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idyllicwillowtree · 11 months

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Vickie's Friend - Part 2

Genre: Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Summary: You and Steve are both very protective of your friends.

Word count: 3K

Warnings: use of y/n, silly goose!Steve, fluff, trying not to out somebody

Author’s note: Sorry this took so long! I got some of the inspo from an episode of Friends

Main Masterlist

Part 1

Saturday, March 22, 1986

“I mean, it’s hilarious! I could never place what Tammy Thompson sounded like but Robin got it spot on,” Vickie enthused.

“Yeah, it’s a Muppet joke. The muppets are always funny,” you replied, focusing more on the stack of new books you were arranging on the shelf. Vickie twirled around the bookstore you both worked at, following you as you did most of the work.

“My point is that when I compared Tammy to Kermit the Frog she laughed. And not like a fake laugh either, like a real, genuine laugh. It was perfect.”

“But…?” you waved the book in your hand, gesturing for her to continue.

“But I’ve been trying really hard to stop that thing where my mouth moves faster than my brain so there was just that weird awkward silence you get when you want to keep talking with the person but you don't know what to say but I had like a million things I wanted to say but I suppressed the shit out of that so I wouldn’t keep talking and talking and talking and I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?” Vickie gasped slightly, forgetting to breathe during her run on sentence.

Sending your friend a tight lipped smile, you say, “yeah, you are.”

“I’m hopeless,” Vickie exhales and leans against the bookshelf you were organizing.

“Eh,” you turn to lean next to her, “we both are.”

“If only we could like, combine,” Vickie said, intertwining her own fingers together.

“Combine?”

“Just think about it. I know exactly what I want, and I’ve found the girl of my dreams, but I can't get the courage to ask her out. Meanwhile, you go on a million dates and you have no idea what you want. So if we just combined, all our problems would be solved.”

She was right, you had gone on what felt like a million first dates with no plans for a second one in sight. Unfortunately, Vickie is forgetting a crucial flaw in her hypothetical plan.

“Vickie?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you forget about Dan again?”

Your best friend’s face dropped as she blinked rapidly at you. “Right…Dan…”

“It’s alright, Vick. As long as you break up with him before you and Robin do anything, you’re good,” you say with a teasing smile.

“Robin and I aren’t going to do anything!” her fair cheeks flooded with pink.

“Okay sure, whatever you say.”

Vickie rolled her eyes in defense before gasping, “Ooh, I found our next book club book!” Her jewelry started clanking together as she jogged across the store.

You sighed dramatically at her attempt to change the subject, “I still don’t understand why we call it a club if it’s just us-”

Vickie spun around to show off the novel she chose, “‘Sense and Sensibility’ by the one and only, Jane Austen.”

“Ugh, you know I don’t do historical fiction,” you grimace.

“But it’s about doomed love!”

“That’s relatable,” you scoffed

“Precisely,” Vickie said with a smile, already grabbing you your own copy.

_______________________________________________

Friday, April 4th, 1986

Steve did end up asking you out after your volunteer shifts at the High School. You both were awkward and giddy about it but it was comforting to know that he was just as nervous as you were. You found him to be very charming and endearing and you were excited to get to know him better.

Your first date was very sweet and simple. There wasn’t as much to do because of all the businesses that had to close due to the earthquake, so he took you to a diner that had managed to stay afloat.

You were having a great time, the spark of electricity you felt when you flirted with him that first day flooded through your body the second he came to pick you up, and it continued as you sat and ate your food. Your topic of conversation quickly transitioned to Robin and Vickie.

“And then the guy goes, ‘what? There’s no ‘b’ in rose.’ and the other guy goes ‘there was in this one!’” Steve looked at you with anticipation in his eyes and a big grin on his face. You blinked at him, still waiting for the punchline. He sagged slightly, realizing you didn’t get his joke, “it’s funnier when Robin tells it.”

“I’m sure it is,” you teased. “Robin is very funny.”

He rolled his eyes playfully and sent you a lopsided smile that sent butterflies to your stomach.

“Speaking of Robin…her and Vickie have been talking a lot on the phone,” you said, trying to sound nonchalant. You eyed him closely, assessing his reaction.

His eyes jumped around nervously as he took an extra long drink from his milkshake. You could already read him like a book, he was very obviously stalling.

Steve cleared his throat, “yeah, they seem to like each other a lot.”

You leaned forward, trying to invade his space a bit, “Steven Harrington… What do you know?” your voice was low and suggestive. It made Steve’s heart skip a beat, although he wasn’t sure if it was from his attraction to you or from nerves. He has spent so long keeping Robin’s secret, he didn’t want to accidentally out her and make her the ‘town’s pariah’, as she liked to say.

Little did he know, you made the same promise to Vickie.

When Steve kept his mouth closed, you sighed and said “okay, but if you found out on your own, that would be okay, and then we could talk about it, right?”

Steve had an idea as to what you were referring to, but he needed to tread lightly just in case. “Well, then it wouldn’t be a secret. So, yeah that would be okay,” he said carefully.

You eyed him for a moment, seeing if he’d break first.

He squinted his eyes back at you, “do you know something?”

“Do you know something?” you said quickly.

“I might know something.”

“I might know something, too.”

“What’s the thing you know?”

“Oh no, Steve. I can’t tell you until you tell me what you know.”

He shrugged softly, “I can’t tell you what I know.”

“Well then, I can’t tell you what I know.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Fine.”

You both sat there in awkward silence as you contemplated what the other was saying. Or not saying in this case. Anxiously gnawing at the dead skin of your thumb as you looked out the diner window, you could feel Steve staring at you, watching you suspiciously.

_______________________________________________

Saturday, April 5th, 1986

You and Steve were so excited to see each other again that you planned your second date for the very next day. Unfortunately, you had to cancel.

You didn’t want to postpone, especially since you were still eagerly still waiting to kiss him, but you had to. Vickie and Robin were finally going to hang out together and you wanted to spy. Some would probably call it stalking, but you didn’t care.

Being Vickie’s only friend that she trusted enough to share her secret with came with a lot of pros and cons. On the plus side you were honored that she trusted you, but on the other hand Vickie can talk a lot and it can get to be a bit draining. You earned the right to spy a little on their first date.

Also, Robin could be a serial killer. You never know. Stranger things have happened in Hawkins.

Steve actually told you, when you called him to reschedule, that he was about to cancel as well. He had some excuse that you weren’t really paying attention to, you were just excited that he wanted to eventually see you again.

You hung up the phone with a smile still on your face. Immediately, it started ringing again. “Hawkins’ Book Attic, how may I help you?”

“Hey Y/N, is Vickie there?”

Of course it was Robin.

“Hi Robin! Yeah just a second,” you pulled the phone away from your face before shouting, “Vickie! Phone’s for you!”

“Thanks Y/N, I’ll take it from the break room.” Vickie shouted from the back.

You returned the phone to your ear, covering the mouthpiece, so you can hear when Vickie picks it up.

“Hello?” you heard Vickie say.

You were about to hang up when you heard Robin say, “hey baby!”

That’s new, you thought. Against your better judgment, you continued to listen.

“Hey hun, I was just thinking about you.”

Your eyes widened. You looked around, making sure no one was watching you before you realized there was no one else in the store. It’s been closed while you and your co-workers cleaned up the place. The building itself wasn’t destroyed like some of the other businesses in town were, but it definitely left a mess with all the knocked over shelves and books.

“Awh, that’s sweet. I just wanted to check to see if we’re still hanging out after your shift?”

Ah, yes. The date you were planning to spy on.

Vickie giggled sweetly, “of course, Robin! I’ll pick you up after work and we’ll head over to that wildflower field by the quarry.”

You hung up after that, that’s all the intel you needed for your mission.

_______________________________________________

Luckily for you, your shift at the bookstore ended at the same time as Vickie’s. You managed to get to the field before them since Vickie needed to go pick up Robin. You found some street parking in a neighborhood nearby to ensure that your best friend didn’t see your car. You smoothly parallel parked in front of a dark brown BMW to start your stake out.

You focused on the road that was perpendicular to the street you were stationed on. Only when you saw Vickie’s blue hand-me-down Ford Cortina drive by did you grab your bag and exit the car, starting the short trek to the woods surrounding the open field of colorful wildflowers.

Spotting the two girls from a distance was easy with Vickie’s fire-red hair and Robin’s towering height. The tricky part was finding a suitable hiding spot.

Glancing around the wooded area you noticed a tall tree nearby. Before you could assess the strength of the branches you heard the rustling of a giant bush at the perimeter of the field a few feet away from you, followed by whispered curses. Denim clad legs were sticking out of the green shrubbery as a man was trying to wedge himself through it. You’d know those white sneakers (and that fine ass) anywhere.

“Steve?”

You heard a hollow “thunk” as Steve jumped in surprise, his head hitting one of the branches. He slowly emerged as he rubbed the back of his skull with a grimace. He was wearing giant women’s sunglasses and a long blonde wig that now sat lopsided on his head.

“O-oh, hey Y/N,” he said sheepishly.

You let out a surprised snort at his appearance, before realization bloomed in your chest. You smirked, knowingly.

“What are you doing here, Steve?”

Steve shuffled to the side, trying to block your view of Robin and Vickie setting up their picnic.

“Nothing,” he said quickly.

“Okay…what are you wearing?” you said suspiciously, tugging a leaf out of the synthetic fibers of his wig before crossing your arms.

Steve immediately paled. He snatched the jumbo lady glasses off his face, showing you his panicked brown eyes. What excuse could he come up with for wearing this in the middle of the woods instead of going on your second date?

“Uh…it’s just-...you see-”

“Is that Robin and Vickie?” you interrupted, craning your neck to look over Steve’s shoulder, pretending like you had just noticed them.

“What? Uh, n-no I don’t think so.”

He was such a bad liar.

“Yeah it is! Let’s go say hi-”

“NO!” Steve’s voice echoed across the field, making Vickie and Robin glance in their direction. Before they could see, you gripped Steve’s shoulders and pulled him down to crouch behind the shrub he was trying to hide in moments before.

“What are you-”

“Shut up, Harrington. Do you want to blow our cover?” you frantically whispered, peaking around the leaves carefully to see Robin handing Vickie a pink sparkly drink with a glimmering smile on her face.

Steve gasped dramatically. “I knew it! You’ve known this whole time?”

“Oh please, you knew nothing,” you said with a giggle.

“Okay fine, but I had my suspicions,” he grinned at you. Finally, he had someone to talk to about Robin’s love life. You two already had an immediate connection, but this solidified his attraction to you even more.

“Ooh! Wait, I came prepared too.” You swiveled, turning your back to him as you dug through your bag. He watched as you pulled something out that you placed on your face. Then you whipped out a baseball cap that you tucked your hair into before placing it on your head. You spun back around to face him again, “ta-da!”

He let out a surprised snort, similar to the one you gave when you saw him in his disguise. You had stuck a dark black mustache to your upper lip, wiggling your nose like a rabbit to show it off.

You both continued to laugh as quietly as you could at the absurdity of the situation you were in. Somehow, you both separately planned on canceling your second date, dressing up in a disguise, and spying on your friends.

“We need higher ground, I think,” Steve whispered after his laughs had died down.

“Come on,” you gripped his hand, ignoring the tingling sensation it gave you, and dragged him to the tree you were planning on scaling earlier.

You helped hoist each other up, finding two parallel branches that were sturdy enough for you and Steve to sit across from each other on. It was the perfect spot to spy on Robin and Vickie with the opening in the tree leaves, while still staying hidden. Steve rested a foot on your branch as he got comfortable. You were close enough to him that his spare knee was in between yours.

Your legs swung lazily underneath you as you admired him, happy to have someone to share this moment with.

“Look, look, look,” Steve whispered excitingly, leaning towards you more as he pointed towards your friends.

Angling your body to get a look, you didn’t realize how close your faces had gotten, but Steve did. He nearly fell out of the tree when he got a whiff of your sweet perfume. He held his breath as he subtly studied your face, scrunched in concentration before lighting up with excitement. Despite the fake mustache, you were the prettiest person he had ever seen.

“I can’t believe it. Robin is feeding her! And it's a strawberry? That’s like the sexiest food,” you snickered. Turning to see Steve’s reaction, you almost bumped noses with him.

Both of you froze, no one was leaning in, but no one was pulling away either.

After what felt like forever you whispered, “Hey Steve?”

“Yeah?” he replied, equally breathless.

“Have you ever kissed a woman with a mustache before?”

He beamed at you, eyes sparking with humor. “Can’t say that I have,” he glanced at your lips, “have you ever kissed a guy wearing his mom’s old halloween wig?”

Before you could stop it, you snorted right in his face. Luckily, it made him smile even more.

He gently held your cheek as you placed your hand on his leg that was still propped up on the branch you were sitting on. Your heart was practically bruising your ribcage as it pumped in anticipation. Steve’s face heated up even more as you both started to lean in.

Before your lips could touch, his foot shifted and you lost your balance, sending both of you tumbling out of the tree, breaking branches along the way.

Steve landed on his back in the plush grass below, it wouldn’t have hurt if you didn’t land directly on top of him. The breath in his lungs got pushed out as he let out a loud “oof” that quickly dissolved into laughter. Once you realized he was okay, you began to full body laugh alongside him.

Both your disguises got lost in the chaos, he could finally get a good look at you. You were still laying on top of him as his brown eyes stared happily up at you, ignoring the leaves and debris that were still raining from your fall.

It’s like deja-vu, time slows as you stare into each other's eyes, slowly leaning forward yet again.

“a-hem!”

