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los-ninos-tortugas · 10 months

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Time for some "Set a Course for Home" angst (also this thing fought me tooth and nail for real for real. I had to rewrite it so many times)

I don't normally do Hurt no Comfort but I'm feeling particularly evil >:3c

~~~~~

Donnie's in good company, all things considered. He's a lost kid, on a lost ship, with its lost crew. Donnie doesn't really do feelings, that's Mikey's area of expertise. But Donnie doesn't need to be Doctor Feelings to know that there's a subtle miasma of melancholy that pervades the ship.

Most days it's pretty imperceptible, buried beneath work, exploration, and seeing things no other starship has such that the camaraderie of another day gone by is just enough to forget just how many days there are still left ahead.

But sometimes there are no new planets to explore, or the work is simple tedium that keeps the hands busy but not the mind, when there's nothing to do but fly in a straight line through space, camaraderie starts to look a lot more like commiseration.

Donnie learned very quickly that when these sorts of dry spells occur, Neelix takes his role as "Morale Officer" very seriously. This is typically marked by a sudden increase in Earth based recipes appear in the mess hall, holidays celebrated whether or not it's actually the time of year for them, and a myriad of other activities he claims "brings home a little bit closer." Neelix's perpetually chipper disposition seems to have a polarizing effect on the crew. Some do seem to find it a genuine balm to their nerves, while others find it all the more grating since the man has never been to Earth and has no idea what he's missing.

Donnie is not really in either camp, he tends to just take a page from Tuvok's book and just ignores Neelix whenever he doesn't particularly feel like engaging with him. Which is how Donnie finds himself now, in the mess hall sitting a little ways away from a group of the former camp. Not really participating but present nonetheless. Really the reason Donnie doesn't move is because the mess hall has the best windows for viewing the stars.

The crew didn’t quite share his enthusiasm for stargazing, fair enough, they see them every day. Donnie on the other hand grew up in a sewer beneath one of the most light polluted cities on the planet, sue him if he likes looking at the stars up close and personal. The light from these stars would take years to reach Earth, but he can see them right in front of him now. Vaguely, he wonders how old these stars are. He wonders if when he got back to his own time, he’d be able to find a spot with his brothers, where the night sky was clear and glittering, if he could point out which stars he saw out here in the Delta quadrant. Logically, he knows he couldn’t pinpoint the exact stars with his limited view on Earth but it’s still nice to think he could share even a little bit of what he’s gotten to experience here.

So Donnie curls up on a plush chair he dragged over by the window and watches them go by. He gives a few of them names just for fun, and even makes a private game of making up new constellations as quick as he can before the ship completely whizzes by them. All in all he’s just chilling, meanwhile the group over by the couches and low tables seem to be having a pretty nice time as well. Chatting and giggles echo over from their spot. Donnie’s not sure who all is there, he hasn’t learned the name of everyone on the ship, but he recognizes the voices of Harry Kim, Tom Paris, and B’Elanna Torres. Those three are never seen too far from each other when they’re off duty.

Donnie isn’t super paying attention to what it is they’re talking about, but he’s gleaned enough to know they’re talking about Earth, which he’s mildly sure that they’re supposed to watch their mouths around him about that because of the ‘Temporal Prime Directive’ or whatever. Evidently it seems whatever it is about Earth they’re talking about right now has been deemed safe for the space time continuum.

Apparently so safe that Tom actually steps out of their little conversation bubble to bring Donnie into it.

“Hey kiddo,” he says as he sidles up to Donnie. Tom offers him a glass of what turns out to be ginger ale. Not his favorite but he’ll take it. “You wanna keep brooding over here all by your lonesome or do you wanna come over there and show off a little?”

“First of all, I’m not ‘brooding’ as you say, I’m stargazing. Second of all, show off how?” Alright so he’s taking the bait. In a time where people do pre-calc in kindergarden the chances for him to show off don’t come quite as often as back home, so he’ll take them where he can get them.

“Well the gang over there is quizzing me on ancient Earth trivia- I consider myself a little bit of an expert on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.”

“My century qualifies as ancient to you?” he asks incredulously. Tom puts his hands up in mock surrender.“Listen I just figure, what better way to test how much of an expert I really am than by having someone from that time judge my knowledge. C’mon, whaddaya say?” Tom smirks as he jerks a thumb back towards the little circle behind him.

Donnie matches the smug look with one of his own, "Alright, bet."

"We're not betting, Donnie, just a friendly trivia game."

"Aaand you have already lost points, if you consider yourself an expert but you don't even know the slang then you're in trouble."

Tom rolls his eyes as they rejoin the group.

"Keep in mind," Donnie says, taking his seat, "nothing after 2020, that's as far as I know."

Even Donnie has to admit, Tom's knowledge is quite impressive. Though for a hobbyist Donnie has no idea why Tom knows the chemical composition of gasoline off the top of his head. His movie knowledge is truly encyclopedic (though frustratingly no one brings up any Lou Jitsu or Jupiter Jim movies, there's no accounting for taste it seems). If he does miss something it's usually little things, like when people actually said "groovy."

Things go like that for a while, the topics always sticking towards light things like technology and pop-culture, until one science officer pipes up with:

"Alright Tom, what was the name of Khan's escape ship?"

Tom suddenly looks like he bit right into a lemon. "Hey, there's a kid here, keep it light wouldya? Also that's not fair he wouldn't know that anyway, no one knew until Kirk found it."

Donnie has the distinct feeling of missing some piece of the puzzle here, apparently they've broached some sort of taboo subject?

Donnie desperately wants to ask for someone to elaborate, but the moment has passed. The science officer, thoroughly cowed by the apparent impropriety of her question quickly changes it to a new subject, which Tom quickly rattles off the correct answer to. And so it goes on.

~~~~~~~

Later, long after everyone else has gone to bed or taken up their night-shift duties, Donnie sits alone by the window. His data PADD is held loosely in his grip. He's just barely able to keep a hold of it as he fights back his body's urge to tremble.

He's been researching for a while.

He got curious after the little game ended. He looked up the name 'Khan.' He found a legacy of war, bloodshed, and tyranny. He found humanity at its darkest hour. He finds a history that isn't his.

Donnie's favorite subject has never been history but he knows that these... Eugenics Wars never happened.

He thought he time traveled. They all thought he time traveled. Donnie curls and hugs his knees to his chest as cold realization washes over him. This is not the future of his reality. He is not in his reality.

The stars fly by in streaking blurs of light out the window. Their light will take years to reach an Earth he was not born on.

Donnie brushes his cheek and his fingers come away wet as the truth of his situation crashes down.

He is a lost, lost kid, on a lost starship, flying through stars that are not his, and home has never been so far away.

Next -> (tba)

#set a course for home #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donatello #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt fanfiction #rottmnt crossover #star trek fic #star trek #star trek voyager #star trek crossover #tom paris #harry kim #b'elanna torres #neelix #ficlet #katnip writes

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r1ntaros · 3 years

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Sweet Escape //Choi San [2]

[1] [2]

Pairing: mafia boss!san x fem!reader

Genre: fluff, angst, mafia au

Word Count: 5.7k

Warnings: usage of drugs, mentions of alcohol consumption, cursing, mentions of weapons

Summary: Going back home feels dreadful as he knows that his freedom will no longer be his by the time he sets foot in the place he grew up once again. San is desperate, for the first time in years, to have someone save him even if it’s in a form of an angel-looking beauty that hides the darkness from within.

Author's Note: Part 2 is finally here and I'm sad to say that this is where it ends.. Also, some names are made up by me hehe! Enjoy!

Masterlist

San has never felt so free and it’s all thanks to y/n.

It wasn’t long when he realized that he did, in fact, grew to love y/n as a friend then escalated into something more quickly. He knew by the time he realized that he had to get rid of it quickly before he ended up actually hurting himself. But here he is, sitting in front of her at dinner, watching her talk about herself in admiration.

He couldn’t help but smile as he notices her small mannerism like how she uses her hands to make her stories more exaggerated, how she snaps her fingers when she remembers something important.. or snap in front of San’s face to get his focus once again to which she perfectly did so.

“Sannie, are you okay? You’ve tuned out in the middle of my story telling.” She huffs with a pout and crosses her arms in her chest. He couldn't help but laugh, muttering an apology as he cut a part of his steak and put it in her mouth to emphasize his apology.

She obviously lit up, eating the slice and said after chewing with a clap, “Thanks, bestie. That’s really good!”

“I know, it tastes extravagant.”

“It really does, probably different from what I used to have back home.” She said, spinning some pasta on her fork only to give it to San as an exchange.

“Okay, that pasta tastes really good as well.”

“I know right? Carbonara really is the best!”

Y/n started to inhale her food more and so did San. They were eating quietly, the silence engulfing them is very comfortable as if they’ve known each other for a long time to be like this in each other’s company. However, the silence didn’t last as y/n spoke, “Sannie, I hope this is not crossing the line but may I ask why you decided to take this trip alone?”

San could only offer her a small smile and he wiped his mouth, ready to speak when y/n added, “It’s okay you don’t have to ans—”

“I’m getting married after this trip.”

He doesn’t know if his eyes are playing tricks but he saw how her eyes became downcast, “Oh..” was all she muttered before eating her food once again.

San, however, took this as a sign to continue, “My father is a really powerful man, pulling some string in favor of other people’s success. There’s this lady that he did a huge favor to which she’ll pay the price with her daughter’s life.”

It seemed to gain y/n’s interest, her eyes telling him to continue, “He decided to set me up in an arranged marriage. Trust me when I say I don’t like it at all.”

“And yet you agreed to it?”

“I have no choice, I’ll accept his conditions or else I’ll..” San contemplated for a while whether to tell if he’ll get himself possibly killed once he declined his father’s decisions. But he thinks y/n is so much of an angel to know how dark the world can be.

“You’ll get what, Sannie?” She urges, looking at him with wide eyes making him sigh, “I’ll gain no inheritance from him.”

“That’s so fucked up.”

San couldn’t help but laugh wholeheartedly at the grimace painted in her face as he agrees with her words. Little did she know that his whole world is entirely fucked up and what he told her is just a .001% of everything.

“How about you, little y/n? Why did you decide to go on a trip alone?”

She scowled at his remarks only to receive a laugh from San, “Fuck you, I’m not little. You’re just tall. And to answer your question, let’s just say my mom and my sister don't specifically want me to be around during their planning for the big thing.”

“Care to elaborate what does that mean?”

“My sister is getting married to this..” She gestures her hands vaguely as if trying to find the right word, “Big shot type of a man’s son and they’re meeting him for the preparations in the wedding.”

“Huh? What does it have to do with them sending you away?”

“They said and I quote ‘We don’t want you to meet your sister’s father-in-law because we don’t know what you can do.’ Like what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are they expecting me to seduce a fucking 50-year old man?”

San couldn’t help but let out an amused chuckle, “Or maybe you’re too pretty to be around that it’ll make your sister’s father-in-law change his mind to get you to marry his son instead?” He tried to offer lightheartedly and it seemed to work as y/n beamed at him happily.

“So they’re threatened?” She asked, giggling in amusement.

“Yes, maybe they are.”

“Well they should be,” She said and stood up from her seat, San following her actions, “Come on, let’s go up the deck for the last time since this trip is coming to an end.”

San wished she didn’t have to remind him.

The both of them were sitting on deck, the same place where they first talked almost 3 months ago. They bask in silence, y/n sitting beside San with his blazer draped on her lap. They stare at the darkness around them, carefully listening to the waves crashing on the ship’s walls. It made San think about the time he endlessly has to catch her everytime she accidentally slips on the ship’s stairs after their usual afternoon swim in one of the pools.

How she drunkenly volunteered to sing that one night only for her to make San realize that she possesses the voice of an angel. How San was able to show her his competitive side while playing tekken with her on the lounge room, not caring about the weird stares people gave them for being too noisy and how they cuddled the night after their shenanigans, watching netflix and eating whatever snack is available for them to eat.

San giggled at the memory, startling y/n.

“What’s so funny?” She asked, tilting her head curiously to the side and San had to stop himself from pinching her cheeks because of how cute she is.

“Remember that one night when we were eating dinner and that old couple approached us, asking if we’re on honeymoon?”

She couldn’t help but giggle as well while nodding her head, “I was so flustered I accidentally said yes. But hey, at least we got free dessert!”

A solemn smile made its way to his face, “How I wish it was really true.”

Y/n could possibly get a whiplash with how fast she looked at San, eyes full of shock, “San? What do you mean?”

“I like you, y/n.” He said, taking a deep sigh, “Fuck I know it’s too fast but you made it so easy for me to fall in love with you in a span of those months we have spent together.”

“Sannie, I—”

“Ever since then, I dreamt of nothing but being able to hold you and get you involved with the way I lived. I want to bring you with me to the future and spend every remaining time with you that the present has to offer. I want to be able to kiss you, to be able to hug you freely in front of my family and my friends..”

He looked at her in the eye, “I want to be with you, y/n.”

A tear slipped her eyes as she looked at him, not knowing what to say. She wants to tell him how she wants the same. How she’s been craving for his loving touch and how she wants him to cuddle her without looking too needy.

But y/n fought all those thoughts as she thought that everything was escalating too fast between the two of them.

And aside from that, he’s getting married. Fuck. San is..

“Sannie, you’re getting married. I.. we.. we can’t.. I don’t know how I—”

San was shaking his head, trying to grab her hands in his. He refuses to believe that he’s getting married. Refused the fact that after this, he’ll no longer spend his life by himself. Instead, he’ll be spending it with someone he doesn’t know.

Someone who doesn’t possess the same attractive feature as her. Someone who he thinks he won’t love the way he loves y/n. Someone who is not her..

Someone who is not y/n.

And it pains him terribly in his heart and his mind.

San let out an incredulous laugh after his realization sinked in, “Yeah.. you’re right.” He nods his head as if agreeing to what she said, “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I must be out of my head. I’m gonna take my leave.”

He stood up from where he was seated making y/n alarmed, “Sannie wait hear me out—”

“Good bye, y/n.”

And that night, he left her for the first time in the darkness alone with tears heavily falling down her eyes, sobbing uncontrollably with longingness not knowing that San also left his heart along with her leaving him empty and dull because of the pain. The next morning, y/n feels her body is too heavy for her to get up and leave the ship especially after what happened last night.

She never got to see San again once he left her all alone at the deck and she never got back to her room as well which leads her to her current situation, walking barefooted along the ship’s stay-in rooms and lost in her thoughts but she knows she has to move quick as the ship near docking on the port.. at least that’s what the staff who woke her up told her though.

She was passing by San’s room when the door suddenly opened to reveal San in his god-like glory. They made eye contact for a while only for the male to look away, dragging his suitcase behind him which made y/n to continue her walk to her own room. Only when they created enough distance that y/n remembered his coat still slung on her shoulders.

She frantically made her turn, “San!”

The male visibly froze at the end of the hallway but at least he spared y/n a glance which she considered as a win.

The soft patter of her feet was frantic as she removed the blazer hanging on her shoulders and gave it to the rightful owner, “T-This is yours.. thank you.”

San grabbed the blazer on her hand and he started to walk away once again when y/n spoke, “Safe travels, San.”

He muttered a quick ‘you too’ before turning his way out, not sparing her a glance anymore.

She let out a deep sigh and proceeded to her room to clean herself and change her clothes, thankful that she already packed her things the day before. After she does so, she pulls her luggage along with her, just in time to hear that the ship has successfully docked.

Knowing what was already waiting for her, she immediately went straight through the port’s waiting area where she saw far more men in black suits that acted as bodyguards guarding seven other men who looked like they were waiting for someone to come down. Looks like someone important, she thought but she proceeded to walk until she saw her own bodyguard and personal driver who offered her a warm smile.

“Hey there, little baby. How’s the trip?”Junseo, her bodyguard and somehow someone who acted as her brother, asked as he pats her head. She just offered him a small smile and answered timidly, “It was fun, but shit went down yesterday.”

“Awe, what happened?”

She shook her head softly and it’s enough of a message for him to know that she doesn’t want to talk about it. He nodded in understanding and spoke once again, “The private jet your mom sent is already waiting at the airport. They said you can go grab some lunch first if you want to but they can serve you one in the jet if you don’t want to eat here on land.”

“Let’s just go to the airport, I want to rest.” Was all she said and proceeded to enter the car.

Junseo sighed and nodded his head, muttering a ‘shit really went that bad?’ under his breath and entered the car.

Meanwhile, in a safe distance, San had his eyes on her as if guarding her carefully in the last minutes only to be snapped by Seonghwa back to reality.

“You’re awfully spacing out again. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Seonghwa huffs in annoyance.

“Sorry, what was it?”

“I said, we have to leave. And that the wedding will be held next week.” His best friend rolled his eyes at him and he made eye contact with Hongjoong who was staring at him intently, making him raise his eyebrows which the latter just promptly answered with a shake of his head.

They left the place quickly in order and as the distance to the airport continues to decrease, he knows that along with it is his heart continuously breaking into two.

Successfully arriving in Korea, y/n braced herself into another 3 hours travel time which made her catch up with everything she had missed.

Junseo had said that the wedding has been perfectly planned already and that it’ll be grand. A lot of money has been placed on it as well and that she’ll be the maid of honor. But aside from those, there’s one thing she’s curious about.

“Who is she going to marry anyways?” She cut off Junseo in the middle of his rambling and he looked a bit startled by it but he quickly answered, “I think it’s like Choi.. something?”

“Choi..?”

“Yeah, you know that one huge mafia group right? The one who was led by the Choi’s. He has a son who will be next in line and I heard that he won’t lead the mafia unless he agrees to his father’s terms.”

“And that is to marry my sister?” Y/n supplies with a raise of her brow.

Junseo nodded as a confirmation, “Yeah that one or else he’ll get killed.” He then tapped her driver’s arm, “Jaeseok, what’s the name of the man again?”

“Choi Shan? Choi Sang? I don’t..” She pales at the close proximity of the name to her San. But on the other hand, she never got to know what San’s real name is.

“Choi San?” Y/n asked with uncertainty.

Jaeseok nodded his head enthusiastically as if she answered a million dollar question. Her eyes widened as she slaps Junseo’s arm, earning a shout of surprise from the other.

“Do you have a picture of him, Junseo?”

Junseo pulled out his phone and did a few taps on the screen to show him a photo of San, making her heart sink. “Fuck..” She mutters weakly and gives the phone back to Junseo.

“What’s wrong, y/n?” The bodyguard asked with concern.

She lets out a deep sigh and tells them what happened during the trip, Junseo and Jaeseok listening intently to her story. When she reached the end of it, the two boys let out a deep sigh. They were quiet for a while with y/n dreading deep on her feelings, regretting why she didn’t tell him that she liked.. in fact love him that night.

The silence was broken by Jaeseok and the tone of his voice hinted something, “My girlfriend is your sister’s stylist for the wedding though.”

“What the fuck was that supposed to mean, dude?”

“Well we can pull some strings and get y/n to marry Choi San instead.” Jaeseok said with a shrug and he adds, “Don’t look at me like that and stop pretending like we haven’t actually plotted anything evil before. Remember when we decided to knock out the guy who forced y/n to date him by putting some sleeping drugs on his wine?”

Y/n couldn’t help but laugh as she fits herself in between the gap of the seats, “So what’s your plan, Mr. Clever Pants?”

“Just put your sister on sleeping drugs too, just enough for her to not wake up during the whole ceremony.”

Junseo seemed confused, “How are we going to..?”

“Also, don’t you think it’s time for y/n to have an exposure? Y/n is older by a year yet she’s the one who was hidden by Ms. Han, even giving her her actual father’s last name. So it only makes sense that Choi San is supposed to be married to y/n because she was pregnant with her by the time she made the deals with the devil.” Jaeseok logically explained and y/n flinched at that fact.

Everything makes sense now.

“And besides, he didn’t specify which daughter too so both y/n and Ayeon are qualified. But y/n should be on the winning case since Ms. Han was carrying her as a baby that time.”

The car went silent for a while and Junseo made a turn to look at y/n only to see a devilish smirk plastered on her face as she was already looking at him. Junseo knows her all to well. She agrees with the plan. The bodyguard only sighed and pulled out his phone to call someone, “Hello, Yunho? Yes, it’s me Junseo, your cousin. Can you do me a quick favor?”

It’s been six days since San went home and since he last saw y/n as well. The wedding is tomorrow. In a span of those days, his friends never failed to miss that their friends had a little bit of change in his composure. He seemed more broken and vulnerable and they decided to leave it for a while until Hongjoong could no longer take it and took the matters in his own hands.

So long story short, the boys already knew about y/n, and are trying to use their connections to look for her whereabouts just so the two can reconnect with each other.

No one was successful except Yunho, of course, especially after his cousin called while he was on his way home to Gwangju and sadly parted ways with San already.

Yunho, out of all seven, has met y/n immediately four days after his cousin’s phone call. She works fast, even faster than Yunho himself. He found out about everything, even y/n’s side of the story and provided them with what they needed and also helped them plan for the big thing as well.

He was supposed to meet them once again for finalization but San had begged them to come over to spend the last days of his, Yunho quotes as he said, “bachelorship” to which he thinks is too dramatic for his friend and then proceeds to remember that he knows nothing about the plan.

They were currently playing a dangerous game of darts that instead of throwing darts itself, they throw pocket knives on the dart board. They just went on with a round of it before deciding that they should just let themselves get drunk.

Yunho poured himself a drink in a glass and slumped beside San then they clink their glasses together before continuing to down the shot. It seethes on their throats, feeling the burn of it. After recovering with the shot, he placed his hands on San’s thighs, “What’s your plan dude?”

San looked at him, confused, “What do you mean by what’s my plan? I’m getting married tomorrow, dude.”

“Well do you not have plans to meet or look for y/n at least?”

The black-haired male sighed and ran a hand on his hair, “There’s no use, Yunho. She doesn’t want me the way I want her. Heck, she even pointed out that I’m getting married when I told her what I felt that night.”

