#he just wants to be a badass and in trying too hard he's coming across terribly
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"There's a lot you don't know about me… actually that's kind of it."
Black Pete grew on me as the series progressed. He might be an arrogant try-hard, but he's got a heart of gold. You just want to shake him and tell him he's already a pirate. It doesn't have to be all edgy!
NGL I'm hoping we're going to see a whole array of different types of pirates in Season 2.
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#bless his edgy cotton socks#he just wants to be a badass and in trying too hard he's coming across terribly#ofmd#ofmd art#ofmd fanart#our flag means death#our flag means death art#our flag means death fanart#matthew maher#black pete#ofmd black pete#our flag means death black pete#digital art#digital fanart#digital painting#artists on tumblr#digtal art#fanart#art#black pete ofmd#black pete our flag means death#clip studio paint#clip studio art#portrait artist#digital portrait
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Why do you like jiang cheng?
At the risk of liking him for the wrong reasons, let me be verbose and annoying about it.
A short anecdote: I finished the donghua before the novel and I liked JC's aesthetic so I was happy to have that imagery in my head for the novel, but mostly I came out of the donghua like "cool story, the ending was frowny face though" and I came out of the novel like I was lost in the IKEA store "there's stuff here but it's not what I want and it's organized in a way that's hard to navigate through." Bit like giving me a puzzle to solve.
Anyway, imagine a cat bapping at a thing trying to get fandom to show me what to do with MDZS (i.e. reading fanfic) and then I come across anti-Jiang Cheng stuff.
//record scratch
I'm sorry what?
Why?
NO.
I started then on Shuangjie reconciliation fic and quickly evolved into Jiang Cheng "Apologist" ((I actually don't think he has anything to apologize for even if he would do so anyway.))
I've been in the xianxia/wuxia sphere of media consumption for a year or so before trying out MDZS and JC just fits so well as the main character of his own story; destined for a position of power through birth, friends with someone in his life that causes conflict, seemingly betrayed by said friend when needing that friend the most, losing and losing and losing as his trust in said friend proves unfounded because the friend walks a path he can't follow, and then he's left with the tragedy that befell the world because--ultimately he trusted this friend too much.
It's a classic story of love and attachment and how good intentions can have massive consequences. Two men entwined by fate and in the end there's a battle on a hill (off screen in this case) where one is forced to "kill" the other.
MDZS could have ended with the past timeline, and I would have liked it more but at least in the present timeline we get Jiujiu and a-Ling.
Anyway: Excerpts and Commentary Below about WHY I LOVE JIANG CHENG, courtesy WANYIN
Of all the clans to offend, you don’t offend the Jiang Clan, and of all the people to offend, you never offend Jiang Cheng.
We stand by a badass mf in this house. The first thing we learn is that he gets credit for killing a big baddy and the second thing we learn is how fierce the rest of his reputation is. He brooks no shit and leaves no quarter. Amazing 💜
Well, I was done for at "gaze like two streaks of cold lightning" so RIP me, I guess. Reminds me of some antis that are like "you only like him because he's hot" which isn't true but it is a nice plus. He's described as inferior to LWJ so like, if it was only about hotness then wouldn't I like LWJ???
“I am his uncle. Do you have any last words?”
At the sound of that voice, every drop of blood in Wei Wuxian’s body seemed to surge to his head but then immediately drained away again. Thankfully, his face was already a mess of ghastly white, so it didn’t look strange when he went a little paler.
A man in purple attire strode over. He was dressed in a narrow-sleeved light robe, with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. A silver bell dangled from his waist, yet there was no sound when he walked.
This young man had fine brows and almond eyes, with a chiseled handsomeness to his features. His eyes were deep and intense with a hint of aggression, his gaze like two streaks of cold lightning. He stopped and stood three meters away from Wei Wuxian. His expression was like that of a nocked arrow on a bow, ready to shoot, and even his composure was suffused with arrogant pride.
Jiang Cheng ruled the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng alone, so it could have been said that he was in a state of isolation.
🥺 Alone?? And he could still afford 400 Immortal Binding Nets? Self-sufficient king 🤩 And like, his reputation is so fierce and he's boiling over with anger in that scene, but still he restrains himself because he did the cost-benefit analysis! And then later he takes a huge risk on WWX, like he always does for WWX, and that doesn't work out for him--like it always does.
Seeing that nothing had happened to Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng was greatly relieved. However, that relief soon turned into a furious reprimand:
Parent behavior. Enough said.
He has a twisted smile when encountering a trigger for his PTSD and then he decides to fight it instead of letting it paralyze him. He's such a doer. Like, every other moment of the day he's carefully calculating pluses and minuses to every choice (valid) but when it comes to facing his personal demons he's ready to throw down. Excellent.
A moment later, Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand subconsciously began stroking that ring once more.
He said softly, “Excellent. Back, are you?”
He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it.
“Oh? Then please enlighten me, what is your type?”
Walking A-Spec flag very concerned about what the man who might be his shixiong thinks about him, more at eleven!
Wei Wuxian waved him off and then hooked his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders. “Who cares? I’ll tease him a bit more before I go. You’ve already collected my corpse so many times. Once more won’t hurt.”
Okay but big lol that JC doesn't get to collect WWX's corpse that final time. //sounds of sobbing
A smile appeared on his face, but then he immediately humphed.
He's so grumpy and adorable! I love him! pre massacre JC is precious and I just want him to have someone to bring out that smile again.
He literally didn't have to do this. He makes all these excuses how he'll be embarrassed if WWX is rolling around 😂 Perfection. Boy, you are still carrying him and he doesn't want you to stop.
Jiang Cheng, walk slower, you’re gonna throw me off.”
Not only did Jiang Cheng want to throw Wei Wuxian off, but he practically wanted to bash his head into the ground to create a human crater. “So fussy even though I’m carrying you!”
“I didn’t tell you to carry me,” Wei Wuxian reasoned.
Jiang Cheng flew into a rage. “If I didn’t carry you, I think you’d hang out at their ancestral hall all day, rolling around on the floor. I can’t afford this embarrassment! Lan Wangji took fifty more strikes than you, but he walked away on his own, and you’re not embarrassed, pretending to be an invalid? I don’t want to carry you anymore. Get the hell off!”
“No, I’m wounded,” Wei Wuxian said.
Alrighty, like I'm just going through the entire book at this point.
Let me see if I can make this more concise:
Sacrifices himself despite his very dutiful nature that would oppose this. He throws away all his responsibilities for WWX, again and again, carrying on a tradition of favoring WWX over his own health and happiness. Citing: JFM favoring WWX to the detriment of his marriage, JYL dying to save WWX, and JC (exhausted and with little or no power) running into danger to save WWX ala distracting the Wen patrol and 2nd Siege.
Can't be honest in his affections and makes up excuses to do nice things for others.
Loves and understands his sister. She wanted JZX so he made it happen when LLJ had absolutely no reason to reinstate the marriage contract between Xuanli. JGS notes in the CR arc that he didn't want the marriage for his son in the first place and that there were better options than YMJ, and that was before the war! JC helped her get to Yiling to show off her wedding dress! Even though she married out he still felt so attached to her son he couldn't not co-parent Jin Ling.
Yes, he has Zidian, but he also has a second horsewhip that he keeps on him which is very exciting to know.
The narrative hates him but he survives. (He survives because the narrative hates him).
Most BAMF entrance in the novel at the temple scene with the busting the temple doors down and coming in from the rain with an umbrella. Like sure the narrative hates him but small blessings that rule of cool still counts for something.
Mama's boy.
Just some dude, shows up late to treasury room nonsense, knows all the gossip, no one has faith in him including himself, but he keeps going and doing what needs to be done even when he's so so tired and his shixiong shows up 3 months late with a ghoul lady and a latte, or disappears to liberate slave property without warning first and now he's called into a midnight meeting after trying to get some much needed rest and now he's got consequences to deal with. Someone help him!
An expert at sneering. Threats as a show of worry and care. This makes all the little and brief smiles so much more endearing.
Sandu Shengshou is an amazing title, get out of here if you don't agree. Holy Hand of the Three Poisons? Brutal, perfect 💜 It gets used like, ONCE. Crime against me personally.
Link to Blorbo Sheet for JC
He loves, he hates, he wants to hate he's not allowed to love. Zero middle ground, he's all in and there's no way out.
//is shot and dragged off stage
But just as the Wei Wuxian of the past who’d extracted his golden core for Jiang Cheng had been unable to tell him the truth, the Jiang Cheng of the present could no longer bring himself to speak up.
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Chapter 16 The last supper
Chapter 16 of Sugar
A/N- Hakari and Kirara are in this chapter, they’re the best kids, the best.
Warning- Swearing, angst, FLUFF!! Talks of death, smoking and alcohol, spoilers, slow burn, long chapter.
Pairing- Choso x fem!reader, Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader
Takes place during- 2x06, 2x07, and only the very beginning of 2x08
(Let me know if you want to be tagged)
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The water droplets feel cold when they hit your skin, they’re hard and fall fast enough that they create a soft and pleasurable rhythmic song as they fall.
Normally there’s people who tend to run and find cover or hide under an umbrella as soon as the rain trickles down, but you’ve never minded the feeling of the rain; even if it can be cold, and you don’t like being cold, so. You don’t mind getting yourself soaked either even if it means drenching your clothes.
The sound of the rain relaxes you, the sound of waves crashing brings you comfort, and the view of the rain droplets dancing down from the sky has a way of bringing you ease. And that’s probably due to your connection with water.
However, today the sound of the water and the sight of the clear droplets doesn’t help the stupid ill-feeling brewing inside your guy. Maybe it’s the mission Itadori and his friends got sent to today to capture the mole; that same mole that helped the curses sneak into the school, and the same mole that is leaking information to curse users, but you can’t seem to find pleasure in the rain’s song or its view.
Something doesn’t feel right, but here’s hoping that you’re wrong. You want to be wrong.
“Hey…Geto,” the sound of Fushiguro’s voice catches you off guard, not because he called you by your…husband's name, but because ever since you met he doesn’t really make conversation with you like the others, he’s really quiet and reserved. Something that his father never was in that short interaction you had.
“Yes,” you give him your attention.
Fushiguro briefly meets your gaze before he looks at the parking garage where you’re supposed to meet Utahime. Hopefully, Satoru let her know you were coming or else you’re going to get a startled reaction, which honestly looks funny on Utahime, she’s so dramatic. It’s funny and adorable.
“That day we met,” he continues. “You said that I looked like him…were you referring to my father?”
Oh? No. No. Has Satoru not told him?! Please kid don’t ask about your father.
“I remember Gojo mentioned something like that when we met,” Fushiguro adds and finally lifts his head to meet your gaze.
You hold his gaze for a moment with confusion, but you can’t help but nod softly. “Yes, I was…why?”
Fushiguro shrugs and blinks to look at his friends ahead of you. “I was just curious…did you meet my father too?”
You nod stiffly and try to avoid anything too informative because this is Satoru’s kid, not yours. If he hasn’t told him then it’s for a good reason, you won’t be the one to break that.
“Once,” you tell Fushiguro. “Or twice, I guess. He came to see my brother once when we were children, and I guess I passed by him and I didn’t know. We met again years later, but that’s it.”
Please don’t ask. Please don’t ask.
Fushiguro hums and you try to read his face for his reaction to what you just shared, but he keeps on that nonchalant expression that’s always painted on his face and simply nods stiffly. You don’t dare and try to further this conversation, it’s not your place.
And luckily before he could try and ask or say anything else you reach the parking garage that connects to some storage units? Or some kind of storage things. And the first person your eyes land on is Utahime.
She looks older, her hair is longer and she has longer bangs. You also notice a scar across her face which makes her look badass. And just like you predicted her expression upon seeing you is different; whereas she’d be content seeing you before, now you receive a bitter and hardened gaze.
“Utahime,” you greet with the same warmth that you’d greet her with those many years ago. “Long time no see, you look nice.” You grin.
Utahime lets out a soft sigh and her shoulders tense. “I’d say it’s a pleasure,” she counters spitefully. “But it’s really not.”
You can’t help but shoot her a smirk and nod in comprehension. “Understandable.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she says through gritted teeth.
You laugh softly and when you reach her you simply pat her shoulder before you step aside to let them work. After all, you’re basically a shadow.
“This way,” Utahime moves on with the mission and leads you and the students about halfway down the garage before stopping and interjecting with a question. “You’ve heard from Gojo about the person leaking intel, right?”
“Yes,” all three students answer at the same time.
“There’s probably two or more people in contact with the curse users,” Utahime adds, “one would be a higher-up, well above the principal.”
You scoff with amusement under your breath, but Utahime hears you and shoots you a warning glare before continuing.
“I won’t be able to do anything about that one. The other would be someone passing the information up to the higher-up,” she explains as she lifts a finger from both hands. “That one is our current target. They’re only a suspect at this point, so we’ll capture them and then interrogate them.”
You fold your arms over your chest and lean back against a pillar, whilst Nobara speaks up with a question. “So who from Kyoto is it?”
“Oh?!” Itadori exclaims in surprise.
“That’s why you asked those of us from Tokyo, right?” Nobara adds and only seems to impress Itadori more.
“Kugisaki, you’re incredible.”
“The mole is…” Utahime pauses and as you drift your eyes over to her you see that she looks uncomfortable and displeased. “Mechamaru.”
One of her students you assume? A wrinkle forms between her eyebrows, and a small frown is formed on her lips.
You can’t imagine it was easy hearing that one of your own students that’s right under your nose is the mole. Then again a student being hidden away from the rest of the world is a perfect mole. They could’ve manipulated him, and even if they didn’t you wouldn’t blame him for taking the path he chose.
You do put all the blame on the higher-ups though. They like to act all high and mighty like they’re above it all, but they’re not, and what’s worse but not surprising is that they turn out to betray what they’re supposed to be protecting.
“And they say I’m the bad one,” you try to get in a conversation with Utahime, while she continues to lead the way towards a single door nearby. “A higher-up working for a curse-user��can’t say I’m surprised.”
“You are bad,” she quips. “You’re a cult leader and a curse-user.”
You shake your finger. “Ah, ah,” you quickly interject loudly so she can hear you. “Retired curse-user and it was not a cult. That word is so…” you pause and stick out your tongue in disgust. “…wrong. It was a religious facility. And! It was Suguru’s, I helped build it up, sure, so it was like, uh, 20 or 10 percent my baby, but I wasn’t the founder or the leader. He was.”
Utahime twists her head back and her displeasure and
anger for you only deepens, making the corner of your lips pull to a deeper smirk.
“Not like it matters now though,” you add quieter and with a hint of sadness in your tone. “It’s all done.”
Utahime answers with silence and stops by the door to open it and step inside. Itadori and Fushiguro let Nobara pass before them, and then they try to make you walk first, but you’re here for Itadori, you’re his shadow, not his partner right now, so after some passed and pointed glances both guys walk inside in a room, letting you walk in last and close the door behind you.
However, that turns out to be a mistake because the only source of light inside is an ominous red light over a single metal door. That’s all, no ceiling lights, no bright natural light casting in.
“Mechamaru’s real body, Kokichi Muta,” Utahime breaks the tension that you alone feel as this place gives you the creeps. “Is in this basement here. Now, it’s not like he’s suspicious. It’s more that everyone else wasn’t. So the process of elimination leaves with Mechamaru.”
When Utahime slowly opens the door, Itadori is the first to barge in as if nothing. You then all follow after him, which, by the way, this hall you walk into isn’t any better. It smells like mold, the light above is a dim and dull white-green color. And the further you walk in the worse it seems to get. At least to you anyway.
“Mechamaru’s technique is puppet manipulation,” Utahime continues to inform the students and you because this is all new to you too. “Though, thanks to his heavenly pact, the range he can manipulate puppets extends throughout Japan. If he has any unregistered puppets then he could do the work of the mole as much as he wanted.”
“Really?” You probe curiously even though you know you shouldn’t right now.
“That kid stood out a lot to me,” Itadori mutters.
“Even if the puppet was the size of a fly or a mosquito,” Utahime interjects.
“I see. But those are options too, huh?” Itadori asks while Utahime begins to slow down as you all approach a door.
“We’re here.” She points as she comes to a stop.
You draw in a deep breath and fist your hands as Utahime slowly turns the knob just in case this kid tries to tackle all of you with his puppets.
However, when she opens the door and everyone rushes inside you come to see an abandoned room. A smelly abandoned room.
“Uh,” Itadori rolls out awkwardly.
“He got us,” Utahaime mumbles out.
“Though,” Fushiguro breaks his silence. “On the other hand…”
“Now we’re certain it’s Mechamaru,” Nobara finishes saying for her friend.
No signs of struggle to indicate that he could be taken. All that’s left is tubing hanging off the ceiling, and a horrendous stench. It’s almost too calm, too quiet.
“Well,” you sigh and pull out a cigarette box to swiftly push one in between your lips. “Nothing to do with this but look over our shoulders.” You put your box away and light the cigarette with a flame you summon to your finger. “Something's brewing and we just lost our foot inside.”
