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shakespearefreak · 1 year

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A Christmas Carol Aftermath: Work to Be Done

NOTE: I had a lot of trouble balancing the Victorian language with modern understanding of disability and cultural/religious differences. I wanted to use wording that fit with the Dickensian storytelling, without carrying into it Dickens' period-typical prejudices (which he most definitely had) or using words that had different connotations in the 19th century. If you belong to any of the groups mentioned and find my wording offensive, please let me know so I can try to fix it!

Also, I understand there are potential underlying issues with inserting Muslim and Jewish characters into a Christmas-themed story, especially as background characters. I want to be clear that the message isn't that Christianity is all-encompassing of other belief systems, but instead that all the belief systems of the world are parts of a greater whole. I hope I managed to convey that.

...

Ebenezer Scrooge looked around, wide-eyed, as they entered the massive room. Jacob had called it “The Counting-House,” but it looked more like a library, only many times larger than any library he had ever seen. St. Paul’s and ’Change would have both fit many times beneath the soaring vaulted ceiling, which reached so high that looking up at it was dizzying. He expected if he’d still had a mortal body, he might have passed out merely trying to comprehend the immensity of the space. Uncountable high shelves divided this area into corridors, and tall rolling ladders and a system of winding bronze stairs and walkways allowed workers to access the higher levels. The shelves were filled with books, which Scrooge immediately recognized as ledgers, each one bound in leather and embossed with a different name on the spine. Some of the names were common enough, and he even thought he spotted one or two names of people he’d known personally, but others seemed strange and unpronounceable to him, and others still were printed in complex, swooping calligraphy that was utterly foreign. Ebenezer, who had an eye for such things, quickly realized that while neatly organized, the ledgers were not alphabetical; he couldn’t find any rhyme or reason to the filing system as Jacob led him past the shelves, but at the same time, it was clear there was a precise order. But to Ebenezer, the most interesting part of all was the workers. After living in London, where so many kinds of people lived shoulder-to-shoulder — rich and poor, young and old, healthy bodies and those twisted by nature or accident — he’d thought he was familiar with the variety of mankind, but now he saw how limited that view had been. They passed a woman whose entire form was covered by a long veil, only her dark eyes visible, chatting animatedly with a young woman whose dress would have been in fashion perhaps five hundred years ago. A man in a costume he associated with the ancient Orient stood beside a dark-haired woman on a ladder as she handed books down to him. Ebenezer saw a silver six-pointed star glinting on a chain around the woman’s neck. A little boy, surely no older than seven, ran barefoot past him carrying a stack of ledgers. The boy reminded Eb of Tim, back when he’d first met him, though this child had the brown skin and fantastic garb of far India. As they walked along, many they passed greeted Jacob with familiarity and obvious pleasure. A young man called out cheerfully from several rows over, and Jacob returned his greeting with a wave and a grin. Several times, they stopped for Jacob to converse: he asked how so-and-so was getting on with such-and-such, laughed at some shared joke, offered advice or a sympathetic ear. It reminded Scrooge of his walks to and from the countinghouse. Once, he had hurried along, warding off any attempt at conversation with a growl; but in the final stretch of his mortal life, he had stopped every few steps to enquire after someone’s health, drop a few coins in a blindman’s tin, pet a dog or cat, or have a snowball fight with some neighborhood children. He had found his life infinitely enriched by these small interactions, and was gladdened to see that on the other side of the veil, Jacob had also discovered this joy. At the very heart of the hustle and bustle sat an old man, shaped rather like an overstuffed armchair, with a face like a bulldog. A flurry of papers was spread haphazardly over his desk, and he hunched over to read them so that his nose nearly touched the worn wooden surface. Every so often, someone would approach him and he’d listen thoughtfully, sometimes nodding, other times furrowing his brow and frowning, occasionally scribbling a signature on this form or that. He had an ink stain on one cheek, and his hair was untidy and frazzled, but when he looked up to greet them, the eyes behind his spectacles were bright and sharp. “Jacob!” he boomed in a voice that reminded Scrooge of Fezziwig, his genial old employer back in his ’prentice days. Jacob offered his hand, and the old man shook it warmly. “Returned from your holiday, I see! Well, we’re very glad to have you back; always so much to do, as you well know, and your talent was much missed!” Those sharp eyes turned to Scrooge, and he had the peculiar sensation that the bulldoggish old man was looking through him, taking in his whole history in a glance. It made him feel naked and vulnerable, the way he had felt that long-ago night with the Spirits. Then the old man smiled, seeming to approve, and turned his gaze back to Jacob. “Have you brought us a new recruit?” “I hope so,” Jacob said, with a wide grin. “This is Ebenezer Scrooge.” Scrooge stepped forward, politely but nervously. “Mr Scrooge! I’ve heard so much about you, and I’m delighted to finally make your acquaintance! I am — well, you may call me the Record Keeper. Has Jacob told you a little about what we do here?” Ebenezer nodded, feeling unsure. He hadn’t interviewed for a position for a very long time indeed, and whatever else this was, it was a job of sorts, that much seemed clear. “Yes. As I understand from Jacob — Mr Marley — you are in the business of, well, keeping records of mortal lives; balancing the cosmic books, in a manner of speaking.” The little old man gave him another piercing glance, and Eb thought his eyes seemed cooler now. This made him even more anxious. “Yes,” the little man said, “but that’s not all there is to it, as I’m sure Jacob has explained —” “Yes, he did,” Eb hurried to agree, worried now that perhaps whatever misstep he seemed to have made could have consequences for his husband. “He was very clear on that. You also, well… you help people settle their debts. As you did for me.” This last was very quiet. “Yes.” The old man nodded. “Though mortals aren’t often as… aware of our agents as you were. Most times, we simply influence, planting small suggestions, pointing the right direction. They don’t even know we’re there. There are many different departments, but this specific department is, not to put too fine a point on it, for people like you two were.” “Hardheaded fools hellbent on digging their own graves, in other words,” Jacob put in, amused. Ebenezer shot him a slightly annoyed glance, feeling he was taking this whole thing too lightly. “So… redemption,” Scrooge said thoughtfully. “In essence, my dear sir,” said the Record Keeper. “Now, I suppose I’ll turn the floor over to you.” He sat back expectantly, waiting for Scrooge to say something. This took Ebenezer rather by surprise. He cleared his throat nervously. He knew he couldn’t actually be thirsty — the dead don’t need to eat or drink — but his mouth felt dry somehow anyway. “Well, er…” He was already off to a bad start. He gathered his thoughts and tried again. “I think I would be useful to your organization because I understand how the people you work with think. I understand the logic, flawed though it is. I also have experience working in a mortal establishment which bears some similarities to your business structure, and. Well. I mean…” His words trailed off. The Record Keeper was looking at him with a politely blank stare, not cold, but certainly not warm either. He seemed ready to get back to his papers. Ebenezer didn’t know what he’d done wrong, but he was suddenly quite sure that the interview was over. He moistened his lips. “Well, thank you for your consideration —” he began, but Jacob stopped him. “Would you please give us a moment?” Jacob asked the Record Keeper, and the old man nodded and returned to the forms on his desk. Jacob drew Eb aside. “Ebenezer… I understand what you’re thinking, but this… it isn’t like any form of employment you would be familiar with.” “So what should I say? What does he want me to say?” “I can’t tell you that,” Jacob said mildly. “But if I could make a suggestion, I’d try telling him what you told me about being useful. He knows your background, the best and the worst of it; he knows your talents and how they could prove useful. Your motives are what’s important here.” “Wouldn’t he know my motives already, too?” Jacob smiled. “Yes, probably. But what I think matters is that you tell him, and how you tell him.” Ebenezer took a deep breath — he no longer needed to breathe any more than he needed food or drink, but it helped steady him — and once again approached the desk. Jacob hung back slightly, but Eb felt his husband’s gaze on him, and that gave him courage. “Excuse me, sir?” The Record Keeper looked up, his face still blank and noncommittal. Eb closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts, then opened them and spoke slowly. His voice was unsure and lacked the formality he’d used earlier. “I want, desperately actually, to help. Much of my life, I would have said that there was nothing I could truly do for anyone else, even if I’d wanted to. That I could toss coins to beggars and feed the poor all day long, but there would still be a hundred more needy ready to take their place. But Jacob helped me realize that there is so much that I — that anyone — can do to make the mortal world better.” He paused. “Maybe our world too, actually. There’s so much I don’t know, but I would like to learn, if you would have me.” He gave a small, uncomfortable chuckle. “I’m afraid I’m not very good with words — that was always more Jacob’s talent — but please believe me when I say, I want this more than I can express.” The Record Keeper was looking at him with increased interest and attention now. “Why?” “Why?” Eb echoed, honestly confused. “Yes, why do you want it so much? Are you hoping to earn your own redemption by helping others to theirs? Balance the scales more in your favour? Because as you already know, the chains were only part of it.” With dawning comprehension, Ebenezer said thoughtfully, “The evils I did, I can never undo. Doing good works won’t change that, not for those I hurt.” The Record Keeper listened, seemingly waiting for more. Ebenezer searched for the words and found them: “Simply put, I want to help because it feels good to help.” The Record Keeper’s crinkled face burst into a wide smile. “Ebenezer! There you are!” Eb found his hand engulphed by both the old man’s own and pumped enthusiastically. “You had me worried for a moment, my dear sir, but you found your answer.” Scrooge, shocked at this sudden turn of events, gaped. He could barely believe it. “Are you saying…?” “The position is yours, dear boy! Jacob, you’ll show him the ropes, I trust?” Before Jacob could answer, Ebenezer had all but tackled him in an embrace. After a moment, he released him, looking sheepish. “I’m… I’m sorry,” he told the Record Keeper. “It won’t be repeated —” and then Jacob’s lips were on his own, kissing him deeply. “Jacob!” he said breathlessly, scandalized, when his mouth was free again, but he saw the Record Keeper was beaming. “My dear Ebenezer, your Jacob knows our business is, at bottom, the business of love. Expressions of it will never be inappropriate or out of place here… up to a point, Mr Marley!” he added with feigned sternness in response to Jacob’s slightly wicked smile. Jacob laughed heartily. Ebenezer looked between them for a moment, uncomprehending, and then a hot flush spread over his cheeks. Jacob saw it and kissed him again, more gently this time, caressing his face briefly, tenderly. “All right, all right, back to work!” The Record Keeper clapped his hands briskly. “That means everyone!” he added, and Scrooge noticed that they had attracted a small and amiable audience. As the Record Keeper turned back to his piles of papers, Eb’s hand was shaken over and over as he was introduced to his new coworkers. There was, as Jacob had told him, as the Record Keeper had echoed, and as he himself knew, so much work to be done, and he was eager to begin, with his partner and these new friends at his side.

...

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the first installment since @wolfenm's passing this past February. Their "Conspiracy of Spirits" was what first got me into this ship, which is now my ultimate OTP. Wolfie was a talented writer, a wonderful person, and a very dear friend, and they are very much missed. Hail the traveler!

Also in this series: “A Joyful Reunion” “Fan” Marley’s Grave Tim

DISCLAIMER: A Christmas Carol is a public domain work. However, these vignettes were also inspired by several other works, including “A Conspiracy of Spirits: The Love Story of Jacob Marley and Ebenezer Scrooge” in The Solstice Tales by @wolfenm, Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennet, and Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol by Tom Mula. All these works belong to their respective owners, not to me.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: This installment took most of its inspiration from Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, especially with the inclusion of the Record Keeper.

A quick shout-out to the new movie Spirited for pushing me into writing this! Funnily enough, I had only seen the first 20 minutes when I wrote this, and was amazed to see how much of it lined up with the film's messages when I finished the movie. It's almost uncanny.