Yunho pats his thigh as he had let out a deep sigh himself, “Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding?” Yunho knows it is.

“Even if it is, there’s no use in looking for her. I’m getting married tomorrow.”

“Damn it, Sannie. It’s hard to be you.” Yunho said chuckling a little bit and poured their empty glasses some more whiskey. “Since you said it yourself, you’re getting married tomorrow so there’s no harm in enjoying your last night as a single man until we reached our limits, right?”

San roamed his eyes to look at his other friends with their glasses of whiskey raised up and San couldn’t help but smile as he raised his own glass as well.

Wooyoung cheered, “Let’s get drunk tonight, yeah!”

They all laughed at their best friend’s antics and San couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. He’s thankful for them.

The day has arrived.

Everyone was busy doing their last minute preparations. They decided to just hold the wedding in a private place but it’s still grandiose despite being so secluded, away from the public’s eyes.

On the other hand, the bride was too busy preparing herself for her big day. She was excited to experience this whole new world, expecting San to be an easy husband and fall for her immediately. Ayeon was in the middle of her pampering when a knock was heard on her door.

“Come in!” She answered enthusiastically.

The door opened only to reveal her sister, making her mood drop as the smile on her lips became a frown, “What the fuck do you want, bitch?”

Y/n just chuckled and went inside the room, “Just want to check up on you.”

“And why is that so?”

“Why,” Y/n said as she took a seat on one of the seats near the vanity, “Can I not see my baby sister before she gets sent off? Look after her as she steals everything away from me for the last time?”

Ayeon raised a brow and looked at y/n, “Are you out of your mind? What are you saying? Me? Stealing everything away from you?”

Y/n nodded enthusiastically and she stood up, going behind Ayeon and proceeded to comb her hair. She noticed her little sister stiffened a bit and she had to suppress a smirk, “I’m not out if my mind, Ayeonie.” She giggled and placed the brush on the side and leaned down her sister’s ear level, “In fact, don’t you think it’s my time to finally shine?”

A chilly feeling went through Ayeon’s spine as she looked at her sister through the mirror, the devilish smirk on her face was enough for her to shake in fear but it was soon replaced by a gentle smile.

What a two-faced bitch, she thought.

Y/n pats her little sister’s head, “Eat your breakfast well, Ayeonie. I’ll be taking my leave to prepare as well. I hope you enjoy the rest of the days.” She said as she opened the door, just in time to let the personal assistant to enter the room and serve her sister’s breakfast.

She couldn’t help but smirk as she made her way through where the wedding gown is settled, excited to wear it herself.

—

Y/n was, so far, enjoying the passing hours of the day before the wedding starts. She’s currently in the room assigned as her place to stay with Junseo and his cousin Yunho. They were talking about random things, specifically everything relatable and the similarities of their childhood.

They were sipping their red wines as they basked in the sun passing through the curtains, laughing out wholeheartedly.

Yunho then spoke after taking a sip on his wine glass, “When we were kids, San used to have a thing for collecting flowers.”

“Collecting flowers? Why?” Y/n asked, curiosity and amusement laced in her voice.

Yunho lets out a deep chuckle as he shook his head, “San never met his mother since she died after giving birth to him. It’s Seonghwa hyung’s mom who raised him and they always visit his mother’s grave. San noticed how Seonghwa hyung’s mom always leaves flowers on his mother’s grave and little Sannie just thought that ‘hey, maybe that flower is my mom!’ He thought of it like an offering to make his mother magically appear out of nowhere.”

Y/n couldn’t help the sad smile that appeared on her face, “That’s so wholesome.. yet sad..”

Yunho nodded in agreement as he continued to speak, “After finding out that his mother will no longer appear, no matter what, San never welcomes any women in his life thinking that they’ll also disappear just like how his mother was taken away from him without even letting him meet her.”

“The world is too cruel for him.” Y/n said solemnly as she stared at the red liquid in her glass.

“It really is, so imagine his pain when he thought you don’t feel the same for him.” Yunho said it so casually but it felt like y/n was hit by a ton of bricks.

“He thought I rejected him?”

“My friend is too much of a fool himself. I told him that it may just be an understanding but, eh, he’s stubborn.”

Y/n stared at Yunho for a while before she goes to speak, “Yunho, I—”

Suddenly, the door frantically opened, revealing Jaeseok and his girlfriend who’s panting harshly but the excitement in their eyes is evident.

“Y/n! The drug has taken effect, we locked Ayeon in her room. Come on, let’s get you glammed up!”

—

Preparing y/n did not take up too much time since she finished her makeup beforehand. Jaeseok’s girlfriend just did her hair, retouched the colors on her face and helped her wear the wedding gown.

When they were done, she looked at herself in the mirror, “Wow..”

“Really wow, y/n. It suits you more than it does to Ayeon. When she fitted that I couldn’t help but grimace because it doesn't suit her physique.”

“Well I guess I’m really meant to get married today.” She joked making laughter bounce through the room.

Mirae suddenly clapped and went through the bed where the veil lies and helps her put it on. “The fabric used for that veil is thicker than usual veils so they won’t recognize that it’s you.”

Y/n flashed her a smile, “Mirae, thank you so much for working hard.”

“You’re welcome bubs, it’s for you. Now let’s go, the wedding is about to start!”

—

They arrived at the wedding hall just in time before the wedding started. Y/n wasn’t able to hold a conversation with her own mom to which she was thankful or else she could’ve blown her cover.

The wedding march wasn’t that time consuming since only a few important people were asked to join the entourage. She started to feel nervous, her hands becoming clammy as she counted a slow 1,2,3 when the door opened, revealing the inside of the venue.

At the end, on the altar, was San. Her San, looking so different yet still dashingly handsome with his black hair slicked back, jaw tight and a serious expression in his face. Y/n started to walk, making sure that it’s not too slow or too fast.

The one to receive her hand in the middle of her march was Yunho which made her feel at ease a little bit. Even if they only met a few days ago, she couldn't decline the fact that Yunho has bought an oddly calming presence for her.

By the time they reached the altar, San, without a clue that it’s her, took her hand in Yunho’s hold and planted a kiss on it.

She knew she shouldn’t blow her cover but she couldn’t help but giggle at the gesture and she whispered, “Hi Sannie.”

San snaps his head towards her, eyes wide. He recognizes that voice. In the same volume, he whispered back, “Y/n?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“You’re Ms. Han’s daughter? I.. I thought your sister..”

“Shh, Sannie. The less we talk the faster we will be wedded.”

“Wait aren’t you supposed to remove your veil?” San whispered again making her elbow him at his side, shushing him.

“I can’t risk blowing my cover, I’m doing things illegally.” She answered making her groom pout, clearly unsatisfied. “But I want to see your pretty face.”

“Later, baby, when we kiss.” She answered back and it seemed to make San content as he finally shut up and they focused on the ceremony as it proceeded.

The whole thing was too fast, she did a lot of things like changing her voice and mimicking her sister’s mannerism so it wouldn’t be suspicious. But she knows she has to reveal herself to the public.

“Groom, you may now kiss the bride.”

And there it is.

San faced her with a smile on his face, “Now?” He asked, looking like an excited puppy. He was about to lift the veil when she stopped her.

“Wait, a few warnings, things will get messy.”

San smirked, “I know.”

With that, San lifted her veil, and she was met by an eyes full of love and happiness from the man in front of her. She couldn’t resist it anymore as she pulled him by the neck, kissing him full of love and want, to which San returned back as well.

Just as they pulled away from the kiss, her mother caused a scene, “You’re not Ayeon, where’s Ayeon?”

A collective gasp can be heard but she ignored it and nonchalantly answered, “Sleeping.”

The veins on her mom’s neck started to pop out, “What did you do to—”

Her mother’s exploding tantrums only stopped when San’s father placed a hand on her shoulder and calmly asked y/n, “Darling, who are you?”

She gave her mom a nasty look and said, “Wow, mom, you hid me so well. Too afraid to expose me because you know I’ll steal Ayeon’s spotlight and your lovely youngest daughter will be left with nothing?” She laughed in disbelief and proceeded to answer the question directed at her earlier, “I’m y/n l/n, Han Siwoo’s eldest daughter. She was carrying me when she made that deal with you.”

“Don’t believe her, Mr. Choi, she’s lying!” Her mom said but the panic in her eyes was enough message about the unveiling of the truth.

“If I’m lying is what I’m currently doing, then what do you call your own actions, Ms. Han?” She felt herself slipping into anger but she was held on her ground when she felt her husband squeeze her hand.

“You’ve destroyed my life ever since I was born, don’t you think it’s time for me to repay you in kind? Besides, the truth is more powerful than the lies you put up in people's minds. Even if Ayeon is in my place right now, everyone will still know the truth.” Y/n said and she added, “And besides, Mr. Choi didn’t specify which daughter right? Me and Ayeon are both qualified, it’s just that she’s not as clever as I am.”

She then glanced at San’s father, offering the man a smile, “It’s up to our decision on who you will believe, Mr. Choi. It’s either you kill me or kill her.”

Mr. Choi held his gaze at y/n for a while, the lady answering him back with the same intense stare until he decided to look away and look at y/n’s mother. “Ms. Han, you and your dirty lies.”

“Mr. Choi, I—”

“I thought when you offered your child in exchange, you'd give me your first born.”

“Ayeon is—”

“ I want the truth.” Mr Choi’s voice was dominant, leaving no space for any other argument.

She visibly deflates, “My second born.. Ayeon is my second born.”

The whole venue was quiet for a while and y/n couldn’t help but smirk, “Finally decided to reveal the truth huh. I’ve been waiting for 22 years.”

Whispers can be heard to the venue as disgusted stares were given to her mother. San’s father looked at her once again, “My dearest daughter-in-law, what do you want to do with your mother?”

Y/n contemplates for a while but she knows she has an answer to that.

Knowing that her life was in the hands of her cruel daughter, Ms. Han started to beg, “My baby y/n, you know I—”

She couldn’t stop herself from giggling as she pointed a finger at her mom, “Kill her.”

Her mother’s eyes widen as two men hold her in both arms as she screams, “Wait no, no! Y/n, you heartless bitch! I gave birth to you!”

Ms. Han’s pleas fell deaf in y/n’s ears as she muttered under her breath, “You only gave birth to me but didn’t give me the life I deserve.”

San seemed to hear that as he held her hand tighter, making her look at him only to see the same eyes filled with adoration, “It’s a new chapter for us, I’ll give you the life you deserve.”

She couldn’t help but giggle, planting a kiss on her now husband’s nose, “I didn’t know that meeting you within those three months is one of the signs that I’m going to spend the rest of my life time with you.”

“I love you, y/n.” San muttered softly, as if it’s their biggest secret.

A tear fell down on y/n’s eyes as she beamed at San, “I love you too, Sannie. I didn’t get to say that before.”

“Worry less, we have our lifetime together to say it whenever we want to.”

taglist: @gyubaby

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez x reader #ateez fanfic #ateez fic #ateez fluff #ateez san #ateez angst #ateez au #mafia!san #ateez mafia au #mafia!ateez #ateez choi san #choi san x reader #choi san

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

Text

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

#the owl house #the owl house season 2 #the owl house reviews #eda clawthorne #raine whispers #raeda #king of demons #toh darius #toh eberwolf #what i thought about

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itsclydebitches · 3 years

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I adore talking about this with you, it's so cool to be able to agree, everything I've read is just excusing yen lmao.

And with "geralt would rather do and say things Yen wants to avoid pissing her off" LIKE YEAHH I guess I annoyed yen with my answers and she teleported Geralt out of the tower thing, and then threatened to do it again like??? Like he pissed her off so she has fuck all care about him, was over water thank god but like girl??? omg and her refusing to tell the wticher bros what she was planning on doing to Uma, like I get that they would be hesistent but I mean it's cause it's cruel and painful and they have that trauma around that. She just expects everyone to do what she asks when she asks no questions. (Lambert's "I'm not geralt" when he and Yen are kinda arguring, bb red flags)

I just assumed she didn't believe him cause if she did whats her excuse for behaving how she is lmao??? Like you believe he has amnesia and you still blame HIM over the person who maniplated him KAY.

And goodddd that fucking scene when Triss and Yen see Ciri in Kaer Morhen is genuinely the worst, Triss and Yen see their sis/daughter (not gonna get into how weird I find it that Triss considers Ciri her sister and Geralt is Ciris father and she still wants to fuck him, uncomfy) for the first time in forever, she's alive and well and while Triss is hugging Ciri, Yen kisses Geralt and Triss throws a glare at her. I hated that scene so damn much, it's stupid and shouldn't have been there. (aso I get emotions and all but Yen kissing Geralt is so bitchy, idk even full of gratitude and emotion I wouldn't kiss the man who just dumped me lol, especially not in front of a situation like Triss)

I'm still mad about the women, I really wanted to like them fuck meeee

YOU GOT TO THE PART. Oh thank god, anon, I've wanted to talk about this since we started these conversations lol

Okay, let's set the scene, shall we? You arrive to find that, with our playthroughs anyway, your ex has barged into your home. I say "barged in" because although we (Geralt) know that Yen's help is necessary and she'll be tagging along, the other witchers living there are given no prior warning and, according to Vesemir, Yen teleported in without so much as a "Hello." She then immediately starts ordering everyone around like her servants, failing to explain the situation beyond there being a curse that they have to help with. No, this isn't negotiable. She (still being an ex) takes your old room for herself, which just happens to be the biggest in the keep, and proceeds to toss a bed out the window. It's only later that Vesemir recalls that Triss used to use it, so prior to that everyone apparently just accepted that Yen was destroying their stuff for no understandable reason. Classic Yen. You go upstairs to find her cursing a blue streak at her failed experiment and when you try to lighten the mood, she snaps at you. If you're of the opinion that Yen's every order must be obeyed, this is when you're supposed to drop the conversation entirely, because she said to. Except, funnily enough, you'd like to know why she's up here being The Worst Guest Ever and destroying your property. She tries to justify this by saying that destroying a bed is better than how she could be dealing with her anger over Triss. Be grateful and all that. Except, it's not really about Triss, is it? The line is "You shagged my friend. For upwards of a year. I don't know what your witcher's code says on the matter, but ordinary folk would consider it obscene, base, vile." The blame is not on the woman who knowingly manipulated Geralt into having sex with her while he was vulnerable, it's on Geralt himself! He is the "obscene, base, vile" person for... daring to have amnesia? And when you point that out - "Yen... told you already. I lost my memory" - she yells that she's "lost [her] patience" and teleports you into a lake! This is, apparently, how she really wants to deal with her anger. Not by destroying beds, but by attacking you for things outside of your control. And I do consider it an attack. Yen is meant to be insanely powerful, she is leveraging her magic as a weapon here, particularly when Geralt has spent the whole game commenting on how much he hates portals. Yen knows this. Not just because he says so in her presence, but because she frequently reads his mind, something else he's expressed discomfort with. She's not just demonstrating her power (controlling) and sending him away when he makes a point she doesn't want to acknowledge (immature), she chooses the one thing she knows makes Geralt uncomfortable, perhaps even scared. Then when you've swum your way back to shore and returned to, despite all this, begin her list of chores, she makes a dry comment about how next time she just might drop you high enough for the fall to be fatal. With the next time implied to be, you know, the next time you disagree with her. The next time you dare to do anything other than agree with her every belief and jump at her every command.

The fandom interpretation of all this: "Lol Geralt getting yeeted is so funny. And their banter is just 😍"

Me:

You mentioned red flags and yeah like that ENTIRE SCENE is a crimson banner for me. I mean, by all means, love the fictional ships that are super messed up (I often do), but it astounds me how many fans honestly think this is just a cute interaction with absolutely no problems attached. Nothing to question here, folks. I've mentioned before, but last I discussed this in depth the asker wanted to know if I'd been an asshole to Yen and... that's it. That's the perspective. Any disagreement with her, any pushback, anything that's not complete, blind obedience is something she will not permit AND something most fans take as a given. If you're not doing what Yen tells you to, you're automatically the asshole, and if you're the asshole, you automatically deserve any punishment she chooses to dish out.

Comic spoilers coming up if you want to skip, but this is made abundantly clear in "Curse of Crows." Yen and Geralt are at their best in the moment below, enjoying one another's company on a nice day. Yen asks if Geralt wants to swim and he says nah, he'd rather watch her. She appears to like that idea and, indeed, swims naked while Geralt admires from the shore.

Actually cute right? I really liked this moment! They're cuddled up together and exchanging smiles. It's a rare moment of peace where I can believe that they truly care for one another, outside of passionate sex and not wanting the other dead. Finally, something beyond that incredibly low bar.

...except Yen starts flirting with a young man who shows up, invites him to travel with them, all while refusing to explain why she's interested in his company. The sudden third wheel is clearly bothering Geralt, but Yen continues to ignore his questioning. The answer she finally gives later that night?

She did it purely to mess with Geralt! It's his "just desserts" for "refusing to swim with [her]." She is "not one to be refused - I thought you needed reminding" by giving him "a flick on the nose." When I say that Yen treats Geralt like a dog I mean she literally treats him like a dog. He's a servant who must jump at her every command and if he doesn't, he'll punished for disobedience. He might not even know why he's being punished for a long stretch because Yen enjoys making him think she's a normal person capable of accepting that he doesn't feel like swimming right now - insert the Kaer Morhen scene where she wants to go have sex upstairs, but Geralt wants to catch up with the brothers he hasn't seen in an age here - only to reveal that actually she's made their formerly nice outing uncomfortable because he needs to be put in his place. All of which is followed by, "So... willing to join me now?" The message is very clear! Geralt had better get his ass in that tub unless he wants to be punished some more. Whether he wants a bath right now or not is inconsequential.

This is also the run where she scares the women Geralt was with, despite them being separated right now. Why? "I could."

Claims that Geralt is allowed to return to his companions (who he actually waves away) only for him to realize she's cast a spell to burn him with the water. Yen loves pretending she's okay with things only to punish Geralt for them later - sometimes with physical punishments. And what would have happened if the women had actually joined him again? Do witchers weather hot water better than the average courtesan? Who knows, but Yen clearly doesn't care who might get hurt.

Just like her time in Skellige and at Kaer Morhen, she refuses to explain what's going on. She just expects people to obey her, so-called loved ones included. Geralt was to get her cider, and arrive before her bath went cold, not question what they're doing on this dangerous hunt. He's a servant.

And my favorite, petty moment: transforming her awful inn food into a lavish meal without offering to do the same for either Geralt or Ciri.

"But, Clyde, that's just the comics. They're not really canon." Nah, questions of canon aside, this is 100% Yen's characterization. She's prideful. Immature. Beyond controlling. And punishes anyone who dares to tell her "No." Fans are always pointing out that she's meant to be horrible, she could have been a villain in another life, like any of that explains why I'm supposed to root for this relationship or enjoy her existence outside of being a complex character. Yen is interesting, but she's interesting in a "I can't wait to see her get her own just desserts" way. Not "Wooo now I get to watch this story ignore her behavior again to push a True Love narrative."

She punished Geralt frequently during their first meeting, she punishes him whenever they get together, and, I think, she punished him during the reunion with Ciri. Given our playthroughs, do we really think that after breaking up with her and all this fury over Triss - an anger so deep she destroyed the bed and attacked Geralt - she's just overcome with such joy that she forgets they're not together anymore and forgets the anger she's been nurturing for years? Yen doesn't forget. She's staring at Ciri during that moment, right where Triss is currently running towards them, and then after a considering look at Geralt pulls him in for that kiss. That was calculated. She did that to make a claim she no longer had. To punish them both: make Triss uncomfortable by playing at the "perfect" family reunion; make Geralt uncomfortable by kissing him when she knows he doesn't feel the same way. But of course, the popular reading is that she just loves him so much she couldn't help herself. Riiight.

It's just all SO BAD. (Including, as you say, the ickiness of having Triss lusting after Geralt and referring to Ciri as "little sis.") I love a lot of the women in Witcher - Cerys is a fave, Ciri, Saskia, Philippa, Keira, etc. - but the two I'm supposedly meant to fall in love with are just the worst lol.

Basically:

Half the fandom: TEAM TRISS 🤬

The other half: TEAM YEN🤬

Me: TEAM REGIS 😭

#witcher #mymetas #long post

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rip-a-dip-dip-you-potato-chip · 3 years

Text

what have I created?

idk if yall like this, but they just exist not i guess :/

ok the the first one is Royalty AU

first things first, when I say Royalty AU, I don't mean the classic shit we've all become accustomed to. Im talking about the good old Chinese royalty! And I want to emphasize that these guys will/should be dressed in century appropriate attire. As someone thats read a handful of 'marinette, princess of china' fics from the ML Fandom, I've noticed a common trend. Marinette wouldn't be in the culturally appropriate clothes, always ballgowns. Not that there's something wrong with it, its just most of if not all these fic are set in China, so I'd expect Chinese royalty to dress as THERE dress code calls for. And since this AU takes place far in the past like, it won't make sense for any of the characters to be in royal clothing that wasn't from there region. I'm not trying to white knight/gatekeeping. Im Guyanese not Chinese. But since JTTW and Monkie Kid take place in China, it's only right. In my opinion that it. You don't have to outright agree with me.

With out of the way, it's time for that good old AU crack

- Wukong is the king of the Flower Fruit kingdom(or a different one if you'd like, again I'm only familiar with what western culture has taught me, but I'll try my hardest)

- he’s single but rumor has it he used to/still is dating the Vigilante/thief The Six Eared Macaque

- *chants ShadowPeach violently*

- no one know whether it true or not

- On of his wanders around the kingdom he finds an abandoned baby in a basket.

- and no shit sherlock it's fucking baby Xiaotian

- I think we all know where this is going because i'm a simp for Monkey Dad & Monkie Son shenanigans

- Xiaotian becomes prince

Shit, ill be referring to Xiaotian as Mk from now on, I mentioned this before in a fic I wrote for lmk that Mk's a nickname for Xiaotian for some reason- wait i don't have to explain my self to you people!

