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#in the midst of chaos i have an idea that will probably come out early monday if i complete it in time 😃
minnie-mei · 4 years
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accidents | uzui tengen + wives
yandere! au
note; this is pretty short bc it was just a little idea I had today but there will be full length scenarios for these four in the future
WARNING(S): implied kidnapping, obsessive/possessive themes, blood, unhealthy relationships, nudity(not sexual), swearing, teensy bit angsty
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Tengen would be angry when he returned, you knew by the sheer amount chaos going on around you. The house was a wreck about now and there was no way to cover up what had happened, especially the deep cut on your cheek and ear. Your tears and the blood pouring from the wounds made everything worse for the four of you involved
"YOU STUPID IDIOT, DON'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Makio kept shouting at Suma, though her sobbing was probably too loud to hear the insults being thrown her way.
Hinatsuru cradled you in her arms carefully on the floor, rocking you gently as she whispered sweet words to calm you down. As much as she wanted to get supplies to treat your injury, she couldn't just leave you there on the ground in front of her screeching co-wives. And of course, there wasn't a chance that Makio was going to let you out of her sight long enough for Hina to get you to medical attention. In fact she probably wouldn't let you away from her ever again after this whole fiasco.
"It was an accident!" Suma sobbed, clutching the carpet in her fists, trying to crawl towards you only to be pulled back by Makio once again.
She wasn't lying, it truly had been an accident. You weren't upset with her, but that didn't change the others' anger once they saw the damage inflicted.
Suma hated being seen as the more irresponsible of the wives, yet she proved it when she did things such as throwing her kunai indoors. Which is exactly what she had been doing when she accidentally grazed you. She didn't know you were there and you could admit you entered unexpectedly, holding a plate of fruit to gift to your most sensitive captor partner. She was too busy singing to herself to notice you walk in, relaxed in the comfort of her own home. You didn't know she was playing with her weapons either, the whole thing was just a freak accident.
Of course once Suma realised what she'd done, she screamed so loudly it caused the other two wives to barge in, ready to kill. Makio had chased poor Suma around the entire house twice before catching hold of her, the younger of the two crying and shouting out apologies all the while. Hina guided you out of the room, but was held up trying to stop Makio from commiting murder.
"I HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS SOMEONE SO MENTALLY DEFICIENT IN MY ENT-"
"What happened?"
And just like that, it's like time froze. In the midst of all the chaos, not one of you heard Tengen step into the, now wrecked, living area. You all knew he'd be returning that night and it wasn't like he'd never been this early before, but it completely slipped each of your minds due to the stress of the situation at hand.
Makio hovered over Suma, who's sobbing hadn't let up despite their husband's entry. If the mess wasn't an obvious indicator that something was seriously wrong, then Suma's lack of greeting was. Makio still didn't move, her gaze now trained on your face and the source of your bleeding.
Without any word, the large man walked over and plucked you from Hinatsuru's arms, ignoring her sounds of worry. He cradled you in a similar fashion to which his wife had been and carried you all the way to your shared bedroom.
Silence coming from the typically boisterous individual made you nervous. You missed Hina already, she was easily your favorite in the house. Unlike the others, she'd never punished you nor forced you into anything you didn't want. Anything you didn't want besides being here of course. You had to remember that all of them played a part in holding you captive.
The white-haired pillar placed you down on the foot of the bed carefully, still quiet as he gathered medical supplies from a box previously hidden away for emergencies. His behavior was so out of character, was he seriously this concerned? Or angry, what if it was anger?
Tengen never really got angry angry. Despite his pride and stubbornness, he could control his temper quite well when it came to you and the wives. Of course there was the common annoyance he had towards the bickering, but he was always quick and open about that. He was open with all of his feelings, actually.
×
"Oh god...! They're gonna die, aren't they?! I seriously killed them-!"
Suma was still sobbing on the ground, completely inconsolable. She may have been being dramatic, but she felt the emotions in full force. There's no way she can live with herself after hurting you like that. Everyone was so angry with her and you probably hated her now. The very thought made her scream even louder.
"Suma, it'll all be okay. No one's dying, alright?" Hinatsuru did her best to calmly comfort her younger co-wife, but it didn't come from the place it usually did. On any other day, it would be from a place of kindness and compassion, but now it's from a place of bitter annoyance.
Hina wasn't the type to be easily annoyed any more after so long of living with such strong personalities, but now she was so frustrated with Suma she could barely even look at her.
Makio gripped the sides of the table to keep herself collected and from causing more violence. This wasn't the first time she'd been angry with Suma, not even the first time today, but this is possibly the worse it's ever been.
Suma knew not to be throwing kunai indoors anymore now that they had you, yet she still did it. Not only that, but she's playing the victim when you're the one bleeding from the face.
Suddenly, she shoved the table away from her, moving to face her sobbing junior, "SHUT THE HELL UP! THIS IS YOUR DOING!"
Suma choked on her tears, finally falling to lay on her side. She was crying much harder now, but it's quietened down from pure exhaustion and loss of her voice.
She wasn't trying to play the victim by any means. She knew what she did, but she blamed herself so badly that she couldn't help but cry. She hurt you, the love of her entire life. And they expected her to be calm?
×
Tengen knew you were more delicate than his three wives, he'd known from the moment he met you. It's the exact reason why you weren't allowed to do the same things they were. They were strong, reliable adults while you were a fragile, little angel. Tougher things were for them to handle, while you sit back and let them care for you. They'd protect you from everything. The thought that they had to protect you from each other had never really been brought into consideration until tonight.
Tengen didn't have to be a genius to figure out what had happened. Suma, sobbing on the ground, you, a cut so clean on your face it could only be caused by one weapon. He'd told his youngest wife more times than he could count to stop practicing kunai throwing indoors. She listened for awhile, before going back to it again 'just for a few minutes!'. He didn't know the details of what went down, but it didn't much matter at this exact second.
Not with you shaking in front of him, eyes wide with badly concealed panic.
Withholding his feelings was difficult, sure, but he couldn't risk frightening you when you were like this.
He sighed, having not yet even started on cleaning your wound. On his knees in front of you so that the two of you were eye-level, he'd just been staring in thought. He just now realised how stressful it must've been for you.
Rising from his spot, he pulled you up next to him and led you to the bathroom. He began stripping down after starting the bath water, and only then did you fully process that he was still in uniform. He didn't remove any of your clothing until after the tub was filled with warm water, not wanting you to get cold.
He stripped you of your silk clothing slowly, admiring the way it felt and appeared on your figure. Unlike the rest of them, you wore only delicate and expensive fabric. Their reasoning behind it was because you deserved it, but you think they just enjoyed seeing you in such intricate patterns. Tengen liked it because it made him feel good about himself: like a provider.
In only a couple of minutes, you were sat straddling his legs, submerged up to your chest in warm water. You'd always enjoyed the massive size of the tub, it having to be built that way to fit tengen properly with how big he was. He used a porcelain bowl to wet your hair carefully, something Hina loved doing. As he placed the bowl down and began washing the blood off your neck with a wet cloth, you realised this was the first time you'd bathed here without at least three others crowded around you bickering over who got to wash your hair.
You smiled softly as the memory.
As angry as you were about it, you've actually began to like your captors. They weren't all that bad, and were actually quite funny to be around when it was all of them.
"What is it?" You felt Tengen's grin against you, his head now resting against your clean shoulder. You could feel how tense he was, even as he pressed gentle kisses to your wet skin. Probably from holding back all his intensity, you figured.
"I just like baths I guess." You leaned your good cheek against his hair, a gentle attempt at getting him to relax. It never meant anything good for anyone if he was in a bad mood.
After peppering a few more kisses onto your shoulder, Tengen pulled back. The blood on your neck and shoulder had been cleaned off at this point and now only your face and ear were left to treat.
"It was an accident, ya know?" You spoke, the cloth of your face pausing until you were once again still, "She didn't even realize I was in the room until it was too late. She's been crying for almost an hour now."
Her cries could still be heard through the thin walls, slightly quieter than earlier. Makio had stopped shouting at her, thankfully.
Seeing you hurt filled him with anger beyond measurement, but he couldn't stay mad at any particular person, not even Suma. Of course it was an accident, she'd never purposely do you harm. She'd rather die before then, and the rest of them would've gladly killed her. The anger he had was mostly directed at himself for not being there when it happened. For not being stricter about no weapons being used in the house. But there was nothing that could be done now except try harder in the future. Of course Suma would face consequences but that wasn't the main concern right now.
You were.
×
By the time Tengen brought you out to see the girls, the house had been completely cleaned up with any broken items tossed out. Which there were certainly broken items from Makio throwing them at Suma's head only to narrowly miss.
Makio was sitting in her favorite chair, her arm thrown over her face out of stress. You could hear Hinatsuru in the kitchen, likely busying herself with dinner none of you were hungry for. And poor Suma had cried herself to sleep on the ground where she'd been left.
As soon as you stepped back into the main room with Tengen's arms wrapped securely around you, Makio shot up from her seat waking up Suma in the process. The bi-color haired female was on you in seconds, muttering to herself bitterly as she inspected the bandages on your face. You giggled when you caught a short insult thrown Tengen's way, something about putting too much tape. Hina wasn't far behind, rushing up to you while also trying not to be too overwhelming. She was going ask you how you felt, but was cut off by the raspy cry coming from behind her.
Suma still hadn't moved from her spot on the ground, although she'd sat up. Makio and Hina moved slightly after hearing the sound, giving you a clear view of Suma's pitiful appearance.
After spending so much time crying on the floor, her hair and clothes were messy and her face, red and soaked in tears. She didn't speak as she looked up at you sadly, likely unable to with how much her voice had been used to scream and sob.
Without saying anything, you pulled away from the other three to sit on the ground in front of the crying kunoichi and pulled her into your arms. She jumped into you instantly in response, knocking you down as croaky sobs left her body. You didn't loosen your grip at her eagerness, instead pulling her closer.
Makio's face above you looked irritated, but you could tell she felt bad about how harsh she was earlier. She'd never apologize verbally; allowing Suma to hug you like that after what she did should be apology enough. Tengen was fine with what was happening for now, but the sight of Suma's snot effectively getting all over your good night gown was beginning to gross him out. It appeared Hina was the only one content.
It was a shame how charming each if them were. If they weren't so loving, maybe you wouldn't have ended up so enamored by the very people who ruined your life.
But for now, it was okay.
_____
art by ummt_kmt on twitter
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babanillustration · 2 years
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I have a lot of poly carapacian headcanons and idk what to do with them all, so I figured I'd put them here... I hope this is not annoying, and if you don't want to address any of this, you can totally ignore it if you like.
okay so first is the kind of obvious dynamic: PM/WV/AR. I like to imagine that AR is sort of in a more chill space in the relationship where it doesn't really have to be romantic, but sometimes it kinda is?? idk, some part of me just really loves the trio and thinks they should all be giving each other kisses, but I also think that PM and WV have something particularly special, and these three probably wouldn't feel much pressure to rigidly define anything anyway. AR is just vaguely part of it somehow.
additionally, PM/WQ. is so. adorable??? like, PM started as a humble mail carrier, but when the enemy gave her a sword and asked her to slay her queen... PM immediately went to said queen and sought council, right away. zero hesitation, full trust. and WQ decided to entrust PM with her ring, implicitly making PM the kingdom's chosen champion in a time of crisis. all of this reads like a fairy tale, but then later, after PM has done the best she could, and everything seems to have gone wrong, WQ and PM are still alive, and they find each other. they have an opportunity to get to know each other far better than they ever could've in the midst of their prior hierarchical power imbalance. and WQ still has so much faith in PM, and wants to give her more power and agency, and it's all a bit overwhelming to PM, but WQ isn't abandoning her in all this... she's offering to help her, through whatever may come. and that just makes my heart explode with fondness.
I also feel like, due to how much WV hates monarchies, PM wouldn't really take up the title of queen, nor would anyone... but PM would probably be instrumental in helping shape whatever system of leadership the carapacians decide on in the future. additionally, I feel like WQ would find WV to be really charming. she's only really romantically involved with PM, but I have this headcanon that WV kind of reminds her of WK. I think WQ and WK, while they were king and queen, were more like very good friends who had a politically pertinent union... WK and WQ are still good friends, but the time when SBURB dictated their roles is now over, and I think they're both thriving, and happy for one another, no matter what. but yeah... WV and WK seem like they're both gentle souls. WQ would really enjoy that PM and WV have the relationship they do.
also also, I did not expect to like AR/Slick as much as I definitely do in your art... I think that'd maybe be something that causes a bit of contention early on, cuz PM definitely is still prickly about Slick in general, but AR is simply not immune to Spades Slick: knife-wielding trash goblin.
speaking of which! I love thinking about the shipping dynamics between the midnight crew.
-Slick and Droog have their obvious dynamic... Droog knows how to handle Slick at his worst. the chemistry between them is really strong.
-I like the idea that Slick and Boxcars have a sort of mutual grumpiness towards life's inconveniences ("you really hate time travel" etc) and it actually mellows Slick out when he's around Boxcars, cuz Slick ends up mirroring the fact that Boxcars is just kinda surly about that stuff, rather than being violently vitriolic. although... Boxcars can also appreciate Slick's destructive side. it's very "go get em boss!" like, they bond via getting in fights and patching each other up later.
-Slick and Deuce are true chaos hours. between the two of them, there is very little thinking, a lot of poor impulse control, and much knives/bombs. Deuce is still very sweet and well intentioned, but destruction is destruction, and Slick isn't picky about intent. somehow this works out in the form of like... something detonates, and if questioned, Deuce will look sheepish and apologetic, and Slick will just grin like the asshole he is. Deuce takes this as high praise from Slick, and honestly, Slick would absolutely kill anyone who decided to try and mess with Deuce.
-Droog and Boxcars have this really sweet relationship in my mind, where they'll go out for coffee sometimes. somewhere nice that Slick wouldn't fully appreciate. and Droog will just kind of vent and scheme... he's still composed, but he lets his guard down a little, it's actually kind of cute. Boxcars just listens even though he can't really follow a lot of it. that's actually fine though... Boxcars is here to help Droog get out of his own head when he's starting to overthink things and needs a simpler perspective for contrast. once Droog is about 15 levels of logic beyond what Boxcars can think about, Boxcars will just kinda be like "I have never in my life had a situation be this complicated, and I've been fine so far." and Droog replies, "it's just because I've been around." but he also smiles and just focuses on his coffee and nothing else for a moment. side note: the tall and bulky vs. tall and lanky body type combo is excellent from a purely design-driven standpoint.
-Droog is fascinated by Deuce. I mean, Droog could plan a whole heist down to the finest detail and make sure everything goes perfectly... or... he could plan like half a heist? and then just include Deuce and know that he's a total wild card and nothing about how he functions can really be accounted for ahead of time. the guy is a total sweetheart, you really can't be mad at that. Droog will refer to him as their bad luck charm as a term of wicked endearment.
-Deuce and Boxcars are just cute. probably the most chill pair out of all of them... if it was just the two of them, they'd probably have a very wholesome, normal life and relationship. neither are all that ambitious on their own. also, I think Deuce really likes cooking but isn't very good at it, and Boxcars is good at cooking in a practical sense, but thinks it's kind of a chore... unless he's doing it with someone as an actual activity. the two are complimentary to one another in a lot of little domestic areas.
in addition to this, I definitely include Ms Paint and Snowman in the midnight crew polycule whenever I think about it. Snowman and Slick have their near deadly bullying thing, and Ms Paint and Slick have their cute romance, so Ms Paint and Snowman actually have a bit of an "I can fix him/I can make him worse" rivalry. I like the idea of Ms Paint being really nice, but in a very determined, hard work kind of way. and Snowman? Snowman is a bitch and I love her. I imagine she and Ms Paint doing a lot of bantering back and forth, and Snowman is actually kind of caught off guard by how much she likes it, to the point where she gets kind of pushy in seeking this sort of attention from Ms Paint. which makes Slick want to compete for that attention, but also both of these women are gorgeous, and Ms Paint definitely holds her own against Snowman, so he's not fully outrageously jealous. Ms Paint just has a lot on her plate. just a whole lot to deal with.
as for the rest of the crew...
-Droog and Ms Paint are aligned in their efforts to try and keep Slick breathing. and when Ms Paint puts her mind to it, her wits are pretty sharp, so Droog is actually very fond of her. he'll try to handle certain people's draining whims whenever it seems like she's getting a little burnt out, and she really appreciates that he notices.
-Boxcars and Ms Paint are like, best friends. they will literally set aside whole days to just hang out, maybe go to a bar, or swing dancing, or they'll sit in a diner and chat after lunch until it's almost time for dinner. if either one of them needs a hug, they are each other's emergency contact.
-Deuce comes to Ms Paint for advice a lot. he has the well meaning urge to do something nice for the people around him whenever it occurs to him, but his ideas always come out hair brained, and Ms Paint is really good at heading that off and giving him better ideas to actually act on. the two of them both like stuff like baking and gardening... they share busybody hobbies.
-Droog and Snowman are just a large helping of flirty venomous mirth, covered in the thinnest veneer of class. it's great. but also sometimes she'll go to him to complain about Slick and Droog is like, the polite equivalent of "bitch, I know! but you're out here throwing rocks at a hornets nest, idk what you expected!" and then they bicker for an hour or two and everything is fine.
-Boxcars is kind of scared of Snowman. he's very easily flustered around her because she's pretty, but also Boxcars thinks she's really unhinged and doesn't trust her. she knows this, loves it, and exploits the hell out of it.
-my very particular headcanon for Deuce is that he hardcore misinterprets Snowman and Slick's relationship as a case of star-crossed lovers from rival gangs, and he gets all giggly about how romantic it all is, like something out of a novel or something! and both Snowman and Slick are like "ew, what? no! gross! I know you caught us making out that one time, but that was hate-fueled!" Deuce is practically the only one who can really make Snowman feel 100% flustered. she is not composed about this. he thinks they protest too much, he's right, isn't he? suuuuure, sure. "hate" is what's going on there. yup, gotcha. *wink*
bonus thing: I reeeeeally want Snowman to pal around with Terezi and Vriska. Snowman, as a fully suave former queen, has the experience of these two nerd gremlin teenagers coming up to her and telling her that she reminds them of their RP characters. and instead of Snowman taking them under wing and mentoring them, they drag her fully into the teen girl nerd pit. they have sleepovers, and Terezi paints everybody's nails so they look god awful, and Snowman tries to brush Vriska's hair while they watch movies and eat cheetos and skittles. they wanna set up DnD at some point and all three are constantly bugging people to join. Slick can't even make fun of this, Snowman owns the hell out of it. it's called fun, cretin.
so yeah. that's the totally normal amount of headcanons that I have about the sprawling carapacian polycule situation.
I meant to post this a while ago but forgot, think I know who this is but i won't call you out lol. It'd be a damn shame to leave all the HCs in the ask box. I guess I'm only noisy about shipping WV and PM (adorable) and AR and Slick (i cannot resist is idiocy) but i like hearing everyone else's ships a lot :>
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asunshinepuff · 3 years
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That’s Our Coach!
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🏒So some of us on the SW discord were talking about Remus now that the final chapter of SW had come out. And we came up with the headcanon idea that Remus had figured out a way to continue his summer coaching despite now being spoiler alert if you haven’t read it (but why would you be here if you hadn’t? GO READ THE FINAL CHAPTER!!) the newest player of the Gryffindor Lions. Naturally, I got inspired and thus had to write this fic. Honestly this is the longest work I’ve done in a while and I am so excited to finally be posting it.
Course, credit is due. This wasn’t just my idea. Thank you so much to @whataboutmyfries, @im-oknutzy-trash, @bkfstclubmember and @fadedgreenmittens for coming up with the details for this idea! I couldn’t have done this without you four!
Just a heads up, despite being an ice skater and knowing hockey terms, I have never ever written hockey before. So I apologise profusely if something doesn’t seem correct. As always, full credit goes to @lumosinlove for her amazing characters!
Anyways, I hope you enjoy! 🏒
.
One Month Ago
Remus stopped at the boards smoothly, letting some of the ice spray as he hopped onto the boards of the bench. “Great practice everyone.” He exclaims with a smile, “Boys can you come over here for a moment?”
Fifteen boys, ranging from ages eight to ten skated quickly over to their coach, sliding into a halting stop - some less graceful than others which causes Remus to chuckle lightly under his breath before addressing the boys.
