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Patchwork Melody - Spring

It's finally here... the first meeting story for these two blorbos. This is Chapter 1 of a 4 chapter story, so it ends on a biiit of a cliffhanger, just a heads-up. Dashes denote a POV change.

Part 2 here!

Word Count: 7k (!!!)

CWs: accidental dehumanization (Typical for this kind of story), kidnapping, accidental ableism, allusions to history of abuse, POV depiction of PTSD flashback and panic attack which are improperly handled. The worst of this lives in Part 4.

Tag List (Hopefully this isn't too presumptuous): @gt-daboss

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Part 1

The small figure runs, ducking behind the flower box they were digging through moments prior. Just run, just run, it already saw you!, they think, as they push every muscle past its limits in a dramatic last stand. They hear a soft voice from far above as they try desperately to flee. The ground behind them starts to rumble as they realize with fear that they've run right into a corner. Turning around with terror on their face, they cower behind their backpack, trying desperately to use their most prized belonging as a shield, if it meant they would live another day. Glancing past the bag, they stare up at the red eyes peering down at them, awaiting their doom, or worse, their captivity.

It was a sleepy Saturday morning as Melody walked out of her apartment. Normally, they wouldn't dream of being awake this early, but another round of insomnia decided that six in the morning was the perfect time to wake up and start the day. She had the day off work, and decided to go for a walk to wake up a bit after throwing on an old t-shirt and some jeans. While they'd love to go back to sleep, they'd already gotten in enough hot water for missing work, and couldn't afford to ruin their sleep schedule again. Literally, because an apartment with a front porch in this part of town doesn't pay for itself. After locking the door and putting her keys in her bag, Melody couldn't help but notice that the jingling noise didn't stop, just got softer.

Melody looked curiously over at the source of the noise, something within the flowerbed next to her door. What she saw was some sort of tiny creature with a mop of silver-gray hair that had a lone purple streak, large pointed ears that each seemed as long as its head, and what appeared to be a blue backpack. This strange thing seemed to be rooting around in the dirt as if looking for something.

Mel immediately felt a mix of excitement and curiosity. If she wasn't just having some sort of insomnia-induced hallucination, this was clearly some sort of elf, or other type of fae, based on its short size and ears. The backpack probably indicates sentience… could she talk to it? Learn from it?

But also… whatever this thing was, it was one of the cutest things she had ever seen. As Mel leaned in closer, the tiny creature's ears twitched, and it seemed to notice her with a look of dawning fear as it began to run away.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be afraid, I don't want to hurt you, just know what you are," said the human. At least, the terrified sprite thought the being was a human. It had the height and weird rounded ears, but its eyes were a bright red, and its hair seemed to be a greenish… blueish… a color that human hair is not, at least as far as they knew.

Even aside from their hair and eyes, the human was definitely an odd-looking one, being rather tall and lanky, even by the standards of humans. They were wearing a simple gray shirt, with some sort of figure on the shirt that the sprite couldn't recognize, and a denim jacket with matching pants. Their face, staring in wonder, was somewhat pale, with a light dusting of freckles that matched the sprite's own. It was outlined by a fairly chiseled jaw, but was otherwise soft in features. Round glasses were perched on their nose, creating an odd distortion on the giant creature's eyes from the sprite’s perspective. The human was staring them dead in the eyes and leaning down even closer, before they spoke again, their slightly deep voice a soft whisper, as if afraid to hurt the sprite's ears.

"Hello? I'm guessing you're either ignoring me or can't understand me. I promise I mean you no harm, little cutie. I just want to get a closer look at you real quick... I'll let you go on your way in just a moment…"

Having cornered the tiny creature, Melody bent down to lift the adorable tiny thing. Her first observation was just how small it was, probably no bigger than a few inches. Held within her loose fist, the tiny thing's squirming legs didn't even reach her pinky finger. Her comparatively massive red eyes, the result of her decorative contacts, gazed at the tiny creature with fascination, watching it flail about in her hand with a raw curiosity. Despite putting almost no pressure into her grip, afraid of hurting this small creature, she couldn't even feel the struggles of the little thing. Now that it was closer and (slightly) more still, she was able to get a more detailed look at its features. Its skin had a grayish pallor that Melody wasn't sure was natural for whatever it was. Its eyes were a vibrant purple, offset by the duller purple of the bags under them. Purple eyes would help the theory that it has magic… maybe. Aside from the backpack, which she now noticed was denim, it seemed to be wearing a loose-fitting brown cloak or tunic of some sort, with one shoulder exposed, and a small green scarf around its neck, both made out of some kind of fine fabric. Definitely not silk, but not any fabric she recognized. The scarf was a bit odd, given the spring weather, but maybe its body is supposed to be as cold as it felt in her hand. Something cold-blooded? Layers would make sense, then.

The creature's squirming slowed down, as it seemed to realize the futility of its motions. Its long ears drooped down in a clear display of sadness, and its vibrant purple eyes closed. Melody attempted once more to communicate with this tiny thing in her hand.

"Are you done, little cutie? No more thrashing around? If I let go, do you promise to not try to, like, jump or anything? You would probably hurt yourself falling from this height."

The sprite hung their head low. Upon being asked to not resist by this massive human, they nodded their head slowly in compliance. It's true, they would survive a fall from this height onto maybe a carpet, or the grass, but a drop this tall on pavement would surely leave them seriously injured… at best. And seriously injured is not the state to be in this close to a human.

The human's face lit up at the nod, and the excitement in their voice was clear as they began rapid-firing questions. "Wait, you can understand me? What are you? A fairy? An elf? Who are you? May I know your name? Where are you from? Are there more of you? Do you know magic? Why were you in my flower bed?"

The sprite couldn't keep up with the questions, and simply stared wide-eyed at their captor as if trying to process every question at once. As this human became more passionate in their questioning, their grip absent-mindedly tightened on the sprite in their hand.

Mel continued asking questions, this was her chance! Their whole life has been waiting for the moment something supernatural would finally happen, and now some kind of fae literally shows up at their doorstep. They were so excited, in fact, that they forgot about their grip until the tiny creature in their hand suddenly moved. Its ears perked up in alertness as it twitched its spine in pain. Its face contorted into what appeared to be a yell or scream, yet no sound came out. Immediately, Mel panicked and loosened her grip on the strange creature, letting it rest in her open palm.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you? Let me see!" Mel immediately noticed the creature clutching its arm in what was clear pain. A terrible chill ran down her spine, worried that she accidentally hurt the small thing, and fearing how much worse she could have done if she didn't notice.

"I… I'm so sorry, let me take you inside and we can talk there, I can see what I can do for your arm, and get you some food and water too if you need them," The human said, as if the creature she held in her palm had any choice at the moment. The human wasted no time before turning around and carrying her new find back inside.

Part 2

The young sprite had never been in this particular apartment, but immediately wished they had known about it on stealthier terms. The place was packed, plants decorating most surfaces as well as the bookcases close to the two windows. Further away, another bookcase was present, this one adorned with plants that seemed to need less sun, as well as rocks, jars of mysterious dried plants, and a few tiny bottles filled with interesting colored substances. Combined with the many thick books for cover, this place would be a prime Borrowing house.

When they were finally released from their captor's hands, they found themself roughly placed in a plastic container on a tabletop, the sides of which were easily twice as tall as the sprite. After giving a cautionary check, the plastic was indeed too smooth to climb. As the scared sprite went to dig through their bag for a hook or something, the human lifted their backpack away, placing it on the table outside of the container.

"Nope, nope, you can get this back once you answer some questions and we look at that arm of yours. I don't want you running off and getting yourself hurt, my apartment is absolutely not safe for something so small. I promise it's just for a moment," the human stated matter-of-factly. As she turned and walked towards the kitchen to retrieve her first-aid kit, she continued her barrage of questions. "So, what are you, little cutie?"

After bringing the first aid kit over, unsure what to really do for a tiny magical(?) creature, Mel noticed the lack of response. It definitely nodded yes to their question before... probably. But judging by its lack of response now, maybe it was a mistake? A simple motion of a struggling thing, taken out of context. She had to make sure. "You... can understand me, right? Nod yes and take... two steps sideways if you can understand me."

The creature stared at her, tilting its head in confusion. As it tilted its head, Melody couldn't help but notice how cute it was. Its oversized ears seemed to move slower than the rest of its head, reminding her of the floppy ears of a dog or a kitten, despite their pointed shape. When the creature did exactly as asked, Melody's eyes went wide with excitement, now having definite proof that it, no, HE understands her. He? Probably, it definitely looks masculine. She made a mental note that male pronouns would do unless the little thing corrects her. She couldn't make out an age exactly, but he seemed on the younger end. Maybe a teenager? His head and ears made it hard to tell, being so much bigger than a human's would be at the same scale. Melody gave another shot at speaking with the small creature. "Okay, so once again... what are you? Please tell me?"

Melody noticed the creature trying to do some sort of hand motions, but couldn't understand. Was he trying to cast magic? Is that a thing he can do? Melody watched with curiosity to see if anything would happen, only to be disappointed as nothing changed.

There was a quiet, awkward moment between them, as the tiny thing's ears drooped sadly again. Eventually, she spoke again, slightly confused. "Uh… was that supposed to do something? Whatever, that's fine, you don't have to say anything. I've got all day, little cutie. I'm not going to go anywhere until you talk."

Unfortunately for Melody, her determination to find out more about this strange little being lost out to her impatience within about three minutes. Their head laying on the table, they began to beg, their voice sounding desperate.

"Come onnnn, just say something. Anything. Give me any kind of answer. Pleeeeease?"

The sprite remained silent, appearing lost in thought.

Could this human be reasoned with? As they went to motion to their bag, the human continued speaking.

"Please? I just want to understand you, I can't help you otherwise."

After another moment, the sprite's giant captor stood up and walked away. They instantly became terrified. Was the human getting something to punish them for their silence? Were they finally dropping the nice facade?

Eventually, the human came back to the table with a large book. Placing it down gently, so as not to scare the tiny creature with a loud thump, they began to flip through the book.

"Okay… pointed ears say an elf, but your ears aren't really very… elven. Maybe you're a mousefolk? But you have no tail… or if you do, it's a tiny one hidden under that little robe of yours… I did find you outside of my house, and your outfit looks a bit ragged… uh, no offense, of course. Maybe you're a brownie? I have some milk in the fridge, would that get you to talk?"

They could only look at the human with a confused look. What was she going on about?

"... No wings, so you probably aren't a fairy… unless you lost your wings. Did you ever have wings, little thing?"

The confused sprite only shook their head in a slow "no".

"OK… well, I probably… uh… should have gone for something more professional than a D&D guidebook… I think I still have my old college textbooks around here somewhere… gods knows those things are way too expensive to chuck…"

The human left, and took several more books off the shelf after a few minutes of looking around. She flipped through each book, taking what felt like forever, muttering to herself as she went.

"We're miles from the nearest forest… you clearly aren't invisible… Definitely don't look human… Those clothes don't look at all suitable for living in water… it's… maybe technically nighttime? But you weren't leaving a gift… unless… you were actually planting seeds! Is this backpack full of seeds?"

The small sprite instantly went into a panic as the human looked over to their backpack, frantically shaking their head in a no, and praying that the human didn't try to dig into the bag. They already had to fix it up after… the last human they met. Luckily, this human seems to have had no plans on that and continued digging through the books, becoming more frustrated over time.

Eventually, they seem to have hit their limit, and threw their head back in agitation before speaking in a more aggressive tone than they had previously. "Ugh! Why won't you just say anything!?"

Melody noticed a knocking noise on the plastic container her little "guest" was in, and saw the mysterious little thing clearly trying to get her attention. As she looked over at him, she saw him frantically motioning with his hands over his neck, in an X shape. His mouth was moving, speaking in an exaggerated way, as if to make it easier for her to see that no sound was coming out of his mouth. He clearly looked scared, probably threatened by her voice raising. Her eyes lit up in both realization and embarrassment.

"Oh my gods. You aren't just being silent to be difficult… you can't actually speak, can you?" As he nodded a yes, Mel lowered her head into her hands in shame.

"Shit, I'm such a dick. That's what your little hand motions were, oh my gods you were signing! My dumb ass was sitting here thinking you were trying to cast spells or something, ugh, I'm such an idiot! Maybe not everything about this situation is silly and fantastical, Mel, maybe he's just mute and you're being insensitive like always."

Their head raised and their face shifted into a goofy expression as they began to cheer with a clearly sarcastic voice, "Yeah Mel, yeah, woo, get upset at a mute guy for not speaking, like a COMPLETE ASSHOLE, hell yeah, casual ableism, woo!!"

The human hung her head in embarrassment again before continuing to berate herself, putting her head in her hands.

"Ugh… I swear, I didn't know, if I had known I would never… I'm not some, like, prick, I swear. Oh my gods, I'm so stupid. Way to make a first impression, at least I know you can't hex me or whatever because I would be so cursed right now for sure."

If the sprite could communicate at the moment, and wasn't still terrified of this human, they would have had some strong words about how kidnapping was also not a good first impression. However, they had no intent on insulting their captor, despite the clear look of regret already on the human's face. They remained still, waiting for the human to compose herself.

Part 3

After a bit too much self-flagellation, Melody tried to think logically about the situation. "OK, so I don't actually know sign language, if that wasn't obvious. Can you write?"

After getting an enthusiastic nod and a point at their little backpack, Melody thought she understood.

"You can write, and have something to write with in your little bag?"

After getting a slow and cautious nod in response, the human gently placed the backpack inside of the plastic container and waited to see what happened. The small creature instantly pointed to a lighter part of their backpack intently.

"What are you pointing at?" As they looked closer to the tiny backpack, they noticed what appeared to be a different fabric sewn on, with some kind of… unusual symbols written on. The little thing pointed repeatedly to himself, and then the writing.

Her disappointment was obvious as she spoke her next words. "That's… your name… isn't it?"

The small creature seemed to be somewhere between excited and nervous as they hesitantly nodded, obviously seeing the lack of recognition on Mel's face.

"I…" They sigh before continuing, "I have no idea what that says, little cutie."

Melody picked up one of their books and pointed to an arbitrary passage of text, making sure the little one could see it. "Can you… read these words? Any of them?"

The tiny being's large ears drooped in disappointment and he shook his head sadly, as Melody's own expression mirrored his. This was about to make things much more complicated.

"Okay, well, I can't just keep calling you 'little cutie'... even though you totally are, you need some kind of name. Maybe I can try to guess? What about… Gilbert? Linus? Stop me if any of these are close to your name... Derwin?"

. . .

The completely blank response they got from the little being said everything Mel needed to know.

"Yeah, you're right, this is stupid. This would be so much easier if I could just read your little backpack patch…"

The human's face seemed to light up as they said that, to the confusion of the sprite.

"Wait a second… that sounds cute… what about Patch? Just- Just as a nickname. Until we can figure out a better way to communicate. If you like it, of course."

At this unexpected politeness, the sprite nodded their head enthusiastically. Truthfully, the name didn't sound that bad… especially compared to Derwin. And though there's no real magic behind them, names do have a certain power when it comes to empathy, something that they hoped would work on this human. They remember how the last human they encountered refused to call them anything other than… they didn't exactly get named.

"Perfect! Well then, it's nice to formally meet you, Patch. I guess I never introduced myself, it's… probably safe to do that. You tried to tell me your name, after all. You may refer to me as Melody, or Mel," the human stated, in a slightly odd manner, as she gave as much of a curtsy as possible while sitting in a chair wearing a t-shirt.

Melody went to hold out their hand, before awkwardly withdrawing and brushing it through their hair, as if they were about to give a handshake but realized the complication there. They continued talking as if nothing happened.

"Okay Patch, so I can't read your writing, but you can nod. We can… we can work with this. Can I ask you questions and you can nod yes or no?"

The small sprite nodded in approval, happy but anxious to finally be communicating, and Mel began asking simple questions.

"So… do you have magic?" At this, Patch hesitated before shaking his no sadly.

"Okay, just checking. Are there others of your kind?" Yes.

“Can they, um… can they speak?” Yes

"Is it the same language I’m speaking?" Yes.

"Do they live near here?" Mel asked, before being met with a nervous look on Patch's face. Not wanting to offend, Melody quickly continued on. "That's fair, I'm sure you're supposed to be secretive, right?" Yes.

"Okay… can you say if you live near here?" Mel asked, to a nervous nod yes. "Oh, okay! I guess you could say we're kinda like neighbors then! Um, alright, if I can ask another question, how did you get here? Like… this area?"

After being met with an unamused glance at the open-ended question, Melody decided to restate it. "Did you get here through some kind of, I don't know, portal or wormhole or… or spaceship? I just can’t believe I’ve never seen any of your kind before." Patch's head tilted again in confusion, clearly not comprehending what the human was saying.

"Okay, we'll go back to that. Actually, wait, scratch that, we need to go back a lot. Are you hungry?"

Patch's response was skeptical as they anxiously nodded yes. "Don't be so nervous. Do you like, um… I haven't been to the store in a bit… I have…" Melody paused as she tapped her chin, thinking. "Some leftover Chinese food? Some pretzels? A few apples…"

Melody noticed the sprite's ears perked up as she said apples.

"Apples are good?" She asked, to confirm what she had noticed. As Patch nodded his head slowly, Melody excitedly continued, happy to have figured out a way to help the little sprite. "Perfect! I'll be right back. I'll bring some food and water, and then we can look at that arm of yours."

After a few stressful moments, Patch saw the human return with a small green apple and a knife, which they eyed nervously. Something that sharp in the hands of a human… Patch shuddered as their mind flashed back… and in a panic, they suddenly became well aware of the fact that they were trapped inside of an enclosed space, with a human walking closer brandishing a weapon bigger than they were. They desperately tried to scamper up the side of the container with a renewed fervor, but with only one good arm, the effort was hopeless. Melody noticed the movement as she spoke.

