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theirbbygirl · 3 years

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Second Lead Syndrome

Word Count: ~8.7k words

liked this? there’s more on my masterlist!

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Comedy, Female reader insert

Description: Y/n and Minho have been friends for more than 2 years now, but suddenly she begins to see herself as the mere second lead in Minho’s story. Will she be the rare second lead who gets her own happy ending?

Warnings: some crying, themes of unrequited love (if there’s anything that I missed don’t hesitated to let me know!)

I’d only ever encountered Second Lead Syndrome in the dramas I’d watched. Wanting the girl to end up with the second lead who was so obviously the better and healthier choice, but like every avid watcher of kdramas, it's more than likely for the main leads to end up with each other, that was just how it worked. What I never thought I’d encounter was seeing it happen before my own eyes and experience it firsthand.

Life was never supposed to be a kdrama. Life was supposed to be simple, a straight line, going from point A to B with no complications. But life never really went my way did it? It just had to throw in one variable, one man that had too much influence on my life.

I couldn’t remember the first time I met Minho. It was probably sometime in the first grade when his family first moved in next to mine. But alas, we were both too young to remember exactly what sparked our friendship. One day we were strangers and the next we had given our parents a near heart attack when we both went after a stray cat on the way back home (my mom’s words, not ours). From then my memories were filled with him, just us besties hanging out like anyone would with their best friend. First party, first mental breakdown, first drink, all with him. Soon enough we were in our final year of University, and ultimately, adults.

The Minho I knew was laid back, not too extroverted but not too introverted either. While I completely contrasted him, always anxious about something, wanting perfection to the T, and completely and utterly introverted. Our friendship, moving into University, sparked a lot of questions. You wouldn’t typically find the introverted straight-A student with the borderline badboy tsundere walking and laughing in the halls together, spending practically every waking moment together. But Minho didn’t care, and neither did I, so we moved through life pretty easily.

One of the few things we had in common was our love for cats, and when we both foudn out there was a cat cafe just a few minutes walk from our campus, you best bet we spent too much of our time and money there. Studying, hanging out, anything you could imagine. If we weren’t in one of our dorms, we were more than likely to be in the cat cafe.

Every day after class we’d go there and we’d complain about our least favorite professors and how lectures would seemingly last for longer than they should. Additionally, Minho had almost become akin to my own dormmate with how much time he spent in my dorm. He’d come in whenever he wished, stealing my frozen pizzas and sodas, using my Netflix account on my TV to watch weird National Geographic shows and make random comments like “that snake looks just like Kim Seungmin,” or “look its Hannie” whenever a squirrel came on screen. Minho was always there when I needed a drinking partner after bombing a test or assignment, pouring me shots of soju until I passed out and bringing me to my bed and tucking me in whiel he would sleep on the couch to make sure I wouldn’t do anything stupid in the middle of the night.

Although, more people knew Minho’s name than mine, but that didn’t bother any of us. We continued on being friends as usual, and it felt like nothing would change that. Life was moving in a straight line like it should’ve always been.

At least, that’s what it felt like until February, just a few months before we graduated.

I make my way to our usual spot in the courtyard after buying an iced coffee and a snickers bar from the vending machine next to my classroom, I walk up behind Minho sitting on a bench when I find him staring out in front of him instead of looking at cat videos on his phone like he usually does. Slowing my walk, I trail my eyes to the vague direction he’s facing and see that he’s looking at Kim Seungmin and a girl chatting outside the classroom. I ignore the thought, opting to think that Minho must’ve spaced out thinking about how he would irritate Seungmin next class. I plop down next to him when he still doesn’t take note of my arrival, so I get right next to his ear and blow cold air into it, snickering when he jolts in surprise.

“What was that for?” He whines, fake annoyed.

“You got lost up in your thoughts for a certain Kim Seungmin there.” I snicker some more, opening my snickers (hehe) bar.

Just as I’m about to take the first bite of the sugary goodness, the chocolate bar gets snatched out of my hands and a certain Lee Minho takes an obnoxious bite out of it, not even giving it back but eating it like it was his. I pout, watching him devour my snack, knowing that I couldn’t do anything to get it back.

“For your information, I was not thinking about Kim Seungmin.” He says pointedly, slightly muffled by the chocolate in his mouth.

I sigh, knowing I wasn’t going to get that chocolate bar back any time soon, and open my iced coffee. “So what were you thinking about then?” I ask before taking a sip.

“Don’t know, spaced out.” Is all the answer I get and I highly doubt him, but I brush it off anyways and don’t pry.

Minho and I slide into our usual conversation about assignments, plans for the week, and everything under the sun. We talk about how he’s planning to visit home the next day and stay for a weekend and how excited he is to see his cats after a long time, I unknowingly smile at his ramble about how talkative Dori is, and just sit back and listen. I never took into account how healing it was to just watch and listen to him talk, the sultry of his voice and his little exclamations of frustration or excitement that came once in a while. I had to catch myself from staring when he turned to look at me, having asked me a question I didn’t catch.

“Sorry what was that?” I ask.

“Am I that beautiful for you to have lost your hearing to my handsome face?” I couldn’t just tell him that that was basically what had happened, it would inflate his ego by too much and reveal everything I’d hidden thus far.

“The heck? No, I was thinking about how great it would be to get some peace and quiet while you’re not around this weekend.” I lie, having Minho around is the only thing that brings me entertainment that isn’t endless sappy kdramas on my laptop, but he can never know that.

Minho scoffs, says something under his breath that I don’t quite catch, then turns back to me. “You love me.” He says with a pout.

“Unfortunately I do.”

That was the first of many inconspicuous confessions.

It was nearing 3 or 4 am and I was about halfway done with another kdrama when several knocks resound through the small living space. Knowing exactly who it is, I only shout back “you know the code!” and moments later the door opens.

I don’t bother to get up and greet Minho, this exact scene has happened too many times for either of us to care at this point, and it doesn’t surprise me that the moment he enters he shouts, “Honey I’m home!” like we’re in some cheesy romcom.

“Mhmm, welcome home, leech.” I enunciate the last word purposely, but I know he won’t bat an eye at the term. I continue to chew my popcorn while he wanders through my cabinets, looking for snacks. “There’s chips in the cabinet next to the fridge and sprite in there too. If you want more food order Chinese takeout.”

“I don’t have my wallet.” I can practically hear his pout from where I sat, eyes unmoving from the TV screen.

“You know where mine is, but you have to pay me back.” A few seconds pass with no response until suddenly he’s next to me and kissing my cheek.

“I loveeee you!” He says too sweetly, retreating back to the mini-kitchen to order takeout.

“Mhmm, I love you too.” I say, not loud enough for him to hear the confidence missing from my tone.

Continuing to watch the episode of in front of me, I remain in my comfortable position, only moving to lift my legs when Minho comes back to sit on the couch under my legs and the blanket.

“Oh you’re watching this one?” He asks, reaching into the bowl of popcorn I offer him.

“Yeah, didn’t have anything else to watch so I put it on since everyone seems to like it so much.”

“Mm,” he hums while also indulging himself into the scenes playing in front of him. “You’re probably team potato guy, right?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I am!” I scoff.

“I don’t know, I still think she should end up with Jae-eon.”

“Are you crazy? He literally leads her on like every playboy and is ruining her mentality by not defining their relationship.”

“Yeah, but they’re so cute together, and you can totally tell he feels something for her.” He argues.

“Just cause they’re cute together doesn’t mean they’re good for each other, the entire guy is a walking red flag, I don’t understand why she doesn’t just walk away when she’s had experience with a shit boyfriend.” I sigh.

“You, have major second lead syndrome.” He points an accusing finger at me.

“So what? It’s for good reason, the main lead is toxic as fuck and you can’t change my mind.” I upturn my nose, turning back to the TV and continuing to watch the episode.

The mentioning of the second lead sends a flurry of thoughts into my brain for a reason I can’t comprehend. Sometimes the main leads aren’t that bad but still we want the main character to end up with the second lead, maybe out of our own natural selfishness because we prefer the second lead more. I shake the thoughts away, trying to convince myself that kdramas were only works of fiction and too cheesy to be real, yet for whatever reason I always felt a connection with the second leads, like our emotions directed to our crushes were the same, because I knew that I would always be the second lead in Minho’s story.

Minho’s name was always called out more times than mine was growing up, which I didn’t really mind until our hangout time would be seriously cut down because he had to hang out with other friends. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that he had friends, but there was a little bit of selfishness in me that wanted him to myself.

A new drama and a few episodes later, plus Chinese takeout, lead to our eventual demise. We both fall asleep on the couch in less than comfortable positions and wake up with stiff-neck, us groaning at the pain.

We continue on with our usual morning routines, taking turns freshening up in the bathroom before heading out for breakfast at Paws and Pastries since we were both too lazy to make food ourselves. Besides, hot coffee in the morning plus good sandwiches AND cats? What more could you ask for?

When we enter the cat cafe I notice a familiar face behind the cashier, it was the same girl Seungmin was talking to on Friday, and the same girl I caught Minho staring at. We walk up to the cashier, I order my food first, a simple breakfast sandwich with a coffee to go with it and wait next to Minho to finish ordering.

I made the mistake up glancing up at his face as he was telling his order to her, Ahra, her name tag read. There was something in his eyes that glinted that I had never seen before, not when he talked to Han and not when he talked to me. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of emotion in the middle of my chest before forcing myself to look back down, inserting my card and paying for everything. I sent the girl a thank you and a kind smile after she told us our food would be right over, and both me and Minho went over to our usual table in the back corner next to the cat’s jungle gym and right up next to the window. I get lost in my thoughts while we begin playing with the cats we were so accustomed to.

Like most second leads, I knew exactly what my feelings were. I was practically an adult, how could I miss the fast beating of my heart or my clammy hands whenever I was around him? But again, like most second leads, I knew I’d never get a chance with him, not when everything we did together was purely platonic. It was painfully obvious that I’d be stuck with an unrequited love for who knows how long, and I couldn’t just detach myself from him all of a sudden to get over my feelings because a) he’d notice and force me to tell him what was wrong, ultimately leading me to tell him that I had feelings for him, and b) the moment I would come back or see him for even just a second I know I would develop those feelings all over again. Neither of which were choices I was willing to take so I suck it up and see him every day, ignoring everything my heart was telling me.

I look up from the cat that I’m petting in my lap and look at Minho again, only to find him staring at Ahra who was taking people’s orders with a perfect pearly smile. It was in that moment that I knew, I had just found the female lead of Minho’s story.

3 weeks go by in a similar manner. Minho and I see Ahra around campus a few times and with some twisted fate, she’s on the clock every time we go to Paws and Pastries. Minho, being his smooth self, easily gets himself acquainted with her. They laugh and giggle so naturally and can slip into conversation so easily I’m almost envious of Minho and his non-introverted self.

Not being one to try and stop fate, I watch it all happen. Telling Minho to ask her out already and teasing him about how lovesick he gets when he sees her nearby or at the cafe. I know Minho likes her when he blushes or gets defensive whenever I mention her in our conversations even though he’s never explicitly told me himself. I put on a face in front of him whenever these conversations come up, not wanting to get in the way of his happiness.

One day some of our friends want to meet up outside of campus, we make plans to meet up at a bowling alley, ready to have fun until the late evening hours. Seungmin brought Ahra along with him, asking if it was okay to invite her since they were friends. Everyone agrees and we all meet up as planned. When everyone gets there, including Seungmin and Ahra, we introduce ourselves, Minho not having to introduce himself and easily speaking with her like they always did whenever running into each other. All the the boys have raised brows and mischievous smiles as they watch the interaction between the two, but only one looks at me in concern.

A majority of the night passes by with laughter and teasing, how Chan was terrible at bowling this night and Minho easily beating him despite never doing too well on our previous adventures to the bowling alley. I spend the night with the rest of the boys, while Minho and Ahra spend time getting to know each other even more. There’s a point in the evening where I see Minho hold out his phone to Ahra to exchange numbers, I can hear her giggle when they take a selfie together, probably for her profile picture. I have to turn my head away quickly to ignore the cracking of my own heart when Minho puts his arm on the couch behind Ahra, he does it so naturally, yet he’s never done it with me. I will my thoughts to focus on the game and not on Minho, not noticing the same pair of concerned eyes until they speak up.

“Are you alright?” Hyunjin asks.

“Hm? Of course I am, why wouldn’t I be?” My voice cracks halfway through and I try to hide my sad eyes, even though I was fully aware that Hyunjin had probably noticed that something was up.

“‘Cause you seem pretty affected by that scene over there.” He motions to Minho and Ahra with a nod of his head.

“It’s nothing, Hyun, just nice seeing Minho talking to more people.”

“Y/n, you know he talks to people all the time, and you’re not nearly as affected then as you are now.”

“Hyunjin, really, it’s fine.” I try to convince him but he says something that lets me know that he knows.

“You like Minho.”

“What? No that’s absurd I-“ He looks at me pointedly, and I sigh in defeat. “Yeah, okay, you got me.”

“Why don’t you say anything? Clearly it hurts you to see him like that.” He refers to Minho getting cozy with her.

“Hyunjin, it’s clear that everything we have is platonic, he even called me his sister several times. And who am I to get in the way of him getting into a relationship? That’s not my place to say anything, especially when his last girlfriend was 2 years ago.”

“I get that, but shouldn’t he at least deserve to know? He says that he knows everything about you, but there’s one thing that he doesn't. You know practically everything about him, isn’t it a little unfair?”

“We have choices as to what we share with each other and what we don’t, it’s his choice to tell me what he wants to and my choice to tell him what I want to tell him. Besides, he hasn’t even told me that he has a crush on Ahra yet.”

“So maybe he doesn’t then.”

“Hyunjin, just look at him, he’s a puppy in love.” I glance back over to Minho and Ahra sitting parallel to us. Minho is smiling brightly, more brightly than I had seen in a while and I can’t help but let my lips upturn at the corners just slightly in another sad smile.

Hyunjin sighs next to me, and I look back to him. “I’m sorry y/n, I really wish he would end up with you instead of her, it doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“Hey, don’t say that, Ahra seems like a nice girl, she and Minho will get along great. And nothing in life is fair Hyunjin, that’s just something you come to accept.” I say, getting up. “I’m gonna get some drinks, does anyone want anything?” I ask everyone.

“Cola!” “Me too!” “Me three!” “A lemonade please.” A few of the boys shout back.

“Anything for you guys?” I turn to Minho and Ahra. They both shake their heads. “Okay then, I’ll be back in a minute guys.” I smile at the group before going to get the drinks.

While walking away from the group I let a teardrop fall from my eye, wiping it away just before I order.

Life’s unfair, that’s just something I have to accept.

A week goes by and Minho’s talking about how he and Ahra message often, how he thinks they get along well and he’s gonna ask her out.

Another week goes by and they’ve gone on their first date, he takes her to the beach and they have a picnic.

Two weeks after that they’ve gone on several dates and are officially boyfriend and girlfriend, I don’t even find out separately at this point, I find out with the rest of the group over dinner.

A few days after that Minho calls off one of our late night binge watching sessions, texting me an apology and that Ahra needs him. I tell him it’s okay and to send my regards to her.

It’s a week and half after and Minho regularly calls off our meetups at the cafe after school or at one another’s dorms to tend to Ahra. I tell him it’s fine each time and to not feel bad. He did the same today, and I sit alone at our usual table, mindlessly petting a cat in my lap while zoning out into in my mug of coffee.

All while this happens, I watch, and I let it happen. I don’t fight for him because it didn’t feel right, sometimes second leads let their love fall for someone else, and that’s all it felt like I could do.

Fighting for Minho felt selfish, especially when I knew I had no chance and he’d already fallen for Ahra. I couldn’t suddenly come out of the blue and tell him “hey, I have feelings for you,” when he’s already dating Ahra, I’d look like a major asshole if I did. All I could do was watch and see how we begun to drift farther and farther apart.

With Minho being absent more often, I don’t get to tell him much. Like the internship offer I got to continue pursuing graphic design in Itaewon. I got the email almost a week ago, and I had two more weeks to decide if I was going to take the offer. With nobody to consult about it with I continue to push it to the back of my mind, not wanting to deal with more stress just yet.

Just as I’m taking another sip of my coffee a familiar head of long blonde hair enters the cafe. My head tilts to the side in confusion as he scans the room for someone when he meets eyes with me, he makes his way over and sits in the seat in front of me and doesn’t say anything.

“You’re rarely on this side of town, why are you here?” I ask Hyunjin first.

“I heard something from Ms. Kim in our art class and needed to know if it was true.” He says seriously.

“What…” I feel like I know what he’s going to say, but I ask anyways. “What did you hear?”

“That you were offered an internship in Itaewon.”

“Hyunjin I-“

“Is it really true? She said you had two more weeks to decide, how come you haven’t told anybody? Does Minho know? Are you gonna leave? What about-” He begins to spurt out question after question and it’s almost too much for me to handle.

“Hyunjin!” I raise my voice just slightly to get him to stop but I have to turn it down again when the volume of my voice makes a few of the other customers’ heads turn. “Calm down, yes it’s true, yes I have two more weeks to decide if I’m going or not, I didn’t know how I would tell any of you, no, Minho doesn’t know and I don’t plan on telling him.”

“Are you… Are you gonna take the offer?” He asks slowly.

I prop my elbows onto the table as the cat leaves my lap and my head drops into my hands as I sigh in exasperation. “I don’t know.” Tears are gathering in my eyes as I think about it.

“Y/n, have you thought about the offer at all?”

“Yes and no.” I don’t need to lift my head to sense Hyunjin’s confusion. “It’s hard to think about it when you’re watching your crush of 2 years date someone else while you’re also trying to finish up your senior year. But it’s also all I can think about when I’m alone, which I find myself a lot, thinking about having to find a place to live in Itaewon and transfer and mentally prepare to leave you all here, but if I don’t take it then it’ll be even harder to find an offer like this. It’s all I can think about and also something that I can’t bring myself to think about, Hyunjin.” I lift my head and my teary eyes meet his own.

“Y/n…” His voice breaks saying my name.

“I think I’m going to take it.” I pause. “Once I finish all of my final assignments the only thing I have left to really worry about is graduating and finding a job, and I don’t think I can take watching Minho and Ahra anymore Hyun, I don’t think I can stomach it. I’m happy for them, I truly am, but it’s also affecting me and I don’t think I should ignore that anymore. If I’m in Itaewon I have a job and I won’t have to worry about feelings anymore, two birds with one stone.”

I see the hesitancy in Hyunjin’s facial expressions before he speaks. “If that’s what you think you should do, then I’ll support you all the way. But shouldn’t you tell Minho about this?”

“I’m not, because if I do, Minho is gonna find some way to get me to stay and I’ll crumble and stay because he affects me the most.” Hyunjin merely nods in response. “Hyunjin, you are the only one that can know about this, okay? I can’t have everyone else know this, especially Minho, okay?”

Hesitation again, and then, “Okay.”

Hyunjin keeps his promise, he keeps the secret of me leaving from everyone. Even as graduation inches closer and our group begins to talk more about job searching, what comes next, and similar topics, the two of us keep it a secret. Whenever they asked me what I was thinking of doing next I always just told them “oh probably looking for internships nearby,” and no more questions are asked.

Minho and Ahra were still very much in love, even more than before, if the growing absence of Minho’s presence was anything to go by. I barely saw Minho anymore, maybe catching him at the end of the hall every once in awhile, but he was always walking with Ahra so all I could say was “hello” and “goodbye.”

Each goodbye begun to hold more and more weight as the days passed. Even the short ones I would tell Minho after passing him in the halls. I couldn’t even conjure how I would tell everyone, maybe send a letter to each of their places? A text message? Tell them after the graduation ceremony just before I left for the train station? I thought about how I would say goodbye as I begun to pack up my dorm. Graduation was nearing, I had already turned in all of my final assignments, and all there was left was to pack. I would leave after the ceremony ended, sometime in the afternoon. I wouldn’t even get the chance to properly celebrate being graduates with my friends because I was leaving in the afternoon. I’d get situated in my new apartment in Itaewon and get accustomed to new life outside of Gimpo.

