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luxaryllis · 2 years

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Scared!Younger Sibling!Reader with Riddle Rosehearts: Alternate Endings

Note: Like the Vil's younger sibling one, this will have all 4 alternate endings.

The first 2 will be angsty, the last 2 will be happy endings.

Now then, I would just like to apologize for the long wait this took haha-

But anyway, let's get to it!

Warning/s: Major character death, Use of OC, Angst, Mentions/implications of hallucination, depression, su*cide, etc, Triggering topics, Actual su*cide, Self-harm, Mentions of child abuse, Past toxic relationship, Plot divergence, Memory loss Tell me if I missed anything

---

Alternate Ending 1: Regret, Blame, and What Isn't There: Bad Ending 1

Riddle runs to [Name] as soon as the overblot phantom behind them went away.

"[Name]! [Name], are you alright?!"

Riddle takes his younger sibling and puts their head on his lap, not caring about the ink around them.

Riddle tries to shake his younger sibling, but receives no response at all.

They just laid there, not responding at all.

Riddle checked for signs of breathing but... found none.

Riddle's eyes widen, 'no... had they been too late...?'

Riddle knew that it took quite a while for them to defeat [Name] because of their Unique Magic (which not only takes away magic but paralyzes and silences people). But he thought that there would still be hope.

Hope that Riddle would still be with his younger sibling.

Hope that his younger sibling would actually forgive Riddle.

But no.

Now, there's no chance for it at all.

Not a single chance that fate would be kind to [Name].

Riddle cries as he realizes that [Name] won't ever be coming back.

He realizes that [Name] would no longer be able to hear the apologies Riddle wants to say to them.

He realizes that... he was the reason why they overblotted.

Had he not forced them along with him, they wouldn't have overblotted.

Had he not snapped at them, they wouldn't have overblotted.

Had he not been so influenced by his mother's actions, they wouldn't have overblotted.

Had he not been in [Name]'s life, they wouldn't have overblotted.

It was all his fault.

His fault...

It was because of him that his sibling couldn't have a normal life.

It was because of him that they had to deal with such trauma.

It was because of him that they had to live in fear of getting hit and scolded.

It was never because of [Name]...

It was all because of Riddle.

Riddle was the reason why everything bad started to happen to [Name].

He's the reason they got the shorter end of the stick.

And because of him...

They had to go...

To a place where he can't follow.

When really...

It should have been him to go...

He should have been the one to die.

Not [Name].

He should have been the one to have suffered everything.

Not [Name].

Why was life so unfair to [Name]; much more than it was unfair to him..

[Name] did nothing wrong. Riddle was the one who messed things up.

So why...

Why was [Name] the one who had to suffer for his actions?

Why did they have to receive this kind of treatment?

When Riddle should have been the one to take it.

He was their older sibling.

He was supposed to be their protector and safe place.

He was supposed to take care of them.

But what he's done was the opposite.

He has done nothing an older brother should have done.

He should be the one receiving the punishment for what he's done.

...

When Finian saw Riddle's despaired expression, he knew what happened.

....he was never going to be able to see his best friend again.

Not anymore.

Because [Name] is gone.

Finian's heart broke.

No...

Why them?

Why did it have to be them?

Finian's bottom lip trembles as he falls to the floor, crying and sobbing.

Finian was a sensitive and empathetic person.

He was the one who helped [Name] see the truth that they shouldn't be treated like this.

Finian was the more emotional one of the two.

He cries and laughs, and some would say that he expresses what [Name] can't.

Finian was truly aware of [Name]'s suffering...

But he didn't do anything against Mrs. Rosehearts or Riddle at that time.

He never did.

Finian realizes that he should have.

He shouldn't have been so timid and shy and sensitive back then.

Because if he wasn't like his old self, [Name] (and Riddle) would have been surrounded by better people.

And things wouldn't have ended like this.

It truly wasn't fair for [Name] Rosehearts.

And it wasn't fair for Finian White either.

He's lost the only person who truly understood what he felt.

He's lost the only person who's actually ever stuck with him.

He's lost his best friend.

Because he was too shy and cowardly to go against Mrs. Rosehearts.

Because he thought it was best for them that he'd give away some information to Riddle.

...

Ever since that day, Riddle wasn't the same.

He wouldn't speak unless absolutely needed, he would barely eat food, and just grew into some hollow shell of himself.

He would do the required things to do to keep himself alive. But he only did the bare minimum.

He wouldn't hold conversation, but would try to keep everyone following the rules.

But he wasn't as passionate or as enthusiastic as he used to be.

He wouldn't shout, or scold people.

The entirety of Heartslabyul Dorm was worried for the Ex-Dorm Leader.

Ah yes, did I forget to mention that he stepped down from his position as Dorm Leader of Heartslabyul?

While most wanted him to have lessened on the rules before, this was a new level of "relaxed but still follow rules".

And people were also quite creeped out about it.

After all, everyone was used to a loud and strict Riddle. So seeing Riddle so... despondent and just... done with everything was... strange.

Everyday, Riddle blames himself for what happened to [Name].

He should have been faster, more powerful, better, kinder, just anything better than what he is.

If so, he would have been able to save [Name].

Every night, he'd cry himself to sleep, his thoughts haunting him as he continues to spiral down into an even more hollow version of himself.

It goes to the point where...

Riddle can't seem to feel anymore.

He's cried all he can.

He's screamed into his pillow all he can.

He's done all he can.

But he can't take it anymore.

He doesn't want to take it anymore.

What does life expect him to do?

What does anyone expect him to do?

He's tired.

He's done.

He is finished with life.

He doesn't care about what happens anymore.

He just can't find it in himself to even care.

...

And Finian, himself, has started to depend on denial to cope.

No...

There's nothing for him to cope.

They are still alive.

They will still be alive.

They aren't dead.

In fact...

They're right in front of him right now.

Yeah...

Finian is talking to his old friend.

They always have been talking.

Ahahahaha...

What do these people mean, 'they're dead' and 'there's no one there'?

They're wrong!

His friend is RIGHT THERE.

Alive, well, happy, and physically there.

No matter what anyone tries to tell Finian, it's like they're talking to a wall.

Just like how Finian talks to a wall, having a conversation with [Name].

---

Alternate Ending 2: Apologies And Regrets Mix Into A Mess: Bad Ending 2

"Please, I'm so sorry! Come back, please!! I'll... I'l do anything just please!!"

Ray screams into something.

Oh wait..

No...

Not 'something'

But someone.

Well...

What used to be someone.

...

Who that someone was?

Why, who else but Riddle Rosehearts.

The Dorm Leader of Heartslabyul is now nothing but a body with no spirit.

He was hit quite hard from an attack that Ray made during his overblot.

He had attacked them as well, but was unable to dodge the blast of light sent to him.

Luckily, Riddle's last attack had finished the overblot.

But Riddle could no longer continue.

He was dead.

And [Name] could never see him again.

They'll never be able to apologize and reconcile with him.

It's all their fault.

It's all their fault that it went like this.

If only they hadn't overblotted...

If only they hadn't gotten so angry at Riddle...

If only they had stayed quiet and obedient...

If only they had acted like they were raised to act like...

Then Riddle wouldn't have died...

Then Finian wouldn't have died either...

No...

No, no...

Finian is alive...

He's... he's going to be fine, right?

He just disappeared...

That doesn't mean he's gone, right?

He isn't dead.

He just left.

Yeah...

[Name] isn't alone.

They won't be alone.

They don't wanna be alone...

They don't want to go through all that...

Not like this...

They don't even want to live...

Not if they're alone.

Not if no one's going to be there to comfort them...

They don't want to go on.

...

[Name] was....

Not okay.

They were never the same anymore.

Though it did seem that they had moved on..

They hadn't.

They never did.

And they never will.

[Name] looks at their wrist, multiple lines cut across it. Some were new, others were quite old.

They look at the knife in their other hand, dry blood on the blade.

Quietly crying, [Name] cuts another line on their wrist.

The pain made [Name] feel numb. Well, they always have felt numb...

The pain never seemed to even bother them anymore.

Even more blood fell from their wrist, but [Name] couldn't care less.

They didn't want to feel a thing.

In fact, they deserve the pain.

They deserve to feel this way.

They deserve to die.

Like what mother said...

'Riddle died?! Dear Sevens, [Name], what have you done?! Goodness, you should have died instead of your brother!!'

That was what mother told them...

Yeah...

They deserve this.

They should have been the one to die.

Not Riddle...

They don't deserve to live anymore.

And mother wants them dead anyway.

So, as the ever-so obedient child they are, [Name] followed their mother's wishes.

---

Alternate Ending 3: New Memories To Replace The Old Ones: Good Ending 1

[Name] walks around with a smile on their face, laughing with Cater.

"Hahahahaha, oh great sevens, my stomach hurts from laughing so much."

And their cheeks have started to feel painful from the constant smiling.

[Name] doesn't remember being this happy before; though, they don't remember a thing at all, so it was understandable.

What it Cater isn't who they think he is...

But [Name] just can't shake away how... out of place they feel right now.

Yet at the same time, they feel as though everything is right. But wrong at the same time...

And that the entirety of Heartslabyul have been lying to them...

Cater notices the distant look on his underclassmen's face and slightly panics.

'Oh no... have they caught on...?'

He calls out to [Name] and continues talking to them.

"So, anyway, did you know that there was a time Trey..."

[Name] quickly dissmisses their strange thoughts and focuses on their older brother, Cater.

After all, they feel so happy with Cater, and their friends! And though they may have forgotten everything, they suppose that it doesn't hurt to make new memories for themselves.

...

Riddle watches as [Name] walks around with Cater Diamond.

He feels a painful tug in his chest as he watches them laugh.

Riddle was about to approach them until he remembered.

He wasn't [Name]'s big brother anymore.

They were no longer [Name] Rosehearts.

Now, they are [Name] Diamond.

Now, to them, Riddle was just their Dorm Leader. Nothing more, nothing less.

After their overblot, [Name] had completely forgotten everything.

And by everything, I mean everything.

From their name, age, height, family, and even their friends.

As if they were given a completely clean and new slate.

The remember nothing about their mother, or about Riddle, or about Finian, or about well...

Anything.

When Riddle had told [Name] about themselves, he was about to move onto the topic of their family.

Until he came to the realization.

If they didn't know anything about their family, about their mother, about him, they wouldn't suffer anymore.

So, right on the spot, Riddle says that their older brother was Cater.

Cater, and everyone else in the room, were all surprised and perplexed.

When everyone had finished the visit, everyone approaches Riddle, asking why he said that.

Riddle explains his thought that if [Name] didn't know who he was to them, and didn't know what their mother (and Riddle himself) has done to them, [Name] wouldn't feel the need to be so sad anymore.

Cater, though reluctant, agreed (half-heartedly; he couldn't bear having to keep such a secret to his underclassman like this) and said that he would try to convince his family about it.

Trey asked Riddle why he didn't choose him or the other students.

Riddle replies that since Cater is from another country, it'd be easier to keep [Name] from their mother, thus keeping them safe.

...

And Riddle was fine with that, he really was.

As the older brother, he's ready to sacrifice even his own role and identity just to keep his younger sibling safe.

So, Riddle watches the Diamond "siblings" in jealousy.

If only he and [Name] were like that too...

No.

Riddle shakes his head.

If [Name] is happy, Riddle is happy.

[Name] is happy with Cater as their big brother, not with Riddle as their big brother.

So...

At least for the sake of their happiness, Riddle will let himself step aside, and no longer be an older brother.

---

Alternate Ending 4: Familial Reconciliation: Good Ending 2

Riddle and [Name] look at each other, quite awkwardly. They were in the infirmary, with [Name] on the bed and Riddle standing in front of them.

"Hey, I'm-"

"Big brother, I'm-"

Both stop when they realize they spoke at the same time.

"You go first, big brother."

"No, no, [Name]. You can say what you wanted to say."

"No, please. I... I insist."

Riddle looks at his younger sibling, nodding and taking a deep breath.

"Ah... very well then."

"I... I know that you already know this but I'd like to say again. I am very sorry for my actions. And just... for everything. I've realized that my sudden change might have made you uncomfortable and my actions would have also made you be a lot more self-conscious. And I'm very sorry. I'm sorry my actions and words have caused you so much pain, to the point you even overblotted. I know I don't deserve youe forgiveness, but please accept my apology."

Riddle says, earnestly and sincerely bowing his head to [Name].

[Name] takes a deep breath as well, trying to collect their thoughts and replies.

"I... I need some time... everything's just been going fast and stuff and I'm still trying to process everything. But... apology accepted. I... it will take some time for me to try forgiving you but... uhh..."

Their voice weakens at the end, but Riddle nods at them to continue.

"But... you can't just apologize... I... can you... try proving it that... you have changed...? I don't know, I'm sorry, I'm... not making any sense, am I?"

"No, no, you're good. I understand what you mean. And yes, I... I'll try my best."

Riddle smiles gently at his sibling and [Name] feels their heart flutter.

That's... the first time their brother has smiled at them.

Tears well up in [Name]'s eyes and they fall slowly, making Riddle jump.

"Ah! Please don't cry! W-was it something I said or..?"

[Name] shakes their head, softly wiping their tears away.

"No, it's just... I'm... I'm glad..."

Riddle smiles again and goes to hug [Name], stopping just next to them, silently asking if they're okay with it.

The older Rosehearts gets his answer when his younger sibling pulls him into a hug.

Both smile and hug each other for probably the first time in their lives.

...

A few days have passed and Riddle has always done his best to show everyone, especially [Name], that he's changed.

He didn't forcefully approach them anymore and [Name] has been trying to learn not to flinch when they see Riddle.

Though, old habits die hard, and while they both do face some hiccups here and there, they do eventually reconcile.

...

A few years later, both have left their mother to pursue their own careers.

Riddle has become a professional and successful lawyer by the time.

And the Rosehearts siblings' bond is stronger than ever.

While [Name] still does have a tendency to flinch when Riddle shouts, it's gone down and happens rarely.

And while Riddle also has a tendency to let his anger get the best of him, he's learned to try controlling it and expressing his feelings in a safer way.

Now, they look at a picture taken during Riddle's third year graduation and [Name]'s second year graduation.

Both had happy smiles on their faces and were side hugging each other.

Looking at the picture, [Name] softly smiles, "We sure have come a long way, huh Riddle?"

Riddle smiles as well and hugs his dear sibling, "Why yes, we have, [Nickname]."

The Rosehearts siblings have come a long way.

And while many struggles were faced, they pushed through and bonded together.

"I love you, big bro."

"I love you more, little sibling."

"No, I do."

"Mmmm... no. I do."

Laughter fills the house of the Rosehearts siblings.

A happily ever after for them, indeed.

---------------

END!

There you go!

The wait is over my comrades! /hj

Anyway, here you go!

The alternate endings for Riddle's Younger Sibling.

Also, do note that you're still free to ask for things about this fic series!

Thank you all so much for reading!! 💙

Comments and feedback are very much welcome and appreciated!! 💙💙

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst platonic #twst sibling reader #twst angst #twst fluff #riddle rosehearts

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laguezze · 2 years

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Since my first PAC was quite a success I'm here for more!

PAC Reading: Random messages from your soulmate

I'm doing this thinking of a romantic soulmate, the one and only definitive one. You know who lol.

W A R N I N G ⚠️

It's honest, it's blunt, it's me 💅

Cussing

Also, might get a bit non PG. I'm gonna try keep it PG 16+ so if you're under that age pls leave and focus on school and your dreams because that's what's important right now. Don't rush love, sweetie. It will come to you when it's meant to come to you.

Are we ready? Stacy gworls, it's going 👇

(if you get that reference you're an MVP)

Let's go!

Pile 1

Pile 2

Pile 3

PILE 1

Hey girl (that's what I channeled, don't come at me). What you doin' (imitating that one F.R.I.E.N.D.S character i don't remember the name of)

Let's listen to Bruno Mars together and dance under the moonlight on our living room.

I guess there isn't much moonlight on our living room, though.

Oh well, whatever. You get what I mean.

Listen, our life may be simple but we're not. We're complicated. You more than me, though, I'm a little dumb sometimes.

Can we get a dog? A big intimidating one, not a Chihuahua pls you know i can't stand those little freaks. They freak me out, i don't get the hype around them.

I wanna grow old with you, but stay young at the same time. I am afraid of stopping with age. I wanna do things with you forever, I want nothing to stop me. Lol that has connotations if you know what i mean *wink wink*

Anyways, babe. I love everything about you. Even when you're a grumpy h*e and cuss me out for not throwing expired cheese away.

I still believe cheese doesn't expire but i throw it away for you. Because i love you and i respect you and your weird ass stomach that can't handle expired cheese that's not actually expires because cheese overall does not expire ever.

AnywAYS i will stop trying to pick a fight over cheese.

I love you. 3000, 3001, 3002, 3003...

Ok I'll stop

I'll see you soon when i get home.

Your one and only local dumbass.

I love your person skdjdjdjjd they are hilarious I'm ded.

PILE 2

Wassup, bestie. One word: YoLo

(what is wrong with your person, they seem to like teasing you with weird slang skdjdjjd love that)

Moving on, can we like... Talk? You've been so distant lately and it hurts me to realize how far away we are from each other both psychically and mentally.

I don't get why we can't just love each other, it's so unfair.

I love you too much to handle, and I will be there every step of the way. I don't care if you're not successful right now, you will be soon and I'll be there with a sign that says: YOU DID IT! screaming your name.

You are my best friend and my lover simultaneously but you also are my family.

I simply can't live without you.

Please don't give up on me, or your dreams, or anything. Just do not give up.

I love you, ok?

Thanks for being in my life.

Random but i got: spicy tamale, spicy chicken, chicken tenders, 22, LGBTQ community, church

PILE 3

Hey love,

I don't have much to say, you know who i am. Even if you don't know me yet, i am there in your subconscious, letting you know that i exist, letting you know that i acknowledge your existence and can't bare this time in separation.

But worry not, as our souls will find each other. Maybe not soon, but trust that they will. We are meant to be together, always and forever.

You say i remind you of your childhood crush, you say I'm like Edward Cullen and i act like i hate it but i don't. The fact that i resemble something you love so dearly makes me feel important, as if I've been there with you forever.

Plus, vampires are sexy creatures.

I'm glad we don't know each other yet here in the real world. I cannot believe what a mess i am right now. But I'll straighten up for you, dear. I always do.

Stop overthinking and worrying. You'll do great at that function. You always do great and it pains me to see you so nervous. I'll be there in spirit sending you flowers and love. Always with you, no matter what.

I love you, sweetheart. You and your small, little hands.

DANG Y'ALL, WE GETTIN THAT BELLA SWAN ERA WITH THIS PERSON. (I picked this one)

THE END

Hope it resonated!!

#tarot readings #free readings #tarot #tarot blog #free tarot reading #pick a card #tarot pick a pile #free tarot readings #tarot pick a card #pac #tarot pac #soulmate pac #soulmates #soulmate #soulmate pick a card #soulmate tarot #soulmate pick a pile

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travelingneuritis · 1 year

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so i just binged all of KinnPorsche at a rate that is frankly unsuited to the human body (we’re talking wombs on trains here) and I have. I have thoughts.

please talk to me about this show i am so unwell about it

1. Let’s get this out of the way Apo Nattawin is so beautiful he makes my stomach hurt. His beauty offends me. He is so hot that I’m sincerely upset and frightened. When he makes a facial expression (which he always! is doing! for some reason! on this television programme he was paid to act in??) it just makes everything worse. this man is a menace. He is now my faceclaim (spiritual or literal) for like 5 different blorbos. Watching him go on his KinnPorsche Face Journeys made me want to write original fiction again. I am appalled.

1.5. he has an absolutely impeccable balance of Brazen/Sincere/Game/Clueless. Like I am genuinely really impressed with the way he bounces between modes in this show, or (more often) overlaps them. he’s for sure going on the shelf next to XZ as WWX in terms of The Sunshine One Has Layers.

2. wow this show is horny!!!!!!!! just as worldbuilding!! everyone is beautiful and everyone fucks!! eat shit MCU!!!!

2.5. the main pairing: this is weird for me because I am actually so floored by Apo himself that it is very, very difficult to even look at anyone else while he is on the screen. The shapes his face makes are mesmerizing. His absolute commitment to expression. The way he feels twenty-three. So then this other (certainly very handsome) guy is like: Hi I’m obsessed with you, and I GET that, but I don’t as immediately get why Porsche would be reciprocally obsessed? because Kinn is like. hot and rich. which is almost an active turn-off for me at this point. Like if i accidentally consume another sexy-CEO property i am going to scromit.

For the most part I am content with: Kinn offered Porsche the powerful gateway drug of the First Gay Experience (and that comes across crystal clear, btw: Porsche’s youth and inexperience with gay shit contrasts beautifully with his grew-up-too-fast briskness and his sexual wordliness in matters not involving other men). However the show seems to be trying to sell me on this great romance, too, and at least on first viewing, I’ve mostly had to just take that one on faith. Maybe Porsche likes Kinn because Kinn takes care of shit so he can just be a slightly sloppy twenty-three-year-old for a little while longer, idk. Spoiler: don’t get used to it buddy :(

3. Vegas was, as expected, a Huge Problem For Me Personally. i honestly want him to push me into traffic. what an awful, loathsome, broken little man. So many issues. Cheekbones like the wrong side of an iceberg. it’s unfair for a man to look like that while behaving like that, and all with his shirt unbuttoned down to his cum gutters! call this hotline if you too have been personally victimized by Vegas Theerapanyakul.

3.5. i was prepared for VegasPete because i have gone on tumblr in the last year, but I still feel like there were some surprises there, and they were not the surprises I was expecting (lol?). I am a pretty hard sell when it comes to like, formalized BDSM, so the narrative’s reliance on physical chains and like, leather gear during the Actual Sex Scene was a bit of an impediment to me enjoying it the way I enjoyed KP’s completely messed up drug/poison-fueled bi/sexual awakening scenes against various reflective surfaces. However I am an easy, slutty sell on toxic messy bitches who share real sympathetic concern hidden by serious boundary/consent issues (see also: my entire stash of SVSSS bookmarks), so that offset the chains nicely! Holy shit did they squeeze some insane toxic psychological fuckery in there. Which is hot. I don’t want anyone on this show to be healthy.

3.6. it should be said, i can’t believe: a. anyone other than his dad could break Vegas; b. anything other than The Moral Concept Of Friendship could break Pete; c. Vegas could be broken by Pete; d. Pete could capably break Vegas. yet here we are :)

3.7. and yes, I regard Vegas as the one who gets Broken here; idrk what the general fandom take is, but it seems like pete doesn’t break so much as just eventually (traumatically? yeah!) Accepts a Thing About Himself. It’s Vegas that gets actually shattered by the experience.

4. the guy who plays Baby Brother Kim looks like a (much hotter, cooler, classier, SE Asian) justin bieber and appears to also be playing, essentially: a much hotter, cooler, classier justin bieber. this isn’t a problem or anything i actually think this actor and character is cute as a button and deliciously unnerving. but i wanted to put that out there. i think it’s the eyebrows and the little mouf, combined with the general air of douchebaggery.

4.5. I don’t really have strong opinions about KimChay. I think this is primarily because Chay seems really, really barely legal, to me. The show leans into the youthful first crush thing, and Chay’s actor also just looks really young. i will say that kim’s scumbag street fashion schtick is a nice foil for chay’s fresh-pressed khaki preciousness. I like them? they’re cute? in general i don’t go out of my way to root for this many overlapping ships (everyone’s brother is fucking each other’s brothers.......okay sure) or First Love type ships, so I don’t actually care if they like, Stay Together in the fictional future. but sure, they’re cute!