Also available on AO3, DeviantArt, and FF.net

#a christmas carol #christmas #cw: christmas #cw: death mention #cw: religious themes #period typical phrasing #a christmas carol aftermath #scrooge x marley #ebenezer scrooge #jacob marley #charles dickens #dickens #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #my work #literature #long post

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nityarawal · 1 year

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2/1/23

Morning Songs

Sitting At The Point

Writing My Morning Songs

Hustling For A Home

Leaving Notes For

Neighbors

Loved Ones

You Got The View

Of Infinity

Licked By Fire

Protected By Trees

You Got The View

Of Eternity

Fire Skies

Baby

Need A Housesitter

Caretaker

Property Manager

Nanny Gratzia

My Children And I

Are Looking

Thankyou For The Love

Asked My Friend

To Check

On His Home

With His X Wife

Don't Want It

To Burn Down

Airbnb

He Rents

Off The Mountain

$1000 Month

And He Can't

Afford Gas

To Go Home

Many Didn't Get

Their Supplement

Checks Or

IRS

Tax Returns

Benefits

Cut By Middlemen

SSI

$800 A Month

50 Million

Living Below

The Poverty Line

SSI

Brags Hold

On The Line

For Days

Leaving You

Waiting For Months

Many Need Attys

To Get

Measly Benefits

Many Won't

Get Anything At All

As Lenders We Say

Don't Spend More

Than Half Your Income

My Dear

A Home for 60% Off

Tied Up On Social

Security Slavery

$320 For House Rental

Or $200 For A Room

A New Game Of

Monopoly

Or Quadruple

Disability

Churches Feed Us

State Bankrupts

Feds Rape Our Kids

Chinese Detentions

Eastern European

Domestic Terrorism

USA Revolution

Underground

Silencing

Iran Brave

Shaking Veil

For Me

Asked Ma For Help

She Says Go To

Your Parents

Wasps Whitebread

Privileged Beds

We Stayed There

My Pedophile

Paid For Months

At The Raj

Forbidden Mistresses

Annual Spa Retreat

To Make Me Glow

Forbidden Love Stories

Shirodhara Oil

Treatments

And Last Year

Of MUM

BA Literature Program

He Raped Me

At Walter's

Video Games

World Records

Victorian Home

Cleansed By Najah

Like Iran For

Islamic Republic

Bled Out

By The Morning

Pill

Wally On the Phone

On Princess Diana's D-Day

Raj Hotel

Healed Me

Vastu

Annual Spa Visits

Sthapatya-Ved

Is It Enough

To Greenwash Ayurveda

For The Wealthy

In America

Closed In Covid

Too Selfish To Rent

Rooms

Karma Of The Rich

Choke Their Palaces

Castles

Businesses

Raj Why Can't We

Have A Home There

She Says I Say

Too Much

Don't Even Call Me

Gaslighting Like An Atty

I'll Call Wally

I'll Try

He Said He Smeared

Me To You

In A Blue Balled

Sheriff's Campaign

I Didn't Date

The President Elect

When He Lived

Above Me

Natural Law Party

Dr. John Hagelin

Sent Me Rose's

And Stalked Me

Left Messages

Sweet Nothings

Begged For My Time

I Held Out

For Buddha Boy

Told Him He Was

Lovely

But Not Right

Too Old

Lunch Mr. President

Wasn't It Enough

Why Your Physics Students

Harass Me

Sell Me On

The Black Market

$100 Thousand

For College

Wasn't It Enough

$100 Million For The Spiritual

Center

While I Was A

Nun

Nearly Snuffed

Natural Law Party

Campaigning

Wasn't It Enough

Independent Thinking

Writing

Why'd You Let

The Sex Cult

Take My Kids

Years On

The Donors List

The Huntleys'

Gave And Gave

Offered

Tahoe Sands

Resort

Atty Ed Noyes

Took It Anyways

Shri Shri

Heavenly Mountain's Not Yours

We Built It For

Mother Divine

Chandra Lila

Mother's Love

Mary Linda

Rindy Do-Divine

Built It For

Ananda

And All My Bliss

Sisters Divinity

Give It Back

50%

For Mistresses Rights

Rape Laws

"Benny & The Jets"

Waggoner & Devasier

Shouldn't Be Judges Alright

Did He Kill

Mayor Malloy's

Boy In California

Did He Film Me

Naked For Months

How Much Did He

Steal From My

Boss Bruce Hauptmann

Of Lakshmi Technologies

Appeal Magistrate

Judges Who Harmed

My Communities

Let Friends Go Free

And DAs Charged

For Bribes On Thee

Divorce Courts

Aren't For Pedos

To Decide

To Groom Daughter's

Nor Boys

To Seduce

As Nannies

On Bribes

Or To Lay Naked

In My Bros College Beds

Creeping Tweens Skirts

Muscley Legs

You Know What You Did

Your Honor

Judge Wagoner

Step Down

You Took Bribes

On My Head

With All The Boys

Around Town

Your Honor

Judge Wagoner

Please Step Down

I Need My Lakshmi

Assets

And Children

You Cuckholded

The Businessmen

Of Fairfield Iowa

"Exploit The Workers"

That's What My

Friend's X Learned

In Business

School

"Exploit The Workers"

She Said

But That's A Lose-Lose

He Said

Honey Bee

Win-Win

Why So Evil

Win-Win

Why You Lose

Win-Win

Why So Evil

Win-Win

Got A Doubt

About You

Waspy Barren

Princess

Why You Hate

My Mamma

Waspy Barren

Princess

Why You Hate Me

Waspy Barren

Princess

Why You Tell Me

To Shut Up

Waspy Barren

Princess

Why Don't You Like

Waspy Barren Princess

Don't You Know I'm

Aryan Too

Waspy Barren

Princess

Broke My Heart

When Nazi Bro

Said She Was Just A

Romanian Gypsy

Muttering

White Power Under

His Breath

After A Murder

Don't Talk To Me

About Cleanses

If You Don't

Understand

Herbal Knowledge

And Let The

Sheriff

Traffic Eastern

European Women In

Students

Don't Talk To Me

About Panchakarma

Unless You've Disciplined

Your Mind

Transparency

Is Clear

Water

And You Seemed

Bribed To Lose

Again This Time

Smear Campaigns

Pedophilia

Under Your Nose

Translators

Still Here

Poise

I Could Turn

To Your Husband

After A Reputed

Vedic Divorce

I Could've Milked

Mr. President Elect

But I Was Loyal

To Your Sister

You

Wore A Coral Bracelet

Victorian

Modeled After Hers

Rows Of Royal

Mars Stones

To Protect Our

Wombs

From Physicists

At MUM

Cleanse The Blood

Of Harems

Cleanse The Mind

Of Dick's Bribes

Cleanse The Sisterhood

I Pray For You

All The Time

You Forgot The Rani

When You Built

The Prefab Raj

I'm A Mom

Who Needs A Home

My Kids Schools

With Our

Global Family

Now

From Chicago

To Lake Tahoe

Switzerland

Iowa

Blowing Rock

North Carolina

Encinitas

Need My Homes

Need My Kids

Not A Lawyer

Or Another Sheriff

Pocketing My Assets

Or My Kids

Asking

For Golden Goose

Favor

Nitya Nella Davigo Azam Moezzi Huntley Rawal

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violetsystems · 1 year

Text

#personal

I've been more worried about my internal affairs here at the apartment than the outside world for once. I swear every time a computer breaks, there's a secret joy in knowing I can prove how much I know about them. It really was how I landed my first job. Unbelievably, I was sitting outside a college smoking a cigarette waiting for my ex when I ran into my ex boss. "You fix computers, right? You want a job?" And I worked there for twenty some years only to be ghosted and let go. I quit smoking cold turkey too. But I still unfortunately see people from that institution and they act like this city is their performance art. Which really just resembles how broken everything is around here. My computer died for unknown and suspicious reasons. Yet I'm sort of aware how chaotic it sounds to write about how bad things happening to me are some sort of conspiracy. I mean, they are. But really if I've survived this long around it all, it means I have some survival skills. As far as I can tell, the computer died because the BIOS fried. There's a number of reasons for this in theory. The power in my apartment is not really on a steady circuit. The video card was overclocked to 2800 MHz when it probably can only handle 2740 Mhz in retrospect. There's a hacker in my apartment that spies on my phone and turns off the lights randomly. They probably also watch me pee. But that one seems a little bit of a stretch. The point is how we recover. I spent twenty years either fixing computers or managing people who do. I did a little googling. Found that my MSI motherboard had a specific USB port and button to refresh the BIOS. I downloaded the rom, renamed the file, and format the usb a few times so it was both FAT32 and the correct file size allocation. And after some frustration was able to get it booted back like nothing ever happened. I used to think these things were tests. Like I could raise my hands in the air and cheer for beating what the universe throws at me. And I think I was rather pleased with myself shouting at an invisible mob that I know computers better than anyone. Nobody really knows me all that well. Or really cares that I'm qualified to do a job better than most people. I'm just supposed to sit here and go apply for a job to stock shelves at a supermarket. Because paying people like me is selfish. I have no family. I have no ties to any movement. I'm supposed to interact with people they march around me when I'm getting quarters at the bank for laundry. See you know this person! They're from the same place you worked! They have the same disabilities as you even if I don't have a disability. They've never introduced themselves in the twenty odd years you worked there. But this is the time of the worker! Don't be selfish. Join the mob!

People out here are on coke. That's my professional hot take. And instead of basking in the Beverly Hills afterglow they wander the heroin needle ridden streets of the west side looking to confront me. Railed to the gills. I never did that drug. But Chicago has always been a party city. People move here because it's cheap and exciting kind of. Or their parents were rich and politically connected. I've been on LinkedIn professionally for years. If people wanted to connect on a professional level my inbox is always empty except for scam artists. Tumblr has always been a different realm. I don't have a twitter. I can't imagine it's something I want to be a part of after realizing the value of disconnecting from social and peer pressure. I would really love to work and get paid for what I'm qualified to do. But most people want you to be part of a unit, a commune, a movement, or some fucked up social justice chain gang because "there isn't enough to go around." We're all in this together. Except when we don't all take the same risks. Or we all don't spend our time the same. I live in America where the individual is celebrated but mostly out of greed. It's never about efficiency. I grew up an only child. I don't really think this is a disability or psychological issue. It's biological. Some people only have one child. Some people divorce. Some people move on. And the child I grew out of into an adult is a very real and valid person with history and feelings. I'm also older than a lot of people with very different experiences. I travelled around the world alone to China, Korea, and Japan. I made friends out of nowhere to survive. There's people in Seoul who know me better nostalgically than people I worked with for twenty years. If I were ever going to get crazy nostalgic I'd sleep on the floor of a thirty dollar room in a hostel and jog on Namsan mountain. I wouldn't get together with a bunch of broke artists who act like the neigborhood nazi gestapo. If I had to judge anything in America it's that it isn't a conspiracy. People are dealing with the excesses that they chose. And assuming everyone chose to be like that. "Well, we''re all here now! Look at what we've all been through together." I've been persecuted and bullied by people with secret political and financial agentas. I live in a neighborhood that is a wasteland of police control, cartel narco terrorism, and people "trying to make it" in a Hollywood context in the middle of a poverty inflicted war zone. I read William Gibson too and enjoy him thoroughly. This is not that romantic besides me building computers like Lain alone in my apartment writing to people who actually care what I write about.

If people wanted to speak to me. If people really wanted to get to know me? They wouldn't follow me around in public with a police escort. That's entrapment. I know this because I have survived it in this city for years. Whenever I would say something about it, someone would talk over me with a hushed voice. "You can't say that." Why? Because they'll cut off your coke plug if I rat them out? Take whatever gritty shit you see in Hollywood and throttle it down to it's bare rendered grease and you have what goes on in Chicago. I explain things vaguely to my mom of what I go through here and she replies with a nonchalant reply. Chicago is corrupt, she says. Then goes on to talk about her television shows. I've been looking for a way out of this situation. I apply for jobs. I network online with people from around the world. I try to keep my relationships thin and accounted for. And I can honestly tell you that big labor in Chicago particularly is most to blame for taking advantage of a police state. It isn't the core policies that you read about in Jacobin magazine that are the problem. It's the people in power that manipulate populism to bully the individual. Everyone should have the right to work and the right to organize. But if you only have one choice. Say side with the police union that doesn't share the same values or ethics as you? Are we really all in this together? If we really valued the worker, then how can anyone explain what happened to me with a straight face? Oh, he's selfish. Oh, he's a sinner. Oh, he's a Chinese spy. I could be many things. And people try to find order within chaos. I could blame Russian or Iranian hackers on Elden Ring for literally frying my computer remotely. But I faced that poison swamp like a G. I could blame everyone in Chicago for isolating me and ghosting me on a holiday. Or I could just be happy with the peace and quiet and enjoy the lack of noise when I interact with people I care about. I don't have a fear of missing out of anything other than incurring more income which has been blocked by silly fucking populist bullshit for two and a half years. Nobody invites me to play music. Nobody asks me what's been wrong in my life around here. And I've resorted to simply calling them out in a professional manner on their bulslhit to the proper authorities instead of posting a rant on Facebook. Tumblr has always been very different in this respect. I'm just protecting my narrative. And protecting myself for people I really do care about. I don't want to bring this city's baggage into anyone's life. But it's no doubt they all like dumping their trash on me. We're gonna need a bigger dumpster when we break me out of this jail is all I'm saying. <3 Tim

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shina913 · 2 years

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Scale, Part 4 | KSJ

Scale, Part 4

Definition: A beam that is supported freely in the center and has two pans of equal weight suspended from its ends; Something graduated especially when used as a measure or rule: such as (a) an indication of the relationship between the distances on a map and the corresponding actual distances; (b) a series of marks or points at known intervals used to measure distances; A graduated series or scheme of rank; A means of ascent

✮ ✮ ✮ Scale Masterlist ✮ ✮ ✮

Pairing: KSJ x fem!reader; appearances by OT7

Rating: Mature content (21+), no minors please!

Genre: Rich boy!AU; CEO!AU; strangers to lovers; fluff; angst; smut

Count: 10.7K+ words

Warnings: socioeconomic imbalance; character physical disability; cussing; office banter; hints of arranged marriages; alcohol consumption; character health scare (somebody is found unconscious); mentions of surgery; SMUT; oral (F receiving); protected sex

Summary: Kim Seokjin lives in a world where money is no object as he is the heir to his family's lucrative company; OC is a scrappy go-getter who has to work hard at multiple jobs to meet her financial obligations. When their paths cross, they'll have to figure out whether they can find a balance point between themselves and their lives.