"Woah there, Patch, calm down. I'm just going to cut it first and then give it to you, okay? Just be patient for a moment."

They watched as the human somewhat clumsily sliced the apple, clearly trying to avoid cutting herself. Eventually, about a third of the apple was sliced, and gently placed next to Patch.

"Here you go, Patch. Eat up, and I'll, uh, find a way to get you some water real quick."

Melody was only gone for a moment, as she found a water bottle cap and filled it with water. When she returned, the apple slice was well over halfway gone, leaving only the peel, which the little being had apparently eaten around. Melody could only chuckle to herself at how quickly Patch had eaten that much. "Woah, you were hungry, weren't you, Patch?"

Melody noticed Patch's face and ears turn a bit red, as he rubbed behind one of his big ears sheepishly.

"Do you… want more?"

The little being, still looking bashful, shook his head no, and patted his stomach. Melody placed the cap inside of the plastic container and watched as Patch quickly drank the entire thing. Clearly this creature needed to eat and drink a lot more than his size suggested… unless he was particularly hungry. Looking closer, Melody could see that Patch's skin had already dramatically changed color, being more of a human-esque warm skin tone than the gray tint it was before. Was… was he malnourished? Should she insist he eat more, or was devouring that apple slice already "eating more"?

Deciding to trust the tiny creature's judgment, Melody began to cut another slice of the apple for herself, not wanting to waste the rest of it. After holding out the slice to Patch as a final offer, and receiving another head shake as a response, Melody took a bite of the apple slice, and looked over at Patch, only to see him staring at her.

Patch knew they should have looked away, but couldn't help but watch as Melody took a massive bite out of the apple slice. The sprite tried not to think about the fact that the bites the human took were each roughly as big as they were. While they almost believed (almost) that the human meant them no harm, they still couldn't help but panic at being reminded that they were sitting in what was technically a food container and watching the human eat. They wouldn't… right?

Memories immediately flooded back of them, the last human to have taken Patch like this, and how they would threaten the sprite. Shivering in fear, the sprite looked away, closing their eyes tightly and hoping to get rid of the memory, so they could focus on the present.

Part 4

"Okay, now that we've got you some food and water, let's look at that arm, and see what's wrong. I'm going to take you out of this container, but you have to promise me that you won't leave this table, okay? I don't want you to get hurt."

Patch nodded, but instantly regretted it as Melody's hand quickly reached down to scoop them up and place them down on the desk. While it was only for a moment, the sight of the human's hand flying towards them at such a fast speed caused them to flinch and recoil in fear.

“Okay, hopefully that was… a bit gentler, wouldn’t want to hurt your arm again,” Mel said, unaware of how much Patch was thrown about during that small trip, even with Mel consciously trying to be gentler than before. “So, I’m far from a doctor, but I get the feeling you wouldn’t want me to bring you to an actual doctor, or like… I dunno, a vet or something.” Melody immediately noticed Patch’s face grew worried as she quickly added on to her thought, “Not- Not to imply that you’re an animal, just they’re better with small things like mice, and you’re… anyways, let’s… just take a look at that shoulder. Can you, um, roll up your sleeve or something?”

Hesitantly, Patch did as they were asked, and rolled up their ill-fitting sleeve as far as possible, revealing a red and swollen shoulder. They saw the human wince as she saw it. "Okay… that looks like a sprain… at best. Obviously it hurts to put pressure on it, but can you move it?"

Thinking how to answer, Patch moved their arm a little, and then winced in pain, causing Melody to gasp slightly. "Oh no no, don't move it if it hurts! But that's something, that means it probably isn't completely broken… okay… maybe we should wrap that up? Like in a sling or something. Um… let me check my phone real quick, I'm sure I could figure out how to cut some of this tape up into a little sling for your shoulder. I'm so sorry again if I caused that, I wasn't thinking and I just…" Melody said, her thoughts trailing off as she started to research what to do about this tiny injured arm, leaving Patch to plan their next move.

Finally free from the container, and with their giant captor distracted, Patch instantly decided to make a break for their backpack. Quickly digging through the front pocket, they pull out their trusty rope hook before slinging the large pack over their good shoulder. Without hesitation, they immediately latch the hook to the table's edge. It's a loose fit, but they only need to get about halfway down before the fall is safe, from the looks of it. Wrapping their legs around the rope to make up for the sprained arm, they begin to descend. It's slower than they would normally go, but the ground is so close, and there's enough clutter that they can easily find a hiding spot as long as-

"Hey! What are you- no! You promised!" Melody cried, as she reached out to grab the little runaway, cupping him in her hands.

"Are you mad? That drop could have killed you! And trying to climb with some kind of broken arm, what were you thinking, Patch?"

After she deposited him back on the table, Melody let out a sigh. Her red eyes focused intently on Patch, as if trying to read his mind. "Why are you trying to get away from me that badly? Don't you get that I'm just trying to help you?"

I'm just trying to help you…

…

I'm just trying to help you…

"... so please, just come onto my hand. I'll take care of you, little guy. I promise."

Hungry, lost, and desperate, they find themself nodding, staring into the deep blue eyes of the figure in front of them, their smile wide. Maybe this human is telling the truth, maybe not all humans are bad… maybe the elders were wrong after all, they think to themself.

As they reach out and touch the hand, it is as if they strike a pact with a demon. They hear that all-too-familiar laughter as everything around them darkens. Memories flood back, stinging their soul like ice cold flames. Their whole body is filled with phantom senses as the combined physical and mental impact of the last two years of their life hits them like a tidal wave. Heat, cold, pressure, pain, sights, sounds, smells, taste. Too bright, too dark, too loud, too quiet, too much, too little. They try to scream, for anybody to help, human, sprite, spirit, anybody.

But as always, no sound comes from them.

…

"Uh… Patch? Are you… okay?"

Mel's scolding tone softened as the little thing in front of her began to tear up, staring off at something. She took in his appearance, trying to figure out what was wrong. He looks… like he's breathing faster, maybe, and seems to be gripping his little backpack as if his life depends on it. Did she scare him? What did she say? Unsure what to do, Melody brought a finger gently to Patch's face, to wipe away the tears.

"Hey, little guy, I'm… it's okay, I'm not mad or anything, I…"

Melody's finger suddenly filled with pain, as she pulled it away in shock.

"OW! What the hell, Patch! Did you just bite me!? What's wrong with you!? Is that how you treat somebody trying to comfort you? You just bite them? What are you, a raccoon!? We both know you're better than that."

Mel had never been the best at reading faces, especially when the face was half an inch tall, but the emotion on Patch's face as she yelled seemed to be one of fear. He was staring at her, almost through her, his bright purple eyes completely dilated like a deer in headlights. His ears were pulled back, almost flat against the sides of his head, and Mel could tell his breathing had gotten even heavier and more uneven.

"Well? I know you can understand me, Patch, don't pretend like you can't. Why the hell did you just bite me!?"

Melody wasn't sure what kind of answer they expected, but Patch curling into a fetal position and sobbing was definitely not it. As the tiny person silently cried on her table, Melody could only whisper one thing to herself.

"Oh, fuck."

Part 5

Patch woke up from their slumber, and found themself half-covered by… soft paper of some kind. The kind usually found in human's kitchens. They didn't remember when they fell asleep, the last thing they remembered was… panic. Ah. As their mind began to wake up, they realized they must have fainted or something.

As they regained their bearings, they noticed Melody, sitting all the way across the room on a chair facing them, but clearly invested in a book. As the sprite sat up and pushed the makeshift blanket aside, the human's eyes darted up from the book.

"Uh… hey. I'm… if you're awake, I'm going to come closer, okay? Just back to where I was sitting before. I can't really see you that clearly from this far away, and I'd like to hear what you have to say. Or… see it, I guess."

After a moment, the human got up, and carried the chair back to where it was before. The human seemed… uncharacteristically anxious. What were they doing?

"I… don't know what I said, or did, to make you respond that way, but I clearly upset you. Badly. I'm sorry."

Patch was thrown for a complete loop at the tonal whiplash of how she was acting compared to her attitude before. What happened while they were unconscious?

When Patch began sobbing, Melody instantly knew that she messed up. Badly. That wasn't the response of somebody snapping back in rebellious defiance, that was somebody lashing out in terror. In her fascination with the strange person on her table, she completely overlooked that she was probably, like, thirty times his size. If they were in that situation, they would probably be absolutely terrified, especially if something that much bigger started yelling and shouting. And it was so obvious to them in hindsight that he was having a panic attack. Melody cursed herself for not realizing sooner. Imagine having a panic attack and then you see a car barrelling towards you, no wonder he -literally- snapped at me, she thought, cursing her lack of social skills again.

She continued to watch the poor thing, not wanting to say or do anything, for fear of upsetting him further. After what felt like an agonizing amount of time, he seemed to stop crying, but Mel noticed that he had also gone still. They looked closely, suddenly afraid of the worst, but he seemed to simply be asleep. Unsure what to do, they ripped off a small piece of a paper towel and carefully laid it over his sleeping body, being careful to avoid it touching his face. They picked up one of the more detailed books, as they figured now may be the time to look for more answers as to what this little fellow is.

"So… it's been about a half hour since you fell asleep. I don't know if you measure time the same way, so that may not be helpful, sorry. Are you feeling okay?"

Still baffled, Patch gave a hesitant nod yes. The human seemed nervous, as if thinking carefully of what to say. "I… must be pretty scary to you, huh?"

Patch didn't respond, unsure if this was a trick or not.

"You don't have to say it, that's fair. You're probably worried that I'll be upset. You don't seem to believe me that I won't hurt you. Has…" She stopped to think, trying to figure out how to word this gently, "I'm not the first human who's met you, am I?"

Unsure where this was going, Patch softly shook their head in a "no". Melody sighed before continuing. "And they… weren't very nice to you, were they?"

Her red eyes stared deeply at Patch, as if attempting to glare into his very soul. Patch tried their best to avoid eye contact, but it was clear what the answer was.

"I'm… sorry. For whatever that person did. You didn't deserve it, whatever it was. I know that means, like, fuck-all coming from me, though." The human sighed again before continuing their speech.

"You know, I… I'm not very good at this. At any of it. The whole emotional support thing. Not just because you're a little… whatever you are. I've always been the worst at upsetting people without meaning it. I honestly, swear to the gods, only brought you here to help you. You were injured, and I caused it. Or at least some of it. But… I probably let my excitement get ahead of me. I know, I put you in a literal plastic container like an asshole, but I was just… worried. I didn't want you running away with your arm injured. Honest. I get it if you don't believe me though."

Patch's look of confusion hadn't gone away. This human seems… like they're planning something. Why the sudden act? Are they trying to get them to let their guard down?

"I didn't want to move you while you were sleeping, but… I can bring you outside, if you want to leave. I'd… want to leave me too. Just point to the door and I'll do the rest. But, I would genuinely like to learn more about you. You may have been able to tell that, well, I've always wanted to meet somebody special. Anybody. And then I found you and just got so excited and… I'm sorry about it."

Carefully, Patch walked over to their backpack, waiting for the human to stop them… but she didn't. They hoisted the bag over their good shoulder, and walked over to the hook that was still on the edge of the table.

"That's fair. Can you please let me put you on the floor, though? I promise, no funny business. Just like… an elevator. It's the least I can do."

This is it, Patch thought. She's going to insist that I get in her hand, and then wham, into a box or cage or something. Figuring that if anything happens, it happens regardless, they shake their head in a firm no.

Melody's heart was breaking during this entire conversation. They finally met something supernatural, and it was pissed at her. She did literally everything possible wrong, as always, and now it was costing her the most interesting event of her life. But she tried to continue being apologetic, figuring that this wasn't about her at the moment.

"I get it. Let me at least move a chair over then? You can climb down to the chair, and then the floor. Please let me do that at least?"

There was a hesitant nod of approval, and Melody moved the chair as promised. Their tiny guest made his way down to the floor, and started walking to the door. It took a bit of time, but Mel didn't dare interrupt or interfere.

"All right, I'll open the door so you can get out. It's been… nice to meet you, Patch. Even if you don't feel the same."

She opened the door just enough for Patch to get through, to make it clear that she wouldn't follow. He climbed over the door sweep and stepped outside, before turning around to look at the human with confusion.

"... What?"

Patch was… confused. Did the human just… let them go? Just like that? No grabbing them? No having to escape out a window, having to climb down a brick wall in the dead of night? Just… letting them walk out the door?

They pointed and motioned in a direction, confused, hoping the sentiment of "I'm going to go now" was a universal one. It seemed to be, as Melody gave them a nod. "Yep. Go wherever you want, I'm going to shut the door… and probably go back to reading, I guess. Maybe try to figure out what you are still, but I won't follow you. You have my word."

And with that, Patch walked away. The door closed, and Melody went back to reading their book, as all of the tears that they were holding in finally came pouring out.

Part 6

It had been about two weeks since Melody met Patch. Two weeks since she made him hate her. She returned to work as normal, spending the slow days at the library reading up on mythologies, trying to learn anything about what he was. Research led down a rabbit hole of conspiracies and disinformation about the existence of all sorts of elves, fairies, and other such creatures, but somehow nothing reputable. Melody could only be baffled by this, How could they live in a city, and yet nobody has ever documented them existing? Despite this, Melody kept Patch’s existence close to her own heart. After all, he clearly just wanted to be left alone.

Before leaving for work every morning, they made sure to leave out an apple slice, and every evening, it was gone when they came home. It was probably just taken by a bird or rat or something, especially because the peel was also missing, but they wanted to believe that maybe Patch was getting them. The other option, that the little being had run as far from her as possible, was just too much to bear. Leaving out fruit was all she could do to believe she was repenting for how she treated him.

It was a dreary evening, about sunset, when Mel had to go out to the nearby alley to throw out her trash. As they were taking the trash out back, they saw something move in the corner of their vision. They turned to see what it was, expecting some kind of pest, when…

"Oh, Patch! I, uh… hello."

#aaaa pressing the post button is so hard right now the fear is real ok i'm doing it i'm pressing the button #tell me if this is Too Long and i can split up the further chapters #actually just tell me anything. at all. i'm clawing at the walls for feedback over here #g/t #giant/tiny #g/t writing #g/t ocs #g/t whump #tiny whump #g/t angst #oc tag: patch #oc tag: mel #patchwork melody

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torchwood-99 · 11 months

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I wish the people who just dismiss Eloise as a 'nlog' and a 'bad feminist' could just acknowledge that what Eloise is trying to do is actually really bloody hard. Being a feminist in that world is really hard.

We live in a world where, with the internet and the media, feminist thought and theory and the history of feminism is at our fingertips. Where you can probably find a feminist support network to help you grow as a feminist. Eloise does not.

She has no guidance, no mentors, no support group to learn things from. Everyone in her life (maybe excepting Benedict) until Theo treated Eloise's politics like a silly childish hobby. At worst, they're actively hostile. She has to go out and find feminist teachings and theories on her own, because no one is trying to teach her or help her themselves. She doesn't have the internet or access to a College Gender Studies course. She's got nothing but her own gut, and what she can find out on her own.

Aside from having to learn about feminism on her own, she has to unlearn all the sexism that has been drummed into her head since she was a child. You grow up in a sexist setting, you're gonna be programmed to think sexist thoughts. Eloise isn't just learning about sexism, she's deprogramming what's already been shovelled into her head.

The women around her, her mother and sisters, accept their lot in life as women, accept the assigned roles of man and woman and seem to have made their peace with it. They don't to dig and uproot those thoughts because deep down, what they'll find will be too distressing.

Eloise knows how the world her has kept women confined, she knows that women play a part in their oppression by being passive and enforcing it on others. She doesn't know how to handle it or put her thoughts into actions, or how to approach and understand the complexes she has about gender roles and traditional femininity and yes, the women who uphold them, because literally no one has shown her the way. She's got no one to set a precedent for her, or even simply empathise with her.

She's a nlog? Tell you what, she's no more critical of the women in her world than the men. And if she found likeminded women, she'd jump for joy. She's isolated and cut off and alienated from the women of her social circle, because they uphold the societal rules that keep women as 'fine ladies' instead of 'rational beings.'

The one example the women around her have set for Eloise is to accept and submit. Maybe grumble at times, maybe push a boundary where it's just too inconvenient not too, but at the end of the day, be a wife, be a mother, wear a dress, just stop asking for something else.

But to just accept is not acceptable for Eloise. So she's going to fight back. She doesn't know how. She doesn't know what the cost will be.

She is going about this completely alone.

Before you judge Eloise as a feminist, think about how you would be doing in her shoes, with no one to support you, no one to teach you, learning about this all by yourself, surrounded by people trying to constantly convince you you're wrong, you're defective for feeling this way.

I love that Eloise is a realistic depiction of what a feminist would be like in this world, with no guidance, no mentorship. Lost, isolated, strained with other women, still with so much to learn, but trying so, so hard. A perfect feminist in her world, at her age, with her support group, would have made Eloise a lesser character. She would have been a cardboard cut out created to avoid critique and soothe the audience, instead of being a honest depiction of a teenage girl whose deeply held beliefs are out of step with her society.

Instead of condemning Eloise for a being a failure of a feminist (when she's still a child FFS!) how about being impressed that in following her own initiative, she's come this far, and despite all the opposition she's facing, she has held true to her principles and is willing to go even further.

#Eloise Bridgerton #Eloise Bridgerton Rant #Feminism #NLOG #Bridgerton

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thecameronchronicles · 2 years

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Vixen

TW: Entrapment. Language. Smut. Public(ish) sex. Cheating.