Both your heads whipped to the side to see Robin, now only a few feet away from you, glaring disapprovingly at Steve with her hands on her hips. Vickie had her arms crossed and her furrowing brows were directed towards you.

“Our cover has been blown!” you say to Steve.

“Retreat! Retreat! Abort mission,” Steve said, a grin still plastered on his face as you both hopped up and ran through the woods, hand-in-hand. Robin and Vickie watched you both go, listening as the sounds of maniacal laughter echoed throughout the woods, fading away the further you got.

Both of you made it back to your cars, still laughing through your heavy breathing. Steve didn’t waste time catching his breath before gripping the back of your head and planted his lips to yours.

You were still giddy with laughter as you kissed him back, wrapping your arms around his neck in an attempt to get closer. He snaked his arms around your waist as he walked you backwards, pining you to his car.

You pulled back for air, still nuzzling your nose against his. Both of you were still smiling like a couple of idiots as happiness and adrenaline flowed through your veins.

You continued to pant in each other’s faces before you whispered, “hey Steve?”

Steve pecked your lips again, “yeah?”

“So… you know that Fast Times tape we returned a couple weeks ago?”

_______________________________________________

Thanks for reading!

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#stranger things #steve harrington x reader #robin buckley #mutal pining #steve harrington x y/n #steve x reader #canon divergent #80s #netflix #vickie's friend #robin x vickie #fluff

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bookshelf-dust · 1 year

Text

you are not a monster.

eddie munson x gn!reader

word count: 3,875

warnings: swearing, smoking, the events of vol. 2, eddie’s self-doubt and personal issues, trauma, mentions of blood, of death, sorta a fix-it-fic? the boy who lived has in fact not come to die

a/n: i’ve got, like, 240 followers now, and i am very appreciative. i don’t think i’ve ever had that many on any platform in my whole media-usage-world. i am quite the loser, so it is wild that you guys are—at least slightly—entertained by what i write. i love you ughh. this has been in my drafts for a long ass time seeing as i couldn’t seem to finish it, and i’m worried maybe it’s kinda shitty? i do like it for the most part, though. and it got long. oops. but i hope you enjoy it! <333

————

“Ugh, you know I don’t do double VHS.” Steve waved off Robin’s Saturday morning movie suggestion.

“But it’s about doomed love,” Robin tried again, clutching the video tape to her chest.

“Oh, well, that’s relatable.” Steve grabbed a cart full of movies to be restocked, swerving around a rampaging Robin.

“Precisely.”

You flipped around a movie in the new releases section that someone had fumbled with at some point or another, adjusting it so the poster was facing outwards, half-paying attention to the conversation going on between your two friends/coworkers.

“Also, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this.” You snorted at Robin’s comment, and she tossed a sly grin your way before continuing on her rant about the most gorgeous creature she’d ever seen.

“We’re in Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County.” Your neck cracked with the speed at which you turned your head towards the television Robin had just turned on, seeing both her and Steve staring up at the reporter.

“We don’t have a lot of details right now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not yet issued the victims name…”

“Holy shit,” Steve said.

You swore you could’ve fainted at that very moment. You felt dizzy, started to sweat, felt your hands shake—so much that you tossed the videos you were holding onto the counter, catching Steve and Robin’s attention.

“Hey, are you okay?” Steve asked, glancing at you and clocking how frazzled you looked.

“Th-that’s where Eddie lives. Forest Hills trailer park.” You hopped up the step to behind the counter, trying to see behind the reporter.

“No. Shit. That’s his trailer. Oh my god, that’s his trailer.”

“Hey, woah, woah, woah, calm down. How can you be sure—”

“Because Steve! I practically live there half the fucking time! I think I know what my boyfriend’s home looks like.” You felt like throwing up. Seriously, you needed some air.

"Okay, well when did you see him last?" Robin started, trying to console you before you erupted into full-blown mass panic mode. She set her hands on your shoulders.

"Last night. I went by the drama room to wish him good luck—you know, because of the campaign—" Robin nodded her head, urging you on. "It was normal, I don't know, I-love-you-see-you-later shit, but then I left to go watch Lucas! I didn't see him after that because he said he had a deal, that he had to go home and get something else f-for—"

"For what? For who?" Robin couldn't handle the suspense.

"For Chrissy Cunningham."

"Chrissy does drugs? Huh, that's interesting." Steve cocked his head, slipped his hand under his chin, contemplating the actions of the cheerleader you spoke of.

"Steve! That is not the focus right now. Besides, everyone has their moments," Robin berated her once jock-worthy friend.

"Right. No, you're right."

You separated yourself from Robin’s clutches, moving out from behind the counter. “I need to check on Wayne.”

“Wayne?” Steve questioned, looking at Robin who watched you disappear around the corner.

“Eddie’s uncle, Harrington. Keep up.” Robin clapped her hands. “She’s been with the boy for, like, ever.” Her focused shifted though, as Dustin and Max appeared, the former hurling himself over the countertop.

You collected your things from the staff room, ignoring the bickering from the other side of the door. Wayne was home, obviously, it was day time, but if the cops were there, no way was he gonna answer the phone. Maybe you should’ve gone to hunt for your boyfriend right away, but you couldn’t bear to not check on the boy’s uncle, who was probably just in the dark as you were—if not more.

It took you a little longer to get going, hands shaking so much that you dropped your keys, and then remembered to clock out. You scribbled an excuse on a sticky note in case Keith questioned your early departure on the schedule when he came in on Monday.

Pushing the green painted wood open, you slammed into Steve, who’d just finished helping a young woman, and put his hands out to steady you.

You turned your head, taking in Max, Dustin and Robin chatting wildly on three separate phones, all pacing equally. “What are they doing?” You asked, straightening Steve’s vest where you’d messed it up.

He mumbled something about Eddie’s friends when Max waved to get your attention, slamming the receiver down. “Do you know a ‘Reefer Rick’?”

The question was so odd, coming from her, that you shook your head before answering. “Yeah, Eddie’s supplier. Why?”

“Do you know where he lives? We’re trying to find Eddie.”

“Uh,” you rubbed your forehead, recalling the couple times Eddie had needed to stock up and you’d been with him. “Out by Lovers Lake.”

Dustin slammed his phone down at this new information, the group now frantic with chatter about your boyfriend’s whereabouts. You started toward the door, stressed and suddenly sweaty, when Dustin flew out from behind the counter, stopping you.

“Where are you going? Don’t you want to come look for your significant other?”

“Of course I do, Dustin. But I’m going to check on Eddie’s uncle. I don’t like the idea of him being left in the dark during all this. It isn’t fair.”

Dustin lifted his hat from his head, readjusting it and then setting it right back down.

“Okay.” He let out a breath that sounded like he’d been holding it in for a while. “Well what if he’s there? At Rick’s? Can you meet us there after your excursion? I don’t feel right looking for him without you.”

“Yeah, Dustin.” He gave you a hopeful high five, your palm stinging as you pushed your way out of the door.

————

Pulling into Forest Hills, your hands started to shake. What if they wouldn’t let you in?

You stopped beside the cop monitoring the entrance, rolling down your window.

“I’m sorry, miss. I can’t let you in. We’ve got an active crime scene on our hands.” Shit.

You took a deep breath, trying to keep yourself from stumbling over your words. “I apologize, officer. It’s just that I have a family member that lives here, and I’d really like to check on him. Just for a moment. I’m worried sick.”

The officer straightened from where he’d been level with your window, placing his hands on his hips. He looked around, looked back at you, looked up again. His resolve was slipping.

“Okay. I understand. But you have to be quick, okay? There’s a lot going on that I don’t want you getting caught up in.”

“Thank you officer, really.”

You cranked the handle, rolling up the glass panel and pulled off, trying to find somewhere to stop considering your boyfriend’s home was the crime scene. Eyes scanning for Wayne, you found purchase.

He was sat up against the geometric dome that was meant to be the designated play ground area. Except all the kids in the park had grown up at this point, so now everyone sat there to sulk or smoke.

The slam of your car door caught his attention, and he stood on seeing you, moving in your direction. He met you halfway, holding his arms out. That’s how you knew he was tired. Scared. Confused.

Wayne Munson was no cuddle-bug, but he had no aversion to hugs if he really knew you. But letting you see this much emotion right off the bat, letting you in, that’s how you knew he was hurting. This was his boy they were talking about. Where was his boy?

He was warm from being outside, and smelled of cigarettes. You pretended not to see the tear tracks left in the thin layer of dust on his cheeks. He didn’t let go for a long time.

“Have you seen him? Heard from him?”

You sniffled. “No. Not since last night. I saw him before Hellfire, but that’s all.”

Wayne wiped a hand down his face. “Did he seem alright?”

“More than. You know they were supposed to finish th—”

“The campaign. Yeah. How could I not know?” He smiled, and you could tell he was seeing Eddie hunched over the kitchen counter, pencil in his mouth.

He briefly filled you in. “They’re saying he did this. Killed that girl. But I know Eddie. He’s my boy and he didn’t do it. He couldn’t.”

“I know he didn’t. I’m sorry you had to find her. I’m going to look for him, okay? I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but I figured you needed to know. If I get to him, I’ll come tell you, okay? I’m so sorry, Wayne.”

Another hug. More reassurance on your part, on his, telling you that you couldn’t have known. You asked if he needed anything, but he said the cops were supposed to figure out where to put him soon. And that was it. You left him there, and sobbed in the car knowing how sick he was over his boy. Knowing what’d he’d seen, how frightened he was.

————

“Eddie! It’s me! It’s Dustin!”

The young boy tried so hard to get his older friend to hear him, to calm down. But that was kind of impossible given the situation. He tried to understand.

“You won’t believe me.” Eddie’s voice was broken, his eyes glassy, his fingers going numb from his grip on the broken bottle.

“Try us.” Max knew what it felt like to be that confused. To be that uneasy. But he spilled his guts, and now the group of unlikely friends sat with him.

The slam of a car door made Eddie jump, made Dustin shoot up from his spot on the floor. Dustin peeked over the window sill, spying you looking a little lost at where they might be, so he hurried outside, much to the dismay of everyone else, scaring the shit out of you, but making you hopeful nonetheless.

“Any luck?” You whispered, not quite grasping his sudden appearance from the boathouse.

“Yeah! Yeah. He’s in there. And he’s scared shitless, but he’s okay.”

“Really?” Your eyes were glazing over and there was nothing you could do about it. He was alright.

“Really.” And he took your hand, leading you back and gently pushing the door the rest of the way open. He let you in first, lingering behind.

You moved in, eyes scanning for him, first roving over Steve, Max, Robin. But there he was. Up against the wall, hands in his hair. He looked up at you, and visibly softened, but sunk in on himself nonetheless.

“Baby.”

“Eddie.” You dropped your bag, not giving him time to stand, moving to meet him on the floor.

Your knees met chilly concrete, and you went to reach out for him, but you stopped yourself, noticing how broken he looked. “Eddie? Is this okay? If I touch you?”

“Y-yeah.” He nodded as he said it, eyes moving quickly back and forth between yours. To Eddie, even though there were four other people in the room, it felt like everything else faded away the second you walked in. You came for him. You’d believe him. He knew you would.

You opened your arms, and he fell into them, arms going around your back, head falling to your chest. He buried his face against you, squeezed you so hard it hurt, but fuck if you were going to tell him to let up.

You ran your hand soothingly over his head, gently untangling curls without the intention of doing so. Glancing up, you met Dustin’s eyes, and he gave you a small smile. “Thank you,” he mouthed. Dustin wanted to thank you for putting up with him, for letting him steal your boyfriend, for being so kind, for calming Eddie down. For everything.

“I went to see Wayne, Eddie,” you told him, moving your hand to rub his back. The boy perked up at that, looking at you with fear all over his face considering what he’d done.

“I-is he…is he m-mad at me?” He looked so young, so fragile.

“No, he’s not mad at you, sweetheart. He’s just worried. Scared. Wants his boy safe.”

Eddie winced, but pulled away from you anyhow. You brushed his bangs away from his eyes, straightened his vest, buttoned a chest pocket. “Do you think you could tell me what happened, maybe? You don’t have to now, really you don’t. But whatever it is, I believe you, okay?”

He hummed in reply, and relayed the story again for you, even if it hurt, and the rest of them tried to catch you up on their theory.

What you didn’t see was Robin turning to Steve, eyes softening at the way you and Eddie interacted with one another. How that scared look in your eye that had been there at the store was gone, just from seeing him. How Eddie’s hands had stopped shaking at your presence. How he wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable with you, and how much you cared for him.

But he made it so easy for you.

————

“Shit! Shit!” You stumbled over your own feet, hopping over ever root and vine you met in your path, trying not to make your presence known.

You’d been with Steve, Robin, and Nancy. The four of you were meant to go to Creel House while Eddie and Dustin distracted those fucking bats.

But you had this feeling. This sick, sick feeling.

It was eating you alive. It was something Eddie sad at Skull Rock. Something about running. And then right before you parted ways. When he’d kissed your head and muttered in Steve’s direction, “Trust me. We are no heroes.”

And standing there with your friends, trying to save the world, you ran. Ran for Eddie’s sake. Because he was going to do something. You just knew it. Some sacrificial lamb shit.

And it hurts, the running. Your legs are burning. It’s the kind of running you haven’t done since you were a kid. The desperate kind. But this time it’s not in order to beat a friend to the finish line, to win a competition. It’s to get to your boyfriend. Because you’re afraid he’s going to die.

And you can hear them. The bats. Their horrid screams, the leathery and wet rasp of wings, of tails thrashing in their rage, their determination to get to the source of that noise. The noise that had just quit.

