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#also if youre curious; i ended up finishing everything from last season except for the 2 series in the couldve been better category
5-pp-man · 2 months
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another tierlist because ppl actually liked that first one;
the crème de la crop;
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the first 2 eps i thought it was fine, but it didnt really captivate me as much as id hoped. but then ep 3 changed everything for me. i started to think "how could living armour work logically? everything so far has been edible, so this must be too, right?" i actually managed to think of the exact thing that this series did. that really made me realise the worldbuilding in this was something unique, and it only got better and better with each episode. its really managed to captivate me and i look forward to "delicious donderdag" every week :)
ANIME ORIGINAL LETS GOOOO absolutely bonkers show that almost slipped by me because it initially tried to fool its audience into thinking it was a regular dramatic military show. it still is but theres also a giant robot who plays by saturday morning cartoon giant robot rules. if that sounds like tonal whiplash to you, trust me, it is. and its amazing. have i mentioned how homoerotic this one is as well? yeah. originally a tier below this one, but immediately after finishing this post i watched the newest ep. i had to make an exception and edit the list because ep 9 changes everything. i havent been gobsmacked by a show this hard in a while.
(return of the) show(s) that execute their own premise very well;
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i havent read the manga for yubisaki to renren so i cant compare, but the quality of this adaptation has been very consistent. you need a little sweet romance every once in a while :) this is one of those series where the characters really grew on me the longer it went on. im always a fan of mixing realistic struggles with romance and this one has been doing it well so far
adaptations that are ok (i read the manga for both of these);
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i've been a mashle fan since before s1 aired. and the anime has some good changes and additions here and there! but its not very consistent in terms of quality, it does that shonen thing where the animation quality suddenly spikes for certain action sequences, but it also frequently had a lot of scenes where they recycle shots a lot and nothing interesting happens on the screen for a considerable amount of time. still! its a fine adaptation. and yeah the op for this. blew tf up lmao? very strange to see happen in real time
i actually rlly like the manga for this one. i read the whole thing up until vol.6 before the season started (all that was available back then) and it made me cry multiple times throughout. i was sort of missing that connection with the show, though some of the later episodes still hit. its mostly to do with the animation quality, which isnt that great unfortunately. the voice actors are knocking it out of the park though
wghere am i;
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is this show good? i. uh. will you hate me if i say yes...? objectively, i know its not that good. especially in the animation department. but if you like other Umatani shows, you'll like this one. it's got the same brand of goofy reactionary humour mixed with gimmicky tacky characters and crazy stupid plot twists. ive been faithfully watching this one each week and I'm afraid i've become very invested. overscientific indeed
bro you fell off...;
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i was so beyond excited for this one. i replayed the op a million times, watched each preview, rewatched multiple episodes. and then. ep 5 happened. and i started to realise. oh this show kind of sucks doesnt it? the pacing of the first ep was great, but the rest? way too fast. it became clear with ep 6 that theyre trying to do a double cour show with half the length, which is why they started hauling ass plot-wise. now. i was an arajin apologist for the longest time. but at that point i honestly started to loathe him. even when he stepped up, his praise still felt sort of unearned. and to top it all off, shindou's motivation sucked so he felt like a lousy antagonist. ep6 was better than 5, but it really made me lose my enthusiasm and hope for the series. and right as we were talking about them probably not having time for a filler ep, ep7 happened. feels like a waste of time to do an ep like that when you've still got a whole 2nd arc to go through. but who am i
it started off pretty good honestly. but then chris went to the hospital and it kind of just dwindled from there. this season does so much with characters that have not even been properly introduced like how am i supposed to care about these people if i barely know who they are. the stuff with finn and leo respectively was good though. but the lore dump? lord help me. also vijay just kind of. exists to be there in the background huh? i would not call him a main character they never give him any attention. wendy had another ep again and he didnt get shit. again. also i think finn was stupid as fuck for not listening to lala but again. who am i. i know we cant destroy high card because we need a show but. cmon man.
i am severely behind on these;
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reason why im behind is because most of the eps are a bit heavy so i kept. not watching them. its starting to get rlly interesting though so i'm def gonna catch up this is one of those robo-racism shows so i have to really watch out to see where its going. dont want another marginal service situation...
sorry this is just. a little too boring for me. its charming, sure. but i think this wouldve worked better as something with an 11 min timeslot instead of 23 min. theres just a bit too mu- or well, too little for me to rlly get into this. i think reading it would be more fun for me personally
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animepopheart · 2 years
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Your blog is the absolute coolest (as well as your Beneath the Tangles blog)! If you have the time, would you mind sharing how you choose which anime you watch every season (or from the older ones that have been out for awhile) or suggestions on how to minimize a watch list to "essentials"? I know everyone's interests are different, so the titles/genres might be different, but just a way of how to choose which series would be best to spend time on? I've been an anime watcher for well over a decade now, and I'm a little bit better about not getting overwhelmed by all the available titles, but I was just curious if you have any further suggestions. Right now, the only things I use to "filter" the anime I watch would be that (as of right now) I only watch shows in English dub, try to take a look at super popular titles (unless it's One Piece which I'm sure is great but a scary longtime commitment for me to make to watch), and avoiding shows that might go against my personal convictions as a Christian and make me too uncomfortable to watch (I know everyone's convictions may vary or be completely different on this). Anyway, thanks for your time!
Aww, thank you sooo much! ;_;
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I'll tell you how I approach each season further down, but just in general, I've lived by this dumb motto for the last decade: life's too short to waste on bad anime. With this in mind, I rarely invest in long-running shonen anymore because the payoff is for me never worth the effort. They're not bad (most are pretty good!), but even with a series that's great like One Piece, I could have instead invested so many other show (I could literally watch 90 other anime series during that time and find many that equivalent or better).
I also drop anime pretty quick. I give them a couple episodes and move on. Sometimes, I like a show enough to get 5, 6, 7 episodes in, but if I decide then that they're not keeping my interest, I don't complete them. My time is precious. If I hear great things about a show I dropped, then I might return later.
I also trashed my watch list. It was expanding and expanding, and I felt it was a weight on my shoulders. So I deleted it, and feel freer since then.
All this has helped me from under the feeling of being overwhelmed.
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I would definitely also watch older shows more often—ones that friends those whose taste I like or trust from Twitter recommend, or I suddenly remember I once wanted to watch, or I want to watch again (often a better experience than streaming a mediocre new series)—except that I need to focus on new series as I develop content. So feel free to jump back into those based on your tastes, what others say, and maybe through filtering and searching (I like Anime Planet's filters).
Regarding new series—this is how I approach those:
When a season begins, I'm open to almost everything. I type up a list before the season with the shows I don't want to miss, based on the types I generally prefer or produced by staff that I'm a fan of, and then I pick up all sorts of series, watching a couple dozen opening episodes at the very least. If I have to be a little selective, I look at our writers' first impression posts to help me pick which ones to try.
And then I whittle away. I usually end up completing maybe 7-8 series a season, but there are some season, like this one, where I finish far fewer. In the time I would normally use for those shows, I might rewatch something (like I currently am for Re:Zero), go to one of those older series (I'm trying out Kurau: Phantom Memory), check out movies for review (an older one recently with ReLIFE and a screener copy of Jujutsu Kaisen 0), or read manga and light novels (a BUNCH right now, and also a memoir related to anime).
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So, lots of details, but in summation—feel free to try lots of things out—perhaps shows that are new or which you hear about from trusted influencers, writers, etc., but develop that habit of dropping series. The FOMO becomes less and less the more and more you see the positive in not completing anime that doesn't affect you.
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booasaur · 2 years
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Vigil is a six part miniseries. I'm 100% certain there won't be a season 2.
It's just like the True Love miniseries except 6 episodes instead of 5. (It's the only other miniseries I've seen)
So around the time of Happiest Season, December of 2020, I really wanted to stay on top of answering asks and set myself a cutoff date after which I would answer everything and then once that was complete, work backward. And to motivate myself, I'd keep track of the number of asks still left after that cutoff point and subtract one each time I answered something, like going from 10 down to 9, yay me.
Obviously I did not get close to finishing that block and instead, for the next year and a half, just created new blocks, usually when I sensed a shift in fandom. You can actually see them here (if you’re curious, September 8th marks the most recent Soljiwan ask):
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That’s why, if you’ve sent an ask, you might be like, why are you doing just hopping around the most recent ones and not going back to mine. Sorry. D:
The latest block there’s getting pretty large, almost hit 100 a few times, but I’m feeling really stubborn and don’t want to give up against this one. There was a two month block between December and February during which I’d answered all but four!
The way I know how many there are left isn’t by me counting them, I just add ?offset=90, for example, to the end of my inbox link and it’ll jump to the the 91st ask. Then I check to see if that’s the one I know is the last in this block.
So obviously I’ve counted a lot, the number’s always fluctuating as new asks come in and I answer some. The reason I bring ALLLLL this up here is because THIS is the last ask in the most recent block. And for a couple of weeks now, it’s been making me laugh, not at you, anon, but just, you were so sure! 100% sure! And now here we are, with a Vigil season 2 announced! 
Also, of all the tons of British miniseries there’ve been, I’m so amused you went back to the 2012 anthology True Love most famous for its f/f student/teacher episode as your example. For the most part, I’d say you were right, by the way, but Vigil was super successful, I feel that if they can find a way to make a related but new adventure and cash in on the brand, they will.
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bronyinabottle · 3 years
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G5 MOVIE THOUGHTS FOLLOWUP - THE ANCIENT EQUESTRIAN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
SPOILER WARNING: THIS WILL GET INTO SPOILERS FOR THE G5 MOVIE EVEN BEFORE THE BREAK. IT HAS BEEN JUST OVER A WEEK SINCE THE MOVIE PREMIERED. BUT IF YOU STILL HAVEN'T SEEN IT, PLEASE SCROLL PAST THIS.
This is something of a follow-up to my thoughts on the movie. My thoughts on the movie were generally positive. Though much like the movie itself, the positive thoughts were on what it’s doing on it’s own merit as the start of a new generation of pony media. As someone who had followed Generation 4 from all the way in the middle of Season 1 to the ending of Season 9, the connection the G5 movie makes with the previous generation in the opening scenes are enough that it’s necessary to give a perspective from a G4 fan’s point of view. Again, I do want to say that G5 will be within it’s right to not have to answer so many plot things at once and try to stand on it’s own by exploring the characters and this new Equestria first.
That said, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the longer none of the questions G4 fans will have are answered. There is a huge elephant in the room with the unanswered questions from G4. And It is Hasbro’s fault in the first place for telling us it’s the same Equestria, There will be fans that are annoying about it from multiple angles, and there will probably be times where people who just want to enjoy G5 on it’s own just outright snap at anyone who wants their answers about what happened in between G4 and G5. Even if the person who asks the question is just genuinely curious and not being demanding there be answers. This is just the kind of thing that all fandoms that have timeskip sequels, especially ones where it overrides a happy ending where discussing with other friends can get dicey.
HAPPY ENDING OVERRIDES AND ALICORNS
Until we get an official answer from the show itself, we can only theorize with each other. Though theorizing about a happy ending override, regardless of how long it’s been and/or how sensible the theory is can start some heated discussions, Cause many were content with the happy ending of the original. While no realistic story ever has a happily ever after, a story within a fantasy land such as MLP’s can be an exception.
Let me give something of a comparison by bringing up another show. Avatar: The Last Airbender is perhaps my favorite show of all-time. And while it’s true I didn’t like the sequel series Korra as much as A:TLA. It wasn’t because of some happy ending override with at least half of the main cast from the previous series deceased. The Avatars themselves are just as human as the other characters in the world. Avatar’s still a fantasy world when all is said and done, but the way the world building is done still made it feel like it it was possible for the world to be in danger again by the time the next Avatar is grown up, most known Avatars had challenges they had to face. The Avatar series blends some form of realism but still manages to provide a fun fantasy world. It’s a case where it’s believable that the main legacy of Aang’s time as the Avatar aside from defeating the Fire Lord where he created Republic City would have it’s own fair share of problems that would be left to his successor to solve. Aang in turn was finishing the war that Roku failed to stop. So while I have my criticisms about Korra, none of those are related to the way the world is after the timeskip. It reasonably makes sense in the context of the Avatar universe.
In contrast, there isn’t much we know about the past of G4 and it’s a much more idealistic setting then in Avatar. Yes, ponies die with what I assume are human-esque lifespans for the exception of the Alicorns. But Friendship is Magic is a setting where the power of friendship is literal magic power that can save the day even when things look bleak. As a result it can get very sappy, but FiM is the kind of show you watch to put a smile on your face rather then go to for a multi-faceted plot. Most episodes of FiM are the kind of thing you see in a lot of other shows. But what brings most of it’s fans back even for the most overdone plots is the characters and their interactions. FiM’s lore is a lot less straight forward, and sometimes may feel not as consistent given there were so many different writers over the long span of time. That said, there is something about the series that sort of ties in heading into G5 and that’s G4’s history, and especially Alicorn lore. We don’t get a lot of either even back in G4, as the most we get is the founding of Equestria was through the Hearth’s Warming Eve story, and the knowledge that Alicorns like Celestia and Luna are at least older then 1000. Which is a huge gap compared to the Avatars that no matter how powerful, have similar mortality to our own. Throughout G4’s time, the debate about Alicorns have raged throughout the whole time even before things got really heated upon Twilight becoming an Alicorn in Magical Mystery Cure. Some went with Celestia and Luna being the only immortal Alicorns while Cadence and Twilight were somehow lesser Alicorns that aren’t immortal but maybe at least still a longer lifespan then their normal pony friends and family. Though as of Season 9, that may be turned on it’s head when in The Last Problem. Twilight eventually grows to Celestia-size as Celestia and Luna even retire to let Twilight succeed them. If Twilight is somehow a lesser Alicorn, why did she grow to Celestia’s size? Why did Celestia and Luna retire in the first place if they knew Twilight will not be as long lived as they are? Perhaps part of the reason G5 has as many questions as it does is because G4 itself created questions it never promised to answer.
That said, the implied length of Celestia and Luna’s rule still presents G5 with a problem that will be asked everywhere. Even if we go with the possibility that most of the Mane 6 have passed from old age, you still have to answer something about Twilight. If Twilight is also dead, how long did she live? Did she at least have an over-1000 year reign as Celestia did? Was perhaps Luster Dawn chosen to be her younger co-ruler if Luster herself ascended at some point? The kind of things that might actually force G5 into a corner when it comes to Alicorns despite the fact G4 never had to, especially now that Sunny may have just become one herself. This is once again, another of the traps Hasbro put the writing team through by having them put it in the same world. G5 thus not only adds questions about what happened in between the Generations, but also now has to inherit what remained unanswered in G4. That is a VERY tall task on a team that will likely just want to do their own little fun pony show. It’ll raise expectations too high, and there will be annoyed fans regardless how they spin it. Which could have all been avoided if they set it up that this was an entirely new world, or made G4 a fictional story (With all the references to it being mainly merchandise for a really meta look at things) in the G5 universe. You’d still have people complaining about it not being as good as G4 probably, but the approach they went with added more gasoline to the fire whenever G4 Vs. G5 debates happen in the MLP fandom. And inter-fandom generation fights are never fun, just ask the Pokemon and the Sonic fandoms how that turns out (Even though there’s no Generation number count for the Sonic franchise. You could say Gen 1 of Sonic was the classic era. Gen 2 was the Sonic Adventure Era. Gen 3 was the “Dark Age” Sonic 2006-Sonic Unleashed era. Gen 4 the Sonic Colors and Generations era. and Gen 5 the current Sonic Forces and Team Sonic Racing era. And then of course there’s also the different TV shows and comic books that also have their own fans that can be at each other’s throats).
There isn’t going to be an easy solution to something that will no doubt have fans on the edge on their seat even if they will be left to hang on that edge for a longtime before G5 starts to give some answers. I think I’ll at least bring up 3 things that will probably be part of the discussions of just what happened between G4 and G5
(More after the break)
1. AND THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN THE FIRE NATION AN UNKNOWN THREAT ATTACKED
With G4 being considered Ancient Equestria. It’s probably safe to assume this is at least 1,000 years after G4. And 1,000 or more is a really, really, long time. Where anything could of happened, including *GASP* a villain actually winning at some point (Or at least, did some lasting damage even if they were ultimately defeated). Though I think even with that possibility, there has to be a sense that the villain didn’t defeat the Mane 6 while the other members aside from Twilight were still alive. If Twilight was at some point defeated. Perhaps the villain struck when Twilight was most vulnerable. You could also have it that Twilight somehow sacrificed herself to defeat a large threat. She saved Equestria one last time, but at the cost of even her long-lasting alicorn life. With the populace left on their own to continue life without Twilight, but the loss of their longtime leader too much for Equestria. Thus a slow decline happened.
As for who the threat was it’ll probably be a while if we ever know. Perhaps the real Grogar showed up at some point and was truly a harrowing threat to deal with. Or something entirely new. Maybe it wasn’t even a villain, but a catastrophic natural disaster. Whatever it is, if this is the case. We’d have to deal with the sad thought of something being too much for even Twilight to handle
2. TWILIGHT BECAME DEPRESSED/JADED AFTER HER FRIENDS PASSED. POSSIBLY EVIL TOO?
This would basically be the cliche sadfic ending. Where after everyone of the Mane 6 has passed. Twilight just never felt the same afterward. Though I do feel like there is the slight counterpoint that maybe Twilight would still have Celestia and/or Luna (maybe, again we’ve never ever gotten full confirmation of how long Alicorns live. Just assured that it’s more then 1000 years) and she’d most certainly still have a full grown Spike and any of her friends descendants. Death is always a sad reality, but you have to wonder if Twilight would have prepared herself by the time that comes. Twilight would have not gone as far as she did without the rest of the Mane 6. But while I’m sure it would be a tearjerking moment, it’s not like Twilight wouldn’t have other friends she made throughout the generations. Celestia and Luna also must of gone through the same thing living for more then 1000 years, yet they seem pretty fine. So while the subject of “immortality blues” is prime for sadfic material in the fandom. It feels like there’d have to be more nuance then that, if this were the reason the time between G4 and G5 led into each other.
Supposedly, this theory is picking up some form of steam. To the point that a head canon is rolling around is that it was actually Twilight who sealed the magic away in the first place for one reason or another. Essentially making Twilight, in a huge plot twist, a villain in G5 or at the very least someone who took the magic with them into some form of Limbo very similar to Starswirl and the other founders during the Season 7 finale. I… personally don’t know how I’d feel about that. They’d have to be very careful with the execution of such a twist. And I’d want more nuance then simply Twilight getting sad about the deaths of her friends. At the very least, it’d likely eventually get to a point where this villainous incarnation of Twilight is reformed and probably becomes a recurring character from then on. But the writers will have to tread very carefully if this is the direction they take.
3. G5 IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT UNIVERSE/TIMELINE. JUST FOR THE MOST PART THE MAJOR EVENTS OF "ANCIENT EQUESTRIA" STILL HAPPENED
Perhaps this last one really gets into a more desperate side to deflect any possibility that the ending of G4 could of deteriorated into what the world becomes at the start of G5. I know there will be plenty that will be too frustrated with the lack of satisfactory answers that they annoy people in the comment sections, getting into situations where sometimes the only answer to those people will be others that just want to watch G5 as a fun show with a “cope”, “read a history book”, or “deal with it”. But honestly, there can be a case here. As I mentioned in my thoughts in the movie. There are visual details on characters and/or lore that while they may seem minor, to the point that even if they do ever answer important questions such as what caused magic to disappear and/or what happened to Alicorns like Twilight. That the staff may ignore completely because they think it’s too small of a detail to bother including. But the most nitpicky fan can and will latch on small excuses into why it can’t be the same.
Let’s begin with the one-sided Cutie Mark. Again, while it’s true that previous generations made this a tradition. And it was only on one side on the G4 toys as well, as the actual reason it was on both sides in the G4 show was because it was easier for the flash animators. That said, it’s still a big pony design inconsistency. Because regardless of it was only to make things easier, it became a staple because of how long G4 lasted. So it was still so weird to see early screenshot and artwork of G5 characters with grown ponies with no mark. When that wasn’t possible in G4, as it turned out it was because the one-sided cutie mark returned. But one side as opposed to both sides is still a significant difference. Similarly, the horns and wingtips being a different color then the coat may also be a significant difference. Of course I know it can be just waved off as art style difference, as the art direction is no longer based on what Faust wanted the ponies to look like. It’s still plausible enough for someone to discredit it as truly in continuity with G4. Cause even for those that are on the side of “More then 1000 years is a long time, anything could of happened” it’s a lot harder to argue against inconsistencies such as cutie marks only being on one side unless they switch gears to the meta explanation of “G4’s double sided cutie mark was not intentional, at least at first”. But from what most people saw in the G4 show, G4 ponies had marks on both sides. And the G5 ponies don’t. It’s again, quite nitpicky. But it’s enough to start a case that at the very least, the ancient past of G4 is not 100% the same G4 we saw in the show.
Speaking of not the same G4 we saw in the show, another possibility is that G5 actually came out of an alternate timeline. Where perhaps the last two seasons did not happen. If perhaps it’s a timeline where major events in the show either ended anywhere between the end of Season 4 or the end of Season 7, then it starts to feel a little more possible. (Supposedly, the tree of harmony in it’s Season 9 form that might counteract it. But then again it had none of the treehouse architecture and was all wood. Which ironically may lead into it leaning more that the G4 show isn’t the same continuity). If the events of the Friendship School nor everything else that leads to the ending we saw in The Last Problem. It’d be a lot more palatable because the pretty much implied world peace ending with non-ponies in the mix included is discounted. There’d still be questions even in this scenario, like did Celestia and Luna still retire in this timeline then. And regardless if they did or not, the show would still be burdened with the question of what happened to the Alicorns. But it’d at least solve the most pressing question with the peace of The Last Problem being squandered. Because perhaps in this timeline, the Mane 6 never went that far. Perhaps it would imply some sort of indirect failure in that case. But this is perhaps a scenario they had a similar foreign policy as Celestia did. Not really hostile to anyone, but not intervening even in ways that could be helpful. Heck, if we go far enough in saying that G5\s G4 (As confusing as that may sound) was different from what we saw in Friendship is Magic, what if there were differences even early on for one reason or another? With how vague the connection is, we only know that the Mane 6 were friends and Twilight still became a princess at some point. From there. potentially a lot of other things may have gone differently other then that.
Again, saying G5 is a completely different universe/timeline is probably always going to sound like a desperate way for people who cannot possibly believe the ending of G4 eventually led to the start of G5. And I’d understand why that’ll annoy people who just want to watch the G5 series on it’s own merits. But it really wouldn’t be entirely the fans to blame for that attitude. G4 lasted a whole decade, many got attached to the characters/world we saw that had about the happiest ending it could possibly be. It should naturally make people unhappy that in a few ways it’s stomping over a happy ending for this fantasy world that many watched to escape from the realities of the real world.
Even with the long time allotted of 1000+ years or more, that’s made complicated by the implied long lives of the Alicorns from G4. Only opening up that can of worms further by seemingly making Sunny an alicorn. There’s a debate on whether this form is permanent, but if it’s NOT permanent. That arguably adds yet another addition to the list of reasons it may fall out of continuity. The only time we had a temporary Alicorn transformation (outside of Animation errors, or dream sequences like Big Mac’s) was when Cozy was an Alicorn after receiving some of the magic from Grogar’s bell. But even in that case, Cozy’s wings were not more like a glowy hologram like Sunny’s wings seem to be. And even if it is permanently on Sunny now, the design for Alicorns is too different. Adding onto the one-sided cutie marks, and different colored wings and horns. So the G5 writers may actually be stuck in a lose/lose situation when it comes to Alicorns after the ending of the movie. I think whether Sunny is permanently an Alicorn or not, they may not elaborate enough about it. And it’ll be among the headaches in the comment section (Though may at least be a reprieve from the political discussions G5 are going to have on occasion I imagine.)
Hasbro chose to try to say this is the same Equestria, and a new show needs conflicts to solve. But from the perspective of some G4 fans… it forces a world they loved, to get torn down into arguably a more divided world then even the Hearth’s Warming tale. Which said tale seems to have been implied to be from before Princess Celestia and Luna were around (Based on the lore of the unicorns being the one to raise the sun and moon) and thus yes. Somehow, if everything that happened in G4 is canon to G5. Then the world peace in The Last Problem in just a thousand years or so become worse then even Celestia’s sole rule.
RESPONDING TO “READ A HISTORY BOOK”
I’ve mentioned before, you can try to point to World History to point why this is a realistic take. But again, we don’t have an ancient civilization from 1000 years ago that we look up to as the pinnacle of peace in the world (Like I said, the Golden age of Ancient Greece and/or Rome still had slavery and brutal wars). That has literally never happened. What was shown in the Last Problem very much looked like it was that for Equestria. I feel it’s a terrible interpretation of time, especially in regards to the context that the leaders of Equestria tend to live for at least more then 1000 years to imply things would just go backward like that.
CONCLUSION
The movie on it’s own merits is a good start for the generation, though at the same time. It’s going to have some hard questions that’ll often be no-win situations for the writers. They can choose to ignore the G4 questions, understandably trying to tiptoe around as many cans of worms as possible which would allow them to do whatever the heck they want with G5. Maybe even getting a few stragglers frustrated with no answers to just shrug and continue watching anyway if the show entertains them enough. Or they can certainly try to at least give some answers on the biggest questions (What happened to the magic, and/or what was the fate of G4’s alicorns) but risk having an answer that just adds even more questions.
The movie is a decent start for a new generation if you only view it as a pilot for a new series, but if you view it as a sequel to Friendship is Magic. There are certainly problematic issues with that currently. Maybe the special in Spring, or the eventual Series will cover some of this but it does leave fans waiting a while for answers that they’re not promised to get, or at least not as quickly as they’d like. Remember when I mentioned that I may view some of this similarly to how I was about Starlight Glimmer after her sudden redemption at the end of Season 5? With many questions I wanted to know about Starlight before I could really accept her as a recurring character? (And not really fully coming into terms with her until I expanded on her myself in a story for I Dream of Twilight Sparkle) This may be how I have to view the connection of G4 and G5.