You walk out of the room and everyone quickly follows.
“Don’t you have contacts?” Utahime finally addresses you. “Friends? It’s said that one of the curses might be someone dressed as a monk.”
You suck in your cheeks as you take a drag and shake your head. “No,” you breathe out as you pull the cigarette out of your mouth. “What? Just because Suguru dressed as a monk means I know them? It was an act to get the non-sorcerers curses, that's all. We didn’t actually know anyone who was a monk.”
Utahime picks up her pace to fall beside you, but as she walks in the cloud of smoke she tries to quickly wave it away.
“Can’t you just ask around?” She insists.
You look away to think while you take in another drag. Just as you’re about to take it out, Utahime reaches over and pulls the cigarette out of your mouth for you and stomps it out, making you pout softly.
“It’s not a habit,” you defend yourself as puffs of smoke escape out of your mouth. “I do it occasionally.”
“That doesn’t matter, can you?” She presses.
You let out a deep breath and nod stiffly. “I have friends. And if there’s a sketchy sorcerer then perhaps someone at the fighting club knows…” you mumble to yourself before you look at her and nod with an assuring smile playing on your lips “I’ll ask around for something, but what is it that I’m looking for exactly?”
Utahime shrugs. “All these curses, Mechamaru, and the higher-up work for someone, a curse-user who installs some kind of authority and fear. They’re up to something so they probably need any help they can get. Start there.”
You scoff and nod slowly. “All right. I’ll ask.”
She nods softly. “Thanks,” she mutters.
You steal a glance at her and hum. An idea comes to mind but you quickly shoot that down since what you have planned is for people you’re closer with, family and closer friends.
She was a friend, but you can sense the tension, and you see the way she looks at you, you’re no friend of hers. Not anymore.
Thus, you just leave it be and stay quiet. You bask in that silence and just think about the mess that’s spreading as you return to the school with your hands empty.
If only Suguru was here to help. To at least calm down your nerves even if everything isn’t okay. Why can’t he be here too? Why did he have to die and why do you have to face all this alone now?
You exhale and before you know it Ijichi parks the car to let you and the students off at the school entrance. Before you can get out though, you lean over towards him.
“Hey, I’m having dinner at my house tomorrow since the kids want to go see the community, come,” you invite him too. “I invited Nanami and my brother, of course, Ieiri will be there.” You wiggle your eyebrows playfully. “So come, yeah? Make sure my brother gets there in time.” You laugh softly.
Ijichi blinks in surprise and his cheeks begin to grow red. “M-me?” He questions.
You nod. “Yes, you. Why not? We were good friends once when I was in school. So you better come!” You pull back and slide off your seat to get out of the car. “Be there!” You shout over your shoulder one last time before you look over at the school entrance and see the woman you hoped you’d see.
“It better be something good,” she throws out as you change your pace to a jog to meet her with an embrace.
“Well, I’ll tell you now,” you tell her and step back. “It’s not a bar. I do have to go home for dinner.”
“You smell like cigarettes,” she points out and follows after you as you lead her to your motorcycle.
“Stress cigarette,” you mumble. “And I’m sorry about the ride. I didn’t plan to have passengers.”
“Ah, just something else that makes you look cooler;” she teases.
You flash her a smile. “It was part of my training. Yuki and I built a motorcycle.”
“Exactly how does that help?” Shoko probes as you hand her an extra helmet.
You stop what you’re doing to tap your chin as you think. “I don’t remember why exactly, but I remember it working.” You drop your hand and wink at Shoko. “Don’t worry, baby, I’m an excellent driver.”
Shoko looks at you with hesitance as she debates whether to believe you or not. But then again she has no other choice so she sits behind you and lets you take her to a place you only vaguely explained.
——
*LATER*
“Where are we anyways?” Shoko finally gets the chance to ask.
You put the helmets away and lead her to a multiple-story building. “Fight Club,” you finally let her know.
Albeit she doesn’t believe you so she scoffs and retorts. “I’m serious.”
You peer back and nod. “So am I. This is a fight club.”
You walk up to the door and knock once before the slit on the door opens and grey eyes peek out. They don’t say anything when they see you, they just look back and then close the slit again before they open the door for you.
“Come on,” you invite her in. “It’s early so it’s quiet right now.”
Shoko looks at you with a puzzled look, but she doesn’t hesitate to trust you and follow you at your side. After you ride the elevator to the top of the building she finally continues on with the questions you felt her wanting to ask.
“So this is what you do now that you don’t run a cult?” She asks as she studies the hallway. “Fight clubs?”
You scoff. “The word cult is so wrong. It was a religious facility. And second,” you motion with your fingers. “This isn’t really my fight club, I just, uh, financially support it. Think of me as a godmother of this place,” you say with a cocky half-smile.
Shoko hums and continues inquiring. “Then who owns this place?”
You reach the private parlor room and simply shoot her a smirk before you knock on the door just in case. You don’t want to walk into some nasty stuff.
“Come in!” You hear a happy familiar voice welcome you in.
You smile and open the door, and the moment you walk in you’re greeted with a warm and happy welcome. “Master!”
You beam. “Hello my star children,” you greet Kirara and Hakari.
Rather than coming to greet you by the door, they stay seated on the couch as they watch Shoko walk in.
“Don’t worry we can trust her,” you assure them while you close the door behind your friend.
“Kirara? Hakari?” Shoko asks quietly in disbelief.
You walk further in and nod with glee. “Yeah. Didn’t my brother tell you? I’ve been training them for the past year. They’re the owners of this club.”
“Secret club,” Kirara blurts. “So don’t be going around and talking to anyone at the school about it.”
You sit on the expensive chair behind the expensive dark wooden desk and sit back smugly. “I just wanted to show off to someone our work here,” you add. “All the investors that invested in Suguru’s facilities now invest here in exchange for us to do their dirty work of course.”
“So,” Shoko rolls out and slowly makes her way to the seat across from the pair. “You’ve brought students in to do your dirty work now? You sound like your brother.”
You chuckle dryly and shake your head. “It’s nothing they don’t want to do. We all work for something, Ieiri, it’s how the world works. They wanted something so I gave it to them, but they know that in order to keep it and be on top, they have to work for it. Besides, staying at home would bore me half to death. I need to stay busy while I’m still young.”
Shoko hums and watches you for something in particular, when she can’t find it due to the wall you put up she just stays quiet.
“Now do you want something to drink? Water, snack? You get it for free.” You laugh breathlessly.
Shoko shakes her head. “No. Now why am I here exactly?”
“I told you,” you say and lean in towards the desk to pick up a file. “I wanted to show this off and I wanted you to get out of the school for a while. God knows you work too much for them. But I will have to ask you not to go on and talk about this. This club is a secret underground kinda thing.”
“You’re not looking for a job now are you doc?” Hakari breaks his silence. “We could use a good doctor here. And you’re great.”
“We’d pay you double,” Kirara pitches in.
Shoko laughs and shrugs before sitting back. “I’ll think about it.”
“Now,” you change the subject and open the file to take out one photo of a blond ponytail guy. “Is this it?”
Hakari gets off the couch and walks to your side and nods. “Yep. No one else has stood out, just that scrawny pathetic-looking thing.”
You pick up the photo and study the skinny guy with a black cloth that covers half of his body. You also notice that he has three marks under his eyes, but that’s all that stands out. He’s pretty average-looking.
But you can’t be fooled by that.
“He simply wrote Haruta at the entrance and that’s it. He didn’t fight either, the cameras just picked on him watching the fights.”
You let out a deep breath and sit back to think.
“Probably scooping place,” Shoko interjects.
“Did security detect any extra cameras or any other stuff he carried?” You ask.
Hakari shakes his head. “Asked and he said no. He only came that one night too. Hasn’t returned since.”
“Alone?”
“Yep. Or so that’s what he made us believe.”
You look up at the ceiling and try to figure something out even though this piece of information is practically nothing.
“No one suspicious has come to visit either,” Kirara adds. “But remind me again why you’re working to look for this mole, master?” They ask with concern. “You’re practically working for the school and the higher-ups if you help them.”
“The mole thing is leading to something bigger,” you explain. “Something bigger means danger to all of us, not just the school. We’ve worked hard for what we've built, this potential threat can endanger that. So it’s not for them, it’s for me, you, Harkari, my community, and my girls. That’s what.”
“Besides she doesn’t work for anyone,” Hakari says in your defense, making you smile and look over at him. “So this labor is just a hobby.”
You chuckle and put your fist out so he can meet it halfway with a fist pump. “Nicely put.” You compliment.
“Suck up,” Kirara coughs out.
“Aw I get it now,” Shoko adds with a sly laugh. “You’re a mobster. My own little mobster.”
You pick up the landline phone and shoot her a smirk. “Got to keep the money coming somehow. Plus this is a way to keep tabs on sorcerers around Japan. You’d be surprised how many sorcerers I have tabs on. I work to piss my family off. And this,” you point at the desk to refer to all your work. “Would make them livid.” You roll your head down and begin to call up a number.
“Now what would your high school self say about you now?” Shoko teases.
“She’d be surprised but proud.” You say and throw a hand out to display your excitement as the phone rings.
“Hello?” The voice that belongs to an old business partner answers.
“Kong,” you greet sweetly. “Long time, yeah?”
You hear him draw in a deep breath before he scoffs shakily. “Y/N.”
You tilt your head down and rest your elbow on the desk to lay your head on your palm. “Now I hope I didn’t interrupt anything. You’re a very hard man to find. I hope you weren’t avoiding me. You know what happens when someone does.” You taunt.
“Why would I?” He mutters. “We’re old friends, so I know you want something?”
“Oh,” you breathe out. “Looking for work,” you lie. “Without Suguru here I’m growing bored, I need to find work to do. Do you happen to know anyone in need of any sorcerers for hire?”
Kong doesn’t answer for a few seconds, letting you pick up your head and turn on the computer to check his last location a friend gave you. “You’ve gone quiet, what is it? I wouldn't want to go to the States to ask in person.”
“I—”
“Don’t,” you cut him off abruptly and in an intimidating voice. “I know where you are, Kong. You’ve been avoiding me since Suguru died. So I know you’re hiding something, spill it or I’ll tell my friend in the red cap next to you to make this the last call you ever take.”
Kong shares a nervous laugh that makes the frown on your face deepen. “We’ve been friends for a decade, y/n,” he stammers. “I went to your wedding—”
“And I don’t care,” you interrupt and begin to tap your manicured nail against the wooden surface. “You stopped being my friend the moment you stopped talking to me, even then you meant nothing to me. I won’t blink an eye to give the command. Spill it or I’ll lose my patience.”
Kong exhales deeply before he answers a bit quieter. “My life is at stake here okay? But I’ll tell you this because you are my friend because I care. Manami and Toshihisa are hiding something. Unfortunately for them, they haven’t let go of the goal Geto put in their head.” He sighs. “This should be enough right?”
You clench your jaw and grow cold and stiff. “Yeah,” you deadpan and hang up.
“What is it, master?” Kirara asks right away since the confused and suddenly hurt look on your face is obviously clear.
“Maybe nothing,” you answer honestly. “Or maybe something important. I think Manami and Toshihisa are betraying me.”
The room falls silent and your mind begins to run rampid.
Yeah, you’ve always known that the two that were just named have been a bit more motivated about what Suguru preached. And after he died they wanted to continue with his work, but you didn’t exactly egg them on. You had no purpose for the religious facilities since you couldn’t store curses like Suguru, and you just hurt too much to try and continue his goal at such a big scale, so you just gave up his dream.
It seems like they didn’t though. And it shouldn't be surprising, not really, but they were still family. For a long time, they were all you had, so that’s why this feels like getting shot in the back. You’re supposed to be close, you’re supposed to share stuff like that with each other, so why didn’t they? What are they hiding?
“So what does that mean for our problem?” Shoko queries.
You continue to tap your nail against the surface and shrug. “I don’t know. I doubt they’ll talk to me…they’ve been distant…I should’ve known, damn it.”
“There’s no way you could’ve known,” Kirara tries to assure you. “You had faith in them.”
“Who’s the suck-up now?” Hakari rebuttals softly. “But in any way, master, Kira is right. There’s no way you could’ve known so don’t beat yourself up over it. Let’s look for them and beat the information out of ‘em.”
You laugh softly and nod stiffly. “Yeah, you’re right, Kin, no need for more stress. I'll just accept it as it is, a betrayal...” You sigh loudly and sit back lazily. “What a pain in my ass! I should’ve never taken this favor for Satoru.”
“Now look at you,” Shoko retorts. “Now you’ve got your head stuck in that hole. With no way out.”
You fold your arms over your chest and mumble. “I should…I should get my head out. Give me a good reason why I should stay, Ieiri?”
Said woman sighs and you hear the leather seat she’s on shift as she moves in her seat. “Your kids' lives could be on the line,” she puts it simply, making you lower your head and steal a glance at Kirara and Hakari before you look at your hands and think of your girls.
She’s right. Whatever’s going on isn’t just a drizzle with the sun poking out, it’s a brewing storm with no sun, just darkness.
“And,” Shoko adds. “You won’t leave Satoru to deal with it on his own, no matter how much he fights for you to stay behind.”
That’s also right. She’s right.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” you mumble.
“Always am.”
You manage a faint smile and have to just drop your head in your hands to take in what was dropped on you; another weight to your already heavy and tensionful chest. You’re not drowning anymore, Hakari and Kirara saved you from that, but this weight? Oh, that weight.
You can’t breathe again. It’s getting hard again.
“If that’s what you want,” Hakari says. “Then there’s nothing you can do about it at this moment.”
You hear feet hit the ground before someone comes over. As you lift your head you see Kirara finally joined Hakari and you by the desk.
“What?” You probe as you notice that they’re up to something.
“Just doing our thing,” they simply put it out before they lean over and get on the computer to put on music.
“Ah,” you laugh breathlessly and can’t help but tug a happy smile on your face. “I see.”
“What’s going on?” Shoko asks as she sees all of you smile.
“She smokes when she’s stressed,” Kirara explains. “We’ve found an alternative. We dance it out. When he can of course.”
Yet no matter how much you danced it out at that moment, no matter how much fun you did have. At night after you put Satori to sleep, after the twins began to get ready for bed, all that you ran away from comes back and you’re reminded of that heavy weight, and you can’t help but think of the man that can’t come and comfort you, the man you can’t hold.
All that stress transforms to longing and you feel lonelier as you’re embraced by the cold fall bitter air under the starry sky. You try to find comfort in his stupid gojogesa you always hated seeing on him, but it no longer smells like him, it’s not warm after his use, it’s cold and holds nothing but agony.
You try to maybe find comfort in one of your many favorite pictures you have with him to try to relive that moment in your head and see him at least as a distant memory, but you can’t bring yourself to feel an ounce of happiness at the sight of the engraved memory on the piece of glossy paper. And when you play that day of him trying to make baby Satori look at the camera in your head, all you see is a faded day, and all you feel is longing for a moment you can’t share with him anymore.
So you put the picture down and press your hand on the empty spot next to you on the dock, and close your eyes to try and picture him here with you in such a vivid way that perhaps you’ll be able to feel some ounce of his presence. But again only the cold air keeps you company, and the only warmth you feel is that of your tears running down your cheeks.
Nevertheless, you still open your eyes and expect him to be looking right back at you with that sweet and charming smile of his, but he’s not here. Not even the ghost of him.
Albeit there are a pair of eyes watching you. Two to be exact, but you don’t catch them since they keep themselves away from your eyesight, so you don’t catch them watching you cry for the man they saw you love with your whole heart. They just watch you with pity and sympathy, and a bit of guilt since they can’t do anything to get him back for their little sister, for them, or for you so you wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.
——
*THE NEXT DAY*
“Welcome, friends, family.” You greet the guests that are coming here for the first time, and the guests who are already familiar with this place. “Some of you have already set foot in our fine establishment, but those who haven’t, welcome to the community…”
The name is still a work in progress, so for now, that’s what it’s going to be called.
“…Our community for sorcerers.”
“Boo get on with it,” Satoru pretends to haggle.
You look at him surprised. “You’re here early,” you respond kindly. “Did Ijichi really drag you out?”
“N-no—”
“No,” Satoru cuts Ijichi off. “Nanami came over and basically did.”
You offer your friend a thankful smile and then point inside before you begin to lead Shoko, Ijichi, and the first-year students to your house through the community. “As I said, we try to be as self-sufficient as possible. We grow our crops, we have a greenhouse; cows, goats, chickens, and horses.”
“You eat horses?” Itadori dares to ask almost a bit horrified.
You look back and shoot him an offended look before you shake your head rapidly. “No! Horses are great therapy, we use them to help sorcerers who struggle. And taking care of them is fun, they’re beautiful creatures, so no we don’t eat them!”
Satoru walks over to Itadori and throws his arm around his shoulders before leaning close to him to add a comment with a mischievous smirk. “My sister here is like a hippie, she’s into meditation, and a connection with the earth. She’s a weirdo. Don’t mind her.”
