies) catnap x dogday ship y'all im sorry lmao #smiling critters #gender neutral y/n #open commissions #angst with a happy ending

[magicalqueennightmare]

Little Witch (Pt 2/5)

Klaus Mikaelson x Reader

You begin trying to piece memories of what happened to you and Elijah together. Will it be enough to make Klaus believe the two of you did not betray his trust

The day had long since given way to night, letting shadows creep over the buildings and alleyways as you walked the streets of New Orleans. You'd gotten a hotel room but couldn't sit inside the four walls attempting to push against the heavy barrier within your mind blocking you from remembering just what exactly happened between you and Elijah.

You couldn't go back to the compound so you'd been forced to buy a few changes of clothes. Once you'd gotten the room you'd showered three times and threw away all the clothes you'd been wearing. You felt dirty, something had happened. You knew it to your very being that nothing on earth would have driven you and Elijah to hurt the very people that meant the most to you both.

You needed help but was unsure where to turn. Davina was with Kol, she may very well turn you away. Freya was a laughable option even if she'd been on the same continent. It had been years since you felt so damn alone.

You hadn't realized how blindly you'd been wandering until you slammed into a hard chest. Arms caught you before you could fall and only then did you realize it was Marcel. “I haven't seen you in ages without Klaus attached to your hip” he teased with a smile. Maybe Rebekah didn't know yet? Or maybe she'd kept it from him?

You forced a smile onto your face “He's at home with Hope. I was just out doing some shopping” his eyebrows furrowed together in disbelief “Alone? Normally Rebekah or Hayley would be with you” you shrugged “Maybe I'm shopping for them” he seemed to either buy it or chose to let it go. He nodded and squeezed your shoulder closest to him gently “Well do us all a favor and pay a little better attention. I'd hate to see something happen to you beyond the fact that New Orleans may not survive his wrath if something happened to Klaus’ little witch”

You promised him to be more intune with your surroundings before walking away. You took a breath, uncurling that string inside of you that held the spark of your magic just below the surface. You needed to calm down. You let it seep out just enough to make you aware should a threat be nearby but even then it felt heavier than usual. Like it took effort to touch the spark when it should've been as natural as breathing.

Maybe you just needed some sleep? You decided to head back to the hotel.

After a sleepless night you were up early the following day. Another round of showers and you'd changed into fresh clothes. You needed to chase down answers even if you were alone in it.

You were just heading to the door when a knock on it pulled your attention. You slowly walked across to it, as your hand hit the knob you heard Rebekah's voice “Just open the bloody door. We need to talk”

Great, was she simply going to snap your neck to save one brother from daggering the other or worse? You opened the door, feeling every muscle inside of you tense. She let her eyes track over you then shook her head “Calm down and tone down your magic. I'm truly just here to talk”

You stepped back and let her into the room before you closed the door then turned to lean against it “Rebekah you've got to know I love Klaus” she nodded before a smile slipped onto her face “No one knows why exactly but yes the love you have for my brother is clear. I just want to know what happened. Klaus is raging, Hayley won't look at Elijah and he's not exactly being chatty either. I've caught the basics but I'm still confused. You have never been more than friends with Elijah, how the hell did you two wind up in bed with each other?”

You shrugged, feeling yourself deflate “I have no idea. The last thing I remember was the two of us walking out of an antique shop. I'd gotten the owner to track down something for me. The next thing I know I hear Klaus calling my name and it was like his voice broke through a dark wall around me. When it burst Elijah was on top of me looking just as confused as I felt”

That barrier inside your head seemed to double in weight when you once again tried to remember what happened. “Sounds like someone messed with your heads. I mean I'm not well versed in magic but it's almost as if you were compelled but your magic prevents that and Elijah is an original. No one could compel him”

You met her eyes with a small smile “Do you believe me?” She nodded “Of course. I've questioned the why of you loving my brother not the fact of it. If you need help I'm here” you nodded slowly feeling a tiny bit lighter than moments before just to be believed “Do you think Hayley will talk to me?”

She shook her head “No but I could get Elijah to meet me at one of Marcel's places. Neutral ground. The two of you can compare memories and see where that takes you” you felt a flicker of your magic swirl up without you calling it. It slammed violently against that barrier in your head blocking your memories from you. Your magic demanded answers as much as you did. “I can't thank you enough” she waved her hand “Please don't take this personally but me intervening is selfish on my part. I can't stand dealing with Klaus’ tantrum for long”

You walked into the bar Marcel had secured for this meeting and froze when you saw Rebekah sitting at the bar drinking a glass of wine while it appeared the glass in Elijah's hand was barely withstanding the pressure from his fingertips while he stood on her other side.

They both glanced up at your arrival but you noticed how quickly Elijah dropped his gaze. Rebekah plucked another glass from behind the bar and poured it halfway with wine and slid it towards you. You sat next to her and stared down into the glass. After a moment she sighed heavily “I'm moving now to give you two the illusion of privacy to talk”

She stood and walked across the bar to a table. You took a sip of the wine before Elijah spoke your name gently. You turned to look at him as he said “I apologize for whatever happened”

Did he think you blamed him? Whatever occurred you were both victims of it. “I don't blame you, hell I truly don't think either of us was to blame” he tilted his head to signal you to go on with the explanation so you explained how it felt inside your head trying to remember and even told him how sluggish your magic was being. He listened intently then nodded “If what you're thinking is correct what is the reasoning?”

You shrugged “I'm not sure yet but I feel like maybe you were used as a weapon to hurt Klaus. He loves you, no matter what's happened between you two you are his big brother. I was being challenged by a lot of witches for taking the side of your family in the fight when Hayley was pregnant before Klaus invited me to move in. I can protect myself but the original hybrid saying I was his? That sent a message. I thought I'd killed all of my old coven but if someone survived this could be revenge. Rip me away from the man I love, the family that claimed me. The safety of having reinforces to back me up should it come to a fight. I took on the strongest spell they had and I'm still standing. They couldn't take me down as a witch so now they're aiming to take me down as a woman. Make heartbreak heavy on my mind so I don't see it coming”

Elijah was quiet for a moment and you could see him thinking of what you'd said then he nodded “They used me to hurt you, to hurt Niklaus. When you find them you have my word you won't be alone to face them”

You smiled slightly “Thank you Elijah and I hope this doesn't affect our friendship because you mean a lot to me” He finally gave you a small smile “It won't simply because we won't let it. I'll get Rebekah to help me speak to Hayley. Perhaps she'll see logic but as for Niklaus..” you cut him off by saying “I'll talk to him”

You started to stand up but Elijah caught your arm and when he met his eyes once again he gave you a gentle smile before slipping a dagger into your hand. “I know you love him and I want to trust in the love I know he still has for you but he is angry”

“I can't dagger Klaus” you whispered and Rebekah spoke up “The dagger is reversible but if he kills you in a fit of rage to discover later that all of this wasn't yours or Elijah's fault the guilt will never leave him”

The dagger felt heavy where it laid in the inner pocket of your jacket as you walked into the Mikaelson compound. Klaus didn't know you were coming, Rebekah had called him with the pretense that she thought he'd killed a couple wolves and he'd told her he was at home.

You knew this could possibly be a death sentence but something wasn't right. Both yours and Elijah's memories were spotty at best. The last thing sticking out to both of you was walking out of that antique store but hours passed between then and the moment Klaus and Hayley found you two together. What exactly had gone down in that time frame?

You froze the moment you felt him. "Klaus" you turned to see him standing not far from you leaning against the very doorway you'd just crossed through into the sitting room "I told you to not come back here or have you come to ensure I don't kill your lover?" You felt a surge of anger at his words. You loved him as did Elijah, neither of you would've hurt him or Hayley intentionally. "I've come to talk to you Klaus”

He took a step towards you and it took everything for you to not step back. You could sense the anger and betrayal rolling off of him in waves. "About what exactly, love? About how I trusted you despite you being a witch? About how Hayley trusted you? About how our daughter keeps asking for you and neither of us can give her an answer as to where you are? About how it felt to find the woman I love, MY little witch, spread out beneath my brother?”

So many emotions hit you at once. The love you had for the man in front of you, the indignation at knowing someone managed to get in yours and Elijah's head, the worry about if something else had occurred between the two of you, the guilt at knowing you'd hurt Klaus and Hayley and now the added guilt of Hope asking for you and not being able to go to her.

“Yes, if that's what it takes for you to talk to me then by all means yes” you could see the surprise in his eyes at you answering like that even if he'd swallowed the emotion the moment he felt it. He took another step forward causing you to unintentionally take a step back.

A flicker of a smile passed his face “What's wrong love? Scared of me now?” Despite his calm demeanor you could see the anger rolling off him. Betrayal and pain stained his aura as he spoke. “I don't want you to do anything that you'll regret later” he laughed and took another step forward and it wasn't until your back hit the wall that you realized he'd done it on purpose. He wanted you pinned between him and the hard wall.

He braced his palms on either side of your head before leaning down where you could feel the warmth of his breath on your ear. Your mind was working to remind you of the bigger picture at hand but damn your body it was reacting to Klaus’ close proximity. A whimper all but tumbled from your mouth when you left the warm flick of his tongue over your pulse “You're breathing hard and your heart has sped up. What's wrong little witch?”

You swallowed hard trying to find your voice but what he said next reignited that anger in your belly “Or are you wishing I was someone else” you reached down for your magic, using it to aid in the process as you shoved both hands hard against his chest. He backed up but kept a smirk firmly in place. You shook yourself to clear your head, feeling the weight of the dagger against your side.

“I want to talk” he waved a hand “Go ahead then. Tell me how it wasn't what it looked like. How Elijah somehow knew where on your neck you like to be kissed and how you were moaning his name but you somehow say it wasn't leading to you sleeping with him”

You forced the tears down that wanted to spill at his words “We can't remember Klaus. Neither of us have any recollection for about a three hour span. The last memory was us walking out of an antique shop together”

“Such convenient amnesia” he gasped and you had the urge to slap him. You never should've come here without proof. You shook your head “Forget it. You're not wanting to talk rationally or to see logic”

You took a few steps towards the door but the reality of the fact that if you were fighting someone strong enough to get into yours and Elijah's head you may not survive it this time. You paused with your hand on the door then looked back at him. He was frozen where you'd left him but this time he was looking at you at least “Rebekah knows which hotel I'm staying at. When I find who's responsible I'm tearing them apart. If something happens to me… she has a letter for you and one for Hope. Know I love you Niklaus Mikaelson and that I will until I draw my last breath”

When he didn't make a move to come closer you shook your head, feeling tears form in your eyes before walking out.

@snowtargaryen

#klaus mikaelson x y/n #klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikaelson fic #klaus mikaelson fanfiction #the originals fanfiction #tvd fanfiction

[strawberryslayer0]

OMOZAI (bsd x Omori au)

An AU where instead of dazai joining the agency, he stays isolated from society after oda's death. Dazai blames himself for his death feeling like he should've tried harder to convince his friend not to go and that he should've gotten there earlier to stop oda from dying. He dreams of another reality where everything is different, the same darkness, but a little lighter.

(BTW, I can't tell if this is a script for a game or a fanfic, my writing style through this goes everywhere, I am so sorry for that-)

It starts with text that says "no matter whether your on the side of killing people or saving people," the screen goes to black again, another line of text shows up that says "there will never be anything that can surpass your mind." The picture they took that night they all shared together one last time. The screen goes black again "there is no place in this world that can fill your loneliness." The screen goes black again "you will linger in the darkness forever." The text fades again and we are transported to white space. It's dazai (the player), he's dressed in his pm outfit. It's the same layout as omori, but mewo is nastume, the sketchbook is his suicide book, the tissues stay and so does the computer and of course, the door. If you go to the door, you cant do anything yet. If you go to the computer and you check your computer, the options are to either stare at the computer or look at you calender. If you click the calender it just says "stayed with sensei" and "went to see ango and odasaku" scattered on different days throughout the calender. If you stare at the screen, the screen becomes blurry as you start to zone out. You can zone back in by just exiting the computer. If you check the suicide book, it's scattered with a bunch of little notes next to passages that say stuff like "don't try, too painful", "tried, didn't work", "that sounds disgusting!", "this doesn't sound too bad, might try". If you go to natsume you get "meow (what are you waiting for?)" And the tissue box is for "wiping your sorrows away". Suddenly something drops. You go to find the thing in a generated spot but in the meantime there are blue hands that try to get you if they see you (if they do get you, you go back to the a square), suddenly, you find a riot gun. You pick up the gun and it is now in your inventory. You can finally enter through the door, so you do. Once you enter, you're transported into a bar everuthing is dim at first until you see your two best friends sitting at the table, everything magically becomes more saturated, showing that his friends are his light. The one with black hair was sitting on the right, the red head was on the left, and there was a spot in the middle, a spot they were saving for you. They both notice you and the red head stands up and walks to you, taking the cigarette out of his mouth

ODASAKU: *with a slight smile* "hey DAZAI, how are you?"