5. I didn’t love the resolution for the main pairing? I was happy with most of the ways the show did or did not tie up its loose ends but I don’t see why Porsche ended up “rewarded” with the leadership of the Minor Family. to him, isn’t this kind of a millstone? My mans just wants to open a sick beach bar and get rawed by his tittylicious cousin for the rest of his life, i fail to see how becoming branch manager for an evil empire he’s not even a part of is going to make him happy, although i can see why his uncle would regard that move as a consolidation of power. so while it’s presented as a happy ending, i find it bittersweet at best.

however, i am sure they will be fine :/

in summary: Wow What A Show! 10/10 Tits & Ass

#kinnporsche

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princeescaluswords · 1 year

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Hello. I'm the Anon who asked the question about the hunters and their competency. I never thought of it that way, and I really like your take on these kind of things. So here's another one for you; what did the Hale's actually do for Beacon hills?

It may have been a narrative oversight in the background. However, within the story we are told of all these great things that Talia and the Hale's that came before her did for beacon hills. Yet by the time Derek shows up there is no one present to help him. Going off the lost Prince narrative, a take I've heard you talk about before when it came to him, usually there are still people around who are willing to help. Yet the individuals we are introduced to that knew his mom and the legacy she had have either turned to the dark side or said we're sitting this mess out.

In a debatably unfair comparison to Scott, during his departure all of his allies that stayed behind still continue to fight the good fight even 15 years later (according to the movie). So the question becomes what inspiration did Talia and\or the Hale family actually have on anybody if no one was still around willing to continue her mission? Or should we go off Deaton's word that her death was so impactful that everyone lost hope to explain the absence?

Textually, we can only draw evidence from four episodes: Visionary (3x08), Riddled (3x18), 117 (4x02), and Orphaned (4x06). While previous episodes had shown the wealth and the history of the Hale family, only these four (please correct me if I'm wrong) touch upon the relationship between the Hales and Beacon Hills. We know that werewolf packs would come to seek Talia Hale's guidance and that she had significant status, which could explain (along with the Nemeton) why there were so many werewolf packs present in Beacon County. We know that the Talia Hale saw protecting Beacon Hills as a duty of her family. We know that they undertook public service works, such as funding (and influencing) the construction of the high school. The clearest statement comes from the Benefactor's cassette-tape introduction.

Voice: Eventually settling in a small town in Northern California, this family used their wealth to rebuild the community around them while remaining isolated from it.

So, part of your answer was that while the Hales were involved in building and protecting Beacon Hills, they did so surreptitiously. Thus, it's not outrageous for Derek to not have any contacts or allies among the civil authorities. But what about the supernatural community? While Derek, Peter, and Cora did not know who Deaton was (though Peter figured it out quickly), there was Satomi. Derek remembered her in Weaponized (4x07). Why didn't he seek her out when Laura was murdered?

The answer is clear, and it's why Derek was an antagonist in Season 1 (and a villain in Season 2). Because of Paige and Kate, he didn't trust anyone. There's a reason he didn't go to the police for help with his sister's murder and instead buried her in his burned-down family mansion's side yard. There's a reason he chose to use Scott as bait rather than wait until Scott threatened to go to the police at the end of Pack Mentality (1x03). It's a fanon creation that he was only trying to help Scott, because you can't help someone you don't trust. This distrust in others (and in himself) lies at the root at everything he did wrong until he allowed himself to trust in Scott, the pack, and Braeden, which enabled him to duplicate his mother's power in Smoke & Mirrors (4x12). Derek didn't go to Satomi (or any other ally of his mother) because of distrust and shame, and so he hurt himself.

It's one of the reasons that the Lost Prince trope doesn't apply to Teen Wolf, and thus it became a source of frustration to fandom. Derek's story wasn't reclaiming his family's legacies, it was evolving into the best person he could be by letting go of the past. This was epitomized by his transfiguration at the end of the movie.

I'm not quite following the argument of your last paragraph, because one of your premises isn't true, and one of them is questionable. All of Scott's allies didn't remain in Beacon Hills. Stiles, Liam, Deaton, Lydia, and Jackson live and work elsewhere. It can be assumed that Isaac, Marin, Cora, Theo, Hayden and Corey are elsewhere as well if they are still Scott's allies. Derek, Peter, and Malia live in Beacon Hills, as do his mother, Parrish, and the Sheriff. None of them acted as if this were strange. The idea that a pack must live together in the same house is mostly a fanon invention. After all, Mrs. Finch was alpha of the Primal Pack and yet had rejected their ways. ("It's my pack, too.")

Which leads me to question your second premise, "still fighting the good fight." Against whom? There's no indication that the lives of the people of Beacon Hills are in danger 13 years after Monroe fled. Eli certainly acts like a normal teenager, not a child who grew up in a war zone. There's not the slightest whiff of resentment from the pack members who are in Beacon Hills about the pack members who aren't in it. This tracks, and to be frank, Teen Wolf makes a whole hell of a lot more sense if Scott McCall's teenage years are seen as anomalous in the lives of average werewolves. They weren't meant to be seen as failwolves because they weren't supposed to be superheroes. The idea of pack as a paramilitary unit always on guard against territorial intrusion or evil threats is a fanon invention with little backing in canon.

I hope this answers your question.

#scott mccall #derek hale #hale family #teen wolf meta #scott mccall defense squad

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beevean · 10 months

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The reason I haven't watched Prime yet, other than the fact the trailers fully failed to catch my interest and everything in there honestly looked really ugly and oddly stretchy, is basically because Sonic allegedly is presented as an OOC idiot and all his friends as needless dicks. It makes me fear watching it is going to be one big They Would Not Do That teeth-grinding endeavour, which I know I am not going to enjoy in the slightest. I had the exact same in Boom RoL, with Sonic randomly bailing his friends out of a fight they could have easily won (but clearly asking them to turn tail because he was worried)... and his friends then suddenly becoming all aggressive and accusatory when shit hit the fan despite the fact that 1. Sonic was trying to help (even if it clearly was not necessary in a more meta player sense, but still, it's nice he was worried, I suppose) and 2. Sonic could not have known he would lead the party right to Lyric, yet everyone fully blamed him for Lyric's escape anyway without taking that detail into account at all. Prime seems to be doing the same with that shattered crystal, and it truly comes off as unfair towards Sonic.

But I must say, the more people are abuzz about Prime, the more my curiosity is piqued... in a "I wonder just how bad it actually is" kind of way, but still. Now I really am heavily debating if maybe I should give it a watch after all, but I just truly don't like how it appears as if the characters got completely stripped of everything that makes them likeable and Sonic gets the short end of the stick because of it😅

And of course the fact Silver is not in it, but we can't have everything. But still :<

You nailed it lol. It's exactly that: trailers and blurbs both failed to convince me it would be a good investment of my time. I mention Boom because I felt the same way when the trailers of RoL started to drop: I watched them, thought "wow this looks very unappealing" and simply never followed its development - and this was long before it turned out to be a glitchy mess lmao.

I still have zero interest in catching up. I have watched a few clips from my friends who did subject themselves to it, and I'm sorry, but every frame simply repels me. I don't like the overly stretchy animation, Sonic has some truly cringy lines, everyone's OOC, the concept alone is just wasted IMO - I don't care about a Jungle AU or a Pirate AU! The Eggman AU could have been great, showing on-screen what Forces didn't, but nooooooo we have to have the Chaos Council 🙄 yeah thanks, that's exactly what i needed in my life, gen z eggman.

Doesn't help that the praise I keep seeing feels rather shallow, about how cute characters are (first it was Nine, now it's Apple Metal or whatever the name is) or how funny the shipteases are. And sure, nothing wrong in enjoying mindless entertainment ofc, you do you. But again, I still think I'd be wasting my time. It's not even interesting in the same way IDW sparked some interesting conversations about Sonic's personality and morals in the games. Yeah, Sonic's a dumbass here. People like him being a dumbass. Okay.

Anyway, if you want to hatewatch, I recommend doing so with a friend lol. You could both make fun of it and seriously discussing about what works and what doesn't :P

#sonic the hedgehog #i feel ya regarding silver #but think about it: he might be warped so horribly ooc he wouldn't be silver anymore #maybe it's better that he was spared :p

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motownfiction · 2 years

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1, 2, 3, 26, 27, 30, 36 for will, charlie, daniel, and sam

MEN!!!!!

for ✨will✨

1. what is your character’s reaction to a minor inconvenience? such as getting their jumper caught on a door handle?

he's a little embarrassed for a second, but he's able to get himself out of the jam so quickly, he almost forgets it was a thing at all.

2. tea, coffee, hot chocolate or other?

i think will becomes a coffee guy in his twenties. maybe toward the end of his bachelor's. but you know my characters aren't giving up coca-cola.

3. what does their safe space look like?

just at home, wherever that may be, with the girls. the people he knows are never going to turn on him, never going to laugh on him, always going to accept him, forgive him when he's wrong.

26. are they an animal person? do they have pets?

i really don't think of will as an animal person. i don't think he dislikes animals at all, but he doesn't strike me as the kind who would ultimately want any of his own. maybe he wanted a dog when he was little, but that time has passed.

27. what are their opinions on children? do they view children as sweet angels or evil crotch goblins?

lmao, you know he loves kids! i don't think he would go so far as to call them sweet angels (he had to raise one in eleventh grade, after all), but he enjoys being a dad and getting to know his friends' kids once they have them. i assume he also has nieces and nephews, given how many siblings he has, but they're not characters. assume he likes those hypothetical nieces and nephews, too.

30. do they dwell better in chaotic situations or more linear situations?

give will the chaos! he'll find his way out, and he likes the challenge.

36. tell us something about your OC that doesn’t make it onto the page?

this will probably make it onto the page at some point, but his favorite song is "the seeker." like this is the song that gets him. it understands him.

for 😔charlie😔

1. what is your character’s reaction to a minor inconvenience? such as getting their jumper caught on a door handle?

he unravels. it becomes the worst moment of his life, and he doesn't know what to do with himself. he loses the ability to think critically. he just starts wailing about how life is unfair.

2. tea, coffee, hot chocolate or other?

charlie likes all of these things in rotation, plus coca-cola, his favorite. that's called revision.

3. what does their safe space look like?

i think charlie likes being in the water, whether that's the shower, the pool, or a lake. it's where he can both hear himself think and ignore himself completely, depending on his mood.

26. are they an animal person? do they have pets?

i don't picture charlie as much of an animal person, either. what if someone loved the animal more than they loved him?

27. what are their opinions on children? do they view children as sweet angels or evil crotch goblins?

charlie likes kids in theory. i think, in his weird, warped way, he loves all three of his children (namely cordelia, actually). but he doesn't know how to care for them because that means taking the attention off of himself, and he hates that. he wants to be the most special person in the entire world.

30. do they dwell better in chaotic situations or more linear situations?

charlie would actually prefer things to be linearly structured, but because he's such a disorganized, disjointed mess, he usually finds himself in chaos, anyway.

36. tell us something about your OC that doesn’t make it onto the page?

his favorite color is pink. honestly, it's one of the few cool things about him.

for ✨daniel��

1. what is your character’s reaction to a minor inconvenience? such as getting their jumper caught on a door handle?

he has a pretty similar reaction to will, actually. he's a little embarrassed, but then, he's able to figure out how to fix the problem very quickly. he's calm about it.

2. tea, coffee, hot chocolate or other?

daniel is also a coffee guy to me.

3. what does their safe space look like?

with sadie. that's it. it doesn't matter where they are, as long as she's with him.

26. are they an animal person? do they have pets?

i think daniel is an animal person, specifically a dog person. but he and sadie don't have pets because they have three kids, and that's too expensive in and of itself.

27. what are their opinions on children? do they view children as sweet angels or evil crotch goblins?

daniel likes kids! he loved baby elenore as soon as he met her, and they're very close. he wasn't sure he'd be a good dad, given his own father's neglect, but he turned out to be wonderful.

30. do they dwell better in chaotic situations or more linear situations?

give daniel the chaos, too. he'll make sense of it, and he'll have a damn good time trying.

36. tell us something about your OC that doesn’t make it onto the page?

this is in the forever-unpublished christmas story (which is unpublished not because it's bad, but because i wrote it as a personal gift, and it's really long), but daniel's favorite song is "disintegration."

for ✨sam✨

1. what is your character’s reaction to a minor inconvenience? such as getting their jumper caught on a door handle?

he'll just make so many jokes about it that he'll forget he was supposed to solve the problem. it takes him about five minutes to remember there's an issue. he figures it out, though.

2. tea, coffee, hot chocolate or other?

all of the above, but for certain moods. sam would tell you that coffee is an anytime drink, but tea is for rainy weekdays, no matter the season, but most enjoyable in the fall. hot chocolate is for christmas only (sadie will never drink hot chocolate again, btw). and everything else is just up in the air.

3. what does their safe space look like?

the back of a record store just before he flips the sign to say closed.

26. are they an animal person? do they have pets?

like daniel, i think sam is theoretically an animal person, but he can't really see himself taking care of one.

27. what are their opinions on children? do they view children as sweet angels or evil crotch goblins?

so. sam. sam loves kids. really, he does. he loves being elenore's godfather, and he loves having nieces and nephews. he often thinks about a life where he has kids. sometimes, he even has fantasies about being a single father. but in the end, he's pretty sure he's not right for fatherhood. he's pretty sure his life is too much about him. of course, i know that if sam had ever been a father, he would have uprooted his life immediately to prioritize his kid. he would have also folded his kid into his previous existence, just like lucy and will did after elenore was born (hence elenore's whole "being an old soul" thing). in an ideal world, sam would have at least one kid, but he's afraid of what that means. and he's smart enough to know that a single doubt means that he should probably avoid having his own children as best as he can. it's a sacrifice for him, though. and he would have loved judy.

30. do they dwell better in chaotic situations or more linear situations?

will chaos is sam's best friend. he's really good at sorting through it, and it makes him feel like his life is fun and spicy.

36. tell us something about your OC that doesn’t make it onto the page?

i'm not sure i've ever specified this anywhere but the dms, but between charlie and sam ... sam is supposed to be the less handsome brother. i know. sam's reputation is that he's the handsome one, and while he is, charlie is supposed to be better looking. it's just that neither of them fully realizes that because their reputations precede their reality.

#asks #ch: will o'connor #ch: charlie doyle #ch: daniel deluca #ch: sam doyle #areiphilos #thank you!

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itspileofgoodthings · 3 years

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Lady Marchmain should have let Sebastian go to jail over the drunk driving thing. Or, at the very least, should have stopped short of any mode of trying to get out of the consequences of his own actions that was dishonest. Things would have been a million times better if she had let things play out as they were going to without her interference. In this essay I will

#brideshead revisited #I mean probably not the most original take #but it’s such a failing on her part #my mom was watching it and she was like ‘yeah I could have become her’#and I know what she means okay? it’s not like her actions are inscrutable or you can’t have any sympathy there #but if there’s one thing my mom would never ever ever do it is getting her kids out of things by cheating #because 1) it’s wrong and 2) it’s actually so unfair to the person who messed up #sometimes you have to let justice play out!!!!!!#I mean you definitely do when there is no other way but LYING #I mean I know I’m stuck on this but this is really what GALLS ME #it isn’t that she doesn’t understand Sebastian or can’t sympathize with him #and it’s not that she doesn’t probably have real trauma from the time with his dad #it’s the fact that she’ll cut moral corners WHEN SHE FREAKING FEELS LIKE IT TO GET WHAT SHE WANTS #it’s the lack of integrity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#this is why even though I can’t totally remember #I think I really love bridey!!#because with all that he is he isn’t unfair. he doesn’t cheat.#he’s just not ‘charming’ which has its own charm and protection #lady marchmain would not be in the mess she’s in if she weren’t charming #also just as a final thought: obviously I am not laying all of Sebastian’s actions at her door #he’s suffering a lot but he also still makes his own choices and is responsible #but that’s kind of exactly what she won’t believe about him #when he tells Charles he won’t do anything because ‘they’ll do it all’ it’s so so so true and horrible

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itsatoyboat · 3 years

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i finished true colors and i’m having a lot of thoughts that i NEED to talk about.

(if this is gonna be long idk, i apologize for your eyeballs)

1. i honestly didn’t like alex at all when i saw the trailer, i was thinking “hmm idk about this one” but as soon as i started to play the game i fell so in love with her, she is so freaking smart and funny, she genuinely cares about the people around her and her story it’s very different from the other characters from LIS anthology. i truly enjoyed seeing alex’s development throughout the game especially her realizing that her powers can actually help the people around her and not harm anyone, the way she controls it after her conversation with gabe was such an awesome upgrade from the alex who was so ashamed of her power to alex superwoman. i liked how the game explored her emotions and her mind about the past, the mine part where alex was struggling to feel everything she felt in those days and then embracing everything was one of my favorite parts. it shows a lot of growth.

2. this game has AMAZING CHARACTERS, every single one of the characters was well written, they had life, they had problems, they had their own emotions with private stuff that was going on in their lives and you could actually talk to them and meet their “layers”. mac for an example was an asshole but i couldn’t pretend i didn’t felt his concern and fear around typhon, the way he was terrified about everyone hating him, he was scared for his life and being very paranoid, i was concerned about him and the game giving you the choice to speak to him or leaving him was a tricking decision cause you could leave him alone suffering or try to help him out, maybe saving his life and this is a lot but he’s alive. the game makes him real and that’s what makes me INSANE about the characters. i know, i’m talking about a game where you’re supposed to feel the characters’ feelings but that could possibly go wrong as well if the characters were shallow and poorly explored and that’s not the case with true colors. they had purpose.

3. alex’s power it’s probably my favorite power. the choices in this game was way harder than the first two games, the craziest thing is you can choose if you want to take someone else’s feeling so they can stop feeling that way, saving them from themselves making alex suffer instead and that's selfish. don’t get me wrong, i’m not calling alex a selfish person but taking someone else’s feeling doesn’t make anything better, you’re taking their right to heal, to be alive and that is so fucking awesome. you have this power to help someone, to “take their pain away” and you will learn that people need to feel what they are supposed to feel so they can move forward cause if we don’t, we are never going to learn. we see that charlotte is pretty angry about gabe’s death, she blames everyone but mostly ethan, she is miserable. alex can choose between taking charlotte’s anger or leave her. if alex takes charlotte’s anger, charlotte is left completely empty, she doesn’t feel anything and when i say anything it’s anything. she is left emotionless and bitter, she doesn’t pass through her way of mourning for gabe and she doesn’t have alex’s back when alex confronts jed. if alex leave charlotte to her anger we have a nice moment between them on the festival, talking about what happened and charlotte gets alex’s back on the black lantern and that’s what i mean from being selfish, if we take someone else’s feelings we are being unfair to them, we are choosing for them and people are supposed to feel, heal in their own time or overcome. by taking charlotte’s anger we deprived her from healing, we are not helping her, we are just making an natural process even more difficult and slower. alex being able to hear what someone is thinking and enter that person’s world from what they are feeling at that moment it’s the best detail for me, everything changes, we get to see the world through that person’s eyes, we can understand them but we decide what to do with that, we can be selfish or actually help. of course, we can take pike’s situation for an example also, if we take his fear we can help him overcome typhon and we get to expose jed but pike’s fear was necessary to take and charlotte was not necessary, pike at least had the pendrive with the recorded calls on it so we had a chance for things to get better.

4. chapter 5 was an amazing ending. finding out the truth about typhon, jed was never a hero, alex confronting her past, the confrontation and seeing who was going to be on your side, alex’s final conversation with gabe and the end, it was better than i thought it could be. i truly loved seeing alex’s past, even with everything that went down she turned to be a good person who wanted to be loved (her passion for music being the thing that helped her connected to me in a lot of levels, that creep cover though i screamed so hard when she started to sing). the mine part was absolutely insane not just alex surviving that fall discovering that gabe was looking for his dad for so long, jed knowing it and all of this time his dad actually died because of jed, alex finding the truth by taking her mom’s necklace back from what was left of that accident it’s so heartbreaking, the confrontation was crazy, i thought no one was going to believe alex because jed was so loved by everyone there it would be so easy to doubt alex and just be on jed’s side which was what ryan did but it’s understandable, jed was his dad, his hero. alex’s speech on jed exposing him after everything was one of the best monologues on that game and man this game had AMAZING dialogues and monologues, everything felt so real and beautiful, the best part of it it’s to forgive jed that’s where alex break him, he regrets everything even more cause when we find out the truth. we find out why jed never enjoyed talking about being the hero of haven springs. at the end jed wasn’t entirely a bad person cause when we forgive him he gives back alex her dad’s jacket talking about how he wanted to give it to gabe but couldn’t, that’s something that made me love even more the characters even jed that was the “villain”, which i don’t think he is. what he did was terrible and he knew that, he tried to pretend nothing happened when alex started to talk but at the end he broke, that always haunted him and that’s the difference between him and jefferson who was actually the villain in life is strange he wasn’t forced to do those things, he killed rachel, he killed chloe, he manipulated nathan, he was going to kill max and if max didn't stopped him on the arcadia bay ending he would kill even more students at blackwell.

5. alex and steph relationship was the purest thing on this game, it was smooth, it was organic, it wasn’t something out of the blue, steph liked alex since the beginning. the plan to pick someone to flirt with diane and get her pendrive i chose ryan and afterwards steph started to feel something, she was so upset that alex used to think ryan was “hotter than her” (i only chose ryan cause i didn’t want to see steph flirting with diane but i saw the scene where we pick steph and omg i should’ve chosen steph cause that scene it’s hilarious), steph was happier around alex, every time she had an opportunity to flirt with alex she took it. seeing their love grow through the chapters was beautiful, i know we can choose ryan over steph but i don’t believe ryan liked alex the way steph did, you can literally see that no matter what alex did steph was going to support her and look at her with so much love and respect and that’s why i think alex and steph’s relationship it’s so pure and right. also they looked so good playing together it’s so cute that they have the same passion for music and THAT LARP SCENE FOR GOD’S SAKE MY HEART MELTED!

6. this part is exclusively to talk about LARP and the fight scenes, it reminded me so much of final fantasy it was so COOL, well thought and so fun. it was awesome to see everyone taking care of ethan and doing their best to make him happy.

7. talking about ethan, this game opened a conversation in my head about charlotte and ethan, i started to think a lot about what charlotte said about ethan how she felt happier when gabe was around and now she was stuck with only ethan again, it made me think that maybe charlotte didn’t want to have a child or if she didn’t had ethan she could have gabe again. that could open a conversation about women who didn’t want to become a mom but it doesn’t mean that charlotte would hurt ethan which makes total sense to decide to leave her alone and not take her anger, she would never hurt ethan. it was again another tricking decision cause we get concerned about ethan when charlotte starts to talk but we know deep down she cares so much about her son, she does everything for him.

life is strange true colors became my favorite life is strange, the story it’s different and great, it’s literally finding the truth about everything, when we understand people’s feelings we discover the truth about them and situations, we understand everything. this game actually made me cry harder and think so much even more than the first one and boy i love the first one so badly. it talks a lot about empathy and how we react to people’s emotions, your choices in this game are way harder than messing with time or moving things with your mind, it’s choices about things that could happen in real life eventually and that is what makes this game so important to me, it’s real.

and also it's the first life is strange to have happy endings like.. ok big steps for my non depression finally

#life is strange #life is strange true colors #alex chen #gabe chen #max caulfield #chloe price #square enix #game #games #gaming #god i wrote so much #steph gingrich #life is strange 2 #life is strange before the storm #ryan lucan

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blossom-hwa · 3 years

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pirate!ateez |2|

The continuation of the pirate ateez au inspired by pretty much every wonderland stage and the kingdom wonderland performance!! Once again credits to mai @wingkkun for the ideas that sparked san, mingi, and yeosang’s stories!