A/N: Lots of stuff going on again! And I did a bit of a time-jump to get the plot moving--just a matter of a few weeks.

Also, full disclosure, I only did some light research on the medical complication on this chapter. I wanted something that warranted an emergency, some panic--but still something that could be resolved with early intervention. I apologize for the inaccuracies (in case you may be in the medical field).

❤️, comment, reblog, or send me an ask 📩. Would love to know what everyone thinks!

Jin woke up in a good mood this morning. After his talk with you last night, he sent out a text.

Clear your calendar for noon today. Let’s have lunch in my office!

By the time 11:55 rolls around, Haejin struts into Moon Industries. It was a Friday and she typically kept her day cleared of meetings to catch up on the rest of the week’s work and pending action items.

She rounded the corner from the hallway of her brother’s senior staff offices, greeting a few staff that she recognized as she walked by, who were on their way to their respective lunch breaks.

As she closes in on his office, she is caught off-guard when she sees Jungkook coming from the opposite direction as he exits his own office and cocks his head in confusion once he deduces that they are headed towards the same destination.

“Wh-what—“ They both say in unison.

Just then, they are startled by Jin opening his door with the biggest smile on his face.

“Aha! Right on time. I love it! Come on in,” he beckons them.

Jungkook and Haejin sit across from each other at the round table in Jin’s office. They both silently watched him as he scarfed his lunch down with the utmost appreciation.

“C’mon, guys. Let’s not waste good food,” he implored them while he chewed with his mouth full.

Jungkook sat wide-eyed, unmoving while Haejin started to poke at her food.

Jin swallowed a bite then chuckled. “I had hoped that we wouldn’t do this on an empty stomach but looks like you’re both insistent…”

“Jin,” Haejin started.

“How long has this been going on,” he cut her off calmly while he gestured his finger between both of them.

Haejin opens her mouth tentatively.

“Almost a year,” Jungkook answers.

She was surprised at his sudden candor around her brother.

“Jin-hyung…”

“Wow…” He trailed off, still strangely calm about it all.

She immediately added, “Oppa, w-we were planning to tell you–we j-just…”

“We just wanted to make sure that the IPO did well…so that it wasn’t as stressful for you,” Jungkook continued.

Jin hummed, taking another bite of his lunch while he stared out the window in his office.

“Do mom and dad know?”

“No,” she said quietly. “We hoped to tell the family after the gala.”

He nodded then took another bite.

“So this is serious?” He looked at both of them.

Jungkook and Haejin met each other’s eyes. He tentatively then slowly extended his right hand onto the table and reached across with his palm up.

Haejin gave him a small smile then put her left hand over it. After gripping it tightly, he looks back at her brother.

“I love her,” he says in earnest.

Jin glanced at his sister. The look on her face was all he needed as confirmation.

“Y-you’re not mad, hyung-nim?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad?”

“That I’m dating your sister…that we kept it from you—“

He giggled…his high-pitched, squeaky, window-wiping laugh.

As he calmed down, he shook his head. “No, I’m not. If anything, I admire you.”

They both looked at him thinking that he’s completely lost his shit. For a moment, Jin thought so, too. He wanted to lash out at both of them–for thinking that he would be against this relationship. Over the weekend, his ‘older brother’ instincts were kicking in. He wanted to grill Jungkook–but how and with what questions, exactly?

In the few years that he’s known Jungkook, he knows that he comes from humble beginnings. He obtained a scholarship from the Moonstone Foundation, which put him through college. He was one of the top interns and was eventually offered a job right before graduation.

He knew that Jungkook was whip-smart and had a great work ethic–all things that Jin looked for in an employee. But more than that, he was also very down-to-earth despite how quickly he rose up the ranks. He actively volunteered his time at the Foundation while balancing his already packed calendar as COO to Jin’s company.

He didn’t know much about Jungkook’s dating history. He had casually introduced a girlfriend or two in the time that they had known each other but that wasn’t something that he usually pried into.

When Ari left at the height of the company’s launch, Jin silently fell apart but Jungkook took it upon himself to grab the helm and kept things going. It took a bit of time but it helped knock Jin back into reality–to get a grip on himself and refocus to get to where they are now.

After meeting with you last night, he had readjusted his perspective. He had always prided himself in reserving judgment until after getting to know a person. With that in mind, he knew that he didn’t have to worry about his sister and his friend.

The younger one was confused. “I don’t…I don’t understand?”

Jin straightened his back in his seat. “It takes a real man to go out of his way just to prove his best intentions to his lady’s family.”

They both smiled sheepishly, a portion of the weight lifted off their chests.

“And in the same vein, it also takes a certain kind of man to rein in Kim Haejin,” he snorted.

She sat there aghast, staring at her brother.

“For that, I congratulate you, Jeon Jungkook,” he laughed again as he gave him a pat on the back.

Jungkook couldn’t help but laugh at that as well. Haejin, withdrawing her hand from Jungkook, now giving them both a death stare.

She scoffed. “Hello? I am sitting right here! And I do not need to be reined in, thank-you-very-much!”

“Sorry, Jagi,” Jungkook says while stifling his chuckles.

“Seriously…Not what I imagined at all,” she said, rolling her eyes.

He waved her off. “I’m fine with all of it–as long as–you know…just keep in mind that this is still a place of business,” he said, eyeing both of them. "Let's keep it professional."

They both nodded in agreement.

“Also, you didn’t have to worry too much about me. If anything, I’d love to be a spectator when you tell mom and dad about this,” he chuckled.

Clearly, they still had to get her parents’ approval. However, knowing that they had Jin on their corner, it didn’t feel much like an uphill battle any longer.

******

It was an incredibly long day at the office. You offered to take some work home just to make a dent at the mountain of pending documents that you had to get through. Hoseok had taken on a new client last year and they have been incredibly demanding, dropping record after record for audits.

“At least they’re giving us all of the documents,” he said as the team combed through the company’s books.

It was good that he saw the silver lining in this. This particular client had come across an unexpectedly large fortune some few years ago–good for them, you thought. However, just as your net worth grows, the narrower the government’s crosshairs get on you.

It was ridiculous what some rich people did with their money, you thought. A yacht purchase here, private jet there, lavish vacations around Asia and Europe; expensive shopping sprees at Cartier, Tiffany’s, Manolo Blahnik, and Chanel. These people had the life!

At first, you found it strange that such a large conglomerate would approach a small accounting and auditing firm. Corporations like these usually went for the bigger, more well-known names–especially for one headquartered in a large, metropolitan area.

Still, it was good for business–It kept you busy and billable.

You clocked out right at 5 o’clock and trudged out of your building to make your way towards the train station. You were so dazed from all of the tiny, printed numbers that you had been staring at the whole day that you barely noticed someone calling out to you from the curb.

“Excuse me—you look like you need a ride!”

After living in this city your whole life, you were no stranger to catcallers.

You stopped and rolled your eyes in annoyance. “Ugh, seriously, this city is full of scum—Jin?!”

He laughed from his car window. “Sorry, what was that?”

You were embarrassed after not recognizing his voice.

“What are you doing here?”

“Partner meeting,” he says simply. “C’mon! Hop in.”

You hopped in the car–totally surprised that this is the first time you’ve run into him during the week, in the daylight, after getting out of your day job.

“Is that where your 9 to 5 is?”

“Yeah, it’s an accounting firm. Jung and Partners,” you answered.

“Ahh…so you actually do work with numbers.”

“I never lied about that,” you said.

He glanced at you with a wry smile after he made a stop at the intersection.

“I’m just giving you a hard time, Kim Seokjin,” you smirked.

“Are we okay?”

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, we are. You promised me that you laid everything out for me. Unless—you had a secret lovechild that you forgot to mention?”

He lightly smacked the steering wheel with his hand. “Damn, I knew I couldn’t get that past you,” he said, grinning at you.

He pulled up to your building and put the car in park.

“Uhm, do you want to come up? Perhaps a quick snack or something?”

“It’s almost dinner time,” he reminded you.

You chuckled. “Right! So–dinner then?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“Are you kidding? You saved me a couple dollars and some precious train ride minutes. The least I could do is feed you.”

He really wanted to but he was supposed to meet Miya for dinner.

“I make a mean bowl of kimchi fried rice,” you said in a singsong manner, hoping to convince him.

Screw Miya.

“Alright. I’ll go and park around the corner and meet you up there.”

“Great! We’re at 3A–just push the button on the panel up by the front and I’ll buzz you in.” You were excited. You don’t invite many friends over to your place even though your dad encouraged you to. It wasn’t out of embarrassment but you just weren’t home for too long before you had to rush out to your next job. When you were home, you preferred to sleep or spend time with your dad.

You got out of the car and grabbed your things as Jin rounded the block to find street parking. Once you entered your home, your dad was sitting with Tannie who bounced off his lap to jump at you.

“Hi dad–hey, little buddy!”

“Hey, sweetheart. How was work?”

“Ah, you know. It’s tax season so things are getting pretty busy. It’s good for business though.”

“Good! Are you taking a nap before heading to the diner?”

“Actually, I invited a friend over for dinner–if that’s alright with you?”

“Jiminie? I haven’t seen him in a while!”

“Oh, no. It’s…it’s a new friend,” you said bashfully.

Your dad did his best to stifle a smile. He had been wanting to ask you about the mystery man who’s been giving you early morning rides and putting a smile on your face recently.

His mouth made an ‘o’ shape. He did his best to feign curiosity. “Am I going to like this new friend?”

“You will because I do,” you smiled, while checking your rice cooker to make sure that you had enough.

“If you say so.”

Just then you hear your buzzer go off.

You picked up the phone’s receiver. “Hello?”

“Hello, 3A,” Jin says.

You giggled. “Buzzing you in now,” you said as you pushed down the button on the phone and returned the receiver to the cradle.

He knocks on the door to announce his arrival so you pause fussing around the kitchen to let him in while your dad tries to contain his excitement.

“Hey! Come on in,” you greeted him as he walked in.

He sees your dad sitting on the sofa straight away.

“Good evening,” your dad says, managing a short bow.

Jin stood up straight then lowered his upper body to bow to him. “Good evening, Mr. YLN. I am Kim Seokjin. Thank you for having me in your home.”

“Glad to meet you, Seokjin,” your dad smiled warmly. “And no need for formalities. All of YN’s friends call me ‘uncle’.”

“And who’s this?” He says at the ball of fur jumping up and down by his pant leg.

“This is Yeontan,” you say as you picked him then grabbed one of his little paws to wave at him. “But we call him Tannie. Yeontan is reserved for when he does something bad,” you said playfully as he licked your cheek.

“Do you need help with dinner? Just tell me what I need to do,” he offered.

“I’ve got it. Go have a seat. I’ll get things going.”

You set Tannie down and he hops right next to where Jin sits on the couch. He instinctively starts to rub the back of Tannie’s ear while you proceed to whip up dinner.

He and your dad made small talk while they watched the local news on TV until a news segment flashed on-screen showing a video clip of Jin’s mom assisting at a women’s shelter.

It occurred to you that you hadn’t mentioned Jin’s background to your dad since your talk the other night.

A moment later, the news segment proceeds to show a previous clip of the gala event where Jin’s family accepted the key to the city.

“Oh–that’s…you…isn’t it,” your dad remarked while pointing at the TV.

“Uhm–yeah,” Jin says sheepishly.

“Wow–I can’t believe Kim Daesung’s son is sitting right in my living room,” your dad chuckles.

“Dad, please don’t make this a thing,” you said embarrassingly.

“Who’s making it into a thing? He just bowed to me!” your dad exclaimed while he extended his arms towards Jin’s direction.

Jin chuckled nervously. “Honestly, it’s not a big deal…we try to keep things low-key, as much as we can.”

“Well, if anything, I have much to thank your family for. Your family pretty much funded YN’s college education. It was a difficult time for us after losing her mother right out of high school–the scholarship was a welcome blessing to our family.”

“Oh…” he looks back towards you. Your back was turned as you pretended to busy yourself in the kitchen but you heard every word. Your cheeks heated up in embarrassment as you hadn’t told him about that connection yet.

“So–on behalf of our family, thank you, Seokjin.” Your dad extended his hand to shake Jin’s hand.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad that we’re able to pay it forward. And please–’Jin’ is fine. I only get called ‘Seokjin’ when my parents get upset at me,” he laughs.

Just then, you hear a knock on your door. Tannie runs up to it excitedly…he already knew his dog-dad’s scent.

You answered the door and greeted Taehyung and introduced him to Jin. You reminded him that he was your artist-friend that you spoke about fairly recently.

After talking shop and agreeing to introduce him to his friend, Namjoon, dinner was finally ready.

You each served them a bowl of rice while they settled into your small dining table. When you handed Taehyung his bowl, you gave him a spoon since he was still having difficulty gripping chopsticks with his injured hand–and he just looked pathetic trying to do it left-handed.

“Are you alright, man? What happened to your arm,” Jin asked, pointing at Taehyung’s cast.