You glare at him and huff.
“Actually,” Fushiguro cuts in nonchalantly. “Meditation is proven good for your mental health, and in our case, it’s good to improve our mental strength for our techniques. So I wouldn't say it’s weird.”
You spin around and face your brother with a taunting grin. Whilst he lets go of Itadori and looks at Fushiguro amused.
“You sound like my sister,” Satoru teases his student—or protege, or adopted son? From what your brother mentioned he’s been looking out for Fushiguro ever since Toji died; Toji who happens to be his father. So they’ve been in each other's lives for eleven years now. So yeah he’s probably like a son or a little brother.
“That’s actually right,” you defend Fushiguro and then turn back around. “Anyway, we don’t eat horses, and there’s not a lot of people living here, but we are a scarce few, but,” you clap your hands. “Those who do live here are from all around the world. For the most part. Right now,” you say and look around at the semi-empty streets. There’s only a couple of people roaming around, but for the most part, everyone seems to be in their homes. “It seems it’s down time, earlier in the day though, it’s very lively.”
“Satoru!” You hear someone yell.
“Hey, Satoru!”
You glance over your shoulder and see women waving and flirting with your brother from afar. And of course, he doesn’t leave them hanging.
“Hey, ladies!” He flashes them a flirty smile and waves back. “So good to see ya!”
You groan in disgust and just move along. “We have a school for the younger kids, a daycare, and a training facility here too,” you continue to share happily.
“Can I ask what people do for money? And rent?” Nobara asks.
You nod. “Some people go to work outside, but I don’t make anyone pay for their housing, people have chores. But no rent,” you laugh softly. “And utilities are covered by me, but we do have solar panels, alternatives. We just—”
“Have you ever heard of communism?” Satoru butts in. “Well, this is it. My sister is a model, sorcerer, and a communist. Hefty resume.” He grins and turns his head to face you.
“Well,” Shoko interjects and lets out a deep breath. “I'm tempted to come here to retire now. This sounds like a treat. And looks nicer than I expected considering it’s all in the middle of the woods.”
You offer her a smile and steal one glance at the students observing the place with curious and slightly awe-struck faces.
“Dinner is ready, but the twins will give you a more thorough tour of the place after. That way you’re not stuck with us oldies for so long.” You giggle and grab Shoko’s arm to drag her along with you. “Come on, come on, I want you to meet her already.”
The tour is short since you didn’t take them to any of the barns, or any other minor location in your community, but you just can’t help it. You want Shoko to meet Satori already, plus it’s getting late so everyone must be getting hungry. You know you are.
And once you approach your house, the door gets thrown open and your daughter comes running out to greet one person. “Uncle Satoru!”
Satoru walks past Nanami, Shoko, and you to meet Satori halfway with an embrace he had to give her while on his knees so he can be at her level.
“Satori!” Satoru greets with the same energy.
“I missed you,” Satori says and pulls back to face him. “I haven’t seen you since…forever ago. Like, last month.” She exaggerates.
Satoru snickers. “Sorry I’ve been busy, but,” he adds and pulls his hand away to pretend and grab something from her ear. She giggles and watches him as he swiftly maneuvers his gift between his fingers before he presents her with a little golden key. “This is for you.”
Satori looks at the key slightly confused, and then glances at you to seek help for what she’s seeing.
“A key?” She asks and takes the small golden key from his hand. “What for?”
Satoru pulls his shades off and winks at her. “You’ll see.” He then leans in and whispers something in her ear before pointing at Shoko.
Satori follows his finger and when she sees the stranger before her she shuffles closer to Satoru. After all, out of everyone here, she’s the only one she hasn’t met. She met the students and Ijichi after Satoru insisted that he wanted to take her to meet his students, so they’re not strangers to her, she actually really likes Fushiguro for some odd reason. But Shoko? They’ve never met until now.
“Geez,” Shoko muses. “I guess there’s no need for a DNA test, she looks just like him.”
You blink and slowly look at her with a pointed look. “Why would you say that?” You mutter.
Shoko shrugs. “I don’t know, I’m seeing her in person now and all I see is a girl version of Suguru.”
You hum in agreement since she is right, but why did she have to say it like that?
“You sure she’s yours?” Shoko jokes, making you shake your head.
“Hello,” your daughter's voice cuts in. And when you look down you see her with an arm draped around her uncle, and her cheek pressed against his.
“Shoko, this is Satori—”
“Satoru,” you try to cut in so the girl can introduce herself.
“Satori, this mine and your mom's oldest friend, Ieiri Shoko!” He completely ignores you.
“Hello,” Shoko greets your daughter kindly and crouches down so Satori can see her warm smile. “You look just like your dad, you know that?”
“You were my daddy’s friend too?” Satori queries as she stays next to your brother.
Shoko nods. “Yeah, he was my best friend.”
Satori smiles. “My uncle Satoru said that. You’re very pretty,” she says
Shoko grins and touches her chest. “Aw thank you. So are you.”
Satori blushes and grabs harder onto Satoru as she grows timid.
“This is for you,” Shoko shares and offers her a small pink gift bag.
Before your daughter can take it though she meets your gaze for reassurance.
You quickly give it to her, and she slowly steps away from Satoru to take the bag, letting Shoko stand up to her given height.
“Thank you,” Satori tells her before she puts the bag down to open it and pulls out a box that she strains to take out. “It’s heavy,” she mumbles and turns to you. “Mommy, can you help me?”
You walk over and crouch to hold the box for her so she can open it. She then puts her hands inside and sticks her tongue out as she slowly pulls out a small, beautiful black and golden orb music box that’s adorned with delicate designs, and small white paintings on the lid. Of course, though, Satori can’t identify what it is right away.
“What is it?” She asks with an amused smile tugging her lips.
“You have to use your key,” Satoru lets her know, making her glance at the golden key in her hand before she does as she’s told and carefully turns it a couple of times. When the key stops, Satori pulls her hand back and glances at you with slight confusion. However, before she can ask what follows, the lid opens and a sweet melody begins to play, causing the fairy in the middle to begin dancing along gently.
Satori’s eyes soften and a big and happy smile grows on her face. “Aww, look Mommy! Look!”
You nod softly. “I’m looking, now what do you tell the sweet lady.” You say and flash Shoko a teasing smile.
Satori snaps her head over towards Shoko and her eyes basically gleam with how excited she is. “Thank you!”
Shoko offers her a smile and a soft nod. “Yeah, you're welcome.”
Satori offers Shoko one more smile before she takes her box and walks over to Nanami.
“Look, maybe we can play a song for my daddy,” she tells him and grabs his hand to begin pulling him inside with her. “You like it, uncle Nanami?”
Said man smiles softly and nods. “Yeah, it’s very nice. Do you love it?”
“Yes! Do you think my daddy will like hearing it?” She asks.
“I think so,” Nanami agrees and goes along with Satori. “I think he’ll love it just as much as you do.”
Finally, without more interruptions, you continue to finish this tour inside. “Come on, let’s get in, dinners ready!”
“Hey, yeah I’m starving!” Itadori exclaims and skips forward to be ahead of the group, letting Satori glance at him as she continues walking at Nanami’s side.
“Hey, Itadori,” she addresses him with a very serious and curious look. “If you’re so strong how come you don’t have any muscles?”
Your eyes widen in disbelief even though you’re fighting the need to burst out laughing.
Nobara on the other hand chuckles and hits Itadori’s back. “Nice one Satori!” She tells your little girl.
“I do too,” Itadori argues. “They’re under my jacket.”
Satori's eyebrows furrow and she looks unconvinced. “Hm.”
Itadori gasps and then hits Fushiguro's chest. “He doesn’t have any either. How come you don’t tell him that, huh?”
“She’s 6 years old, Itadori,” Fushiguro mutters in annoyance. “Leave it be.”
“Well…” Satori pauses and glances back at Satoru, and then at Nanami next to her, and doesn’t bother bringing Fushiguro into this. “My Uncle Satoru and Nanami have muscles. So does my uncle Miguel and my uncle Larue. How come you don’t?”
“I’ll show you—”
“He’s just younger…” Nanami interjects to inform your daughter, but you lose track of what they’re saying as they walk inside the house first.
When you get inside you all take your shoes off, and you then rush over to the living room and thankfully find your other daughters lounging on the couch without as much excitement as Satori possessed over this dinner.
They only decided to join because you mentioned that Nanami and other people besides your brother would be here, otherwise, they probably would’ve left or stayed in their room if it was just you and your brother.
“Get up, just an introduction and we’ll go eat,” you try to move them off the couch.
Mimiko is the first to get up, while Nanako groans and has her sister help her off the couch.
“Nice bunny,” you remind her as you caress her head before you push them along with you towards the kitchen where everyone is heading.
“Everyone!” You cut in, making them stop one more time. “Just some last introductions. This,” you point at Mimiko by grabbing her shoulder. “Is Mimiko.”
Said girl takes everyone in and then offers everyone a gentle bow. “Hello,” she greets and stands up to hold her stuffed creature tighter against her before you notice her eyes fall on one teenage boy in particular; the nonchalant, urchin head, Megumi Fushiguro.
He seems to meet her gaze and hold it for a moment before you cut it by introducing someone else. “And this is Nanako.”
This greeting is a bit more stiff and cool compared to Mimiko’s warm and timid one. “Hey.”
You laugh dryly and introduce the others quickly. “Girls you know Ijichi.”
Nanako giggles and nods.
“Hello girls,” Ijichi greets them stiffly. “Nice seeing you again.”
Nanako simply smirks, letting you move on. “These are my brother's students, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuji Itadori, and Nobara Kugisaki. And Lastly,” you roll out more upbeat as you move over to take your friend's arm. “This is Doctor Ieiri Shoko, the girl I told you about. My best friend!”
“Nice to meet you girls,” Shoko greets them warmly before Nobara steps forward and points at them with a slightly surprised look on her face.
“Is that Chanel, the 1995 spring collection?”
Nanako and Mimiko share a quick look before Mimiko nods.
Nobara gasps and her jaw drops. “Where did you get it?!”
“Y/n’s closet,” Nanako shows off. “She has a lot of cool clothes.”
You groan softly in protest but they just ignore you and continue to interact, making you smile proudly nonetheless and watch them for a lingering moment before you walk to the dining room with Shoko, your brother, Ijichi, and the boys.
“We’re back,” Satori announces without her box and with Nanami following behind her. “I let Daddy hear the box while I eat.”
“That’s very nice my girl,” you tell her sweetly as you walk to the end of the food-filled table that makes Itadori’s eyes basically pop out of his sockets.
“This all looks so good!” He exclaims and rushes over to get a seat as if they would run out.
“My mommy and Belinda made it,” Satori announces as she takes a seat next to Satoru.
“Oh if that's the case,” Satoru jokes around. “Get your fake smiles and a napkin ready.”
“But mommy is a good cook,” Satori defends you, making Satoru lean towards her to whisper something that makes her giggle before she looks at you and changes her response. “I mean she’s not!” She giggles along with her uncle.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t joke around like that with her,” you try to advise him sweetly.
“Relax, she knows it’s just a joke.” He waves you off.
You sigh and just ignore it for now and wait for everyone to gather around the table.
“Oh, yeah where’s Hakari and Kirara?” Shoko queries as she grabs a bowl of food to serve herself.
“Busy,” you tell her. “They couldn’t make it.”
You look around the table and watch everyone settle down with a growing smile. Your brother sits across from you, and the twins choose to sit beside you so as to avoid being near your brother, Nobara sits beside them and they seem to carry on their current conversation, while Fushiguro tries to pull Itadori from overfilling his plate. Nanami sits next to Satori, and Shoko sits at your other side, making Ijichi sit next to her and make himself small as if to avoid bothering her.
You watch everyone fill their plate and talk amongst themselves with admiration that turns to longing for only one man. He would’ve loved to see this moment here, he would’ve been enchanted having his friends and his family dining together like a close united front. This would’ve been a glimpse of that life he dreamed of, or maybe it would’ve been enough, but he would’ve loved all this.
But he’s not here, and all you can do is be happy for him.
“I just wanted to thank everyone for being here,” you cut in as everyone begins to eat. “It really means a lot. It’s been a long time since we’ve been gathered like this, and I know there’s a couple of people missing, but we’ll carry them with us today, and welcome the new faces that accompany us.” You smile at all the kids. “Thank you.”
“Cheers!” Itadori muffles as he chews his food, making Fushiguro and Nanami look at him with disgust.
“Exactly,” you counter sweetly. “Actually feel free to serve yourselves wine made with organic grapes from Italy. It’s homemade by Miguel, a member of our family. And don’t worry it’s light on the alcohol, so Itadori, Nobara, and Fushiguro, you can have some. And don’t worry,” you snicker. “I’ve made a non-alcoholic one for you Satoru, you and Satori can share.”
Satoru clenches his jaw and folds his hands over the table as Shoko and you laugh at him.
“Who would’ve thought,” you add smugly. “That the strongest sorcerer can’t handle his liquor.” You chuckle. “So if you kids ever want to defeat him just give him a cup of alcohol and he’ll go down. Like that one time on Shoko’s birthday, do you remember when he…” you pause and laugh hysterically along with Shoko to the point you can’t finish your story as you recall that day.
“He fell—“ Shoko snorts, and you wheeze.
“Poor Haibara man,” you gasp for air.
“Hilarious,” Satoru deadpans. “I hope you both choke on your food.”
“It was pretty funny,” Nanami joins in too with a tiny smile before he takes a bite of his food.
You slap your chair and wipe away your tears.
“So are you going to tell us, or?” Nobara asks.
Shoko and you look at each other again and burst out laughing. And you in fact don’t end up telling the story, you just can’t muster up the strength to do it without laughing. It was just too much of a funny night, so it goes untold and the night carries on great. No better than that, it’s perfect in your opinion. You have fun. You smile and go on not thinking about Suguru for a while.
Games are played, and more stories are told, the older kids go out and get shown around the property by the twins, while Satori has no other choice but to be with you. Not like she minded though, she enjoyed Nanami and Satoru’s company.
The night transcends almost like old times, you acknowledge the big hole left by a couple of people, but you feel that same bliss. So simple and so warm. And it doesn’t get knocked down by the loss you still mourn deeply every day. Eventually, you end up catching the twins and the other three hanging around a bonfire they built by the lake, and rather than feeling sad as you recall the fact that it reminds you of your youth and that he can’t see this moment, you smile to yourself and admire from the older kids afar with a drink in your hand.
This, this moment is what you've worked so hard for. Watching Nanako, Nobara, and Itadori laughing about something they said, noticing Fushiguro and Mimiko smile timidly at each other as they seem to discuss over a book in her hand without a worry, is what you dreamed of. Of course, this is a fraction of it, but it’s the next generation of sorcerers living a simple moment that you longed to see.
They deserve to live it for as long as they live.
“What’s going over here?” Satoru breaks your silence.
You blink and watch him take the empty next to you on the patio swing. “I was just watching the kids,” you point out and shift your body to face him. “Admiring them. And hoping their lives are just filled with moments like the ones they’re living now.”
Satoru drifts his eyes to watch them now too and a soft smile tugs on his face. “They will. That’s what we’re fighting for aren’t we?”
You hum in agreement and continue to watch him as a question forms in your head unrelated to what you just spoke about. It’s an old question really, one that always lingers in your head. And you don’t know why you have the burning desire to ask it now out of all days; maybe it’s the quiet moment, maybe it’s the alcohol in your system, but it comes to your lips, it forms tears in your eyes and makes your heart race before you start it.
“Why?” You ask quietly.
Satoru hums and lifts his head to slowly turn and face you with a questioning look. When he sees the tears welling in your pleading eyes it’s not hard to know what this is leading to.
“Why did you leave that day?” You plead for an answer again. “Why did you break my heart that day?”
Satoru blinks repeatedly and glances down as he brushes his fingers through his hair.
“And don’t avoid it,” you press sharply and breathlessly as if you had been out of breath. “Don’t rebuttal with a question, tell me. You owe me that at least because I don’t think I can go on pretending I’m okay with it. I can’t live like this anymore, so please, Satoru tell me why you left me behind in that damn house with those horrible people we call our family.”
Satoru smacks his lips as he draws in a deep breath, and nervously licks his lips as he slowly breathes out through his nose. “I…thought I was making the right choice.”
You scoff. “The right choice? The right choice was trusting me,” you argue. “I don’t know if I would’ve left with Suguru if I did leave with you, there’s no way of knowing, but you had to trust me. And you didn’t, you betrayed me in the worst way possible and it hurt…” you inhale sharply and grab your chest to let out that shaky breath.
“I just didn’t want you to leave too,” Satoru finally shares, making your breath hitch. “He had left, I thought I could prevent you from leaving if you stayed there. I didn’t think they’d try and make you do anything, you know?” He says and his gaze never flickers away from yours. “So I left. And I knew you’d be angry by it, but I was convinced I could make it up when I took you back to the school. I just didn’t want you to leave…” he trails off and swallows back thickly before he exhales deeply.