(Reading part 1 isn’t required to understand what happens here; however, there are spoilers for previous members’ stories!!)

Pairing: Ateez x gender neutral!reader

Word count: 11.9k (total)

Genre: some fluff, mostly angst, pirate!au

Triggers: cursing, blood and death (sometimes semi-graphic) - specific triggers for each section are listed below the header!

Part 1 (Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang) | Part 2 (San, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho)

Ateez Masterlist

san (ABS - specialty in swordsmanship)

warnings: cursing

so. san.

poor dude i put him through a lot in hongjoong’s part :/ he didn’t deserve that i’m sorry san

but let’s start from the beginning

unlike some of the others, san has only ever known the streets. he has no memory of real parents, just various random caretakers who ended up causing him more harm than good

there are two singular exceptions to this during san’s childhood: you and an older pirate named jongin

you’ve been there ever since san can remember. even now he’s not entirely sure how or when you two met, he must’ve been very young, but he just knows you’ve been with him for what feels like forever

the two of you wandered the streets together, begging and stealing food whenever you could

it only makes sense that you two would fall in love once you were old enough to understand it (which comes a little later than either of you would’ve liked - you’re probably sixteen or seventeen when you get the guts to press san against a wall and kiss him like person starved as san kisses back with just as much fervor)

when you were still together, it sometimes felt like you were the only reason san could stay alive

you mean the world to each other. the literal world

so that’s you - someone san knows will never abandon him willingly, will always stay by his side as long as they can

now uh moving on to jongin

you two were young when you tried to pickpocket him that one time

immediately it was clear you’d messed with the wrong guy - he noticed you two immediately and you were caught

but surprisingly, all he did was smile and offer to buy you something to eat

and being the hungry children you were (san thinks you were around twelve at the time) you said yes without a second thought

luckily jongin didn’t have any ulterior motives - in fact, he taught you and san to become better pickpockets, how to take advantage of people’s blind spots and your natural talents

so naturally, he became both of your role model

and because jongin was a pirate, you two resolved to become pirates just like him when you grew older, even asking him to take you on his ship whenever he returned to the city to visit.

but every time, jongin refuses. when you’re younger you kind of accept it, but as you and san grow older you start to insist more and more

there’s nothing left for you two here except a life still on the streets, and isn’t being a pirate pretty much the same? stealing and pillaging, just on the ocean instead of on dry land

neither you nor san flinches at blood, and you can both deal with injuries

but jongin still refuses, finally telling you just how far from heroes pirates really are. they kill and steal, often more than they need, not taking just enough money and food to survive or pass out to those less fortunate the way you and san both do

this kills the dream a little for you and san, though you both come to the conclusion that not all pirates have to be horrible - look at jongin

so you still resolve to become pirates, maybe on a crew that isn’t as terrible as the ones jongin has told you two about

this sort of dream goes on for another year or so. you and san figure out your shit and finally kiss, jongin mock claps when he finds out before disappearing again, you and san wander the streets again still with little aim but your interlocked hands are purpose enough

until you get kidnapped.

san literally almost goes insane when he can’t find you after two days. tears around the city like a man possessed, looking everywhere you might be and then everywhere you definitely aren’t on the off chance he’ll find you

but even when jongin arrives back in the city a few weeks later and joins san’s frantic search, you’re never found

it’s all too much. way too much for san - he’s literally lost the one person who keeps him sane - and honestly the last straw is when jongin asks if he wants to join his crew now

deep inside san knows he means it out of the goodness of his heart. jongin isn’t evil and he’s hurting too with your disappearance, he’s just trying to give san a semblance of a new home

but san explodes. none of this would’ve happened if jongin had taken them in earlier, had let them join the crew together, if he’d even taught them more - it’s his fault, it’s his fucking fault

jongin tries to grab san but he just twists away - jongin’s touch feels like fire burning against his skin - and runs

for how long he runs, san genuinely doesn’t know. he just knows that he can’t stay here, can’t stay in this city anymore

so he becomes somewhat of a highway robber? holding travelers at sword point and demanding what they have

the sword he uses was gifted to him by jongin and it makes him feel sick every time he pulls it out, but even though san is sometimes irrational, he’s not stupid - he needs a weapon, and if this is the only one he has, so be it

doesn’t matter if memories of you and an older pirate come flooding back every time he grips the handle.

san makes a name for himself - people whisper about him, tell travelers to avoid the paths he frequents, but the thing is he doesn’t really frequent anywhere. he’s a wanderer too, which makes him so dangerous because he’s so unpredictable

until hongjoong appears and san makes the mistake of challenging him to a fight.

i say mistake but really, it was probably one of the singularly most life-changing events for san except for 1. meeting you, 2. your disappearance, and 3. leaving jongin

because when hongjoong has his sword positioned over san’s neck and san thinks he’s about to die, hongjoong gives him a choice - join his crew or get his throat cut

san just scoffs at first and is like why would you want a highway robber on your crew? don’t you know who i am?

hongjoong does know, of course - he actually tracked san down because he needed a good swordsman to join his crew and thought san would be perfect

san is on the edge of saying no, but hongjoong is one of three people who’ve ever beaten san in a fight (jongin, you, and now joong) so he’s got a little grudging respect for the guy

but even more than that, he remembers you and remembers your pact to find a semi-decent ship and join the crew

it seems like a childish pact now, but for some reason, once he remembers it, he can’t put it out of his mind

(maybe it’s because if you’re dead, which you probably are, san wants to at least fulfill his part of any promises you made so long ago)

so he says yes

for the first few weeks, san really considers jumping ship

seasickness is a bitch, first of all, even if the ship’s doctor is nice enough to give him tips on how to handle it

but the main issue isn’t just him being sick - it’s the people

not all of them. most are fine. but san has a particular problem with wooyoung and his partner, not because they’re assholes or anything, but because they remind him way too much of him and you. childhood friends who grew up together and wouldn’t part for the world, except they’re still joined at the hip while you’re lost

and san just thinks it’s horribly unfair that you had to be torn away from him while others are allowed to stay together

but really, the ship is better than living on the edge on land. besides woo + his partner, the others are nice, and san has found himself a match in sword fighting with hongjoong and yunho

so as time passes, san acclimates to the ship. he gets closer to everyone there and comes out of his shell, even becoming friends with yeosang whom he previously deemed too close to woo + his partner to deal with

and because yeosang is a package deal with the other two, san eventually becomes friends with them too

for the first time in a long time, san thinks he’s happy, even though he still sorely misses you and wishes you were here. but you’re dead or at least long gone, and he’s not going to find you again

so when you turn up on an enemy pirate ship several years later, san nearly has a heart attack when he sees your face (wooyoung actually has to catch him when he stumbles)

from the widening of your eyes, it’s pretty much the same reaction for you

there’s no fight, at least not then. the town your ships have docked in is safe ground for pirates, meaning the villagers will deal with them but won’t tolerate fights

so your crews resupply, all the while studiously ignoring the pirates from the other ship

but san is itching to talk to you - even just see your face one more time

you look so different yet somehow exactly the same and san wants to know what happened to you - how did you get that scar down the side of your face?

you feel the exact same way.

when you were kidnapped, you were taken on a pirate ship that was far less respectable than hongjoong’s. meaning you went through a fucking lot

you tried to escape at least five times but each time you just got caught, so you eventually gave up. so here you are, ignoring the literal love of your life because your ship is shit and happens to have beef with hongjoong’s

meaning you couldn’t escape if you tried.

so you’ve resigned yourself to mere stolen glimpses of san’s face but then your captain gives all of you a mission

he wants a hostage. and he wants you to lure one of them in.

you don’t want this mission. you fucking hate it and you hate your crew and you don’t want anything more than to just run away so you just ignore it and resolve to subtly sabotage your crewmates’ efforts in any way you can

and for the most part it works

but then you’re on deck, helping one of your crewmates put some supplies away

when a crowd comes on board, bruised and bloodied, and drops choi san onto the wooden floor.

the captain is ecstatic - they’ve managed to catch hongjoong’s best swordsman, no doubt they’ll get a hefty ransom for him

but you’re not listening. all you can do is avoid san’s sharp gaze

and think of a way to help him escape.

the ship sets sail within hours, trying to get away from hongjoong as quickly as possible. san lives his days in one of the tiny cells belowdecks, barely fed between questioning sessions during which he says nothing

but he can feel hope slipping away, day by day - even he can’t break through chains, and even if he could, his sword is gone. five or six pirates he could maybe take alone without a weapon, but there are far more on this ship

still, when the ship finally docks, san has resolved to at least attempt an escape. he knows the captain is in negotiations with hongjoong over getting him back so hongjoong has to be in the same port, or at least nearby

so when someone opens the cell again, san literally launches himself at them in an aborted attempt to run

you subdue him quickly - you’re not dehydrated and underfed, after all

san just gapes into your face that’s barely lit by a torch on the wall outside his cell. he has so much he wants to say, the first being how could you do this to him, did none of your time together mean anything -

but then you unlock the chains around his wrists, toss him a bundle of fresh clothes, and tell him to get changed

dressed in the new clothes, he looks like a member of the crew, and you tell him to keep his head down as you bring him up out of the ship and into the village

san’s still kind of dumbfounded so when you tell him to run, he doesn’t understand at first. run where?

hongjoong’s ship is in the next port, you say. on foot, it’ll take a few days to get there, so he needs as much of a head start before people realize he’s missing

therefore - you push back his forehead with a finger - fucking run, choi san. i don’t recall you being stupid before.

when he understands, he tries to tell you to come with him - hongjoong’s a decent captain, he’ll probably understand

but you shake your head. you yourself need to leave. once your captain realizes san has disappeared, it’s only a matter of time before you get found out, considering the number of unconscious and dead bodies you left in your wake, and you need to be long gone and away from san before that happens. you’re not going to bring more harm on him again. the least you could do is maybe divert their attention for a while

san’s heart sinks when he realizes you have no intention of coming with him, no matter how much he tries to convince you

and he almost starts crying again - just when he’s finally gotten you back, fate is forcing you to slip through his fingers yet again

you just hug him and apologize for everything, for getting kidnapped, for not helping him escape until now even though none of that is your fault

san says that and more, apologizes for even thinking you’ve changed - he should’ve known you were still the same person he’d fallen in love with so long ago

but there’s no more time and now you’re pushing him away and telling him he needs to go before it’s too late. in the process, you press a blade into his hand.

for protection.

it’s faintly familiar. and when san looks a little more closely, he realizes it’s the blade that jongin gave you so long ago, a copy of the same one he gave san. only the initials etched into the handle are different.

it makes him feel sick. san had switched his blade out for another sword the second he could, too many memories of you and jongin attached to it. but you never stopped using yours.

that knowledge makes his insides burn with shame and he tries to give it back to you but you force him to take it. i have more weapons than just this. you have nothing. and now you need to go.

he kisses you one last time. you kiss him back with just as much fervor and when you break away, there’s a small smile on your lips

you tell him you’re glad he’s found a kind crew, a crew he’ll be happy to remain with. you’re glad he’s luckier than you

san tries to tell you again to come with him, but you shake your head. hongjoong won’t be happy to take in a member of an enemy crew, and even if he was, that’d only turn your ship’s sights on san’s for a long time. you won’t have that.

so you disappear with a last reminder not to be stupid, a wavering smile on your face

it takes everything san has to return to hongjoong’s ship without chasing after you, and he’s welcomed back with open arms and warm words

but despite being back with his family, san’s heart sinks the farther they get from the harbor, knowing that he’ll probably never find out what happened to you, his original family, after this

wooyoung tries to comfort him, saying not to lose hope - after all, you met once after your separation, you might meet again

however, fate isn’t kind. san knows that very well. twice you’ve met, and twice you were separated

san hopes wooyoung is right, hopes he’ll see you once more

but as the ship cuts through the water into the open ocean and land fades from sight...

deep inside, something tells san he won’t.

mingi (ABS)

warnings: cursing

you look me in the eyes and ask how it is possible for me to write angst for someone like mingi. i tell you i will try my best

that is a threat and a promise

anyway! let’s get on with it

mingi is a pure-hearted orphan who has somehow survived the demoralizing and horrible orphanage system in his hometown

he never knew his parents, all he’s ever known was that shitty little orphanage, it’s a miracle that didn’t break apart his pure personality

it helps that from a young age, mingi was taller and bigger than his peers - people didn’t want to mess with him

also when he’s not smiling, he can look pretty scary

but that left mingi lonelier than he wanted to be, so he resolved to smile whenever he could so that people wouldn’t feel intimidated by his stare

it didn’t win him many friends??? like the kids his age were more just weirded out by him smiling when they lived in a fucking orphanage. but he did get more free handouts from adults when he’d pretend to act like a cute kid, so he just kept doing that

eventually when he grew older, maybe mid-teens, he got a job working at his town’s port

mingi’s pretty smart and more importantly here, he’s very strong - just the type of worker his supervisors were looking for

the job is okay - not horrible, but it’s kind of boring and mingi’s supervisors aren’t always the nicest

but mingi’s always been the type of person to just content himself with the fact that hey, things could be worse

he might not have survived the orphanage

he might not have been born with strength

he might not have gotten a job that comes with a semi-stable roof over his head

so for a couple of years, this goes on, mingi helping ships unload and reload, stuff like that

until hongjoong’s ship pulls into port

it normally wouldn’t mean anything if hongjoong hadn’t been half dead on his feet with his partner and seonghwa pretty much carrying him down the gangplank

most people were just shoving them around, totally ignoring the fact that hongjoong clearly needed help

but even though his supervisor told him to go help one of the bigger ships, mingi saw hongjoong and went off to go help them

recommended a cheap place to get rest and offered to help them with some of the ship repairs so they wouldn’t have to pay so much (because their boat was... a little beaten up to say the least)

after a few days, hongjoong recovers from his sickness (brought on by exhaustion, not eating well, and god knows what else - his partner chewed him the fuck out), and they all thank mingi profusely

they’re about to leave then - the ship has been repaired thanks to mingi’s help and they’re ready to set sail again

but a glint appears in seonghwa’s eye and he suddenly turns around and asks mingi if he’d like to come with them

mingi: wha - you mean me?

seonghwa: is there another guy named mingi around?

mingi: i mean technically yeah, there’s a lee mingi working on the other end of the shipyard -

at first mingi’s like... no i don't think so because he has a stable job here, right? nothing really happens and it’s kind of boring, but being a pirate sounds kind of scary

but another part of him has been aching for something more interesting than the monotony of working at the port day in and day out

besides, hongjoong seems like a much nicer person than his supervisors

so in the end, mingi throws caution to the wind and joins the crew

he kind of questions it at first because he really doesn’t seem to have a knack for swordplay, also he kind of tends to panic/get squeamish when there are fights

but seonghwa keeps faith in him no matter what - he was the one to ask mingi if he wanted to stay, after all

so as time goes on and more people join the crew, mingi adjusts to life as a pirate. he finds his role on the ship in making repairs when they’re in port or even when they’re on board, which makes him happy - mingi likes being useful

he also likes jongho, who joins him as one of the ship’s repairmen when he ends up with the crew

he even becomes a fair swordsman - definitely not the best on the ship, not by a long shot, but after being trained by first hongjoong and then yunho (with san occasionally interjecting when he joins the crew), he definitely has the skills to defend himself and others

emphasis on others. because while mingi might panic during a fight where he’s only defending himself, when those he cares for come into play, mingi is a demon. an absolute demon.

an enemy pirate once got within a hair’s breadth of killing seonghwa once and mingi just unleashed absolute fury. first time he ever killed someone

it haunts him sometimes, but the knowledge that he was protecting seonghwa keeps him from dwelling on it too much. that’s how much mingi cares about his crew

and that comes into play when you enter his story

you’re the child of a couple corrupt aristocrats who have never, not once in their lives, given you the attention you deserved

no matter what you did, they didn’t care

you studied your ass off. you worked so hard on swordplay. you’re literally the golden child in the aristocratic circles of your region and other nobles wish you were their child, but all your parents ever do is give you a passing glance and a fake smile

sure they’ll praise you at parties and things when they talk to other nobles, but it’s all empty - they only barely remember all of your accomplishments. they just don’t care

then one day, hongjoong’s crew pisses off your family - ruins trade at some port or whatever

so your father puts a bounty on his crew’s heads

it’s not exactly a common thing to put bounties on the heads of pirates, but it can happen if a crew fucks around a little too much

and when the bounty goes out for the crew of the aurora (hongjoong’s ship), you seize on it as your last chance to gain your parents’ approval, the approval you’ve been seeking for quite literally your entire life

you’re not dumb - you know it’ll be hard, and you know your family is only going to be completely satisfied if you bring back proof that the captain is dead. not some other random crew member, though that’s a step in the right direction

you decide to go for one of those crew members first, preying on the fact that if one goes missing, the captain will likely be easier to capture

you’ve heard stories about hongjoong, he isn’t heartless. he actually does care about his crew, each of whom plays an integral role on the ship

which means if you can get one of them, you can lure him out - you might not even have to kill off the rest of the crew if you can just take him out

therefore you set your eyes on one song mingi. from the rumors he’s the worst at fighting, but he’s also essential when it comes to ship repairs

the perfect target for your plan

so you set out on your journey. your idea is to try and see if you can befriend mingi somehow, get him to trust you, then take him hostage

and somehow, you get lucky at the first port you visit - hongjoong’s ship is right there, aurora emblazoned on its side

it’s not hard to spot mingi - he’s one of the tallest, and he’s busy tinkering around the side of the ship

it’s even easier to get his attention

because your master plan is simple and dumb as fuck

fall into the water and pretend to drown.

mingi, being the pure-hearted lovely soul he is, jumps in to save you despite you being very able to swim

he’s worrying over you when he pulls you out of the ocean, spitting and choking water

and all you can think is 1. mingi is very handsome but more importantly 2. all of this is genuine. like too genuine

it unnerves you - how can a pirate be so pure of heart?

but you push that thought away. there has to be some hidden side of mingi that he hasn’t shown yet, he’s a pirate after all. you can’t feel guilt for using him - you need to gain your parents’ approval. you need to

so you do your damn best to keep him in port. every night you go out and subtly undo some of the repairs he’s made and create a few new problems as well

the ship ends up staying in port for a few more weeks than expected

and during that time, you find that mingi... is really not hiding anything

at all

you keep trying to prod at him when you invite him to bars for a drink, when you “coincidentally” catch him on the streets, etc.

but there’s nothing to mingi except his very kind personality that sometimes, against your better judgement, sweeps you off your feet

like when that horse-drawn carriage almost hit you and mingi pulled you away just in time

or when you bumped into the wrong person and they pulled a knife on you that mingi was fast enough to deflect

by the time those several weeks are over, you haven’t made any headway in your plan to kidnap mingi

you tell yourself that it’s fine, this mission was always going to take a long time - you could be here for over a year before the right opportunity presents itself after all, and mingi probably doesn’t trust you enough just yet for that to work anyway

mingi ends up sailing off again, and he promises to come back

also makes you promise to stay and wait for him.

you tell yourself another lie, that you’re happy he’s asking you to wait just because it’ll make your plan so much easier - plus, it means he likes you, which is a step towards trust

it’s definitely not because mingi’s smile is as bright as the sun itself.

the next time you see the aurora come into port, you swear to yourself you’ll do it this time. you’ll kidnap mingi, force hongjoong to come out so you can put his head on a silver platter

but it doesn’t happen. and the next time it doesn’t happen, either.

and in the end, you have to accept that the reason you keep sabotaging the ship, trying to keep mingi in port as long as you can, is that you like his smile. way more than you actually should.

some stupidly hopeful part of you tries to convince you that it’ll be fine, you can continue living like this

but another part of you knows lies never last

and a last part of you screams that you’re a disappointment to your family, falling in love with one of the pirates your parents have put a bounty on when that pirate probably doesn’t even love you back

he does, though. he really does

mingi loves the curve of your lips when you smile genuinely, when the clouds in your eyes disappear for a moment of pure, blessed happiness

he’s fallen in love with your mind, with your quick wit and light banter when you speak

for the past two trips on the ocean, mingi has dreamed of little more than holding you close and kissing you and he’d resolved to that, finally, when he came back this time

which is why his heart completely shatters when he finds you by the ship one dark night, carefully undoing some of the repairs he made just this morning

he never suspected it, but as he stands, watching you work, the pieces begin to click together

mingi isn’t stupid, after all - he knows you’re smart, knows you’re good with your hands, and you’ve also been extremely secretive about your past

even more secretive than he is about being a pirate.

you sense his presence when he gets closer before he even says anything and your hands freeze

for a moment, neither of you says anything

then mingi just lets out a cracked why?

you could lie. you consider it for a few frantic moments, mind working to conjure something credible

but it’s mingi. it’s fucking song mingi, the pirate you’ve fallen in love with against every single one of your wishes

so the truth behind all of your lies spills out in one go

in the moonlight, you can see mingi’s eyes turn from confused and betrayed to even more betrayed

but what really drives it home is when you mention hongjoong, and how you were trying to use mingi to lure him out

mingi’s eyes turn angry for the first time since you’ve met him

because like i said, mingi doesn’t take kindly to anyone who tries to hurt those whom he cares about

like yeah, he cares about you, but hongjoong is his captain, the captain who’s saved mingi’s life multiple times, often at risk of his own

that’s when mingi’s eyes narrow and his expression turns cold

a chill runs down your back, a chill you’ve never felt before in his presence

and mingi tells you then and there that he better not see you ever again

because if he does, it won’t end well

you’re in the next town before you allow yourself to process anything that just happened, mainly because you know that if you try you’ll start crying

and that’s exactly what happens in a dark little tavern at the edge of the city

you cry over yourself, over losing mingi, over failing your stupid mission for stupid parents who were never going to accept you anyway

you cry because you hurt someone so pure of heart just for two cold aristocrats who didn’t give a shit

you cry because now you have no purpose in life - you’ve catered your entire existence to your parents, and they don’t even care

what’s the point of anything now?

back on the ship, mingi doesn’t cry. he just stares at the fading town as the aurora draws farther and farther from land

your story plays in his mind over and over again

he sympathizes for you, he really does - mingi isn’t cruel or heartless, he heard the desperation in your voice when you talked about your parents and he’s seen the clouds in your eyes firsthand

but it doesn’t change the fact that you’d sought him out with the intention of hurting his crew beyond repair

he tries to tell himself this as comfort, to reaffirm that he did the right thing by chasing you off

deep inside, though, even if he’s sure he did right

the pain of a broken heart and what could have been, he knows, will never fully go away.

wooyoung (ABS)

warnings: cursing, death, blood

before i start i’d like to preemptively apologize

probably should’ve done that before every other part too idk why i'm only doing it now

maybe it’s because this one is 3.4k long and the second longest is a mere 2.8k (fuck you san)

doesn’t matter i've done it please don’t come for me

wooyoung is a ball of pure sunshine aboard the ship. almost literally

sometimes shines a little too bright (ie he gets annoying), but without him, the crew would fall into darkness

but a light needs a source, doesn’t it? it doesn’t just spontaneously emit out of nowhere - fires need kindling, candles need wax, even the sun burns on fuel

and wooyoung’s fuel is you.