ODASAKU: "ANGO and i were just catching up on work, we were hoping you'd show up"

ODASAKU: *he closes his eyes still with the same smile* "come sit down with us."

ANGO: *he looked tired, as always, and had a stoic expression* "well hello DAZAI, I'm surprised to see you, we didn't think you'd make it"

You sit with them in the middle on your little stool as the bartender serves you whiskey in a fancy glass with a huge chunk of ice in the middle, it was what you ordered everytime.

ODASAKU: "So, DAZAI, how are you? How's work been?"

Options: "it's been alright, just stressful with that shrimp always bothering me" or "it's been stressful cause of MORI"

First option scenario:

ANGO: *he slight smiles*"I know, it must be, but you two make such a great team together on missions."

ODASAKU: "I agree, You just have to be patient with him and yourself."

ODASAKU: "are you sure you hate him? You seem to be really passionate about hating him.."

Dazai starts to blush a ton and his cheeks turn a bright red seeming to squirm in his seat from that comment (he's clearly speaking but I wanted dazai to be like omori where be barely talks, but I still wanted his personality to shine through so it's gonna be a lot of that lol),

Odasaku laughs and says

ODASAKU: *clearly amused* "don't worry dazai, we'll keep this secret to ourselves"

Second option senario:

ODASAKU: "Yeah....the boss is tougher on you than anyone I've ever seen, even if he tries to keep it behind closed doors."

ANGO: "tell me about it. I don't know how you deal dazai."

ODASAKU: "He recently gave me a mission where I had to clean up a crime scene that occurred involving a kid being murdered by his parents. I know he did that on purpose just to break me down and make me quit."

ANGO: " What a terrible person we all have to work for"

ODASAKU: "tell me about it"

Resume:

Everyone stays silent for a moment until ango speaks

ANGO: *he clears his throat* "moving on...MORI assigned me to go look at some documents at the port mafia's accounting facility, would you two like to come with me?"

ODASAKU: "Yeah, sounds interesting."

ODASAKU: "you in, DAZAI?"

Options: "yes" or "no"

First option scenario:

ANGO: "Wonderful, let's get going"

Everyone gets up and goes into a line, dazai leading.

Second option scenario:

ODASAKU: "c'mon DAZAI , don't you need more information on one of the people who died anyways?"

ANGO: "that's right, I remember you telling us about someone that you were interested in knowing more about"

ODASAKU: "you need to stop avoiding work, DAZAI, it's not good for your reputation. People won't take you seriously if you keep this up."

Dazai finally agrees and everyone gets up and goes into a line, with dazai leading.

Resume:

They all get out of lupin bar and get there in no time. Once they get in, they start looking through documents that have been written by ango and former obituary writers. Dazai opened a drawer and found an old picture that ango took of oda trying dazai's homemade curry. Needless to say, it wasn't tasty and it showed on oda's face in the picture. On the back of the picture it said "Dazai made curry, but of course since dazai made it, it wasn't that great. Oda agrees." Dazai held up the picture for everyone to see

ODASAKU: "I remember this day, it was the day I learned to never let DAZAI touch a cooking utensil ever again."

ANGO: "that's what I told you in the first place, but you just HAD to insist on letting him try to cook."

ODASAKU: "Well, maybe we can try again next time"

ANGO: *He sighs* "let's hope not..."

While they were still looking for the document Ango announces that he found the document that dazai was looking for. But...somethings off..

ANGO: "wait...I don't remember writing this obituary.."

ANGO: "wha...what Is this?!"

ODASAKU: "what's wrong ANGO??"

ANGO: "ODASAKU...You..You're--"

Suddenly, the screen than gliches out...

#omori #bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #oda sakunosuke #bsd odasaku #ango sakaguchi #bsd ango #bsd dazai #omori game #omori aus

[bi-bard]

A Flawed Deal - Jay Halstead Imagine (Chicago PD)

Title: A Flawed Deal

Pairing: Jay Halstead X Reader

Word Count: 1,275 words

Warning(s): Voight being a dick

Summary: After Jay and (Y/n)'s relationship becomes public knowledge, the pair are left to choose between their careers and each other.

Author's Note: Hi, I hate writing endings.

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

I immediately noticed the weird looks that I had gotten when I walked into the main office.

First was Erin. She looked at me for a minute and then quickly looked away. She seemed guilty. I looked around the office. No one would make eye contact with me.

I looked at the small kitchen area to see Jay making some coffee. I decided to go see if he had any answers. He had been here longer than I had.

I was almost there when Voight leaned his head out his door.

"(Y/l/n)," he said before nodding for me to walk inside.

Jay and I looked at each other for a moment. I walked in nervously, forcing a grin to Voight as he closed the door to the office. He went around the desk to sit in his chair. I sat in the chair across from him.

"How long have you and Jay been together," he asked bluntly.

I scoffed, albeit forcefully. "Excuse me?"

"Listen, I'm impressed with your acting ability," he leaned forward on his desk. "But I know already, so I'd save it for your big movie debut."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I replied.

He grabbed something off the corner of his desk and dropped it in front of me.

It was Jay and me. It was from Jay's phone. He wanted to update my contact photo because we had gotten more serious and had wrapped his arms around me as he kissed my cheek.

It was a cute picture.

I just had no idea how Voight had it. There never should've been a physical copy, never mind one that found its way to Voight's hands.

"Hard to argue with that, isn't it," he asked.

I looked at him again. He was right. I had nothing to argue with. What was I going to say? That it was fake? I had nothing.

"We're on a case right now, so I won't make you decide right now," he explained. "But by the end of the case, I want you to pick. Either you two can separate and move forward like nothing happened or one of you can leave."

I scoffed. He held a hand up to stop me before I could reply.

"You know how much I dislike dating within the team," he said. "This is your choice."

I took a deep breath before standing up and walking out of the office.

I made eye contact with Erin as I stepped out. She looked down quickly. I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment before walking into the little kitchen area. Jay was still there, thankfully.

"Hey-"

"How did Voight get that photo," I asked. I was basically whispering. Tears were in my eyes as the shock of what happened wore off.

"Photo?"

"Voight has a photo of us together," I explained. "I want to know how he got it. And why you printed it out in the first place."

"The contact photo," Jay asked. I nodded. "He can't have that. I have a copy of it that I kept in my jacket because I thought it was a cute idea, but no one knew about that."

We looked over at the door when someone cleared their throat. Erin was standing in the doorway.

"It was me," she said quietly. "I had seen Jay hiding the photo in his pocket as I got in the car, so I snooped when he left it sitting somewhere. I was showing it to some of the others and Voight spotted it before I could put it away."

"Erin," Jay muttered. He sounded like a disappointed parent.

I let out a laugh of disbelief before stepping forward. "Well, now Jay and I have two options. Either we break up or one of us leaves. That's what your stupid snooping got us."

"That's what Voight offered," Jay asked. I nodded as I turned back to him.

"And we have until the end of the case to decide."

"I'm sorry," Erin tried to touch my arm as she apologized. I stepped away from her before going to walk around her back into the main room.

I tried to ignore the pressure of our decision while working on the case. For a man that was so concerned about relationships distracting his team, he seemed to have no problems adding to that stress.

After the case was said and done, Jay was left with a new bruise to his side from a sharp punch to his gut and me with a new pain in my back from being slammed into a counter during the suspect's attempted escape. He failed.

Everyone had filed back into the office. All of us were silent. Jay and I looked at each other, knowing very well that we hadn't discussed what was going to be our choice.

Voight walked to his office silently, only sparing a glance to Jay and me on his way through.

"You know what," I muttered before storming to Voight's office. I slammed the door shut behind me. He was standing behind his desk.

"I was about to-"

"Fire me," I snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," I shrugged. "Fire me. I don't care anymore. I work my ass off for you and if you are going to make me choose between throwing all that away and losing Jay, then fucking fire me. I will not choose either. If you want one of us gone for that, you get to grow a pair and fire me properly. Because I am a damn good cop and you know that, but I should not have to force myself to be unhappy just to satisfy you. I love Jay and I love this job. If you can't accept that those two things can exist at the same time, then fire me."

Voight was silent, just staring at me.

"Go on," I pushed him.

He didn't speak up again as he reached for the corner of his desk. He dropped the photo of Jay and me in front of where I was standing.

"You're right," he admitted. "You're a good cop. You can prioritize the job over everything else. Keep the romance at home and out of the office, and I'll have no problems."

I reached out and grabbed the photo off the desk.

"Thank you," I muttered.

"Now go home," he said, waving at me to leave. "You did good work today."

When I walked out, everyone was watching me. I didn't take the time to stop and acknowledge them. I walked over and grabbed Jay's arm, pulling him into the little kitchen area and closing the door.

"What happened," he asked.

I smiled and kissed him gently. He touched my sides, pulling me closer to him. I slowly leaned back, chuckling as he kept trying to kiss me again.

He rested his forehead on mine.

"So, what happened," he repeated.

I stepped back and held the photo out to him.

"Might wanna find a better place for this," I said. "Because Voight's only request was to keep the romance at home."

"Really?"

"I think me standing up to him gave a good impression, I guess," I shrugged. "I don't really care. I'm just happy he didn't take the other option of firing me."

Jay chuckled and pulled me back into his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder as I hugged him back.

"I love you," he muttered.

"I love you too," I replied before pressing a kiss to his shoulder and stepping back. "Now, please find a better place for that photo."

"I will, I will."

I chuckled.

What a precious idiot.

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

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#one chicago x reader #one chicago fanfiction #one chicago imagine #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd x reader #chicago pd fanfiction #fanfiction #imagine #x reader #jay halstead fanfiction #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead imagine

[atlasscrumpit]

Avengers/Reader

Betrayal

(Mentions of attempted Sexual Assault)

I'm not really worth much to the team anymore, I don't even know why they still keep me here.

They should've thrown me out on the street a long time ago.

I looked down at the restraint around my wrist, they didn't need it there but Shield wouldn't let me lay here in a hospital bed and be free.

I groaned and closed my eyes, I was so sick of this hospital bed.

After what I did, I deserved this, I betrayed my team, my family.

Getting paralysed in the process was justified.

But it had been five weeks now, was this really how they were going to keep me?

I heard a noise and looked up to see Bruce entering.

"Hey." I whispered as he looked up at me, even Bruce hadn't forgiven me yet.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, I wasn't his friend or team mate anymore, I was just a criminal patient.

"Please, Bruce. I can't stand you being angry at me." I muttered as he looked up at me.

"Y/N, I'm doing my best here. If I were to let out my true emotions you know exactly what would happen and you would end up more than just paralysed." He said as I looked at him in shock, my heart practically stopped.

"Okay, I'm sorry." I whispered, deciding it was best to stay silent.

Bruce did his usual checks on me before he left without saying a word.

I felt tears in my eyes as I gripped at the bed sheets, trying to hold my emotions in.

After I betrayed the entire team and gave information to Hydra, I deserved to be ignored.

But, I only had too options.

Maybe I was selfish throwing the team under the bus in order to save myself.

“What did they offer you?” I heard a voice say as I gasped and looked beside me to see Bucky, I hadn’t even heard him come in.

“What?” I whispered as he stared into my eyes.

“I know you wouldn’t give up the team if Hydra hadn’t given you something in return. You’re lucky we keep you here and don’t throw you on the street. So, let me ask again. What did they offer you?” He growled coming closer to me as I felt tears in my eyes once more.

“They didn’t offer me anything.” I whispered as he stood even closer, he gripped my upper arm roughly as I yelped in pain.

“What did they offer you?” He growled as I began to cry.

“I didn’t want to do it, I shouldn’t have given up the team, but I couldn’t go through with it. I’m sorry.” I whispered through my tears as he continued to stare down at me.

“Didn’t want to go through what?” He growled as I closed my eyes before I felt his hand go to my throat.

“Answer me!” He shouted only making me cry more.

“Fuck me!” I screamed as he looked at me in confusion and let his hand drop.

“What?” He asked as I looked up at him and hiccuped.

“It was…either I h-have sex with three of the Hydra agents or…I give up the team.” I whispered as he looked at me in shock.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve just done it to save everyone.” I cried out as Bucky backed away a little, still looking at me in shock.

He left without a word as I began to sob once more.

Since it happened I hadn’t told a soul why I had given them up, I was terrified they wouldn’t understand and a part of me wanted them to hate me as punishment for what I had done to them.

—

I had fallen asleep and I woke up seeing Bucky sitting beside my bed.

“You have to tell them.” He whispered as I looked at him.

“I don’t want them to know I chose me over them.” I responded as he looked at me sadly.

“Y/N, they think you work for Hydra. The whole team feels betrayed. But in reality you were protecting yourself by never going through what you went through again.” Bucky said as I shook my head.

“No, I was selfish.” I whispered as I felt him hold onto my hand.