The thought of leaving panged my heart harshly, I had never left Gimpo permanently before. Sure, I had gone on trips to the US and Singapore and Seoul before, but I had never moved from Gimpo. I was born and raised in Gimpo, met Minho and all of our friends here, so the thought of moving for the first time did something to my heart. I attended all of our group hangouts with a nostalgic mindset, remembering the first time we all met, when we all got wasted one time on a Friday night after some big exam week. I look around our table of friends and think about how much I’ll miss all of this when I leave for Itaewon.

Another thing that panged my heart, Minho and I distancing. I knew it was coming, Minho and I didn’t text or talk about hanging out anymore. He walked Ahra to her classes now, and had dates with her after class instead of meeting me at our cafe. Eventually I stopped getting apology messages, and stopped expecting him at the cafe anymore. I couldn’t blame him, Ahra was his girlfriend and I accepted that long ago. Instead I just played the supportive friend on the sidelines, and I’d continue to play that role for as long as I had to.

It came to be the night before we graduated, and all of us minus Minho and Ahra were sat around a table in one of the restaurants we frequented, it wasn’t too late in the evening, and we all just sat in silence after finishing our food with bottles and glasses of soju now sitting in front of us. A majority of our meal was full of reminiscing, talking about memories that crack everyone up and left smiles on our faces.

“So, we really graduate tomorrow, huh?” Changbin says when the table quiets down.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” Chan says quietly.

My eyes tear up and I begin to sniff without control, the weight of my department tomorrow weighing heavily on my shoulders. Hyunjin puts an arm around my shoulders and gives me a tissue, whispering “it’s okay, it’s okay” to me while I try to calm down.

Everyone looks at me in confusion before Chan speaks first. “Y/n are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just…” I trail off, not sure what to say.

“Do you want to tell them?” Hyunjin asks softly.

“Tell us what?” Seungmin says this time.

Hyunjin looks to me first before nodding, and I begin to spill my secret. “I got an internship offer.”

The table erupts in cheers and I get congratulations thrown back at me before I can even continue.

“But…” Immediately everyone silences and looks to me in expectation. “It’s in Itaewon.”

There’s a tense air that falls around us. “What?” Felix says in disbelief.

“You’re not leaving us, right Noona?” Jeongin asks from another part of the table.

I look to Jeongin with sad eyes, smiling sadly. “I leave tomorrow, after our graduation ceremony.” There’s some gasps around the table.

“What?! Y/n, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Changbin blows up and Chan has to place a hand on his shoulder to restrain him.

“I didn’t want every time we met leading up to graduation to feel like a goodbye, Bin, I couldn’t handle that. So I kept it from you all so there wasn’t this tension every time we met.” I explained.

“Does Minho know?” Seungmin asks this time, and I shake my head.

“Y/n…” Han says worriedly.

“Guys, I know I’m not the only one that’s noticed that me and Minho aren’t that close anymore, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to tell him. But I told Hyunjin this a long time ago, that I wouldn’t tell Minho specifically, because there’s some things that I need to figure out and if I told him he’d find some way to keep me from going, or even worse, follow me. At least with Ahra by his side he won’t follow me to Itaewon.” There’s nods all around the table, understanding where I’m coming from.

“We’re gonna miss you a lot.” Felix sniffs and I coo, getting up from my seat to wrap my arms around him from behind.

“I’m gonna miss you all too.” I sniff with him, a few tears escaping my eyes.

Chan comes to join our hug, then Han, then Jeongin, and soon enough everyone has joined the group hug with me in the middle. All of us are crying, and I had never felt more loved than that moment.

Eventually we break away from the hug and return to our seats, everyone dabbing at their eyes with tissues and sniffing.

“Let’s all stop crying, tonight is a night to celebrate, all of us graduate tomorrow, and our dear Y/n got an internship offer in a big city!” Han holds up a drink and we all do the same, cheering and clinking our glasses together and celebrating the night away.

The next morning I get ready for graduation early, putting on my makeup and doing my hair, and sending a message.

to: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

hey, can you meet me at p&p in thirty?

My heart picks up the pace as I send the message, I didn’t expect him to answer so quickly yet his message pings my phone within 2 minutes.

from: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

sure, i can be there

to: [cat dad who’s a leech :D]

sweet, i’ll see you there

I turn my phone off and take a deep breath, we still had a few hours before we had to be at the school for our graduation ceremony, I’d have to leave just a few minutes after the ceremony ended which wouldn’t give me enough time to tell Minho, so, I made the painful decision the night before to tell him in the morning. I’d do it in our favorite spot in the corner of our favorite cat cafe, tell him the news slowly and hope that he takes it well.

I leave my house and 15 minutes later I’m in our usual booth, my coffee order sitting in front of me and the cats all wandering around as there weren’t too many people since it was relatively early in the morning. I already bought Minho his typical Iced Americano and it sat in front of me, awaiting it’s owner.

10 minutes later Minho arrives and makes his way to the table, sitting in front of me, smiling, unknowing of what’s about to happen.

“Hey.” I smile at him.

“Hey you.” He smiles back brightly. “Sorry I couldn’t see you guys last night, I took Ahra out for dinner last night on a date.”

“It’s completely alright, how are you guys?”

“Pretty good, things are going okay right now.” He answers.

“That’s good.” Nervously I take a sip of my macchiato in front of me, my leg bouncing in anxiety.

“Y/n? Is everything alright? Your leg’s bouncing pretty fast right now.” Curse Minho and the fact that he knows so much about me, he reaches out for my wrist and checks my pulse, quickly noticing how fast it’s beating as his brows furrow in confusion.

“Minho, there’s something I need to tell you.” I say, retracting my wrist from his grip. He doesn’t answer me but instead tilts his head like a cat does when it looks at its owner questionably. “I’m leaving.”

“What?” He asks.

How could one look so endearing, head tilted and eyes full of emotion as I break the news to him? I ask myself. “I got an internship offer for a company in Itaewon, I accepted it and I’m leaving for Itaewon, today.”

“You’re leaving today?” He says in disbelief, sounding out of breath.

I nod and continue. “After the graduation today I have to catch my bus. I didn’t have any other time to tell you so I had to tell you now.”

“You’re… You’re just telling me now? Do the others know about this?”

“I only told them last night.”

“You couldn’t have thought of telling me sooner?” He starts to get angry.

“Minho I-“

“What happened to telling me everything, huh? What happened to when we used to know everything about each other?”

“Minho, those days are long behind us, you have bigger priorities now, like putting your focus on your girlfriend, Minho. I couldn’t tell you because I knew you’d do something rash, and I didn’t even tell the others until last night because I knew every time we’d see each other it would be like preparing for the day I leave. You and Ahra have something so great going on for the two of you right now and telling you that I was leaving would take you away from that, and I can’t do that to you or her. Ahra is an amazing girl, and you have her now.”

“Will you at least visit?” His eyes are full of tears, some of the first I’ve seen in years and I hate that I’m the cause of it.

“I don’t know yet, there’s some things I need to figure out myself first, before I can visit. But at some point maybe I will, when I’ve figured things out I’ll try visiting from time to time.” I offer him a sad smile.

After a few moments of silence I get up from my seat.

“We still have a graduation left, Min, I’ll still see you then.” I ruffle his hair and walk out of the cafe, no more secrets but one weighing down on my chest.

The Graduation ceremony passes by in a blur. One moment we were listening to the speeches of each of the professors and the next we were tossing our caps into the air, cheering as we became alumni of our university.

Our friend group met up in the front of the school, taking pictures with our parents and congratulating each other. Eventually, the time comes and I have to go.

Our group stands in a circle, unmoving, as we all look at each other.

“I’m gonna miss all of you so much.” I say in tears as my voice breaks.

“We’re gonna miss you too, Y/n.” Hyunjin says. At his words everyone gathers into a group hug full of tears and the weight of a goodbye on our shoulders.

“You better promise to visit us, okay?” Felix holds me by the shoulders and makes a point to look me in the eye. Not trusting my voice, I nod and he brings me into one more hug.

I hug each of them individually, saying a few words, before I reach the last person.

I hug Minho and look into his eyes for the last time for a while.

“I’ll miss you.” He whispers.

“Me too.” And that’s all I can say.

I leave the campus for the last time, hopping in my car to head to the station and start anew.

Second leads always leave in the end, they leave and let the two main leads have a happy ending. That’s what it felt like I was doing, and I couldn’t tell if I was content with my choice or not.

Two and a half months in Itaewon passes quickly.

The move into my new apartment was smooth, and it was odd to be in a bigger space than a small dorm room. It felt like I had more space than I knew what to do with.

My internship was moving along smoothly as well, everyone I had met so far were really kind and taught me a lot. I was worried about feeling out of place but I had met a few other girls not much older than me who helped me feel at home.

Being alone in a big city was unnerving, but what made it so much more comfortable was the addition of a cat that my parents had bought me as my graduation gift. She was a chartreux cat who I named Luna because I had always dreamed of naming my first cat that. My parents covered most of the costs of basic things like cat toys, a scratch post, her bed, and similar things. I thanked my parents endlessly when they came over to my apartment a week after I had moved in and gave me Luna. I wasn’t gone for too long during the day and always left food for her, she was great company when I came home and worked on projects late into the evening, curling up into my lap like the cats at the old cafe used to. She was my best friend in a city I was still getting accustomed to.

I hadn’t talked to the guys much, I’d talked with them a few times in the group chat about how their job searches were going and trips they were planning to take soon. It was nice talking with them every so often but all of us were still pretty busy moving onto the next chapter of our lives.

I hadn’t talked to Minho since I left, I’d assumed that he and Ahra were doing well, but that’s all that was, assumption. None of the boys talked about him and I couldn’t understand why, but I never asked since I was supposed to be moving on from my feelings in the first place. I thought I had been doing pretty well until something would come up that reminded me of him, like his favorite song would play in the cafe I bought my morning coffee in and spent my breaks at, or snapchat would send me “Today, 1 year ago” memories of him and me fooling around at Paws and Pastries. Whenever that would happen I’d be sent back to square one, and it felt like I’d never move on from Minho.

I was on my way out to grab a coffee and spend my off day walking around, maybe looking into a few shops when I got a call from Hyunjin.

“Y/n! My favorite girl, how are you?”

“Hyunjin? What’s with the call?”

“What? Can I not call my friends from time to time?”

“Not when you’re notorious for calling your ‘friends’ after you’ve done something wrong.” I sigh.

“That was one time! Besides, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You dragged Jeongin to a party! And got him wasted!”

“One. Time. Y/n. It was one time.”

“One time is enough for you to be in trouble for life, Hyun.”

“Okay, whatever, but I was meaning to ask you, what’re your plans for today?”

“Me? I was just planning to go out, today’s my day off so I was gonna visit this one cafe and see some shops, why?”

“No reason, what time do you think you’ll be home?”

“Maybe five?”

“Great, okay, I have to go now, Han’s calling me, bye!” Hyunjin hangs up before I can ask him what’s with the weird questions.

“Hyunjin- Oh great he hung up.” I put my phone in my pocket before looking down at Luna who’s stretching near my legs. “Your uncle Hyunjin is quite the odd one, isn’t he Luna, hm?” I ask her and she meows back in response. “Weird indeed, but that’s just how he is. Mommy’s gonna spend her day out and then she’ll come home and we can watch the TV together, okay? I’ll be home soon.” I pick up Luna and set her on her little bed before ensuring everything is safe and make my way out the door.

I spend the day eating at a large cat cafe that actually had an assortment of books with little reading areas while the cats roamed around everywhere. It was much bigger than the cafe in Gimpo, but I would always correlate that one with home.

After I spent a bit of time reading there I went out and explored the shops for a few hours, bought some new jeans and a few blouses plus some makeup things. I got Subway for lunch and explored just a little bit more before heading home. Instead of going straight home, I decided to take the long way, going through the streets not minding the extra weight the few shopping bags I was holding in my hands gave me. The sun was just barely beginning to set as I walked into my apartment complex, getting into the elevator and pressing the button for my floor.

I walk down the hallway to my door and am surprised when a familiar figure greets me there.

“Minho?” I say as I walk closer.

“Y/n!” He says happily, bringing me into a hug.

“What are you doing here? Actually- Wait- Don’t answer that, do you wanna come inside?” I ask him.

“Sure.” He responds.

I unlock the door and bring my bags in, setting them by the door. “Luna! Mommy’s home!” I call out automatically.

Luna meows and comes out of the bedroom, walking her way up to me before I pick her up.

“You got a cat?” Minho asks.

“Yeah, parents brought her to me about a week after I moved in.” I put Luna back down and she moves to sit on the arm of the couch, her favorite spot to sit when the sun goes down.

“And you named her Luna,” He smiles fondly. “You always wanted to name your cat Luna.”

“I’m surprised you remember that.” I chuckle. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll get that brewing, just give me a few minutes, you can take a seat on the couch and make yourself at home!” I tell him as I quickly retreat to the kitchen.

I have to take a few breaths when I’m far away enough from Minho, my heart beating just as fast as it would when I was around him back then. It was clear I hadn’t moved on at all.

I brew the coffee as promised and wait next to the coffee machine with two mugs ready. A voice chimes in behind me.

“Your place is much bigger than the dorms.” He chuckles.

“Tell me about it, it was so weird buying more furniture than I was used to.” I laugh with him.

The machine finishes brewing the coffee and I pour it into the two mugs, putting it on a tray with creamer and sugar before bringing it all to the coffee table in front of the couch.

Minho and I take seats on the couch, separated by a bit of space between us while we sip on our respective mugs.

“So,” I start the conversation. “How’s home?”

“Not too bad, same old same old, the guys being annoying as usual, you know?” He says.

“Sounds fun.” I chuckle. “And work, have you found anything yet?”

“Not yet, I’ve got a few applications out, but I’m still waiting on some answers.”

“I’m sure you’ll get them soon.” I respond.

An uncomfortable silence sets over the both of us, and I run my free hand through Luna’s fur who’s situated herself in my lap this time. I take a long sip of my coffee before asking another question.

“How’s… How are you and Ahra?”

“Oh…” He trails off. “We broke up a few weeks ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that…” I had no idea that he and Ahra had broken up, in fact that was the completely opposite of what I thought had happened since they seemed to work together so well.

“Yeah, it was a mutual thing. We didn’t really feel that kind of connection anymore, you know? So we just, broke it off.”

“Are you okay?” I ask Minho.

“Me? Yeah, I’m actually not as affected as I thought I’d be, I don’t know if that makes me a cruel person or not but I was only sad for the first week or two. Nothing too bad.”

“I see.” Another silence settles between us. This one is longer, more tense, there was something Minho wanted to ask but he wasn’t sure, and I couldn’t depict what question he was going to ask.

“Actually, I came her for a reason.” He says.

“And what reason is that?” I ask hesitantly.

“For answers.” My brows furrow, answers for what? “There’s something Hyunjin told me recently and it got me thinking, and I wanted to hear it from you if it was true.”

I finish my coffee and place it down delicately on the coffee table, trying not to show how nervous I was with how badly my hands were shaking. “I’ll see if I have answers for you then.”

“When you told me you were leaving, you said you had some, things, to figure out on your own. What was it that you had to figure out?”

I take a moment to decide exactly how I was going to answer his question. Did I want to expose my feelings to him just yet? “Just, feelings.” I say vaguely.

“For?”

“Just feelings for somebody.”

“Is it Hyunjin?”

“No.”

“Chan?”

“Nope.”

“Changbin?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Me?”

I pause for just a half second, and apparently that was all Minho needed. “I guess Hyunjin’s big mouth was right after all.”

“Wait- What? What are you talking about?”

Minho takes a long sip of his coffee before finishing letting out a sigh after swallowing, he slowly sets the mug on the table before making direct eye contact with me and silently killing me with the suspense. “Minho please just say something you’re killing me here.”

He only chuckles in response. “Hyunjin told me not too long ago that you took up the offer to work here because you were going to sort out your feelings, for me.” He says sweetly as I suck in a breath at his last words.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Minho-“

“Now now, Y/n, we shouldn’t hide things from each other anymore, should we?” His sweet, sultry voice was affecting me greatly as he leaned closer to me on the couch. I gulp and silently curse when Luna, the only thing keeping me sane, leaves the comfort of my lap for her scratch-post.

“Minho…” I let out quietly.

“Tell me, Kitten, is it true?” He asks once again.

“I-“ My voice catches in my throat when Minho leans in ever nearer, still making direct eye-contact with me. “Yes, it is.” I sigh out and Minho backs away.

“He was right.” Minho whispers while my gaze drops to my hands that I fiddle with in my lap at the secret that’s let out. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry.” I whisper.

“Why are you sorry darling?” He asks softly and uses his thumb and forefinger to tilt my head up by my chin.

“I couldn’t tell you because I knew you didn’t feel the same, and then when you got together with Ahra we drifted apart because it hurt me to see you with her. Then I left and told you about me leaving so last minute. I made you cry, Minho, and I hate that I did. But I couldn’t see any other way out of it. I hurt you because I was cowardly and didn’t want to be selfish by telling you and having your attention move off of Ahra, when I was really being selfish by not telling you and hurting you in the end.” More tears escape my eyes as we look at each other.

“Princess, no…” He cups my face with his hands and uses his thumbs to wipe away my tears. “I’ll admit, it did hurt when you told me that you were leaving the day of, but I understood where you were coming from. Because you were right, I would have done something crazy to keep you by my side. Do you know why?” He asks, and I shake my head, still crying. “Because I need you by my side, kitten, even when I was dating Ahra I felt off but just didn’t pay any mind to it because I had her. But now I know it’s because you and I were drifting apart, I found out when after you left and me and Ahra broke up because I felt empty. I couldn’t text you to just come over anymore because you’re farther away from me now. I lied earlier, I said that I sent out some applications for jobs but didn’t get any answers yet, right?” I nod. “I got offered a job as a software engineer, here, in Itaewon, and I said yes.”

“Why?” I whisper.

“Because I want to be near you, I need to be by your side Y/n, because I love you.” I let out a sob at his confession and he coos, bringing me to rest my head on his chest and rubbing his hands on my back and running them through my hair.

“I love you too.” I say after a few minutes.

Minho brings me out of his hold, and cups my face again. For the first time, he kisses me. His lips brush over mine before deepening the kiss, taking full charge of it yet somehow still being soft with me. His kisses were nothing short of addicting, and I knew I’d be in love with him for a long time.

In that moment, kissing the man of my dreams, I remember that it may be rare that a second lead gets their own happy ending, but it’s not unheard of. Sometimes the main lead and second lead do end up with their own happily ever after.

Notes from the author: I have FINALLY posted something y’all 😂 took a few months but she’s here, and she’s dishing out something at least. I don’t know how often I’ll be posting again, esp with school and whatnot, but I do know I need to drain out my drafts because phew, it’s getting a little full in there.

But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this fic! I’m pretty sure it’s one of the longest I’ve written if not the longest. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad, I’m probably a little rusty but we can fix that (i think)

if you want more I still have my old stuff up on my masterlist on my account! hope to see you around :))

-nyx

#skz ff #skz fluff #skz fanfic #skz fanfiction #stray kids fanfiction #minho fluff #skz minho fluff #skz angst #yOU KNOW I KNOW LEE KNOW #skz lee know #lee know #lee know x y/n #tags are annoying sigh #lee minho fanfiction #stray kids scenarios #stray kids fic #stray kids fluff #stray kids angst

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falloutsketchysecretsanta · 2 years

Text

Shh... It's time for...

! SKETCHY SECRET SANTA ! [ FAQ ]

HEY THERE, WASTELANDERS!

Welp, I told you. I told you that if the event went well last year, we'd be back again this year-- and we are! :D

Friends and followers, The Artists of the Apocalypse are proud to present the second annual Sketchy Secret Santa!

Thank you so much for joining us this holiday season, and I hope this post finds you well. For the folks who have NO IDEA what is going on, I'll give you the cliff-notes. This is a Fallout Community Event! If you're a fan of the Fallout games, you're welcome here, as well as at our home blog @artistsoftheapocalypse :D

Participants in this event can send a request to our art team according to the guidelines underneath that read-more down below. This request will be for the art team to make a gift for ANOTHER PERSON of the Participant's choosing, which will be delivered anonymously on January 1st. The person getting the gift will be given no indication who requested it for them.