While munching on dinner, he proceeds to talk about his sudden brush with death and how you came in and saved his job from him.

“He’s exaggerating–I just did him a small favor,” you said as you took a few bites of dinner.

“Yeah…that’s our YN. Always willing to help out. She’d give you the shirt off her back if you needed it,” Taehyung says while he chews on a piece of pork.

Jin subtly glances your way.

“Stop, you guys…you’re embarrassing me in front of our guest,” you said shyly while you leaned against the counter, facing them. Jin offered to stand so that you could take a seat but you declined and insisted that he sit since he was a guest.

“It’s true, though!” Your friend says, as if trying to argue.

Jin smiles at the personal stories that your dad and Taehyung share with him.

“I will say though—I love my parents but ever since I moved to the city, YN and uncle have taken me in as their own. I trust YN with my life—literally! I even made her my medical proxy!”

“That’s a big deal,” Jin says. “I don’t think I’d trust myself to be anybody’s medical proxy,” he chuckles.

“We still need to seriously discuss that, Taehyung,” you told your friend. Being in control of someone’s life was a huge decision. While you were honored that he would put that much trust in you, you wanted to make sure that he didn’t offend his parents or any other actual family members.

You cleared the dishes but Jin stood up right away and insisted that he do them. He didn’t leave much room for argument.

Shortly after, Taehyung bids everyone goodnight as his arm started to hurt again and mentioned that his mom was making a day trip to check on him. He wanted to at least clean the place up and make it look decent for her.

“So–Jin…would you like to join us for our Sunday routine this weekend,” your dad asked Jin.

“Dad, he could be busy!”

“Well…is he?” He turns to Jin expectantly.

“No, I’d love to!”

“Alright, well. We mainly take a walk in the park in the morning, have lunch, then go grocery shopping. Nothing crazy,” your dad says.

“Sounds like a great time. What time should I pick you guys up?”

Your dad was playing Cupid. It was awkward, to say the least since you didn’t really want to take it that far.

He was a good person with the purest of intentions. It would make any woman swoon–and yet, something was stopping you. It wasn’t because he lied about his social status.

He was nice, a good listener, didn’t judge you–all great qualities. You felt something more–and you were starting to yearn. You had to smack yourself mentally every now and then.

Jin was great but…you were apprehensive. You didn’t want to add any more fuel to that fire.

He would never go for someone like you, you thought. He would go for someone like that woman that he sat next to at the party–dressed to the nines, glamorous, prim and proper. All things you weren’t.

You were mousy-looking but you spoke brashly and had a dark sense of humor to offset your whole laundry list of insecurities.

But you had his friendship–that was more than enough. He didn’t ask for anything in return. He just wanted your time…right?

******

On Sunday morning, he came by–dressed in his sweats and running shoes. He had parked around the corner and you went for your morning walk at the park.

You didn’t know what his typical morning routine was–whether this was too early for him or if he preferred to sleep in on the weekends. You didn’t think he worked as much as you did–or at least stayed up as late as you did.

His routine has certainly changed since meeting you. Typically, he blocked off his weekends purely to rest and do nothing apart from the occasional email check-ins–but he could do those from home. Sometimes, he had something planned with Namjoon or had a family dinner to attend to.

Other than that, he told your dad that he preferred to stay home. He didn’t really go out much unless he had to. Midway through starting his own company, he’s learned the value of rest. While it was great to unwind every now and then, he decided for himself that he didn’t need to always be productive with his time.

During the early stages of his company, he certainly felt the pressure of working hard–of succeeding. He wanted to do well and make a name for himself. When Ari left him, he threw himself into work until he burnt out.

After a short stint at the hospital for exhaustion, he decided to change his whole perspective. In the past, he felt compelled to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity, even if it meant spreading himself thin.

Soon after, he learned that that wasn’t really all there was to life. Once he had that realization, he tried to instill that within his staff. Rest was important–work can wait.

It was the total opposite for you. You had to keep moving. Rest could wait. You had to work…because nobody else would do that for you. You would work all seven days if you could–but your dad talked you off that ledge.

He had done that himself–worked to no end until he paid for it.

After two weeks of Sunday Fun-day with Jin, he showed up the following Sunday asking if you were both open to changing things up.

It was a nice day–the weather was fairly mild so he offered to drive you and your dad to an undisclosed location.

After Jin loads up your dad’s wheelchair in the trunk of his SUV, you drive out about 45 minutes away from the city.

Although you hadn’t been out to this area in a long time, you recognized the coastline.

Once you arrived at the marina, your dad couldn’t contain his excitement.

“So, I thought this would be a nice change of pace,” he said as he pulled up to the marina.

“Wow–we haven’t been out here in years, right YN?”

“This is beautiful, Jin!” you exclaimed.

“Just wait 'til we get on the water.”

“Oh, Seokjin-ah–I didn’t bring my swimsuit,” you dad joked.

Jin laughed. “We can do that at a different time, uncle. I have a boat and I thought that we could take it out to the water and have some lunch?”

It was a great morning. Your dad had a smile plastered across his face the whole time–and Jin did that.

You groaned inwardly–this didn’t keep the yearning at bay. But seeing the pure joy on your dad’s face–it was worth a day of pining. You could just torture yourself again when you got home.

It was the middle of the afternoon when you got home. Being under the sun and the sea breeze tired you out but in a good way. You felt refreshed, somehow.

“Why don’t you two go have dinner or something? I feel bad taking over your Sundays,” your dad says sheepishly.

You rolled your eyes. It wasn’t your Sundays with Jin. This was your thing with your dad and he practically took Jin as a hostage and he was just too nice to decline.

“Why don’t we just rest, dad?”

“Stop talking crazy, sweetheart!” His interjection takes you aback.

“I can rest because I’m an old man–but you’re young! Go and have some harmless fun for a couple of hours. It’s not always about work.

Jin glances at you. “I mean…I don’t have anything else to do. I’m down, if you feel like it.”

He waved from your living room window while you and Jin pull away of the curb to go to dinner. Shortly after as he tried to make his way back to the couch, your dad grimaces, clutching his calf as pain started shooting up his leg.

******

Taehyung and Yeontan are returning from a quick walk around the block. He was feeling more mobile as the light trauma to his hip from his bike accident had fully healed. He had to bring an extra harness for Tannie so he wouldn’t run off as he still had to keep the cast for a couple more weeks and couldn’t use both hands to yank him back if he did.

He also had to bust out the puppy stroller since he couldn’t just pick him up to carry him around if he started whining. Tannie was cute but he wasn’t light.

As soon as he steps out of the elevator, he lets Tannie jump out of the stroller to walk towards his apartment. But instead, he runs towards your door and starts whining and pawing at it.

“Tan! Tannie!” He calls out to his pet while patting his thighs, trying to beckon him to come back.

“C’mon, bud. They must be asleep by now. We’ll see uncle tomorrow,” he says.

But the dog kept at it and started to bark loudly.

“Yeontan! Yeontan!” Taehyung scolded, “Dude, you’ll wake up the whole floor.”

Tannie was frantic, which Taehyung thought was strange. He finally walks up to your door and finds that it was cracked open and it instantly concerned him.

He tried to open it wider but couldn’t because he felt that something was blocking it. He looks down to see Tannie sniffing and whining at something on the floor.

“Oh, fuck!”

******

You decided to go to a sushi bar in the city–the ones that come out from a conveyor belt.

It was all fun and casual until you ordered a bottle of sake–which took Jin by surprise. He’s seen you drink a beer on one of your samgyeopsal lunches but that was the extent of it.

“Why are we friends anyway? You could have literally picked anybody…anybody!”

He chuckles because he’s never seen you in this state…just letting loose. You took another shot of sake.

After swallowing, you waved your arms aimlessly in mid-air. “You know…You walk around, being broody and sexy like it’s nobody’s business…“

He laughed then mentally had to hit ‘rewind.’ “Wait—you think I’m sexy?”

You jerked your head back. “What? N-no! That’s not my point,” you huffed.

He tried to stifle a chuckle while you tried your hardest to collect your thoughts.

“I have…no time to play games, alright? I have to make sure my dad’s okay…bills are paid…got a roof over our head…then I have to make sure Tae-Tae is okay…it’s just so muuuchh wooorkkk…” you slurred.

“If you take care of everyone else, who takes care of you?”

You scrunch your face. “What kind of a question is that?”

“A legitimate one. Who takes care of YN?”

You giggled. “Nobody has ever asked me that.”

You hiccuped. “Why do you have to be so…complicated? You want to be friends but all you do is talk to me about your ex…but then you tell me things like you can’t stay away or ask me who takes care of me... Which is it,” you asked him pointedly.

You cocked your head to the side and stared at him.

“What do you want from me, Kim Seokjin?”

He stared back at you, trying to figure out what to say.

“Because…I’ve got nothing. Unlike you—you’ve got everything.”

“Not everything,” he says quietly, still staring.

You shook your head while you took another swig then leaned in closer to his face. “So what is it then? What do you want from me?”

He couldn’t quite figure out what it was exactly but he was certain that he felt it…and he let it draw him in closer to you. You let him into your world little by little and he was all too happy to make himself comfortable in it.

He looked into your eyes–they were glazed with drunkenness but he saw past that and saw you for you were–an honest, beautiful person who loved her friends and family fiercely…and some part of him wanted to bask in that.

Why else would he be so adamant to seek your forgiveness after he had been dishonest to you?

Before you knew it, he was slowly closing the gap between you two…until your phone started to buzz incessantly from your pocket, pulling you away from your drunken, fantasy world.

“Sorry,” you apologized and look down at the caller ID.

It was Taehyung. You were slightly annoyed at him cockblocking you but you answered anyway.

“Tae, this better be—wait, slow down. Taehyung, slow down—what? What? Where? Is he okay? Oh my god. I’m on my way!”

You hung up and scrambled for your things–the call suddenly sobering you up.

“I gotta go.”

“Woah-woah…What happened? Tell me!”

“It’s my dad, I—oh my god,” your eyes start to well up. “I shouldn’t have come here. I have to leave–”

“YN, I’m not letting you leave on your own in this state. I’ll bring you to him.” He thought that he would ask questions later and rush you over to wherever you directed him to.

You start to whimper.

Jin grabs his keys and jacket from the table. “Where is he?”

“Uh–C-City General,” you croaked out.

Thankfully, he only had one drink and that was over an hour ago knowing that he had to drive back anyway.

“Okay, let’s go.” He says after tossing a few bills to cover the check as you rushed out of the restaurant.

******

The ride to the hospital was quiet. He offered you some water and even though you weren’t thirsty, you thought that he was only trying to get you hydrated to help sober you up.

You practically wanted to jump out of the car after he parked but he manages to get you to wait until he got out to help walk you in.

You checked in at the nurse’s station and they tell you that he’s already been admitted to the intensive care unit.

Your heart is pounding–you feel that you, yourself are about to have a coronary. As soon as you and Jin get off the floor, you turn to the right side of the hallway and find Taehyung exiting the room.

“Tae! Oh my god, oh my god–” you rushed over to hug him tightly.

“Hey,” he greets you quietly.

The nurse exits the room soon after.

“How is he? I’m-I’m his daughter. Is he awake? Can I see him?”

“Let’s slow down, Miss YLN. I just checked on his vitals and he’s stable for now. It’s good that your neighbor here called the emergency line right away. We got to him just in time,” she says.

“What happened? Was it his leg? He was complaining about pain–”

She nodded. “That was part of it. He had a heart attack and the leg pain was sort of a warning. I’ll page the doctor and he can fill you in, alright?” She gives you a reassuring squeeze in the arm.

“Can I see him?”

“Yes, you can. But–” she eyes Jin and Taehyung, “Only one visitor at a time. We don’t want to overwhelm him.”

You look back at Jin and he nods, urging you to go and see your dad.

When you walked into the ICU room, you started whimpering at the sight of your dad hooked up to machines. You gave the foot on his good leg a squeeze, hoping he would feel your presence before you rounded his bed to stay by his side and took his hand.

“I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t there, dad,” you whispered as your fingers brushed his forehead.

You were mentally kicking yourself for deciding on going out and being reckless instead of staying in like you had originally planned to do tonight.

You don’t remember the last time you went out just for fun. And when you did, you imposed a time limit on it. You were still young and yet you were saddled with responsibilities that were worth decades. You didn’t want to resent it because you did it for your family.

But that little voice within you came up every now and then–wishing for a bit more…just–more than what you currently had. More fun, more money, more time for yourself…more freedom.

And yet, this was payback for enjoying a bit of freedom and momentarily forgetting the real world. Was it worth it?

******

Jin excused himself to get you some coffee from the hospital’s cafeteria floor. He also contacted his on-call driver to take Taehyung back home.

It turned out that after calling 911, the paramedics wouldn’t allow Taehyung to take Tannie with him in the ambulance so he ended up leaving him with Mrs. Choudhry down the hall while he rode along.

Jin took his time getting the coffee and decided to place another call.