“Doll, it wasn’t selfish. The team will understand.” He said as I kept my eyes closed, trying not to let my tears fall again.

“Can you help me tell them?” I whispered, opening my eyes to see Bucky’s softly smile.

“Of course.”

—

Bucky had gotten me out of the bed and helped me into a wheelchair, we made out way to the main room where Bucky had called everyone to meet.

When we came out of the elevator everyone looked up at us.

“Bucky, what the hell are you doing?” Steve asked as Bucky stood in front of me.

“You all need to know why Y/N did what she did.” He said as everyone looked at me.

“W-When Hydra took me, they gave me two options.” I whispered as Bucky rested his hand on my shoulder and I took in a deep breath.

“Either I…have sex with them all or I give up information.” I whispered, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

Everyone went silent, I looked up to see everyone in thought.

“Y/N.” Bruce whispered as he came over to me.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve just done it and saved all of you, b-but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.” I whispered through tears as Bruce leant forward and hugged me.

“No, I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m sorry for how I treated you without knowing the full truth.” He whispered as I wrapped my weak arms around him.

“Y/N, we’re all so sorry for what we did.” Steve whispered as I looked up at him.

“We kept you in a damn hospital bed for five weeks not knowing what to do.” Steve continued as I smiled sadly.

“It’s okay, I’m sorry for everything.” I whispered as Steve knelt to look at my face, he gently reached up and wiped away my tears.

“No more sorry’s, doll. We all need to make this up to you.” He said as I nodded and closed my eyes.

“Let’s start by getting you back into your old room.” Tony said making me smile.

I looked up to Bucky and smiled softly.

“Thank you.”

#mcu #marvel #Bucky barnes #avengers x reader #marvel x reader #y/n #tony stark #steve rogers #Bruce banner

[everafterfrisk]

Here we go again Folks and today I'll be dissecting the popular topic of "Ruby isn't affected by anything across the volumes"

-I'm gonna be honest and say this claim is pretty much BS

Volume 3

- Ruby falling to the ground in sadness after seeing Penny's Dismantled Body

> Was mortified by Pyrrha's Death at the hands of Cinder

Volume 4

In the DC Comics(which take place during the events of Vol 3-4)

Ruby showcases alot of uneasiness and self doubt

▪︎I.E being worried about how Yang felt back at the end of Volume 3

▪︎Believing that she herself can't go on without her team backing her up

▪︎Questioning if she can truly make the right choice

"No One is truly alone".

"What you can do and Who you are-- These are Two very different things".

"No Person is Lesser for Being Alone,

You miss them but You aren't incomplete without them"

"They may bring Forth the Best in You

But the Best still Belongs to You".

- Episode 2 - Ruby is shown having Nightmares about the events of Volume 3

Vol 5

-After the battle with Tyrian, Ruby was upset that she indirectly got her uncle poisoned as well as not being so welcoming about team JNR joining her as the Problems got increasingly worses

"I should've never brought you guys into this"

But the Most powerful scene in this Volume for Ruby is her talk with Oscar

Where she tells him that how distraught she felt about Pyrrha's and Penny's Deaths & wished she could've gotten to know them better

Proclaiming that if she were have died, Pyrrha and Penny would try to keep fighting no matter the obstacle

As she then says that moving forward is what she has to do in order to protect who she cherishes left

Which parallels Issue #6 of the Comics

"Even When it's Hard---

--Just Live".

Which leads to the 2nd Strongest scene for Volume 5 Ruby

The Letter Scene

"Believe me when I say I know it can feel impossible. Like every single day is a struggle against some unstoppable monster we can never hope to beat. But we have to try…"

As Ruby is writing a letter to Yang about how although the World may seem bleak and while things may be painful in the long run, With the right people working together for a good cause can make an extraordinary change no matter how small it seems at first

Also Ruby LITERALLY TEARS UP DURING THIS SCENE

The Silver Eyes Activated after Ruby had a PTSD flashback of Pyrrha's Death when Jaune was going to clash with Cinder in the battle of Haven

■ Ruby was seen shocked by Weiss's fatal injury from Cinder's Spear strike

Volume 6

■ Felt a little Betrayed by Ozpin's Secret after Jinn revealed the Truth

■ Her Silver Eyes Activated When Blake was almost at death's door against the Apathy

■ Confronted Qrow about his lack of willingness to keep moving forward during "Lost" & "Stealing from the Elderly" Episode

Wanting him to view Team RJNR as people who can fight alongside him instead of just being a bunch of children who needs to be protected

"Just because you don't have an idea, doesn't mean we're out of options! Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we don't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do. We just did it our way! And I say we do it our way. And if you think you can keep up with us "kids"... we'd be happy to have you"

"We're all in this together, and we're all going to do the best we can. That's all anyone can do. And I know it's what you've always aimed for. We would've come whether or not you'd let us, so stop talking like we're your responsibility! We're not! But we could still use Qrow Branwen on our side"

Volume 7-8

■ Immediately felt guilty about lying to Ironwood about the Other stuff that happen with Ozpin

■ During Her Talk with Qrow, She even questions if she even knows what she has been doing was the correct decision

■ Ruby pleads Harriet in the "Ace Ops vs Team Rwby" to stand down and join her team in saving the citizens

■ Stood in Confusion and shock after witnessing a Silver Eyed Grimm Hybrid

■ in Volume 8 Finale,

Ruby is seen shedding a tear during her fight with Neo(Supposedly as a result of Yang's death)

---> in the Vol 9 sneak peek it showcases Ruby's POV where she was having constant anxiety attacks throughout the fight against Cinder

And in the Volume 9 Chapter 1 Sneak Peek Clip

Ruby breaks down and Cries to herself reflecting upon the events that have transpired

So Yeah I think this pretty much sums up how much these events have had an Impact on Ruby's emotions

(She ain't just Happy all the time and Ignores all the tragedy, if anything she tries using it as a Coping Mechanism of some sort in order to move forward & keep her mind away from the Darkness)

Hope yall Enjoy

#rwby analysis #rwby ruby #ruby rose #rwby

[drewsaturday]

exocolonist round 8

ACCIDENTAL PROFESSOR ENDING !!!! this is the first time i haven't gotten botanist without trying ;jlksdfl;kjd but it makes sense since i did so much tutoring to get close to nomi

also got second engineer to get the manuals for next round!!

did all the delusional options but didn't come across enough to get lobotomized, or i at least should've maybe chosen a diff dialogue option when it was brought up :/ pwease slice my brain up mommy instance ;-;

i romanced cal so i could break up him and tammy. i liked the idea of cal more on earlier playthroughs i think because he reminds me so much of ger, but he's... kind of missing a level of consideration that makes ger such a malewife? at least from what i observed when he was with tammy. he kinda never grew up. i got him on the home menu at least this time.

it is kinda cool to be second engineer because you become chief when instance retires, but idk when she retires so you could very well be working on the same-ish level as flulu (or ger) OR with cal which is kinda cool when ur married to him.

cal is a pushover and tammy is a people pleaser and this shows a lot in the ending i got with him, how he's not as good as pushing people as flulu was and it takes a toll on him. i think that's another part of why i find him and tammy a bit unbearable the more i play j;aklslkdjf they're just... too conventional/nice in a way i don't vibe with, whereas i like rex and nomi's flavor of kindness and support more.

this was also my first ending since my initial playthrough with nem where i got to have kids!!! with nem i had 2 but with cal we had a ton so that's a cool change of pace. thinking about flu and ger being grandparents ;-;

i lowkey wish cal and i broke up here (i know we have communal raising but THAT many kids plus us both being chiefs means that's gonna be stressful) but he fucking DIES in his fifties while defending geoponics during an attack (i didnt make peace w the gardeners lol) so at least i'm free to go fuck other people now.

this was the first time i got nomi in an ending!!! i love their creativity and that they end up sooooorta being a rancher? and getting a pet unisaur? perfect for them. horse nb vertumna style.

god also i got to read their writing project and i love that it's just... a mini version of exocolonist meets animorphs

OH AND I GOT THEM TO GET WITH REX <3 though i hadn't talked to rex a ton so AFTER i got them dating i had a dialogue option with him that's supposed to come before that discusses how they're just friends sj;klf

another sad ending for tang, she was my second and got obsessed with what happened to dys since he did the bomb. the ending talks about her being in a nightmarish waking state due to her augment or something? awful, i hate it. this reminds me i probs couldve done the plague this round.... will do after the next couple.

i stayed in the creche etc during attacks a lot more this time and had an option to save tammy from an attack during the one where kom dies. i kinda wonder if she wouldve died if i didnt bother but i didnt wanna fuck up the achievement for breaking up her and cal. tempted to let her get severely injured though or not save her next time... but i do like having free cakes to give other people, so maybe i'll let her live. gonna keep letting her lose her dad in a brutal attack tho.

i think up next is the transcendence ending, and THEN i can recalibrate the shields and i think that'll result in a situation where flulu is more chill so i'm excited to see that.

the only person left to put on the homescreen is vace though :| i will consider getting close to him and shoving him into therapy after the above, maybe with an ending in mind that also involves getting close to nem again.

i think apart from the vace, friends, and all endings achievements everything else i need to do is card related so i'm gonna be a tad directionless apart from looking for diff endings to beat once i get through vace.

i also do need the 4 pets one though ive heard thats glitchy, but getting closer to vace does bode sorta well with that.

#iwatex tag #i really need to go be productive now lmfao #i love how 7.3% of players unlocked vace on the homescreen.... #compared to everyone else being so much more desired #about 2% less ppl got the all friends achievement tho which points to quite a few getting close to him for just completionism reasons #would love to study the ones who voluntarily went for him like bugs #though maybe some of that was also with the intend of an all endings achievement #but less than 1% of ppl got there so who knows

[bellamyblake]

HI! I've read some of your meta and headcanons and because I love them I have to ask, do you think Bellamy would've still been made bad even without Bob asking for time off? What are your thoughts on it? I saw you didn't chose the easy way out like most ppl and simply call him OOC but you understood some actions in a different way.

aw, hey! that's so kind, thanks for checking out my stuff. i haven't posted meta recently cause even when i have thoughts i don't always share them but debate about it in my mind so i wont be annoying.

the short answer to that is-yes. i absolutely think bellamy would've been made the villian of the story no matter what bob asked for.

i think the season 7 storyline absolutely copies the season 3 one where the same thing happened and i think that the path here was the same.

he would've gone through what he did in Etheria just like he went through everything he did in s3 A's episodes-something painful would've happened, he would've accepted the idea of transcendence and then after making a few mistakes in which I still think, no matter how much Bob had filmed, the other characters would've acted absolutely the same-

because guess what-

we've already seen in s3, absolutely the same thing.

so they would've still hated him the same way and blamed him for everything instead of reaching out to him. and then ultimately he would've seen things from within this broken system and realized Cadogan was wrong and this is bad and made the decision HIMSELF, then helped the others out, perhaps gotten hurt (like Levitt was in that finale episode, I remember i read somewhere it was supposed to be bellamy) and then ultimately maybe ended on the beach.

that's exactly what would've happened, i have about zero doubts about it cause as i said, we've seen it already.

the problem with bellamy was never that he was OOC. that is why i see things differently-it is the way the OTHER characters see him. or more specifially, how the writers write those characters seeing bellamy.

jroth has always admitted he had a hard time writing for bellamy. that his wife often asked him about it and questioned what he'll do with him and the thing is i dont think jroth always knew what to do and when he didn't, he opted for making him lean into his darker thoughts and trust his heart when he is hurt and alone otherwise making him bad because it was easier and because he knew bob wouldn't mind playing a bad guy as he had stated he liked that in earlier seasons.

the season 3 storyline follows the absolutely same path to the season 7 one (or the one it should've been had it been developed absolutely in the way jroth wanted it to be).

bellamy is a little lost and confused, he's trying to protect his family but then instead of doing things the right way, more death follows, so he decides to trust in to those who offer another option-PIke in s3 who speaks into his grief and absolutely into the guilt he feels.

the reason why pike wins bellamy over is because unlike Kane who keeps saying none of this was bellamy's fault, because he simply cannot read bellamy the right way and clarke isn't there, pike tells him the thoughts he falls asleep with every night-it's your fault, you killed those people, you didn't save gina.

a similar thing happens in s7-deucette and the others offer a way out. if we have to be honest with ourselves, clarke and bellamy's *doing better* never actually worked and especially not in s6.

bellamy is seeing more and more that the more he tries, the worse it gets, even when he's doing his best.

seeing his first sin-his mom, who was the death he didn't want to cause but did because he let his feeling show and wanted to make octavia happy, just speaks volums to him.

i also want to mention here that there are two more people who definitely play a role in his choice to trust what they're talking about here and that are Jasper and Monty.