SUMMARY: You have your sights set on Rudy, and you aren’t giving him an option to say no…

WORD COUNT: 1700

*Requested*

Anonymous asked:

Dark reader coming on to Rudy when he has a girlfriend? But he can't resist

Vixen

One way or another, you always got what you wanted. This was usually because of your ability to manipulate anyone by the use of your feminine wiles, innocent eyes but contradicting yet skillful lips, and overall charm left momentary allies behind in a slew of enemies and broken hearts. But recently, and unfortunately for him, your sights had been on Rudy. Watching his girlfriend treat him as more of an object than a partner while berating his boisterous laughter and saying it gave her a headache but still needy enough to correct him when his hands or eyes drifted to anyone else, it drove you crazy. And all you wanted was to give him the attention he was clearly lacking, as well as the satisfaction to your curiosities of what it would be to be fucked by him.

"You look like you need a drink..." You spoke with a friendly smile, even if your eyes wore your true intentions with their ‘come hither’ shade of darkness. He motioned to his girlfriend, as if to ask for permission, as she was too distracted with her own friends to pick up on your attempts.

"I won't tell..." You teased as he slowly nodded, tipping it as if to say thank you, before consuming it entirely.

The thing was, you didn't really know Rudy aside from the fact he was attractive, talented as an actor, and friendly enough to seem trustworthy and worthwhile as a conversationalist. But you didn't care about any of the aforementioned. You wanted those rough hands across your smooth skin and those soft lips drawing lines onto your body. You wanted to show him what you could give him, and wanted to take all he was willing to give. Which if history of former conquests were to prove anything, would have him on his knees for you. Maybe even literally.

His eyes followed you for a second as you sashayed to the dance floor, his lips parting as if going to speak, but simply amazed by the way you managed to entangle him with the simple sway of your hips. Your perfect curves and how you knew exactly how ro accentuate them by your movements and your chosen attire had brought him to lick his lips before being nudged by his girlfriend. As he returned to his role as the dutiful boyfriend, you allowed yourself to become lost in the music, momentarily catching his eyes coming to you from across the room.

"I said thank you to her because she was the bartender-"

"If you want to fuck her, Rudy, just do it. I don't care anymore. I deserve better than this. I could have anyone in this club if I wanted and I stayed with YOU-" She rolled her eyes and abandoned him as he leaned against the wall of the club, his eyes falling to you as he watched you stand across from him and lean on the wall.

"Seems nice..." He scoffed.

"She used to be...It's my fault...I'm never around..." Your eyes narrowed.

"I meant you..." His eyes narrowed in study, "YOU seem nice..." You corrected as a weak scoff left his lips before he cleared his throat.

"You definitely don't deserve to be abandoned, especially that way..." You pushed yourself off of the wall and closer towards him, slow steps giving him the option to maintain his monogamous status that was fleeting with your closing proximity.

"You're sweet to her. Attentive. Patient..." Your fingers were now on the discs of his shirt, the buttons keeping the toned physique just beyond reach, as you continued to twist them.

"But who's sweet to you? Who is attentive to YOU?" His jaw clenched as you moved towards him, your lips brushing his neck as he set it against the wall behind him, while you led his hands to your waist.

"I...I can't..." You ignored his words as his fingers contradicted them as they ate into the fabric of your dress.

"I bet she only ever makes you come when there's something in it for her..." His jaw tensed even tighter to these words as he gulped as your fingers had now descended to his belt. The buckle kept bound as you slipped your dainty wrists on the other side of the leather before stroking against him.

"I'd bet you never get touched like this..." Your lips moved back to his ear, "The things I wanna do to you, she could never even dream of...but I bet you have..." You withdrew your hand as he scoffed, your fingers teasing his shoulders and leading his fingers to a light guidance as you lingered for only a moment to spena.

"And I could make every one of those dreams come true...And nobody even has to know but us..." You pulled his fingers to the direction of the bathroom, his hesitancy present for only a moment as he considered the words you spoke.

If not for the way he'd been sexually deprived for weeks then he would have been able to walk away. If not for the drink you'd given him, maybe he would have had enough common sense to tell you, and himself, "no". But as you turned back one final time, those bedroom eyes, acting as a dream come true, he was at a loss for anything but your carnal promises.

The second the door came closed, you had him against you with passionate kisses to where your tongue savored his taste completely. Every drink he’d tasted, now evidence on the tip of your tongue as you took him by his collar and led him to the largest stall.

"I'll do anything you want me to..." You explained while teasing his lips with your fingers before doing the same with your lips. "But I'm expecting it in return..." He nodded as you lowered onto your knees.

"Shit..."

You chuckled before pulling him freely from his pants, your eyes widened to the size and grin widened at the precum already crying from its tip.

"All for me?" You feigned an innocent tone as he nodded.

"Hold my hair?" He wrapped your hair in his fist before feeling you take him with coinciding.

"Wait-whoa whoa, wait...I cant..."

"How about I make you a deal? If I can't make you come in.. two minutes...I'll stop?"

"Fuck...I can't...I just-"

"Rudy...you deserve to be taken care of...you deserve to feel good...and..." You bit your bottom lip as you pulled your fingers between your lower lips.

"Knowing I get to be the one to make you come makes me so wet, my panties are so wet, they're dripping...Please let me make you feel good..." You pouted as every single word you spoke affected him in such a way that was wrong. He knew it was wrong, and yet he couldn't utter words of cessation again.

"Mmmm..." You moaned around his shaft once taking him again, the decadence of his taste making your eyes roll as you were enthusiastic around his cock as he began to rock his hips into you. It was clear with how quickly he was brought to his edge that it was seldom that he knew a release this way, it made you pity him but not enough to grant his pleasure before your own.

Without needing a word after he saw that sinister smile, you were taken against the wall, his fingers hooking your leg over his shoulder, before he devoured you completely. As if a starved man, you were ravaged until your own tremors were on the fringes of your release before you were turned against the wall.

"Fuck!" You belted before feeling him finish his brigade this way. The shutter of your hips bringing your release forward as he smirked between your folds as your tremors made him well aware of the successful job now worn as evidence against his grin.

"Please Rudy....I need it inside of me...fuck, I need to feel you!" He nodded, quick to stand, before aligning himself to your entrance. Only a moment to feel him tease you this way before he was inside of you with an unkind glide as he bottomed out.

"Shit! How the fuck do you feel so good?"

"I was made for your cock, baby..." His eyes rolled to your words as your back arched but you pulled him towards you in such a way that made it possible to feel his teeth graze your shoulder.

"Shit, I don't have a-"

"I'm on the pill." You lied, risking the consequences of your negligence if it meant having him like this. The idea of a baby harboring his eyes and his smile, especially his dimples, made your heart swell, and it was your ambition for the night. You only needed him once...and once was still not enough.

"I'm gonna come-" He warned after you'd both worked up a sweat.

"I want it.. " You whined. "I wanna feel you drip out of me, Rudy...please.."

"You want it?"

"Yes! Give it to me!"

He was ruthless behind you, pounding into you without care of volume or his fleeting loyalty to a girl you'd made him forget long enough to focus solely on you.

"Fuck!" He pulled your hips harder against him.

"I want it-" You informed him through clenched teeth as he nodded.

"Take it baby...take it..." He breathed in finality before your body was offered a secondary release before you felt him pull away from you. The silence and distance made you understand that forgotten guilt had found him again.

"Rudy-"

"That shouldn't have happened...I..." And to those, you ran his fingers between your legs as he watched you in awe, drawing your mutual slick to his mouth as he sucked them clean.

"Then why did it feel so right? So deep and so fulfilling? And why does it taste so good?" You brought it now to your lips, moaning as his lips parted in disbelief.

"You're mine now...got your cum dripping down my thighs to prove it..." You winked, not bothering to retrieve your panties or offer anything but that final grin as you left the bathroom, having taken some form of his innocence with you…

Taglist: @hopebaker @iovdrew @penny4yourthoughts @magnificantmermaid @pickingviolets @lovedetlost @trikigirl271 @maybankslover @slut4starkey @slvtherinseeker @obxiskewl @obxxrxfes @bluesongbird @slut-era @ailee-celeste @rafesbae @pankhoeforlife

#rudy pankow smut #rudy pankow #rudy pankow x reader #outer banks #obx

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voxofthevoid · 1 year

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JJK 220: Yuuji's dietary habits continue to fascinate me

The Yorozu vs. Sukuna chapters were fun reads, but this one has got me vibrating again, let's fucking gooooo.

Kenjaku for villain of the year

I love how this motherfucker (...fatherfucker, if we want to get very literal about it) gets more chaotic with every chapter. I didn't think straight-up blackmailing Kogane would be their method for getting those rules added, but I just about lost it when they did it a second time.

That's just bullying, Kenny.

I also love how unreliable they are about...literally everything. We already know they lied to Chōsō about the Culling Games, and now we know there's no real Game Master as such. Can't wait to see what other bullshit they've fed people!

The new dynamic between them and Tengen is also pretty interesting. Cursed Spirit Manipulation seems absolute in terms of control, enough that it voided Kenjaku's binding vows with cursed spirits when he acquired Getou's body (assuming I'm remembering that part right, too sleepy to go reread Shibuya). But is Tengen still fundamentally Tengen, just not in control of herself and beholden to Kenjaku? Or is it some kind of permanent brainwashed state? Her personality seems unchanged in those brief exchanges at least. I'd like to see more of that, and I'm still hoping there will be a flashback to Kenjaku's history with Tengen.

Yuuji's dietary habits

When I saw this panel, I was not expecting the remaining death womb paintings to be on the menu, holy shit. I would've liked to have been a fly inside Yuuji's skull (or on a wall in the room whenever he and Chōsō first talked about this because the conversation we see clearly isn't the first) because...just, who came up with this, how did they come up with this, why did they think it was a good idea?

Granted, I do think it's a good (or at least a necessary) next step for Yuuji. I like that this is the direction the plot is taking for him, as opposed to him attaining Sukuna's cursed technique or something (assuming that doesn't pop up as a later development). But for Yuuji to resolve to do this and for Chōsō to agree imply some pretty dire things about their respective psyches and the level of desperation the protagonists seem to have reached, even with the newfound hope of actually unsealing Gojou.

Yuuji might not be attached to his siblings the way Chōsō is, but he's also the kind of person who values life for the sake of it. Even killing Eso and Kechizu weighed (weighs, most likely, just pushed to the background for now) on him heavily, and Chōsō's defining trait is his big brother complex. Going from that to this is sure something:

Their expressions are killing me; I am very normal about this.

Aside from these bits, I'm glad to see the Angel survived, but I'm disappointed that she's essentially out of action and won't even have a role once Gojou's free (please, Gege, let that go off without a hitch, let that man out). At least we now know the Angel and the other sorcerers can't switch hosts and why.

The brief Shouko PoV was interesting, and it's nice to see the students and their allies assembled; I am going to try and not think about how many of them will still be alive by the end of all this.

#jjk 220 #jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #i spent most of today trying to flip my sleep cycle and typing this very slowly as a form of...brain stimulation? stay-awake tactic?

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godsgamefreak · 9 months

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FFXIVWrite2023 - #24 Barbarous (#5)

OCs: Vincent Lalande, Faye Casella

Read on Ao3

Masterpost

Vincent's early training as a Warrior isn't going as smoothly as he'd hoped, and his past looms in the dark.

The battle is over. The words echoed in his mind, while his hands still gripped his axe tightly, eyes darting around the area.

The battle is over. His breathing was heavy, the smell of blood filled his nose, his heartbeat was rapid.

Movement to one side had him spinning to face it, another opponent, one he had missed. He roared and lifted his axe, but they were too fast. They got inside his reach and he couldn’t adjust in time, his vision blurred as he awaited the incoming pain, ready to push it aside and continue fighting.

It never came.

A soft touch pressed itself to his cheek, and his heart skipped a beat, his vision cleared.

“The battle is over.”

The soft voice eased his beating heart, evened out his breathing, relaxed his grip. Pain flooded his mind as he let go, his roar turning into a groan as he fell to a knee. His vision blurred again, and he fought to stay conscious. Aether began to flow around him and he felt his wounds rapidly coming together, tried to use that sensation to regain his proper senses. The way of the Warrior was still new to him, and it revealed a side of himself he wasn’t sure he was prepared to face yet. A part he had tried to run away from, literally.

“Vincent?”

He looked up and saw the wide eyes of his auri companion checking his wounds, before settling on his own eyes and desperately trying to find if he was okay.

“I’m fine, Faye… Thank you.”

Her look questioned his statement, but the fact he was able to make it seemed enough for her. While her aetheric work continued, he managed to get himself seated properly, letting her finish before he tried to move any more. If he was going to continue his training, he knew he’d have to face that barbarous side of himself, of his history. It would mean going back there, back to that cursed forest.

Vincent shook his head, and Faye looked up, concerned. “Is it coming back? Did I miss something?”

“No, no,” the miqo’te waved her concerns away. “Just… Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Can I get up?”

She nodded, still looking concerned. He got to his feet, and she followed suit.

“Well. That takes care of that I suppose. Let’s get back,” Vincent declared, sheathing his axe properly, and heading off.

The feeling of a gaze drilling into the back of his head accompanied him, and he wondered if Faye had started putting any of it together yet. He wondered what would happen if she found out, and decided it wasn’t worth the thought. Not yet.

#ffxiv #ffxivwrite2023 #my writing #my posts #final fantasy xiv

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musclesandhammering · 3 years

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Every Single Issue I Have With S*lki (It’s Not Just The Selfcest)

Here goes. I threatened to post this a few days ago and never did, but I just saw a s*lki stan Twitter account claim that Loki caring about Sylvie more than the whole multiverse was a Good And Romantic thing and it pushed me over the fucking edge, so now you all have to read this. I’ve divided it into categories cause there’s just THAT much.

OOC Bullshit

• First and foremost, no amount of mental gymnastics you do will ever make me believe that this specific Loki- the one that just invaded New York, that just came off a year of Thanos Torture, that just got done being influenced by the sceptre, that was literally in the middle of a crisis already, and then on top of that went through all the trauma of Ep 1- would even be worried about a romantic relationship. That would be the furthest thing from his mind. Go back and watch how he acted in Avengers- you think that guy would abandon his previous mission to become a snivelling simp for a girl he’d just met 3 days prior? Yeah, there’s no universe in which that makes sense.

• “It’s very in character for Loki to fall in love with himself lololol-“ NO, it’s literally not. Out of all the characters in the mcu, I don’t think I can think of anyone that genuinely hates themselves more than Loki. He even referred to all his other male variants as “monsters” and said meeting them was “a nightmare” in this series. He’s got so much self-loathing, plus the fact that he genuinely thinks himself to be an evil backstabbing scourge- so there’s no evidence at all suggesting that he would ever develop a fondness for, or even be inclined to trust, another version of himself, after only knowing them for 3 days.

• Building on that, the whole concept of Loki falling in love with a version of himself just feeds into the annoying ass misconception that he’s a narcissist. No matter which way you stack it, he’s not. If you’re referring to NPD, he doesn’t fit the criteria, and if you’re saying “narcissist” just as a slang term meaning “selfish and arrogant”, that still doesn’t accurately describe him. But when creators like Waldron and Herron do things like having him fall in love with himself, it makes it so much easier for casual viewers to think that he is.

Shitty LGBT Rep

• It’s kinda sus that Loki’s are allegedly genderfluid and yet the only female-presenting variant we see (and apparently the only female-presenting variant there is, cause the male Loki’s all seemed unfamiliar with the concept) is treated as some kind of mind-bogglingly special paradox. Also very sus that, out of all the Loki variants, the one our Loki falls in love with just so happens to be the only female one. What a coincidence.

• The fact that the creators of the show went around bragging about Loki’s bisexuality and Marvel purposefully (lbr) allowed stories about Loki possibly having a male love interest to circulate, specifically enticing queer viewers to watch the show (you know, the definition of queerbaiting), and then instead of having a male love interest (Loki was the first queer main character, so it was the perfect opportunity) they gave us *gestures to this dumpster fire* this… it’s just a middle finger to LGBT fans. The fact that they would rather have this relationship with all its myriad of problems than have a gay relationship is just……. Very telling.

• While him being with a woman obviously doesn’t refute his bisexuality, the fact that they showed/talked about him being interested in 3 different women (flight attendant, Sylvie, Sif) and never even hinted at him being attracted to a man, definitely makes it seem like they were trying to cover up his bisexuality to smooth things over with the more homophobic viewers. You know? It’s like “I know you’re pissed that we sorta confirmed Loki as bi, so we promise we’ll never mention it again! Or even hint at it! As a matter of fact, we’ll give him lots of female lovies and make him seem as straight as possible! That’ll take your mind off of that horrible crumb of queer rep, right? Please please please keep giving us your money!!!”

• Aside from all the other issues, at its core, the biggest reason why I think I’m so irritated with s*lki is that it took one of the most interesting, complex, and diverse characters in cinema atm and squished him into a tired ass unnecessary heteronormative subplot…. Like literally every. single. other. protagonist. ever. Loki is such a unique character, and it’s so so so incredibly disappointing that they stuck him into that same boring cookie cutter romance that happens to every other character in every other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a disservice, and it’s honestly just not compelling or entertaining at all.

Thematic Issues Galore

• His arc didn’t need a romance. With anyone. It was unnecessary and it didn’t make sense plot-wise. In fact, one of the reasons he was my fav prior to this was because he was the only big-name mcu character whose story wasn’t muddied-up by a romance that didn’t need to be there. So much for that.

• He wasn’t emotionally ready for a romantic relationship with anyone. Hell, just a genuine friendship would’ve been pushing it for him at this point. He was in such a bad state that any relationship he got into would’ve been toxic and unhealthy for both him and the other person, and it doesn’t make sense why the writers would want to put him in one when there were so many cons and essentially no pros (other than “Uwu aren’t they cute together”).