You look at him with your eyes glossy and with a soft look of disbelief and full of pain.
“I’m sorry,” he says and makes you freeze and look at him blankly as you progress words you didn’t think he’d say, at least you thought you’d need to drag it out of him.
“I’m sorry that I ended up hurting you,” he whispers in a soft voice you rarely hear now. It’s so genuine and vulnerable.
But it’s not enough. Five days were a few, but those five days were torture and they happened because he left you that day.
“It’s not that easy,” you mutter as the shock passes and contentment laced with deep cemented pain takes its place. “But…I want to try and forgive you. I…miss you. I hate feeling this tension between us. I hate not talking like we used to when you come over. But it’s not easy forgiving you because I really looked up to you…”
Satoru huffs softly and his eyes fall.
“I really thought you’d never hurt me and you did,” you whisper. “I can’t forget that, but I want to try. I do.”
Satoru inhales sharply and meets your gaze with a softened look and nods softly. “Yeah that’s a start,” he says.
You laugh softly and nod in agreement. Silence follows after that, but it’s not awkward, it’s not full of tension you can cut through with a knife, and there’s genuine contentment and relief over this new beginning.
However, that slowly crumbles as you feel that longing and that gap left behind by a man you both cherished and cared for.
“I really miss him,” you break the silence in hopes he feels the same.
Satoru draws out a deep breath and nods. “I know,” he mutters and notices you holding back your tears as you stare at the ground so he slowly, and carefully puts his hand on your back to very gently caress it.
He didn’t need to say anything else, you heard the softness of his voice, and you detected the grief you feel every day. And this time the silence that descends over you lingers for a while, up to the moment he grows cold.
“It’s cold out here,” he tells you and gets out of the chair. “Why don’t we head inside?”
You look up at him and nod, but you don’t move. “I’ll be there soon. I just need to collect myself a bit.”
Satoru hesitates but he doesn’t fight you to leave. This is your home after all. “All right. Just don’t freeze to death out here because I will gloat.”
You let out a soft laugh and watch him walk inside before you take a chug of the alcohol you still have and then let your body slide to the side as you rest your elbow on the armrest, and lay your head on your hand as you stare off blankly while you think about him.
It doesn’t seem like you were there for so long, you didn’t feel time pass, but apparently it did because suddenly Nanami comes out to join you.
“Y/N, you’ve been out here for a while, why don’t you come inside? Get to bed and sleep it off, yeah?”
You sigh and shake your head. “No…n-no, I just need to collect myself. I don’t want her to see me like this,” you mutter and put the bottle down before you sit up to swing your legs back and forth. “Just a…bib more,” you slur your words.
Nanami sighs and slowly takes a step closer. “Satori asked Satoru to put her to bed, and the twins took the students to their room, so come on,” he says and closes the space left between the two of you by gently grabbing your arm and picking you off the porch swing.
You swallow thickly and try to argue, but you actually don’t have the strength so you just muster something else that slips out of your mouth. “I’m sorry…I’m a terrible host. Suguru…he was better at it…I’m sorry.”
Nanami pulls you inside to the warmth that fills the house, and you sigh as you finally feel embraced by the warmth.
“You did pretty well,” Nanami tells you. “Up until you didn’t come back inside.”
You roll your eyes and nudge him gently. “Oh, come on you're being too nice. What happened to you? You used to be mean.”
Nanami scoffs softly. “I was going through a phase,” he rebuttals. “And I didn’t say you were good, I said you did well.”
You laugh softly and then hiccup, making your friend look at you with worry.
“How much did you have to drink?” Nanami asks, considering you tend to be erratic when you’re drunk like you are now.
You shrug and pinch your fingers together. “A little”
At least you were erratic, Suguru’s death changed you; you’re a lot quieter now too, more serious than he was used to from you. Perhaps if it wasn’t for Satoru asking you to train Hakari and Kirara, you would have locked yourself away in your community only tending to your people and daughters.
Yet even if you had a reason to pull yourself up, Nanami could still see all that pain you like to hide. He can see it now so clearly in your glossy orange-red eyes, he can see it through your silence as he helps you to your room.
“I’ll bring you some water, and a bucket,” Nanami whispers softly. “Just in case.”
You lift your blankets and crawl into your bed. “Okay,” you mutter and think about the fact that you’re in your clothes, but your mind doesn’t actually give the command to change, you just lay and think about it while Nanami disappears.
That is until it’s like you forgot that Suguru has been gone for almost a year and turn to your side in search of Suguru. You expect to see him sleeping on his back, with his long hair draped over his shoulders while some other strands are spread about his pillow wildly. You expect to see him with his head tilted to the side, causing drool to dribble down the corner of his mouth. Alas, the moment your eyes fall on an empty spot next to you your heart shatters and you’re slammed with the urgent need to cry.
However, before you can shed a tear, footsteps approach your bed and once again you grow illusioned with Suguru, so you flip around and call out to him in the darkness of your room. “Suguru?”
But it’s not him, your eyes land on Nanami.
That’s right…it’s just Nanami.
“Uh,” Nanami breathes out awkwardly. “Here’s water, a bucket, and pills on your nightstand.”
Tears slip down your cheeks as you feel a ripping pain inside your chest. You don’t say anything on the matter, nor does Nanami add anything else, he just puts his hands in his pocket and glances at you one more time before he announces his leave.
“Goodnight, y/n, I’ll check in on you tomorrow.”
You avert your gaze and stay quiet, he takes this as his confirmation and turns to head out, but before he can you reach over and take his arm. “Kento, please don’t leave,” your voice breaks. “Please…I don’t want to be alone...I’m so lonely,” you cry quietly.
Nanami sighs and walks back to you to crouch by your side, and proceeds to slowly pull your hand off his arm to tuck it back under the blanket.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I am. I don’t know what else to say but that…” he trails off and exhales deeply. “I’ll just—”
“Nanami,” another voice cuts in. “It’s okay I got it from here.”
You look over your shoulder and see Shoko walking in.
“Are you sure?” Nanami queries.
She hums and once she reaches the bed she shoves your legs back and throws the blanket aside before she lets her slippers fall off her feet. Nanami stands up and you completely forget about him as you’re filled with confusion and glee.
“What are you doing?” You ask Shoko as you turn to watch her climb into your bed.
“Spending the night,” she says mindlessly.
The confusion you just felt completely vanishes and you’re filled with overwhelming joy that makes you cry. You didn’t want to cry, but the liquor has you all loopy so happy tears roll down your cheeks now.
“Is that okay?” Shoko makes sure to ask even though she’s tucking herself in like she used to when you lived together.
You nod and quickly throw your arm around her before you snuggle up beside her. “Of course,” you assure her. “It’s better than okay…thank you,” you muster through your drunken state.
Shoko slowly wraps her arm around you and responds with a simple gentle squeeze before lolling her head on yours. Your smile softens at the feeling of her warmth embracing yours and you can’t help but close your eyes to find peace in this moment.
——
*SOMETIME LATER. OCTOBER 31, 7:30 pm*
“And here is Satoru’s juice box,” you tease your brother as you set the drinks down by their respected person.
“And you get two drinks?” Satoru rebuttals. “Feeling ballsy? I’m not carrying you to bed.”
You smile sweetly and bat your eyelashes. “The bartender gave me a tequila shot on the house because he says I make a cute birthday girl.” You shrug sweetly and sit back in your seat.
Satoru raises a quizzical brow and scoffs. “Sure you do. Anyway, for someone who hates non-sorcerers, you surely do spend a lot of time around them.”
“Well,” you sigh and pick up your shot glass. “Ieiri wanted to take me out for my birthday, and the sorcerer-only club is lame, so I’m sucking it up. Here. At this fun bar.” You grin and twist around to face your friends who came to celebrate your birthday with you; Shoko, Nanami, Larue, Satoru of course, and Mei-Mei. “Let’s all raise our cups to a fun night.”
Your friends' eyes fall on you, and they all raise their drinks.
“And to your birthday!” Shoko adds with a soft smile.
“Yes, happy 28th, Y/N,” Larue says from the far end of the table so as to not sit next to the man that killed the man he looked up to. He wouldn't have come if your brother was coming too, but it is your birthday so he made an exception. “May you continue to age just as gracefully as you are now my beloved friend.”
You push your drink towards him and flash him a warm beaming grin.
“Happy birthday y/n,” Nanami interjects softly.
“Happy birthday, little sister,” Satoru surprises you, making you drift your gaze across from you to express that surprise in a soft manner—“May you continue to live on so I have someone to annoy.”
You groan softly and lower your cup as you narrow your gaze.
Satoru chuckles and leans over the table. “Happy birthday,” he says softer.
You draw out a small breath and offer him a sweet and genuine smile.
“To y/n’s birthday!” Mei-Mei says, making everyone raise their cups in the air before you pull them into your lips and start off the night.
When you finish your shot you slide that cup aside and pull in the original drink you ordered. “Now to change the music to something actually listenable, and then we should start our first game of the night!” you interject joyfully. You can’t have yourself feeling any other way today even if it’s your first birthday without Suguru. Because if you sit and really feel what you want to feel then no one will be able to take you out of that dark place called grief.
So you’re determined to feel nothing but gratitude for those who came to celebrate with you, and joy for being able to celebrate another year. And when you get so drunk that you begin to cry about your man then it’s whatever because you will already be drunk and partied out. That will be a good way to end the night!
Nevertheless, just as you take your first step, your phone begins to ring and threatens to ruin the night just as it started.
“How come you made all of us shut our phones off, but you get to have yours on?” Satoru complains.
You peer back at him with a pointed glare. “Because I have kids at home, and you all don’t, you guys get calls from work, so no phones for any of you until the night is over.” You shoot him a sweet smile and take a look at the screen, but realize the number is an unknown one.
Thus you hang up and waltz over to the jukebox and flip through the variety of music. It takes you a minute to click through all the music and find something you like, but you eventually find the right song, and just as you’re about to click on it your phone goes off again.
“Damn,” you hiss in annoyance and pull your phone out again to check. And once again it’s that same unknown number so you answer impatiently this time. “Hello!”
“Gojo,” a familiar deep voice greets you almost distastefully.
“Yaga?” You scoff. “Isn’t this a surprise?” You laugh. “I can't imagine you’d call to wish me a happy birthday, so,” you roll out almost with a hint of nervousness in your tone because a call from him doesn’t mean anything good. “What do you want?” You ask and press on the song to play overhead.
“Are you with your brother? He doesn’t answer his damned phone.”
You blink and feel your joy begin to fade away, and that brewing storm only grows darker and more dangerous. “Yeah,” you mutter and slowly turn around to give your back to the jukebox. “Please don’t tell me you’re also looking for Nanami, Shoko, and Mei-Mei?”
“Yes, I am! Are they with you too?! Why aren’t they answering their damn phones?! I get why Satoru wouldn’t, he’s a slack-off, but them?!” He shouts, causing you to pull your phone away from your ear. “Put me on speaker, Gojo, what I have to say concerns all of you.”
No, no.
You rush back to the table and slam your phone on the table to catch all of your friends' attention. “It’s Yaga,” you announce and put him on speaker.
“Oh,” Satoru begins to say playfully as he folds his arms over the table. “Yaga? Don’t tell me you feel hurt you’re not invited to my sister's birthday bash. Well, I would’ve told you but you know, it’s for young people only, you—”
“Shut up,” Yaga cuts him off, causing you to snicker. “Since none of you are answering your phones, listen well, there’s trouble brewing in Shibuya.”
Your amused smile falls and that joy you have been entertaining completely vanishes.
“I’m sorry I have to end your night, but all sorcerers, including allies, students, and staff alike have been summoned to deal with what’s going on.”
So not you? Please not you.
“Are you going to stop edging us on already?” Shoko cuts in as she rests her chin on her hand.
“Non-sorcerers have been trapped by a veil in Shibuya and are not allowed to go out,” Yaga finally shares, making everyone around the table except for Larue, to frown and grow serious and stiff. “Come to Shibuya now, I’ll explain everything else on the way. And before you say anything, y/n, you are being summoned too. Literally, the people inside the veil keep asking for the same things, we think it’s a condition by who made the veil, they say that in order to go out Satoru and Y/N Gojo need to come.”
You groan and drop your head on the table.
“Why should I even go?” You rebuttal. “I don’t help non-sorcerers.”
Yaga huffs out and sneers through the phone. “Because your brother will be here, and all your friends will come too. Don’t they matter?! Don’t do this for non-sorcerers, do this because the lives of the people you care about could be at risk!”
You groan softly in defeat and don’t say anything now. Instead, you actually end up entertaining this mysterious invitation sent by the curse-user, or special-grade intelligent curse, much to your dismay.
You shouldn’t, you really shouldn’t listen to the plan they bombarded you with on your way to Shibuya, you shouldn’t change out of your cute birthday outfit, or take off the pretty and glittery birthday crown Satori made you.
You should be home eating more cake the twins made you, and watching a movie with your family snuggled up on the couch, or you should still be at that damn bar celebrating with your friends and your brother.
But no, you’re here. You’re with your brother a few miles away from the veil trapping non-sorcerers in, and sucking in others that were towards the middle of the veil. You’re in your sorcerer outfit and about to search for whatever is seeking you and your brother.
“They’ll probably be in the center of the veil,” Satoru says as he taps his chin. “And if it’s just us we should come at them from opposite sides and at least spook them since they’re already waiting for us.”
You blink repeatedly in disbelief and roll your eyes at him to retort. “Opposite sides? So you’re going to make me go all the way around?”
Satoru looks at you amused. “Why, I can float you there if you want. Or you can fly there, Satori says you can fly.”
You shake your head and look away. “Flying is an overestimate. I glide with the wind. You know? It supports me, I don’t fly.”
Satoru laughs softly. “Well, then I’ll go to the other side, just because it's your birthday.” He says.
You can’t help the smile tugging on your lips and nod. “Thanks. Or whatever.”
Satoru sighs and sounds serious now. “I am sorry that we had to leave the bar. Maybe we can make it up for Shoko’s birthday, hm? You two can go out and celebrate together.”
Without any other option, you nod. “Yeah. I’ll tell her about it.” You exhale and begin to notice how close you’re getting to the black veil. “At least the entire day wasn’t ruined though. I had a good day up until now. Breakfast with you and my five children was good…even if it was late,” you mumble and shoot him daggers.
Satoru chuckles and doesn’t add anything in that respect.
“So I’m grateful,” you finish in a whisper
“Good.”
You hum and just as you’re about to reach the veil you both come to a stop. “I’ll see you in there then,” you force yourself to change the subject before you want to ramble on to avoid this insidious problem.
“You know whatever happens in there, when you get out meet up with Yuji,” Satoru interjects as you both watch the black veil as if waiting for something to come out of it. “I don’t know if he’s connected to whatever’s happening here, but people still want him dead, so meet up with him.”
You place your hand on your hip and look down. “You’re acting like you won’t make it out of here.” You mumble.
Satoru scoffs. “It’s just in case things get crazy in there. Precautions.”
“Oh? You take those?” You ask sarcastically.
“I’ll meet up with you when I can, all right? So say you understand.”
You exhale deeply and roll your head up to meet his gaze with an assuring look. “Understood.” You reassure him.
Satoru nods and steps back. “It’s 8:30, I want to see you inside at 8:40.”
“I want to see you at 8:40!” You counter lightheartedly. “You’re the late one. Like this morning.”
Satoru scoffs. “8:40, or I’ll beat you up. Don’t care if it’s your birthday.”
You scrunch your nose with discontent and hum. And now without wasting another second, in the blink of an eye, he zips away. Now you have to go through the veil alone.
So much for a joyful birthday.
“Fuck this,” you grumble and let out a deep breath before you walk to the edge of that stupid veil. When you’re close you hesitantly reach for it with your hand.
And the moment the tip of your fingers touch the cold gooey texture you wait and stare at the black shield with discontent.
You’re not supposed to be here. You’re fucking semi-retired. You should be at home! Damn it!
You draw in another deep breath and finally step inside. Once you see the fucking calamity of people you huff out and groan.
A hood at this very moment would be excellent. But no, you didn't think of including one in your outfit. Now you’ll be recognized for sure. Damn it. Damn, damn!
Whatever, there’s nothing you can do about it now but keep your head low and push through.
Of course, as you do push towards the center where a second veil is trapping non-sorcerers inside and holding whoever is looking for you both, people begin to recognize you when they manage to catch glimpses of you. You do your best to ignore them and keep yourself to the least crowded sides.
Alas more and more people recognize you and those who do have genuine interest, and those who just want a picture for likes, begin to follow you and crowd you, so you begin to run to avoid having them distract you and escape through a backdoor in the station.
That’s one thing you can be grateful for that the school provided for you, knowledge of secret entrances through buildings and stations!
You imagine there’ll be more people, but for now, you’re in the clear.