“Hi, uncle. Sorry to call so late, you must be asleep–Oh, you’re on-call tonight? I see. Listen, I was wondering if you can help me with a friend of mine. I’m calling from City General and her dad just came in. I overheard the nurse say that he was stable for now but he’s in the ICU. I’m not sure if something more serious is going on and her dad might be keeping her in the dark about it…Yeah…she mentioned something about leg pain but that’s all I know. I didn’t catch the doctor’s name, unfortunately…Oh, you can do that?…Great…That would be fantastic, uncle. Thank you. Thank you—so much.”

He hung up then pocketed his phone and proceeded to pick up the two cups of coffee that he set down earlier when he heard someone call out to him.

“Jinnie…”

“Ari…h-hi,” he says, completely dumbfounded.

They stood there in silence. She was holding a cup of orange juice and a paper bag with a pastry, he assumed.

“Sorry, where are my manners?” She moves in to give him a hug, which takes him by surprise.

It had been over three months since he last saw her. He had drunk-dialed her and begged her to meet him at his boat by the marina.

She was getting married soon and it was a last-ditch effort on his part to try to get her back. He admitted that it was delusional but he had to try.

He was a mess when she arrived but he was happy that she came to see him. He apologized to her repeatedly and told her that it was all going to be over soon. His company was going public and he didn’t need to travel as often. He would be there to put down roots–roots that she wanted to grow a family.

But it was a year too late.

He remembered the day she walked out on him. He was just getting back from a months-long stay in Tokyo and her suitcases were by the door.

She had had enough. She was tired of being cooped up in an ivory tower all on her own. He promised her love and an eternal partnership. All she needed from him was his presence. She asked him for less travel, more permanence…but she couldn’t compete with his ambition much less contain it. Her love for him wasn’t enough to tie him down.

In the end, he couldn’t give her what she wanted–so she gave her ring back until someone, who was waiting in the wings, came in to sweep her off her feet.

“What are you doing here? Of all places that we’d meet…” she asked.

“Uh, I’m just here, helping a good friend’s dad.”

“Oh, okay,” she said awkwardly.

“How about you? Are your parents okay?” He’s not sure why he immediately assumed that her parents were the reason why she was at the hospital.

“Oh yeah, yeah. They’re fine. I…uhm–I was the one who needed medical attention,” she reveals.

He was surprised to hear it, not because she was standing upright but because she was saying all of this with the biggest grin on her face–it was a little off-putting.

“I was feeling a little sick while I was at dinner with a friend so they brought me in through the ER and ran some tests. I’d been feeling off the last few weeks leading up to the wed–” she caught herself.

Jin kept a neutral expression.

“Anyway--as it turns out…Kwan and I are having a baby,” she gushed while she beamed from ear to ear.

He was shocked that he didn’t flinch at the sound of his name.

“Wow! Congratulations, Ari.” He went in to hug her and it didn’t feel like a knee-jerk reaction.

“Thank you. We’re just over the moon.”

“I’m sure you are,” he says as he pulls away from her.

Just then, she looks over Jin’s shoulder and catches a glimpse of her husband walking through the automatic doors. He slows down when he spots Jin turning around.

“I uh...I gotta get back and check on my friend. It was good to see you, Ari. I’m really glad you’re…happy.” He smiled at her and genuinely meant it.

“Thank you, Jin. That means a lot coming from you. Take care, huh?”

“You, too.”

He returns to your dad’s room to find you curled up on the arm chair. He approaches you quietly, careful not to wake you. He stood there, watching the rise and fall of your shoulders. He crouched down–contemplating whether he wanted to finish that kiss before you were interrupted.

Seeing Ari tonight surprised him. However, what was completely unexpected to him was how he didn’t feel the same amount of yearning that he had months ago.

She was happily married and had a child on the way. It should have been him–but it’s not. And for the first time in a while, he didn’t wish it so. That wasn’t what he wanted anymore.

At this moment, all he wanted was to care for you. He couldn’t help but brush some errant strands of hair off your face. You were exhausted…physically and emotionally.

“Whatever she says, don’t listen to her.” Your dad startled him with a hoarse, wheezy, whisper.

“You’re awake..YN–”

“Let her sleep,” he says while pulling the oxygen mask off his face.

“Uncle–you probably shouldn’t do that–”

He waved him off. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure she’s alright, do you understand?”

He nodded. “I made a few calls. We’ll get you transferred to a different hospital either tonight or early tomorrow–you don’t have to worry about anything.”

He managed a small smile. “Thank you, Jin. You’re a good man.”

“Thank you. I try to be.”

******

Jin got home at about 4AM because you forced him out of the hospital when you woke up from your nap and found him dozing off in the hallway. He insisted on waiting until your dad got transferred to the next hospital but told him that you could manage.

He dragged his ass to the restaurant where Namjoon was waiting–thankfully, with some appetizers already served.

“Sorry I’m late–I uh–”

“Had a long night…mm-hmm,” Namjoon says.

Jin shook his head, still reeling from the events that occurred mere hours ago.

“You look like shit. Have you gotten any sleep–I dunno, in the last week?”

“I have,” he says in an uncharacteristically higher pitch.

Namjoon knew his friend inside-out.

“Does it have something to do with that girl from the gala?”

“What?” Jin was surprised. He hadn’t mentioned you to his inner circle yet. Well–he’d been meaning to but lots of things have happened in between that it had completely escaped his mind.

Namjoon chuckled. “You ran off after the salad was served and seemed a bit rattled when you got back. Then you just kind of spent the rest of the night looking over your shoulder after each course–like you were expecting somebody.”

Jin sighed. “Yes,” he said, cracking a small smile.

His friend grinned. “I kind of figured that somebody else was taking up your time. And you haven’t been as…curmudgeonly,” he chuckled.

Jin made a face at his friend. “That bad, huh?”

“If I’m being honest–yes. You were starting to get difficult to be around with,” he admitted.

“I appreciate your candor, Namjoon-ah.”

“Sooo–do I have to ask or do I need to look into her myself?”

The fact that Namjoon threatened to use his resources to do some recon work on you was comical to him because he didn’t think it was necessary.

“What’s there to ask? She’s a good friend,” Jin said defensively.

Namjoon snorted. “Riiiight, and Ji-yun and I play board games late at night. C’mon, Jin! The last time you behaved like this was–when you first met…"

He didn’t have to finish that sentence. He just gave his friend a knowing look.

“You were all—Namjoon-ah, I just can’t breathe without her,” he chuckled teasingly.

“Was that supposed to be an impression of me?”

Namjoon laughed. “Did I lie, though?”

Jin shrugged, trying to act all casual. “We’re just enjoying each other’s company. She’s removed from all this,” he gestures around their affluent surroundings.

“I like talking to her and spending time with her. No pressure, at all. I don’t have to be anybody else or worry about anything. I’m just…me.”

“Okay, ‘just me,’ does she know about—Miya?”

“No,” he said in a clipped manner. “Honestly, I think it’s irrelevant at this point because by the new year, I don’t have to worry about the Hwangs.”

“Is that right?”

“Yep. I just met with Jungkook and Dae and they’re telling me that stock prices have since tripled.” He then turned to his friend.

“It means that I don’t have to ask dad for too much to meet the difference...and it also means that I can get out sooner than I had planned.”

“That easy, huh? You sure Hwang doesn’t have anything up his sleeve? He seems like a slimy guy.”

Jin shook his head. “Doubt it. I had my lawyer look at the paperwork that they gave to me a couple months ago. It’s pretty clear-cut. I don’t think he’s that smart. He may have gotten rich quick but our family’s been in business for half a century. Besides, my dad wouldn’t get himself into a situation that was high-risk, low reward. Not his style.”

It was why Jin wanted to start his own company. His dad wasn’t much of a risk-taker. When he took over as chairman for his grandfather, he understood the assignment: maintain the company’s position—which he did, to a ‘T.’

Jin had fresh ideas and wanted to take the company further, but his father thought that his ideas were too idealistic—meaning, ‘sounds great but I’d rather not take the chance.’

“And how does this new woman come into play?”

“Her name is YN,” he corrected.

“How does YN come into play here?”

“She doesn’t. Like I said, she’s removed from all this. She’s…” He paused.

Namjoon anxiously awaited the end of that sentence.

Jin smiled wistfully. “She’s a great, unexpected bonus at the end of the day.”

Namjoon narrowed his eyes. “Don’t do that, Jin,” he says, shaking his head.

“What?”

“It sounds like you’re using her as a distraction. I don’t think that’s fair to her.”

He scoffed bitterly at that.

“I am not! She’s not a distraction. She listens to me and…I like being there for her if she needs someone to talk to—that doesn’t seem like the definition of a distraction.

And I can feel that she genuinely likes to spend time with me…not because she needs something from me. I like being around her…because when she’s not, it’s as if I can’t…” he paused, trying to find the right words until he exchanged a look with his best friend.

Namjoon stared back at this friend, puffed out his cheeks then exhaled deeply—purposely, in an exaggerated manner, while chuckling to himself as he took a bite of a few french fries.

******

The monitors beep in a steady, rhythmic pattern, indicating that your dad’s vitals were stable.

You sat on the armchair watching the lines go up and down. It’s amazing that the motions haven’t hypnotized you to sleep as you haven’t gotten a decent amount in the last two days.

You placed a call earlier this morning letting Hoseok know that you wouldn’t be able to make it in for at least a couple days. He asked whether you had any time off left and if you needed some from the paid time-off donation program. You declined saying that you had about a week’s worth to cover your hours.

You apologized for taking a temporary leave during one of the busiest times–but once more, Hoseok assures you that family needs to come first and work will be taken care of.

Shortly after that, the nurse stopped by to check on your dad’s vitals and was joined by the cardiologist, Jin’s uncle.

Your dad needed surgery–and soon. That pain in his leg was a warning sign that there were blocked arteries. You completely missed it because you chalked it up to his existing injury.

You learned that stress and high blood pressure contributed to it. You tried to cook healthier meals for your dad but on some days, he indulged himself.

You wanted to blame yourself–you should have checked in more often and really pushed for more follow-up appointments but he kept brushing you off.

That health scare that he had a few years ago should have been a red flag but he bounced right back and you thought he was alright.

You ended up working more, sacrificing your weekends to try and pay hospital bills and everything else. It was a miracle that you weren’t laid on that hospital bed right now.

But this wasn’t about you. You didn’t have time to think about yourself. There were other priorities and right now? Your dad was number one. You lost your head for a bit but you needed to get a grip.

Since your dad could only walk short distances and couldn’t really exercise, the only viable treatment for him was an angioplasty and stent placement to open up the blocked blood vessels.

Jin’s uncle tried to explain it in the simplest terms but essentially, there was a way to alleviate your dad’s condition and that they would do everything they could to make sure that your dad could live the rest of his life comfortably and lower the risk of this happening again.

It still didn’t ease your worries. Your dad would still have a procedure–and it wasn’t like he was getting any younger. It was still high-risk.

You stared at your reflection through the hospital room’s bathroom mirror. You rubbed your cheeks–ironically trying to will more blood flow into them. You were too pale, eyes were too sunken…you didn’t understand why somebody like Jin would want to spend all this time with you.

You heard the door open and checked to see who it was.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” You smiled meekly at Jin, who looked freshly showered and seemed like he got 10 hours of sleep when in fact, he didn’t since he napped at home then stopped by the office for a couple of hours before meeting Namjoon for a late lunch then checking out for the rest of the day.

“How’s he been?”

“He’s stable. I mean–I think that’s the best that we can hope for, for now.”

“That’s good. Did my uncle come by?”

“He did, thank you. This is all…you’ve done so much for me, Jin. I feel like–I feel like saying ‘thank you’ is not enough. I can never repay–”

“No, no. I didn’t do it as a favor or anything. I did it because I wanted to. I wanted to help you out.”

“Thank you,” you said quietly.

“Do you want to swing by your place and–get some rest?”

“Uhm–no, I don’t know if I should, in case he wakes up or–”

“YN, I spoke to my uncle. He said they would make sure that he is well taken care of. We don’t have to be away that long. We can come right back,” he assures you.

“I just don’t want to miss anything, in case–”

“I promise you, they will watch him like a hawk. We need to take care of you, too. Okay? C’mon.”

“Okay. But two hours at the most–”

“Not a minute longer,” he says almost instantaneously.

You glanced over at your dad. He was sound asleep but you walked over to give him a kiss on the forehead, whispering to him that you’d be back as soon as possible.

******

Jin drove you home. You knew he had work but he went out of his way to check in on you and your dad.

He was doing so much for you already and it was overwhelming, admittedly. It didn’t help the feelings that bubbled up inside of you.

As soon as you enter your apartment, you couldn’t help but break down. You held back so many emotions that they all just started to burst out of you.

Years of pent up frustration and exhaustion causing you to collapse.

Jin caught you right before your knees buckled from under you and held you tightly.

“Hey–hey…I’m here. I’m here…talk to me.”

You tightened your grip on him as you sobbed.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Jin.”

“Yes you can, YN. You’re so strong–you’re the strongest person I know.”

You snapped then abruptly pushed off him. “But I’m so sick and tired of being strong! I just–” you sobbed some more. “I just want to give up. I’m tired of fighting. When will this be over?”