• Sylvie’s character in general was unnecessary and Loki’s character was robbed just by her being there. The whole show became about her post-Ep 2. They spent most of the time giving her backstory, building her up, telling us how awesome she is, trying to convince us to like her, etc when what they really needed to be doing was building Loki up- cause I gotta say, if I had to describe TVA!Loki in a few words, they would be Flat, Boring, and Weak.

• The romance overtakes the plot. They spend time portraying their supposed connection that could’ve been spent adding depth and complexity to literally any of the characters. They make the big Nexus Event them giving each other googly eyes on Lamentis when it could’ve been so many other way more profound things that speak to the fundamental nature of Loki’s. They have the climax of the finale be “oh no she betrayed him to kill He Who Remains” when it could’ve been something way more compelling (Loki having a moral crisis over whether or not to kill HWR, Loki contemplating the state of the multiverse and weighing the pros and cons of freedom vs order, Loki looking into some What If situations and getting emotional about what could’ve been regarding his family, Loki realising the gravity of HWR’s offer and finally coming to terms with how important he is to the universal cycle, etc etc). The entire plot suffered in favour of a romance that half of us didn’t even want.

• It essentially reduced all of Loki’s potential character growth down to “He did it for his crush.” He seemed to at least have some motivations of his own in Ep 1-2 (feeble as they were) but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, literally every action he took was just him being a simp for her. Why did he lie in the interrogation? To try to protect Sylvie. Why did he fight the minutemen and Timekeepers? To survive kinda, but mostly cause it was important to Sylvie. Why did he get pruned? Cause he got distracted trying to confess his crush to Sylvie. Why did he try to get out of The Void? Cause he thought Sylvie needed him. Why did he stay in The Void? Cause Sylvie was staying. Why did he try to enchant Alioth? Cause Sylvie told him to. Why did the multiverse get cracked open, leading to an infinite number of Kangs waging war on all of existence? Cause Loki didn’t wanna hurt Sylvie in their fight at the Citadel and then get distracted by her kissing him. It’s uninteresting and honestly pretty embarrassing.

• Throughout their “relationship arc” the writers do their absolute damndest to convince us that we should like Sylvie more than Loki. And you know what? It’s the most hypocritical shit I’ve ever seen. They preach and preach about how Sylvie’s life has been so difficult/we should feel bad for her/she had it so bad/poor poor sylvie/she had it SO much worse than pampered prince Loki…. But then they never even touch on any of Loki’s trauma of hardships (the ones that have been ignored for literally 3 movies now). They frame Sylvie as a good person and a Freedom Fighter after she spent literal decades/centuries mass-murdering brainwashed TVA agents and showing exactly zero remorse for it….. but then they make it their mission to constantly remind us that Loki is a terrible person and constantly put him in situations where he’s forced to acknowledge his wrongdoings/show remorse/admit to how “evil” he is for being a mass murderer for like 2 years. They show him on-screen having a wider range of powers than her, and perpetuate his whole shtick of being a “master manipulator” or whatever….. But then they make Sylvie “the brawn” more competent, intelligent, and physically capable than him. Tell me how it’s a good thing for a ship to be so narratively biased toward one character.

Missed Opportunities

• If they absolutely had to have a romance subplot, then they could’ve paired Loki with one of the characters that have already been established OR one of the characters that were a big part of the whole TVA storyline anyway. It would’ve been so interesting if they’d revealed that Loki had a history with some of the players from previous films (Sif and Fandral both come to mind). It also would’ve been really interesting if they’d given Loki a love interest that actually had some allegiance to the TVA as a whole (Mobius maybe, but not necessarily. It also could’ve been Renslayer or B-15). Hell, imo it would’ve been cool if they’d followed through with that “See you again someday” line that he said to the flight attendant in Ep 1. ALL of these characters have way more chemistry with him than Sylvie, and they were also already relevant to the plot without wasting half the show to give background info on them.

• If they absolutely had to have a hetero-presenting love story involving an enchantress-type figure, then there’s a whole Enchantress (Amora) that was actually Loki’s love interest in the comics. Plus, fans have been screaming for Amora to appear in the mcu for years. Plus, Tom literally pitched an Amora/Loki storyline way back in 2012-13. Also, Lorelei (another enchantress) is also one of Loki’s love interests in the comics, and she already exists in the mcu (she was on Agents of SHIELD). There were several different established characters for them to choose from. Creating a whole knew amalgamation of a character and going with the “she’s a Loki variant” storyline was just completely unnecessary and made no sense.

• They completely robbed us of a Chaos Twins dynamic. Had they handled Sylvie better and not forced her and Loki to smooch, the two of them could’ve had a really really complex and interesting sibling relationship. Loki could’ve stepped into Thor’s shoes and sort of used that new role to gain some self importance, and Sylvie could’ve finally had somebody to look out for her/teach her magic/be there for her. It would’ve been very aesthetically pleasing, the vibes would’ve been out of this world, it would’ve been way more profound than this bs, and frankly it would’ve been much more entertaining to watch.

• Loki’s relationship (read: obsession) with Sylvie completely overshadows all Loki’s other relationships in the show. Loki and Mobius were literally the focal point of the series in Ep 1-2, but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, they barely had any interactions with each other, and Mobius pretty much faded to the background entirely. Loki had the beginnings of a pretty interesting antagonistic relationship with Renslayer (with her wanting him pruned, then arguing with Mobius that he couldn’t be trusted), but after Sylvie showed up the dynamic shifted to focus on the history between her and Ravonna. Loki and B-15 started off very badly and openly disliked each other throughout Ep 1-2, and then in the end of Ep 2, Loki showed a little bit of concern for her when she was possessed, hinting that they might be inching toward a reconciliation- especially considering how obvious it was that Loki was gonna uncover the TVA’s sins eventually. There was so much potential for him to be the one to give her her memories back and convince her to change sides, but no, of course that honor went to Sylvie. In fact, after Sylvie showed up, Loki and B-15 never even spoke to each other again.

Various S*lki Fails

• If they were trying to convince us that this affection was mutual, they completely failed. There’s nothing I’ve seen that even hints at Sylvie feeling the same way about Loki that he does about her. At most, I’d say she has a slight endearment to him. She finds him likeable and she’s grudgingly fond of him, but she definitely isn’t in love with the guy. Maybe she thinks he’s cute and hopes that he gets out of this mess alright, but her mission obviously comes before him- whereas, it’s been confirmed multiple times that Loki cares about her above anything else. She doesn’t trust him, she looks at him like he’s an incompetent fool half the time, she shows little to no reaction during most of his confession moments, and she kissed him as a means to distract him so that she could get him out of her way. Look, all I’m saying is, when you get into a relationship where one of you is way more invested than the other, it never ends well.

• This goes without saying for a lot of us, but the selfcest is just straight up odd and cringey. If you’re cool with that sort of thing, fine! People can ship what they want! But don’t pretend it’s not at least a little bit uncomfortable. Yes, I know they’re not technically siblings so it’s not technically incest, and they’re also not technically the exact same person, but they’re similar enough that it makes things weird. And yes I know selfcest can’t happen in real life, so there’s no way to judge it morally, but neither can most of the other stuff that happens in these shows/movies (the Snap, Loki destroying jotunheim, superhero with powers being held accountable, mind control) and yet we still find ways to judge their morality, because they all mirror real-world events. (The snap= genocide; Loki destroying Jotunheim= bombing other countries; superhero accountability= weapons accountability; mind control= grooming and coercion). And lbr the closest real-world mirror to two versions of the same person (who may or may not share DNA, family, backgrounds, physical and emotion characteristics) being romantically involved with one another is incest. And you can be ok with that if you want- that’s your prerogative- but don’t get pissy just cause a lot of us are squicked out by it.

• The whole mirror metaphor (learning self love via each other) thing just fell completely flat. First of all, having Loki learn to love himself by looking at someone who mirrors him did not, in any way shape or form, require them to be romantically involved. But they were. Of course. Secondly, the creators have contradicted themselves so many times on whether Loki and Sylvie are the same or not, that it doesn’t even really register to the viewer that the mirroring thing was what they were going for. Finally, Loki and Sylvie are shown to have so little in common- and to have only the most bare minimum of similarities personality-wise- that it doesn’t even make sense that Loki would “learn to love himself through loving her”. Like? They’re nothing alike. So how would he make the connection that he himself is actually pretty cool, based on her alone? There’s virtually nothing in her that reflects him.

• I know the objective of the entire show was to convince us of how awesome and unique Sylvie is, but honestly her relationship with Loki just did the opposite. A hallmark of a Mary Sue is having her constantly upstage the male lead, and then having him instantly fall madly in love with her anyway. And that’s.. exactly what happened here. Everything they’re doing to try to force her character to be more stan-able is really just forcing her to look more like their self-insert OC. Which is exactly what she is. It would’ve been so much more satisfying if she didn’t have to try so hard to look cool, if they didn’t have to try so hard to make her backstory tear-inducing, if they didn’t have to turn our protagonist into a snivelling simp just to prove how incredible she supposedly is. Very much #GirlBoss energy and we all know how performative and cheap that is.

• The entire thing was too rushed, there was too little build-up, and it was nowhere near believable. As stated above, it’s ridiculously unlikely that Loki would canonically even be interested in Sylvie, and this show did nothing to explain why he was. He just suddenly was. There was nothing they showed us as viewers that would justify a guy as closed-off and preoccupied as Loki falling head-over-heels for a girl he just met. Their was no explanation, no big revelation, no reasoning, it just… kinda happened. And I’m also severely skeptical of any love story that has the characters go in this deep after only 3 45-minute episodes of exposition.

I’m sure there’s other stuff, so if anyone thinks of anything, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add it. Tagging @janetsnakehole02 @raifenlf @natures-marvel and @brightredsunset800 for expressing interest. This is all your faults.

#antisylki #loki meta #kinda #loki series critical #loki series negativity #anti loki x sylvie #anti loki series #anti sylvie #frosty bby #loki deserved better #I don’t even like TVA!Loki tho so I guess it doesn’t matter with him lmao #tva loki #loki laufeyson

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thecinematicalgorithm · 3 years

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10 Reasons Why Zekaela Should Be Endgame (And Jachaela Should Not) - Part Two

Here is part two of my Zekaela endgame argument as promised. Beware of potential spoilers and enjoy.

5. They Communicate Well

Many argue that the key to a healthy relationship is communication. If a couple has an issue how can it be resolved unless they communicate? It’s easy to shut someone out when you don’t think they will understand, or you don’t trust them, or you’re afraid for whatever reason. Because Zeke and Michaela understand and trust each other they are able to communicate well, even about issues that are hard to talk about. Communication takes honesty and vulnerability, and something that many fail to realize, it also requires the ability to listen. Though Zeke takes time to open up to Michaela he never lies to her. He told her about his drug and alcohol addictions, his assault charge, his relationship with Courtney. There have been a few instances when they didn’t agree with one another but instead of becoming a deal breaker they were able to work through and resolve the issues with communication.

Michaela often shuts Jared out because she does not think he will understand or agree with her on her callings. Oftentimes, Jared does not listen to Michaela and even acts against her wishes. If he had truly listened to her and given her the space she needed he may have stood a better chance of rebuilding their relationship, and she would not have gotten shot either. In reality, Jared not listening to Michaela when she communicated her needs to him is what pushed Zeke and Michaela toward leaning on one another.

4. They Don’t Get Carried Away By Jealousy

There are many instances when Zeke and Michaela could be jealous of each other, and at times are, but instead choose to look past it. Michaela allowed Courtney to shelter with them despite her being Zeke’s ex-wife (though apparently not legally). Zeke has shown some discomfort with Jared and it’s not hard to see why. However, neither of them takes it out on the other. They don’t try to sabotage their partner’s relationship with the object of their jealousy and they even show understanding over why that relationship is important to their partner.

Jared is the complete opposite on this point. I really don’t think I need to elaborate. Mick literally got shot because of Jared’s jealousy.

3. They Put Each Other First

Zeke and Michaela are couple goals much of the time because they know how to put the other first. This demonstrates true, selfless love. There are so many instances of this quality in each of their characters. Michaela putting her job and relationship with Jared at risk simply to break Zeke out of jail. Zeke putting his life at risk to stay beside Michaela. Michaela putting her fears aside and marrying Zeke so that he could have the memory of their love rather than the memory of a desperate clinging to treatments in a sterile hospital. Zeke following Michaela’s lead and trusting in her decisions. They love each other so much that they are willing to overlook their own immediate needs or desires in order to make sure that the other is happy, because in short their partner’s joy brings them joy.

Jared often refuses to put Michaela first if it does not favor his desires. He could not give her space because he wanted to be closer to her. He could not let go of his vendetta against Zeke. He resents her for following her callings despite how they might save her life. This is not selfless love. It is possessive love.

2. They Are Married

I cannot tell you how tired I am of Hollywood and entertainment making something as sincere and binding as a marriage so light and wishy-washy as if there aren’t enough divorces in real life. In today’s society marriage is not given the level of gravity and sincerity as it should be. Marriage should never be entered into lightly and it should not be so easily disintegrated. Despite the speed in which Zeke and Michaela got married the writer’s insured that there was a weight to the decision. It was given thought and both characters understood what was at stake. And when Zeke beat his death date the two were thrilled at the idea of “growing ancient” together. Michaela’s statement to Grace on how she couldn’t wait to “be on the other side” of the death date with Zeke shows that both want a lasting marriage. They want to spend their lives together, grow old together, make mistakes together. Their vows also demonstrated this with Zeke vowing to love Michaela as long as his life allows, and Michaela vowing to fight for their lives together for as long as they both shall live. Both kept that time stamp open-ended because both hoped it could be far longer than one day. Also Michaela’s sadness of her brother’s dilemma in his marriage and her immediate remorse over her affair with Jared and having destroyed another woman’s (her best friend’s to boot) marriage shows that she understands the importance of marriage vows and the ugliness of divorce and I am sure she would not want to go through that in her own marriage.

Jared has demonstrated twice how easily he overlooks the importance of marriage and marriage vows. He cheated on his own wife, and no matter how you justify it being with Michaela, it was still cheating and he still broke whatever vows he made. He showed very little remorse over it and didn’t fight for his marriage at all. Then he told Michaela in the season 3 finale that he only stood by and watched her marry Zeke (which he didn’t since we all saw him leave before the ceremony anyway) because Zeke would be gone soon. As if marriage to Michaela was a bone to throw to the poor dying man before he could have his chance to step in and have her to himself. He showed no thought in how this would have hurt Michaela to have been a widow so soon, and he did not hesitate in making his confession despite knowing the strain it might put on Zeke and Michaela’s marriage. I hope to God that the show writer’s will surprise us and show Zeke and Michaela work through even this obstacle only to come out in an even better and stronger marriage. They’ve shown us they can handle a good marriage with Ben and Grace, so hopefully they keep it up.

1. The Callings Brought Them Together

Lastly, the Callings, or whatever the entity behind them is, brought Zeke and Michaela together. The two were resurrected. They received callings that led them to find one another. They found a petrograph that showed their experience together. They received some of the same callings that led them to work together and hence grow closer. The callings ensured they got married when Michaela feared they were missing out on an opportunity to save Zeke’s life. If this is not the universe screaming out that they belong together I don’t know what is.

However, the first thing that the Callings did in order to insure that Michaela ended up with Zeke was separating Michaela from Jared in the first place. Indeed the Callings have actually managed to drive a wedge between the two on top of the already complicated nature of their relationship. Why go through this whole predestined story line only to go “Sike! She ends up with Jared anyways.” Not making Zekaela endgame would make everything that’s happened between these three characters completely pointless.

At the end of the day the story is in the hands of the writers. They have a plan and goal in mind. It’s impossible to tell what route they will go. However, the relationship of Jared with Michaela and Zeke with Michaela since season 1 has shown time and again that Jared does not have a healthy or selfless love for Michaela, but Zeke does. Every Jachaela worshiper always argues that there is too much chemistry and history between them for them to not be endgame, but relationships are so much more than chemistry. You can have chemistry with many people in life but that doesn’t mean you should end up with them. And oftentimes history can be toxic and unproductive which is shown with Jared not being able to let Michaela go or give her space. I don’t go running back to my exes all day long simply because we have chemistry and history. Oftentimes, history is enough to get you running away as we’ve seen Michaela do. So without their chemical history what do they really have?

Well Team Zekaela I hope you enjoyed! I will be going into Manifest Season 4 with hopes that the writers don’t sink our beautiful ship. Please share your thoughts and look out for future posts about Manifest, Zekaela and more!

#manifest nbc #zekaela #zeke landon #michaela stone #matt long #melissa roxburgh #jared vasquez #jr ramirez

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bbangsoonie · 3 years

Text

goal: your heart

member: sunwoo genre: fluff word count: 5,423 synopsis: due to a budget cut, you have to follow the soccer team around for both the school newspaper and yearbook despite knowing nothing about sports. before you know it, you find yourself warming up to the team’s star player, who you swore was the most annoying and arrogant person ever.

a/n: this is a part of the star player collab with @atbzkingdom for sunwoo’s birthday! (also, this will be written with the american academic calander in mind)

You knew exactly what you were doing. You were the top student of both your class and school and the leader of many clubs. Your college application was full of achievements and your essay exquisitely written. The only problem? You had no idea what to do after graduation. You didn’t know where you wanted to go or what you wanted to study.

Growing up, everyone told you that you’d eventually find something you love. By senior year, you thought you would at least have an idea by now.

But nope, you were even more lost if anything. Dream job? That was just a capitalistic lie meant to make people happy to slave away for money.

Grumbling, you listened as your friends rambled on about the campuses they visited. It was only the first day back and everyone was already obsessing over one thing and one thing only.