They can go one of two routes: At least try to give as much of a clear explanation as possible. Even if it’s one that doesn’t exactly answer everything, at least giving a good try may help with those who have questions remaining in relation to G4. If instead however, they go the Season 6 Starlight route of just about ignoring all the questions fans have, it’ll make things frustrating for many. At least with Starlight, she wasn’t the major focus in every episode. That said, Season 6’s job was to endear us more to her reformed character. Now with G5’s setup, it may be running well into a corner where they must try to answer what happened in between G4 and G5 or else you end up making a lot of fans lukewarm or worse to your series. Starlight’s reformation and then lack of ability of Season 6 to explain more about Starlight to us was a divisive moment. And G5 involving G4 brings over the same kind of feeling but on a larger scale because now it’s in the very premise of the generation’s plot, it’s less avoidable compared to one character. Because even when it comes to episodes that will not further the plot and it’s just a fun friendly moment between the members of the mane 5, this movie is how they met and thus the not fully explained premise would always be looming over like a large shadow. It probably doesn’t help that they’re basically starting with a reformed Starlight-esque moment when it comes to introducing it’s premise AND on top of that something similar although certainly with at least a lot less backlash then with Alicorn Twilight since it came so soon. Though I do have to think there will be people who think this was way too soon to be ascending Sunny, since at least we got to see Twilight’s journey to Alicornhood (Even if you weren’t a fan of the episode she ascended in). Sunny arguably does earn her Alicornhood through implied years of working to unite the ponies. But it can still feel too soon when you had 2 1/2 seasons worth of episodes before Twilight did, while Sunny did so within one movie.
Someone’s ultimate thoughts on G5 might end up being what they are looking for in this new generation. If they’re looking for just about everything new. The movie provides plenty of that with new characters, new locations, and a more modernized world compared to G4 Equestria (Even if G4 Equestria had it’s own fair share of electronics it looked like, such as video game machines). If you’re in this for the G4 references. Aside from the very beginning of the movie, you’re kind of stuck doing a where’s waldo for most of the movie. And no guarantees you’ll get much more then that later. As I said in the trailer thoughts, the G4 stuff could very much be just Hasbro trying to bake it’s cake and eat it too. With a world that feels like it should be it’s own thing, but they didn’t want to commit entirely to that. So they shoehorn G4 in as the ancient past without giving a proper explanation to how point A (the end of G4) got to point B (the start of G5). It’s only been about a week since the movie premiered, but there is just so much to digest. And for those looking for answers to the G4 elephant in the room, may feel like they get nothing but metaphorical tummy aches for a long time.
I’ll end this off by having a message to both people who already feel like they’ll be fans of G5, as well as people like me who were fans of G4 and have concerns about where G5 may be doing to it’s legacy.
For the G5 fans, as I mentioned in the trailer thoughts. I still hope that it turns out ultimately good. I don’t know where things will go from here but the G5 movie taking in context that it’s basically a really long series premiere, had some genuinely enjoyable moments. At the same time, I hope anyone in the G5 fanbase can try to understand why G4 fans have the concerns that they do. I’ll repeat, G4 lasted a decade and was the absolute peak of MLP’s popularity. There will be a lot of people attached to that world, and understandably upset about the implication that it got torn down into how the world is at the start of G5. If they’re really annoying about it, I can understand why you couldn’t hold the urge to snap at them to “Get over it” just try not to snap at the ones who are just asking curiously. I’m personally not going to spam comment threads with “THIS DOESN’T FIT WITH G4!” or “HASBRO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS PLEASE”, but I would be lying if I were to say I’m not just as curious about what those type of fans want to know too.
And as for G4 fans like me, if G5 ever upsets you in some fashion. It’s ok to stop watching and just stay quiet whenever you find yourself in a conversation about G5 and only participate in G4 matters in the fandom. This is a natural evolution of a fandom’s lifecycle where eventually a direction a franchise is taken to a place some others don’t like. So you’re only left to mainly talk with those who prefer an older generation and/or incarnation. Just because G5 has started and even though Hasbro says it’s the same world as G4. You can still do G4 content by itself and ignore G5. If you still have the inclination to do stuff with G4, do it. Generation 5 is not stopping people from still drawing the G4 characters, or writing more stories about them, or even if you don’t feel you’re that creative. Support artists who are still drawing G4 ponies, and/or rewatch some of your favorite episodes of Friendship is Magic that give you a smile. MLP has lasted since the 80s, and while for the most part to Hasbro it’s to sell toys. Toys, and the shows surrounding them’s purpose is to make the people watching or playing with them smile. From the little girls in the 80s to the much more diverse both gender-wise and age-wise fandom that came out of G4. The cute ponies are supposed to make us happy, and it’s ok to get back into a comfort zone if perhaps a different part of Ponies don’t give you the same feeling or even upset you in some way. Also as a vice versa to my message to G5 fans, try as best you can not to provoke those enjoying G5. If the G5 movie and/or episodes makes them as happy as your favorite G4 episodes/movies you should let them be. Many of us had to deal with that crap just for daring liking a pony show at all early on in the fandom. Try not to add to the toxicity as best you can. G4 is not going to be forgotten, the fact Hasbro decided to try to make it in the same universe actually has the side effect of making sure of that. Cause maybe you have fans that enter the MLP franchise through G5 curious about what happened in the past. And thus, they can be led to watch the previous generation. New G5 fans could potentially also become new G4 fans and friends. In other words, friendship… is still magic!
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anxiousstark · 4 years
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S1 06 | Co-Captain
BIG MASTERLIST | TW REWRITE
Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall
Word count: 2091
Warnings: Mentions drugs, child abuse, swearing (always).
A/N: I’m sorry but this is a filler chapter, an IMPORTANT one. Y/N’s past start coming back, her mom’s story is quite significant, and the mention of his dad. NEXT WEEK WE FINISH SEASON 1! THINGS START GETTING FCKING INTERESTING!
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Scott had told us last night what happened to him. Peter and Derek had gone to the changing rooms, searching for him. Peter had shown him what happened to the Hale family. It was a truly sad story. Stiles told him what happened in the hospital, including what I did. But he hadn't told him that while Peter was showing him his past, I was shaking in Stiles's bedroom while he searched what creature I could be.
"What's up?" Stiles stopped the jeep next to Jackson and his car. He was accompanied by Chris Argent, someone who looked like an asshole. He was.
"Is everything okay?"
"Hey, Scott. Your friend, here, was having car trouble. We're just taking a look." He replied with a smile on his face. His blue eyes weren't warm, they were cold, transmitting uneasiness.
"There's a shop right down the street. I'm sure they have a tow truck." Scott pointed down the street. I just silently sat on the back of the jeep, observing Chris.
"Yeah. You want a ride?" Scott opened the door while Chris turned his face to look at Jackson. "Hey, come on, Jackson. You're way too pretty to be out here all by yourself." Jackson started walking towards us, and Scott came out of the car to let him in.
"Hey, boys." He turned the engine of the car on, it was working. "Told you I knew a few things about cars." Then, he went back to his car, driving away.
"What, are you following me, now?" Stiles got out of the car while I decided to stay inside, rolling the window down so I could hear them better.
"Yes, you stupid freaking idiot. You almost gave away everything, right there." Scott started screaming. Seems like his 'anger issues' were still there.
"What are you talking about?"
"He thinks you're the second beta."
"What?"
"He thinks you're me!" Scott grunted, punching Stiles's jeep. Uh oh, he touched his baby.
"Dude, my jeep."
Scott ignored his best friend and continued speaking his mind to Jackson. "I can hear your heart beating from a mile away, literally! Now he thinks that there's something wrong, and now I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!"
He turned to the jeep again, to hit it. But Stiles stopped him. "Okay, how about we step away from Stiles's Jeep?"
"This is your problem, not mine, okay? I didn't say anything, which means you're the one that's gonna get me killed. Okay, this is your fault." Jackson couldn't control his temper, pushing Scott against the jeep, making it tumble a little. I decided to go out, standing next to the owner of the said jeep.
"Can we stop hitting my jeep?" Scott pushed Jackson away from him. "Yo, all right, yo, guys, stop. All right?"
"When they come after you, I won't be able to protect you." His gaze landed on his best friend. "I can't protect anyone."
"Why are you looking at me?" I put my hand on his back, rubbing it to help him calm down. He had concluded that Scott couldn't protect him if he didn't have the power.
"You know, now you have to do it. Get me what I want, and I will be fine protecting myself."
"No, you won't! Just trust me. All it does is make things worse." His eyes were desperate, but Jackson didn't seem to care. "Yeah, I can run really fast now. Except half the time, I'm running away from people trying to kill me! And I can hear things like - like my girlfriend telling people that she doesn't trust me anymore right before breaking up with me. I'm not lying to you! It ruins your life."
"It ruined your life." He smiled wickedly. "You had all the power in the world, and you didn't know what to do with it. You know what it's actually like? It's like you turned 16, and someone bought you a Porsche when they should have started you out with a nice little Honda. Me? I drive a Porsche." He turned around, determined to go back to his so-loved car.
"You aren't a werewolf." I decided to speak for the first time that day. Jackson stopped on his track. "You are something. I don't know what, but you are something." I choked, it was Stiles's turn to rub my back. I wasn't human anymore, and I hadn't had enough time to sit down and talk about it with someone. "And I am too." I stepped in front of the other two boys. "You were there that night." I simpered. "Do you remember that day at school? You asked me if my wound was hurting, you told me you felt different, that you weren't the same Jackson anymore." He turned around to look at me, jaw clenched. "I told you that all that was because you were a teenager. The changes a teenager goes through, you know?"
"Are you done?" He interrupted. "Don't wanna be here anymore."
"I lied." His attention was back on me again. "I lied, Jackson. I could smell you. And you smelled like the dead." He got into the car, driving away.
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Stiles grabbed the milk from the fridge, deciding to take it with himself to his room, until he saw his dad sitting on a table, documents all over it. "Whatcha doing?"
"Work."
"Anything I can help with?"
"You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, that would be awfully nice." He didn't have to think it twice, grabbing a glass and the bottle of whiskey.
"Any leads?" Stiles was going to grab a document when his father slapped his hand away. "Wait. Before we get into that topic. Did you know that Melissa was going to bring Y/N?" He bit his lower lip.
Sheriff Stilinski nodded, drinking his alcohol. "An old workmate had that case. The case of Y/N McCall." Stiles waited for his father to go on. "As you know, Scott grew up without his father but seems like that man wasn't in her life neither. She only saw him a couple of times for what I know." He wrote down some information about Derek Hale. "Her mother was a disaster. My friend carried that case. He freed her from jail one time."
"Jail?" Stiles drank milk again.
"Drugs. An entire criminal record related to drugs; driving under the influence, getting into fights while high..." He coughed. "Then," Noah Stilisnki gazed at his son for the first time that night, ignoring the paper works that were on top of the table. "Child abuse." Stiles dropped the bottle, thankfully it was empty. "Y/N went to court with bruises a couple of times, nothing more than that. But still, abuse."
"Didn't they took her away? What are social services for? Didn't they protect her?" His eyebrows furrowed while he glanced at his dad, who was now looking at the documents on the table.
"They called Y/N's father to court, hoping he would take responsibility for his daughter like any father would do." Stiles's mouth was agape. "But he didn't. The judge decided that the environment wasn't the best one for a child. But, still gave an opportunity to her with the condition of going to rehab."
"Did she?" The teen asked, immersed in the story.
"No, she left Y/N on the front door of one of her friends, who was also into drugs in the past. However, that friend was clean."
"She said her mother died."
"She did." Noah stared at his son. "In jail. She died in jail. She...uhm, ended her life." Stiles was shocked. He had to talk to Scott. She wasn't there to make Scott mad, she was there because she had nobody.
"Why did she end up in jail?"
Noah shook his head. "She was on drugs, and...Uhm, she murdered someone. Then, she took her own life in jail."
Stiles could feel his heart beating loudly. He couldn't imagine how she felt.
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Someone knocked on the door, and I came out of my room to see Melissa all dressed up. "Hey." She grinned at me, eyes shining with happiness. "You look beautiful." I offered her a grin, she thanked me, looking back at Scott.
"Scott! Get the door. Scott! For the love of God, please! Hey. What are you doing? Aren't you gonna invite him in?" She was like a teenager on her first date. Not surprised if we remember that she once was married to the man who put his dick on the woman that I should call mom.
I walked down the stairs when I heard Scott talking to her mom's date. He must feel strange, but I was curious to know who he was.
"I'm ready, I'm ready. Sorry again." It was Peter. Peter Hale.
"Mom."
"Yes? Sweetheart?" She was grabbing Peter's arm. I could tell she wanted to go out with him, and have a delightful night. But we all knew why Peter Hale was here. It wasn't because he had fallen in love with Melissa, or because he wanted to get to know her better. It was because of Scott and me.
"Have a good time." The door closed in our faces. "Don't say it."
I did anyway. "Are you going to let your mom go on a date with that demented psychopath?"
"Look, he told me that if I said something-" He sighed. "And what do I tell her? That her son is a teen werewolf, and that dude is-" He had difficulties breathing. "And Allison is upstairs-"
"Scott." I interrupted. "Calm down, okay?" I bit my lower lip, trying to think of something. "Give me your phone." He was confused.
"C'mon!" When he handed me his phone, I called the only person who could help me. "Stiles? Hi! Uhm, I need your help."
I explained the situation to Stiles while we followed Melissa and Peter. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
I grunted. "I wish I was." I tried to get comfortable in the passenger seat. "Here they are." I glanced at him. "What do we do now?"
"We hit."
"Uh?"
Both of us got out of the car. Melissa's face becoming red when she saw Stiles. "Oh, are you kidding me? Stiles!" Her gaze fell on me next. "Y/N?"
"Mrs. McCall?" Great acting, Stiles. "Wow, this is - this is just crazy. What a coincidence, huh?" He looked at me for a second. "I mean - I do not know what happened. You guys just came out of nowhere."
"Came out of nowhere! We were parked on the side of the road, Stiles."
"How crazy is that? I mean, we should probably call the cops, you know, do like an accident report thing." I nodded my head while grabbing Melissa's hand. Please, please.
"I don't think that's necessary." Peter interrupted, looking around.
"Are you sure? I think I'm feeling a little whiplash." He touched his neck.
"Whiplash? You hit us!"
"I don't know - there's something definitely wrong with my neck." Melissa started screaming at him, and Peter went far from us, he was probably communicating with Scott, who had followed us.
I went closer to Peter, hearing him talk about Jackson. "Don't get close to her." He turned around. smirking at me. "Be a man." I glared at him. "Melissa has nothing to do with all this. Be a man, go for the ones who have something to do with this."
He grinned. "What are you going to do, sweetheart?"
"I was not the one held against a wall with a hand on my neck, choking to death." I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to look intimidating.
"You don't even know how you did it." He came closer to me. "But I know-how. Don't you want to know? Don't you want to know what you are?" He tried to brush my cheek, but I slapped his hand away. "You, my dear, are very powerful. More than you think. Maybe even more than Scott. When you learn what you are and what you can do, you will be a great weapon."
"I'm a person, not a weapon."
"Aw, sweetheart." He pouted. "You aren't a person anymore, and you know it." He whispered the next thing, but of course, Scott was listening to him. "You could be stronger with me. Be part of my pack."
"She already has a pack." I hear Scott's voice in my head. How did he do that? "She is part of my pack."
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minniewoos · 4 years
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Amortentia ➣ Hwang Hyunjin Pt.1
Genre: hogwarts au, slytherin!Hyunjin, fluff, angst, bestfriend!Seungmin
Pairing: hyunjin x reader
Word Count: 12,932
Summary: Hyunjin was conceived under the effects of a love potion, making it impossible for him to experience love. But you try your hardest anyway. And you kinda succeed.
part 1➣part 2 ➣part 3
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"And the final curious potion we will be introducing today, last but not least, is Amortentia." Your potions professor announced. Professor Lee always had a bounce in his step and a delighted grin whenever he taught. Anyone who saw him could tell that potions were his passion. And today's lesson was no different; the smile on his pudgy face was more full than usual today. And you weren't sure why. But he continued dutifully with his teachings.
"I'm sure most of you already know what this little concoction is, it's quite famous amongst kids your age." He chipped, but then held his pointer finger up and towards the small group of students in front of him. He warned, "But don't even think about using it. This potion is considered highly dangerous and very powerful. It does not create genuine love, that is impossible to achieve by means of magic. Just an intense obsession. Understand?"
You heard a few peers around you sigh in disappointment. And you weren't very surprised since you always heard gossip through the grapevine. Stories about your classmates and their romantic struggles. And like your professor said, this potion was very popular. Everyone wants easy love, a perfect romance. You even thought about using it once or twice when you were younger; probably in year two or three. You shake your head at yourself, those days of pining after that certain person were behind you. At least, the childish thoughts of using magic to do that.
"Of course, I'm sure most of you are wise enough not to do that. I expect great things from you bunch, this is an advanced potion class. I see greatness in each one of you." Your professor smiled once again as his eyes landed on every one of you and your classmates. It was a mixed class as well; it had some students from each house attending it. Which was a change from the usual one or two houses per class, but you like it, you didn't interact as much with the other houses as you would've liked to.
"Would anyone like to tell me what they know about Amortentia before we begin?" Professor Lee let the question hang in the air, receiving only silence. His smile dropped for a moment, but it was up once more when he spotted somebody raised their hand. He nodded and pointed towards the owner of the raised hand, "Yes, Seungmin, go ahead."
“It’s complicated to brew, and it makes the person it’s used on have an extreme obsession.” Seungmin said, very interested in today’s lesson, “The smells also different for everybody; it smells like the three things people love the most.”
“That is correct! Five points for Ravenclaw.” Your professor chirped happily. “At the end of class, if anyone wishes, they may take a whiff of Amortentia if they’re curious about the smell.”
You smiled as well, and discreetly fist-bumped Seungmin for the extra points for your house. In your mind, he was always a good kid, if not a little odd sometimes. For the rest of the class, your professor spoke animatedly about Amortentia and went over its painful brewing procedure. You listened, well, you tried to. Looking to the brewing procedure is tedious and quite a bore, especially for such a long and precise potion like Amortentia. So, your thoughts wandered a bit, but you got the gist of what you needed to know about Amortentia. And if you had questions, the textbook was there for a reason. Instead, you were curious about what Amortentia smelled like for you; perhaps it would be your favorite coffee or tea, or maybe a particular food. What did Seungmin smell? Or the professor? You scanned the room, curious as to what the others would smell in the Amortentia.
There were pretty rowdy Gryffindors like Han Jisung or Shin Ryujin. But there was a certain Slytherin you were especially curious about. Eyes trained on Hwang Hyunjin, you concentrated as you tried to think. Your eyebrows scrunched together as you thought about what he would even smell, he was unpredictable, really. Nobody was really close to the aloof Slytherin, but he got along really well with everyone. He wasn’t cruel or stuck up despite the Slytherin stereotype, but he wasn’t friendly either. Hyunjin never stuck to people that well, it was as if he wasn't interested enough to care. On the other hand, people stuck to Hyunjin like glue; you weren't exactly sure why. So it confused you, why care so much about a guy who doesn't do the same? Perhaps it was because of his charm, the few times you spoke to him were very pleasant; it helped that he was a solid ten in looks. Nonetheless, there was something off about him that you couldn't figure out. Hyunjin was indeed a mystery.
“Hey, pay attention.” Seungmin jabbed at your side, effectively derailing your train of thought. “If we’re gonna be partners again, it’s not going to be like last time.”
You rolled your eyes, “Come on Minnie, it wasn’t that bad. Okay?”
He frowned, “Says you, the potion didn’t blow up right in your eyes.”
“Sorry?” You shrugged with a shy smile, feeling a little guilty about the potion incident. Seungmin went blind for a whole hour.
“You better be.” Seungmin turned his focus back into taking his notes. How diligent.
You pouted and leaned onto the desk, your chin resting in the palm of your hand. You muttered sourly, “That sounds like a threat.”
“That’s because it is.”
The class period reached its end quickly, and your mood was instantly lifted. While you enjoy the advanced potions class, it has a knack for putting you to sleep. You were a pretty lazy Ravenclaw.
“Remember class, I will offer you extra credit for this lesson! If you’re interested just sign this parchment before you leave the room, this is your last day to do this before I begin planning the extra credit.” Your professor reminded everyone one last time before dismissing the class.
The small class began to file out of the room, most of them gathering around the table with the vials of potions lined upon them. All the potions the professor went over today were interesting and very advanced. It was predictable which one people flocked towards first. Amortentia.
Chatter filled the air as you heard excited quips of what they smelled; others who were less interested simply left the room.
Seungmin was one of those people about to leave the room, completely ignoring the potions. But you clutched his arm and yanked him towards the table. He yelped in surprise before giving you an ugly look.
"Don't act like you aren’t curious about what you smell." You crossed your arms, standing in front of the table. The small crowd already began dispersing.
"I will act like it because I don’t." Seungmin sighed, then began to leave the room once more. "I'll meet you outside after you're finished."
Lips pursed in a frown, what a downer. You weren't sure what his problem was today, his mood seemed to drop mid-lesson. But ignoring Seungmin’s attitude, you faced the little vial of Amortentia. Little spiraling wisps rose from the vial, dissipating by the time it reached the height of your eyes. Already a little excited, you leaned down and took a whiff.
You smelled everything right away, each scent from the potion was strong and distinct. The corners of your lips tipped up.
Old books, and you knew exactly why. The Ravenclaw common room was absolutely filled with ancient books from top to bottom, and it showed. Bookcases were full of leather-bound books and rolled-up scrolls. The scent was faint but immediately noticeable, old and musty, but endearing to you. Ravenclaw pride bubbled up in your chest.
Then there was a sort of citrusy smell, it was oranges. Other than the fact that they smell good, they were always in season for you. Ever since the first day you sat down at the Ravenclaw table and the feast appeared in front of you, you adored Hogwarts’ oranges. It was the first thing you tried out of the feast, and the taste stuck with you. You’ll eat one whenever you have the chance.
Jasmine. The last scent was jasmine, and while you vividly recognize the smell, you were confused as to why you smelled it. There were no prominent memories associated with jasmine other than it just smelling very good. And despite your confusion around it, it was easily the most potent smell among the three. You stared intensely at the vial, trying to focus on the jasmine scent; it was possible a memory or feeling would come to you. But alas, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it.
Deciding to give up, you took a step away and just admired the potion for a moment. It was lovely, a light blue color with a sleek sheen to it and spiraling steam. No one would be able to tell what powerful properties it would have. You sigh before you noticed most others have left the class already to carry on their schedule. All except for one.
You were surprised to see Hyunjin standing in front of you on the opposite side of the table. He was glaring down at the potion, a confused and annoyed expression creased his face. Frowning, you wondered what he smelled to possibly cause such an irate reaction from the boy. Unsure of whether it was appropriate to ask, you just stared at Hyunjin’s concentrated expression. But as usual, curiosity got the better of you and decided you wanted to know why he seemed so annoyed. Hesitantly, you got his attention and waved a hand.
“Hey Hyunjin, what do you smell?” You leaned over to match his line of sight, with an awkward little smile to seem friendly. You gulped nervously after Hyunjin’s irritated gaze flicked to look you directly in your eyes.
“What do you smell?” He responded to your question with a question. You frowned but figured you would answer anyway.
“Hm...it was old books, oranges, and jasmine. Pretty pleasant if you ask me.” Shifting your weight, you tilted your head before questioning him again. “So, how about you?”
“Nothing.” His lips pursed with his eyebrows were scrunched, “I don’t smell anything.”
The first thought that came to you was simply that that wasn’t possible. But you couldn’t question him or dwell on the idea any longer. Hyunjin ended the small talk when he sharply snatched his textbook off the desk and left the room, leaving you to feel bad you even asked.
Feeling down since you’ve somehow insulted two people within the span of five minutes, you figure it’s your time to go. A heavy sigh and a moment later you headed towards the exit.
“Miss y/n, please don’t feel bad about that. It’s good to be curious. Some people just have a complicated relationship with this kind of stuff.” Professor Lee consoled you, he was packing his notes and materials up from his desk. His smile was sympathetic.
You smiled and shrugged, “I just don’t think he’s a very open person, sir.”
“Well, Miss y/n, that just makes their journey all the more satisfying.”
“The journey?”
“Getting to know somebody is an adventure all on its own. I’m sure you’ll discover this.” Professor Lee began walking out from behind his desk, parchment in hand. “Somebody like him specifically, Hyunjin, would be a tough but fascinating journey.”
“You’re talking about people like they’re stories, sir.”
“Well, everyone has their own story, for some people, it just takes some digging. I know you’re an inquisitive person, you have a thirst for knowledge."
"Thank you, your enthusiasm when you teach really does help." You smile gratefully, then paused as something came to mind. "Actually, where’s that parchment for the extra credit? I'd like to do it; the lessons have been getting a little hard to understand."
"Oh, of course! It's right here." He held out the parchment in his hand and gave you a quill. "Go right ahead dear, you'll be given a partner to complete this outside of class."
"Okay, thanks sir, I'll see you later." You sign and gather your things, leaving the classroom in a better mood than you would have otherwise. You nearly forget Seungmin was outside waiting for you, so you sent him an apologetic look.
"Took you long enough, I was about to go in and check if you died," Seungmin commented, propped on the ledge jutting out from the sculptured stone walls. He looked uncomfortable.
"Wow, you really did wait for me, I'm flattered." You smiled, pleasantly surprised despite the frown set on Seungmin.
"Yeah, I did, now hurry up before we're late for charms class." He began to walk ahead of you while you trailed behind him, a couple steps quicker to try to catch up. "What did you smell anyway?"
"Hmm, old books, citrus, and jasmine. All quite nice if you ask me."
Seungmin hummed in response, slowing his pace for you; he seemed content. The smug little smirk on your face showed your sense of satisfaction. Seungmin could never stay mean to you, it didn’t matter what; you two have been best friends since the first year. He got grumpy sometimes, but it never lasted long when it came to you. You nudged him with your elbow, catching him on the side; then, you looked up at him to show off your smug little grin. In return, he rolled his eyes and nudged you back, but you peaked at the little smile he attempted to hold back.
The next morning was breakfast time, and the only way to describe your journey to the Great Hall was a hobble. Or maybe a shuffle or stagger. And it was a long ways away from the Ravenclaw tower down to the Great Hall. As a result, you were really struggling to move your tired limbs. Perhaps you'll take a quick nap during breakfast, or sleep during Ms. Hong's charm class. Either way, you were not awake, and it showed. Badly.