like i mentioned in san’s part, you and wooyoung are childhood friends. probably not quite as long as san and his partner - you met when you were a bit older, maybe just after you turned twelve or something, but that doesn’t mean your bond is any less strong

wooyoung remembers your first meeting very clearly - in fact, it’s one of his favorite memories

some older kids were pushing him around, and wooyoung was just trying to run away

he’d just broken free and was running off when a hand grabbed his wrist, dragging him behind an empty market stall, and another hand slapped over his mouth to muffle his cry of surprise

the older kids ran past, then stopped, looking confused, but when they couldn’t see wooyoung anywhere they just left

you finally let go of wooyoung and he turns around to look at you

and from then on, he swears you’re his savior

seriously, wooyoung thinks you’re literally the greatest fucking thing on this planet. might not act like it all the time because he’s a little shit, but you mean more to him than anything in the world

you don’t plan to get attached to him, not at first - you’re a little more standoffish, you told wooyoung you only helped him because you really hate the group of kids that was messing with him

but wooyoung attaches himself to you like a fucking limpet and as the months pass, you find you don’t mind. not at all.

you’re both street orphans, pickpockets and all that - neither of you are in the orphanage (wooyoung just never ended up there, while you ran away early on) and you’ve both been alone for a long while, so it’s nice to have someone with whom you can trust your back

and as time goes on, you start thinking of wooyoung less as an ally and more as a friend, then less as a friend and more as someone you love

wooyoung, on the other hand, has been head over heels since day one - getting into your space, pressing stupid little kisses onto your dirty face even as you try to bat him away

but he obviously doesn’t make a move at first because he’s like fucking twelve and doesn’t understand what he feels, and when he grows older and figures it out, he refrains from doing too much (like kissing your lips) because you don’t seem to feel the same way

except you are an impatient fuck

so once you figure it out and more importantly, you figure wooyoung out, it takes less than a day for you to have him pressed up against a wall, kissing him with all the strength you can muster

when you pull away, lips swollen and eyes suddenly shy, wooyoung tries to crack a joke like wow, didn’t know i was that irresistible

you just smirk and say you’re the one who’s been staring at my lips day in, day out for the past several years, woo

oh yeah that’s when wooyoung knows you’re the one

(he does ask why the fuck you waited so long if you noticed everything over the past few years)

(the truth is you only really figured it out a few days ago, but you tell him you just wanted him to suffer)

(it cues a lot of angry whining and cute pouts even though he knows it’s a joke so what can you do but kiss him until he shuts up?)

anyway you and wooyoung more or less rule your small section of the streets

master pickpockets and all that, plus you know how to use a knife very well and wooyoung is adept at fighting with whatever the fuck happens to be nearby

you’ve got a good head on your shoulders and though you never truly lie, your reasonable-sounding words always have several layers of meaning, which is very useful in negotiations

meanwhile wooyoung is just really, really good at sliding out of sticky situations - you turn your head the other way for one second and he’s disappeared

people don’t really dare mess with either of you because they know that if one of you get hurt, the other will literally go out for blood

the same goes for yeosang - you met the quiet orphanage boy on one of the rare times he went outside, and everyone knows not to mess with him since he’s under your protection

this reputation precedes you, which is why you and wooyoung are very surprised when a tall, gangly looking dude comes into your little pocket of territory looking very lost

both of you immediately think this is someone good to pickpocket, or at least harangue for news - he’s clearly not from here

too bad mingi has a hongjoong on his side who is very worriedly looking for his tall lost repairman

and in the middle of you two getting up in mingi’s space, hongjoong appears, wielding a very scary-looking sword

both you and wooyoung know this is someone not to be messed with, but curiosity gets the better of you - who is this guy, why is he here, and why doesn’t he know to stay away?

instead of asking, though, you both run away fast enough that hongjoong doesn’t have to deal with you

the next day, though, when you see a familiar face with a familiar sword hanging around the market, you decide to tail him for a bit

turns out he’s a pirate, which is intriguing in and of itself - it also explains the unfamiliarity with the territory

but what’s even more intriguing is how he manages to defend himself against your knives all the while answering your peppered questions in the most evasive manner possible

in the end, hongjoong has you pinned against an alley wall, sword inches from your throat

he clearly expects you to start begging for your life

but you just laugh breathlessly and say - hey, i’ve got two friends who’ve got nothing left here, just like me. do you have an opening for three on your crew?

hongjoong thinks you’re joking but you’re dead serious. there’s nothing in this town, you’re sick and tired of pickpocketing people and protecting your little territory to no end - there’s no point to it all

you know wooyoung feels the same way. he’s so energetic, always looking for something new, and even though he doesn’t say anything, you know he’s itching to get out of here

yeosang might take a little convincing, but if you can prey correctly on his desire to visit the lands he’s only ever marked on maps, he’ll come too

hongjoong asks what you have to offer to his crew. you say a sharp tongue, resourceful fighters, a navigator

and most importantly, a source of light.

(hongjoong doesn’t ask and you don’t elaborate on the last one, even though you can see a hint of confusion in his eyes)

he gives you two days to convince wooyoung and yeosang, if you don’t show up by then he’s setting sail

wooyoung is convinced almost immediately - his only qualm is seasickness, and you tell him he’ll get used to it

yeosang takes a little more effort, but with your persuasion skills, he agrees

and so the three of you join hongjoong’s crew

being a pirate isn’t as glorious as you originally thought it’d be - the first few weeks are just being seasick all the time, and there are fewer fights and less exploring than you’d like, more just running around and maintaining the ship

but the crew makes up for it more than tenfold

you and wooyoung have never really had family - just each other and then yeosang

but now that you’re with the crew, that sense of home you’ve only ever felt with woosang just multiplies

you love it on the ship. so does wooyoung

(he says it’s because there are so many hidden places where you can hide to kiss, but you think it’s because he has seonghwa to annoy now and not just you + yeosang)

both of you are on cloud nine, even with the nonstop work day in and day out

it’s all worth it when you can see the new cities, pilfer a little something in the marketplaces every now and then

life goes on like this - some crew members are lost and others join

you mourn for those gone, especially hongjoong’s partner, and you try to welcome the new members as best you can

(san is a tough nut to crack, but in the end, you and wooyoung are both happy that you kept at it long enough to see the results)

it’s a constant give or take - you know the ocean isn’t kind, know that the life of a pirate isn’t kind, and you’ve learned to live with it even though a piece of your heart breaks away with every crew member who falls

but then yeosang falls. literally.

and wooyoung begins to fade away.

wooyoung feels his emotions deeply, he’s always known that - it’s what binds him so strongly to you and what bound him so strongly to yeosang

so when he fell during that battle, stabbed several times, and could only watch yeosang fall into the ocean from the crow’s nest - essentially yeosang’s home on the ship -

wooyoung cries for hours after the battle, locked in your arms

and for once, even the knowledge that you’re by his side doesn’t seem to be enough to fill the void left by yeosang’s loss

the entire crew is experienced with their own types of loss, loss of partners and friends

but this is the first time wooyoung has felt it so deeply, like a knife carving out a hole in his chest

eventually, though, he recovers

it takes months, but he still has you. he still has san. he still has yeosang’s grieving friend, who might have become his partner had he lived, and he still has all of the crew

and you let him latch onto you whenever the void comes creeping on him again, because though wooyoung might be the light, you’re the source of fuel that keeps his sputtering flame burning

(guilt eats at you, too - you’re the one who convinced yeosang to join the crew, after all. but wooyoung calls it bullshit - you’re not at fault, not at all, yeosang understood what he was risking - and when he latches onto you, you take your own comfort in the warmth of his arms)

life goes on after the battle and yeosang’s death. wooyoung takes a long time to recover from his injuries and you’re by his side the entire way

but then san gets kidnapped and wooyoung almost goes off the deep end again - he can’t lose another friend

thankfully, san returns, so wooyoung doesn’t lose himself completely

but he begins to fear the disappearance or death of one of those whom he loves even more than he used to

as time goes on, he realizes he might not be able to handle the life of a pirate - he cares too deeply, too much, losing the people he cares for is breaking him slowly, bit by bit

you ask him what’s wrong one day and he spills all of this to you, sobbing

the next day you ask hongjoong to leave you and wooyoung at the next port - you can’t be on the crew anymore

hongjoong asks why, but when you explain he doesn’t even hesitate to nod and thanks you for your service

he does say that he’ll miss the source of light on his ship, the light and its kindling, but if this is what you and wooyoung really want, then it’s what he’ll give you

wooyoung feels a guilty sense of relief when you bring him back the news - he’s relieved that you two are going to leave, but there’s also the guilt of taking you away from a life that you enjoy

but you remind him that he’s your life. wooyoung is everything to you, and if he isn’t happy, you’re not going to be happy, no matter what

so it’s settled that you two will split off from the crew at the next port, which you’ll reach after a few weeks of sailing, maybe

you reach the port and are ready to part ways, saying goodbye to the rest of the crew

the aurora is staying in port for a couple of days for repairs, and you and wooyoung decide to stick around for at least the night before you go off

you go on a walk that night with him, darkened streets lit up by evenly spaced torches and lanterns

which is why you see the other ship pull into port with a navy seal on its side. and your blood freezes.

with one look, you and wooyoung are racing off to where you know the crew of the aurora is staying because you have to warn them

hongjoong looks grim. there’s a fight, it’s going to be inevitable, and you can feel wooyoung tensing up next to you

your former captain says you don’t have to fight if you don’t want to, you’re technically not part of the crew anymore

but one look between you and wooyoung settles it. one last battle to help the family that took you in

the battle is in the dark, bloody and brutal and made even worse by the fact that you can’t see the rivers of blood flowing down the streets - it’s all a mess of sticky black that your feet leave tracks in on the roads

you and wooyoung are back to back with san, the three of you fighting to the last

until there’s finally an opening and you manage to escape into a little alley

except the alley ends in a wall. a wall tall enough to climb over, maybe, but wooyoung has a wound in his stomach and san’s bleeding out of his side and you’ve got injuries of your own so you’re wholly, completely fucked

as several naval soldiers appear at the end of the alley, all you can think is how you and wooyoung were supposed to have gone off today, were supposed to have left to find a more stable life together

but at the same time, you know that if you hadn’t stayed for the night, your crew, your family, might not have gotten enough warning to save at least a few of their lives

wooyoung is starting to wheeze behind you. san doesn’t look much better, and you feel like you’re going to collapse

there are four soldiers standing in front of you, and there’s no shred of uncertainty in your mind when you think we’re not going to survive this

except - maybe if you can buy yourselves some time -

your eyes light on one of the torches on the side of the alley and a really dumb plan springs into your mind

you spring forward, ignoring wooyoung’s cry, and snatch up the still-burning torch

with a prayer that the ground is flammable, you hurl the torch in front of you

and thankfully, a flame begins to burn

you turn around and start helping wooyoung boost san over the wall

wooyoung is about to go next, grasping san’s hands - you go to help push him up

but then metal flashes in corner of your eye and you have to whirl away, dropping wooyoung to dodge the sword that came a hair’s breadth within slicing the skin off your cheek

how the soldier got past the fire, you have no idea - it’s still burning

maybe they got over it when it was still low

but then there are two shadows, not just one, both with blades flashing

and you know with a stark certainty that both you and wooyoung are going to die if you don’t get up that wall immediately

the problem is, there isn’t enough time to get both of you up - one is going to be slashed to pieces by the time it’s their turn

but one of you...

you block one of the blades and send the soldier crashing to the ground. the other is farther away and for one split second, you lock eyes with them

there’s enough light to see your smirk

give me a moment here, will you? you say

then you turn around and kiss wooyoung on the mouth.

it’s a brief kiss, barely longer than a second, but it’s all you have time for before you bodily lift wooyoung as much as you can so that san can reach him, arms pulling him up

san acts on reflex - he doesn’t realize what you’re planning just yet and neither does wooyoung

but they sure as hell figure it out when you duck under the second soldier’s swipe and begin fighting, despite the blood streaming from your face and body

in the background, you can hear wooyoung screaming and no doubt he’s thrashing around in san’s grip

but it’s all you can do to focus on the fight at hand - two against one with the one injured isn’t fair, but since when has the navy played fair?

you notice the sword flashing down at your side. you notice it, but you’re not fast enough

white hot pain bursts below your rib cage and you fall to your knees, blades clattering from your hands

another explosion of pain enters your back and you let out a scream of agony, collapsing to the ground

wooyoung watches you fall in the moonlight, red and black blood pooling beneath you

and only then does he stop thrashing in san’s hold

because he’s crying too hard, too hard to see or do anything but let a silently crying san carry him away

san takes him back to the ship where hongjoong manages to set sail in record time, leaving the navy behind

wooyoung doesn’t even move from where san has laid him on the floorboards - the only sign he’s still alive are his eyes, deadened eyes that track the land they’ve left behind, growing smaller and smaller in the distance

the land that holds your body

the body he’ll never see again.

several hours pass. someone’s moved him into the medbay, wooyoung doesn’t know who because all he can see is you collapsing to the ground over and over again, dark blood flowing endlessly from your wounds

tears build up behind his eyes again and he wants to scream, scream how nothing is fair, nothing is fucking fair, he was the one who wanted a new life that wasn’t that of a pirate and you were just going along with it but now he’s still alive and on the same fucking pirate ship he wanted to leave in the first place

and he’s lost both of his childhood friends, first yeosang to the waves and now you to the navy

with this loss, wooyoung is grasping his will to live by a mere thread

and he isn’t even sure he wants to hang on any longer.

there is no sun aboard the aurora anymore, at least not in the form of jung wooyoung

because once a fire’s fuel is gone, it can no longer burn

and wooyoung’s fuel is out.

jongho (ABS)

warnings: cursing, death, blood

ah yes jongho stronk boy

when i listed the best fighters i bet you were expecting me to put him in there too

but what i meant by best fighters is best sword fighters

see, jongho is extremely good at fighting and has the arms to prove it

however, his skills don’t solely lie in swords - hongjoong/yunho/san are better than him there - but he will fight with whatever the fuck else happens to also be around him

mingi sometimes likes to bring up that one time there was an enemy pirate fighting next to him and jongho just picked him up, swung him, and knocked out a second enemy pirate right then and there

so yeah. that’s jongho. well-rounder extraordinaire

no one knows how the fuck he’s so good at everything and at this point most of the crew is afraid to ask

but anyway let’s talk about the back story a little shall we

unlike most of the others, jongho has parents that he remembers and as far as he knows are still alive

however that does not mean he likes them

they weren’t abusive, exactly - they just were never around and when they were, jongho mostly got ignored or ordered around to do stuff like cook dinner or fucking whatever

so that’s what he suffers through for most of his childhood

during that time, he learns how to be pretty self-sufficient - he’s the one who takes care of himself, after all

he learns to cook, clean, etc.

but most importantly he learns to repair things, like the house

he gets really good at it too, to the point that people start hiring him to help them with fixing their shit

which is how hongjoong finds him

well, more accurately, yunho finds him

the aurora has docked in jongho’s town after a long storm and the ship has a lot of damage that’s going to take mingi a lot of time to fix

so yunho sets out to find someone who they can hire to help mingi out

he asks around and everyone recommends jongho, so yunho goes to find him. after losing his partner in that storm, hongjoong is in no shape to leave the ship, san is still recovering from injuries and guilt, and seonghwa’s busy tending to the crew members and making sure they don’t fall apart

when jongho answers the knock on his door, yunho is like ???? at first because what the fuck this guy can’t even be older than him - is he really that good at fixing things??

tbh yunho was expecting some middle aged man with massive muscles or something

but jongho’s staring at him like wtf do you want and yunho remembers he actually has a purpose here plus jongho does have really big muscles even if he isn’t middle aged so he’s like hi i heard you’re jongho can you help us fix our ship we’ll pay you

and what’s jongho gonna do? say no?

so he works with mingi for the best part of a couple of months, fixing up the aurora

and during that time, he meets the rest of the crew, who come and go

jongho gets to know them and he grows to like them - he used to be a pretty solitary person, but it’s really impossible to stay that way after meeting one jung wooyoung and his partner

even after he puts it together that they’re pirates, he still likes them

jongho isn’t stupid, it’s pretty obvious after working with mingi for a couple of weeks - they talk of treasure and travels when they think he doesn’t hear

but really, jongho doesn’t care too much - pay is pay, no matter who it comes from

and really, pirates can’t be much worse than the greedy nobles and aristocrats who run his city, right? their illegal acts are just blatant and out in the open, while the aristocracy try to keep their wrongdoings under wraps

he does ask mingi about it one day - why he decided to join the crew of the aurora

after the initial spluttering of we’re not pirates, cueing jongho’s deadpan expression that has mingi immediately quailing, mingi tells jongho more or less his story of joining the crew

maybe a few embellishments because yknow it’s mingi and we love him for it

and jongho listens carefully. his story is a little similar to mingi’s, actually, even if he knows his parents and was never at an orphanage

they were both alone, they both learned to do repair work...

that night, jongho lies awake in bed in his empty house, thinking about what mingi said

as they continue working, jongho prods mingi for more and more stories about the crew and their adventures, and though he visibly shies away from some topics (major fights and major storms, particularly the one that drove them into this port), mingi tells jongho enough for him to see that hongjoong’s crew isn’t immoral. far from it, really

there’s no explaining away the battles and murder and pillaging, but as far as jongho is concerned, at least they’re upfront about it

nobility does the same shit, they just prefer to call murder “the hanging of criminals” and pillaging “taxes”

and jongho is tired of both

after about a month or a month and a half, he decides to himself that he wants to join the aurora

so he asks mingi one day how hongjoong might feel if jongho wanted to join the crew

he doesn’t know hongjoong, he’s only caught maybe a glimpse or two of the captain because he’s been grieving this whole time, which is why he goes to mingi first

mingi tells him to come back the next day, he’ll see if seonghwa can better answer that question as the second in command since hongjoong is still out

seonghwa takes a liking to jongho almost immediately, and the feeling is mutual

even just minutes after meeting, seonghwa gives jongho the sense that he truly cares for him in a way that jongho really hasn’t felt before, not even from his own parents

so the deal is settled and after the repair job is finished, jongho returns to his small home to pack up his stuff. the next day, he’s sailing into the open ocean without looking back

like almost every other new crew member, jongho gets seasick for the first few weeks he isn’t on land

meaning he stays in the medbay more often than he’d like to

but it’s fine - because that’s where he meets you

you’re the ship’s doctor. relatively new since the last doctor was killed in battle maybe half a year ago, but wooyoung was lucky enough to befriend you, an apothecarist’s apprentice, in one of the towns the aurora docked in

you come from a town that’s a safe zone of sorts for pirates - the locals are friendly if wary, and pirates don’t get into fights on your land

it’s a pretty decent existence if you ignore the fact that royalty/nobles would have all of your heads if they could find definitive proof that your town likes to harbor criminals, but people keep their mouths shut here so it doesn’t happen

however, as decent as this existence is, you got a bit of the short end of the stick

your parents died after you were apprenticed to the apothecarist, leaving you with no nearby relatives or places to stay other than the orphanage or the apothecary

and the orphanage in your town majorly sucks so you just opted to stay at the apothecary

except the apothecarist is not a good human being. major leech. creepy. you hated being around him any more than necessary

which means you learned everything as fast as you could just so you could stay away and look after customers on your own

and when the opportunity to use your skills elsewhere came up, you barely hesitated before telling wooyoung please get me the fuck out of here

only thing that made you balk was the possibility of death on the seas, but you’re young and naive and when you’re at that age, you feel like you’re invincible - therefore you brush it off

plus, everyone dies eventually, right?

you’re the new blood for several months until jongho joins the crew

and because he’s the new guy now, you take it upon yourself to familiarize him with how the ship and the crew work while he’s currently bedridden

it gives him something to focus on other than the rolling sea beneath him

and it’s nice to talk to someone who’s just mildly sick and not bleeding to fucking death

even after jongho gets better, he continues to spend a lot of his free time in the medbay because he likes being around you. your voice is soothing and somewhere in the back of his mind, he probably associates it with care and comfort, given how you treated him during those first few weeks

slowly but surely, you grow closer and closer

you’re the one jongho goes to when he feels a little stifled, too used to independence on land and unfamiliar with the teamwork that comes with being part of a crew

and you like to talk to him when you’re exhausted after treating wound after wound after wound after a harsh storm or bloody battle

it feels like you understand him, no matter what, and jongho does his best to lend you a listening ear as well - it’s the least he can do

you feel comforting, but in a different way from the rest of the crew

like yeah, seonghwa’s comforting in that mother sort of way, hongjoong has that tired dad vibe where jongho knows he can go to him with whatever, and the rest of ateez are like older brothers he knows he can trust

but there’s something different about you

he figures it out, of course, because jongho isn’t dumb or clueless - but he is a little afraid of being so attached to you

because what if he loses you? then what happens?

he tries to go to seonghwa to talk about it because he’s genuinely so scared

but seonghwa’s not in his room and instead, a tired-looking hongjoong catches jongho in the hallway knocking on seonghwa’s door and asks what he needs from hwa

jongho is slightly nervous because he hasn’t spoken that much to joong, or at least not as much as some of the other crew - after all, he joined the crew when hongjoong was still in grieving and has only really been talking to him for a few months

and by now he knows what happened to hongjoong’s partner in the storm - the same storm that wrought the damage on the aurora that jongho helped repair

so he isn’t sure if it’s a good idea to talk to joong about it

but hongjoong presses him a little, saying that hwa is dealing with some other stuff at the moment and that jongho can talk to joong if he wants

so in a fit of recklessness (he’s also been holding it in for kind of a while, he needs to talk), jongho spills it in hongjoong’s office

and hongjoong goes silent.

jongho regrets his entire existence during the few minutes of silence and he’s opening his mouth to apologize and take his leave

but hongjoong talks first

and he says to go for it.

you can’t live your life in fear of what might happen, especially when it comes to love

losing love hurts, but the memories you make are worth the pain

hongjoong’s eyes look haunted, but there’s a faint smile on his face that jongho somehow knows isn’t faked - his words are the truth

and he takes them as comfort when he goes to talk to you later about how he feels

turns out you’ve felt the same way for a while, but you didn’t think the feelings were reciprocated so you didn’t say anything, just kept caring for him in the ways you know best

you talk the entire night about what this means for the two of you, and it ends with you and jongho holding each other on one of the medbay beds, curled into the other’s warmth

it turns out to be a blessing that jongho talked to hongjoong about this and not someone else

mingi/yunho/san don’t have partners on the ship, while wooyoung and his partner have been together for literally forever - getting together was barely a decision for them, more like the only logical path to follow

seonghwa would’ve been good to talk to, probably - he lost his partner (at this point he still thinks they’re dead) and would’ve said something similar to hongjoong

he still wears the ring, after all

but the talk with hongjoong breaks down that last wall between him and jongho, and they grow closer

which is something jongho really appreciates, because hongjoong is as dependable as seonghwa and another figure jongho can now trust

life goes on - it gets better for jongho, actually, what with you and finally growing close to every member of the crew

he loves sword fighting practice and delights in terrorizing his crew members during mock fights by using whatever happens to be nearby, not just his sword

he also loves sitting with you on deck and breaking an apple in half, wordlessly handing one part to you and keeping the other for himself, all the while staring at the clouds during the day or the stars at night

just being near you makes jongho instantly feel not safer, but more comforted

because jongho’s in as much danger as he always was, he knows that

but having you close by makes him feel more able to handle that danger.

at least, until yeosang dies.

jongho watches him being flung off the crow’s nest and into the water, never to resurface

watches his partner race to the railing and scream until their throat goes raw and the screams die to begging wails

the scene replays itself in his head again and again after the battle is over

only instead of it being yeosang flung through the air, it’s you

which doesn’t make sense. you’re the doctor, you stay belowdecks during fights and have never ventured into the crow’s nest as far as he knows

but suddenly jongho is confronted with the very real fear that you could die any second

he knew that before, but like you, he was young and reckless and thought himself invincible

now, though, he knows what could happen

and it worries him. you’re not the worst at fighting on the ship, you can defend yourself pretty well, but you don’t have have as much experience as even mingi because 1. you’ve been on the ship for less time, and 2. you don’t go above decks during fights - you stay in the medbay with someone designated to protect you. a ship’s doctor is valuable, after all

your instincts are to heal, not to destroy, and that terrifies jongho

it gets even worse after wooyoung loses his partner and jongho sees the shell that he’s become

jongho didn’t see it happen, but san tells him and seonghwa several days later, eyes haunted as he tries to describe the sight of wooyoung’s partner jerking under the blades, wooyoung going limp as a rag doll as they fell, san being forced to bring basically a corpse back to the ship - the only reason he knew wooyoung himself wasn’t dead was because of the tears running down his face

the story cuts deep into jongho’s heart - wooyoung’s partner was a very good fighter, far better than you, and even they were lost

what if it was you, not them?

jongho decides it’s better to be paranoid than to do nothing and he trains you harder, asking san/yunho/hongjoong to help

you notice the change in his demeanor but don’t question it - after all, you’re wrestling with similar thoughts to his

you confide to him during long nights with you two curled up together on one of the infirmary beds and jongho talks, too

neither of you wants to end this, and you both agree that ending it won’t do much, anyway - you still live on the same ship together, and breaking apart will only hurt you two more

but jongho wishes there was something he could do about this constant fear that he’s going to lose you

wooyoung is still a shell of his former self - jongho doesn’t know if he’d become the same way if you died, and he doesn’t want to test it out

he tries to ignore the fear, to just enjoy every day with you like it’s his last

pressing his lips to yours always makes him feel a little better, anyway

the fear never goes away, though - it’s almost like something is warning him that he will soon suffer the same fate as wooyoung and his partner

jongho ignores it. prays to every higher being he knows that you’ll be safe and extends his prayers to those he doesn’t even know

but prayers don’t work when fate has already decided its path.

the battle comes quickly, and jongho is thrown into the fray, incapacitating as many navy members as he can

he’s so focused on the fight to see the two navy soldiers going belowdecks

because nobody goes belowdecks. the fight stays on top of the ship, only when the ship is being pillaged after the fight do they go below to see what’s there

but since when have naval officers played fair?

jongho has just stabbed an enemy soldier when he hears the muffled yell through the floorboards

a yell of fear, familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time because he knows the voice, but he’s never heard it so frightened

no one has ever seen jongho move that fast. he crashes through the throng of individual battles, earning himself a scrape in the side and several cut ons his arms, but in the moment, he doesn’t feel any of the stinging pain

he crashes belowdecks and freezes for a second at the sight of a dead crew member on the floor, the crew member who was assigned to guard you during this battle

and in that frozen moment, he realizes that there’s no screaming anymore.

jongho throws himself into the medbay

and the first thing he registers is the blood all over the floor.

grief pulls a desperate cry from his lips

the soldiers turn around

and jongho doesn’t know what happens next.

when his mind catches up to the present, jongho’s throat is raw and two naval officers are dead at his feet, their blood seeping into the floorboards, almost ripped apart

but he can’t even take sick satisfaction in that

because no matter how much navy blood he spills, you will still be gone

dead

your blood staining the medbay floors

jongho falls to his knees - blood soaks into his pants, your blood or the officers’ blood, he doesn't have any fucking clue

all he knows is that you’re dead, gone forever the way he always feared

and no amount of blood he spills will ever bring you back.