You’d just caught the end of Eddie’s playing, and barely had time to think about how he’d finished it. He’d been determined to finish that fucking song and it’d been two weeks.

But none of that mattered.

Because you could see the trailer now, and it hadn’t occurred to you that maybe you wouldn’t be able to get in. That was the point of their reinforcements, anyways.

You stumbled up the concrete stairs, reaching for the door handle, trying to ignore the ever increasing sound of the bats, the sounds of them closing in. You didn’t dare glance over your shoulder, knowing they’d be right there.

Wrenching open the door, metal screeching, you almost smacked into Eddie. He’d been holding onto the sheets, but he had that look in his eye. The decisive one. And then he heard you clattering in and he practically tumbled free from his hold on the fabric.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You looked up seeing Dustin, who looked equally as frightened and desperate for Eddie to get to the other side.

“Whatever it is that you’re thinking, stop it. Go. Now. Climb.”

Eddie looked at you. Really looked at you. A look that said I need to do this. I need it. “You first.” He backed away, beckoning you forward.

“No.”

“No?”

“You go. Now.”

“Baby, please go. I’m begging you. If I go now, I can buy more time. I know it.”

Eddie looked desperate. He needed this. Needed to know he was good for something. He’d been such a failure. And he could do this. He could be good.

“No! Fucking go, Eddie! Now!”

He blinked at you, not expecting the change he found in your voice. He’d never heard you sound like that before. So angry. So angry at him.

So he let up, reaching and pulling himself towards Dustin. Towards home.

You felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. And then you tried to get yourself up, calming considering in the time that you’d stood there, the noise had stopped—the bats had stopped. Your friends had done their job.

You pulled and it hurt, but you did it anyways.

————

It had been three days since Eddie almost sacrificed himself and you’d been avoiding him ever since. He knew why you hadn’t come to see him, and he was upset at himself for hurting you, for not realizing you could read him so well. But it felt like that was the only way to prove himself.

And now he was living in a fucking tent in the Wheeler’s basement, supposedly like some girl with superpowers had.

The boy was flipping through one of Mike’s old X-Men comics when the sheet providing him refuge was torn back. Dustin appeared, making Eddie jump. “Jesus Christ!”

“Here.” Dustin threw a hand radio at him and then vanished again. It took him a minute before he realized you had one too.

A few guesses later on what channel he needed, he found you.

“Hey, I know you can hear me, baby. I know you’re mad.”

You reached for radio where it resided under your bed, stretching so that you didn’t have to actually get up, the chill of hardwoods meeting your fingers.

As much as you wanted to pretend you couldn’t hear shit, you wanted to talk to him. Something was really wrong if he thought he’d needed to do that. And maybe it was wrong of you to be upset, but you loved him. He didn’t need to complete some grand act of service to be redeemed, he was already your hero.

“Afternoon, Munson.”

Eddie slumped down inside his tent, smacking his head on the wall. He really was too lanky to be living in there.

“Son of a bitch!” He rubbed his hand, skull throbbing from the impact. “Hey, honey, please come see me. I wanna talk to you. Please.”

“Yeah. Yeah, fine. Unlock the basement door, okay?”

————

You sat against the support beam at the bottom of the stairs, watching Eddie tie up the sheet so it’d quit falling down and he could see you properly.

Your lower back started to ache and he noticed, passing you a smushed pillow. Silence filled the hair until you decided to breach the surface. “What were you gonna do, Eddie?”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, fingers bare of their usual silver, as the rings sat in a pile of his other shit, metal accoutrements proving incredibly uncomfortable to sleep in when living on the floor.

“Buy more time. I thought that if I could get the bats to back off, that they would’ve had the chance to kill Vecna. That Dustin could get home okay. I don’t know. And don’t give me that look.”

“I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. I could’ve done it. I swear. I just wanted to be good for something for once in my fucking life. Prove that I’m not this—this thing. This nuisance. This monster.”

“I guess I thought I could be the hero for once.”

You moved towards him, sitting on your knees and taking his hands into yours. He wouldn’t look at you, eyes darting around the basement walls, the old furniture indented from years of bodies molding the cushions.

“I understand. But I wish you didn’t feel that way. I wish I could fix it. I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you sooner. I was just upset because I had this feeling, Eddie. I thought you were going to die.”

“But, Edward Munson, you are not a monster. You aren’t a nuisance. Anyone that’s ever thought that is a piece of shit and you know that”

You put your hand on his cheek and he blinked. Hard.

“Eddie, look at me, please.”

The boy turned to you, looking just as young and fragile as he had in the boathouse. He looked disappointed in himself.

“You’re my hero.”

Eddie bit the inside of his lip so hard he tasted blood, forcing himself not to cry.

“Your Gareth’s hero. Mike and Lucas’ hero. Eddie, your Dustin’s hero. But, sweetheart, you didn’t have to save the world to prove yourself. You’re everything to me. To your friends. To Wayne.”

That was the tipping point. Uncle Wayne. And the tears slipped out, silent and calmly, easily sliding down his finally clean cheeks.

“R-really? I’m your hero?” Eddie’s hands were shaking.

“Yeah! Of course you’re my hero, Eddie. You’re such a badass, you know.” A grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. “You are not a monster. I’ll spend every day for the rest of my life telling you that if you’d like. I’d do anything for you.”

“You didn’t need to save the world by fighting off demo-bats, Ed. You’ve saved it by being you. By shepherding those little sheepies. Shit, you’re so good, Eddie. You’re golden.”

Eddie Munson had been waiting his whole life for those words. For someone to reassure him that he wasn’t this sick creature. This freak. And he was your hero. That was better than anything in the whole world to him.

————

Wayne rested against the cool brick that constructed Hawkins High School. His current place of refuge post-earthquake. Pulling his flannel closer his chest to keep out the wind, he reached in his pockets for a lighter and a pack of Marlboros.

He didn’t look up at the sound of gravel crunching around him, used to the noise of other people fluttering around him.

“Any chance you’d lend me one of those?”

Wayne’s hands froze from where they’d been peeling the plastic wrap off of the new cardboard box. He knew that voice. But he thought it was a trick. He looked up anyways.

And there, standing in this alleyway, somewhere he definitely shouldn’t be, was his boy. Eddie’s hands were in his pockets, a bandana over his forehead.

He smiled that award-winning smile, the one he’d used on Wayne as a kid when he wanted pancakes or temporary tattoos from the coin machine at the grocery store.

Eddie made his way over to his uncle, to—let’s face it—his dad. Wayne enveloped the boy in his arms, squeezing way too tight, but Eddie wasn’t going to complain. “My boy.”

Eddie rested his head on his uncle’s shoulder, breathing in that familiar scent that never seemed to go away, of cigarettes and the came cologne he’d been wearing since Eddie was a toddler. That smell he’d welcome after a rough day at school, after he’d done well on a science project.

“I never gave up. I never stopped looking. I knew you didn’t do it. Not my boy.”

“Thanks, uncle Wayne. For everything. I love you.”

“I love you too, kiddo.”

————

please let me know if you liked this! feedback is always appreciated!! comments and reblogs mean more than you know. <33

#eddie munson #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x gn!reader #stranger things fic #wayne munson #dustin henderson #robin buckley #eddie munson x you #steve harrington #eddie munson comfort #eddie munson angst #max mayfield #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x gender neutral reader #eddie munson fix it fic #savannah’s fics

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wowowwild · 1 month

Text

"Maya, what are you- Franziska?"

"Franziska?"

"Miles Edgeworth!"

"Nick!"

"Miss Fey?"

"Phoenix Wright!"

"Alright, I think we've established who all is here, thanks.”

FranMaya has been secretly dating and WrightWorth is... They'll figure it out.

“Hey, uhh, so you’re going to be busy tonight, right?” “With the case? Yeah. Edgeworth is going to come over to help me, though,” He replied absentmindedly. “Oooh, Edgeworth? I’m almost sad I’ll have to miss it, but it’s probably good for you two to have some privacy.” “M-Maya! We’re not like that, and you know it. And where are you going?” “Unlike you, Nick, I don’t kiss and tell.” “You’re not even going on a date, are you? I bet you’re just going to convince Gumshoe to share what little noodles he subsists on.” “Hey, it’s your boyfriend who keeps cutting his salary, and if he wants to share noodles with me, then that’s his choice.” “You’re a leech.” “But you love me!” “Yeah, yeah. Now let me focus on this. If I can’t figure out where this case went wrong, my case will be ruined!” “Good luck with your nerd shit.”

This pleased Maya greatly.

MF: We’re on.

FvK: Are you certain?

MF: Absolutely. He is going to be soooo distracted he won't even notice. He also came to the conclusion that I'd be hanging out with Gumshoe which helps as long as they don't talk to each other.

FvK: He'd be hard pressed to speak with Scruffy on special noodle night. He will be eating microwave noodles that cost exactly $1.38 more and watching an old monster movie.

MF: He'll be hard pressed alright. It's also v cute that you know that.

FvK: It is not cute, it is impossible not to know when he so foolishly announces every single move he makes to the nearest set of ears. I do not, however, understand your first statement.

MF: I'll explain it later. See you tonight "at precisely 5:35 PM".

FvK: You shall.

Now the only thing left was to wait.

Maya was being ridiculous. Edgeworth was not his boyfriend. He totally could be if he wanted, but he clearly didn't want to. If Master of Logic Miles Edgeworth couldn't connect these dots, the world was doomed, therefore he totally knew and wasn't about that. Which was fine. He was still Phoenix's best friend and he wouldn't give that up for anything. But right now he had to focus on the case because once Edgeworth was there it was a 50/50 chance he wouldn't be able to think at all. If only he could figure out what was missing…

"Wright, honestly, you're going to make your back even worse leaning over like that." "Edgeworth! Uh, hey. I was just trying to figure out how this case is related to my current one, but I can't seem to get the pieces to fit." "You're hopeless." Edgeworth picked up the file and moved to the couch. "What are these notes? You think it was the same culprit?" Phoenix flopped down next to him. "Not the same, but related. I think this murder happened because that one wasn't properly solved." "I see… Assuming you're correct, do you think the victim in this case was the perpetrator in that one?" "Could be. I don't want to make too many assumptions up front and miss something." "Actually thinking things through for once? I'm impressed."

That smug grin sent butterflies to his stomach. What was he saying? Come on Phoenix, you can't lose it all yet!

"I always think things through, you just aren't privy to my grand plan." "Privy? I see that thesaurus I got you is going to good use." "Ugh," Phoenix grinned and playfully shoved him. "Now, Wright, if you continue your violent streak, you'll be the one who needs defending." "Would you defend me?" "I would tell Franziska to prosecute you and wait for the paperwork." "Aw, gee, Edgeworth, I didn't know you felt that way." Phoenix laughed. "Ahem, yes, well, I think right here needs more clarification, don't you?" Edgeworth turned so that Phoenix couldn’t see his face.

Right, too much, Phoenix. Keep it friendly but not too friendly. Edgeworth is doing you a courtesy by not calling you out.

"Yeah, I can't figure out what they were trying to hide." "Well let's think about what someone could gain and then follow to who that someone was."

They talked it over, pulled up more information, and plowed through any remaining questions fairly quickly.

“Wow, I’m feeling better about the case already.” “Aren’t you forgetting something vital?” “Hmm? Like what?” “Evidence, perhaps?” “Aw, you know me. I’ll scrounge up what I can and everything will fall into place when I get the culprit on the stand.” “Unless the culprit is the first witness, you’re going to have to actually put in some work to get them there.” “Sure, but I’ll find a way. And I do have some evidence, thanks. Making this case fit in was the last piece I needed. My client will be walking free soon enough.” “Don’t get too cocky now, Wright. You have an impressive record, I will admit, but feeling overconfident can make you miss even the most obvious of details.” “Trust me, I’m not overconfident. But if I went around lamenting how hard I’m going to fail, that wouldn’t exactly set me up for success either.” “I suppose not. What did you find, anyhow?” “You’re not going to believe what I found in the victim’s trash.” “The trash?!” “Not all of us have detectives on their side, you know. We’re lucky I was allowed to root around in there.” “I suppose…” “Now let me show you my case.”

Franziska von Karma was perfectly punctual as she was in all things. At exactly 5:35 PM she slipped through the door of Phoenix Wright’s foolish office and silently made her way to the back room Maya would be in. It was quiet with no sign of Phoenix Wright, but Maya had not said he had stepped out so she remained cautious.

Ever so quietly Franziska knocked on the door she knew Maya was behind. It opened softly revealing her date for the evening. This of course brought a smile to both of their faces. It was then that voices were heard coming from the kitchen area. Phoenix Wright had a guest. This must be why Maya said he would be distracted. As they moved to sneak out, however, they moved closer to the source and she began to feel that the second voice was very familiar…

She stopped in plain view of the kitchen, but their backs were turned to her. What in the world was her foolish brother doing there at this hour? Helping the foolish attorney with a foolish case? They had both taken off their suit jackets and rolled up their sleeves. How utterly foolish her brother was to be at this man’s beck and call but still refuse to announce his feelings.

Maya couldn’t help herself, Fran’s face seeing Edgeworth there was too much. A snicker or two made it out, catching Nick’s attention.

"Maya, what are you- Franziska?" "Franziska?" Edgeworth whipped his head around. "Miles Edgeworth!" "Nick!" Maya whined a bit at being caught. "Miss Fey?" "Phoenix Wright!" "Alright, I think we've established who all is here, thanks," Phoenix noted. “Miles Edgeworth, what are you doing here?!” “I could ask the same of you, Franziska.” He stood and took an awkward posture, suddenly unsure of himself. “I- well- I asked first!” “Wait, Maya, I thought you were hanging out with Gumshoe.” “Actually I said I don’t kiss and tell and you assumed some things I let you believe.”