- Sun loves his son

- MK is treated differently by staff and others because he's not blood related to the king

- no one mistreats MK per say, because there King loved his adopted son, but words are said behind his back

- Sometimes MK hears what’s said, and he feels as if he won't live up to his dad’s legacy.

- He meets Mei during a festival

- Mei is from a noble family, that wouldn't mind if they got a connection into the royal family.

- but it becomes hella clear to Mei’s family very fast that the two are just friends, and will always will be. but hey there daughter is bffs with the prince so that's a plus.

- the Demon Bull Family is rules a kingdom as well, I dont/am not creative enough to think of a name I leave that to you.

- It's a common misconception that DBK is a tyrant, when he’s not.

- most of the time...

- they have been at war with the Monkey King for some time now and settled for a peace agreement.

- that agreement being there sons to marry

- oooo original i know

- MK and Red Son are roughly the same age, Mk being 20 and RS 22

- RS is revolted/disgusted at the idea of being wed to the Monkey Kings child, even more so when he realizes MK is adopted,

- but, that all changes the second he meets MK while he meets him by accident when he gets kinda lost in the palace when he and his parents go to discuss the arrangements.

- the second he looks at MK, he's instantly in love. MK less so, he's nervous and honestly kinda bummed he's not marrying someone he loves but it's for the good of his ppl, and he'll do anything for them.

- RS isn't even aware that MK is Suns adopted son until MK walks him back to the meeting room.

"Oh There you are MK! I was about to have a servant go fetch you!" Sun Wukong says, gesturing for his boy to come sit with him.

"S-sorry for keeping you waiting I got caught up in my lessons with Mr. Tang" MK responds, sitting next to his father. Red Son looked gobsmacked. The beautiful young man he had bumped into, was the prince of this land? Damn, life truly blessed him. Or cursed him depending on how you looked at it.

- the two are left alone in a separate room for a while.

- And MK straight up tells RS why he's agreeing to this union.

"Look Red Son. I've dreamed about meeting my one true love for a while. And I would give almost anything for that dram to be real. But I wouldn't ever dare give up my people, for as there price they mean more to me. I'm doing this for them, no other reason" MK says, his back straight and hands folded neatly in his lap. The look in his eyes was a mix of sadness, but that was drowned out by loyalty and determination. It just made Red Son fall for him even harder. Clearing his throat Red spoke.

"I understand, for im doing this for the betterment of my people to. But I propose a wager"

"A wager?"

"Yes, if i can make you fall in love with me by years end, before our marriage, we can live together like in the fairy tales from far away. But if I fail, in a years time afterwards you will be permitted to find your own path in life" Red Son stated. MK took a moment to process what was happening.

"So, if you succeed in making me fall in love with you, before our marriage we can live happily ever after?" Red Son nodded in response, letting the younger continue.

"And if I shouldn't fall for you, in a years time after our union, im free to leave?" Red Son nodded once more.

"So, what do you say?"

...

"Deal"

In the end, your free to choose their fate, should Red Son win the hart of Mk? Will he fail? Or will he let him go, and let him travel the country, after all Mk's a free spirit and keeping him trapped in a big house is like keeping a cannery trapped in a cage only for its song, only for it to dul. Or will the unthinkable happen and will both boys find their freedom? together or appart? I don't know, because that's all up to you 😉

personally, I’m partial to where MK and Red Son both find freedom together. Like they straight up run away together to somewhere far away and just live out there lives together.

this could also be genderbent thing as well. MK or Red as their respective counterparts. Again it doesn't have to be, but it’s whatever bro. im just spitting out the idea.

Also, there is a main side plot that they fight the WBS throughout the year as well, along with other shenanigans you wanna throw in.

____

The second is a My Hero Academia/BNH/MHA AU

truth be told i'm not a big fan of MHA i think it to over hyped(this is also coming from the same person that’s a Fairy Tail fan lol), and the fandom i don't even know how to describe that mess, but I will admit not the whole of its toxic since every fandom has some toxic members, some even more so.

I just sometimes find myself enjoying MHA AUs like the Fullmetal Alchemist, Danny Phantom, Evil!Deuk AU and several others.

to make it clear I don't see this AU taking place the same time as the main plot of the actual Anime/Manga. This could be either like 6-10 years before or after the plot idk bro. But i’ll do this after the main story plot of MHA, so keep that in mind ya? another thing, the gang is still in China, the top hero school in the world just so happens to be in Japan, and it’s only ever mentioned by Sun wukong and other pro heros. So MK never attended AU. in short it’s only ever mention/ reference.

- Mk was considered Quirkless as a kid.

- he was just a late blumer, i swear

- Mai’s Quirk is called Dragon.

- it pretty much works the same way as it does in the show(duh)

- Tang’s got a knowledge Quirk,

- my man can retain information and he’s basically an archive of information drawback being his personality lol

- Piggsy is a Animal that gained a Quirk

- in cannon to my current knowledge, there are two other characters that can confirm animals can become sentient. the characters being Fumikage Tokoyami, & Nezu the principal at the school UA.

- Sandy is just Conner Kent, aka he like superman but can't fly, or shoot lasers from his eyes. And blue.

I have two scenarios for Macaque and Wukong

*- The first one is that, Sun Wukong & Macaque are brothers. twins to be exact.

- they where legit people, but have mutation quirks that made them too like monkeys.

- the added powers were just a boues.

- Sun and Mac are close growing up, like there brothers but also best friends.

- the draw back to there quirks could honestly be whatever you want bro idk, same with the others tbh. Personally I like to think Sun just has lack of motivation, and Macaque needs to draw on other people's energy.

- Sun is a hero, Monkey KIng and Mac is a villain Six Eared.

- Sun was always treated has the golden child in the family, Mac always resented that, but there shitty up bring didn’t stop the two from being good brothers to one another.

- soon tho the resentment became hatred when Sun was able to attend UA in Japan, while Mac didn't.

- Mac be angy

- so he became a villain, and joined the Chinese branch of the LOV(league of villains)

- Sun doesn't know this till he finds out during the all out war during the main story. and by that time he’s a full on hero with is own agency(The Flower Fruit agency)

- when the hero's ultimately win and Mac is arrested

- This ultimately hurts Sun a lot, his brother was in jail now, arrested for his involvement and wrong doings, he knew nothing about this! this brother, his blood. A bad guy? why? he hadn't seen his brother since he left for UA, he hadn’t seen him when he came home, and started his agency.

- this just puts Sun into a funk so he’s not as active as he used to be, and he starts thinking he might need a successor

*- The second one is that they were two separate people that had similar quirks and both attended UA but Sun ended up in the hero corse. so 1A.

- Both Macaque and Sun have similar quirks, Sun’s is obviously more light based while Macaque’s is more shadow based(this applies to the first one as well)

- Macaque was placed in class 1B, U.A.’s High's Heroics Department, I believe, you can correct me.

- In cannon Class 1A and 1B both went to the training camp. I can see the teachers pinning Sun and Macaque against each other to hone their skills.

- And because of that they become great friends

- In fact when they graduate they both co-found there hero agency together in China and are a duo.

- But due to Monkey King’s popularity and Six Eared's association with shadows(people sometimes saying he has more of a villains quirk than a heros) the public see’s Macaque as Sun’s sidekick when thats far from the truth.

- now it’s up to you whether you think that Wukong and Macaque would be in a relationship together, but knowing how cooked we all are, ShadowPeach is a thing here more than likely.

- If you do or don’t support/ like the ShadowPeach aspect, the two would be living together regardless since its more cost efficient.

- They my be heroes but living costs are expensive!

- I would imagine there would have been a huge fight/argument between the two in privet of course, at there home.(or in there shared office if you want the extra angst of the other people they work with hearing them fight)

- If the two are dating, then this would either lead to an out right breakup, or Macaque just up and leaving with Wukong thinking he’ll come back once he’s cooled off. But after a week, with no sign of his partner, or him answering texts or calls, not even coming into work. Wukong gets worried that something might have happened to him. so there wouldn't be a confirmation if they were still a thing or not.

- But Wukong remains hopeful, despite the nagging at the back of his head, and gut telling him to go find Macaque, or atleast make a public statement, or even just tell another pro hero about it.

- on the not so shippy side, Macaque and Wukong still have there argument, and much like the ShadowPeach esc side, Macaque up and leaves, and isn't seen for weeks. the only difference here is that when Wukong comes home one night to there flat, most if not all of Macaques stuff is gone.

- where as if this was the ShadowPeach side, Macaque leaves all of his possession in the flat he and wukong share. for the simple reason being, he still loves him and wants to go back, but Macaque being Macaque can’t bring himself to do it, especially after seeing just how hurt Wukong looked when he yelled at him just before he left.

- in other words, ANGST DIALED UP TO A 10 BABY

- in either case, its a news report that confirms Wukong's suspicions that he desperately didn’t want to believe, and that is Macaque turning into a villain.

- much like if the two were brothers, Wukong just can’t take it and is no longer as active as he once was, and is thinking about, either A) Retirement B) Saying, “Fuck Society, Be Gay Do Crime” and join Macaque as a villain himself, or C) find a successor, and a way to bring Macaque back to there side, but most importantly, back to him.

- also extra points if you're after people's hearts and want to make them suffer; - If there dating, Wukong curle’s up in the bed he and Macaque shared, holding/wearing something of great value to Macaque and just crying himself to sleep, where as Macaque is getting wasted on alcohol, as he stumbles out of the bar he’s in, he either see’s something that reminds him of Wukong or while he’s trying to put his wallet back into his pocket, a photo of them on their first date fall’s out. and Macaque just cries in a nearby alley way. And it’s there where he gets indoctrinated into the League.

- If there just friends, macaque heads to the nearest forest and just levels it, where as Wukong just gets engrossed into his work, trying not to think about it. you could add you own spin on this, again i'm just spitballing.

- NOW BACK TO MK! :D

- Obviously MK is a huge Monkey King fan

- at Twenty MK has come to terms he's quirkless (HE’S NOT)

-for ANGST reasons MKs fokes kicked him out at this realization at 13.

- he works at Piggsy's Noodle shop, and has been since he was 14.

- don't need a quirk to drive or cook!

- the boy lives a content life with his new family, till DBK happens :D

- DBK runs a Mafia(in conjunction with TLOV) and has been in jail for like 5 years thanks to Monkey King, PIF and RS brake him out one night when MK's out making a late night delivery since Piggsy had the bright idea to go 24/7 service!

- one thing leads to another and Mk somehow manifest what looks like the Monkey King's staff, but its not, it’s MKs powers, it just so happens to be the same power the Monkey King has. And it practically goes down the same way in the pilot.

- but unlike the pilot Mk and Mei go straight to the FF Agency, after making a panicked call to Pigsy and Tang.

- one way or another Mk are lead into Wukongs office. Mei being forced to stay in the lobby.

- they have there convo, butterfly monkey squishing included.

- "And so, I want you do be my success-" BOOM 💥

- from there they rush downstairs and see that the lobby has been infiltrated by the DB fam, and you know fight.

- once the DB family seems like there down, PIF wisks them away. Much to Monkey King’s displeasure.

From there stuff kind plays out like cannon, the calabash ep is just a conjoint quirk the Demon bros have. As for EP9, ill have to script that one out myself lol. I'll get onto it as soon as my will to commit stabs me in the face. Till then have a dancing Kermit the frog.

Now if you'll excuse me, am about to Kermit a felony :D

(For legal reasons thats a joke)

Psst @writingamongther0ses its done

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #lego monkie kid au #rip a dip dip wrights

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bopinion · 3 years

Text

2021 / 29

Aperçu of the Week:

"You can tell a person's character by the jokes he laughs at."

Alfred Biolek

Biolek is a veteran of German television. In the 1970s, he produced the most successful TV show, "Am laufenden Band," and then he was in front of the camera himself: first talking and hosting, later also cooking, in each case as the first (!) in his field. Thanks to him, people in this country know Monty Python and The Police, for example. A great man, a star without airs and graces, an innovator and cultural leader, a man who was never prejudiced, never unfair, always in a good mood, always interested, never superficial, always friendly, who stood by his homosexuality - at a time when it was still considered disreputable, not only in his industry. I had the privilege of meeting him almost 30 years ago, as we both shared a valuable experience as exchange students with AFS. Dr. Alfred Franz Maria Biolek died yesterday in Cologne at the age of 87. Rest in peace!

Bad News of the Week:

The fourth wave is coming. It's already there in the UK and Spain. In France and Italy, the values are still (reasonably) low, but the growth is rapid. Thanks to the delta mutant, formerly known as the Indian. Here, everyone is watching spellbound for the infamous "7-day incidence," which so far has been slow to increase. That's about to change. Especially because the longed-for herd immunity will remain a utopia - because immunization above 85% is impossible if all children and adolescents are not considered for vaccination. And more and more so-called skeptics refuse - whereby an obligation to vaccinate would be an immense encroachment on fundamental rights, the justification of which is difficult. But is there a fundamental right to ignorance? I'm torn apart...

What is currently taking place in the UK is a large-scale medical experiment. Not under expert supervision in a laboratory, but completely detached in public. All Corona protections such as mask wearing or social distancing have been completely removed. At a time when the incidence is approaching 500 - the highest since the all-time high in January. In our country, it's under 15, and we're worrying about how to organize the start of school after the summer vacations. And Boris Johnson basically says to that, "Why not now? When then?". Well, for example, when the vaccination campaign is more advanced and the numbers are lower. But he'll know what he's doing - even if it's irresponsible. Let's see how British voters will remember this decision in his upcoming re-election.

But this is not the only area where the British government lacks logic in Corona measures. A work colleague of mine is Irish and was supposed to visit his mother next week. But she lives in Northern Ireland. Since he already has full vaccination protection, he didn't expect any problems - and now he would have to spend ten days in a quarantine hotel without being allowed to see his mother. That's over 70% of his total two-week stay. The reasoning is remarkable: according to British regulations, he is considered unvaccinated because a vaccination in an EU country is not recognized. Although it is the same vaccine in the same dose in the same schedule. But the stamp in his vaccination certificate is just the wrong one.

Good News of the Week:

"Pragmatism and melancholy" is the Tagesschau's headline about Angela Merkel's last federal press conference - a kind of forum for free questions from journalists - as chancellor in Berlin. After all, she will not be running again in the federal elections in just under two months. It was therefore not surprising that, in addition to current political issues, many media representatives primarily took stock of Merkel's 16-year term in office. The financial and the euro crisis, nuclear and coal phase-out, the EU and China, Corona and digitization, and so on. Life without crises is easier, but when they are there, they have to be dealt with, Merkel replied to the question of whether she felt flattered by the title "crisis chancellor." After all, last week U.S. President Joe Biden, another old hand in world politics, had remarked that she would be missed.

In an interview today, climate activist Luisa Neubauer, the German face of "Fridays for Future," accuses Merkel of not tackling the climate crisis in the proactive manner that is her style in other crises. Although this one is by far the biggest and most urgent. One might add, even though Merkel was once environment minister. And seems to overlook two things: first, nuclear and coal phase-out ultimately serve climate protection. And secondly, there is no patent remedy, no reference, no example, no role model. Perhaps that's the point: who should be able to tackle the issue in a decisive way if not someone who is internationally acknowledged, respected across party lines, unpretentious and without any self-interest, scientifically sound, moderating and balancing, pragmatic and energetic? So who, if not Merkel?

Dr. Angela Dorothea Merkel turned 67 two weeks ago. Unlike Helmut Kohl - the other chancellor who ruled for what felt like an eternity of 16 years and ended up looking powerless and burnt out - it's hard to imagine Merkel going from one day to another just reading books and trying out potato salad recipes. And we have learned from the U.S. that the political zenith is apparently not reached until the age of 70+. And from demography we have learned that women live longer and are more efficient in old age than men. So: starting this fall, there will be an "elder stateswoman" in waiting on the world stage, who I personally would like to see again in every conceivable position. EU Council president, UN secretary general, pope, conductor, chef - I don't care. But give her something to do. She won't screw it up. Thank you, Mrs. Merkel, for providing a solid counterbalance to all the testosterone and alpha dog behavior in our nation, in Europe and a little bit in the whole world all these years. Of course, not all that glitters is gold, and even you haven't done everything right. But your taking stock is positive, and that's what remains at the end of the day.

Personal happy moment of the week:

I have never owned a purse. Probably because I never had enough money ;-) So coins always end up in a big box that the kids carry to the bank by the kilo on World Savings Day. And for bills, I had a plain money clip by Danish designer Georg Jensen, whose functional-style silversmithing helped shape industrial design in Scandinavian countries. I had already lost it once and after much research was able to purchase one again. A good half year ago I scatterbrained lost it again. Fuck the 20, 30 euros - but my beautiful clip was gone. And this time it was impossible to find another one. Yesterday, I put on a suit that I obviously hadn't worn for a long time - because in my pants pocket I found my money clip. Empty, but valuable. I got it back. And my personal happy moment of the week.

I couldn't care less...

...for the Olympic Games. Because they are so far from the original ideal of the sporting high office of the amateurs, endlessly commercialized, run by a corrupt organization, without any grounding and leaving the same too often burnt. I can still remember the promises made before the Summer Games in Beijing in 20008: sport would be an ambassador of peace and democratization, the Olympics would have a lasting effect on politics and society. Really? Nothing at all has happened. Except that the 2022 Winter Games will once again be held in Beijing. Bravo!

As I write this...

...it's thundering and lightning in the mountains again. And everybody is afraid that there will be heavy rain, squalls and hail again. Because the soils, especially in the disaster areas of the last week, are still waterlogged and loose and many dams no longer exist. So it only takes a comparatively small amount of rain to have mudslides, rivers overflowing their banks, and flooded homes again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of us.

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 4 years

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The Best Things ~ J.V. (part 8)

A/n: This part is super upsetting. Character death, graphic violence, I dare even say gore. Homophia, which I should have been warning a while back I am so sorry for that. Things are gonna get HEAVY- I am so sorry lol.

Word Count: 3800+

Playlist

Masterlist

"Nah, you're not crazy," Harleen giggled.

"Says you," Y/n teased, rolling his eyes. "You may have a doctorate, but you're also bias."

Her smile widened. "Okay that's fair." Y/n sighed, sitting back in his chair. He looked down at his hands, smile small as he got lost in thought. "What's on your mind?"

"Harleen is kind of a mouthful," Y/n told her. "Do you like the name?"

She tilted her head, as if considering. "I never did. When I was younger I had a friend who called me Lee, but with things happening-" Y/n's face scrunched up and Harleen snorted. "Exactly. Name's already taken- and it would be even weirder if I went by Dr. Lee, so I scratched it."

Y/n nodded. Then he sat forward, his elbows resting on the table. "So you've never had any other nicknames?" She shook her head and then shrugged when Y/n donned a surprise expression. "Well I have to give you one then. That's what friends do, right?" She grinned at Y/n's words and he watched the room get a little brighter. She was magic like that- as if she was made of sunshine. Her happiness was contagious, and she made the world a little better. She was accepting and also calm, making him feel safe as well as loved. She was his best friend and he was hers and they gave each other something they couldn't get with anyone else: unhindered fun with absolutely no expectations. It was an odd place to find real friendship in, but here they were anyway. "What about... Leena?" She immediately shook her head and he chuckled. "Uh... I mean, there's always Harley."

She considered that. "You know what, I like it." She crossed her arms. "Harley Quinzel." She nodded. "I'll allow it."

Y/n rolled his eyes. She was only like four years older than him, but had far too quickly fallen into a rhythm of acting like an adult talking to a child every once in a while, as a joke. Whether she was flaunting the years she had over him, or the schooling, Y/n wasn’t sure, but he refused to acknowledge it and it had become an unspoken inside joke between them. "What about you? I have to give you one now."

Y/n shrugged. "I don't like nicknames."

Harley tilted her head, the bottom of her blonde ponytail brushing her shoulder. "Why not? You like giving them."

"Well, yeah..." He bit his lip. "It's just, every bad guy has a code name, you know? Oswald Cobblepot goes by Penguin. Edward Nygma is going around as Riddler. Then there's Mr. Freeze. I just feel like if I take an alias, it'll be official you know? I'll be as crazy as the people I associate with and as evil as everyone says I am."

Harley hummed. "Okay, that's fair." She sighed, raising her hands to rest her chin in her palm. "Speaking of people you associate with. You and Jerome..."

Y/n's mood darkened. It had been a while now and Oswald was gone and Jerome still hadn't made an appearance. "I think he's mad at me." Harley tilted her head in confusion and Y/n shrugged. "I left with Alfred because Bruce needed me. Didn't give him a heads up, and then went missing for, like, months..." He shook his head. "Maybe he thinks I've gone back to my old life, or that I've left him behind. I just feel like he's avoiding me and one doesn't usually do that for no reason, so I figure-"

"What if he's just busy?" Harley proposed.

Y/n snorted. "With what? Reading a really good book series?"

Harley pursed her lips. "I guess you have a point."

"Why do you even care?" Y/n asked, raising his hands to knit his fingers behind his head.

Harley stared at him silently for a long time. She had the look on her face she always does when she'd trying to read Y/n's mind. When she's analyzing everything she learned in school and looking at the actions and words that he was currently giving as context, as well as past ones, and then somehow putting it all together to figure out the secrets sometimes even he didn't know. The same magic that made Arkham home also gave her the ability to read minds- Y/n had determined she was a proper superhero.

After she reached some kind of conclusion - she always nodded after she'd done the reading and then switched which leg was crossed over the other - a little smile teased her lips. She was trying to hide it. And failing. Y/n tried not to be curious. Usually when Harley didn't tell him something it was because he wasn't ready to hear it... but that smile. It was too late. He had to know. "What?"

Once he asked, the gate broke and she grinned. "You're in love with him."