Jasper because he saw there was no way out of their violent ways and opted to leave the world and Monty who too, separated himself from the clarke and bellamy world and decided to live a quiet albeit lonely life with harper because he realized that IS doing better or at least living better. partly both their reasons were selfish and ultimately don't help the entire group.

what deucette and cadogan offer, do. they safe everyone. that is what bellamy wants-to help them all, it was always his goal from the moment he adopted those kids on the ground. frankly, clarke lost that somewhere, but i dont think he ever did, especially not after season 4 when he spent all those years up on the ring with the others.

i dont find him OOC. i find the story shitty, yes, absolutely but i think and i will get yelled for that but that the City of Light storyline in all honesty wasn't at all that different from the lights and finding another form of eternal life-it was just underdeveloped and ofc jroth couldn't do something like CoL again in 7 as it already existed so he made it these weird beans of light.

do you know who the only character who never was invloved with CoL or that SL from the hundred was?

Bellamy.

Do you know why? Because I don't think Jroth knew how to do that at all. he had that chance here again, to try and indulge a SL where he could perhaps put bellamy into this world. the only problem was that he doesn't know how to write bellamy into a major storyline without making him a villain or making his actions a part of some redemption ark (e.g s2 and s4).

and in all honesty, the problem was never with bellamy. it was with clarke and everyone else. because the same thing that happened in s7 had already happened in s3.

no one, not a single soul, tried to undrestand what was happening with bellamy then. clarke argued but she wasn't there and didnt see him suffer-in fact she left him and said-they are your responsibility now, something he has lived for his entire life and now repeated for 48 kids he barely got there. octavia lashed out and just wanted to leave with lincoln, have her own life, miller, harper, kane, sinclair all worked against him without understanding him. kane preached the entire time how he's making a mistake but he never once tried to speak into what he feels the way pike smartly did. monty was somewhere in the middle, ultimately turned good.

in s7, clarke, o, raven and everyone else argue with bellamy. he tries to explain himself, tell them what he saw, how it all happened, that his mom was there, that he saw something. do you know what happens?

nothing. they bash him and tell him he's nuts.

let's see some examples of the opposite:

in s 2 ep 16 clarke says-I have no choice, I have to do this.

What does bellamy do?

he covers her hand and turns the lever with her.

in 3x16-she says i have to go into CoL after taking the chip.

what does bellamy say-I trust you.

in 4x01-she says ALIE said the radiation is coming for us all.

Bellamy said-we're looking into it, I trust her.

in 4x03 Clarke says-I don't deserve to live, not after everything.

Bellamy says-Yes you do and writes her name on the list.

in 4x13 Clarke says-I think I may be dying, mom had a vision of me dying.

Bellamy says-so what? You will be okay. AFTER SHE ALMOST SHOT HIM IN 4x11 MIGHT I REMIND YOU ALL.

the problem was never with bellamy. not in s7, not in any other season. yes he is flawed that is without saying, he did make mistakes, and that is why i love him and clarke and octavia because they make mistakes.

but don't let us make the same one-that the way he sees everyone else is the same they do because it isn't and never was.

and

that is the tragedy of bellamy blake.

#bellamy blake #bellarke #the 100 #the 100 meta #this isnt anti clarke or octavia #but i'll tag it just for safety #anti clarke griffin #anti jroth #answered #meta #oh il ove writing meta #i wanna write it more

[heavenlyhoundoom]

A dark reawakening.

(Gabriel, Jeremy, Susie, and Fritz are the confirmed names for the kids who posses Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy.)

(It's been ten years since Arthur and Carlos were killed, they became friends and have been roaming the Willy and Freddy's Wonderland building as ghosts shortly after their deaths, but that was about to change.)

Carlos: Hey Arthur, do you hear that?

Arthur: I do hear that, I wonder what the noise is coming from.

Carlos: Let's find out.

(The two phase through the walls and search every room until they found the source of the sound.)

Carlos: Oh my God.....

(The two see Jerry and his crew had committed a mass suicide and what they were hearing was their dead bodies collapsing on the floor.)

Carlos in tears: Oh Mateo, we should've never gotten jobs here....

(Carlos cries, wishing he could've saved Mateo from both becoming a sadistic psychopath and from being part of this mass suicide, Arthur on the other hand was flipping off Philippe's dead body.)

Arthur: May you rot in Hell!

Carlos still in tears: I'm so sorry, brother...

Gabriel: Mr.Flores and Mr.Allen, I've become a monster!

(Gabriel runs in crying and it's revealed that his soul was transferred into the Freddy animatronic.)

Carlos: Oh my gosh!

Arthur: What happened to you, Gabriel!?

Gabriel: I don't know, I was just reading by the robot bear and the next thing I know, I got sucked into the robot!

(Gabriel starts crying and Carlos comforts him.)

Carlos: It's okay Gabriel, I'm here for you.

Arthur from a distance: Hey Carlos, It appears that Gabriel wasn't they only one who got trapped in one of these robots.

(It's revealed that all four kids are stuck in the animatronics with Jeremy possessing Bonnie, Susie possessing Chica, and Fritz possessing Foxy.)

Susie: What's happening to us, Mr. Flores!?

Carlos: I don't know, Susie, but I sure we can figure it out.

Mateo: Oh how cute....

(Carlos was in shock to here Mateo's voice, he turns around and sees him possessing Tito.)

Carlos: Mateo, I thought you offed yourself!

Mateo: I did, however that wasn't just a mass suicide, it was a satanic ritual to transfer our souls to the animatronics to achieve immortality!

Arthur: You know, that actually explains a lot.

(Philippe enters in, who has possessed Arty.)

Philippe: Well, well, well, if it isn't Arthur, how's has it been mon ami? (My friend)

Arthur: Go to Hell you manipulative dirtbag!

Philippe: I think I'd rather...ψ C̴͈͚̍̓́o̶̡͛̏̄̑͘ǹ̸̡͆͝s̴̗͙̄̀̀u̸͍̰͛m̵̧͔̖͕̊̀̾͠͠e̷̼̩̋ ̸̛̻̱̍̂̓́y̴̧͇̻͌́͘ȯ̶̞̹̮͑͂ͅu̶̬̱̎̐̍̂!̵̬̅!̵̬͋̂̓͘!̶͈͍͉̄̉͋͛̏ ⛥

Arthur: What!?

Philippe: ⛥ C̶̜͒ǫ̵̗̩͇͋̿̓ṃ̷́̏ḙ̷̄͐͆̕͠ ̶͔̭͈͔͐͘͝ḩ̵̠̿̈̎̈̓ḙ̵̢͍͠r̵̤̖͑̅̽ȅ̸̡̪̝̜́͌͝,̸͇̭̪͗̋̈̓̒͜ ̶̮̑̂̕y̶̬̒̔͌̔o̴͈͋͐̈̋̑ũ̷̜͐̚ͅ ̷͙͈͔̇͗͘͜ṱ̸͓̀͛a̸̩̦̹̓͑͝ș̷̟̈ṱ̵̂͊̅̊̕y̸̢͇͌̔̏̈̚ ̸̡̧̓̃s̶͍̏̋̋͝ơ̸͉̹̓̅̚ú̷̧̝̼̼͔́ľ̷̺̠̰̐!̴̹̪̠̋͝ ψ

(Arty tries to consume Arthur and he gets the Hell out of there with Carlos and the kids following him.)

Mateo: Well I guess I'm alone, I don't want to eat my brother any. I draw the line at family.

(Mateo realizes that Philippe could end up eating Carlos too.)

Mateo: Arty, don't you dare eat my brother because even I care about him just as much as my weak and pathetic split personality!

(After running into a multi pathed hallway, the kids get separated from both Carlos and Arthur, who went into the animatronic storage room.)

Arthur: What are we gonna do before Philippe finds us?

(Carlos stares at the animatronics and realizes that there's only one option.)

Carlos: I think we have no choice but to transfer our souls into the robots as well.

Arthur: Are you serious!?

Carlos: They can only consume us if we're stray souls, that's why Philippe went after us and not the kids. I'll go first.

(Carlos transfer his soul into El Chip.)

Carlos: I'm perfectly safe from the killers, now it's your turn.

Arthur: Okay...

(Arthur tries to decide on which animatronic to possess until Philippe started to open the door and he just possessed Monty because he was the closest robot to him.)

Philippe: I̶̯͚͇͠'̴͙̻͓̹̻̿̂́͘v̷̩͕̦̞̳̂͊͗͂̔ẽ̵̘̻̄́̃̊ ̴̹̖̯̝̆͜f̴̹̭̲̈͐õ̷͙͘u̸͇͂̋̓̅n̸̢̄͋d̴̨̘͇̈́͋̈̀ ̸̯̬̒̃̾͒̀ȳ̵̜̔̄̔o̴̮̤̼͋̀̈́̈́͝ū̴̡͇͚̳̘- huh!?

(Philippe sees that Carlos and Arthur have already connected their souls to some animatronics.)

Philippe: Oh come on, I wanted to know what stray soul tasted like!

(Mateo rushes in the room.)

Mateo: I won't let you eat my brother!

Philippe: Mateo, wait!

(Mateo tackles him and sees that his brother is safe in an animatronic.)

Mateo: Oh hello, brother.

Carlos: Hola, brother.

Carlos: (At least he still cares about me in this state.)

Philippe: Get off of me!

Mateo: Sorry...

(Mateo gets off of Philippe, even if he didn't want to.)

Mateo: By the way, we go by our animatronic names now, (flirtatious tone) isn't that right Arty?

Arty: Shut up, Tito!

#willy's wonderland #tito turtle #arty alligator #Fnaf #freddy fazbear #bonnie the bunny #chica the chicken #Foxy the fox #el chip #fnaf monty #alternate universe

[sol-falloutblog]

Going off my last tags I, personally, always had a problem with Boones character. Mainly because of how he was written to handle Carla when she was captured though but now after thinking more on the info we are given of Carla, Boone, & their relationship I dislike him for even more reasons.

I never really thought more about Boones & Carla's relationship before now though because I didn't really see a point especially since many others in the fandom wouldn't and wouldn't bother to question why the writers had to write it this way and just accepting Boones side of things. They, the writers & fandom, excuse Boones actions as being the only option he had, that it was a mercy killing but... is that REALLY what Carla would have wanted (skipping over the fact that the writers could have just completely omitted a story about a woman being sold off to slavers & then killed by her husband)?

We don't know, and while some might assume Boone would have known what she wanted in this situation because she was his wife but... can anyone really argue that? Carla was unhappy in Novac, and Boone never really seems to acknowledge this to us, even says they were fine and Manny reveals to us they weren't and were fighting a lot. Does this seem like a man who knows what his wife actually wanted or even willing to acknowledge his wife had other needs to begin with? I said their relationship seemed one-sided before for a reason.

And, Boone benefits from their relationship, regardless of if he is a good husband or not. I say this because what little we hear about her it only seems to be things that benefit him. Her being a talkative person helped keep him from thinking about his past, it doesn't actually fix anything but for him it's better than actually working on his problems. Even though he doesn't acknowledge they were fighting, the fighting still benefits him though the way her talking did, fighting still keeps him from thinking about his past.

And honestly... him not acknowledging them fighting could possibly be evidence that he really did just see her as nothing more then a beneficial object. Look, just stay with me here, I say this because Boone doesn't even acknowledge there were issues between them and I get not wanting to reveal that to us/ a stranger and with Boone being a emotionally constipated man him not disclosing this info makes more sense with that BUT even after we get to know him he never once acknowledges this.

We even get him rationalizing him murdering her, ignoring the surface excuse that she was captured & he couldn't save her, by saying that "It was gonna be something. If I'd never met Carla, it would've been something else. I should've never gotten close to her. I've got bad things coming to me. You'd better keep your distance, too." Not only does he make her death about him but he also minimizes it, him murdering her means nothing because she was going to die eventually even though most wastelanders already know death is more of a guarantee then life is because its the fucking wasteland full of radiation, mutated beasts, powder gangers, legionnaires, etc so his whole "Ive done bad things so I got shit coming to me," doesn't really work that well as an excuse.

I do want to clarify though that I'm only going off of wiki entries, I haven't played the game in a while so I acknowledge I could be missing some info or something.

[thyandrawrites]

How did Touya survive the fire?

This has been on my mind for a while, especially due to a fanfic I read called "the worth of your son" on AO3.

Touya is not fire resistant, he is ice resistant, and the flames he produced were over 2000 degrees which is hotter than lava. No human could have survived that. And even if he did, Touya would have been in too much pain to move (as the fic highlights).

The only logical reason I can think of is that someone must have saved him? Because on his own and with the damage done he would have died.

P.S. In relation to the fire, I recently had a small theory that the people Dabi killed were there that night because Enji never said he was the only victim. Also, please don't think of me as a stan for this but, Dabi killing 30 random people seems a bit out of character since he does everything for a reason. That's just me though.