“Now boys, this is the end of our summer session. The next season is going to be a little different.” He explains calmly, trying to get a handle of his nerves yet excitement for what the Cubs’ reactions will be.
Naturally, this caused a chorus of assumptions all ranging from horribly bad to hilarious. 
“Are you leaving?” One boy, the loudest despite being the youngest exclaimed tearfully, and this caused a collective gasp before a chorus of the same comments. “Don’t leave Coach Remus!” “Yeah! You’re the best!” “Stay with us!” 
“Calm down, calm down. Don’t worry, it’s nothing like that.” Remus repeats a few times before the attention is back on his words, “I’m going to be playing for the Lions.” He finally announces with a smile, “And I’m inviting you guys to the first game at Hogwarts Stadium.”
He watches as his words resonate in each of the kid’s minds as they all collectively gasp, once again, with wide eyes and erupt into cheers. Most likely the smartest decision for him to currently have been seated upon the boards of the bench or else he might’ve been tackled to the ice by the Cubs.
Smiling, he watches as the boys skate off the ice and rush over to their parents, yelling “COACH REMUS IS ON THE LIONS!!!”
.
Present-Day
The locker room was buzzing with excitement and it seemed to emanate through every player. Leo and Logan were somewhat geared up already, making some sort of competition out of a play fight by tasing the other’s side with their fingers.
It was interrupted by Finn who came sprinting from his stall and jumped onto Leo, and Logan broke down laughing at the sight. Kasey was on the floor of his stall, in the midst of stretching out his legs in the splits while he was in a three-way conversation with James and Talker.
James sat leaning forward as he was lasing up his skates, and Talker was drumming on the walls of James’ stall as he sat somewhat in the middle of the room. Meanwhile, Olli, Kuny and Nado were also set in a pretty energetic conversation in full gear. Dumo sat watching the boys with Sergei by his side, and finally, Remus and Sirius were the last ones to enter the room to get geared up.
Remus stopped for a moment, staring at the stall that was now his. Lupin #6 was written on the back of the brand new Lions jersey. It felt so surreal, yet, strange. Normally he’d be here early in the morning, setting up all the stalls exactly the way each team member preferred in order to not mess with superstitions. 
But now, here he was. Coming at the same time as the others, with Sirius by his side. He made it. And yes, he loved his job as a PT, and in some ways will miss it - he cannot deny the excitement that fueled the spring in his step. The urge and want to prove himself was here once again. 
He sent Sirius a smile before they part to their stalls. On reflex, he sat at his stall and fell easily back into his old routine for stretches, calf stretches before thigh, and then when he felt ready he began gearing up.
“Mon Loup, are you nervous?” A familiar voice says by his side, as Remus was beginning to lace up his skates. He looks up to see Sirius in just his under armor, as always before games, leaning against his stall and he cannot help but smile in return despite his nerves. 
“A bit more now that we’re actually here. But I’m excited.” He admits. Spotting the paper in his fiance’s hands, his eyes widen ever so slightly. This was really happening, he’s here. He’s on the Lions about to play his first game with his love and family by his side.
It still felt so new yet so right to call Sirius his fiancé, everytime the reminder comes to his mind he has to smile. He was just so happy. “Is that the starting line-up for the game?” 
Sirius nods, giving him a fond smile in return. Most likely assuming what was on his mind before he asked the question. However, there was some mischief, and pride within his eyes, he most likely read the lineup already. “Wanna join me for the read off?” 
“Absolutely.”
The couple makes their way to the center of the locker, in the midst of the chaos, and Sirius lets out a loud whistle before yelling, “Alright! First game of the season! Let’s kick the Habs’ asses tonight yeah?” That caught the attention of the team, as a series of answering shouts of approval, all of which amplified when the team caught sight of Remus in his jersey. 
“Let’s go Loops! Rookie up!” Finn yells, laughing as he rushes forward and gives Remus a high five. 
“Coach gave the line-up for tonight’s game.” Sirius continued over the noise. He looks to Remus with a smile before he turns to the team and starts off the line-up, “Starting tonight, in the cage, we got Kasey Winter!”
Remus leans over at the paper with a grin on his face as he takes Sirius’ hand as he decides to steal the next call, “On the left, we got James Potty-Mouth Potter himself.”
“On the right, we got the fastest on our side - Remus Lupin!”
“Loops on the ice!” Logan calls out, forming a chant followed by James, Talker, Finn, and Leo. Remus couldn’t help but laugh at the antics, this was really happening. In an effort to drown out the series of chants, he takes the next announcement. 
“We got Talker and Olli on defense!”
James, in his excitement, quickly stole the paper from Sirius’ grasp, yelling above his protests, “And of course on center, we’re making the power front line here. We got the man, the myth, the legend - Sirius Black!”
A chorus of cheers rang out for those announced in the lineup, progressively dying down as Coach Arthur came into the locker room, and then it was really business time. The last of the gear and jerseys were finally dawned, laces were laced up, and the team was getting into the right headspace for a game.
Remus stood at the end of the tunnel with Sirius by his side. “Gryffindor!” boomed Frank’s voice, which echoed down the tunnel in addition to the crowd’s loud cheers in response, full of excitement for the Lion’s entrance. “Are you ready?”
Ten... Nine... 
“Re? You okay?” Sirius asks, placing a gentle hand upon his own, that was tightly gripping the pole of his hockey stick. He gasps lightly as he lets his grip slacken, not realizing that his nerves had increased since entering the tunnel.
Eight... Seven... 
“I’m... okay. Just nervous.” Remus replies honestly, trying to give a reassuring smile at the concerned look upon Sirius’ face. Taking Remus’ opposing hand in his own, he runs his thumb comfortingly across the top and squeezes it lightly. “Breathe Remus, you’ll be okay. You’re not alone out there.” He says, as they walk hand in hand down the tunnel. 
Six... Five.....
“Right... Breathe. Just Breathe.” He repeats over and over momentarily, getting himself out of his head. “It’s just the first game.” He sees Sirius nod, out of the corner of his eye.
“You’ll be okay. And you’ll play so well.”
Four... Three... 
The camera crew within the tunnels, displaying the entrance on the jumbo screen within the stadium begin rolling the cameras as the team gets closer. Distracted, Remus gasps as he’s suddenly pulled back from following the team and pulled flush against a familiar chest. 
“What is it?” He asks, looking up at Sirius with a slight tilt of his head in confusion. 
It was strange, Sirius’ eyes were shining bright as he looked back at Remus. Probably trying to gauge how nervous he actually was at the moment he assumes. “Hey, Re?”
“Yeah?”
Sirius glances briefly to the cameras that were now focused on them since they were the last two remaining, before he tilts Remus’ helmet upwards slightly, and kisses him softly. As if they have all the time in the world.
Two... One...
As they pull away, he briefly lets go of Remus’ hand, only to gently place it on his cheek. “I love you. So much.” Sirius comments with a smile.
Remus can’t help but smile in return, leaning into the touch, feeling his nerves wash away as he looks into the eyes of the man he loves. “I love you too.” 
Zero...
“Your Gryffindor Lions!” Frank drew out the words and the lights within the stadium went crazy as the team appeared down the tunnel. The order was the same as usual, Kasey came first, goalie mask propped on top of his head as he skated out onto the ice.
Then Timmy, Finn, Leo, Olli, Logan, Evgeni, Nado, Sergei, Dumo. The only difference was that James came out right before Remus, who was now second to last, and it was his turn.
It was exhilarating, hearing the cheers as Frank called his name and he skated onto the ice, right foot first. It was smooth beneath his blades, bringing him to a sense of calm focus.
There was a sea of red and gold throughout the stadium, in addition to rainbow flags, his nickname was being shouted by multiple fans and as he skated to a section, there was a chorus of a different nickname being yelled which made him laugh. “COACH REMUS!”
Stopping at the glass he waves and pounds on the glass in return to some of the boys close up to the boards. “Hi boys! Enjoy the game!” He yells up, not fully expecting to be heard but nonetheless felt the need to.
When he turns to skate off and find Jules in the stands, Finn skates by, looking at him with wide eyes. “Loops, you have a lot of children?” 
“What?” He responds in confusion, turning back behind him to the team before looking back to Finn. “Oh… No. Finn, that's my cub’s team from summer.” He says, laughing.
“Gotcha. Hey, let them back after the game!” Finn says with a smile before continuing the loop around the rink, while Remus takes off once again, reaching close to the middle of the rink before he goes back to the glass, stopping in front of where his family has a front view.
Smiling, he watches as Julian rushes from his seat to the glass with the biggest smile on his face. Julian had his Lions beanie on as usual but for once, he wasn’t dressed in a Black jersey.
Instead, he wore the Lupin jersey that he had just gotten a few days prior, turning around briefly to show his older brother. The brothers place a hand on the glass on both sides, smiling at the other as they mouth to one another.
I love you Re!! Good Luck!!
Love you too Jules!
With a quick wave up to his parents in the stands, Remus took off once again, passing by his fiancé who was already at center ice with the ref who held the puck and the Habs’ center. Stopping at the boards, he was met by James who smiled at him.
Rolling his eyes, he quickly grabbed the gatorade blue he had put on the bench prior next to two bottles of water, not wanting to mess with his friend’s superstition despite him not needing to be in charge of it anymore. He flips the bottle towards him, earning a grin in response, “Blue.”
“Always blue.” He replies with a wink before he skates off to his position on the right. Sharing a look with Sirius, he smiles before looking to the Habs’ right winger in front of him. James joined them shortly after, and the six crouched, eyes on the puck. The ref dropped the puck shortly after, and the game began.
The first period went by in a flash. With the Lions being up 1-0. James narrowly managed to score a breakaway up the ice off of a clean pass from Remus and managed to break through the Habs’ goalie. However, the Habs’ defense was strong. The Lions needed to be at the top of their game.
In the midst of the second period, the Habs managed to tie the game 1-1. So, Remus decides to push a little harder. Puck in hand, he races through the defensive line of the Habs and manages to score. With a hat trick.
His hands up in a cheer and laughing to himself, he was suddenly slammed into the boards by Sirius and James, and there was a loud chorus of young shouts yelling “THAT’S OUR COACH!” that made the three players laugh.
In the stands, there was no one more excited than Julian, who was practically jumping up and down as if he was on a sugar high. The nine-year-old wasn’t even playing himself yet he felt adrenaline for his older brother. He was just so happy!
“Yeah Loops! You’re on fire today!” James says on his right, smacking his shoulder playfully as he pulls away, heading off to the Lions goal to give Kasey a high five, then heading off to Olli and Talker.
Sirius stayed behind, having the biggest grin as he watched Remus laugh with glee, kissing his cheek briefly before he speaks. “You got a hat trick!” 
“I did!” 
Remus is freed from the board, however, his laughter and excitement has not diminished in the slightest. Joining James and Sirius back at center, the second period continues. 
.
🏒Hey you guys! 
Thank you so much for coming this far. I don’t usually like to put author's notes at the end of my works but this is an exception. And I have to admit, this one-shot took me a lot longer than I initially thought but I adore it so much.
Now, I have a question for you all.
I’m thinking of writing a second part to this (and possibly more than just another in the future), and making Lions Player/Coach Remus a regular au on my blog. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments, a reblog with your answer or shoot me an ask with what you think!🏒
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eliemo · 4 years
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Mythology Au
Alright nerds, you guys make me feel validated so here’s some ideas for the au I had in mind. It’s still a work in progress as you’ll quickly see
So the sides still represent their functions, but they manifest for humanity as a whole 
They kinda exist like gods, and they’re viewed very similarly to Greek mythology
They develop along with the evolution of the human race and the way people worship them  
Logan would have started as Ignorance, then Curiosity, and eventually Logic 
Virgil would maybe be Paranoia in the beginning, then just fear, then Anxiety
Patton would have always been Morality to an extent, and he would have grown more “powerful” as civilization evolved. 
Roman and Remus would have started off as one manifestation of creativity and imagination as a whole, probably almost ruling over the others 
Kinda like a Zeus situation? 
Fairly early on there would have been some big epic “godly battle” that turned into a story/legend for the humans to pass down 
The battle ended in creativity split which created Roman and Remus 
They all mostly vibed in their own realms after that, doing their jobs and watching humanity continue on with their help 
Eventually things start happening on earth 
Bad vibes, more violence, maybe even wars threatening to break out 
Logan, Roman, and Patton come together for the first time in probably thousands of years to do some godly investigating 
Its likely the first time either of them have really seen or interacted with Roman 
Logan does not particularly like him 
Patton is just happy to be making friends 
They find Virgil on earth when they go down, usually in the midst of whatever chaos they’ve found 
Fights breaking out? Attacks from a neighboring town or city? A building catching fire? Virgil is just kinda there in the crowd 
Roman of course declares Virgil the villain and the root of all their problems 
Logan has to physically stop Roman from engaging in any sort of battle in front of the mortals 
It takes some time but Patton eventually gets Virgil to talk to them, which is how they find out he’s not the cause of any of the events
He just manifests since his fight or flight influence is often what will save people’s lives 
It escalates from there, basically four timeless, clueless gods trying to put humanity back together 
I’m very tempted to write this as an actual, fleshed out story. It’ll obviously have a lot more detail and a lot more plot, the idea of designing the sides as mythological gods is just way too appealing 
Feel free to drop any asks or suggestions if you’re interested! 
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alcalavicci · 2 years
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Tosh wrote,
"What I found shocking is Dean embracing his acting career in the late 80s and onward. The thought of him being at the Oscars or having a hit T.V. show is unthinkable to me. Also, the idea that he would agree to get a Hollywood Star on the boulevard of dreams is unbelievable to me."
Reading back through other stuff I have and thinking back on interview quotes/what I know, plus with what Tosh said about Dean's breakdown... This, to me, tracks.
Mid-60s, Dean's career wasn't in the greatest shape. He wasn't in high demand (this is around the beginning of the "over 14 years of not being able to get arrested" period). He had probably just found out that Mr. Paracelsus wouldn't make it as a pilot when he had his breakdown. (fall/winter 1966 or so, going off the movie release date)
Based on what Tosh said about the movie he saw, Dean struggled a lot mentally, for approximately the next 10-15 years. (The fact his late 70s/early 80s filmography is never brought up is certainly telling). Late 70s, he told a fan seeing a play he was producing that he was up to his eyeballs in debt. He was trying to hack it as an artist during this time as well, but that and his day job were both floundering. Yet, in the midst of all this chaos, Dean found happiness in acting, a calling that had plagued him since childhood.
That's what he's said in his TCM interview, that he finally found satisfaction with acting via dinner theater. Being able to go in front of people and receive live feedback from them while working on comedic roles? It was probably a dream come true.
Meanwhile, his art was limping along. Dean mostly put that aside, save for personal things he made for family or friends, and focused on his other art- acting. Through that, he pushed himself to success, and from there, stability, something he'd lacked since childhood. That's why he wanted a TV show so much. Remember, he said he didn't have as much for his childhood film savings as he should have thanks to bad accountants and his earnings also had to support his family as a child. A stable source of income instead of a fluctuating income would be much more meaningful.
With enough stability in his life, Dean was able to refocus on art after his children left home and he was able to flourish with that, at last, going from collages to dice assemblages.
So, yes, art was important to Dean throughout his life. But it was through stability that he found more success with it. And honestly, he wasn't the one to push for the star- his fans were, and they raised the money via something meaningful to him at the time.
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obxdrewseph · 4 years
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Tik Tok - Rafe Cameron
Description: Rafe Cameron falls for a girl he often sees in a cafe and is too nervous to talk to her, so his best friend, Topper, decides to take matters into his own hands and makes a tik tok asking if anyone can identify Rafe’s crush. Of course, she sees it and confronts him. 
P.S. pretend covid doesnt exist in this LOL
---------
“Bro, just do it.”
“No.”
“Rafe, c’mon man. When did you become such a pussy?”
“Shut the hell up man, I’m not.” 
“Then ask her out!” 
“No!” 
It was your typical Wednesday afternoon-- the college cafe was bustling with students coming in and out from classes and from students mingling with their friends.
Rafe and Topper sat in the midst of all the chaos, ignoring their econ homework to stare at Rafe Cameron’s current obsession.
“How is this girl different from any other you’ve liked? Just man up and ask for her number or something.” 
Rafe Cameron. 
Notorious player on campus. And douchebag. He was the type to sleep with a girl and kick her out of his room at 3 in the morning. He never had strong feelings for a girl, which is why Topper was baffled at the fact he kept staring at the dark haired, brown eyed plain Jane in the corner of the coffee shop. 
“Look, she’s just a pretty girl. And she just looks... shy I guess.” Rafe lamely said. He didn’t know why he wasn’t just barging up to her like he normally did at parties. Of course, those girls were clawing to get to him. He didn’t have to work as hard. 
Topper sighed loudly. “Fine, fine. If you’re gonna force my hand.” 
Rafe raised a brow as Topper slowly pulled his phone from his pocket. 
He then began to film the girl and zooming in on her face. 
“Top, what are you--”
“Ssssh.” 
After 30, long, agonizing seconds for Rafe Cameron, his best friend finally stopped filming the poor girl.
“Does anyone know this girl? This loser wants to ask her out...” He spoke as he typed.
“No wait--”
“Done. Just posted on tik tok.”
Rafe’s jaw dropped.
“What?”
“Now, we wait.” 
-------
You had a long day of classes and all you wanted to do was fall in your bed. 
But no, as a history major, you had to read 250 pages (the entire book needed to be read by the end of the week, but you were spacing), write detailed notes on them, and then start on your essay that is due next week. 
You always liked to get ahead of schedule so that your work wouldn’t pile up. 
After sitting in the cafe for an hour, you had to go home to cook dinner. You hated eating at cafes since bread just wasn’t your thing. 
Once you hit your dorm room, you checked your phone that seemed to have hundreds of notifications.
"The fuck?” You whispered out loud. As an RA, you could say whatever you wanted to in your room, but you still felt weird swearing in front of others. Which is why you whispered the words to yourself.
You dropped your bag at the door and quickly opened your phone. 
GIRL, CHECK TIK TOK 
Congrats, you’re famous! don’t forget me lol
rafe cameron ?? honeyyy get itttttt 
Confusion. That’s all you felt. You quickly clicked on the link on of your friends sent you. 
You watched the video set in as Topper, the owner of the account, zoomed in on your face at the cafe you were just in. You didn’t think you looked pretty as your hair was a mess and you hadn’t showered in a couple of days. 
Not to mention you were wearing jeans and a baggy t-shirt-- the normal college attire. 
As you read the caption, you felt your heart race at an abnormal rate. 
The words became blurry fairly quickly as your stress started to build up. You set your phone down on the counter to avoid dropping it-- you were rational enough to do that. 
You kept getting texts from your closest friends saying two words: Call me. But at this point, you couldn’t even think straight. What was a hot, popular guy like Rafe Cameron doing pining over you? And apparently being too afraid to ask you out?
Honestly, you had never been hit on in your first two years of college and you didn’t think it was going to start with Rafe Cameron, the richest guy at the school. And every straight college girl’s wet dream. 
You heard your phone buzz on the counter and you checked caller ID. It was your best friend.
You took a deep breath and answered it.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me you were dating Rafe Cameron.” She joked. 
“Shut up! Tell me what to do!!” You screamed. 
“Ok, ok, I can tell you’re freaking out and nervous, but this is a good thing! A happy thing! A guy liked you so much that he put a video--”
“His best friend posted the video--”
“As I was saying, put a video out about YOU! This is your chance to finally have the romance you’ve always dreamed of, right? You’re always pining after those book boyfriends or whatever who AREN’T REAL.”
She emphasized the last part which made you cringe. Your obsession with fictional characters was justified-- if she read, she would know. 
“Dude, this is Rafe. Rafe fucking Cameron.” She gasped at your swearing, a joke both of you had because you’ve known each other since you were children.
“Exactly, it’s Rafe motherfucking Cameron, meaning, you HAVE to go after him.” 
“No, you’re wrong! He’s Rafe Cameron! If he was really into me, he would’ve asked me out already. Literally no one can say no to him nor does anyone want to.” You bit your lip, thinking of ways to get out of this. “You know what? I bet this is a prank or something.”
“A prank?”