Sound like your kind of holiday mischief? Then follow us beyond the cut to find out how it's all gonna work!

So! You'd like to request a gift for a friend of yours this December? AWESOME!

This event has a few different ways to participate, so please take your time reading this post. If you have questions at the end, that's okay! Feel free to send us an ask with what points you'd like clarified, but double check to make sure that information wasn't already here for you to read.

There are TWO ways to request this year!

1 -- The Sketchy Secret Santa Holiday Prompt, which is full detailed below.

2 -- Request a Fic Illustration!

A FIC ILLUSTRATION?

Yep! If you have a beloved fanfiction in the Fallout fandom, and there's a scene they wrote SO WELL you can PICTURE IT and IT'S AWESOME and you already sent a comment, but MAN you wish you could DRAW???

Well, let's help out with that ;3

TO SEND A VALID FIC ILLUSTRATION REQUEST TO SKETCHY SECRET SANTA, PLEASE SEND AN ASK TO @falloutsketchysecretsanta CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING:

WHOM the request is for ---- If they're on Tumblr, please give us the @ handle for their main blog if you know it. Sideblogs appear to be MUCH more likely to glitch out when @ tagging recipients at the end of the event. ---- If they're not on Tumblr, please tell us where else we can find and contact them, so we can tell them they have a goodie waiting in January!

The FIC and CHAPTER the request is to be drawn from [ Bonus points if you can tell us which PARAGRAPHS you're after up front by counting from the top of the chapter and giving each one a number ] ---- Direct links are preferable. ---- Are there OCs in this scene? Please be prepared to provide reference material for any non-canon characters that aren't described in the target passage. ---- Was context laid out in an earlier or later scene that we should be aware of? A detail that got mentioned early that became part of the 'backdrop', a wound a character got earlier that isn't mentioned in the narrative of the passage, some small background detail that turned out to be really important later so we better make sure we don't miss it-- we do not have time to read entire stories. Be ready to fill us in <3

That's it! Be ready for us to chat back and forth via the ask box a bit; we'll respond privately with any questions we have, and give you a final confirmation that we have everything we need to proceed :D

Don't have a fic author in your life? It's okay, we've got another way to request Fallout gifties for your friends!

OKAY, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE SKETCHY SECRET SANTA HOLIDAY PROMPT

This is how we did Sketchy Secret Santa last year! Using the Guidelines below, you may request up to 4 Fallout Characters and a Holiday Inspiration from the list. The Artist serving your request will take it from there, making the gift for your friend a surprise for both of you when it comes out!

TO SEND A VALID HOLIDAY PROMPT REQUEST TO SKETCHY SECRET SANTA, PLEASE SEND @falloutsketchysecretsanta AN ASK CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING:

The CHARACTER[S] you’d like sketched up ---- All characters welcome! Canon, OC’s, everyone is fair game so long as it’s Fallout! ---- MAXIMUM FOUR CHARACTERS PER REQUEST. Our artists are working on a volunteer basis, and more figures means more time. ---- Is a request intended to be shippy? Let us know! We don’t read minds. ---- Poly? Found family? Hell yes! Just make sure to let us know the relationship context for the request. All genders and sexualities welcome, so long as everyone is a consenting adult.

1 [ ONE! ] Item from the prompt list below ---- The prompt list is both to give the artists direction and to limit the scope of what can be requested, keeping things manageable. ---- The items on the prompt list can be considered INSPIRATION, and what is drawn is up to artist interpretation of that prompt. ---- Do not dictate specific poses, colors, or situations. These are freebies, not commissions. All specifics are up to the volunteer artist who takes your request. ---- Do not dictate a specific artist to fulfill your request. Artists are operating on a self-directed basis and are, again, volunteers providing freebies to spread holiday joy. If you want work from a specific artist, might I suggest checking their commission status? They're all fantastic to work with!

[ OPTIONALLY!! ] Tell us what holiday traditions the requested characters keep. ---- While there are various holidays on the prompt list, those are general AF prompts. Telling us what holidays an OC celebrates, or what holidays you / your friend HC a canon character to celebrate is additional character context and EXTREMELY ENCOURAGED, and does not replace the prompt. It’s like reference information-- telling the artist whom they’re drawing.

THE PROMPT LIST!

The following is a list of words, phrases, ideas, and memories brainstormed by our team of volunteers to give the requests direction and verity. You may pick 1 [ ONE ] per request.

Christmas

Hanukkah

Kwanza

Samhain

Keeping Old Traditions

Ghosts of Winters Past

Drifted Myths

Twisted Holiday Tales

Deck the Halls

Making Decorations

Repurposed/Reused/Recycled

Junk into Jolly

Massive Menorah

Feasting in Faith

Improvised Christmas Tree

Smaller Celebrations

Nuka Cola Christmas

Santa Spotting

Holiday Clothes

Warmth

Ugly Sweaters

Posing for Pictures

Gift Exchange

Present Scavenging

Firelight

Thawing out

Tending the Bonfire

Lights

Unexpected Kindness

Little Mercies

Rare Reunions

Community Celebration

Found Family

Oh Shit I’ve never had real friends during the holidays before

Holiday Meal

Baked Goods

Pet Pageantry

Ribbon

Potluck

Fireside Cooking

Kitchen Catastrophes

Pound Cake

Feasting Aftermath

Holiday Mischief

Brahmin Tipping

Stolen Pants

Pet Dress-up

Mistletoe Mishaps

Someone is kissing Santa

CUI [Caroling under the Influence]

Holiday drinks

Holiday drunks

Is that supposed to be glowing

Candlelight and Snow

First Snow

Noob in a Snowball Fight

Soaked Through and Freezing

Snowed in

Antlers

Pinecones

Wat is snow?

Fire and Ice

FUCK THE COLD

Ringing in the New Year

To New Beginnings

Celebratory Toast

Watching the Clock

Fireworks

Reinvention

Dawn

As always, we thank everyone who even considered participating :D

This post went live at 10:00 AM, US Pacific Time, on December 1st, 2021. REQUESTS ARE OPEN NOW!

Requests will CLOSE on December 25th, 2021, at 11:59 PM.

#Sketchy Secret Santa #Holiday Prompt #Fallout #Fallout Fandom Event #Fallout Community Event

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theravenclawlover · 3 years

Text

Welcome to the Industry of Porn

Paring: Avengers X Female!Reader

Warnings: +18, heavy smut, drinking, slight angst in later chapters, fluff if you squint, and my English as usual.

Word Count: 3,451.

Summary: AU where the Avengers are Pornstars. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

Chapter: 4.

Chapter Title: A new kind of family

A/N: I finally graduated yall! So long college life! Sorry, this part took so long to post, but I had finals and graduation, and now I have to look for a job lmao. Nothing scandalous on this part, and won't until maybe the next one. which won't be you but two of my favorite characters. If you want to be tagged for this work or others please let me know by either commenting or sending me an ask.

The month after the glorious evening you and Cassie had in Las Vegas, life became full of surprises. If you were being completely honest with yourself, you hadn't expected to keep in touch with anyone you met at the party, but it seemed you had made a good impression because you were now friends with Bucky and Steve. Well, more like texting buddies as that was the only way the four—Cassie was also in the group chat Bucky had insisted on making as he found it annoying to send the same funny videos three times—could keep contact. It had started with funny videos Bucky would text you, and then Steve would send important news he found on the internet. You, of course, were confused but didn't say anything until Cassie had brought it up as she commented about a topic Steve had sent the both of you. You found it funny, really, almost ironic that you had seen those two fuck for porn and now they were trying to come up with a catchy nickname that they could bug you with. Again, ironic.

But that wasn't the only thing that had been a surprise, you had been seeing more of Tony as well. You knew that Stark was friends with the Russo's but something they had failed to mention during the party was that they were the directors behind most of the high-ranking adult movies the Avengers had. You had found out about it one week and a half after the party when you were shooting three different shorts for the Russo's, and Tony had paid a visit along with Jason. Cassie and you were confused to see both men there and had asked Joe after the day was over why they were there. He had opted to grin and say, 'he has new projects, and has been talking with Jason and us about 'em'. That had been enough for the both of you until he kept coming to every other shoot you had.

One morning, after having shot the first couple of scenes of the day, Jason knocked on the door of the room Cassie was waiting for you to finish taking a quick shower.

"Hey, what's up?" said Cassie as she opened the door to let the man in.

"Morning, I was looking for Y/n? is she still in the shower?" he asked as he looked around the bare room of the rented house where the scenes were being shot.

"Yup, she got some of it on her hair," said Cassie as she scrunched her nose. Jason huffed a laugh.

"I guess I would spend as much time in the shower if I had sperm all over my hair," he added as he took a seat on the bed, "I hope you don't mind if I wait here with ya?"

"Nah, it's fine." Cassie sat next to him as they heard your voice carry as you sang one of your favorite songs.

"So, why do you need to talk to Y/n?"

"I'm sure you and Y/n have seen Stark and I come in a couple of times," she nodded her head, "well, a couple of months ago he had to cut some people from his company and team, and he's been looking for new people and you and Y/n seem to have made an impression on him. And trust me, he rarely comes out to scout people, he has Maria Hill and Nick Fury for that."

"Wait, so you're saying that Stark wants Y/n?"

"Who wants me?" you asked as you opened the door of the bathroom, a bathrobe covering you as you used a towel to dry your hair.

"I was about to tell Cassie how Stark has personally made the time to speak with me, Joe, and Anthony so he can make a contract for you and Cassie," said Jason as he got up from the bed to face both of you and Cassie.

"What?!" you and Cassie shrieked at the same time.

"Stark has been talking to Joe and Anthony because you—" he pointed at you, "—are under contract with them, and he's been talking to me about you Cassie because he wanted to see the pictures you took of Y/n. He wants you to be part of his photography and video department."

It was silent.

Cassie sat still on the bed as she gaped at the man while you had stopped your movements with the towel still drying your wet hair. It seemed like a whole five minutes before you or Cassie moved or said anything.

"Are you pulling our legs?" you asked as you approached Cassie and sat next to her.

"I know, it sounds crazy, the man himself has been at our necks trying to make sure nothing can stop him from hiring you both," he said with a smile.

"Fuck," exclaimed Cassie as she finally looked at you. You looked at her with the same wide eyes.

"Yes."

"Excuse me?" said Jason as he looked at you. You had whispered your answer.

"Tell Stark we're in, we'll sign."

Jason smiled wider as he took his phone out of his pocket to call Tony.

Tony Stark had set up a meeting the next morning as soon as Jason had said the words 'they're in' to him. And so, the next morning, you and Cassie drove to the once 'Stark Enterprises' building which was now called 'Avengers Tower' which was the name Bucky had said the building was called. The building was tall, with numerous amount of floors that you both could only guess what they were for. Down on the first floor was only a front desk with a young woman.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" said the woman with an Irish accent.

"Morning, we're here for a meeting with Tony Stark," said Cassie with a smile. The woman asked for your last name as well as Cassie's before she let you take the elevator indicating to press 93 to arrive at Tony's office floor.

"I still can't believe we're here to sign a deal with Tony Stark so we both can work here. Like, my brain can process it still," you said as you shifted on your spot as your anxiety rose.

"You can't process it? Imagine me! I'm not even graduated and I'm about to have a job that is willing to take me even before I receive my damn diploma. Stark seems to be in a hurry if you ask me," said Cassie as she glanced at the changing numbers on the panel.

"I know, I mean Jason did tell you that he had lost some people, so maybe he's one of those people that can't be at peace if things are not to their liking, kinda like you," you said as you chuckled at the last part. As you conversed with Cassie, your nerves calmed. The doors opened announcing your arrival on the last floor of the building.

The floor was as spacious as the first floor, but this time the floor was part lobby—which was ridiculously fancy—and part Stark's office. The doors to his office were open, so he raised his head when you and Cassie came out of the elevator.

"The ladies of the hour," he said as he stood from his chair and walked around his desk as he approached you both while you two walked into his office. Which was fancy as well, full of weird tech gadgets.

"I'm glad the two of you decided to make a deal with me," he said as he signaled to the chairs in front of his desk.

You both took your seats as Tony walked over a small cabinet that to no one's surprised ended up being a wine cabinet.

"I know it's early, but would you two like a glass of wine? It's not every day I hire people," he said as he took out a wine bottle.

"Sure, why not," you said, and Cassie nodded. Soon, you three were sitting down and with a glass of wine in hand.

"Alright, so I know a lot about you Y/n which is why I know I want you to work for me. But you, Cassie, I don't know much about you aside from your work with photography. Do you know anything else aside from photography?"

Cassie cleared her throat as she felt all eyes on her.

"I know video editing, but my main focus has always been photography. I did take two semesters where I focused on digital design, but that was before I decided to just double major on photography and creative writing," she said.

"Creative writing?" he asked as he sipped his wine.

"Yeah, but that was because of the number of writing courses I had to take as GEN-ED courses and was recommended to just double major so I wouldn't have random credits," she said while she shrugged.

"So, you're good at writing?"

"Not as good as Miss almost-a-journalism-major over here," she said as she pointed at you, which made you groan. She knew how it annoyed you to be reminded of your failed attempts to make it through college.

You expected Tony to laugh along with Cassie who let out a chuckle at your reaction, but Tony looked at you with raised eyebrows but before you could ask anything, he smiled and pulled out two contracts along with two fountain pens.

"Well, I guess that's good to know because the position I want you to have involves a little of everything of what you do," he sat back on his chair, "I want you to be head of the department. The last person was fired because it turned out I was trusting the wrong kind of people, so this time I wanted something fresh to erase the mark they left and teach new things to those who stayed here. Your job, if you take it, will involve taking pictures of my starts when they work. I will have to work on the schedule that way you know who you'll be working with, sometimes you'll have another person with you because there are never too many pictures when they're good. You will also be asked to keep up with the video vlogs some of my starts have, you just gotta make sure they're submitting good things. You will have a team for that, you want a good video done, they'll do it, but you can always do it yourself if you want. And lastly, every year two of my departments come together for the yearly special issue but that is still months away, so no need to worry about it right now. So, Cassie, can I trust that you will be able to do this?"

You and Cassie were speechless at the number of things she would have to do. Your job was easy: act, fuck, and repeat. Hers? There's a reason why you dropped out of college, and she didn't. She could do it.

"I'll admit, it is scary the number of things I would be doing, but Mr. Stark, I can assure you that I will give my one-thousand-percent for this opportunity. I will not break that trust, sir."

She understood that it was serious, therefore you did try to hold a chuckle at how formal she sounded with him contrary to what she had sounded back at the party.

Tony took a minute to analyze Cassie's face before he gave a chuckle and grinned.

"Cassie, you have me convinced that I am making the right choice by adding you to my team," he pushed the contracts toward you both, one for you and one for Cassie, "Now, you Y/n, I already know I want you here and if I'm being honest, I have some people that were quick to tell me that you are one of the few that actually take this job seriously. It's hard to find that professionalism these days. So, here are the contracts. I know this was super last minute, so you can get comfortable outside and read them over. If you have any questions or want to go over any section of the contract, just walk right in."

With that, you both grabbed the contract. Cassie made herself comfortable on the big couch, she held a groan as the comfy couch could make her fall asleep within seconds, you opted for the lone sofa.

Neither of you could believe it was really happening, you were minutes away from signing with the brand that introduced you to this world, and Cassie was also minutes away from signing with the same brand she never thought she would be working for, and she was sure no other job would offer her an important position like the one Tony was trusting her with. It was all too surreal, yet it felt right. It felt like this was the right path and life had finally been kind enough to shed some light toward it.

While you were almost done with the contract, the last couple of pages talked about one of the offers/benefits if you worked for the company: living accommodations. You read over it carefully as it seemed like it was too good to be true. The building was not only the headquarters, but it also housed all the stars and the majority of the staff that work at the company. It was not mandatory, but each of the house-floors offered up to ten rooms, one full kitchen, one spacious common area, and each bedroom offered a personal full bathroom, and a spacious room with a queen-sized bed—which could be changed if you opted to buy a different one—and you could decorate the room however you wanted. Everything was paid for, there was no rent, but you would be in charge of your own groceries, necessities, and room furniture. The pay was good, the deal was great, the decision was made.

You showed Cassie what you had finished reading, and she had to read it from her contract to believe it. It was no surprise when she said that she would have to rent her apartment to the other college students because there was no way in hell she was going to pass out on living here along with you. Besides, the drive to the university was long from here.

Soon after that you both took a deep breath and signed the contract. Now, Tony needed to sign, and it would be a sealed deal.

You both, with grins on your face, walked in and Tony, upon seeing you both, clapped his hands and grabbed the contracts you both had set on the desk for him. He scanned it over and smiled when he saw that you both had signed for the living arrangements as well. He looked up with a bright smile.

"Well, only one thing left to do," he grabbed his pen and signed where he needed it. "Welcome to the family, you two are officially Avengers."

Before Tony could get up and serve some drinks to celebrate, the elevator announced the arrival of a new person. You all turned your heads to see Pepper walk toward where all of you were.

"Did they sign?" said Pepper as soon as she saw both of you, a smile plastered on her face.

Tony stepped around his desk and walked toward her.

"Yes, Pepper, they are officially part of the team," said Tony with a grin as he looked proud about landing a deal with you both.

"Those are great news because I already made a reservation at the new forties-themed restaurant down a couple of streets," she said as she looked happy about her actions, and she typed on her phone, and two dings were heard. You and Cassie pulled out your phones to see that Pepper had sent the address to the place.

"Nothing fancy, it's just going to be a small dinner, I'll have Jarvis pick you up at seven at your place—"she clasped her hands together and smiled, "—this is so exciting!"

By six-forty-five, the man named Jarvis—a man with a British accent and looks that had Cassie practically drooling—knocked on your door to take you both to the restaurant Pepper had made the reservations at.

The drive was quiet and quick, and soon enough you had arrived. Pepper stood outside as she waited for the car to park in front of her. Cassie opened her door before anyone could do it for her because she had an inkling that a minute too long and she would have Jarvis or Pepper open it for you and her.

She greeted both of you and guided you in as you three thanked Jarvis. The ambiance of the restaurant was beautiful and captivating that you couldn't but gape at the place. It wasn't fancy but it definitely gave that presence. Tony was waiting as he conversed with some of the people that had already arrived. You didn't recognize the people at first but soon your mind showed you where you knew them from. Some of them were definitely future co-stars while others were definitely people Cassie was going to work with as you had never seen them before.

He walked toward you when he spotted you, Cassie, and Pepper. He got up from his chair as he walked next to Pepper.

"Glad you're here, ladies," he said as he looked at the people who were now getting up from their chairs, "these are Y/n and Cassie."

A man named Bruce shook both of your hands with a shy smile, he said that he worked for the tech and art department. He was the one who helped create the sets for the movies as well as for the short films. Then another man introduced himself as Nick Fury who was the man in charge of casting—he was director—and then his second in command introduced herself as Maria Hill. Next came a woman who you knew as Captain Marvel, but her name was Carol. You couldn't help but blush at how pretty she was and not to mention the fact that you had a big crush on her. Lastly, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch introduced themselves as Pietro and Wanda. They were nice, and you couldn't help but feel that Pietro was being extra nice to you and Cassie.

The conversations started flowing as soon as Tony had said for everybody to take a seat as he announced that the others were soon to arrive. And within ten minutes everyone that had been invited came, which to you and Cassie was definitely not a small number of people to make Pepper's "small dinner" feel like one.

When everybody was seated, and Pepper had told Tony that no one else was arriving, he had the waiter serve a glass of champagne to everyone. Once the waiters had gone and served everyone, Tony stood from his chair and called for everyone's attention.