Unfortunately, you’ve developed an awful habit of not sleeping when you’re supposed to, and it’s resulted in your morning zombie-ness. And general crankiness if you were going to be honest. All that nagging Seungmin threw at you didn’t help either, he always nagged at you to sleep early or to eat right. It was easy for him to say though, he was one of the early birds in this school.
And as soon as you took your seat at the Ravenclaw table, you knew the look Seungmin was putting your way. He really just reminded you of your mother sometimes. So, before he could nag you, you nagged yourself. You hitch your voice into a slightly nasally tone and scrunch your nose mockingly. “Y/n you need to sleep earlier, study before 10pm, don’t rely on caffeine, stop procrastinating you lazy ass.”
“I don’t sound like that!"
“Shhh, yea, you do, don’t pretend you don’t know. Don’t be so loud in the mornings, please.” You grumble and lay your head on the table after placing a muffin on your plate. After closing your eyes, you sigh heavily and ultimately regret your life choices that lead to your headache and tired eyes.
Seungmin shook his head, “I wasn't even going to say anything. You’re a brat in the mornings, you know that right?”
“Mmmhm, watcha gonna do about it?” You mumble, head still lying on the table and eyes shut comfortably. After a few seconds, you got no response, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Meanwhile, Seungmin wasn’t buying into your childish attitude right now. Simply resting his cheek to the palm of his hand, eyelids lowering in boredom, and with a weary sigh said, “Your robes are on inside out.”
"No, it's not you're just messing with me." You didn't even bother to check.
Seungmin stopped bothering you in favor of chatting with Jeongin. Another Ravenclaw just a year below you; he also had a knack for annoying you. You weren't surprised that he and Seungmin got along so well. Eventually, maybe a few minutes passed before your thoughts shut down, and you were snoozing away. A soothing smell drifted in the air around you, slightly mixed in with the fresh oranges and ripening bananas. It smelled very familiar, but you were too drowsy to remember the name, and it served to make you fall deeper into your morning nap.
"How does she fall asleep so quickly…" Jeongin stared at you in engrossed bafflement and proceeded to wave a hand in front of your face. He was another early bird who enjoyed teasing you about your poor life choices.
“Because she refuses to go to bed at a reasonable time,” Seungmin said, bored as if he’s been through this situation many times before. Which to his credit, he has. "She’ll start snoring soon, just wait.”
And you did, the snores were quiet at first, more like loud breathing. Jeongin raised his eyebrows, “You were right.”
Seungmin smiled a smug smile, and tapped his temple. “I know her well, later she’ll complain about how tired she still is but can’t sleep. Then the cycle will repeat.”
Seungmin then pulled out a quill, a devilish smile on hand. “I have an idea.”
Jeongin mirrored his mischievous grin, immediately recognizing the type of quill he took out. Without hesitation, Seungmin, on your exposed cheek, began to write gently. While nothing showed up at first, the quill contained disappearing ink; and that means that in about an hour the ink will become visible. Just about the time you'd be getting sleepy again, in potions class where he had to deal with your lazy ass.
Seungmin felt satisfied with his work. His little art piece wasn’t visible at the moment. But the little mustache and monocle he drew would give him a good laugh later in class. He even wrote ‘I told you so’ on your forehead, just to take a jab at you.
Eventually, you were forced to wake up. The students around you filing out of the Great Hall and through the large entrance doors, the chatter filling the castle. You lifted your head. It felt heavy as you stretched your arms out to yawn. Drowsy and your vision still blurry, you picked up your muffin and quickly began to eat. You sat there for a moment, letting your sleepiness slowly fade away. Only then did you freeze Seungmin and jeongin left you there, you pursed your lips and puffed your cheeks out. But you should've expected it, it always annoyed Seungmin when your lousy sleeping habits caught up to you, and you knew it.
You shook it off though as Seungmin just being Seungmin and stared dully at the seat he sat in across from you. He had a half-filled plate of breakfast food leftover, and you really just thought of why he would grab so much if he didn't even eat it. But one thing caught your attention, making you do a double-take. A funny feeling began to settle in the pit of your stomach. Your eyes stuck on the teacup across from you as the gears in your head work hard. The silence as the room emptied out only amplified the thoughts in your mind.
Seungmin's tea was jasmine, he always drank a cup in the morning and before bed. Although Seungmin drinks a lot of tea throughout the day, jasmine is his favorite. It was usually routine for him to start and end the day with it. And well, you always liked the smell of it; since you associated it with good memories and Seungmin. You recognized it as the smell that so easily put you to sleep this morning. And you also recognized it as the last thing you smelled in Amortentia.
It wasn't hard to put two and two together, but it was a jarring revelation. Did you love Seungmin? Of course, you would say yes, but to think of him romantically gave you a funny feeling in your chest. You blinked at the teacup in front of you, trying to decipher what this meant for you. If somebody asked how you felt, you wouldn't be able to answer clearly. It was as if that warm, fuzzy feeling right now was also constricting. Your breathing was heightened, and there was a pressure in your abdomen. The most honest answer you could say was that your feelings were mixed.
"Miss," there was a tap on your shoulder, breaking you from your thoughts. You blink wildly as if torn from a daze and stare at the professor in front of you, slightly baffled. She looks at you softly, "it's time to go to class hun."
"Oh," you reply dumbly. But hearing the awkward sound quickly brought you back to your senses. "Oh, yes of course. I'm sorry professor, I guess I'm still waking up. It's not an easy morning I suppose."
"We all have those days, now hurry along and get to class before you're late."
"Of course, thank you" you gather your stuff and rush out of the now empty Great Hall.
You speed walked to your next class in a daze, took notes in a daze, and left the class in a daze. Seungmin. Seungmin? Maybe...but, it was Seungmin. Your best friend, Seungmin.
Which you had your next class with, and you absolutely wouldn't be able to concentrate. It was potions, which you suppose was a good thing. You were good at potions, and Professor Lee was giving out the assignments for the extra credit today. You found yourself standing in front of the potions room door, staring at the floor and thinking to yourself. You shake your head and huff, you just decide to focus on the studies for now. Worrying can wait.
You walk into potions class and take your usual seat next to Seungmin, and everything was as usual. Professor Lee began his lecture, and you and Seungmin made little comments to each other, sometimes snide and sometimes witty. He scribbled notes in his little parchment paper, bound into a notebook. You lean over towards Seungmin, boredom already creeping up on you, and start doodling on his parchment. He doesn’t even bat an eye, he’s too used to your strange doodles. At first, he always complained about the “weird muggle drawing” on his study notes. But he eventually grew to know who Spongebob was, initially asking why there was a “block of cheese with a face on it” on his paper. Being a young first year, you were horrified that he didn’t know who Spongebob was. And proceeded to explain to him what Spongebob and cartoons were. Little pureblood Seungmin was weirded out, but since you kept on drawing on his notes, he figured it was useless to keep complaining. Now he actually likes seeing your doodles on his notes, even if they weren’t that good. It was always a different person or character, and whenever a new one popped up, he would ask about it. Currently, you were doodling a bad rendition of the gang from Monsters Inc.
Seungmin glances over at you, smirks, then looks back down to continue note taking. This action makes you pause for a moment. You stare at him, waiting for him to explain to you why he looks so smug and satisfied. You can already tell this isn’t a good sign for you, to mentally prepare yourself for the worst.
“Seungmin.” You nudge him gently, “What did you do this time?”
He looks at you, eyes you a bit before looking at his paper again, a smile on his lips. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Liar.” You narrow your eyes, trying to think of the previous pranks he pulled on you. It only took a moment before the lightbulb lit above your head, your expression was one of annoyance. “You drew something on my face, didn’t you.”
“Of course not, why would I do that?” He pretends to be offended, but you knew he was satisfied on the inside. His response only confirmed your suspicions.
You grumble to yourself before trying to wipe the ink off your face, but you were sure you were just smudging it. Also hoping nobody else noticed whatever it was Seungmin decided to draw. And you could only wish it was nothing obscene. After a few minutes of trying to wipe the ink off your face, Seungmin finally took pity and began wiping it off for you. He chuckled silently to himself while doing it, though. What a little fucker.
Soon enough the professor got everyone's attention after his lecture of the day. You tuned in after a whole class period of barely listening, and it’s a good thing you did. He just started talking about the extra credit project. And so, you decide that you need to pay attention to this. Putting your thoughts away, you turned your focus towards professor Lee.
"Now, I must say I am slightly disappointed. Out of the 17 of you in this class, only 4 signed up for extra credit." Professor Lee huffed indignantly. But continued anyway. "But those who have, I’m proud to say, are quite brilliant students.”
You leaned into Seungmin and asked him in a low tone, “Did you sign up?”
He shook his head and shrugged, you pouted, a little disappointed.
“First pair, Na Jaemin and Kwon Eunbin. You two will be brewing the potion Felix Felicus. The next, and last, pair will be Hwang Hyunjin and y/f/n. And the two of you will be brewing Amortentia. Those are both complicated potions you know, and it must be done outside of class. We are much too busy in class here to work on this project. I suggest the four of you see me after class to discuss this more if you have any questions.”
Your curiosity was peaked, you twisted around in your chair to spot Hyunjin a few seats behind you. The odd boy was going to be your partner. He didn’t seem too interested, but his eyes flicked to meet yours when he sensed your gaze on him. You smiled and waved, trying to look friendly enough after what happened yesterday; maybe you came off as insensitive? Hyunjin nodded to you politely, the ghost of a smile hovered on his lips. After a moment, his attention turned back to the professor. But your gaze lingered for another second, you twisted back around after.
Seungmin nudged you, “Got a little crush, huh?”
Your jaw dropped and you smacked his arm in offense, “No, of course not. I just think he’s a little strange…”
“Strange?”
“Yea, isn’t there something off about him? He’s not mean or anything, but it’s like...like an act.”
Seungmin shook his head in denial, “I don’t see anything wrong, maybe that's just how he is.”
You thought about it for a moment, but it still bothered you. Nonetheless, the topic was dropped, and your mind clung onto another question. Was Seungmin aware of the Amortentia thing? He knew what you smelled in the potion, and Seungmin isn’t a dumb boy. Unquestionably he connected the dots and knew you smelled his jasmine tea, but for some reason just held off telling you. Or maybe he didn’t want to cause any awkward feelings because he didn’t reciprocate those feelings…
The thought of that put you down though, like your heart felt heavy just thinking of that possibility. You frowned, you were positive Seungmin knew, because you knew him well enough. He’s a smart boy. You rested your chin on your hand and tilted your head to eye Seungmin, squinting your eyes skeptically.
Of course, he noticed, not like you were hiding it anyway. He only looked at you weirdly and scoffed, amused. “What’s with the stink eye?”
“Not a stink eye, just thinking.” Your response was curt.
He pinched your nose affectionately while you swatted his hand away, “You overthink.”
“What a hypocrite, you’re a thinker too.”
“Yea, but at least I’m still grounded in reality. When you think, your heads way up there.” Seungmin looks up and points towards the sky. You purse your lips, unable to retort. And soon after, class was finishing up.
You stood from your seat, grabbed your textbooks, and waited as you leaned on the table. Eyes closed, you sigh breathily and wait for further instructions. When you open your eyes, Hyunjin was waiting as well with the same bored expression as you. The other two classmates were standing around too, it seems like none of you were particularly happy about this extra credit project. You couldn’t dwell on the thought much longer, though, because your professor stood in front of you all now, a huge gummy smile on his face. You sneak a glance at Hyunjin only to see a prominent frown on his usually indifferent face, your head tilts in curiosity.
“Hm…”
∎∎∎
Two days later and you sat in the library, not exactly enthused about Hyunjin’s tardiness. When Professor Lee explained the criteria for the extra credit a couple days ago, you and Hyunjin decided on when your first meet-up would be. And it was agreed that 6pm in the library would work. You were chewing on some oranges, a pile of the rines sitting on the table, the citrus-y scent wavering around you.
Apparently, it didn’t, because Hyunjin was thirty minutes late and your temper was increasing by the minute. You were muttering to yourself, “This boy, geez, what’s his deal. He better have a mighty good excuse for this…”
Pulling out a potions textbook, you just decide to start on your own. Doing nothing won’t get you anywhere. You probably sat there for another fifteen minutes or so before a couple chairs were pulled out and sat in. Looking up, you expected to see Hyunjin, but instead you were greeted by Jaemin and Renjun, you furrowed your eyebrows. You were friends with the two boys, Renjun was in Ravenclaw with you so it was a natural friendship. And you knew the Slytherin Jaemin through Renjun, all in the same year as you. You tilted your head and rested an arm on your textbook.
“What are you guys doing here?” You asked, a bored look in your eyes.
Jaemin whistled, pretending to be offended, “What? No ‘Hi Jaemin! Hello Renjun! It’s so nice to see you guys.’”
You rolled your eyes at him, Jaemin even fluttered his eyelashes for the extra flair. “No, since when have I ever greeted you guys like that. And you didn’t answer my question, why are you here?”
“Ah, you’re so cold to us.” Renjun chuckled, but smiled nonetheless, knowing you were just being comfortable with them. “We just needed to check up on some things. But we saw you and wanted to say hi. The real question is, why are you here and why do you look so pissy?”
“I’m doing extra credit work for potions, but, Hyunjin is supposed to do it with me and I haven’t heard from him.” You frowned, bookmarking your page and closing your textbook.
“What, really?” Jaemin looked confused, “Hyunjin was sleeping last I saw him.”
“He...was sleeping.” You repeated, irritated and about to drag him to the library by his ear if need be.
Jaemin nodded and stood up, “He’s one of my roommates. Never mentioned extra credit or anything.”
Renjun stood up with him and shrugged, “Maybe you guys will have to reschedule your study date. Wish you luck, we’ll be going now.”
“Study date?? Renjun no, no, that's not-” You tried to explain, but they walked away before you even finished your sentence. They even stole a couple of your oranges before they left. You sighed, exasperated and tired, they always teased you; they even had the nerve to steal your oranges! But your irritation caught up to you again as your head dropped and thumped onto the table. You sighed heavily as you just laid there, you figured it’s about time you pack things up. You can’t get too far without Hyunjin, and you weren’t about to do all the work and let Hyunjin slack off. This was a group project!
Just as you stood up and began packing your things away, a familiar figure rushed into the library, making a ruckus and disturbing the calm atmosphere. It was Hyunjin.
The boy basically stumbled through the door and slammed his hands against the wall to keep himself from entirely faceplanting. Somehow while still tripping over his own two feet. All of which caused a loud thud sound and all eyes on him; this provoked a violent and angry “Shhh!” from the librarian. He stood up straight and apologized, seemingly bewildered at how extra his entrance was. Then as he lifted his head up, he was able to see that most eyes were on him. Pink crept up his neck, and his usual calm demeanor was broken as he scratched the back of his neck. He quickly walked away from the entrance, trying to shake off all the eyes on him. It didn’t take long for Hyunjin to spot you and he made his way over, he let out a long, drawn out sigh. He shook his head, eyes squeezed shut for a moment as if he was trying to erase that moment from his memory.
You stood there, arms crossed and a prominent frown gracing your features. About a million questions were buzzing through your head, but first one you chose to scold him. “Why are you so late?? I was sitting here for like 45 whole minutes Hyunjin, and Jaemin comes by and tells me you were sleeping?? Really? Honestly, you better have a damn good excuse for this, this project isn’t easy, and we gotta pick it up if we want to do good on it.”
Hyunjin just stood there, mouth slightly ajar and eyes staring intently. He then stammered, “R-right sorry, I had quidditch practice before this and I got back to the dorm and just crashed… I woke up and ran here...um...”
He didn’t know what else to say. He was...flustered? Your eyebrows furrowed and your anger subsided in favor of curiosity. You’ve never seen this boy flustered before. Hyunjin always seemed level-headed and sharp, but with the way he was acting now, it was a strange new side of him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hyunjin questioned, kind of worried about what you would say next. “Are you about to scold me more or…”
You looked up at him and shrugged, a glint of teasing in your eyes, “I just think you’re strange. Now let’s get started on this project, chop chop.”
Your response clearly caught him off guard. “Wh-what, wait, strange? You can’t just change the subject like that, why? Hey, don’t ignore me.”
“Come on, I already started the research for this, you gotta catch up.”
“I-what?? You started without me?”
“Um, yea, you were late so I’m not the one at fault here. Now come onnn, I wanna get started.”
“Ah...okay okay.” Hyunjin was still a little flustered and confused, but he sat down beside you anyway and looked at the textbook. It seemed like he was in deep thought, just staring dumbly at the textbooks cover. He was still processing the embarrassing moment that just took place.
You had to flip the book open to the right page, and Hyunjin’s lips formed an ‘o’. You chuckled to yourself, figuring this was going to be a bit more fun than you initially expected. Picking up an orange, you began to peel it and handed Hyunjin a piece. He took it gratefully and you plopped a bit into your mouth, savoring the flavor as you started reading the textbook with Hyunjin.
And studying with Hyunjin was...surprisingly easy. He was cooperative, and if he had any questions, he didn’t hesitate to ask. While he very swiftly regained his usual calm demeanor, it wasn’t a stubborn or cold one as you had originally thought. He was just quite a bit more aloof and quiet, not like that’s an awful thing; although, it was as though he attempted to regain his composure. Despite that, you discovered that the two of you actually got along quite well. You were actually making good progress on the research portion of this project. Note-taking and finding the right sources were a breeze, which usually weren’t in your past experiences. It was a miracle in a sense, Hyunjin was able to make good progress, even with your lazy ass occasionally getting distracted. Which he quickly turned your attention back to the problem at hand. The only thing that bothered you, sometimes Hyunjin would get a blank look on his face. It would be in between the little intervals of conversation, and he would just go blank. No facial expression but he was clearly thinking, his mind was running, but nothing was there. It normally wouldn’t bother you, it was just how he felt, right? It was just the vacant look his eyes took on, they were cold and distant. Something about it made you uncomfortable. Those moments were rare, though, and so you just carried on.
Nearly an hour later, you stretched your arms in the air, flexing your fingers out. A yawn escaped your lips as you rubbed your dreary eyes, laying your head on the table between your crossed arms. Hyunjin's condition was no different. He was leaning back in his chair, slouched and his head drooping. His hair fell over his half-lidded eyes while his arms were crossed comfortably. Sleep for these two drowsy sorcerers was imminent. The efforts of your work were splayed out across the table, messy hand-writing and orange rinds and all. Several open textbooks were stacked upon each other, the musty library smell and peaceful silence lulled you two to sleep.
The sun was beginning to set as an illustrious golden glow shown through the library windows. Rays of the intense orange glow shining spotlights upon the few library occupants remaining. As the sun sunk over the horizon, a particularly strong orange ray slowly crept its way right into Hyunjin’s face. He sneered at the disturbance of his sleep, squeezing his eyes before fluttering them open. His hand went to shield his eyes from the annoying light.
Hyunjin had to blink a couple more times to get a hold of his surroundings, temporarily forgetting where he was. But he quickly remembered whenever he was you snoozing away next to him. Your head on the table, using a textbook as a cushion. Your hair fell over your face, a strand getting caught between your lips as you snored softly. Hyunjin’s eyebrows raised curiously as he watched your lips move intermittently, you were mumbling under your breath. Sleep talking.
Hyunjin frowned. What time is it? He looked around the library, and there were simply a few students left, the sun was setting, and even the librarian was giving him a nasty side-eye. He cringed, remembering his entrance from earlier and figured it was time to go. His attention was turned back to you, he reached out and brushed the hair out of your face. Trying not to startle you, he placed his hand on your shoulder and shook gently.
"Y/n…" he prodded, but you were as still as a log, your cheek squished up against the textbook. Hyunjin prodded once more, shaking you a bit harder this time and still no response except a vague mumble of word salad from you.
"Tch, what a hypocrite," he scoffed, but there was no ill intent behind the action. He raised an eyebrow, and his lips raised as well in a smirk. Hyunjin was plotting against you. He sat up and leaned in close to you with his elbows situated on his knees.
"Hey...y/n…” Hyunjin cooed gently beside you, “Honey, I love you.”
You smiled faintly, still snoozing, but you responded nonetheless. "I love you too, Minnie…"
Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, continuing deviously, "When’s our date?"
Your eyebrows scrunched and you mumbled something incoherently. "Bu..en..mmm… you asked me out?
"Yea, to Hogsmeade, remember silly."
"Hmmm, I dunno." you trailed off, a soft snore interrupted your thoughts. "Is about time though…"
Hyunjin leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed and a smug smirk gracing his features. He was satisfied, and what he suspected was true. Amused and planning on teasing you later, Hyunjin finally woke you up for real.
You lifted your head up and yawned as you stretched your legs, "What's the time…?"
Hyunjin shrugged, looking forward he couldn't help but smile.
"What's that look for?" You sat up and turned toward him, seeing the weird smile he put on.
"Oh nothing," he shrugged, then turned his head over his shoulder, the shit eating grin wider now. "I just discovered you talk in your sleep."
A grain of dread settled into your stomach, small yet very obviously there. The unattractive feeling must've shown on your face since Hyunjin looked very amused. You gulped, a knot began to form in your throat as you muttered, embarrassed. "What did I say?"
You've often been told you slept talk. But it was mostly around your roommates in the late hours of the night, you never talked in your sleep in the day. If you did, Seungmin would've commented on it more. You were sure of that. You stared at Hyunjin expectantly, waiting for him to answer. But he only rested his elbow on the back of the uncomfortable wooden chairs and twisted his back, stretching it out.
"Ahh, that's a conversation for another day. I'm tired and my backs killing me." He whined as he stretched his back. Then rubbed his neck with a soft smile, "The library isn't very comfortable."
There was a hint of teasing in that grin. You narrowed your eyes. "Hwang Hyunjin, whatever I said stays between us, got it?"
In response, he winked and put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. You narrowed your eyes playfully and smiled. Hyunjin stood up, the wooden chair squeaking against the floorboards, and gathered the leather-bound textbooks. Just as he turned his back toward you, he lowered his head to check the books in his arms and spoke. You noticed his hair brushed over his eyes.
“Have a good night, y/n.”
“You too.”
And so, not too long after you were sitting in the Ravenclaw common room. The tall walls lined with books from all over, old and new. Blue and bronze decorated the entire space, and the white walls stood elegantly. Exhausted and weary, but not tired enough to sleep so you just hung yourself on an armchair as Seungmin read on the floor beside you. You groaned as your head rested on the arm of the chair. Your leg draped over the opposite arm. You squeezed your eyes shut and sighed.
“Was working with him that bad?” Seungmin pulled his brows together, setting his book down and twisting around to look at you. You looked down at him, cross-legged on the floor and staring up at you. Shaking your head, you sighed again and just laid there for a moment.
“No, it wasn’t. But well, I don’t know. He’s odd.” You tried to explain, but the weariness throughout your body was impeding on your ability to think properly.
“Real descriptive.” He smiled and leaned his back against the foot of the armchair. “So, then he’s weird?”
“Well, no, but he’s not...normal? Not like it’s a bad thing, but it’s just, like he’s hiding something? I don’t know, Seungmin, like sometimes I see him and he looks so cold. And sometimes he’s so charismatic, you know?” You exasperatedly waved your hands to try to explain better, but Seungmin wasn’t even looking. He was listening, though, since he hummed thoughtfully. You continued, “I don’t know how to put it, but I can just sense something off about him. The more I think about it, the more he confuses me. You just can’t tell right away.”
Seungmin leans his head again the chair, “You’re thinking about him an awful lot.”
“Because he’s confusing.” You whined. “And now I gotta work with him for the next...oh I don’t know, a month? And it’s just going to confuse me more, it’s intellectual torture, Seungmin.”
“Oh, poor you.” Seungmin faux pouted, then let out a little laugh, “Are you sure you aren’t just, curious about him? Maybe he’s only confusing to you because you want to get to know him better. Mysteries always intrigued you.”
You pondered his words for a while, a frown settling onto your face. The sun had finally set and the only light in the common room was from the little lanterns spread about, gifting the refined room with warm orange light. Maybe Seungmin was right? But that couldn’t be the only reason to be so confused about Hyunjin. You were a naturally curious person, always have been, so it’s not impossible. In the end, you decided to drop the topic and try to go to sleep.
“Well, whatever.” You sat up and ruffled Seungmin’s hair up, “I’ll be going to bed now.”
Seungmin swatted your hand away and attempted to smooth his hair down, but it was too late. You snicker at him and stand up, making your way across the common room towards the girls' dorms. You called out, tiredly leaning onto the cold, stone walls “Goodnight, Minnie.”
“Yea, see ya.” Seungmin yawned and lifted a hand.
∎∎∎
A whole week after beginning the project, and you and Hyunjin were well on the way to making the potion. It was going very well, and in your opinion, you were beginning to befriend Hyunjin. Despite his eccentricities, he was charming to be around. It didn’t surprise you that he tended to get along with most people. While he had his moments, be it a bad mood or whatever, you tried not to dwell on it too much.
Especially since the Amortentia was looking fantastic. The potion research paper and data were all gathered and written down. All that was left was the actual brewing and then the after paper. Fun.
So, after school for four days a week, you and Hyunjin brew the Amortentia in the potions room. Which was where you were heading to, the tapping of your footsteps echoing in the spacious stone halls. The chittering of a few students accompanied the background noise. Still, you figured most students were enjoying their free, after-school leisure time and weren’t trying to wander the halls. Unlike you. Not like you minded much. You’d actually be lying if you said you weren’t looking forward to this time spent with Hyunjin, the two of you actually got along quite well.
When you arrived to the potions room, you pushed the heavy wood door open with one hand while your other carried the supplies. When your eyes shifted up, the simple yet comical sight made you bark out a laugh. You experienced a short bout of Deja Vu. Because what you found was Hyunjin standing plainly in front of the cauldron, just looking down into it. He wasn’t in any sort of natural pose, nor was he leaning his weight anywhere. Hyunjin was just standing there, arms at his sides, and looking down at the caldron as if he didn’t know what to do.
He reminded you of a sim. Like from the muggle computer games.
And it amused you very very much.
“You look like a sim!” You laughed delightfully, closing the door behind you.
Hyunjin looked at you, brows pulled together in obvious confusion. He still stood in the default sim pose. “A what?”
“A sim!” You snickered, “Like when they don’t have any instructions.”
And Hyunjin just stared at you as if you were mad. He shifted his weight onto one foot and crossed his arms, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
You shot him a sympathetic smile and wiped a fake tear from your eye, really playing up the dramatic act in that moment. “Ah, that’s right. You, my friend, are a pureblood and unknowing of muggle luxuries. What a shame.”