“Yeah, like Topper trying to embarrass Rafe by making an ugly girl ask him out--”
“First of all, don’t talk about yourself like that. And second, no, tik tok is not the place to embarrass girls. They would get roasted so hard. And third, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE.”
Contrary to your best friend, you never seriously wanted a relationship. You were the type to fantasize about falling in love and hyped up all of your friends when they had crushes, but you never truly found someone you wanted to get to know or wanted to date. 
It just seemed so outlandish to you. 
Plus, you wrote off college boys when one followed all of your roommates on instagram besides you. That kinda knocked your ego down. 
“Look, I’m just going to ignore this. I don’t think it’s going to be the love story you think so I’m gonna go.”
“Wait, y/n--”
You hung up before she could finish. 
You just couldn’t deal with her hopeless romanticism right now. 
You sighed and tied your hair into a messy bun. How could you finish your homework now? 
--------
“I don’t think she saw it.” 
Topper laughed at his nervous looking friend.
“Dude, she definitely saw it. It has thousands of likes the last time I checked and I’m pretty sure people were tagging her in the comments.”
Rafe fixed his hat so it covered his face. He definitely didn’t want his friend to notice it turning beet red. 
“I hate you dude.” 
“No you don’t.” 
Once again, the two rich boys were sitting in the same cafe they were in yesterday. They had been sitting in there for two hours now, and there was no sign of the mysterious girl who did or did not know she was tik tok famous.
“I don’t think she’s coming.” Rafe commented. On one hand, he was relieved he wouldn’t have to talk to her. But on the bigger hand, he desperately wanted to see her again. He didn’t know why he was so captivated by her brightly dyed hair or the 10 pins stuck on her backpack. She seemed so normal, yet she stuck out with all the book stickers she had on her laptop. Rafe would never tell a living soul that he liked reading YA romance novels but he felt like he could confide in this mysterious girl. 
“I don’t know. It’s still early.” Topper noted. 
“Um, excuse me?” 
The two boys’ heads shot up at the dainty voice.
You were wearing black ripped jeans with a white top; it was the most simple outfit Rafe had seen you in as you usually dressed in bright colors. He would never admit it, but he even noticed when you changed your nail polish.
What Rafe didn’t know was that your best friends held an intervention last night and told you to dress “more to his style” which included simple attire. Yet, you couldn’t fully immerse in the role and wore your favorite bucket hat that was covered in white daisies. 
“Hey,” Rafe said lamely. 
Topper immediately gathered his stuff and left you two alone. What a homie.
At Rafe’s bland answer, you smiled politely. 
“Can I sit?” You asked. Rafe nodded and gestured towards the seat. He didn’t know why he was acting so weird, but you were just so much prettier up close. 
He could see the bright red earrings you wore that matched your Nikes and noticed your clumsily applied makeup (which he knew because his sister was so good at it). It only made his heart race even faster.
“Um, so I saw the video... I’m sure you know which one I’m talking about.” 
The boy blushed.
“Yeah?” He tried to act suave and calm, but his nerves were all over the place. He felt a bit calmer seeing the girl start to play with her hair: a nervous trait his sister said most girls had. 
“Um, well, I... I was wondering...” The girl trailed off, her face turning a darker red. He almost felt bad for her, but she was so darn cute and wanted her to continue.
“Look, I’m really bad at this... and I know you’re good at it, so...” 
The boy’s ego inflated slightly. 
“So?” 
This wasn’t going the way you wanted it to go. You felt frustrated that you couldn’t even get the words out that you practiced. Your eyes prickled with tears from embarrassment; you wanted to get out of the situation as soon as possible. You didn’t know what you were thinking approaching the hottest guy in campus and expect not to be tongue tied. 
And his lack of words made you think he was just messing with you. 
You felt a gentle hand on top of yours which burst your drama bubble. You looked up and saw Rafe’s bright blue eyes full of concern, and... something else.
Dammit, he probably thinks I’m a weirdo. 
“Hey, it’s ok. Honestly, it was my friend, the one who left earlier, it was his idea to put the video up and he did it without my permission. If it were up to me, it would’ve taken a lot longer to pluck up the courage to approach you...” He confessed. 
This shocked you. Rafe Cameron... tongue tied around you?? 
“Look, let’s start over. I’m Rafe Cameron, junior, business major, and fun fact: I’m on the hockey team.” You knew all of those details, but you let him give a formal introduction. You thought it was cute that he felt the need to explain all of this to you because there wasn’t anyone at your campus who didn’t know who he was.
You held out your hand.
“Y/N, a sophomore and a history major. Fun fact: I’m an RA.” His eyes brightened at your response and shook your hand with a smile. 
He had to practice his stern handshake with businessmen his father forced him to meet, but your hands were gentle and soft, like they were afraid of hurting him. It’s been a while since someone has treated him so delicately. He liked it. 
“Well, y/n, it’s a good thing I don’t live in the dorms because I definitely would’ve tried to act up to get your attention.” He teased. 
You laughed at the response because you knew a couple of the young freshmen who made a ruckus in the lounges so that you had to come in and yell at them. 
You shrugged. “I don’t know, we could’ve met sooner if you were.” 
The flirty words flowed from you naturally and you wanted to take them back as soon as they left your mouth.
But they made Rafe Cameron blush, so you let it go.
Suddenly, his watch buzzed and he swore under his breath.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, I have a business meeting to get to. Can I get your number for uhhh... for future purposes?” 
His slight fumble of words made you grin.
“Of course.” 
I guess tik tok is good for something. 
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oureuphoria · 4 years
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One-Step Forward, Two-Steps Back
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Genre: angst, slow-burn, friends-lovers (kind of?), a sprinkle of fluff 
Pairing: tattoo artist jungkook x college student reader
Word count: 6.8K
Warnings: Profanity, mentions of alcohol
Synopsis: You’ve heard of the forbidden love trope and it almost always ends tragically but, falling for your roommates fwb wasn’t forbidden, right? Besides, you totally had everything under control until Taehyung needed your help with a mid-term and used your (tiny, almost non-existent) crush on Jungkook to blackmail you into helping him.  or “Help me pass the mid-term and I won’t tell anyone you have a crush on Jungkook.” “Library. 2pm. Don’t be late.”
Note: Oh boy, okay so I got a request for tattoo artist jk which was *chefs kiss* thank you anon. I was brainstorming ideas and then thought, tattoo artist jk but make it: angst. Therefore, this one-shot (maybe two-shot) was bred. I really liked writing this because I tried to focus more on the emotional aspect than humour which is what I normally do. Forgive me if the emotional parts are horribly depicted, I’m still learning! Enjoy readers, I love you all.
- Part 2
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College was hard. You knew that much. But it didn’t help that everyone around you made it insanely harder. It was impossible to get anything done among the ruckus of your two roommates, not to mention their impending need to fuck at ungodly hours. They had simply no regard for your existence. They ate your food, used your stuff without permission, went inside your room and one time they even copied your class notes while you were sleeping. You didn’t hate them though, things could have been worse but in moments like these, you wanted to bury them alive.
You were quarter way through a video of the lecture you had missed when you began to hear the clamorous sound of Suzy crashing into your apartment with her fuck-buddy, Jeon Jungkook. Fun fact: you had a small, microscopic, tiny, itty-bitty crush on Jungkook that you’d never admit to having. He was actually super sweet but whatever douche-ness he lacked in personality, he made up for in looks. He had a full sleeve of tattoos and loads of piercings. He looked like every mother’s nightmare but from what you had been able to infer, he had the personality of an angel. You rarely talked to him and your interactions were mostly brief, only ever talking when nobody else was there.
It was a Sunday morning and you had gotten up at around 9am. You were on the kitchen island, eating cereal when you saw Jungkook stumbling out with dishevelled hair and a messy appearance. Naturally, he still looked hot and you choked on your mouthful of cereal. Your choking startled him and he chuckled at your loud coughs. You drank some water and eventually calmed down but by then it was too late to save you from the embarrassment.
“Morning Y/N.” He greeted you a little bashfully because he wasn’t expecting to see anyone as he was leaving. You gave him a tight-lipped smile, one that was more awkward than polite. “You have a little…” You gestured to the side of his neck where a lipstick stain rested. He wiped at his neck, checking his hand and cursing at the sight of lipstick. You grabbed the tissue box, gesturing it towards him as he muttered a quick thanks. “This shit never gets off.” You watched him angrily wipe at his neck, the stain seemingly endless. “Then I guess this is a bad time to tell you about your lips?” He looked at you with panic and you had to stifle a laugh, messing with him was practically your favourite pass time because he was always so unsuspecting.
You ran into your room to grab make-up wipes and handed them to him. He gratefully took one out, going to wipe his neck. “I feel like I’m missing it, can you do it for me?” No, fuck no. You were supposed to be getting over him and this would definitely not help. “Okay.” You nervously grabbed the wipeout of his hand and wiped his neck for him. You were standing lightly on your toes to see his neck better and out of instinct, you placed your other arm on his shoulder for balance. The proximity made your heart stutter but you tried to ignore the deafening beating in your chest. You watched him flinch when you went over a sensitive spot and you quietly apologised, returning to your original stance that was at a safe distance from him. He thanked you once again, the same bashful smile on his face that you were beginning to find insanely adorable. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He joked, and you felt a sharp pang in your heart because it seemed that you were making more out of the situation than what was really there. All you were was his fuck-buddy’s roommate who he talked to every once in a while and you had to learn to accept it.
You were always a meticulous and organised person but no matter how hard you tried you could not organise your emotions. It frustrated you to no end and the best you could do was hide behind a nervous facade that often failed you because you were incredibly obvious. You pretended that you disliked him. It wasn’t hard, you had almost every reason to because all he seemed to do was disrupt your sleep. You’d been crushing on him for 6 months and nobody had figured it out yet, you were weirdly impressed. You sighed loudly out of exhaustion as you stared at your ceiling in despair. Feelings were horrible and if you had the choice, you’d become a sociopath. Oh, the tranquil ease of never having to worry about your emotions ever again.
In the midst of your blissful daydream, Lisa opened the door to your room, a beaming smile on her face that warned you trouble was to come. “Hey, we’re inviting some friends over tonight, okay?” She asked cutely but before you could argue that it was a school night she zoomed out of your room with little care about what you had to say. You groaned painfully at the realisation that you weren’t going to get any sleep tonight.
As expected, once the clock hit 7pm your apartment began filling up with Suzy and Lisa’s elaborate group of friends that consisted of 11 people; 7 men and 4 girls (including Suzy and Lisa). They came over every once in a while and every time they did you knew to brace yourself because they were loud, disruptive and messy. One time they played a drinking game and it turned into absolute anarchy so you made your roommates promise to never let it get that bad again. All you were left to do was hope they could keep that promise.
You were hungry but venturing out into the living area (which was inconveniently connected to the tiny kitchen) was too scary and you already brushed your teeth. Not only was Jungkook there but you had grown a genuine distaste towards your roommate’s friends. Perhaps it was because you only ever saw them when they were drunk or partying but you liked to stay away when they were over. You decided against going out of your room, you knew that you should probably just have sleep for dinner instead. And that’s what you did, for a total of 50 minutes before the loud chaos began. You were a light sleeper which proved to be a curse in situations like these. Your sleepiness had conjured up a sense of anger and you messaged your roommates to keep it down. They didn’t reply but you heard some hushing which satisfied you enough however they were too drunk to remain orderly and it broke out into undesirable noise once again.
Blinded by your impending need to sleep, you shuffled out of your room in your pyjamas and slippers. You had absolutely no shame when it came to sleep because without it, you couldn’t function. “Can you all please keep it down for the sake of me and the entire apartment block?” They all turned to you, an awkward silence engulfing the room. A couple of them stifled laughs, some giving up and laughing obnoxiously. Your roommates gave you remorseful smiles as they muttered out insincere apologies. They clearly were not taking you seriously so you returned to your room with an angry huff, trying to drown them out.
The next morning you were up early (much to your dismay) because you had a morning lecture. You saw Jimin, who you recognised because of his pink hair, passed out on your couch. You contemplated on whether or not you should wake him up but decided against it. That was a problem you had no obligation to deal with. Like clock-work, Jungkook was quietly sneaking out of Suzy’s room, meeting your eyes while you slipped on your sneakers. “Good Morning.” He gave you a tired smile, no matter how sleepy he was he always made sure he left before Suzy woke up and he explained that it was better that way. You responded to his greeting with a nod, just as tired as he was however unlike him you had lectures and classes to attend while he was content with his job as a tattoo artist. You wondered what is was like to be so sure of what you want at a young age but stopped yourself from pondering while you tied your shoelace. “Y/N, I’m sorry about last night.” He apologised shyly but you knew it was useless. He apologised every time but things always ended the same way, at least there was an attempt though.
“Where are you headed?” He asked you out of politeness, you guessed. “I have a lecture at 9.” He nodded while slipping his shoes on. You opened the door to leave and he followed suit. It was awkward, you walking out of the building together. He tried to make small talk but it always ended dryly. Once he reached his car, you gave him a wave. He waved back and opened his door but paused momentarily before getting in, he watched you tiredly walk away and he felt guilty so he yelled out your name and waited for you to turn around. “Do you want a ride?” You stood there in shock for a moment, trying to contemplate what to say. He gave you an expectant look but you could tell he was just doing this out of pity so you saved him the trouble. “It’s okay, I’m alright with walking. Thank you though!” You forced out a polite smile before quickly continuing on your way. Jungkook didn’t dwell on the rejection too long, he always assumed you weren’t his biggest fan.
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Hey, you’re Lisa’s roommate right?” You nodded at the extremely perky boy with a frown on your face. “I also go by Y/N but Lisa’s roommate works too.” He rolled his eyes at your comment before moving to take the seat next to yours. “I need your help.” You ignored his statement because frankly Flappy Bird was more interesting than what he was about to say. “I’m failing this class.” He admitted and you paused the game before turning to him with false sympathy. “I send my condolences.” You joked, sarcasm laced within your words. He didn’t appreciate it but he made no comment against it, if he was going to get your help he’d have to be nice. “I know we’re not close or anything but all I’m asking is for you to help me with the mid-term.” The boy, which you could barely remember as Taehyung, pleaded with a charming smile. You could have ignored him but you decided to humour him for just a little longer. “What’s in it for me?” He gave you a smirk that almost made your hard face falter. “Help me pass the mid-term and I won’t tell anyone you have a crush on Jungkook.” You should have denied the comment, laughed at it, dodged it with all your might but instead all you did was gulp and stare at Taehyung with fear. “Library. 2pm. Don’t be late.” You muttered bitterly and Taehyung was so proud of his triumph. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” You ignored his thanks, dwelling on your sad defeat.
As promised, Taehyung showed up to the library at 2pm, with absolutely nothing but his phone in his hand. “Taehyung where are your notes?” He looked at you with absent eyes, confused by the question you had asked him. “What notes?” Your eyes widened with shock, mouth opening and closing like a fish because you had no idea what to say. “You didn’t take notes in class?” Even though he sat next to you, you paid little attention to what he was doing and now you were regretting it. “No…?” He sat down on the chair in front of you and rested his head in his arms with a pout. “I’m totally failing this semester.” You didn’t mean to feel bad for him but you couldn’t help it. He looked like a kicked puppy, big eyes and pouty lips. You let out a huge sigh before sharing your notes with him and preparing for the horrible 2-weeks that lay ahead.
“Taehyung, we literally just went over this.” You were holding a flashcard, one of many that you crafted to help yourself prepare for the mid-term. Now, your hard work was wasted on a blonde-haired boy with no regard for school. “Um…patent?” Your frustrated face morphed into a beaming smile once he got the question right. You resisted the urge to scream in relief but Taehyung didn’t. “Did I get it right? Fuck yeah!” At the pointed glares from fellow students in the library, he apologised shyly and you quietly snickered at his embarrassment. “Congratulations, you got through the all 3o cards with only 29 wrong answers.” He stuck his tongue out at your pessimism, this was a huge moment for him and he wouldn’t let you ruin it.
You decided you’d see Taehyung 3 times a week, noticing that he was a fast learner after you second lesson and you still had to work at the campus bookstore. It was the weekend following the unexpected deal and your roommates had invited their friends over again. This time, something out of the ordinary happened. There was a knock on your bedroom door at around 8pm, one that you were a little hesitant to answer because your roommates never knocked on your door. Opening it with caution you saw Taehyung’s long figure standing outside your door with an uncomfortable smile. “I was going over the notes you gave me and I have some questions.” He walked into your room uninvited and took a seat on your bed. “This couldn’t wait till next week?” You muttered, you preferred to teach when you weren’t in Iron Man pyjamas. “Why wait when I have the chance now?” He gave you his endearing box smile and you begrudgingly sat down on your desk chair, parallel to your bed. “Go.”
“Why is Taehyung in Y/N’s room?” Jungkook asked from his position on the couch, everyone shrugged, just as confused as he was though no one with quiet as much concern. “I think he mentioned something about her helping him with mid-terms. They share the same major.” Jungkook nodded absentmindedly at what Jimin had said. Unsure of why his roommate would be in your bedroom instead of out there with him. “Why do you look so worried Jungkook? She’s not going to steal your roommate.” They all laughed at Hoseok’s comment, Jungkook joining in a little too. There was some truth in his statement but he wasn’t worried about you stealing Taehyung, he was worried about Taehyung stealing you.
Jungkook would never admit it but he found your interactions cute. They were pretty much the only thing he looked forward too when he forced himself to wake up in the morning. He wasn’t sure about the origin of his attraction or why he found you so adorable but he knew the kind of person Taehyung was and convinced himself that the light sting in his heart was purely friendly worry. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Seokjin had shaken him, repeating the question he had asked before. “Are you okay, bro?” He nodded, refiling his cup with whatever liquor was on the table.
“Thanks Y/N, I owe you.” You nodded his way with a tired smile, it was only 9pm but you could feel your eyelids getting heavy. “It’s okay and about the Jungkook thing…you won’t tell anyone right?” You asked nervously, a timid look in your eyes. Taehyung looked at you sympathetically before making a gesture to seal his lips. You gave him a thank you and then he was on his way, the moment he got to the couch Jungkook began bombarding him with questions. “What were you doing in there?” Taehyung lifted up some papers from his hands. “I was asking her about some notes.” Jungkook nodded before checking the time on his phone. “That’s all you talked about for an hour?” Taehyung nodded, wondering why his friend was suddenly giving him the third-degree. “Why, you didn’t catch feelings for your fuck-buddy’s roommate, did you?” He joked, but there was truth in his question. In all honesty, he hoped that Jungkook liked you back. “No, I’m just making sure you don’t screw her over and ruin what I have going with Suzy.” Taehyung could feel the disappointment rush over him, but made sure to shake it off. Just a few drinks later and the entire conversation was forgotten.
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Taehyung missed a class because he had a shift at the tattoo parlour that day and asked you to bring over a copy of your notes to the shop. You agreed solely because that would mean you could escape studying. You followed the navigator to the store and you were pleasantly surprised. It was actually aesthetically pleasing. The monochrome style and minimalist design made it look incredibly elegant for a tattoo shop but you might have had pretty low expectations to start with. There was a wall on the back with photos of some tattoos and sketches. You were skimming through the pictures when your name was called out. “Y/N?” When you turned around you were met with Jungkook and you inhaled so abruptly you choked a little. “Hi, is Taehyung here?” You watched his eyes darken a little at the question but you paid it no mind, he nodded before cocking his head to the room adjacent to the one he just left. “Thanks.” You quickly shuffled to the room, knocking on the door and running in the second Taehyung opened it.
“Hello to you too.” He looked a little taken aback by your sudden entrance but you were too busy trying to calm your nerves. “You didn’t tell me Jungkook was here!” He laughed at your panicked expression. “He works here, Y/N.” His comment made you glare at him because that was clearly not what you meant. “Whatever, here are the notes. Make sure to read them so I can quiz you tomorrow. Oh and make sure you’re revising every night. The exam is next week and we only have 5 days.” He nodded dutifully, adding a salute for good measure. His reaction made you laugh and Jungkook could hear the sound from his room. The familiar stinging feeling was back and he gave up trying to identify it, he just knew he needed it gone.