Y/n snorted. "No. I'm not." The coy curl of Harley's lips added to her raised eyebrows to make Y/n doubt himself, even though he could feel his feelings and knew that it wasn't... he didn't... no way. "He's important to me," Y/n gave. "I care for him. But... love..." Y/n shook his head. "I don't know about that. There's been too much going on- I haven't had enough time with him."

She nodded, expression serious, as if this was a very important discovery. "I call Maid of Honor at the wedding though." They locked eyes as Y/n went to tell her off, but then a slow smile rose to her face as he realized she was joking. They both busted up into laughter.

"Whoever I marry, the position is yours." He winked at her and she flipped her hair, both of them giggling.

A timer went off. Harley stood, gathering her stuff and sighing. "That's my cue. Same time tomorrow?"Y/n nodded then stood.

He draped his arm around her shoulders. "You know, you make this place bearable. You're a real friend to me." He kissed her forehead. "What would I do without you, hm?"

She rested her head on his shoulder for a second before they began walking and it got too awkward to coordinate. "Probably the same thing I'd do without you. Be alone and miserable." She popped up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. He pretended to gag and she fell into a short fit of soft giggles. "You're an idiot."

"Ah and yet what I lack for a brain, I make up with a big-" He cut off and she groaned. "Heart," he enunciated. He smirked and she rolled her eyes. "I have quite a large heart, full of love for my favorite gal." He shook her slightly, making a point that said gal was her.

"Every lesbian deserves a best friend with as little brains and as big a heart as you," Harley joked.

"And every gay deserves a best friend with as much brain and just as much heart as you." He finally let her go as she moved to the door that would lead outside. This is where they parted- her, to home, as he was her last patient as per usual. Him, further into the Asylum where he would have dinner then return to his room to be alone and sleep. Goodbyes were the pair's least favorite part of the day. "Until we next meet, Madame," Y/n initiated, pulling away to bow deeply.

Harley grabbed her doctor's coat lightly, pulling it out as if it was a dress as she bowed back. "I shall count the seconds." They laughed one last time, waving before she turned and left. He watched her go until she disappeared. She turned back several times to wave yet again, until she couldn't see him either just by turning around.

The second she was out of sight, the world lost a little color. It was a little darker. His smile got smaller and Y/n's shoulders sagged. He shoved his hands in his pockets before turning back to the hallway that lead to his room, beginning the trek.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him. People rarely touched him. The only person that touched him like this was one that Y/n hated so much that his hands curled into fists in his pocket, his face suddenly cold and empty as he stared straight ahead, halfway through a step- his foot on the ground and extended, but not carrying him forward as it had been intended to. He took a deep breath through his nose. Unfortunately, in all the chaos and people getting booted from Arkham after beating on Y/n, the one person that meant the most hadn't been caught because everyone refused to rat him out.

The man who'd started it all.

"You and her..." The older guard mused, a nasty smirk on his ugly face. "I thought you were gay." He said it mockingly, like he'd caught a child who hadn't said they weren’t hungry sneaking food when everyone seemed to be asleep.

Y/n rolled his eyes, forcing his body to relax as he faced the man. The monster. "Not every girl in the world was born solely for men to shove a dick into them, Jameson." The older man glared and Y/n smiled, getting satisfaction. "As a matter of a fact, Harley and I are just friends."

"You're pretty affectionate for just friends," Jameson argued. Y/n still didn't know the man's first name. He didn't care enough too. He didn't want another name that tasted bitter in his mouth. He already had his fingers crossed he'd never meet a cute boy with the last name Jameson, because the name alone would ruin Y/n's chances before he'd even taken a shot. No reason to make it even harder for himself.

"We're comfortable around each other." He rolled his shoulder back once, slightly stiff from sitting so long. Jameson wouldn't attack, knowing that Y/n would report him instantly- especially in such an open space, with cameras and the chance of someone rounding the corner any second - but one could never be too safe, just in case. "She gets me like no one else does. But, as you so wonderfully pointed out, I'm GAY." Y/n enunciated the word, going the extra mile by taking a step closer to stress it even more. "Girls aren't my thing."

Jameson looked like he wanted to deck Y/n. The younger boy's lips curved into a mocking smile in response. Now the guard was the one who had to control himself. "You guys have a lot in common?"

Y/n shrugged, too caught up in his casual gloating that Jameson couldn't act out like he wanted to- like he used to be able to. "Enough. We talk a lot. She's cool." He relaxed thinking about Harley. "She doesn't think I'm crazy. It's nice." He cleared his throat, focusing back on the enemy in front of him... only to immediately be confused by the very odd expression on Jameson's face. "What?"

"Nothing," the man dismissed, moving to leave. "I've heard enough. You're both a waste." He shook his head as he left and Y/n glared at his back until he was gone. Then the boy turned back toward the cell and finally made his way.

Man, why did he have to be surrounded by such assholes? Why couldn't Harley be around all the time? Why couldn't he be free? They could get an apartment and talk all the time. Help each other get through life and protect each other from unwanted attention. Be themselves all the time. Make jokes and exchange irritated expressions when idiots like Jameson said stupid shit like he always tended to.

Tomorrow. He'd see her tomorrow. That wasn't too far away.

He could wait until then.

Y/n's knees gave out from under him and he fell, cracking them on the cement. He didn't even feel it. His attention was being completely held by the TV, which was turned onto the news. It was a small screen that had been installed in one of the Day Rooms recently. They were rarely ever allowed to watch the news, though. In places like Gotham, far too often the news held very upsetting content that set inmates off- either into panics, or into violent rages. Y/n had stood to turn it off when he'd realized what news was being shared. Someone had been murdered. Old news. This was Gotham. Then he'd heard the name.

"23-year-old Harleen Quinzel was found dead earlier today. Her body was badly beaten, with words carved into her stomach. It was the cuts on her wrist that were the cause of death, though it's been determined that none of this was self inflicted. We received a photo of the body recently. Beware: what you're about to see is not for the faint of heart."

Suddenly the screen was showing the broken body of Y/n's best friend. The sunshine girl with the bright smile and the contagious laugh. The girl who was going to be Y/n's Maid of Honor. Y/n's better half. She was limp and unmoving, her eyes wide and empty. Her skin was pale, nearly white, except for where dark, huge bruises and blood discolored it. Her hair had been cut off, the blonde locks left next to her head but clearly detached. Her shirt had been rolled up to letters on her stomach- carved as promised.

There was an L next to a G, in a circle and crossed through once. Underneath the symbol read: Sinner.

Someone was talking, but Y/n couldn't make out what they were saying. A hand in his shoulder and he looked over to see a concerned guard. A woman. She knelt next to Y/n, but she wasn't the one touching him. No, that hand belonged to Jameson, who had a sick expression on his face- a cross between smugness and victory, muted as if he was trying to hide it, badly masked by some version of concern that was so unconvincing that Y/n ripped his shoulder out of the older man's hand.

He was on his feet again and running. Out of the room and to his cell- despite all the people who kept asking him what was going on, and someone in the very back changing the channel as the news reporter announced, "If you have any information, please contact-" Y/n ignored the rules. He ignored the people yelling at him. He ignored the people trying to stop him. He just started running and he didn't stop until he was in his room, where he opened the door and closed it behind him. His heart was ramming against his chest and all he could hear was the rushing of his blood in his ears. He saw black spots and felt an emotion bubble up that he couldn't even begin to put name to. All he knew was that it was dark and twisting and it was very quickly consuming everything good.

Something in him broke. It snapped off. Something vital. Y/n was aching, but he didn't know what it was or where it had fallen to as he lost it. He just knew there was suddenly a gaping hole where something very important used to be, and he felt absolutely terrible with it gone.

On the upside, he could finally breathe. His chest loosened and his body relaxed and as the door opened behind him, he turned to see the person with complete calm.

"Jameson." The word was not a greeting, but more of an observation. No. It was an accusation. The older man smiled and Y/n's insides began to twist and boil- less like a tightening of anxiety and more like a snake, seconds from attacking. "Why?" He stepped forward. "She was innocent."

Jameson scoffed. "You think you two are subtle? You two act like you're together and then talk about how you're not- you just 'get' each other." Jameson shook his head, cracking his knuckles. "You're spreading your sickness, Y/n." The snake coiled tighter, hissing and spitting. Y/n felt his calmness very quickly drop, perfectly placed with rage. His body didn't move, he just suddenly had a bunch of energy and he was waiting for the perfect moment to use it. "You two aren't quiet either. Strutting around here acting so out of line, in front of me. Acting like you're not being evil." Jameson scoffed. "You're evil, Y/n. And if they wouldn't let me punish you here, I'd have to get more creative. Even if you don't see it, you're in love with her. What you think you are is unnatural, and I knew if you could see how you really feel-"

Y/n's hand was around the man's throat. Jameson tried to push the younger boy away or claw his hand off, but Y/n just rammed him into the wall behind him. Jameson's head cracked against the grey wall, his efforts suddenly becoming useless. "You think I'm dangerous as a disease? You're so desperate to cure me. You're about to find just how very dangerous I am, Jameson. All on my own, with just my two hands." And then he began to squeeze. Jameson writhed and fought and clawed but when he started to get strong, Y/n would smash his head again or ram his knee into the man's junk and the efforts died down once again.

It took longer than Y/n thought. Jameson started to change color, his eyes bulging and his lips moving desperately but nothing coming in or out. Just when the man seemed about ready to pass out, Y/n let him drop to the floor. He gasped, clawing to try and get away. Y/n smiled, toeing the door gently closed. Jameson squirmed away, features taken over completely with terror. Y/n felt amazing.

"You will never hurt another person, ever again." Y/n squatted down, taking the man's thin hair in his hands. "Me however?" Y/n giggled. "You've helped create a monster. Know that every person I kill in the future is on your hands. Every injury is your fault. I'm not a violent person, Jameson." He snorted. "Well, I wasn't. But it seems you fuckwads only answer to violence, so..." Y/n shrugged casually. Jameson shook his head, choking out pleads for his life. Y/n snapped the man's neck and he stopped begging. It was so easy... The silence was wonderful. Y/n felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. "I'm done sitting idly while assholes run Gotham." Y/n stood, not even bothering to do anything but leave the door wide open as he walked calmly away, grinning like an idiot.

Something had been broken and lost indeed. It was Y/n's self control. His moral compass that kept him grounded and toeing the line between good and bad. It was the thing that kept reminding him he was a Wayne. That he was a good person. That he had a family that depended on him, in some way or another. That he had Alfred and Bruce, who he did want to visit even if he also wanted a life outside of them. That he had Oswald, who most often found solace in Y/n's sanity and depended on his restraint to reel him in when people were trying to set him off; Oswald needed Y/n's sense to balance his emotions. And, overall, Y/n was driven by pure spite not to let those damn reporters be right. He would be good and successful and he would show all of them that he could be more than the black sheep of the Wayne family. The disappointment of Gotham. The failure, always in the shadow of the Golden Boy younger brother Bruce Wayne.

But those people who Y/n cared about so much had let people like Jameson walk around, unhindered and unchecked. They had let him get beat up for a very long time before he was nearly killed and their hand was forced. They had let evil people run around and control things while they locked up Y/n for being gay. For being attracted to a man even though he wasn't a woman. There were murderers running wild, with super powers and incredible genius, but the problem people were deciding to focus on was that Y/n was gay.

Well, he was done with the lot of them. He was going to get out and prove to all of them that he was more than a Wayne. More than a mistake. More than a shadow. More than evil or good. More than Bruce's older brother. More than the one dude who had feelings for Jerome Valeska. More than one more gay plague on the face of the planet.

They wanted a monster? They would get one. And Y/n wasn't going to stop until he was satisfied, even if it meant all of Gotham had to die.

"Knock knock."

The door opened and Y/n looked over, his face finally showing emotion as his surprise rose. "Jerome?"

The redhead smiled, striding toward Y/n as if he has a tasty treat to share. "My little lover boy." Jerome hooked his finger under Y/n's chin. Y/n yanked his face away. Jerome frowned. "Are you mad at me, pretty boy?" Y/n glared at him. "I'll take that as a yes." He leaned backward. "What have I done, My Darling?"

"You've been avoiding me. We haven't talked in, like, months Jerome. What the fuck?"

"A tad dramatic," Jerome hushed. "And not totally fault." Y/n opened his mouth to argue but Jerome gently grabbed Y/n's throat, pressing his fingers gently into the skin. Their faces were suddenly very close and despite himself, Y/n suddenly felt a thrill to finally feel their skin touch as cheek brushed cheek. "I've been busy planning our escape, if you hadn't noticed." Y/n's eyes drifted to see a nervous Jonathan Crane and Jervis Tetch. "Come with me, won't you? I think we've been apart long enough."

Y/n suddenly began to relax. He didn't manage to smile, but he did get excited. "Well... lead the way."

Jerome left an excited kiss on Y/n's cheek, letting his hand fall away from Y/n's throat in favor of shooting into the air in victory as he giggled, turning to his two partners. "And so we all escape! Come now, we don't have much time." Y/n stood as Jerome lead the way, all four of the men finding their way out of Arkham Asylum finally.

The fun was about to begin.

#jerome valeska #jerome velaska #valeska twins #gotham #joker #cameron monaghan #male reader #jerome valeska x reader #jerome valeska imagine #valeska twins x reader #valeska twins imagine #gotham x reader #gotham imagine #joker x reader #joker imagine #cameron monaghan x reader #cameron monaghan imagine #jerome x reader #jerome imagine

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sourwolfstories · 5 years

Note

Hi! I know you're probably slammed with requests but i was wondering if you could rec some long fics without smut or skipable unimportant smut scenes? I'm sex repulsed and it's surprising difficult to find fics that don't make me uncomfortable

Okay so these are all at least 20 or 30 thousand words long each and are all either rated general audience or teen and up and I made sure to go through all of them so they shouldn’t have any smut or sex but if I did miss anything please let me know. Hope you enjoy!

Ghosts In The Suburbs by KaytiKazoo

Stiles gets cursed by a witch and can see dead people.

Here’s to the Static by matildajones

Stiles spends most of his college break in a coffee house where he stares after Derek Hale. For some reason, Stiles is unaware of the fact he’s quite the musician, and Derek amuses himself at Stiles’ obliviousness.

Cupboard Love by mklutz

He’s carefully balancing the sandwiches and the two biggest tupperware containers he could find that both had functioning lids when the front door opens and he almost drops everything right there in front of the stupid fountain.

If that’s Derek Hale, he’s definitely not a mountain man.

Strangers Like Me by Alphaboner

“Stay back! Don’t come..don’t come any closer! Please don’t! Wh..what are you doing?” he let out a little laugh when Derek started to play with his toes “Ah-haha, no, please, don’t, that tickles!” Derek’s hand traveled from Stiles’ toes to his leg “No, get off, get off!” …to his belt “GET OFF!” he kicked Derek in the face, leaving him confused and aching, looking at Stiles with a scowl.

Get Back Up by Hepzheba

After taking the blame for his so-called friend Jackson and his stupid pot, Stiles is forced to work for the Hales at their horse ranch the summer before his last year in high school. At first he absolutely hates it but he comes to realize that there is actually is something fun about this ranch thing and that horses are more likable and complicated than he’d previously thought. He also comes to realize that it’s not only the horses that are interesting; there’s also Derek Hale.

Scowl and Sarcasm by dr_girlfriend

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single alpha in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a mate.

Whether or not Derek Hale felt that way was hardly a concern to the neighborhood — the very fact of his arrival was enough that the surrounding families seemed to consider him the rightful property of one or another of their eligible sons and daughters. That was, of course, before they met the man.

Only You, Sterek by im2old4thisotp

Derek gets the name of his soulmate off a Ouija board when he is ten. He’s obsessed with finding them, but then his life irrevocably changes. He erases the name from his life and determines to live free of those stupid words, “fate” and “destiny”.

But on the eve of his wedding, he gets a phone call that will change the course of his life forever, and show him that maybe destiny does have a hold on him, after all.

Or, the Sterek rewrite of the movie “Only You” that you never knew you wanted.

sorry about the elbows, sorry we lived here. by dreamer_of_dreams

“You’re doing it again, Derek. You’re running away. I know, alright? I’ve always known… You looked at him the way I wished you’d look at me. You came close some days, when you’re folding my tank tops and we’re talking about small, insignificant things. And I thought that was enough for a while. But it was plain to see, you were sitting around, waiting for him to call you home. He never did and you just carried on.”

“I wasn’t really waiting for him to call. I knew he wouldn’t. I don’t know how you got that impression.”

“Hmmm…Maybe because when we both thought you were dying, I leant over and kissed you… and you whispered his name.”

Just the Same by ericaismeg

Something is seriously up with the captain of the lacrosse team. There’s just no way Derek Hale is human.***“I was wondering if you’re even human. You move so quickly. I mean, it’s ridiculously fast. No human should be able to move that fast, y'know? It’s unfair for us. I mean, it’s obvious you work out, and I don’t, so that could be why, but like…I was just wondering if you were human, that’s all.”

“Stop talking, Stilinski, or I'll—”

“Put me on the bench all season?” Stiles asks knowing full well that Derek Hale can’t threaten him with shit.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Halevetica

What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them… all at once?

Stiles Stilinski keeps his love letters in a box his mother gave him. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for him; these are ones he’s written. One for every boy he’s ever loved-five in all. When he writes, he pours out his heart and soul and says all the things he would never say in real life, because his letters are for his eyes only. Until the day his secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Stiles’ love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

If I Followed You Home by tryslora

Stiles is living on his own in New York when he sees the unthinkable: one woman pushes another onto the tracks just before a subway comes. With Scott not moving in for several days, he is on his own with his grief and horror, and he decides to find closure by attending the dead woman’s funeral where he discovers that (1) the guy he’s been crushing on is the dead woman’s brother, and (2) her family somewhat adopts him, and (3) the woman who killed her might just want to kill him now. Life just got complicated.

Notes:

Wolf Pack: Beacon Original by Beerwolves, fearfrost1211

When his father landed the Deputy Chief of police position in Beacon Hills, Stiles moved to his new town gladly, embracing the chance of a fresh start. What he didn’t expect was to find himself hopelessly drawn to the gruff Vice President of the local motorcycle gang, the Wolf Pack.Derek Hale, resident bad boy of Beacon Hills, spent his time helping his sister lead the Wolf Pack and working on motorcycles at his family’s automotive garage. Then, one hot summer afternoon a bright-eyed boy walked into his life and turned his world upside down.

There’s No Escape for the Potato Man by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

“Who is this? Where’s Erica?”

“Wrong number, asshole!”

“Stop calling me an asshole,” the man on the other end snapped aggressively.

Stiles could understand. He’d be pretty aggressive too if he’d murdered someone and texted a wrong number to ask for help burying the body. This guy obviously failed How To Be a Serial Killer 101.

“What kind of idiot thinks I murdered someone?”

“The kind of idiot who got your text messages, you fucking dumbass!” he retorted hotly. “Maybe double check your contacts before sending a random stranger details on your nefarious plans to dispose of a freshly cut up body!”

“What?!” the guy on the other end demanded, crossed between horrendously confused and livid.

home isn’t a place by Spikedluv

Ithaca, New York is known as a sanctuary within the supernatural community, and Cornell University is where creatures such as Kitsune and Selkies can safely attend college. Though Stiles doesn’t think he’s anything special (despite having a ‘spark’, whatever that is), he attends on Satomi’s recommendation; he wants to learn everything he can about the supernatural world so he can return to Beacon Hills and help Scott.

The last person Stiles expects to run into at Cornell is Derek Hale. Derek is gruff and grumpy, but despite that Stiles is drawn to him. When someone begins murdering supernatural students Laura Hale takes Stiles under her wing. Between attending class, hanging out with Kira, adopting a dog, and keeping score for the baseball team, Stiles investigates the deaths to figure out who’s killing his fellow students before he ends up a victim himself.

Through it all, Stiles learns the real meaning of ‘home’.

SuperWing, Stucky and SlaDick, Oh My! by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

“Well,” Nightwing said with an awkward laugh, “this is embarrassing. You are definitely not the Superman I was expecting.”

“You mean I almost missed out on having Nightwing leap into my waiting arms?” Derek asked teasingly. He couldn’t help it, the guy was adorable, and while he wasn’t exactly light, he already knew it was all muscle. This guy definitely worked out.

Nightwing let out a loud, boisterous laugh that had people around them turn to look, but he just grinned down at Derek before speaking.

“In that case, didn’t mean to keep you waiting.” He waggled his eyebrows and Derek let out a small huff of a laugh. “I should probably, uh—get down.”

“Probably.”

Thanks for Thumper, But I Prefer Cheeseburgers by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

The wolf’s head whipped around so fast, Stiles felt like he was watching The Exorcist.

Stiles wondered if he could just stand still enough to make the wolf think he was a tree. A very bright red and jean-clad tree. He doubted it, but one could hope.

He knew it was a lost cause when the wolf turned fully, lips pulled back from its sharp teeth—so very sharp, good fucking Lord!—and began walking towards Stiles.

“I didn’t see anything!” Stiles shouted, both hands out in front of himself and sweat instantly breaking out across his skin. “I swear to you! I didn’t see anything! I didn’t see anything! I won’t tell anyone! I won’t! I’ll keep this to myself, until the day I die! I promise! I promise!”

An Unexpected Familiar by BabyWeWillRise

Homework over break sucks, right? Harris is at it again with making Stiles’ life horrible by giving him an essay over Christmas break and Stiles could not be anymore displeased.

Except…this stupid assignment leads him to something he didn’t think he was missing.

Or…

After his mother died when he was eight, Stiles (and his father) ran away from reality without looking back.

Now, ten years later, when the eighteen year old runs into a familiar face, he’s thrown back into a life he had completely forgotten about and is welcomed with open and loving arms.

To say he’s freaking out would be an understatement.