Hyunjin rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t answer my question, what the hell is a sim? Like, a simulator? What kind of simulators do muggles run?”
The boy looked perplexed. It amused you.
You laid your books down on the table next to the cauldron and took out a couple quills. “Nope, it’s a uh, a game. Like on the computer so it’s digital and doesn’t have any real world effects.”
“What’s a computer?” Hyunjin looked intrigued now, tilting his head like a puppy with his soft brown puppy eyes. Why did this guy have to be so good-looking? It wasn’t good for your emotional capacities, aka your heart. You sighed.
“You have a lot to learn about the muggle world.” Shaking your head, you stirred the potion in the cauldron. “It’s a shame cause all of it really had progressed quite far.”
“Yea, but they don’t have magic, how advanced can they really b-”
You jumped, twirling 180 degrees to face Hyunjin behind you and cutting him off with a gasp, “You don’t know about memes!”
“What the fuck is a memes??”
Oh, you had so much to teach him about muggles. Which is what you did, and to your pleasant surprise, he seemed interested. He asked a lot of questions, which made you quite happy to explain to him. You rambled on about the muggle world as Hyunjin kept an open ear, all while beginning the brewing for the Amortentia. While muggles aren't as controversial to Slytherins as they used to be, many Slytherin and pureblood enthusiasts still turn their nose up at them.
Hyunjin, you were glad, was not one of them.
The first thing you taught Hyunjin was about gum of all things. You happened to have a pack on you and offered him some mint gum. You told him tons of muggles chewed it, but usually never swallowed it. He seemed a little confused at first. He didn’t complain and still seemed to like it though.
“Okay, so...today we added the ashwinder eggs and a handful of rose thorns” You read off of the instructions. “The potion needs to sit before we do much else with it, so we can continue brewing in about an hour. Then it has to sit for a whole nother day.”
You read over the specific instructions one more time to make sure and check yourself. While the potions ingredients were easily obtainable at Hogwarts, the procedures for it were incredibly tedious.
Hyunjin pulled a face mockingly, “Stir potion rigidly for ten and a half turns, let sit for five minutes before putting in sixteen rose thorns, blah blah blah.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” You nudged him and rolled your eyes, “don’t forget who had to get the ingredients because the bat spleens made you too squeamish.”
“You can’t blame me, those are disgusting.” Hyunjin stuck his tongue out and scrunched his nose, just by remembering the smell in the supply cabinet. He sat down and made himself comfortable, throwing his leg around the back of it so he straddled the chair. He rested his chin on it and he stared at you. “I’m bored.”
You climbed onto the table, next to the cauldron and plopped down on it. Your legs hung in the air and you just shrugged at him. “There isn’t much to do other than wait.”
“Earlier…” Hyunjin began, a hint of wonderment in his voice. “You were talking about muggle games and what they do for fun. Continue with that.”
You smiled, “Well, that’s a broad topic…”
“Oh, let’s play the one. Um… Dare and Truth?” Hyunjin tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, then nodded to himself.
“Truth or Dare.”
“Same thing.”
Hyunjin surprised you in many ways, but you never expected to be playing truth or dare with the boy. Despite his slight confusion on how to play, it was a fun time and you ended up playing until the end. A lot more fun than you expected, actually. You’ve discovered Hyunjin was quite dramatic and a bit of a scaredy cat, refusing to partake in some of the more out-there dares you suggested. So, you were lenient on the dares since he was a newbie. Although, halfway into the hour, the game started to sound more like Would You Rather since there’s only so much two people could do with Truth or Dare.
Admittedly, you found Hyunjin very charming. He was distant in many ways, but still kind and charismatic. And oftentimes, you found yourself laughing with him. It surprised you how well the two of you connected.
“So…” Hyunjin hummed, taking his time to think of a question. “Would you rather...live as a muggle or a wizard for the rest of your life?”
You opened your mouth, then closed if after a second to think. Off the top of your head, you were about to say wizard, hands down. But as a muggle-born, your whole childhood was spent in the muggle world. Your entire family were muggles, and almost everything you knew was muggle. You loved the wizarding world, but you would most certainly feel homesick. “Um...muggle.”
Hyunjin looked surprised, “Why? That means no magic.”
He seemed perplexed, but you simply shrugged, “I love the muggle world. It’s where I grew up and where everything I know is. My family are muggles...I don’t think I could leave that behind.”
Hyunjin nodded thoughtfully, “It sounds amazing how they live so efficiently without magic…”
“It’s not as archaic as it sounds.” You laughed, “Muggles are actually very innovative. Now it’s my turn to ask you something.”
“Shoot. Oh, can I have another piece of gum?” He asked before you threw him another piece. He’s recently addicted to the mint-flavored gum you’ve been handing out. He wasn’t a big fan of gum before you, but now it just seems like he constantly asks you. The wizarding world does have gum, but it’s somewhat different from muggle gum. You guessed Hyunjin just preferred it more.
“So, would you rather risk your life for someone you love or have somebody risk their life out of love for you?” You smirked. Leaning back on the palms of your hands, you shifted; your bottom was getting uncomfortable from sitting on the tabletop for so long.
Hyunjin went silent for a moment, his expression dropped significantly. It looked conflicted and he slumped to rest his chin on the chairs back. Your smug smirk is wiped off your face as you realize you may have hit a sensitive topic for him, but you stayed silent and waited for his answer. He took his time, but he eventually looked up at you, sincerity crystal clear as he gave you your answer.
“I would rather die for love.”
The look of pure determination in his eyes caught you completely off guard. Your innocent question was answered thoughtfully by Hyunjin, who seemed to have strong feelings about it. At a loss for words, you blinked a couple times. You swallowed a sudden lump in your throat as you felt your heart thump wildly in your chest. These feelings were an unexpected turn of events, but after another moment, you smiled at him.
“That’s really endearing, I’m sure the love you feel is strong if you’re willing to risk your life for them.” You grinned warmly, then you pondered wistfully “I wonder if I could do anything like that...how that would feel to love someone so much in a moment.”
Hyunjin tore his eyes away from you, “Yea, I wonder what that feels like as well.”
∎∎∎
You sat across from Hyunjin, who was being very pouty at that moment.
Your arms were crossed, “Come on, get to work.”
He rested his chin on the table and looked at you with those big, stupid puppy dog eyes. “No.”
“We are literally in the library to do this stupid project,” You lightly whacked his shoulder, “now work.”
“I’m tired.” He whined and put his head down. His arms were splayed out on the table and pushed the numerous textbooks out of the way, ultimately messing up the study space. Hyunjin was not an easy person to motivate.
It was very late. The two of you have been in the library for four hours already, and for some reason, the Amortentia turned a weird green color. You were trying to find a way to remedy it without restarting the whole potion because it takes so long to brew. So you gathered as many potions books you could find and dropped them onto the table. All while Hyunjin attempted to work on the essay that was due with this project as well. And he was not happy with it.
“Y/n, I’m nearly dyslexic. Why did you make ME write the essay?? You’re the Ravenclaw.” He sat up and complained, throwing the quill onto the table. The light plink sound it made caused you to look up from the current book you were reading. You sighed and frowned.
“Look, I know you’re frustrated,” You then held up your textbook to face him. Allowing him to see the tragedy that was the potions book, it had itty bitty font with such confusing wording that even Shakespeare would cringe at it. “But do you REALLY want to read this horror story of a textbook. The dude who wrote this must’ve really been up his high horse. It really just sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo without a dictionary. He really just thinks big words and long sentences means better writing. Yikes.”
“Ah, come on it can’t be that bad.”
You gave him a look and handed him the textbook. “Okay, how about you read for a while and I’ll write?”
“Deal.” Hyunjin took the textbook and slid the parchment paper over to you, flicking it over carelessly and clearly happy to be rid of it. He obviously didn’t care much for this essay. You chuckled and shook your head.
You began by reading over what he already wrote, and it wasn’t bad, you just had to correct a few things before you started writing. Hyunjin only sat in stubborn silence, brows lowered in concentration. It’s wasn’t even ten minutes later when Hyunjin slammed the book down in frustration, “Listen, I don’t consider myself dumb. But what the hell does ‘DEFENESTRATE’ MEAN!!!???”
You calmly looked up from the paper, “The act of throwing something out of a window.”
“I’m about to throw this book out the window.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a long, heavy sigh. “Let me read it for like, ten more minutes and then we can switch back?”
“Yeah yeah, just let me know when. I bet you only last five.” You smiled and challenged him. Then got back to work, finding him a little cute.
“Yeah I’ll prove you wrong.” He muttered and began reading, this time with a dictionary on hand.
Time passed quickly, and soon ten minutes became twenty and you were getting suspicious. It was getting late and the library would be closing soon. The lights were dimming significantly as long shadows loomed through the library rows. Only about halfway done with the essay you take a quick break to see Hyunjin nose deep in the book. The worn leather bound cover clenched tight in his slender fingers as he looked slightly distressed. His hair was more ruffled up, probably from him running his hands through it a few too many times. But his expression was concerning, his lips were pulled taught and there was a heavy crease between his eyebrows. His eyes, especially, looked troubled and worried.
“Hey Hyunjin…” You called to him, concern lacing your voice.
“Hm...?” He didn’t take his nose out from the book, eyes still scanning the words of it.
“You can take a break, it’s okay. You just look...I don’t know, upset.”
Hyunjin finally looked up from the book and lowered it, you saw him swallow. His eyes darted away from you.
“What’s wrong?”
He looked at you intensely, as if he were analyzing you. Judging you. It made you fidget in your chair, shifting your weight once or twice under his burning gaze. After he looked away again, he began packing up. Quickly shoving the textbook into his bag with the rest of his supplies. He stood up, frazzled and unnerved, “I’ll check this book out, let’s get out of here and then I’ll explain.”
“Hyunjin, you’re scaring me.” You looked at him suspiciously, slowly packing your stuff up as well.
“It’s okay, I just think...I just think I know what the problem is now.” Hyunjin grabbed your hand and guided you out of the library. He took the lead since he seemed like he wanted to go somewhere specific. He was on alert and a little jumpy, walking quickly. So, you didn’t say much more and allowed him to just show you what he wanted to. Soon enough though he calmed down a little and slowed down his pace, now walking side by side with you. You were clearly confused and a little anxious, but his hand in yours calmed you a little. You weren’t sure if he just forgot to pull his hand away or if he held it deliberately, he was frazzled so it made it hard to tell. You decided not to bring it to attention.
Eventually, he pulled you around a corner and into a room you've never seen before. The door was designed differently from the other entries in the castle, it was larger. Hyunjin quickly shut it behind you and seemed to relax a little. His shoulders visibly relaxed and he took a deep breath, eyes closed.
After admiring the room, it was small. Just about half the size of a classroom but still enough room to not feel suffocated. The room was a little plain but had furniture in the middle, just a couple love seats and a coffee table. After deciding it wasn't anything special except for a lounge room, you looked to Hyunjin. You took a step towards him, "Hyunjin?"
He opened his eyes and distanced himself from the door to walk past you and sunk into one of the chairs. He motioned for you to sit across from him. And you did, waiting patiently for him to explain.
"Um...so nothings really wrong. But…" he began but trailed off soon after. As if he wasn't quite sure what to say. He folded his hands in front of him and looked to his feet.
“Then what was that all about?” You leaned forward, concerned and not quite sure of yourself. “You suddenly rushed out of the library, half-pulled me through the castle, and now we’re in a room I never knew even existed in Hogwarts.”
“Oh! About that, this is called the Room of Requirement.” Hyunjin gained a little more confidence. Seemingly to stall the inevitable conversation, he was so desperately trying to avoid. “It only appears to students who need it, and it changes depending on what the need is. And right now...I just needed a private space to talk.”
You nodded, still confused, “So it just...appears sometimes?”
“Exactly.” Hyunjin nodded and fell silent.
It stayed silent, and you just looked at him expectantly. He avoided eye contact and looked uncomfortable, shifting in his seat and fiddling with his hands.
“Hey Hyunjin…” You called, and in the most comforting voice you could, “you don’t have to tell me now if it’s this distressing for you. It’s okay, as long as you’re comfortable and when you calm dow-”
“No no, I... I want to.” He interrupted you and shook his head, but he still looked unsure of himself. Despite that, he composed himself better and calmed down. “I’m just...nervous? Maybe I’m scared.”
“You sound like you don’t know.” You said quietly.
“I’m the reason why the Amortentia isn’t working.” He said, eyes avoiding you and palms sweaty.
“Is that all?” You seemed dumbfounded, “Hyunjin, if that’s the problem then that's okay! It’s not that big of a deal, this is only a bonus project and even then, it’s not like we were going to use it anyway.”
“No no, there’s more to it. So much more.” He said delicately, choosing his words carefully. “I…”
His eyebrows furrowed as if he wasn’t sure how to continue his train of thought. He tilted his head and continued, “Do you know what happens when a child is conceived under the effects of Amortentia?”
You nodded, “Yea, the child won’t be able to feel love. That’s why Voldemort...couldn’t.”
Hyunjin frowned but nodded. “That’s right. The child can’t feel love. That-that doesn’t mean they’re inherently evil, but the feeling of love just doesn’t come to them.”
“Okay, but why did you bring this up? Voldemort’s be dead for decades.” You were thoroughly confused now. Was Hyunjin concerned about the consequences of brewing this potion? Was the potion being brewed wrong? What did he read?
“Well, turns out...if a person who was conceived under Amortentia, tries to brew it, it won’t work. The Amortentia will have the opposite effect instead...not ‘love,’ but disgust. And it turns a green color...” Hyunjin explained, much calmer now, but the nervous glint in his eyes were still present. His long fingers were fidgety and you noticed his Adam's apple bob.
“Wait, but our potion is…” Your eyes widened in realization, and your lips formed an o shape. Your eyes quickly turned sympathetic. “Oh Hyunjin…"
You quickly reassured him that it was okay and went to sit beside him. You took his one hand and held it between your own, your thumb rubbing reassuring circles over his skin. While his palms were a little shaky, he calmed down a little and proceeded to steady his breathing. Hyunjin finally got the courage to look at you, he lifted his head gently as he gauged you from behind his fringe. And you smiled, your eyes showed kindness and acceptance. You realized this explained so much about him. This was why he didn’t smell anything in the Amortentia, why he felt so cold at times, and why he wasn’t close to many people.
Hyunjin visibly relaxed, “I was afraid that you’d think I’m a monster.”
“Never, Hyunjin, I could never think that.”
“You’re unique then...most people do.” Hyunjin’s eyebrows pulled together, a sad look crossed his face as his lips tugged down. He was reminiscing, but they obviously weren’t happy memories.
You squeezed his hand in reassurance, “I don’t, and others shouldn’t either. Hyunjin, you are absolutely not a monster and people who think that just don’t understand. They...are not the end all be all.”
He nodded and smiled at you, “You know, I’m really glad I’ve met you… This might sound weird, but I don’t think I’ve felt this close to somebody before.”
“And what’s close to you?” You tilted your head, wondering what feelings he felt for you if not love.
“I can’t feel love, but it’s more like trust.” Hyunjin nodded to himself, his gaze towards the ground, “It’s like trust and safety. And I’m comfortable and happy. And well, it’s not like I don’t feel happy around our classmates, I think I get along with most people really well. But it’s kind of like...I couldn’t care less about them. And I don’t say that like I don’t see them as people, I do. But to get myself to care about them and what goes on in their lives, I just don’t.”
“Then, how am I any different?” You asked, still curious about what you did differently.
And Hyunjin only shrugged, “I just feel more comfortable with you, most people tend to say I’m cold when they try to get close to me. They would get offended that I don’t seem interested, but you just...treated me normally. You didn’t push anything and just treated me as you would anyone else. You did it with a kind heart too. I guess you could say you were very loving in a way. I think it’s something I want and seeing you in love helps me. It lets me see what being in love is like.”
“M-me, in love?” You stuttered, caught off guard at Hyunjin's sudden statement. You weren’t entirely sure what he was talking about. Maybe it was Seungmin, or perhaps it was that he noticed you were catching feelings for him. You really hoped he didn’t notice.
Hyunjin chuckled, but it sounded sad. “The relationship you have with your friend, that other Ravenclaw, Seungmin. It’s very wholesome, anybody could see the amount of love and care the two of you have for each other. It’s natural and simplistic and... I don’t know. I guess I get a little jealous.”
Feeling your face redden in embarrassment just made you even more nervous. As your heart thumped loudly, you laughed nervously. And you tried to wave off Hyunjin’s words. “How do you know I love Seungmin? He’s my best friend, of course, I love him but-”
“Remember when you were sleep talking the other day?” Hyunjin’s devilish grin made your stomach drop. He was implying that...no.
“What did I say, I swear to god if you say anything to anybody you are a dead man.”
“Just that you’ve been wanting a date with the one and only Kim Seungmin at Hogsmeade. That’s all.” He teased. Which was conflicting since he seemed much more comfortable now, but he took the liberty to tease the hell out of you.
Immediately you covered your face and buried your head in your hands. Every time you attempt to confront your feelings for Seungmin, you get too confused and flustered. So you just tended to not dwell on it, mainly since it could ruin the friendship. You didn’t want that.
“Sorry sorry,” Hyunjin was very amused and ruffled your hair up, “I’ll stop, but only because if I continue, you’d shut down completely.”
You grumbled and rolled your eyes, “You’re not wrong.”
A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, and you thought about what Hyunjin must’ve gone through in his life, it definitely couldn’t have been easy. He was scared to tell you, and you could only imagine what happened to him before to make him that nervous. It made you a little sad. You also thought about what he said about feeling jealous. He obviously wants to feel love, he wants to love somebody but physically can’t. All because of some stupid love potion. If there was a way to help him, you would.
“Hey,” Hyunjin called out gently, “what’s it like?”
“Hm?”
“What’s it like to love somebody?”
“Oh, well, it’s probably the most comforting feeling I know. And when you’re with them, the world seems a little brighter. You focus on the little things they do, and it just makes you fall even more in love, you just can’t look away. You just feel like you’re on cloud nine and you don’t want to come down. They’re on your mind a lot, and it’s a little stressful. But only because you want the best for them and for them to be happy. I would die for somebody I loved.” You thought hard and soon after the words just spilled from your mouth, you thought about your family and friends as you described it. Trying to put it into words as best as you could. And Hyunjin only nodded thoughtfully, otherwise staying silent.
“People care about you Hyunjin, I care about you.” You urged, “I hope you remember that.”
“I will, I promise y/n.”
∎∎∎
Back in the potions room, you and Hyunjin were attempting to fix the Amortentia. And he, of course, asked for mint gum.
“Okay, so, as long as I don’t touch it anymore, it should come out okay.” Hyunjin was reading the textbook, “The potion should go back to normal by the time it’s finished.”
“Sounds great.” You stirred the green Amortentia, the color was a far cry from the pearly sheen it was supposed to have. But you were going to trust Hyunjin on this and just continue brewing. So you threw in another ingredient and just went with it. “So, what now?”
Hyunjin shrugged, “Let’s play a game. Truth or Dare?”
You perked up, your lips tugged up, “Absolutely. But you can’t say no to dares anymore, got it?”
He grimaced for a split second, nose scrunching up, “Ah fine, but that rule applies to you too.”
You flashed him a toothy grin, “Easy.”
And you played. Usually, truth or dare with only two people wasn’t that fun, but Hyunjin seemed to enjoy it. And while you guys played, he asked about muggle things as you both chewed on mint gum. It was simple and it was fun, just like how it’s always been when you were with Hyunjin. You laughed as you finally got Hyunjin to participate in the dares he originally refused to do. And Hyunjin got a kick out of teasing the hell out of you. A while passed and the atmosphere calmed down a bit, it was your turn.
“Truth or Dare.”
“Um...dare.” You smiled.
Hyunjin got quiet as he thought, then a mischievous grin pulled at his lips. “Kiss me.”
“....?” You stared at him as you try to remember if you heard that right. “I... sorry what?”
“I dare you,” Hyunjin repeated as if talking to a child, the teasing glint in his eyes, “to kiss me.”
“You’re kidding,” you whined, and your cheeks began to heat up, “you’re just teasing me…”
“No, well, yes. But it’s your rule.” Hyunjin seemed to be serious about this, “You can’t back down now.”
Your eyes trailed down to his lips, then snapped back up to his eyes. Completely unaware of what his goals for this were, you were pouting and felt conflicted. On one hand, you were catching feelings for this boy, and they were getting stronger by the day. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to kiss him. But on the other hand, you also didn’t know why he wanted to kiss you, and there was that tiny little voice that reminded you about Seungmin. It was at the back of your conscious but it spoke up and let itself be known. You felt your palms beginning to grow sweaty and your mouth dry up, your leg began to bounce.
Hyunjin noticed your hesitation and took your hand in his, he scooted closer to you and wrapped an arm around you. He was incredibly close to you now, and as he leaned down, he was closing the distance. You were hip to hip, his one hand holding yours and the other pulled you closer. Your heart felt as if it were beating out of your chest and you were positive your ears were as red as an apple. His eyes locked onto yours, “I’ll make this easier for you, but you can’t back down. Okay?”
You swallowed nervously and fluttered your eyelashes as you looked up at him and nodded. You mumbled a quick agreement before pressing your lips to his, bringing your one hand up to cup his cheek. You were nervous, but Hyunjin was comforting for you. His touch was gentle as he held you and kissed back. The kiss was soft and delicate. Your lips moved together in just the right way. And when you finally pulled back for a breather, Hyunjin leaned back in for more. Prolonging the kiss and tightening his grip on your waist. Your hand moved to the base of his head, threading your fingers through his hair. The kiss became deeper and more fervent, the delicate touches were replaced. And you stayed like that, relishing the sudden development in your relationship, neither of you seemingly wanting to let go.
And when you finally did, you pressed your forehead against his, breathing heavily. Your eyes were on his lips, one of his best features in your opinion. Hyunjin chuckled lightly, “I enjoyed that.”
He got your attention, and you looked up into his warm eyes, and you smiled back. “Me too.”
In Hyunjin's arms, you basked in the aftermath of the kiss, and you realized one thing. Your heart was captured by this boy, and he wasn’t going to give it back. This gentle, sensitive, amazing boy had your heart now, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way. After weeks of slowly building your feelings up, he swept it from your hands and held it carefully. As you locked eyes with Hyunjin, all your feelings were communicated to him. Feelings of love, caring, and understanding. Hyunjin understood completely, and as if a final promise to you, to keep your heart safe with him, he pressed his warm lips to your forehead. A sweet, gentle kiss to protect you as best he could. And you would like to believe Hyunjin gave a piece of himself to you as well.
And then you understood. Your heart was too far gone to go back to the way it was before.
a/n: WOW it’s finally done, and it’s only part one hahahaha. I have a lot planned for this and i reaaaaally love this. I hope yall love it as well, it took a lot of effort. And I’m kinda glad I got it out near Christmas, kinda like a gift :)
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Note
hc's of the paladins seeing their s/o lose a limb in battle?
sorry for the wait! hope you enjoy :)
(I did Allura as well cause she’s technically a Paladin too)
As the battle raged, they tried to keep you in their sights, but the battlefield was never a good place and now was no exception. You always make them promise not to worry about you in the midst of life and death, but they never listened. Likewise, they always told you to stay by their side if you weren’t in the castle or a lion, so that they could protect you, and you never listened.
You always get so caught up in the battle that you lose track of your team, you wander off and end up fighting for yourself with no hope of aid.
They saw you from across the battlefield, annoyed that you didn’t stay with the group but too preoccupied to dwell on it for too long. You were left mostly to your own devices as they knew you were a well seasoned fighter and could hold your own, but when you started getting outnumbered, they started to worry some. It seemed as though anytime you’d catch a break, several more would appear.
You wear drowning in enemies and exhaustion was bound to override adrenaline eventually. They started making their way toward you, telling themselves that you were a comrade in need and that they weren’t just an overprotective significant other.
Then it happened. You lost your weapon after a particularly harsh blow, and the enemy was coming right down on your head. Out of pure survival instinct, you lifted an arm to protect yourself at the last moment, and then pain seared through your limbs.
You dropped to your knees, screaming, and they rushed to get over to you. The battle was mostly over, and with everyone's attention on you, the remaining enemies were quickly dealt with.
Shiro
he does not handle it well by any means
he lost his own arm and never wanted you to have to go through anything like it
is likely the reason the battle didn’t last much longer because, lets face it, homie went off on some enemies after seeing you get injured
definitely scooped you up and carried you back to the castle himself
everyone else offering to help, but he just needed the reassurance that you were at least still alive
waits outside your cryo pod waiting for you to heal
blames himself for not staying by your side
after your healed he helps you get accustomed to lacking a limb
if/when you get a prosthetic arm he helps you learn out to fight with it and move with it as naturally as possible
cute bonding moments of a shared understanding of being an amputee
Prosthetic Parents™
Lance
you handle it better than he does
he’s absolutely losing his shit while you just calmly pick up your weapon and keep on fighting until you pass out from pain or finish the battle
he paces outside your pod the whole time you’re healing
mumbling to himself about what he could've done and how he should've been by your side
the others are all completely done with him by the time you emerge
“He’s been like this since you went in,” Pidge comments tiredly while working on your new prosthetic
comforting him and letting him know that you’re okay
him worrying that you’re just putting up a front so that you don’t cause anyone to worry about you
you having to comfort and assure him everythings going to be okay
in the days of Pidge still perfecting your permanent prosthetic you have an easily removable one to get used to having one
and sometimes you just pull it off and smack Lance with it when he starts getting too wild
Hunk
definitely cried
like not on the battlefield in the middle of a literal life and death situation
but ohhohoho the moment the field was cleared baby boy was sobbing for you
bakes you cookies and all your favorite comfort foods while waiting for you to get better
is so sweet and gentle while helping you get used to your new lifestyle
helps Pidge engineer your prosthetic
helps you through physical therapy and rehabilitation
honestly is just the most patient and understanding boyfriend
he’s always hyper-aware of you and your emotions and knows when you could use a nice bowl of ice cream or something to hit
makes certain you know you can talk to him
he may still gave all his limbs intact and not know exactly what you’re going through, but would rather be confused than leave you to cope alone
is absolutely devastated on your behalf and is not above crying with you, but also won’t dwell on it if you just wanna move on like normal
is a total sweetheart, no cap
Keith
when he first sees you, he’s so angry
why?! why couldn’t you just do what he asks of you one time and stay by his side?! why wouldn’t you just let him protect and cover you?!
tries to stay calm as to not freak you out on the way to the pod
but the second you’re in and under to start healing?? homie is storming to the training room ready to fight a whole nother battle all by himself
the other paladins just let him go knowing it’s better to let him cool off alone
he comes back and leans against your pod once he calms down
probably pulls his knees to his chest and starts crying
once you’re out you want nothing more than to have him hold you for a while
but he’s avoiding you like the plague
eventually you get tired of it and go to your best friend Lance to rant
“It’s ridiculous Lance! You’d think I cheated on him the way he’s acting!”
hands in the air, pacing, running your hands through your hair every now and then, the whole nine yards
“To be fair, Y/n, you almost died out there. I’m shaken up too, but we all know how Mullet handles things. He probably just needs to think.”
you being so fed up with him, and now Lance too for not taking your side
you just want your boyfriend to cuddle you, damnit
spending hours alone in the training room
half to start working out and getting accustomed to not having an arm and half knowing it was Keith’s go to spot so he’d be forced to face you
once he finally acknowledges you it's completely him trying not to break down into full on sobs while telling you how scared he was
baeby honestly (also sorry, did not mean to make this so long)
Pidge
Pidge.EXE has stopped functioning.