Or at least you thought so, because just as you were about to exit the building and walk out to the tunnel, you hear footsteps approaching, so you stop and wait. In case it’s some enemy then you’ll fight them, if it’s another sorcerer or a starstruck fan then you’ll shoo ‘em away.
“Go away,” you break the silence as the footsteps find you and stop a few paces away from you. “Or I’ll make you.”
“Y/N.”
No.
You spin around on your heels and come face to face with Nanako and Mimiko.
“Wh…” you gasp and take long strides to reach them and grab them forcefully by the shoulders. “What are you two doing here? Go home!” You say without any sense of endearment. “Now!”
Nanako pulls her arm away from your grip and rebuttals for her and her sister. “No, we…” she pauses and glances at Mimiko nervously and then looks back at you and continues. “We want to help you, we’re old now. We know how to fight, we came to help.”
You shake your head and push them back. “No,” you counter sharply. “I don’t want your help, I have enough help. Go home, go to sleep, and when you wake up I’ll be there. Just go home.”
Nanako digs her heels in the ground and swats your hand off her before taking your other hand off Mimiko to argue back. “No! We’re not going home, and if you find some way to make us then we’ll come back because the truth is that we want to help you.”
You blink with surprise and swallow back nervously.
“We just want to help you,” Mimiko adds softly. “Geto and you taught us a lot. We’re strong because of the two of you. So we can do this, trust us just like how you trusted us last year.”
You step back and drop your head to let out a frustrated breath and think.
You did trust them last year, but the curses that invaded the streets were under Suguru’s control and they worked with the twins. There may not be curses here now, but there’s a chance they’ll appear, and they don’t work for them this time. This time whatever is here won't spare them because they’re young just like how they would’ve been spared last year by the opposing side. They’re in real danger now.
But they’re right, they’ll come back if you send them away and they’ll probably face more danger because of it, so…
You have to trust them. You have to trust that they’ll do the right thing and be smart. You have to let them spread their wings so they can learn to fly on their own.
So if they want to help then you’ll let them. You’ll trust them.
“Fine,” you sigh and face them. “Fine. But get out of here and wait if there’s trouble. Don’t get in the way, and run. There’s nothing wrong with running away, okay? Go home and just let me know. Yes?”
Nanako and Mimiko share a surprised look before they smile at each other and then at you.
“We will,” Mimiko assures you.
You draw out a nervous deep breath and walk over to them to embrace them. “Be careful. Keep your phone on, and answer me when I call.”
The twins wrap their arms around you and you squeeze them tighter against you.
“You be careful too,” Nanako says. “Don’t be stupid.”
You laugh softly. “Yeah, I’ll try not to be. You don’t be stupid either.”
“You’ve taught us to be better,” Mimiko praises you.
You smile and pull back to take one more look at them. “Careful. Run. Get out of the way, and if there’s trouble and you can’t reach me and need help, call Nanami. Or one of the kids, you became friends with Nobara, Fushiguro, and Itadori, they’ll be more than happy to help. Okay?”
Mimiko nods and you return the nod and step back. “I’m late to meet up with my brother, so I’ll trust that you will get out of the station. Be careful, and I love the two of you.” You shoot them one last smile before you turn and jog out to the tunnel.
Now back to this mess. Fuck. It, or whatever the fuck better be here.
And your gut better be right, you’re just following your gut as you jog through this dimly lit tunnel. Whatever invited you here could be anywhere through the second veil you easily passed through.
And! No curse better jump out while you’re in the dark.
Please no, please no, you keep muttering to yourself until you hear voices echoing as you approach the light at the end of the tunnel. And as you get closer you make out your brother, thankfully.
However, before you can be seen, or heard, you change your jog to a stride and stop just before you can step out of the shadows to examine the area.
You see your brother. He’s too tall not to spot right away. He’s going on about something you tune out for now.
You also see that tall and white curse that has twigs for eyes, the nature curse, or whatever. Next to it is volcano head, the curse Satoru said he beheaded. And next to volcano head is a person. Not a curse, an actual person.
He’s new and has not been mentioned by Satoru, or reported by the students. He’s not patch face either; this guy lacks blue hair and that raggedy black shirt Itadori said he wears.
No, this guy across from you is wearing a robe underneath a tight purple vest thing that covers his robe and sinches his waist. This guy has dark brown hair and wears buns on his head. This guy is new. And this guy is turning his head!
Shit, shit!
You back up, but his brown eyes still meet your gaze hidden in the shadows. This guy…this guy with a black mark over his nose, and light purple circles over his small eyes notices you first. You’re basked by the shadows of the tunnel, but he still sees you. And as he keeps his tired-looking gaze on you, you see his thin eyebrows furrow, and his eyes slowly narrow on you, and your heart suddenly skips a beat.
He doesn’t say anything though, he slowly begins to turn his body, and you stay there and hold his gaze as you feel as if you’re unable to move from your spot. The thought that he’s mesmerizingly attractive crosses your mind, but maybe that’s because you need to get laid; it’s been too long.
Whatever the case, you ignore the thought and your crazy beating heart and finally find the will to move and step out of the shadows. Without letting go of that guy's dark and threatening gaze the entire time.
.
.
.
.
A/N- I felt butterflies writing that scene with Choso hehe…
Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno @moonnime @kodzukein @yozora7154
#fanfiction#damn-stark#sugar#chapter 16#jujutsu kaisen fanfiction#jujutsu kaisen#jjk#jjk fanfiction#jjk season 2#Choso kamo#choso#choso fanfiction#choso kamo fanfiction#choso x fem!reader#choso x reader#choso x you#choso x y/n#choso x female reader#choso x f!reader#Choso x gojo!reader#choso kamo x fem!reader#choso kamo x reader#choso kamo x you#choso kamo x female reader#gojo satoru#shoko ieiri#nanami kento#shibuya arc#mimiko and nanako#yuji itadori
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What is trigun stampede even about
At its heart, Trigun Stampede about the conflict between love/pacifism and rage/retribution, set between two twin non-human brothers who love each other but diverge because of this conflict, even as they desperately want to pull the other back to them, with a mix of various other characters coming along for the ride.
When future humanity creates a new type of lifeform called Plants, beings that are connected to a higher dimension's energy source which allows them to be used to create food/water/air/etc., humanity is not exactly great about this. Some people are kind and compassionate, some are horrifically abusive, uncaring of the hurt they're causing.
The only two sentient Plants of the series are the twins--Millions Knives and Vash the Stampede--and when they discover what the humans are really doing, Knives crashes humanity's ships onto a desert planet with no resources, where they will truly die without the Plants to create food and water for them. Vash believes they can find a way to live together with the humans, he sees the best in them. Knives thinks they should all die for how they use Plants up until they die, for how they experiment on Plants, for how they attack anything that they're afraid of. (It's very much a "the villain really kind of has a point, but takes it way too far, but you can kind of understand how he got there, especially depending on how much pain Plants are capable of feeling, not that we know the answer to that" kind of set-up.)
Their conflict (not that Vash wants a conflict, but Knives isn't going to stop stealing back all the Plants the humans have taken, killing anyone who gets in his way) plays out across the entirety of the desert world, with Vash basically unable to go anywhere without some kind of trouble coming down on his head (whether through his own Plant abilities being necessary, bad luck, or Knives stealing back a Plant) and this weighs on Vash's soul like a ton of bricks.
Vash tries really hard to keep up the appearance of being the local sillyman, but babygirl has the biggest case of depression you've ever seen, because he can't stop people from being hurt, he can't stop his twin from hurting people, he can't stop all the conflict going on around him, he can't save everyone, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how many pieces of himself he loses along the way. But neither can he just sit things out, because he's a Plant, he's stronger and faster and more powerful than any human, he has to at least try. Try to save them, try to reach his twin.
What makes it all worse is that, underneath everything else, Knives is doing this for Vash. Oh, he's definitely not doing what Vash would want and I don't mean to make Knives sound soft or kind or nice, he's manipulative and awful, but I do genuinely believe that his motivation under all of it is to build a better world for Vash, one that doesn't have humans, one that only has Plants.
It has some really beautiful animation, some great humor, some really excellent side characters, some badass fight scenes, some fascinating worldbuilding, but primarily I am here for the conflict between "we can live together" versus "the humans have and will continue to kill us if I don't do something" overlaid with how they both desperately want the other to come around to their side.
Also, it's basically a Space Western with scifi elements and it's great.
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The idea of figuring out what the Only Friends characters smell like came up in a discussion I was having and it made me want to assign everyone a fragrance--like, the perfume/cologne kind, not just some kind of smell. What follows is not based on any close reading of the show and is full of stuff I made up but it's made-up stuff that is consistent with how I'm currently thinking about the characters (without having had the repeated viewings or having engaged in the detailed analysis some have with this show). So, you know, nothing serious. But I enjoyed writing it.
Top: Cuir Oud Padishah (Auphorie)
Top prides himself on knowing about niche things that are considered high-quality by discriminating people so of course he likes Auphorie. The fact that the label is from Southeast Asia (Malaysia, specifically) appeals to him as well. This fragrance is heavy on animalic, musky notes which I think Top would think makes him some kind of sexy badass (it doesn't), and it has a prominent oud note, and the rare and fancy aspect of oud is something that would appeal to his snobby side. Whenever someone compliments Top on this fragrance he launches into a whole spiel about Auphorie and small-batch natural perfumery that comes off as pedantic to anyone who isn't already convinced he's the second coming.
Mew: En Passant (Frederic Malle)
Mew likes that this is from a fancy, niche label that isn't that well-known, and he likes that it's a unisex scent because he likes being a little hard to pin down in that department, but his favorite thing about this fragrance is that the combination of lilac, cucumber, and springy green notes reads as really innocent while actually being low-key alluring. The sweet drydown is another aspect that is like the version of himself that Mew presents to the world. Someone on Fragrantica pointed out that "en passant" is, among other things, the name of a chess move in which a player captures an opponent's pawn while passing by them during an opening move and I think that is just so Mew.
Sand: L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme (Issey Miyake)
This is a pretty affordable fragrance but definitely an interesting enough composition to interest a guy like Sand who is a little particular when it comes to his aesthetic preferences. It's also from the 90s, like some other things Sand likes, and I can totally see him checking ebay to get a vintage bottle. In theory it hasn't been reformulated but he'd be convinced that older was better. This would also be a likely crowd pleaser across genders which is something Sand would be into. L'Eau d'Issey (the fragrance for women, which came first) was kind of an un-perfume perfume, fresh and translucent but practically nonexistent. The Pour Homme variant is more balanced thanks to some low end from woody, aromatic, and spicy notes. It's still on the subtler side, though, so he wouldn't have to worry about seeming like he's trying too hard even if he oversprayed, and you know Sand has a horror of seeming like he's trying too hard. My choice of this fragrance for Sand may be influenced by a certain singer/guitar player/songwriter person I dated in the early 2000s who was very popular with his gender of choice, had a whole collection of different-colored Converse low-tops with contrasting shoelaces, and used to spray a puff of L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme into the air in front of him then step into the cloud because a girl taught him to do that once.
Ray: Philosykos (Diptyque)
This was Ray's mom's signature perfume. It's distinctive and sophisticated but easy to like, exactly how she wanted people to see her. She's kind of like Ray in that way--like him, she was high-maintenance but always wanted to seem just the opposite. The shift from mother to son worked out well because it's a very gender-neutral fragrance. At first Ray wore it in remembrance of his mom and then he just stopped thinking about it and just kept wearing it out of habit. He can hardly perceive it anymore after all these years but every so often he gets complimented by a stranger and it makes him get a little bit full of himself. Philosykos often gets described as the photorealistic scent of a fig tree--not the fruit, but the whole tree--and Ray likes to imagine that it's the smell of a particular tree someone would remember fondly from their family home even though he has never felt that rooted in any place ever.
Boston: Sauvage (Dior)
Boston's taste in fragrances is basic as fuck but that works really well for him, because what he needs is something that appeals to the lowest common denominator of dudes. He secretly wishes this was more overpriced because while he doesn't like to admit he's a rich kid, he has a secret love of pointlessly exclusive things. But he gets more attention with this one than he did when he wore Gucci Guilty so he keeps wearing it. He originally tried it because he saw a review by some straight guy complaining that he didn't get compliments from women on this scent, only other dudes, and he's had the same experience, but doesn't see it as a problem for obvious reasons. Boston has become inured to the smell of this stuff and barely notices it anymore, but then he barely noticed it in the first place. It was and is only a means to an end for him.
Nick: Bleu de Chanel (Chanel)
Nick's last job was at a kiosk in a mall and he used to visit the perfume section of this one department store on breaks because a hot guy worked there. The hot guy recommended this stuff, and when Nick smelled it he thought it smelled like something an extremely cool and attractive person would wear. After that he was determined to get it somehow despite its ridiculous price tag. He never got the hot guy's number but he did convince him to sell him a half-empty tester of this under the table for (relatively) cheap. He uses it sparingly to try to make it last but sometimes he sprays it on his sheets and pretends the hot guy from the perfume counter stayed over.
If you like this, you might be interested in my post on osmanthus fragrans, a.k.a. tea olive, and its significance to Utsukushii Kare.
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The Raven King - Chapter Three
Day: Friday, September 1st
Time: 12:48 PM EST
"What is going on?" Kevin asked. "You can't last a full game without your medicine."
“No, probably not." Andrew sounded far too cheerful for someone who was going to spend half of his night in serious discomfort.
"He's done it once before," Matt said.
"Yeah, last October." Nicky didn't look up from where he was stuffing things into his duffel, but he was grinning as he told his story. "We found out the ERC was going to cut us from the Class I ranks if we didn't stop losing. Coach asked Andrew for a miracle, and Andrew gave us one. He made Coach come up with a number between one and five, and that's how many points he let the other team get before he shut them out. It was probably the most badass thing I've ever seen.”
If his words were supposed to make Kevin feel better about Andrew's chances tonight, they achieved the exact opposite. Kevin's face was a thundercloud.
"So you'll try," Kevin said through gritted teeth, "because Coach asked you to."
Andrew folded his arms across his knees, tilted his head back, and smiled up at Kevin. "Careful, Kevin. Your jealous streak is showing."
"For eight months you've told me no. In eight seconds you told him yes. Why?"
"Oh, that's easy." Andrew stuffed the last of his gear into his bag and zipped it shut. He slung the bag over his shoulders and got to his feet, standing up so close to Kevin he almost knocked Kevin back a step. "It's just more fun to tell you no. That's what you wanted, right? You wanted me to have fun. I am. Aren't you?"
For someone so small, Andrew made a lot of noise when shoved into the lockers. Andrew was laughing as he crashed into the orange metal. Neil didn't know what amused Andrew more: Kevin's violence or the splash of blood that now stained the front of Kevin's shirt. Neil hadn't even seen Andrew take a knife out, but it was “in his hand in the air between them. Kevin retreated from Andrew with a sharp curse.
"Jesus, Andrew!" Matt said. "Kevin, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Kevin put a hand to his chest as if checking the truth of his words. Andrew stepped away from the lockers and got in Kevin's space again. He put the edge of the blade against Kevin's chest over his heart and peered up into Kevin's face. Kevin looked more angry than intimidated as he stared back. Matt started
toward them, maybe thinking he had to break up round two of their fight. Kevin didn't look away from Andrew when he motioned at Matt to back off. Matt didn't stop until he was within lunging distance.
There he waited, still and tense, for one of them to make the wrong move. After he'd gone still, Andrew spoke again.
"Kevin, Kevin. So predictable. So pathetic. How about a tip? A reward for all your hard work, or something. Ready? You'll start having more success when you ask for things you can actually have."
"I can have this," Kevin said, voice thick with frustration. "You're just being stupid."
"I guess we'll see, but don't say I didn't warn you!”
Art used with permission by Rainbowd00dles. Thank you @rainbowd00dles !
#aftg#all for the game#neil josten#trk#the raven king#the foxhole court#andrew minyard#palmetto state university#psu foxes#andreil#on this day in aftg#otdiaftg#palmetto state foxes#otdi all for the game#nora sakavic#the foxes#on this day in all for the game#kevin day#nicky hemmick#aaron minyard#coach wymack#betsy dobson#abby winfield#matt boyd#dan wilds#renee walker#allison reynolds#artists#rainbowdoodles
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*sheepishly pops head around the door frame*
hiii darling, it’s me again hehe
I hope you’re well and have had a great day!!!
So I read your Bill fic where he comes in all protective and calling the reader “my girl” and I LOVED IT!! And it got me thinking, if you had the time and didn’t mind, I would love love loveeeee to have like a protective one shot fic of a lad of your choice (I mean we both know who my fave man is but it is completely up to you as I love them all and it’s truly whoever you feel you want to write for and who fits the ideas in your mind)
I just love the idea of a man seeing his girl in a pickle and knowing shes a strong, individual badass who’s literally here fighting a war and can absolutely sort it herself but definitely being the guy who’s like “nah she’s my girl, if I’m around she doesn’t need to bother handling it herself cause I got her always” I just swoon every time (and if it involves just a littleeeee bit of jealousy too then wow that’s jsut *chefs kiss*)
Hiii babe! I'm glad that you liked that fic, because I honestly had a lot of fun writing it 💕
The way that I became OBSESSED with this prompt after opening my notifications is unreal, truly. Omg, I love this idea. And since I know you like Speirs, I knew I had to write it for him 😉 I really hope you like it, and thank you for trusting me enough to write it! 😌
Ares and Athena
Ron Speirs x reader
A/N: Me? Making up battles for the sake of my own plot? Absolutely. This doesn't really take place between or during any particular episode, so if you're looking for accuracy, this ain't it lol. This is written for the fictional depiction from the show -- absolutely no disrespect to the real life veterans!