It hasn't yet been explained how Touya survived the fire! Though I expect that to be shown in a flashback at some point, since there's still a ten years gap between Touya's "death" and Dabi's first appearance. I've seen some fics speculate that he might've found a river to cool himself off and put out the flames, but so far it's still a mystery.

Personally, I always thought that it made a lot of sense for Ujiko to be interested in Touya's quirk. Let's just say that I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Ujiko was involved in Touya's backstory somehow (either as the pediatrician/quirk specialist shown in the flashbacks or as someone who "rescued" him after Sekoto hill). But I have to admit that the longer the manga goes on, the less this theory seems to have a basis in canon (it was already a sort of conspiracy theory to begin with lol). If Ujiko had played a role in this, I feel like that should've already come up in the story before his arrest. Horikoshi's pacing has been suffering a lot in recent arcs, but now that the story's gearing up for the final arc, a reveal like this one would feel out of place and kinda detract from the Todofam one (though if played correctly it could've worked well — especially with all the paralleling between Ujiko and Endvr as eugenics dabblers and all that visual hyping of their face-off at the beginning of the war arc that... basically led nowhere)

but I'm rambling. Point is, I think Horikoshi is saving the reveal of how exactly Touya survived the fire for the final Todofam confrontation. I... don't know where I stand on this anymore. On the one hand, I think that, realistically speaking, Touya must've gotten external help with the kind of wounds he sustained. On the other hand, realism has never been Horikoshi's forte and I can also see it going "and then Touya walked away on his two feet and patched himself up". The latter option does seem to be confirmed by how... medically inefficient his staples placing is. It looks more like something he might've done himself than the work of a medical professional, imho. I guess we'll only know the truth once Horikoshi decides to show us.

As for the 30-something victims... I do think he killed them and I don't reckon that's out of character for him. As you said, Dabi's not the type to kill without a reason, but he also has a lot of unaddressed trauma that resurfaces in odd and sometimes uncomfortable ways. If you're interested, I discussed my thoughts on his "reasons" to kill those lowlives in an alleyway in this post. The short version is that Dabi still has a complex about being perceived as "weak" or "lesser than". Since he subconsciously internalized his father's lesson on "strength", what he ends up doing is emulating Endvr's violence and toxic perception of people's worthiness as something that can be weighted on a scale of "usefulness" to his goals.

Adding to this, Dabi's violence (and the murders) seem to be written as a response to a specific trauma trigger.

—bear with me for a sec—

It's certainly true that we don't know when he killed all those people. Some, like yourself, speculated that it might've happened during the incident of his "death", and the fact that the entire hill caught fire makes that a possible explanation.

However, I find it interesting to note that from his introduction up until Endvr becomes number one, Dabi's shown to be one of the tamest members of the League. He has no prior criminal record, no stated history of murdering people (when all his colleagues except regular guy Spinner did). Even when he leads a mission at training camp and had a whole noumu who obeyed his commands, he specifically came up with a strategy that involved as little fighting as possible and that killed none of the pros (or students) involved.

Interestingly, then, his first murder (shown on screen) happens when his father becomes number one. Quoting from this post,

Dabi’s case is interesting because his violent radicalization is not the result of Stain’s influence, but Endeavor’s. Canon went extra out of the way to make it clear that this was Dabi’s first kill. Before this moment, he wasn’t a murderer. So get this: Endeavor made it in the news as the new symbol of peace, rousing people’s anxieties but not enough for anyone to question his hero status. Within the same chapter, Dabi starts roasting people to a crisp. Later making the news himself for it. … Get it? … As a murderer who uses fire to burn people to a crisp. It’s almost like he’s trying to say something.

In other words, Dabi started killing for two reasons, both relating to his trauma: 1) his abusive dad crowned his dream of becoming number one, despite the fact that he's still a corrupted hero. Hence, Dabi's (not entirely lucid) resolution to ruin his career and make himself be seen again by his father by any means necessary (including becoming a known criminal by using extreme violence) and 2) His father reached number one without needing him, hence Dabi's need to prove his "strength", and those poor lowlives' premature departure

#ali replies #bnha #my post #meta:dabi #oops I pressed a keyboard key and this posted before I was finished typing #sorry if you read before I got the chance to edit it

[fillingthescrapbook]

Rewriting The CW's Kung Fu, Part 6: Act II

We're nearly to the end, but if you're somehow seeing this before any of the previous posts, you can find them here:

Part 1: The Characters

Part 2: The Pilot

Part 3: The Mythology

Part 4: The Story Map

Part 5: Act I

If you've read all that, I am hoping that you've gotten to know Nicky enough that you're willing to ride along for the next part of her journey. Because we're going to the territory that the show actually covered (with a few rewrites, of course): the hunt for the mystical weapons.

Episode 6: Bond

We start this episode with Nicky reeling over two revelations: one, that Althea is a survivor of sexual harassment, and two, that Zhi-Lan is her dead mentor's sister. But she's going to focus first on what's more important: her own family. Nicky tells Althea that she will be there to support her whatever Althea decides to do. Althea admits that she doesn't know yet--

When Dennis tells Althea that his family's been invited to a gala at the museum for a loaned Chinese exhibit, Althea also finds out that her former boss at Cloudrush Capital will be in attendance--as a donor. Althea asks Nicky and Ryan to come with her for support--but Ryan has hospital duties. So Nicky asks Henry to accompany them instead.

At the house, Ryan can feel that there's tension between him and Mei-Li. He thinks it's because he's gay--until he realizes that his parents don't actually know that he had come out when he stood with Joe (in the last episode). Ryan explains to Jin and Mei-Li that the reason he only had one girlfriend, who quickly dumped him, is because he is gay. Jin and Mei-Li are speechless. Mei-Li walks out, uncertain of how to act. Jin, trying and failing to be supportive, just taps Ryan on the shoulder.

At the museum, Henry recognizes one of the weapons on display. It's one of the eight mystical weapons. But when he is about to point it out to Nicky, the latter had already left him. Because Nicky spotted Zhi-Lan at the gala. She is about to follow Zhi-Lan when she sees Althea having a panic attack upon seeing her former boss. Nicky weighs her options, but chooses to stay with Althea instead.

With Althea calmed down, Nicky tells Henry that Zhi-Lan is at the gala. Henry figures out that Zhi-Lan is there for the weapon, explaining to Nicky that one of the eight fabled weapons that he mentioned to her before is part of the loaned exhibit. He takes her to the still-closed exhibit--and they catch two crooks trying to steal the weapon. They get into a fight with the crooks. They win. But when they turn to the display case, the weapon is gone.

Nicky sees Zhi-Lan making her way out of the museum. In a hurry. Nicky chases after her. The get into a fight and Nicky is holding her own against Zhi-Lan, thanks to her different training with Henry. But something is holding her back: her need to understand how Zhi-Lan could kill Pei-Ling. Which she asks Zhi-Lan point blank during a stand-off. Zhi-Lan is taken aback for a second before quickly recovering, saying she lost her sister when she was a kid. That the woman she killed at the monastery was of no relation to her. Zhi-Lan manages to knock Nicky down before getting away. Henry and Althea find Nicky and get her home.

Althea and Henry bring Nicky to the community center where Ryan is cleaning her wounds. Nicky explains that the woman she fought with was the woman who killed her mentor at the monastery. Henry explains that the woman, Zhi-Lan, is probably collecting the eight mystical weapons from folklore. According to legend, bringing the eight together and taking them back to where they were forged would grant the collector untold power. Nicky whispers, "Bian-Ge." Althea frowns. "Change?" Ryan is concerned. "Transformation." But Nicky doubts that that Zhi-Lan can find all eight weapons soon. It took her three years before she found the longsword, and she probably only lucked out with her second weapon because it was included in the exhibit advertisement. Nicky is more worried about Althea.

Nicky remembers a memory of her time at the monastery, when Pei-Ling told her about important decisions having a lot of weight. How she lost people she loved because she chose to honor what she believed is right. In the memory, Pei-Ling tells Nicky that time has a way of giving them clarity on what they should've done. But during a moment of crisis, all they can do is trust that their heart is in the right place.

In the present time, Althea tells Nicky that she doesn't think she has the courage to speak up. Not yet. Nicky understands. They all have their own pace when it comes to dealing with problems. She ran away for three years. Althea notes that Nicky is back now, that she's facing her problems now. Nicky hugs her sister, saying: "and you will face your problems too. When you're ready."

Nicky and Henry are targeted by the goons they fought at the museum. They think the two have the weapon that was stolen from the museum. Nicky and Henry get into another fight with the goons. This time, when they defeat the goons, Nicky calls Evan for police help.

Althea talks to her former colleague who wants to speak up against their ex-boss. Althea apologizes and says she cannot come out. Not right now. But she is willing to talk to whoever she needs to talk to. Under anonymity. To save those they can still save. The woman thanks Althea.

At the house, Ryan tells Nicky that he's moving out of the house. Nicky apologizes for not being there when he came out to their parents. Ryan tells Nicky that he didn't need her there after all. But he will need her moving forward. To watch over their parents with him out of the house, to keep him updated, and to still be there for him when he calls. Nicky promises. They hug. Ryan leaves.

Jin sees Mei-Li pulling out an old shoe box. Something he hasn't seen in years. It contains an old photo of Mei-Li...with her sister Mei-Xue. She tells Jin that she swore she wouldn't be like her mother. But why does it feel like she's doing what her mother had done too? Pushing her own children away?

Evan visits Nicky at Happy Dumplings to talk about the goons she and Henry stopped at the museum. Nicky tells Evan that she knows who the goons are working for "Zhang Zhi-Lan." Nicky reminds Evan that he was the one with the info on her connection with the Triad. Evan shakes his head, telling Nicky that they were bailed out by a business owned by a Raymond Tan. This makes Nicky think. Is there another party interested in the weapons?

We will have a mini-reveal here of Henry's apartment. It has a map of the world with markings. Photos of the eight weapons that have strings tying them to locations where they have been sighted. It seems that Henry is keeping a secret from Nicky.

Episode 7: Rage

In this episode, Nicky and Henry work together when one of Henry's students at the community center ask for their help. A friend of his has gotten involved with a dojo that cons their trainees into taking part in an underground fight club. The student shows them footage of the fight, which is a bloody affair, and Henry spots a pair of deer-horn knives in the decor that he tells Nicky later are among the mystical weapons.

Henry's first course of action is to go straight for the source--only to get injured by the guy in charge of the dojo. This leaves Nicky as their only viable way to get into the fight club.

Throughout the course of the story, Nicky remembers moments from the monastery where Pei-Ling teaches her how to use an opponent's emotions against them. Even sharing a story where a loved one got the better of her because she felt overwhelming concern while they were sparring. This is what Nicky will use to win the fight.

To get into the fight club, Nicky borrows money from Althea--which Dennis finds out about. When Nicky explains what's going on, Dennis is all in with helping out, saying he believes in helping the helpless--even when they look like they can take him down. Which gives Althea the idea that Dennis might be okay knowing her secret too. Ryan's in charge of putting first aid on Nicky afterwards, to keep her crime-fighting life a secret from their parents.

Meanwhile, Evan tries to investigate Raymond Tan, wanting to know why a business of his is employing thugs and goons. He gets caught by Raymond's son, Kerwin, who becomes curious about his father's non-business affairs.

Jin tries to reach out to Ryan, apologizing for his and Mei-Li's non-reactions to his coming out. While Ryan is appreciative, he doesn't want to move back in. He's better now, living with Joe.

At Althea's apartment, Ryan and Dennis have set up a laptop to find out what's going on at the fight club. They root for Nicky to go through a tournament so she could face off with the underground operation's main boss.

While Nicky is fighting, Henry goes about a second operation--to take the deer-horn knives from the dojo. In the ring, Nicky imagines Pei-Ling beside her. Cheering her on while she faces different people with different strengths. Telling her that the strengths and weaknesses are both important--because one person's weakness can also be used as their own strength, like how Nicky's small build can allow her to hit lower or drive more power in her hits.

At Althea's apartment, Mei-Li visits wanting her daughter to help with getting Ryan to move back in. Only to catch the livestream of Nicky's fight. Seeing Nicky in action. This makes Mei-Li back away and run. Althea and Ryan become worried.

When Althea and Dennis are left alone, Althea decides to tell Dennis about her experience at Cloudrush. At first Dennis is angry, he wants to strangle Althea's ex-boss himself. But after calming down, Dennis tells Althea that her secret doesn't change the way he feels about her.

The episode ends with Nicky winning the tournament. Henry getting the knives--and evidence that would help shut down the dojo front of the fight ring, preventing them from recruiting more fighters. But when Nicky gets home, Mei-Li is waiting for her. "I saw what you did. At that martial arts tournament." Nicky is perturbed. "That's not the life I wanted for you. But I feel like I pushed you into doing that. Like I pushed your brother into leaving our house. I don't want to push my children away, Nicky. So I'm no longer going to meddle in your lives. Go back to who you wanted to be before I sent you on that arranged-marriage trip three years ago. Get back together with Evan. Go back to law school. Just, please: stop fighting." This leaves Nicky speechless.