Once you got back to your apartment, you were startled by the view. Suzy was making out on the couch with Jungkook who was hovering over her. You tried to close the door as quietly as you could so you could make it to your room unnoticed but Jungkook saw you. In fact once his eyes met yours they didn’t falter. You were a little annoyed at the fact that he was staring at you with such sultry eyes while his tongue was down your roommates neck. It seemed as if every time you took one-step forward with him, you took two-steps back. You walked to your room while narrowly avoiding his stare. You sat on your bed with a frown (which was growing to be your permanent facial expression) as you tried to navigate through the hurt that suddenly consumed your heart.
Unrequited love hurt a lot more than you remembered it to and you wondered why you had done something so self-destructive. You wondered why you fell in love with Jeon Jungkook when he was so unattainable. He had been Suzy’s friend for 2 years, her fuck-buddy for 3 months and your crush for about 6 months and yet you still couldn’t find the power to convince yourself to just let him go. When his piercing eyes locked with yours in that moment, you could feel the gut-wrenching pain that returned every time you had to see him with her but you were powerless. You felt like you were losing something, something you never had.
Jungkook didn’t know why he looked at you the way that he did or why he kept going for so long. He had betrayed the entire purpose of going to your apartment in the first place, forgetting about you. He tried to shake off his thoughts, tried to focus on the gorgeous girl that was literally under him instead. Once Jungkook was in her room, he wondered if you could hear the sounds they made. He thought about you listening to his moans and he moaned a little louder. He asked for Suzy to scream his name more often. All he could think about was you the entire time and once it was over, Jungkook acknowledged that he was completely and utterly fucked.  
Jungkook was already weirded out by your appearance at his work place but now, you were at his apartment. “Hi, is Taehyung home?” Of course, why else would you be here other than for Kim Taehyung. He nodded, opening the door wider and moving out of your way. You stepped in with a little apprehension, the concentrated look on your face making Jungkook smile. “He’s in that room there.” He pointed at a door and you thanked him, walking to knock on it. Once Taehyung had opened the door and dragged you inside, Jungkook let out a breath he forgot he was holding and took a seat on the couch, turning the TV on.
You came out about an hour later for what seemed to be a glass of water. Once you were in the kitchen and pouring water into the cup, Jungkook came over and leaned on the kitchen island, eyes fixated on your now nervous frame. “What’s your business with Taehyung?” You choked on your water, now meeting Jungkook’s serious face with a flabbergasted one. “What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked sincerely because you genuinely didn’t know where he was going with the question. “I just want to know if you’re sucking my friend’s dick, that’s all.” You scoffed at the irony of your situation before washing the glass and putting it back. “It’s not like you tell me the details of your ‘relationship’ with Suzy.” Your use of air quotes made Jungkook cock his eyebrows up and you gulped, feeling nervous once again. “That’s because you never asked.”
Jungkook was now standing upright and making his way to stand in front of you. You didn’t allow yourself to wither away in fear no matter how much you wanted to. “So if I did, you’d answer? Honestly?” He nodded without hesitation and playful smirk grew on your face. “Taehyung and I are just classmates, he asked me to help him pass his mid-term, that’s why I’m around a lot. Your turn.” He nodded with a chuckle, stepping closer to try and intimidate you but it wasn’t working. You were too curious to back down now. “Do you like Suzy? In a non-platonic way?” You hated how the question sounded more personal than objective and you hoped he wouldn’t notice. “No. Do you like Taehyung in a non-platonic way?” He now had you cornered between his body and the counter. “No.” You replied, voice still as strong as when you started but you couldn’t say the same about your will. He was inching closer, so close you could feel his breath on your face but before anything happened, Taehyung bursted through his bedroom door.
“Y/N, I found the- Oh…” He began to regret bursting out after seeing what he interrupted. Jungkook moved away from you quickly and you rushed into Taehyung’s room not daring to look back. “Did I cock-block you? I did, didn’t I?” Taehyung was mad at himself, he had been not-so-secretively hoping that you two would end up together however your angry glare told him he should stop talking about it. You went back to studying and 3 hours later, you decided to call it a day. “Good luck on your mid-term tomorrow.” You said to Taehyung, a tired smile on your face. He gave you a bone-crushing hug that you returned even though it was suffocating. “I’m sorry that I pretty much blackmailed you into doing this but I am so grateful I did.” You laughed once he pulled away and you didn’t realise how much you missed oxygen. “I owe you, therefore from now on I will be your wingman!” Once the words had processed into your brain, you quickly grabbed a pillow from Taehyung’s bed and smashed it into his head. “No. I need to get over him, Tae.” He pouted but respected your decision, or at least he pretended to.
Once you were leaving the apartment, Jungkook was still on the couch. This time he was on his phone, the TV long forgotten. You tried to quietly make your way to the door so he wouldn’t notice you but luck was not on your side. “Y/N? You’re still here?” He seemed genuinely bewildered and once you turned around with a shy smile you saw him check the time on his phone. “It’s late, I’ll take you home.” You tried to reject but he was already getting up, grabbing his jacket off from the couch beside him. “It’s okay, I don’t mind walking.” Of course you minded walking. It was like 11pm and your apartment was a good 15-minute walk away but you couldn’t let him know that. “It’s not a bother, I’m going there for Suzy anyway.” Then you turned to him with pleading eyes and a pout on your face. “No. Please not tonight! I have a mid-term tomorrow.” He laughed because the situation seemed humorous but you clearly didn’t appreciate his input. “Sorry love, duty calls.” He gestured to his phone while he said it and a frown donned your face instantly. “Please try to be quiet. The walls are paper thin and I’m a light sleeper.” You found his dutiful nod adorable, your frown softly turning into a smile. “You have my word.” And then you both left the building, you preparing for an exam and him preparing to get laid.
Jungkook’s word was good for nothing. Sure, he was quiet but Suzy was loud. You tossed and turned, hid your head under the pillow. You even searched the Internet for how to sound-proof rooms but it was useless. It wasn’t quiet again until around 2am and you had to be up by 7am. You decided to treasure whatever hours you could get and prayed they would be enough.
You were peacefully eating your toast and Nutella when Jungkook stumbled out of Suzy’s room, just like every other morning. He gave you a pitiful look when he saw your evident exhaustion and hoped you wouldn’t be too mad at him. “I gave you one job, Jeon. One. Job.” He ruffled his hair tiredly and you couldn’t help but find the action endearing. He came over to where you sat on your kitchen island and shameless took a slice of Nutella toast that you put a lot of effort into making. “Hey! First you steal my sleep and then you steal my breakfast.” He groaned as he rubbed his head from your loud whining but you weren’t about to pity him. You had just as big a headache as he did and he was the primary cause. “How are you so energetic in the morning?” His tone was groggy and deep. The low baritone of his morning voice definitely ignited something inside of you but you had to keep it at bay. You absolutely needed to ace this test and you’d be damned if the reason you failed was Jeon Jungkook.
“I’ve been subjected to feign energy regularly because of my callous roommate and her disruptive boy toy.” You heard a small chuckle but paid it no mind, frowning as he stuffed the last of the toast into his mouth. After he was done chewing (and you were done glaring), he got up and began to stretch. His shirt rid up, revealing just a smidge of his glorious body and you drank your tea with concentration as you tried to distract yourself from him. You weren’t sure why you were suddenly so bothered by everything he did, perhaps it was the tension from last nights endeavours but you couldn’t let it get to you. Unfortunately, you did a bad job because you were now in his car staring at the way his hands wrapped around his steering wheel. He insisted on driving you to school and once he dropped you off, Taehyung was sprinting to your side. “Okay, we have 15-minutes so quiz me.” You nodded with newfound motivation and Jungkook was perplexed by the sight of his rambunctious friend so immersed in his studies.
After your exam which both you and Taehyung were sure you aced, you decided to get ice cream together because you deserved it. He told you that Lisa and Suzy had invited everyone over again and that you should join them. Of course you rejected, that was your worst nightmare. You decided you’d spend most of the night in the library because you needed to finish a paper. Taehyung didn’t protest because he was determined to unleash his self-proclaimed wingman skills tonight. Skills you had no idea would see the light.
Once everyone but you was inside your apartment, they almost instantly began drinking because it was pretty much the only thing they knew how to do. Jungkook was in the midst of complaining about his family problems. “My brother is getting married next week and apparently I have to show up and with a decent date too because ‘my reputation is damaging the prestigious family name’ or whatever and I don’t fucking know who to take.” Taehyung giggled, a little tipsy before suggesting something incredibly stupid (alcohol is a hell of a drug). “Why don’t you take Y/N?” Yoongi started laughing obnoxiously, cueing in the others to join. “He’s got a point. With her perfect grades and her church-girl attitude she’s bound to impress your parents.” Lisa joked before Taehyung was slapping her across the head playfully. “Stop that, she actually really loves him.” Suddenly everyone’s eyes zeroed in on Taehyung and that was when he knew, he fucked up.
An awkward silence engulfed the room and Jungkook downed the rest of his drink instantly. “I’ll go with you, Jungkook.” Suzy suggested and he nodded at her statement, everyone choosing to ignore what Taehyung said but he knew there was no going back now and you might never forgive him. The conversation moved onto to something else but Jungkook was still stuck on what Taehyung had said and his brooding was incredibly obvious. “Come on, Jeon. Don’t feel bad for not liking her back, she’ll be fine.” Jimin comforted and Hoseok nodded, giving him a comforting pat on the back. “You should set things straight with her.” Taehyung gave Yoongi a glare at his suggestion but all he did was shrug in response. “She already knows, no need to rub salt in the wound.” He sighed, exasperated. He hated himself for randomly blurting out your secret but what could he do? Drunk Taehyung was uncontrollable. “Jungkook, come on, you’re not actually thinking about it, are you? You work in a tattoo shop and have enough emotional baggage for a lifetime, she has a 4.0 gpa and dates to marry. You’ll just break her heart.”
Jungkook nodded, brushing off whatever worries he had. Jin was right, you and him was an impossible concept and he could either dwell on it perpetually or get his shit together. The conversation moved on again, this time Jungkook kept up and when you stumbled into the apartment at 10pm, they were already far too wasted too care. Once you got into your room, you changed into your pyjamas and quietly snuck into the bathroom to get your night routine over and done with.
You were in the middle of washing your face when you looked up at the mirror and saw Taehyung staring behind you in the reflection. Naturally, you screamed and then screamed some more because you got cleanser into your eyes. Taehyung apologised but couldn’t stop laughing, his giggles irritating you and your eye. “What do you want Taehyung?” His face got serious incredibly quickly and you began to worry. “If I tell you, you have to promise to not get mad.” You nodded instantly, crossing your fingers behind your back out of childish habit.
“I accidentally told everyone you had a crush on Jungkook.” He blurted it out incredibly quickly but it was still coherent and you stood there, comprehending his words and their consequences. You took in a deep breath, which then turned into 10 because you couldn’t seem to get the oxygen to reach your brain. “Y/N…?” Your silence was scarier than your rage and Taehyung prepared to get shredded into a pulp. “It’s okay.” You whispered, and Taehyung looked at you with his eyes almost bursting out of their sockets. “At least now you’ll stop that wingman crap, right?” You laughed, and you were actually faking a strong front because you didn’t want him to feel bad. You made mistakes too. He was too drunk to read past your facade and smiled, believing even if just for tonight, that he hadn’t turned everything into a catastrophe.
Once you were back in the safety of your room, you began to feel worried. How were you supposed to face Jungkook, anyone, now? The embarrassment hit you harder than your younger brothers toy car in 2010 and you could almost hear your heart shattering and plummeting to your feet. You cried a little but before it could progress you fell asleep and hoped you’d have a better day tomorrow. You hoped you’d wake up with the realisation that Jungkook would never be yours and you hoped your heart would be void of him. This night was his eviction notice and all you could do was hope he’d listen.
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You spent the week avoiding Jungkook, Suzy and Lisa excessively. You woke up early and stayed out late. You shoved yourself into school and picked up almost every shift at the bookstore. You did absolutely anything and everything to make sure you were out of his way. You knew the only thing left unspoken was, “Y/N, I’m sorry but I don’t like you that way,” and you really didn’t need to hear it. In fact you hoped that the amount of times you repeated the phrase in your head would be enough to spare you from a rejection in general.
It was a Saturday night and you were shamelessly scrolling through twitter when you heard your door slam open and then shut. “Jungkook, are you going to stay mad at me forever?” You heard Suzy yell the moment she got inside, and you heard Jungkook laugh bitterly before yelling back. “Did you have to talk about our sex life in front of my fucking family, Suzy? Did you have to tell them that we get drunk every weekend and that I work in a fucking tattoo parlour?” You winced at his voice and more importantly his words. So, their Saturday night didn’t go well, that makes the 3 of you. You shouldn’t have been eavesdropping but did it even count if they were yelling?
“God, how many times do I have to say I’m sorry? I can’t change myself for your parents, Jungkook!” He scoffed and you could hear the anger seeping in his bitter tone. “For fucks sake, Suzy. I asked you to act for one goddamn night and you couldn’t fucking do it. It’s not like you’d ever meet them again, we’re just pretending!” “What if I don’t want to pretend?” There was an awkward pause after Suzy’s question and you gulped. Things had just escalated incredibly fast and you were still now standing next to the door to hear them better. “You can’t do this. We made a deal, no catching feelings.” You could hear that his voice softened and you wondered if your rejection would have gone the same way. “I know, but I couldn’t help it!” You heard him sigh, you also heard heavy footsteps and assumed them to be his. “How long?” “2 months.” You heard him curse, you realised she’d liked him for two-thirds of their arrangement. “You should have ended things the second you found out.”
You could hear her crying and you realised this was not your business to listen to. You walked back to your bed but hit your toe against your chair and tripped. You fell to the ground with a loud thud. “Ow! Shit!” You got up from the floor and your door was opened. “Y/N? How much did you hear?” Suzy stood at your door with a tear-stricken face and panicked eyes. “How much did you want me to hear?” “None of it.” “Then I heard nothing.” You were speaking through the pain as you clutched onto your poor toe. You saw Jungkook behind her, watching you both with darkened eyes. You’d never seen him genuinely angry and at the sight, you hoped you never would. “I can’t handle this.” Suzy walked off into her room and slammed her door and you quietly wished that Lisa was here.
“Are you okay?” Jungkook asked and you couldn’t help but laugh. Physically? You were absolutely fine other than the numbing ache in your pinky toe. Emotionally? You had a broken heart and a bruised brain. “I’m fine unless clumsiness is a disease. Then I am very sick.” You tried to relieve the tension the only way you knew how and it worked, for a little. He chuckled a bit before leaning onto your door frame with fatigue. “My parents would have loved you.” He said, eyes filled with adoration as he looked at your pouty face. “You can’t say things like that.” “I know, I know.” He ran his hand over his face before he ruffled his hair. “When did this get so complicated?” You gave him a pitiful look, 2/3 of the members of this apartment were in love with him and the poor boy was unaware the entire time.
“You could just leave and pretend his night didn’t happen. I’m sure Suzy wouldn’t be opposed to it, she values your friendship a lot, you know?” Jungkook smiled at you but it seemed more sad than happy. You wondered when something as simple as a smile could be so complex. When did it get so complicated? “And how do I fix things with you?” He was inching closer to you again and you could feel your eyes tearing up. You quickly faked a smile because the only way to stop yourself from crying was by pretending you were okay until your body believed it too. “There’s nothing to fix here, I promise.” Your method failed you because a tear slid down your face that you quickly wiped away. He leaned down onto his knees, now face to face with you who was seated on your bed. He had his hand on your cheek, wiping the second tear away. He came close to you again and you were leaning inwards too, you were about to kiss, so incredibly close to everything you ever wanted, but you pulled away. “Please don’t kiss me if you don’t mean it.” You hoped he’d tell you that he did, that his lips would be on yours and your feelings would be returned but things never went that well. He gave you another sad smile, before getting up and walking away, the sound of your front door closing was your cue to cry. One-step forward, two-steps back.
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carewyncromwell · 3 years
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“And at last I see the light! And it's like the fog has lifted... And at last I see the light, And it's like the sky is new! And it's warm and real and bright, And the world has somehow shifted... All at once everything is different Now that I see you...”
~ “I See the Light (cover),” by Elsie Lovelock and Kestin Howard
x~x~x~x
It’s interesting how, even when two parties know they have something special, it can still take a while before they find the right words to express how they feel and what they want. Even when Orion Amari and Carewyn Cromwell had each come to grips with their romantic feelings, it didn’t really change how many obstacles would be in the way of them living a traditional “happily-ever-after” with wedding bells and a little house of their own. Although yes, Orion felt deeply for Carewyn, as she did him, they both also greatly valued their own independence and autonomy. Carewyn and Orion didn’t even live in the same country anymore, one residing in England and the other Scotland, and their respective careers -- one at the London-based Ministry of Magic, the other for the Montrose Magpies Quidditch team -- would make it close to impossible for them to move. Merging households would be a nightmare under such circumstances...and yet, at the same time, neither Orion nor Carewyn was comfortable giving only part of their heart away. They both knew that the subject of their affection deserved everything and more from whatever partner they chose -- they just had no idea if they could be that “everything” for them, even if they wanted to.
That all changed, though, one day in December 1999, a year after the Second Wizarding War ended.
Carewyn’s feelings for Orion had not gone unnoticed by her closest friends. The lawyer’s unofficial twin and fellow “Fireball” Charlie Weasley had been almost affronted when he caught wind that Carewyn had let Orion stay the night on the futon in her living room without having made plans ahead of time -- Carewyn was a planner first and foremost and she never let Charlie crash at her place without giving her fair warning. Charlie vented his disbelief to Ben Copper and his wife Wendy @drinkyoursoupbitch, and they were both pretty shocked too. Wendy ended up following up with Carewyn later that week when she stopped by Carewyn’s office one evening for some coffee.
“On your futon, huh?” she said, her blue eyebrows raised and her lips spread into a playful smile.
Carewyn rolled her eyes up toward the skylight in her ceiling, her red lips turned up in a smile. "Charlie's that jealous about it?"
Her smile faded as she turned her focus toward her paperwork rather than look at Wendy. She wasn’t uncomfortable, of course -- she just had a lot of work to do that night before getting back home and starting dinner for herself and Erik, that was all.
“ ...Orion had had a late night, and he'd have to be back in London early the next morning. It'd be cruel to force him to go home and then lug himself and Eos out of bed so early, just to get back where he already was..."
Wendy's eyes twinkled knowingly. "Oh, of course. But still...is there something there?"
Carewyn kept her focus on the files she was sorting through, her blue eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly as she siphoned through them.
"I suppose it depends on what ‘something’ you're referring to,” she said after a moment. “If you're referring to a romantic relationship, then no, there is not." 
Was that a touch of melancholy in her eyes? Surely not. 
Wendy studied the other woman over the rim of her coffee cup as she took a long sip.
"I mean, Carey," she tapped the porcelain, considering her words carefully. Her tone shifted to a gentle sincerity, "is there an attraction there for you?"
Carewyn stopped rifling through her papers. She paused, before slowly closing her eyes and exhaling through her nose in a heavy sigh.
"...Of course there is," she admitted very softly. "I've always been fond of Orion -- I liked him pretty much immediately, and I respected him all the more, as the years went on. All I wonder is when that fondness...grew to the point that it had to plant roots. And what to do about it, now that it has..."
Wendy smiled fondly. "Well, I suppose the big question is, do you want to do anything? I mean...if you were looking for a tofu-eating Quidditch player to pine over, you certainly picked the best one."
Carewyn rested her head in her hand on her desk, her eyes falling onto the wood instead of looking up at her friend. "That's just it, Wendy, I...I do want to do something. I don't want to have to bottle this up -- I want to protect him, to take care of him and Eos, to...love him with everything I am. But..."
Her gaze moved up to the skylight too, her blue eyes deepening with more of that odd melancholy.
"...At school...when I dated Andre...I didn't know myself like I do now. I probably would've accepted a marriage, and a family, and frequent sex, at that time, not knowing any different. But now that I do know myself...know that I don't want that happy ending attached to most romances...how do I pursue a romantic relationship? How do I ask someone to date a woman who wouldn't give up her job and life for him...no matter how deep my feelings are?"
She closed her eyes, visibly hurting at this thought.
"Especially when...he's already been hurt before...when he's already had partners who tried to force him to give up everything, to please them?"
Carewyn bowed her head.
"...How can I love him the way he deserves, when I'm so selfish?"