Jin felt your pain and he wanted to do whatever he could to ease it.

“You don’t have to deal with this alone, YN. I want to help you. Tell me what I can do, please.”

“You don’t get it, Jin. You don’t understand…”

“Then make me understand. I want to! I want to be a part of this–part of your life.”

You shook your head. He had already done plenty for you. He got your dad transferred to a great hospital and called in a favor to his uncle to find a great cardiologist. This was something that you tried to fight off in the last few years. You didn’t want any handouts–and you made that very clear to Jin.

But you were desperate and your pride would cost your father his life if you didn’t take this lifeline. You worried about what he would think of you. You didn’t want him to think that you were only using him.

You calmed down, wiping the tears away from your cheeks. “Why would you want to be part of– this?” You gestured aimlessly around yourself and your surroundings.

“It’s too messy. Not anything that you or your family would want to be caught up in. It’s…just too much baggage.”

“And you don’t think I have baggage to deal with?”

You exhaled sharply. “You can afford to have baggage. You can afford to sweep it under the rug…push it away! I cannot. Best I can do is put it on pause but it will always be there, staring me in the face and reminding me that this is my life and this is all I’m good for.”

“Don’t you ever fucking say that. Don’t ever sell yourself short. I’ve met many people in power who thought they were hot shit but they’re all worthless.”

“I feel like I’m worthless!”

“Stop, YN! You are not worthless. You’re worth so much more–you’ve just been dealt a bad hand. But I see you for who you are–it’s the reason why I…”

You looked right at him and he paused. You were at your most vulnerable. You weren’t your typically sassy, dark-humored self around him. You weren’t trying to make light of this pathetic situation that you were in. Tonight, you were laid bare for him–no walls or barriers.

“What?” You said quietly, urging him to continue.

He decided to close in on you–he was done fighting it, too.

“It’s the reason why I’ve fallen for you.”

You blinked profusely. “Wh-what?”

He took another step towards you. He towered over you not just physically but in terms of social status. But he didn’t look at it that way. He wanted to close that gap and be leveled with you.

“I love you, YN,” he said, wiping the final traces of your tears.

His declaration sent shockwaves through you.

“Y-you can’t just say things like that, Jin. You can’t just—“

“Can’t what? Be with you? Love you? Why not?”

He searched your eyes for answers.

“Give me one good reason why.”

This would have been an easier answer if he just went back to being the mysterious, broody guy who ordered coffee at the diner and not the multi-millionaire that he was.

You knew what you felt for him. In fact, you’ve been feeling it for a while and it has since intensified since he told you that he couldn’t stay away from you.

However, you pushed that feeling aside because you were afraid, afraid that he didn’t feel the same way. It would feel painfully uneven…imbalanced. He was who he was and well…you were ‘you’.

You weren’t the type of person who often wasted energy on what other people thought about you. You kept your head down, tried to blend in, to avoid drawing too much attention to yourself.

Kim Seokjin? While you appreciated how he kept things about his life low-key, everything and everyone around him were anything but.

Rich boy and struggle-girl…that was the stuff that soap operas were made of. But this was real life…your life. There were so many reasons why you didn’t think you should be with him…why you shouldn’t feel this way about him.

And yet, none of them were good enough.

“I can’t…because…” You said quietly.

You swallowed hard and peered up at him. He was here, right in front of you, offering his heart and soul to you. With all these thoughts swimming in your head—why wouldn’t you want to jump right in?

“I love you, too.” It was barely a whisper but his heart heard it…and you meant every word.

He gently cradled your face in his hands and started closing in. With your noses touching, you met him in the middle and sealed your mouth to his.

Your kisses, flavored by the salt of your tears, started softly and built into a steady hunger. Both your lips desperately moving over each other’s…as if time was running out and you hadn’t had your fill yet.

Your fingers fisted at his hair while he licked deeply into your mouth.

“Will you let me take care of you?”

It made your heart lurch that he had to ask when he had effectively taken the liberty of doing so. “Yes…please,” you breathed out, not even trying to hide how needy you’ve become.

You saw him glance over at the couch and you let him pull you towards it.

He rids you off your top while he lets you unzip his sweatshirt.

You had to admit that you were a little nervous since it’s been such an embarrassingly long time…and now this gorgeous man is right in front of you–allowing you to strip him off his clothes on your couch.

His fingers laced around the back of your neck urging you closer to him.

All those nights that you sat across from him at the diner, your Sunday lunches, the times he’d driven you home, you wondered what it was like to kiss him…and love him.

He moved from your mouth down to your neck, gently sucking the skin on your collarbone.

You felt a gush of moisture soak through you…you let go of every ounce of control that you hung onto because were desperate for him now.

With one swift move, he unclasps your bra and moves his mouth to your chest while he lowered you further until your head hit the armrest.

Your breath hitches as he wraps his plush lips around an aching nipple.

You swore right then that you’d orgasm from the feeling alone…but he was just getting started with you.

He undoes your jeans and carefully pulls them off you.

You were completely bare for him, hypnotized by his desire for you at this moment.

You kept your eyes at him, unable to look away as pulls your legs apart and gave your inner thighs gentle kisses. He locked eyes with you and kept contact while you watched him sink his mouth onto your cleft.

You sucked in a harsh breath while he tongued you. You felt every lick and every suction of his mouth onto your moist, swollen lips.

Your walls clenched achingly at nothing while he continued to give you quite possibly the best oral of your life. Your breath began to stutter as you shamelessly bucked your hips against his mouth, desperate for a release.

You felt him dip two fingers into you…pulling them in and out lazily while his tongue fluttered over your clit.

Your body bowed at the assault and it wasn’t long before your orgasm rips right through you.

Your throat tightened further as he got his last two licks in before you came down from your high. You were about to pass out from the pleasure when you saw him fish out a foil packet from his wallet.

You sat yourself up, meeting him halfway as he sank between your thighs. You kissed him with so much eagerness…oddly enough, to make sure that this was actually happening.

Your mouth stilled as you felt him slowly enter you. You sucked in a breath while your core stretched around him.

He urged you to lay back down while he pushed the rest of his length into you.

“Fuh…,” was all you managed to breathe out while your eyes rolled to the back of your head as pure, electrically charged desire coursed through your body.

You looked back at him, a pained look on his face from how tight you were for him. You gave him a small nod of assurance to let him know that you were okay.

He started to move his hips slowly until he found a consistent rhythm.

He lowered himself further against your body and wrapped your leg around his waist. He thrusted in and out of you at a steady pace while your core tightened further around him along with another orgasm building up.

“Fuck, YN…I want you—so much,” he choked out in between breaths.

“You have me…I’m yours,” you breathed out before he sealed his mouth onto yours, moaning in pleasure.

Your nails raked his back–from his shoulders and down to his hips that relentlessly railed into you.

“Don’t stop,” you whined as you edged closer to another orgasm.

“I won’t…I can’t. You’re too good to me,” he said as your muscles clenched around his cock while he repeatedly hit you deep into your core.

The next thing you knew, he had tipped you over the edge.

A few more thrusts and he was arching his back as his own climax coursed through him.

As you laid together catching your breath, you forgot about your worries. They would still be there when you walked out that door.

While your thoughts flooded back into you, you felt his fingertips graze your moistened brow before planting a chaste kiss on your lips, reminding you that he wasn’t a figment of your imagination.

Soon after, you were knocked back into reality. You took a quick shower while Jin waited patiently for you to finish up and pack a change of clothes before making the trip back to the hospital.

Something between you had shifted. Moments before you walked out of your home, he pulled you back into his arms and kissed you.

“Hey…I love you. And I meant what I said earlier…you don’t have to face this alone. I’m here, okay? I want you to know that.”

You smiled and kissed him once more. “I love you, too. And thank you…for everything.”

The ride back to the hospital was quiet but he had his fingers laced with yours the whole time, saved for when he had to shift gears.

Your dad was awake when you arrived in his room. You were so happy to see him alert and attempting to make jokes. Shortly after, the nurse kindly berated him for being too animated as he had to rest before his procedure the following day.

You offered to sleep by his side but he waved you off citing the bags under your eyes and how gaunt you were starting to look.

“Gee, thanks dad–I took a shower, too you know,” you snarked.

“There’s nothing for you here, sweetheart. Go home and sleep, please. They’re taking great care of me,” he says, trying to offer you some comfort.

“But dad…”

“Jin–can you please drag my daughter away before she gives me another coronary? I’m not supposed to be stressed,” he says, turning to him.

You had a determined look, wanting to argue.

“I think I’m feeling chest pains again,” your dad says, gingerly rubbing his chest.

Your jaw drops as you rush towards him. “Should I call the nurse?”

“No, but I assure you, it will pass once you leave this room and get some sleep at home.”

You rolled your eyes and begrudgingly relented. “Fine, but I will leave very specific instructions to the nurse to call me at any point if anything changes, okay?”

You bent over to give him a kiss on the forehead. “I love you, dad. I will be back first thing in the morning to check in, alright?”

“Love you, too, kid. Now shoo,” he says softly while he gently fanned his hand so you could leave.

******

On the drive home, you called into the diner and gave Yoongi a quick update on your dad’s condition. You apologized for leaving a hasty message last night about not being able to make it to work.

He assured you that you had nothing to worry about and to take care of your family first and that Jimin had actually managed not to scare off the new girl with his relentless flirting.

You picked up some fast food on the way back–too tired and hungry to wait for food delivery.

“Are you alright,” he asked while you both sat on the couch.

“I’m nervous about tomorrow,” you admitted while staring blankly at the TV.

“I get it. It’s heart surgery. My dad actually had a similar procedure done years ago. I think he was more afraid that his little brother was doing it,” he laughed.

You almost snapped your neck at how quickly you whipped it around to face him.

He bulged his eyes realizing his mistake. “Oh–god, I’m not saying my uncle is terrible–he’s one of the top cardiologists in the country. I’m just saying–my dad was nervous that my uncle would try to get back at him for all those years of taunting and teasing–maybe replace his heart with a goat’s or something,” he chuckled.

“Oh…” you said, realizing the humor in it and allowing yourself to laugh after a stressful few days.

“You’re so beautiful when you laugh,” he uttered.

You felt yourself shrink at the compliment.

He pulls your chin up gently.

“You know, you need to just learn to accept compliments. Otherwise, I’ll think that I’m losing my game here,” he says with an eyebrow cocked.

You scoffed. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Well…yeah. I want to know whether my winks still work, you know.”

You thought back to that time that he did wink at you after offering to take you to grab some dessert one night–it definitely had its own magic.

“Do one right now then,” you dared him.

He rolled his eyes. “I can’t just summon it out of nowhere,” he says, throwing his hands up.

“Maybe…” you sighed then took him by surprise by straddling his waist. “Maybe it wasn’t impressive to begin with,” you teased as you chewed at your bottom lip.

“Oh no?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Maybe you should stop doing that and figure out a new thing.”

“You want me to stop, huh?”

You hummed.

“That’s not what you said earlier,” he said with a lower, husky register which made your breath hitch as you stared at him–and then he winked…which instantly got your juices flowing between your thighs once more.

He gripped your thighs and you felt yourself lift off the couch as you both moved into your bedroom.

As you both started drifting off after another multi-orgasm session, you traced his facial features with your fingertips while you exchanged feather-light kisses.

He was in the moment–not thinking about anybody or anything else. You were the present and he was willing to surrender himself to you.

You decided to silently claim him for yourself and it was selfish, you thought. But after all these years of putting yourself last, maybe it was time that you deserved to be first.

Part 5◥

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writing-on-the-wahl · 3 years

Text

Writing Snippet #19: The Voicemail

It was the dog at her side who warned her of his approach.

Normally she was much more in tune with her surroundings. It was the whole reason she’d come to the park in the early morning hours, to soak in the peaceful stillness, hear the birds chirping, and feel the morning sun on her face.

But her thoughts raced within even as she sat on the familiar park bench, her eyes closed as the rays of the morning sun danced across her skin. It was colder this year than it had been on that day.

But today she was alone.

Except for whoever had decided to join her on this particular fall morning.

She acknowledged her dog’s signal but didn’t open her eyes. Leaves crunched on the path, footsteps coming closer until they were nearly past her.

She stiffened as the air went silent.

“Cecelia?”

The familiar rich voice sent a stab of pain through her chest—an injury she’d thought healed long ago.

Why would he be here, today of all days? He’d made his choice, so he had no need to come relive the memories. She clenched her hands together in her lap.

“Hello, Hero.” She was surprised and relieved at how neutral her voice sounded.

She heard a shaky inhale. “Cece…” Her heart tripped at the nickname that was singularly his.

Leaves rustled and she tensed. Her dog let out a small growl, warning him against coming any closer.

Good boy, Bingo.

Hero had noticed her discomfort as well. “You don’t want to see me.”

There had been a time that was all she wanted.

She tipped her head back even further, focusing on the sun seeping into her skin rather than the raw grief clawing its way to the surface.

“I called you.” He hadn’t answered.

“Yes, I know.”