Episode 8: Silence

Happy Dumplings is in trouble. A lawsuit has been filed against the restaurant for discriminating against disabled people. Nicky is immediately able to prove that it's a fraudulent lawsuit designed to shakedown store owners who can't speak in English fluently--but unlike Happy Dumplings, other Chinese businesses in the neighborhood don't have former law school students under their roofs.

Mei-Li encourages Nicky to work with Evan to find out out what's going on with the fraudulent lawsuits, hoping that it will keep Nicky out of the warrior way. Jin confronts his wife with regards to her pushing Nicky towards Evan, when Henry is already helping their daughter move on. Mei-Li tells Jin the truth: she saw Nicky fighting people to save someone. She's scared for their daughter. Jin is confused. What's wrong with having a daughter who knows and is willing to defend others? Mei-Li decides to tell Jin the truth. (Off-screen, because there's a revelation--and it helps story-wise if we find out about it with the main character.)

While Nicky and Evan are busy canvassing the businesses in Chinatown that have received a lawsuit, they get assistance from Ryan and Joe--the latter of whom is working with the San Francisco Disability and Aging Services. None of the lawsuits can stand in court, but some of the business owners have already paid up, wanting to keep their head down and not rock the boat. Nicky and Evan trace the lawsuits back to Triad connections. Evan tells Nicky they need to get the police involved. Nicky, angry at Asians knocking down other Asians, thinks it's time to take measures into their own hands.

With Nicky busy with the fraudulent lawsuits, Henry heads back to Professor Chau's office to find out why he hasn't heard back. He learns that the professor still hasn't returned--so he breaks into the office to take a manuscript that was on loan to the professor. While inside the office, he finds a puzzle box that has a connection to the mystical weapons. He takes it too.

Meanwhile, Althea is roped into a family dinner night with Dennis's family. The dinner gets awkward when Dennis's father brings up the news about Althea's co-worker speaking up about sexual harassment in Cloudrush. Dennis is about to stand up for Althea's co-worker when his mother says the woman is probably just trying to shakedown the boss into giving her money or a higher position. Althea defends her co-worker. Dennis and his sister Chloe sides with Althea. But Mr and Mrs Soong tell them that they're just idealistic. They've had experience with people who use social justice just to get a leg up in the business. That not every victim is a real victim. This forces Althea to speak her truth. That she was a victim too. She just didn't want to say anything because she feared people won't believe her. And she feared right. She walks out. Dennis follows her against his parents' wishes.

Nicky almost gets in trouble with the Triad, but Evan is there to back her up. He tells her that he will lose his job if they find out what he's doing, and Nicky says that they're helping people--what's wrong with that? They discover that the Triad is now being run by the former boss's son, with the previous head still being in prison. Nicky wants to know why they're shaking down the Asian business owners. The new boss reasons that those business owners benefited from his father's protection for many years--and they turn their back on him when he needed them the most. Nicky tells him that his dad is a jerk who took advantage of people. "And you're worse because you're using important fights to your own gains--which makes it harder for people who are legitimately fighting for their rights to be heard." Nicky lays the smack down on the new boss of the Triad and his men. Evan points to Nicky everything the police will need to shut down the new Triad operations because he has to leave before the cavalry arrives.

Nicky, Althea, and Ryan get together to compare their days. Althea tells her siblings that Dennis's family now knows about her secret. And Dennis is standing by her. But she doesn't know if she has the courage to actually go public with the truth. Ryan breaks the news that he's going to be living on his own for the first time ever, as Joe has accepted a gig that would take him out of San Francisco for a month, because of the work they had done against the fraudulent lawsuits. And Nicky tells them how easy it was for her and Evan to return to their groove. Which makes her a little torn now, because she thinks she has feelings for Henry...but she still has feelings for Evan too.

At the district attorney's office, Evan gets a visit from Sabine. She shows him CCTV footage of Henry breaking into Professor Chau's office. She tells Evan that she's worried that Nicky might have fallen in with the wrong crowd.

And at the end of the episode, Henry brings the puzzle box he stole to Nicky. Nicky recognizes it as having the same puzzle as Pei-Ling's safe at the monastery. She opens the box. There's a jade key inside. And this is when Mei-Li and Jin arrive. Jin tells Nicky that Mei-Li has something important to tell her. Mei-Li sees the jade key in Henry's hand and tells him that he might as well hear what she has to say too. Their family comes from a lineage believed to be descended from a great warrior called Liang Dai-Yu. Mei-Li turns to Nicky: this belief already cost her a sister. She doesn't want to lose a daughter too. She pleads with Nicky; "you can build the life you want, and I won't argue. But please don't follow in my sister's footsteps. Please don't follow the warrior's destiny."

Episode 9: Isolation

In the last episode of this arc, Nicky wants to find out what happened to the aunt she never knew about. Mei-Li gives her all of Mei-Xue's letters and postcards, and notes that the last postcard came twenty-one years ago. Looking at the postcard, Nicky sees an odd red panda mascot. She searches for it on the internet with Althea's help, and they find out that it's in Canada. In a small town near Vancouver. Nicky invites Henry to go with her to look for Mei-Xue. Mei-Li wants to stop Nicky, but Jin tells her that they have to let Nicky see this through. Maybe meeting Mei-Xue will give her the clarity she needs.

Evan meets with Ryan at the community center, looking for Nicky. Ryan tells him that Nicky and Henry went on a road trip to Canada. Evan is alarmed. Ryan asks if Evan's jealous of Henry. Evan says it's more than that. He believes that Nicky is in jeopardy with Henry. This worries Ryan, so he calls in favors to cover his hospital shifts--as well as his shifts at the community center. He and Evan leave to follow Nicky to Canada.

While on the road, Henry takes Nicky to an old friend--who turns out to be a very sketchy person. Nicky begins to see Henry in a new light, and not a good one. When the old friend sells them out to someone who has it in for Henry, he and Nicky have to fight to get out of there. Henry apologizes to Nicky, and he starts to open up about his past.

Meanwhile, Althea gets targeted by the lawyers of Cloudrush Capital. They want her to sign a non-disclosure agreement for everything that happened to her at the company. Althea refuses. They threaten her career. Althea refuses to sign. This makes her want to stand up against her former boss even more. But first she needs to talk to her parents.

In Vancouver, Evan and Ryan are searching for Nicky. Mei-Li tells them that Nicky was looking for a small town with a red racoon mascot. Evan and Ryan drive towards the only town they could find on Google with red panda mascot and sees that Nicky and Henry have just arrived. Evan is about to accost Henry when Nicky sees the red panda statue from her aunt's last postcard.

After a bit of asking around, Nicky finds Duke--the artist who sculpted the Red Panda--and finds out that he knows Mei-Xue. Duke invites Nicky and Ryan out back to talk about Mei-Xue, leaving Evan and Henry alone. Evan quickly accuses Henry of not being true to Nicky. He shows Henry photos from the cctv footage that caught Henry stealing from Professor Chau's office. Henry tells Evan he can explain. When Nicky returns. But when they realize that they can't hear Nicky, Ryan, or Duke anymore, the two quickly head to the back of the Duke's house--but there's no one there.

Nicky and Ryan are following Duke on a trail. When they reach a certain area, Duke turns against them. He says that Mei-Xue told him that there would be people after her. Duke promised Mei-Xue that he will keep her safe. Nicky and Ryan explain that they really are Mei-Xue's niece and nephew. Nicky even shows the postcard. But Duke doesn't want to believe them. Until Nicky calls Mei-Li, to asks her to talk to Duke. Which finally makes Duke believe. He tells Nicky that he's no longer welcome at Mei-Xue's house, but if they follows his map--they will find what they're looking for.

At home, Althea has already told her parents about what she had gone through Cloudrush Capital. Mei-Li wants to know what Althea wants them to do. She tells them that there's nothing they can do, that they have already done everything she could ever want or need: because they love her and believe her. She just wanted them to know what she had gone through before she goes public. Jin and Mei-Li hug their daughter.

Nicky and Ryan reach Mei-Xue's house, but it's abandoned. There are clear signs of someone recently fleeing the scene though. Nicky finds journals in the house. She takes photos of the pages. She is about to leave when Ryan finds a photo of Mei-Xue and Mei-Li with their own parents. Ryan recognizes their Wai-gong and Wai-po. Nicky hears something from the back and exits through the kitchen--to find that there's a grave in the yard. A grave with Mei-Xue's face. Nicky calls Mei-Li. "Mom, I've got bad news." Inside the house, Ryan finds a long box that has inscription. "Duke, send this to Mei-Li if something happens to me."

At the end of the episode, Nicky and Ryan reunite with Evan and Henry, apologizing for setting off on their own. Evan then tells them that Henry has something important to say. Henry sighs and comes clean to Nicky: His father was a guardian of one of the eight weapons. He's been helping Nicky because it is his duty to keep the weapons, at least the one that his family was supposed to keep safe, separate from the others.

#Kung Fu CW #tv talk #my words

[galaxiasus-a]

otomates said: "I'm sorry I waited so long." Raihan's smile, uncharacteristically self-deprecating, wanes as he stares down at their hands, fingers laced through in a loose hold between them. He shifts so that he isn't fully facing Piers, but pulls his hand with him so that he's holding it against his chest, staring up at the ceiling. "To apologize for being a arsehole, I mean. We both know it's always been there." He closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh. "It should've come before I told you I loved you."

↪ SELECT: Unprompted ( @selfietake​ )

His apologies was met with silence. Piers wasn’t looking at him, doesn’t stir when Raihan shifts and takes his hand in his. He was staring staring at one spot of the fabric of his blanket, eyes shifting from one to another as he allowed Raihan’s words to really sink in. He had already gotten emotional the last time they had this conversation, where the first ‘I’m sorry’ came out. He shed his tears then, he doubts he has anymore, but the pool that started to form in his eyes said something different. 

It should've come before I told you I loved you. Raihan’s attitude runs deeper than his snarky behavior and phone addiction, like Pier’s own went deeper than being the lonely goth kid hiding in the corner of the region. He knew this, far before Raihan got into the habit of telling him he loves him more than once a day. “Maybe it should’ve.” He mumbled, his voice flat as he raises a hand to wipe the corner of his eyes with his palm. 

He remembers back then, how at his core, Raihan was nothing more than an arrogant man who spoke pedestals above others. How he clearly needed to be put into his place, something Leon thankfully didn’t hesitate to do just that. 

“...It did hurt.” Especially when he was already an outcast at the time. A style that was unpar with anyone in Galar; both in terms of clothing and in battling. Despite him being one of the more powerful gym leaders, himself and his ‘gym’ in its entirety was not generally favored by anyone else. He’s sure his personality didn’t help with his already struggling reputation; his music was more of a saving grace to hide the fact he was the more quiet of the gym leaders, the one who didn’t stick too long during the afterparties. The one people only could describe him as ‘shady.’

Piers knew everything that was said. The subtle insults, the whispers that questioned why he was even considered part of Galar’s history every time he walked past, the reminders that he could never be what everyone else. Someone that legitimately mattered. 

Of all the people that was a ball of it all, the one who had to put it in front of his face every time he was brought up in one of his special interviews, it was Raihan. Anything Piers heard strangers say about him, Raihan was the one who repeated it, whether it was in a way that was worse than what they said or not.

Piers finally blinks up at him. He notices Raihan’s changed expression, as if he didn’t expect to hear that Piers knew his old intentions for doing what he did. Piers was quick to give a reassuring smile, leaning up to leave a small kiss on the corner of Raihan’s lips. “It doesn’t as much anymore.” He promises, freeing his hand and taking one of Raihan’s instead, putting the dragon user’s palm again Piers’ cheek so he can rest his head. “I got used to it.”

Just like how he knew of people gossiping behind his back, he knew that he used to not be favorite on Raihan’s list. He took quick notice that he preferred to be in a different room than him, the displeasured look in his eyes whenever they were forced to work together for one thing or another. Granted, that was his default attitude when it came to the other gym leaders as well, but in Piers’ eyes it seemed to be a lot worse for him. Raihan never spoke proudly of Spikemuth, much less to be placed in the rank right above Piers. He never had pleasant things to say about him, about anyone else, about how he doesn’t follow tradition in Dynamaxing his own Pokemon. He remembers Raihan admitting he thought he was annoying, and Arceus knows Piers picked up that fact the moment they laid eyes on each other. 

At some point, it stopped being something to be hurt over. After this sort of treatment from everyone, the treatment that still continued even now, it became more something he put into his daily life. The taunts and looks were things he had to force himself to not care about. The easiest way to accomplish this was simply to avoid. To not spend too much time around people more than he was required to do. It became his usual routine, to simply not care anymore, to not look at Raihan whenever he tried to get his attention and to do his own thing. His more important goal was to keep Spikemuth from sinking, to do what he could to prove to himself and to others that he was capable of taking care of himself and saving his name. If it was something he had to do alone, to keep Marnie away from the talk he had to face, then so be it.