Wendy considered her answer, her eyes drifting up to the skylight in Carewyn’s ceiling that reflected the London sky miles above them.
“They say that sacrifice is a foundation of love, and it’s true,” she said slowly, “but...sacrifice between two people who love each other is a two-way street. I love my work — you know I do. Ben knows how much I love it. But if he ever asked me to give up,” she gestured broadly, “everything...I’d do it. I wouldn’t want to, and Merlin, it would hurt like…well, more than anything in the world! But I’d do it. And…I know in my bones he would do the same for me. Hell, he’s almost died for me a few times...”
The old memories made her pause, closing her eyes briefly to try to block them out.
“Thing is…he doesn’t ask for that. He…won’t ask for it.”
Wendy looked back down at Carewyn seriously.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is...sometimes loving someone -- not just being in love, but really loving them -- means that you know you could ask them to move heaven and earth for you and they’d do it, no matter how much it’d hurt...but you won’t ask that. It’s good that you’re thinking about this now, of course -- but you don’t have to have it all figured out just yet. If you want this...don’t be afraid to let Orion in. Let him see everything you have, and everything you fear, and let him decide. Maybe he wouldn’t want you to give up everything you’ve built here for him. Maybe he would. Maybe he’d want you to meet him halfway, somehow. But…let him make that choice to love you, whatever it might look like. You’ll never know if it’s meant to be if you don’t ever ask if it could be.”
Although Carewyn didn't look Wendy in the face nearly at all as she spoke, it clearly was because she was taking in what she said and thinking hard, not because she wasn't listening. When Wendy was finished, Carewyn brought a hand up to brush her bangs out of her face, her hand sliding past her right eye as it went. Then, with a swallow, she forced herself to look Wendy in the face at last, even though her eyes were still full of so much emotion.
"...Thank you, Wendy.”
The lawyer couldn't keep eye contact very long. Soon her eyes once again almost of their own accord drifted off to the corner just over Wendy's shoulder.
"I suppose...I always have had a bad tendency, to put the bar too high for myself. Orion's never expected perfection from me, however much I expect it from myself..."
Her eyes softened noticeably.
"He’s always been happy with what he has, even while he’s reaching for something better. But I know he appreciates the work and time I put in, too...how much I care. Even when I care too much, and 'flare up like a Fire Crab.'”
She brought a hand up to try to hold in her giggling.
Wendy’s lips spread into a mischievous grin. “Hey, at least he doesn’t compare your temperament and coloring to a Billywig. But I guess it’s his way of getting back at me for calling him the Tofu King -- ”
In that moment, Ben Copper had abruptly run down the hall, skidding to a halt in the door frame of Carewyn’s office.
“Carey,” he said urgently, his face very white and grave, “the Aurors have just been sent to your street.”
Carewyn and Wendy both shot to their feet in alarm.
“What!?”
As the prosecutor for nearly all of the cases involving ex-Death Eaters, Carewyn had received a lot of recognition and praise, but she’d understandably also gotten a few anonymous death threats from people who had Death Eater sympathies. She wasn’t the only one -- quite a few other prominent members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement like Talbott and the newly hired Harry Potter got them too. This day in particular, however, a swarm of dementors -- newly banned from Azkaban by Minister Shacklebolt, in part due to their association with Lord Voldemort during the War -- had been set loose in several areas of London that contained the homes of prominent Ministry employees...including Carewyn’s. Naturally Carewyn herself was not home yet -- but her ward Erik had just returned from Hogwarts for winter break in the midst of his first year, and he as a latch-key kid was at their flat  completely alone until Carewyn got off work. 
Carewyn immediately dropped everything and rushed home as quickly as she could, Ben and Wendy in tow. When she arrived on her street corner, she found the neighborhood in chaos. The entire street was blanketed by unnatural, heavy black fog, as if it was being suffocated by a blanket made of mist and tar. Muggles were running blindly in all directions since they couldn’t see the dementors, while the Aurors who could cast Patronuses shot them at every part of the darkness they could reach. Ben, Wendy, and Carewyn immediately all cast theirs, and their dun stallion, unicorn, and Abraxan winged horse charged into the fray to help the Aurors’ other pearly white creatures in their fight. Carewyn herself was determined to find Erik and raced in the direction of her flat. As she and the Coppers drew close, however, they were startled by what they saw.
Carewyn’s Abraxan Patronus had charged to the front, flapping its wide wings in an attempt to break up the suffocating darkness. As it did so, another bright white Patronus soared through the air toward hers, gliding through the air with incredible grace and helping it beat the dementors back.
It was another Abraxan winged horse.
The second graceful Abraxan Patronus’s wings seemed to brush lightly over the wings of Carewyn’s before flying back in the direction it’d come from. Her eyes very wide, Carewyn raced after it, her own Patronus flying over her as she went. The second Abraxan Patronus ended up landing a short ways away, its wings spread protectively over two people knelt down on the ground -- a small almost-thirteen-year-old boy with curly blond hair and tears streaming down his pale face, and the Patronus’s caster, an olive-skinned man with an uneven haircut, a beard, and black eyes, dressed in harem pants, arm warmers, and loose-fitting robes.
It was Orion. And although Carewyn halted mid-step several feet away, her breath stilling in her throat, her Patronus flew down to meet Orion’s, the two Abraxans’ noses touching when they met.
Orion had known for years that his and Carewyn’s Patronuses were the same. The knowledge had surprised him, but he’d managed to keep his emotions in check at the time. Carewyn, however, didn’t do as well in containing hers -- her hands flew up to her mouth to try to suppress the choke that left her throat and although she didn’t cry, her eyes flooded with tears.
Her Patronus disappeared in a puff of white smoke as she barrelled over to them, collapsing onto her knees so she could pull Erik into her arms and hug him tightly, her face white with terror.
“Erik! Erik, thank Merlin -- ”
Erik was very pale and shaking in her arms, but he had trouble looking her in the face. His jaw was clenched hard as he clutched at Carewyn’s sleeve. Ben and Wendy rushed over too, looking just as harried.
“Erik -- kid, you okay?” asked Wendy.
Ben glanced from Erik in Carewyn’s arms to up at Orion and his Abraxan Patronus hovering over them, his brown eyes slightly narrowed. Orion’s face was just as solemn.
“I was in the area when I felt the dementors’ presence,” he explained. “I found him out here, shooting Lumos charms and Knockback Jinxes at the dementors to try to drive them away...it’s possible he may have come out to help, knowing Muggles can’t see them...”
Carewyn cradled Erik in her arms, her hands resting on his back and the back of his head protectively as she squeezed him tight and gently stroked his hair.
Leaving Erik at home alone was never an arrangement she’d liked, but he was old enough to be there at her flat without supervision, as long as he stayed inside and didn’t let anyone in. But clearly the protective enchantments she’d placed weren’t strong enough to prevent the dementors’ draining influence from creeping inside...and once Erik felt that, it was unsurprising to Carewyn that he’d wanted to do something about it. His history in dementor captivity when he was rounded up by Umbridge’s Muggle-Born Registration Commission was explanation enough.
She hadn’t done enough. She hadn’t thought that anyone would go so far as to threaten her son ward, while she wasn’t there to protect him...
Carewyn swallowed the huge, painful lump that had formed in her throat, closing her eyes tight to try to force back her tears. She had to show a brave face for Erik: he was scared enough as it was.
The image of Orion’s and her Patronuses touching noses rippled over her mind. The memory of their light, equally bright and perfectly matched, seemed to weaken the grip of the fear strangling her heart.
His Patronus was the same as hers. His soul...was the same as hers...protecting Erik when she hadn’t been there...flying to the side of hers, when it was most needed...
The memory filled her up with such courage and warmth that Carewyn thought she’d likely never struggle for ammunition to create another Patronus again.
“Erik...we need to get you inside,” the lawyer said at last, her voice coming out as a low, steadier whisper than before. “Some chocolate will help.”
Ben brought a hand onto Carewyn’s shoulder and squeezed it. “We’ll take care of things out here with the Aurors, Carey. You stay with Erik.”
Wendy glanced at Orion.
“Orion, maybe you should go with them with your Patronus...clear them a way back home, you know.”
Although her eyes and face were serious, the way her eyes flickered between Carewyn and Orion spoke volumes. Orion, his head bowing almost self-consciously, nodded. He tentatively brought an arm around Carewyn’s shoulders, his black eyes trailing over her face to down at Erik.
“Erik,” he said softly, “can you stand, little Jarvey?”
Although he wasn’t able to speak, Erik clutched onto Carewyn and Orion’s arms and used the grip to hoist himself up onto his feet. Sensing that he was still too weak and disoriented to walk on his own, Orion quickly swooped in and snaked one of his strong arms around the boy to hold him up.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured. Carewyn moved to Erik’s other side and wrapped her own arm around Erik too, so that both she and Orion were supporting him. “...We’ve got you...”
Orion’s eyes met Carewyn’s over Erik’s head. The light from his Patronus reflected in their depths, making them resemble two tiny night skies flecked with stars. A perfect match for Carewyn’s, the color of which could be compared to a cloudless blue daytime sky.
((OOC: Thanks to @drinkyoursoupbitch for roleplaying that first scenario between Wendy and Carewyn with me so many months ago!! I’m so delighted I finally got to include it in this! 💙))
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thoughtsaboutshows · 3 years
Note
38. “They’re coming. Kiss me!”
This takes place in the same world as my fic Burning House. You can read that here:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/26152108
Also the two past prompts that come before this one:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183004/chapters/67073836
https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183004/chapters/66877234
You don’t really have to read them first, just know in this prompt Nick has taken Sabrina’s memory of him away.
They were back in some hostel, opting for a room just the two of them given their coming and going and need to speak freely of magic. There were two separate beds of course, but for some reason Sabrina was itching to push her worn twin next to his simply because breathing near him seemed to steady her own lungs.
She’d only known him about a month and she didn’t question the fact that she’d walked into a room to find a wayward warlock digging through her things. She chalked it up to happenstance or fate and the fact that witches wandered more freely in Europe than they did in the States. She had immediately asked him to join in on her journey, not really knowing why she did so, but grateful when he’d agreed just as quickly while his smirk was taking root in her heart.
She’d always sworn off the warlocks at the Academy as she wasn’t interested in their hollow views of love and fixations on the flesh. But this Nicholas Scratch had seemed different, maybe a little bit of a loner, but someone who had gotten a taste of love and who was maybe searching for it again.
She didn’t know how spot on she was.
They’d been traveling to different countries and August was peaking through, and Sabrina had her eyes on a particular book of spells at a museum. The mortals didn’t know it was seeping with magic, but she did and she thought she might find something in it to help fill the gaping hole in her chest. Her first semester of mortal college was drawing near and she saw this book as her last hope before her European adventures came to a close. And so would her search and likely, her travels with the handsome and charming warlock she’d come to know.
Being around Nick had helped fill the void and that mixed with his good looks and easy conversation may have tipped the scales in the direction of her plan to blend in at the museum.
“I don’t know, Spelllman...” Nick said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. She was already packing up her bag to go despite his uncertainty. Two years ago he’d taken away her memory of him, and while he couldn’t quite bring himself to regret it, it was at moments like these that he wishes they could actually be a couple instead of pretending to be one as a cover. To him, it was risky.
“Nicholas.” She used his full name. “It’s a good plan.”
“I don’t know that I-”
“What, are you saying I’m so hideous and awful you can’t pretend to be in love with me?” Sabrina crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows in challenge. It stung a bit that he wasn’t on board when he had been with whatever scheme she’d come up with that last month.
Nick’s heart panged and nearly walked out, knowing he probably should before he took this too far. He never should have shown up in her hostel in the first place, but the gravity of Sabrina Spellman was undeniable and he was helpless to her pull. She stood staring him down now waiting for an answer, thinking he wouldn’t be able to pull off the ruse. Little did she know that pretending to love her was not difficult. Quite the opposite actually. It was the fact that he'd been pretending not to love her for weeks that had been eating him alive. It was near fucking impossible to act like her pursing lips and narrowed eyes weren’t the exact ones he fell in love with in the first place. Like the Sabrina in front of him that was challenging him now with that fearlessness wasn’t the same girl that remembered who he was and rescued him from hell.
“I didn’t say that.” He came up with and spoke cautiously. She huffed, dissatisfied with his answer and raised her eyebrows again.
He couldn’t say no to her, especially when she was looking at him like that. And frankly, it was a good idea. If they acted ridiculously in love no one would suspect they were witches, just a couple of foolish mortals. Nick could play the part well as there would never be a version of Sabrina Spellman he didn’t love. And even though she was no longer his, he was entirely hers, wrapped up in her schemes and plans without a thought. Even if she didn’t know it.
“Then what are you saying?” She asked and stepped closer to him. He took a deep breath and bit back a little smile creeping through. When Sabrina had an idea she dug her heels in, it was better to just concede early. Save them the fight. He was happy to see that hadn’t changed.
“Nothing.” Nick smiled crookedly then and her face softened. “It’s a good idea, let’s do it.”
“Great.” Sabrina raised her chin in the air and grabbed his hand. The jolt of energy and magic was strong but she brushed it off and pulls him along. “Let’s go, boyfriend.”
Nick ignored the heat in his hand that held hers and focused on her giggling and heels in the cobblestone streets.
The museum was easy to find, the spell book even easier as long as they followed the trail of magic. It was out on display in an occult section and listed as a replica. But there was nothing “replica” about the way it radiated magic that Nick and Sabrina could feel the second they walked in the doors.
There didn’t seem to be any other witches around, which was good because Nick’s magic was powerful and Sabrina’s was well, Satan’s daughter. They played the part well and Nick pulled Sabrina into his side as she slipped her hand into his back pocket. They both felt the stirring tension but didn’t speak of it, and Nick nearly spilled everything when she reached over and ruffled his hair in just the manner she used to.
When the coast was clear, they swiped it and replaced it with an actual replica, before holding hands once more and making their way out. Sabrina felt alive and Nick felt good. The nightmares hadn’t plagued him in a while and he thought he might start being okay.
They were hardly in another hallway when they heard the ruffling of panic and chaos. Perhaps their replica hadn’t been good enough or there was a witch in their midst. Whatever the truth, they needed a plan. And fast.
Sabrina pulled him a little further and into a corner, thinking of the first thing that came to her mind as the man approached.
“They’re coming. Kiss me!” He didn’t have a chance to process or protest before she was pulling him to her by his shirt and pressed her lips firmly and soundly to his, a kiss for show far too intense and hungry.
They both heard the grumblings of a security guard commenting on annoying hormonal teenagers before they went away, leaving Sabrina and Nick alone in the corridor again.
They kept kissing longer than they needed to, the threat to their cover long gone, but neither could pull away. Her lips were just as soft as he remembered and he nearly lost his mind kissing her again. For her it was surprising how easy it was to melt against him. There was something about it that was so familiar. So comforting. So much like home.
As he kept kissing her she recognized his breath so clearly as if it were her own. She’d kissed these lips before. She’d loved this man before.
“Nick.” She breathed against his lips, unable to open her eyes. His were screwed shut too, worried that she’d slip away. She leaned in and kissed him again, sighing deeply.
It all came back then, the flashes of dark red and deep brown eyes and running in the woods like wolves and actual wolves and a masquerade ball and of tears in bedrooms and of arms that were strong enough to catch her when she fell.
Slowly the memories unfurled, like one of those crunched up towels in water she begged Zelda for that one time she managed to get her family to take her to Disney. They unraveled bit by bit to reveal a picture she wasn’t quite sure what she thought of. But it was beautiful all the same.
“Nick.” She said his name again, wonderment and disbelief and and hint of Sabrina Spellman fire in her tone. Her gaze shot up to his and suddenly they were back in the choir room, the lunch table, each other’s arms in her bed and she knew she couldn’t untangle from this man if she tried. “I remember.”
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crusherthedoctor · 4 years
Text
Crusher Elaborations #1: Thoughts on the Aesthetic of Sonic’s World
If someone came up to me and asked “Which do you prefer, Classic Sonic or Modern Sonic?”, my answer would start off with “Well, technically Classic Sonic because...”, and then I'd get cut off by the other person immediately lecturing me on why I'm wrong and why I'm the worst kind of fan imaginable. Should they finish their rant, I would then explain to them in the midst of them basking in their flock of easy Twitter likes that I didn't necessarily mean it in the way they predicted.
If we were talking about the games, the characters, or the character design, I'd be fairly neutral, since I like both halves equally for the most part. In fact, when it comes to characters, Modern might actually have the edge believe it or not, since the sheer number of characters introduced from SA1 onwards naturally means a lot of my favourites were introduced from that point on, such as Tikal, Rouge, Gamma, Omega, Blaze... But then again, Classic introduced Eggman and Tails, and the Hard-Boiled Heavies are technically Classic as well despite being relatively new...
Anyway, the point is, I'm not talking about any of that today. I'm talking about the world that Sonic and his multicolored chums live in. Or rather, the aesthetic of it.
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NOTE: This is purely about the game universe. While I do have my thoughts on Sonic’s world as presented in other continuities, that won’t be the focus here.
If you're familiar with my blog, you'll know that as a general rule of thumb, I much prefer colorful and creative worlds in my Sonic universe, and that rings true for my reasoning here. And I know what you're gonna say: “But Crusher, isn't there plenty of that in the Modern games as well?” Yes, there is, and I appreciate them very much. But this is why I feel the need to make a post of this sort to begin with, because I'm NOT saying “Classic cool, Modern boring” and calling it a day. There's a little more nuance to my tastes here.
When I say I prefer the Classic aesthetic for Sonic's world, I don't mean it in the literal sense of disregarding everything about the Modern aesthetic. Let's put it like this: when you're asked to paint a picture of these two sides of Sonic's universe in your head, a specific image will likely come to mind. When you think of Classic, you'll probably think of Green Hill first and foremost, whereas with Modern, you'll probably think of something like City Escape or Rooftop Run before anything else. In other words, when you think Modern Sonic, you're probably imagining the more realistic kind of locations first. And between the two mental images that come to mind, I personally prefer the Classic image. Shock, horror.
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I wish I could swim in a sea that’s probably radioactive.
Now keep in mind, I'm not saying that City Escape, Rooftop Run, and all similar environments in the series look bad, because they don't. Unless they're painted with the '06 brush, they generally look fine, and the locations in Unleashed in particular are undeniably beautiful from an graphical standpoint. The problem is that although I can picture this as a world that Sonic could be in, I can't necessarily picture it as Sonic's world specifically. Because when it comes to the more realistic environments, I feel there's not much of an attempt to let it branch out as its own thing.
I know that might seem harsh, especially for Unleashed, since the real world angle was the deliberate theme of that game. And Sonic taking cues from real places is a fine concept, there's no issue there. I'm not gonna complain if there's a France Zone with an Eiffel Tower in the background. In fact, Sandopolis Act 1 has one of my favourite aesthetics in a Classic zone (mainly because the background is really pleasant to look at), and that zone is essentially Egypt Zone. But if you're making a Real World Zone, there needs to be more to it than that, otherwise you don't truly get a Sonic interpretation of our world... you instead have our world as it is with Sonic characters awkwardly stapled on.
When I look at City Escape, it may not be completely unfitting for Sonic (the posters and billboards in particular are actually a really nice touch), but when I look at it, I don't see Sonic's interpretation of San Francisco. I see San Francisco with Sonic shoved in. When they morph these places to Sonic's liking, they'll add rings, loops... and that's it. They rarely take the concept any further, which is a huge shame, particularly in the case of Rooftop Run, where I otherwise do like its visuals a lot, but it just doesn't go far enough with the concept for my liking.
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At least you get to murder car owners, and give G.U.N. a legitimate reason to arrest you.
So which Modern games do I feel did the best job at making Sonic's world... er, Sonic's world? Well the truth is, most of them actually do a decent job in this area, regardless of the level design quality or the game’s quality period. SA2 has Pumpkin Hill, Eggman's Pyramid Base, and... SOME levels aboard the A.R.K (mainly the “outside” ones, like Final Rush). Shadow the Hedgehog, a game that reveled in how brown and gritty it was, still had highlights like Circus Park and Digital Circuit. Even '06 of all games had Aquatic Base, which was pretty cool from a conceptual standpoint. And although Unleashed as a whole might be a touch too vanilla in the creativity scale, it still had the glorious Eggmanland at the very end. But if I had to say which of the Modern installments did the best job overall...