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 prayer for me these parts were so much longer than they should’ve been I think I’m going insane)

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lovee-infected · 3 years

Note

hi! could i see your insights about ace? i saw a anon say from another blog that kinda has unrealistic expectations in a relationship and it kinda stuck with me. i mean in his ghost marriage he already knows the things he wants in a partner but he didn't show guilt about dumping his girlfriend, even. i think if you date him because he sees these quality in you and as the relationship last, he'll dump you if you get boring to him lol

I never thought that I'd say this but, wow, I'm impressed. I've been really curious about Ace since I get to see a variety of different content with different representations of his personality, so I decided to stick with his canon stories and lines. This analysis was so much fun to write and I'd assure you all that not only Ace but rather all of the first year characters are WAY more than they seem to be! Many just decide to ignore them and pass away, calling them good boys or precious stupid beanies at first.

Speaking of Ace, we've all seen how trending he's been recently. Many theories, thoughts and new arguments exist through the fandom as many want to get to know this boy better.

Theories like "Ace's betrayal theory" as well have been mentioned a lot lately, some agree and some disagree. While we aren't going to talk about that theory or any other theories in this analysis, I'd like to take time to talk about the reasons why those theories might seem appealing and accurate. In other words, we're going to talk about where they are coming from!

1) Ace is incredibly smart and brave

It's true that characters like Jade or Azul's remarkable genius often stands out as it's clearly visible through their presence in the game, from iconic decisions to stunning strategies. But what we need to realize is how characters like Ace can be just as inspiring while their true intelligence is often shallowed by extras and giving them much of a dumb picture in the game.

To begin with, let us note that Ace's brother himself was one of the considerably strong magicians in Heartslabyul's history and even his presence through the magicshift is still remarkable even though years has passed. As the second child of the family, Ace's change to achieve success is even higher than his brother's as he already has a role model he really looks up to, so in that point Ace isn't one to underestimate. But, let me point that his relationship with his brother also contains lots of jealousy and sometimes negativity. His brother was one to always trick Ace and he continues to do so even nowadays! Ace on the other hand doesn't enjoy being pissed off over and over even as he's used to it. Well, we can say that it's another reason for him to train his hardest and become a greater magician than his brother therefore he won't be the bully material of the Trappola household anymore.

Regardless of how effective his brother might've been on him, Ace himself has shown plenty of strong hints that reveal not only his high IQ but also EQ:

He can solve math problems in second, which is a rather important feature to note because the way you deal with math can directly effect the way you deal with life. Not saying that one has to be great at math to be great at something else but it's rather about the perspective and ability of logical thinking that it gives to one. I'd say that this effect is quite visible if you take a look at the way he speaks in serious situations; he's got much of an analytical brain. Let's not forget that Cater as well confirmed that he's much of a skill stealer, is pretty good at remembering things and is a quick thinker! These are go on to show how much of an underestimated genius he is.

Whenever something goes wrong, Ace would be the first one to notice it even if it's a silly matter. And it always begins with a seemingly childish argument, but ends incrucial matters that not a single soul had noticed before! Just take a look at chapter one, what would've happened if Ace hadn't spoken up? He was just one of the hundreds of students having to be severely punished under Riddle's strict rules and he surely wasn't the first one to go through this. Him taking the urge to fight Riddle sounded stupid and naïve at first, many even told him off because he was just acting like a pissed off child. But as he continued to argue and oppose toward Riddle's way as a leader, even Trey realized how he's been keeping his eye shut on all this problems for so long. The way Ace stood against Trey was iconic, he confidently defended his point not by his personal demands and feelings but with facts and logical comments on why Trey's way of threatening Riddle is wrong. He did the same thing again at he ghost marriage, just think of it! Not a single soul ever cared to tell the bride about true love but Ace was there, and he was the one and only to do this after more than 500 years of the bride's existence! This Ace, this serious and mature face of Ace is something that can surely fascinate anyone. His bravery, the way he puts all that strength through words, hisextremely logical point of view and his enthusiasm to solve the problems no matter how unimportant they seem to be is indeed appreciatble. Seriously though, what would've happened to Riddle is Ace wasn't there? When Ace firstly begun to oppose to him, everyone thought that is was just a childish argument. They had no idea how severe and destructive Riddle's temper issues were and how harmful they were down inside.

2) He's one of the dumbest characters in the whole game

You know what? He is dumb. Yes he's incredibly smart but this isn't going to change the fact that he is dumb as hell, so I'm never going to argue when someone's nagging on how much of an idiot he is. But most importantly, we need to know what's making him so dumb:

His presence through the stories has proved that Ace is eventually pretty good at detecting the main source of problems both on the mental and physical side. He was the first to realize Riddle's issues, Trey's huge mistake with Riddle, Ghost bride's unawareness and Epel's gloomy and sad aura in chapter 4. Ace's also one to easily tell whether what someone is doing is wrong or not, he can see through people and bring their mistakes to their attention. The problem is... he can't be quite the same with himself. That's what makes him awfully dumb.

Back in chapter one, he did have a point about Riddle's way of leadership being so unfair and messed up, but when he decided to challenge Riddle and even take his place as the dorm leader he was a total idiot who didn't how weak and unpractical his own magic was, he was being too dramatic. When he talked about his ex girlfriend, he just talked about how she held him back from doing what he wanted and was too uncool to spend time with, but he didn't mention a single thing about himself doing anything wrong in that relationship. He often fails to realize that he's got his own incompleteness and lacks just like anyone else, or prefers to put an blind eye to them most of the time (not all of the time)

Ace sets the perfect goals, but chooses the wrong path to achieve them. He needs to realize that just like everyone else, he can be sometimes wrong. He should take his time to get to know himself better; his abilities, his attitude, his faults and his mistakes and learn to be more patient and logical in order to achieve his goals. He's still young an inexperienced, by learning to put that brilliance of him into the perfect use he'd be able to become the great magician he wishes to be, and I'd say that in case that he continues to grow stronger and smarter, he'll have a high chance of being hesrtslabyul's next dorm leader!

3) He legit wants to be the "Ace"

This part's more of an attempt to do a name analyis and see how much it's been effective on Ace's personality. It actually makes a lot of snese since the word "Ace" itself has several meanings, and he used these different terms quite a few times in his personal stories. This point would also be explained in part (4) so for now, let's take a look at direct name definitions:

First of, remember what what an Ace is in a card game? "A playing card with a simple spot on it, ranked as the highest card in its suit" This goes on to tell us a lot, it's telling us what an Ace is. A loner yet the most powerful one of its own, just like how Ace wants to be.

Wanting to be an actuall Ace is definitely one of the things that sometimes makes Ace sound so jerky and he's aware of it! If you give it a closer look, you'll see that Ace doesn't really treat his friends like friends, especially with Deuce and Grim. He's often insulting or challenging them, and even during his birthday SSR when MC asked him about what he thinks of each of other first years (Who are basically his closest friends) he mainly criticized them and all, not a single word was said about things he likes about them and he didn't even call any of them his friend!

Well that's much of a jerky attitude to have toward people whom you spend almost all of your time with, especially your best of time.

He to play the role of the bad guy, the type to hang out with everyone without feeling any attached to them as even friends. Seems like our boy is trying to be a loner, a true Ace of cards and hearts. And he doesn't mind his friends calling him a bastard or jerk because of this. It's even confirmed that he's more of the popular guy type therefore he's mainly used to having people around!

On the other hand, he's trying his best to achieve success no matter what the obstacles are. It's true that he often messes up and fails, but we cannot say that he isn't trying. He almost lost his head for real during his SSR story where Riddle's favorite hedgehogs were lost because of Ace's impatience, but at last with the help of monsieur Rook and his own ability to imitate Rook's mole language skills Ace saved his neck one more time, and ended his story with a dramatic "Of course, I always Ace it!"

4) Ace does care, but pretends that he does not

In contrast to the fact that he wants to sound tricky,manipulative and mean, or how he's denying his friends' true worth to him like stated in part (3), Ace is probably one of the most caring and supportive characters in the game. Not saying that he's just as bright as someone like Kalim, but his way of seeing through people and wishing them to be better, wealthier and happier than they already are is surely something. This fact is often ignored because, well...everyone's too busy calling him either dumb or sus/ jk!

Just imagine having a friend or at least, a classmate you know like Ace. How's he supposed to be? He'd realize it when someone's bullying/bothering/ or intentionally harming you, and he isn't going to be silent about it. If you see that you're permanently sad, angry, rude or loud then again he'd speak up, he isn't going to just pull up with anyone's unhealthy habit like nothing's happened. He's got much of a big brain as well so you should expect him to say a bunch of helpful and meaningful stuff when he's using that brain, mainly in serious situations. He may not be a permanently mutual to have around, but when the troubles arrive, know that having Ace around is always an advantage.

To top it off, he's even shown sympathy toward people whom he seemed to like the least at first like Riddle; he wishes Riddle to be happier, to smile more, to be more open about his emotions with other students. At some point he even admits that he looks up to him, he used to overestimate his powers and challenged Riddle, but during the ghost marriage he said that he knows how powerful and strong Riddle is, therefore he should work his hardest to study and train to become strong just like him! He already seems to be more cheerful and bright when MC is talking to him, but when it comes to Grim and Deuce...it gets quite complicated. What we see the most is often Ace insulting them or saying that he's going to kick their asses, but they're also his closest friends all though he refuses to admit to it.

Just wait for Deuce or Grim to get in a serious danger or pain, and see how much of a protective one Ace can be! He isn't going to remain silent when one is in danger, but he's surely going to deny all that effort and affection he gave into action afterwards. When Ace can feel this cautious and understanding toward Riddle, someone who isn't even a friend of his then imagine how supportive and caring he would be toward his close friends like Deuce, MC and Grim!

In his ghost marriage as well, his words and the way he spoke of the meaning of true love left everyone, even Crowley, impressed (Crowley even said that he's fallen in love with this side of Ace's personality), but refused to admit that he was speaking of his true feelings after the ceremony. Someone like Grim is too bold to recognize how much of a different person Ace can be inside, so he claimed that Ace was just rambling nonsense without thinking of what he was saying back then, and Ace agreed with him! This is a continuation to part (3) where we talked about how he wants to be a loner, he doesn't want anyone to see how caring and sometimes, emotional he can be inside! Poor boy is quite shy showing his true feelings we can tell~

5) Ace can be quite tricky and manipulative

This part will also explain some of the main reasons behind famous theories like "Ace's betrayal theory", and I wanted to have a certain part to talk about this point specifically because it's been quite trending through the whole fandom, and many are wondering why theorizers are considering his betrayal a possibility, so here we go!

As said, one of the main factors the makes Ace seem suspicious would be his incredible intelligence. The fact that he can actually be that smart all the time but isn't openly showing his talents and abilities can be quite questionable, more details regarding his intelligence and most likely high IQ and EQ were discussed in part (1)!

Enough with intelligence, let's focus on his personality! This is mainly what this part is talking about, his trickiness. Just like his father and older brother, Ace is pretty good with magic tricks. Small and fun tricks are a convenient yet easy ways to inspire others and Ace doesn't mind showing the crowd what he's got up in sleeve when possible. But the thing is...this isn't just about fancy tricks.

This ability can be expanded into any other field such as mental terms and enable him to indirectly control and play with one's mind. That's more of a possibility though! He hasn't yet shown any signs of being any manipulative but, well, we can't say that it's beyond his abilities. Ace himself can be quite sarcastic and mean at the time, he doesn't seem to mind slightly tricking his friends either. Nothing about him seems to be serious, but the possibilities remain still.

The way he learnt those tricks as well is mentionable; no one ever teached himm any of those tricks, he learnt them through being repeatedly tricked, and learning to copy and redo what he saw. Both Rook and Cater so far have confirmed that Ace's ability to learn so quickly and learn and redo techniques just by watching them is fantastic.

His genius and ability to learn and memorize everything that he needs to learn pretty fast, along side his tricky and sometimes personality can make Ace quite dangerous. If someone like him decides to choose such a remarkable talent for evil purposes, that's surely going to be bad news. That's much and less of what makes Ace's betrayal theory make sense although there're still fans who find it quite questionable. I'm not a supporter of this theory myself as I hadn't seen any signs of Ace having any bad intentions so far, but I do get where the theorizers are coming from and that makes sense. Ace has been trying to put on much of a mean and lowkey evil face on through the story and no one can really say what's exactly going on in that brain. We'll that about this uncertainty in part (7)!

6) His past relationship was...uh

For now, Ace is the only character who is confirmed to have experience in love and relationships, and this was a rather effective factor since many have been talking about Ace's past relationship afterwards. The thing is...Ace did talk about how his girlfriend held him back from having fun and living the life he wanted to live. Well there's actually a lot we should say about this one so I'm not gonna rush to the end, let's think about all of the aspects of this situation logically:

First of, the relationship itself. I'd say that it was a wrong attempt for them to date each other in the first place because obviously, Ace and his girlfriend weren't made for each other. They were total opposites in interests and they couldn't even have fun together. If Ace chose to go on a wild roller coater ride, the girl would've freaked out and when she chose a small, childish ride that she liked Ace instead didn't enjoy it at all. It's surely an issue when you and your partner can't even watch a movie which both of you can enjoy together since their tastes were totally different, just jow was this relationship going to last? Ace wasn't happy, and if he was going to do what made him happy the girl in return would've been sad. They were two different people of two different points, dating at this point was nothing but a mistake.

On the other hand, Ace as well is guilty. First off, she shouldn't have dated the girl in the first place if he was aware of how different her tastes were. Second, from what he said he never showed any signs of dissatisfaction when he had to give up on what he liked to listen to what the girl friend liked. The girl friend obviously told him that she was scared of a horror movie, but Ace just kept his mouth shut and felt awfully annoyed as he watched a romance movie with her while he didn't like it at all. If he'd at least told her girlfriend about this, she wouldn't have felt as injured and cheated when Ace broke up with her. Ace shouldn't have bottled it up, he deserved to enjoy the relationship just as much as the girl did. He shouldn't have expected things to get any better if he wasn't going to solve anything about it in the first place. If he'd talked about his personal desires and favorites as well, and had his uncomfortableness with most of the girl's choices discussed before hand, there could've been a chance of them coming into a conclusion and even not breaking up! The girl could've tried to be braver for him, and Ace could've agreed to be softer because of her. There would've been a HUGE difference if they'd talked about it logically.

Also, keep this in mind that the girl had no idea about Ace's uncomfortableness which was low key naïve of her (It's not cool when you don't even realize that your boyfriend doesn't like something) but this also made him awfully unprepared for a break up! Ace should've st least talked about his feelings and how he was unable to continue that relationship with her instead of just dropping her out of nowhere. That would've also decreased the chance of having to deal with the girl's friends after wards!

Finally, let's say that this relationship was wrong in too many aspects. They weren't each other's type, and we can't really blame Ace for dropping someone whom he couldn't be happy with. The main of being in a relationship is spending time with someone whom you can enjoy your time with. He as well was guilty because he can't just drop the girl like he just didn't care and had gotten tired of her while he had his own reasons for dropping her, he should've let the girl know that it wasn't necessarily her fault, it was about Ace not being able to relate to her tastes and habits.

Also, let's be honest. Not much is expected when a 15 year old is dating. Being in a relationship is an awfully sensitive and important choice and someone like Ace hasn't reached that level of maturity to be ready to date someone, let alone doing it at his 15s! Honestly... they should've learnt a lot before dating each other because it isn't a silly thing. Dating like this is nothing but playing around for a while for fun, it's a childish game of spending some time together until they break up.

For now, Ace is finds love quite silly and meaningless so we can clearly see that his past relationship has pissed him off. Well Ace needs to realize that his relationship with his ex wasn't a serious one, so it's normal for it to seem unimportant and silly. He needs to learn a lot without dating someone again, such as knowing how crucial it is to make sure that his hobbies would match his partners, to make sure tjat they get along, and simply, he needs to find his own type! Not all people are made for each other, and he isn't supposed to fall for anyone with any possible personality that pops up on his way.

Also, I'd say that he still needs to focus on studying instead of dating. He needs to reach the required level of maturity to be ready to start a healthy and successful relationship again. Also, he might end up being totally different from what we've seen about him being in a relationship do far when he grows up! Idealistics do change a lot olin teenagehood.

7) We need to talk about our first years a lot more!!!

This point isn't just about him, but rather all of the first years! If I were to rate the most ignored and shallowed personalities of twst, the first years should've gone on the top of this list. Even when we're speaking of the mischaracterized characters of the game, many consider Ace and Deuce to be the least mischaracterized while they happen to be the most mischaracterized as no one evencares to see through them and feel like we aren't mischaracterizing them just because we're ignoring them! Come on guys, Ace's design and personality is a lot more complicated and harder to read than characters like Vil and even Leona!

Out of all first years Sebek was the only one to get some proper shout outs so far but why isn't anyone talking about Ace and Deuce the way they deserve to be talked about? Their presence through the game is even more important than the dorm leaders as they are the closest characters to MC, and their personality design is just incredible, no just because of how perfectly detailed it is, but also because of giving them this unpredictability and incompleteness which totally matches their age!

Studies have shown that judging one's personality based on how they're doing at the age of 16 or younger is prettyhard and impossible, and it's a totally serious fact. At the age of 16, human's personality is under severe effects and changes until reaching it's final-developed shape. That's accurate toward almost all of the first years except Jack since he seems to have more of a mature personality.

NRC's first years are really complicated, especially a character like Ace. That why I said that we can't yet tell if he's a good guy or not, because at this level of life he can choose to be anything. He can be good, he can be bad, he can be neutral. That's why he's showing too much of opposite actions at the moment. One second he's being the biggest idiot in the whole world, the other second he's planning like a 50 year old genius. One second he's being protective over his friends, the other second he sighs and tells MC how annoying they are.

That's why Ace is hard to read, we can't tell what his true feelings are until he reaches the required mental stability to be judged as a mature and complete personality. 18 year olds like Vil have already reached that level of maturity and completeness, finding their unique magics as well is another sign of it. But our first years still need to learn and experience until they find their real selves, to see who they are.

This is one of the most adorable facts about their design because they really gave him this young and wild and incomplete nature to show that they're still young! This is quite incredible how careful Yana was to remember that they all needed some this childishness in their design, their designs are just as accurate and realistic as a real 16 year old's! They still need to learn, and that's why they're the closest ones to MC.

MC needs to learn and get to see more and more of this world, and so do the first years! They're just as unexperienced and new to this world, and they can relate to MC better than anyone else can!

So please, from now on, let's remember to talk about not only Ace, but also all of the first years more often. Ace and Deuce's designs especially are the most detailed and beautiful ones if you take time to know them better. Remember that after the 7 dorm leaders, Ace and Deuce's roles as the protagonist's closest allies are the most crucial in the game, so let's not just decide to ignore all these creative features and pass by them without thinking how much they can mean.

Woah, this one was quite harder to write than I'd expected! There are way too many things to say about him which made me have to summarize this into just this 7 parts for now. Ace is surely and odd yet interesting one to study, even more interesting than usually famous characters like Leona and Azul, which is partly because of how unpredictable he is!

#Twst #twisted wonderland #ace trappola #Ace trappola x reader #Character analysis #twst x reader

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comehomeducklings · 3 years

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Present [Part 1] (Obsession)

A/N: Please don't copy, redistribute, and/or post my work on this site or any others. This has taken my time and creativity to come up with the story's characters and plot.

Also, I swear my writing gets better. It's a little rough right now but I'm planning on rewriting them.

Tom Riddle's Moodboard

Main Character's Moodboard

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1943 ~ 6th year

No sound above whispers could be heard throughout the great hall. The food on the table hasn't been touched by a single hand. The very thought of eating churning all our stomachs. Not during these times. Our heads turn every now and then, afraid of what might sneak up behind us. The death of Myrtle and others has shaken the entire school. A murderer is among us, trust is such a foreign concept now.

Dark purple eye-bags lay beneath every single student's eyes. No one is allowed to go home for the holidays. They aren't allowing us to leave, we are stuck in this cloud of darkness and uncertainty. No owls are supposed to be sent out. As the head girl, I'm responsible for every student's life and responsibilities. I have to know where everyone is at all times. It gets tiring at times, but necessary nonetheless.