“For the longest time, I thought you hated me.” Much longer than it should have been. “Even during… the almost two years you say you had feelings for me, I thought you hated me. I had already accepted that I wasn’t going to be anything more than competition, and now I had to deal with you stopping to say hi to me in the lobby?” He snorts, tilting his head just slightly to kiss Raihan’s palm to show he was only half joking. It certainly was a surprising change in his eyes at least. To go from someone that had talked big and stayed big for so long, to now the man who tried to act like a friend you can joke with whenever they got any sort of break. “I feel kind of bad, honestly. For ignoring you for as long as I did. For not saying hi back whenever you tried to make small talk with me. I simply thought it was near impossible for you to like me, much less see me as someone you wanted to spend time with. I’ll be honest, I thought you were trying to be nice out of pity for me. And then…” He genuinely laughs now, a small smile as he thinks back fondly at the memory. “You.. stopped mid interview because you saw me. You just stepped away from the spotlight.. Because you wanted to talk to me.”

He pauses, letting go of Raihan’s hand when he felt his hair getting tugged. Turning around, he saw the Deino attempting to make trouble again, her blindness proving to not be in her favor when the only way she could find her trainer was by biting into his long hair. “I guess in that moment is when I realized you really were trying to make peace.” He continues, shifting so he could pick up the gifted Pokemon and place her securely in his lap. Already she was trying to find things to put in her jaws by snapping at the air, Piers’ only option was to finish what he wanted to say in a hushed voice so he could keep the Deino calm. 

“I gave you a chance after that. Because I saw you were trying, and there was something.. different about you. I guess those beat downs from Leon really proved to do their job, hm?” He teases, watching the Deino make herself comfortable by curling up in his lap. “I never wanted to bring up how you used to treat me, never really felt like asking why the sudden change happened, simply because it was things I wanted to put behind me now that you were genuinely making the change, and… well, because I didn’t see the point to it. I didn’t care for it anymore, sad to say or not; there was never a revenge plan. Never something to use for blackmail. I figured maybe the both of us wanted to ignore it ever happened.”

He says it, yet knows of the inner turmoil he felt during that time. He can’t fully blame Raihan for it, not when there was some percentage of it remaining because of current different factors. It was easier for him to say that he wanted to ignore that it ever happened, but as his bright eyes darkened the more he spoke showed that his past self held a stone in his heart that was hard to explain.

He thought back to that day. The usual routine of having to wait in the sidelines, the gym leaders’ losses not in full vain as a gym challenger made their way towards fighting the most powerful trainer in the whole region. It was going to be a normal fight, until Raihan for some reason stepped into the field. Where he declared his love, he later learns that its more than a year’s worth, for Piers in front of Galar in a way that was impossible to fly over his head.

Much to everyone’s surprise, he accepted his confession that day.

He doesn’t know what he signed up for when he did it. He wasn’t prepared to be the subject of Raihan’s extreme acts of affection. Or to finally be able to sit back and breathe when it came to defending a town he so deeply called home, because there was no need to try and do it on his own anymore. The person that spoke negatively about his gym for so long now became its biggest supporter. The man he never dreamed he would see himself as a friend towards was now the one that held him in his arms almost every night just so he could get some proper sleep. Now he was the one he doesn’t mind kissing in the privacy of his room until too much time has passed. He doesn’t know where the same loving feelings towards him came from, or when those feelings came to be, but… “I guess I liked you back, despite it all, because I saw who you really are. Someone with a heart, someone more than just the popular guy.”

Doing his best to remain careful not to wake the now sleeping Deino, he shifted so he could sit closer to Raihan, enough so he can rest his head against his shoulder. “I knew you were sorry because you said you loved me. I know you’re sorry because you send me good morning letters every day, no matter how much you like to complain about having to write letters just to talk to me. Everything you’ve done for me… the fact you still want to be with me, from you treating Marnie with respect and from you being the loudest out of all my Team Yell members whenever I have a match with a trainer, that's what I saw as your apologies for everything you did. I already knew. I already felt better about anything and everything because I’m around you.. You finally doing this, it just makes me find more reasons to love you.” He trails off, his hand holding onto Raihan’s as his thumb drew circles at the back of his hand. He can’t remember the last time he had been this open, Arceus knew even Marnie doesn’t know half of the things he had just admitted, but he’s grateful that he was talking to him. “I waited a long time to hear those words, Raihan, not just because I wanted to see you own up to it, but also simply so it gives me a reason to say… I forgive you.”

He lets out a soft sigh, sitting up so he could fumble with gifted scrunchies and undo the mess that was his hair, casually getting ready to turn in for the night. They had a long history together, one that wasn’t filled with many happy memories as one would assume. He can only hope having this conversation reassured Raihan enough, that he held no ill will against him for everything he had done. More than anything right now, Piers simply wanted to make more memories with him. Memories with the two of them as a couple, that he can look back on years from now and smile over it.

With the peaceful Deino now nudged off his lap and onto her corner of the bed, he gently places his hand on the side of Raihan’s face and turns him so he can fully look at him. He stares at him for a brief moment, only to lean in for the kiss he’s been dying for the entire time. It was his usual softer one’s compared to the ones Raihan loved to deliver, breaking away so he could nuzzle into the side of his neck. “You’re not the guy I want to avoid anymore, my beloved, now you’re a person I don’t want to live without.”

#long post / #i am NOT making an icon for this fuck THAT #IM TIRED #ITS 1AM AND ITS 2.3K WORDS I AM ////DONE/// #DONT EVER! ASK ME! FOR ANYTHING! AGAIN #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #anyways enjoy some lore #selfietake #[ DARKDRAGONS | raihan/piers. ✦ tell me everyday I get to wake up to that smile ] #[ * PIERS. ↳ he's the one who likes all our pretty songs ] #i wanna go home

[jleighwrites]

Through the Looking Glass [Unedited]

Quen inspected himself in the glowing mirror, knowing that the reflection was truly his own. He stood at 5 foot 8; a bit short, but he didn't mind. His ochre skin was clear and his hair was cut into a clean blowout. Apparently that was popular back in the 20's. His amber-colored eyes gleamed back at him, tarnished only by the dark circles underneath. Many of his acquaintances had gotten rid of theirs, but he liked how it made him feel human. 

When he was finished getting ready for the day, he stepped into the hall and made his way to one of his family's augmented reality chambers, or ARCs for short. When he reached the door, he took out his personal ID and held it in front of a small screen next to the door. It beeped once before flickering to life.

"Quenton Jarod Harris, Junior attending Paulson R. Stewart High. Would you like to begin Classes for the day?" it asked in a robotic voice.

"Yes," he replied.

"Creating Scenario… Connecting to server… Finalizing… Start-up complete. Have a good day, Quenton Harris."

He swung the door open and was met by a bustling school hallway. Dozens of beautiful faces were chatting with each other, walking past each other, and scrambling to finish assignments that should've been done the night before. He let the door creak shut behind him and it disappeared into the wall. He hadn't taken two steps before the robotic voice was back. 

"Message received. Sender : Juulia Brewer. Would you like to open the message?" Quen let out a heavy breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He regretted having skipped coffee this morning. The system repeated itself, "Would you like to open the message?"

"Yes."

An opaque, digital, blue message box appeared before him. As he walked, it stayed in the same position, phasing through classmates as he went, but they didn't flinch. To be fair, they couldn't even see it on their side.

Morning!! :DDD

In cafeteria.

Meet there??? uwu

Quen rolled his eyes at the emotes. Juuls had an obsession with "Millennial Texting", as she called it. In fact, she was kind of a nerd for it. She was the only one that had taken an interest in that era. American History classes taught them that the first 30 years of the century were dark times, but somehow Juulia managed to find light in them.

He reached out and pressed the X in the top right corner of the message box, causing it to blink away. "Hey, Google?" he called. 

"What can I help with?"

"Teleport me to the Cafeteria."

"Sure. Now teleporting Quenton Harris to the cafeteria."

The noises and sight of the hallway faded into a blue void. Here, it was relaxing. Here, he could breathe easy. And just like that, it was gone. The void transformed into the cafe and the garbled mess of voices was back.

He scanned the faces before him one by one, trying to discern his friend in the sea of Glowing radiance. On the days that he had to use ARC, it was always significantly harder to recognize Juulia. With ever-changing hair colors and styles, vast varieties of makeup, and feature correction, the only way he could tell the difference was when their name appeared in front of them when he met their gaze. 

A girl sitting a few tables down stood up and began to wave her arm around; he didn't have to see her to know it was Juuls. Disregarding the built-in recognition program, the greeting was a dead giveaway. She did this almost every morning, whether in person or through ARC.

He made his way through the crowd, literally. Instead of bumping shoulders with people, their holograms simply phased through him. The chamber, however, did produce realistic copies of inanimate objects. He plopped down on the nanobit replica of a bench at his school's lunch table.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. You literally took forever, lol," Juulia replied. A couple students around the two of them glanced their direction, giving them odd looks.

"Proximity chat," Quen reminded her. He took a moment to adapt to her new look. He assumed that she had been trying to look like one of those 'E-girls' that she was always on about. With neon pink hair, a beanie, and dark makeup, she looked completely different than she did yesterday.

"Oof. They just don't have good taste. The 20's were so… Lit."

"That's new."

"What? Lit? It just means, like, cool, but better."

"You're so weird."

"Pog."

And with that, the bell rang. Immediately, he was sucked back into the loading void briefly before being spit out into his first class of the day. He took his seat as the teacher appeared in the room. She was beautiful and could pass for 25, though she was actually 20 years older.

"Alright everyone, sit down please. Today, we'll be talking about why we're here. We all know that the early years were just about as bad as they could get. But they had some major influence on how things work in modern day."

Juulia would be bouncing off of the walls if she were here right now. Fortunately, she didn't have this class until after lunch. He was spared of her over-enthusiasm for now.

"Did you know that ARC was developed a few years after the events of the Covid 19 pandemic? It took a while, but when it was released to the public it was an instant success. Can you believe they used to hold classes through video chats on a computer?"

A hand in the back went up. The teacher motioned towards the student, urging her to ask her question. "What's a computer?" It seemed that everyone had been wondering the same thing, Quen included, because they all shifted their vision from the student to the teacher.

The teacher chuckled. "It was a large device that used to be kept on desks before technology was integrated into Glass."

"They only had technology on the 'computer'?" another student asked.

"I mean, they had other forms of technology. They had smart watches, smartphones, smart TVs… But most of their time connected to the internet was spent on a computer or on the smartphone, which is what we now call our Shard."

Quen had to admit, everything about the early 21st century was something else. But where it intrigued Juuls, it brought up a bad taste for him. To him, it was just the beginning of the death of authenticity.

After what felt like hours of droning, the class was finally wrapping up. Google's voice broke him from his thoughts. "Message received. Sender : Crystalinne Harris. Message saved for later."

"I've sent an assignment reminder to all of you. Your homework is a 500 word essay on what 'Facebook' was before it created Glass."

He scoffed at the assignment before the next bell rang, whisking him off to his second class. 

When the final bell of the day rang, the low hum enveloping him whirred into silence as ARC powered down. Without the machine running, he stood in a room made up of nanobits. The tiny metal balls made up the walls, floor, ceiling, and even this side of the door. All of them worked to create the illusion of being in an actual school, when in reality, he'd been inside a room no more than 10 feet wide and 10 feet long all day.

He stepped out of the chamber and made his way into the kitchen, where he was met by his mother and father. "How was school today?" She asked. His father pulled a latte from the Keurig and sipped it as he waited for a response.

"It was alright. Just another day," he replied, "Dinner smells good."

"Oh, yeah. They delivered lemon pepper steak and asparagus today. All of our portions are already in the oven."

"That's… Lit," he said, a smug sense of pride flickering within.

"That's funny, son. Haven't heard that since Gran was alive. Get that from, what's her name? Jessica?" 

"Juulia. Yeah." His father's beard was getting shaggy, he noticed. Since he had started using Glass, he had been letting it grow out. Seemingly, it didn't bother him much any more. His father had been adamant about leaving Glass alone for most of his life and had taught him to do the same, but when Grey hairs began to appear, he decided to finally give in.

Honestly, he wasn't surprised. Glass was wildly popular internationally. It had originally been bought out by the American government in 2040, probably for facial tracking, and integrated into every single building since then. It was everywhere. He and his dad were two of only six or seven people that he knew of that didn't use it. But now, he couldn't even say that.

After dinner, he had decided to take a hot shower. The water on his skin felt nice and he let the steam relax his muscles. When he finished, he dried off and wrapped his towel around his waist. Stepping in front of the mirror, a pleasant chime sounded.