- For starters, I'm gonna give a shoutout to SA1, because even though it was the first Modern game, and thus it was technically responsible for the more focused angle of realism in Sonic's world in the first place, it didn't take it quite as far as later games would, and although it may not be a perfect 1-to-1 representation of the world we saw in the Classic games, it does well enough with what it brings to the table that I can still accept it without any issue at all. Some of that has to do with the fact that you still have wilder areas like Windy Valley and Red Mountain to balance things out, but even with the other half, the game's use of colour is enough for it to go a long way, oddly enough. Take the At Dawn section of Speed Highway for instance:
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From innocent times, when the radar wasn’t a piece of shit.
Technically, it's really not that different to the urban environments you see in SA2 or Unleashed. But something about the sleepy morning approach gives it a subtle, almost dream-like edge to it that I really dig, and despite it being pretty similar to the likes of City Escape, somehow I have an easier time buying into the idea of this place being part of the same world as zones like Sky Sanctuary.
And seeing how I already mentioned Red Mountain, let me compare it to Flame Core:
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Yes, I know bringing '06 into this discussion at all is inherently and hilariously unfair, but let's put aside the game that Flame Core comes from for a moment. Aside from maybe the purple crystal caves indoors (and that's assuming you can even see where the fuck you're going in there), Flame Core is pretty boring to look at as far as Sonic levels go. Red Mountain is vastly more interesting, even though it's basically the exact same concept, and a lot of that has to do with - you guessed it - colour. Sure, it's day time, that's one thing, but you'll also notice that for a lava/mountain stage, it surprisingly has a few grassier sections, sort of like Hill Top in that regard. A little bit of green among the brown and red, and a great contrast to the volcanic nightmare you'll experience when you head inside.
Now this might seem like a fairly minor detail... and yeah, it is, but the thing that SA1 does so well is that it combines so many of those small details to make a complete, well-rounded package. This is why SA1 meshes well with the Classic style despite not being an exact replica, because just as the Classics excelled at, it wasn't afraid to use colour in interesting ways. It understood that a fire level could have more than just red and orange, in the same way that a grassy level could have more than just green and blue.
But of course, as I mentioned, SA1 is not an exception. There are other Modern games that did a great job on the whole...
- Heroes is an obvious answer, since it's translation of Genesis-style environments to 3D is probably one of the most recurring praises the game receives, and rightly so. Not much to say here, except that Hang Castle is still cool as hell.
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And plenty of opportunity to admire the not-broken-in-half moon.
- Colours is another obvious one, though something of an ironic one given that the premise of the game involved going to other worlds, and those worlds were all converted against their will by Eggman. Yet, they did an equally superb job at creating fun, unique locales, and Aquarium Park in particular remains a favourite of mine.
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Gotta love that red/blue contrast.
- The Riders series has a more futuristic bend compared to the rest of the series, but even when it's not all high-tech, it's got some pretty cool environments of its own, and I feel they even do well at mixing the real world side of things on top of that. Gigan Rocks comes to mind, as does Aquatic Capital.
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Reminds me of when Perfect Chaos peacefully protested against Station Square.
- Regardless of my thoughts on the game itself, Secret Rings had some undeniable winners in this depertment. You tell me with a straight face that Night Palace doesn't look amazing.
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A wonderful palace for a domestic abuser.
- And lastly, they might have had an early advantage since they're already 2D, but the Advance trilogy and Rush duology deserve a mention. They had some fantastic ideas for zones, like Planet Sonata Music Plant, and they did great with the colours as well. Hell, throughout these five games, the sky was practically every shade of the rainbow at one point or another.
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Oh look, another completely whole moon.
Also, quick shoutout to another minor detail akin to the grassy sections of Red Mountain: these pink tunnel sections in Ice Mountain. No elaborate point to make here, just another perfect example of how much I adore these games' use of colour and contrast.
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Seriously, I could go on for hours about good contrast.
Although I do bring up these small details for another reason, and in turn, another layer to my more nuanced take on Sonic aesthetics. By this point, we get the basic jist: Crusher likey when Sonic levels unique and pretty. But this can - and has - lead to a couple of misconceptions, so I'd like to address those and then laugh at them.
“So you want Sonic's world to be exactly like Mario?”
A common complaint that Lost World received was that it was too much like Mario, in more ways than one, and part of this was to do with the game's visual style. The zones may have been upbeat, but they often consisted of a bunch of things floating in the air and not much else, ala 2D Mario. While I didn't outright hate it, it’s definitely not what I have in mind for Sonic.
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Of course, all complaints about being too much like Mario suddenly turn into praise when Eggette gets brought up...
And why is that? Because yes, I like my Sonic locations to be fun and lively... but I also want them to be firmly established within the context of this universe. The Lost World approach is fine with Special Stages and the sort, but outside of that... well, Studiopolis is a perfect example of what I'm talking about:
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On one hand, it's very unique when compared to other cities in this franchise, and it's full of quirkiness, great use of colour, and all that good stuff I've went on about. But at the same time, it's grounded just enough so that it still feels like an actual city that the people of Sonic's world could feasibly live in, rather than a basic and empty video game level with a tacked on city background. Studiopolis may be a level from a video game, but you can totally believe it's a fully fleshed out place from its own perspective.
Naturally, this praise also rings true with the Modern games I listed earlier, and is yet another reason for why I approve of their settings.
“So you think Sonic can't have darker locations?”
It might be easy to take my compliments at face value, and assume that I'm immediately opposed to a zone that's not brightly colored. This is... very obviously false, as even the Classic games have their share of less-than-cheery areas, such as Scrap Brain and the Bad Futures in Sonic CD.
However, when you're making a grittier location in Sonic's world, regardless of the context, it still needs to be interesting. The problem with a lot of them in Modern installments is that they're boring. Crisis City is a generic city on fire. Westopolis is a generic city with aliens firing lasers from above. The prison levels in SA2 - and the indoor ARK levels not named Cannon's Core - are just grey hallways for the most part. That shit isn't exciting, and it doesn't get my mind speculating. It just makes me want to move on.
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Let the eggsperts take care of this.
By contrast, Eggmanland is a prime example of how to do it right. Eggmanland is a magnificent theme park as envisioned by the good doctor, but it's also, at its core, a giant metal hellscape fueled by the energy of a dark entity, and it only gets more ominous the further you go through it or try to before you give up because it’s too fucking long and you died at the end. So it sets the mood to be sure, but it's still visually compelling to look at, and interesting to think about.
And since Eggman is apparently the only one who can show us how it's done, here's a shoutout to Titanic Monarch as well:
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Like Heavy King, but Heavier and Kingier.
When comparing the final zones in Sonic games, I especially love this zone's visual approach, because it manages to be dark and colorful at the same time, and in a strangly organic way. It's got a spooky atmosphere, with a moody moonlight backdrop to match, and the titular robot is foreboding as hell as you climb up it and traverse through it... all the while having red floors, green and yellow wires, blue and pink buildings, and stained glass windows of Eggman and the Heavies for you to marvel at. So even putting aside the unique scenario of climbing up and then through a Kaiju-sized mech, the mood of the zone alone manages to be extremely memorable.
So what have we learned from all this? Aside from the fact that I’m way too interested in this subject? We now know that when I say I prefer the Classic “style” over Modern when it comes to the way that Sonic's world is presented:
- I don't mean that literally.
- There are certain qualities that although both of them possess, they tend to be more immediately associated with Classic in the collective consciousness, even within the fandom.
- The environments that I love the most in Modern games are often the ones that would also fit perfectly in the Classic style.
So whenever I express the basic nature of this opinion in the future... just imagine a small asterisk at the end of my sentence.
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scarlet--wiccan · 3 years
Note
lots of folks say wanda is wrong in the mcu because she is not with the x-men and daughter of magneto like in the cartoons and does not have luck powers but there is also saying she can create entire armies and is more powerful than what the mcu shows
I'm not totally sure what you're asking me here, but it sounds like you're curious about the discrepancies between different adaptations of the Scarlet Witch character.
In the main continuity of Marvel Comics, Wanda Maximoff was introduced as a teenage mutant, and a member of Magneto's Mutant Brotherhood. She and her brother, Quicksilver, were born and raised in an unknown region of Central Europe before being recruited to the Brotherhood. They appeared as recurring villains in the early X-Men comics, but they eventually defected from Magneto's group and emigrated to the United States. Xavier offered them a place among the X-Men, but they chose instead to join the Avengers, and, for the most part, they've remained a part of the Avengers cast ever since.
Much of Wanda and Pietro's backstory was filled out through retcons over the years, including their surname, their ethnicity, and their parentage. The most popular version of the story states that their biological parents are Magneto and a Sinti woman named Magda who died in childbirth, and that they were raised by a Romani couple named Marya and Django Maximoff in a fictional country called Transia. Magda was separated from Erik during her pregnancy, so he was initially unaware that he had any living children-- during their time in the Brotherhood, Erik had no idea that the twins were his kids, and he didn't find out until Wanda and Pietro were already grown up. The comic-book version of Wanda wasn't raised as Magneto's daughter, and she was never a long-term member of the X-Men or Brotherhood.
Wanda has appeared in several animated series, wherein she's mainly portrayed as Magneto's daughter-- X-Men Evolution and Wolverine & The X-Men are the two most popular examples. In Evolution, Wanda and Pietro were raised by Magneto and consistently appear as teenage members of the Brotherhood; in WaTXM, they're young adults who, along with their half-sister Lorna, are helping Erik construct a mutant nation on Genosha. These animated versions of Wanda appear to be American, and give no indication of their Roma ancestry.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wanda is a young woman from a fictional country called Sokovia. She is played by a white actress and gives no indication toward her cultural background or the identity of her parents, save that they died when she was young. Wanda and Pietro received their powers not from genetic mutation, but from a HYDRA experiment using one of the Infinity Stones. As you can see, MCU Wanda's origin is completely divorced from the source material, but her presence on the Avengers is more in line with the comics than with the cartoons.
As far as powers go, Wanda's abilities have never been well-defined. In the comics, her mutant power is often explained as luck or probability manipulation with a natural tendency to bad luck or destructive outcomes. These "hexes" are versatile, but not exceptionally powerful. After moving to America, Wanda began studying magic, and the combination of her natural abilities and mystical skills made her a formidable witch. Various ideas about chaos magic and nexus beings have been attached to Wanda over the years, but they never stick for very long. In the last few years Wanda has mainly settled into the role of a witch, and her powers are primarily shown as spellcasting. This is due in part to a poorly-received retcon which established that she and Pietro aren't actually Magneto's kids after all, which is really stupid, but it did allow writers to sweep the more confusing "mutant" powers under the rug and and just focus on magic.
There is an image of Wanda as a near omnipotent being with the power to warp reality-- conjuring armies, as you described, along with rewriting history and bringing back the dead. This mostly comes from a mid-2000s story called Disassembled, and the follow-up, House of M. These stories are deeply ableist and sexist, and the depiction of Wanda's power as reality manipulation is incongruent with prior writing. The basic gist is that Wanda was suffering a severe mental breakdown after years of trauma and gaslighting, and, in the midst of this breakdown, she was made into conduit for an immense, external power called the Life Force. As a result, she began involuntarily altering reality in accordance with her delusions and hallucinations, which escalates to catastrophic levels. These days she's in much better health, and no longer in possession of the Life Force. This episode is an exceptional circumstance, and this level of power is well outside Wanda's natural range-- anybody who tells you that this is something Wanda should be capable of is wrong.
The cartoons have generally simplified her powers as either telekinesis or energy manipulation, although Evolution did show Wanda training with her magic mentor, Agatha. From what I understand, the MCU Scarlet Witch is, more or less, psychic, and her fighting style is mostly just throwing around telekinetic energy. I think this is a reasonable adaptation of the "hex" power that I described earlier, and certainly one that works better in live action, but it does make her seem like a knock-off Jean Grey. Whether or not she'll move on to learning magic, I can't say. The MCU has generally done a poor job of adapting magic anyways.
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disneydreamlights · 3 years
Text
Across the Stars: Chapter 8
AO3 | FFN
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Summary:  Tensions between the Separatists and the Republic are climbing as the Senate debates whether there is need for an army. Anakin Skywalker, Senator of Tatooine, has recently returned to Coruscant to speak against its formation, resulting in an assassination attempt that forces him to reunite with long time friends Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and the newly knighted Padme Naberrie for his own protection. [Anidala]
A/N: It’s occurred to me that maybe instead of the fic summary I should have both that and a brief chapter summary for each chapter. Perhaps next time around.
The final chapter/epilogue will probably be up early depending on my work schedule since I always try to make sure I have the chapters up before 8:00 PM EST for the AO3 issues and I don’t like using my phone for updates with more heavy formatting. Expect it probably on Sunday unless I’m off work on Wednesday...which I’m pretty sure I’m not.
As soon as the ships arrived, they docked, allowing the white armored passengers into the arena to help take down the droids surrounding the trapped Jedi. "Around the survivors, a perimeter create." Much to Padmé's surprise, Yoda of all people was leading the charge of soldiers to surround them. The elder Jedi was one of the people most vehemently against any war starting, so the fact that he was here leading an army was near to impossible for her to wrap her head around.
The soldiers immediately pulled out blasters and began firing, hitting the droids and doing as Obi-Wan ordered, clearing a better path. Now no longer surrounded, it became much easier too for the remaining Jedi, as they began slicing through droids with a renewed fervor, aiming for the carriers to get them away. Rather than work at clearing a path, Padmé stayed near Anakin, continuing to keep the senator from harm as she blocked fire and sliced through any droids that got near with her blade.
"Padmé! Anakin!" Padmé looked to a nearby carrier and locked eyes with her former master. "It's time to go."
She nodded and pulled the senator away, continuing to guard him from blaster fire after blaster fire, each catching on her blade and reflecting back at the droid who sent it, before finally making it onto the carrier with Obi-Wan, Anakin standing near her, and they took off, flying around the cliffs rapidly.
"Hold on," Obi-Wan said as he indicated the different straps hanging from the ceiling. Padmé nodded, and grabbed onto one, Anakin grabbing onto her moments later, although she doubted it was for stability. She shot him a look of annoyance and rolled her eyes, only for Anakin to give her a cheeky grin back and grabbed onto one of the ropes as well. (Though still not letting go of her.)
Rather than give Anakin a lecture on actually hiding their relationship, if that's what it was, Padmé decided it was best to remain focused on the task at hand, the battle they were in. "We have to stop them from escaping. If they escape, then it'll be war."
"If you have any ideas, my former Padawan, I'm all ears." She nodded and began skimming the battlefield, looking for anything in the skies or on the ground that they could use to defend themselves.
Her eyes landed on a tower, not far off from the combat in question, and lit up as she came up with her strategy. "The fuel."
"Padmé, what are you talking about?" Anakin asked.
"If we can knock down the fuel towers, we clear the skies and can do more damage to the factory so they won't be able to make as many droids." She had to slow the war effort, it was bad enough they were definitely among an army right now (not that she had any idea of how the Republic managed to put one together so fast) and that all the risk Anakin had put himself in had been for nothing, but at least stopping it from growing would keep things from getting worse.
Anakin grinned at her. "Padmé, you're a genius." The trio watched as the soldiers relayed the commands before firing some kind of explosive right at the fuel tanks, which toppled over, setting off an explosion on the droids beneath it and causing substantial damage.
Obi-Wan gave her a look full of approval, and Padmé felt his pride coming off of him in powerful waves. "Good call, Padmé." She smiled at him, glad to have his approval over her decisions.
"Thank you, Master." They continued flying in the carriers, attempting to keep up with Dooku in the midst of all the chaos of the battle. Energy beams continued to fly around as the shields kept them defended from most of the strikes.
Two cruisers appeared from the ground not far away, and sent a rocket flying at one of the cruisers nearby, causing it and anybody on it to go down in flames. "Attack those federation starships." Obi-Wan gave the order, and the soldiers complied, taking revenge for their fallen brethren who had been shot down.
Padmé had partaken in the slave rebellions on Tatooine when the planet had become free of Hutt control a few years back. She had thought that was war, that was as bad as it would ever get.
This was worse.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Anakin moments later. "Padmé, Count Dooku's there." She looked at where Anakin was pointing, and though she was unsure how he knew, she knew he was right. She could sense a malevolent presence aboard, likely the Sith that was aiding him in his battle.
"Shoot down that ship."
"We're out of rockets, sir." The soldier's voice reminded her of that of the Mandalorian who had captured her and Anakin in the factory earlier, and an unsettling feeling made its way into her stomach. Why were the people in their army so much like the bounty hunter who had been after Anakin?
Before Padmé could give another command, Anakin spoke up. "Follow that speeder."
"Yes, sir."
The carrier they were on sped up, and Padmé gave Anakin a nervous look. "Anakin, we can't go after him."
"We don't have a choice. The three of us are the only ones close enough to Dooku to give chase. And we have to stop him here if we want to stop the war." That...no, that couldn't be right. Anakin had to be mistaken.
"No, Master Yoda and Master Windu, they were nearby, they can–"
"Master Yoda and Master Windu have gone to lead the clones in the battle on the surface of Geonosis." Obi-Wan's statement confirmed Anakin's request. "We are, unfortunately, the only ones here who can. Fortunately, I know both of us can handle ourselves in a fight, Padmé. Have a little faith."
She wanted to argue, but deep down knew that Obi-Wan was right. Their best bet was to fly straight there. Besides, he had a point, even if she wasn't one hundred percent confident in her ability to face Dooku, Obi-Wan had already killed a Sith once before. Dooku would have to be child's play compared to the Sith he'd defeated on Naboo, and that thought gave her some comfort.
They continued flying closer, Anakin clinging onto Padmé whenever the flight got turbulent to make sure he could stay on the carrier, and it wasn't long before they landed just outside.
Padmé and Obi-Wan stepped off, gripping their lightsabers tightly in their hand. "Stay on the ship Anakin." She couldn't afford to babysit him in this battle, it was too important.
"No." He shook his head. "I may not be Jedi trained, but I can still fight. You both need all the help you can get." He then smirked at Padmé. "Besides, weren't you the one who wanted more backup."
"Yes, Jedi backup."
"And you'll have me instead." Anakin put a hand on Padmé.
"Either stay on the ship or don't Anakin, but we don't have time to discuss this. If we don't stop Dooku then there will be consequences." Anakin and Padmé both immediately fell silent, the reminder of exactly why they were there at this moment a dark reminder of everything they had to lose if this took too long.
Obi-Wan led the way in, Padmé following close after him and, much to her annoyance, Anakin following after them. They set foot in the hanger, lightsabers immediately lit.
"Going somewhere, Dooku?" Obi-Wan called out to Dooku, who had been walking towards a ship near the back of the hanger.
He stopped, and watched as Obi-Wan and Padmé moved in between the ramp and Dooku. "I was, until you and your apprentice stood in my way."
"Former apprentice, actually." Padmé smiled, but didn't say anything more. "Give up Dooku, you're outnumbered."
"And you're outmatched." Lightning shot out of Dooku's hand, blasting the space where Anakin stood. The senator barely managed to duck behind a rock in time to avoid the blast, and Padmé felt relief that he was safe for now. "Bringing a senator along to a fight between Jedi, a bad decision Kenobi, Naberrie. He barely knows how to fight."
"You shouldn't underestimate him, nor should you underestimate us." Whether Padmé agreed with Dooku's assessment or not was irrelevant, nobody talked bad about Anakin. Not in front of her, at least.
Obi-Wan moved to the side, positioning himself closer to the exit. "We'll take him together. You go in slowly on the left, I'll come in from the right." Padmé nodded, and together in sync, she and her master ran towards Dooku, swinging their lightsabers down. Dooku raised his, blocking Obi-Wan's attack with a practiced ease before aiming a palm at Padmé, stopping her in her tracks by way of the Force and shoving her back. She hit the wall, and felt pain shoot up her back as the wall rubbed against the scratches she'd earned in the arena. She lifted her head, trying to watch the battle between Obi-Wan and Dooku.