“Y/n, you’re so lucky,” Juyeon pouted. “You don’t have to worry about getting into a university. Your stats are literally perfect.”

“I have other things to stress over,” you groaned. “At least you know what you wanna pursue.”

“Y/n has other things to worry about. She’s about to graduate without ever finding love,” Younghoon teased.

“It’s all our fault,” Jaehyun squinted as he pinched his nose bridge. “We raised her standards too high. I’m sorry, Y/n, that I can’t take responsibility.”

The notebook in your hand threatened to fly over to his seat. Luckily for him, he was saved by Juyeon’s very unnatural attempt at changing the subject. He inquired about the school newspaper that was barely spared in a major budget cut last year.

Thinking about it made you sigh. You had poured in so much effort over the years for the paper and it was almost taken from you. The school was cutting funds for a lot of clubs and diverting the money to the many sports teams that brought home trophies.

A part of the negotiations to save the newspaper club was to feature more sports events and student athletes in order to garner support for the teams. You weren’t pleased with the decision. Your plate was already full without trying to inflate the ego of players who had a god superiority complex. Jaehyun was a great example of the type of jock you didn’t want to raise on a high pedestal.

You had also promised Kevin, the president of the yearbook committee, to help out with photographing games since you had to attend them anyway. Despite the many tasks assigned to you, you were relieved that you could spend your last year continuing to write articles.

“Does that mean you’ll get to come to practice with us? The basketball team is always on my ass about introducing them to you. Now I can finally stop being pestered to be the middleman,” Jaehyun grinned.

“No shot,” Younghoon shook his head. “My swim team has already tried but Y/n puts up a cold front.”

“Hey, I’m a delicately guarded rose with sharp thorns,” you joked, making Jaehyun pretend to gag. This time, the notebook hit his arm.

“No one is good enough for our Y/n,” Juyeon defended. You turned around to coo at him and said something about him being the only nice one as Younghoon guffawed.

The first day of soccer practice meant you had to stay behind after dismissal to meet the team. The coach introduced you to the players and beamed when he got to the last one.

“This is our ace, Sunwoo. Although I’m sure you know that already,” he said proudly.

To be honest, you had no idea who he was. The school was too big to know everyone and you had absolutely no interest in sports. You rarely even went to Juyeon and Jaehyun’s basketball games and Younghoon’s swim meets.

Not wanting to offend anyone, you simply smiled. Sunwoo, catching your hesitance, raised a brow. However, he kept quiet until he approached you during one of his breaks.

“Do you really not know me?” he asked as he took a seat next to you on the bleachers.

Surprised by his sudden question, you blankly stared at the boy in front of you. Sweat was dripping from his hair but he paid it no attention as he chugged an entire water bottle.

“How cocky are you?” you scoffed.

“You really don’t know our soccer team’s star player, Kim Sunwoo?” he gaped.

“Sorry to disappoint but I really don’t care or know much about soccer. Or any other sports for that matter,” you shrugged.

“You’re going to write about the soccer team… when you don’t even know who we are or what we’re doing?” he asked incredulously.

“That’s why I’m here to observe,” you snapped back.

Finding you amusing, he finally wiped away his sweat as the coach blew his whistle to gather the players again.

Sunwoo always gave it his best but for some reason he found himself practicing extra hard that day. Knowing your eyes were on him motivated him to show off his skills by annoying his teammates and stealing the spotlight. After his third goal in a row, he looked at you to see your reaction but was baffled to see you busy writing something down.

Frustrated and peeved, he kicked at the grass with a huff.

When practice came to an end, he snuck up behind you to see what you were so intently focused on. Reading the notes on your notebook, he hummed.

“So that’s what you were doing instead of watching me,” he mused.

You were listing physical traits and personality attributes of each player. He scanned the paper for his name and frowned when he saw what you wrote about him.

“Arrogant and conceited? That’s all you have to say about me?” he whined.

“What? It’s true,” you deadpanned.

“Haknyeon gets “tall, bubbly, and extroverted” but I get “arrogant and conceited”? That’s not fair. This is biased journalism!” he exclaimed.

Realizing that practice was over, you gathered your belongings and stood up to leave. With his cheeks puffed, he watched as you left the field. You were unlike any person he had ever encountered.

“Sunwoo? Kim Sunwoo?” Younghoon repeated with his eyes wide. “The soccer caption Kim Sunwoo?”

Jaehyun and Juyeon’s chopsticks froze midair in shock. Finding their reactions odd, you nodded as you took another bite of your lunch.

“I can’t believe the lady killer got rejected by the man hater,” Jaehyun broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Now that’s a title I’d like to see on the school newspaper,” Younghoon snickered.

“Okay, first of all, I did not reject him because he did not come on to me,” you rolled your eyes. “Secondly, who the hell is he anyway? Why do you all know him?”

“He’s notorious for his fuckboy image. Although I think that’s an exaggerated reputation,” Juyeon said you picked out all the vegetables from your plate. He willingly moved them to his own and you smiled gratefully in response.

“So my first impression of him was correct,” you said.

“He’s not that bad. He’s actually pretty cool. Rumors don’t do the sweet guy justice,” Juyeon explained.

“Our lovely Juyeon sees the good in everyone,” Younghoon gushed as he pet his friend, earning him a smack on the back of his head.

“We were partners for a history project,” Juyeon clarified. “I got to know him a bit and he’s a good guy. Just enjoys attention a little too much. Like Jaehyun.”

Weirdly offended, Jaehyun scowled. You shrugged it off, returning your attention back to your food. You had no intentions of getting to know Sunwoo anyway. At least, that was the plan until he bombarded you in the hallway while you were walking to class.

He blocked your path with that irritating smirk on his face. Exasperated, you asked him what he wanted.

“So I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday,” he started.

“Oh, so you do think?”

“Hey!”

“Do you think you can move and get out of my way?”

“Anyway, as the president of the newspaper club who’s in charge of covering the soccer team, I think you lack way too much information about the sport. And our school’s players.”

“How do you know I’m the president?”

“I asked around.”

You look at his eyes, trying to peer through any ulterior motives. He was being suspiciously generous. But he wasn’t entirely wrong. Even you thought it was ridiculous that a person who didn’t know a thing about soccer had to write articles about it.

You were also aware that any interviews with the athletes would be surface level stuff that all the students probably already knew. You were the only one out of the loop.

You pursed your lips, annoyed that he was right. Realizing that you were in agreeance, Sunwoo grinned.

“I am offering you the very special privilege to follow me around and learn everything there is to know about the team. For the paper of course,” he quickly added the last part after seeing the look on your face. “I can teach you about both soccer and my teammates.”

After pondering his proposal, you finally nodded.

“Deal,” you eyed his happy expression. “What do you want in return?”

He was taken aback by your question. He hadn’t expected you to assume that he would demand compensation. Your presence and attention were what he was after in the first place. However, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass by.

“Bubble tea,” he declared after some thought. “You can treat me to bubble tea after practice and I can tutor you then.”

“Fine,” you sighed before pushing him aside to make it to class before the bell rang. He was left behind with a stupid smile on his face.

The first tutoring session was extremely awkward for you. You weren’t used to hanging out with guys other than Juyeon, Younghoon, and Jaehyun. They were the only members of the male species you didn’t despise. This riled up Sunwoo’s competitive side. He was determined to get close to you.

He couldn’t stand having someone not like him. He was used to being on friendly terms with everyone—including teachers and even wallflowers. He had a strong desire to receive acknowledgement from everyone.

Perhaps that was why so many girls fell for him.

Nevertheless, the wall around you remained thick and high. Just as he was well known for his playboy persona, you were infamous for never letting guys in. You cold heartedly turned down any and every guy who asked you out. And there had been a lot.

Sunwoo, on the other hand, was excited to spend time with you. Bubble tea was just an excuse to meet you outside of school grounds.

His phone dinged, notifying him of a text. Haknyeon had sent him a screenshot of a post made on the school’s gossip page and wrote “this you?”. He snorted at the content speculating his relationship status after supposedly receiving another confession and rolled his eyes. Curious, you asked him what he was looking at.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” he shook his head as he put the device away. “Just the stupid tea account.”

“Oh you mean that anonymously run social media page that popped up over summer break?” you frowned.

You hated everything about it. It spread rumors, without fact-checking, and started drama. It resulted in both a breakup and the end of a friendship in the span of two months. It was exactly what you and the school newspaper stood against.

Nothing could be done to stop the false information and invasion of privacy because it wasn’t officially affiliated with the school and the students continued to feed into it. People even sent in stories to be posted.

“So tell me what you do know about soccer,” he leaned in and propped his chin on the palms of his hands.

“I know the very basics from catching glimpses of the World Cup,” you leaned back on your chair, making him pout.

“Well, to be honest, explaining the rules is a lot easier to do when directly pointing things out during a game. There’s a match airing tonight. Do you want to come over and watch it with me?” he asked expectantly.

“We can watch the replay tomorrow during study hall,” you said.

“Then we can start by talking about me today,” he chirped. “My squad number is 19 because 9 is usually worn by centre forwards but I wanted to be special and added a 1 in front of it. I’m the centre forward, which is the main striker. That means playing offensive is my main objective. Which is why I’m the highest scorer on the team.”

You wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. It irked you how he so easily bragged about himself.

“I also really like movies and can play the guitar. A true all-rounder and romanticist,” he smiled.

He continued to reveal fun facts about himself for another half an hour. It was only at the end that you realized most of it was useless when writing for the paper. You groaned, realizing you had fallen for his trap.

Still, you learned some things about soccer and his position in the team. Following him to the cafe hadn’t been a complete waste of your time.

The next day, Sunwoo hunted you down to make sure you kept your promise about watching the game together. He dragged you to the computer room during study hall and pulled out the earbuds he prepared. He had purposely rummaged through his drawers the night before to the share wired ones with you.

You had to admit he was extremely helpful when explaining the rules and strategies of soccer. Despite being uncomfortable with the proximity of his body to yours, he was a great teacher. He made everything sound so simple. After you began to understand the game, you even found yourself enjoying the match.

After spending a week with him, you hated that you couldn’t say you still disliked him. After all, you two met almost every day for hours.

You had a gut feeling that you would come to regret it and were proven right. You had a bad feeling the moment you saw Jaehyun run up to you as if his life depended on it. Panting, he barely pulled himself together to show you the post that made him immediately report to you.

“KSW and Y/INITIALS seen cozily spending time together. Will he be the one to finally break through her?” you read aloud.

A photo of your backs from the computer room and a mosaicked side shot of you two at the cafe were attached to the title. The comments under the post were even more ridiculous.

“A challenge to be anticipated.”

“Poor girl will only end up as one of his many heartbroken playthings.”

“I know who KSW is. Who’s Y/INITIALS??”

“The legendary man hater? With a guy?? Wow how good must he be 👀”

“Damn so she rejected me for him?”

Your blood boiled and you shoved the phone away. Trying to calm yourself down, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. And failed.

“What is this, fucking Dispatch?” you exploded. A few students passing by stared at your outburst and widened their eyes when they saw that it was you. You sighed, knowing that the whole school saw the post.

“I’m not a celebrity! Why are people so invested in fake rumors about me?” you yelled, trying to keep your voice to a whisper as you pulled Jaehyun into an empty classroom.

“I’m sure it’ll blow over,” he assured.

“If I ever find out who the admin of this page is, I will ruin them,” you glowered.

You almost didn’t go to the soccer practice that day. But you knew that avoiding him would only add fuel to the fire so you sucked it up and went to the field after school as usual. You heard the hushed murmurs that stirred among the team when you arrived and you wanted to turn back around and leave.

Before you could, however, Sunwoo appeared and shut everyone up with a warning glare. He announced that the coach would be late and to start by running laps.

You were more annoyed than upset about the post. It just stupefied you that people really had nothing better to do than gossip about you. You didn’t think you were that interesting.

You were so close to escaping after practice but Sunwoo caught you trying to sneak away. He stood in front of you, crossing his arms as if to ask where you were going. Giving up, you muttered a “fine” and waited for him to change out of his uniform.

This time, you two wordlessly agreed to go to a different cafe. With the bubble teas on the table in front of you, you sat in silence until Sunwoo finally spoke up.

“Don’t mind what the post or others say,” he huffed.

“I’m not too bothered by it,” you shrugged.

“Good. Because I want to get to know you as just Y/n and Sunwoo. Through whatever you wish to tell and show me. I feel like we’re always just talking about me.”

His words left you speechless. Juyeon hadn’t been kidding when he mentioned how thoughtful Sunwoo was. You felt your heart warm as you smiled.

“Well what do you want to know about me?” you asked.

“Anything. Everything.”

So you spilled about your interests, hobbies, and goals. It was strange. Although it hadn’t been long since you met him, you felt comfortable around him. He made you feel at ease and you didn’t think twice about opening up to him.

You told him about your struggles as a high achieving student. About the pressure you felt and how embarrassing it was to tell people that you didn’t have any dreams.

With your grades, all the teachers expected you to apply to medical school. On the other hand, your parents encouraged you to work towards a high paying and stable salary as a corporation employee. Your friends suggested that you go for something in journalism because of your passion and commitment to the school newspaper.

But the club was just something you did for fun. You didn’t know if you liked it enough to pursue it as a career.

Sunwoo listened attentively as you went on about your concerns. From the outside, you looked like you had your life together. You were the perfect student and the girl that many guys chased after. But as he spent more time with you, it became clear that you were very uncomfortable with boys.

“Can I ask how you got so close with the Bermuda line?” he asked.

“The Bermuda line? What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of the term? Juyeon, Jaehyun, and Younghoon are called the Bermuda line because they’re the most popular athletes out of all the sports teams. The girls say that once you fall for them, you’re stuck in between them forever because you can’t get out.”

You hadn’t laughed that hard in so long. You knew they had fans but found it hilarious how the trio even had a nickname.

“Oh man, I can’t wait to make fun of them for this,” you laughed, nearly in tears.

When he told you that they actually took great pride in the title, you bursted out in laughter again. Their self love truly was on another level.

“So how’d you end up friends?” he asked again.

“Juyeon, I’ve known since middle school. We were in the same class for all three years. Jaehyun didn’t go to the same school as us but he was friends with Juyeon because they played basketball together. I met him and Younghoon at the end of freshman year. They kinda crash landed into my life but we really clicked so that’s why I still bless them with my friendship.”

Sunwoo giggled at your own overwhelming confidence. He loved that you never sold yourself short. He didn’t notice he had been staring at you until you pointed it out. Blushing, he insisted that it was nothing and took another sip of his bubble tea.

Two months passed by and you eventually came to call Sunwoo a friend. Younghoon teased you about him being more than a friend and at first, you thought he was crazy. But with him planting the idea in your head, you began to question your own feelings. Cursing Younghoon, you blamed him for confusing you.

As the designated photographer, you tagged along to the soccer team’s last match. The entire team was nervous as it would determine the winner of the tournament. Even Sunwoo was anxious.

Before the game started, you offered him a supportive smile and he felt all worries lifted off his shoulders. He erased all thoughts of winning and losing and just concentrated on the ball. He wanted to enjoy the last match of the season and look cool in front of you. That was all that mattered to him.

Fortunately, he got both plus the win. The crowd erupted into cheers as he scored the winning goal just seconds before the whistle was blown to signal the end of the game. His knees fell to the ground and his teammates rushed to surround him.

Seeing how happy he looked brought a smile to your lips. He jumped up and scanned the bleachers for your face. When he finally spotted you, he broke away from his team to run up to you and embrace you in a giant hug.

Caught off guard, you froze as his teammates hooted and applauded. You felt your cheeks heat up at the attention.

“Congratulations,” you chuckled, patting his back. “You did well.”

“Did you get a lot of pretty pictures of me?” he grinned, pulling away to look at you.

“No, I only took pictures of Haknyeon,” you joked. By now, he was used to your teasing and simply ruffled your hair in response.

“There’s gonna be an after party tonight,” he brought up carefully. “I’d really like it if you came. Only if you’re okay with that type of scene though.”

Surprised, you nodded before you fully thought it through.

That was how you ended up moping at Jaehyun’s house. The invitation was extended to the Bermuda line as well and they were all planning on dragging you there. Younghoon was excited at the thought of finally going to a party with the whole group and Juyeon was picking out an outfit for you from Jaehyun’s sister’s closet.

“I don’t know if I trust your fashion sense,” she made a face at the top he held up.

This was your first party and you weren’t sure how you felt about it. There was a reason you hadn’t gone to one throughout your high school years.

Nonetheless, you were dressed up in an outfit that definitely reflected Jaehyun’s sister’s style more than yours. She fawned over how pretty you were and urged you to go with the boys.

So you walked through the doors and into the house vibrating with music. Everyone who recognized you was shocked to see you there. Feeling awkward, you stuck by Jaehyun’s side as you maneuvered around the throng of people. When he finally caught sight of Sunwoo, he dipped and left you alone with him.

“Thanks for coming,” he shouted over the loud music.

“Thanks for inviting me,” you shouted back.

Sunwoo offered you a drink, which you declined. Following your choice, he opted for a soda instead as well. You weren’t much of a dancer so you enjoyed people watching instead. It was fascinating to see your classmates have so much fun.

You giggled when you saw Juyeon be so painfully oblivious to a girl’s advances and walked away to dance with Younghoon. Meanwhile, Jaehyun was having the time of his life flirting with girls. You blocked your eyesight when you saw him leaning in to kiss one of them.

“Ugh, gross,” you cringed. “I do not need to know this side of my best friend’s love life.”

Laughing, Sunwoo offered to take you outside for some fresh air and a change of scenery. You gladly agreed and let him guide you to the backyard.

The night sky was full of tranquility that contrasted the chaos that ensued indoors. You sat on the grass and Sunwoo joined next to you.

“You look beautiful today,” he commented.

“Only today?” you laughed.