"Thank you, all of you, for canceling plans last minute as Pepper decided to do this impromptu dinner, but at the same time, this is a dinner that is important for all of us. As some of you know, a couple of months ago we hit a rough patch, some people got fired, and it left us in a hard spot. We had enemies amongst us, and they had been selling our ideas to those channels. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to hire anyone else that would cause more damage to this company, so I went out of my way and scouted people. It turned out, there's not a lot of people that impress me, but some weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting two lovely ladies who managed to get me hooked—" he motioned with his hand to you and Cassie, "—Miss Y/n and Miss Cassie here, just today, signed their contracts and will be working with us pretty soon. Y/n will be joining my precious collection of starts while Cassie will be joining the post-production team as well with the photography department which she will hold the role of head of the department. I'm not big on adding new people to my company but I refuse to pass out on people I know will succeed here, so I want all of you to help them make themselves feel at home as they will be housed with us. So, if you could raise your glasses, I want to welcome you officially and warmly, Y/n Y/l/n and Cassie Ayers, to this one big dysfunctional family!"

Along with laughs and cheers, Cassie and you could hear the quick 'welcome' some people directed at the both of you. You two thanked Tony as he motioned his glass toward the both of you before gulping it down.

You both looked at each other before looking around at the people who tried to introduced themselves and or wanted to congratulate you both on being part of the company.

It all felt great, it felt right, and you were ready to live a life you felt good about.

Welcome to the Industry Taglist:

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@arianabrashierstuff

@stylessugarhigh

@hanaamara

@fckdeusername

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Permanent Taglist:

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cocogukkie · 3 years

Text

2020 in review: kdramas (the heart fluttering, the disappointing, the saviors of 2020)

it’s december 31st! the new year is quite literally upon us (some of y’all are already in 2021) and my procrastinating self has chosen to upload this today. i’ve always loved these rec lists and I wanted to do one for 2020! this year was a rollercoaster for kdramas with some excellent ones and some not so excellent ones. i watched all of these in 2020 but not all of them were released in 2020.

if you want to use my questions to make your own list please do!! or give your favs in the tags, i’d love to read them. (fair warning, some of these have multiple answers bc i just can’t choose one!!)

drama that made me laugh

When The Camellia Blooms (2019)

i finally got around to watching when the camellia blooms this year and it. was. so. funny. oh my goodness, the comedic timing in so many scenes was pure excellency and im kinda mad at myself that i didn’t watch this last year. this isn’t just a comedy for those who are interested, its a thriller/romance but its also so fucking funny. definitely watch this if you want to laugh (and be touched bc the emotional scenes in this one are beautiful)

drama that made me cry

Sweet Home (2020)

hahah….. um this one is gonna go to sweet home friends. i went into this one with zero expectations and the first couple episodes didn’t really wow me? but i kept watching and holy shit fam. this show really picks up story-wise around ep 4 and makes the viewer love a lot of these initially unlikable characters. all i can say is that the end was devastating for me and i cried quite a bit. (warning, there are a lot of mature themes in this one so make sure you look for trigger warnings or send me an ask and i’ll list them all out for you)

best OST

Itaewon Class (2020)

i loved the ost for itaewon class!! the music is just so inspirational and pump up music, its so good. my favorites are ‘you make me back’ by woosung and ‘start’ by gaho.

drama with chemistry royalty (aka the best couple)

i have three for this one because i just cannot choose one.

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay (2020)

we recognize this one as one of the best things to come out of 2020. go moon young and moon kang tae have some of the best chemistry i have ever seen in a drama couple. i waited on the edge of my seat every single week for the next couple of episode just so i could fawn over these two. they work so well together, lift each other up, and so fucking funny together and support one another. while they’re not the chillest couple (lmao) they’re most certainly one with the most personality. they’re so cute and bicker and they just get each other. who could ask for more.

Flower of Evil (2020)

our badass mom and dad 😭😭. this was another peak drama that came out this year and our married partners-in-crime-but-not-really had amazing chemistry. baek hee sung and cha ji won were so cute as a married couple but they were even more precious later on in the drama after certain things unfolded (no spoilers). they both just get each other and protected one another as well as on the most precious kdrama children this year, their daughter eunha. they were so wholesome, flower of evil is so very worth a watch.

Into The Ring (2020)

this was one of the more underappreciated kdramas of the year but hoo buddy was the main couples chemistry top notch. they were so friggin cute and i just couldn’t. goo se ra is highkey one of the best female characters i’ve ever seen, she’s absolute chaos, lawful chaos, but chaos nonetheless. her other half, seo gong myung is opposite from her as lawful neutral. he’s just along for the ride that is se ra and loves her. they’re both so very fond and protective of each other and back each other up!! very very cute and you’ll definitely replay more than a couple of their scenes together.

most disappointing

Record of Youth (2020)

it’s sad but true… i went into this one with so much hope and excitement (i was riding off that ‘psycho but its okay’ high) and i was vastly disappointed. the plot mostly focused on the male lead, and there wasn’t much characterization for the female lead which i didn’t like. honestly, i only cared about maybe 3-4? characters in the whole drama. the rest were absolutely terrible or plain boring and i ended up skipping eps 14 and 15 and just watched the finale. i would not recommend tbh.

drama you can’t really get through

Crash Landing on You (2019)

this one is absolutely on me, i want so badly to love this one. but i just… can’t seem to get past ep 2? i’ve tried!! i swear, but i just cannot get through it. maybe in 2021, i can try again and i’ll enjoy it more.

drama everyone else liked but was meh

Kairos (2020)

i though kairos was a bit predictable tbh. i know those of us who did end up watching it really liked it but maybe its because i watch so many crime/mystery shows that this one didn’t really do it for me. the writing is quite solid and everything connects well, i would recommend that those who don’t really watch thrillers, to watch this one. (also the friendship between the female lead and her two friends is suuuper cute and worth it alone to watch kairos)

favorite romance

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay (2020)

yeah… this one wins again lol. what can i say, i just loved it so much and the main theme of the show is romance (its also a comedy and a mental health/healing drama) all i can say is watch this if you haven’t yet, its definitely worth it!!

favorite mystery

Memorist (2020) & Watcher (2019)

i really enjoyed these two mystery dramas. both were super fun to watch and very kinda unique in their own ways. i liked memorist because it was lowkey funny and i liked the relationships between the characters, but most importantly i couldn’t guess the main antagonist by the end! i really thought i knew who it was and then i was completely wrong lmao. watcher was also very good, the main trio had really good chemistry and i really cared about all the characters. (also i’ll never say no to watching seo kang joon) plus the plot twists threw me a bit at the end which is always a feeling i welcome, i love being surprised and wrong (as long as it makes sense)

favorite slice of life

Hospital Playlist (2020)

oh my goodness, i was late to the hospital playlist party and i regret it because this show is so. so. good. its just a slice of life following 5 friends who are doctors and work at the same hospital together but its so much more than that. this is honestly one of the first shows i’ve seen that are optimistic? in the show, every time i thought a plot was going to play out a certain way (usually negatively, as tends to be life unfortunately) it surprised me by taking the more optimistic wholesome route. characters in subplots changed for the better, became more understanding, chose to do the right thing, etc. if you want a feel good drama where the main characters have wonderful platonic chemistry and just care about each other but is also super funny, watch hospital playlist!! (season 2 is coming out early 2021 and im so pumped)

favorite fantasy

The Untamed (2019)

this one is a cdrama but i watched it in 2020, mostly because of how many people on the internet were adamant that the rest of us watch this and ngl they were v right. the untamed was very very good and im really glad i gave it a chance and watched it, its also my first cdrama ever. the chemistry between the male leads is honestly what makes this show and its worth the 50? i think? episodes. to be completely honest the fanfiction for the show are peak and if you do watch this, go straight to ao3 and you will not be disappointed.

dramas that saved 2020

The Uncanny Counter (2020) & Run On (2020)

these two dramas are among those that started airing at the end of the year and will go into the beginning of 2021 and absolutely saved the end of 2020 for me. while neither of these are finished, both have been excellent so far and worth starting. uncanny counter has the best use of the found family trope i have ever seen. i fucking love the four counters and their relationship with each other, how protective they are of one another. they all have amazing chemistry and the actors have amazing chemistry in the making films.

run on has one of the cutest couples that will definitely make my best chemistry list for next year. i didn’t put them on this list bc they actually haven’t gotten together yet but once they do, they’re gonna be freaking adorable, i can already tell. there’s no specific grand events propelling the plot forward, but just following the lives of these unique, interesting and relatable people who have casual yet entertaining conversations with each other. the show is super soft and the main couple are so straightforward and honest (plus theres mutual pining!!)

best dramas of the year

here are my best dramas (and one movie) watched this year, no further explanation given lolol. just watch them and enjoy because these are fucking excellent in the feels department. trust me 💞

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay (2020)

Flower of Evil (2020)

Itaewon Class (2020)

Hospital Playlist (2020)

One Spring Night (2019)

Midnight Runners (2017)

Hot Stove League (2019)

I hope this gives you some fun stuff to watch!! or convince you to start that drama in your watchlists!

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lady-z-writes · 3 years

Text

Plaything (Heisenberg x fem!reader)

Chapter 5 (of 5)

Summary: Reader works for BSAA and is scoping out the village until you get captured by none other than Heisenberg who doesn’t take well to trespassers. Once he learns of your hatred for your job, he wants the information you have and he doesn’t have to try hard to get it. You find yourself drinking, fireside, with him and can’t help but let him touch you. Angie said he’d needed a plaything and, well, you’re it.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Final chapter below the cut:

The paranoia sets in after his ‘sister’ leaves. Heisenberg sends the Haulers to scope out the lower structures of the factory. Alcina is irksome, true enough, but her senses are pretty keen and he’s been up all night after you fell asleep – sans the chains. He’s not a monster.

The thought of a rat in his factory without him even knowing…it pushes him to a boiling point. Maybe that gargantuan with the sombrero is playing him as a fool, but he can’t take a chance.

He gets no work done, just paces back and forth in his makeshift office, focusing on all the bad that could potentially come his way with talk of your survival getting out.

She’ll kill you. He knows it; saw something similar happen with a villager Bela brought home. Apparently, Alcina’s the only one who’s allowed servants.

Who is he fooling? He knows the difference. The few survivors at House Dimitrescu are rotated through. And they’re for the sole purpose of eating. What Miranda saw in Bela’s beau was different – she could call it in an instant: attraction, temptation, hope. Hope for a different life; for something other than this village.

Anything that distracts from Miranda’s plan needs immediate attention. He’s sure she’ll be visiting within the day.

Heisenberg lets his anger out as he shoots a slew of knives at the wall.

And then he hears it.

The screeching from below.

They found something.

Heisenberg hasn’t hurried that quickly in ages – the winded feeling aching his lungs.

Sure enough, following the stream to the sub-basement, he hears the gunshots, spots the scene: a man taking out his Haulers, but more replacing them due to the noise.

Heisenberg shoves a metal pole in the man’s direction, knocking him down in one swoop. A snap of his fingers and the Haulers retreat.

“And who might you be?” he drones on as the man groans, trying to pull himself to his feet. “Not a talker, huh? That’s okay. I’ll put the pieces together for you: you’re part of the agents. You, somehow, survived and now you think you can just hide out here until your little helicopter picks you back up and takes you home to your comfy bed.” The man stands now, eyes glancing at the gun he’d dropped to his left. “Ah, ah. Bad choice.” They’re at a standstill. “Listen, I’m entertained, truly, it’s just getting dull so…” he shifts his hammer over his shoulder.

“You have her, don’t you?” the man speaks evenly.

Heisenberg narrows his eyes. “Have who?”

“[Y/N].” He dares to step closer. “I heard her in there. You have her.”

Heisenberg smirks. “Ah, you heard us, huh? Would it interest you to know just what those screams were really about?”

The man picks up on his innuendo. “You’re lying.”

“See for yourself.” Heisenberg purses his lips. “Friend of hers?” he’s met with silence. “Well, clearly a reunion is in order.” He swipes and forces metal to mold around the man’s hands, shackling him before he pushes him toward the staircase.

It takes a while, but he manages to shove the intruder all the way back to his quarters, where he knew you’d still be.

You’re still wearing his shirt, looking like a vision, when he forces the man into his quarters – flat on his face.

“Ohh, [Y/N]…” he speaks in a singsong voice.

You open your eyes, a slight smirk on your face before you stretch out under his bedsheets and look in his direction.

Within seconds, you’re bolting up in bed. The look you’re sending him is hard to read. The initial shock sets in and then there’s recognition…hurt?

“Chris?”

“Oh, fuck, [Y/N]…” he struggles to get up, but Heisenberg flicks his wrist and the cuffs tighten. Chris groans out.

“Touching. Truly touching. Now, I told ya you’d get to see her…” he points in her direction. “See?”

“You asshole,” Chris cusses.

“Time to die!” Heisenberg raises a gloved fist and calls all the metal items in the room.

“No, stop!” you’re rushing toward Heisenberg, his shirt billowing around your naked nether regions. You grip his wrist and put yourself between the two men. “Please, Karl, no.”

Heisenberg raises an eyebrow. “What does this whelp mean to you?”

“It’s…complicated.”

Heisenberg glances between the two of you, really takes in the expression on Chris’ face.

“Ah, so you two used to fuck then, is that it?” Heisenberg hums.

“[Y/N], get away from him,” Chris warns from on the floor, clearly irate at the current discussion. Heisenberg laughs.

“Chris, you don’t understand. He’s…” you sigh, unable to put it into words. “He’s not what you think. He’s not like you think.”

And it’s true. Though you’ve seen the bad parts of him, you’ve seen his humanity still. You’ve seen the hurt parts of him, the irreparable parts that Miranda damaged.

Heisenberg lowers his hand at this and the metals go clanging to the ground. His mouth is a hard line, but his eyes show so much emotion. You’re reminded of the soft moment he shared last night before treating you to several orgasms.

“You’ve got two minutes to convince me not to kill him.”

“He got out!” you yell, tears in your eyes. “He’s proof, Karl. He got out. BSAA. All of this…he’s proof that I can do it.”

The conversation from the other night comes to mind and Heisenberg hums.

“You could get her out of this?” Heisenberg’s voice is level now as he asks Chris.

“Y-yeah…yes?” Chris, clearly confused, struggles to stand with his hands cuffed in front of him. “Why, do you…?”

Heisenberg narrows his eyes, stares at the ground. When he exhales out of his nose, you glance his way.

“Well,” he lights a cigar, puffs on it a few times before speaking again. “Looks like you’ve got lots to discuss.”

And just like that, he’s snapped the cuffs off Chris and is sauntering out of the room. You follow after him, but he pushes you against the wall with one hand against your neck.

“Karl…” you practically sob.

He doesn’t look at you. “Look, you got an out, you take it.” He exhales again, speaks barely at a whisper, “If I’d had an out…” he lets that sentence trail off.

“But, Karl, what about-”

“Miranda’s already aware of your presence in my factory – guaranteed. We’ve got my fucked up family to thank for that. If I know Miranda – and I do… - she’ll come sniffing around soon…” his thumb rubs along your neck. You’ve never seen him look so serious when he says, “I can’t let her know about my plans, [Y/N].”

And he lets you go. When your feet plant back on the ground, you hear Chris stumble through the doorway as Heisenberg saunters down the hall. You know he’s made up his mind. And wasn’t it a pipedream anyway, staying here with him?

Tears prickle in your eyes.

Chris rushes to your side, watches the scene before him. You can tell he’s ready to go after Heisenberg, but you put a hand on his chest in hopes you’ll stop him. The defeated feeling is overwhelming.

“[Y/N], leave it to you to get wrapped up in all of this,” Chris mumbles.

Your fingers are busy playing with the hem of the shirt Karl gave you. “Yeah…leave it to me.”

“C’mon, let’s get you dressed.”

•••

You were never good at leaving, never good at goodbyes, and this is no different.

It’s not like you had things to pack, you’d been here for a total of a few days and as you think about it, you realize how crazy this seems: to get this head-over-heels in a matter of a few days.

But you’d like to think you understand each other.

And he trusted you, let you into his headspace for those few days.

You convince Chris to give you five minutes before you leave. It’s…awkward between you. There were several occasions in your history where you indulged in each other out of pure convenience. Late nights after work, early mornings before, missions if you could ever sneak away…neither of you could hold down a steady relationship with work so you just made the best of it.

Things got complicated between the two of you – things are always complicated with Chris – but you never expected him to be here. You hadn’t heard about the Hound Wolf Squad, but it sort of gave you hope that there could be a version of you that gets out of these missions, this life.

Heisenberg is in one of his many offices when you finally find him – there are three main ones and you never know where he’ll be. He’s tinkering with something, but you can see his mind is elsewhere. He doesn’t look up at you when you enter the room.

You close the door, take a few tentative steps toward him.

When you wrap your arms around him, you hear him sigh. Your cheek is pressed against his back, hands met around his middle, and you just hold onto him.

You’re tentative, never knowing what kind of mood he’s going to be in and what constitutes a step too far. But, apparently, right now this is okay.

“There’s no changing my mind, you know,” he speaks.

“I know,” you nod against him, shift your body so you’re between him and his workbench. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

His expression softens. Gloved fingers come to swipe your hair from your face. You hate the thought of his years of planning to fall apart just because of you.

“You’re welcome.”

The moment stills again.

“We could have been good,” you whisper out.

A nod. “If you stay here, you’ll get killed. Simple as that. I’m making a choice, buttercup.”

“I know…” you nod, try not to cry. “It’s crazy…” you sniffle, look away.

“What’s crazy?” he’s still got his hand cupping under your chin.

“This heat between us. I mean, you don’t know me.”

He gives you one of those devilish smirks. “But I could know you.”

And just like that, you’re pawing at him again – pulling him in to kiss you, letting your hands trail down to undo his pants. One last time.

The moment is slow as he pulls down your pants and takes you right on his workbench. You’re pretty sure you hear the door open and then close again – Chris had always been a stickler for time and your five minutes was surely up.

You lose sense of everything when he’s between your legs. It’s nice to just be in this moment with him, a final goodbye.

Gloved fingers against your clit, he urges another orgasm out of you, more powerful than the last.

You’re both wandering hands and needy kisses, soft moans as he slowly ruts into you; savoring every thrust.

The moment ends before you’d like it to; Heisenberg thrusting deep in you, his face buried in the crook of your neck as he gasps and moans your name. When he finally pulls back, you can tell he’s blissed after the orgasm, but when reality sets in you see the emotion on his face.

You have to leave.

You’ll be killed if you don’t – he said it himself – but a part of you thinks it’s worth risking. He doesn’t feel the same, you’re sure, considering his metal army would be discovered and the work he’d put in would be for naught.

Revenge is a little more important than a chick he just met a few days ago. You’re being unrealistic, you know that.

“I’ll miss you,” you say, hand cupping his cheek, thumb tracing over his scars.

“And I, you.”

“Hate to break this up, but there’s an extremely tall woman headed this way…” Chris enters the room.

“Fuck,” you jump down from the workbench, pull on your pants – the ripped-up ones from the day you met Heisenberg – they’ll have to do, you’d decided.

“Take the elevator all the way down. You’ll see a tunnel. Head through there.”

You kiss him once more, pulling him into you shamelessly in front of Chris, savoring every moment with him. There’s a spark between the two of you that Chris will never understand.

And you leave without turning back because one look at him and you know you’re staying put – won’t have the guts to walk away.

Unbeknownst to you, Chris lingers in the doorway, arms crossed, staring at Heisenberg.

“You really care for her,” Chris acknowledges.

“You should really leave if you want to make it out of here alive,” he ignores Chris’ comment.

Chris’ eyes narrow. Pointedly, he pulls a business card from his pocket, lifts it toward Heisenberg, slams it down on the table beside him, then follows you down the hallway.

Heisenberg’s eyes trace over the printed lettering and a smirk appears on his face.

•••

You fake dead. That’s how you get out of this. Chris and his team cover for you and in turn you help with the Hound Wolf Squad.

Neither of you talk about what happened in Heisenberg’s factory. Neither of you really talk about any of it, really. And some missions he knows you’re too close to so he leaves you out of it.

You aren’t really together, but Chris crashes at your apartment here and there – another convenience factor thing. And, yes, maybe a few nights you’ve gotten a little too drunk and fallen into each other’s arms. It’s partly pure convenience and partly because loneliness strikes again and you’re thinking of what could have been if you’d stayed behind in the village…

One drunken night, you’re lying in bed beside Chris as he flips through TV stations.