In terms of skill, they were evenly matched, Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber matching Dooku's red blow for blow, Dooku taking the offensive while Obi-Wan took advantage of his defensive combat style to block each strike as it came before jumping backwards onto the ramp, safely out of range of Dooku's strike. In response, Dooku sent out a blinding lightning bolt right at Obi-Wan, which he blocked with his saber. "As you see my Jedi powers are far beyond yours."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Obi-Wan gave Dooku a smirk before jumping back into the fray, slashing at him once more, constantly raising to guard and taking advantage of any momentary breaks in Dooku's form to attempt to land a hit. It was a stalemate, though Obi-Wan seemed unsettled. Padmé wasn't sure what the lightning that Dooku used meant, but given she'd never stumbled across it in all her training, it didn't seem likely it was something that could just be used for good.
Then, in the middle of the dancing blades, Obi-Wan fumbled, only for a moment, but it was enough. Dooku sliced at his arm and side, and the man crumpled to the ground, alive, but injured and unable to fight further. "Master Kenobi, you disappoint me. Yoda holds you in such high esteem. Surely you can do better." It seemed that, despite his disappointment, Dooku didn't care for the young Jedi Knight's life, as he simply raised his lightsaber in an attempt to finish the job.
Only to be blocked by Anakin, who had grabbed Obi-Wan's saber to protect him. Padmé watched in horror, trying to pick herself up to do something.
"Brave of you boy, I would've thought you'd have learned your lesson." Dooku taunted him, but rather than phasing the boy, Anakin just smirked in response.
"I'm a slow learner."
"That you may be, but you are also an untrained Force sensitive, and not worth my time." And with that he lifted Anakin up off the ground, who grabbed at his throat.
He was force choking Anakin. He would die if she didn't manage to pull Dooku's attention away. She forced herself off the ground and ran, her lightsaber relit and ready for battle as she swung the blade down. Dooku released Anakin to block her strike, and he fell next to Obi-Wan, unconscious, but alive. "Leave Anakin alone."
"Ah, so you do care for the senator...interesting." Whatever Dooku was noting that for, Padmé didn't want to know. She swung her lightsaber, each match being met by Dooku's and just like with Obi-Wan, little ground was gained or lost between the two of them. They simply continued to strike at each other. Green met with red in a violent clash of colors, creating bright sparks where they met.
Dooku smirked and pushed her back with the Force, breaking the pattern and throwing her off balance. "Padmé!" She caught Obi-Wan's lightsaber as the man threw it at her and blocked the strike with both sabers. She kept striking, but the extra saber made no difference in her ability to hit Dooku. He was too well trained. She couldn't protect them on her own or defeat Dooku by herself. She needed Obi-Wan, she needed–
Before she could process anything more, a searing pain went through her left arm, and she looked down to see nothing but empty space where the lightsaber should have been. She let out a cry in pain, but before she could react farther, even attempt to process, she was pushed back with the Force, the remaining saber flying out of her hand and to the ground.
She looked up, the red glow of Dooku's corrupt lightsaber vanished, and he turned his back away from the two, defeated Jedi and Force sensitive senator. It was likely the only reason he hadn't killed them was because they'd managed to stall for a long enough period. Hopefully, long enough where the other Jedi could show up and help them.
Just before Dooku could head up the ramp, however, the sound of footsteps reached Padmé's ears, alongside the sound of a cane hitting the ground. The movements were slow, but not drawn out, and it wasn't long before Yoda came around the corner, looking upon the scene in front of him without judgement or anger.
"Master Yoda." Dooku nodded to the Jedi Grandmaster, though it was clear it was more born out of courtesy than anything else.
"Count Dooku." There was a sadness to Yoda's voice, almost as though he regretted the fate that was going to pass. The inevitable battle that would be coming sooner rather than later. The two powerful Jedi looked upon each other for a moment, neither speaking a word.
"You have interfered with our affairs for the last time." Dooku finally spoke, breaking the silence. Rather than give a chance for possible negotiation, Dooku pulled a piece of metal off the walls of the hanger and threw it at Yoda, who caught it with the Force and set it down gently, not wanting to cause any further damage. He repeated this twice more, but both times, Yoda easily protected himself from each of Dooku's strikes, sending the objects away before they could deal any damage, though this time it was less like a gentle set down and more of a throw as far away as possible. It seemed as though Yoda was struggling more with fighting somebody who was once a fellow Jedi more so than he was with the battle itself.
He entered a combat stance, as though daring Dooku to throw more objects at him, and throw more Dooku did. He raised his hand and brought down the ceiling, which may have crushed Yoda had he not been as strong in the Force as he was, but as it stood, he simply caught the rubble and tossed it aside, much like every other object thrown his way. "Powerful, you have become Dooku." Rather than simple praise, however, Yoda sighed. "The dark side I sense in you."
Padmé felt her blood run cold. Was that why Dooku had so many strange powers she had never seen a Jedi use before? Was his lightsaber now truly that of a Sith?
"I have become more powerful than any Jedi, even you." Dooku sent a blast of the same blue lightning he had used on all of them at Yoda, but unlike Obi-Wan and Anakin, Yoda had been able to simply catch it in his hand, absorbing the lightning before redirecting it back at Dooku. Dooku blocked the lightning before firing it again. This time, however, Yoda absorbed it and let it dissipate into nothing, as though it had never been fired at him in the first place.
"Much to learn you still have." Ever the teacher, Yoda was, even now, even to the dark side user in front of him who may have fallen not just from the light, but to the dark realm of the Sith.
"It is obvious this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the force," a bright red glow surrounded Dooku as he turned back on his lightsaber, preparing for combat, "but by our skills with a lightsaber."
Without a word, Yoda summoned his lightsaber from the pocket of his robe using the Force and ignited it, the bright green glow attracted her attention for a moment before he was running at Dooku. Keeping track of the fight was difficult, as Yoda was all over the place, moving rapidly as he constantly struck at Dooku, managing to barely be blocked by the red lightsaber at every turn. Similarly each time Dooku attempted to land a hit, Yoda would catch it in turn before jumping away, and continuing to move away from the blade. The pattern continued, and Yoda jumped onto the ship, causing Dooku to strike it's wing. The ship took minimal damage, and Yoda avoided the lightsaber's blade before jumping on the walls and in front of Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, away from the ship, but still distant to the two hurt Jedi and the senator.
Dooku struck once more for Yoda, and Yoda caught the strike easily. "Fought well you have, my old Padawan."
"This is just the beginning." Dooku lifted his other hand and used the Force to pull down on one of the nearby walls, grabbing a part of the structure of the hanger and pulled it down towards the trio, leaving Yoda with little choice but to attempt to catch it to protect them. The pillar slowed its descent, but Padmé watched as Dooku boarded his ship, likely to inform the Separatist council (or maybe other Sith?) what had happened here today. The pillar fell harmlessly to the side, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
With Dooku gone, silence fell, the gravity of their failure hitting them with no other choice but to acknowledge that Dooku had managed to escape. Yoda let out an audible sigh, but Padmé found herself looking to the unconscious body beside her. She used her remaining arm to push herself up and did her best to maneuver over to Anakin. "Ani?" She felt his presence stir in the Force, and found herself looking into his blue eyes.
"Hi." He gave her a small smile.
"Hi." She attempted to return the smile, but given the situation found it a bit difficult, even if seeing Ankain awake alleviated a lot of her fears.
Anakin sat up and looked around, as though attempting to process. "Where's Dooku?"
"...escaped." It hurt to admit that the rogue Jedi had fled, but there was nothing else to say. She had failed to stop him, stop the war. "Anakin, I'm so sorry–"
"All of us are still alive, and you did your best." He didn't comment on anything, instead simply bringing their foreheads together. "That's all we could really hope for."
And in that moment, with their foreheads pressed together, Padmé believed it. There would be more times that they could stop Dooku and end the war.
The three of them made it out of there mostly in one piece and alive and to Anakin and her, that was all that mattered.
[Next Part]
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aoitrinity · 3 years
Text
An Apology
CW: Brief mentions of mental illness, depression, and suicidal thoughts; general feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loss.
Message below the cut.
Hi guys.
After the hellish whirlwind of the last few days, I am here because I have to tell you guys that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for this whole mess that I feel partly responsible for.
After the SPN finale, I was, like many of you, deeply upset. I was stunned that a show that it felt like we had followed so perfectly for four years wasn’t living up to what seemed to be the inevitable ending. I was genuinely shocked and horrified that we would be subjected to such a depressing message as “you cannot find happiness or peace unless you’re dead,” that free will is nothing but the freedom to choose your method of dying, or that the showrunners would have baited us so thoroughly with the Deancas storyline. I found it impossible to believe that they would wound a fanbase known primarily for being made up of queer people with mental health issues--people like myself, who literally struggle some days to find a will to keep living, who struggle to believe they are worthy of love--like this. I couldn’t believe that THIS was the story they had felt so strongly about telling, that THIS was the story they were going to tell after they painted this very ending as the horrible, hopeless, nefarious villain’s ending so early in the season.
I was so wounded. I spent all night sobbing on and off. I felt sick; I thought I was going to vomit. I was barely functional on Saturday and most of Sunday. I spoke with a couple of other fans just to try and get my head on right enough that I could take care of my work responsibilities on Monday.
And there were little bits of information about it all that just didn’t seem to fit, that didn’t sit right with me for any number of reasons. But rather than just accept that sometimes things don’t always make sense, I fell down the rabbit hole. I tried to make order out of what felt like absolute chaos. I wrote one lengthy post that really took off (I would ask you all to please stop reblogging it now, if you can) and another smaller one after the debacle of the Spanish-language dub that started last night, both attempting to piece together what I thought might have happened in a way that let me have hope and hang on to the vision of the show that I had believed so deeply in--a vision of happiness and love and family as a reward for fighting for years to retain one’s free will. A vision I have sorely, sorely needed this whole year, and honestly much longer.
But the truth was really there all along; I just didn’t want to accept it. I see that now, after the events of today, after spending time reading this post (thank you, btw, @teamfreewillbettertogether) and watching Misha’s video on Twitter. I was seeing what I wanted and needed to see, not what was there.
So I apologize to everyone that I gave false hope to. I apologize to everyone who read my posts and thought there might be any truth to them, to everyone I swept up in my nonsense. You all deserved better than a half-cocked conspiracy theory written by a frantic woman in the midst of emotional turmoil. And not that I ever expect them to see it, but I also want to sincerely apologize to the cast and crew who worked so hard on these last two episodes, only to have me shit on them because I couldn’t handle the reality of the situation.
I won’t lie, I am in a very, very raw place right now. I’m back to crying periodically and feeling sick to my stomach, and now I have the added shame of having put myself out there like a fool and of having pulled many of you into my vortex. And worst of all, I feel like I caused pain to the cast and crew with my ignorance, especially Misha. Let me tell you, there is nothing more awful than disappointing the person you look up to most in this world.
I don’t really know where I go from here. I don’t think I can let these characters or their story go, but I also don’t know how much I can engage with it right now either. I am very much for the idea of people writing the endings they wanted to this story, and for those who do, I will never stop cheering you on. This fandom is full of wonderful, creative, talented, passionate, loving people, and I love you all so much. Don’t let this finale or the accompanying disappointment steal that from you.
For me in this moment, however, I think I need to just apologize for the hurt that I have caused and try to step back so I can stabilize myself. I will probably still lurk on Tumblr in the coming days, but I won’t be reblogging much, if anything, at least not until I find an emotional equilibrium of some sort. In the meantime, keep up your chins, all. You’re a beautiful, brilliant, wonderful group of people, and I’m sorry for any pain I caused you.
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onceshy-twicebitten · 4 years
Text
Male reader x Jasper Hale.
Plot Line: The reader’s lived in Forks his whole life. The Cullens show up and he’s afraid to admit his crush on none other than Jasper Hale. His friends however, have a plan to let Jasper know how much their friend swoons over him. Who knows? Maybe Jasper might feel undeniably flattered.
In this fanfiction Alice and Jasper are just best friends. Jasper is bisexual. Fake names have been made for the reader’s friends.
Friend names include: Jane and Westley (Wes)
TW: cursing, a lot of teenage embarrassment, and fluff.
Words: 1,626
———
And then, in the midst of it all, I saw your eyes. To fall is to accept, and to be damned is to reject. Yet in the end, no matter what I may feel or see, damned is all I am to be.
There was a long pause of silence. Your friend, Jane, looked at you and gave a soft smile. “Y/N... you’re really good at poetry but that’s just depressing.”
A loud snort came from your left. You turned your head to see Wes waving his hand. “Sorry bro, but that was absolute shit. Sad poetry about how much you like the guy? Scared of rejection? What are you a 13 year old girl?”
“Hey! I take offense to that,” Jane snapped back. She pulled her pony tail out, starting to redo it. “Listen, I think it’s sweet that you like him so much. However, I have to agree with Westley. Being upset about it isn’t going to help you and you know it.” They were right. You didn’t want them to be, but they were. Letting out a sigh, you let your head drop to the lunchroom table.
“Just end me now,” you complained, your voice muffled by the table.
“Y/N... come on. Pick your head up. How about after school we can all get online and play video games? I bombed the last round of Call of Duty,” Jane said. Wes laughed again. “Bombed it?! You did worse in that last round than I do in English!”
Then they started to bicker. You let out a huff of air, sitting up. You looked down at your depressive poetry book. It was filled with poems about how much you liked Jasper Hale. One of the many members of the ‘Cullen Clan’ as the town called them. They just moved here and you couldn’t get Jasper out of your mind. On the first day of school you tripped in the halls, dropping your books everywhere. You didn’t think that the most handsome, polite, and chivalrous man would come to your aide... but he did.
Your eyes met and suddenly you were in love. Well, you didn’t say you were in love until three months later, in the middle of November. Thanksgiving break was coming up, and you were excited to not have to stop yourself from staring at his gorgeous face.
For a split second, you felt eyes on you. You turned around and scanned the lunch room... but no one was looking at you. You couldn’t stop yourself from glancing at Jasper and the rest of his siblings. Damn. His hair had gotten longer.
That’s when the bell rang. You quickly stood up, almost stumbling when you did. In a rush, you grabbed your books and waved goodbye to your friends. You’d talk to them after school.
***
The second you got home, you made your way to your room. Dropping off your bookbag to procrastinate your math homework, you turned on your console. Jane and Wes were already online as if they ran home at the speed of light. Well, Wes probably did. God he was such an idiot.
You turned on your headset and joined their party invite. “Hey guys-“
“Y/N! WE HAVE AN IDEA.” Oh god. They said that in unison.
“What’s your idea...” you asked, rather wearily. You felt your heartrate slightly pick up at the thought of whatever they were thinking. You knew it wasn’t going to be good. Whenever those two conspired, chaos seemed to follow.
“Okay, so Wes and I were talking-“
“And Jane and I thought-“
“We could just ask Jasper out for you.”
“WHAT.”
‘Okay. No. No. Absolutely not. Hell no. Not in a million fucking years. No. Not at all. God no. Please no.’ It took Wes clearing his throat for you to realize you said all that out loud .
“Guys... please don’t. I’m already embarrassed enough about it, you know? I don’t need you two screwing this up for me and making me out to be a fool in front of the guy I like!” You had a point. They could completely ruin your reputation and embarrass the hell out of you in front of the whole school. Oh god. “How would you do it?”
Jane laughed over the com. “We were thinking we could just put a letter in his locker. No, you won’t get to read it. No, it won’t be embarrassing. Something short and sweet. Right, Wes?” Wes groaned. “Noooo. We gotta make it romantic. Endearing. Full on flattery that Jasper couldn’t do anything accept ask Y/n out! ‘Oh my dear Jasper, how I’ve thought of you many a moon. Like a Romeo without a Juliet, I long for you. Your smile and glowing eyes, how I dream of them. Oh won’t you be mine?!’”
“WES.”
Your cheeks burned red. You couldn’t help it! He was embarrassing the shit out of you! “So help me God if you actually write any of that down-“ you gritted your teeth, your face a deep red. You took the headset off, pressing the power button. Nope. Can’t do it. Taking in a deep breath, you turned your headset back on, putting it back over your head. Wes was apologizing, swearing that he and Jane wouldn’t actually pull anything like that.
***
You dreaded this. More than dreaded this. You despised it. Loathed it. You wanted nothing to do with it. The closer you got to school, the more mortified you started to feel. Nothing had even happened yet. Just the thought of Jane getting to school early and putting a letter in his locker... oh god...
When you got to school, you could see The Cullens pulling up. You glanced at their cars as Jasper stepped out. He instantly looked at you. SHIT.
You turned your head as fast as you could, rushing into the building. ‘Nope. No. Not happening. Hell to the no. Jesus christ Jane- why did you have to do this to me you bitch. What if I become too embarrassed that I go speechless? What if I get rejected? Then what? I go home and cry about it like the scared little boy Wes thinks I am about this? Man. So what if I cry? Okay. Guys cry all the time. Maybe not over rejected crushes but- but whatever! Ugh!’
Your thoughts ran absolutely rampant. You couldn’t stop them. You rushed to your locker and started to unpack your bag. Grab your books. All of them? Yup. No stopping at your locker today no matter how heavy the load is. Pencil pouch? Yup. Got it. Water bottle-
“Y/N?”
Oh fuck. Oh shit. Oh no. God please no. You turned to see Jasper and your hands became sweaty. Suddenly all of your books slipped out of your hands and landed on your feet.
“Fuck!” You shouted, stumbling slightly back. You felt a strong hand steady you, and Jasper was looking at you with a worried gaze.
“Are you okay?” He asked, reaching down to pick your books up. Okay maybe he didn’t read the note and if he did dropping the books distracted him enough-
“I... read the note in my locker,” he said. FUCK. “And... I’m flattered.” What.
Jasper had this small smile on his face, holding out your history textbook to you. “I assumed you had at least a slight crush on me by now. I’ve... caught you staring. Though, I guess I was staring as well in those cases.”
Okay. What. This is not- this is extremely different from what you thought was going to happen. Was he... confessing?
“I truly am flattered that you’d write something so nice-“
“It wasn’t me!” You cut him off, your cheeks slowly turning a deep shade of red. “I- I um- my friend Jane she wrote it. Her and my other friend Westley knew that I liked you and they wrote the note together... somewhat. So I’d stop... avoiding you. And my feelings. I guess.”
Jasper smiled. Oh. He was uh. He was smiling. Okay. Okay that’s a good thing- right?
You couldn’t help but smile back. You took the history book from him and let out a nervous laugh. “I’m... so sorry if they wrote something absured.”
“No. It wasn’t anything bad. You don’t have to worry about what was written. However... I must admit, I thought you were... well, attractive. When we met on the first day. I wanted to let you know that I’d love to take you out on a date.”
He still had that soft smile. Those gorgeous eyes... he was so handsome. His voice was so soft, and in a few words you could just hear the southern accent. Your stomach turned and your heart skipped a few beats.
“I um... I- I would love that. I’m- I’m actually free tonight-“
“Perfect. How about I pick you up at six?”
Oh. OH. You looked away from his eyes, smiling like an idiot. “Six... six works. Yeah.” You glanced back up, seeing he was holding another book of yours. Your poetry book. Your eyes went wide as he handed it to you.
“Alright. I’ll see you at six then, okay darlin’? And... you don’t have to be afraid to talk to me. My siblings aren’t as mean as they look. I promise.” The bell rang. He waved goodbye to you, turned around, and started to walk away.
Holy shit. Jasper Hale just asked you out. You have a date with him tonight! You screamed in your head, quickly scrambling for the things you needed. Slamming your locker shut, you spun on your heel and headed to your first class. So maybe you could accept this. Your feelings for Jasper. And... maybe you could fall in love. Just this once.
———
Hi! So I hope you liked this. I’m sort of planning on writing Jaspers version of this, and maybe how the date goes! If this gets popular enough I 100% will!
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achtung-attitude · 3 years
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CHAPTER 36: Weezer - Part 1
From his porch on Mulholland Drive, All-Kill sits, looking out across Los Angeles. The view is beautiful at night, but on this particular morning, it looks muggy and uncomfortable. “Yeon-in,” he calls. 
At his summons, the wolf appears with a bottle of Korean soju held in its jaws. With surprising dexterity, it places the bottle on a small table next to its master. All-Kill pets his companion between the ears, then unscrews the cap, pouring the rice wine into a small glass and sipping from it.
“Little early for that, isn’t it?” T’onga says, stepping out of the house and standing behind the chair.