“Especially today,” he answered in a serious manner. His sincerity made you clear your throat and look away. He stunned you by cupping your face with his hands.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“Are you drunk?” you blinked.

“I haven’t had a single sip of alcohol.”

His voice was slow and raspy. Your heart was beating faster than you wanted it to and you knew the corners of your lips were betraying you.

“You can either lean in or pull away,” he said as he brought his lips closer to yours.

Your heart now felt like it was about to jump out of your chest. Red alarms were going off in your head and you didn’t know what to do. All you knew was what you were only a few centimeters away from kissing Sunwoo.

So you did what any insane person would do and closed the gap between your lips. You wanted to punch him when you felt him smirk but he pulled you closer and held onto you tightly.

The weekend passed without much changes in your relationship with Sunwoo. You were worried that you had either ruined your friendship or that he was sick of you but Juyeon reassured you that he probably wanted to talk about it in person. Anxiously, you overthought things until Monday finally arrived.

Wanting to keep yourself busy until you met Sunwoo, you stopped by the club room early in the morning to import the photos from the last game. Shortly after you connected the camera to the computer, you heard a knock on the door.

Startled, you looked at the door and saw Jacob sheepishly poking his head through the door. You told him to come in and he took a seat next to you.

“Kevin told me to drop by before class for an interview,” he said. You nearly facepalmed. You had completely forgotten about that. You were supposed to interview him for the paper.

“Oh yeah! Hold on, let me go get my notebook,” you searched through your backpack to find it.

The volleyball player was this month’s star of the month and you had to write a piece on his past achievements. He was extremely kind and was careful not to use any advanced sports terminology to make sure anyone could easily read the interview, which you were grateful for.

Before you parted, he gave you a side hug out of habit and apologized when he realized that it was only his first time meeting you. You laughed it off and insisted that now you could be friends since you two hugged already. Relieved that you weren’t disturbed, he happily waved goodbye to you as he walked away.

Being in a different class than Sunwoo meant that you had to wait until lunch period to see him. You honestly didn’t even know if you wanted to see him. You weren’t ready to face him yet.

When the bell finally rang and it was time for lunch, Juyeon forced you to go to the cafeteria instead of hiding out in an empty classroom. The moment you sat down with your tray, however, you felt all eyes on you. Your stomach dropped, knowing it couldn’t be good news.

“Y/n, is this true..?” Jaehyun asked, showing you the new post on the gossip page. You hated that you were always right about bad intuitions.

KSW and Y/INITIALS caught making out at last night’s party… is BJY a side hoe?

You had no idea when a photo was taken in the brief second you and Jacob hugged that morning. When you scrolled and saw the next part, your heart dropped.

A shocking revelation of history: Y/INITIALS and SYJ used to date in freshman year. Does this have anything to do with the swimmer and basketball players always next to her?

You felt your breath caught in your throat as you read through the comments.

“Isn’t BJY on the volleyball team and SYJ on the baseball team?”

“Wow she clearly has a type.”

“I guess athletes just hit it well 👀”

“And here I thought KSW was the hoe… who’s playing with who?”

“Aye so KSW finally managed to break through her. Thanks for my $10 bro.”

“Aren’t the basketball players LJY and LJH? And the swimmer KYH? The Bermuda line, right?? I always thought she had a thing with one of them.”

“So much for the icy Y/INITIALS. She was acting all pretentious when she was already having all her fun.”

Juyeon grabbed the phone out of your hands and glared at Jaehyun. You never thought your past relationship would ever get exposed. There were only a handful of people who knew about it and it had stayed hidden under the rug up until now. It was something you wanted to bury and never think about ever again.

Shakily, you got up and ran out of the cafeteria with Younghoon calling out after you. You ran as fast as you could. You didn’t stop until you busted through the doors and collapsed on the rooftop. Your lungs were on fire and you closed your eyes to stop the ringing in your ears.

Meanwhile, Sunwoo was running across the school to find you. When he didn’t see you in the club room, he changed his target and sought out Eric.

“Is it true?” he demanded when he finally saw his friend.

“I can’t believe people already figured out that it’s me,” Eric sighed.

“Is it true?” Sunwoo repeated.

“Yes, yes, it’s true,” he answered with his hands up in defeat. “She never wanted anyone to find out. We didn’t exactly end on good terms. It’s something I’m not proud of.”

“What happened?” he asked, trying to contain his anger. “What did you do to her?”

“I…” Eric trailed off. “I cheated on her.”

“What the hell, Eric?” Sunwoo yelled.

“I-I was stupid! And young. It’s the biggest mistake I made in my life,” he admitted.

Frustrated, Sunwoo left and ran off in search of you again. When you weren’t anywhere to be found, he checked the rooftop as a last resort. He didn’t expect to actually see you there.

“Y/n,” he breathed. You felt a lump form in your throat. It was the first time he had addressed you by your name.

“Get away from me,” you glared. “Was I nothing but a bet to you? Was I just a challenge for you to win?”

“Y/n, I never placed bets on you. I don’t know what other people have been betting on but I have always been genuine with you,” he affirmed.

You refused to let your tears fall. There was no way Kim Sunwoo was going to see you cry.

“I like you,” he confessed. “I like you a lot. I meant to say this that night but got too flustered. So I wanted to tell you today. Whenever I see you, the butterflies in my stomach won’t go away. When I don’t see you, I miss you like crazy. You inspire me to become a better person and all I want to do is hold you and call you mine.”

And now Kim Sunwoo has officially seen you cry. He bent down to wrap his arms around you as you sobbed into his shoulder.

“You’re an asshole,” you mumbled after you calmed down.

“I think you mean the opposite,” he chuckled. “Whatever barriers you put up to protect yourself, I’m going to take them down one by one. With you. Together.”

“Who said I’m helping?” you muttered.

“Then I guess I have to work twice as hard to prove myself,” he softly smiled.

“This is embarrassing,” you groaned.

“This will only be embarrassing for me if you reject me,” his hand reached out to the nape of his neck. “So what do you say? Will you go out with me?”

“I’ll think about it,” you huffed, prompting a chuckle from him.

#deobiwritersnet #the boyz #sunwoo #the boyz sunwoo #the boyz fluff #sunwoo fluff #the boyz sunwoo fluff #the boyz imagines #sunwoo imagines #tbz fluff #tbz imagines #the boyz fic #sunwoo fic #tbz fic #the boyz scenarios #sunwoo scenarios #tbz scenarios #star player collab

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dathen · 3 years

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Okay I have some complicated thoughts following Melanie’s arc that all build on top of each other and hinge HEAVILY on unreliable narrator interpretations so bear with me

In my relisten I’m at the beginning of s3, and it always shocks me a bit at how quickly she interprets Martin’s interaction with her as hostile. I’m going to skip over the “it’s understandable, Melanie’s had a hard time in her career” disclaimers since there’s plenty of meta on that already, and instead follow the effects of this tendency: not on others, this time, but on her

(This got absurdly long and covers so many episodes so I’m going to split it into separate pre- and post-bullet surgery posts)

Rewinding a bit, the last time she was at the Institute, she was starting to get along with Jon before he seemed confused about her comment on “the other Sasha.” It takes her a split second to interpret that confusion as him suddenly deciding to gaslight and mock her, gets angry and tells him there is something seriously wrong with him, and leaves before he can ask what she means. Given how tenuous their truce was and the fact she and Jon had mocked each other in the past, it’s an outburst that at least has some personal history behind it.

But only a couple episodes later, we learn that it’s not just Jon she responds to in this way. In TMA 84, she meets our Martin Blackwood! Customer service voice opposite-of-Jon politeness extraordinaire! And as soon as he gets confused about the two Sasha comment, she.......immediately assumes that HE is also trying to gaslight her. She insists that “I’m not doing this again” without giving him a chance to ask or explain, so they miss the opportunity to piece together the deal with the Not!Sasha. Her doing this with someone she just met shows a much broader pattern than her interactions with Jon.

That very episode, Elias offers Melanie a job, and she accepts despite Martin’s protests. Later, she accuses them all of them being an “old boy’s club” because she interpreted Martin’s warnings as sexism rather than trying to protect her. As the audience, we see the unreliable narrator of her perspective at work: we know that Jon and Martin were genuinely confused, and we know that Martin was trying to save her, and that all of these instances were her seeing it as people being out to get her.

Hop forward to the notorious gossip scene in TMA 106. Here, Melanie complains about Martin being hostile to her. My first assumption was that this was all offscreen, but after this parade of misinterpretation and comparing to her and Martin’s actual interactions, I have to wonder:

TMA 84, after Martin tells Melanie about the murder, and right before Elias interrupts:

Martin: Are you sure you’re alright?

Melanie: Yes! I just got… God, I’m kind of at the end, you know?

Martin: The end of what?

Melanie: Everything. Friends, clues, savings. Everything. Options. There’s nowhere left for me to go . I don’t know why, but… I just, I just felt that perhaps coming here might help. And talking things out with Jon. I mean, I mean he’s awful, but at least he listens, you know?

Martin: (soft) Yeah. ...I’m sorry. Um, is there anything that I could, like, maybe...do for you?

They get interrupted immediately after this, so this was the first impression Melanie was given. Then, when Elias offers the job, she...assumes Martin’s “I don’t think that’s a good idea” is from sexism, when he’d just been talking about murders and disappearances that caused that very job opening.

TMA 88

Melanie: Are you alright?

Martin: Yeah… Sorry, just a lot of change recently, y’know. You and John and Sasha and… everything’s gone a bit wrong. It’s the not knowing, you know? I mean, Jon’s still alive. Not sure why, but I’m sure of that. But Sasha, I…

Melanie: Yes, it’s… it’s probably, um…

Martin: Sorry, sorry, I’m... What do you need?

Next interaction! Oh this one HURTS. Martin takes her question literally, and starts telling her why she’s not alright, a reverse of their earlier exchange. But Melanie came by for a question and wasn’t prepared for an honest answer, so Martin quickly reels it in and asks what he can do for her once again.

Skipping forward a bit in that same scene:

Martin: Oh, you weren’t here when we took the place over from Gertrude! It’s been over a year just to get it like this. I mean, I think the database was on Jon’s list, but--

Melanie: So how do you track someone down?

Martin: Oh, oh well, y’know, we’ve a few contacts in various record offices around the place. Aside from that it’s just… just a bit of detective work, really. Tim used to do a great line in impersonating people to utility companies! Heh, the number of times he got them to give him ‘his own’ address--

Melanie: Right, right… Um, this one, the name is 'Jude Perry.’ Doesn’t mean anything to you, does it?

I LOVE THIS EXCHANGE. I TREASURE IT. Having bottled up his emotions, Martin is going in full Friendly Helpful Coworker mode. There are so many little details here signaling that he’s embracing her as part of the team, sharing anecdotes about Tim’s shenanigans and Jon’s old plans, looping her in as One of Them as he helps her get what she needs. This is the kind of approach you go to management trainings to get, to help new hires feel welcome and part of things. But alas, Melanie is in a hurry and wants to cut to the chase, so all this is lost on her.

TMA 98 - I won’t copy it all in here because it’s long, but this is an overwhelmingly positive interaction. She asks if he’s okay, but he bottles it up and says he’s fine. This time, she presses, and he admits it’s because of the statements. Martin ends up asking for help!! and Melanie agrees! She’s on the way to murder Elias, but she still gets credit for “I’ll ask him to cut you some slack.” Then she invites him to drinks!

And then.... TMA 106

Melanie: Anyway, Martin’s always been lovely to you.

Basira: Hmm. I don’t know, I mean, you should have seen him when I turned up last year. I think he thought I was trying to steal his precious Archivist.

Melanie: Ahhh. I got the exact same when Jon was hiding out, and came to me with his “source on the inside” stuff. Martin was not impressed.

WAIT WHAT

We just looked over all their interactions! They were all soft and lovely and welcoming!! But then we hear Melanie with “well unlike how he is to me, Martin is nice to you.” This was taken at face value for years, but when you line up all of the above, I feel there is a strong basis to say this is another case of Melanie’s first impressions + over-defensiveness gone wrong. Just like we saw her initial bickerings with Jon solidify into series-long hostility, her interpreting Martin’s confusion as gaslighting and warnings about the job as sexism seems to have doomed her opinion of him long-term. We hear Martin being kind and concerned and welcoming, then hear Melanie contrast it as bad treatment.

Recently, a mutual considered this even further to how she talked about losing all of her friends with the Ghost Hunt UK circles:

Melanie: Even back then, I could feel all my old friends starting to distance themselves from me. ... I stopped asking the others for help, and I kept my research to myself. I talked to them less and less. By the time I was arrested, I think a lot of them had already given up on me.

I have to wonder...did this sort of dynamic play out here, too? Did she assume that her friends’ concern was judgment or hostility? Were they giving up on her, or did she lash out and push them away? Either way, it’s easy to see parallels to s2 Jon in her description, here, with her withdrawing and diving alone into increasingly risky research without asking for help. And s2 Jon definitely shared Melanie’s tendency to see offers for help and support as hostile. (Aside: I interpret her and Georgie as not very close at this point, like a networking contact rather than a friend; Melanie comes to Jon for someone to talk to about her struggles above her, and Georgie seems to be unaware of all of Melanie’s encounters pre-s3)

And on that downer note I am ending part 1...but PART 2 IS GOING TO BE WAY HAPPIER THAN THIS. Here, we see Melanie with a lot of people who would have supported her if she let them: Martin, Jon, possibly the friends she said abandoned her. But in her effort to protect herself and not let history repeat for how she’d been hurt in the past, she ends up alone and spiraling.

#tma #the magnus archives #tma spoilers #melanie king #tma meta #I had to stop myself from just rambling All Melanie Feelings in Every Direction to stay on track #but hoo boy writing this gave me a lot of feelings for the martin melanie friendship that could have been

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tsukishimas-shortcake · 3 years

Text

Relationship Headcanons

↦ Character(s): Hakkai Shiba x fem!reader

↦ Rating/Warning: No rating though there are some light mentions of abuse (if you have read the manga you are aware of what I am talking about, I’m not going very deep into it though it literally just mentions it), mentions of anxiety attacks (no detail though), fluff, not proof read

↦ Word count: 1.8k (longer than planned, sections are bolded)

↦ Your Momo’s Receipt: Hello~ I’m post yet another TR headcanon and this was requested by the lovely @strawbub I hope this doesn’t disappoint, it did get longer than planned but I enjoyed writing it. I'll prob do a part two that's more of a scenario based on your first date or something since I didn't go into it here. Please note: for those of you who don’t know my blog is currently under construction, meaning I will not be updating my masterlist for the time being.

So how did you guys meet, well mostly because of Yuzuha,

One day in like elementary you’re walking home and you see this super pretty middle school girl just like yelling at this small group of guys

The guys end up running off just because they don’t wanna deal with her or the attention she's drawn to them

Behind her was a boy, taller than her but obviously younger. You didn’t assume they knew eachother though.

The boy and yuzuha began walking in opposite directions because one was going home while the other was going to pick up something like groceries

You’re so entranced by how she stood up to them yet she’s a girl who was far smaller and you end up catching up to her, almost stepping on her heels

You end up absent mindedly following her into the grocery store and eventually she just freezes, turns, and stare directly at you

Your eyes widen since you must’ve been staring and she just goes “may I ask why you’re following me?” And you explain how cool she was earlier. She invites you over for dinner (esp since her older brother won’t be home) and figured it’d be good for Hakkai to meet someone his age

You end up going over but Hakkai didn’t come down to eat so you never actually got to meet him, though from then on you would see Yuzuha every so often, visit every other weekend or so

But no matter how often you came over the next few months, you never once met hakkai,

That was until you both reached the end of your middle school education and we’re about to begin high school

You had gone over because you were going to borrow an old work book from Yuzuha, and when you go to knock on the door the door opens before your closed fist could hit it, instead hitting a firm chest

You blush and quickly apologize but the person in front of you doesn’t move at all, doesn’t say anything and almost looks like they drifted into space with their dead stare

You assume this is yuzuha’s older brother because you’ve also never met him and you immediately turn to walk away but Yuzuha calls over hakkai’s shoulder

“Y/N-Chan! You just got here where are you going?” This was def not yuzuha’s older brother. There’s no way she’d be that happy with him around; oh my god. Realization hit, the guy who you hit (though it was more of a tap) was hakkai.

The hakkai you had only caught a glimpse of in yuzuha’s photos, never talked to or actually seen in person despite going to the same school and living in the same neighborhood

He must hate you. That’s why he avoids you. That’s def why - is what you think

Yuzuha drags hakkai back inside and invites you in; you sit down with them in the living room and watch hakkai visibly relax now that he’s inside his house, his own space, with a pillow behind him and a blanket covering his lower half, he almost curls up into it as he continues to avoid your stare

“Hi hakkai…Kun? Im L/N Y/N” you say and you see his face dead pan once again

Yuzuha can be heard laughing from the kitchen as she comes back in.

She leans over and begins explaining that hakkai literally just freezes with any interaction between him and girls who aren’t in his family

You nod, thinking maybe it’s an anxiety thing? Which is the case with you, but only because he’s been watching you since you’ve come over (not in a creepy way) wanting to and working the courage up to talk to you

The 5th or so time you came over after that encounter he was inches away from introducing himself before the house phone rang causing everyone to kind of “wake up” in a sense

Every time since then he gets closer and closer but isn’t able to say anything; he even realizes he has a crush on you.

The way you sit when you do homework and how cute you look when you’re focused.

How your forehead scrunches up when you’re trying to figure something out and you end up just sitting back with a small huff followed by yuzuha’s signature laughter.

It’s also a huge thing that you get along with Yuzuha.

So enough with first meeting time for the confession.