Pidge has experienced loss before, so watching you go down in the midst of a battle, fear and sorrow were the only emotions felt, thought you died
realizes you didn’t die and that you just lost your arm
oh is that all
instead of wasting time outside of your cryo pod just waiting for you to inevitably wake up, decides to get to work on something actually useful
and thus quite possibly the best prototype prosthetic arm in the galaxy is born before you even come out of healing
Pidge is constantly upgrading your prosthetic, determined to give you only the best of the best
struggles to find any other way to cope with this new reality
worries about your mental and physical health
just wants to be there for you and be as helpful as possible in this unforeseen time
thinks you look super hot and badass with a prosthetic arm
Allura
assumes it will grow back
panics when it does indeed not grow back
questions the others on how to best handle the situation
it's a learning experience for both of you
tries to incorporate some Altean gear into your new arm
honestly does not know how to go about helping you but tries her hardest to
offers cuddles, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to talk to if you need it
just wants you to know you can always talk to her
has coffee with Shiro and asks him to tell her everything she needs to know about amputation
is just very loving and concerned and curious and wants to be there for you
~Admin Rori💜
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cottage-babe · 4 years
Text
Burning Scars part IV
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Masterlist
I’ve been watching haikyuu and Nishinoya is so cute :(((
This chapter is going to fill in pretty much EVERYTHING related to Y/n’s past. also i feel like this shorter than my other chapters idk
Summary: Y/n, a werewolf from a hidden village, comes across Zuko and Iroh after being exiled. How has fate intertwined the wolf into the avatar's destiny?
*****This chapter takes place on Season 2 Episode 11*****
___
“Thank you,” Y/n said as she accepted the cup of tea from Mushi. 
The boys were surprisingly welcoming to her. Lee had begun to ask questions as soon as she came up to them, but his uncle had told him to stop and let her speak. He set up a pot of tea and had now given some to the young teens. 
All throughout the wait for the drink, Y/n’s mind was racing. Where does she start? How much does she tell them? The girl desperately wanted to come clean, but her loyalty to her pack deterred her. However, she knew that she had no obligations anymore, so why was she still so stuck on them?
Mushi took the spot next to Lee and quietly sipped his drink. His eyes weren’t on her, but she could feel that his desire for answers was just as strong as Lee’s. 
She took a deep breath and started her story.
“So I’m a- uh- werewolf.”
Silence. 
The girl knew that she probably should’ve continued from there, but she couldn’t help but wait for their reactions. Or rather, lack thereof. 
Y/n didn’t want to look up at their faces. If she did, she knew that their facial expressions would cause her to assume things and she didn’t want to guess their emotions; if they felt something, then they would need to say it. 
“Oh, well, we know that much!” The uncle laughed lightly, breaking the obvious tension. 
“But Uncle, I thought you said they were only myths; fiction.” Lee questioned.
“What more proof do you need? She’s a living, breathing piece of evidence!”
The teen nodded his head as he thought about that logic. Y/n assumed that it would be hard for him to process; just yesterday he had heard the story and now there she was, telling him that it wasn’t a myth, it was completely real and in front of him. 
“So, are you the only one? Or are there more?” Lee thought for a moment. “Wait, no, you mentioned a town before; there’s a whole village of werewolves?!”
I have no obligations toward my pack. I have no obligations toward my pack. I have no obligations toward my pack. 
“Yes,” she said confidently. It was about time that she went past her fear of her pack. They could no longer control her, she was her own person who could make her own decisions. 
But they’re your family.
Y/n shook the thought out of her head. Family doesn’t treat family that way. 
“Don’t ask me where they live or anything, because I won’t speak it.” Y/n succumbed to her guilty side slightly, hoping it would soothe her small feelings of regret. 
“We won’t, we promise,” Mushi said while sending a stern stare toward Lee. The boy nodded his head once again. 
Lee continued with his questions, though. “Why aren’t you with them then? You came to us two days ago, alone. Did something happen?”
Why does he ask so many questions?
She supposed that if she wanted to maintain their trust, she would have to wipe the slate clean; no more lies and no more hiding. They already knew that her kind existed, so there was no way that she would let them leave her behind. 
“In my pack, there’s a rite of passage that we must do when we turn 16...”
___
This was it. The day that everyone in the pack was waiting for. 
The L/n children’s Days of Trials. 
The morning had started wildly; their mom had helped clean the fur of all five of her “pups” while they watched decorations and food being prepared from afar. The village was quite small and had wooden huts for each family. Each one had a large leaf door that slid close for privacy; they had evolved a lot since their original days. Almost everyone in the pack was helping set up, except for the male Alpha.
That man just so happened to be their father; the exact reason why everyone was making such a big fuss over today. The Alpha’s children were going to be doing their trials to prove their worth to the pack. Some of the other wolves were excited and curious to see how the days would pan out; recently, there had been a spike of children who couldn’t complete the tasks assigned. 
However, there were many members who didn’t quite care for the right of passages. Every time the children of their leaders undergo the trials, they pass with flying colors. Never has there been a “royal” family child that didn’t meet the standards that were put up. 
Half of the workers around were in their human bodies to put up the decor while the other half were using their wolf’s to carry heavy things. It was a beautiful harmony that Y/n enjoyed on the Days of Trials; no one in the pack was looked down on for using their human skins. People would only use what was convenient. 
The five teen’s mother changed down to her human form. Her children copied her actions.
Their mother had long, overgrown hair and lively eyes. She was the kindest mother that the kids could ever dream of having. The wrinkles that surrounded her eyes not only showed age, but her strong, wise experience. She was absolutely perfect. 
Mother sighed as she looked at each one of her kids in the eyes.
“I want all of you to know that no matter what happens, I am proud of you,” she smiled so sweetly. “You worked so hard to be here and no amount of trials can take that away.”
Just as she said that, someone called for her aid and she had to leave, but not before leaving a kiss on all five of her kid’s foreheads. 
Soon, the siblings were left alone. 
“I-I don’t know if I can do this,” Fen spoke while trying to even out his erratic breaths. “It just feels so wrong to lie like this.”
Ayano rubbed Fen’s back to try and calm him. Then, Binu spoke up.
“I hate to agree with him, but he’s kinda right. Mom’s worried about our safety while we’re here with a secure plan? It feels sick to let her be so scared.”
Shong crossed his arms with a glare. “Don’t be dumb, guys. Our plan makes it so we all come out alive. If anything, we’re doing her a favor.”
They’re tall brother spoke some truths. The siblings had devised a scheme a long time ago to ensure that each member completed their tasks efficiently and met the bare minimums. 
They’re first task would be to go out and hunt a total of three animals before the sun rose to the center of the sky, signaling noon. Y/n and Binu were the best hunter’s of the family; while Y/n took hiding in the shadows easy, Binu was fast enough to outrun any animal. The two would use their skills to help the other’s catch their prey and make it back before their time ended.
Then, their next task would be working as a group to capture something that belonged to an opposite group (sort of like capture the flag). It was meant to see if the group could work together nicely and form a strategy. Luckily for them, Shong was very smart and him with the combination of Ayano would be able to easily make up a plan for any situation. 
Lastly, the five siblings would have to fight head on with each other and gain a total of two wins. They weren’t aware of the line up, but the siblings knew that no matter who went up against who, they would stick to the plan.
If they didn’t, then members of their family could be gone forever. 
___
“Ahh, I see,” Mushi said once the girl took a pause in her story to drink her tea, “Your plan didn’t work, then?”
Y/n shook her head softly and spoke quietly. “No, no. It did work. We made it past the first two trials so quickly, we almost broke a record.” A frown slowly set upon her face. “It was just at the third trial that things didn’t go as smoothly...”
___
“I think a congratulations is in order!” Ayano yelled as she held her wooden cup up into the air. 
Y/n let out a laugh and grabbed her sister’s arm. “We haven’t even finished everything yet. The last Test is tomorrow, so maybe you should get some sleep.”
Her siblings were, to say the least, drunk. 
One of them (at this point, Y/n couldn’t remember who) had stolen some liquor and brought it to the brothers and sisters. They all had a couple drinks, but Y/n and Fen seemed to be the only ones smart enough to remember what tomorrow was. 
They had finished the first day of the Trials; they had assumed that it would be the hardest due to the randomness of it, but it had seemed fairly easy. 
Many say that the Days of Trials were never meant to be hard, they just weeded out the absolute weakest of a bunch. Y/n wasn’t entirely sure how other’s had failed the tasks, but she didn’t like to think much of it. 
There were rumors of what had happened to the werewolves that didn’t pass. Some say that they were forced to live in solitude for the rest of their lives... others say that the pack’s fighters chase them down for fun. 
It was a little alarming that not even she, daughter of a family who is ranked so high, knew what happened to those poor wolves. 
Ayano clumsily transformed into her wolf skin and whined softly. Y/n sighed before looking at Fen. 
“You can take care of the other boys, right?”
He gave her a small salute. “Yup, I got it.”
She was about to help her sister out before Fen began to talk again. Y/n turned around to see Binu on the floor, but Shong was no where to be seen. 
“Uhh... you wouldn’t happen to know where Shong is, Y/n?”
The girl groaned in exasperation and dropped her sister onto the floor. 
Just as the brother and sister were about to leave their hut to search for him, the man in question pushed his way passed the hanging door and paused when he met their stare. 
“Dude, we were about to go look for you.” Fen groaned out, then went to the passed out Binu on the floor. “Help me bring him to our room.”
And with that, the two semi-sober siblings completely ignored Shong’s time of leave, despite knowing that no one else in their pack was awake that late into the night. 
The next afternoon, the five of them rushed to a big, open center where the rest of the pack was surrounding. Almost everyone was in their wolf skins, so they copied the actions of their fellow members. It was there that the children learned of the order that they were fighting in. 
There would be ten matches: each teen going against each of their siblings. A battle would be won once the victor gets their opponent outside of the circle. This trial was supposed to be the easiest for the five brothers and sisters. Emphasis on supposed.
Their fights went semi-smoothly.
At first, it was hard for the wolves to pretend to fight. They attacked each other like it was their dying wish, but in reality it was all a part of their plan. 
Just two wins each, that’s all they needed. 
By the time seven matches finished, Binu had already received his two wins; the rest of his fights ended with him losing dramatically as if he were in a play. Shong also had his two wins, but he still had to fight two more rounds and give his opponents the victory. 
The eighth battle was between Shong and Fen.
Fen only had one win under his belt, which meant that Shong would need to lose. Y/n knew what her tall brother’s tactic was when he need to lose the fight; he would put on a huge show to demonstrate his strength, then would pretend to make a misstep that costs him the win. It was extremely entertaining for the crowd. 
The siblings waited on the outskirts of the circle with the rest of the pack. The wolves around them were howling and barking in excitement. It was going to be such an amazing fight; Fen was seen as a weak asset and it seemed like Shong was going to completely destroy him.
The two sisters shared a look that said exactly what they were both thinking: if only the pack knew what was really going to happen. 
And with that, the teen’s father let out a bellowing howl; the signal for the battle to begin. 
Shong began his usual wolf dance. He skirted around each of Fen’s attacks and landed soft, teasing blows to his brother’s hide. He would only let Fen hit or bite him every once in a while, his only goal being to feed the crowd’s desire for a difficult fight. 
‘Okay, this is it.’ Y/n thought to herself, ‘Right about now, Shong should let Fen win.’
Just as the thought crossed her mind, her tall brother stopped his antics. It was a bit too sudden and the crowed around them let out a confused noise. It seemed as though Shong was... looking at someone. 
The girl followed his gaze all the way until it landed on their father. From her position, she couldn’t quite see the silent conversation they were having, but it seemed important. 
It was then that Fen struck. 
He pounced on his brother and shoved him straight out of the circle. 
It was silent for a moment, but eventually the noise flew up and cheered for the weaker sibling. It was a true display of power, even of the two hadn’t planned it. 
The look on Shong’s face was indescribable. It was a mixture between sad, angry, happy, and... something else. It was like every contradicting emotion was running through the wolf’s system. 
‘Why is he acting like that? This loss isn’t any different from the other ones.’
___
“I should’ve seen what was coming next,” Y/n spoke. “With the way he was acting... I just never expected him to be the one that broke all of us apart.”
___
It was the middle of the ninth match. 
Shong was up again, for the final time, but was against Ayano. 
Now, their sister wasn’t a force to be reckoned with. There were multiple times that she had fought one of the pack members for bullying a sibling (mainly Fen or Y/n). She wasn’t the strongest or the smartest or the fastest, but she made up for her weaknesses with her quick thinking. Her mind connected dots faster than all of her siblings combined and it’s what made her standout. Ayano’s passion and fast brain made her a threat to some of the strategists that lead beside their father. 
The duo’s red eyes glared at each other, circling the edges of the ring while they waited for the other to pounce. In this round, Ayano would receive her final win from her brother and complete her trial. 
But why was that look still molded into Shong’s face? He had death in his eyes instead of the playfulness that should’ve existed there. Something’s not right. 
Y/n desperately wanted to warn her sister, but if she mentioned anything about their plan, then they would all be banished for treason. It was best to just let it all play out. 
Maybe their brother just got really good at acting. 
Shong then jumped at Ayano, but the girl dodged it with milliseconds to spare. The brother almost slid out of the circle with the velocity of his jump, but slowed down in time. They both growled at each other.
The same actions repeated itself for the next couple of minutes; one would jump and the other would dodge. It really seemed like they were trying to kill the other, even with Y/n knowing who was supposed to win. It was terrifying. 
The brother and sister looked as though they were evenly matched. They predicted the other’s movements like it was their own; they danced as if they had practiced this for hours. 
However, the two weren’t the same. Shong was strong and had a everlasting stamina. Ayano didn’t.
The entire crowd could see that Ayano was growing tired. Her movements were turning sluggish and it was taking her longer and longer to dodge any attacks. 
Why isn’t Shong letting her win yet?
By now, Shong should’ve done his “misstep” and lost, but he seemed so persistent on his jumps.
Then, as some twisted, sick peice of fate, their brother pounced and Ayano was too exhausted to move out of the way. She let him drag her out of the ring, her body falling limp. 
Shong had one, which meant he got three wins; effectively stealing it from Ayano. 
That meant that in the last round of Y/n vs Ayano, one sister would be met with the doom of banishment for the rest of their lives.
___
“And so we fought. I let her win. End of story.”
Y/n set down her empty tea cup and looked at the two men in front of her. They were so invested in her story that they had forgotten about their own drinks. Steam and heat no longer rose from the small cups, it instead being a cold, lifeless collection of flavored water. 
“Is that- Is she the reason you got hurt?” Lee asked, his voice hoarse from not speaking for a while.
“Uhh, yeah.” She wrung her hands. “Its a rule in my pack: when someone’s banished, they have to have something like that visible on them, so they can never come back. It was only a coincidence that my sister was the one that gave it to me.”
“I am so sorry you had to go through that, Y/n,” Mushi whispered with a frown set on his face. The girl shrugged her shoulders in response.
“I mean, it’s better that it was me and not her. Her navigation skills are subpar, so she would’ve been so lost out here,” she forced a laugh. 
Mushi just his head in disbelief while Lee stared at the ground, lost in thought. It made her wonder what was going on in that head of his. 
Y/n really hoped that she had made the right decision by telling them the truth. It’s not like anyone would believe these two random travelers if they ever mentioned it. But still, the thought of them telling a town and having her pack torn apart made her shudder. 
Lee stood up suddenly. 
It surprised the two other people, but they quickly regained their focus as the teen began to speak. 
“I think you should stay with us, like for the long run,” he said confidently. “You could help us out a lot, and I think that we could help you.”
“Okay!” She stood up excitedly as well. This was the exact thing that she had been hoping for.
“And, of course, Lee,” Mushi interrupted, “shouldn’t that mean that we tell her the truth about us as well?”
Y/n was almost certain that whatever secret they had couldn’t be as bad as hiding being a werewolf. 
The boy puffed out his chest and nodded his head. 
“My real name is Prince Zuko and this is my Uncle, General Iroh. We are both from the fire nation.”
Silence.
There were many things running through the girl’s head, but the main one being Oh, so that’s why Mushi yelled out Zuko yesterday!
It took her a moment, but eventually she found something to say.
“You’re a prince? Should I bow or something?”
Le- or- Zuko deflated slightly at her words.
“Is that really all that you have to say?”
Iroh let out a hearty laugh at his nephew’s reaction. He quickly picked up their tea pot and cups while the two teens talked. 
“And that ‘fire nation’ stuff, does that have to do with that magic thing you did yesterday?” The girl asked with a tilt of her head. This cause him to shrink even more.
“Y-you mean my bending?”
“Bending? What is tha-”
The girl paused as her ears caught a soft thumping sound; almost identical to the one that awoke her that morning. 
Those people must be coming back.
She quickly warned the duo and helped them pack up their things. Just as the noise grew closer and closer, the three of them jumped on their ostrich-horses (in the same positions as they had the day before) and rode out before the group of men could find them again. 
Iroh laughed from his horse beside them. “Maybe I should’ve stayed, it was nice to see old friends.”
“Too bad you don’t have any old friends that don’t want to attack you.” Zuko groaned front his seat in front of Y/n. 
The three of them were riding pretty fast, so Y/n had her arms gripped around the boy’s torso. He had stiffened at first, but slowly relaxed at her touch. 
“Hmm... Old friends that don’t want to attack me...” 
___
thanks for sticking w me guys <3
even if you skipped past the memories like i know some do, i appreciate you reading this :)
anyways might actually have some cutesy stuff next chapter so wait till next week to read it <33
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Masterlist
Taglist: @bucky-blogs @hopefuloperaangelnerd @simplyfandomish @oddlypointlessescapes @lozzybowe ((bolded couldn’t be tagged))
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sero-sphere · 4 years
Text
Writing Prompt : Serial Killer Tomura Shigaraki
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listen so i know its been awhile. alot of things happened. i got a new job, my computer broke, my computer got fixed....bnha season 4 ended. Tiger King was a thing, and obviously quarantine.
also sorry this is what i decided to post first. youve all been warned!
Prompt: a serial killer who finds their victims through dating apps has finally chosen their next target. they've been texting for a while and had planned what would've been a fatal first date, but then the country went on lockdown. the killer keeps in touch figuring they might as well keep around another potential victim except...they’re kinda starting to like this one.
(Serial killer Tomura x f reader)
Warnings: murder, non-con everything? , mention of rape? idk its bad he kills people. maybe a little hybristophilia if you look real close.  (pls just remember none of this is real and proceed with caution....thnks)
1 week before quarantine:
It had only been three days since you re-downloaded tinder off of a whim. There had been some pretty interesting matches up until this point, but you were flip flopping between two guys mainly. One was tall with dark hair. He was covered in burns that only seemed to add to his allure. He was hot, figuratively and literally. The other was another kind of mystery all together. He had denied all your requests for any more pictures of himself. He obviously had the standard few shown in his bio, but those were mostly all body pics. It’s not like he was even that big, his muscles were no doubt toned as anything, but, like the first boy, he was littered in scars that intrigued you. The chemistry the two of you shared seemed stronger in your opinion than with the first. You were dying to see him in person, after all you had only been able to see so much during your facetime calls.
After some time, you finally narrowed it down. You decided to take a risk and go with what was behind door number 2. Tomura Shigaraki.
 1 day before quarantine:
After a few days of chatting, the two of you had teased each other so much you couldn’t stand it anymore. You were just dying for him to ask to see you in person. You and your friends had stopped going to the clubs recently, and you just hoped your now empty schedule would line up with his at some point this week. Everyone around you was getting sicker and sicker so the club was definitely a no go for now. Plus, with the way you looked, it might be a bit dangerous. Still, you hoped to play your cards just right, and finally get him to give in. You decided a little impromptu face time session was the next step. Removing your sweatshirt, leaving you in only a tank top, you grabbed your phone.
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Halfway through the call you were starting to tune him out when you heard him snap at you. “What are you paying attention to? Those eyes should be on me.”
Bashfully, you turned back to your phone. “Sorry, I mean, have you seen the news? Not only do they talk about the virus 24/7, they also talk about those murders all the time.”
“Oh…yeah?” He hardened slightly at the unintended mention of him.
“Yeah, I mean if the virus doesn’t take me out…I’m pretty sure this guy might. All the victims look almost exactly like me.”
He really was a sucker for your innocence. “Oh, I guess he must have a type...”
“Yeah it’s quite interesting.” Your eyes flicked up to your screen, then back to the T.V
“Interesting?” Shigaraki was genuinely confused.
Returning your gaze to your phone, you finally answered him. “Yeah I think so, why you don’t?”
Interesting was the last thing people called him. Freak, psycho, yeah, but interesting? “I’m not sure…why, are you interested in him?”
“Well, you just said he has a type…I just wonder what it is about girls like me that make him go crazy….I bet you he has mommy issues!” You said with a giggle.
“Hah, mommy issues…”
“Either that or he’s got one of those weird brother sister relationships…maybe if I pretend he’d let me live.” You moaned slightly into the speaker. “Oh, oniichan~”
He coughed to stop himself from moaning. “Maybe it’s a bit of both.” Admittedly you did look like his mom and sister. More similar to which, was the real question.
“Oh, you think?… Who doesn’t have family issues these days….”
He was silent as you continued to theorize about him unknowingly.  He couldn’t stop himself from asking “What would you say to him, ya know? You said you look like his victims…haven’t you thought about if it was to happen to you?”
“Hmm….. I guess I’d ask him why?”
“Why what?”
“Why kill them? Like I wonder what happened in his life for him to be able to do something like that?”
“That’s what you would say? Not scream for help?” All of his past victims screamed, God he hated that. That’s why he ended up shoving his cock down their throats half the time. Anything to get them to shut up.
“If I’m going to die anyway why not take the opportunity to get to know him a little. Might sound morbid, but he doesn’t let people get away.”
“Seems like you know a lot about this guy?” He asked probingly.
“I’ve been curious, nothing really going on in the world other than this virus...”
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1 week into quarantine:
After that conversation Tomura became intrigued as to what you would think when you finally realized who he was. If you would really be brave enough to ask him ‘why’, right before he decided to take your life.  He was looking forward to the day you would finally agree to leave your house again. You were in the middle of a global pandemic after all. Until then, he had his ways of continuing his mission.
He started by hacking into the local hospital records. Truth be told he wasn’t ready to die, or be caught yet, so every week he would hack away for the names of the women who had recently been tested, and were found to be negative for the virus. He then sifted through their social media for girls that fit his profile. There weren’t too many, and he had to settle for a few that were a bit out of his age range.
A few weeks went by, the two of you keeping in touch every night. Tomura still finding suitable replacements until you were finally in his grasps. He didn’t want to give himself away by dragging you out, there were no excuses he could even think of at this point. It was better to wait, at least that’s what he kept telling himself.
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3 weeks into quarantine:
“Victim? Victim, honey you’re my fifth one….”
After the deed was done, and he was just about to head out of there, Shigarakis phone started to ring. He was going to ignore it at first until he saw it was you.  It was rather unusual for you to call this early. You both kept to a strictly late night schedule. Curiosity got the better of him.
“Hey…” He answered, huffing into the phone. He was ashamedly out of breath after everything that just transpired.
“Oh hey, I didn’t think you were going to answer.”
“Well. I did…so what’s up?”
“Why do you sound so out of breath? What were you jerking off…” You said teasingly.
“No, I was about to though…” He wasn’t lying, he usually goes home to finish himself. Maybe now was the chance to take a little risk.
“Wanna help me get there?” Yup, he was doing this.
“Yeah, of course I do.” You replied, unaware of what the person on the other end of the phone was really about to do.
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3 weeks and 2 days into quarantine:
“Hey Tomu, you hear about what the killer left behind this time?” You all but nearly shouted, as soon as Shigaraki accepted your facetime call.
“Hmm, what was it?” If he had to take a guess, he bet he could figure out what it was.
“He came all over her face, he’s never done that before!…do you think he killed her before or after?”
“Probably before…” Probably? Yeah right, he knew for a fact he killed her before your little call to him.
“Yeah you’re probably right. They said this one was a bit older, I wonder if that helped him out more…ya’ know cause his supposed mommy issues.”
“Somehow I don’t think that’s the case…”
He couldn’t really tell you it was you, who indeed got him there. Staring at that body that somewhat resembled you, while you were saying all those things to him. He really couldn’t wait to have you. He usually wasn’t a man of patience, so he couldn’t figure out why he hasn’t actually killed you yet. He kept making up excuses but deep down, he knew he was growing quite fond of you. He couldn’t help that you were stroking his ego every time he did something riskier and you would comment on it.  
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4 weeks into quarantine:
 The last girl was different. They no longer felt right to him. He knew he had to have you. He wondered if he would miss you after it was done. Was he going to fuck you before or after? You weren’t going to be alive to theorize with him afterwards, that made him a little sad. He picked up his phone and shot you a text.
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jomarchlover · 4 years
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Heather
Hi guys! This is my first fanfic that I have ever posted, so sorry if it’s a little cringey or something. I hope y’all enjoy! Love you guys<3
Summary: You are a new member of the stranger things cast and you are getting interviewed with the rest of the cast.
Lots of fluff and gender neutral.
Trigger warnings: Mentions of anxiety and feeling less than.