A nightly routine consisted of all my dormmates huddling around each other. No sleep would come to us all night. We wouldn't move from the same spot until light shown from the windows. Our beds are all pressed together in the farthest corner of the room from the door. Our wands never leaving our hands in case of danger. Every little sound made from the outside provoking us. Even to the point of going mad. Potions used to stay awake, slowly wearing off as the morning arose. No sleep, we can't afford that luxury anymore.

I would leave the dorm to wait at the portrait for our assigned house professor to come. They would tell me it was safe for everyone to head to the great hall to get breakfast. As soon as they were done I quickly went to everyone's dormitory to wake them up, if they even slept at all. I would then inform them that it was safe to step out of their dorms. After everyone got situated I would have the students form a line and lead them towards the great hall. 1st-3rd years would occasionally hold the folds of my robes. Fearing that when they blink I would be gone. Leaving them alone to deal with the dangers that lurk in the school.

Not once have I lied about how they are going to be all right. That would be cruel. These students don't seek pathetic nurturing words, they want a protective force watching over them. So many clubs and activities have been canceled. Hogsmede and quidditch proving as a prime example. No one complained though, quidditch players too afraid to even step out of the castle's walls even if they were allowed.

Back to the present, I hold my good friend's hand as she slightly shakes from anxiety. I can see it in her eyes, the doubt of making it alive eating away at her brain. The spark once present in her shiny green eyes being blown out. Amelia, her name being. She's been biting her nails again, to the point where it had bled. This can be backed by the dried-up blood that is present at the tip of her finger's nail.

A booming voice can be heard, "You are now being dismissed to head to class, your houses head girl and boy will be assigning the group you'll be heading off with."

First period has been removed from every perfect and head's schedule. During this time we search the whole castle for any wanders. We make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be. If someone got lost or went to the wrong class we escort them to where they need to be.

After every class, students have a limited amount of time to get to their next lesson. Although, perfects and heads get more time to make sure everyone is where they are needed quickly. Then we hurry to our class after scanning the halls swiftly.

The once safest school of the wizarding world giving birth to the dark ages. More bodies have been found littering the schools. Most of them not found until their ghosts appear before us. Every single one not knowing how they died. Like the murderer is invisible upon meeting the victim. I originally suggested it could have been done by poison. When the bodies were checked, no traces of poison had been traced.

Professors have been waiting for the person who is responsible to slip up, to give us a clue. I don't think that will happen though. The process of these killings has been too thought out and well planned. I wouldn't be surprised if these mass killings have been planned months before, even maybe years. I've been talking to the ghosts to try and gather all details, even the potentially useless ones. When our headmaster made us heads keep tabs on everyone, the killings stopped for a short amount of time. It was like the mastermind was creating a way to best us, to get past the "little inconvenience." It didn't take long for them to find the weak parts in the plan.

What we have got though, is that every single student killed has been a muggle-born. A classic case of an unfair stigma around the poor wizards and witches. They never were able to catch a break. Amelia, one of my close friends in the friend group. She's a muggle-born, hence the shaking of her hands. I've been keeping a closer eye on her, she doesn't leave my side. She comes on my patrols so I can keep her in my sights, with of course the permission of the teachers. There are only two times that I can not watch over her. Those two times are covered by my other friend Devyn, a pure-blood. She also helps keep her safe, not letting her go anywhere by herself. The two times are because she's in two different classes than I am. One of them being a study hall.

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"Professor, how will this class help us now? Reading teacups for predictions should be the least of our worries right now," a student at the back of the room exclaims.

"The said predictions could lead us to the future before it happens. Our worries lay exactly what will happen in the future. If anything, this is one of the most important classes we'll take this year," I say, continuing to read the teacup.

"Precisely, thank you. Now go back to studying, I'll be coming around to view your interpretations."

My tea leaves look more like a blob with a cross going through them. A weirdly shaped blob. I already know there is a cross, but what about the blob? I tried shaking it a little, looking at the leaves from different angles. I already crossed off a club, falcon, and the sun. It could be an acorn, but I see a slight hole in the blob.

Could it be...

"A skull that is." I jump at the sudden voice near my ear. My teacup almost falling from my grasp.

"Pardon, a what?"

She points towards two holes in the blob, one of them I just mentioned, "I saw you already found one hole, there's the other. How it's shaped could be a little difficult to see since the cross is through it, but it's there."

The professor takes the cup from my hand and lays it on her desk. Some of my classmates look at me in curiosity, but they soon lose interest and go back to their own tea leaves.

A cross and a skull, that sounds about right to how my school year is going so far. I scan my book to see exactly what they mean.

A skull, danger in your path.

A cross, trials and suffering.

"What d-did you find?" A Hufflepuff boy to my right asks.

I don't want to scare the poor boy, he's already frightened enough as it is. If my future got around to the school, everyone would start being concerned about me. I'll barely get any of my duties done if I didn't already get it taken away for my safety. Last thing I need right now is even more panic.

"Nothing much, the future is still a little foggy."

"That's, um, good. I couldn't really read mine either," he chuckles lightly, almost seemingly forced.

Our professor claps her hands together, "Class is dismissed, read up about your predictions if you haven't already. No homework today."

I gather my books and push in my chair. Right before I could reach the door where other students are waiting, the teacher stops me.

"I'll have to tell the headmaster about this, I shouldn't keep it a secret."

"No, please don't. If you must, only tell Albus. I can't have this messing anything up, I'll become vulnerable."

The professor looks around the room, her eyes wandering franticly. I'm sure I am asking a lot from her. I really need her to keep this a secret.

"Oh alright, you're my best student. I just would hate to see anything happen to you. I'm informing only Albus to see if he can keep an eye on you."

"Thank you so much, I swear I'll be careful." A huge weight is lifted off my shoulders. I can't be worrying about my future when I have to worry about everyone else's.

I leave the classroom and start heading to my next class. Potions have always been one of my favorite classes. Mixing a bunch of toxins into a pot is a specialty of mine. I'm quickly scanning the halls for any wanderers, making sure everyone is at class. My feet take me to Potions in a hurry. I don't want to miss much, trying to make the class as informational as possible.

"You shouldn't be running, you still have 3 minutes of checking the school."

It's always him, I even tried changing routes to avoid him. His idiotic smirk, thinking he actually did something. All he did is waste my time and train of thought.

"I'm allowed to run Riddle, it's not a rule. I already checked the halls I was assigned, did you?" I really have no energy for this.

Tom peers down at me, somehow still wearing that infamous smile. Eyes bright, filled with mischief and knowledge.

"I have, double-checked as well. I'm sure you only checked once. Such irresponsible actions, I still wonder how you nabbed the head-girl spot."

I choose not to answer, not giving in to his baiting. Does he think I'm that stupid? That easily bothered by a simple test of my patience.

"You could have just said you wanted to walk me to class Riddle. No need to be shy with me."

"Shy, a concept I would not know of. Might as well bring you to class, since I'm heading there myself. Wouldn't want you to be in danger, since you consistently prove you can't handle a simple check of the hallways."

"I told you Tom-"

"Once is not enough, you should know that by now," he interrupts me, feigning a sudden serious facade on.

We start heading towards Slughorn's room. I'm a little behind his figure. Mostly looking down to make sure I don't step over his feet and fall. He sometimes walks with me, very confusing if I may say. Hating my skills, probably still hates me. You can often find us arguing if we are ever partners in class together. The usual game we play, how many questions can we get right by the end of class. Last time he won by one point, my sour mood not helping the atmosphere.

"You look rested, more than me at least," I smile tiredly. My whole body slightly sagging forward from exhaustion. He looks as proper as someone could be. His skin is a little pale though, brighter than usual. Almost like he was sick, his eyes look darker too. More sunken in, the shape of his skull more prominent. His looks still annoyingly well presented.

"Yes, you do look rather tired. I see other things have prioritized above your looks."

This man, the audacity of this man. The only reason I'm not at the top of every class. Our number 1 student count being evenly split. I have to bite down on my tongue forcefully to not say anything back. I'm too tired to truly come back with anything witty, so I choose to save myself from the embarrassment. Instead, I slightly step on his robe on the ground causing him to trip up a little.

He quickly sends a warning glare my way and then continues walking. I smile slightly, knowing even if it was petty, it was worth it.

Riddle doesn't even hold the door for me when we walk in. Causing it to slam dangerously close to my face.

"There you two are, I was afraid you weren't going to make it," Slughorn exclaims excitedly. "Turn your textbooks to page 246, we are going to learn how to make a Polyjuice potion!"

I glance at Tom, his eyes only focus on the words before him not realizing my gaze is on him. I wonder if he'll make this a competition as well. Knowing him, as well as me, anything but competition is out of our character. He looks up catching my eyes, I tilt my head. Trying to silently communicate from afar.

His head turns to Slughorn, then back to me. He nods his head and that's all it takes for both of us to come to an understanding. Whoever can answer the most questions, and create the best potion gets bragging rights.

I don't intend to lose.

#tom riddle x oc #tom riddle imagine #tom riddle #tom riddle x reader #lord voldemort #hogwarts #wizard #post wizarding war #enemies to allies #enemies to lovers #angst #oc #poc #Oc is any race #horcrux #moldy voldy

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theneondemonx · 3 years

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JUDAS | JJK

Part Three

▽ summary: you’ve always been the type to focus more on your academic career rather than to chase after boys. Kim Namjoon, however, managed to pierce right through the walls you built around yourself and before you knew, you found yourself being the girlfriend of the world’s biggest band’s leader. Nothing and no one can come between the two of you.. or at least this is what you believe to be true until you meet Jeon Jungkook.

▽ genre: angst (there will be tons of it), love triangle, smut, fluff

▽ pairings: idol!namjoon x fem!reader , idol!jungkook x fem! reader

▽ words: 4623

▽ warnings: angst, oral sex (f receiving), unprotected sex, nipple play, swearing, mention of anxiety issues

(Part 1) (Part 2) [⏵playlist]

Finding a date for Jungkook was for sure no piece of cake. You knew every girl would gladly give her right arm for a chance with him, but that didn’t make things any easier for you. Not only you had to find someone who might actually match with him, but you also had to trust the girl. It wasn’t just the fact that you wouldn’t set him up with a fangirl who might have brought the whole thing on twitter. You were gambling with your own relationship by taking this choice. You and Namjoon had often talked about the possibility of going public, but always felt like it wasn’t the right time to do so. Having to deal with his fame was already hard enough without having the pressure of millions of people analyzing your every move and possibly sending you hate or even death threats. You weren’t ready to face that kind of attention from the public, and Namjoon wasn’t also. He didn’t want you to suffer from the consequences of a life you didn’t really choose for yourself. That was his job, not yours. He would never ask you to carry such a burden just because you fell in love with him. This plans, however, could easily go south if you introduced Jungkook to the wrong person. Nothing and no one could give you the certainty that this girl might not wake up one day and decide to spill the tea on you and Namjoon just to get some attention or some money from the press.

I’m sticking my neck out here.

Was it even worth it? Was Jungkook really worth all the trouble you were going through to help him reconnect with Namjoon? And on top of that: was he really serious about it or was he just messing with you to piss him off even more? There was no way of telling. But you kinda felt sorry for the guy after what he told you. You knew he had it coming, but you also were the type to believe that people should get a second chance at making things better. Even assholes like Jungkook deserved a shot.

We all make mistakes. We all do stupid shit all the time. Some are worst than others, sure, but it’s unfair to be eternally defined by our worst moments – unable to escape from those.

You decided to bet on Jungkook against all odds, knowing oh too well that the thing might blow up in your face at any moment. But still, you wouldn’t really feel at peace with yourself if you turned your back at his explicit cry for help. So you gave it your all, ignoring the fact that the anxiety of what might have gone wrong was keeping you up at night.

It was during one of those night that you decided to be the bigger person. You took your phone and texted Namjoon to meet at your place. He answered almost on the spot, saying he was on his way.

When you heard the doorbell ring, your rushed to the door, quickly glancing at your reflection in the mirror to make sure you weren’t a complete mess. You rested your hand on the door handle, closed your eyes, took a deep breath and opened the door.

Namjoon was looking at you with puppy eyes, like he had just been kicked in the ass all the way to your place. Seeing his face full of sorrow made your heart skip a beat and all your composure went straight down the drain.

“Baby..”

He didn’t finish his sentence. You quickly raced towards him, stepping on your tiptoes to wrap your arms around his broad shoulders. He enveloped you in his warm embrace, adjusting every muscle of his body to fit perfectly around yours while placing gentle kisses on your head.

“I’m so sorry, Joon. I’m so so sorry. I’ve been so unfair to you.”

“I’m sorry too, baby. I should have told you since the beginning. None of this would have happened. But I trust you, ok? I really do, you have to believe me.”

You distanced yourself from the secure place your face had found in the crook of his neck to look at him with watery eyes full of love, placing one hand on his cheek.

“I know. I know you do.” You whispered, trying to calm his paranoia.

Being so similar to each other, you knew Namjoon had spent his days overthinking everything he had said and done. He for sure convinced himself of the fact that he did everything wrong and that he had all the blame for what happened.

But you don’t. We both acted like two idiots.

“You just wanted to protect yourself. I get it.”

You smiled coyly, placing a kiss on his lips before stepping back. You didn’t, however, let go of his embrace.

“Come in now, before the old man next door starts spying on us from the peephole.” You shivered ironically, widening your eyes with a look of terror. “He really gives me the creeps sometimes.”

He laughed, pushing you inside the apartment and closing the door behind his back with a kick. He didn’t give you the time to do anything else: he was already jerking off his jacket and throwing it on the floor. He suddenly cupped your face, starting to kiss you with passion and getting rid of your clothes on the way to your bedroom. You, of course, did the same with his, moaning against his lips at every step until you found yourself naked with your back on the mattress.

“I missed you so much, Y/N.” He whispered against your soft skin, making it burn with anticipation at every gentle kiss he placed on your body while he made his way to your inner thigh with his lips.

You let out a moan when you felt his tongue flicking around your clit. His fingers took a firm grip on the back of one of your knees, pushing it higher and placing your leg on his shoulder while wrapping his soft lips around your sensitive nub.

“Joon..” You sighed in pleasure, throwing your head back and arching your back when he let a finger slip inside your wet folds, immediately followed by a second one.

“You taste so good, baby.”

When he curled his fingers inside you, starting to pump his digits on your most sensitive spot, you couldn’t help but moan loudly, grabbing his hair with your fingers to keep his head right there where it was and raising your hips closer to his lips.

“Please don’t stop.”

He didn’t. If anything, he went down on you with more passion, bringing you closer to your climax until your eyes rolled back and your legs started shaking from the waves of pleasure he was giving you. You grabbed the bedsheets with your free hand, letting out a loud moan melted with the sound of his name.

When your muscles started relaxing from the built up tension, you signaled him to come closer to you, wrapping your hands around his neck to kiss him deeply and switch your positions on the mattress. You placed your knees on both sides of his body, taking his hands in yours and guiding them above his head while you started grinding yourself against his hardened cock.

“Fuck.” That’s all he could say when he felt your slick on him producing those lewd sounds he loved so much to hear.

It was easy for him to free himself from your grip, bringing your chest closer to his face in order to take your nipples in his lips and swirl his tongue around it while he grabbed your ass with both hands. He started guiding the hypnotic movements of your hips on him, moaning softly against your skin before sinking slowly inside your wet core.

You let out a gasp, taking in his whole size before starting to ride him with a slow pace. You wanted to feel every inch of him, every bit you missed during the last week. You loved to feel him come undone underneath you, to know that you were the only one who made him feel like that and that he only had eyes for you no matter how many hot chicks he might meet everyday. You trusted him. You knew he loved you and you only. And you for sure didn’t take that for granted.

“I love you, Joon.” You whispered on his lips, with your voice low from the heavy breaths of pleasure.

“I love you too, Y/N.”

That was the sweetest makeup sex you’ve ever had in your whole life. Your bodies intertwined like they were made for each other, like two complementary pieces of a puzzle. This is what you and Namjoon were – what everyone who knew you couldn’t help but notice and praise: you were so perfectly made for one another, so similar. There was never much mystery between the two of you: you just understood each other, and what you didn’t understand, you figured out easily.

When Namjoon felt your walls clenching around him, he grabbed your ass tighter, speeding up the pace of his thrusts until his cum spilled inside you accompanied by a rasp moan which had the effect of bringing you closer and closer to your climax.

You came undone in his arms, letting you wrap him securely in his embrace.

You spent the rest of the night cuddling and talking about nonsense, until you both fell asleep in each other’s arms, forgetful of whatever made you fight.

Or at least you thought you forgot, until you woke up in the middle of the night, putting on Namjoon’s shirt – which on you was basically a dress – to go in the kitchen and grab a glass of water. It was there that you left your phone earlier.

You quickly skipped through the notifications while filling up your glass, frowning when you saw Jungkook’s name. He texted you at two.

What the hell did he want that late at night?

You opened the chat out of curiosity just to find a picture of the book you gave him a few days ago – Elective Affinities by Goethe. A small passage had been highlighted with the light strokes of a pencil. He drew a parenthesis near the Captain’s speech about the metaphor between elective affinities in chemistry and human relationships. But there were a few lines, from another character, which were actually underscored.

« Unhappily, we know cases enough where a connection apparently indissoluble between two persons, has, by the accidental introduction of a third, been utterly destroyed, and one or the other of the once happily united pair been driven out into the wilderness. »

He then just texted you a cryptic: “You sure got a fancy way of sending subliminal messages, miss smarty pants 😉”

When you gave him the book, you didn’t think he might actually read it, and for sure you didn’t stop thinking about the plot and what he might gather from it. You just mentioned Goethe’s work in your lecture and the book happened to be on top of the pile when you talked to him after class. There was no ulterior motive or subliminal message. You just did it for the sake of the comeback.

You decided not to text him back and deleted the picture and his text altogether. You didn’t think about it. You just did it, for some reason.

“I’m here, I’m here. Oh my God, sorry for being so late. I got stuck at work. I’ll spare you the details.”

You rushed like a hurricane inside the empty art gallery, giving Marco two quick kisses on the cheeks before handing him a cup of Starbucks’ coffee.

“Here. I got you coffee to make it up for the wait.”

Marco was Jimin’s hot Italian boyfriend and he was a gallerist. They got together way before you and Namjoon even knew each other, and everyone thought they wouldn’t last more than a couple of weeks. After all, Jimin was known for being the biggest flirt of the group: he never showed any interest for a serious commitment. Or at least that was true until Marco came along. After three years, here they were, still going strong and planning on getting married.

Marco was a sort of best friend to you. When you got with Namjoon, you didn’t really know how to handle all the stress that came with his fame, and you suffered from insomnia for at least a couple of months due to that. You were anxious about everything and you found yourself overthinking every move you made. You didn’t even hang out with your friends, during that period, being too terrorized by the possibility of letting something slip.

Marco was the guiding hand you didn’t know you needed. He had gone through all that alone, and knew exactly how you were feeling. So he helped you. He listened to your nonstop rants even when you called him late at night; he wiped away your tears, wrapped you in a blanket, gave you a cup of hot chocolate and watched episodes after episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race with you. He was always there to talk you out of your paranoia and give you advice, or to just stay silent when that was what you needed. Without him, you wouldn’t have made it in one piece, or at least you would have had to make it alone in the hardest way possible.

But beside his caring nature, he was actually cool to hang out with. He was smart, intellectual and very calm. In a way, he was really similar to you. Which meant he was more or less the opposite of Jimin. Still, you couldn’t picture a better couple than theirs.

“Ok, calm down, Y/N, it’s not a job interview, we’re just hanging out between friends.”

He laughed it off, showing you the way to the latest installment he made. It was a collage of photographs with closeups of different body parts, some undistinguishable from the others. You looked at it in silence for some moments, drinking up your coffee while observing every detail of the pictures.

“I like it. It has a very modernist feel to it.”

“I know. I took some inspiration from Claude Cahun. Which is why I called you here. I thought you might help me pick some pieces of prose and poetry for the first exhibition, making it an artistic experience through different literary media.”

Your eyes sparkled with joy at Marco’s proposition and you nodded vigorously.

“Sure, I would love to. When I get home I’ll send you some stuff I think might be of use.”

“Perfect. I knew I could count on you.”

You smiled brightly at him, raising your cup of coffee in a toast-like manner to seal the deal.

“Beside this.. how are you doing, Y/N? Jimin told me about the situation with Namjoon. Are you guys ok?”

Of course Jimin told you. He really can’t keep his mouth shut, can he?

You gave him an eloquent look and he immediately understood what you were thinking, laughing it off with a shrug.

“You know how he is.”

“It’s fine. As long as he keeps it between you two there’s no problem. I would have told you anyways.”

You sighed, taking a sip of your coffee.

“Things with Joon are.. okay, I guess. We made peace and I guess we came to understand that we acted like two idiots.”

“You guess or you’ve actually talked about it?”

You could feel his side look while he was taking a sip from his cup. You shrugged.

“I don’t know. I texted him, he came to my place, we said sorry and we had sex.”

“Ok, so you haven’t talked about it.”

No, you didn’t. It wasn’t like you and Namjoon had problems talking about your feelings, but if you could avoid it and just try to understand each other, you’d definitely take that road.

“I don’t think there was the need to say much.”

“Mh.. I don’t know about that. I think you are relying too much on your similarity. But communication is the key to a healthy relationship. Sometimes it’s better to clear the air and face an uncomfortable conversation, instead of letting it settle on the inside, hoping it won’t blow up in your face later on.”

He was right. Now that he pointed it out, you realized that you were still back to zero. You didn’t know what to do, how to act when Jungkook was around and if it was even okay to be around him or mention him. Which was pretty alarming, since you promised Jungkook to help him reconnect with Namjoon.

“Yeah.. speaking of communication. Can I ask you for a piece of advice?”

“Shoot!”

“But you have to promise not to tell Jimin.. or anyone else.”

He nodded, drawing a cross on his heart with his fingers. You trusted him. You knew he could keep a secret if he was asked to.

“Ok, so.. Jungkook came to visit me in University the other day.”

The horrified look on Marco’s face was enough for you to start waving your hands, rushing for an explanation.

“Oh God no, it’s not what you think. He didn’t hit on me or anything – or at least I don’t think he did.” He just implied I was hot, but he probably flirts with every living thing. “Still.. I panicked because, you know..”

“Someone might have seen him.”

“Exactly!”

There were so many things that could have gone horribly wrong in what Jungkook did. A part of you still felt like a mediatic cannon ball might hit you at any given moment.

“However, I was saying: he came to visit me and long story short he asked me to help him reconnect with Namjoon and the rest of the members.”

“And let me guess: you said yes.”

You looked at him with a mortified look, without saying anything. It was already enough of a response. He sighed, shaking his head while taking another sip from his cup.

“Hey, don’t judge me! I think he might actually be serious about it. He also asked me to set him up with a girl in order to make it look more reassuring in Namjoon’s eyes.”

“To make it look more reassuring in Namjoon’s eyes.” He quoted you, stressing every word while looking at you as if he was implicitly asking if you were listening to yourself.

You rolled your eyes.

“Look, I know how it sounds, but the girl it’s not the point. He just needs to get through Joon’s defenses and have the opportunity to make it up to him.”

He raised his hands in surrender.

“I trust your judgment, Y/N.”

Yeah, doesn’t really look like it, tho.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake? Because a part of me feels like I’m betraying Namjoon’s trust, but the other feels like it wouldn’t be fair to deny Jungkook the possibility to make amends. I don’t know.. who am I to choose if he deserves or not to be forgiven?”