He ends up confessing accidentally. He didn’t know you were coming over to begin with so he was flustered out of his mind. And how was he supposed to know you hadn’t actually fallen asleep and you could hear him over the tv

The tv was more white noise than anything and the day was hot since it was the middle of summer causing the window to be open and the sound of soft wind and small birds to drift in; this was the hot that makes you tired so you were all sprawled out of just sitting in a daze

So while resting your head on the table you’re dozing in and out but then you hear hakkai begin to speak, something he never really did around you

Now did you and hakkai text? Yes. Did it take him an hour to reply because his brain would explode when you replied to him? Yes. But was it a start to communication? Also a yes.

You hear him say your name quietly before he moved closer, you can feel his gaze on your features

“I like you” is all he says. Simple and sweet. But you sit there in shock, trying not to blush so he’ll have no idea you heard him but he can tell because your forehead scrunches

You heard him and are focused on if you should reply or not. And he knows that.

You open your eyes and just look up at him, he’s closer than expected. His hand close to yours on the floor and he reaches over and grabs it lightly. Hoping you’ll also return the gesture by holding his hand instead of leaving your hand limp inside his.

And you do, thank goodness, and Hakkai almost mentally can’t handle it.

Once you start dating it’s more so just hanging out at his house or yours; however he talks a bit more and you text a lot more. He’s gotten better at replying. It usually takes him like 15 minutes now

He’s kinda stressed about your relationship but not due to anything you or him did

He’s stressed because of the mentality his older brother gave him

Is he even allowed to be this happy?

He finally has someone thats small enough and naive enough that he can protect you; compared to constantly being protected it’s a sudden, strong, yet good change for him

He’s touch s t a r v e d

Yes Yuzuha shows affection; but he stopped accepting her hugs when he was around 8 just because he physically wasn’t able to handle it due to his bruises and such

But with you, even with his bruises and all you take care of him. Able to coax him into using medicines and toning down the physical violence (that he can control himself)

He also finds it super soothing when you lightly brush over his scars (especially those that his brother gave him), it helps him believe that scars are only physical and can fade with help

One thing that stresses him out the most is trying to hide you from his brother. Any time you leave something at the house its easy to pass it off as yuzuha's but when it comes to things like photos he has with you, he can't hang them up, show them off, or have them as his phone Lock Screen, etc. because he just really doesn't want his brother to know and target you since he'll then know that you're his weakness (aside from yuzuha as well)

Sometimes won't explain why he can't hang out and has legit pushed you out of his house before at the last minute notice of his brother coming home

Will always make sure you get home safe though, usually by having Yuzuha go with you since then she can just say you're a friend from school

Your parents love him, though they were a bit hesitant it became a "you always have a place to stay" because they learned about their family situation from you and yuzuha. So expect him to spend the night when he's too scared to deal with his brother. Same with yuzuha. (yes I know this isn't yuzuha head canons but its hard to write for him without mentioning her when they're so close)

We're talking three person sleep overs. Yuzuha and you of course share the bed and Hakkai takes some time to even set foot in your room much less sleep on a mattress that's on the floor

He has a small heart attack every time he comes into your room because he's overwhelmed with everything, he's never been so comfortable and it makes him feel restless. Like he's never and I mean n e v e r been less stressed and slept better than when he does so in your room

The smell, the colors, just being surrounded by you is something that completely changes his mood

Once showed up after he fought with his brother, tears in his eyes and clothes a bit tattered and you just pulled him to your room, and sat down with him.

You laid on your bed with him laying down onto of you, head on your chest as you rubbed his head and only said a few words "its not your fault"

He ends up crying so hard he falls asleep and gets dehydrated and you have to make him drink a bunch of water when he finally wakes up.

NSFW

super fucking careful w you

almost annoyingly so, but you're understanding

He knows that he might be taking things frustratingly slow but he knows that since you understand and know his history that you can help him get through it

Your first time you think you'll have to call it off because he's shaking so bad

"baby... are you sure it won't hurt you?" he keeps asking.

pretty sure that's the longest its ever taken him to finish because he was so anxious

despite being so slow and hesitant, late he isn't too scared to get a bit rougher

but im not talking anything crazy im talking like he's willing to pull your hair a bit or nip a bit harder at your neck.

Please never ask him to do anything like degrade you or some type of harsh physical rough shit, he can't

like literally im 99% sure that if you ask him to choke you or something he will pass out because of the anxiety attack he would have at even the thought.

in short with nsfw though he is sweet boy. He's a switch through and through. Loves when you take care of everything because then he doesn't have to be scared of hurting you.

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arabian-batboy · 2 years

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I completely agree with you on that DC should give back Deathstroke to Dick, Batman already has more than enough iconic villains

Also I was wondering what other villain would you want to be a part of Nightwing's rouge gallery?

Yeah definitely, Deathstroke is one of DC's most popular villains, if they really wanted to push Nightwing as his own Superhero then the least they can do is give him an antagonist as iconic as Deathstroke, it's also completely unfair how Batman got Slade on a sliver platter when they only reason Slade became so popular in the first place is thanks to all the stories of him fighting against Dick/his generation of the Teen Titans.

Aside from that (and this might shook some people), I think the Court of Owls should also be turned into mainly-Nightwing's villains, because really over the years the CoW had more personal connections to Dick than Bruce. From his grandfather being a Talon (they should bring him back as a recurring villain btw) to Dick himself almost being a Talon, to his childhood friend Saiko (he should get a new costume/name and also be a recurring villain) being turned into a Talon by the CoW in Dick's place after he got adopted by Bruce and Haly’s Circus being created by the CoW to secretly train children and the whole "The Gray Son Prophecy" plotline all make the Court of Owls more suitable to be Nightwing's villains than Batman.

Aside from that, I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't read as much solo Nightwing comics as I do to with other characters, so I'm afraid I don't know how much potentials his already-existing villains have, but I did mention Saiko, I like how he’s connected to both Dick and the Court of Owls, but I really want them to give him a more interesting costume because right now he looks like a random goon and maybe flesh out his and Dick’s history even more, like maybe he can be anti-hero/anti-villain that still has a soft spot for Dick from time to time (when he's not trying to hunt him down)

This might sound really vain, but I really think a big reason as to why not many people care about Nightwing's villains is because half the reason why popular villains are popular in the first place is because of their aesthetic alone (Megamind said it himself "the difference between a villain and a super-villain is presentation!") and most of Nightwing's villains look basic, lets be real.

Like I said I don't read that much Nightwing's comics, but to me when it comes to looks alone, I think characters like maybe Flamingo and Tusk should be pushed more as Nightwing’s villains? Mostly because I think their designs and names are far more memorable than any of his other enemies.

We don’t really have any villains in DC that are dressed as a bullfighter nor do we have any (male) villains that have pink as their main theme, so I feel like Falmingo has the potential to be the equivalent to the Riddler in Nightwing’s rouge gallery and Tusk is literally an Elephant-man metahuman? Just recton out his death and make him Nightwing’s Killer Croc (which is funny because I’m sure his good friends with Killer Croc, maybe we can see them teaming-up together?) not to mention that he was the first criminal Dick arrested as Robin and till this day Tusk has a personal grudge against all Robins because of that.

There's also Deathwing who can be his version of Man-bat (a wicked inverse version of the superhero) and honestly? I might not even mind them re-introducing Tarantula as a new anti-hero, as long as she doesn't have anything to do with the former Tarantula or THAT storyline, but she needs to have a proper spider-like costume tho.

#his current run sucks but I'm waiting to see how things will go with this Heartless villain #Dick Grayson #Nightwing's fans what do you know any other characters to throw in this mix?#a lot of people like Blockbuster and Raptor but I'm kinda meh about them

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cl-01-kestis · 3 years

Text

Caught in a Landslide - Crosshair x Female Nurse!Reader | Part 1

Summary: As an ex Jedi, you plaster up your past with a medical degree and work for the Kaminoan’s as a nurse/medic. However, your facade no longer goes unnoticed after a specific sharp shooter gets ahold of your trail.

Warnings: EPISODE 1 SPOILERS! angst, injury description, blood

Part 2 >

To say the least, this wasn’t a good week. It didn’t go in any way how you expected, and you ended up trapping yourself on Kamino instead of running away with Omega, who was your medic partner for over a week. You were supposed to escape with her, with the bad batch, escape Kamino and live a life as a Jedi once more that was free from Imperial jurisdiction.

But it had to be you who took the bait. The one who got left behind because she was too late to arrive. The one who would continue to live a life that wasn’t their own. You were now stuck here and you weren’t sure for how long. It might be years, even decades.

Although, the wait for a saviour wasn’t what you were worried about. Instead, your attention was fully directed to the clone who you found out was called Crosshair. He was trouble, you even witnessed it on the blurry CCTV; how he tried to shoot his own sergeant as well as Omega and the rest of his team. You knew of the inhibitor chip, you were a nurse after all, but you didn’t think it would be this bad. Everyone, basically just the clones, practically treated you like you were a bug beneath their foot, something to squish and move past as if you were a minor inconvenience.

You were thankful you didn’t bump into Crosshair, you hoped you didn’t. As a nurse, there are certain troopers you don’t want to tend to due to gossip, and within the few days that Omega has been away, you’ve heard a lot about Crosshair. He’s cold, keeps to himself and never speaks to anyone unless absolutely necessary, and he also causes a lot of unintentional trouble within the mess halls with normal clones.

In a way, you feel sorry for him. You were just a nurse so you weren’t allowed to have an opinion. But you viewed him as just a clone, like the rest of them; under control by something they were never made aware of and unable to break free from the mental prison they’re all trapped in. Even so, you still keep a close guard on whoever enters your medic ward, clone or not. But you can’t help but feel dread whenever one of your patients mentions his name and even expects you to reply. You try to ignore it, try and push it aside by talking about the severity of their injury instead. Anything to get your mind off the intimidating trooper that tried to kill Omega, the girl you viewed as a literal sister at this point. It didn’t sit right with you, personally.

Today was no different. The average trooper came in, either with a lost limb or just a small cough, but Crosshair’s name never failed to push its way into the conversation. You tended to wounds as quickly as possible, hands trembling as you mumbled thoughts out loud, but you were quiet enough so the troopers never heard you. After a few hours into your shift, you finally sat down on one of the empty medical beds and let out an exhausted sigh.

Shifts were never easy, especially on Kamino. Back when you were a Jedi, barely over a week ago, you were very experienced with medical practices and spent your whole life studying medicine as well as the force and lightsaber duelling. Medicine and tending to injuries was a main interest of yours, even before you became a Jedi - you were a late bloomer after joining the Jedi temple at 8 years old. So of course the first thing you thought of becoming, after the purge, was a nurse. You had to be swift about it though. The timing was suspicious at first but thankfully the Kaminoan’s were willing to take you on after looking at your history of medicine and working as a nurse and medic. You never let on that you were a Jedi though, that was already a given. But it was harder than you expected, there was an overwhelming amount of eyes on you, watching your every move. You couldn’t even use the force to turn off a light when no one was looking, or even so much as meditate. Eyes are on you, always. But you were alright with that, however your fears as a Jedi undercover never went away. Every trooper you tended to was suspicious, and always seemed to pry into your past as a ‘nurse’.

You looked down at your badge which read your false name, instead of your real name to save yourself from being exposed. Your card read Amia Luveno, born on Naboo with 15+ years of experience as a nurse and paramedic. Your portrait was awkward, as was every other one, but it was required in order to get your way around the Kaminoan facilities.

A few troopers lay down on other beds in the medical ward, asleep, regaining energy, and recovering from their injury. You done nothing but bathe in the soothing silence, mind awry with jumbled thoughts which seemed to diminish with the lack of noise. Your hands, which were trembling, balled into fists as you tried to forget about the longing of escape. You only worked in Kamino for over a week but you needed to get out, you needed to find your Jedi brethren who managed to survive and build a new order. Even if it was impossible, you would still try.

A few beeps from the doors to the ward signalled the entrance of a new trooper, perhaps an injured one. You put on a smile and looked up from your hands, hiding them under your legs as you spotted the person who entered.

However, your smile lasted barely a second as your eyes landed on a black armoured trooper with his helmet still on, his figure lean and very tall. A sniper rifle about a meter and a half long was gripped in his right hand, finger away from the trigger and safety guard thankfully turned on. You studied him for a few solid seconds before clearing your throat and sitting up from the bed.

“Afternoon trooper, how can I be of service?” You asked, trying your best to put on a fake smile as you walked up to the tall trooper who stared down at you through his tinted green visor.

“Busted lip,” Was all the trooper said, his voice strangely different from the others. His tone was higher, but also raspy and somewhat guttural. You tried not to make a face of dissatisfaction at his short answer, but still smiled.

“Alright then, sit down for me and I can inspect it” You instructed, gesturing to the bed you were awkwardly sitting on a minute ago. You walked up to the back of the ward to fetch alcohol in order to sterilise his lip as well as a couple of sterile-strips. Your hands were still shaking, you mumbled a ‘kriff’ and tried to contain your nerves whilst picking up cotton wool and a cloth.

You turned around and inhaled deeply, making sure to do it silently so the trooper wasn’t suspicious. He still had his helmet on when you returned and pulled up a chair beside the bed. He was sitting up and letting his legs dangle off the side of the bed, so you didn’t need to sit down immediately.

“I’m gonna need you to remove your helmet, trooper” You implied, smiling slightly as the trooper nodded his head and raised his gloved hands up to the edges of his uniquely designed headgear. With a swift movement, he lifted the helmet off his head and placed it beside him on the bed. Bright amber eyes looked at you sharply, pupils rapidly shrinking with the sudden exposure of LED light. Tufts of buzzed grey hair contrasted well against the light orange hues of his eyes and for a second you forgot what he was here for.

Clearing your throat, you shifted your gaze to his lips. You cringed inwardly at the nasty looking split on the side of his lip, nearby the corner. A lot of blood surrounded it, ranging from his chin to the side of his cheek; it was clearly smudged underneath the helmet. Another thing you noticed was that he had a nose bleed, clearly he had been in a brawl of some sort.

“Looks nasty, but I should be able to patch it up just fine,” You commented, inspecting the wound delicately and asking permission to tilt the troopers head to which he responded with a hesitant nod. The tips of your index and middle finger pressed against his chin whereas your other hand cupped the side of his head. After a few tense seconds of doing that, you quickly let go and picked up the alcohol bottle as well as the cloth.

“I’m gonna clean the wound up, so this’ll sting a bit” You informed him.

“Nothing new” He commented gruffly, voice clearer than before due to the lack of voice module from his helmet, yet it still came out as a faint whisper. You looked at him for a short moment before returning your attention to the bottle and tilting it gently over the cloth.

The man tensed when you dabbed the cloth on his lip, his eye twitching once before he gained his composure and let out a brief sigh. You mumbled a small apology as you continued cleaning his fresh wound and prepared the sterile-strips to place over the open split. After you cleaned all the blood up, you took a brief second to admire how the soldier looked normally. He was clearly a defective clone, definitely not one of the normal ones, but you didn’t pry. Another thing was that he was extremely attractive, he had a narrow face but a sharp jaw with light stubble. His eyes, mentioned before, were a beautiful amber-brown, and his hair a light grey. He was handsome, exceedingly so, but with a quick shake of your head, you picked up a sterile strip and took the protective layer off the sticky surface.

“Your hands are shaking” He observed calmly, eyes narrow but not entirely unkind. You pursed your lips and used the force very briefly to sense his force signature, making sure to approach his response in a suitable manner which also suited his tone of voice. You sensed he was on edge, but at the same time he wasn’t nervous. He wasn’t on edge about this, clearly something had happened that you weren’t aware of.

“Just... long day at work” You muttered, sending him a reassuring smile which was barely noticeable, but he saw it, he was very observing of you, much more than the other clones you tended to in the past.

“Hmm” Was his reply, eyes flickering away from yours as he watched you fiddle with the strips clumsily. You hated being watched at work, it made your stomach churn and a voice was screaming in your head not to let your real identity slip up. Even things you did that didn’t relate to being a Jedi scared you, everything made you anxious.

“Stay still for me, please” You ordered softly, tilting the handsome soldiers head back - with his permission - before expertly sticking on the sterile strip which brought the two sides of the split together. The soldier hissed for a second and you felt your heart tighten, you didn’t mean to hurt him.

“How does that feel?” You asked nervously, throat drying up as the soldier scratched the back of his neck and looked up at you through his dark eyelashes. Your breath caught in your throat but thankfully it made no sound, you just kept a neutral expression as you awaited his response.

“I’ve been through worse” He responded in a voice you could only describe as irritation. Taking another peek into his head through the force, you felt his correct emotion - pure hatred and frustration, but not to others. To himself.

You looked stunned as the soldier stood up from the bed, walking past your frozen frame as he picked up his helmet and held it underneath his arm.

“Uh wait,” You called out as he walked towards the door. The soldier stopped and turned around, light amber eyes glaring right into yours. You felt like he was staring into your soul.

“Keep in mind, you’ll need to keep the wound clean in order for it to heal,” You crossed your arms over your chest which earned a raised brow from the trooper standing a few meters away from you. He was thinking a lot about your attitude and body language towards him, you were clearly exhausted and past the point of clean and preppy mannerisms. Most of the other nurses were droids, so he was surprised at first to find a human.

“Yeah yeah, got it” He waved you off, rolling his eyes slightly which caused your brow to twitch. Were you being annoying?

“How’d you get that burst lip anyway?” You asked, knowing fine well you shouldn’t be prying into any soldiers business, but a part of you was curious to know.

“Regs don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves,” He scowled, eyes narrowing and going unfocused which looked as though he was reliving the memory of how he obtained the burst lip.

It took you longer than expected to work out what he meant. You should’ve known at first that the soldier standing in front of you was a defective clone, one of five... but the other 4 weren’t here...