#answered #anonymous #sterek #sterek fic rec #sterek fanfic #sterek fanfiction #fic rec list

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coconutknightshade · 5 years

Note

I'm kinda wondering what would Morgan think of Peter when she grows up. Will she love him like a brother or will she blame him for Tony's death? Sure it's unlikely but think of all the angst!! Probably sth along the lines of" I wish he never picked you over me!!" Btw I'm absolutely in love with your fics ❤❤❤❤

Thank you so much @nightskyblufaith , that makes me very happy to hear! I love that you love them and I hope that you continue to love them

That being said- You come into my house, on the eve of my daughters wedding, and you attempt to break my heart. You come to a girl that is hellbent on never even touching a post-endgame fic where Tony is dead and you have the audacity to ask her if she’ll write one? I just have one question- Why do you hate me? Do you revel in my tears?

I hope I return the favor. If I’m going to suffer than I’m taking you down with me!

We’ll perish together!

In all seriousness, I had instant inspiration upon reading your prompt and I hope I did you justice! I feel like it may have taken a turn you hadn’t been going for, but I hope that you enjoy it nonetheless :) I also want to note- I still have your other prompt and it’s still in the pipeline and I haven’t forgotten about it!

A Good Hero and a Good FatherWord Count: 2,500ish

She's drunk.

Wasted and swaying far too close to the edge. It has Peter's heard pounding dangerously fast, panic rising as a lump in his throat.

She's only sixteen- Very much below the drinking age. Bottles are littered at her feet and even as far from her as Peter is, the smell of alcohol clinging to her is painfully strong. He frowns.

Will he be fast enough if she teeters over the edge? How long has she been drinking? Christ. Is this going to end in an ER visit?

She's also supposed to be in school. It's nearly noon. Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey had been attempting to hunt her down for hours. Pepper was understandably distraught, horrified that with all of the technology at her disposal she couldn't track down her daughter.

Unsurprising, if Peter is being honest. Much like her father, she operates on her own time and with her own rules. If she doesn't want to be found than she won't be found.

Fortunately, much like his father figure, Peter is innovative. It should come as no surprise that every person Peter keeps close to him is trackable by no less than three different ways. After the life he's been through, and the loved ones he's lost, Peter isn't taking any chances. Before Pepper had ended her call with ‘please, if you find her let me know’ Peter had already traced down her exact location. In fact, doing so had been nothing but a means of verification- He knew her well enough to know where she would end up.

The two of them haven't been there in awhile. At least a year now. When she was younger they would spend a day or two a week up on that rooftop. They would curl up and overlook the city, talk about anything and everything. Peter would help her with her homework and she would sit close to him, excitedly and dramatically narrating whatever game he was playing at the time. Together they would watch movies on his laptop and at times he would let her slip on his mask and watching through the old Baby Monitor Protocol any footage he had of Tony. It usually ended in tears, but Peter Parker never could say no to Morgan Stark.

This time is far different than those of the past. The atmosphere is heavy, unsettling. Immediately upon landing Peter is dodging one empty bottle after another.

“Fuck your Spidey Sense,” she bites out, throwing another one and in doing so nearly pitches forward on unsteady feet. Morgan scoffs when he catches it without so much as flinching. Her words, however- Her words do make him flinch.

“Morgan,” he says softly, almost pained. She's already shaking her head.

“No,” she points a finger at him, swallowing thickly. “You don't get to do that- You don't get to sound sympathetic and concerned. I don't want to fucking hear it.”

Peter nearly takes a step back, caught off guard by the venom. Morgan Stark is what he imagines a little sister to be. They mess around, he’s taught and helped her with anything she needed. Oftentimes, and much to Pepper's concern and amusement, they prank each other, with each prank growing more and more reckless. She’s his sister and of course they bicker and argue as such, but this is different. It's almost chilling.

“Morgan,” he says again, voice loud and firm. “Step away from the ledge.”

Morgan laughs, manic almost, and Peter clenches his jaw. He's got a hand stretched out hesitantly as if ready to catch her if she tips over the edge, even though he's too far away to actually do so if she were to tumble over.

“Do you- Do you really think that I would pull something like that?” Her laughter turns to sobs, emotional regulation fleeting, but she drops down a step or two onto the base of the roof and away from the ledge. Peter takes a step forward and she immediately takes a step backwards.

“Don't,” she raises her voice angrily before her expression falters and she let's her eyes close over tears. Her voice is softer, nearly a pained whisper when she adds, “Don't. Please just go, Peter. I can't look at you. Not today.”

Her voice cracks on that last word.

It's the anniversary of Tony Stark's heroic sacrifice and though he braces himself every year for the inevitable breakdown, he's never prepared himself for something quite like this. In hindsight he thinks he probably should have. Morgan is growing older, she's going through a pivotal time in her life and with sixteen being such a milestone Peter should have anticipated how hitting such a milestone without her father would have a harrowing affect her. While he had anticipated something… a belligerent, drunk teenager dancing along the ledge of a rooftop, far too high to survive a fall, didn't even make the list. Peter remains calm, keeps his voice even.

“I'll leave you alone when we get you home, Morgan. You and I both know that you can't stay up here. Your mom is worried about you. Rhodey and Happy are worried about you. I'm worried about you.”

Peter dodges another bottle.

“Fuck you, Peter. I don't need your sympathy. I don't want it. Not when you're the reason he's gone.” She kicks a bottle in his direction and brings an arm up to wipe across her eyes. Peter notices that she's wrapped up in one of Tony's old MIT hoodies. Seeing it makes his own heart hurt. His grief ever present, always there tucked away in the base of his chest. Sometimes when he closes his eyes he still hears Tony's words- And I wanted you to be better.

Christ. Peter mourns Tony every day. And though fewer, Peter at least has memories of Tony. Morgan, he knows, only has fleeting images and sporadic memories of her father. Peter can empathize. It's similar to the relationship between Peter and his own parents. He was nearly as young as Morgan had been when he'd lost his. The difference being Morgan sees evidence of her father every day- She's confronted every day with the knowledge that her father left such a monumental imprint on this world and she can barely even remember being tucked in at night by the man. Peter can only imagine the struggle.

He tries not to take her words to heart, but when they leave her lips he can't help but to suck in a breath.

“That's not fair,” he says softly. It hurts. It hurts far deeper than Peter knows how to put into words. Of course he's wondered whether Morgan feels he played any part in her father's death. The world - the media - naturally knows nothing of his relationship with Tony Stark, but Morgan does. She knows that her father viewed Peter as one of his own- That had things been different she would have grown up with and around Peter. Jeez. Even in Tony's absence she still grew up with his close presence. She sees first hand how close he is with every other special person in her life - Pepper, Happy, Rhodey. It only tracks that he would have been even closer to her father.

Yeah. It's no secret that Tony considered Peter as one of his own, but Peter never could be sure how closely Morgan connected that information to his death. Until now, that is. Peter can't help but hope this is coming from a place of hurt and anger, an emotion in the moment and not something that has weighed silently on her heart for years. He's not sure what he’ll do if that’s the case. Peter's already lost one family member in Tony, he doesn't want to lose another one in Morgan as well.

“You're right, Peter. It's not fair. And yet here we are,” she spreads her arms out wide and spins in a lazy, very clumsy circle as if to encompass everything around the two of them.

“And yet here we are,” Peter echoes back, voice clear of emotion, with a firm nod of his head. “Skipping school and drunk off your ass on the ledge of a building. I'm sure your dad would have loved that.”

Harsh. Intentionally so.

Morgan turns back towards him dangerously slow and Peter takes a step forward, holding his ground. If taking the heat- Letting himself be the proverbial punching back for her to yell and scream at and god throw more bottles at... Well at least she isn’t drowning her sorrows and emotions in alcohol like her father had once upon a time.

“I don't know what my dad would love, do I? He isn't here to tell me. And why do you think that is?” While her voice expresses nothing but anger, the tears trailing down her cheeks betray her. Despite her words the sight makes Peter's heart clench.

“Because he was a hero,” Peter says firmly. “He did what was needed to save the universe, Morgan. To save you.”

Morgan scoffs, turning her head to look out over the city.

“He might've been some great hero,” she begins softly, almost to herself, “but he was a terrible father.”

The last words are choked out with a gut wrenching sob that pulls at each and every one of Peter's heartstrings. He attempts to take another hesitant step towards her and when Morgan doesn't react, doesn't take a receding step backwards, he continues forward. Morgan wraps her arms around her midsection and wobbles dangerously before finally crumpling to her knees.

“Sometimes I hate him so much, Peter.” Her voice sounds so small, so broken, and in that moment Peter remembers that even at sixteen she's still just a child. A child who has lived through so much pain already. Peter thinks again just how deeply he can relate. Morgan's voice, nearly a whisper now, pulls him from his thoughts. “Why- Why couldn't he be selfish and stay with his family? Why were we not enough?”

Peter kneels before hesitantly reaching towards her and when she doesn't flinch he wraps his arms around her and pulls her tight against his chest. Through her sobs she's nearly hyperventilating. Peter rests a hand on the crown of her head and tilts his face down so that she can hear him gently saying her name over the sound of her cries- Morgan, you're okay. Listen- Listen to the sound of my breathing, focus on the movements of my chest. There it is, there you go. Just breathe.

Morgan nearly slumps against him and Peter's grip tightens. He thinks back over her words, how innocent and heartbroken they are and he forces himself not to overthink how her words unintentionally carry a weight of yes you would still be dead but at least my dad would be here with me and honestly, Peter can't even blame her for that.

“Morgan, he wouldn't have done any of this if he didn't think you would grow up in a better world because of it.” Just when he thinks her tears are starting to slow do they pick back up with fervor. Still, Peter can feel the exhaustion radiate from her.

“He only did it to bring you back.” Morgan's voice is weak, defeated and tired. Her words slur and she closes her eyes against the fresh tears. Peter shifts, wipes them away with the pad of his thumb and tries to fight through his own tears that threaten to fall.

“You know that isn't true.”

“Isn't it though?”

“No,” Peter says firmly. “It isn't. And I think you know that.”

Morgan sighs, knows he's right, and turns to rest her forehead against Peter's chest. Peter runs a hand through her hair, absently working out the tangles while waiting until she gathers herself to speak.

“Sometimes,” she whispers, “it's easier to just hate him. To hate you. Because at least you're here for me to yell at. I can scream into the sky until my face turns blue, but he'll never know how I feel.” She's sobbing again, face buried in her hands and Peter's heart breaks anew. He can empathize with that- Can empathize in feeling that way periodically when he glances his own reflection. It's easier to hate himself when sometimes he really just wants to punch a wall. He feels to an extent that Morgan is right. Happy has, intentional or no, indicated as such. That Tony wouldn't have done what he did if he hadn't of thought Peter would be there at the end. The sentiment somehow simultaneously makes his heart swells while at the same time breaks it. It’s something of a weight to consider that his return to this plane means he’s ripped apart a family.

Of course Tony's sacrifice has brought millions of families back together- But all he bears witness to is the family he can't help but feel he broke apart. It's not necessarily logical, but oftentimes the thought is there.

“He'll never know how you feel in the moment, Morgan. But you know how he wanted you to feel before he died, and he wouldn't want that to change in the event of his death.” Her fist tightens in the front of his shirt and he swallows thickly before blazing on. “He wouldn't want to see this, Morg. He died wanting you to live in a better place- A happier world. Not one forever in mourning. Not one so broken and defeated. He wanted you to smile- To dance and sing even though you have two left feet and are painfully tone deaf.” She snorts. “I can promise you that when he thought of your future he didn't see this. He didn't want this for you. He saw you walking through life happy, with a smile on your face. And I can promise you that he wouldn't have wanted any of that to change, not even in the event of his death. He would only ever want you happy, Morgan. Always.”

A beat.

“I still hate you,” she says quietly, without any real heat. Another similarity with her father... Morgan doesn't do soft. Not like this. Regardless, Peter knows his words have landed and he smiles softly, squeezes her tighter in response and bumps his nose against her head. Quiet laughter bubbles from him when she adds a whined, “My head hurts.”

“Not nearly as much as it will once Pepper gets to you. Assuming Rhodey or Happy doesn't get to you first.” Morgan groans, dropping her face into her hands once again.

“Maybe- Maybe we just stay up here forever. Problem solved.” Peter huffs in amusement.

“Yeah, I don't think so. Not gonna fly.”

“What do I tell her?” she asks quietly. Peter can hear the anxiety - the exhaustion - in her voice and he rubs soothing circles into her back.

“I'll talk to her.”

“Are you going to tell her I threw bottles at you?”

“Nah.” Amusement colors Peter's tone as he adds teasingly, “Your aim was terrible, so it's kind of like you weren't even throwing them at all.” Morgan pinches him but Peter doesn't miss the smile that tugs at the corners of her mouth.

“That's a lie and you know it.” Her smile falls, something more serious pulls at her expression, and she takes a deep breath. “He would be proud of me, I think. At my aim, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Peter says softly, knowing full well that she isn’t referring to her aim. “He would.”

#mine #my writing #morgan stark #peter parker #tony stark #ironfam #iron family

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRR Book 3 Chapter 11

• Again, fam, I'm not entirely sure I'll have this QT out in time but I hope I will. My surgery has been fixed for next Thursday, and I'd like to finish whatever I can before I leave for hospital. It's going to be hard, but fingers crossed I can get it done.

Here is Part 2 of Chapter 11's Quick Thoughts once you're through with this one!

• I'm noticing a narrative pattern here! Whenever something devastating is happening right in front of us (like the two attacks in the palace) they immediately pick up from where they left off in the previous chapter, bring that portion to its dramatic conclusion, and then play the opening theme (in this case, it's the sad version of the TRR title track). They used a similar narrative format in Chapter 1 of this book.

• This is also the third time the sad TRR track plays in the book. The only time it was played sans the narrative style of Chapter 1 and Chapter 10's openings, was in Chapter 6, after the orchard at Applewood was burned. All at points of time when all hope seems to be lost, before our lead characters get up, dust themselves off, and resolve to keep going despite everything and everyone against them.

• It was pretty clear that Constantine would sacrifice his life in this chapter, given the way he was talking at the end of the last one. It's the kind of symbolic send-off one tends to write for a character one knows will die sooner than he anticipates. Which is why even though I'm kinda pissed that Leo comes now when everything seems safe, I understand why having him there is so important. In the narrative, Leo is an important part of the closure that comes before Constantine's demise.

•

A few notes on Constantine's demise:

1. He's right about one thing: it definitely is a better end for him. He dies a hero. Cordonia never finds out that he was going to die anyway. No one gets to know what he did to the future Queen/newest Duchess either. I'm still going to be unhappy about this because it's a way better end than the man deserves.

2. I know I would find it disturbing if the man who arranged for me to be harmed in multiple ways in his own house was hailed a hero during his funeral, with only me and a handful of other people knowing he had done, and without the option of ever opening up about who was really behind it. I don't know about you, but my MC Esther would definitely feel conflicted about that.

3. Also..."everything I did, it was for you...whether or not it was right". Sorry Constantine, but that's a load of bullshit. After all this time, this man is still making excuses just before he dies. Liam answered this brilliantly in the last book - Constantine had a choice. He always had a choice. There were other, better ways of getting the MC out of the competition if that was his goal but no, his mind went straight to privacy violations and assault.

4. Also, while he pledged to help us under pressure from Liam, the fact remains that the brunt of his actions were borne by other people. The MC's name was dragged into the mud and SHE had to run around and make all the effort of setting it right. Liam was forced into a loveless match that would have culminated in a disastrous marriage had Tariq not cooperated, and he had to work on figuring out who was behind this not knowing his own family was involved. In all this, Constantine did all the work of making his own home as unsafe for his guest as it could possibly get, and very little of the work in restoring her reputation in the eyes of all of Cordonia. Did he apologize? Sure he did. But that doesn't change a damned thing. It doesn't change the fact that he sowed evil and left it for other people to reap.

5. I find his last line to Liam quite poignant though. "You are Cordonia". That's a very loaded statement, and a very accurate one. And I think if there is anything that can keep Liam strong and carry him forward, it's that. No one in this book is as immersed in the culture, history and spirit of Cordonia as Liam is - which is why he makes the best king for the nation. Because he knows it intimately and cares for it, he knows what this country needs so it can heal. Even if it takes a while for Liam to realize that himself.

6. So long, old man.

• Title: Cold Fire. Kinda fitting, considering our tour has now moved to Lythikos, but the 'heat' of the tensions within the court have turned up several notches. It could also refer to that sick, sick burn Drake delivered to Madeleine today though 😂😂😂

• Alternative titles:

Drink What Everyone Else Is Drinking. Good For Health.

Drake Doesn't Need A Sword to Slay Assholes. Nor Does Olivia, Apparently.

@callmetippytumbles suggested a shorter and better alternative title to that one, and it's: Drake Roasts And Gets Roasted.

• I was hoping we would spend at least a chapter in the Capitol and, yknow, actually help Liam work through his grief, but nope. Flash-forward it is.

• Bastien is in hospital now, with injuries sustained from escorting people out of the palace, so Mara (who apparently hasn't been sleeping since the attack) is the one doing the debriefing on his behalf.

• It's clear to Liam and our friends NOW that whoever has been conspiring against us was a part of the Unity Tour and working from the inside (bruh, I could have told you that long ago). I'm thinking now that if Neville is part of this plan, perhaps the duel was meant to serve as a distraction so arrangements could be made within the time that the entire court was out in the courtyard. Just a theory.

• This was also alluded to in Perfect Match, when one of Nadia's alternative identities is Steel, a guest in the 'royal's tour who is actually an assassin.

•

This is perhaps the closest we get to Liam confessing how much all this has been affecting him, and sadly enough, he doesn't have enough time to really work through his grief. The suggestion to continue to Lythikos and get their answers there comes from Liam, and he speaks of it as something Constantine would have wanted. It isn't entirely healthy, but I think this is the way Liam has been brought up and it's hard for him to give himself time to be vulnerable, to give himself the space to grieve properly. Because now more than ever he has an entire country depending on him, and the royal family is known for projecting displays of strength and stoicism even if they don't feel it. It's not a good way of working through one's issues, but it's probably the only way Liam knows to deal with his trauma. I feel like in a lot of ways he's reliving especially the assassination attempt that happened earlier, but worse because someone he loved actually died this time. I'd definitely see some signs of PTSD at work here, even if it's suppressed. Particularly given that he speaks of feeling empty.

•

Waitaminute...are you telling me that Esther, the future Queen of Cordonia, is going to attend a Ball, her fiancé's father's funeral, a meeting, and an entire trip to Lythikos in this fever dream of a costume???

Fine. Fine, Esther, I give up. Fanta bottle inspired Stephanie Seymour gown it is 🙄

• What Madeleine says about the effect the MC has (particularly if the MC chooses all the right options during the tour) on people is very very similar to the last thing Constantine said before he died:

I'm guessing in a lot of ways this is seen as the MC's personal victory. Constantine and Madeleine were the two people who believed least that the MC had anything of value to give if she became Queen or a person of power in Cordonian politics. It was a long hard road to achieving this level of confidence even in her naysayers, so in a lot of ways the MC now truly is a unifying factor. Which makes me wonder what they say if you do a gag-run instead where the MC fails miserably during the tour. I know @boneandfur is doing such a playthrough as of now, but I don't know exactly if Madeleine and Constantine's words to her change in such an eventuality.

•

OMG. The design team is KILLING IT with the OOTD this week! It's gorgeous, and it tells us plenty about the Lythikos duchy and the Nevrakis House! For those of you who haven't read my House Sigils essay, I theorized that red was one of the house tinctures (colours), and that the sigil was either a sword or a spider. The flaming sword is attached to the gown (possibly as a brooch pin). @i-dream-so-i-write and I discussed this, and it was she who pointed out that Diavolos signature weapon was the flaming sword, as can be seen from the above picture. I'm not sure which metallic colour would form the second colour/tincture, but evidence seems to be learning more towards silver (there is a little gold on the brooch-sword, so it could be either). Tldr: I love this gown. It has that grace and effortless style that I've come to associate with Nevrakis fashion.

• Olivia is wearing the gown she wore for her Coronation. Come to think of it, the Scarlet Duchess moniker that Olivia got would refer to way more than her fashion. Given that it's one of her house colours and she was proud to be a Nevrakis especially at the time, Scarlet Duchess would mean so much to her. So much.

• So we're seated in the front and served fresh, piping hot food. SWEET! XD This time we get to order stuff. Maxwell gets fondue, Hana gets glazed salmon and Drake has ordered for ribs.

• Olivia: I had to request a few changes for your more...rustic palette.

Drake: Are you expecting a thanks? Because you're not getting one.

You're in for the meal of your life, Walker 😂

•

If you've never liked Olivia at all before? This scene in reason enough 😂😂😂

• Lucretia drops by to make more heavy hints about marriage prospects for Olivia (including relief that her niece wasn't scarred from rubble. How...caring).

• Olivia and Liam then perform the opening dance (like they did during the social season) and Liam takes this opportunity to find out what she knows. He gets little, beyond her worries about having to marry someone Lucretia will pick for her. Hana points out that perhaps "one has to wonder who Lucretia wants Olivia to marry". Good question.

• But before that, Kiara comes up to the MC to tell her she will be withdrawing from court after the Winter Festival ends. Kiara's argument is sound - she had already extended her public support and seems to be attending the wedding. But now is a dangerous time to be a part of the court, and Kiara's doing what she can to stay safe. Remember, she was the only noblewoman in court injured during the attack at Homecoming Ball, a fact that was given hardly a minute of consideration before the MC "convinced" her to join them again.

• Hana mentions that perhaps they can speak to her before she returns. I hope this means we will FINALLY address what happened to Kiara and look into possible - very valid - concerns about her safety. This is something we SHOULD have been talking about when we meet her at Castelserraillian, but no. PB decided to create a whole new character instead just so Kiara wouldn't get the attention she deserved as a character.