Phoenix looked to Edgeworth incredulously.

“That is a strange thing to assume from the context.” “Well I didn’t think she had an actual date!” “What can I say, Fran and I just have it more together than you.” She gave each of them a meaningful look. “And what about you, little brother? Have you finally announced your feelings or are you foolishly clinging to your safe deniability?” “Come on, Fran, we’re gonna be late if we try to start that conversation now. Let them sort it out.” “Hmph. Our reservation has saved you this time, little brother. Let us away.” Franziska pivoted and offered her arm to Maya. “Away we shall.” Maya took her invitation with glee.

Miles Edgeworth regretted a lot of things in his life. Preserving his friendship with Phoenix Wright rather than admitting to romantic feelings was not one of them. Or so he told himself.

“Did you know they were dating?” “Hmm? No, I was not aware. Though that would explain where she disappears to whenever she’s here.”

Hopefully Wright wouldn’t ask for clarification as to what she was talking about.

“So, uh, you have feelings for someone?”

He jinxed it.

“I don’t know what she’s talking about. She seems to have gotten an idea into her head and you know as well as I, there is no dissuading her.” “Edgeworth… You don’t have to hide it from me. You know I’ll support you no matter what. I think it’s great you found somebody you like! You should go for it!”

If he was so supportive, then why did he sound so upset?

“It’s really neither here nor there. He’s not interested.” “Oh… I’m sorry. That really sucks.”

And yet he sounded more happy at that than his previous statement. Maybe he was nervous at the thought of being left behind? Larry only seemed to pop back up when he had been dumped, though Miles hoped Phoenix knew him better than that. Nothing would ever be more important to him than the bond they shared, even if years down the line someone else captured his heart. Which was unlikely, for the record.

“It’s really nothing to dwell on.” “I suppose. But just so you know, I think you’re a great guy, and you deserve someone who can give you everything you want. This guy is a total loser for not seeing that.”

Oh, the irony.

“For what it’s worth, I’m kind of in the same boat, so if you want to talk about it…” “Really?” He tried to hold back his shock a fraction of a second too late. Phoenix looked confused and responded slowly, as if he was piecing something together before he revealed who the true murderer was. “Yeah, actually. It’s uh, my guy’s not interested either. Which is totally fine! I love being friends with him, it just, uh, kind of sucks. But it’s fine! And I wouldn’t trade our friendship for anything.” “Your ‘guy’ is a ‘total loser’ as well, then.” “Ah, you think?” Phoenix chuckled. “I do. You are the best man I know, with more passion, determination, and heart than seems possible. Anyone who spends even a moment with you can see that.” “Oh… Say, Edgeworth…” “Yes, Wright?” “Uh, I mean… This is awkward. I’m just now getting the feeling that I might have been wrong about something.” “About your case.” Phoenix looked confused, as if he had entirely forgotten why Miles had come over in the first place. “No, not the case. Just an assumption I had made.” “You should know better to assume. Weren’t you just saying that earlier?” “In my defense, a significant amount of evidence pointed towards my assumption being correct, but I had failed to consider one unlikely option.” “Is that so? What conclusion have you come to now, then?”

It was bound to be profound and earth shattering, as all of Phoenix’s revelations tended to be.

“Am I your guy?” “W-what?!”

Damn that man and his brilliant mind. Miles should have kept his mouth shut.

“I am, aren’t I?”

Why did Phoenix seem so… excited?

“Please tell me if I’m right or not… Well, I’m always Wright, but-” “Yes, you are correct,” Miles cut him off to avoid hearing that joke for the millionth time. “Ok, so then I have a big question, what made you think I wasn’t interested?” “… What?” “I mean, I’m just wondering. Since you’re my guy, too.” “I’m- You- What?!” “Yeah, This whole time I thought you could tell so I figured you weren’t interested, but clearly I was wrong. About multiple things. But so were you, so you can’t make fun of me.”

That was a little bit too much. Though it did explain what Miles had picked up on earlier with Phoenix’s words not matching his emotions. And the more he thought about it, much of Miss Fey’s teasing could have been implying Phoenix had romantic feelings for him. And it wasn’t like that was all Miles had struggled to piece together when it came to Phoenix. Retroactively, this explained a lot.

“Wright.” “Edgeworth?” “You’re telling me… You’re telling me you have romantic feelings for me?” “Uh, yeah. A lot of feelings in general, but romantic ones are in there. And you?” “Yes. I also have those kinds of feelings for you.” “Great! … That feels like it was too easy. Like something dramatic should have happened. Do you think one of us is about to die?” Miles gave him an incredulous look. “What are you blathering on about?” Phoenix paused before breaking out into laughter. “Well I’m glad nothing’s changed!” “I wouldn’t say nothing,” Miles mumbled. “Oh, right. Can I kiss you?” “What?!” Miles felt a heart attack coming on. Maybe Wright had been… right. “Too soon, huh? That’s ok. I can wait.” “That reminds me, how long exactly have you felt this way?” “Oh, uh, haha…” Wright trailed off. “That’s actually kind of embarrassing. Um, you know how we knew each other for like, 4 months back then?” “Wright… You can’t be serious.” “I mean, that was just a silly childhood crush, but it was a really formative time for me. And when I saw you again in the paper… Crush renewed. Becoming a lawyer was probably 50% because of you and 50% to save you, so… yeah… And you?” “I’m… I’m afraid I can’t say quite the same, though I can’t deny those 4 months were formative for me as well. It wasn’t so immediate when I saw you again, either. It crept up on me… and then you did save me. And I couldn’t deny it any longer. Feelings for you had started to grow.” “Oh wow. So we’ve been kind of silly waiting around this whole time. No wonder Maya and Franziska are so annoyed with us all the time.” “Mm. That would be a fairly sound hypothesis. I think I would like to answer your question, now.” Miles could feel himself blush as he turned away, not quite confident to say what he wanted while looking Phoenix in the eye. “Huh? What question?” Idiot. “You can kiss me. Phoenix.” “O-oh. Ok! Yeah!”

Maya had a fantastic evening with her lovely girlfriend whom she adored. They had accidentally stayed at the restaurant until closing time, talking and laughing, trying to get as much time with each other as possible. She had figured Nick would be in bed by the time she got back since he was practically geriatric, but she was surprised to see the lights still on, and-

“Hey, isn’t that…” “My fool brother’s car?” “… How safe do you think it is to go up there?” “… You know my hotel room has a hot tub-” “Sold.”

#ace attorney #ace's fic #maya fey #franziska von karma #franmaya #narumitsu #wrightworth #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #two fics posted in one night? legend behavior tbh #i tried some coding stuff on the ao3 page if you would like to look and give an opinion.

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hwaightme · 1 year

Text

Family for Hire (Ch.2)

(family for hire ml) -> blurb and general tags in series ml

☀️ pairing: single dad!seonghwa x business woman!reader ☀️ genre: romance, family, domestic, fake marriage, slice of life ☀️ ch. summary: after a nerve-busting pep talk from your favourite menace, you bite the bullet and face your fears in the name of business, while Seonghwa is searching for a way to rewind time. ☀️ ch. wordcount: 6.8k ☀️ ch. warnings/tags: language, heavy roasting (maybe to the point that wooyoung would like it), yunho the life coach, hiding in cars, pining, misunderstandings, food/eating, a lot of coffee, talking about kids and family, pregnancy talk, discussions of potential trauma, corporate life, cars, seonghwa being a total dad, a LOT of dialogue ☀️ perma-taglist: @doom-fics @layzfeelit @acciocriativity @justhere4kpop @honey-lemon-goose @byuntrash101 ☀️ series taglist: @yunnierights @moniesmoon @jackinmyarea @hwalysm @sankatchu @hijeongguk @likexaxdaydream @treasure-hwa @paralumanniluna ☀️ a/n: Hello! Big hugs, much love, hope you enjoy, any reblogs, comments thoughts much appreciated~

Chapter 2 - Catching Up

You had a number of opportunities to respond throughout the day, but instead, your brain had deemed it reasonable to wait until your guilt-fuelled insomnia was the one to give the final push. Perhaps if it had been a stranger you were messaging, you would have been more comfortable, would have cracked a joke and gone straight to business. But this was Seonghwa, who as cursed luck would have it, had a world record level answer rate and, apparently, did not go 'night-night' at the same time as his daughter, as you had initially assumed.

As such, at precisely one fourteen in the morning, you had come to realise that speaking to parents was like speaking a foreign language, except there was no handy translation app available - maybe the closest being parents on Reddit but you were not about to spill all your secrets on there. When planning the meeting, while all you had to do was check your work calendar and make sure no one was demanding your attention over the weekend, Seonghwa had mentioned his daughter at least three times, some special weekend class he had to bring her to, and arrangements for who could take care of her while he would be catching up with you if a different time were to be chosen. You had been on the verge of saying that it would be okay if he brought the kid with him but caught yourself. Number one: who were you to give out childcare related orders? And number two: you would be the first one to regret agreeing to such a thing. Thus, it was to be only you and him, sat at a cutesy cafe, located in the middle of a quaint neighbourhood that Seonghwa now called his home; an area void of anything you could deem exciting, aside from the potential to get your career rolling thanks to one of its residents.

Nothing was convincing you to get out of your car, so instead you sat, glued to the driver's seat and choking the mechanical life out of the steering wheel, and kept your eyes peeled for the appearance of your long-lost friend and actor you desperately wanted to cast. The fact that it was a Saturday did not seem to change the lack of activity in this area. Only parents with strollers, elderly patrols with walking sticks and loved up couples high on love chemicals seemed to populate its streets, ambling to and fro as though they did not have a destination - simply floating. The lack of a rush threw you through a loop, as you were so used to walking, working, existing in double speed. Maybe you should not have had that cup of coffee earlier after all, since you were, inevitably, going to end up ordering another once you get out of your makeshift hideout.

There had been no trouble with parking, unlike in your own neighbourhood where it was near habitual to call another driver by a number, they would leave on the windshield to tell them to stop blocking the exit. There was so much space that you had been spoiled for choice, down to how scenic you wanted your views to be. Verdant green trees lined the meandering road, parting with the last of their blooms that now decorated the pavement in a gorgeous spotted carpet. The warmth of the hues that the little stores and houses possessed was whimsical, with an intensity that almost resembled a filter - did they ever have grey days? You struggled to believe that this was the same city as the one you lived in: the concrete jungle, the same dark suits and ties knocking into each other, an ecosystem where the default was to forget and be forgotten.

Your world was the world of fight, grit, and no glamour. Even if the employment advertisements and brochures said so. If one wanted to remember who they were and what they stood for, they needed to battle against the currents, persevere and find ways to fool the enemy. Precisely because you belonged to that world and were motivated by it, you had enough audacity to hop in your ride and make your way across the city, a travelling salesman with a major problem. In circumstances such as yours, morals were somewhat contextual, and while you had been still surrounded by the dizzying, colossal cuboids made of glass, your decisionmaking and lack of explanation for your prospective co-star were perfectly rational. But now, in the sunlight and smiles of flora and fauna, idyllic landscapes and utter bliss of a welcoming and tranquil high street, you were on the verge of quitting. Or rescheduling to meet somewhere closer to your workplace so you would be fuelled by your higher goals. Either way, this place was a sleepy summer paradise.

This was what people meant when they said they wanted to 'settle down'. Find someone to do taxes with, raise something or someone, and live in an area like this. Technically, it was perfect for your full immersion into what could be the most important performance of your life. Except you were not even sure if you were able to breathe the air of this place - maybe you needed to go through acclimatisation first. In an attempt to subtly decompress and distract yourself, you had spam texted Yunho, who you knew to be forgetful when it came to turning his phone on silent. After approximately the tenth text, containing an absurd line of scrabbled letters, he blessed you with a call.

“Do you want me to choose violence?” he threatened, but his voice was too heavy with sleep to deter you from continue the aimless blabber.

“Yunho, help. Me. PLEASE.” you nearly screamed into the microphone, making your friend wince and groan, clearly having just woken up. You could almost see his puffy face and bed head as he rolled himself into a burrito - an action you inferred by the prolonged rustling.

“Early bird hunting season is open.”

“No… come on… I am losing my marbles here. Besides, it's not even that early-”

"Maybe you can function on four hours of sleep, but this king cannot, so bye talk later~" his voice began to fade into the background, clearly him moving the device away from his head, so you proceeded to stoop to the lowest of the low, mentally apologising to your dignity:

"King Yunho, please bless me with your wisdom, oh the greatest in all the lands!" You shuddered at the atrocities coming out of your own mouth, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The shuffling immediately stopped, instead being replaced by one swoosh and a creak. The king of your nightmares rose to attention and off his dreamland throne.

"Oh? Sorry could you repeat that? I didn't quite hear, the connection-"

"Fuck off dude-" the mutter inadvertently escaped thanks to the heightened anxiety.

"Happily! Bye~"

"NO, NO, SHIT WAIT, FINE! King Yunho, give me-" you scrambled to restart, not wanting to let go of the safe haven he was providing just yet.

"Full title please!" In a sing-song voice the menace commanded, enjoying every bit of your desperation.

"Now you're pushing it, dude, I just need some homie clarity and what do I get? Attacked."