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“So y/n were you scared to start working with your other cast members since you came in on the third season?” The interviewer asked looking over at you expectantly.
“Um yes I was extremely scared. I felt so anxious the entire casting process and then I was so happy to get the role, but then I started feeling really anxious again thinking about how I was going to be acting around some really talented people and of course I didn’t want to mess up and ruin the production. Before I first met the cast I cried for like an hour and finally my mom told me just be the best you can be and so I walked in there with my head held high and immediately went to the farthest corner away from everybody. I was so shy for about the first three weeks of filming but I realized it was affecting my acting so I decided to just completely go for it and be myself and I am so glad I did, because I have made some of the best friends possible.” You rambled on. Slightly blushing after realizing you had just revealed a lot about yourself.
“Oh y/n/n you're going to make us cry” Finn said wiping away fake tears. The heat instantly started rushing into your cheeks. You had liked Finn since the first time you met. He was so cute and nice and also liked similar bands to you. You guys instantly bonded over your love of vinyl.
“Yeah y/n was so shy when they first came on the show we all thought at first they just didn’t like us, but it didn’t take much for us to realize they were just nervous to talk to everyone. The duffers even came to us and told us that at first y/n would probably be very shy but would slowly begin to open up to us. I remember the first time they laughed at a joke and everyone just kinda stopped and looked at them. They have one of the sweetest laughs.” Milly said.
Your heart warmed to Millie’s compliment and you gave her a little kpop heart while blushing. You should really get this blushing under control. It was getting ridiculous at this point.
“Oh y/n/n don’t get all embarrassed on us.” Caleb says laughing reaching over to pinch one of your now inflamed cheeks.
“Sorry I just get so embarrassed remembering how shy I was. I have grown so much since then, and the cast has really helped me gain so much confidence.” You said honestly looking at the interviewer.
“Y/n is like the cast’s baby.” Finn says looking over you.
“I am not.” They reply sassily. Everybody busts out laughing.
“Okay now the next question is for Finn.” The interviewer says looking over at Finn with an evil glint in his eye. You began to feel nervous. He was going to get a bad question wasn’t he.
“Shoot,” Finn says nonchalantly.
“I heard a rumor that you had a crush on one of your castmates while filming. Is this true?”
Now it was Finn’s turn to begin blushing. You had never heard of him having a crush on someone before. Was it Milly? You had thought you and Finn were pretty good friends now why wouldn’t he have told you?
“Man where do you guys get this info? You gotta tell me your source man.” Says Finn jokingly.
“Oh come on now don’t be shy Finny, tell the nice man the truth.” Milly said in a sing-song voice.
“Yeah come on Finn,” said Noah in the back. “Don't be shy.”
“Umm well I guess I may have had a small crush on one of the cast members.”
“Can we hear any details?”
“Well I’m not going to give any details but they are one of the sweetest, most beautiful people in the entire world and I still can’t believe that I was so lucky to even work in the same room as them.
“Wow that doesn’t sound like a little crush that sounds a lot like love my friend.” The interviewer says jokingly to Finn.
After that little escapade the interview seemed to end quite shortly after. It had actually been a lot of fun. You had never been interviewed on tv before, but still even amidst all the excitement you couldn’t help but think back to Finn's crush. Who was it? Was it Natalia? Maya? Sadie? Gaten? There were so many options each of your castmates were extremely beautiful and talented and smart, in a way that you could never be. Your mood immediately dampened thinking of that. In the words of Conan Gray “I wish I were Heather,” right about now. You continued walking along with the cast back to the suv that had taken you to the interview. You were first to the car so you did the courteous thing and climbed into the very back row. Finn right at your heels. Noah and Millie sat in the next row and Caleb sat in the front seat. Each of you had a lot of space since Gaten and Sadie didn’t come to this interview due to scheduling conflicts, yet Finn still sat so close to you could feel your leg touching against his.
Not five minutes into the ride everyone except you and Finn were immersed into a very loud and heated discussion about their thoughts on whether or not the french fries from McDonalds tasted better than the french fries from Wendy’s. Personally you didn’t like french fries so you just continued to stare out of the window to look at the scenery.
After a minute or two you felt two eyes boring into the side of your head, you turned slightly to your right and saw that finn was staring at you. Why was he looking at you? Dang you had a booger didn’t you? Oh god if you had a booger and finn saw it you would probably die from embarrassment.
“Okay I can’t handle not knowing do I have something on my face? Please just tell me.” You said turning fully towards finn and looking deep into his dark brown eyes.
“You.. uh. No..you don’t.. I just.. ugh. “
You sat patiently waiting for him to finish. Still staring at him expectantly he visibly sighed and looked back towards you.
“I mean no you don’t have any thing on your face other than your facial features.”
You laughed a little noticing his odd wording.
“Well that is good to hear because I thought I saw you looking at me and wasn’t for sure If I did or not.”
Finn let out a small jittery chuckle “No. Nope. You're totally good. Everythings good. I'm good. YOu're good. You look goo-.”
Your eyes widened, was he just about to say you looked good? Did he think you were pretty? No get that out of your head he clearly likes someone else, someone you're probably friends with and like too. Now that you couldn’t get your mind off of the topic again you decided to be brave and ask him about it.
“So..” You said turning your head towards him. He looked back at you looking nervous about what you were gonna say next. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable because I know it’s none of my business, but how come you never told me you had a crush on one of our cast mates?
“Oh so you heard that.” He said, turning his head to look down at his feet.
“Well yeah I think everyone heard that.” You said sarcastically. “I don’t want to make you feel like you have to tell me but if you wanna talk about it I can keep a pretty good secret.”
“Oh I know that. Remember that one time Sadie whispered something to you and you couldn’t stop laughing for like three hours straight? Filming literally got pushed back a day, and you wouldn’t tell anyone what she had told you because she asked you to keep it a secret.”
You felt yourself giggling thinking about what she had told you trying to get a reign on yourself you forced yourself to stop focusing on the joke and start focusing on something else. “Wow I’m surprised you remember that if I'm being completely honest. I mean you weren’t even in that scene.”
“Yeah but I like to watch you.” His eyes widened and he suddenly turned to look at your reaction. “I mean I like to watch you act because you’re a great actor/actress.”
Your cheeks began to redden at his words. He likes to watch you. He liked to watch you. He thought you were a great actor/actress. You kept repeating his words in your head and you felt yourself get more giddy each time you rethought of his previous words.
“You’re a pretty good actor yourself Mr. Wolfhard.”
“Thank you.” Now Finn was blushing. He looked so cute when he blushed. Well really he looked so cute when he did anything. You suddenly felt like your heart was going to beat out of your chest. Gosh you wished you could just kiss his freckled cheeks. Sadly, you thought that might give away that you have a crush on him. You knew you were staring but you just couldn’t make yourself stop. He was so gorgeous.
You both quickly made eye contact and looked away at each other. He likes someone else you had to repeat to yourself. You felt nauseous thinking about Finn with someone else but you wanted your friend to be happy. You were so curious so you decided to bring it up one last time.
“So do I get to know who the lucky person is that you have your eyes set on? I’ll even guess and you can tell me if I get it right or wrong if you are comfortable with that.”
“Yeah I don’t think you’ll guess correctly but you can try.”
You sat for a second and tried to think of everything that was said about this person. “Okay well apparently they are one of our cast mates and they’re very sweet, beautiful and talented. That could really be anyone now that i’m thinking about it.” You began stroking your imaginary beard.
Finn was just watching you with an amused look on his face.
“Okay I have my first official guess.”
“And who would that be my love?”
“The only person who I truly believe matches that description is David.” You couldn’t help but laugh at yourself.
“OMG how did you know?!” Finn says dramatically.
Tapping your forehead you whispered in your best british accent, “Just a brilliant mind I guess.”
“You are so close yet so far away from the correct answer.” Finn said in mock disappointment.
“Hmm who could it be. Who could it be.” As soon as you finished talking Millie's joyful laugh ripped through the van, and as you turned to Finn as he turned to Millie. You immediately knew who he liked. He liked- no loved Millie as the interviewer had put it. You could never compete with her. Milly was confident, gorgeous, kind and smart. All things that you seriously lacked.
Once everything died back down Finn turned to you and said, “Okay final answer. If you get this one wrong I guess you'll never know who The Finn Wolfhard likes.” After seeing the loving look he gave Millie you really didn’t want to keep playing this stupid game. It was clear to you now all the moments that you had ignored between them but you couldn’t continue to do that. There was clearly a lot of chemistry between the two, and who were you to stand in between that?
“Okay but for real I know who you like.” You said suddenly leaned closer to make sure not to give away the secret to prying ears. As much as you loved them you wouldn’t tell Finn’s secret no matter what.
“It’s Millie.”
Finn suddenly gave you a baffled look. “Wow for a second I thought you were going to say the correct answer, but clearly not.”
“Don’t be rude and you don’t have to lie to me anymore. Jokes over. I know the truth and so do you.” You turned back away the second you felt the tears begin to burn at the back of your eyes. Oh no. This was just great you were going to start sobbing next to your crush just because he doesn’t like you. You felt so pathetic. You never thought a boy would have this much hold over you. How had you even let this happen? This is absolutely ridiculous.
Almost as if he could sense you getting upset Finn leaned in close to you and whispered into your ear, “I don’t like Millie. I only have eyes for one person and they’re sitting right next to me.”
You didn’t turn around but you knew he saw your back stiffen as soon as he said the words.
“If this is a joke I will never speak to you again.” You said slowly turning towards him wiping the tears away from your eyes.
“I would never joke about something this important y/n/n. The first time I saw you, I immediately knew I wanted to be your everything. You make me feel a way no one else ever has. I get all tongue tied around you and I get butterflies in my stomach, but it’s so worth it if I get to be by your side even for a second. I have loved you and will continue to love you for the rest of my life.”
You were in disbelief at his words. You would've never imagined he could have ever felt this way about you.
“I feel the same way about you, Finny. You’re the sweetest person I have ever met.”
And then you were both smiling like fools at each other. You probably stared at each other for ten minutes straight before you each turned away. But you let out a happy sigh when Finn’s hand found your own and you intertwined your pinky’s together.
That's how you sat for the rest of the ride. Neither of you spoke or looked at each other. You both just continued to look out of the windows and revel in the fact that you both liked each other.
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dawnquafam · 3 years
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FINE after months of seeing you reblogging stuff about dc shows i have decides to cave in and watch them so how many shows are there, what are they called, and in what order should I watch them? how dare you make me curious via gifs and enthusiasm
JOIN ME IN MY JOY AND SUFFERING (also this is gonna be a Lot more than what you were probably expecting, bear with me lol)
Ok, so there are seven shows: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, and Superman and Lois. That list is in order of premiere date (though Flash has a backdoor pilot in Arrow 2x08-2x09, plus the intro of two other leads in 2x19; Legends has its backdoor pilot in the 2015 crossover; Batwoman in the 2018 crossover; and Clark and Lois had a few appearances in Supergirl and a couple crossovers before Superman and Lois, but there was no official backdoor pilot), so if you wanna take it by oldest first and watch one show at a time, that’s your watch order.
(Little note: I think Black Lightning technically didn’t become part of the Flarrowverse until the titular character’s cameo in last season’s crossover, and since this season is its last, I don’t really know how much that counted for. It’s the one show on that list I never got into, so I can’t say much about it. Additionally, Supergirl s1 was on a different network, so her involvement started off a little funky, but she moved to the CW for s2, so in s3 she was fully integrated.)
However, as you've probably guessed by now, this universe is very interconnected. There’s plenty of minor crossover like references and cameos, a couple smaller crossovers and those backdoor pilots, and then every season (except this year for obvious reasons) there’s a big universe-wide crossover. So watching one by one like that might not be the best way to do this.
The big crossovers are as follows (with the eps listed in watch order):
2014 - Flash 1x08, Arrow 3x08 2015 - Flash 2x08, Arrow 4x08 2016 - Supergirl 2x08, Flash 3x08, Arrow 5x08, Legends 2x07 2017 - Supergirl 3x08, Arrow 6x08, Flash 4x08, Legends 3x08 2018 - Flash 5x09, Arrow 7x09, Supergirl 4x09 2019/20 - Supergirl 5x09, Batwoman 1x09, Flash 6x09, Arrow 8x08, Legends 5x01
(Additionally, The Flash and Supergirl have a couple crossovers of their own: Supergirl 1x18, with a tiny follow-up in Flash 2x17, and Flash 3x17, with a little lead-in from Supergirl 2x16. There might be others between the other shows, but if there are, I’ve forgotten them lol)
The 2014 one started things off pretty small and simple, but, as I mentioned, 2015 was Legends’s backdoor pilot, and they only got bigger and more involved from there, up through the 2019/20 crossover bringing about Arrow’s ending and leaving lasting repercussions throughout the Flarrowverse. I didn’t start watching Supergirl until s3 was over, so you can miss out on a show or two and still enjoy and understand what’s going on for the first few years at least, but once you hit that 2017 crossover (maybe even the 2016 one), if you’ve only seen one or two of the shows it would probably really start to detract from your viewing experience. So I think I would recommend this:
Start with Arrow s1-2. You could probably throw in Superman and Lois too, if you wanna get that going since it’s only got 2 eps rn (it airs Tuesdays) - the pilot opens with a recap of their story, and I don’t recall any references to the other shows yet, so you should be fine. But from then on, I’d take it in half seasons - watch each show up to the crossover, then watch the crossover, then finish out the seasons, adding in each show as it premieres. For example, once you finish Arrow s2, watch Flash 1x01-1x07 and Arrow 3x01-3x07, then the crossover, then keep going with the rest of their seasons. It makes binging more complicated, but more background knowledge on the shows and characters makes for fewer spoilers (though if you’re jumping in based on everything I’ve reblogged, you probably already know plenty of spoilers lol) and a more enjoyable viewing experience.
That leaves you with a watch order something like this:
-Arrow s1-2, 3x01-3x07; Flash 1x01-1x07; optional Superman and Lois s1 -2014 crossover (Flash 1x08, Arrow 3x08) -Rest of Flash s1, 2x01-2x07; rest of Arrow s3, 4x01-4x07; start Supergirl s1 here if you want -2015 crossover (Flash 2x08, Arrow 4x08) -Rest of Flash s2, 3x01-3x07; rest of Arrow s4, 5x01-5x07; finish Supergirl s1, 2x01-2x07; Legends s1, 2x01-2x06 -2016 crossover (Supergirl 2x08, Flash 3x08, Arrow 5x08, Legends 2x07) -Rest of Flash s3, 4x01-4x07; rest of Arrow s5, 6x01-6x07; rest of Legends s2, 3x01-3x07; rest of Supergirl s2, 3x01-3x07 -2017 crossover (Supergirl 3x08, Arrow 6x08, Flash 4x08, Legends 3x08) -Rest of Flash s4, 5x01-5x08; rest of Arrow s6, 7x01-7x08; rest of Legends s3-4; rest of Supergirl s3, 4x01-4x08; start Black Lightning s1-2, 3x01-3x09 here if you want -2018 crossover (Flash 5x09, Arrow 7x09, Supergirl 4x09) -Rest of Flash s5, 6x01-6x08; rest of Arrow s7, 8x01-8x07; finish Legends s4; rest of Supergirl s4, 5x01-5x08; Batwoman 1x01-1x08; finish Black Lightning through 3x09 -2019/20 crossover (Supergirl 5x09, Batwoman 1x09, Flash 6x09, Arrow 8x08, Legends 5x01) -Rest of Flash s6-7; rest of Arrow s8; rest of Legends s5-6 (7 hasn’t premiered yet); rest of Supergirl s5 (6 hasn’t premiered yet); rest of Batwoman s1-2; rest of Black Lightning s3-4; and finally Superman and Lois s1 if you waited for them
Which I know looks like a mess, but it’s probably the closest thing to watching all of them together as they air. Granted, I don’t know how well this works, because I’ve been into this universe since Arrow was the only show and have watched most of the others from day one, so I’ve never really had to catch up like this. So if there’s another, simpler way you wanna watch, go for it! Whatever works best for you. This universe is worth the effort of getting caught up.
The one thing I would not recommend in any watch order: Don’t start with Legends. Not only is the 2015 crossover its backdoor pilot, the majority of its original cast started as side characters in Flash and Arrow. You’ll be missing a lot of backstory if you jump in there. Every other show has largely original characters, but in its first couple seasons, Legends really built on what Arrow and Flash started.
(Additionally, if this affects anything for you: Batwoman and Superman and Lois will never be on Netflix. (American Netflix, at least, not sure about internationally.) Every season of the older shows is/will be there, but due to the debut of HBO Max, the two newbies got different deals.)
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birdlord · 3 years
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Everything I Watched in 2020
We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list. 
01 Little Women (19)
02 The Post (17) 
03 Molly’s Game (17)
04 * Doctor No (62)
05 Groundhog Day (93)
06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)
07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)
08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)
09 Les Miserables (98)
10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain
11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)
12 Marriage Story (19)
13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)
14 Jojo Rabbit (19)
15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!
16 1917 (19)
17 Married to the Mob (88)
18 Klaus (19)
19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak
20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)
21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)
22 Gone With the Wind (39)
23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)
24 Dredd (12)
25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it
26 The Long Shot (19)
27 Out of Africa (85)
28 King Kong (46)
29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)
30 Knocked Up (07)
31 Collateral (04)
32 Bird on a Wire (90)
33 The Black Dahlia (05)
34 Long Time Running (17)
35 *Magic Mike (12)
36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)
37 Cold War (18)
38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.
39 *Burn After Reading (08)
40 Last Holiday (50)
41 Fly Away Home (96)
42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??
43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending
44 *Safe (95)
45 Gimme Shelter (70)
46 The Daytrippers (96)
47 Experiment in Terror (62)
48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)
49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on. 
50 Divorce Italian Style (61)
51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park
52 Hopscotch (80)
53 Brief Encounter (45)
54 Hud (63)
55 Ocean’s 8 (18)
56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)
57 Blow the Man Down (19)
58 Constantine (05)
59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!
60 Everyday People (04)
61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)
62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)
63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.
64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)
65 *The Truman Show (98)
66 Mona Lisa (86)
67 The Blob (58)
68 The Guard (11)
69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard
70 Rocketman (19)
71 Outside In (18)
72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade
73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)
74 The Reader (08)
75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE
76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith
77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at
78 The Rainmaker (97)
79 *Batman & Robin (97)
80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!
81 *Mystic Pizza (88)
82 Funny Girl (68)
83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)
84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??
85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch
86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020
87 *Blood Simple (85)
88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)
89 The Accidental Tourist (88)
90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!
91 Appaloosa (08)
92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020
93 *Almost Famous (00)
94 Whisper of the Heart (95)
95 Da 5 Bloods (20)
96 Rain Man (88)
97 True Stories (86)
98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!
99 *The Big Chill (83)
100 The Way We Were (73)
101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...
102 Phantasm (79)
103 The Burrowers (08)
104 New Jack City (91)
105 The Vanishing (88)
106 Sisters (72)
107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here
108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)
109 Les Diaboliques (55)
110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T
111 Death Line (72)
112 Cranes are Flying (57)
113 Holes (03)
114 *Lady Vengeance (05)
115 Long Weekend (78)
116 Body Double (84)
117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.
118 Waterlilies (07)
119 *You’re Next (11)
120 Event Horizon (97)
121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!
122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call
123 *Blade Runner (82)
124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from
125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic
126 Life is Sweet (90)
127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)
128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)
129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!
130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)
131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)
132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married 
133 Better Watch Out (16)
134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there
135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)
136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled. 
137 Blackkklansman (18)
138 Being Frank (19)
139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)
140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS
141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!
142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!
143 We’re the Millers (13)
144 All is Bright (13)
145 Defending Your Life (91)
146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year. 
147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)
148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY
149 Palm Springs (20)
150 Happiest Season (20)
151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie
152 Black Christmas (74)
THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)
I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough. 
TV Series
01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).
02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?
03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock. 
04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives. 
05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end. 
06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!
07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting. 
08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**
09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!
10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening. 
11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux. 
12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed. 
13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be! 
14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.
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The Christmas Spirit
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,107
Pairing: Kristoff/Anna
Summary: Modern AU; It’s Christmas time and Anna and Kristoff are finally having their first Christmas together, at the Bjorgman house. This is the first time Anna really has met the whole family, in one place. Anxiety and a feeling of overwhelmed come over her, but that doesn’t stop her heart from being in love with his family. And that surely doesn’t stop Kristoff from still being in love with Anna.
Notes: IS CHRISMAS YALL!!! Hope you all enjoy! I’ve actually been working on this for literally 6 ish months, and I feel like it’s pretty perfect for how long I’ve been working on it. Again, hope you enjoy, and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to yall!
It was the holiday season and Anna and Kristoff had been dating for almost two and a half years now. Anna lived a state away from her family so this year she decided that she would do something independent for the holidays. Maybe a year away from her family wouldn’t be so bad? It didn’t hit her until later that she really had no other plans. She had the Christmas tree set up in her apartment, of course helped by Kristoff. They set it up and that night they put on a Christmas movie and decorated the tree. Their hands full of glitter and eyes burnt out from staring at the lights on the tree for too long. That was fun, but Anna didn’t formally invite anyone to hang out with her for Christmas day, so she assumed she would spend the day alone, maybe Kristoff or Elsa popping in to say hello and maybe give a gift, if they had bought one. Anna couldn’t tell if it was the maturity making her not want gifts this year, or the fact that she was spending it alone was. Either way, she didn’t really mind it, a peaceful Christmas this year is what she needs. At least she thinks.
“So what are you exactly doing for Christmas?” Kristoff asks after he washed down his bagel with his coffee. They get breakfast together at a local coffee shop at least 3-4 times a week before work.
This perked up Anna, usually as they wait for their food they catch each other up and when they finally sit down to eat they plow it down, not really any talk to be had, they just want to fill up their stomach to get through the day so they can hopefully see each other after work.
“Oh, nothing. I think this year I’ll have a peaceful Christmas day to myself. I mean, if you want to come by and stay for a while, I wouldn’t mind.” She sipped her coffee as she finished her statement.
Kristoff was confused as ever, “A...peaceful...Christmas...day? Where is Anna and what have you done with her?” This made Anna smile. Yeah, she knew it wasn’t like her, but it was like this fresh wave of maturity was washing over her. “I’ve never heard you put those kinds of words together. You’re really not going to do anything on Christmas?”
“Well, Christmas doesn’t have to be chaotic. It is named ‘the most peaceful time of year’ for a reason.”
“Well, you’ve never been with my family around Christmas. We like to go all out.” Kristoff leaned back in his chair. Then got that look on his face, Anna knew that look, he was getting an idea.
“Hey, why don’t you come over with me to my parents for Christmas!” Kristoff looked excited.
“Really? Won’t like, all of your family be there? I’ve never really seen all of your siblings in person. Of course, except Roxanne.” Anna said.
Roxanne was the third oldest, behind Kristoff by 8 years, a senior in high school, smart kid, does well in school, but liked to kind of do whatever she wanted. So when Anna would have the occasional dinner with Kristoff’s parents, she would see Roxanne come out of her room with her car keys and say to her family “See ya, I’ll be back at midnight.” And her family wouldn’t really bat an eye, Kristoff would just say the usual, “Don’t do anything I haven’t done!” and continue the dinner conversation.
“Well yeah, so this time you’ll finally get to meet all of them. And probably some of my grandparents too. You’ve made quite the impression to my family.” Kristoff raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve talked about me?” Anna asked.
“Are you kidding? Of course I have. They all love you out of the description I tell them.”
Anna, now curious, leaned forward and said, “What do you say?”
Kristoff leaned forward too and said, “Well, I describe you as the perfect woman in the world. With the most amazing color of hair, paired with the most indescribable color of eyes that just somehow match,” Kristoff had taken her hand, and Anna sighed, loving what she’s hearing. “I think they think you’re smaller than I described but I can’t tell.” She laughs. “And...there’s just so much about you that I’ve described to them. Like all the sweet things we do that make me love you even more...like that thing we tried last month.”
Anna swiped her hand away and swatted at his shoulder, “I’m kidding!” He remarked. “Most of them don’t understand...you know.” Anna knew he was kidding. But still.
They ate most of the rest of their food, and Kristoff looked up and said, “Sooo.. was that a yes?”
“Hm?” Anna hummed with a mouth full of food.
“You know, my offer? You just kind of let the conversation drop after I said that my family loves you. So?” Kristoff crumpled up his bagel wrapper.
Anna had been thinking about it since the moment the words left his mouth. Her mind was already set on staying home and drinking all the hot chocolate she could and watching all the Christmas movies she had. But, it couldn’t hurt to change her plans, especially if it was for her boyfriend.
“You know what? Sure, I’d love to. Nothing I would rather do.” Anna said and wrapped up her garbage as well. They got up and threw their stuff away, stepped outside the coffee shop, pecked each other on the lips and went their separate ways to their work for the day.
~~~
A week later, it was Christmas. Dinner at the Bjorgman family was happening around 7, but since the family liked to spend time together, especially around the holidays, the “party” was happening all day. Kristoff was picking up Anna around 5 though. Anna was getting ready, not too dressy, but not too looking like she didn’t want to be there. A classic casual blouse, leather jacket, jeans, and knee high boots. She looked in the mirror and decided she needed some jewelry. Dainty bracelets and necklaces worked. She then saw her pajamas that were strone across her bed. Part of her wished she could change back into them and just curl up on the couch. But the fact that she was spending Christmas day with her boyfriend, who she loved very much, and is now meeting the rest of his family, she couldn’t be happier.
She waited in her living room for a text or call from Kristoff, and was watching ‘The Santa Clause 2’ with Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell. It was nearing the end of the movie, it was her favorite part. When Santa, or Scott Calvin as his real name, finally gets back to the North Pole but before he makes his round to drop off gifts to every child in the world, he has to marry the one he loves. Although rushed, Anna loves how sincere they still were in their vows, and they weren’t just marrying each other because he needed to be Santa Claus. They had a real deep connection.
Her phone chimed and it got her out of her trance. The text read, “Outside babe.” She turned off her TV, and made sure everything was off and locked and met him outside in his car.
She hopped in the car with a big smile on her face, with a quick ‘hey’ and put her seatbelt on.
“My, my. Aren’t you a giddy one?” Kristoff remarked.
“What? I’m not allowed to be happy to be meeting the rest of my boyfriend’s family?” She leaned towards his face, expecting a kiss anytime soon.