He staid silent for a moment, ruminating on your question. Marco wasn’t the type to talk just for the sake of saying something. He actually pondered every aspect of a situation before giving his honest opinion on the matter. Which is why you asked for it.

“You know why I don’t really hang out a lot with the other members, Y/N?”

It was a rhetoric question, so you didn’t respond.

“It’s not because I don’t like them. I do. But the problem with bangtan is that they suck you in if you let them.” He paused. “It’s not like they do it on purpose. I don’t think they even realize it, actually. But by now you know that hanging with them – even just one of them – is something that comes with very strict rules and sacrifices.”

Yes, you knew. Most people might have thought that dating a bts member was a dream come true, but it wasn’t. You and Namjoon could never do the small stuff that normal couples did: walking down the streets while eating an ice cream, going to the movies, posting a cute Instagram story together or hanging out with a large group of friends. You knew that when you finished your PhD, he wouldn't be there to cheer for you at your graduation. You also knew that if you were to attend a wedding, you had to show up alone. And those were just the small things – the stuff you actually had to face on a daily based. But what about the tours? What about the months that you were bound to spend apart from each other while he was giving concerts all over the globe?

“It’s a clear cut situation if you don’t put some boundaries. You either get suck into their world or you decide to stay outside of it. That’s why I decided to put those boundaries: because I wanted to keep my life, my gallery and my friends. I wanted to live as normally as I could without letting my relationship with Jimin define my whole identity.”

He took the last sip of coffee, walking towards the closest bin to throw the cup away before coming back to you.

“I’m not saying that you are making a mistake. I have no way of knowing. I’m just advising you to tread lightly on bangtan’s ground. You shouldn’t get too involved in their drama. It will consume you. I’ve seen it happen before.” He paused. “Remember, Y/N: the group will stand no matter the hardships. The seven of them are in it for life, but anyone else around is replaceable.”

Just this one time. I’ll keep my word and then I’ll draw the line, especially with Jungkook.

That was the promise you made to yourself after you spoke with Marco. You knew he was right and you knew that if you didn’t put some sort of boundary, you would end up losing Namjoon.

You kept repeating those words in your head, biting your nails while waiting for Jungkook to come open the door and let you inside his apartment. You told him you had found some possible matches for him you’d like to discuss and he invited you there around nine pm.

When he opened the door, he smiled at you brightly, inviting you to come inside with a simple nod. He looked quite relaxed, wearing comfy clothes and a towel around his neck. His hair was still wet from the shower he must have taken after rehearsals.

“Are you hungry?” He asked, sticking his head out from the open fridge.

You shook your head. “No, I already had dinner.”

So he just took the chicken salad he had waiting for him in the fridge and sit right in front of you.

“I finished the book, by the way. I liked it. Except for the ending. Way too tragic. They could have figured things out.”

You raised an eyebrow.

Is he seriously talking about an immortal literary masterpiece like it was some sort of cringey teen drama?

“Maybe you just didn’t get the point.”

He shrugged.

“I’m fine with it. There will always be stuff I don’t get.”

Which, for a person like you, with the need of analyzing and understanding everything, was quite frustrating. So you just sighed, shrugging slightly.

“Moving on to the main subject. I thought about the whole date thing and I found a couple of girls you might get along with. They are both my colleagues and, most importantly, they are trustworthy and discrete.”

“Ok, just choose one and set a date.”

You looked at him, baffled.

“You don’t want to know a bit about them and choose by yourself? You don’t even want to know what they look like?”

He looked up from his plate, his mouth full of chicken.

“Are they hot?”

“I think they’re cute.”

“Ok, so they’re not hot.”

You rolled your eyes, taking your phone out of your pocket and looking for one of the girls’ Instagram profile. You clicked on her name, turning the screen towards Jungkook.

“Her name is Maya, she comes from Colombia. She majored in Linguistics. She is a movie buff and she does pilates. Very extroverted and a heavy weight when it comes to drinking. Also-..”

He stopped you, putting his hand on top of yours and looking you straight in the eyes.

“Y/N.. I don’t care.”

You stared at him, lips parted and eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“B-but.. you asked me to find you a girlfriend.”

“Any girl will do. I just want to look less threatening to Namjoon. I’m not really looking for a girlfriend and even if I was, I for sure wouldn’t ask you to find me one.”

You retracted your head, locking the screen of your phone and shoving it back in your pocket.

“Then why did you even invite me here in the first place?”

He shrugged, leaning against the chair.

“Do I need a reason?” He paused, raising an eyebrow. “Or maybe someone’s written permission?”

Jeon Jungkook had the power to confuse you more than some of the most complex literary works you had studied during your academic career. Whenever you thought you had got a glimpse of his true personality and motives, here he came, raising more doubts and questions in you.

“Am I allowed to hang out with you if I want to, or should I need an alibi?”

It was obvious that he was again hinting at the fact that Namjoon had quite an ascendent on your choices, especially the ones you made regarding him. And it annoyed you, obviously. In part because it was kinda true.

“Let’s make one thing clear, Jungkook: we..” you pointed at the two of you, swiftly moving your index finger in the space between you “..are not friends.”

“Never said we were.”

He said calmly, without breaking eye contact. The way he stared at you was way too intense for a casual conversation between two people who barely knew each other and you started to feel an inch of discomfort.

“And even if I wanted to be your friend - I don’t, by the way - it wouldn’t be possible, right?”

He laughed, sarcastically.

“Come on, Y/N. You are a smart girl, you can’t possibly believe Namjoon would let me come anywhere near you even if he were to forgive me.”

“You don’t know that. He is not like that.”

He is not so possessive.

Your words were a mere whisper, as if you weren’t sure yourself of what you were saying.

He chuckled, shaking his head.

“I know him way better than you do. He forgives but doesn’t forget. Ever. I can only hope for parole with him.”

He paused, tilting his head to the side while staring at you with a smirk.

“Anyway.. all of this would only matter if I actually wanted to be your friend. And I told you: I don’t.”

You didn’t want to be the one to escape his gaze, but you did it anyway, probably because you felt like you didn’t really want to inquire any further into his words and intentions.

“Then I guess there will always be stuff I don’t get, too.”

Even though, unlike you, I’m not really fine with it.

You collected your purse, standing up.

“I’ll text you the details of the date and the official version to give Namjoon. Don’t fuck it up.”

That said, you turned on your heels and went straight to door, leaving the apartment without even saying goodbye.

taglist: @namjin-fangirling-again

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cassava-49 · 3 years

Text

Let's Play Cupid

It was the 14th of February and Claude couldn't be happier. Today's the day of his final test as a Cupid. As a Cupid, one must know how to pair someone with a person who will make them happy for the rest of their lives, but get it wrong, let's just say that lawyers are going through a lot of checks.

In his school they were taught how pair and match people to each other. They also learned different kinds of love that could be used for the pair. They were taught how to see the signs of a mutual and capable attraction, and how to deal with the aftermath of unrequited love.

For their last test in their school in order to graduate, he must be able to pair 20 people. Given that Valentine's day is the loveliest and loneliest holiday that would be a perfect day for matchmaking. Each of their success will be recorded by a superior who will be watching them as they performed their exam. If they succeed they get to go to the human world in their assigned areas to matchmake humans in either their Cupid form or they may disguise themselves as humans to help them find their love. Given that students were not allowed to be in the human world in either form without the supervision of the superiors.

"You're Claude, right?" a fellow Cupid asked. Claude turned to find a tall man with brownish orange hair whose wingspan was twice his and had a warm brown colour. He nodded excitedly as his feathers spread out to show his excitement. "Yes sir," he replied in a high pitched tone. "I'm Sparrow, I'll be your supervisor today," the man introduced himself as he held out his hand to shake the junior's hand.

Claude took it excitedly and shook it with both hands. Sparrow grinned at the young man's excitement as he let go. "Alright, your assigned in Paris, correct?" he asked in assurance. "Yes sir, the city of love itself. I'm ready and excited for today," Claude answered. "Let's get going then, you're not the only Cupid whose been assigned to Paris," Sparrow reminded as he turned heel towards the portal. Claude hopped towards his senior and followed him to the human realm.

...

"Now students I want you to finish up to the tenth chapter of 'The Three Musketeers' by next week so that we could continue our discussion," Ms. Bustier said as she dismissed her class. The students hurriedly got out of their seats to enjoy the rest of the day.

Marinette fumbled with the letter in her hands as she looked at the boy in front of her. Noticing her actions, Alya have her a light nudge as she pointed to the boy in front of them. Marinette turned to her friend with pleading eyes trying to tell her that she can't do it yet. Alya gave out a sigh of frustration by the girl's reluctantness.

"I could give it to him for you," Alya offered. "I know this is not going to help you talk to him on your own but it's getting tiring now. Do you or do you not want him to know how you feel?" she asked her friend once Adrien left the room. Looking down at her feet she sighed and replied, "I want to, but if you do this for me how will I gave him when he gives me his answer?" Alya placed an arm over the girl's shoulder and have her a tight squeeze. She smiled at the bluenette and said, "Alright, you've got this."

A snort broke them from their moment. They turned and sneered at Felix who was giving them a heathen look. "I bet she's not going to do it," he stated as a foxy grin formed on his face. Alya scowled at the boy and crossed her arms over her chest. "I bet you wrong. You know why? Because today is the day, I can feel it. There's no better day to confess your love than on Valentine's day," she defended her friend. "Really now?" he quipped as he raised an eyebrow at the two.

"How about this, if I get to confess to Adrien today you're going to be my pack horse this weekend when I go shopping. If I don't," Marinette began. "You're going to go on a blind date with a friend of mine," Felix said as a sly smirk formed. Marinette's eyes widen as they turned into a scowl and smacked him on his head. "No way, I'm not that desperate," she exclaimed to him while he laughed at her actions.

"You know, he does have a point. But if she doesn't take the blind date I'll have it," Alya commented. "Alya! I thought you didn't want to date anyone," Marinette said in betrayal. Felix grinned and nodded and said, "I guess you could fill in for her anyway."

"That's unfair, I'm the one whose the bet about," Marinette pointed out. "Well then, are you going to take the blind date offer, then?" Felix challenged. Marinette looked at him, contemplating whether it's a good bet. "Fine, I'll do it," she finally said as she flailed her arms agreeing to their stupid bet.

He crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders while Alya placed her fingers on her forehead and shook her head in disagreement. "Alright, what are we waiting for? Let's go and see if you can really do it," Alya said as she placed her hands behind the two's back and guided them out. "Wait, wait, why is he coming too?" Marinette asked in confusion. "Well I have to see the bet go through so don't mind me," he says as they exited the room.

...

"So newbie, where are we going?" Sparrow asked as they flew over the city. Claude looked around and began to think. "Why not a high school? There's a lot of teens who are looking for love and could actually help them find the sweet young love they're looking for," he responded. Sparrow pondered and made a note on his notebook. Claude looked at him worriedly and asked, "Was I right?" Sparrow closed the notebook and replied, "That's for me to know and for you to find out, later."

Claude nodded and spotted a school with an open courtyard and landed on the roof and began to scan the perimeter. Cupids have a special ability to detect attraction and capability of humans to another. For Claude, he can see it via scents and colour, a rather rare process that makes it difficult for him to interpret.

"Alright, let's get over the point system," Sparrow spoke as he landed next to him. "If you get soulmates you get 10 points, possible lovers 9 points, young love 8 points, admiration developed through time 7, love at first sight 6, first love 5, sweet 16 lovers 4 points, retrying past relationships 3, friends with benefits 2 points, and finally casual sex 1 point, but the wild card may land you any point," he went over. Claude nodded and took in a deep breath and began to focus.

"Oh right," Sparrow interrupted. "I can deduct points as well, if you matched the wrong pairs, if you use the wrong formula I have to deduct 8 points. If you match those who are not compatible 9 points will be removed. And if you mess up a currently working relationship or possible relationship I'll be taking 10 points," he finished.

"Why are the deducting points higher?" Claude asked. Sparrow shrugged and said, "I don't really know, maybe to fail you guys faster," he joked.

Claude turned his attention back to the courtyard and began to focus on the students and took in the plenty scents and colours around him. He noticed two friends walking with each other. The blonde had two colours around her, one was white, but was slightly faded, either because of the distance or the age. The other colour was pink and it was wrapped around her friend who had the same colour.

He knew this would be a big problem if the soulmate appears but with the faded the colour made it was slightly impossible. Taking two arrows he fired at the two, making a trail of dark pink roses follow.

...

Rose giggled as she told Juleka about a cute video she watched about Prince Ali. Juleka smiled at her as a light pink blush dusted her cheeks. They both stopped in their footsteps as if they were hit with an arrow. The looked at each other and smiled.

"Do you want to, you know, go to that ice cream shop that they keep on talking about?" Juleka asked Rose. Rose smiled and nodded as she took the goth's hand and began to drag her to Andre's.

...

Sparrow looked at Claude and smiled as he said, "That gives you seven points, not bad." Claude smiled to himself as he looked back at the students as he saw a stray colour blue between two people who kept on glancing at each other. He took in the scent and realized that he need to get them back.

He took the arrows and fired at the jock and the other athlete as a trail of blue roses followed. The male pulled the typical I left something in the classroom, making the girl followed him to speak privately.

Next he saw another stray of blue from a girl who was walking into a car and a boy who was driving another couple around town. He aimed at them making the male bike towards his ex.

Sparrow raised an eyebrow at him wondering why he's wasting his points on people who broke up instead of using it to those who have a higher chance of giving him a higher point.

Claude spotted a yellow mess with a sweet honey scent from two friends who were listening to a podcast together. He smiled and shot two arrows at them changing their mood. Next he say a string of red coming from a classroom in the second floor. He flew closer to find an artist and a writer working on a comic, and are obviously attracted to each other, but are too shy to talk about it. He grinned and leaned against the door frame and shot the two arrows that was followed by red roses.

He smiled at this and suddenly caught a whiff of a zesty orange smell. He turned to find a rocker who had a hopeful look towards the girl. He was radiating a strong zest smell, but it was a weak orange colour towards his counterpart. He hates this, it makes it hard got him to decide, mostly because the girl had a strong red colour making it hard for him to decide which one to follow.

Taking a cream colored arrow, he shot it at the two. He watched as the arrows landed on the two making them meet eyes. He watched as the colour changed into a sunset orange with a mixture of a light violet as the scent was an early morning.

"Not bad, you really are moving quickly. You still have fifteen minutes left," Sparrow said as he landed next to Claude.

...

Once out of the classroom Marinette felt a different chill in the air. She shrugged it off as they tried to look for Adrien, who would be at fencing class today. They began to go down the steps, but she can't help but look around.

"Guys, do you feel the weird chill in the air?" Marinette asked. Alya shrugged and answered, "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet?"

"I'm not, it's just that there's something different about today. I mean look, Ondine and Kim are holding hands," make pointed out as she pointed at the couple who just came out of the room. Alya's eyes widened in interest and said, "Scoop! I can't believe they're back. I've got to go and ask them now. Felix make sure that she gets to confess, do not sabotage it."

Felix rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever, as long as she ends up in an awkward situation I'll be happy," he commented earning him a slap on the stomach. "Sadist," Marinette mumbled. Felix chuckled but stopped in his tracks when he saw his two friends together, closer than ever.

Following his line of sight Marinette smiled and began shaking him in excitement. "Oh my gosh, are they finally going out?" she asked as she pointed at Allan who had an arm over Allegra, while they were sitting on a bench listening to a podcast. "I don't see why it's such a big deal," he told her. "What?" she asked in an offended tone. Felix removed himself from her and said, "You know it was bound to happen so why you're overreacting about it." She huffed at his comment and began to look for a seat.

They found a bench and waited for Adrien's duel against a new student in red to finish. "There's something really strange about the air," Felix commented. Marinette nodded in agreement as she tried to figure out what's happening. It suddenly clicked, making her grin and casually reply, "I think it's love."

Felix scoffed at her answer keeping his eye at the game. "Why? Because it's Valentine's day," he sarcastically said. She rolled her eyes at him and said, "What do you know about love anyway? I'm pretty sure you haven't felt it."

He chuckled at her statement as movement caught his eye. "Well, I know when someone's attracted to another. Speak of which, it seems like I found a blind date for you," Felix stated. "Really now, I think Lila has something to say to you though," she commented noticing the brunettes movement.

...

Claude began to look around again, there he found a trio of students coming down the stairs with a string aura to them. The brunette with red tips had a strong pink colour surrounding her while a sweet Carnation smell emitted from her. The bluenette beside her had multiple colours crashing around her, but the strongest ones are white and dark pink, both pointing towards the fencer. However, the blond beside them had nothing, no colour and no scent.

This was a rare occurrence given that all of the people he had seen with this usually end up alone. It's either, they don't want to get attached to anyone romantically, or they are really good at hiding romantic attraction and thoughts. If a Cupid can't detect it, what more the person they love.

He then caught a sudden smell of a horrible odor that could cause him to puke. He turned to find a young girl who was surrounded by her peers. He looked closer and looked at the rather morseful colour colour combination the girl expelled. She was the type of people Cupids dislike, given that they are the homewreckers and whorish opportunists.

He noticed her line of sight and was locked with the blond he just saw. She watched her get up and began to walk towards the boy. He watched as the blond ignored her attempts and touches. However, at the other end he could see another boy who held a letter in his hand and was radiating an orange colour towards the bluenette, who held only the scent of friendship for him.

"You poor soul," he commented as he suddenly noticed a faint red colour mixing with the orange of the boy. Claude turned to find the source of it, it came from the brunette from the stairs who was also radiating a red colour that's mixing with the pink. He smiled as he shot both of them with the arrow.

Suddenly he a sweet fragrance of fresh wine was calling from behind. It was intoxicating and dangerous, given that it's the call of love at first sight. Claude could feel himself get reeled into it, given the aroma was to good to say no to. This made him unconsciously take up two arrows and turned to face the culprits and shot it at them while a spring is violet roses followed.

Realising what he had done he began to see the string white from the male for down. That was when he realized that that was the male fencer the bluenette was fated to. He knew he messed up big time today.

...

"Why am I not surprised?" Felix commented as Lila arrived and gave her model smile with a small wave. "Happy Valentine's day Felix," she greeted him. Marinette wanted to gag at her actions knowing they were all superficial. "What's so happy about today when today is supposed to be the death anniversary of Saint Valentine?" he asked.

"Well, it is his death anniversary. Did you know that I actually babysat his great-great-great-grandson?" Lila spectacled trying to catch his attention. Marinette lost it, making her laugh at this statement while Felix tried to school his features. "You do mean from a close relative not a direct descendant," he tried to clarify.

"Is there any difference?" Lila asked not catching on on what she just said. This made Marinette laugh harder not being able to control her laughter. "Marinette really is crazy," Lila commented. "I mean look at her, laughing at nothing," she added.

"That may be so, but if you were in her position, wouldn't you laugh as well?" Felix asked her. Lila have a puzzled look, not picking on what they both meant.

"You do know that Saint Valentine is a priest, right?" Marinette asked catching her breath. It finally clicked and she knew she couldn't back out now as she placed an awkward smile on her face and began laughing awkwardly. "You got it, it was a joke. I was joking," she tried to save face.

Luckily for her luck was on her side, as Alya arrived and placed an arm over the girl's shoulder. "Hey Lila, I have a major scoop for you," Alya said in an ecstatic voice. Feeling relieved, Lila turned her attention to the reporter, "Really, what is it?" she asked trying to sound excited. "I just found out that Kim and Ondine are back together," Alya exclaimed as she shoved her phone to the Italian's face.

"You know, you still have to notice Nino over there," Felix whispered to Marinette as he edged his head to the boy's direction. Marinette turned to look at Nino and asked, "Are you sure it's for me? I thought he had a crush on Alya if I'm going to be honest." Felix shrugged and simply said, "Whatever." As they both turned they're attention to the duel.

The duel finally ended with both of them pointing each other, making it difficult for the referee to decide. Mr. D'Argencourt smiled as he placed his hand under his chin. "Well it seems like my students are still unbeatable," he stated. "Take your saber away, along with your helmet," he commanded.

The red fencer frowned under her mask, not wanting to show her face to a crowd knowing her failure. Adrien, however, pushed his helmet back and turned to his teacher. "Are you sure, sir? I think he got the point," he defended his competitor. He turned to the fencer and said, "Why not a decisive match to prove yourself?"

The red fencer sighed as she shrugged off her helmet swishing her short dark hair and made eye contact with her opponent. But as their eyes met an instant connection was felt.

Marinette and Felix noticed this, causing her heart to clench and an unintended tear slid down her cheek. She knew that look on both of their faces very well. Those looks they are giving each other are the looks of people who have fallen in love with the first time they made eye contact.

She couldn't help but feel like she's not going to get the answer she would be hoping for. This made her get up from where she sat and began to run out of the school.

...

Sparrow looked at the horrible mistake that Claude had made. He looked at the male fencer and the fleeting figure of the bluenette. Those two were meant to be soulmates, but it seems like Claude paired the wrong couple. He looked back at where the girl sat, only to find that the blond male had gotten up and followed behind her.

Even for Sparrow he wasn't able to hear any form of love emanating from the boy, but seeing him follow after his friend he couldn't help but hear the enchanting symphony of soulmates from him. He looked back at his student and approached him from behind.

"You have to fix this you know that," he told Claude. Claude looked lost as he placed his hands on his head. "I-I don't know how to fix this. They were supposed to be soulmates and I separated them because of a spontaneous emotion," he ranted, feeling angry about himself for making the wrong decision in matchmaking.

Sparrow placed a hand on his shoulder and told him, "It seems like you're forgetting a little thing about soulmates." This hit him as he flew up immediately and began to look for Marinette to set it right.

...

Marinette didn't know that she started to run away from him. She just ran and ran with no direction not caring where she was going as the tears streamed from her face. She even left her schoolbag and dropped the letter she was going to give to Adrien. She finally got tired and sat on the closest bench she found and began to cry her eyes out.

Passersby looked at the girl with pity knowing that she's one of the unfortunate souls that Valentine's day looked down on. But she didn't care about what the other people thought, she just cared about the look Adrien was giving his fencing opponent. Indeed that girl looked beautiful and strong, she had a confident aura around her. Not to mention, she looked like she had a lifestyle and status that was similar to Adrien. How can she ever compete with that.

"Of all the places you could be in, you chose that most romantic spot in Paris," Felix spoke in front of her. She looked up to find him kneeling before her to match her height. He placed her bag and the letter next to her as he took a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. She silently took it and wiped her eyes and blew her nose. He got up and sat next to her with their bags in between.

"You saw it too didn't you?" Felix asked Marinette. She nodded solemnly not wanting to face him with her tearstained eyes and runny nose. "You recognized the look on their faces?" she asked mildly surprised that he knew what a lovestruck face looked like. "I'm not that heartless you know," he replied as he placed both of his arms on the top of the bench's backrest. She snorted and chuckled at his answer as she wiped her eyes again.

The two stayed silent for a while as Marinette tried to compose herself. "Thanks for bringing me my bag," she said once she felt that she would no longer cry. He hummed a 'you're welcome' to her as he looked at the changing sky. She took the note that she wrote for Adrien and began to contemplate as she strolled down memory lane.

...

Five months ago

"You're such a dick, Felix!" Marinette screamed at him as he was sitting on the branch of a tree reading her diary. "Scream all you want, this cat isn't getting down, and remember there are kids in the park," he mocked her with one hand holding the tree and the other he placed his head on to of it while he held the diary and gave her a wink. He adjusted his position as he leaned his back on the main stem of the tree as he began to read her diary aloud.