"Not my problem that you're shitting bricks over meeting your uni crush-"

"That rejected me, by the way! And no, I am NOT losing it over that, it's just that-" you interjected, though got lost in your own thoughts as you attempted to conjure a reason behind your present feelings.

"Uh-huh, and the budget cuts for marketing are totally reasonable." A silence fell over the call as quickly as the sharp comment shot through the ruminations.

There was no way of getting anything past him. It was true. The past hurt had indeed returned, and stood clear as day, right before your eyes. Seonghwa's withdrawn demeanour, cold expression and cryptic 'you will regret it', still ringing in your years after all this time. You never got the chance to figure out the reason behind his actions - he had not appeared on campus at all after that. Not that you would try, you had even been too embarrassed to stay in touch with mutual friends, the only saving grace that dragged you out of your extensive swim in self-pity being Yunho. But today that rollercoaster was about to be launched back into operation. Damn your ambition. Maybe those words were foreshadowing for this series of events? That you were going to regret ever getting back in touch with him and putting yourself through this test of pride? Perhaps. But your shoddy risk analysis in the form of evaluating the calm nature of the few messages you had received from Seonghwa sent you flying over the fence and into trying to shoot your shot. It was all play pretend anyways, the ball not remaining on any side of the court.

"It is going to be fine, right?" You asked, trying to keep your voice level.

"I dee kay bro you tell me." Your friend deadpanned back at you, preoccupied with searching through his drawers.

"Ugh. I don't know why I called you. Look, sorry for waking you, I guess I'll just-"

"Oh no no, sweetcheeks," you cringed at the nickname, hoping to the heavens above that Yunho did not use this with his women of choice, unless they had a very special taste, "you have King Yunho awake and ready to slap some confidence into you. As we discussed, a lot of what you are experiencing is due to your perception of the meeting, rather than what it actually is to be. You are placing a lot of importance on it, which yes, I get, but at the end of the day this is a bloody experiment! So treat it as such! Remember how we bullshitted a PESTEL analysis two hours before the deadline for that one class?"

"Uh, yeah? But how does that relate?"

"You can work well under pressure, so prove it here too. Digest your fucking butterflies and think of Seonghwa as a prospective business partner you need to butter up. M'kay?"

"That... sounds... reasonable? What?" You heard a laugh down the line.

"Damn I am actually turning into a life coach, HEY! When you make it big you better start paying me."

"Ask for a tax reduction for volunteering." You shot back, snorting.

"So cold, don't want to sponsor your friend..."

"Last time I did you bought a chair with the back of it being shaped like an ass." It was only fair that Yunho was to go through a drought in terms of borrowing money from you – besides, the only reason why he had to take it in the first place was because he had spent too much of his budget on limited edition skins in some game he played. Everyone had their own vices and confusions.

"It was funny! Okay?"

"Mhm, sure, that's why you cover it with your jackets now."

"Who is choosing violence now?"

"Not me, sis. I am a happy bub."

You were repeatedly moving your free hand from one position to another on the steering wheel, pretending you were going through one manoeuvre after another. It was a habit you had formed after spending enough time out of your life stuck in traffic, and in the backseat of one car after another. Getting your license had been one of the first ways in which you sought and achieved a piece of independence, while the money that you had secretly saved up from doing odd jobs and some remote work from as soon as you legally could all had gone into buying your own ride. Anything to get away and create your own path. The complete opposite to what you were doing now, wasn’t it?

"Well wouldn't you look at that, mission accomplished. I am a happy virus, aren't I?" Yunho broke the temporary lull in conversation with the pop culture reference, making you sigh. Though he was right, you were feeling a lot more reassured and supported. Though you two had odd ways of reflecting it, you were a duo would always be there for one another, through thick and thin.

"Say that once more and I'll put your Monday's comeback schedule under question."

"Damn, all these antis got me fucked up. Anyways, glad you are feeling better, Y/N." He ended the banter, switching to a still lighthearted, but genuinely caring tone.

"Seriously, Yunho, thank you so much. I needed this." You really did consider Yunho to be a blessing, even when he swore at you until his colourful language dictionary ran out.

"Anytime. Good luck. And I expect a full rundown after. Preferably in person so that we can talk shit with no limits."

"Aight bet, if I make it out alive." You flipped the sun visor absent-mindedly and opened the mirror to take a brief look at yourself.

"Remember, business meeting. But the gift is allowed in this case." He noted, as you pushed back a strand of hair that was threatening to poke you in the eye.

"Yep. Tha- OH SHIT he is HERE my GOODNESS HE IS-" as soon as you returned the visor back into position, your eyes landed on a figure approaching the café, and instinctively ducked pressing yourself into the seat, heart pounding. You knew there was no way in hell that Seonghwa would see you from such a distance, or even recognise you, but, why not take extra precautions when you could?

"Hot daddy tee em?"

"FUCK OFF DUDE." you hissed, trying to overpower your friend’s obnoxious laughter, but to no avail.

You ended the call, pressing the red button at least ten times as the screen froze up and took ages to register the command. Reaching over your seat into the back you dragged out the gift you had prepared after hours of researching what "children aged four were interested in" - you thanked the lucky stars that you never previously had to consider this user group in your market research, for when you had approached hour three of your investigation and exploration of the rabbit hole called safety regulations, your head was about to explode. Even your friends suddenly appeared low maintenance.

It was simple but effective – a puzzle set that apparently improved creative thinking and promoted pretend play, or at least that was what a professional-sounding blog had written, and that was good enough for you. Now the problem was gathering the courage to actually get out there and give the damn thing to the target recipient. You cautiously raised your head confirming that the man had disappeared from view, you attempted to recollect what you had caught a glimpse of.

He was definitely the Seonghwa on Instagram, rather than the one you had vivid in your memories. And along with that image came the transition to a lighter palette in his outfit – a white cotton t-shirt, beige trousers along with matching sneakers. You almost wanted to call it a stylish dad outfit, but still struggled to pair paternity and college menace together. For science, you needed to get out of this car and make it to the spot, to catch another glimpse of him. Just to check he was real and not the product of pulling too many all-nighters to finish the analytics reports your line manager had the habit of throwing your way. And for business, you had to actually make conversation. This was going to be harder than you had previously hypothesised.

The Mission Impossible soundtrack was looping in your head as you crept out of the car and attempted to appear as casual as you could, slowing yourself to an amble and keeping your head held high. Perhaps you should have chosen a different outfit – the blazer was making you look out of touch with the local customs, but you had not exactly expanded your wardrobe past necessities for work and related social events. You caught your own reflection in the window of the café and were about to stop to take a couple of levelling breaths, when through the glass you locked eyes with none other than the person who you were stalling on greeting. You tried to not let anxiety show on your face, but that was difficult when even with the glare of the sun on the surface, you could see Seonghwa break into a wide smile.

The young man shot up from his seat to meet you at the entrance, rushing to hold the door open. As soon as you were through, the gravity of the situation weighed down on you, and even though it was the politest thing to do, you used the infinite series of bows as an opportunity to not meet his gaze again. At least not instantly. Seonghwa seemed to have had the same idea, as he joined you in the ritual.

"Hi! I'm not late, am I?" you finally managed to break the unsettling quietude, after the two of you stopped acting like pecking pigeons and instead transformed into two awkward pillars. It was not the coolest opener you had ever used, but it was better than gawking. You could already imagine Yunho facepalming at your lack of professionalism – what kind of business meeting was this?

"Hi! No not at all, I just sat down. Wow. You look…” you looked like how he imagined himself looking after the same number of years. He had initially dreamed of living the corporate dream too. Wearing suits, talking smart, making it big. He had really thought he could do it. But destiny had other plans.

"I overdressed, didn't I? Looking ready for a court hearing… ha, ha…” pained laughter, a hand massaging the back of your neck as you pondered ways which could help cut the meeting short.

"No! You look good!” Seonghwa answered, surprisingly fast, though, but appeared reluctant to leave the compliment hanging, trailing off into empty hums and self-assurance of “Um, yeah…”

"You too…”

"Thanks", "Thank you" great, now you were speaking at the same time.

You had changed. Flourished. Ambition having manifested into real results. It was obvious, from how you dressed and carried yourself to an interesting lilt to your speech, common amongst businesspeople. You had decided on what your happiness was to be, and not once had you veered off the path. Seonghwa had figured as much from having asked around about you, and now from his own observations. It almost made him regret what he had done a tiny bit less. But the lack of communication between you, the heaviness, would rear its head right after such an idea came to mind, and he would relive his foolishness, the cryptic answer that had led to your falling out. As if it had happened yesterday. Alas, no such luck – words of explanation had lost themselves over the years. But, if all went well, he could use your shared time today to make things right. Once and for all.

As the two of you moved to take a seat at the table Seonghwa had picked, opposite one another, he could not stop himself from stealing glances at you. And even when you looked to the large chalkboard on the other side of the space to see the menu, he did not waver. It had been far too long. He spotted that, under the table, you were still clenching onto a white bag. Curiosity got the better of him as he pointed to it, and questioned:

"What's that?”

"Oh... OH Yeah! A gift, for, um, for Nari. Hope it is okay..." you turned back to him, lifting the bag and passing it, with another bow. Standing up slightly, Seonghwa accepted it, feeling his heart grow heavy.

"You shouldn't have, oh no!! I- I am so sorry I don’t have anything for you. I knew I should have bought that seasonal tea blend I saw the other day. You still more of a tea person, right?" he tried to hint at the fact that he regularly thought about you, and could remember little detailed related to you. But the latter turned out to be just his own wish.

"Coffee, actually." You had started drinking it because that was the beverage he hated the most. The judging monologues towards his own friends had stuck with you, and once you had stopped conversing, you wanted to wash them down with americano after americano. "You know, the 6 am wakeups do that to you." You elaborated. He did not need to know that your choices had stemmed out of spite.

"I get you. I've been thinking about trying it again myself. But scared the little one will get to it and go mad." It was only natural for him to fall back on thinking of his daughter. She was his world. His ally. The one who had been his life buoy in the sea of darkness that had flooded him after everything that had unfolded in the last year of university. She was born in that sea of darkness – a ray of sunshine through the storm clouds.

“Ah yeah… makes sense.”

“So, puzzles?” he asked, taking out the gift and inspecting it. “You have no idea how perfect this is. Nari loves building things and seeing what fits together. Lego Duplo is pretty much all over the house.” Not quite – it was neatly stored in colour coded boxes and labelled, but that would not provide a good visual.

“Oh whew, I am so glad. Thank you. I was kind of worried because according to Piaget’s theory of development, a four-year-old child is in the preoperational stage and is just starting to do things like pretend play, and when playing with others it is actually parallel play that is going on- wait why am I telling you this, so sorry I’m-”

“No. no. I really appreciate it. And actually, hearing about the thought that went into it makes it all the more special. So, Y/N, I have no doubt that Nari will like it.” He further inspected the instructions and safety labels that were depicted on the packaging, and approved of the toy with a sharp nod, and a shy smile in your direction.

Was he dreaming? There was no difference between the main character of his subconscious and the beautiful woman sitting before him, and since he was seeing the latter for the first time in so long, he was terrified that, at any moment, he would realise that this was all his doing, and he would awaken in his bed, drenched in cold sweat.

In university, you had always been the headstrong and brutal coursemate. You never took unfounded criticism as a response and never backed down until you knew exactly what you needed to know – this was towards both students and professors. You were an advocate for equal opportunity, open communication and were one of the longest serving academic representatives the department had seen. It helped that you seemed to always be on campus; not a single time had Seonghwa ever heard you as much as talk about going home for any holiday, even those traditionally celebrated with closest relatives. He had taken you to be a studious role model and power figure by nature. While he had been one by semi-forced nurture, and in order to survive had to drop his act and go into hiding.

Now, the contrast between you was clearer than ever. Here he was, some washed out good for nothing single father who was spending his days doing pointless arts and crafts, while you, you had remained strong and fought off the demons of the real world. You were thriving. So much better off. If only he could have achieved that while still having Nari, then he could have offered her a much more attractive and higher quality of life.

“So, uhm… I am guessing… you went into business, yes?” he inquired, calling a waitress over with the press of a button attached to the table.

“Yep, associate analyst at AGL. You know Au-”

“Aurora Global Limited, yeah. Damn, you are in one of the big three consultancies, congrats!” of course you were there, who else out of the graduating cohort would be, if not for you? He would not be surprised if you had made it in one the first try, too.

“Hah, thanks, though I must say, when our profs said that they’re intense, they were not kidding.”

As you made your orders, with him spitting a rap line of a beverage where the only thing you could catch was brown sugar and vanilla, while you went for a black hot americano. You were the type to ask if caffeine could be injected intravenously, and your drink of choice was a compromise between a remotely healthy lifestyle with stable water intake and chugging eight espressos in a morning. For ‘experiential completion’, as Seonghwa had put it, both of you had taken a slice of strawberry crepe cake. As soon as the server departed from the table, with Seonghwa thanking them profusely, he immediately switched his attention back to you. There was still almost a lifetime to catch up on.

“And what is it you are doing specifically?”

“I’m kind of more in market research at the moment, so working with corporate clients who are looking to expand into a different market sector or are considering reworking their portfolio of offerings.” You explained, turning your head and bowing it as you received your orders.

Silence had never been louder, and you attempted to fill it by asking the classic: “and how about yourself?”

“Nothing much really. Definitely not related to the degree.”

“So, what exactly?”

“Well… a fancy way to put it would probably be toy designer and small business owner. But in reality it is just me and my friend keeping our own Neverland alive.”

“Wow, and here I am, gifting a toy. I am so dang sorry oh my word…” you covered your face in embarrassment, thinking back to your now obviously unnecessary rambling and of the impression that you had probably made.