“No, it’s just...I’m happy you’re happy.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. And then they drove off to the Bjorgman household.
~~~
They pulled up to the household and Anna saw all of the cars that filled up the driveway and even spilling out to the sidewalk.
‘Lot of people then..’ Anna thought, and bit her lip. She got out of the car and Kristoff was getting a couple things from the back, Anna went around to see if he needed help.
“I think I’m good…” Kristoff said with his hands full of presents. “Oh, wait, can you grab those little boxes? On the floor?” Anna did as she was asked, and then shut the car door. 
“So like, are all of these for the kids?” Anna asked as they were walking towards the house.
“Yep, just a little warning, I think there are more kids than you’ve imagined. Yes I have my younger siblings, but my aunts and uncles also have kids and they’re here too.”
“Wow...seems like the Bjorgman’s are...busy.”
“Ohhhh, yeah” Kristoff stretched out, laughing at the end of it, so did Anna. “Oh, since this was kind of last minute, I did put your name on the “From:” part of the tag on the presents, so people would think that you were, you know, nice enough to think of the kids.”
“Hey, I would’ve gotten stuff if you had said something. It completely slipped my mind to get stuff for them...but thank you for doing that anyway.” Anna giggled.
As they approached the door, Kristoff warned Anna about the second step, as it always seems to get slippery every year. Anna then rang the doorbell, but not long after someone was at the door. Bulda, with a very big smile and 3 kids attached to her.
“Anna! Oh my dear it’s so good to see you!! I’m so glad you came!” She gave Anna a very big and tight hug. Then went to Kristoff and took the huge amount of presents out of his hands and went into the other room. It wasn’t long before his hands were full again with the kids that tagged along with Bulda.
“Hey guys, hey look, look. There’s someone I want you to meet. This is Anna.” He was crouched down to their level, but looking up at Anna. Anna then crouched down too.
“Nice to meet you guys. What’s all your names?” Anna asked.
“I’m Maxine.” Maxine said proudly.
“I’m Jake.” Jake said.
“I-I’m D-D-Daisy-y.” Daisy, the youngest, managed to get out.
“She’s just learning how to talk. But I’m so proud you know how to say your own name!” Kristoff looked at Daisy and hugged her as she giggled.
“You’re really pretty Anna.” Jake said.
“Oh! Why thank you.” Anna was flattered, since she knew that kids told the truth most of the time.
“Okay kids, go play, I think Uncle Mike has a game of musical chairs going for the younglings.” Bulda peaked their interest, and they all ran off towards a different part of the house. Anna and Kristoff got up to see Bulda again, and she was already going in for a hug with her son. “Hello dear so good to see you. Was the drive okay?”
“Ah, it was okay. As long as I had my girl along my side, it was never boring.” Kristoff remarked.
“Yes, while it was a good drive, it did seem long and I drank a whole bottle of water, so if you don’t mind I’m just gonna use the bathroom.” Anna excused herself.
“Oh by all means!” Bulda said as she took off.
Kristoff started walking towards all the people before he was pulled by the sleeve by his mother. 
“Well, is tonight the night?” She asked.
“Look, ma, I don’t know honestly. Yes, I very much want to do it, but I think she’s a little overwhelmed by all the people. We are a big family. If I’m going to do it tonight, I don’t think it’s going to be here.” Kristoff said, in a hushed tone.
“Okay, okay. I’m just so excited!” Bulda started to get worked up.
“Ok, shh, ma, you’re starting to jump, think about your ankle.” Bulda looked at it and brushed it off, and then Kristoff went back to what he was going to do, see the rest of his family.
~~~
A little time has passed, Anna met all the kids (she thinks- there’s just so many of them) and met and talked to a majority of the adults, with the same story of where she works and ‘why the hell do you like this troublemaker of a kid?’-Kristoff. 
She found herself with a small glass of champagne and was standing by the sink talking to Roxanne. She found a little comfort in talking to her. She wasn’t completely new to Anna, but there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other.
“So, anything new at school happening?” Anna asked
“Wow, what a new question everyone hasn’t asked me yet.” Roxanne joked, but there was a hint of truth behind it.
“Oh sorry, I mean no offense but what else is there to ask an 18 year old. It’s your senior year, you should be having fun, making memories. We all wanna hear about your experience, and be there for you during the big moments.”
“Yeah, well nothing is really happening, not until the new year hits anyways, all the interesting sports start in the spring, the musicals, testing, dances, etc.” 
“Yeah, I hear you. So there’s really nothing else going on for you?” 
Roxanne shook her head, “No, nothing much.” But she looked at her feet. Anna knew exactly what that meant, she even does it herself. She was hiding something.
“So there is something new.”
Looking up, Roxanne was kinda shocked, “How did you know?”
“I’m a girl just like you, the subtle hints you just gave, I’ve done them before. What’s up, you can trust me you know.”
Roxanne breathed in, and turned to really face Anna. “Well, it is my senior year, and..I’ve never really had a relationship.”
Anna knew exactly what she was getting into with this conversation. “Oh I see, and, is there someone you’re interested in?”
“Well, the thing is, I’m bi, so I’ve had crushes come and go. I’ll see someone who is interesting or cute, but I’ll get scared because, well if it’s a girl, what if they don’t have the same interests as me, and if it’s a guy, well...you know.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a whole ordeal. The only thing I can say, in your situation, it seems best for you to make a friend first, and then see if they would like to take things further. You shouldn’t have to feel like you’re rushed to find someone. When you know, you know.” Her gaze wandered over to Kristoff who wasn’t far from them.
“Is that how you felt with my brother?” Roxanne smiled.
“Oh yeah. I mean, before we started dating, you heard tale of me right?” Roxanne nodded. “So yeah, we met, became friends, and from there we found something. And look at us now.” Anna smiled. 
Roxanne looked down, still having a smile on her face. “Yeah, you guys do have something special. I feel like you’re the hot topic tonight to be honest.”
“Really? Me?” Anna asked.
“Oh yeah, are you kidding? Kristoff doesn’t stop talking about you when he’s over, the only time that does come to a halt is when you are over too for a dinner or something. But since everyone is here, I don’t know, I feel like you’re just an easy topic for Kristoff and the family to talk about.” Roxanne explained.
Kristoff came over and cut between them, as they were still at the sink. He rinsed a glass he had and set it in the sink, and while he was, he said, “Hey, my two favorite girls.” He stepped back and instinctively put his arm around Anna. “What are y’all talking about?”
“Oh nothing, just, girl stuff.” Anna said, looking up at him with admiration.
“Yep, so no boy can hear it.” Roxanne teased. 
“Ah, I see. Well, no matter, how are you enjoying the night?” Kristoff asked, but mostly to Anna.
“I’m doing fine, your family is really friendly, it’s nice knowing that I don’t have to put up a fake persona for them.” Anna said.
“Of course, our family loves people for who they are. Unless they’re clearly a douche.” He chuckled.
“Well, there is one person who puts on a “fake persona” once a year for the-” Roxanne started to say.
“Shhhhhhh” Kristoff cut her off.
“What? What are you talking about?” Anna was confused and curious.
“It’s nothing.”
“But you’ll find out later.” Roxanne whispered to Anna, all giddy.
Anna was still confused, but she trusted Roxanne’s word that she’ll find out later.
“We should head into the living room soon, the Yankee Swap will start soon and with how many people are here, there won’t be many seats that are on cushion.”
“Good call.” Roxanne said and started heading towards the living room. Anna and Kristoff soon  followed.
A few minutes later, Kristoff’s mom turned down the Christmas music, and got everyone into the room, she got the room to quiet down.
“Okay everyone time to start the swap! Now, I asked everyone to put all of the gifts in the other room, so Derek can you go get them?” Derek nodded and got up to go to the other room.
“Actually before we start I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Kristoff said and got up.
“Okay, just so you know you might get a bad number for the picking!” Bulda joked.
Shortly after, Derek came back with a big bag full of the swap gifts. He started to take them out of the bag when Bulda started to explain what the rules were.
“So, the rules are simple. We are going to pick a number out of this hat,” She grabs a hat full of numbers. “And just go in order. You can pick any gift, and once you get it you open it. And if you’re in the later numbers and you pick a gift but you want something someone has who went before you, you have to battle them! That’s my twist to the game, to battle them, you must play a quick game of charades!!!” Everyone was either a little more intrigued, or groaned how boring they thought that game was.
“To actually win, if the person you want to battle doesn’t get your word or phrase or whatever it is, you can get their gift. But if the person gets the word right, they don’t give up the gift. Everyone got it?” Bulda finishes.
As she finishes, Derek is finishing up with placing the gifts near the tree. 
“Hmm, Derek are you sure that’s all the gifts?” Bulda puts on a voice. And loud enough for the next three rooms to hear.
“What do you mean? There’s more???” Jake asked with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice.
“Oh yes, I know there is. I wonder where they all went though…”
Just as Bulda says that, Anna hears Roxanne snicker. She’s again confused, but just then, she sees a big red blur come through the threshold. A big resounding “Ho Ho Ho!” followed. Anna knew immediately it was Kristoff, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her boyfriend with a fat suit and probably a 3x large red, furry jacket. She started laughing with Roxanne, and most of the adults who also knew it was Kristoff. The kids on the other hand, lost their minds. As for them, Santa was in the house, the night before Christmas.
So many, “OH MY GOD IT’S SANTA!” and, “I CAN’T BELIEVE MY EYES” and just screaming for joy in general.
“Hello kids, yes it’s me Santa, I wanted to come by before I start my rounds and give you the first presents before any other kid in the world gets theirs.”
“Wow thanks Santa!” One of the kids said. 
Anna couldn’t help but laugh, as she had never heard the voice that Kristoff was putting on. But she held it in as best as she could, so she wouldn’t ruin it for the kids.
“Don’t worry, if you come back every year, you’ll be able to suppress the laugh. But it will still be hilarious, but you’ll be able to put on a fake ‘oh my God, wow’ smile.” Roxanne leaned over to Anna and whispered. 
“How long has he been doing this?” Anna asked.
“Since, he was like 16. He grew drastically like when he was 13 or 14. By 16 he was like 3 inches shorter than he is now. So he could pass for it. Our dad used to do this, but both he and Kristoff knew that at one point he was gonna have to stop at one point, so he took over. He loves doing it though.” Roxanne explained.
“Wow. He never said anything about it. And we know almost everything about each other.” Anna remarked.
“Maybe he wanted to surprise you.” Roxanne said.
They went back to watching Kristoff play Santa to his younger brothers and sisters, and some of his nieces and nephews. He really did look like he was enjoying it, bringing joy to them seemed to instantly put a smile on his face, and his soul. Anna loved seeing him so happy that he was making his family happy. 
“So here’s all the presents for you kids-” ‘Santa’ started to say,
“But, we’ll all have to wait for the Yankee Swap to be over, then you can open them. But for now, Santa has to go, say goodbye kids.” Bulda says.
All of the kids yelled “Goodbyee!!” and as Kristoff was kneeling to pull the gifts out of the bag he brought in, some kids ran over to hug him before he left.
“Okay children, I’ve really got to get back to the sleigh and start delivering the rest of the presents. Merry Christmas to all!”
“AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!” All of the kids screamed back. 
Anna thought to herself, besides Kristoff dressing up as Santa, that was also a tradition they had. She saw as he left, and all the kids were still buzzing about it.
“Okay, okay kids settle, if you wanna open your presents you gotta play this game first.” They all quieted down, but still a little joy left in their eyes.
As Bulda was going around the room letting people pick their numbers, Kristoff came back, and immediately the kids said “Kristoff you missed it! Santa was just here! Look at how many presents he gave us!”
“My Kristoff, you were in the bathroom for a long time that you missed Santa!” Bulda exaggerated. 
“Oh well, maybe next year I’ll catch him.” Kristoff said as he was heading back to his seat next to Anna.
“And who knows, maybe he’ll bring a certain Mrs-”
“Shhh.” Kristoff hissed at his mom. Bulda returned to passing out numbers. Kristoff had looked back to see if Anna had caught that, but he doesn’t think she did, because Anna couldn’t stop smiling at Kristoff, and he raised a brow and asked, “What?”
“Oh nothing, it was just really special seeing Santa here tonight.” Anna said through a smile.
“What are you talking about?” Kristoff smiled, playing along with the joke.
Anna laughed, “Nothing.” Neither one of them really knew what the context of that conversation was, but they were just both so happy with the buzz that they felt between them and the buzz that was in the room. Anna knew right then and there that she didn’t regret coming to the party tonight. Kristoff quickly kissed her cheek and returned to the game that was starting.
~~~
The game and the present opening seemed to happen so fast that it was all blurry to Anna. In a good way though, there was so much laughter from the charade portions, and all the jokes, and the kids, and the fact that she couldn’t get the image of ‘Santa Kris’ out of her head. They could all tell that the party was coming to an end. All the kids were asking where the desserts were, so they were occupied eating those, the adults were getting their kids presents or their own gifts they got, all packed up and ready to go to the car, and all the food was being portioned to be taken home, since there was way too much to keep at Buldas house. 
Anna was nursing another glass of champagne and talking to some of Kristoff’s relatives when Kristoff came over and, again, instinctively wrapped his arm around her.
“You ready to go babe?” 
“Aweeee, do we have to? It feels like we just got here 10 minutes ago!” Anna whined, but deep inside of her she wanted to go home and snuggle up next to Kristoff while watching more Christmas movies.
“Ah, we don’t wanna burden my mom by staying here.” Kristoff glanced over at his mom who was finishing up with giving some food to Kristoff’s cousin as they were leaving. His mom must’ve caught the end of that because she looked over and came over.
“Oh, are you guys leaving soon? I can pack up some stuff for ya if you want!” Bulda said.
“Thanks, but we won’t need a lot like your packing with everyone else-”
“Maybe just the desserts and some of the pasta would be good for us to take.” Anna finished Kristoff’s sentence, then laughed.
“Honestly, if you took as many desserts as you wanted there would still be enough for everyone else to take some home. I may have made a little too much for today.” Bulda exclaimed.
“No, no don’t worry, we’re more than happy to take those desserts off of your hands!” Anna laughed again, intending some kind of joke, but in actuality, she was eyeing the cheesecake she’s already had two big slices of.
“Oh then by all means, I’ll pack some stuff up for you.” Bulda turned around and went to work.
“You know I was trying to get her to not pack as much food for us to take home. She’s a busy woman enough as it is.” Kristoff said to Anna in a hushed voice.
“Well, it’s not like she’s complaining, I mean sure it is busy work, but it’s Christmas, is it really hard work if you enjoy it?” Anna questioned back. Kristoff gave her a look of defeat, but still worry behind his eyes. Anna knew what to do.
“I’ll go help her then, some one-on-one wouldn’t hurt our relationship right?” Anna handed her champagne to him and walked towards Bulda.
“Hey there, do you want some help packing up the food and stuff?” Anna asked.
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t wanna burden you by helping me.” Bulda brushed away Anna, but she wouldn’t back down.
“Oh come on, I insist. Plus, didn’t I hear something about your ankle? You could use a break, or at least some help.”
Bulda gave in, almost like she even forgot about her ankle hurting. “Oh sure, what’s the harm of you helping, right?” She laughed, “Just take some of these buckets, and follow me.” Anna did as she was told.
Anna followed her to the dining room where some of the food was kept, but mostly the desserts. 
“Wow, I honestly forgot how many there were.” Anna remarked.
“Yeah, like I said, I may have made too much. But I guess I say that every year, and everyone goes home happy. That’s what really matters to me.” Bulda said with a smile.
“That’s really sweet.” Anna said, her heart melting a bit at what Bulda just said.
They packed up some sweets while chit-chatting a bit, they eventually got the topic of Kristoff.
“Oh I couldn’t stop laughing when he came out.” Anna said.
“Oh, imagine me, the first time he did it after Pabbie stopped, I couldn’t stop laughing. It was just so funny seeing a 16 year-old do that.”
“Wow, he must’ve been really tall to pull that off.”
“Oh yeah, the summer before 9th grade, poof, grew a foot and became 6 ft. No idea what happened to this day. But it added to his character.”
“Oh yeah it did.” Anna laughed. “Probably one of the first thoughts that came across my mind when I first even glanced at him was ‘Wow look how tall he is.’ Of course, that’s coming from me, 5’2” here.” Anna laughed some more.
“Awe, well you two fit perfectly together. The height difference just makes it look even cuter.”
“Yeah..” Anna got lost in her thoughts for a second. 
“You two are really happy together.” Bulda admired Anna’s look of loss in thought.
“Oh yeah.” Anna blushed a little. After all she was still talking to Kristoff’s mother.
“You know, Kristoff told me…..Oh no, I shouldn’t tell you.” Bulda waved her hand and went back to finishing up all the packed up desserts.
“Oh well you gotta tell me now!” Anna laughed.
“No, no, I’m sure it’s gonna happen...soon?”
“What do you mean?” Anna asked, confused as ever.
Just then Kristoff poked his head in the dining room to say, “Hey, I just went to warm up the car, so whenever you’re ready.” He smiled.
“Oh we just finished dear, just a little catching up.” Bulda said. It wasn’t a lie, but Anna still felt there was something unsaid.
Bulda turned back to Anna and said, “Just, remember how happy you are with Kristoff.”
“Of course I won’t. I never will. But what did you mean-”
“I’ve said too much, if I say anymore Kristoff will kill me. Just, enjoy the rest of your night dear.” Bulda said, putting a hand on Anna’s arm.
Anna and Kristoff took all of the food that she really wanted, Kristoff and Anna said their goodbyes and gave their hugs to everyone who was left. They made it through the dropping temperatures outside into the warmed up car, and started their drive home.
But Anna couldn’t help but question what Bulda meant by “It’s gonna happen soon”. Anna couldn’t think of anything important coming up. With Christmas tomorrow, and New Years in about a week, there was nothing else of importance going on. She looked over to Kristoff and tried to think if there was anything coming up for him. She couldn’t.
Kristoff noticed she was staring. “What’s up babe?” His eyes went back to the road.
“Nothing, nothing, just….is there anything important coming up?”
“...You mean something other than Christmas?” He laughs at his own little joke. “No, why?”
Anna wanted to say because Bulda had said something was gonna happen, but then remembered her saying “If Kristoff found out he would kill me”. Is it something Anna is supposed to know, and he isn’t? Or the other way around?
“Oh, I don’t know, it just seems like there’s something I’m supposed to do. Maybe it’s something for work.” Anna said.
“Well, you got a whole week off, it can’t be that important.” Kristoff reached for Anna’s hand and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb mindlessly.
Anna smiled. Of course she lied about the thing being for work, but she decided maybe it was good to forget about it. Whatever the thing is Bulda talked about, it will happen when it happens.
~~~
After the long drive, they head to Anna’s place, they both take off their boots and sweaters, Anna takes off all the jewelry on her body, and heads to her room to put it all away, Kristoff not far behind her. 
Anna was standing in front of her vanity, sorting everything away when Kristoff slithers his arms around Anna and just hugs her. “Finally, no relatives or younger siblings to interrupt our alone time.”
Anna huffed and smiled. “Hmmm, I’ve been thinking about just coming back here and relaxing all night. Well, maybe not the whole night,” Anna turned around while still in his arms, “Tonight was pretty fun with your family.”
“I get it. Being there is fun, but sitting on the couch watching movies and drinking hot chocolate in the dark. Sounds exhilarating.” Kristoff smiled, then leaned in for a kiss.
Anna liked the idea of that, but she wanted to be comfortable. When they parted, she said “I like that, let me just go wash everything off.” She got out of his arms and headed to the bathroom.
She washed her makeup off, cleansed her face, brushed her teeth, and went back to her bedroom- which she had then found that Kristoff had changed out of his day clothes (she had some clothes that were Kristoff’s left behind here for nights like this), She switched to her pjs and found that Kristoff had everything set up for Anna to just snuggle in with Kristoff. The movie, the drinks, the blankets, the apartment just being lit by the very dim hallway light.
“Wow, how long was I in the bathroom?” Anna asked jokingly.
“You weren’t gone long, I just work very fast.” Kristoff said, inviting Anna onto the couch with his eyes, which she gladly accepted. Kristoff went ahead and put on The Santa Clause 2, the movie Anna was watching before she left. She didn’t say that out loud, she didn’t mind that she was watching this movie again. She was just happy Kristoff was around this time. 
~Near the end of the movie~
Anna’s body was practically glued against Kristoff’s, her ear hearing his heartbeat, and her upper body moving along with his breaths.
They got to the part that Anna was watching before Kristoff picked her up to go to the party. When Santa needs to marry Carol before taking off for the night. She just loved the scene. 
“You know before you came to pick me up I was watching this movie, really just having it in the background, and this is the scene that I saw right before you arrived.” Anna said. They always just said what was on their minds a lot of the time. 
“Hmm.” Kristoff hummed. Anna just thought that he was starting to fade because of the warm drinks, the dim lights. But really, Anna had no idea that he was just choked up on what he wanted to do next.
It was the scene where Mother Nature had pronounced them ‘Man and Wife’, they kissed, and Scott Calvin once again became the one and only Santa Claus.
Anna hummed against Kristoff’s chest, “Man I just love this movie.” Anna tried to snuggle deeper into Kristoff more. 
He laughed, “Yep. I would’ve enjoyed it a little more if I didn’t have to fricken pee in the second half,” Kristoff started to laugh, and Anna joined, but mostly started to get up so he could move. “But it was just too comfortable and relaxing that I could wait. But I’ll be back and we’ll put on the next one.” Kristoff pecked Anna on the lips and went to the bathroom. 
Anna was smiling. She just loved the nights like this. It doesn’t even have to be Christmas for them to have a night where they just watch movies and drink hot chocolate. It was just more special tonight because it was Christmas, and they were spending it together. 
Anna decided to just get the next movie going so that they can start when Kristoff comes back. She went to put their mugs in the kitchen, she didn’t think they were gonna have any more, so she just grabbed some water instead for both of them to have. By the time she gets back into the living room, Kristoff is coming out of the bathroom. 
Anna looks up and sees that he looks a little zoned out. Confused, she asks, “Everything okay? You seem a little...unfocused.”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about somethings.” He said and sat down on the couch, not laying where he was before.
“What kinds of things?” Anna trying to lighten the mood, (she thinks that is what needed to be done) she leans closer to Kristoff, putting her hand near his chest.
“It’s just-- nah it’s stupid, forget about it.” Kristoff tries to laugh it off, but Anna won’t let go.
“Well obviously it’s something. C’mon, you can tell me anything.” Anna pleaded in her own cute way.
Kristoff was hesitant, looking back and forth between Anna and his hands. He took a deep breath as he was about to reveal what felt like a lot to him.
“Look, Anna, you know I love you, so very much,” Anna started to get nervous. Why would he be saying that now? “And, I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been thinking about the future.” Oh thank God.
“Really?” Anna couldn’t contain her grin. Just hearing the word “future” come out of his mouth, made her giddy. The fact that when he says it and she’s there with him in his mind's eye, made her happy.
“Yeah, but, lately, I just feel as though...I’m not...not good enough.” He struggled to get through the sentence, because while he did think it, it was hard to admit it out loud.
Anna was taken back from this. Her mind instantly flashed to all the times when Kristoff took care of Anna when she was sick, when she was having an anxiety attack, or when she even needed a hug or a kiss. And then she thought about all the times she saw him take care of her sister, Elsa. Sure, they weren’t super close, but if Elsa needed something and Kristoff could do it, he did it. Her mind flashed to all the memories of when Kristoff was there for his family, heck, some moments from the party flashed across her eyes. Anna was very confused and honestly a little hurt from thinking that Kristoff wasn’t good enough.
“What...the hell are you talking about?” Some seriousness in her voice, but she couldn’t help but have a bit of a smirk at the edge of her lip.
“Huh?” Kristoff was now confused.
“You think you’re not good enough? First of all, very vague, you’re good at your job, you’re good at being a boyfriend, you’re good at being a son, a brother, a cousin, hell even a damn human being. You are a good one- no! You’re a great human being Kristoff.” Anna was talking like a motivational speaker, and Kristoff couldn’t help but smile, from mostly being told that he was a great person. I mean, how would you react?
“Kristoff, I don’t know what thing you have going inside your head to make you think that you’re not good enough. Tonight alone showed how much you’re an amazing human being. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, point them in my direction….and I will gladly punch them in the face.” Kristoff officially laughed at that part.
“Well, okay, I don’t think we need to go that far-”
“No I’m serious!” Anna said, still with a smile on her face. “I will do it if anyone says that to you ever.”
Kristoff looked deep into her eyes. He could tell that she meant it. And forever will. “That’s so good to know.” Kristoff still had a look of nervousness. But he pushed it away with a smile, and lunged toward Anna for a kiss. She gladly accepted it.
She was about to fully be on top of Kristoff (to enjoy the moment even more), but Kristoff started to move away. Anna broke the kiss as she could start to tell what he was moving away.
“Wh-what are you….” Anna was confused as to where he was going, until she saw he wasn’t going far. He was on one knee, and slowly but surely pulled a ring from his pocket. “Woah, woah-” Anna suddenly lost her voice. She didn’t have the words.
“Anna, it’s so glad to hear you say that all about ‘how great a human being’ I am. But honestly, I’m the one who’s with an extraordinary human being.” Anna started to tear up. “I love you with all I am,” He opened up the box, “Will you marry me?”
Anna barely let a breath in between before she jumped onto him screaming, “YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes!” She felt him catch her as she was basically on the floor with him too. “Oh my gosh!” She pulled back, looked at him and couldn’t contain her excitement as she went to kiss him all over his face.
Kristoff couldn’t stop laughing out of happiness, and just let her excitement run wild. When she pulled back once again, he finally got a chance to get her left hand, and slip the ring on it.
“Oh my gosh, Kristoff it’s beautiful!” She said while admiring it. “This must’ve been a lot, how long have you been wanting to do this?” She asked.
“Well, the idea has been poking around for about a year and a couple months,” Anna breathed out a laugh. “But I didn’t officially buy the ring until like a month and a half ago.”
Then she put the pieces together. If he’s been wanting to do this for well over a year, he must’ve been telling his family he’s been wanting to. 
So that’s why earlier Bulda said ‘If I say anymore Kristoff will kill me’ Anna thought.
“...Did you tell your family about that? Because now that I think about it they’ve been dropping hints all night.”