With a quiet gasp, you figured out exactly who you were standing in front of and all of a sudden you felt like you were going to cave in and shrink into nothing.

Kriffing Maker, that’s Crosshair.

“They’re not fond of defective clones such as yourself?” You masked up your shock after a suspicious amount of silence after he spoke. Crosshair raised his brow once more, frowning and chewing on a toothpick you hadn’t spotted before.

“Not quite...” He sounded suspicious. Almost too suspicious. His words were slow and held a tone of reluctance which caused your heart to hammer against your rib cage.

“Very well, you’re free to go, trooper” You nod, bowing to him very slightly before turning around and walking to the back of the ward to return the alcohol and unused pieces of cotton wool back in the cupboards. Your senses were at peek sensitivity, you immediately noticed that there was no beeping to signify Crosshair had left. For a moment you had tears in your eyes.

Swallowing the lump in your throat and wiping your eyes in a subtle manner, you turned around and saw Crosshair look at you strangely. He looked as though he was seeing two heads, his eyes a bit too focused as his lips were pulled tightly together.

“Anything you need, Crosshair?” You asked, your stomach dropping when you said his name instead of addressing him professionally. You just stuck yourself in it, great move (Y/N).

“How do you know my name?” Crosshair’s frown deepened, which you didn’t think was possible.

“Word gets around fast, you’d be surprised to find how many troopers talk about you” You covered up your slip up rapidly, turning around and holding onto the edge of the counter tightly. Crosshair didn’t seem too convinced but flickered his glance from you to the ground.

“It’s only fair if I know your name then” He took a step forward. Even though he was at the other side of the room, you flinched at his movement and gripped the edge of the counter a bit more intensely.

“Amia” You bit the tip of your tongue after your false name slipped past your lips, internally hoping he would buy your contained facade and leave your work space.

“Good day, Amia” Crosshair flicked his toothpick expertly into a bin in the corner of the ward, turning around at last and placing on his helmet before walking out the doors to the medic ward.

After what felt like minutes, you let out a breath held deep in your chest. You gripped onto your uniform top nervously, eyes wide and stuck on the door where the man clad in dark grey armour walked through.

You had a feeling that wasn’t going to be the last time you saw him.

#star wars #x reader #star wars x reader #bad batch crosshair #the bad batch #crosshair x reader #jedi reader #crosshair x jedi reader #crosshair x you #crosshair x y/n

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frodo-with-glasses · 2 years

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I took this passage quite literally when I was little.

By that I mean I thought Galadriel was using her Super Cool Totally Sick Dude Elf Powers to play Peeping Tom on a hobbit and x-ray vision his clothes. Needless to say, I hated her. I hated her, I hated Lothlorien, I hated their stupid blindfolds and their stupid dwarf-hatred and their stupid trees (hobbits are supposed to sleep on the ground, dangit!), and most of all I hated their wicked, perverted, over-hyped, voyeuristic female dog of a Lady who got her kicks from looking at naked hobbits because no one dared to call her out.

I was already upset, of course. The Company had just lost Gandalf, and Frodo and Sam were both in pain from injuries, and the grandiose beauty of Lothlorien didn’t make me feel any better. It made me feel like I was unwanted there, like even my footsteps in the midst of that beauty would stain and taint it somehow, and that the residents looked down on me with scorn as something that didn’t belong. I wanted to get out as fast as I could. I wanted to be back in Hobbiton, where the people were simple and stupid, but kind and familiar. I wanted to be back in Rivendell, where the elves were less grand and beautiful and terrible, more warm, welcoming, and cheerful, and the touch of the skilled Healer could mend all woes up to a broken heart. Heck, I wanted to rush further on into more danger, even the unforgiving crags of Mordor, just to get away from the beautiful arrogance of Lothlorien.

A little of that initial revulsion still lingers, by the way, but it’s tempered by age and a calmer head, now.

Anyway, now that I’m older, I do understand what Sam was trying to express. It wasn’t the shame of physical nakedness that he felt, but of a sort of mental vulnerability. Galadriel could see his mind, even the deepest parts of his desires, and that was something uncomfortable and exposing in a way that Sam could only compare to losing all his clothes. It wasn’t his body that was laid bare before Galadriel, but his thoughts and heart and soul.

She issues him a test. She issues the entire Fellowship a test: Get what you most desire, or continue on, to whatever bitter end. This was another strike against her, in my mind. Who but someone in league with the Enemy would tempt even one member of the Fellowship to turn aside from their quest? Aragorn constantly defended Galadriel’s honor, but I sided with Boromir. She didn’t seem trustworthy. In fact, she almost seemed to be pushing the Fellowship to the brink of breaking.

But again, now that I’m older, I think I understand. Galadriel isn’t asking any questions that they aren’t already asking themselves.

The Fellowship has just met with the first major check of their quest. Gandalf is dead. Up until this point, they’ve fought orcs and wolves and snakes; they were pursued by Black Riders and swallowed alive by trees; but however hurt or frightened they might have been in the meantime, they all came out alive. Until now. Gandalf is dead. The whole Fellowship is realizing, suddenly, just how much this quest could cost them. They could be next. Their friends could be next. The very real, very mortal danger lies heavy on them. The question on all their minds is, “Is it worth it?”

Galadriel simply personifies this crisis. She gives their internal question a face and a voice. While they might try to ignore the dilemma and put it out of their minds, Galadriel forces it to the forefront, because if they will continue on, they must decide to do so fully, now, or their double-mindedness might later come back to break them.

I think the Mirror of Galadriel functions in much the same way. It only expounds upon and magnifies what the person looking into it is already thinking. Sam sees bad things happening in Hobbiton because he’s already looking back, thinking and worrying about home; Frodo sees the epic history of the Ring and the flaming Eye of Sauron because he’s already looking ahead, to the enormity of the task in front of him and the terror of the Enemy to whom he marches ever closer.

Galadriel says herself that the Mirror is a bad prophet; it shows “things that were, things that are, and things that may yet be”, and some things that never come to pass. That’s how it is with our worries, isn’t it? We think about things that happened, we fret about what’s happening now, and we worry about many imagined scenarios that may or may not ever be. Perhaps the Mirror isn’t meant to reveal the future, but the mind of the one looking into it. After all, it’s not a “Seeing Stone” or a “Fortune Pool”, but a Mirror. A mirror’s job is to reveal the person looking into them.

Through Galadriel, Tolkien takes the very human internal crisis on the minds of each member of the Fellowship and clothes it in a beautiful face and a deep, musical voice. He adds a touch of magic and wonder to the mix to keep us engaged and immersed in the fantastical nature of this world, even as he explores a very simple and mundane question that has, at one point or another, been close to all our own hearts and minds: “Is it worth it to go on?”

Galadriel is not a traitor. She’s not a temptress, or a conspirator, or even a guide. She is simply a mirror, reflecting the thoughts of the Fellowship back upon themselves, and it is how they respond to seeing themselves laid bare that reveals the integrity of who they really are.

Doesn’t mean I like her tho. I’d trade her to Sauron for Finrod and one (1) corn chip :-D

#galadriel #lord of the rings #lotr #my writing #long post #in which i wax eloquent about galadriel as a metaphor for internal crises of intention #edit: accidentally called mordor ‘moria’ lol

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youvebeenlivingfictional · 3 years

Text

The Long Con Part Nine

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next Part Pairing: Marcus Pike x Reader Rating: T Notes: I hope y’all had a good week! 💕 Warnings: Cursing, fluff, me pretending that I know literally anything about art history or art forgery— again. Summary: You wound up spending much of the day holed up in Marcus’ room, sitting at his desk with the numerous print-outs, a marker, a notebook, and his laptop.

You offered to help Marcus with the wedding errands that needed to be done, but he could see how distracted you were by the print-outs he’d been able to get of the x-rays and craquelure of Leda and the Swan. He shook his head, nodding to where you’d already set up shop at his desk. “Don’t worry about wedding stuff today,” He reassured, smiling. Then he tipped your head up for a quick peck and left.

You wound up spending much of the day holed up in Marcus’ room, sitting at his desk with the numerous print-outs, a marker, a notebook, and his laptop. You looked for comparisons between the x-rays of the Mona Lisa, Da Vinci’s sketches of Leda, and the other reproductions that you were more familiar with. Jill actually had to come up and draw you out of the room by taking Marcus’ laptop charging cord hostage.

When Marcus returned that evening, he found you folding programs with laser focus.

“Having fun?” He teased, settling down beside you on the floor. You were leaning back against the couch, as you had when you and Marcus had been putting the favors together.

“Mhm,” You hummed lightly, peering down at the program and lining up the corners of the paper before smoothing down the middle. Marcus picked up an unfolded program, beginning to fold them as you did.

“How were um-- Errands, how’d they… You know?” You asked absently. “They were fine. Tuxes have been acquired, venue’s got the final headcount, seating chart and favors, photographer’s got the shot list.” “Has Marnie called the hotel they’re staying at and found out if there was an upgrade available?” You glanced at Marcus, “Might be able to get something if she mentions it’s her wedding weekend.” Marcus’ brows rose. “I don’t think she has, but I’ll find out.” “Should probably check in with wherever the rehearsal dinner is being held, too,” You added, turning back to the programs. “I’ll keep that in mind...Are you okay?” Marcus asked as you dropped another folded program atop the pile. “Mhm.” “Hey,” Marcus reached out, setting his hand on your arm. You glanced over at him. “S’wrong?” “You seem a little tense,” He scooched closer, thigh pressing against yours, “I can take over program folding,” He added. “She’s mad at me,” Jill called from the kitchen. “I am not mad!” You called back. “What happened?” Marcus frowned, glancing between the two of you. Jill came into the living room, leaning over the back of the couch and peering down at the two of you. “I made her come out from hunching over those photos that you printed out this morning,” She told Marcus as you pointedly folded another program. Busted. “How long were you in there?” Marcus asked, rubbing his hand over the back of your neck gently. “Since you left. I only got the damn cord away from her half an hour ago,” Jill answered, pushing off of the couch, “Speakin’a which, you hungry, Marky?” You snickered, muttering, “Marky.” “No thanks, mom.” “What about you, honey?” “No thank you, Jill,” You glanced back, offering her a smile before dropping another program atop the pile. Marcus watched her go before he leaned a little closer. “Were you able to work anything out?” He asked, picking up another page. “Nothing substantive,” You grumbled, folding the page and setting it aside. Marcus set his on the pile before he drew you into his chest. You pouted a little, slouching against him as you reached for the next page. “You know I’ve got the team working on this, too, right? And the team working out of the Louvre.” “I know,” You mumbled. “So relax,” Marcus murmured, turning his head and pressing a kiss to your temple. “I’m incredibly relaxed. I’m also very focused on folding these programs.” “Sweetheart, programs do not need to be that perfect.”

“Agree to disagree.” You felt Marcus’ fingers tuck under your chin and turn your head to look at him. You paused in your folding, blinking up at him. “You sure you’re alright?” He asked gently. You were not— but what was one more lie in this house? “Yeah,” You murmured before you leaned up, taking a chance and pecking Marcus’ lips. You felt him smile as he cupped your cheek, keeping you close as he deepened the kiss. You sighed, relaxing a little more and resting a hand on his thigh. As the kiss broke, you rested your head against his neck, closing your eyes as Marcus rubbed his hand over your shoulder. “...Feel better?” He asked quietly. “I think so.” “I can do that anytime,” He added after a moment, and you smiled, pressing your face into the crook of his neck. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

-- “You still doing that?” Marcus asked. “Hm?” You glanced back at him, catching sight of him in his pajamas. Jill had relinquished the laptop cord shortly after dinner, and Marcus had freed you of program-folding duty. “What...Time is it?” You asked, frowning. “It’s a little after midnight,” Marcus walked over to stand behind you, bracing his hands on the back of your chair and looking over your work, “You comin’ to bed?” You knew that you should— it had been a long day (after Jill had finally ceded the charging cord), and you were a bit tired. “Uh… N--No, not yet—” “C’mon,” Marcus murmured, leaning down and wrapping his arms around your shoulders, “You need to get some sleep.” “I know, I’m gonna, I just— I think I’m really close to something here,” You admitted, looking up at Marcus, “I wanna chase it down. I’ll take it into the living room so the light doesn’t keep you up,” You added, starting to gather up some of the materials. “If you’re sure,” Marcus conceded softly, “But get some sleep, huh?” “I will.” “Promise?” You glanced up at Marcus, smiling. “Promise.” He nodded, leaning in and pressing a kiss to your forehead before heading to bed.

You leaned away from the markups on the coffee table, dropping your marker with a shaky hand.

You’d made a call to where she’d been sent, and found out she had had her sentence shortened. She’d been out for nearly three years— she’d missed parole; there was a warrant out for her arrest. You hadn’t wanted to believe it was her work, you hadn’t, but you’d found the messages she always left. One was in the x-rayed under layers of the wreath of flowers around the swan’s neck: ‘Dominus ad ludere’. And then, another x-rayed layer, within one of the grey layers of the painting, near the darkened fold of the swan’s wing: ‘Ad opus domini’. The master at play, the master at work. The lettering was small, difficult to spot, but you knew that handwriting, and you knew exactly where to look. You couldn’t help the sick, twisting feeling in your stomach as you picked up your phone. You grabbed your notebook where you’d jotted down your notes on the sketches and brushstrokes, the notes that she’d left behind, and you hurried out to the porch. You sat on the porch swing, peering out into the dark and settling your notebook on your lap. You tucked the phone against your ear, listening as it rang. “Special Agent Melinda Yuen,” Came the answer when the phone was picked up. You were fond of Marcus’ colleague; aside from Marcus, she was who you’d worked the closest with. “Hi, Mel, it’s me,” You said quietly, glancing toward the door. “Hey, professor! How ya been?” “Fine,” You smiled a little at her question, “You?” “I’m alright. If you’re calling looking for Marcus—” “No, I… I wanted to talk to you. Marcus sent me some of the stuff from that da Vinci picked up in Orléans. I took a look at it, it’s definitely not authentic.” “You got notes?” “You have a pen? I’m going to tell you exactly where to look.” You listed off the points and layers that you were able to identify, as well as the suspect for her to look into. Melinda went quiet on the other end for a moment. “Professor, isn’t that your grandm—” “Yes,” You answered hurriedly, “It is.” “...Shit.” “My feelings exactly— Look, Mel, I’ve gotta ask you a favor.” “Sure.” “Don’t...Don’t tell Marcus who called this in until he’s back in D.C.” “Why not?” “Just, please?” You pleaded softly, glancing toward the door. “...I don’t know, professor—” “I’m not asking you to keep it from him forever, just-- Couple’a days.”

“Alright,” Melinda sighed softly, before, “How do you know when he’ll be back, anyway?” “Oh, he uh— mentioned he was going to his sister’s wedding. I don’t wanna ruin his weekend, you know. Figured if I got you on the first ring on this number he must be down there, ‘specially with this big of a case in the office,” You fibbed quickly. “You figure correctly,” Melinda chuckled, “I’ll get these notes over to the team. Night, professor.” “Night, Mel, and thanks.” “Hey, thank you.” You lowered your phone, hanging it up and peering out over the backyard again. You sighed softly, pushing the swing back and forth with one foot. “Can’t sleep?” You jumped at the sound of the question, huffing a shaky laugh at the sight of Marnie. “No,” You confirmed, “What about you?” “Nope,” Marnie sighed, walking over to sit beside you, “I was working on my vows.” “Big speech-writing day in the Pike household,” You teased. “That Marcus’?” Marnie nodded to your notebook. “O-Oh! No. Some uh… Stuff on that painting. Inconsistencies, little things,” You set the notebook down between the two of them, giving Marnie the option to pick it up. She left it be, giving you a little bit of relief in what had been a mostly hellish day. “Think it’s serious?” You shrugged, “Could be inconsequential.” You were already lying to Marnie so much, what was one more? Though, frankly, it made you feel a little crummy. You were growing very fond of Marcus’ family. They were warm, and welcoming. You’d always imagined having a family like them. “You and Marcus seem good, you know?” Marnie said, nudging your shoulder with hers, “I mean...Happy.” You smiled, lowering your eyes. “Your brother is... amazing. All of you are, I mean— I don’t know any family that would open their home to someone they don’t know for a night, let alone an entire week. And your mom— the way she pulled me out of Marcus’ room earlier,” The two of you chuckled, “Well. I’ve appreciated everything since I’ve been here, how kind you all have been.” “Oh,” Marnie reached out, patting your hand lightly, “We’re happy to. ‘Sides, Marcus is clearly smitten with you.” Your stomach churned with unease as you peered down at your hands. Marcus was a better actor than he gave himself credit for. You knew you’d make a liar out of him. “Makes two of us,” You mumbled. Damn, but that was the truth. Tag list: @hufflepuffing-all-day-long ; @spideysimpossiblegirl ; @blueeyesatnight ; @elen-aranel ; @yespolkadotkitty ; @artsymaddie ; @phoenixhalliwell ; @lunaserenade ; @winniedaboo ; @empress-palpat1ne ; @randomness501 ; @nutmeg-20 ; @leonieb ; @the-feckless-wonder ; @lou-la-lou ; @captain-jebi ; @supernaturalgirl ; @naturenebula21 ; @evelynseventyr ; @giselatropicana ; @heatherbel ; @marydjarin ; @annathewitch ; @absurdthirst ; @hnt-escape ; @writingletterstothefire ; @misswriter ; @bison-writes ; @xx-small-town-witch-xx ; @ajeff855 ; @hellovanessax ; @drinkingwhileblogging ; @strawberryperegrine ; @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan

#The Long Con #Marcus Pike x You #Marcus Pike x Reader #Marcus Pike/Reader #Marcus Pike/You #Marcus Pike fic #Marcus Pike imagine

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