Warnings: war, mild language, sexism, the inevitable typos that come with writing and uploading a fic in the middle of the night
This is Ron's favorite part of being in combat. The adrenaline that floods him when put into a high stress situation would make other men dizzy and unsure, but if anything, it heightens his every sensation and makes the world simple and clear-cut. Only a chosen other few would understand how he feels, and luckily, you're one of them. That's probably why you work so well together.
His heart swells when he spots you and a few E Company men in a small clearing up ahead. He stops his men behind him and calls out the challenge. "Flash!"
"Thunder!" You and your men respond, wheeling around to face him. Even beneath your cam cream and the grime that's smudged on your face, he can make out the relief that comes over you.
Relief is hard to find in a situation like this. The Germans have everyone in a frenzy, running wild, heading the wrong way, causing companies to split up as they try to reach their objective. Ron himself has a handful of his own men from Dog Company, as well as one from Able and two from Baker, and it looks like you and the Easy boys didn't fair much better in trying to stay together; he sees Bull and Liebgott, as well as Luz with his radio, and someone he only vaguely remembers from Fox Company -- a replacement, probably, based on his young looking face.
The men who know you also lose a bit of their tension. Having you and Ron together is like being led by Ares and Athena -- two fearless gods of war who seem untouchable in any battle.
"Afternoon, Lieutenant," he greets you when you unite in the clearing. "I assume that you've also had some trouble reaching our objective?"
You nod back in the direction from which you and the Easy men just came. "Kraut tanks have a strong defense along the tree line in the eastern part of the woods. We encountered a whole nest of snipers that sent us all scattering, and only a few of us managed to stay together. What about you?"
"Same story on the western tree line." Ron motions off to the left, where the trees start to thin out a bit. Beyond them, you can almost see where the greenery comes to a sudden stop, guarding the edge of a wide field. "Our objective is across that field, but we'd be totally exposed to the tanks on both sides if we tried to cross it."
A frown pulls at the corners of your mouth as you glance at the handful of men around you. "That just might be a chance we have to take."
Behind you, the man from Fox company scoffs. Your men roll their eyes at him, but Ron is surprised that you ignore him, choosing instead to pull our your map and begin unfolding it.
"If we want to make our objective in time to link up with everyone else, we're going to have to go back the way we came," the man says. "We can skirt the sniper, swing wide around the tanks, and make it to the other side of the field without the Germans ever seeing us."
"Snipers," you say without looking up from the map.
The F Company man blinks. "What?"
"Snipers, plural," you correct, turning back to look at him. "There's a whole nest of them. This forest is like their playground. Trying to sneak around them is like throwing a rock into a hornets nest and then hoping that they don't chase you." You gesture to the limited amount of men following you. "You saw how well that worked out when we found them by accident."
The man is undeterred. "I'm sure with some proper leadership we could make it through just fine."
Ron stiffens, but before he can gauge your reaction and react appropriately, Liebgott has smacked the man on the back of the head with just enough force to make the man reach up to touch it on reflex, even though his helmet probably protected him from any serious damage.
"The only way we'd stand a chance against them is if we had Shifty Powers with us," Liebgott snaps. "Which we don't. So why don't you shut up and stop questioning our Lieutenant?"
Even though you're still looking at your map, Ron doesn't miss the small smile that flickers across your lips. It makes him feel . . . strange, somehow, but he can't really place a finger on why.
The problem is that your relationship isn't exactly a secret -- it's just that you've chosen not to tell anyone about it. (The only person who either of you have told was Lipton, and that was only because he caught Ron kissing you on the forehead one night when you were all billeted in the same house. As far as he knows, Lip hasn't told anyone.)
Anyway, why should you have to tell everyone? Besides the worry that some of the officers higher up might frown on it and call it unprofessional, no one has ever said that you couldn't have a romantic relationship with another officer. And it's not like it's anyone's business but yours.
But there are times that Ron wishes everyone knew, because it might make things easier. Sometimes he thinks that if he were more casual and less self-aware, then he could joke around like the other men. If he were less conscious of holding up his front, then he could smack that guy himself.
Would you want him to, though? You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, both in and out of combat. Defending your honor isn't something you've openly discussed as part of defining the parameters of your relationship. Now he wishes that it had been, though, because watching Liebgott defend you and watching you smile makes his chest clinch with a feeling that he hasn't felt since his school days, when he was always striving to make sure he wasn't outdone.
Jealousy, he realizes. He shouldn't be jealous of Liebgott just because he told the F Company man to stop questioning you and gave him a good smack on the head, and yet . . .
"Back in my company, I'm a sergeant," the Fox Company man brags. "It's not like I have no clue what I'm talking about."
"Last time I checked, us sergeants were below lieutenants," Bull says nonchalantly.
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you don't question the authority of a ranking officer."
Ron leans over the map you hold and lowers his voice. "Who is this guy?"
You shrug, keeping your voice down as the men behind you bicker. "Some sergeant from Fox Company. Patterson, I think. He's been like this ever since he linked up with us." You pause, your tone hardening. "Well, ever since he learned who was in charge."
Oh. One of them, then. One of the men who didn't believe in the female paratrooper program, who didn't believe that women could rise in the ranks, and who didn't believe that they should have to listen to them. Ron thought they had gotten rid of most of them by now.
"Ranking officer or not, I cannot stand by and follow orders that will put myself and others in danger." Sensing that he has no support from your E Company men, Patterson peers around to where Ron's men stand behind him and jerks his head, urging them to follow him. "We're going back the way we came."
Ron shoots his Dog Company men a glare, but it's unnecessary -- not even the few strays from Able and Baker have even thought about moving. No one is moving except Patterson, who's turned on his heel and is about to stomp back into the eastern part of the forest.
The map makes a strange sort of slapping noise as you throw it to the ground in frustration, causing it to land on a bed of dead leaves and sticks as you whirl around to face him. Any anger you felt towards him was well concealed until that point, but now, like any officer would, you've reached the breaking point.
A point you shouldn't have to reach, Ron thinks. When male officers snap at someone, everyone always says that whoever they lost their tempers at had it coming. But whenever a female officer does it, people whisper behind her back, saying that she lost her cool and that she's overemotional.
Maybe you can handle this on your own, and maybe you've never voiced any preference for where Ron should be during your more personal battles, but he makes an executive decision then and there, that no one gets to treat you that way. And it's not because you're an officer who deserves respect -- it's because you're his girlfriend, an intimidating and powerful goddess of war, and no one gets to doubt you.
He's caught up to Patterson in a few quick strides. Fast enough that the sergeant doesn't have time to register another presence until Ron has grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
Patterson's eyes must catch the name on Ron's uniform, because his eyes go wide as saucers and his face turns paler than the moon. He starts to stammer out some excuse, but Speirs cuts him off.
"The correct answer, Sergeant, is that you're mutinying. And do you know what we do to people who mutiny in the Army?"
The sergeant's eyes are still fixed on Ron's nametag. He doesn't need Speirs telling him what happens to people who don't follow orders -- he's heard the stories about what this particular man does to them.
"So I'm asking you again: where the hell do you think you're going?"
"Well, I -- uh, I --"
Ron shakes him again. "I'll tell you where you're going. You're going to fall into line behind Lieutenant (Y/L/N), follow her orders, and cross this goddamn field so we can reach our objective." When Patterson still only stutters, Ron shakes him. "Do you understand me?"
"Y-yes, Sir."
"Good." Ron steps aside and jerks his head towards you. "Now salute the Lieutenant and tell her how happy you are to follow any orders she gives you."
He looks like he'd rather kiss a frog, but Patterson's suddenly shaky hand comes up as he salutes you, and, as Ron ordered, tells you that he's ready to follow your orders. He's so shaken that he even offers to go out first, if it's what you would like.
"It's my plan, so I'll lead the charge," you say before diving straight in to explaining your plan for crossing the field. "Patterson, fall in. And the rest of you? Follow my lead!"
--
He doesn't really have to knock on the door, Ron knows, but it's a formality that he can't shake, no matter how long the two of you are a couple.
It's late. The house the two of you are quartered in is quiet, with everyone else having easily slipped into sleep after an exhausting day.
After successfully crossing the field and reaching your objective, there had been the matter of finding the rest of Easy for you, the rest of Dog for Ron, and returning the lost soldiers you had picked up along the way. (Not to mention that Ron had made a pit-stop to lodge a complaint against Sergeant Patterson for insubordination, and then another to ask Winters for the paperwork to recommend that you receive the proper accolades for the excellent leadership and professionalism you demonstrated when leading everyone to your objective.)
But even after all the excitement, Ron can't sleep.
You crack the door open and peek out. Realizing it's him, you open the door all the way, your smile inviting him in.
"Are you staying with me?"
He's about to tell you that he just wanted to check in, that he doesn't want to get the two of you into trouble, but something stops him. How can he know where the boundaries are in this relationship if you never officially set them?
"Do you want me to?"
"I'd like that very much." There's no hesitation in your voice. It's admirable, how sure you are of everything you do.
"I wanted to talk to you, if you're not too tired," Ron admits. He perches himself on the edge of your bed, but a second later he's leaning back onto the pillows as you find a place beside him, leaning into his side.
"What about?" You have a feeling you know, but you don't know why he wants to talk about it. Ron isn't the easiest person to read.
He's glad that he thought about what to say before finding you. Other people might have hemmed and hawed to avoid a potentially uncomfortable conversation, but he knows that you're going to get straight to the heart of the matter, just like he would.
"You're a very strong woman," he begins. "I know that you don't need me -- or anyone else, for that matter -- to fight your battles for you, but I want you to know that I will, if you want me to." Beside him, you crane your neck so that you're looking up at him when he says, "I'm sorry if I overstepped today. I just wanted to be the type of man who could take care of you."
Softly, you press your lips to his cheek. "You want to know a secret, Ron?"
"Hmm?"
"Even the people who appear to be the strongest like to know that someone has their back; that someone is in their corner, ready and willing to stick up for them."
"You didn't mind that I . . ." That he what, exactly? Transformed from Ron Speirs, your boyfriend, to Lieutenant Speirs, the legend whose name and the stories associated with it keep new replacements in check?
You shake your head. "No. I don't mind. I'm glad to have someone who would take up for me like that."
"I'll do it again, if I have to," he assures you.
"And I'll be there for you, too." Lightly, you press on his shoulder so that he has to fully lay down on the bed. "Not just to fight," you explain as you adjust the pillows behind you. "To make sure that you get some sleep, as well."
He has to laugh; the only person worse about following a sleep schedule than him is you -- part of the reason you first connected, one of the first things you found yourselves having in common -- but after the day you've both had, he won't argue.
As he closes his eyes to fall asleep to the sound of your gentle breathing, he thinks about the Greek gods, and learning about them in school. Because, he thinks to himself, Ares might have fallen in love with Aphrodite, but he much prefers you -- his Athena, his goddess of war.
#My life at this point is starting fics in the school library#then finishing them in the middle of the night and hoping for the best#I hope you like this :)#ron speirs#ron speirs x reader#band of brothers imagine#band of brothers x reader#band of brothers fanfic#joe liebgott#joseph liebgott#bull randleman#george luz#my writing#ronald speirs#ronald speirs x reader
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The Freak & The Babysitter | E.M
Pairing: Eddie Munson x gn!reader
Summary: You take matters into your own hands and save Eddie after he tries to sacrifice himself. (The one where it didn't happen.)
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Being the babysitter. Let's go."
Content warnings: MAJOR Vol. 2 spoilers, near death experiences, mentions of death, SO MUCH angst (oh my GOD this was hard to write), a happy ending.
A/N: My "fix it fic". I miss Eddie so much.
My inbox is open!
"Nobody deviates from the plan no matter what, got it?" Nancy asked everyone.
"Got it."
To say that everyone was scared was an understatement. You were stuck with Eddie and Dustin on bat duty while Steve, Nancy, and Robin went to the Creel house. Some part of you knew that things were going to go awry, you just didn't know how or when. Or who would be in danger.
The three of you essentially made Edde's trailer bat proof and you rummaged through the bathroom.
"This'll work," you said, as you picked up a can of hairspray and a lighter.
"What's that for?" Eddie asked.
"Emergencies."
The three of you stood on top of Eddie's trailer as told you to initiate phase three. As soon as Eddie was done, you ran inside. You laughed as Dustin freaked out because of how awesome it was, but the moment didn't last long. All three of you had to seek shelter in the trailer, and the bats started to get in. Eddie had told you and Dustin to go through the gate. Your heart sank as Eddie cut the rope while Dustin was pleading for him not to.
"Dustin, I know you're scared. But as soon as I say the word, you need to do exactly as I say, okay?"
Dustin nodded his head and you looked around the trailer.
"I need a tape and that boombox. Now, I'm gonna get Eddie, but we need to draw the bats away from him, so you take that boombox and get as far away from Eddie and the trailer as you can. You play that tape and you play it loud, and you run. Don't stop until you get back to the trailer. We're getting out of here."
"Y/N?" He asked.
"Yeah?"
"I don't want Eddie to die."
"He won't. Let's get everything we need and kick some ass."
It didn't take long for Dustin to grab the tape and the boombox. You put the tape in your pocket before grabbing a chair. Eddie had moved the mattress that was on the other side, so you landed on the ground with a thud.
"Drop the boombox! I'll catch it!" You yelled. Dustin did as you said and soon, he was in the Upside Down with you. As you made sure that the volume was all the way up, you handed everything to Dustin and told him to run.
You were shortly behind him, but all you had was the lighter and the can of hairspray. Dustin dropped the boombox at the end of the trailer park, and you grabbed a bike and got to Eddie as fast as you could. It was obvious that he was going to try and fight the bats, so you stood next to him.
"I told you to leave!" He yelled.
"Well, I chose not to listen!" You yelled back.
Come on, Dustin.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
You smiled as you heard the introduction to Live Wire by Motley Crue. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins as you used the makeshift blowtorch against the bats. Most of the had been drawn away or cooked at that point.
"Being the babysitter. Let's go."
You and Eddie ran towards the trailer, barely making it without stepping on vines or falling. You grabbed a chair and used it like you had done before.
"We have to help the others!" Dustin yelled.
"Dustin, we don't have time for this. Jump and we'll pull you up!"
"Woah, shit!"
As Dustin jumped, you and Eddie grabbed a hand and started to pull him up. Or down, dependng on how you looked at it.
"Holy shit, that was awesome! Y/N, you're a badass!"
"Yeah, thanks. I need the two of you to stay here. It's not over yet."
You got to your car and sped to Creel House. You ripped the key out of the ignition and ran in, but it was too late. Lucas was yelling for Erica to call an ambulance. Max was in his arms and he was blodied and bruised. Jason was knocked out across the room.
They did it. Nancy didn't miss.
That was when you felt the ground shake beneath your feet. Lucas barely had enough time to pull Max away as the ground opened up. Jason was dead, but you weren't worred about that.
"We have to get out," you said.
"I don't know if I can carry Max!" Lucas yelled.
She had a pulse, but barely.
"I'll help you."
It was a miracle that all of your friends had made it out alive. Eddie and Dustin said that they saw the same thing that you did. The rifts, as you would call them, began at the sight of where each person was killed, or in Max's case, almost killed.
"Did anyone order a pizza?" Karen Wheeler asked as you and the gang helped Nancy put boxes in Steve's car. All of you turned around and saw a van for Surfer Boy Pizza pull up, a place that you had only heard of during your conversations with El and Will. You almost cried when you saw El.
"Hey, Will, this is Eddie. Eddie, this is Will. Eddie's the leader of the Dungeons and Dragons club at the highschool," you told Will.
"That's awesome. Do you guys wanna meet Argyle?"
Everyone got along with Argyle, and it took a few days, but you eventually helped clear Eddie's name.
#eddie munson x reader#stranger things#reader insert#dustin henderson#st4 volume 2#stranger things 4#steve harrington#nancy wheeler#robin buckley#fix it au
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Glad youre okay now and i am hoping youre doing well!
Are there any sterek fanfic with stiles being total badass human and in the pack with derek as the alpha? Thanks hope you have a good day 💛
Thank you!!! 🥰
Let’s be honest, I live and breathe magic!stiles so you might be asking too much! But hopefully one of these works for you! 💙
with bloody feet across the hallowed ground by owlpostagain | 29.9K
There were no last words. No more pleas, no more screaming. Just the sound of Stiles squeezing the trigger, the explosion of a second shot rocketing out of the revolver, and the hunters bursting through the open doorway just in time to see the bullet slam squarely into the center of Derek’s chest.