"Glass activated," a voice with a programmed British accent sounded through the surrounding speakers. The edges of the mirror lit with a white backlight and menus appeared on the screen in glowing, white letters. A box formed around his face, his name appearing above it. "User : Quenton Harris detected. Set nickname : Quen."

He began to comb his hair into place when the voice rang out, "Quen, would you like to use the Autofix function?" A white bar highlighted the "Autofix" option on the menu. 

"No," He replied sternly. 

He finished with his hair and quickly brushed his teeth. When he smiled so that he could check them, the voice came again, "Light enamel stains detected. Would you like to use the Autofix function?"

"No."

It was irritating to hear it trying to coerce him into using it, knowing that it used that method to get so many people addicted to it. He simply shook his head. That's how it starts. A quick fix here, a minor upgrade there…

He pulled on a sleep shirt and some sweatpants, tossed his towel into the laundry chute, and headed for his room. He needed to write his essay and get some rest for the next day. It would be Tuesday, which meant live classes. 

Quen's alarm beeped, rousing him from his slumber. He sat up in bed and stretched, before lowering himself to the floor. "1, 2, 3, 4…" he counted the sit-ups in his head as he started his quick morning workout routine. He had always been physically active. Staying healthy had been a big goal for him. The way things were now, even with the best Healthcare, people hardly ever made it past their 50's. He wouldn't let himself be a victim of the system.

50 sit-ups, crunches, and push ups later, he stood up. Began getting dressed for the day. A white button up and a tie, he wanted to look nice. Of course, Glass attempted to goad him into Autofixing himself, and just like every other day, he had none of it. 

Finally, he felt confident. He was ready for the day. He grabbed his backpack from the back of his desk chair after ensuring that his report on Facebook was packed. Since he was heading out of the house, he also snagged his Shard from the charging pad and shoved it into the pocket of his black jeans.

He strode down his driveway and stopped next to his mailbox. After a few minutes, a large, white bus with no windows arrived. He climbed in and heard a chime over the bus' speakers. The British voice spoke, "Quenton Harris has boarded."

He made his way to an empty seat and plopped down. The first thing he noticed, like always, was the smell. An amalgam of body odors swirled around the cramped space, making him sick to his stomach.

Inside the bus, you could see the surroundings on the installed Glass screens, almost like windows. He turned his focus to the passing buildings as he tried to block out the horrendous scent surrounding him. He was one of the last stops, so he wouldn't have to endure it for very long. He slid his Shard out of his pocket and began to read the day's headlines. The war overseas was still raging on, as expected. The weekly universal paycheck rate was 31 dollars more than the last. And another round of the Meta-Vaccine was going to be made available before fall, hopefully to prevent as many infections as possible.

The bus rolled to a stop in front of the real Paulson R. Stewart High. When the doors creaked open, the automated voice announced that it was time to evacuate. He passed by the empty driver's seat and stepped out onto the curb, letting fresh air flow into his lungs. For the first time since last Thursday, he smiled.

Quen enjoyed the few moments he had in the outdoors as he strode to the entrance. Biding his time, he held the door open for other students. Unfortunately, he knew he had to go in.

He stepped into the real hallway, which looked almost exactly the same as it did in the ARC replica. There were three main differences. First, the smell. Just like on the bus, it was everywhere. It absorbed every crevice, every corner. It was disgusting. As much as it bothered him, no one else seemed to mind.

Second, the students he saw today were nothing like the ones that had been in his simulation yesterday. Where beautiful faces surrounded him before, he was now engulfed in a sea of low effort. Hair was frizzy, tangled, and out of place. Clothes were wrinkled and stained. And the worst, it was obvious that most of his classmates didn't take care of themselves. They were supposed to reach the peak of their physicality at ages 16 through 18. If this is what "peak" looked like, he understood why the average life expectancy was decreasing.

Third, Glass was everywhere. It made up all of the windows, all of the mirrors, and even lined the walls in some places. It kept track of each student as they navigated the hallways. The 'Assistant' feature was turned off, which meant no obnoxious voice trying to pressure him into anything, but it still worked it's magic in the reflections. Each user's Autofix settings synced up with every Glass that was linked to the system, which was - legally - all of them.

It disgusted him, the way people walked around, acting all high and mighty. Just because they never had to see their true selves didn't mean that no one would. The problem was, they didn't care. After graduation, They would be assigned a home, a mate, and a job. And after that, the only ones that would have to see them would be their direct family. All other interactions would be carried out in ARC, which had a partnership with Glass.

These moments, here, in Paulson R. Stewart High, were the last bits of his fleeting reality. Someone bumped into his shoulder, causing him to stumble out of the way. A bigger guy wearing a pair of eyeGlass gave him a strange look. "Sorry, man. Hard to tell the days apart," his apology sounded genuine, "Your fix looks nice."

"Don't worry about it. And thanks, but it's not an Autofix," Quen replied. The guy chuckled for a moment before tilting his head down to peek over his eyeGlass.

"No kidding. Well, good for you, man. Between you and me, they really need to get it together," he said, looking over the crowd. He shifted his gaze back to Quen, "Compared to us, they look pretty rough."

The sad thing was, he probably hadn't seen his true self in years. "Yeah, man. Well, see you around." Quen left him behind and began walking towards the cafeteria. There was only one person he wanted to talk to.

An arm linked through his, and through a haze of vanilla scented perfume, a familiar voice chimed, "Bruh, you got here earlier than me today. That's wack." He didn't have to look to know who it was. When he turned to her, he was engulfed by her radiance. She was authentic. She was real.

#short story #sci fi #writing #fiction #technology #future #Spotify

[toseehowthestoryends]

1/5 What if A&E had gone the other way & relegated Regina the permanent bad guy? First can I just say this isn't anti-Regina, neither Regina nor Rumple should've had they redemption arcs messed with post 3A, but I still don't think the heroes should've encouraged Regina taking the easy way out - finding the Author to force a HE for herself or cut away EQ because she couldn't trust herself - because they were scared of her going EQ again. They had all the material there if they’d kept Regina EQ.

2/5 S1-3 was about EQ vs Snow White, that could’ve changed to EQ vs Emma, daughter of Snow White, two women who destroyed her happiness. The Author plot had many plot holes but when Regina 1st got the idea I thought it was going to be like what Zelena (almost) did; if Regina changed her story so she did meet Robin how would everything change? The Charming family would've crowded around Rumple following Neal's death & his imprisonment to help his recovery & find a way to free him from the dagger.

3/5 We can have the Belle/Anna reconciliation & Anna realises she’s married to DO moment including Anna seeing the change in Rumple. 4A would’ve ended with Regina being caught in the middle of killing Emma and/or Marian causing her to be banished. Regina recruits the Queens of Darkness to get back to Storybrooke & find the Author. Rumple’s asked to spy on them, his cover being to stop his darkening heart which began when he was resurrected & had no time to protect his heart.

4/5 The Author uses Regina to write ‘Heroes and Villains’ around hers & Zelena’s HE. Henry recruits AU!Rumple & AU!Hook to help save Emma & end the story. The DO is set free goes after Regina & Emma takes it on. Rumple’s in a coma & everyone goes to Camelot. CS fail to destroy the DO & Rumple takes it on to contain it. The UW. Robin dies. Regina worried about EQ tries to cut it away, but instead unleashes her. Regina tries to find the Shears of Destiny to cut her link to EQ so she can kill her,

5/5 Henry tells her it’s just an excuse not to try & to stop blaming others. Rumbelle receive a warning that someone will destroy their family. They think it’s EQ when actually it’s BF, but we get to have Rumbelle pregnancy fluff until the birth. 6B carries on but Belle has more active role in saving her son/changing her black & white view of heroics, including in the finale, Regina accepts EQ & Rumbelle gets their TLK. Again, in an ideal world, no one’s arc is ruined & Neal & Robin would live.

I’m going to be really honest with you, Nonnie, and say that I don’t think that A&E should have used one of the original villains as their go-to Big Bad for seasons 4-6.  Firstly, because it ruins the very organic (and in progress!) redemption arcs.  They really could have had fun exploring what it means to Regina and Rumplestiltskin to suddenly be on the good side, but they only played with that a bit with Regina, and never bothered with Rumplestiltskin.  Secondly, I think that having one overarching Big Bad for the last three seasons didn’t really help them--but if they were going to pull it off, they needed the Big Bad to be a behind the scenes manipulator influencing their normal half-season big bads.  

You could use either Regina or Rumplestiltskin as one of those Temporary Bads for a half season, if you really wanted to.  If they wanted to have the darkness taking over Rumplestiltskin, and had bothered to plan that arc properly, it would have worked.  Have your Big Bad (be it the Black Fairy or someone else) put the Hat in his reach.  Or have them kill Robin, which could send Regina over the edge.  (Better yet, let her think Robin is dead, but he isn’t, and the Big Bad pulls her strings that way).  There are a thousand options.

In regards to an “Everybody Lives” type of plotline, I have to say that I also disagree.  Deaths can be great things to move the story or the plot along, provided they matter.  I was heartbroken by Neal’s death, but I could have gotten over that - provided it had been well done.  But it wasn’t.  Take Robb Stark in Game of Thrones.  I adored that character, but he in of season/book 3.  His death sets off a huge string of events that impacts his entire family and the rest of the world.  He was a great character, and I bawled my eyes out when he died in the book, but that was a death that mattered.  It wasn’t played for kicks, and Robb didn’t get the short end of the plot stick, only to be killed off as an afterthought because he was in the way.

I’m working on a series of novels in which I kill at least two of my favorite characters.  One finally got a reprieve when she got moved into a different family, but two of my other favorites have to die for the plot to move forward, no matter how much I love them.  One could probably live and not change too much, but his death is the catalyst for a lot of things, so down he goes.  I killed Snow in Ruins of Camelot, not because I hate her - I don’t - but because her death moved the plot along better than her life.  Deaths in fiction can be good.  It’s how you write them that makes them bad.

#ouat theories #ouat au #writing #writing deaths #Anonymous

[thyandrawrites]

I’ve said something similar to bootlickerhawks, but I really wish Twice survived so that Hawks could have a chance to earn back the LOV’s trust after betraying them (upon discovering what a scumbag Endeavor is & denouncing heroes). We could have gotten awkward Zuko-level shenanigans. “Hey there, Hawks here.”

LoL I literally wrote a crossover shitpost with Hawks emulating that zuko scene a few weeks ago. But anyway.

Yeah, part of me is salty that Jin had to die for Hawks to be shaken in his beliefs and start questioning stuff, but on the other hand, I can see why Dabi would only be spurred on to reveal his identity if he was extremely enraged at him, and that could only happen if Hawks proved to be a scummy hero. (Yes it could've happened if Dabi trusted him too, but look at him. Dabi doesn't just trust anyone. Putting shipping bias aside, I don't think he'd ever reveal that kind of information out lightly. For one, because information is literally his only real weapon. And secondly, because he was one second away from killing Hawks immediately after telling him, which shows once again how much he craves control in any given situation.)

Hawks' betrayal does certainly put a major dent in his future with the league. The league doesn't have a good track record with people who openly challenged them. But at the same time, I wouldn't completely rule off the chance of Hawks' fall from grace, so to say.

1. Because everything in his character set up implies a fall in the first place. He is the "seer", he is the person who knows both Enji and Dabi closely, he was an abused kid, and he was the first to find out Dabi's identity.

2. Letting him live past the point of utility to the system... Also implies a fall. Let's not forget that he burned bridges with both sides. He killed, he's no longer a role model for Tokoyami. He killed Jin, so he's no longer an ally for the league. Thematically, he should've died here because if he stays the way he is, he literally has no place to belong anymore. So if he lived it's because his narrative is not ended, but he's gonna necessarily go through a change.

3. The league has a precedent of forming an alliance out of pure interest with people who had tried to kill them and tortured one of their core members. Hawks is still a valuable asset, and if he were to finally see a different option than making himself comfortable in his own cage, he would be extremely useful to the league, even purely out of convenience

4. I made this point in a meta already, but now it looks like it might actually become canon: if hawks were to exit this fight with a major injury, the loss of his wings, and finally become "expendable" to the hpsc just like jeanist once was, and if he was tossed away, treated as useless, deprived of the impulse to save people and help society like he was conditioned to do... I'm not saying this will undo him but it will definitely undo him. Saving people and being "useful" is literally his whole remaining identity. Imagine a workaholic who doesn't have a life outside of his job, finding himself with too much time on his hands all of a sudden, knowing that the league is still out there, and that he failed at bringing about the kind of easy retirement he envisioned for himself, with a society of heroes who don't have villains to fight anymore... Imagine him realizing what it's like to have "one bad day" and be left to fall through the cracks even if he's supposedly "a good man who could start over"... Imagine him understanding that Jin was right about the system all along. Imagine him being in a position where he also needs "friends. Allies".

#Ali replies #Bnha #Bnha spoilers #Bnha meta #Meta:hawks #My post