"Today was an amazing day, I was able to go to the movies with Adrien~ even though I was in my pajamas wearing pink goggles and a towel on my head," he read in an over the top voice making him laugh loudly. "Seriously Marinette, that was the only thing you wrote as the highlight of the day," he added as the bluenette turned red in anger and embarrassment.

"Just shut up and give me my diary back," she shouted at him, losing her patience. "You shouldn't leave these things out in the open you know. If you already had a box for it make sure that it's always in there," he told her sad he continued to flip through the pages.

This made the girl climb the tree as well, hoping to retrieve it before he reads anymore of her embarrassing secrets. Felix, on the other, was rather enjoying this, he knew he still had time given that he's at the top and it would take a while before she'd reach him. He flipped through some pages and a certain word caught his attention.

He read it silently, "Dear Diary, today Felix annoyed the hell out of me again. But I can't help but feel happy to know that at least someone was brave enough to point out my flaws. He's actually right about me being a doormat when it comes to my friends, I noticed that now. Even though he insults us it seems like he's actually looking out for us in his own way (at least he's not as bad as Chloe). He's starting to grow on me despite the horrible first impression we got from him. I just hope that he'll start saying things in a nicer way. I feel like if he was kinder he would be like an antisocial version of Adrien, they look so alike.

"If you look at his blond hair, it's so kept you'd think that he consumes a single can of hairspray or hair gel every day to keep it that way. His eyes are darker than Adrien's though, making him look more mysterious. It makes me wonder what goes on in that thick head of his. Is he thinking of different ways to judge everyone or world domination? Or is he think of, nevermind, as if he'd be think of that. But his eyelashes are very much longer than Adrien's giving him a kind of feminine touch, maybe he got it from his father. But when he looks at me it sometimes makes me feel like Adrien's looking at me.

"Oh Adrien, I just love sitting behind him, because I get to look at the back of his head all the time and when he stands up I could sometimes look at his cute butt. Wait, if Adrien and Felix look very much alike do they have the same body build, like is Felix as ripped as Adrien? Then that would mean—"

"Gotcha!" Marinette exclaimed as she took her diary from his hands. Felix flinched at this realising that he was no longer paying attention to the owner. She gave a victorious laugh only to lose her balance and fall. He reacted quickly, stretching out his arm and caught her, but he was dragged down. He turned them so that he would take the impact as he held Marinette in his arms protectively.

Felix groaned on impact feeling like he broke something. Marinette quickly got up and began scolding him. "What do you think you were doing? You could've been severely injured taking the fall for both of us. But you did deserve for reading my diary," she rebuked. He gave out another groan as he mumbled an apology to her.

"I know, I know, it was stupid of me and I kinda deserved it," he says as he tried to get up. "You think," she sarcastically replied. She sighed as she helped him up as he winced and whimpered. "Ow, ow, ow, careful, I'm fragile," he whined. "Why? Cat didn't land on his feet and ended up bruised," she mocked him. She brought him the get house, where they were supposed to be doing a pair project only to have a brawl.

She placed him on their sofa and began treating his bruises. "I'm sorry," he said as he winced at her touch. "I shouldn't have took your diary it's private," he apologized as he looked at the first aid kit in front of her. "I should be sorry too," she said. "I'm so clumsy that I lost my footing and fell," she explained. The two fell silent as she finished up. "Thank you," he told her. She smiled at his gratitude and replied, "You're welcome, but I should thank you for taking the fall for me. He gave her a smile as he awkwardly scratched his nape and said, "I had it coming. Karma is a bitch anyway." She placed a kiss on his bruised forehead silencing him.

...

Marinette began tearing the love letter she made for Adrien. Felix looked at her with confusion, but didn't stop her. Once she finished she got up and threw it in the trash can and went back to where she sat.

"Are you giving up?" he asked trying to fill in the silence. She looked up at the sky whose colours were changing and turned into a sea of coral colours. "I guess so, I don't want to abuse myself with my obsession with him. He needs me as a friend not as a lover, the same goes for me. I always felt like we were just meant to be friends and I'm happy with that, as long as I'm in his life and he's in mine," she replied.

This made him smile as he looked at the sky as well. "So you gonna start looking for other guys?" he asked her. She shrugged still looking at the sky, "Maybe," she replied. He turned his head slightly to look at her and said, "Luka perhaps? He's s great guy anyways." She turned her head slightly at him and asked in a confused tone, "Weren't you going to set me up on a blind date?"

"Are you still willing?" he challenged with a cheshire smile. "Only if you'll be my blind date," she joked. For some of reason this made his heart skip a beat like that time during their project. She laughed at his reaction as she turned back to the sky. It was short lived because she felt herself get dragged from her seat.

"Where are we going?" she asked rather lost as to why he grabbed her hand and bag. He flashed her a toothy grin and said, "On a date, of course." This made her flush stopping in her tracks, this made him stop as well. He neared her only to have her grip his hand tighter and dragged him along. "Keep up, were going ice cream hunting," she said in a happy tone.

Sparrow and Claude sat on the railings of the Eiffel tower with a satisfied look on their faces. "They are more than two fragments of an original soul," Claude whispered

#miraculous ladybug and chat noir #adrien agreste #felinette #marinette dupain cheng #felix graham de vanily #felix agreste #alya #nino #kim x ondine #nathanael x marc #juleka x rose #adrigami #lila rossi #quantic kids #cupid au #claude #allegra #allan #marinette x felix

156 notes · View notes

eelistolvanen · 3 years

Text

Bruises that you left behind - Travis Konecny Pt.3

A/N: So since we’ve almost reached 100 notes on Part 2, I finally got the motivation to finish the next part. So thanks to everyone who liked, reblogged or commented! Let me know if you like it! Part 4 is in the works but I’d greatly appreciate some feedback :)

So here it is, there will finally be some Travis x reader interactions, so buckle up folks ;)

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: Angst, mentions of suspected cheating, no proofread (as usual)

You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

_____________________________

You were nursing the worst hangover you’ve ever had the morning after. You’d already drunk enough at the party, but after Kevin had left, once he brought you home, you’d downed a entire bottle of red wine in self pity. You weren’t really sure anymore what triggered your episode. You wanted to blame your outburst against Travis on the alcohol, but deep down you knew there was another reason, the alcohol just aided it. After all this time you were still hurt. You’d never really gotten over it.

Getting out of bed proved to be a real struggle. But after half an hour you were sitting at your kitchen island trying to eat some breakfast. The pounding headache had gotten a bit better after taking some painkillers, but was still noticeable.

For a quick moment you though the ringing in your ears reappeared, then you realised that someone had actually rang your doorbell. You could already imagine who was standing behind the door as you approached it. Not entirely ready to face one of his lectures, but you couldn’t really avoid it.

“Damn, you look a lot worse than I expected you to.” This was all you were greeted with as Nolan moved past you into your apartment.

“It’s nice to see you too, Nols.” You scoffed sarcastically.

He sat down at the kitchen island and waited for you to join him. Both of you stayed silent as Nolan let his gaze wander over the mess in your kitchen. Surprisingly, he didn’t comment on it, a quick headshake was all that you got.

“I know Haysey already told you that we didn’t know that he would show, but I just needed to tell you myself. We really didn’t know. He wasn’t even invited and I have no idea why he thought he needed to make an appearance. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

You knew that he felt bad, just like Kevin. But it wasn’t their fault. And as much as you wished not to have to see him, you also knew that there always was a chance that you’d crossed paths somewhere.

“It’s fine, Nols. I’m not mad and you did nothing wrong, so no need to apologize. It should probably be me apologizing, after all I’m the one who called his girlfriend a puckbunny, so… “

Nolan chuckled at your words. “I’m pretty sure they’re not dating, so don’t be sorry. I mean, I thought it seemed to be very fitting for her but anyway… Let’s forget about that.”

You gladly accepted. The two of you hung out for another hour or so, before Nolan decided that he probably shut head over to Kelsey’s.

Sometime in the afternoon Kevin texted you and asked if you wanted to hang out in the evening. You agreed to it even though you knew that Kevin would bring up the whole Travis thing as well.

It did take Kevin surprisingly long til he brought Travis up though. And you knew that this conversation was about to come.

“He called me today.” Kevin didn’t have to name any names for you to know he was talking about him. “And he asked about you.”

You waited for him to keep going but he stayed silent.

“So?” Kevin exhaled loudly and made eye contact with you. “I just thought you wanted to know…”

“Do I?” You couldn’t stop your voice from being laced with poison. You were being rude and you knew it. Kevin never asked to be dragged into this.

“Ahh, I don’t know Y/N. Come on, I’m trying here. Well anyway, he wanted to know about you. What you were doing at the party. Why we went together. Why you’re in Philly.”

You felt irritated. Why on earth would he care. He felt. He had no right to ask Kevin about you.

“So you told him, huh?” You were being unfair, you knew you had to stop acting like a bitch towards Kev, but God you couldn’t help it.

“ No, Y/N! I didn’t. I didn’t tell him anything because I didn’t want you to get hurt-“

“You also told him that he wouldn’t show to the party.” That was low, even for you.

“For fucks sake, Y/N! He wasn’t invited, he wasn’t supposed to show up, okay? I get it, you never wanted to see him again but it’s to late now. Just don’t take your anger out on me, I did nothing wrong.”

You deserved to be called out like this. He was right after all, you had taken it out on him. And Nolan. And neither of them did anything wrong.

“So what do I do now? I mean this is the exact reason why I left that life behind. Because even though you’re my family, it also means that everything I tried to avoid is catching up to me. And I don’t know how to handle that, Kev.”

“But you can’t run away anymore, Y/N. You have to face it. And maybe talking to him would do you good. You know, talking like adults. Civilized.” He meant well but you still felt like he was accusing you.

“Civilized? So I don’t know how to talk civilized?” There was disbelief in your voice. Was he serious?

“No, you do… It’s just that swearing at him and calling him names won’t get you anywhere. That’s all I’m saying.” He was right but you still hated to hear it. There was so much pent up emotion inside you, you had to get rid of it somehow.

“I know what you mean Kev. But I can’t just forgive him…”

“And I’m not asking you to. But I know that you want to know the reason and you won’t get an answer unless you talk to him. An I know he wants to talk to you…”

He was speaking softly, quietly asking you to speak to Travis. You were walking a fine line, you knew that. But you were also painfully aware of the fact that you wouldn’t get any better unless you started to face this. Face him. And your feelings towards him.

----------------

Every turn Kevin made, made you feel more nauseous. The closer you got to him the more you felt like you couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t know if I can do this Kev.” Your voice felt weak, barely above a whisper.

Kevin quickly glanced over to you in the passenger seat. A worried look flashed over his face.

“Yes you can, Y/N. At least try okay? You agreed to meet him and if it gets to much, I’m gonna be waiting in the car, okay? And I’ll keep an eye on you.”

You felt yourself relax slightly. You were still nervous but knowing that Kevin was close by, put you slightly at ease. You had to do this. For you.

Kevin parked the car in a parking space beside the sidewalk, only meters from the entrance to the park. You hadn’t been here in a while. You hadn’t been here many times anyway. A couple of times with Travis, when you were walking the dogs. It wasn’t your usual spot, which was exactly the reason why you choose it. It didn’t hold any particular memories that could hurt you. You barely even remembered what this park looked like. Kevin pulled you out of your thoughts as he put his hand on your shoulder.

“Y/N. You can do this. And I’m here, okay?” You could feel him squeeze your shoulder as you slowly nodded and got out of the car.

You saw him as soon as you walked through the entrance of the park. He had his back to you and you couldn’t see his face but you would always recognize his silhouette. You felt your heart get heavy. You started to walk towards him, fighting all the urges to turn around and run away from him as fast as you could. He hadn’t noticed you, so you could still pull out. But once you got within a 10 feet he must have heard your footsteps. He wiped around quickly and you were left wondering how this movement didn’t give him whiplash.

“Y/N. You came.” His voice was quiet and he send you a quick smile. It didn’t reach his eyes though, they were filled with sorrow. His sad smile made your heart ache.

You looked at him. For the first time in almost 2.5 years you really looked at him. You almost felt yourself taken aback at the dark rings underneath his eyes. He looked tired, exhausted even and completely worn out. In a way he looked almost the same than he used to. But in some way he also looked like a completely different person. The radiance, the light that he used to give off seemingly had vanished. His bubbliness seemed to have made space for something darker. He looked hollow, almost as if the Travis standing in front of you was a ghost of the man he used to be. To a stranger he probably would have looked completely normal. Physically he hadn’t really changed that much, but all those little things that made Travis Travis weren’t there anymore.

He had noticed your shocked expression as well as you gave him a one over.

“I look like shit, huh?” He was trying to lighten the mood, but if anything it made it worse.

“No no, you just look… different.” You knew he didn’t buy your lie, but you didn’t feel like pity him so you did what you did so well. Turn defensive.

“So your girlfriend let you go and talk to me?” Travis scoffed at your words.

“She’s not my girlfriend. And you don’t have to worry about her, you won’t see her around again.”

“I still shouldn’t have called her a puckbunny. That was low.” You genuinely felt sorry about it. Even if she was one of those girls, calling her out in front of the entire team wasn’t your proudest moment.

Travis chuckled slightly. “Nah, it’s fine.” His expression turned serious again, almost sour. “You and Hayesy, huh?”

At first you didn’t even understand what he meant. It took you a moment to regain your composure.

“What? No, we’re friends. Same as we’ve always been. Nothing more.”

At first he looked sceptical but slowly he seemed to relax. Which then sparked anger inside of you.

“It shouldn’t really be any of your concern though, I mean what do you care? You left me.”

Your emotions were bubbling inside of you. And as hard as you tried tears were scarily close to spill as you tried to choke back your pain.

He groaned loudly. “I know. I fucked up. I made a mistake. And I’m so sorry for doing this to you, Y/N.”

This was too much for you. You couldn’t hold back your emotions anymore. Tears were rolling down your cheeks.

“You just left and I’ve never heard of you since. Not even a single word. Nothing.”

“That’s not true, Y/N. I reached out to you. Afterwards. But it was too late. When I came back to our house the first time after that day, you were gone. Every trace of you had vanished. An I tried to call, but I could never get through to you. And eventually I had to accept that I lost you.”

“Don’t put this on me! What did you expect Travis? That I’d wait around in our house hoping that maybe one day you’d return? That maybe it was all just some sick joke? You left me standing on our wedding day and you don’t get to blame me for trying to pick myself up again and start fresh.”

He stayed silent for a while. The guilt seemed to consume him. He abandoned the most important thing in his life and he knew that you had every right to hate him. He had no right to ask you for forgiveness and he knew that. But that didn’t meant that he wouldn’t at least try to mend the things he broke. You could hear him inhale sharply.

“I know that I hurt you. I fucked up, big time. And I’m painfully aware of it.” Even a complete stranger would have been able to identify the pained expression on Travis’ face. He was being completely honest with you. Not that it mattered though.

“Yeah, you did. You broke me Travis, you realise that, right?” He felt like someone shot a dagger through his heart. He knew he hurt you. Badly. But hearing you say it made it real. He would never be able to forgive himself. And you wouldn’t either, Travis was sure of that.

“I know Y/N, just tell me what I can do to make it better. Please, Y/N! I want to fix this. Fix us.”

He had tears in his eyes. You could see that he wanted to touch you, hug you, comfort you but he also knew that it wasn’t his place to do so anymore. It killed you to see him like that. So broken. How ironic. Both of you broken beyond repair.

“You can’t, Travis. This isn’t something you can fix.” You paused, thinking over your next words.

“You know I wish there was a evident reason, one that I knew back then. That you had some mistress, stopped loving me or something. But… I thought everything was fine. I thought we were great. I had no indication that something went wrong between us and I think this is why it hurts so much. One day everything seemed great and the next… everything was completely shattered.”

You could feel tears welling up in your eyes. Quickly you turned around. You couldn’t do this. Standing across from him, talking to him, hearing his voice. All it did was remind you of the pain he put you through.

“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” He tried to reach out to you, catch your arms but you slipped out of his grip before he could get any closer. “Y/N!” But his pleads fell onto deaf ears. You’d already turned your back to him and were walking away as you heard him speak up again. It was quiet but you could hear it clear as day.

“I still love you Y/N! You have to know that. And I will never stop loving you, even if you hate me now.”

A quiet sob escaped your lips. This is why you wanted to stay as far away from his as possible. Nobody was able to hurt you like he did, even if he didn’t intent to. So you kept on walking.

When Travis left the park he caught a glimpse of you, sitting in Kevin’s car, seemingly hugging him. And although he knew that you had been honest with him when he asked you about Kevin, he couldn’t help but feel jealous. Jealous that someone else was the one comforting you now, when it used to be him who held you when you felt like you were falling apart. Jealous that someone else got to go to a Halloween party with you and dress up in stupid costumes. Jealous that someone else got to see you smile now.

Because this should have been him.

-----------

You were sitting on Nolan’s couch, trying to figure out how your life slipped from you, when you thought you had everything. You tried not to think back to that day, but every time you thought about Travis the memories just kept resurfacing. You couldn’t get his face off your mind, it almost seemed like his image had burned itself into your memory.

Someone ringing the doorbell ripped you from your thoughts.

“Are you expecting anyone?” He didn’t answer, he just gave you a quick headshake before making his way to the door. You didn’t want to eavesdrop but your curiosity took over. You felt yourself freeze as you recognized the voice at the door.

“I need to talk to you, Pat.” There was urgency in his voice, he sounded almost desperate.

You could Nolan calmly reply: “Now is not a good time, Travis.”

“But it’s important. Please.” It really must have been important, considering that Travis didn’t usually begged for someone’s attention like that.

“I.. I can’t, Teeks, I’m busy.“ You couldn’t see Nolan’s face but you could sense the uneasiness in his voice. And of course Travis had picked up on it to.

“You’re busy?... She’s here, isn’t she?” You couldn’t hear Nolan’s answer but the commotion coming from the hallway pretty much gave away that Travis knew that you were here. You could hear Nolan and Travis speaking over each other and moments later you could hear footsteps coming down the Hall. You could hear Nolan telling Travis that he needed to leave.

“I have to talk to her.” With that he appeared in the living room. “Y/N.” It was more breathed over his lips than actually spoken and it instantly send shivers down your spine.

“What are you doing here Travis?” You felt so little, sitting curled up on Nolan’s couch while he was standing in the entry of the living room.

“Can we talk? Again?” He seemed surprisingly calm. He was wearing a snapback and that yellow hoodie that you used to love so much. He used to radiate almost as much brightness as his hoodie, but now he constantly seemed as if someone dimmed his light. He looked tired, just as the other day.

“We have talked.” You tired to be as cold as possible, trying to shield you from the emotions that were rising inside of you.

“Yeah, and you ran away.” You sucked in air, trying to interject before he spoke up again but you came up empty.

“Please Y/N. And if you feel like it’s too much or you want me to leave I’ll leave, just let me at least try to explain.”

You wouldn’t get rid off him that quickly, so you took a deep breath before nodding.

You led him out of the living room towards Nolan’s bedroom. As much as you wanted Nolan by your side you knew that you needed to have this conversation in private.

Once the door was closed you looked at Travis expectantly. He seemed to be fighting for words.

“So? You wanted to talk. So talk.” You were being cold but you didn’t feel like standing in a room with Travis while the both off you stared at each other in silence. As if there wasn’t already enough tension between the two of you when you spoke.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. I-“ You interrupted him. Was he really doing this again?

“Yeah, you already said that.” You crossed your arms over your chest.

“And I mean it. And you need to know that. I know that I hurt you. Badly. And there’s nothing that I regret more than walking away that day. I made a mistake and I ruined my life with it. And there’s not a day in my life where I don’t wish I could undo what I’ve done.”

“Well, you can’t Travis! Did they tell you that I tried to come after you? That I tried to track you down? Tried to find you and change your mind? Only to find out that you had packed a bag and already left the country? And then you flew to..”

Your voice broke, your eyes were teary and you felt like you could barely breathe. The guilt on his face made you feel nauseous.

“Why?! Why Travis, just tell me why you did it?” You sounded raspy, you barely recognized your own voice.

“You know why, Y/N.” “No, I don’t! You never bothered to tell me. YOU JUST LEFT, without a word!”

He took a step back in surprise, certainly not expecting this outburst from you.

“You read the letter, I didn’t know how to tell you in person.”

A humourless laugh came from your lips.

“I never read the letter. I burned it.” Your entire body was trembling now. You weren’t sure why though. Maybe you were nervous, anxious even or maybe it was the anger inside of you.

“You.. burned… the letter.” He was in such shock at your words he nearly seemed to swallow his own tongue. He stood frozen, unable to move even a single muscle. This was the last thing he expected you to admit to him.

“I just… I don’t get it, Travis! What have I ever done to you to deserve this? What did I do to you to have a reason to leave me standing at the altar?” Your voice softened, ”What happened, Trav?”

He looked like a fish out of water. He was still fighting for words, closing and opening his mouth. If you weren’t so hurt and angry you could have laughed at his expressions.

“I.. I don’t know Y/N. I just couldn’t do it.”

Anger started to rise up in your chest. God, you wanted to punch him. He’d always been a bad liar, you could smell his lies miles away.

“That’s bullshit Travis! We both know that, so stop lying to my face. You know how much I hate lying. You were able to write it in a letter but you can’t say it to my face?!” You tried to calm yourself. Take some deep breaths and steady your breathing. To no luck. Even Travis could see your trembling hands. You let out a shaky breath and kept going: “Was there someone else? Is that it?”

Your jaw clenches at that thought, you really didn’t think that Travis would ever cheat but who knows. You also didn’t think he would leave you on your wedding day but here you where. Apparently you didn’t knew him as well as you thought you did. He seemed absolutely frozen for a moment, too shocked at your accusation to answer. But his hesitation was leaving a bitter taste in your mouth.

“No, Y/N! That’s not the reason-” “So what is it then? God Travis, just tell me. What on earth could have possibly been a reason to break off our engagement? Our relationship. Years spent together and without a warning you left.” You felt yourself starting to crack, a lump started to form in your throat and you knew that you would break soon enough. “ Did you just suddenly, one day to the next, stop loving me? Did you fall out of love? Was I just not good enough for you? What happened, Travis? Why did you leave me?” You weren’t even gonna try to hold back the tears streaming down your face. You just let them all out, sobs racked your body. The anger had left your body now and made way for the endless pain you felt when thinking about that day. You completely broke down in front of him

“Y/N…”

He knew that there was nothing he could say that would ease your pain. The damage was already done. You could feel Travis trying to reach out to you, but you pushed him away. You couldn’t see the expression on him face but if you did, you’d seen the agony that mirrored yours. When you let out a sorrowful quiet cry, he couldn’t compose himself anymore. He couldn’t watch you being in this much pain. He’d never hated himself more than in this moment. He knew that he was the reason for all this pain. So he fled the room.

Nolan stormed into the room only seconds later. Wrapping his body around his, as if he was trying to keep all the broken pieces together. And for what felt like eternity he just held you like that, at least you knew that he wasn’t going to let go of you.

“I think there was someone else, Nolan.” You broke the silence first, knowing that Nolan would give you as much time as you needed. The confused look Nolan gave you now, told you that he wasn’t exactly following what you were saying.

“That’s why he left. There was someone else. That-“ Nolan interrupted you before you could get another word out.

“This can’t be. Someone would have known. He would have told someone by now. I mean, did he admit that there was someone else?”

“Not technically, but he kinda hesitated when I brought it up. And he also didn’t actively deny it, so..”

Your voice started to cut out and you could feel the lump in your throat form. You were so sure of it now that you thought about it. His hesitation, the way he deflected the question. This had to be the reason. There was nothing else that could have been the reason.

“There was someone else, I just know it.”

Part 4

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