“I’m in a celebratory mood… Have you taken care of everything? The stragglers and loose ends?” the boss replies, keeping his eyes on the view.
“Yeah. Of course,” she says numbly.
“Good. Then the time to strike is now. Go to where Dust is and use HOUSE OF PAIN to eliminate him. No matter what you say or what it takes, do that above all else. It makes no difference what kind of ability Dust has. Once you get him into the room, he’s no match for you. I have every confidence. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve already won.” He punctuates his statement with another sip of soju and a smile.
“Right… Where’s Sang-ok?” T’onga asks.
“At his apartment. I’ll call him over when you’re done.”
“…And Sumni?” 
At the mention of this name, there is a long pause between the two, as All-Kill places his glass down. “…She’s on standby, as usual. Why? What difference does it make?”
“Oh… it doesn’t. I was just wondering where everybody was. See you later, boss…” she turns a leaves, stepping back inside the house. All-Kill turns his head and keeps his eye on her until she leaves his sight. The wolf at his feet whines softly.
“Anaheim…” he mutters, and nothing more.
                                                         ---
The Anaheim Convention Center and Arena! One of the largest gathering spots in all of Southern California, a stone’s throw away from the famous Disneyland, home to every sort of convention for every sort of event, from company-wide get-togethers, to the biggest sporting event, down to the most niche of fan conventions. And this time of year, it's home to the one and only...
TubeCon, the world’s convention for the no. 1 video-sharing network, VidTube! Here, everyone from video bloggers, pranksters, game streamers and the ever underappreciated animators gather to engage with their fans and celebrate their work. 
They mill about like termites, some old, but most young, moving between stall after stall, buying merch, taking selfies. Among them are content creators, many of whom film themselves on their phones. Their voices can be heard clearly over the general din.
“EY ITS UR BOY MERCINATOR MEETING UP WITH SOME FANS!!!”
“EY WHAT UP GUYS IT'S YO BOY RATMATT HERE AT TUBECON!!!”
“WE'RE THE SLY BROTHERS AND WE'RE HERE AT TUBECON TO GET PEOPLE'S REACTIONS TO MEETING US!!!”
At the far end of the auditorium, three men in their thirties play video games on a couch under the scrutiny of over a hundred people. 
“Julio,” one demands of his bearded companion, “would you rather eat a man or acquire a nice tan?”
“I don’t… What kind of question is that, Neil?” Julio splutters.
“Julio, answer the question!” demands the third.
“What is this place...?” Kilo mutters, taking in the atmosphere with distaste, having found himself and his friends beckoned here.
“This is probably what Hell looks like,” Moya remarks, with a thousand-yard stare. In the midst of this controlled chaos, she and Kilo stand protectively between Shizuka, who stares doe-eyed into the crowd, searching for something. For someone. Frowning, she reaches into her inside pocket and pulls out the message for the hundredth time. 
I WILL MEET YOU AT ANAHEIM and a drawing of an impossible triangle, written in permanent marker, and three tickets to this very convention. Nothing else was in the envelope delivered to Jerome’s mansion. Shizuka turns the message around, but all she sees on the back is the marker ink bleeding through the paper.
“Whoever it was that sent that letter…” Kilo grumbles, peering over her shoulder at it, “ least they could’ve done is be a little more specific. So what now, cop?” he turns to Moya, “We just supposed to stand around here, waitin’ for somebody to walk up on us?”
“This is our best move,” Moya replies, squinting suspiciously into the crowd, “For now, we have to assume the worst and that this is a Congregation trap. They’ve been one step ahead of us this whole time, and even now they still have the advantage. But waiting around in C-King’s house won’t get us any closer to stopping them, so we may as well take the chance and handle what comes of it. And besides… if T’onga really did send that message, then I don’t know when we’ll get another chance to get this close to her. No matter what happens, we can’t get separated. As long as we stick together, I’m confident we can take anything that comes our way!”
“Hrrmh… I hope you’re right…” Kilo says. Shizuka says nothing during this exchange, but looks up from the letter, glaring resolutely. 
“HEY, YOU GUYS!!” shouts a loud, raucous cry, directed at the three of them. Immediately, SATURN BARZ and WITCH MOUNTAIN come out, only to recede soon after. A man in his late 20s wearing mirror-shades suddenly stands right in front of Shizuka.
With painfully artificial exuberance, the man in sunglasses shouts, “You’re next in line, huh, bros?! Great!! Don’t be shy, I always have time for fans! Here, lemme get that for you!” He says, taking the paper from Shizuka’s hand.
“Ah…! Hey, wait…!!” she starts, but the guy soons hands it back to her, but not before scrawling chicken scratch on the back in red ink.
“Who the fuck is this…?” Kilo mutters. He then glances behind him and notices for the first time a line has formed behind them, composed of teenage girls and boys, the eldest surely no older than 14. Without moving from their spot, the trio appear to have become part of an autograph line.
“Now you got your autograph, how about a selfie?!” the shaded vlogger announces to Shizuka, already pulling out a smartphone and attaching it to a telescopic pole. “It’ll be legit, for real! You’re bound to get a ton of likes on your feed once people see me on it!”
“Ah… N-no, thanks,” Shizuka responds, taken aback, “I’m kind… of waiting for-” 
“Come on, honey, no need to be shy!” he announces again, sidling up beside her with his selfie stick raised over them, “You’re talking a major boost in online cred if you get seen with me! I’m kind of a big deal on YouTube, in case you didn’t know!” Bearing over her, he reaches a hand across her shoulders, “And hey, if we hang out a little more, maybe I can give you a few tips on how to get your own channel started! I could send a few early subscribers your way, if you do me a couple favors. What do you sGGLKH!!” 
He chokes, his tongue lolling out as Moya lifts him, one-handed, by the back of his t-shirt collar. Kilo, meanwhile, grabs the selfie stick out of his hand, breaks it in half over his knee, then pitches the phone to the other side of the auditorium. The teenagers in the line behind them gasp. Moya drops him, and they and Shizuka moves away from him, stepping around him like garbage.
“H-Hey! Wait up!!” The vlogger shouts, rubbing his neck and beginning to pursue them, “Hey! You guys! Who do you fuckin’ think you are?! Hey, I said--!!” Kilo and Moya turn at once, fixing him with furious expressions. “Yeah, what?”, they say at the same time.
The vlogger appears to forget how to speak for a moment. Then he scurries off to retrieve his phone, shouting back, “My followers are gonna hear about this, you hear me?!”
Shizuka hardly notices his departure, merely brushing lint off her shoulder. Kilo and Moya exchange a concerned glance. 
                                                         ---
The vlogger weaves his way through the crowd, eventually finding his phone lying on the ground with a cracked screen. Upon sight, he rushes to retrieve it, but crashes into a tall man in a hoodie from behind. “Hey! Watch where you’re going, jackass!” he berates before stooping to pick up his phone. The guy in the hoodie slouches, removing his earbuds from his ears and scratching his oversized afro. 
Before the vlogger stands back up, he starts wheezing. He manages to release a few choked coughs, which go unnoticed by anyone, before his neck and face begin to swell up like a balloon and his face turns a shade of pale blue. 
“Anaphylactic shock, huh? Nasty...” says Toto, and nothing more. By the time he finishes his remark, the vlogger is already dead and he has lost all interest in him. He peers over the crowd. His eyes fall upon the trio, then he slides himself into the back corridors.
Without a care in the world, he strides through the service hallways, eventually coming to the security control center. He opens the door with a stolen clearance card and enters the room, shutting the door behind him. Two dead security guards are propped up against the wall, their faces blotchy and swollen. Toto sits down at the surveillance desk and finds the trio on one of the monitors.
“They’re clinging to each other like…” he mutters to himself, keeping them in sight at all times. “Like… Like, uh… Liiiike… Oh! Like tar and feathers! … No, no, not like that, not like tar and feathers, more like…” he stops abruptly and furrows his brow deeply, searching for the correct analogy. “Flies on hot shit? No, no… Oh, yeah! Like atomic particles! Two little electrons orbiting around a neutron/proton center! That’s perfect!” He smiles, delighted. Then his smile drops.
“Wait, hold on, if the three of them are an atom, then wouldn’t splitting them up be totally bad?” he mutters, beads of sweat suddenly appearing on his forehead, “When you split an atom up, you get nuclear fusion, in other words a big fuckass huge explosion…! Applyin’ that here… Dust wanted me to separate the Joestar princess from her friends, but what if that’s a bad idea…?! What if the best bet is to take ‘em all here and now, together…?! No no no, fighting ‘em all at once is no good either, their abilities are too strong…! 
“Aaagh, did I do enough, did I miss anything?! I been here for an hour and I made sure to touch as many people as I could, but what if it ain’t enough?! What if all the people I came into contact left already?! Uuuurghh…!!” he frets manically over this, pinching his temples as his thoughts race. Then at last he freezes, and his relaxed posture returns. 
“Don’t be stupid,” he admonishes himself, “It’s just an expression, they ain’t really atoms. They just people. Caught in the flow of fate, just like everybody. Does no good to worry over how things’ll turn out. Split ‘em up, cram ‘em together… It’s all the same at the End of Time…” Fully calmed down, he reaches for the microphone and leans into it. 
Affecting an officious, professional tone, he speaks into the PA, “Attention, all convention-goers, attention all convention-goers. The Paulie Paul panel event will be commencing in ten minutes. Please proceed to the cordoned area in Hall D in an orderly fashion. Thank you.” Finished, he watches with satisfaction at the silent stampede that begins, which slams into the trio, tearing them apart. 
He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a pre-rolled spliff. He regards it for a moment, taking in the herbal scent, before shaking his head. “No, no… No time. Gotta work…” he says, getting up and leaving the security office, heading for the exhibit halls.
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uraharasandals · 4 years
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hi i was hoping if you could do a reader x dazai fic where they date in the port mafia then work at the ADA together! thank you so much! 💞
Hi!  Thank you for requesting! The story was getting a bit long so I decided to just show their first interactions after being reconciled instead of working together. I hope you like it! 
(Also I haven’t used Tumblr since ages I have no idea how to navigate things whoops)
   It wasn’t easy being a spy, but somehow you’ve managed it and came out of it in one piece. Alive. Well, barely, considering the day you handed in your resignation letter you were shot in probably ten different places. Flesh wounds, but all the same, it was a near death, and they weren’t letting you off so easily.
  And apparently, more so today, because as you swung out of bed, the ghost of fiery pain shot up your back, where some lackey or another apparently decided it was a good idea to knock you out with a blow to the back of the neck, except they missed. So now you were left with crippling pain down the column of your spine, and by God did it hurt.
  It took about twenty minutes of wincing and gritting your teeth, all the while grasping the bedframe so hard your knuckles turned white, and stars erupting behind your eyelids, but eventually the pain subsided, and the ability to be able to breathe without a new jolt of pain was as much of a relief as a breath of fresh air after submerging in water. One of the training methods in the Special Ability Department, you recalled, for combatants.
  Combatants. The title caused a memory to surface; your colleague, a bespectacled and dodgy man by the name of Sakaguchi Ango. He was one of the government’s spies too. Where was he now? 
  The ten paces from your bed to the bathroom was enough for about a thousand possibilities to emerge. Shot. Killed. Tortured. Hung. No; they didn’t do that anymore. Too old-fashioned, apparently. But still a chance. Or he survived. Who knows? 
   What did it matter, anyways? 
   Not then, and certainly not now. Once you’ve reported back to the Department, you decided to quit, having had enough running errands for the government which was half-assed anyways. Thankfully, Taneda-san was understanding, and kind enough, to write you a reference for the Armed Detective Agency, ran by a former colleague of his who also served the government once-upon-a-time. You might find it quite suitable for you, he said.
   And so that was where you’d spent about half a year or so, fumbling with the ropes but slowly managing now. It was the next thing on the agenda too, after gulping down a cup of steaming black coffee, which you’d learnt in the mafia the best way to spring oneself straight into action. Boarding the train, milling amongst about a few hundred people in the subway station, before emerging and heading to the brown brick building.
   The normality of it all was honestly absurd.
   Just a few months ago, you were sitting in an office, acting second-in-command for one of the five Executives under Mori’s command, Ozaki Kouyou. Back then, the documents and lists detailing Port Mafia-owned warehouses, targets and whatever that needed to be done was the norm. Planning an assassination on someone, or taking stock of explosives in a warehouse, or riding the limousine with Kouyou to another meeting, was the norm. That was the pace of life, along with the discreet smuggling of information back to the government. 
   There was another thing that was the norm, you reflected as a hand grasped the shower knob, turning it almost absent-mindedly, allowing the shower of warm water cascade down your body, which reminded you of his touches. Stolen kisses behind closed doors, a brush of fingertips on skin during meetings, that knowing look across the room when it was time to report back to Mori. 
    It was probably the steam coming from the water, but nonetheless you could feel slight heat creeping up your cheeks as you relieve those memories, before deciding that scrubbing them away along with the lingering sleepiness was probably the best course of method. There was, after all, no point in thinking about the past. Anyone from the mafia was the enemy now, and he was no exception. You shouldn’t let your heart soften just because of one single man, and there was no way you were about to start. 
    Still…
    The relationship was nice while it lasted, no doubt, and you reflected upon this fact as you watch lemon-scented foam wash down the drain. But just before you were the target of everyone — well, nearly everyone’s — bullets, the young executive had disappeared. After the death of his best friend, or so it was rumoured, a man called Odasaku. You didn’t remember his actual name, he was referred to as such by too many people. That was probably one day before you handed in your resignation letter. Not that you meant for it to happen; that was pure circumstance. A short while before that, Sakaguchi Ango also disappeared. 
   Now, whether that was pure chance was another matter. All you knew was that you definitely did not plan on resigning in the midst of that chaos; for all you knew, that was probably fate playing games with you. Unfortunately, because of, ah, previous entanglements and relationships with Dazai, you had somehow became the centre focus of practically every die-hard mafiaso on that day you stood in front of Mori in his office, which was probably the reason why they were all so trigger-happy to send you off to an early grave. Not because of suspected disloyalty, though some might have came to that conclusion (obviously, those who had more brain-cells), but it was highly likely that they decided to shoot you due to having a relationship with the escaped Executive.
    Well, let them doubt and plot and think to their deaths all they want. Even I’m curious as to where that bastard is. 
     Anyways. There was no time to be wasted thinking of trivial things and driving oneself up walls speculating. You watched as the last remnants of water drip down to the marble tiles, before stepping out to the chilly autumn air and shivering in the cold. Wrapping a towel around yourself, you began to contemplate breakfast and what to wear for work.
     Trivial, daily things.
    “Good morning, everyone. " 
    “Oh, you’re finally here, ______.” Preoccupied with making sure the cups of coffee that you were carrying wouldn’t fall and splatter onto the sparkling tiles that Kunikida was so proud of, you only looked up when you heard his voice. 
    “What do you mean ‘finally’ - ” And that was when you see him. A shadow of your past, causing a shiver run down your spine that probably felt like seeing someone from the grave alive and walking. 
     Somehow, you had managed to set the container down on a nearby desk while attempting to regain your senses. The confusion was still clogging up your head, so you weren’t sure how you did that, plus you were still focused on him. His back was in front of you, so you couldn’t see his face, but you were sure. That dark and curly hair - 
      “_______? You okay?“ 
      “I - yeah, I’m fine.“ Shit. Unwanted memories flooded your mind, and you shook your head to clear them before clearing your throat, regaining your demeanor. "W-who is this?" 
      "A new recruit. He came under Taneda-san’s recommendations. The Director’s just introducing him to us.” Kunikida supplied. Indeed, he was talking to the Director, while Yosano-sensei was surveying him, a hand on her chin - deciding the best way to cut him up before healing him, maybe? -  Ranpo was making his way steadily through a bag of star-shaped candies, but you could see him analyzing the figure as well. You weren’t sure where Kenji was, but it didn’t really matter. “I’ll introduce him to you too.” He tapped the figure on the shoulder, who spun around with a cheery grin on his face - an expression that was more foreign than his presence in this office. “This is ______. They joined our organization earlier too, so you two might just get along." 
      If the mention of your name surprised him, Dazai didn’t betray any emotion. His eyes were observant, stopping and raking your face for a brief moment before his uncharacteristic grin appeared again. "I look forward to working with you, _____-kun*. Do teach me the ropes, would you?" 
     "Gladly,” You replied cooly, stepping forward and shaking his outstretched hand. Two could play this game, and it would do no one good if they knew you two were formerly, ah, associated. And if they knew his background and where he was from, well, let’s just say that Taneda-san made sure your references excluded your time in the Mafia. He had taken care to only mention your excellent results in the government (except that the Director was eventually informed, but by that time your work for the Agency was already top-notch), so you also took care to put your mafiaso background in the past. “I hope you find the Agency easy to adapt to, Dazai-san.” For effect, you squeezed his hand, and was satisfied to see a glimmer of surprise behind his otherwise immobile expression.
      “You guys know each other?” Yosano-sensei asked, surprised. You cursed her internally, but Dazai was quick to cover up. “No way,” Dazai said carelessly. “I’m sure ______-kun is just being friendly, right?" 
      "Of course!” You made sure your smile was more than a grimace. “Oh, Dazai-san, I didn’t get your portion of coffee. Do you want to come along? The cafe downstairs is amazing.” Before he could reply, you had already spun on your heel, heading for the stairs. 
      “What the hell are you doing here?” You hissed, shoving him up the brick wall in the alley right behind the ADA’s building.  You weren’t sure what led you to this violent outburst, but it didn’t matter; shock translated to anger, and here you were. “Missing for almost a year? Turning up here in this - this new get-up and just pretending nothing happened?" 
      "Why, ______, I would’ve thought you were glad to see me. Weren’t you happy your lovely boyfriend is still alive?"  Dazai lost his cheerful facade, and the man glaring down at you showed a sliver of the danger and hostility that formed his aura during his time in the mafia. His smirk was scornful, and the light had vanished from his eyes. "Well?” He prompted, and the anger fueling you left you; your clenched fists on his shirt eased and he leaned back against the wall. 
      “I don’t know about ‘boyfriend’.” Your emotions swirled within you, and the confusion that you had when you first saw him came back. The sudden disappearance of anger made you light-headed, and you stumbled; Dazai caught you. The rough bandages brushing against your skin made memories rush back, and you fought back a sob. “But I do know the bastard in front of me is my friend. And if you want to build a relationship from that, that would be great." 
     "I’m glad you still like me, _____.” The playfulness was apparent in his tone, despite the existing rough edge. “I would’ve committed suicide otherwise. How can I live without you?”
     "Don’t say that.“ His arms circled around your neck and you were glad; it allowed some distance but still intimacy. If he had hugged you around the waist you weren’t sure how you would respond. "I don’t want to hear you joking about your death anymore. Do you have any idea - " 
      "I do.” How quiet his voice was surprised you. “I’m really sorry, _______. I had to take care of something. But it’s alright now. I’m turning over a new leaf. The mafia is behind me. I’m done killing people. I’m done being Mori-san’s apprentice."  
      "I don’t care about any of that.” And you really didn’t. You had loved him when he was at his worst, in the mafia. Nothing would have surprised you, but you were happy that he decided to break free out of his own will. Spending half a year worrying whether he had died or not wasn’t easy, but now that he was back in front of you, you weren’t really concerned how he was. 
     To put it coarsely, you were just glad he was alive. 
     "Thank you, ______.“ His smell felt foreign, yet there was a feeling of returning home. You weren’t sure what happened, but tears were rolling down your cheeks and you felt ridiculously giddy; a sense of immense relief flooded your mind. You returned the hug hesitantly, and felt him murmur against your ear. "Thank you." 
 Bonus:
      "You two were gone pretty long." 
       "Yeah, we ran into the mafia halfway and spent some time knowing each other. Apparently we are a pretty good combination. Right, Dazai-san?" 
      "You got it, _____-kun! Oh, Kunikida-kun, the coffee downstairs is great! You should drink yours before it gets cold." 
      "You two what now?" 
      *so I decided to use the ’-kun’ honorific because that is applicable to both women and men. For men, it is a common honorific for those younger/close with them. ’-kun’ for women is used only when the individual is close with the addresser. In any case, this honorific shows intimacy so I had Dazai use it. And because Dazai is carelessly intimate with people (outwardly), I had the reader address him with ’-san’ rather than using equally careless honorifics. 
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