“Did he ever…-” he starts, looking at you out of the corner of his eye. “Never mind.”

You don’t push, but you’re sure he has questions about Heisenberg, sure he’s curious why you fell into your captor’s arms, sure he wonders if it was a Stockholm Syndrome deal after all.

You rarely let yourself think of him, don’t wonder what-if, don’t carry the weight of his story with you, try not to worry about his future…

Without a second thought, you change the subject to the movie he just put on, ignore the ache that settles in your chest.

•••

Months pass; holidays, birthdays. New works crops up and you’re so distracted. It’s a welcomed change. For once you’re enjoying working, not despising being sent out on mission after mission. You’re considering buying yourself a home.

You’re busy for once in a long while and keeping up on things has been trying, but your friends attempt to help keep you level by taking you out once in a while or having a movie night. You’re grateful for the turn your life has taken. Who knew that mission to the village would alter so many things?

You’re waiting on a call back from your colleague, hoping to get information so you can start up on your next project but also hoping to start your weekend soon – a night out with friends is long overdue since you started looking at houses to purchase.

Glancing out your window, you see a family passing on the street below your apartment, a baby in a stroller, a dog on a leash, bike riders and rollerbladers and joyful people completely unaware of any bioweapons in other places.

You shut your curtains, push those thoughts away, close your eyes, and try to steady your breathing.

When your phone rings, you mindlessly swipe to answer.

“Hello?”

The voice on the line stops you in your tracks.

“Hello, kitten.”

#heisenberg #karl heisenberg #karl heisenberg x reader #karl heisenberg x you #heisenberg x reader #heisenberg x you #lemon #smut

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phoenixglacier · 3 years

Text

Archon Quest Chapter I: Rewritten

(Part of my Genshin Impact Headcanons (things that blatantly go against canon but I’m pretending at true) series.)

Hi guys I really hated the Liyue Archon quest, but I don’t want to because Liyue really doesn’t deserve that. So I mixed it up a little to fix the main problems I had with it.

In this post:

Ningguang is the Geo Archon and Liyue’s Archon. She is “Morax”, with “Ningguang” as her modern name. Details such as Morax being of the original Seven and writing contracts with all adepti applies to Ningguang.

Zhongli is only an adeptus, not the archon, at any point. His original and official name is “Rex Lapis”, with “Zhongli” as the name that he’s using as a mortal.

Mainly, I wanted to remove Zhongli from the position of Liyue’s Archon entirely, because I his character is much more likeable that way (to me).

I’ll be marking parts that are the same as the original version with a *.

So, here’s how I would have the storyline play out in the game with my version of the Liyue Archon quest:

Traveller goes to Liyue Harbour as instructed by Venti*. They aren’t told that there’s any time limit, Morax simply governs the people directly rather than descending once a year. However, few ever get the honour of seeing Lord Morax (Ningguang), and her decrees are mainly spread by her direct underlings and the Qixing (Keqing and others).

When Traveller arrives, they set to work asking the ordinary citizens about Lord Morax and how to meet her. The citizens tell her the same spiel* about how the Qixing control Liyue. Here, the conversation/argument between the citizens is brought up about whether the Qixing should be given any credit compared to the Adepti. They eventually direct Traveller to Yujin Terrace*, because they can pray to the Adepti there.

At Yujing Terrace, there are people milling about, but they have not gathered for a specific event. They walk around and pray and act like normal NPCs.

Traveller makes wishes at the altars as per in-game and talks to some people which gives her insight on what the Liyue people tend to wish for. As she heads to the last altar, the cutscene triggers.

In the cutscene, we see the body of the Dragon Rex Lapis fall from the sky*, but the crowd isn’t originally crowded around the body, rather they move towards the body after they see it fall.

(For this part, basically Rex Lapis is declared dead*, and I’ve chosen to introduce Ganyu here arbitrarily) Ganyu appears suddenly from the sky, attracting the camera view and the attention. She jumps towards the body, and declares that this is the Mighty Adeptus Rex Lapis, and that he has been murdered. She declares that “Lady Ningguang will not forgive the culprit.”

The millelith begin securing the area accordingly, and Paimon panics*. We could have the sneaking quest again, but alternatively we could just skip straight to the next cutscene: while Traveller tries to escape, Childe grabs their hand and tells them “Come with me.”

(Childe had been in the area of Yujing Terrace earlier, but Traveller didn’t have the chance to talk to him yet because he was near the last altar, where the cutscene would trigger when they got close.)

Once they’ve escaped, the same conversation* happens where Childe tells them he’s a Fatui, Traveller prepares to fight him, Childe convinces them that they need his help, gives them the Sigil of Permission for Jueyan Karst, etc. Childe has to convince them that they’re a suspect a little more compared to the original, and amps up the blame on the Qixing*.

Traveller’s Jueyan Karst journey is the same*. However, the dialogue is a little different: the Adepti question why Ningguang sent a mortal to deliver the message to them, then they ask why she didn’t send a message at all. They are more enraged than ever over the death of Rex Lapis, whom they consider to be a friend and ally rather than the one they owe loyalty to.

After that’s done, Traveller returns and Childe introduces them to Zhongli*. It’s similar, but Zhongli explains that he has been instructed with the honour of carrying out the funeral for Rex Lapis, and as such will get to meet Lady Ningguang. If Traveller helps him out, he’ll bring them with him to meet her. Traveller agrees*. Childe is still funding*.

While the whole shopping fiasco with Zhongli could go exactly the same*, I think it’s more fun to merge Yanfei’s quest into it. Yanfei offers her services after Zhongli has trouble obtaining specific materials, and throughout the quest they can run into similar legal/scammy/bargaining scenarios. When Yanfei parts ways with us, she admits that she’s an adeptus but points out that the city needs legal advisors like her more than they need adepti*.

(Adding Yanfei’s quest here would be great because we would be introduced to Liyue’s culture of contracts early on, helping us understand Liyue better and hitting all the significant people anyway. It would also make a nice contrast with Zhongli’s cluelessness, and show the difference between adepti who are stuck in traditional ways vs adepti who were able to adapt.)

Zhongli brings Traveller to dinner, where they’re finally personally approached by Ganyu and invited to the Jade Chamber*. Zhongli says that it seems we don’t need his help after all since we’ve gotten the invitation by ourselves, but asks us to come to the funeral later anyway. Paimon assumes we won’t see Zhongli again until the funeral.

We meet Keqing on our way to the Jade Chamber*. She doesn’t ask us not to side with the Adepti exactly, but instead scold us a little for getting the Adepti involed at all. She says that “The Adepti live so far away from Liyue Harbour that they would never have known if you hadn’t told them.” Traveller also asks her how she knows that the adepti know, since we haven’t seen them since, and Keqing responds that Ningguang must trust the Qixing with this information, since they run Liyue with her.

In the Jade Chamber: (I can’t actually remember much of the dialogue from the original version...) but it should be similar-ish. The scene would probably be extra flashy to emphasise that she’s an Archon at first, then as she insists on being casual the filtering gets casual too. Ningguang tells her how much she trusts her, some of the history of Liyue (them coming together to protect Liyue during the war), and how the Adepti are angry with her about Rex Lapis’ death. She talks about the Fatui and how they’ve been trying to get a foothold here. She notes that she admires how Mondstadt has prevented them from having a hand in their running, but having a Harbringer in their city makes it difficult to push back against them. Ningguang asks Traveller what they think about Keqing, then sighs and says that she is very capable but very young. She mentions Yanfei, and explains that she is unique because she is half-adeptus and also very young. Traveller asks whether she thinks there’s no way for the rest of the Adepti to adapt to modern Liyue, and about Rex Lapis, and Ningguang skirts around those topics.

Traveller gets the information of the second Fatui base from Ningguang’s wall*. After that, actually going to the location is probably in Part 4.

When Part 4 starts, Traveller goes to the base, raids it, and finds the Sigils of Permission*. They are then caught by Childe. In the dialogue that follows, Paimon and Traveller accuse Childe of several things, including goading him that his plan of using Zhongli didn’t work. Childe laughs and reveals what we think is his whole plan: summon an Ancient God to attack all of Liyue Harbour. He says that leaving Traveller to babysit Zhongli was just to distract them, since he knew they would meddle with him otherwise. He also says that Morax, the Qixing and the Adepti are fighting each other now, and don’t have time to do anything except argue.

Traveller fights him*. The fight is pretty much the same, with him triggering his delusion and using Foul Legacy and being introduced as Tartaglia*. After he finishes fighting Traveller in Foul Legacy, he regrets it a little and says that he got carried away, but since Traveller is on the ground (conscious but) he begins the summoning for Osial.

(All of that can still take place in the Golden House with just an extra “Follow Childe” quest or by placing the Fatui base nearby and having Traveller follow a trail to there. I did think it would be cool if the base was in the Guyun Stone Forest instead, exactly where Osial was summoned. So after the summoning, Paimon yells at Traveller to teleport a distance away)

Cutscene where Traveller meets up with Ningguang, the Qixing, and the Adepti*. Paimon expresses surprise that they’re not fighting each other, they say that they’ve put aside their argument until Osial has been stopped, so on*. The fight and strategy would be almost identical, with Ningguang creating the platform and ballistas, and Traveller fighting the Fatui with the blessings of the Adepti.

This next cutscene is crucial. Instead of one of Osial’s attacks destroying the platform, one of the Fatui’s portals opens up behind Ningguang. Childe launches out from it and takes her Gnosis out of her body the same as with Venti. Ningguang’s concentration is broken and she nearly faints, which causes the whole platform to start breaking. Then Zhongli crashes in, catching Ningguang from her fall and immediately attempting to fight Childe. Childe is confused (“Zhongli-xiansheng..?”) and shocked, but Zhongli doesn’t try reasoning with him or saying anything at all, instead trying to fight him immediately. Childe is excited to engage in the fight, while Zhongli gets hurt immediately and is confused at why he’s so weak. However, the fight doesn’t last more than a few seconds, as Childe starts to run and Ningguang (weak and collapsing) tells Zhongli that they have to focus on protecting Liyue first, and the other Adepti go “This aura... Rex Lapis?”

They drop the Jade Chamber on Osial to defeat him*. Now comes the part where they explain everything that has been going on. The Adepti and the Qixing alike demand answers, the Adepti especially expressing that Zhongli has to be Rex Lapis. Ningguang explains most of it:

Some time back, Rex Lapis came to her saying that he wants to die. He’s tired from losing all of his old friends and working endlessly. “While I understand that it is the terms of my contract to serve you and Liyue, is there any way for this contract to end?”

(Zhongli notes that his experience with Yanfei showed him that contracts are much more complicated than they used to be)

Ningguang had agreed, because she thinks that Liyue is much safer than it was when she had signed those contracts with them, and if that was what Rex Lapis wished then so be it. However, she also thought it was too big of a decision to just not make use of.

The plan was that Rex Lapis would fake a very public death. After doing so (killing his original body) the rest of him would go into a human body where he will die at whatever human lifespan he made it to. This would allow Rex Lapis to live as a mortal under the name Zhongli for what to him was a very short amount of time. But because most of him was killed, he lost almost all of his power, reducing him to really just a mortal (still really strong, just weak in comparison to how he used to be as a Dragon and an Adeptus), which he unfortunately only realised the implications of when he couldn’t protect Ningguang from Childe.

The Adepti get angry and teary at Zhongli, saying that they really thought he was dead and scolding both of them for keeping it a secret. We get a few more emotional lines.

The plan was that Rex Lapis would fake a very public death. Ningguang would use this to stir up the people and sow distrust towards the Fatui, using it to drive them out. From her reports of Zhongli, she eventually guessed that Childe was planning to attack her at some point of the funeral shenanigans, which she was prepared for and planning to make use of. In short, she was hoping to get rid of the Fatui by using Rex Lapis’ death as a cover/excuse/catalyst.

But the Osial situation was beyond her expectations, and she wasn’t prepared for that. She doesn’t explain exactly what the Gnosis is to the people present, merely saying that it is important, and Keqing quips that Ningguang looks like hell right now. This launches into the Adepti vs Qixing conversation*.

The Adepti accuse Ningguang of not trusting them and trying to cut them out in favour of these mortals. The Qixing retort that the Adepti were only useful today because they needed to fight, even arguing that Cloud Retainer’s technology could only be put to use in the form of weaponry and nothing else. Madame Ping mediates the most*. Ningguang tells the Adepti that it wasn’t that she doesn’t trust them, but that she didn’t want them to have to get involved when they had already distanced themselves and were living peaceful lives in seclusion. She takes the Qixing’s side, but tries to explain to the Adepti why. The scene ends similarly to the original*. As they leave, the Adepti tell the Qixing and other humans to call them whenever Liyue needs their help.

That’s the end of the dramatic scene. At the funeral, things go pretty much the same*. Traveller hears people talking about the Fatui being the cause of everything* (Ningguang milked the Osial situation completely*). The Fatui are also blamed for Rex Lapis’ death. If the millelith still does make a speech, it would be that Lady Ningguang is cracking down on getting the Fatui out, which is met with positive reactions. Ningguang gives a speech at the funeral which honours Rex Lapis and reminds the people to work together for a new future of Liyue, but it would be less dramatic than the original.

When we talk to Zhongli, he explains some things: When he turned human, Ningguang gave him some money and a job and asked him to practice being human because she intended to give him an allowance to live on in the future. With the limited knowledge he had from never being a human before and the intense studying from a few books on funerals, Zhongli did his best. (He’d also accidentally fallen in love with a Fatui Harbringer oops). Traveller asks him what he’ll do now since he has some years left before his human body dies and he replies that he has absolutely no idea. After some thought, he mentions “I wonder whether Childe will forgive me...”

Traveller probably talks to Ganyu instead of Ningguang for the final ending (the part where they tell them about Inazuma*).

End.

Okay um so some notes about why I made Zhongli not-the-archon:

I was really frustrated that he seemed to not care about the mess he was making in Liyue at all. By making him a normal adeptus, it’s much more acceptable for him to walk away from all his duties because the responsibility doesn’t fall solely to him. Not only is Liyue not falling apart because their main Archon is still there, but he doesn’t bear the actual main responsibility at all.

Zhongli’s cluelessness when it comes to mora doesn’t make any sense if he was supposedly managing the whole country until last year. Plus, Liyue even trades with all other countries, so it’s not like he’s never had to be worried about losing money. By making this the first time he’s really experienced human society, his unbalanced knowledge and behaviour can seem more cute than incompetant. Even his rigidness towards his contracts and the details of the funeral can be explained because he’s probably also been living in seclusion like everyone else.

In the original story, Zhongli stood by while everyone else fought Osial, even though he still had his Gnosis, even though Liyue and all his Adepti’s lives were on the line. In this version, it was possible for Zhongli to interfere in the fight while still losing, because he was already a mortal. It makes him far more compelling because he actually tried to help.

The contract with Signora. We don’t know (yet) what the terms are, so for the the contract is just very annoying. It only serves to convince me that the Gnoses can’t actually be that important. Anyway, dramatic gnosis-stealing scene is what I prefer. At least we can have sympathy for the character - I can’t admire Zhongli for whatever smart decision he made because I don’t know what it is.

Overall, if you change Zhongli to a normal Adeptus, almost all of his existing dialogue reads much better without needing any changes, because the explanation is satisfactory.

Why make Ningguang Morax, then?

Ningguang is already introduced as if she is a god. People tell folktales of her, she displays complex high-level magic that we haven’t even seen Zhongli do (that platform and ballistas), she lives in a literal floating island in the sky that she built, etc. She’s also already running Liyue and doing well at it and has a strong sense of responsibility towards it. It makes sense for her to be the Archon.

Why not Keqing? First of all, Keqing’s elemental and physical abilities aren’t portrayed as particularly special (all of this is based on story bits, not the game mechanics). While she seems capable, the game doesn’t originally give her enough buildup and credit, and she’s portrayed as younger and more stubborn. But most importantly, Keqing is the key person on the Qixing side of the argument, so she needs to remain a Qixing.

Why add Yanfei’s quest in the middle:

The Liyue Archon quest went way too fast without getting us close to Liyue itself. Zhongli’s quest is meant to get us close to them, but he only brings us to people and spouts trivia. Yanfei’s quest embodies the “Contracts” aspect of Liyue so well and it would be really useful to go through that quest before we had to fight to defend Liyue.

If you compare Liyue to Mondstadt and Inazuma, you’ll see that you automatically get close to Mondstadt because it takes a long time to level in the early days of playing. Meanwhile, Inazuma requires you to complete Yoimiya’s quest (which shows the culture of “Eternity” in Inazuma) and Ayaka’s quest (which shows the people whp want to escape the “Eternity” in Inazuma, although Yoimiya’s quest is more important). Liyue doesn’t require any quests in between at all, yet players don’t neccessarily spend time there idly, so it’s hard to get to know Liyue.

Alternatively, Yanfei’s quest could just be a required quest between the parts instead of being integrated into the main Archon Quest itself.

Thanks for reading the Geo Archon Ningguang version of the Liyue Archon Quest.

#phoenixglacier’s words #phoenixglacier writes #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact #Morax #Ningguang #Zhongli #Geo Archon Ningguang #...I think I’ll post an abridged version after this

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mndvx · 3 years

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please enlighten me as to how much this episode sucked 🤭 bc from what i'm reading, it was even worse than last week

Turns out we finally found which episode of Titans is the worst!! (So far, at least.)

I have a feeling that the finale will be the most absolute insane pile of dog shit this show has ever had. And it's had a lot lately!! They really baited us into thinking there was a slight chance of it being good with the first four episode. I'm so mad.

Last week was a filler episode. And it was bad. But they really outdid themselves with this one, it's... yeah it's the worst episode of Titans, so far.

The GCPD is incompetent, that we already knew. So it's not really surprising when Random Nameless Cop #4 ends up being easily bought by Jason/Crane after we saw him have a little feely chat with Barbs about someone he knew dying from the fear induced riots or whatever

but before that, Crane sends all of gotham a little fanvid he made in his garage using footage from episode 1, not in any way shot differently, it's just episode 1 intro fight against Gizmo Guys copy pasted with a few flashing random buzz words, like "thief" "con-man" or whatever and him narrating about how the titans are bad guys and the reason why gotham's water is poisoned and says he put a bounty of 500K on the titans dead or alive. We get a little montage of every main character seeing the vid. With Conner and Komand'r spooning together in the living room d'aww and Gar reading up on Lazarus Pits then having a little DCney Prince moment with the bats in the cave before Kory comes in to tell him about the video.

So with that, what does Dick do? First he tells Barbara he's gonna fix this(tm) then he goes back to the batcave (off screen) and i guess tells the rest of the team (off screen) to get into a parking lot or something?? where they get surrounded by dozens of people and like... Fight four of them before Dick tells them to come back??? Also, at some point during this Dick is like "Me staying here, it's a mistake I should be with you guys" and Kory tells him "No! You got a bounty on your head, it's safer" so why is Gar not staying in the cave with him, he's not invincible either!!

Meanwhile, Donna is taking a taxi to get back to Gotham, because I guess she can't teleport anymore, that must've been some of that Purgatory juice that sent her from Themyscira to that other Wayne Manor to save Bruce (who we hear NOTHING about. I mean good, we're not here for him, but she literally just stopped him from kiling himself in another country and now she's on the way to Gotham all alone... That's weird

Same thing about Tim, we saw him come back from the dead last week, but he's nonexistent in this episode. No one, not a single person all titans included, even speaks about him or even vaguely mentions him being shot or asks if he's okay or anything.

and then that random Lydia amazon shows up saying she's been following Donna "for 10 minutes" which is really weird, because Donna definitely was moving for longer than ten minutes, i mean she was IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, so how the fuck did you show up specifically on that road to Gotham just ten minutes ago, CAN YOU TELEPORT LYDIA??? I guess she can because then she slams Donna down and she wakes up in some random woods she calls "The Training Grounds" like it means something. blablabla this is the B Plot i guess? It's dumb, it's pointless. It's Lydia fighting Donna for way too long, some random shit about Lydia's daughter Angela dying and how she's sad or whatever who cares, then telling Donna she has to rise, she was born to lead people etc etc (can you tell how hard they're trying to make a spin off happen?) before Donna can finally go back to going to Gotham (no she doesn't get reunited with the team.)