• Then again, she is seen as a suspect in a way none of the other court ladies (besides Olivia, and she's only viewed as such because of her family history) are. Sigh. The MC gets the option to speculate that she "knows something" and Drake gets to answer that "we must suspect everyone". DRAKE. Who ALSO got wounded at the same Ball that she was wounded in. Ugh. I mean I shouldn't be surprised considering he gets angry about people not supporting Liam barely hours after he got shot, but he's friends with the King. Kiara is not, and if she gets wounded again wouldn't it be their fault for not addressing the concerns she and her family had in the first place? Apparently Penelope's and Madeleine's concerns should be given ample consideration, but Kiara? Kiara who?? Oh right, Penelope's love interest's sister 😠 While we're at it, let's just make her suspicious for no reason!

• CONGRATULATIONS MAXWELL STANS on getting your first character development scene! There isn't a lot of overt character development but the scene does show us how observant and resourceful Maxwell is, pointing out the hole in the armoury wall that will allow us to overhear people's conversations and give us a better idea of who we should suspect. It does this while still establishing him as goofy, fun-living and always ready to live life king-size.

• Maxwell and the MC engage in what is known in European folklore as an apple-shot (Apfelschuss in German. The most popular folk tale involving this feat of archery is that of William Tell, a Swiss folk hero, who was ordered to shoot an apple from the top of his son's head by a cruel nobleman named Albrecht Gessler. Thankfully, he succeeded).

• Oooh now comes my favourite part: the weapons!

• This is an amazing Easter Egg in two ways if you're a TCaTF fan. One is that it reminds me SO MUCH of when Val gets to be the narrator, which is ALWAYS fun! Case in point are the names she gives the Iron Empire soldiers at Ennan: Pointy, Mr Fancy, Birdface, Grumpy and That Other Guy. Here, the MC gives names to all the weapons.

• So if you're someone who has played TCaTF and forgotten the weapons, no problem! I'm here to list out what these weapons are actually called, where they originated from and how Kenna (if the reader pays) gets them!

• The Weirdly Fancy Dagger is the Black Asps Dagger (which I think might be venom-tipped, like Adder's Fang) which Raydan gets from a Black Asp agent when he is imprisoned under Azura's orders. I see this weapon as being associated most with Abanthus/Lythikos in this list of weapons, because it comes from Adder's team of Lykos spies and assassins, and eventually (if Kenna chooses so) Adder can get to rule over this kingdom either alone or alongside Princess Zenobia (or not at all).

The Dragon Face Hammer! is actually the famous Wave Hammer, made by Kailani Keawe of Ebrimel - a fierce warrior and a skilled craftswoman - from Heart Oak Wood sneaked in from Thorngate. Heart Oak has all the appearance of wood with all the strength of metal, and makes for an amazing secret weapon.

The Ram Head Thing is Crown Guardian Leon Stirling's signature weapon - The Ram's Head Mace. This is a weapon clearly associated with Stormholt as Queen Adriana bequeathed it to him. Leon gets to pass it down to Kenna upon his death, if she so chooses. This mace is strong enough to crush armour, and Leon won the tournament at Ducitora with it before Azura killed him.

The Skull...Flail? is Val Greaves' signature weapon, The Deadman's Flail, which is powerful enough to crush armour. Kenna can use this weapon in her fight against Severin Cale, Leader of the Mercenaries. Val herself uses it often in battle.

The polo mallet is just...there.

• Ooh finally! It's time to investigative.

1. Madeleine approaching a man the MC has rejected in favour of her current fiancé. If you're marrying Liam, this man is Drake and he gets to roast Madeleine like she's never been roasted before ("Liam does get what he wants. That means he also gets to throw away what he doesn't want"). If you're marrying Drake, Hana or Maxwell, she is talking to Liam, addressing the king-sized elephant in the room. Liam doesn't pull any extra punches - he just looks extra annoyed and tells her he's "had other matters to attend to". It may seem like a weak defense in comparison to Drake's explosive comeback, but to be fair the man is going through some crazy shit here, and I don't think anyone in that state can actually expand enough thought to form a rebuttal at all. I doubt he'd have either the inclination or energy to actually respond with more than "I've had other matters to attend to". It's particularly awkward if your LI is Maxwell because he is standing right next to you hearing all this, but that hardly reflects in his dialogue. Basically, I view this sequence as telling us more about Madeleine than about the men: she may have changed a tiny bit, but she's still just a huge shit-stirrer.

Possibly, this might be set up for the apology that will ensue if we save Madeleine's backstabbing ass next chapter. It'll be something along the lines of "oh forgive me, I was so wrong, what I did was so wrong, I'll never do that again" etc etc yadda yadda getouttamyfaceyoufakeassbitch.

Also, I believe that the part of the reason Drake delivered that zinger to Madeleine was because he was still stinging from Olivia's burn at dinner 😂

2. While there are very few differences between the first and last conversations, the second conversation changes drastically depending on who your LI is.

a. If your LI is Liam, Hakim comes up to Liam, gives him his condolences for Constantine's death, and then comments positively on Esther and the upcoming wedding, which leads to a discussion between the MC and Maxwell about wedding preparations. I think this is mostly because Kiara never really interacts with Liam, so they got Hakim to do the honors. Over here though, Hakim and Liam's conversation about the wedding forms only a tiny portion of the conversation, as opposed to the entire thing.

b. If your LI is Hana, Kiara and Hana have a lovely, lighthearted conversation about the latter's upcoming wedding. Kiara expresses great happiness at Hana getting married to the MC, and Hana confesses to being so nervous she constantly dreams about it. I love the way Hana and Kiara's friendship is written here: how open Hana is with Kiara and how encouraging and supportive Kiara is towards Hana. I think it's so beautiful to see 😭

c. If your LI is Maxwell? It's Hana and Kiara again, this time speculating what the MC's wedding to Maxwell will be like. Kiara confesses that she plans to skip a cousin's reception on the same day by pretending to be ill, just so she can attend their reception instead. Together they discuss what surprises the Beaumonts might spring during the reception - from dance-offs to ball pits to hot air balloons filled with kittens. Here too, it's a lovely moment - two of the smartest court members having fun talking about weddings.

d. If your LI is Drake, Kiara talks to him instead. First about the offerings at the dessert buffet, then about the wedding. Kiara is overly chirpy and happy and excited about the wedding, and Drake tenses up when she turns the topic towards the wedding preparations, because those are "complicated". Of course, if you do the LI scene with him at the ice palace, you will find out that he doesn't like talking about it because he would rather keep things simple and focus on his bride, and the nobility is all about perfection and elaborate preparations. Very possibly the Kiara-Drake conversation was written this way as a lead-up to his conversation with the MC at the snow palace. (and perhaps also to dissuade people who would like to ship Drake and Kiara, especially given the backlash Kiara got from fans just for having a crush on the man).

The main focus of this conversation of course is to give out the message that the MC's upcoming wedding is something that still excites people, and that even people afraid of staying in court don't want to miss it.

3. The third conversation between Olivia and Lucretia is given the suspicious sounding music from ES, and begins with Lucretia trying to find out more about the MC. Olivia doesn't tell her much beyond what everyone else knows, and Lucretia leaves her with this cryptic statement:

I feel we're going to have a Big Reveal about what actually happened to the Nevrakises and whether they really were traitors or not.

• With that we finish our little stint at investigation, and in comes our next chance to spend diamonds on our respective LIs!

• I love how Liam's outdoor kink has been referenced two chapters in a row now 😂

•

(Screenshots: @kennaxval for Hana, @mariamatsuo for Drake and the Vika Avey YouTube channel for Maxwell).

Again, like the previous scene, the LIs have their own individual stamp over their ice palace scene. The beauty of it is not just that they all seem different in the way they make love to the MC, but that their reactions to the ice palace itself vary from LI to LI.

Liam gives us a legend. He tells us about the prevalent pre-wedding tradition in Lythikos, where an engaged couple would have their village build them an ice palace the following winter. Kind of like a seasonal barn-raising, which also involves a community coming together to build something for the couple. It says plenty about Lythikos and its people (I won't elaborate because at some point I'm going to be writing essays again). But it also confirms for us how immersed in Cordonian culture Liam is, and how much his Queen will learn when she is with him.

Hana gives us a fairytale. She tells us a story her mother used to read to her at night, about a frozen kingdom, an ice palace and a princess with a frozen heart, which thawed the moment she found true love. The fairytale Hana tells us bears similarities to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", and more to the film it inspired, Frozen. But snow maidens are a staple of certain European cultures (particularly Norwegian and Slavic legend), so it could be a mix of many stories. It's fitting that Hana relates the ice palace to a story, connected as she is to literature and folklore and romance. In a lot of ways, hidden beneath the fable of the ice princess is Hana's own story.

Drake gives us a memory. As a follow-through to the conversation between him and Kiara in Maxwell's armoury scene if the reader bought it (unbeknownst to him, because he doesn't know the MC was overhearing them) he gets to be more open about not being very interested in planning weddings. His ideal would have been to take his bride to his mother's ranch in Texas for a wedding very reminiscent of his parents' union, and were Cordonia not in this condition that's exactly what he would have done. It's very like Drake, whose most powerful emotional associations are connected to his once-happy childhood and his memories of his parents, particularly his father.

Maxwell gives us an gift, made with his own hands. When he brings the MC to the ice palace, he suggests creating ice sculptures, and both make one of each other. It's a sweet, funny and affectionate scene, with both of them exchanging cute banter about Maxwell's "secret affair" with "Ice MC" and his tongue getting stuck in ice while pretending to kiss her 😂 It's very Maxwell. He's very hands-on, likes to do fun things, likes to entertain. And that's exactly the vibe I'm getting here.

The love scenes are tender and sweet and hot, and I think each of these scenes is worth the diamonds you'll spend. The scenes are tailored perfectly to fit the personalities of each LI. This is exactly what I hoped to see with scenes like the bathtub scene at the beginning of the book, and the spa scene. If they continue with this kind of quality content going forward, then I'm really really glad they took that hiatus.

• Okay we're back to the ballroom now. With Madeleine super drunk on...um...some pineapple drink.

• Madeleine is the only person to have the pineapple drink, and she seems to have an affinity for pineapple's since Maxwell offered her that Pineapple Paradise Punch in Fydelia. Everyone else is drinking Lythikos Nog.

• Madeleine collapses in the middle of Olivia's speech!

• The security detail uses "Code Locusta" to refer to poisons. Which is fitting, because Locusta was a very notorious maker of poisons during the time of Claudius and Nero (around AD 54 was when she contributed to the assassination of Emperor Claudius, and his son Brittanicus a year later). She was not only someone who was an expert on poisons and hired for that purpose, but also someone who used her skills to bring down royalty at the behest of their enemies. This could be a bit of a stretch, but I think this ties in symbolically with the plot of the movie scene in Liam's playthrough, where the enemy of the throne is someone who also can claim to be a royal. Especially considering poisons have been used to kill Liam's mother, and now to kill a supporter of the Crown and the MC, and a member of a very powerful Cordonian noble house. And yet...the other noble house - the Nevrakis family of Lythikos - stays untouched.

• The last time I recall "Locusta" being used in literature was in Alexandre Dumas' (père) The Count of Monte Cristo. A chapter of this book, in which a woman attempts to poison her stepdaughter so the family fortune could be passed on to her son, was titled Locusta as well.

• Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, folks. Or should I say, in the Kingdom of. Cordonia?

• Can I just say I love the parallels between Lythikos in Book 1 and now? We learned a little about Olivia's past in passing from Liam here, and now it will hit us in full force in the form of Lucretia. Constantine didn't seem to be in Lythikos, and returned to tell Liam that he was going to die soon, and now we visit the same estate after he has given his life to save his son.

Olivia gave us the worst place and the worst treatment then, and the best now. We convinced Kiara to support us in this very ballroom, and perhaps we might have to do so now too. It was here that Madeleine proudly claimed she was neither unrefined or insecure...but now she doesn't care about propriety.

I recall it was here for the first time that Maxwell stans were given the chance to express affection towards him, and it's here that they now get his first character development scene in Book 3. Most of all...it was here that the initial 3 LIs started to open up to us, in different ways, (if we paid) and now we return...an engaged couple - shedding all our layers and keeping each other warm in the cold (again, if we pay). I have many fond memories of Lythikos, and this chapter definitely brought me back there xD

• Tumblr isn't allowing me to write further for this post, so I will be writing my theories and who I believe is involved in the next post.

#the royal romance #long post #liam x mc #king liam #drake x mc #drake walker #hana x mc #hana lee #maxwell x mc #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis #lady kiara #countess madeleine #trr quick thoughts #quick thoughts

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fly-pow-bye · 6 years

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DuckTales 2017 - “The Shadow War!”

Story by: Francisco Angones, Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Written by: Madison Bateman, Colleen Evanson, Christian Magalhaes, Bob Snow

Directed by: Hatthew Humphreys, Tanner Johnson

Storyboard by: Vince Aparo, Emmy Cicierega, Ben Holm, Vaughn Tada, Brandon Warren, Jason Zurek

The Day of the Ducks, and the Night of DeSpell. I almost wish they kept those titles!

We start where we left off from the previous episode, with Huey, Dewey, and Louie packing up the newly repaired houseboat. They're not too happy, but they're also not happy with a mother-losing uncle, either. Donald tries to cheer everyone up with some sardine crackers, which, judging by Webby's expression, aren't that great.

Webby's there too, for reasons I'm not entirely sure of. Is she going to move in with the boys, or is this some temporary home for her? The fact that the boys were some of the first friends she ever got to meet probably had a hand in that.

But enough about that, time for some recap of something I skipped earlier: in Lena’s last episode, Magica manages to possess her, taking over her body. She's already possessed here, as she starts to plot to get that number one dime before the lunar eclipse happens. She only occasionally regaining her senses to show the viewer that this isn’t actually Lena’s real personality. How? Maybe it’s just like just shaking her head, or her eyes changing color, or...

KIDS SHOW. KIDS SHOW. OH, GOOD LORD IT’S A KIDS SHOW. I mean, I'm not against this. Having Magica's shadow form literally getting attached to Lena's poor eyes shows how little control Lena has now.

Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of this when Other Bin used it as a twist, mostly because it lessened Lena’s importance in the plot. Why have any investment in Lena doing the right thing if her evil aunt can just possess her to do the wrong thing? Turns out, this episode has some twists that make that an easier pill to swallow.

They even throw three items from three separate filler episodes into the ocean, including the Druid’s Cup and the “I Didn’t Survive_d_ Mount Neverrest” shirt. Yeah, there’s a lot of references to the previous episodes, and these are just the most blatant. One neat joke is that, despite everything, Louie is still the money-making schemer as he desperately tries to keep the hook from the Toth-Ra episode to sell on their version of eBay.

As Louie desperately tries to scuba dive for the soon to be lost treasures, Donald shows up to tell the boys that he’s taking the boat to Cape Suzette. Just in case, the logo is even in the style of TaleSpin and it has the Sea Duck on it. I wonder how the ducks feel about that name.

Meanwhile, Magica, let's be honest, while it's Lena's body, it's clearly Magica in 100% control here, finally infiltrates her nemesis's manor by using Lena's voice to tell Scrooge that Webby would be so disappointed that he's going through one of those "old man moments". She finally comes face-to-stolen-face with Scrooge...

...and he looks like this. After everyone left him, including ghost Duckworth, long story, Scrooge is at his lowest moment. It apparently didn't take too long for him to become a pizza loving duck with a stained t-shirt, living off of the last remains of his money. Magica thinks this is all some psychological ploy, and gets irritated when this increasingly does not turn out to be the case.

Back at the houseboat, Webby does a plan to get some sort of farewell party going. Since the boys are starting to have second thoughts about Cape Suzette, sans Dewey who gets all dressed up for the occasion, they decide to agree to this.

Webby tries to gets a special guest to join this parent trap, and yes, they outright call it that. She also gets Launchpad, who was oblivious to all of this and is confused to why Scrooge won't let him into the manor, and accidently gets Mrs. Beakley, who finds out about it and wants to investigate this. Thankfully, she wants in on it as well. Crisis averted. Webby decides to call up Scrooge McDuck, and to her ears, it seems like Scrooge answered the call and would happily go anywhere with free food.

Unfortunately, it was Magica talking in Scrooge McDuck’s voice, as Scrooge is still wallowing around in his own sorrows. For the record, they do the body swap voice change thing, with Lena speaking in Magica's voice when she's not trying to be in-character. It's still Lena's vocal cords, but, it's magic, okay? They actually say that later in the episode.

Magica really wants Scrooge to drink nutmeg tea which was spiked with a sleeping potion. Y'know, so she could get the dime. Short answer, he doesn't, and her reactions are funny. She even ends up putting it in a sippy cup, only for him to knock it over and break it. However, her other strategy ends up working better.

She also accidentally convinces him to try to go on an adventure on his own, and start fresh, forgetting about everything in the past. This includes forgetting his family; that’s another major theme in this episode, and it’s not just in the Huey, Dewey, and Louie part. He throws away his clothes, and Magica suggests giving the Number One dime away to her.

Of course, that's the one trinket he doesn't want to get rid of, much to Magica's lament. Gotta say, that's pretty harsh but yet fitting for him that a piece of money is held to a higher regard than his own family, even if his own family disowned him. Eventually, Magica gives up on tricking the old man into a slumber and starts wrestling him for it. Since Scrooge has been out of it for the last few days, this does not take too long.

Turns out, she had a decidedly different and legitimate reason to get the Number One Dime, even though previous episodes implied that she thought it had mystical powers just like in the original comics and cartoon. For the first and only time, we see that it’s an ordinary dime that happened to have Magica's true form banished into it in a battle that happened 20 years ago.

A little bit different from the naive assumptions from the original, possibly due to Magica's new character. They may have also felt that would be a lousy ending if it turned out to be an ordinary dime without Magica's real body in it. She grabs it just as soon as the lunar eclipse begins, and...

...this reveal of Magica's real form is so cool. The green feathers are a bit odd, considering she never had that in the other adaptations or the original, but it is addressed in the end.

Scrooge and Lena plan to take on Magica. With Lena's knowledge of magic, and Scrooge's skills, nobody can stop them! Especially not sorceresses that were listening in on their plan right outside of the cage!

Magica taps her staff, and Lena gets sucked into her shadow. Magica, when she's not getting irritated by everyone around her, really is a nightmarish figure. Yeah, kids show, oops, she gone!

Oh, and Scrooge is sucked into his number one dime as well, and becomes the new back of the coin. It seems like all hope is lost. But, there's still some family left, right?

Sure enough, yes, though at least one of them had to think about it. To make a long story short, Huey and Louie are convinced to go back to Scrooge by a combination of Donald’s talking to them about family and Mrs. Beakley’s guilt trips. Apparently, as a spy and a grandmother, she knows fully well how to do those.

Dewey, on the other hand, is still the odd one out. It makes sense; he was the one that was the most involved in the mission to find his mother, and he was the one who was the most shaken about it. I'm not a fan of the complainer is always wrong trope, but the complainer is definitely in the wrong.

He eventually gets over it, because, let’s be honest, we got to get to the better part eventually. Dewey goes into the hug, and tearfully tells Donald that he wants to go back to the manor. Donald agrees, but they’re immediately interrupted by some commotion outside.

They see a huge magical tornado where the manor used to be. Soon, other people hop into the boat as well, including Gyro Gearloose, and Manny. Y'know, that headless horse they're trying to make into a thing.

We get to see Magica's plan in action; not only does she want revenge on Scrooge, she's going to take it out on the entire city of Duckburg! She causes everyone's shadow to rise up to join her. They make sure to do many cameos with this, including Glomgold, Gladstone Gander, and even Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera and his mother, the former even getting Gizmoduck snatched away from him. I'm sad to say that was essentially a cameo and not a lead to an amazing fight scene. Not to say there won't be one.

I’ll set yourself up for disappointment: no, they didn’t give this any sort of payoff beyond an implied off-screen fight later in the episode. Eventually, this turns into a huge shadow vortex that eventually settles into a tornado above the money bin, where Magica has formed a throne made out of Scrooge’s remaining money.

Someone has to have a plan to stop this, and who else but our lovable Uncle Donald? Unfortunately, there’s a problem.

One problem the comics couldn’t have in a audio-visual based medium does rise up, and one I had suspicions with even when I was first watching this: Donald’s voice is still that classic Donald voice, and nobody can understand him. That “[speaking gibberish]” is an actual closed caption.

Thankfully, Gyro has the solution that doesn’t involve taking a role away from the most well known character in the series: a Barksian Modulator, an obvious reference to Carl Barks, and a not-so-obvious reference to a classic Disney cartoon that involved Donald taking pills to mitigate his speech impediment, is forced into Donald’s throat.

While Donald with an intelligible voice always felt wrong in an audio-visual medium, it is necessary at this point, and it leads to some great moments later in the episode. Here’s a good example, from where Donald takes the wheel of the boat, letting Mrs. Beakley know that he can handle it:

Mrs. Beakley: Watch out for the storm.

Donald Duck: I am the Storm!

Mrs. Beakley ...were you always saying things like this?

Eh, I could see people thinking this is out of character for him, too. At least, for the "unlucky everyman" character he was until now.

He then tells the kids to stay home, as it's too dangerous. They reference the lifejackets from the first episode a lot in this episode, which is a little more subtle than the "box full of items" scene. Of course, they don't listen to that. They need to find someone who’s crafty, like a teenager who knows how to get into places. Somelike...like Lena.

They go to the theatre Lena lived in, which I’m not entirely unconvinced was the Beagle Boy’s old hangout from the original, but they can't seem to find her. They do find a trapdoor leading to her room, though, which happens to contain her journal! They debate whether or not to open it, and decide it may lead to where she ran off to.

It's here where Webby learns an even deeper secret about Lena, one that the audience wouldn’t have guessed and one I won't entirely spoil here. I know this because I sure did not! A part of what cloaked this secret is that Magica had a niece in the original comics named Minima De Spell, and I just assumed this was the reboot’s version of her, but the truth is a little bit different. In an only slightly inaccurate way, they figure out that Lena was the big betrayer, and Webby is the one hit the hardest by this.

This explains a lot about her character development; she was just slowly gaining her conscience this entire time. I still wish it was a little smoother, as it seemed like she had a different personality in every episode. But, now I can see the progression.