If only you could read expressions as well as you had always claimed you could. Then you would maybe, just maybe spot the reawakening of what Seonghwa had tried to bury. But you were not someone who was easy to forget, especially since, ever since that day, he had been blaming himself for unjustly hurting you. You were the kind of person who he hoped Nari would become, and as such, he felt the need to make things right, even if it was selfish.

“Please don’t say that when you are just incredibly thoughtful. You have… always been.” He tested the waters by referring back to the past and saw you automatically tense.

You were not liking where this was going. The shift in his tone was making alarm bells ring in your head and Yunho say ‘business meeting’ along with them. So you took to deflecting and being on the defensive, reigning supreme as oblivious queen.

“Oh uh, thanks yeah. Well, Nari is sure… cool,” could one use that word when complimenting a little gremlin? Well, you were about to be a trendsetter if not, “what was it you said she was doing this morning?”

“She has dance class. There is no particular genre that is taught, it is more for social and exercise, but she has a blast every time. We even bought a cute outfit for her to wear not long ago. Hold on, let me get a photo…”

Score. Ask a doting parent about their kid, and you were saved from suspicious interactions. You watched as Seonghwa eagerly took out his mobile phone and began to scroll through his camera roll to find one of many versions of the same image that he had taken, because ‘natural lighting changed all the time and his precious daughter was beautiful in every frame and needed to be captured at that same rate’. You were impressed. He had more photos of Nari than you had reaction memes in your gallery. He pushed his phone towards you, encouraging to take it into your own hands – so a man with nothing to hide, huh? Bold. Impressive. Sigma.

Nari looked… very toddler-like. You could not figure out the right words to use. You felt nothing. Maybe even less than nothing. Sure, the outfit in the photo was as aesthetically pleasing as a kid’s clothes could go, but other than that… rosy cheeks and snot for weeks. You nodded a couple of times to show that you were perceiving this so-called artwork, then imagined you were looking at a crisp paycheck and looked back up to grin and offer a:

“Cute!” but apparently, that was enough effort, since Seonghwa overtook you in less than a second.

“I know right!? She is just so unbelievably adorable, and if you were to see her bedhead in the morning… my heart melts every time, wait I think I have a picture of that too-”

And thus, you ended up spending the next quarter of an hour simply discussing Nari. You had to admit, the longer you were exposed to her, the more you grew to like the bundle of… whatever. You still had work to do when it came to talking about her though. But if you could continue sweet-talking Seonghwa, you might just be able to give yourself the time to practice. As you spiralled further and further into the conversation, losing track of your time and sanity, you found yourself looking for a reason to leave. You almost wanted the man in front of you to suddenly stop talking, say he did not connect with you, and make an exit. He knew how to do that better than you, as your far too pleased feelings and dopamine elevation suggested.

Seonghwa slowed down to a halt, noticing that you had started staring off into the void while he was ranting about this one meal off the menu at the kindergarten Nari had started attending not long ago. You were bored, weren’t you? You had probably just wanted to spend half an hour or so chatting about insignificant things and then would have gone on about your day, but here he was off-loading everything onto you, as if he had no other – oh. That was right. He barely did have any other friends from his year left. Even Hongjoong, his friend and co-founder for the toy design business was from a different time – a brother from another mother since middle school. You were the first one out of all his closest direct peers at university who had reached out. And subsequently responded back to him.

You observed one another, each hesitating to reveal their own truth and emotions. Worry, amplified by the four years of parting, hanged in the air like a thundercloud, looming. With your drinks and desserts all but finished, it was either speak now, or forever hold your silence. You spun the coffee cup on its plate by pushing the handle with a pointer finger, while Seonghwa eyed it without much else to focus on, except his own psyche yelling at him.

“So,” “So,”

“Oh, you go ahead-”

“No you go-”

“You go-”

“No, please, you-”

“Don’t ladies first me, mister, you know how I am. Now, spill.” You put an end to what could be an endless manners battle, lifting your head and training your gaze on him.

“I just… I just wanted to say, I’m sorry, Y/N.” he spoke with the clarity of a wise scholar.

“Huh?” now that was the last thing you had expected to hear during this meeting.

“The time. Right now. The time we are spending it… it feels so right and I- I can’t help but… go back to… go back to when I was… I was… I was an idiot. A total idiot.”

Your breath hitched in your throat, and you struggled to give even a peep in response, only nodding for him to continue.

“I… you remember that night? At the party?” Of course you did. Even though you were drunk, you somehow could even recall what time the clock hanging on the wall behind Seonghwa had been showing. You nodded again.

“My… I gave no explanation then. I was so lost and… distraught and scared and I made you feel even worse and just… disappeared and broke what we had…”

“We had nothing, Hwa.” The nickname slipped, and you pursed your lips in annoyance. This was a barrage of too many memories at once. He could not answer you, mouth open but no sound emanating. You swore he was getting misty-eyed.

“We… could have. But at the time… I did not want to subject you to how that ‘could’, would have been.” He forced out, remaining cryptic. You raised an eyebrow and squinted in suspicion.

It felt like he was saying everything, yet nothing at all. Beating around the bush. You had seen this happen often at investor and end of year report meetings. Everyone knew there was an elephant in the room, but no one dared to announce it. This was getting painful. You crossed your arms and leaned onto the table to peer at the man.

“What in the world do you mean? If I lay my perspective, you were pretty clear.”

“Clear in not wanting to subject you to motherhood when you had a career ahead of you.”

“What the fuck?” you could not care less for subduing your vulgarity any longer. His words were making your head hurt. What in the world did he mean about motherhood? What kind of fantasy fiction was this? You had not even kissed-

“It… it had been about a week… that I had found out I was going to be a father. My ex had told me the news by, uh, sending an ultrasound. She had waited until it was starting to show to tell me about the pregnancy.”

How could that fact have slipped your mind so easily? Stupefied, you recalled Seonghwa’s monologue about Nari. Four-year-old Nari. But of course. Kids weren’t dropped off at a doorstep with Prime delivery, aged up to the number you chose at checkout. The numbers did add up. So you sort of met Nari that night, unknowingly. Or at least, perceived her through the distress that her father had been experiencing.

“Oh… shit…” you whispered in total shock.

“It’s no biggie, really. I mean, I had always assumed, no, that does not sound right, wanted, yeah, wanted to have a family. Maybe not this soon, and not in a solo venture but hey, whatever life gives you right?” he gave you a weak sigh and let out a shaky breath that he did not know he had been holding. Seonghwa ran his hair through his tousled, black locks, trying to prevent himself from tearing up.

“Huh…”

“So, yeah… I know this is… four years too late… but, I just needed to clear the air. Sorry, this was incredibly selfish, and maybe this is all insignificant for you and-”

“Stop. Fatherhood made you a hell of a lot more talkative, you know that?” you joked, though it came out a lot more judgemental. For good measure, you reached out to cover the hand he had laying on the table with yours, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His eyes kept on darting as he failed to comprehend your actions. Were you not going to leave?

This was the perfect moment, you decided. If this was to be a business meeting and not a confession session, you had to reel yourself back in, and keep Seonghwa on the hook. You pushed your gushing and schoolgirl-style squealing down to let the cold blood run through your veins. What was it that you needed? The promotion. How were you going to get it? By hiring out this happy, or maybe not so happy, but at least genuine, little family.

“I have a proposition for you, Hwa.” This time, the use of the nickname was intentional. It was the quickest way to the sentimental man’s heart, and one would be damned if they were to not pick this low hanging fruit, “while this, indeed, is a moment long in the past, we can emulate certain aspects, potentially for mutual gain.”

“What… do you mean?” you kept your hand on his, and gently traced a line with one finger, giving Seonghwa a soft, reassuring smile. Well, your corporate smile.

“What does an apology mean to you?”

“…learning? Trying again?”

“Then how about we try that.”

“WHAT?” he shouted, gasping and apologising to the staff that shot panicked glances at him with a few speedy bows.

“See, I need a family for this, thing. As you probably know, AGL is notoriously family focused. They are obsessed with the notion. Everything breathes family values and marriage this, marriage that, kids this, kids that… all that jazz, m’kay? You following me so far?”

“Yes.”

“Good. So, that means that my chances of getting promoted amount to a colossal zero.”

“So… you… want me… and Nari, to act like your family?”

“You catch on fast. You always were fantastic at logical thinking.”

“For what? How? Wha-”

“There will be an event, in… one and a half months? Thought it was sooner actually but wow lucky me. Well, this event is basically for staff to flex just how happy they are in their holy matrimony and whatnot, and often, it is at this event, that younger staff is scouted and scoped out for promotions. Thus, I must ask, Park Seonghwa, will you do me the honour of being my fake husband?”

You could hear your own heartbeat, a drum pounding in your ears as you struggled to remain calm. Seonghwa was pensive, and unable to process this overflow of information. He had thought about how his life would have been had he confessed back to you and you would have gotten together then, dreamed about being together and celebrating four anniversaries (and counting), but never did he ever think it to ever be uttered out loud. Especially not by you. Yes, the proposal was entirely fake. Yes, he would be signing up to have him and Nari be, in some ways, exploited. But how else could he prove that he actually had been serious about you, and still was? It could actually be for the better for his daughter too – finally she would have at least a tiny bit of female influence in her life, and would not have to struggle through the motions of her single father being given minimal benefits from the government simply due to his gender, and the pair being side-eyed on the street because ‘why was a man out with such a tiny girl this made no sense’.

“Yes.” He uttered confidently, flipping his hand, raising yours and intertwining your fingers. Now it was your turn to be perplexed. “Though under a couple of conditions subject to change. The main one being is you actually act like a responsible adult slash parent to Nari. Respect her, treat her right and support her. Even if just for a month and a half or whatever. She is a sweet girl. And just so you know, I will protect her with my own life.”

“No doubt about it… husband?”

“Wife.”

“Do you have a fee, by the way?” you were the first to pull away, the closeness nearly making you go into a cardiac arrest.

“Your time will be my fee. Besides, you paying me feels dehumanising. And on that note, I am paying for your coffee, by the way.” He stuck his tongue out and made a beeline for the cash register, taking his wallet out in a flash. You could only raise your eyebrows and fall back into your chair. So… this was how people got married in the modern times, huh?

And apparently, met their kids for the first time by picking them up from a dance academy. Seonghwa had panicked after checking the time and realising that he would have to make a forty-minute journey in twenty minutes, but you quickly piped in offering to drive him there and back – an offer which he had accepted immediately. Just like that, after getting a line of green lights, you and your pretend husband were standing side by side, leaning against your pricey car, when you came face to face with your biggest test. One that was impossible to study for, plan for, or predict anything about. Park Nari. The pouting princess with a Chewbacca plushie in one hand, and the other clenched in an angry fist.

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felinetteagain · 5 months

Text

Love is not afraid of huge separation, it dies from little lies.

Every time our heroes started their relationship with someone, nothing worked out for them. Let's remember the most striking relationships in the series, which did not end well. Adrian and Kagami, their relationship began at the persistent initiative of Kagami, who decided that Adrian was in love with her and forced herself on him as a girlfriend.

Since Adrian was used to others deciding everything for him, he did not resist for a long time and entered into a relationship with Kagami. This relationship was not destined to last long as Kagami realized too quickly that Adrien was not as perfect as she imagined.

But most importantly, Kagami understood that Adrian did not want a relationship with her and was constantly lying or looking for a reason not to date her. Perhaps this relationship would have developed, because these two are very similar, but it was precisely because of the constant lies and intolerance to Adrien’s shortcomings that this relationship quickly ended.

Luka and Marinette, a wonderful couple who had every chance of a long relationship with full mutual understanding and respect if not for Marinette's lies and her secrets, which she could not entrust to Luka. These secrets ruined their relationship.

Nino and Alya, this couple also experienced moments that threatened their relationship. These moments were also related to Aliya's lies and secrets. But unlike Marinette and Adrien, she couldn't hide anything from her lover, and trusted him with her secret. This was the salvation of their relationship.

Marinette and Cat Noir their relationship was immediately doomed, because at the beginning of their relationship, Cat Noir found out that Marinette no longer loved his personality without a mask, and he was not ready to start a relationship with a lie.

We all understand perfectly well that relationships shrouded in lies and secrets will not be able to develop and sooner or later they will simply collapse under their weight. What are the chances of the Adrinette couple to survive in this abyss of lies and secrets? I'm sure there's no chance!

Marinette would never tell Adrian the secret that Gabriel had entrusted to her before his death, so as not to hurt him.

She will not tell Adrian that he is not an ordinary person, otherwise this truth will lead to other secrets hidden from him. It’s like a snowball that will cover everything with its head and sweep away the whole pink world that Adrian sees.

But Marinette still has a chance to be happy with a guy who knows everything and more about her than others. From whom you don't need to hide anything. This guy is brave, smart, handsome, he is a real hero who doesn’t even need the magical power of talismans. But one day he will wear the main talisman and become an excellent partner for her, who will take the initiative and make Ladybug feel like a girl and not a knight. He will be caring and reliable, he will be perfect for her.

Who is he? The answer is obvious!

#ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #tales of ladybug and cat noir #felix fathom #felix graham de vanily #kagami tsurugi #adrien agreste #felinette #adrigami #lukanette #luka couffaine #miraculous marinette #marinette dupain cheng #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire

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incorrectcats · 2 years

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So, as I promised, here is my overly obsessive, too enthusiastic, and probably poorly written and structured mess of an analysis of the song Kaisarion. Because I love it wholeheartedly and I need to share all this love with the world.