Dick and Babs meet in a bar for some reason, random pointless and annoying reminiscing about their past before Dick tells her he's gonna turn himself in as Nightwing, pay bail then vanish from Gotham so the people can supposedly keep faith in the GCPD and not turn against them?? idk, if Nightwing vanished like that right after being caught by them, I wouldn't trust them to protect me but that's just me!

Jason and Crane have a weird and cringey chat (again. they had one before as he prepared his fanvid, talking about... Breakfast?? Jason was annoyed and didn't get the point of it, same) and he goes on this rant about how Jason needs to believe in himself and all that, makes him go "Red Hood!! Say it with me! Red Hood!" for like... what felt like at least a whole minute before he suits back up and goes back to being the murderous little shit he CHOSE to be, Molly calls him and asks him to stop he says no i have to </3 (you don't dumbass)

Dick tells everyone his plan, they all eventually agree because that's totally not gonna go wrong 🙄🙄 so they suit up and go to the GCPD to make a little show of their surrender. The cop that was bought out apparently has a lot of friends bc most of the cops present during the thing start acting up and one of them pushes Komand'r first (geoff johns, i'm in your walls with a knife) which is only so Conner can go "HEY BACK OFF 😠😠" before they then start attacking everyone. You already saw Kom gets shot, so yeah... That happens. Con stopped one bullet and stood there just 🖐🏻😠 while another was shot and hit Komand'r in the stomach or something, the most boring fight scene ensues (gar gets shirtless yay! sorry.) Barbara kills the cop who had his gun drawn on Dick and she's later on arrested by Vee for it, which... what the fuck??

so everyone left after the whole boring fight, separating and hiding. Kory and Kom go to a church where Kory decides to use her powers to try and heal the bullet wound that is KILLING her sister, and Komand'r somehow (unconsciously) absorbs all of Kory's powers, which makes Kory mad and go on a whole thing wondering if this was her plan all along, making Kory care for her so she could betray her or something. Komand'r says it's not the case and asks what will it cost for Kory to trust her etc. (honestly this whole episode is badly written, but 🥺🥺 Kory admitted she cared about Kom). then they have another argument, because Kory wants to return to the Titans and help them, but Komand'r tells her they should leave and go somewhere alone the two of them, and that Kory is a queen and was never meant to be fighting a war that's not hers and they then separate because Kory is not going anywhere. Komand'r then leaves, Kory asks where she's going and Kom tells her she's not "the only one with unfinished business" which... what? So yeah, now Komand'r has Kory's full set of powers and Kory is COMPLETELY depowered.

And then we have a little montage of the city going to shit and full chaos, with Barbara being arrested for killing that other cop. Donna beats up a soldier who wouldn't let her come in Gotham. Because of course she comes back when everything's gone to shit, how convenient.

Gar is all alone in an empty warehouse type of place, after having been shot with a tranquilizer dart while the whole fight in the GCPD happened, (which was like half a day ago, idk how animal tranquilizer work but that must be strong stuff because he's still a little knocked out from it) he sees a raven that then turns into our beloved little Rachel!!! She tells him she found him because she felt his energy, and they have a quick recap chat where he tells her Jason and Crane turned the city into chaos she doesn't react in any particular way, so i guess she knows Jason is evil? whatever. the good thing about this scene is Rachel using her powers!! (and Ryan Potter's abs)

Then we see Dick and Conner on their own, with Conner insisting they need to go out there and help people but Dick being the dumbfuck he is tells Conner they can't, that they need to stay hidden and not be caught, so going back to Wayne Manor is also out of the question. But CONNER IS INVINCIBLE!!!!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE GRAYSON!!!!

And for our last scenes, Jason and Crane are in Wayne Manor. He makes Jason destroy a painting of Bruce and his parents because of course you have redecorate the place now that it's yours, Jason has quick flashbacks of his conversation with Bruce in Crime Alley in the shitty episode all about Jay and angrily stabs the painting like 20 times?? And Crane actually says "Welcome to Crane Manor", it wasn't just the synopsis being cringe!

ANYWAY. TERRIBLE FUCKING BAD EPISODE.

#jonskory #titans #titans spoilers #sorry it's a VERY long post

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magnumdays · 3 years

Text

4.01 ideas

So season 3 leaves a lot of different ways for season 4 to start.

I have to believe there was an actual reason for sending Juliet and Ethan off to Africa so hopefully it will be good. I don’t know what the producers are thinking/ planning for the next season but here are some possible plots I would LOVE (and in some cases NEED) to see.

Miggy reunion (hug) - so this would mean we start at the end of the six months (or some months into the Kenya adventure). This is the one plot/scene I absolutely would hate if we didn’t get. But I mean, come one, they have to give us our Miggy reunion!

(Or like more than one. Maybe we can have both Higgy and Magnum have dream reunions. And then like somehow have one airport reunion and then a welcome home hug and just... actually I legit wouldn’t mind if the whole episode was just Miggy reunion feels...)

But really we need and will most likely get this no matter what’s going down in 4.01...

Juliet in trouble

I think this is one of the most obvious ones.

I wrote about this back when the whole “riding off into the sunset” thing was a thing, like how I didn’t think they’d actually have Juliet leave. But if they did they just HAD to do an episode with her getting into trouble over-seas and the boys coming to her rescue. Since I was wrong and they did have Juliet and go with Ethan, this just means there is a chance for this plot to become real!

It would go something like; Juliet gets herself into trouble in Kenya and Magnum fly across the world to save her, fighting bad guys and just being all around super cool. We get a dramatic almost dying for each other and Miggy reunion.

But with Higgy having been kidnapped just a few episodes ago, I don’t know about the likelihood of this...

Ethan in trouble - Same deal, only here we have Ethan being the one in trouble. Kidnapped to preform a surgery on an weapons’ dealer or something like that.

We would get high stakes, Magnum/Higgy working together to save E, angsty Magnum because he loves Higgy but he has to save her boyfriend and Juliet having trauma about possibly losing the man she loves. Then maybe have Magnum almost get shot saving Ethan and she’s even more shook about that and decides Magnum is where it’s at and bye-bye Ethan...

All around I think this one would make for a great 4.01 (or 4.02.)

Spy related

Something to do with Higgy’s past as a spy comes back to haunt her in Kenya. This could lead to a Higgy/ Ethan break up without Magnum or the guys even having to show up. Because I don’t think Ethan is actually cool with dating a spy. As tough guy as he sometimes tried to act around the gang.

Plus spy gadgets are cool and MacGyver is over. Which brings us to...

MacGyver cross over

How amazing would this be... I mean MacGyver is over so it’s highly unlikely but it would be great if we could get Mac, Riley, Boozer making a quick appearance. Just saying, could be fun, and a great way to bring over some MacGyver fans to Magnum PI! (Come to the dark side, we have fancy cars, palm trees and slow-burn...)

Magnum/ Higgy long distance - So this is not something I’d love to see for anything but like one episode. Like starting off the episode with them skyping/facetiming while Magnum is on a case or something and then having it cut to her for some stuff going down with her or Ethan (or just her preferably.) Maybe to set up that possible 4.02 kidnapping of Ethan... These Kenya scenes could also show-case how Ethan and Juliet are basically on the cusp of breaking up...

Juliet / Ethan long distance - Perhaps we get this for part of the season? I hope not, but depending on how they do it, this could be interesting. Maybe like Magnum starts dating someone else? Juliet realizes she’s jelly and that’s not right and breaks up with Ethan but doesn’t tell Magnum and he still thinks they’re long distancing and is dating this new girl? For the drama? IDK. This is not a fave but they might be able to do it to some effect if they want...

Magnum visiting Juliet in Kenya - no one’s been kidnapped and Magnum is just there. Hanging out. Making Juliet miss home. They’re go on safari and picnics and romp in the fields. Ethan is no where to be found. It’s basically a fluffy pre-getting together romantic get away. Maybe they solve a case. A cute one. Maybe for some reason Hiapo is there. And the lads. And the Ferrari...

Looking up and she’s there

Like the first episode Magnum is solving a case, consulting with Higgy. Then sudden she isn’t picking up. He’s getting worried. Then at the end when the case is solved, he’s all “I’m going to call Ethan, to see she’s okay.” But Rick is like “No need bro.” And he nods behind them and Juliet is walking into La Mariana. He couldn’t reach her because she was on a flight to Hawaii for the past 14 hours!

They look at each other and you can just see how much they missed each other. And then it cuts to black before we get their sure to have been epic hug. And that’s how 4.01 ends...

(Maybe we open with that hug in 4.02, because I want the Reunion Hug badly.)

Ethan who?

So how fun would it be if season 4 just totally ignores the season 3 finale and Higgy is just back. No one is like “welcome back! how’s Ethan?” It’s just like Ethan never existed and we never mention what happened, how they broke up or that he even was part of the show and that she went with him, ever again.

(Because honestly we’re all quite tired of him, even if he got great hair and abs, so him being missing would just be like ‘okay whatever’)

I know they won’t do this. Wouldn’t really want it when there are so many other great fun things (and it would make feel 3.16 feel totally hollow for any future re-watches) and would not let us have a Miggy reunion. But it would be kind of amusing too. Like... Ethan Who? Nope. Let’s just pretend he didn’t even exist.

Things I don’t want (early season 4)

Dead or hurt Ethan (come on! we got one dead fiancé, let’s not add another one)

Ethan breaking up with Higgy (they can mutually decide but he can’t be the one doing the relationship ending, unless it’s made super duper clear he’s doing it because he can totally tell she has more feelings for Magnum. Which would not make sense unless it was something like M getting shot to save E and J or something.)

An Ethan/ Higgy engagement lasting more than 2 minutes

Magnum and the lads still not getting along (come on, we need them to be friends!)

TC/ Rick bringing up feels. Like a little hinting is fine. But just a bit. Don’t be too obvious even if this is going to be the Miggy season (and if it’s not going to be that, don’t have feelings talk at all. My poor heart can’t handle it!)

More visa issues/ Juliet still owning Robin’s Nest and being smug about it/ money issues (Yes. I would like her to use these six months to re-apply for her employment visa and just give Robin back Robin’s Nest. Because the money needing thing was not that fun of a plot line)

Rick and Susie having started dated off screen. They’re so cute. I want to see them being cute and their relationship developing!

What Are We Most Likely To See?

I’m not sure they will actually do a major part of 4.01-2 anywhere but Hawaii. When they’ve had episodes taking place in other locations around the world, there have often been jungle / Hawaii like which makes me think it’s all still filmed in Hawaii right? (correct me if I’m wrong.)

There was however some reason they sent Juliet off with Ethan. I also think there was a reason they had Juliet tell Ethan about MI6. Somehow it will be relevant in season 4.

Probably early season 4.

I say early since thy won’t drag out Ethan/Higgy’s relationship for long next season. He needs to be used to further the Miggy plot a little more, then keeping him around much longer will simply impact the show negatively too much.

Because if we’re being honest like majority of people watch this show for the Magnum/Higgy dynamic. And I think they know that. (Even if people don’t ship, they still want those two on screen, not Juliet and Ethan.)

And with the new NCSI Hawaii show coming to film there...I don’t know it that bodes well for season 5 or not. I think they realize they have to move forward. Treat season 4 as a possible series finale. And that starts with 4.01.

So I’m torn.

What was the point of Africa if we don’t get an episode or some scenes from there? What’s the point of a separation between our main leads if we don’t get a great reunion? What’s the point of Ethan if not to bring Magnum and Higgy closer together? Magnum going ‘we are currently just friends’ if that’s not going to change or be an issue in the early parts of season 4?

But also, I kind of just want to get back to normal. Hawaii. Miggy banter. Crazy not quite making sense cases. No Ethan. The guys hanging. Kumu being her bad ass self. The Ferrari being red and shiny. Jin being wacky.

So perhaps just having the season start with Magnum being excited Higgy is coming home would be...fine?

Picture this.

He’s just hanging with the guys at La Mariana.

It’s only been four months.

They’re all like “so four months? Not six? Why she come home early?” and Magnum is all “I guess we’ll find out soon” and gets up to go to the airport to get her. We get a Miggy reunion hug. Some what’s the same, what’s different feeling out moments.

Anyways, they get a case, Magnum try to get her to talk about what happened with her coming home early and at the end of the episode she’s all “I realized he wasn’t the one.” They give each other heart eyes. And we’re just back to normal Magnum PI fun and games (and starting at your currently only friends business partner like s/he’s hung the moon and the stars...) for 4.02.

I mean that would work... but it would also leave a little to be desired. Feel like some lost opportunities. You know?

What are your thoughts on openings / season 4 starts? What possibilities do you see/ would like explored?

#Magnum PI #Magnum PI season 4 #MacGyver crossover?#MacGyver #Please tweet this to NBC so they know what to do #I mean pretty please do what i want #Miggy #OTP #I need my babies to figure things out #Thomas Magnum #Juliet Higgins #well this got longer than I meant

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warship005 · 4 years

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Why people prefer the relationship between Geralt and Jaskier more than the one between him and Yennefer

DISCLAIMER: This is all based on my opinion. Also, this is not an anti-Yennefer post. I just wanted to post my thoughts on why we weren’t as drawn to the ship as the showrunners thought we will be.

WARNING: This could’ve been better structured but I needed to get the idea out of my head before I forgot it, so sorry if it’s a bit messy.

Well, let’s get to business then! Here’s why we instinctively decided to NOT ship Yennefer x Geralt as much as Jaskier x Geralt, and it all boils down to one episode.

Episode 5 was meant to be the moment when two of the main timelines of the show finally clash and we see two of our protagonists finally meet. How does that go?

...

Look, I’ll be honest here...Episode 5 did a bad job at making the viewers root for the relationship between Geralt and Yen. Why? Well...

1) Um...do we have time for that? Geralt, Jaskier is dying--GERALT! STOP LOOKING AT BOOBS WHILE YOUR BARD IS GROWING ONE ON HIS NECK!

I could’ve focused on the relationship between Geralt and Yen and actually root for it if the timing wasn’t so terrible. The only reason why Geralt meets Yen in the first place is because of Jaskier (who ends up becoming a motif throughout all the scenes Geralt and Yen share together in this episode).

And it’s not even a good reason. Geralt states it again and again that he was there because Jaskier was hurt and needed help.

Also, when Yennefer asks about his insomnia during the bathtub scene, he states that impending death (Jaskier) was a bit more important than his own problems.

So yeah, even Geralt of Rivia, the “I have no feelings nor friends” White Wolf acknowledges what is more important at the moment, AKA making sure Jaskier doesn’t die.

That’s why having to watch both of them give bedroom eyes to each other felt very awkward and out of place and no amount of background orgy could change that.

The orgy is also the only reason the flirting doesn’t seem out of place to us. Think about it.

2) The infamous bathtub scenes (this is a long one boys)

What’s funny about this one is that both Jaskier and Yennefer had a bathtub scene with Geralt, and where one failed, the other succeed to make fans root for the ship like no tomorrow.

The first bathtub scene we see is the one from episode 4 with Jaskier.

Then the one from episode 5 with Yennefer.

Let’s compare them a bit, shall we?

JASKIER BATHTUB SCENE:

When Jaskier gives Geralt a bath, it’s because he pretty much needs it. He’s covered head to toe in monster guts and needs to be clean for the party Jaskier asked him to attend to as his bodyguard.

During this scene, Jaskier actually washes Geralt, which is the main point of a bath to be honest. Along with that, we get some funny interactions between the two, which do a good job at helping us understand the relationship between these characters:

Jaskier being too slutty for his own good. Geralt being too edgy for his own good. Both being able to see through each other’s bullshit (”How many of these lords wanna kill you?” and “So you just let strangers rub chamomile on your lovely bottom?”).

We also get to see Jaskier being very comfortable with doing things around Geralt that would probably get many fools killed in the process, such as taking away his drink because “he should stay sobber” or being very casual around Geralt, whose facial expression screams bloody murder.

And how can I talk about this scene without bringing up the icing on the cake

Geralt: I don’t need anyone. And the last thing I want is someone needing me.

Jaskier: And yet, here we are...

So yeah, what makes the scene with Jaskier great is the fact that it advanced the plot and did a good job of presenting the characters and their personalities.

YENNEFER BATHTUB SCENE

Let’s look at the scene where Geralt takes a bath with Yennefer. Some of yall gonna be real mad at me, but I have to say it: This scene did not need to happen like that.

No amount of naked Henry Cavill is gonna fix it. They needed an excuse to show both of them naked next to each other otherwise we wouldn’t find their talk romantic or something.

I rewatched both bathtub scenes, and during the one with Yennefer, Geralt doesn’t wash at all. The only reason why that scene even happens is because, according to Yennefer, Geralt smelled so bad you could guess his horse breed.

Does he do anything to fix that? Nope. He just stands there naked and brooding while Yennefer joins him for some reason, despite that water probably being gross as fuck if what she said about his smell was true.

And she’s the only one who washes between the two... if you can call that a wash. She just grabs a sponge and rubs it a bit around her neck and that’s all.

The dialogue was cute, and it showcased their personalities a bit, but as I’ve mentioned, it didn’t need to happen in a bathtub.

Here’s how I’d fix the scene:

They’re both in the same room and Yennefer needs to change from her black dress into that more comfortable white one. She tells Geralt to turn around while she does, and their conversation goes as it happened in the bathtub. After she’s done, she hands him his new clothes and tells him that she’ll accept their conversation as payment enough...but only if he takes a bath (aka what happened BEFORE the bathtub scene). Then it cuts to him, fully changed and clean, walking into the room where Jaskier is asleep and the episode resumes as usual.

3) Wow, she really did that...

I’ll bring up something that kinda makes many people not that fond of the ship, AKA Yennefer kinda mind-controlling Geralt and sending him to attack the people who wanted Yennefer out of the town.

In her way of getting revenge from them, she made Geralt get the death penalty tho.

We’ve seen Geralt fight before and win, but this situation seemed kinda lost until he found out he was the one with the wishes. His wish to make the guard’s head blow up was probably the only reason he got out of there alive.

4) ”She saved your life”

They really could’ve convinced us to ship Geralt and Yennefer during the last few mins of the episode, but they just decided to replace “relationship development” with “sex scene” because, hey, we didn’t know by now that Geralt was a slut.

What happened before that was way worse for their development tho.

So, Jaskier leaves the building, bumps into Geralt and they begin to walk away until Geralt realizes Yennefer is about to die inside. He then decides to go there and save her despite almost getting him killed.

If Geralt had a greater sense of self-worth, he probably would’ve walked away, but he still decided to go save her because she’s the love interest after all, right?

The thing is... When Jaskier stops him, Geral doesn’t mention anything about how great Yennefer is, or how nobody deserves to die or how she doesn’t deserve such a fate.

No no. His only argument is that she saved Jaskier. So yeah, even in a moment meant to build up their relationship, Geralt mentions doing something because of Jaskier.

Somehow, everything between those two in this episode had a little bit of Jaskier in it. Even during the sex scene, we see Jaskier for a few seconds.

5) “Just a friend, I hope?”

This one is more for the shits and giggles, but the fact that Yennefer has to ask twice in the episode if Jaskier was “just a friend” is a bit...like, even she was uncertain whether to hit on him or not.

In conclusion.

Episode 5 really did a poor job at making the viewers root for the relationship between Geralt and Yennefer. The good scenes they had were outshined by the bad scenes and this gets worse with episode 6.

We had 4 episodes to get used to Geralt and Jaskier together. But Yennefer and Geralt? We had episode 5, which was a mess, and episode 6, which was a time skip.

You see, because it’s a time skip instead of seeing their relationship develop better after they’ve met, we’re just told that Geralt kept Yennefer as his booty call over the years and that they PROBABLY had some sweet moments together.

The only good scene these two had was the tent scene from episode 6, but that’s forgotten immediately because of the argument they have on top of the mountain.