I'm going to skip around a little bit, just because I don't want to ruin the episode too much. This episode was said to be like an "action movie airing on a Saturday morning" by one of the writers, and they weren't kidding; there's a lot of outright fisticuffs in this episode! Granted, most of it is against these shadow creatures.

Usually in the comics, original cartoon, and even this cartoon, they have to win through cleverness. They do only one scene where they actually stop the shadows by turning off the lights and then using Webby's nightvision goggles. For the most part, it's an extended Power Ranger-esque putty fight.

Once the ducks manage to get into the money bin, we get back to the irritating the evil sorceress bits that are all really clever. All of the boy's personalities show in this fight scene. For example, Louie scams Magica by telling her that she broke an ancient cursed mirror, and Huey...

Huey: (dodging Magica’s attacks) How did Scrooge curse you, anyway? Isn’t Scrooge not the magic type? And we never saw you on the back of the coin before now? And how does the lunar eclipse factor into all of this?

Magica: You see, the lunar eclipse enhances...it’s magic, okay?!

...does my job for me, apparently. Notice how I said the boys, but I could understand why Webby would act the way she does against someone who fooled her into making a false friend. No use of her gadgets here. It feels very out of character and out of style...and maybe that was the point.

At one point, Magica shoots another beam, which hits Webby's friendship bracelet. A scene anyone could expect happens here; it was certainly a scene I expected. What I didn't expect was how short it was, and how tragic it eventually became. It worked in the same way as that shocking scene from Other Bin, except this is reality rather than a dream.

The tragedy doesn't last long, though. It really wouldn't be much of a spoiler to say that Scrooge and the boys eventually win over Magica, and part of this is from Scrooge coming out of the coin...somehow. Something about the shine of the lunar eclipse, I guess. Scrooge even somehow got his clothes back when he got out of the coin.

He then tells Magica the greatest irony of them all: her attempt to ruin Scrooge's family ended up bringing them together again. In fact, Magica had nothing to do with the breakup; she didn't even know it happened!

Of course, it's a super happy ending for the most part, with the family coming back together in the end, Magica gets defeated, the voice pill breaks to give Donald his old voice back, and the houseboat becomes unable to take anyone to Camp Suzette. Of course, it's for the most part; Lena's fate is up in the air. It really depends on how you interpret one of the last scenes. Lena may have been "false", as non-spoilery as I can call her, but she’s become a character in her own right.

There’s one final scene regarding the one plot thread that wasn’t exactly closed up by the end of this episode. While I'm glad it's there, it did lead to one huge question: why not check the moon first?

How does it, and the whole season, stack up?

Angones has said that this was essentially an action movie, and I can’t disagree with that. A great ending to a good reboot.

And thus, that’s the end of Season 1 of the DuckTales reboot. A very good season all around! But I must talk about something.

People have noticed that I have never given a negative review to any episode of this series as of yet, though there were episodes that came very close. This would have been the image if I went with my initial opinion of Other Bin before I thought about the importance of it in the long run. Terror of the Terra-Firmians was ultimately a useless episode that had to have Lena shoved in to be halfway decent.

It was a captivating season from beginning to end, and that’s not something I would say about most seasons of anything, especially not reboots.

I’ll say this, reviewing two shows at the same time took a lot out of me, but I can’t say it wasn’t worth it. Who knows what journeys our boys will go through next, and if the demand is there, or if that other show ends first, maybe I can go for it when it airs.

← The Last Crash of the Sun Chaser! 🦆 The Most Dangerous Game...Night! →

#ducktales 2017 #ducktales #disney #fpb rerun

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siderealxmelody · 2 years

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The Reel

@summonshadcw

Jurian grinned at him, he liked him and not just for his last name. But Aleksander seemed more than decent, he had saved his life more than times he could name in the six months they'd been together.

They worked well together, almost as if they had been doing it for ages. Maybe it had to do how well their families had worked together, maybe he'd finally found that Kindred he'd heard so much about. Kindred wasn't just a brother or sister in-arms. They felt your emotions, they worked to balance you as a brother and friend as a mate did. He'd seen Kindred fight together, working so well that they seemed to dance on the battlefields. They compensated for each other's weaknesses and shortcomings. They balanced each other's emotions. He hadn't asked Aleksander about it - it felt too personal of a question to ask before or after a battle. He didn't want him loosing his focus and getting hurt. Though if he was being honest with himself he really didn't think he could take the rejection either. He'd never really had friends, he'd had acquaintances and allies but never friends.

He supposed he could call the Knights his friends but he knew deep down they weren't that either. They saw him as their general whether that was due to being the Knight of Spring, the usual leader of the seasonal courts. Or due to his blood and the history and baggage that inherently came with - he didn't know and really didn't want to know. He'd never had an equal in that respect, someone who understood the burden of mistakes he'd had no say in. Or the deep need to not only correct those mistakes but change things for the better. He wondered sometimes if Aleksander also felt the anger too, anger at everything he had lost, at the hostility from everyone, at just how many things needed to be changed...sometimes that anger scared even him. He wondered if it scared Aleksander too...or if he used it like he did to keep himself from feeling the horrors he saw on the battlefields.

He had kept those thoughts to himself. He looked down to the Haven, the ground pulsing like a drumbeat. He still had three other people's opinions to consider.

He looked to Aleksander, for someone who had such a strong presence he really didn't talk much. Jurian had a silent goal of getting him drunk enough to ramble at least once before they were to go home. He wanted to see this man let loose at least once.

"The Haven, yes I know it's reckless and stupid. But hey, it's fae and witch only so that's something right?"

He sighed at Aleksander's look and rubbed the back of his head.

"Okay I lied, I didn't drag you here to just get drunk. I told you about being a Knight for Spring right? Well as I'm sure you've guessed there are three other Knights, I want you to meet them. If I told you that before we got here you'd be extra broody. So here we are."

The Knights were an old tradition, older than the Greenbriar line if legends held. Supposedly it was a way for Witches to show their commitment to the Fae. He wasn't entirely sure why only four courts of all the fae territories held this tradition. But they did and it was a respected tradition.

As much as he liked to think the Witches would have been elated to know the Venturii line survived the massacres by Zahak Radic. He knew better than that, he would have been killed on sight if they'd gone to the Old Witch families like Crochans. They held no legitimacy, no honor after what they'd done. Doing this, becoming a Knight - well it gave some back. As did fighting in this war alongside the humans.

Sure most of the old families may not like humans but Witches kept the balance. And there was no balance with one race enslaved. So when the Games had been held some 4 years ago he'd jumped at the opportunity. Felix had agreed with him in theory but he'd barred from going. Jurian was the spare, he couldn't very well die before their kingdom was secured. Or so Felix kept telling him.

But Jurian wasn't about to wait on a what if. Anastasiya had helped him sneak out and he'd done the rest. Once he'd entered that arena the magic had prevented him for leaving even if he had wanted to. A week, one week for 20 Witches to be whittled down to 4. The magic assigned the Witches a Court and ring to prove their allegiance. The magic protected them from prosecution by their courts as well. The Knights protected the balance of their courts even against their own High Lords.

Which was probably the only reason he was still standing when he'd defected from Spring. Rowan wasn't known to be a kind or patient High Lord. But he couldn't very well stop him when Jurian had defected to the Liberation side. He came to this war to save the humans and get honor back for his family - not perpetuate more war crimes by his blood. He was sure his ancestors had done that for him to last many generations.

"Tell me about them."

That was another thing he liked about Aleksander, he didn't ask him. He treated him with the same gruffness that he did everyone else, it was beyond refreshing. He spent his time around too many fae and Witches. The humans saw him as too magically inclined to be at ease with him. The fae didn't particularly like him and the Witches chafed against him more than he liked to admit.

But with Aleksander at his side they'd won battle after battle. Enough that no one had dared stopped him when he'd dragged Aleksander out of his tent to The Haven.

He winnowed them to the mezzanine, the music was loud and dizzying. He could feel his heartbeat skyrocket to match the beat. He could feel the effects of the magic begin to seep in. His shoulders eased as he let the magic get him drunk. He turned to Aleksander watching him. He hadn't bothered to warn him about the magic. He was strong, he should be fine.

Jurian scanned to dance floor if that's what it could be called. It was various scenes of debauchery. Some were already in the throws of passion, others were teetering on its razor's edge. But many others were dancing with the energy of death nipping at their heels.

He spotted them encircled by all manners of fae lesser and higher. He leaned closer so Aleksander could hear him. He pointed to one with honey colored hair, her head thrown back in abandon. Her hair seemed to flash like a living flame bright and hot.

"That is Elowyn, the Knight of Autumn. She and her sister Ethna are half-breeds their words not mine. They were slaves and when they came to Prythian entered the Games to prove they could do it. Neither of them thought they'd survive more than a day. They were untrained but learned quickly. Elowyn moves like a flame in battle - wild and destructive. Her sister is in the corner, against the wall with the dark brown hair and black nails."

Ethna had a hand firmly knotted in the male's hair before her. She was laughing at something he said, letting his hand slip between her legs. Her nails flashed a purple and red in the light - color changing nails. Jurian still wasn't sure if it was a spell or a gift of Summer, meant to resemble the shifting scales of their armor to make them blend into whatever scene they were in battle.

"That's Ethna, the Knight of Summer. She isn't very friendly and will probably ignore you for the first few meetings. Elowyn will love you I'm sure you, she loves breaking people's masks. You'll know Ethna likes you when she boils your blood if you annoy her or scare her. She did that to me before I went for my deployment because I came here posioned and I've known her for 4 years. Never gave a shit when I came back bloody or unconscious - no just posioned."

"And Winter?"

Jurian hummed and scanned the room again. He frowned they should all be here. They knew he was coming back so where was -

"Whose your friend Juris?"

Jurian spun and gestured to the male staring at them both. He was silent as snowfall, his eyes flashed red like frozen blood. Jurian gave a sheepish smile and turned to Aleksander.

"And this is Rusalye the only one I was going to say you needed to worry about. He's been in love with Elowyn since they met on the first day so don't flirt with her. He prefers to use ice daggers over actual swords and -"

"Jurian who is he?"

Rusalye took a step toward them and Jurian felt the tempature drop around them. He could see his breath in the air. He stepped between them his body shifting from friend to Prince. Rusalye noted it and barred his teeth. They stared at each other and finally, finally Rusalye stepped backward. He knew the old ways well, even if he hated them they were ingrained in him. Move for royalty, move for one of The Triumvirate.

Rusalye eyed Aleksander warily but didn't ask again. No, no now he'd wait till he was introduced. Jurian may have hated Igor's court lessons but he was glad for them in situations like this. He turned away from Rusalye to the dance floor, taking a glass as a server passed between them. The liquid was Everapple it made humans loose themselves and do whatever the fae suggested of them. With Witches it got them drunk without the suggestibility aspect to them. It relaxed them and calmed them down. Appropriate for a place like this since no one wanted an all out brawl or Duel happening.

Once he felt the welcoming buzz he turned back to Aleksander and Rusalye. He wasn't sure if either had sipped at their drinks. He leaned back against the railing his foot crossed at the ankle. He was channeling a little of Felix now with that. He wasn't sure how his brother was always at ease in whatever situation he found himself in. But he'd never seen Felix so much as sweat being thrust into a room full of very angry fae.

"This is the male who saved my life more than times I can count. This is the male who hid me so the loyalists wouldn't see me coming when I reigned death on them. His name is Aleksander Morozov."

Rusalye to his credit didn't look horrified as he had hoped he wouldn't. He'd spent months trying to convince Aleksander that not all witches wanted him dead. Certainly most of them but they'd also wanted him dead too. But the ones who knew the stories? Who knew their names? Well they'd probably wait long enough for him to make an impression before they tried to kill him.

Rusalye slowly blinked at them, his eyes shifting between them before he looked the everapple wine in his hand. He sighed and downed it in one go. He threw the glass away which was probably Jurian's only indication he wasn't as okay with this as he seemed. Jurian watched as the silver glass sparkled and burst into thousand tiny pieces as it hit the wood floor. It melted into the wood grains sparkling with the dim lights.

"My grandparents lived in Aladi when Zahak Radic began his assault. They were young but watched as their homes burned, as their friends were slaughtered or enslaved in Zahak's army forced to kill their own. Did you know he had collars made to force them to so his bidding? Probably a fae made thing too because they're so fond of collars and shackles."

Jurian looked to Aleksander.

"This is a good sign. He gave me nearly the same speech when I told him who I was after we became Knights."

Rusalye snorted but Jurian saw his mask crack just a bit. It shifted just a little back into place when he looked back at Aleksander.

"My family has Memento Moroii of that time. No of the fighting and trauma but the aftermath. Of the silent streets and broken homes. Of the hopelessness that nearly broke everyone when the Blitz was done."

Memento Moroii were death memories, preserved in bits of bone by Artificers as the person lay dying. They carved runes and colored them according to the type of emotion it held. Jurian had seen some but he knew the ones for his family and probably Aleksander's were long gone. Or worse, held in some human lord's vault who had no idea how to access the memories inside.

"Again, we're on familiar ground. He told me all this too."

Rusalye's eyes narrowed as he fully turned to look at Aleksander.

"The thing I never mentioned to Jurian though is who my family followed, who they swore their blood allegiance to. They swore it to your great-grandfather Aleksander. They adored and loved him. When the Crochans took those of us who could get to their lands in they swore to her. But I can feel it in my blood, the urge to kneel to you, to swear my fealty to you."

He shook his head and exhaled slowly as if it took a great deal of willpower to keep himself on his feet. At least Jurian could guess now why he'd had his hackles raised from the moment he'd talked to them.

"The only Tabaan I will recognize is a Venturii one."

Jurian rolled his eyes and finally let his power ripple through.

"He is to be my Kindred Rusalye so I suggest you make your peace with -"

"Will you let me finish Jurian?"

Rusalye sighed and looked back at Aleksander and held his hand out to him.

"But that doesn't mean we need to repeat the cycle or blood and pain. We all heard of the Darkling, of the Shadow Wraith that got trained armies shaking. I remember the stories of that. That in the hour of our greatest need the Darkling and Starling will come and lead us. Perhaps that's what you are or will become. Perhaps not, regardless I'd like us to try to be friends. Jurian doesn't bring people to us, he certainly doesn't defend them like he has tonight. So if you are willing to let bygones be bygones so am I. Shall we begin a new era?"

Jurian sipped at his drink to keep from curling his lip. He was sure Aleksander had heard those stories, any witch worth their salt knew them. But they left a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew who the Starling was, had known since he was 4. He wasn't entirely sure how Anastasiya held up under all that pressure. She didn't talk about it, not with him, not anymore. At least Felix agreed with him on that - marry her to the Crochans but tell no one who she was beyond those who needed to know. Right now the only ones who did were the Crochans and even then it still didn't sit well with him. They were virtual strangers and Jurian wondered without their family name if he or Felix would have cared about them or their opinions.

He wondered what Anastasiya and Aleksander would make of each other. If they'd get along or hate each other. Anastasiya wasn't warm and friendly, not under her mask of Annie. It took him weeks to even read Aleksander's shift in moods. He hoped they were at least polite with each other. He didn't look to Aleksander for his reaction. He was on his own now, he needed to sink or swim on his own words not his.

Something told him Aleksander had a lot of practice swimming just fine.

#AYYY ALEEEKKKK FINDING HIS FOOTING???#summonshadcw

0 notes

amwritingmeta · 6 years

Note

My dear, you are the most interesting writer of the fandom. I truly believe without knowing you in person that you are a fine human being. This I'm asking you, because I recall a piece of Meta you wrote almost a year ago about how it will be difficult to make Destiel Canon, because of the nature of show business. Now, about your last post of the color purple. Let me ask you honestly, you don't think at some point that all this things are a proof of queerbating if Destiel doesn't go Canon? Thanks

Hello, lovely Nonny! And oh wow *blushes violently* that’s one helluva compliment. And I must stress that I’m the most average human being to ever average! But thank you for saying such sweet things! Jeez Louise what a way to spend a Sunday! :D

And omg what a callback to the early days! I do remember that post, actually. It was in response to a queerbaiting discussion, but I cannot find the original to save my life so I’ll just run with it:

I do need to clarify that I believe what I said wasn’t that it is/will be/would be difficult to make Destiel canon because of the nature of show business, but rather that our fucked up world, and what it means for a show to launch itself with a queer lead, has informed how Dean Winchester and his presentation has been handled in the media and by the cast and writers/show runners.

And, naturally, how Dean Winchester is presented must inform how Destiel is handled as well. Because Dean is our protagonist.

I mean, this is my theory here and I cannot prove a single word of it, so take all of this with grains of salt - all I can give you is what makes sense to me when looking at the narrative and what I see as the intent of that narrative.

Whether Dean was always meant to be the protagonist, or meant to be the secondary character to Sam’s protagonist (roles which are established in the Pilot), is of little consequence here, what matters is that you can trace bi-Dean back to the Pilot. That side to his personality is present in the Pilot. Dean was always meant to be queer coded. Why not overtly so?

Well, the way I see: the show wanted a predominantly male audience for a reason. Because the show is about deconstructing the masculine ideal and teaching boys and men that denying who you are based on the terribly old-fashioned belief that “feelings make you weak” is not only wrong, but detrimental because the truth is this –>

–> you choose who to be, and you can be ANYONE YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS

–> no one can ever tell you it’s wrong

–> there is no weird, everyone’s normal in their own way

–> and what makes a “man” is not fucking defined by the social norm bullshit of patriarchal gender oppression!!

*and breathe*

Granted, had the show actually ended in S5, this message wouldn’t have been as impactful as it is now, after thirteen years of character journey and evolution, after thirteen years of self denial and fear of happiness. But had the show ended in S5 I’m still convinced we could’ve gotten a reflection of what we’re driving towards now.

S5 could easily have climaxed with Sam and Dean ending the codependency, and Dean - instead of mistrusting Sam being able to defeat Lucifer - actually letting him go, letting him grow up, telling him “you got this”

It could easily have ended with a different angle on Cas’ arc, set up in S4 with Anna and echoed in 5x04 with Endverse human!Cas, where Cas actually chooses to give up his grace and ends up human for that final fight (not just rendered powerless and human-esque after carving that sigil into his chest)

And with Cas human, he would not have gone back to Heaven, we would have ended with Cas and Dean in the Impala, and I can see how the flirting that Dean tries to start up in 5x03 with the Thelma and Louise moment could’ve been built on throughout the season to TELL us that Dean is undeniable attracted to Cas and that it runs deeper than that and, once Cas chose humanity, they would’ve given us this love story in text for the end of the season because Cas would recognise his own feelings as well

And, you know, we could’ve gotten Sam back - the search for God and the hopelessness it rendered ending in God revealing himself and repaying Sam’s sacrifice with life and freedom…

Because S5 is all about daddy issues in need of resolution and the codependency between the brothers highlighted (as it is in most seasons of course)

But, be aware, this is truly, truly just me seeing possibilities in the structure of the narrative and hell, I’m not going to pretend I actually know the mind of Eric Kripke, yeah? Yeah, no.

But I honestly, truly believe the pattern of Dean’s bisexuality is there for a narrative reason, which means the reason I got into the queerbaiting discussion was to refute the claims and state my disagreement with them, because you can’t call it queerbaiting when the narrative function of this incredibly important character detail is hit on again and again and again on the show.

It’s not there for the shits and giggles, you know? It’s not there as some sort of hook for the LGBTQ community. It is a key component of Dean Winchester’s character makeup and it’s at the heart of the reason why he ever needed to go through this journey in the first place, this journey of opening up to love and to being loved for who he is by letting go of his preconceived notions of who he has to be, notions that it’s established in canon have been informed by toxic masculinity.

And this is one of the most powerful why-hearts of any story: searching for one’s true identity and, in doing so, having to face one’s deepest fears and conquer them.

The deconstruction of the masculine ideal is being done through Dean finding a reason to shed his toxic masculinity, and this reason is tied to his love for Cas.

Could this have been done with Cas being a woman? YES! That’s the whole point for me.

Cas’ gender is not important for Dean’s character progression or the role Cas plays in ensuring it - Cas the CHARACTER and his PERSONALITY are what’s important. The way these two men compliment each other emotionally are what’s important. The way they challenge and push and support each other’s growth is what’s important. This is why it has always been a love story - from first frame of footage. (to my mind) (I know not everyone agrees with this assessment)

And the POINT of Cas being a man instead of a woman is, for me, that it pushes the deconstruction of the masculine ideal to its very breaking point, because the ideal is idiotic and prescribes to societal norms that, honestly, are beginning to flake at the edges in modern society as is, thank goodness.

The ideal is gender normative - men are men and women are women and everything is black and white and straightforward. So to build Dean Winchester into the epitome of the masculine ideal - the man’s man, the stud, the cowboy, the hero - and have him still retain all the qualities that make him that man’s man, that stud, that cowboy, that hero - while also softening him and opening him up and revealing that deep emotional life and all that longing for love and communication and equality and all the personality traits he’s always possessed (and we’ve always seen them) that, according to societal norm, are considered feminine, well, that’s a deconstruction of the masculine ideal worth writing home to grandma about, know what I’m saying?

Consider a woman being the one to open him up to love. Well, we kind of got that with Lisa, didn’t we? Only she wasn’t real. She was a representation of what Dean wants for himself: home love family - but she was, in the end, proven an illusion. Dean was not happy playing house: because he was playing house, still stuck in playing a part he never chose for himself because of course Dean Winchester was never meant to give up the life. The reason he’s broken and lost isn’t that he was raised a hunter (saving people gives his life great meaning and purpose), but that he’s stuck performing.

So what if Cas was a woman?

Yeah. He could’ve been a woman. But the fact that Cas is a man adds a layer to Dean’s search for his true identity that would otherwise be lost. Without the love story being Dean falling for a man, they have no real narrative way to highlight his bisexuality without baking it into the narrative simply to have him be a bisexual character. Make sense?