He's Not Mine by Sunnee | 68.5K | Explicit
Derek comes home to find an abandoned werebaby on his front porch and Stiles volunteers to help him out. Surprisingly, that is just the beginning of his problems.
The Fangs of War by AllTheseSquaresMakeACircle | 43.5K | Explicit
Derek's family had survived the war. Well, most of them. His father fell to the fires of the battlefield, and Derek had inherited the mantle of Alpha against his will. Which of course, put him ahead of Laura for the throne. Among other things, Peter had to go and do something stupid, and piss off their neighbors to the south. A country ruled by a man known as the Demon King. Great. Things couldn't have possibly gotten any worse.
a lion among them by unpossible | 61.9K | Mature
He knew he’d handled it badly.
Not like he knew any other way to handle this kind of thing, Derek thought, only a little bitter.
But Derek had heard the word Emissary come out of Scott’s mouth, and had immediately vetoed it with extreme prejudice.
It was like he wanted Scott to set his jaw and ignore Derek’s input. Honestly.
But Stiles- Derek had thought that at the very least, Stiles would listen. That their relationship meant enough that Stiles would hear him out before deciding.
Derek had thought wrong.
Hide Of A Life War by Etharei | 26.1K | Explicit
“We have received confirmation that there is a hostage situation in progress at a warehouse compound two hours out of Los Angeles, following a multiple-vehicle pileup on Highway 101 this morning...”
The one in which Stiles has lived to (legal) adulthood and, along the way, become a bit of a badass himself.
It’s Not Pretend When It’s Real by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) | 32.7K
“At least we got this far,” Stiles argued. “Could’ve been worse. For now, they know he’s taken by someone in the pack.”
“Mm hm,” Lydia said, giving him a look. “You realize that you are now going to have to pretend to date Derek, right?”
Stiles rolled his eyes. “Oh no, what a hardship. That sucks, boo hoo.” He motioned Derek emphatically. “He’s like, my best friend.”
“Hey!” Scott insisted.
“He’s like, my second best friend,” Stiles amended. “It’s fine, we’ll figure it out. Right?” He turned to grin at Derek, who was scowling at him.
Stella and the Wolf by DiscontentedWinter | 52.2K
Stiles Stilinski is trying to juggle homework, high school, stupid dumb crushes on unattainable people, and werewolves. Keeping the supernatural secret from his dad is hard enough, but when it comes to Stella, his eight-year-old sister, it turns out it’s impossible.
warm shadows by stilinskisparkles | 22K
“Fine,” Stiles spits back, “We’ll die together, it’ll be dandy.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Derek snaps, “I’ll get some peace and quiet for once.”
Stiles grins suddenly, blindingly. There’s blood on his teeth, and his eyes are dark and desperate as he looks up at Derek, but he’s never looked more stupidly, infuriatingly beautiful.
Important Things by suzvoy | 71.4K | Mature
Stiles learns that even with werewolves, giant lizards and psychopathic hunters on the loose, life can still find other ways to screw with you. Case in point: everyone keeps assuming he and Derek are a couple. What the hell?
Stiles plans are the worst (the best) by Dashar | 88.7K
Stiles world ended when his pack died. It didn’t exactly come as a surprise. He had been running with wolves for so long that within hunters and monsters it was just a matter of time.
It was a surprise when the world ended too.
And Stiles… Well, he had to do something about that.
How to be a Badass Without Trying By Stiles Stilinski by Anxiety_Baker02 | 40K | Mature
Five times Stiles was underestimated and one time he proved why he shouldn’t be.
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* ◟ : 〔 ÁLVARO MORTE, CIS MAN + HE / HIM 〕 SALVADOR RODRIGO FLORRES-DELGADO , some say you’re a FORTY FIVE YEAR OLD lost soul among the neon lights. known for being both EFFICIENT and IDEALISTIC, one can’t help but think of MONEY, MONEY, MONEY by THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT when you walk by. are you still the OWNER, BOSS for LE DÉDALE CLINIQUE, THE HANGING MAN, even with your reputation as THE MAGNET? i think we’ll be seeing more of you and STRING-CALLOUSED FINGERTIPS NERVOUSLY TAPPING ON THE DESK WHILE IN DEEP THOUGHT, GLASSES FOGGING UP FROM THE STEAMING COFFEE, A CHESSBOARD FROZEN MID-GAME, although we can’t help but think of EL PROFESOR ( LA CASA DE PAPEL ) + DON VITO CORLEONE ( THE GODFATHER ) + HANS GRUBER ( DIE HARD ) whenever we see you down these rainy streets.
cw: orphanage, car accident, death, stillborn, kidnapping, torture
“ ━━ ◤ FULL NAME: salvador rodrigo florres-delgado
“ ━━ ◤ NICKNAMES: salva, sal, el león
“ ━━ ◤ DATE OF BIRTH: 23rd of june, 1985
“ ━━ ◤ PLACE OF BIRTH: burgos, spain
“ ━━ ◤ PLACE OF RESIDENCE: queens, new york
“ ━━ ◤ MARITAL STATUS: widower
“ ━━ ◤ OCCUPATION: owner of le dédale clinique, former university professor
“ ━━ ◤ CRIME ASSOCIATION: the hanging man (boss)
“ ━━ ◤ POSITIVE TRAITS: strategic, methodical, efficient, intuitive, level-headed, perceptive, charismatic, persuasive
“ ━━ ◤ NEGATIVE TRAITS: idealistic, manipulative, secretive, ruthless, obsessive, quixotic, sentimental
“ ━━ ◤ TV TROPES: the chessmaster, smart people wear glasses, tranquil fury, xanatos speed chess, manipulative bastard, affably evil, badass bookworm.
you don’t have the pleasure of remembering your parents. the last time you saw their faces was such a long time ago that you are not even sure if the vague memories you still have are real or just some false recollections that your brain formed from various other faces you’ve come across in your life. –– no. growing up in an orphanage, you learned the way of life through books and street smarts that were taught to you by the older kids at the place. the latter lessons, admittedly, were less than pleasant. important, of course, but far from the joyful memories you’d expect a child to carry. maybe that’s why you appreciate the comfort of a book, even all this time later. at least they didn’t leave your body dappled with bruises.
you remember your eleventh birthday with exceptional clarity. just a few weeks before the big day, one of the staff members of the orphanage announced that you will be going home. it was a strange and a foreign concept to you. you didn’t have a place to call home… at least not in a traditional sense. this life was all you knew. it was your grandparents – the parents of your mother – who wished to bring you and raise you, after learning that you were left behind in a place not quite befitting a child. you remember your eleventh birthday, because it was the first time you were on a plane. several hours of flying later, you were greeted by the lady liberty herself, waving her torch at you from below.
over the years, you became fluent in three languages. your native spanish (which you never wanted to forget), english (with the help from a tutor hired by your grandparents), and italian — the mother-tongue of your grandfather. you were a quick and clever student, too. perhaps it was your literacy which was a step higher than your other peers; perhaps it was your determination not to disappoint the people who brought you into their home and invited to their family. by the age of fourteen, you were able to switch between all three languages and keep up with the conversations without any trouble. this was a chance at new life, a new future – and you weren’t going to be the butt of a joke or the punching bag for the other kids any longer.
fast forward. you’re nineteen, freshly enrolled in university, studying psychology and philosophy. a double major, eh? some may call you a try-hard, but you didn’t listen to those kind of talks. you enjoyed hard work and felt elated being able to see the results of your labour. you were constantly swimming through piles upon piles of books – some of them were your textbooks, some of them were completely unrelated to the subjects you were studying. what else could you have wished for?
not too long after, literary was put aside, because something – or someone – took the centre stage in your life. elena was beautiful and intelligent. and funny. so incredibly funny. perhaps her dry sense of humour was not everyone’s cup of tea, but you couldn’t get enough of it. you saw each other in lectures. soon enough you started running into each other, completely coincidentally, before classes, too. not long after came meetings in the evenings… those, however, were no coincidence. a lingering touch, long and intimate gazes, soft whispers. sure enough, by the end of your courses, almost at the same time as you hung your phd diploma on the wall, you put a ring on elena’s finger.
domestic life suited both of you. it would have been surprising if the two of you didn’t click together like two perfect pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. not many high-school or even university ‘sweethearts’ manage to survive a married life (or even last long enough to experience it), but the two of you seemed to be an exception to that rule. you took up a teaching position in the very same university, she became a child therapist. what more could anyone ask for?
you had no idea how they found you. you would later learn that one of your students was a close associate to the organisation at the time. the hanging man was a name you vaguely heard about here and there, but didn’t know much more than a simple fact – you didn’t want to get them angered. one mission. that’s all they wrote. your assistance would have been great appreciated, too. you knew not to dip your toes in waters that were too deep for you to wade… but the six-figure check at the end of the adventure was too tempting not to accept. it wasn’t selfish, either. with elena pregnant, it was money you could absolutely use – leave the brownstone for a nice family home in the suburbs. wouldn’t that be nice?
you didn’t tell your wife what kind of deal you have struck. if things went south, you didn’t want her association to anything that was going down. she was too important to you. you weren’t lying to her… not really. you were simply glossing over the truth and avoiding certain topics as to not raise any suspicion. a one-time deal with people of questionable morals. what’s the worst that could happen?
the mission was completed without a hitch. smooth as it could possibly be. if you were to be honest with yourself, it was almost exciting. exhilarating. nothing can quite compare to the feeling of a brilliant plan being executed brilliantly. however, there’s an old saying that the greatest highs are often followed by the greatest lows. you didn’t know how true that particular saying was until you received a phone call mid-celebration of the success.
some people like to think that a drunk driver surviving a car-crash that ends in fatally injured victims is some kind of act of god, forcing them to wallow in survivor’s guilt for the rest of their lives. you know it’s not true. the reason they survive is so that the people who were close to the victims could take their revenge. so that you could take yours.
your eleventh birthday was memorable to you, because you were granted a gift you could never forget. your thirty-fifth birthday is engraved in your mind, because you were ripped away from the two loves of your life — your beloved elena, and your stillborn daughter; the ambulance did not manage to save neither of the two in time. it was also the last birthday you ever celebrated.
you were the one to darken the doorstep of the hanging man this time. seething with fury and with vengeance burning in your heart, you were going to pay any given price to see justice served. or, at least, what you perceived to be justice at the time. after all, you had plenty of money to spare now, didn’t you? you also didn’t come empty-handed, impressing the boss-man with the detailed research that that kept you busy for the last several weeks. it was the only thing that kept you from reaching insanity. maybe you were already far too late for that… but jokes on them, your thoughts were never more clear than they were at the moment.
a mission driven by vengeance and justice – the head of the hanging man couldn’t turn away from that. he didn’t even take your money. instead, he asked something else in return. a collaboration. you would become a full-time associate of the organisation. well… what else did you have to lose? of course you agreed to the terms. anything to get you to the destination.
and so… there you were. in some dingy and damp basement, with a slowly draining bottle of cognac by your side, watching two soldiers of the hanging man beating the living shit out of a kid that couldn’t be older than twenty-five. you didn’t flinch once, didn’t make any expression for that matter. simply watched life slowly fading from the eyes of the man who killed your family, the same way the liquor faded into nothingness.
the following years went past with you working closely with the hanging man and offering your insight and assistance during their missions – be it an assassination, a heist, a kidnapping. your brain and your vast knowledge in many different areas (thanks to countless hours spent with your nose in various books) earned the respect not only from the leader of the organisation, but other members, too. you couldn’t complain. you also couldn’t lie – it was exciting.
yet, not even your wildest dreams, could you imagine the final mission given to you by your boss — his own assassination. not a real one, mind. a staged fake assassination of the hanging man leader was a matter that needed meticulous planning to be believable enough that even the less-informed members of the organisation would not be able to tell if it was a stunt or not. the only people who knew about said plan in its entirety was the boss-man himself, you (of course), and the capo. after the deed is done, you were to take up the leader’s mantle yourself, with the capo in question becoming your most trusted consigliere.
today, you’re sat at the top of the pyramid that is the hanging man, and you are thriving. heists are planned to the smallest detail, the assassinations are clean and meticulous. you are all running like a well-oiled machine and you wouldn’t want anything else, not anymore. this is where you belong. this is your calling, even if you wasn’t aware of that before. sure, some members of the organisation leave something to be desired, but you would be a fool to think that change of the governing figure in the gang would not cause some kind of cracks that needed patching.
you’ll be alright. you have to. after all, the worst thing that could ever happen to you… had already happened.
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What are the Fleetway freedom fighters reaction to super Scourge
Okay okay okay so. So. So. I have thoughts on Super Scourge and the circumstances required for him to go super. Like, he's never gone super with the chaos emeralds before, and even if he wanted to Sonic wouldn't let him bc the chaos emeralds in his dimension are kinda fucked and they don't need anyone else developing a destructive super form. So in order to go super Scourge would need to go back to Moebius to get some anarchy beryl, and he'd need quite the motivation to do that bc although he's used to hopping dimensions, he's not keen to go back to Moebius once he's settled in Sonic's dimension. Higher chance of getting caught by the cops or the suppression squad or Rosie, after all, so he doesn't deem it worth the trek, especially since he isn't sold on the idea of going super anymore now he knows it burns him out when he powers down. Sooooooo perhaps one of the only reasons he would retrieve anarchy beryl to go super was in a dire circumstance, likely the middle of a fight, when important things need to get done, so the freedom fighters are a lil busy dealing with whatever threat has popped up to have too much of an initial reaction. Maybe be a bit wary, but once they see Scourge is focused on what they need him to do they're like "okay well we don't need to worry about him just yet"
What comes to my mind is that the only super form they've ever experienced is Sonic's super form, which they don't know is not standard across the multiverse. So once the crisis they're dealing with winds down, I imagine they're tense and ready for a fight, because they just don't know any better. It may take them some convincing to realise Scourge is still himself and that his super form is nothing like Sonic's. Once they've accepted that, they'd bully the fuck out of him for the fact his fur turns purple, and then help him get back home to rest once he powers down and is exhausted. Sonic especially bullies him extra hard because he doesn't want Scourge to realise just how much he liked seeing him all powerful and badass
(Sonic is, perhaps, a little jealous. He knows how powerful super forms are, and he can't help but think of all the things he could do if he was able to be in control in his own super form like Scourge is. He tries not to linger on the what-ifs, but he can't help being a little bitter about it. Still, he turns down Scourge's offer to try anarchy beryl, because he doesn't know if he'll have the same reaction to anarchy energy as he does chaos energy, and it just isn't worth the risk. He already has to deal with Super, he doesn't want to risk creating another out of control super form)
#sonic the hedgehog#scourge the hedgehog#fleetway sonic#stc sonic#fleet!sonourge#asks#headcanon#i loveeee thinking about how super scourge would fit into this world#and i love. the idea. of super vs super scourge :)#christ i still have 2 other asks in my inbox fhcjkasdjds i really need to get on answering those.....#i'm sorryyyyy i'm not ignoring them i promise i'm just largely no thoughts head empty rn while i work on my fic#i could only answer this one so quick bc i've already put some thought into super scourge#i'll get to them eventually i swear
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Alright so I already left a comment on ao3 but I’ve been thinking about it obsessively all day as I try to study for my finals, so here you go. The chapter was amazing! A great start for an even greater story, I’m sure. Reading Aemond’s thoughts was a delight, his guilt eating him up whole despite his efforts to appear like his actions haven’t left a hole carved in his heart. Beautiful.
I don’t want to repeat what I commented already, but I have to come back to Aegon and Halaena’s reaction! It shows how much they know their brother in their own ways, since they are the only ones that seem to even begin to understand Aemond’s feelings. Everyone else is just speaking of the consequences for their side, while his siblings are thinking of how this will affect Aemond. Of course they approach it differently, since they are completely different in character. Aegon in particular is delightful to me, because he is like Aemond’s demon, goading him, making him feel even worse about his actions. I honestly can’t wait to see how he spirals even deeper before it is announced that Lucerys is alive, and how that revelation will change him too.
Of course, we can’t forget Lucerys, our sweet boy who is about to undergo some heavycharacter development in the form of ✨trauma✨. He is in for a rough time I’m sure, and his own spiral into madness and unhinged behavior will be a delight to read, especially when Cannibal makes his entrance.
I did see your comment! It was so good to read, thank you 🥰🥰
I’m super glad Aemond came across well! I’m trying to be conscious of his relatively young age, lack of experience, and trauma from his childhood - and then the added emotional upheaval of thinking he murdered his nephew. He’s a bundle of conflicting emotions and it can be hard to get into his head 😂 but I think it went well!
And I love that you’ve pointed out the similarities and differences in how Helaena and Aegon reacted! You’re right, they know their brother too well to not know how this is really affecting him - only whether Helaena is distraught and disappointed in him, Aegon uses it against him with underhanded and cruel taunting.