“I left you a voicemail.” A part of her harbored the hope he’d never gotten it, that it hadn’t been his choice to abandon her.

“I know.” His voice was strangled, pained.

The tiny hope withered and died.

Then her head was in her hands, fingers digging into her hair as the old pain resurfaced with the memories of that night. “You didn’t come find me.” The words slipped out before she could stop them.

He took in a shuddering breath. “No. I didn’t.”

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she pressed her face more firmly into her hands.

No. He hadn’t come. And she’d been left alone. In the darkest moment of her life.

“Cece.” He was crouched down in front of her now.

She wondered why her loyal companion hadn’t bitten his face off yet.

“I’m sorry. When I came home and saw the papers strewn across the floor, the table half set…”

She bit back a sob. She’d wanted to surprise him with dinner. Not for anything special. Just because. It had been the anniversary of the day they’d met. A date she was sure he’d forgotten. She’d gone over while he was still working at the fire station. Begged a key off the landlord. She’d been in the middle of setting the table when...

“I honestly didn’t think you’d want me to come.”

She’d left that voicemail begging him to come.

“Because you couldn’t love me like that?” The words overflowed with bitterness. He’d said he’d always love her. No matter what.

“Of course I loved you! Enough to let you—”

“I swear, if you say ‘let me go’…” she growled the words through her hands, filled them with all the pain and heartbreak and anger living inside her stitched-together heart.

A twig snapped as he stood and took a few steps back. He was probably running his hands through his hair, like he always did when he was agitated. He’d often put off getting it trimmed, and the soft waves were constantly falling in his eyes. She wished she could peak up through her hands and see the adorable way he’d push the waves back, only to have them immediately fall back into place.

“I know I don’t deserve anything from you, but even after all this time, can you really not bear to even look at me?”

She let out a hiss and pressed a hand against her chest to stifle the pain those words brought. Bear to look at him? She let out a sharp laugh, bitter and without humor. He’d gotten her voicemail. He knew. How dare he ask that of her.

Cecelia raised her head and opened her eyes.

Not that it made a difference in the blackness that was now her world.

She heard him inhale sharply. She fought the instinct to close her ruined eyes. She’d never seen them of course, but the nurses had told her of the unsettling milky sheen now coating her once-blue eyes.

Wood creaked as he settled beside her on the bench.“What happened?” His voice was so achingly tender.

The memories of what had happened were like acid, making her eyes burn just like they had that night. The masked intruder in the hallway. The brilliant flash of light. The intense pain in her eyes that sent her to her knees.

She’d told him in the voicemail. Not everything, but most of it.

When she didn’t answer, he shifted close, interrupting her thoughts. “Cece, how long have you been blind?”

A shiver prickled along the back of her neck. Something was wrong. The way he was reacting…

“Two years ago today.” The day of their anniversary. The day she’d hoped he’d ask her to be his for the rest of their lives.

The silence that followed made her desperately wish she could see his face. His voice was excruciatingly calm when he finally asked, “The day you left was the day you went blind?”

“I-I called you.” Her words were barely audible. She heard his sharp intake of breath, but forced herself to continue. “You didn’t answer. I was scared and alone and in so much pain… I didn’t know what else to do. So I left you that voicemail.” The admission cost her more than she cared to admit.

“The voicemail—”

“I waited all night for you to call. For you to come. But you didn’t.” Her voice broke at the end, and she stood and stepped away from the bench, not wanting Hero to see the tears escaping the corners of her eyes.

Bingo pressed up against her side, and the feel of his soft fur beneath her fingers gave her the strength to say the words she’d held inside for almost three years.

“You left me,” she whispered to the wind. “You promised you’d always love me, and when I needed you most you weren’t there.”

“Cecelia.” He was standing behind her now, close enough she could feel the brush of his clothes against her back. “I didn’t listen to the voicemail.”

The words sank in, and relief washed over her, but was quickly followed by confusion and pain.

If not her blindness, then why? What had she done to have pushed him away? To make him never want to speak to her again?

“Why not?” She could hardly breathe as she waited for the answer she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear.

“I didn’t listen to the voicemail,” he repeated slowly. His voice was closer now. She heard him take a steadying breath. “Because I thought you left me.”

“Why would I leave you?” He’d been her entire world.

“The file was on the floor.”

“File?” Her nose crinkled up in confusion. “What file?”

“The file—I’d left it at home. Didn’t realize until… when I came home and the papers were spread across the floor…” His hands ghosted over her arms for the briefest moment before abruptly pulling away. Her traitorous heart leapt and then fell at the almost touch.

“I know I should have told you sooner who I was—what I was… but I was so afraid. So afraid I’d lose you. And when I saw the plates on the table, I knew you’d been there. I thought you’d seen—”

Cecelia closed her eyes. Tried to remember that night. The intruder had held papers in his hands… had that been the file Hero was talking about? She remembered being surprised someone would think a firefighter would have information worth stealing.

“I didn’t read any files.”

“What?”

“By the time I got to the hospital…” Her voice gave out, and she couldn’t continue as the horror and the panic that she’d felt when the doctor gave his diagnosis hit her again.

“I thought you didn't want to come.” The admission tore out of the still-ragged part of her heart, and she distantly registered a pained noise coming from Hero, but she couldn’t stop the next words.

The ones that had beaten themselves into her mind and heart since she’d laid awake all night long on a stiff hospital bed, waiting for him to come. Praying he would come before her vision was completely gone, so she could see his face one last time. The words that had been the only explanation she’d been able to find for why the man who’d had a ring hidden in the back of the silverware drawer had abandoned her to face a darkening world alone.

“I thought you didn’t love me anymore because I was blind.”

Hero went completely still at her words. “Oh. Oh, darling, is that what you’ve thought all this time?”

She tilted her head down, wanting to hide from the warm gaze she could feel following every tear.

Leaves crunched beneath his feet as he slid closer.

“I have no right, at all, to ask. But please, please love, let me hold you.”

Anything she did now would only lead to more pain. So what if he hadn’t known about her blindness before? He knew now. And once the reality set in, once he saw the limitations of her disability, he wouldn’t stay. And she wouldn’t recover from the loss. Not this time.

But right now, all she wanted was to feel his arms around her again.

She gave the tiniest of nods.

With excruciating slowness, his hands rested against her face. His thumbs gently wiping away her tears before his hands slid down her shoulders and pulled her into the familiar circle of his arms.

Her arms came around him as she sobbed into his chest.

She was dimly aware of him leading her back to the bench, of him pulling her down beside him, but all she cared about was the hand running gently over her hair, the arm pulling her snug against him, and the way she still fit perfectly in his arms.

The moment ended too soon.

She felt his arms loosen, and though he didn’t pull away, she knew he wanted to.

“So you don’t know what was in the file.” His hand slid across her hair one more time before falling away.

“No.” What could possibly make her not love him? The worst thing she could imagine was if he’d cheated on her… and there was no way he’d done that.

“I kept it a secret for so long. I always knew one day you’d figure it out and I was terrified you’d leave me. And then when I came home to those damning papers strewn across the floor and my worst fears had come true. I thought your voicemail was goodbye, and I didn't listen to it because… well, I knew, I knew, love, that if I heard your voice one last time, I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from going after you. And if you wanted to leave, who was I to stop you?”

The words both healed and hurt, soothed and shattered the jagged pieces of her heart.

Cecelia leaned into Hero, unable to bear the distance he’d put between them any longer. His arms automatically came around her, but they were stiff, waiting.

So she asked.

“What was in the file?” What secret was so terrible you thought I would stop loving you?

His chin rested on the top of her head and his arm’s tightened around her, as though he was afraid she would pull away. She should. Every moment spent in his embrace would only make his inevitable departure more painful.

“Proof.” His voice was resigned as his arms dropped, taking away her choice. “Proof that I was—that I am Villain.”

✨ a huge thank you to @im-a-wonderling for helping me make this as tragic as possible bc she is the Queen of Beautiful Tragedy and thank you @shieldmaiden-of-gondor for letting me shatter your heart as a trial run- you’re both amazing ✨

Master Taglist:

@im-a-wonderling @shieldmaiden-of-gondor @watercolorfreckles @distance-does-not-matter @onestopheroxvillain @lolafaiy @chaoticgoodandi @1becky1 @tobeornottobeateacher @himynameisorla @superherosweet @brekker-by-brekkerr @crazytwentythrees @great-day-today @sunflower1000 @ill-eat-you-if-you-cross-me @selectivegeekwithstandards @chibicelloking @trantolette @sapphiques @jinpanman @genesissane @wish1bone1 @amongtheonedaisy @distractedlydistracted @kitsunesakii @glitterythief @jinx1365 @cherrychewingbrat @in-patient-princess

Trying out a general taglist- Lmk if you want to be added or removed :)

#tragic misunderstanding #no fluff just angst #I hope this makes you cry #@im-a-wonderling is the #queen of beautiful tragedy #the voicemail #hero x villain #hero #villain #heroes and villains #heroes x villains #snippet #my writing #write #writeblr #hero x civilian #villain x civillain #plot twist

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medusinestories · 3 years

Text

Onwards to the episode in which we get to see Flint and Silver each having a very bad day (as well as two literal dicks that nobody had asked to see).

Black Sails VII (s1 ep07)

- We open on Pastor Lambrick's sweaty face as he intensely rehearses the Easter sermon and he’s obviously eaten up by what he did with Miranda. His sermon, unsurprisingly, focuses on sin, keeping sin hidden, and the hell that awaits the sinner. Which leads us nicely onto Flint, who’s distracted (by his own sin? by thoughts of Miranda? both?) during a meeting with Eleanor. Eleanor is pissed that Miranda let Richard Guthrie send a message to the Andromache and then waltz into town to close up his business; Flint tries to take the heat off Miranda, once again protecting her (at this point, he may not know the contents of the letter).

- During this meeting, Flint is startled when Silver first speaks up to say that the mob in the street was bad - clearly Silver is a sort of intruder in this meeting. But Eleanor, after Silver reminds her by unsubtly clearing his throat, tells Flint that he’s not to harm Silver because he was instrumental in setting up the Consortium. Silver looks so pleased with himself in these scenes, and Flint quite defeated when he tells Silver to follow him back to their camp. I love it.

- To parallel Flint/Miranda’s Sulky Sex scene from ep4, we have Anne/Rackham’s frustrating/disconnected sex scene. It shows us a few things about them mainly that Anne wants to keep a lot of control over what happens, hence Rackham being tied up (though of course this might also be his kink), her wearing a shirt that covers up most of her body, and the reverse cowgirl position that means that she’s both in control of what happens and completely avoids eye contact. The position reminds us of the Flint/Miranda scene, where Miranda was also on top, but their scene involved more eye contact (yes glaring counts, he’s still intensely focused on Miranda), gentle touching (on Miranda’s side) and her being naked and open to him. Another parallel is that both Flint and Rackham aren’t in the right frame of mind for sex, Flint being angry and Rackham lost in a sea of worries (and probably also somewhat angry/disappointed at Anne for forcing him into the plot to kill their crewmates). The difference between Flint and Rackham is that while Flint doesn’t seem to have any trouble performing, Rackham is miles away and doesn’t even notice that he’s lost his erection - again. Anne is frustrated by this, and apparently knows him well enough that she offers to put something up his arse, but he’s clearly not in the mood, and she leaves in a huff, abandoning him all tied up as a sort of revenge for his performance problems. Whatever the problem is between them isn’t put into words (because Anne can’t yet, for starters), unlike the one between Flint and Miranda. The intimacy between Rackham and Anne, so often described as close partners, seems much more distant to me than the one shown between Flint and Miranda. I’m not sure whether it’s because of anyone’s sexual orientation, or just the fact that they’re fucking but they’ve never discussed the big important things, such as Anne’s identity/feelings/etc.

- In this episode, Dufresne gains a lot of power: with a freshly (and badly) shaved head and a new tattoo, he’s been promoted to Quartermaster on the Walrus in Billy’s place. And very quickly he has a problem to deal with: Randall revealing that Silver stole the page. Gates had actually already told this to Dufresne, as is revealed at the end of the episode, which might explain why Dufresne is relatively calm during the whole conversation, while DeGroot wants Silver and Flint hanged and Howell is surprisingly ruthless: he brings up the idea that it may be better to kill off Randall in order to get to the treasure, if they can’t make sure he’ll keep quiet about Silver being the thief. Dufresne is actually quite kind towards Silver in the scene where he puts Silver’s memory to the test - a test that could result in his death if he fails it and that Silver constantly grumbles against (I love his grumbling!). Basically, at this point Dufresne remains quite a sympathetic character, which will change a lot as the show goes on, especially after Jannes Eiselen had to leave the show (such a sad story, RIP Jannes).