And they didn’t build Dean as overtly bisexual because if they had:

he would have been immediately put in a character niche and the audience they want to appeal to –>

the audience that believes in the masculine ideal as truth, or that are subconsciously influenced by it daily –>

that audience would’ve been lost to them –>

because they would’ve thought “gay” and switched channel –>

no matter how man’s man and heroic Dean Winchester still is with that pink/purple/blue label across his chest

Men enjoying following the story of a man who is attracted to other men will make the men following that story question why they enjoy it, and no man’s man wants to start wondering about their own sexuality. (yup that is a generalisation but one that is based in truth no?)

“Liking bisexual Dean Winchester might mean I’m gay. So thanks but no thanks. Moving on.”

Like I said: societal norms = stupidity. Okay, actually, that’s not fair or true. The societal norms equal narrow mindedness and fear. And this is always forgivable, because it’s addressable and changeable.

But this is also the reason why Dean is not canonically in our faces bisexual. (though he might as well be) (like sheesh doesn’t take a magnifying glass)

And this ^^^ is why Cas needs to be a man. Because it completes the deconstruction of the masculine ideal to such a degree, while retaining Dean Winchester’s already established characteristics, because Dean will still be all Dean once he’s actually with Cas, that the question of “What makes a man a man?” should be a resounding one.

Is Dean Winchester not a badass, brave and tough as nails hero simply because he has softer sides and fancies dudes - one dude in particular?

Of. course. he. fucking. is.

You are a man because you identify as a man; liking flowery wallpaper and crying your eyes out to Charlotte’s Web does not somehow transform you into something other or lesser than a man. Like… WHERE THE FUCK DID THIS IDEA EVEN COME FROM WHY DOES ANYONE ADHERE TO IT SOMETIMES I JUST

Now, about your last post of the color purple. Let me ask you honestly, you don’t think at some point that all this things are a proof of queerbating if Destiel doesn’t go Canon?

Yeah, so why am I going into great detail to clarify my stance on the structure of this narrative and the approach to Destiel through the presentation of Dean Winchester as the masculine ideal? To answer this ^^^^^ part of your ask!

Because all of the above statements and my view on how this narrative has been built, the way the characters have been built, the way all of it fits together, including my colour theory that you mention :), all of it is the reason why I argue so strongly against the queerbaiting allegations.

And it’s why I cannot, for even one second, fathom that where we’re headed is not towards positive endgame and the tying up of our love story.

Destiel, to me, is already canon. Subtext is such an important part to any text and absolutely no doubt hands down it’s extremely important to the SPN text.

Dean’s character progression and evolution to where he’s at right now has been built through subtext, and through the deeper subtextual bond he shares with Cas.

What’s telling is that this becomes even clearer when Cas has been missing from the narrative. Dean made leaps and bounds worth of character growth while thinking Cas dead in S7 (Sera knew what she was doing) and we got a sharpened and focused callback to the depiction of that loss in S13. (gorgeous stuff) Not to mention how Dean has acted as a catalyst for Cas’ character progression and evolution.

This is how you build a love story.

And this is why I’ve been saying since last summer that if we don’t get this love story pushed to the forefront in undeniable ways in S13 I will eat that over-priced and not-yet-purchased hat as self-punishment for being crap at interpreting this narrative, but the way S13 is going…

All this stated, yes, of course, if they somehow fail to follow through then it will be the greatest case of queerbaiting in the history of fandom.

But I believe, with every fibre of my being, that they’re following through.

Okay, that got away from me a little, but it was very enjoyable to readdress the issue of SPN and queerbaiting and I’m amazed you remember that post!! Thanks so much for asking, lovely! And I hope I answered your question. :)

#answered asks #spn queerbaiting #destiel #opinion piece #plus a bit of #spn meta #for good measure

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ffxvhoe · 7 years

Note

I hope this is alright. My supercrush this week is Noct and I'm a young mom, so could you do him in a relationship with a reader who has a young child from a past relationship? However you feel like doing it

I had such a good time writing this. I hope you enjoy bb!

( @sonsoflucis @xnoctits @noxfreyas @paopuicecream @fieryfantasy @ultimoogle @wolfgoddess77 @itshaejinju)

The first time you had met Noctis was a few years prior. You had been one of the new workers brought in to help with the rebuilding of the kingdom after the ordeal with Ardyn and the Starscourge. You weren’t quite sure how you ended up being the person picked for the job when there were certainly more people with more experience. You supposed you should have entertained the possibility that you would actually be chosen when you applied for the job.

You’d applied on a whim, needing the better pay that this new administrative job would offer should you get it. Working a full time job during the weekdays and then a part time job during the weekends to provide for your son and yourself was starting to take its toll on you. You figured if the Astrals blessed you with this new job, not only would you begin to get some more sleep back but you’d also have a little more free time to spend with your child.

Looking back on it now, you supposed you hadn’t really met Noctis so much as been in the same room as him and a dozen others as everyone went over the first order of business to begin the rebuilding. No, when you’d first truly met the King it had been when he’d called you in to introduce you to Ignis whom you’d be working closely with to oversee the efforts of the rest of the workers. His smile had been kinder than you’d imagined, albeit a tad tired. That was understandable though considering he likely wasn’t getting much sleep with everything going on.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Noctis had said once he had finished discussing all he needed to go over with the two of you. “If you have any questions feel free to ask Ignis, he’ll be happy to help.” You nodded with a quick “thank you” before heading out the door to begin your first task.

From then on you’d met with the King every other month to go over the progress that had been made and any other issues you felt needed to be brought to his attention. At first you had felt like you were overstepping some sort of boundary, giving your own thoughts and feedback on the reconstruction efforts, but Noctis always did his best to try and put you at ease. The first time you had come to see Noctis without Ignis you were pretty sure you were shaking like a leaf in the wind. The second time wasn’t a whole lot better, but gradually you became more comfortable in his presence.

Now that you thought about it, there really hadn’t been much to cause you to be anxious save for the fact he was the King, but even then he hardly acted like you would expect a King to act. He was very laid back and the way he talked to you was so casual. As the months wore on and you continued your monthly meetings with the King, you came to realize that you would stay a little bit later each visit. At first you tried to draw out the time with him by simply adding more things to talk about with work, but soon enough you found yourself and Noctis discussing other things. He would ask you how you found your new job to be, you would ask how he had adjusted to being King. He would ask what your favorite movie was, and you would ask what he did during whatever free time he was able to scrounge together.

The night where things noticeably changed between the two of you was during a night where you were pulling over time. Luckily this hadn’t happened very often, and most nights you were home to cook dinner for your son and spend the rest of the night with him. This night though there had been an issue with the area in which reconstruction efforts were happening. You had done all you could to figure out a way to rectify the situation yourself and had even asked Ignis for input on the matter, but none of the solutions you had come up with would wholly fix the issue. So that’s how you ended up in Noctis’s office at 10pm.

Papers were spread over his desk, your shoes had come off an hour ago, and the two of you were both ready to burn the papers to cinders. You both had been tossing ideas back and forth for Astrals knew how long at this point, but whenever the two of you would go into how to put the plan into action there was always some part that wouldn’t work. “Astrals take me now,” you muttered, leaning back in your chair, head tilted back to face the ceiling. When you sat upright once more you noticed Noctis was pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to go make some tea, do you want any?” You asked, standing from your seat and stretching. Oh it felt so good to stand.

“I have a better idea,” Noctis replied, looking up at you. You raised a brow, waiting for him to elaborate. “Let’s go get something to eat. There’s a diner that should still be open right now just outside of the Citadel.”

“But what about-”

“If I have to think about this any longer I’m going to either lose my mind or trash my office. I’m King, and I say we go eat.” You couldn’t help the amused smile that came to your face.

One of the best things you’d witnessed that night was a man who was suppose to be royalty put away a cheeseburger and large side of fries within fifteen minutes. As he inhaled his food, the two of you sparked up a new conversation, though thankfully this time it had nothing to do with work. Or current work, that is. “You know I use to be a waitress here,” you said as you looked around at the establishment with a bit of nostalgia reflected in your eyes.

“I thought you said you use to work at some office?”

“I did,” you replied, eyes returning to Noctis. “But I also worked here part time.”

“Did your other job not pay well?” He asked.

“It did if I were providing for just myself.” At Noctis’s slightly confused look you elaborated. “I have a six year old son. His father left one night right after the pregnancy so it’s just been the two of us looking out for one another since then. I definitely don’t mind being a single parent,” you were quick to say. “I mean it’s difficult at times, sure, but I can hardly imagine not having him in my life at this point,” you said fondly.

You couldn’t read the look Noctis was giving you, but something told you that what you’d just said had hit some chord in him. “I should give you a raise,” he muttered. You were quick to shoot down that offer though.

“No, no, please. What I make now is definitely enough to make living a lot easier now,” you said. “Thank you, though.” Noctis gave you a final look before relenting with a sigh and a nod. The night ended with the two of you walking your separate ways back home after Noctis told you that you could pick up on with work the following day.

From then on it became a fairly regular occurrence for the two of you to eat together. Most of the time he would call you in for lunch as he didn’t want take you away from your son. On the nights that you ended up having to work over time, however, the night would end much like your first night out together: with the two of you parting ways at the diner after an hour or so spent talking with each other.

When the two of you officially began dating nobody really made much of a fuss around he Citadel, though of course there were the handful of people that insisted Noctis should only consider other people of royalty as his companion. It didn’t take long for Noctis to quiet those complaints.

One night – as you and Noctis were getting up to leave the diner that had more or less become a special place to you whether you wanted it to be or not – Noctis caught your wrist before you turned to head home. “Uh…do you think I could meet him?” Noctis was looking off to the side, almost looking nervous about what your response might end up being. It took you a moment to understand who “him” was, but thinking back to your conversation earlier you soon remembered.

You couldn’t stop the smile that bloomed on your face at his request. “I would love that,” you said. Though you had grown extremely comfortable around Noctis, what with working so closely with him and spending so much time outside of work with him, a small part of you still worried that he wouldn’t quite accept your son. Hearing him actually ask to meet the light of your life both made your body nearly deflate in relief and your heart give a small pang.

“Wow,” Kier said as the two of you walked down the halls of the Citadel hand in hand. “How do you not get lost, Mama?”

“Oh I’ve definitely gotten lost a few times,” you said with a small laugh. You turned a corner, the door to Noctis’s office coming into view. As you continued walking towards that ornately carved entrance you couldn’t help the butterflies that began flitting around in your stomach. You shook your head the slightest bit at yourself. No, stop it, Noctis will love him.

You knocked on the door before pushing the carved wood open. There, seated at his desk with a stack of papers before him was Noctis. He looked up as the door opened and smiled as he took in the sight of you and your son. Standing from his desk, Noctis walked around to greet you with a quick kiss to your cheek before bending down to be eye level with Kier. You couldn’t help the small chuckle that left you at how wide your son’s eyes got as he looked at the King. “You must be Kier,” Noctis said with a gentle smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Kier immediately moved to try and hide behind you, hands clutching at your pants. Just several minutes ago, as you two were on your way to the Citadel, Kier had been raving about how excited he was to meet King Noctis. Now that he was finally in his presence, however, it seemed your little boy was more than a little nervous. “Don’t be scared,” you said with a smile, turning around to hoist Kier up into your arms. “Say hi,” you urged.

“Hello,” Kier said, voice soft. You were sure that your son wasn’t going to say much else, but suddenly he blurted out, “Do you love my mama?” You felt a slight blush crawl up your neck at his question.

“Very much,” Noctis said, a fond look settling in his eyes as he glanced at you.

“Good,” Kier said with a firm nod. “Because my mama likes you a lot.” You felt the heat in your cheeks increase. Noctis let out a laugh at that moment, though, that left you with a smile of your own gracing your features. With the ice seemingly broken, Kier launched into a conversation with the King. Throughout the entire dialogue between the two, Noctis never once looked bored or like his patience was being tested. As the two of them spoke, you couldn’t help the swell of your chest as you watched them interact with one another.

And a part of you found yourself wondering if – hoping that – one day this would be a constant in your life.

#ffxv scenarios #ffxv imagine #ffxv headcanon #ffxv fanfic #noctis x reader #noctis lucis caelum #noctis writing #lindsay-got-lost-in-the-tardis

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not-close-to-straight · 7 years

Text

Another (Four)

MASTERLIST HERE ********************

Didn't think my jaw could stretch that far. Steve thought as he pulled his pants back up over his hips and glanced over at Thor.

The big blonde was leaning against the wall, blue eyes closed, breathing hard, his pants still open and loose around his hips and Steve watched as he slid down the wall to sit.

“Steven.” Thor chuckled. “If I known you could use your mouth that well, we might have done this ages ago.”

“I could barely take you.” Steve argued, dropping onto the floor next to the giant. “I can't imagine it was that great.”

He had only been able to get half of Thor's cock in his mouth, and even that had been a struggle.

Bucky had told him once (in an entirely embarrassing conversation), that Tony could take all of him without gagging and Steve hadn't appreciated how much of a feat that was until right now.

“Nonsense.” Thor waved his hand non committedly. “'Twas excellent. Besides, what is it you say? Practice makes perfect? I foresee much practice in our future.”

Steve chuckled, and Thor shifted so their shoulders were touching, so he could rest his hand on Steve's knee.

Another clandestine meeting in another random room, the third time in so many days, simply because they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

After their night together, Steve hadn't been able to stay away and Thor had had the same idea, so after sparring or practice or whatever the last few days they had disappeared into whichever room was closest to kiss and grope at each other, trying to get off as quickly and quietly as possible.

There had been no excuse this time--not amped up from sparring practice, not bored, none of that.

Thor had simply been walking to his room, carrying a chair over his shoulders to put in front of his fire and Steve had happened to step out of the elevator at that exact moment and all he could do was stare.

He could lift a recliner without breaking a sweat as well. He could also carry it down the hall over his shoulder as if it weighed no more than a small child.

But to see Thor doing it, golden muscles shifting, the way his eyes lit up seeing Steve, the way his deep voice nearly vibrated when he spoke-- Steve couldn't help staring, he didn't even try to stop staring.

Thor had quietly informed him that he shouldn't look like that when a man's hands were too full to properly do anything about it.

The very next minute Thor had dropped the chair and Steve had opened a door in the hallway, yanking Thor through it and onto the floor with him. Turned out the room was empty, just storage, and Steve had breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn't been someone's office like last time.

It was much easier to not feel guilty when it wasn't someone's desk they were defiling.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts and the hazy afterglow of a good orgasm, until Thor wrapped his arm around Steve's shoulder and pressed a rough kiss to his temple, his beard scratching Steve's face.

“Shave.” Steve complained, but didn't lean away and Thor just chuckled into his ear.

“I am afraid I look much less menacing without my beard. My dear brother said it best many years ago. I lost a wager with him and then I had to shave and I was repeatedly told how awful I looked.”

“Your brother, Loki?” Steve asked, titling his head curiously.

“Yes.” Thor’s voice dipped a little in sadness, as it did every time he talked about his younger brother, and Steve lay a comforting hand on his knee.

Thor laced their fingers together with a pleased smile. “Anyway Loki told me that without my beard I looked less God of Thunder and more Curator of Rainy Days. I wore a scarf for weeks until it had grown back in.”

Steve burst out laughing, picturing Thor wrapped in a scarf because he didn't want anyone to see his chin. “I hate how funny that is, because the thought of Loki makes me want to--”

“I know.” Thor interrupted with a quick nod. “One day, I hope my brother will redeem himself and return home. But until then, even the happy memories of him seem tainted.”

“You miss him.”

“Of course I miss him. He is my brother, whether our lineage is the same or not. Family is not simply bloodlines, Steven. Loki is family, and I consider this team family as well. The company and friends I have made here keep me from being homesick.”

“Family, huh? Does that make us kissing cousins, then?” Steve asked with a little smirk and Thor looked down at him, horrified.

“Not even in Jotunheim do they mingle bloodlines, royal or not. Certainly not in Asgard! Do not joke about such things!”

Steve couldn't help laughing because Thor was absolutely scandalized. “But if you and I are family, like you said, perhaps we should stop--”

A big hand clapped over his mouth, effectively silencing him. “I no longer consider you family, Steven.” Thor said gravely. “Therefore we should have no issue continuing these moments.”

“Are you sure?” Steve tried to make his eyes as wide and innocent as possible. “Because if I'm family then--”

“Cease!” Thor shouted and pulled Steve down onto the floor so he could press between his legs. “No more!”

Steve couldn't remember the last time he had laughed this hard, and once he could breathe again, he rolled his hips languidly, eyes lighting with desire. “No more?”

“Perhaps one more.” Thor said begrudgingly, and kissed him firmly. “But no more talk of kissing cousins.”

***************

“So I think I just saw something.” Tony dropped abruptly into Bucky's lap, pushing his book out of the way to make room.

“What do you think you saw, sugar?” Bucky asked, biting back a laugh because Tony was shameless about wanting attention and demanding it whenever he saw fit. Bucky knew better than to argue, so he just put his book down and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

“I think I just saw Thor and Steve come out of that storage room in the back hallway.”

“So?” Bucky shrugged. “What of it?” He nipped a light kiss onto Tony's neck, smiling when he shivered.

“It was Steve and Thor .” Tony emphasized, wiggling closer so Bucky could kiss him again. “What could they possibly want with the storage room?”

“Thor asked earlier if he could have that recliner for his room. Maybe Steve helped him get it.” Bucky offered, and tilted Tony's head back so he could kiss along his jawline, running his nose through the soft goatee.

“Thor needed help with a chair?” Tony asked suspiciously. “That's your theory? The god of thunder needed help with a recliner? You have no better idea than that?”

Bucky sighed. “Alright, honey, what do you think is going on? Because I am too distracted by this bit of wonderful on my lap to think about Thor.”

“Am I wonderful?” Tony asked teasingly, blushing because good god he loved his soldier. “Anyway, I'm just saying, I can't think of any reason for the two of them to be in that room. Unless it's for the same reason that you and I go into that room.”

Bucky was silent for a minute, running his hands up and down Tony's back in thought.

Then, “Son of a bitch .” he jumped from his chair so fast that Tony went flying off his lap. “I need to talk to Steve right now.”

Bucky nearly ran from the room, only to come skidding back in, picking Tony up off the floor and kissing all over his face. “Sorry about that, sweet thing. I love you, got to go.” Then he was gone again.

Tony curled up in the chair and grinned, wondering if Bucky knew that was the first time he'd said ‘I love you.’

****************

“Heya Stevie.” Bucky tried to sound casual, tried not to sound like he'd been running through the compound searching for him.

“Buck.” Steve was watching some old war movie and smiled up at him. “What's up?”

Bucky watched him for a long moment, shifting anxiously on his feet.

“Are you sleeping with Thor?” He finally blurted, then closed his eyes and cursed, because while tact and subtlety had never really been a strong suit of is, that had just been embarrassing.

“What I mean to ask--” he started again. “--is have you and Thor started… something.”

Steve was just staring at him, his face pale and horrified. “Why would you-- why would you--”

“I'm sorry .” Bucky groaned. “Tony said something about seeing you two in the storage room and there's only one reason I could think of for two people to be in the storage room so I kind of panicked and---holy shit you are sleeping with him.”

Steve had turned just a spectacular shade of red, dropping his face into his hands and Bucky couldn't believe it. “You and--and Thor. Are you serious ? Since when?”

“I guess it's been two weeks by now.” Steve confessed. “Maybe pushing three.”

“Oh my god. I didn't believe it until right now.” Bucky climbed on the bed next to him, grabbing a pillow and holding it to his chest excitedly. “Tell me everything .”

Steve sent him a strange look. “Since when do you want to gossip about--”

“Since I started dating Tony and his nosy rubbed off on me.” Bucky punched him the shoulder. “Details. Actually you know what?” he made a face. “No details. Just at least tell me it's better than Edward.”

“I was sixteen with Edward.” Steve complained. “Of course it's better now.”

“Yeah well, I beat the shit out of that punk for not making it good for you. I can do the same for Thunderpants too.” Bucky scowled.

Steve grinned at him. “Sometimes you open your mouth and all I hear is Tony. Thunderpants ? I think your boyfriend is influencing you more than you think.”

“Don't change the subject, Stevie.” Bucky's light blue eyes softened. “Seriously though. I know you were with a few people during the war, but Tony says you haven't even looked twice at anyone since waking up. Says Tasha tried to set you up but the only one you came close to is Sharon and that--”

“Yeah that was a mistake.” Steve looked down. “Sharon was a mistake. It was just… almost Peggy and--”

“Hey, it's alright.” Bucky comforted him. “So this thing with Thor. Is it just because he's available? Or is this something real?”

“I don't know.” Steve admitted, running his fingers through his hair. “We got drunk together one night and he kissed me. And it was great. And we've… done other stuff now. And it's great. He's… great.”

“Well we have established he's ‘great’.” Bucky said dryly. “So you like him then.”

“A lot. More than I expected to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Steve hesitated. “I mean there's more to him than a hammer and a loud laugh and that ridiculous competitive streak. And I really like what else is there.”

“And um…” Bucky looked insanely uncomfortable. “When you guys are together, he is…?”

“He's good to me.” Steve hurried to assure him. “I'm always… happy. Always taken care of.”

“Well then.” Bucky cleared his throat. “Good talk.” He punched Steve's shoulder again and headed for the door.

Steve shook his head, laughing because after all these years Bucky still resorted to arm punching and incomplete sentences when it came time for serious talks.

But then his friend turned around and dove right back into the bed, wrapping Steve in a big hug.

“You've been alone too long.” He said gruffly, messing up his hair fondly. “You think I don't notice cause I've got Tony, but I've seen you. Seen the way you look sad. Glad you aren't lonely anymore, Stevie.”

Steve hugged him back, then pushed him off the bed. “Get out of my room.”

#thundershield #thor #steve rogers #winteriron #steve and bucky friendship #mature rating #marvel

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