And you can see how much the fans cared about Geralt and Yennefer together because at the end of the episode most of them were weeping from what Geralt said to Jaskier than from the argument he had with Yennefer.

So yeah, blame it on the poorly structured episode 5.

#the witcher #the witcher netflix #geralt of rivia #geralt #Yennefer of Vengerberg #yennefer #jaskier #meta #is this a meta post?#i dunno #i'm just rambling #i can't do deep character analysis in school to save my life #but ask me about the gayness in show #and i end up writing long posts like this #lol #anyway #carry on with your day

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peaches-writes · 3 years

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'christmas ornaments’

skz of christmas day 4: christmas party with hyunjin

member: hyunjin wc: 1.3k genre: fluff, bare minimum soulmate au, established relationship au, college au, comedy warning: explicit language note: pls i wrote this during midterms

Okay, okay, okay, socks! Where are my socks—ooh, a cookie! This doesn’t look two weeks old, I think I can eat it? Wait, wait, that’s not what I’m supposed to be looking at! What am I looking for? Um....uhhh....

Socks? You try suggesting to the voice in your head, letting out an actual chuckle in your physical setting so he won’t hear it from your thoughts. Baby, you’ve been looking for socks the past three minutes.

Right, socks! Thanks Y/N! Hyunjin physically puckers up on his side and telepathically sends you a kiss with an imagined sound and you burst out laughing in your head as a response. Bruh, where’s my kiss back?

Maybe if you’re already on the way to the party like you said fifteen minutes ago, you’d be getting all the kisses you want, dumbass. You point out with a roll of your eyes, bursting into more giggles when he starts whining in between unconsciously narrating whatever he is doing as he prepares to leave his dorm. Next to you in the backseat of Yeji’s car, Jeongin looks up from his phone to give you another comical judgmental stare over your ‘weird’ soulmate connection. What’s taking you so long, anyway? You’re probably just dressed in a white robe like one of the three Kings or something.

Excuse me, I made a lot of effort with my costume! The boy huffs, his train of thought finally shifting focus from looking for his socks to actually wearing them. You assume he’s finally moved on from it. It’s going to blow your mind and win me the best costume award at the party!

“So what’s hyung’s costume?” Jeongin asks as if on cue, sitting up properly when the edges of his Northern star costume starts to wrinkle ever so slightly. When you shrug and shake your head in response, he scoffs and adds, “I’m telling you, he’s probably coming in as baby Jesus.”

“That or as a Christmas tree.” You supplement, Hyunjin quickly protesting in your head at this comment. “He’s yelling at me, hold on!”

Y/N, we as a society have progressed past the need to dress up as Christmas trees! Hyunjin simultaneously exclaims matter-of-factly, informing you in between that he’s now on his way out of his dorm. On that note, I saw Minho come out his room in a Christmas tree costume a while ago because he really doesn’t give a shit so of course I wouldn’t let myself be caught in the same thing.

You sigh, feigning exasperation. So what are you? Honestly, I’m surprised you managed to keep this from me for two weeks.

There’s a large pause after, a faint echo of Minho and Jisung’s voices yelling at Hyunjin to get in the car filling in for your boyfriend’s lack or response until he’s settled enough to think, Like I said, you’ll find out with everyone else later!

You shake your head in disapproval in front of Jeongin this time, crossing your arms over your carefully constructed mug costume. “He’s really laying it on thick this year, Innie.”

Your annual Christmas party at the Campus Radio’s club room is officially communicated to the student council under your senior Chan’s name but it’s mostly you and your friends calling the shots on the specifics. In particular, it’s usually Minho and Jisung who decide on the costume theme—which just so happened to be Christmas ornaments for this year.

Because of this, you arrive at the club house seeing all of your friends and blockmates filling the large expanse of the designated dance floor with their life-sized ornaments. You see Chan waddling around as a snowman, Felix handing cookies around as Rudolph, Chaeryeong in her Mary-inspired attire, Sana in a replica of Mariah Carey’s Christmas album outfit, and even Changbin comically showing up as a Christmas Ham wearing one too many questionable-looking fishnets and patterning his red cheeks to the food’s netted texture.

“Y/N!” Felix bounces up to you and Yeji with his Tupperware or cookies and a bright red clown nose on his face. It makes the two of you giggle, especially at how it still sort of makes him look like a clown despite the antlers that go along with it. “Ha, I see you’ve brought some milk! Care for a cookie to go with it?”

You look down on your big red and green mug covering your casual attire from your waist all the way down to your knees with a laugh, taking out a bit cookie cut-out from under the Japanese paper ‘milk’ wrinkled around the rim of the mug. “Sorry, Lix, I already got my own cookie!” You joke, the punchline effectively toppling over the boy in laughter. You take a cookie from his Tupperware anyway and return your fake one back inside its designated pocket lining the inside of your costume mug. “So, has Hyunjin arrived yet?”

“You tell me.” Felix pouts. “We’ll start the program in five minutes and from what I remembered he volunteered himself to host.”

“He probably chickened out.” Yeji teases with a shrug, earning her a disapproving frown from you. “What? Why do you think he’s being all secretive with his costume?”

“Maybe they’re just stuck in traffic or something.” You point out, whipping your head around for your any signs of a dramatic entrance from your boyfriend and his two roommates. “When we turned to campus, they were already out of their dorms.”

And, as if on cue, the main double door entrance where you previously came from bursts open with a loud thud and releases bright light and cheap smoke effects from the other side (you’re quite sure it’s just from Chaeryeong and Chan grilling meat right outside).

“Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas everyone!” Santa Claus Jisung prances in the room with a red Jansport bag of your program’s game props and mini prizes. Minho the Christmas tree trails along with red and green balls for dangling earrings. “Did you guys wait long?”

“Hi, guys.” Minho waves curtly with his most passive smile before smacking the back of Jisung’s head. A few of your friends then crowd around the two when Jisung starts handing out pre-program candies.

“And where’s your boyfriend?” Yeji nudges your side as the two of you watch your two friends in secondhand embarrassment.

Yeah, Jinnie, where are you? You ask back to your boyfriend, peering around for any sign of him.

I’m over here! Hyunjin answers telepathically to you almost immediately, his voice growing louder as he now approaches the door. Prepare yourselves!

In front of you, Hyunjin then decides on making his dramatic entrance with the goofiest grin on his face that makes you, Yeji, and Felix smack your hands up to your temples in unison.

Of all the Christmas ornaments Hyunjin could pick, he just had to go as the whole Nativity scene. Balancing a life-sized diorama of Jesus’ birth right in front of his body—complete with stick, Styrofoam, and cellophane figures of the Mary, Joseph, and the Three Kings—your boyfriend’s head fits right on the scene as a replacement to the baby Jesus Christ while his hands hold the sides of the manger’s pillars all the way down to his waist.

“Hey, guys, sorry we’re late!” Hyunjin announces dramatically, briefly covering his face with his hand at the sight of everyone giggling at his costume. “Got a bit stuck in traffic—and I might’ve also gotten stuck on our car before getting here—but is everyone ready for the program?!”

Hyunjin gazes over to you last, his comically confident grin turning into a more sheepish one at meeting your eyes. So? Like it?

Jesus Christ, Hyunjin, you pretend to cover your eyes in front of him which makes him laugh instead of sulking as you intended.

Ha, see? You’re already getting into the joke of it! He points out, gesturing to his head stuck on a mini manger made of plastic straws. You’ll have to tell him that he looks like a baby lion with this set-up later. Get it? Because I’m supposed to be Jesus in this costume?

Just get to MC-ing, Hyunjinnie...and we’ll have to talk about you stealing my Best Costume Award later!

december 20 (kim seungmin)

skz of christmas (masterlist)

m.list

@skzwriternet

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beybladefanboy · 3 years

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Top 5 Favourite Beyblade Characters

Random and unasked for but I figured I would talk about my favourite characters in the Beyblade Metal Saga.

#5 A tie between Chris and Hikaru

Chris

I’m putting these two in the same spot because I wanted both of them to be on this list and a “top 6” doesn’t have as good of a ring to it as a “top 5.” Anyways, the first time I watched Metal Fury, I didn’t care much about Chris. Now however, I find his arc of being stuck in a job that brings him no joy to be incredibly relatable. His lack of passion for Beyblade makes complete sense: the fun of the sport was completely sucked out when it became an obligation for him and he wasn’t allowed to fight for himself. He was completely obligated to his employer and had little choice in the matter. That would suck away anyone’s passion, trust me, I know. So seeing the light return to his eyes as he rediscovered his passion for Beyblading was incredibly satisfying.

Hikaru

A lot of the appeal of Hikaru is admittedly that she is a female blader, and yeah, it is great having a strong female character. (We need more of those) What’s great about Hikaru however is that she isn’t just a token girl character or a mary sue: she is treated the same as any other blader and is allowed to fail and feel emotions without being degraded. I like that we even see a bit of her backstory where we learn that she is driven to be the best blader because of her likely deceased mother’s words. It’s a shame that she quit Beyblade due to her trauma but I also think it’s understandable and that it was interesting to explore that trauma. The moment that broke my heart rewatching Metal Masters was when Hikaru sees Dark Tsubasa and is paralyzed by terror, clearly remembering what Ryuga did to her. Beyblade’s most powerful scenes to me are the ones that delve into a character’s mind and allows me to see their thoughts and feelings. It allows me to understand and be more attached to the character and we got a lot of that from Hikaru and Chris.

#4 Yuki

Yuki is kind of underrated in my opinion but then again, so is the entirety of Metal Fury. Yuki was a really fresh character for the series. Nearly every character is extremely reckless: acting first, thinking later so it was really refreshing to see a character who overthinks everything to the point of anxiety. I just relate more to a character that doubts himself and has to fight to overcome not just the great evil but his own self-doubt and fear as well. Also, I love that scene where he fights Ryuga. He probably knows he doesn’t stand a chance against a guy like him but he doesn’t care because he’s fighting for his friends. I can relate to that. When I’m just doing something for myself, I tend to doubt and question myself but when I’m standing up for my friends, I show no mercy. So yeah, Yuki is a really relatable character, as well as a pure cinnamon roll that needs more love.

#3 Kyoya

If you asked who my favourite Beyblade character was two and half years ago, I would’ve answered “Kyoya” without any hesitation. While I do still really like him, I think his character was kind of fumbled in Metal Fury. I’ll talk about that separately though because I want this to be a positive post. Still, Kyoya is a great character. I like how he develops from a villain to that one liner asshole friend of Gingka’s. While I do like him unironically, Kyoya is honestly just funny to me. He is so ridiculously arrogant about his own skills but he actually is as good as he says he is. He’s also a tsundere. He’s absolutely a tsundere. He’s always helping his friends with whatever bullshit they’re doing: helping them infiltrate the Dark Nebula, going to look for Gingka when he disappears, helping them infiltrate Hades city, going with them to look for the Legendary Bladers, and on two separate occasions, staying behind to fight someone so the others can go forward. Even his determination to beat Gingka feels more like friendly competition than actual malice. And yet he insists he doesn’t care about them with lines like, “It’s not like I came to save you or anything.” It’s honestly kind of majestic. He’s also a complete badass. He always gets back up after a loss and fights to the bitter end and, sometimes to the detriment of himself but never his Beyblade. When Leone was on the verge of breaking to pieces in The Fearsome Libra, he forfeited the match to stop that from happening, risking humiliation and accepting defeat to do the right thing. That is genuinely admirable. It takes courage to fight but even more courage to admit defeat. Also, his fight against Ryuga in Metal Fusion is insane. Kyoya nearly falls so many times but keeps himself on his feet and rises up again. It takes being stabbed in the heart by the dark power for Kyoya to be defeated. Out of everyone, Kyoya came the closest to defeating Ryuga through sheer will and determination alone. What a badass.

#2 Tsubasa

Similar to Yuki, Tsubasa is also a pretty unique character for this series. While he is passionate about fighting like all the others, Tsubasa is much more thoughtful and cool-headed, which is appealing especially among a cast of hot-headed crazy characters. When Tsubasa is first introduced, he’s kind of a mystery. We don’t know his true intentions or alignment until we learn that he was working for the WVBA, about 15 episodes after his initial introduction. This unpredictability made him interesting to watch in Metal Fusion as I didn’t know what he was going to do next. Then in Metal Masters, he becomes even more interesting. While it was emotionally intense to watch, I think the “Dark Tsubasa” arc is one of this series’ greatest achievements. It revealed a completely new layer of personality to Tsubasa and gave him so much development.

While he was being somewhat controlled by the dark power, it is made clear through the dialogue that that side of him was always there and the dark power just enhanced and unmasked it. He did often hide his true emotions and intentions in Metal Fusion after all. The scenes where Tsubasa interacts with his dark self are very interesting and relatable to me because I often try to hide my negative emotions and avoid situations where they might come out until those feelings fester into madness, which is essentially what Tsubasa did. However, the resolution to this arc is what makes it so special to me. Tsubasa doesn’t drive out the darkness or continue to repress it: he accepts the darkness as part of who he is because everyone has darkness in them and the way to control it is to become one with it. And in the end, he becomes a stronger blader and person as a result of this arc. This is legitimately inspiring and helpful to me. It’s important to remember that we are not defined by our worst thoughts/feelings, we are defined by how we handle them and accepting ourselves, flaws and all, is important. So really that arc alone makes Tsubasa one of my favourite characters but he also has an appealing personality as well. It’s a shame he was kind of underused in Metal Fury but I love what we got from him.

#1 Ryuga

Yeah, okay, this was obvious. Take one look at my feed or even my profile picture and you could probably guess that I love Ryuga. Two and a half years ago, I hated him with a passion but after rewatching the show again, I realized I only really hated him because of what he did to Hikaru, Tsubasa, and Kyoya which yes was horrible and I don’t condone it in any way but he was under the influence of the dark power at that point and he never does anything quite that awful again. Anyways, onto the positives. Ryuga in Metal Fusion is the best villain the show ever had. He poses a significant threat and was the first person to legitimately defeat Gingka. He’s also a terrifying sadist that cackles at others’ pain. If Ryuga had stayed like that, I would probably still like him as a character but I certainly wouldn’t have developed a crush. Damn, that would’ve been nice. But alas, even in Metal Fusion, Ryuga is somewhat sympathetic when you remember that he is just a kid and was both used by Doji and not even in full control of himself because of the dark power. He is seen trying to resist its control in the final battle after all. It’s interesting to see a character who is literally corrupted by the power he sought out and actually does learn from his mistake. In Metal Masters, he realized that humans’ greed and hatred was what caused the dark power to be so harmful and decided to draw the power from its original source, before it was tainted by humans, and became super powerful. Even if you hate Ryuga, you have to admit that is awesome. And once he stopped being a sadistic villain, he became much more unpredictable as sometimes he would even help the main heroes in Metal Masters, albeit for selfish reasons. Ryuga sort of feels like a combination of traits I liked most in Tsubasa and Kyoya. He has the unpredictability and loner attitude of Tsubasa and the confidence and determination of Kyoya. Also, I don’t think I need to say that Ryuga is a badass. That’s not even an opinion: it’s something that we all know to be a fact. I mean, this is the guy who launched his Beyblade at a floating city, wrecking it enough to send it crashing into the water and causing a reactor meltdown that nearly destroyed the earth. That last part was unintentional and in all fairness, he did help stop the end of the world, but still, he is both powerful and reckless enough to do something like that. He was kind of frustrating in Metal Fury but I did like his friendship with Kenta and while his blind pursuit of power was annoying, I gotta admire the ambition. And… yeah, I cried at his death. I cried harder at that than anything else in this show at any other point I watched it, including when I was a kid even though I knew it was coming. Even though his motivations for fighting Nemesis were far from righteous, he still died trying to defeat the great evil and his final act was giving Kenta the star fragment to give the heroes the chance they needed to win. Ryuga died a hero, plain and simple. I wish he had lived so we could see him develop even more after that moment but either way, Ryuga is a great character. He’s the best villain in season one and I love his fiery personality and aesthetic in the following seasons.

#beyblade metal saga #chris #yuki mizusawa #hikaru hasama #kyoya tategami #tsubasa otori #ryuga #ryuga kishatu #yuki #hikaru #kyoya #tsubasa #metal fury is underrated #I have my problems with it #but it's just as good as the first two seasons in my opinion

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starring-movies · 3 years

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The Haunting of Bly Manor: Episode Analysis

*SPOILERS*

Episode 2 - The Pupil

Episode 2 of The Haunting of Bly Manor is split into two halves, with the first being 6 months earlier and focusing on how and why Miles got sent home from boarding school; and the second half continuing with the present-day storyline at the manor.

A teacher at Miles’ school, Father Stack, who takes a particular interest in helping Miles, reads a bible excerpt from Mark 5:11 in one of the lessons. He reads “now, there on the hillside a great herd of swine were feeding. And the unclean spirits begged him, ‘send us into the swine, let us enter them’. So, he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. And the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the lake”. The excerpt is important to Miles in regard to the rules for Peter and Rebecca taking over his and Flora’s bodies. According to this bible story, Miles is told that Peter and Rebecca cannot survive in his and Flora’s bodies without them being pushed out, unless Miles and Flora give “permission” for them to enter their bodies.

It’s a notable difference that the original bible excerpt says that they were drowned in the “sea”, not the “lake”. This alteration brings our attention the story, as it makes it more akin to Miles and Flora’s situation. It also brings it to Miles’ own attention that Peter and Rebecca taking over their bodies permanently will “drown” them, because they will never be able to take over their own bodies again. However, it also gives Miles hope that even the “demons” can’t take away man’s god given free will; and so Peter and Rebecca can’t take possession of their bodies permanently, without them being given the opportunity to use their own choice to grant them that permission.

Father Stack also calls the “unclean spirits”, which are parallel to Peter and Rebecca, “demons” when he is paraphrasing the story. The choice to change the word that’s used reflects Peter’s malicious intent of taking over Miles’ body.

On the blackboard behind Father Stack, we can also see that there is a number of other bible verses which the pupils are reading in class. We can see written on the blackboard is; Mark 5:1-20, Gerasene Demonica, Matthew 8:28-34, Luke 8:26-37 and Healing Gerasene Demonica. All of the verses on the board are various narratives of the Exorcism of the Gerasene Demonica, which is the name of the story that Father Stack was reading.

Miles then receives a letter from Flora, through Father Stack. We don’t find out until later in the episode that Flora’s letter says “come home”, and has a drawing of her crying with a sad Rebecca and a happy Peter near her. The “come home” that’s written on the letter is a nod to The Haunting of Hill House, where Olivia wrote on the wall for Nell to “come home” to her. In both of these instances ‘coming home’ results in tragedy. For Nell it resulted in her death and if Dani hadn’t saved Miles and Flora, then Peter and Miss Jessel would have succeeded in possessing their bodies.

We then see Miles climb up a tree and jump from it. An action which seems odd and sudden at first, but after we find out that Miles is actually trying to get home after receiving Flora’s letter, it makes much more sense. Miles had heard at the beginning of the day that a classmate was at home and not able to return because “he took a bit of a tumble”, so Miles is also trying to get sent home by taking a “bit of a tumble” himself. However, his plan doesn’t succeed and so he acts out in a number of increasingly troubling ways in order to get sent home.

That evening, Miles’ friend, Hooper, asks him why he jumped from the tree and Miles says that he was “just looking for the right key”. Looking for “the right key” turns out to be something that Miles learnt from Peter. In Episode 3, Peter told Miles that to impress a woman you have to find the right key for her, and for the majority of women their ‘key’ is flowers. So in this instance, Miles’ goal is not to impress a woman but to return home to Flora, and so he is trying to find “the right key” to make Father Stack give up on him and send him back home.

Miles’ third and final attempt to get himself sent home was to kill Father Stack’s bird, called Pidge, and he then shows no remorse when asked to apologise for the act. Miles does this because Father Stack told him previously that “it’s that feeling of remorse, that guilt... that’s what distinguishes us in God’s eyes” and that “none of us are blameless except... the animals”, and so he knows that the only way that Father Stack will send him home is if he does something unforgivable against an “innocents” and shows no “guilt” for doing so.