But, first things first: sorry in advance if this turns up to be way too long. It may happen. I just can’t shut up about this. And of course, this is just my opinion and interpretation, and in no way, shape or form is this any kind of irrevocable truth and, at the end of the day, every song is just partially what the author meant and partially what us, listeners, understood of it and how we translated it to our own experiences and feelings.

Lastly, as always: English is not my first language, I’ll try to be as clear as possible hehe.

Okay, LET’S GO.

To me, Kaisarion —as many other Ghost songs— is about embracing the very cause of your downfall. It’s about turning your back to what you’ve been told is good and sacred and righteous, and finding your own way to happiness. It’s a song telling you “it’s okay if you’ve been cast out, because we’re here, waiting for you down here”. And, taking this into consideration, the lyrics are very interesting.

But first, a bit of history!

In Kaisarion, we’re being told two different stories: one that is linked to the lyrics and their literal interpretation and the other one, more emotionally-based and metaphorical. Impera is an album about empires and, more precisely, about the fall of those empires, and the word “kaisarion” refers to the Caesareum of Alexandria, an ancient temple in Egypt where Hypatia, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, was murdered (we’ll come back to this later). “Kaisarion” is also very close to the word “kaiser”, which was the name given to the German emperors and, at the same time, which is a word derived from Latin, like any other “caesar”-related word (including, for instance, the Russian “tsar”).

So, just with the title, we already have a very powerful imagery right before us, but the true meaning lies beyond the title, because here’s where things get wild and where our dear and terribly mistreated Hypatia comes into play. Because Hypatia sought shelter in the Caesareum when she was being persecuted by a Christian mob and, sadly, didn’t find what she was looking for. The mob found her in the temple, and well… We know the ending of the story.

Which is kind of ironic, because the Caesareum was a temple conceived by an Egyptian queen in memory of her Roman lover (allegedly) and later finished by yet another Roman dude (Augustus, you may know him-). And all of them were pagans, one of the reasons why Hypatia met such a tragic end.

And, amongst many other things, that’s what Kaisarion is about: is about injustice, about a society that preaches one thing and acts the opposite, about false appearances, about prideful ignorance, about the violent repression of any kind of diversity or difference. We can see it reflected in the lyrics of the song:

“Our brotherhood of good faith sealed an apostate witch's doom”

Here, the apostate witch would be Hypatia, and her murder, as the ellimination of many other pagan people and temples, would be the seal that strengthen the foundations of Christianity which, despite being a religion with a relatively pacifist dogma, had caused the uprise of pretty violent mobs in its first centuries. (NOTE: with this I don’t mean to say that this violent reaction is an exclusive Chistian thing. Not at all. It’s very similar to many other historical processes where a social group goes from being under a heavy oppression/opposition to gaining a lot of power in a relatively short amount of time. But that’s another story for another time.)

Another of the lines that shows this glorified violence is in the first pre-chorus:

“It's the smell of the burning temples swept away by rhymes”

The “burning temples” could refer to the library of Alexandria or to the pagan temples, and the “rhymes” could be related to Christian canticles, which is something that, I think, is very linked to the collective imaginary of Christianity (see, for instance, Gregorian chant, choirs, etc.).

This idea of evil-disguised-as-good can also be found in the second verse:

“Kaisarion, a matter of love

When Mother Earth is calling for a father up above

Kaisarion, put on the smiles

And throw your holy rocks right at her for her satanic wiles”

And I could keep commenting on this, because it’s such an interesting topic, BUT, we need to move forward, because in the second pre-chorus there are some of my personal favourite lines:

“It's the truth of candor shone through the prism of deceit

It's the continence of bishops with their choirboys en-suite

It's the tongue selling adulation that licks to no avail

It's the noise of the righteous dogma that hides the handmaid's tail”

Here, we find again this idea of hypocrisy and fake virtue used as a rug behind which all the dark and evil stuff can be found. But with that last line, I just- *screams into the void* Sorry, I need to express how clever it is, how TF plays with words and creates whole narratives out of single sentences.

“It's the noise of the righteous dogma that hides the handmaid's tail”

The “noise” of a “righteous dogma” already tells us what we’re dealing with: it’s not a whisper, it’s not a sound; it’s a *noise*. It’s loud, and probably obnoxious, and it pretends to convey a message of justice and goodness when, in reality, it “hides the handmaid’s tail”. And please, note that, apparently, the lyrics say “tail” and not “tale”, AS I THOUGHT IT SAID UNTIL LITERALLY A MINUTE AGO WHEN I READ THIS:

“The emphasis of ‘tail’ rather than tale if this is indeed the correct lyric could be clever word play to bring about a more animalistic nature in these hidden ideals within the perpetuation of any ‘dogma’, presenting it almost as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, hidden behind the bright innocent exterior that most groups interested in persuading others to their cause, whatever their purpose, try to perpetuate.”

It’s… It’s just fucking brilliant. For real. I’m absolutely speechless, staring at my laptop with a dumbfounded smile.

And, finally, there’s the chorus:

“Far away from the stench of the heavens

Long ago, yet too close to forever

When a paradise is lost, go straight to…”

These are the phrases that are sung side by side with the name of Hypatia.

And, this is the thing: although this is a song about the building of an empire on the foundations of the destruction of what preceded it, about blinding pride and fanaticism, violence and intolerance… This is also a song about deception.

About pretending to be what one is not.

And that’s why, despite being a song apparently sung from the perspective of the mobs that murdered Hypatia, the true singer of this song is our dearly beloved Papa, and this unholy smartass is not praising what these mobs, moved by fanaticism and hatred, did and enforced. He’s laughing at it. He’s exposing it. He’s forcing us to look at it, and then he points in the opposite direction.

Because, when paradise is lost you go straight to…

Yeah, to the Antipope.

(I don’t know if he still does this, but I’ve seen performances where, after “go straight to”, he yells “HELL” and- I mean, the drums go on a descending scale at the end of the song, which yeah… Something something, using sounds as metaphors for words, something something…)

Replicating what Lucifer and all the fallen angels did in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Papa tells us that, maybe, there’s another place to be. A different way to go. And that, if we’re rejected by this society for whatever reason, if we’re deemed unworthy of respect, maybe we should turn our backs to it and go. Because there’s many others like us, the dispossessed and the disinherited, and we don’t need all this fake ass righteousness.

We shall find a place of our own “far away from the stench of the heavens”.

As a queer woman, there are many Ghost songs that make me feel this very particular kind of pride for being who I am and, above all, living my life unapologetically. It’s a message of self-love, but also a message of companionship, of community and finding strength in other stray kids like you. It’s very heartwarming, and very personal, often feeling like a helping hand whenever you’re lonely and helpless, navigating difficult times. I think it’s one of the many reasons why so many people feel attached to this band and its songs.

In conclusion, Kaisarion is a wonderful album-opener (well, besides Imperium) and TF does something amazing, with words and with music, but also with ideas and with thoughts. This song is a masterpiece in its own and, although I can’t quite analise it from a musical perspective (because I don’t know shit about music lol), I’m glad I could ramble about my love for its lyrics and history.

Now give this Antipope another Grammy-

#the band ghost #ghost the band #ghost bc #kaisarion #impera #ghost impera #papa emeritus iv #popia #classic references #historian shit #lis.txt #tobias forge #ghost lyrics #lyric analysis #imperatour #oof it's really long yay #i spend my afternoon doing this and i still feel like i could talk for hours #never ask a historian about anything #we're insufferable

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albatris · 2 years

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whats atdao about?

!! atdao!! it's been a while since I've talked about atdao at length! :D

atdao is...... all the doors are open! a story about cracks in the fabric of spacetime and loving your friends!

it’s YA! sci-fi-ish! fantasy-ish! it’s something I’d describe as “our reality but a little to the left”, though it gets progressively weirder as it goes on

it’s set in South Australia, n it’s set in a world where the fabric of reality is starting to unravel at the edges and cracks in the universe called “Ports” are cropping up more and more frequently..... n these cracks are letting in all sorts of whacked out energy, fuckin with physics, causing weird phenomena to occur all over the place.... one time the suburb of Hackham just moved places overnight for no explicable reason......... basically reality’s comin apart at the seams, but for the most part folks are just sorta like “ah geez” about it bc like. what can ya do. it’s not like all your normal people problems are gonna go away just ‘cuz the world is edging towards its inevitable weird doom

so people are just kinda going about their lives against this bizarre apocalyptic backdrop and hoping they don't, like, glitch through the sidewalk on their way to the supermarket

the story primarily follows Tris and Noa, best friends and co-narrators..... and also Shara and Kai, not viewpoint characters but equally important :3 and it’s mostly just about these guys trying to deal with the weird apocalyptic garbage happening to them alongside their everyday lives, and about how all their individual odd little mysteries connect with each other and form a bigger, odder mystery

they have some little character intro cards and doodles and facts over here! :D

the plot? this thing got a plot, I hear you ask?

yeah! I'm always debating whether or not to leave Tris and Noa's plotlines twined together in one book or write two companion novels. There Is A Lot Going On

anyway, lots of words, ahoy

so your first key player is Tris Greer, whose parents are dicks but whose siblings are chill. most notably of said siblings there is Jacob, older brother by thirteen years, whom Tris believes is just about the coolest person on the entire planet. the Tris plotline kicks off when Jacob gets caught in the midst of a freak car accident that somehow causes him to just kind of…………….. blip out of existence entirely and without a trace?

n Tris is understandably horrified and distressed by Very Much All Of This, but hey, at least there are responsible adults who can look into this obviously Port-related weird disappearance and figure this mess out, right?

well, the relevant interdimensional authorities are brought in to suss out the situation and these authorities are kind of like “hmmmm idk about this” but are all set to take Tris at least somewhat seriously until they learn the following:

that Jacob had already been reported missing to police in his home state three days earlier

that Jacob was in the midst of several ongoing personal crises and at least one nervous breakdown

that Jacob was allegedly tangled up in some real weird shit that would more than account for a disappearance under suspicious circumstances

that Tris is schizophrenic, prone to hallucinations, confusion, memory issues and quote unquote “letting his imagination and anxiety get the better of him”, and precisely zero people can actually corroborate his story that Jacob was even there are the time of the accident to begin with

and after some back-and-forth and Looking Into The Evidence pretty much everyone in any position of authority comes to the conclusion that this is just Ordinary Regular People Crimes and whatever happened to Jacob had nothing to do with weird apocalyptic energies, and that Tris is (at best) stressed out and delusional or (at worst) lying through his teeth because he knows more than he’s letting on

so our young hero Tris is forced to hop pretty quick from “I’m sure someone will handle this” to “no one believes me but I’m sure if I can find some concrete proof they’ll listen and someone will handle it” to Well Fuck I Guess That Someone Is Me

cue bizarre reality-hopping fantasy quest into a collapsing unreality pocket dimension best descibed as "lost down the back of the universe's sofa" - which is ten times easier said than done when most of the time Tris is terrified enough just, like, going to the supermarket

he enlists the help of his new classmate Shara, amateur paranormal investigator and professional weird-bullshit enthusiast, who agrees to help him puzzle out what the fuck happened to Jacob in exchange for his assistance in mapping out Adelaide’s interdimensional “fault lines” as part of her ongoing quest to track down the source of the apocalypse

she’s got big fuckin dreams, ok, go hard or go home

slso worth noting at this point that there HAS been an uptick in Ports and their related reality-bending strangeness in Adelaide recently which is why this is of particular interest to her currently. gotta find out What Makes The Weirdness Tick, gotta find out Why The Sudden Extra Weirdness

his quest also puts him in contact with the eccentric traveling trader Kai Lancaster, peddler of interdimensionally messed-up trinkets. honestly, Kai initially gets involved in the plot because Kai just likes drama and being all up in people’s personal business. Tris brings them on board for one single afternoon like “hey I will pay you some money to come to my house and fix my fucked up phone so I can listen to an interdimensional voicemail” but forgot the apparently key addendum “and then leave”

their first three chapters of them knowing each other is basically Tris being like “stop inviting yourself into my house we are not friends” and Kai being like “that’s a rude thing to say to your friend. also your sister gave me the netflix password and I used your kitchen to bake pastries feel free to help yourself”

Kai, of course, has their own baggage to deal with, and is currently grappling with the emotional and social repercussions of losing seven years of their life to a time...... whirlpool? basically, they went into a cool abandoned house for an hour and came out to find seven years had passed and their family thinks they died :)))

but yeah so Tris’s story mostly focuses on his quest to figure out where Jacob got yeeted to and how to get him safely home, whilst also dealing with rising family tensions, whatever shifty stuff Jacob was involved with prior to his disappearance, and his own creeping doubts about his perceptions of reality

n I’m also saying flat out it’s not a plot that’s going the “oh the whole thing was just a delusion all along” route because ew

his psychosis is a fairly involved part of his character but the explorations around it are more to do with, like……… the difficulties he has in trusting himself and whether he has the luxury of letting himself get swept into some Big Weird Implausible Adventure when this has extremely different implications for him than it would someone else. n eventually to how his success and survival is not ~in spite of~ but specifically because of the different way he understands and interprets the world and the skills he’s developed

your SECOND key player is Noa Yun, who has rather a lot on her plate right now. she’s broke as fuck and her mum is sick and her car is making Noises and she’s not getting enough hours at her job at Not-IKEA-for-legal-reasons and everyone is on her back about her failing studies as if that’s a thing she has the energy or time to care about. feeling rather backed into a corner by life’s bullshit and her financial situation, she blatantly lies her way into an entry-level field job at the Department of Interdimensional Instabilities, because A) surely it can’t be THAT bad, and B) what does she have to lose?

so more or less what she’s doing is the equivalent of emergency services for Port-related weirdness, it’s going out and dealing with highly unstable otherworldly energies head on, navigating Weird Phenomena and bendy patches in reality……… it is, among other things, a job that’s relatively easy to get into because no one wants to touch it with a ten foot pole unless they absolutely have to

things kick off for her when in true Noa fashion she hurls herself into a dangerous situation to help out a coworker and gets caught up in an “overlap” where the barriers between universes are a little fucky, but hey, she seems to come out of it with nary a scratch, so it’s reasonable to assume everything is fine, right?