“To be fair they’ve been dropping hints the whole time. Tonight was probably more than ever because I had said something about wanting to do it tonight, maybe even tomorrow.”
“Well, I’m very glad you did it tonight.” Anna wrapped her arms around Kristoff’s neck and went in for a long and heartwarming kiss. Anna felt his hands come up around her waist.
At one point they got back up on the couch, but it was all in the blur of kisses, hugs and snuggles. Putting on the next movie, that they barely paid attention to, tangled in each other's arms.
“Hey, when you said you were thinking about the future,” Anna heard Kristoff hum, “Were you...I don’t know...thinking about another family….one that….we can start?” Anna tried her best to turn her head to see Kristoff’s reaction.
His eyes were wide, but she could see that there was a hint of promise. “Hmmmm…..maybe we’ll talk about that in the New Year.” Kristoff smiled, but the thought definitely didn’t leave his mind for a while.
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everwitch-magiks · 4 years
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dance with somebody (ch. 10)
start from ch. 1 | back to ch. 9
It could’ve been worse, Whiskey decides, as he finds himself trudging his way across the unsurprisingly crowded campus with Ford and Tango, on a mission to get to the murder Stop-n-Shop before the disposable cups are completely sold out. Really, it could’ve been so much worse.
They’ve already passed by more than three sets of Powerpuff girls, and Whiskey is pretty sure he could look in any direction and immediately spot at least one Alexander Hamilton. At least one. Among all the outrageously flashy costumes around them, the three of them actually look a little bit low-key despite their carefully coordinated ridiculousness. Which honestly suits Whiskey just fine. And thankfully, it doesn’t seem to bother Ford and Tango at all – the two of them look kind of absurdly excited in their matching black cloaks and house scarves.
It’s actually pretty endearing.
“We’ve gotta get a group picture, later,” Whiskey says, surprising himself.
Ford turns towards him, beaming.
“I know, right? I’m so glad I finished knitting in time!”
“Totally,” Tango agrees enthusiastically. “Hey, do you really think the theatre club will really need these cloaks back? ‘Cause I could get used to this.”
“So sorry, Weasley, but Chanelle will murder me if I don’t have them back by Monday.”
“Chanelle, huh? D’you think she’s the culprit behind the ol’ Stop-n-Shop murder?”
“I mean, if someone ever spoke to her before her second cup of coffee in the morning? Probably.”
After zig-zagging between two separate teams of superheroes trying to herd one another in place for a picture, they finally get to Stop-n-Shop. At once, Ford’s expression turns serious.
“Okay. Ready?”
“When you are,” Tango says gravely. “Let’s just hope at least one of us makes it back out alive.”
They get into formation, and slowly elbow their way inside the shop.
It’s packed, literally packed. Whiskey carefully steps between Tinker Bell and Gandalf as he heads towards the back of the shop, just as planned. A look over his shoulder tells him Tango’s already made his way over to the registers and is trying to figure out where the line ends, so he can get in it and hold a spot for them. He can’t even see Ford anymore, but he’s sure she’s doing everything she can to get over to the section for kitchen essentials, where it’s most likely they’ll actually find what they’re looking for.
Whiskey turns around again, and resolutely keeps making his way towards the back. There’s a shelf around there that has office supplies, and a selection of scented candles, and sometimes seasonal wrapping paper. There’s a slight chance there’ll be some kind of cups or mugs around there, too. Obviously, they’ve got to exhaust every option.
It’s for the good of the Halloween kegster.
Unfortunately, the store is no less crowded near the back. Whiskey has just carefully avoided colliding with a pair of Power Rangers when he finds himself walking right into a guy in a unicorn onesie, instead.
“Shit – sorry, I’m so sorry.” Whiskey steps backwards, only there’s a shelf behind him, so it doesn’t really help very much. “Didn’t see you there, I was-”
The guy looks up. Whiskey falls silent.
It’s Miguel.
Intro to statistics, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“Oh,” Whiskey says awkwardly, only to immediately realize that doesn’t even make sense. “I mean, hi.”
Miguel looks at him a little unsurely.
And honestly? That’s fair.
Whiskey hasn’t talked to Miguel since their brief encounter at Founders. In fact, it might be the case that Whiskey has made it his business not to talk to Miguel, quite on purpose. Which shouldn’t be such a big deal, considering that the two of them weren’t even friends before Whiskey decided that wasn’t on the table, anymore.
The unfortunate thing is, Whiskey is pretty sure that Miguel has noticed. At any rate, there’s definitely been a couple of times when Whiskey has caught Miguel glancing his way during class.
Or maybe, Whiskey belatedly realizes, it might actually have been himself who's been caught watching Miguel.
Right now, though, Miguel is sort of looking anywhere but at Whiskey. He’s got his attention focused on the almost thinning crowd to their left, looking very much like he’s planning on making his escape as soon as an opportunity arises. Which should be a good thing. It should be one hundred percent exactly what Whiskey wants.
It’s not what Whiskey wants.
For a moment, Whiskey allows himself to look at Miguel. Just look at him. It’s difficult – Whiskey has to fight the prickling urge to glance around them, to make sure that no one is watching, that no one will look over and see what’s happening and just know. Except, Whiskey suddenly realizes, that’s actually pretty fucking unlikely. Right next to them, one Princess Peach and three ninjas are having an increasingly heated debate on who’s chosen the superior party snack, and over in the next aisle a whole gang of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are halfway through a spontaneous rendition of the show’s theme song in several different keys.
Who the fuck is gonna care about a wizard and a unicorn over in a corner, just talking?
Maybe, Whiskey could actually let himself have this. Just this. One conversation with a really cute boy, in public, on purpose. Maybe it wouldn’t actually be the end of the world.
Whiskey nervously adjusts his glassless glasses.
“How, uh. How’ve you been?”
Miguel’s eyes snap back towards him.
“Excuse me?”
“How have you been?” Whiskey repeats, enunciating carefully. “How’s statistics going?”
Miguel shrugs, his expression guarded.
“Okay, I guess.”
“It’s kind of growing on me,” Whiskey offers – he can do this, he can carry a normal fucking conversation. “Or maybe I’m just relieved that I actually passed the midterm.”
That makes Miguel frown.
“There’s no way you just passed,” he disagrees, before pausing briefly. “I mean. You don’t seem like you’ve got no clue about all those things, in class.”
“Appearances can be pretty deceiving,” Whiskey returns, and it’s honestly ridiculous, the way Miguel’s hesitant smile makes Whiskey’s heart flutter. Fucking ridiculous.
“That’s true,” Miguel replies, his eyes flickering down to Whiskey’s scarf for a moment. “Because you definitely can't be a Gryffindor.”
“No, God no – this is just a costume.” Whiskey dares a slight smile of his own. “I go to Beauxbatons, actually."
That makes Miguel laugh a little. Whiskey’s heart soars.
"You speak French, then?" Miguel throws at him, his tone a little playful – or maybe actually flirty? How is one supposed to tell the difference?
"Uh... Non?"
"If you say so," Miguel says loftily. "Estoy seguro de que hablas otros idiomas."
"... That's Spanish, right?"
Miguel grins.
"Ten points to Slytherin," he declares, his expression giddy in a way that unfortunately doesn't make him any less cute, at all. “I really like your glasses, by the way.”
“The glasses are my one contribution to this costume,” Whiskey hurriedly admits. “My friends put together literally everything else.”
“The glasses are a nice touch, though,” Miguel says kindly. “They actually suit you pretty well.”
“... Uh. Thanks.” Whiskey has no idea of what he’s supposed to say to that – something about Miguel’s costume, probably? “You, um. You make a really nice unicorn.”
Fuck. He must try to think before he speaks, from now on.
Thankfully, it seems like Whiskey’s limitless awkwardness doesn’t make Miguel think Whiskey is completely out of his mind. Instead, Whiskey watches in a state of fear infused with delight as Miguel ducks his head for a moment, smiling.
Fucking fuck.
“Hey,” Miguel says, looking up to meet Whiskey’s eyes again – compared to before, he sounds oddly determined. “We should meet up sometime. You could definitely give me some pointers for statistics, and we could also, y’know. Just hang out? Maybe?"
… Whiskey was not expecting that.
Evidently, his surprise is showing on his face, because Miguel immediately backpedals.
“I mean, only if you have time – I guess the hockey season’s in full swing, right about now? Must be tough.”
Whiskey takes a deep breath, and allows himself to glance around the two of them, just once. The crowd’s finally thinned out a little bit – for the first time since they left the Haus, there’s not a single Alexander Hamilton in sight. Still, even without the presence of shouting Princess Peaches and musically inclined Ninja Turtles, there’s actually nobody watching them. Nobody seems even a little bit curious about what’s happening over in their little corner.
No one will know. No one will even care.
Whiskey bravely turns back towards Miguel.
“Sure.”
It’s Miguel’s turn to look surprised, now.
“Really?”
“Sure,” Whiskey repeats. “D’you wanna-”
“Hey, Whiskey! Let’s get moving!”
Whiskey curses inwardly as he turns around – Tango and Ford are gesturing towards him enthusiastically from across the shop, both carrying several bags full of disposable cups.
At least the kegster is saved.
“I’ve gotta go,” Whiskey says, quickly turning back towards Miguel. “You should have my number.”
Miguel is staring at him.
“Whiskey?”
Oh. Right.
“My last name’s Whisk,” Whiskey points out, feeling more self-conscious than ever. “Do you have a pen?”
“No, but here.” Miguel presses his phone into Whiskey’s hands, the screen showing a new contact with empty fields. The brief brush of their fingers is nothing short of exhilarating. “So, do you actually like to drink whiskey?”
“Not particularly.” Whiskey quickly types in his number. Obviously, he saves himself as Whiskey – nothing else for it, at this point. “There. All done.”
“Great.” Miguel smiles briefly towards his phone, before looking back at Whiskey again. “I’ll see you, then?”
“Of course,” Whiskey promises, and finds that he wants to linger. “Bye. I’ll see you, too.”
“Yo, Potter! The Hogwarts Express ain't gonna wait!"
Whiskey grimaces. Then he gives Miguel an awkward wave, and leaves.
“We got the very last of the plastic cups, but it should be enough,” Ford tells Whiskey cheerfully as she shoves two bags into his hands. “Let’s go. Who was that, anyway?”
“A guy from my statistics class. We’re gonna study together.”
Tango tsks.
“Thinking about studying on a day like this? It’s Halloween, my darlings – anything and everything can happen, so let your spirits fly!"
Whiskey allows himself a slight grin.
"Yeah. You might actually be onto something, T."
Ford gives him a somewhat curious look.
Whiskey carefully avoids meeting her eyes.
(ch. 11)
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costellos · 3 years
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LOL A 401K IM DEAD but honestly...... tru
all that tax stuff, retirement plans.... nanami’s got it covered. and then there’s gojo, committing tax fraud 🤧 i’d compare gojo to salt as a seasoning but that’s kinda mean, he does have some flavor. like, sugar probably suits him better?? sweet, can be addicting, but bad for you if have too much of it 🙈 AND THEN NANAMI. man’s the whole spice rack, he wouldn’t have it anything less since he loves food so much 😤 he is, as we say, umami personified 🤌
yeah, it’s unfortunate lmfao but oh well. i do occasionally have them in a smoothie though, like you said!
alsjfhsha it’s def time consuming.... like i’d be sitting down w my family and when i’m finally done picking it all out, they’ve finished eating welp 😭 and yeah, the rational part of me knows that, but i’m that person someone has to go up the service worker for and be like “excuse me she asked for no pickles” (except i didn’t 🙈) i’m much better in restaurants bc the language barrier isn’t as intimidating so i will tell them to leave out an ingredient if it’s something i can’t easily take out
mmmmm i can see that! he’d be the guy who’d eat pizza with a fork and knife wouldn’t he lol. and dab all the excess oil off w a napkin. he probably only goes to the Legit pizza places too haha but i think if he likes you enough he can be convinced to eat almost anywhere
ofc!! ask games are more fun if it goes both ways 😌 and ooooo tsumu! interesting...... 👀 those are honestly such good date ideas w a guy like atsumu! that’d rly be smth he’d enjoy and ngl the moment i read ‘something physical’ i immediately imagined y’all racing LMAO. he’s a prime example of how competition can be good for you w the right person, so i can see you filling in the space osamu left after he decided to focus more on his food aspirations. like imagine making cute lil bets w him and the loser having to do what the winner wanted hehe. omg a double date w the miya twins would be sm fun tho??? from my impression of you so far, i definitely trust you to keep tsumu in line lmfao so catch me there. me and osamu are the ones spectating and judging your guys’ competitions and cheering you on to beat atsumu like we’re olympic commentators or smth LOL
aaaaa i’m honestly p shy but if anything can get me to come off anon, it’d be nanamin 😂 (it’s like we’re todo and yuji bonding over their shared type but w nanami skdjfjsjsjs) let me know if you prefer to keep it here or on discord and i’ll give you my account, whichever platform you like better! also congrats on 1k! much deserved!! 🎉
cut for length!
A;LDSKJ GOJO WOULD COMMIT TAX FRAUD. lmao salt is a lil mean!! sugar is more fitting <3 sugar is also used for more fun foods, and I feel like it matches him bc of his sweet tooth. but Nanami........ o lawd. definitely the whole spice rack yes. 100% agree. pls I would use him in everything. wait was that a weird thing to say?
ah I totally understand! well, u got this friend. the next time u go out for Mexican food, I’ll be there cheering for u in spirit!!
and yes.... ugh... I don’t think he’s particularly picky, he’ll try anything. he just doesn’t like foods that are excessive, if that makes sense? like what you were saying with the grease. I think he’s more the type to like subtle flavors. an obnoxious meat lover’s pizza from The Hut would be a no go, but he’s down for a, quote, Legit Pizza Place. the kind of Italian restaurant that’s authentic! but let’s admit it, by that point it wouldn’t even technically be “pizza.” authenticity comes with a price :’)
ty friend you’re far too kind 🥺 AND PLS YOU’RE MAKING ME BLUSH OVER MY LAPTOP HHHHHHH. I would love nothing more than to fill the Osamu-shaped hole in his heart once they both go into their separate careers. and god..... don’t encourage him. or me. I would definitely make bets w him. and I would win. but thank you sweet anon, I would do my best to keep him from annoying the shit out of you!! it would be an honor to have you and Osamu comment on our tomfoolery. 👉👈
MY GOD I WAS ABOUT TO KEYBOARD MASH AGAIN. we’re definitely Todo and Yuji.... u like Nanami and so now I’m obligated to imagine a whole life we coulda had together in high school together. even tho I graduated five years ago. and I’m assuming you did some time ago too since you mentioned you’re old...... lordt. anyway! thank you for the congrats!! I would love to discuss more headcanons and such w you over Discord! dm me and I’ll add you so that we can sob over Nanami’s absence in the anime <33
nanamin date anon said: me, rewatching eps 9-13 on replay until the new episode comes out: hahaha i love all the jjk characters equally! nanamin and *looks at smudged writing on hand* the extras
lol i love them all rly, it’s just super refreshing to have an adult like nanami in a shounen
haha yeah, i’m definitely glad i’m not the oldest (bc that’s way too much responsibility for me, idk how they do it) so being player 2 as a younger sibling isn’t too bad, especially since it’s the story that i’m usually more interested in rather than the gameplay itself. i don’t have to worry about remembering which buttons to press in a fight when i can just watch the plot play out lol. (it’s definitely a good game, i just suck at the controls 😅 my brother let me play a bit and i couldn’t get the web swinging down i was struggling so bad aslfjjfsjak) what sort of games are you into? 👀
even if it’s boring to some ppl, watching is a good way to experience the game for yourself as well, esp if it’s a single player game! ofc i do tend to prefer multiplayer games, but it’s not too dissimilar to watching someone play a sport tbh. AND NO KENMA IM PRO-SIDEQUEST LIVE OUT YOUR COMPLETIONIST DREAMS. if we gotta fetch that dude a super rare item to unlock his backstory we MUST do it ok
YEAH! mikorin is also voiced by noya’s va! it’s honestly a shame gsnk didn’t get a second season, it’s so good 😔
me: lol does that mean kuroo’s your tomoda
kenma: ok this date is over
LMFAOOOOO not my fault the popular choices are the ones that get you the good end 😤 and it’s all good, i’m also guilty of replaying to see how the other choices impact the story haha. if there’s no save system tho, i’d make him switch out w me every time we replay bc i’d zone out at all the repeat stuff (bless games that have a skip option 🙏)
UGH TELL ME ABOUT IT!!! ok so I love the other charas too but.... Nanami’s so good. so good. iono about you, anon, but I went back and rewatched his episodes from the dub and it made me Feel Things. and I agree, it is refreshing to see an adult like him in shounen. esp since he treats the kids like kids. and he makes it clear that their being kids is never a bad thing. I will reiterate: he’s so good.
ahhh friend that’s so nice!. your brother sounds really chill. plus it sounds like a good balance: you get to watch the story, and he gets to dick around!! win-win. and as for my fav games, I’m up for anything! I try to avoid co-op games like Overwatch bc I get too competitive and I’m a sore loser lmao (but they are fun!). the last games I played were the Last of Us 2 and Persona 5, two very different games, but stuff that’s a good time nonetheless. tbh as long as I can immerse myself in the story and there’s tons to explore, I’m down. what about you?? you’d kind of mentioned otome games and Animal Crossing, but I’m curious!
hm. interesting. that’s a nice way to look at it. I guess if it’s a really good game, it’s no different from an interactive movie! also Kenma would love that omg you’re going to save so many villages in the rpgs he plays w you.... gotta max out EVERYTHING. every side quest! every mundane task!! collect literally every feather!!! but I feel like he would pass the time by making idle conversation. like some dumb shit Lev had mentioned earlier that day. such a nice way to unwind at the end of the day, shit talking Lev w his fav person 😌
anyway! going back to completionist stuff: Kenma would have such a blast going back and replaying games w you! and yes bless games w a skip option hhh. thankfully he’d remember all your previous choices together, so he can help navigate where to go next. he has no qualms handing the controller over, I think he’d love to curl up next to you and analyze how you play! but I also feel like he’d be giving unwarranted suggestions....... thanks, Kenma.
also, about Mikorin’s va: WHAT. OH MY GOD. so many things to learn..... pls. indulge me w your trivia.
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Anonymous asked: From the news European countries have been easing the lock down but restaurants and cafes remain closed. So what do you do for food? Do you cook? Are you a good cook? Do you enjoy cooking?
You are right to say in Europe things have been easing up a little. However each European country is responding differently as things present themselves on the ground. In France and in Paris in particular the lock down has eased with shops re-opening and schools have limited re-opening. The shops allow a limited number of people in at any one time so there is a queue usually (orderly and well humoured it has be said, at least in my experience). Cafes and restaurants remain closed pending a further review - in early June I think. But some eateries do deliveries for pick ups by a side window.
I cook. Just how well is more debatable as my criteria for success is not to kill others or myself. So judged on that score I would say I’m a reasonably decent cook. I hate to admit it but next to British food Norwegian food is not really much to write home about. I’m actually being harsh on British cuisine. I know everyone goes on about how bad British food is but it’s a cliche and untrue given the plethora of of cooking TV shows and just how dramatically British cuisine has changed in the last 30 years. I’ve been lucky to have dined at some really great restaurants from childhood because my father in particular was a foodie and we ate well.
I would like to say I learned a lot from my mother but I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. She could very cook well but she did so rarely and at a time when we siblings didn’t take much interest. My Norwegian mother was fortunate to learn culinary skills on a cooking course for girls one summer in the Swiss alps at a finishing school as she was also at a nearby boarding school. Her parents thought she would make a good homely wife and hostess - but typically Norwegian my mother had other ideas. Still, a lot of what she learned had stayed with her and she developed a keen interest in French style of cooking to be able to cook well when she wanted to.
When we lived overseas in some countries - such as in India, Pakistan, Dubai and China - we had native cooks and servants and I remember spending a lot of time watching how the food was being made in the kitchen with the friendly cook. And I learned a few things here and there. We didn’t just eat ‘British food’ at home but actually enjoyed the local cuisine. I loved walking in the bazaars and eating street food - it was tasty and so much fun. My parents would put on lavish parties and that was always catered. I did learn from my mother when I did pay attention and her example stayed with me.
At boarding school and university I would cook as well but again nothing exceptional. Often I would have friends around and we would cook together and I would be naturally curious as to how they made a dish that was from their country and I learned on the hoof from them. At university I also started to write down recipes and kept a record of them in a file. So quick and easy meals from little ingredients because of an essay crisis or during a revision slog or the occasional dinner party where I sweated on making dishes from well thumbed cook books. No one died so encouraged I carried on cooking.
I do love cooking because it allows me to have the mental space to think about other things other than work or personal stuff. It gives me a lot of peace in cooking for myself and for others. I’m not a seat by the pants kind of cook. I envy those who can just naturally toss ingredients together and come up with something divine. I am quite regimented. I like to have all my ingredients clearly cut and put on plates in the right order. I like order over chaos. It doesn’t mean my mind is regimented. I can cook a recipe from muscle memory but I need to have order on the kitchen table.
These days I’m fortunate that I get to dine in some very fine Michelin starred restaurants on my business travels and it’s made a more discerning foodie. I avoid restaurant food in hotels for instance because consistently they disappoint. Instead I always plan ahead if I know I am going to a foreign city I will reserve a table during my stay of a restaurant recommended by foodie friends I respect. Often I have to choose the restaurant for a corporate client we may be schmoozing and that has broadened my knowledge and palate to find the right restaurant through trial and error. In Paris too with friends usually we go and try out restaurants that are on the rise and off the tourist beaten track. For the food gourmand though Lyon is the place to go for a pilgrimage. It is after all the place where the great French chef Paul Bocuse was based.
At home I do like to cook for dinner parties in my apartment. It takes planning in terms of deciding what dishes to cook - French cuisine naturally. Through Parisian friends I am more discerning where to go to get the required ingredients. I plan the whole dinner party like a military operation in terms of the logistics. Some may laugh but I take to heart what the great French chef Jacques Pepin once said that, “great cooking favours the prepared hands”.
As a ritual I always do my vegetable shopping in the weekend food market stalls or I go to particular boutiques shops where there is an artisanal element on display. Even what to cook I take into account the people I am bringing together and how they might get a long over the food. The French never bring a bottle of wine to a dinner party as one might in England. It would be considered rude. And yet wine is a serious accompaniment to the food served. Fortunately for me I co-own a vineyard with my two cousins out in the sticks of rural France so I have become greatly educated about wine and my little wine collection is sufficient for all occasions.  
I think through osmosis I have become a better cook and I can feel it every time I go back to England to see friends or my family. I do look on horrified at what they are eating some times. But I have to remind myself not to fall into the trap of being a Parisian food snob. In England I think the food in restaurants has greatly improved but it’s also true that less and less people know how to cook. This is also increasingly true in France too, especially Paris. Fast food and pre-cooked meals from restaurants as well as Uber/Deliveroo are changing things habits. Habits such as cooking dishes were handed down from generation to generation but instead are at your ready made finger tips.
One of my French friends is a chef trained food critic for a major magazine and he has helped me become a better cook. I feel like I am in a piano class with a stern teacher as he slaps my hands in irritation if I try to write down notes instead of paying close attention to the wafting aromas. To him food is spiritual and aesthetic experience that has to be engaged with the heart and the soul. He keeps chiding me that “You are not cooking. You are making love”.
I don’t quite feel as lyrical or mystical as he but I appreciate the passion and this marvellous trait of actually caring.
From him and other French friends  I feel I’ve become a better chef by absorbing certain key principles in good and healthy cooking: never rush cooking as if you’re chasing a missed bus but savour every moment; eat as fresh and natural as possible; local and seasonal are best; left your ingredients be your seasoning; fat is your friend, use butter over olive oil in dishes; never waste food, use all of it; everything in moderation; and every meal is a celebration and not an ordeal.
The last one in particular is important. A meal is not about eating (or drinking of good wine) it’s about the conversation. In the same way it is impossible for an Italian to cook for one person - try making lasagne or any pasta dish for one because you’ll end up making it for five - so it is for the French. Good food is nothing without good conversation.
For the French a successful evening isn’t just judged by the food but also by the talk around the table. The French love to pontificate, gyrate, and muse on any topic under the sun. It’s not just about the knowledge or intellect one brings to the table but also a worthy argument. A true argument isn’t to exclude people but an invitation to draw people in with their own unique views to come to some settled truth. A riposte must nick but never wound for good manners are premium. Wit and charm are prized but courtesy and grace are precious. Parisians tend to have elevated convivial conversations and yet outside of Paris the conversations are more earthy and hearty - ate least that’s been my experience. Either way conversation is a companion to cooking.
I’ve learned this last principle from my lockdown experience with my neighbours in the small apartment building I live in. Most of the residents have bolted before the lockdown to their country homes in Normandy and Bretagne. A few have remained for different reasons. During the lock down phase a couple of us have been buying food for the more senior aged neighbours.
In particular two neighbours I have done their personal shopping for them since they are classified at risk. One is a retired army general and another is retired art gallery owner. They both have gourmand tastes and I have to trek to particular shops to buy the things they want, usually preserves or cheeses or pastries. I often cook for them and often it’s dishes they are used to having so I’m extending my culinary range. They are both fussy eaters used to having a gourmand palate so I feel like I’m at school sometimes having to be corrected now and again as well as being graded.
They were at first wary of letting me cook for them because they thought I was another English barbarian but I slowly won them over. I’ve even got them to try some very English things. The cakes I did went down well but they really liked my scones as well as the clotted cream and jam to go with it. Here I must thank my new Fortnum and Mason’s cook book which has an excellent recipe for scones. I’m surprised at how quickly people have taken to them. So much so it’s become a weekend ritual with the other residents of the building.
We gather at the weekends in the enclosed court yard and with some the small kids having the freedom to run around a little the rest of us sit and chat and we share food that we’ve all cooked. We listen to music played by two residents each proficient on the violin and cello. It’s a fantastic bonding experience and it brings us closer together to the point we have our own WhatsApp group and we help each other out when we can. And surely that is another reason why one enjoys cooking is the sheer pleasure that you hope to bring to others through the taste of food.
If I have learned anything then it’s that is no good or a bad cuisine, just the one you like the best. We all have taste, even if we don’t realise it. Whether a person cooks well or badly it doesn’t stop you understanding the difference between what tastes good and what doesn’t.
For me cooking is precious. Cooking brings rhythm and meaning to my life.
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Thanks for your question.
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