I’ve got one really good ‘spiralling’ scene for Aemond that’ll hopefully be in chapter two, so we’ll be getting all the juicy emotional trauma as well!
And Lucerys. Oh Lucerys. I felt bad for him at the end of chapter one but I was also like “just you wait kiddo, I’m about to become your worst nightmare” 😂
He’s not getting off lightly, though the trade off is that I give him a big badass dragon, so who’s really winning here?
#patolemus#HOTD#ruination au#lucerys velaryon#aemond targaryen#I actually really really liked how Aegon came across in that scene#lucemond
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I miss Kev and Nico in the single momma au with babies Mick and Carlos - Kevin being a badass stripper with Nico the gentle giant just trying to raise Carlos as well as he can
Also imagine them in the abo wolves adoption! Kevin with Mick coming across a lost Carlos and poor Carlos is whining for his papa and Kevin helps him look
Oh plss yes I miss them too!!
Kevin being such a badass stripper and he loves his job but he loves his little shy kiddo Mick even more! Tiny toddler always wants momma snuggles 🥺 and plss tiny Carlos with his big strong Alpha papa who is do sweet too! Carlos and Mick would be besties and cause toddler chaos until they can snuggle with momma and papa sksk. I miss the lil single momma stripper pack!
And plss Kevin taking his pup out in wolf forms so they can play and Mick can get used to his wolf form more (paws are hard to navigate okay) snd they find a tiny chocolate brown cub whining for his papa 🥺🥺 Kevin curling around Mick anf the mystery pup to keep then warm as the pup howls for hid parent because its the best way to signal them.
Kevin getting scarwd when this huge Alpha wolf jumps into the clearing and instantly gets between the Alpha anf cubs although ye is literally half the Alpha's size. But little Carlos toddles out from under Kev and cooes happily at the big wolf of that's papa!!
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Why I Love A:TLA part- 1
The characters are awesome
I wanted to remind everyone why we love the characters in Avatar, so that's why I came up with this post. Let it be an appreciation post for our beloved chatacters and remind us why we love them so much. Let's count all the main characters one by one, and note why they're all well-written and interesting characters!
1-) Katara: She's the female main character of the series. She's hardworking, determined and optimistic. She is (arguably) the most powerful waterbender, but her abilities didn't come to her naturally. With a lot of training and hard work, she became the strong waterbender that she is today. Katara is also very kind, polite and compassionate. She has her flaws as a person and as a character, but honestly, it only makes her a more realistic character. But one thing for sure: she's absolutely cool and badass
2-) Toph: As a contrast to feminine Katara, Toph is the absolutely masculine and tomboyish female main character of the series. She comes across as a tough, strong and bold girl. And just like Katara, Toph is also the master of her own element. However, despite her cold and snarky attitude, Toph is far from heartless. She's also a kind person with her own flaws, but at the end, she's ready to do what's right. And of course, she's a total badass
3-) Suki: Despite not being a bender like Katara and Toph, Suki is still a very strong and capable warrior. She can be masculine and always ready to kick some asses like Toph, and also can be feminine and soft like Katara.
4-) Mai: Similar to Suki, Mai is not a bender either. But she's still a deadly fighter. She's capable enough to take down a dozen of firebending guardians on her own. Even though Mai appears to be cold and apathetic, she's still loyal and caring, and her heart is in the right place.
5-) Ty Lee: She's the first person who is known to use chi blocking, and she's a master acrobat too. Unlike Mai, Ty Lee is sweet and nice, but that doesn't make her any less dangerous in fights. She's (arguably) the most capable warrior in hand-to-hand combat.
6-) Azula: Intelligent and calculating, Azula is a perfect villain and the main female antagonist of the series. She's a firebending prodigy and a deadly warrior. And she's just as ruthless as her father, not any less softer just because she's a girl. Azula may be evil, but she's far from being a shallow character. Which is why she's always been a complex character.
7-) Zuko: He may not be a natural prodigy like his sister, but Zuko is still a very strong firebender with a very strong will. He never gives up and always stands up for what he thinks is right. Not all his decisions were good, but he still works hard to improve himself. At the end, Zuko does his best to do the right thing. And in a metaphorical way, his character is (arguably) the most interesting one of the series because it tells you a lot: to always keep trying even though it's hard, life might not what you expect it to be but there's always hope... This is why he is a brilliant character who has the best redemption arc ever
8-) Uncle Iroh: The tea-loving and fatherly uncle that we all love! Iroh is wise, kind, loving... But also an extremely powerful firebender! He indeed had bad actions. But he realized his mistakes and now trying to do anything to bring peace and balance. This man is the brilliant mentor figure that we all admire!
9-) Ozai: Unlike his kind and funny brother, Ozai is the cutthroat and cruel main antagonist of the series, similar to his daughter. He is an evil person, but it doesn't change the fact that he is still one of the most powerful firebenders that ever lived!
10-) Aang: The kind, polite and friendly male protagonist of the series. He might be goofy, but he is far from being stupid. He is smart and strong, and a real badass in fights, especially when he enters the Avatar state! Aang is one of the strongest Avatars who ever lived, but he didn't choose this responsiblity in the first place. However, he accepted it and now ready to do anything to restore the balance
11-) Sokka: He is the brains of the Team Avatar, or The Gaang as he calls it. Sokka is not a bender like his friends, but still a good fighter and he is the one who comes up with plans. He is also a pure comedy material. That's why it's always so fun to watch him!
#Sokka#Toph#Aang#Suki#Mai#Katara#Ty Lee#Iroh#Ozai#Azula#Avatar The Last Airbender#avatar#Atla#Let's just remember why we love them sm#They're all badass af and I luv it#avatar the last airbender
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Let me rest, safe from harm
Day 4: Familiar / Hurt/comfort / Here Come the Tears by Judas Priest
@steddie-week
"Ohhh...I want to be loved...
I need to be loved...
Won't somebody love me..."
If there is one thing that Eddie Munson knows, it's that he is an outsider. A freak. The town of Hawkins decreed it the moment he shuffled into middle school. His head shaved, his clothes a little too big and a little too worn. He learned to use it as a shield. He leaned into the word freak. Threw up his devil horns and shouted at jocks from lunch tables. He played Dnd and had his band. Sold drugs and blared metal from his beloved yet shitty van. Swore to protect the other little weirdos he came across. He was fine with it. He fought to be unapologetically himself and he would never let this small, close-minded town wear him down. The hate he received from Hawkins was familiar and expected at this point.
Okay, watching Chrissy Cunningham, literal cheer captain and Hawkins High sweetheart, die a gruesome a supernatural death in his trailer was certainly not on his radar. Then to realize the entire town believed he actually fucking murdered her? He might be a freak, but did they really believe he was capable of murdering people. So yeah, he runs because he knows how this situation will end.
He hates that the thought running through his mind on repeat is 'so much for not living up to that Munson name' and how fucking terrified he is.
How much it hurts that the entire town would think he was actually evil enough to kill someone. It's like his heart is literally cracking in two. It's agony.
Then the strangest group of people show up and they actually believe he is innocent. Dustin isn't a surprise. He's one his little sheeps, always watching him during DnD with wide, awestruck eyes. Dustin thinks Eddie is cool. Max Mayfield is slightly more of a surprise but she is his neighbor. He sees her riding her skateboard around with sad eyes and an angry frown. Robin Buckley and Steve Harrington are a shock. First of all, how the hell do those two even know each other? King Steve and band geek Buckley, what the fuck? Yet, they are clearly close, like inside jokes and fully comfortable with one another close. It makes no sense. Nothing makes sense. Eddie feels like the whole world is falling apart. At this point, time doesn't even feel real.
Turns out Hawkins is fucking cursed. Vecna's real. There's some shit called the upside down and Eddie isn't sure if he can do this. He wants to run so fucking bad. He watches the way the others bravely throw themselves right into everything. Steve is diving into lakes and looking way too hot while he does it. Nancy and Robin are diving after him and fuck, he goes in after them.
To watch Steve rip a mutant bat off of him with his teeth. Ozzy style. Eddie might be in love. He is yearning. Steve is so different than what he expected. He's funny and almostly stupidly protective of his friends. He's a bit dorky and he's not glaring at Eddie at all. In fact, he catches Steve watching at him. He sees the way Steve's eyes dart down to his lips. He knows what attraction looks like. So he flirts. Hard.
The others come up with a plan to kill this Vecna-Henry-One which involves purposefully going back into hell. Things keep getting worse and worse only for it to end with Eddie trying to be a hero. He plays the most badass guitar solo ever and tries to buy time for the others.
And now he's fucking dying. He's getting eaten alive by these stupid ass bats and everything hurts. He hopes his distraction helped. He's thinking that he's gonna die and he won't have ever been in love and that really sucks. He wanted a chance to experience that. Bizarrely enough, Steve's face flashes across his mind. Eddie had been hopeless and crushing from the moment he saw Steve fighting those bats. When he'd flirted with him, Steve just gazed back with his pretty eyes. There'd been some confusion but no disgust there. Alas, too late for those thoughts now. He was dying alone in a hellscape. 86' was not his year after all.
He comes to with Dustin crying over him and Eddie finds himself mumbling words to him about sheeps and love you man and then nothing. No heaven or hell, just darkness.
"Take me now, in your arms.
Let me rest, safe from harm."
He wakes up to harsh light and antiseptic smell of a hospital room. So, he isn't dead at least. His entire body hurts and he can't stop the body wracking sobs escaping from him. He's alone and handcuffed to the bed. He hears yelling outside of his room and assumes the worst. The town has come with their pitchforks and this it.
He survived the upside down to get killed by ignorant, small town puritans. He's scared and alone. He wants his uncle. He wants his friends. Somewhere along the last week, he's come to consider Robin, Steve and Nancy friends alongside Max and Dustin. He desperately wants to know if they succeeded. If Max is okay and if everyone got out alright. Who carried him out of there? How did he survive long enough to even get to a hospital. The answer is made clear when he hears Steve screaming to be let into the room.
He's using that voice. The 'do you know who my parents are' voice. A voice that would have once grated on Eddie to no end. It's comforting right now. It's wild that Steve would care enough about seeing him that he'd threaten the police and the hospital staff, but it warms Eddie's heart.
The door opens and Steve is standing there. He looks stupidly handsome and rugged. He's still wearing Eddie's vest and he's filthy and covered in blood. It's so unfortunately hot. Steve runs to him and collapses into the chair next to his bed.
"Eddie, we're trying to get them to take of the handcuffs. It's unbelievable. A man nearly dies for this town and they handcuff him to the goddamn bed. Idiots." Steve clasps Eddie's hand in his own.
Eddie's heart start to race for a very different reason. Steve glances over at the machine tracking his heartbeat. Shit.
"Are you in pain? Did they give you anything for it yet? I can try and get them to give you something. Robin and Nancy are trying to get ahold of Hopper. Oh, he's alive. Something about a russian prison."
Steve is still holding his hand. He's staring at Eddie like he's important to him. And Eddie can't say a word, he just starts sobbing again.
"It's going to be okay Eddie. If I have to break you out of here and smuggle you out of town, you are going to be alright. What can I do to help right now?"
Eddie just cries harder and attempts to pull Steve closer to him. Thankfully, Steve understands. Looks at the hospital bed and carefully climbs in next to Eddie. Gathers him into his arms as if Eddie is precious and delicate. Holds him as he cries.
It's more intimate than anything Eddie ever expected from him. It's rewiring his brain chemistry and Steve whispers softly to him.
"Hey, I've got you Eddie. Shh, I won't go anywhere. As long as you need me, okay? I almost lost you before I had a chance to figure this out, these feelings I have for you." Steve sounds like he might cry and Eddie cannot believe this is happening.
There is a safety in Steve Harrington's arms that Eddie has never experienced before. He's in pain and he might be going to jail, but in this moment he feels hopeful.
"You're safe now Eddie, you can rest. I promise I won't let anyone hurt you." Steve says this so earnestly, so softly and Eddie believes him. He falls asleep with a million questions, but content that the boy holding him wasn't going anywhere.
#i think this sucks but i'm high on benadryl and can't stop thinking about steve comforting eddie#i wanted to contribute to steddie week and i am a sucker for hurt/comfort#i tried to proofread this but damn i am tired#steddie#steddie week: day 4
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Imagine being one of the pilots that trained the cast for the F-18
Just Fluff
“What exactly are we doing here? New op meeting?” My wingman, Keller asked from my left as we turned the corner.
“Not sure, I was just told we had to show up.” I walked through the door as Keller held it open for me.
“What the hell is going on?” Keller said as the door closed behind him, taking in the room full of people.
I scanned the room searching for a familiar face and coming up short. Keller lightly hit my shoulder and motioned to a pair of empty chairs. We took our seats and had small talk about weekend plans when I absentmindedly looked across the room only to be met by a pair of brown eyes that quickly looked away, I continued to watch as he shyly smiled.
“Keller.” I smacked his shoulder a bit too hard as I turned to look at him, “Be cool. Be cool.”
“What? What happened?” He looked around quickly.
“You remember last year when Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiered and I said that Torres is So Fine!”
“I do, yeah.” Keller looked at me confused as to why I was bringing this up now “I think your exact words were then “scrump-dilly-icious”, then the lyrics ‘Come a little closer, let me taste your smile’”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I said quickly trying to move past my fangirl moment and looking down at my phone as I spoke to not make it obvious, “is that him at your 1 o’clock?”
——————
The next few weeks where hectic with signing paperwork, meeting the cast, flight training, and underwater training.
“You’re telling me that the next Falcon was afraid of flying?” I asked as I looked up the ladder of my jet as Danny unbuckled his straps after our first flight.
“It was too big of an opportunity.” He said as he climbed out and stepped on the ladder, “I figured I’d just work through it.”
“And I’m not the next Falcon.” He flashed one of his bright smiles at me as he hopped down to stand next to me.
“Sam Wilson told you to keep his wings, that sounds pretty self explanatory.” I smiled as I looked up at him.
“Well I haven’t gotten the call yet.” He accidentally bumped by shoulder with his as we walked back inside the hanger.
—————
Months later.
“Danny!” Glen waved his hand in-front of Danny’s face.
“I’m listening.” Danny ripped his gaze from where I stood across the room talking excitedly on my phone.
“What did I just ask you?” Glen asked.
“Uh what movie we’re watching.” Danny said to him.
“Just ask her out already!” Miles threw a piece of his protein bar at his chest from the couch next to him.
“What? Who?” Danny looked around to his friends.
“Who?” Monica teased him shaking his shoulder, “it’s obvious!”
“I can’t ask out the really pretty, badass fighter pilot. She’ll say no.” Danny looked down.
“Why would she say no?” Keller asked.
“Oooo What do you know?” Monica asked him, everyone’s attention now on Keller.
“I’m just saying sometimes things go differently than you’d expect.” Keller said to Danny as I approached.
“What did I miss?” I said as I plopped down in the middle of the couch next to Monica and Danny.
“Nothing important. Yet.” Miles said, earning laughs from the group.
The night went on as a marvel movie played in the background now muted.
“Hey, y/n.” Keller called me as he looked to the tv screen, “remember what you said when you saw Danny here for the first time on Falcon and the Winter Soldier?”
“Oh my god.” I said as everyone turned to look at me, “yeah yeah. I very clearly remember saying shut the fuck up, Keller.” I laughed in embarrassment as everyone else joined in.
I leaned back on the couch covering my face with my hand, not wanting to look to my left where Danny was doing the exact same thing as everyone continued to laugh.
“I’m leaving.” I went to get up but was quickly pushed down by Monica’s hand on my shoulder.
“No no. We’re leaving.” She said as everyone picked up their drink and walked away, Miles stood up and pointed at Danny mouthing “you’ve got this.”
“Wow they just throw us into the fire don’t they?” I chuckled, looking at him.
“Yeah I think they’ve had enough of me pining over you.” He let out a nervous chuckle.
“You pining over me?” I turned on the couch to face him.
“Since day one, and I saw you walk through the door.” He admitted, smiling at his lap then looking up up to meet my eyes.
“Well as you heard, Keller won’t let me forget my fangirl moment.” I laughed as I looked down.
“Well now I wanna hear this.” He laughed, now turning in his seat on the couch to face me, his knee touching mine.
“I may have,” I looked away from him scanning the room for some courage as I spoke with a big smile, “gone on about how cute I thought you were and how you have a very nice smile.”
Danny let out a shy laugh.
“I may be summarizing here. We’ll never know!” I laughed.
“And Glen kept laughing at me because I’d practically dive to get my phone whenever I got a notification because was hoping it was you.”
“I may have been doing the same thing.” I admitted.
“Yeah they think I should just ask you out already.” He smiled, a bit more confident now after what he had admitted.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked.
#fanboy’s fangirl#mickey fanboy garcia#top gun maverick#top gun#fanboy#danny ramirez#mickey garcia#when i say this man is so fine#pheonix#miles teller#rooster#Danny Ramirez fanfic
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