Back in the present day we see Hannah staring at a crack in the kitchen wall, which we go on to find out is actually a recurring vision of a crack in the well.’s wall. This crack in the wall of the well was the last thing that Hannah saw, after being pushed down the well, before she died.

As Owen, Hannah and Jamie sit and relax while Dani has the children weeding in the garden, they have a brief conversation. Jamie ‘tests the water’ and asks Owen his “thoughts on the new au pair” and says that she thinks that Dani is “maybe a bit too pretty”, continuing to ask him “do you think she’s pretty?”. Jamie is obviously interested in Dani but wants to dip her toe in the water before plunging in, to see if Owen will attempt to pursue Dani. But Owen says “don’t worry, I only have eyes for you, Hannah” - if Jamie knew that Owen, the only man in the manor, was interested in pursuing Dani then she knows that there would be no point in even attempting to pursue Dani herself. But through this probing she’s found out that she will have no competition from him, so she has a glimmer of hope that she might have a chance.

In this scene, Hannah also touches the back of her neck/head, which is something that she does repeatedly throughout the season. She constantly does this gesture because her neck was broken when she was pushed down the well; so she continually feels the pain in her neck, in the same way as she often sees cracks in the walls and gets stuck in memory loops.

Later, after the children and Dani have finished the gardening, Dani returns to her room to find that Flora has cleaned it and has found Eddie’s glasses amongst her belongings. Dani runs out of the house and has a panic attack, as this is probably the first time that she’s seen the glasses since Eddie’s mother gave them to her right before she left for Europe.

Jamie is on her way to fill in the crack in the kitchen wall, which Hannah asked her to do earlier, when she comes across Dani as she’s having her panic. Jamie handles it in the best way possible by trying to get Dani to laugh. It’s clear that her goal was to make Dani laugh as when Dani does eventually laugh, she smiles and says “there we are”. Jamie continues to try to calm Dani down and to help her feel normal and not be embarrassed (we can clearly see Dani is embarrassed and trying to hide her crying), as she tells her “I cry three, maybe four ties a day around here. Five, if I’m really being honest with myself”.

In return for helping to calm her down when she was having a panic attack, after finding that Miles (being possessed by Peter) has ruined Jamie’s roses, Dani tries to calm Jamie down. Although at first saying that they’re “just a few flowers”, after seeing how much Jamie cares about them, Dani instead is sympathetic and says “no, you’re right, I’ll talk to him”.

Just like Jamie did with Dani, Dani assesses the situation and adapts to fit the emotional need that was required of her at that moment - to calm Jamie down and make her feel seen. Dani shows compassion, empathy and understanding towards Jamie’s feelings, even though she might not understand why Jamie is upset herself.

When Dani is playing the game of hide and seek with Flora and Miles, Flora hides up in the attic. The attic is where the ghost of Perdita lives and that’s why the ghost can only hum along with Flora with a strained voice - Viola strangled Perdita, so her throat must have been extensively damaged and so she can only really wheeze.

Amusingly, after Miles (being possessed by Peter) tries to strangle Dani during the game of hide and seek, Dani says that the game is over, she runs back into the main part of the house and shouts “olly olly oxen free”. I’d never heard this term myself, but after looking it up, I found that it’s a phrase used to tell the players of a game that the sides have changed or that the game is over entirely. I found this amusing as it seems like a very feeble attempt to rein the children back in, after almost being strangled by one of them.

After seeing Peter through a window, we get the first example that what Dani said about herself in Episode 1, “I’m a lot braver than people think”, is definitely true. She doesn’t run and hide, despite being absolutely terrified of Peter, but she picks up a fire poker and runs outside, shouting “I’m going to call the fucking police”, to confront him herself.

At the end of the episode we get another example of Miles trying to protect Dani from the ghosts in the house. Miles knows that Peter is lurking around, as he’s just been possessing him, and so he tells Dani that he doesn’t “feel so good” and pretends to faint, so that Dani will come back inside and away from Peter.

You can read my previous The Haunting of Bly Manor posts here:-

Episode 1 - The Great Good Place

Episode 3 - The Two Faces, Part One

Episode 4 - The Way It Came

Episode 5 - The Altar of the Dead

Episode 6 - The Jolly Corner

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sasuhinasno1fan · 3 years

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Crushing on the rival-Lukadrien June Day 3

Ok, yes I’m technically late, but I don’t care! I wanted to do a Glee AU so bad and this was so hard to do. Usually when reading Glee Klaine fics as lukadrien, Nino is at Dalton since either Nick or Jeff becomes Kurt’s best friend and you can’t split up Nino and Adrien. So Nino attended for a while before budget cuts messed up his scholarship. Kieran is from @depressed-teacup-inc and @sarcasticsparkles Divergence. I meant for him to featured just a little more but it just didn’t work out like that. Adrien’s mom is alive but is spliting up with his dad and I put Chloe in Rachel’s position when it came to dating the enemy first since it always comes up in Anderberry fics when Rachel doesn’t say who Blaine is because she doesn’t want to be accused of selling secrets to her brother. Anyway, please enjoy and we’ll see if day 4 actually comes out. Rival Musicians

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Nino said, adjusting his white tie. He’d forgotten how much he hadn’t been a fan of the Quantic Academy uniform. The pale blue shirts with the black blazers and white ties weren’t his aesthetic and even though it sucked to lose his scholarship, he’d been beyond happy to never put the uniform on again. He looked over to Marc and Nath, who seemed to pull it off with ease.

Totally unfair.

“I can’t believe you let Alya and Marinette bully you into coming to spy.” Nath said.

“No you’re not.” Marc clarified. “Remember how we got together?”

“Yeah, no. this fits perfectly. We should just be glad Chloe wasn’t the one to find out you used to go to school with our competitor. That would have been worse.”

“Yeah, especially since we all experienced her dating the ‘enemy’ last year. Last thing I need is her accusing me of giving secrets away. I really don’t want to bring up her asshole ex in her face. She’s finally starting to open up again.” Nino said.

“Where’s Adrien?” Marc asked, changing the subject. “You made it sound like we have a small window.”

“We do. Assuming things haven’t changed in a year, teachers take the afternoon to have a meeting while letting the students study and such. Or in the Warbler’s case, have impromptu performances to test songs out. If we don’t want to get caught, we need to be there when the mass text goes out and everyone is heading to the Senior Commons.”

Just then, a very familiar silver car pulled up in front of the boys. Adrien climbed out, in a black leather jacket and a white rocker tie but still in the same colours.

“Sorry I’m late. Mom promised the appointment would be over before I had to leave, but divorce proceedings involving my dad aren’t exactly easy. They were arguing over my ‘modelling’ career for a full hour before my mom’s lawyer managed to shut my dad up. I think, that woman speaks like a pirate and is just as ruthless and doesn’t like my dad, so she could have been insulting him for all I know.”

“Sorry you have to deal with this.” Nino said, patting his best friend on his shoulder.

“You haven’t modelled for almost 3 years. Your ‘career’ is just your dad reusing old photos of you for campaigns.” Nath said. “We can only hope we don’t have another instance like when it was your first day at school and you ran into the glee room to hide from your fans.”

“But, hey! We got you out of it.” Nino said. “You stick out like a sore thumb though.”

“It’s not my fault. You said you had enough extra uniforms. You’re the one who didn’t include yourself in the count. Let’s just be happy I have enough clothes to make an iteration of it.” Adrien said.

“Fair enough. Come on.”

All four of them walked into the main building. It was beautiful, a mix of old architecture and new, like a classic hotel or something along the lines. They slowed when Nino did as they approached the front desk, which was thankfully empty with a note to call when arrived.

“I’m so happy the headmaster uses the front desk secretary as his own. I mean, she gives as good as she gets and doesn’t take shit, but she’s also got a practical eidetic memory.” Nino said. “Ok, now there’s a student that we called the Caterpillar – he lived in my dorm and everyone had Alice in Wonderland names – who has access to everyone’s phone number and he’s in the Warblers, so he sends out a massive text message to everyone.”

“How are we even sure they’re planning on doing a performance?” Adrien asked.

“We don’t but I know so close to competition time Marin would want to practise when they have the chance, so at the very least we can peak into the Senior Commons were they practise.”

They got to the first hallway and Adrien saw that what he thought ground level was actually the first floor.

“Cafeteria is downstairs and exits for the gardens and the library. This floor holds some classrooms and common rooms, more classrooms and offices upstairs. The Senior Commons is actually down the hall and downstairs. They got first pick when the place was being built and it has the closest exit to where the dorms are.”

“Should we hang near there or somewhere else?” Nath asked.

However, before Nino could offer a suggestion, the one thing Adrien dreaded pierced through the empty and quite hallway.

“Ohmygod! It’s Adrien Agreste!”

Adrien liked anime, especially the feel-good ones. The one he liked the most was Gakuen Babysitter. The scene before him reminded him of when the twins’ father, a famous actor came to school and was found out by one of the students and suddenly the area around him were swarming with fans. What happened was a bit like that, except screaming boys instead of girls and Adrien actually got a head start in running away.

Nino hated his best friend had to suffer through this, so when he was separated from him and the rest of the guys and only found Marc and Nath not long after, he felt worried.

“Where’s Adrien?”

“We thought he was with you.”

“Ok, screw Marinette and Alya telling us not to get caught.” Nino said, pulling his phone out and scrolling through his contacts until he reached one with the name being just a butterfly emoji. “If they want info, they can come look themselves. My best friend is in a school that’s not desensitized to him being around and we’re find him before we leave.”

Of course, before he could call, he saw a text from the same butterfly named person.

I’m gonna let Marin yell at you for coming to spy.

Nino cursed. He’d been hoping to avoid that. Marinette and Alya were bad and Chloe worse, but Marin lording over him with his gavel, that was something he didn’t miss from attending school here.

But don’t worry. A certain blue haired Hatter was placed in the little Alice’s path. He’ll take care of him. Also, I know a certain March Hare misses you too.

Ok, maybe he’d have to kiss that Caterpillar after all.

____________________

Adrien slowly opened the door after finally hearing the hallway fill up and all move in one direction. Everyone was speaking excitedly, so no one noticed Adrien slipping out and joining the crowd. He looked around, hoping to see 3 familiar faces but no luck. he didn’t even know if this crowd was people going to see the Warblers. He bit his lip, trying to decide what to do. He could ask and then be in a bad spot if someone recognised him or he could ask what was going on and duck into a bathroom if it wasn’t Warblers related. He decided to risk it.

“Excuse me,” he said, tapping someone on the shoulder. The guy had dyed blue hair and when he turned around Adrien saw he had the piercings to match his punk look. The uniform really didn’t match him at all. “Hi, I’m new here. What’s going on?”

He gave Adrien this smirk as if to say, ‘I know why you’re here’. “I’m Luka.”

“Adrien, nice to meet you.”

“Adrien. Well, don’t worry, I won’t scream your name. and to answer your question, the Warblers are doing an impromptu performance.”

“Oh.”

“If you want, I can take you there. You know, bump into your friends who came to spy with you.”

“S-spy? I didn’t come to spy.”

“Right, so your lack of uniform and Nino being here is a happy coincidence.”

Adrien couldn’t really think of a lie, so thrown off. He let out a squeak when Luka grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway. This one was emptier and Adrien took a closer at Luka. his uniform was perfect but his shoes were emblem covered high tops. His nails were painted and fingers home to a few rings. He also noticed a few bracelets peaking out from under shirt sleeve. Luka seemed like such an anomaly in his perfect uniform but things that spoke to his personal aesthetic.

Before he knew it, they were back in a crowd as they entered a room, no doubt the Senior Commons.

“Shot, I do stick out like a sore thumb.” Adrien said, once he saw himself compared to everyone.

“I don’t know, I like your version better.” Luka said, tugging at one of the lapels of Adrien’s leather jacket. “Your friends are over there.” He nodded towards the door, where Marc, Nath and Nino were, all standing on their toes trying to look over the crowd. Nino got distracted by someone with light brown hair and purple rain boots, but Marc and Nath spotted him.

“How did…?”

“I’m sure Nino will tell you about the special ways of the Warblers.” Just at the front of the room, 2 lines of boys appeared as they started to create a beat. “Now if you excuse me. Kieran!”

The guy Nino had been talking to darted over to the lines and Adrien took his place, hearing his friends ask him what happened and if he was ok, but his attention was focused on Luka, who stood in the very front singing.

Before you met me, I was alright But things were kinda heavy, you brought me to life Now every February, you'll be my Valentine Valentine

Let's go all the way tonight No regrets, just love We can dance until we die You and I will be young forever You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream

He was good, really good. And he kept staring right at Adrien.

“That’s Luka. we were roommates when I was here.” Nino said, finally getting his attention. “He was well on his way to being lead vocalist when I left.”

“He’s really good.”

“Yeah. Don’t let his accessories fool you, he’s a cool guy.”

Yeah, he was.

When the song was over and the room burst into loud applause, cheers and whistles, Luka found his way over, with the same guy who’d been talking to Nino before and two new people. They reminded him a bit of Marinette and Alya, though one of them had a sever expression currently directed at Nino.

“You come spy and you don’t even come to say hello? I’m ashamed of you Nino.” The one who reminded Adrien of Marinette said.

“Please give it a rest Marin.” Nino begged.

“No, no, let him suffer more. I’m enjoying this.” Kieran said.

“Just to check, you’re not going to report us, right?” Marc asked, looking nervous.

“Don’t worry. Your attempts are endearing and we know Nino wouldn’t bring you over here without good reason.” The other guy said. “we’re not planning on using that song for the Sectionals, so you won’t go home empty handed.”

“How about coffee? Nino doesn’t know this, but we finally opened the coffee bar in the cafeteria, student run. We can stay here if you want.” Luka offered.

In the end, Adrien waited in the room, with Nino getting dragged to be lectured by his old friends and Nath and Marc having such complicated orders, it just made more sense to go with them. Adrien looked around the commons, taking in the couches and many side tables. A few had an almost permanent show print in them, like they’d been jumped on. The few people inside the room still paid his no attention, other than glancing at him.

“Here you go.” Luka said, handing him a to go cup. “Nino mentioned you didn’t like coffee so I got you hot chocolate. Better than most cafes, we make our own with milk.”

“Thanks. Where are the others?”

“Kieran is still making Marin lecture Nino and it turns out Alan is a fan of your friends’ comic, so just me for now.”

“That’s fine. Maybe you can tell me why the tables have footprints on them.” Adrien said, tugging his jacket off as Luka plopped down next to him.

“I have a habit of jumping around on tables during practise. Marin yells at me for it, but I can’t help it. Which is surprising, since I’m pretty stationary during performances.”

Adrien let out a little laugh. “You sound like my cat. Doesn’t matter how many cat perches we have for him; he just climbs up anywhere else. Granted, focusing on him and glee has been a godsend for my mental health recently.”

“Yeah, I’m sure dealing with arguing parents and divorce isn’t easy.”

Adrien looked over at Luka, confused as to how he knew that.

“Oh, yeah. My mom is your mom’s lawyer.” Adrien raised an eyebrow not believing him. “She sounds like this.” Luka said in the same thick accent Anarka had.

“Holy, hey wait. Juleka is Anarka’s daughter, which means she’s…”

“My sister. Competing against each other, but don’t worry. Music is sacred in our house so we don’t play dirty.”

“Whoa.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go fishing for anything. I just thought that things must be pretty difficult. Your dad makes mom pretty upset.”

“Yeah. It hasn’t been easy. The whole divorce hasn’t but this modelling thing is making things worse. Honestly, I’d be happy with glee drama. It’s the only thing that feels like it makes sense.”

“I get that. I’m older than Juleka, but I’ll be graduating at the same time as her because I ended up pulling out of school for a while. During all that, music was the only thing that made sense.”

“Was everything ok?” Adrien asked.

“Come here.” Luka led Adrien over to a piano that sat in the corner. “Take a breath and listen.” He ordered, resting his fingers on the keys. He watched Adrien do as he was told and he let his fingers move across the keys.

Adrien stared as he heard the emotions he’d been feeling were played. Every note and beat was everything.

“I’ve never been good at words. Mom struggled to get me to talk but she knew I liked music, so that started to become my voice. I guess the easiest way to explain it is I’m an empath. I can hear emotions and I tend to stay quiet. Some people at my old school didn’t like that I kept quite or I could play what they felt. Add on the muscle heads who didn’t understand that liking guys didn’t mean I liked them, things got insane. So I left and came here.” Luka ended Adrien’s song and sat on the bench to look at the blonde. “Even though music sort of got me into that mess, I get it being the only thing that feels like it makes sense.”

Adrien sat next to Luka. “And now you have glee. I was running from fans when I ran into our glee room. Mlle Bustier was ok with letting me hide there but when I saw how much fun everyone was having singing, I wanted to do the same. It’s been my escape.”

Luka bumped his elbow into Adrien’s side. “And people think models aren’t anything like us.”

“I’m really sorry you had to deal with that stuff, but I guess if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have met Nino and he wouldn’t have taken us here and we wouldn’t get to meet.”

“Guess there’s a silver lining for everything. It’s a shame we’re going up against each other in Sectionals. Hanging out with you would be fun.”

“Well,” Adrien said, shrugging, “No one said we can’t text.”

“I thought one of your team members dated a guy from an opposing team?”

“Who said anything about dating? We’re just texting. I mean, Nino texts you and the others, right? What makes me so different?”

Luka let out a laugh. “Fair enough. Adrien Agreste, rebel. I think you’ve been around my mom too much; she’s starting to take an effect on you.”

“You say that as if being a rebel is a bad thing.”

______________________

Well Adrien wasn’t a rebel, but he did enjoy talking to Luka. he was easy to talk to and they had a lot in common. When employing the same rules Juleka and Luka had on their houseboat when it came to glee, it was easy to forget he was competing against him. Nino encouraged it when he found out.

“Besides, if you end up liking Lu and asking him out, then I can ask Kieran out. Maybe. I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

It wasn’t hard to like Luka. he was good looking and funny and nice and his singing voice was amazing. But Adrien also knew dating during competition season was asking for another Chloe situation even if Luka would never do what that asshole ex did. So, Adrien made a deal with himself, he’d ask Luka out after Sectionals. One of them would win and then they wouldn’t compete anymore unless a space opened up. It would be fine.

I used to rule the world Seas would rise when I gave the word Now in the morning I sleep alone Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes Listen as the crowd would sing "Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key Next the walls were closed on me And I discovered that my castles stand Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

And of course listening to Luka sing Viva la Vida made Marc lean over to him and tell him if he didn’t ask him out, he would.

But like the world was against him, both the most amazing and worst thing happened. They tied. Chole had said how rare that happened. Adrien could only think about how he felt cheated out of asking Luka out. Which was why he waited in the bathroom, waiting for Luka to come in.

“Hi.” Luka said when he came in. he looked a bit disheartened and Adrien really hoped he was reading the reason right.

“Hey. Congratulations by the way. Your Viva la Vida was amazing. Chloe thought so too and she doesn’t compliment the competition much.”

“Thanks. I know you said you were a countertenor but I never expected you to hold that note in So much better.”

“Thanks. Um, listen. I really hope I haven’t been reading the signs wrong, but…I like you, enough to tell myself that after Sectionals were over, no matter what happened, I’d ask you out. But I wasn’t expecting us to both win. But that hasn’t exactly discouraged me.”

“You haven’t been reading them wrong. It was my plan too but it would really be a bad idea to date. The stakes are even higher now. Though…God, Marin might kill me for suggesting this, but how about one date? One date to get it out of our system and to also give us something to look forward to after Regionals. There isn’t a chance we’ll tie again so it’ll be fine after then, but I don’t think either of us can wait that long.”

The door to the bathroom opened and Nino poked his head in. “Adrien, bro. the bus is here, time to go.”

“Yes.” He said to Luka as he headed to the door. “I’ll text you.”

As Nino dragged him to the bus before the group got angry, Adrien told him what he and Luka planned on doing.

“As your teammate, this is a horrible idea. As your best friend, this is the best idea ever and I demand details after.”

#lukadrien june 2021 #glee au

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