INCORRECT

she basically gets some whacked-out otherworldly energies latched onto her that are now following her through her everyday life, and it turns out she’s starting to bend the reality around her the way certain types of Ports do, which is! obviously not ideal! she’s not exactly a Port herself, because she’s pretty sure that’s impossible, but it’s clear capital s Something happened to her in that overlap, and she doubts it’s good news. and to make matters even more disconcerting, she’s now being dogged at every step by strange visions of a child who speaks in an unfamiliar language and who seems Real Fuckin Pissed at her

and man, she Needs this job. but also, she's surrounded by people whose job it is to eliminate and neutralise dangerous interdimensional energy - like the stuff she's now full of, which is a recipe for panic and paranoia

so her thing is basically “I acquired fucked up reality-bending powers against my will and they might be lowkey killing me ‘cause Ports are notoriously unstable like that and also I’m haunted for some godforsaken reason” which all somehow ended up being, like, the least interesting part of her plotline for me lmao

her search to find out what’s happening to her re: Weird Children, being a Port-adjacent something-or-other, and whether there’s a way to stop her own unravelling leads her to an unlikely partnership with (DII trauma counsellor? rogue computer programmer? mad scientist? general shifty bastard?) Melissa Marrick Thiele, who claims to have suffered a similar affliction in the past and now does some real interesting research ~on the down low~ about the subject. n this lady. well. she’s got some fuckin stuff going on

she definitely knows more about the nature of Ports than she should. also is she actually researching what she says she’s researching? is she really like Noa? what the fuck happened to Avery, that other kid she was supposedly helping out?

but yeah at about the same time as Noa goes “actually fuck this you’re shady as hell I’m out” she stumbles into, like, The Actual Reality of what Marrick is up to re: manipulating Ports and interdimensional doorways for her own gain, and the various ways this spells bad news not only for her but potentially for the entire city and anyone else unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire, and she shifts gear to “actually you know what I’m gonna kick your ass”

there are various reasons for this, but first and foremosterly you have to understand that Noa’s got a fuckload of pent-up rage and she will bring it in full force the moment you say some stupid shit like “some people are expendable” or “it’s inevitable for the greater good”

but yeah the main story here mostly follows Noa’s attempts to undermine Marrick, bastard supreme, and find a way to fuck her up before she goes, like, Full Cartoon Supervillain, n also like……….. Noa's attempts to keep up her work at the DII despite her rising paranoia that the teammates she’s growing to care about will notice her increasingly unstable state and the fact that she’s all tangled up with the very forces they’re meant to be thwarting. n along the way discovering the reality of what happened to her in The Aforementioned Overlap Incident and about her visions and such..... and, oh, what's this? is it all connected? of fucking course lol <3

anyway that's. words

general, for Tris, his plotline, you wanna think, like, fantasy/adventure vibes which veer pretty sharply into horror, and for Noa you wanna think…… kinda, sci-fi mystery conspiracy vibes with a dash of some superhero bullshit maybe except not really

anyway! it's equal parts “absolute nonsense hijinks and ridiculousness that doesn’t take itself too seriously” and “oh fuck oh ouch oh no my heart”.... every main character ends up safe and happy and in a much better position than they started..... lots of cheesy themes like self love, the power of connection and kindness, universes that don't care and people that do,,,,, all the good high-quality cheese

also at one point Noa does a whole cool action sequence scene with a permanent marker moustache on her face because she didn't have time to take it off and Tris uses a ceiling fan blade full of otherworldly energy as a sword and it screams loudly every time he swings it

ok thank u for reading if u read this far, please have an excellent day <3

#atdao #yes this is just a mishmash of other atdao posts where i explain parts of the question ''what is atdao about'' lmao

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julietasgf · 2 months

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Your long answers are not annoying. They make me happy 🥺 also I will be answering you today because I have free hours 😚

I saw that post of "damned by the name" and I agree the line hits hard. That makes me wonder what the choice of Sejanus' name must have been like. It may be a family thing (My grandfather was named that...) or I can see Strabo making a conscious choice because the Roman Sejanus ascends socially, was a prominent general and possessed traits he prized such as ambition and perhaps before our baby boy was born Strabo was ready for Vesta to give birth to a fearsome reflection of himself. Ah I digress

I'm on a discord where they usually make the recurring joke that the movie is President Snow's propaganda and honestly I'll start to consider it canon because leaving out the Plinth precisely was getting rid of the worst crimes Coriolanus committed.

He really took it upon himself to ruin that family and on top of that his conflict with them says too much about who he is as a person. And yes please, Sandwich scene haters club, it was horrible and obviously Snow propaganda.

A lot of people think Coriolanus is too smart but they forget he's too dumb too 😭😭, it was hilarious to me when he thought that, I was like jesus christ my brother in law you yourself went to get Sejanus out of the arena he got himself into to honor MARCUS HIS D2 CLASSMATE AND HIS HOME TRADITIONS and you're really surprised his loyalty was there? 🙄🙄

Watching Snow freak out with jealousy because his picture isn't there is my favorite hobby 🤗

I get it too and love that they explored Sejanus and Coriolanus' relationship more BUT I STILL SUFFER BC WE COULD HAVE MORE SCENES TO TRASMIT THE INCREDIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARCUS AND SEJANUS UGH!!!! 🥺

Release the 4 hour cut!!!! And it better have scenes of the Plinths and Marcus 😤😤😤😤😤

Please tell me about those parallels with Katniss and Peeta, I need to freak out about them too.

By the way I hadn't thought of it like that, Marcus embodying the best and most characteristic qualities of the districts and Coriolanus embodying the ideals of the Capitol and how they both relate to Sejanus who lives trapped between these two worlds *I scream into a pillow*

I need one day to talk about Strabo buying (directly or indirectly as you see it) Marcus just to teach Sejanus a lesson because I think a normal amount about what HAPPENED AT THE PLINTH HOUSE WHEN SEJANUS HEARS ABOUT IT.

*I pull out my wallet* I join the cause. Please Suzanne.

I know she knows, she probably wrote a whole backstory for Marcus that's in some notebook and she should share it with us

YESSSSSSS, YESSSSS EXACTLY BUDDIE UWU

You described perfectly how horrible the zoo scene was from Marcus' perspective, and that interpretation of why he decided not to talk to Sejanus or ask for his help seems very fitting to me, it's canon I swore it

Damn i'ts true, THEY ARE A REVERSAL OF LG AND SNOW AND YES PLEASE EVERY TIME I THINK OF MARCUS HOPING TO END UP LIKE THAT, I LOSE MY HEAD AND MY HEART BREAKS.

The THG characters are special and cool but for some reason I became a little more obsessed with the TBOSAS characters. Is it the tragedy and lack of hope? Who knows

Brazil 🤝 Mexico

Warn every time a colonizer speaks

Also thank you, thank you

I adore that every song I have recommended you have liked and that you can also see THE VISION that is the reasons why I think that song is so Sejanus, like YES buddie understand me

I guess I could recommend songs in English but it's more fun to recommend songs in Spanish just because yes even if I have few in my playlist of Sejanus - Snowjanus etc HAHAHAHAHA

With that I love that Coriolanus loses his head for Sejanus I'll leave you:

Soda Stereo- No existes

Pd: Coriolanus if he wasn't gringo, he is very argentinian coded JUST TELLING

omg you saying this makes me so happy you don't have idea, it's so sweet 😭

yes!!! doomed by the name hits so hard because it reminded me a lot of cien años de soledad, which I've read like some months ago, and the trope of characters not being able to escape the fate that their NAMES carry is so powerful (and so common too, actually; my mom has this thought that names are more powerful than what we think, so she actually searched up mine and my sister's meaning, just to be sure). now, I personally think that sejanus' name came from before him (if I had to guess, a grandfather), but the idea of strabo searching up the meaning and being pleased with it bc of the story behind it. (also, it's heartbreaking the idea that strabo was probably excited for having a son, but he had this very specific idea of what he wanted in a son, and as the years passed by, sejanus got more and more soft, and strabo more and more disappointed, and just UGH)

PLSSSSSS they're so right 😭 you know when at elementary school in history class we usually get the more censored version of brutal historical things that happened? to me that's what the movie is. I was very annoyed at how coriolanus' character got so much better, but not because of him being better himself, but because every other single character got toned down or just straight up got worse than in the book. I mean, clemensia? lysistrata? sejanus? even tigris I feel like they toned her down a bit. the feeling I got, at least, is that coriolanus was made much more likeable than he is in the books, and not only regarding the fact that we don't have his internal monologue, but also because toning down the other good characters, he doesn't seem that bad actually. and again, removing the plinths didn't make explicit how FUCKED UP it was what he did (it rlly reminded me of the song brutus yk, "I don't want what you have, I wanna be you", and plus, the fact that in the book he mocks how sejanus calls his mother ma just to then he himself call her ma after getting her son dead is SOMETHING ELSE)

the sandwich scene is the most remarkable regarding this, because coriolanus taking the sandwich himself to the zoo (and in the movie it being HIS idea) made the purpose of the scene so different than what it was meant to be. coriolanus in the movie is almost sweet to me.

CORIOLANUS IS SO DENSE SOMETIMES 😭 it's the way he'll actually do something smart to then think the most stupid assumptions about lg or sejanus. like, are you getting just now that sejanus' loyalty is with his district and the people he left back home in D2??? coriolanus being jealous over marcus is really something I wish the fandom explored more, there's so much potential for that possessive pathetic man ☝️ especially because it doesn't matter if coriolanus thinks so high of himself, because marcus and sejanus have a conection he'll never have: they're from the same place. they shared the same culture and traditions and that's something coriolanus can really never get to compete at because he simply CAN'T and it would make him foam.

I wish we could've at least have gotten the backstory of marcus helping sejanus with his hurt finger 😭 AT LEASTTTT it wouldn't be enough but it would be something at least (even though I would kill just for the class pic of baby sejanus and baby marcus)

AAAAAA OKAY SO, I have read so many interesting threads and posts about their parallels, but my favorite one is the fact that the first time katniss met peeta was when she was a child and she was hungry, and peeta left the bread behind so she could eat it. they never talked before, and they never talked again until the games, but katniss held this memory with her. it have been so much time, but peeta was kind to her, and he was a boy she never met who was still kind and it marked her enough for her to remember him after so many years. and this DRIVES ME INSANE because it's almost the same storyline we see with sejanus and marcus, and I wonder if it was on purpose or what.

OH MY GOD, PLEASE DO TALK ABOUT IT BC I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW PPL DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT THAT MUCH. like. at a certain point, I understand some of strabo plinth's decisions, I really do, even though most of them are very much not the best. betraying your district for your family's safety and better life? I can see it. but the fact that he got a boy on the hunger games, a boy his son remembered dearly from his childhood, just to teach him a lesson was something else. when I read this, I was thinking what the fuck is wrong with that guy, because genuinely, WHY??? what exactly did he think that was going to happen after it??? if anything, it radicalized sejanus EVEN MORE. but anyway, I do also wonder what happened in that house after the reaping. oh god, poor ma, because she was probably the one trying to keep things calm.

I also do take it as canon since I saw it ☝️ specially when you stop to think that marcus was the only one to not take a sandwich. okay that sejanus says that the plinths are despised in D2, but sabyn, the other tribute from D2, took the sandwich. whatever marcus had going on inside his mind, it was very personal for him to not even react or anything.

I think you hit the nail talking about the tragedy and lack of hope. also, I rlly like that tbosas feels like a twisted fairy tale to me.

HELPP I can't stop remember when a writer on tiktok was showing their translation of the book they wrote and they referred to the european spanish and portuguese translations as EUROPEAN MEXICAN and EUROPEAN BRAZILIAN (and you know what? they were so right actually)

I love it!!! actually, thank you for sending me the songs, I love them so much and love even more connecting characters to songs <33 and I absolutely understand, especially bc I feel like most songs ppl use to associate with characters are so overused (which is not bad by itself, I love associating characters with mitski for example, but GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW, specially songs that are from singers who don't sing in english)

the song is so coriolanus and his possessive ass, and it's even more funny because marcus is literally dead, and if coriolanus saw the pic before he got sejanus killed he for sure would have a beef with a man who is DEAD. also, la polaroid sobre la silla is so so specific but SO GENIUS IN THIS SCENARIO I love you so much

I'M SCREAMING, HELP, BUT YOU'RE SO RIGHT- this is even more funny bc once I saw a video on tiktok that compared countries in latam to the districts, and the person put the capitol as argentina 😭 it would be so fun an au where every single character is from latam (why? just 'cause yes) and lgb and sejanus make fun of him bc coriolanus grew up with his grandma saying his family is more european than anything and the first time they hear him repeating stuff like that they're WHEEZING

#tbosas #tbosas movie #coriolanus snow #president snow #sejanus plinth #anon ask #anon #marcus tbosas #sejarcus #marcus my beloved you'll always be famous #my silly thoughts

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