- In the meantime, the Flint and Gates relationship is crumbling. It's sad to see, especially since they're shown sharing chuckles as they talk about Dufresne's appointment in the beginning of the episode. But then Gates brings up the subject of Miranda and demands explanations about the letter Billy found. We're not shown exactly what Flint answers, but it's clear that he's actually trying his best to give him an explanation without incriminating Miranda too badly. The sad thing is that Flint is actually telling the truth: he actually wasn't involved in any betrayal of his crew and and can only guess at Miranda's motivations. But the fact that he's lied time and again in previous situations, including on the Maria Aleyne where he claimed Lord Alfred drew a weapon on him (and Gates secretly verified that this was a lie), and used men as pawns to advance his and Miranda's plans, is now catching up to him. Flint seems truly hurt when Gates accuses him of using the men for his own purposes, and turns spiteful, telling Gates that he should have been "a better father" to Billy and helped him "understand the world he was living in" (suggesting that such a forthright character as Billy can't really survive in a world of pirates who are all ready to stab each other in the back). After that slap in the face, Gates says he's exhausted from Flint and threatens to take it to the crew. Somehow, this pushes Flint to bare all: he tells Gates about his plan to keep a part of the treasure and use it to build up Nassau, depicting himself as a sort of saviour, doing it for the men's good: they'd rather be rich men in a safe place than dead thieves hanging from a noose. Gates sees this as delusions of grandeur, and tells him that while he'll see the Urca plot through, after that they're done. I actually think he sees Flint’s point, since he doesn’t just throw him to the crew, but won’t admit that out loud. The whole of this scene hurts bad, because you can tell that Flint is desperate and sad to be losing his closest ally and friend, and that Gates is hurting from the loss of Billy and exhausted from the toxic relationship he has with Flint, where he's played enabler to his manipulations for years.

- While Flint and Gates’ alliance is breaking, Silver has to forge one with Randall or die. Randall finds out in the beginning of the episode that he’s been voted out of the crew. This is apparently due to DeGroot’s fears that Randall could be a fire hazard, which the crew took disproportionately to heart. Randall is furious with Silver, who smugly tells him that in these situations, a setback often comes with a new or unexpected opportunity. He’s right, but at this point he doesn’t know that he is the opportunity Randall’s going to latch on. Randall reveals that Silver is a thief, and Silver denies it, saying that Randall is both a halfwit and was in a haze of opium when he heard what he thought he heard; he even tries to convince Randall that he was mistaken (this, my friends, is gaslighting). However, by revealing that Silver was the thief, Randall sets a chain of events into motion which could either end with his death (if Howell has his way, since Randall is an inconvenient witness) or Silver’s (if DeGroot tips the balance, not trusting Silver to remember the coordinates and not wanting to sacrifice Randall for nothing). Silver figures out that these are the outcomes, and tries to talk sense into Randall by making a deal with him: he’ll care for Randall and make sure he can stay on the ship. But it’s only when Silver finally admits that he is the thief and that Randall was right, that Randall accepts the deal. Later, Silver realises that Randall might have orchestrated the whole thing: he’s now got Silver to serve him, doesn’t have to take any risks on the ship, and gets to remain with the crew. Silver wonders if Randall is a genius rather than a halfwit (a word thrown about a lot to describe him). And it seems quite obvious, considering what happened, that Randall still has strong survival skills (an amputee with impaired cognitive skills doesn’t stand a chance of survival outside a crew and he must be aware of it), that he still has a good memory and an ability to pick out useful information and that he’s aware enough of what’s going on to be upset by the crew’s rejection and Silver’s attempt to gaslight him. I think it’s important to recognise that Randall is more than a comic relief or a grotesque character: he’s a disabled man who's lost parts of his cognitive ability and is struggling to survive.

- This episode focuses on Vane facing his past. He seeks out the island where he grew up and its master, Albinus. I’d forgotten or never really registered that Albinus was a pirate and that the men who work for him were mostly his crew - and likely slaves (or children, hence Vane?) that he managed to capture/press into service. He’s retired from pirating and set up a system where his men cut down trees for timber all day, without wages. It’s not clear exactly how he holds so much power over these men, although it seems that everyone is terrified of him. He’s extremely strong physically, seems shrewd, speaks rather well, and his tattoos suggest that maybe he’s involved in some kind of ritual (truly religious or just for show?) which would make him all the more scary to superstitious people. Vane is clearly still frightened: he barely makes eye contact and practically stutters when he first tries to make the deal with Albinus, which is that he’ll take some of Albinus’ men as crew and send Albinus part of their earnings as tribute. It says a lot about Albinus that Vane, after years of having run away, is still so scares that he’s willing to pay him a tribute. But he changes his mind as he stares at a boy bearing the same brand as he does: he tries to persuade the men that Nassau is a pace of pleasures rather than hard labour, and confronts Albinus. The fight is brutal and ends with Vane buried naked, just after Albinus tells him that he’s proud of him. But of course Vane wouldn’t be Vane if he didn’t rise from the dead at the last minute and kill Albinus, goaded on by his inner Eleanor voice.

- In the meantime, Mr Scott returns to Eleanor, apologising for what he did, telling her he betrayed her out of love. However he also reminds her of his slave status: technically, he belongs to her. The argument upsets her, and he quite cleverly uses this moment to ask her to free the slaves who were on the Andromache. And it works: by the end of the episode, she’s made arrangements for the men to work on ships and has bought the women’s freedom and found them jobs in her tavern. But Mr Scott has still decided to leave Eleanor to join Hornigold’s crew, to refrain from meddling with Eleanor’s affairs, since he disagrees with her so strongly re: the Urca. Hornigold approached him earlier in the episode, and the introduction to that scene is quite interesting: Hornigold says to Mr Scott “I’ll need to know your secret” and Mr Scott looks startled and frightened. It seems that he’s startled because he’d been giving food to the slaves, but in light of S3, it could be a much greater secret that’s being referred to. Mr Scott is relieved when he realises that Hornigold is simply talking about tolerating Eleanor, who he clearly can’t stand.

- Flint’s bad day continues, of course, with the big confrontation he has with Miranda. He’s furious about the letter (of which he now knows the contents thanks to Gates), telling her that it could have got him killed, or destroyed the plans they’d made and asking her whether she was trying to embarrass him. This sounds so weirdly petty, and yet it also sounds exactly like the kind of argument that would come up in a bickering couple. Miranda answers that she was trying to help him out of that life, because she wants to move on. This is where Miranda utters the famous “there is no life here, there is no joy here, there is no love here”. I noticed that, covered by Flint yelling at her, and distorted because her voice has gone very shrill, Miranda says another line, which sounds like “you used to love, then”. If that really is what she says, it’s extra-extra-extra heartbreaking to hear (if someone wants to check it for me, it’s around 35:40). It’s obvious that Flint and Miranda’s views on life are very different, and I can’t help but think back to the fact that, as a carpenter’s son from the country, Flint has had to struggle all his life to become who he is. So when he says that you can’t get a life without having a war, and Miranda tells him he’s wrong, she’s speaking entirely from the point of view of her privilege. She’s never needed to fight as hard as he has to be happy, because she got extremely lucky in marrying Thomas. And when she says that Thomas would agree with her, I’m certain she’s right. But life has never been like that for Flint, and there’s no way he’ll ever entirely agree with their point of view. Rewatching this scene is tough, btw, because they both have great points, they’re both hurting so much, and there’s so much to take in between the body language, the facial expressions, the tones of voice and the actual words that it’s a whole whirlwind. And it feels very, very real.

- It’s absolutely hilarious to see Rackham get robbed by the whores taking advantage of his lack of knowledge (and research). He should absolutely have done a better job and has no clue how to run a brothel. He’s lucky Max takes things in hand after having heard from Idelle that the girls were taking advantage.

- Then we have the beautiful Drunk Flint scene. Eleanor notices him feeling very sorry for himself after Gates has pretty much broken up with him and he’s still reeling from fighting with by Miranda. I think Flint feels very misunderstood here. He thought that he was doing something good, to save Nassau and avenge Thomas, and doesn’t understand why they can’t see it, why they only see the terrible methods he uses to reach his goals. So he’s full of doubt, clearly wondering if he’s the villain of the story, and puts the question to Eleanor: is their plan worth it? Eleanor is the only person who still believes in him, which leads us to the only scene that I would ever call straight-baiting. Flint hovers near Eleanor, breathing heavily, and a variety of emotions play over her face during this moment of tension, as she seems to think this is leading to a kiss. It does, he gives her a chaste little forehead kiss and leaves. All the elements are in place to make your average viewer start shipping these two. I actually find it hilarious that the ship barely exists in the fandom (though I wasn’t there in the beginning of the fandom and I guess the viewership changed a lot between S1 and S4).

- The scene with Flint and Gates glaring at each other from their respective ships and Parson’s Farewell playing in the background... epic! We know this is the beginning of a big struggle between them, especially since we find out that Gates has pretty much decided that he’ll hand Flint over to the crew once they get the money. But nnnnggh that scene! The ships leaving on their hunt! Awesome and heartbreaking!

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midnightseonghwa · 3 years

Text

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 | 𝐤.𝐲𝐬

𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐮 - 𝟒

✕𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Merman!Yeosang x Drowning!Reader

✕𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mermaid, Halloween Au, fluff

✕𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 4.5k+

✕𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: Arms crossed over your heart, you’re ready to fling yourself off the edge of a cliff but good thing Yeosang is there to save you. Alternatively: “To hold a love that knows no elements.”

✕𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Strong langauge, mentions of death, suicide and drowning. Yeosang is shirtless (he’s a merman...). He’s quite fascinated with you, slightly obsessive themes and stalkerish themes.

✕𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: Unedited

✕𝐀/𝐍: Remember that this is fiction. Enjoy! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist. Leave a comment under this post or message me! Here is the mernman Yeosang...oh boy...how exciting! I hope you like it! I watched his v live where he wore the pumpkin hat and oh my god! He looked so cute with his little ponytail. This took me wayyyyyy too long to write and I know many of you were excited and stuff but like I’m not very satisfied with how this turned out? I will revisit this once I’m done with all au-s.

✕𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @pancakes-for-teddy

✕𝐀𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜: Here

The waves crashed into the rocks under you as you peeked down at the sea with dried tear stains on your cheeks.

"(Y/n)," a voice called out from the back and you closed your eyes, not wanting to hear your brother's voice for a second longer.

"G-go...go away, Seonghwa," you said, your voice tight and scratchy. Hiccups escaped your mouth, each one making the bruises on your chest hurt more.

The ocean wind whipped at your hair, making it stick to your wet cheeks and the snot running down your face.

"(Y/n), you're being stupid again. Step away from there, now," he said and walked closer with his hand stretched out.

"That's all I am for you anyway. Stupid," you spat but your voice got lost in the wind, your sobs overpowering and breaking each syllable.

"Come on, (Y/n)..." Seonghwa huffed in distress and reached out further for you.

"You don't have to do this. Please, just think it through."

His words fell on deaf ears, every thought leaving your head empty and spiralling.

"I've thought about it enough, Seonghwa. It's time for me to take action."

With that, you crossed your arms over your thumping heart and threw yourself off the cliff, every regret leaving your body.

You were finally free.

Silence surrounded your shivering form as you floated through the blue abyss. It felt as if someone had stuffed cotton in your ears. The water felt smooth and silky and left every part of your skin caressed with the hands of the ocean.

The salt stung your eyes as you managed to open them. The world above you looking blue through the lens with the refracted rays of white sunlight hitting your form. Trying to desperately blink away any sort of illusion, you felt a burning feeling rise in your chest.

The fire was so great, spreading through your entire body before you started struggling, pushing yourself up with your hands but no matter how close you thought you were to the surface, you never seemed to reach it.

That's when you realised...you were going to die.

You had wanted it, standing above sea level, ignoring your brother. But now, all you really wanted was...air.

Were you really free?

Your hands thrashed around the water, trying to grab onto anything that might provide you with aid but the quiet hum of the ocean waves above you reminded you that there was nothing.

You were alone, just as you had been your entire life.

The pain in your chest started subsiding to a dull throb and you felt your eyes grow heavy, the liquid weighing down on them. Forcing them to stay open, you thrashed around with the last of your might but to no avail, you started fading.

Eyes fluttering close, you felt your throat close up, the last bit of oxygen leaving your body. With an impending sense of doom, you closed your eyes, hoping that the ocean would spit you out instead of swallowing you whole.

You coughed. Once, twice and a third time until you shot awake, salty water flooding out of your system, each hack paining your lungs and causing your body to shake. Your hair was stuck to your face, every strand, dead and dry as reached up to wring the water out of it.

The ground under your limbs was hard and cold. Icicles shooting up your legs, rendering them numb and disabled.

"You...you're awake," you heard someone call and take a breath of relief. Whipping your head around, you squinted and examined your surrounding trying to figure out if you were already dead or not.

"Purgatory sure is shit," you muttered and took a deep breath of the salty air before stopping and looking around again.

"Is purgatory under the ocean?" You asked, completely bewildered, feeling even more lost when a certain figure attracted the attention of your eyes.

"Who...?" You trailed off and rubbed at your eyes, the reminiscent salt making your eyes sting, scratching it raw.

The figure was looking at you with narrowed eyes. His skin and hair as pale as snow, the upper portion of his body completely...naked. His porcelain skin was almost glinting in contrast to the onyx rocks as he sat with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Who are you?" The question tumbled from your lips before your brain had even registered your situation.

"Kang Yeosang," he said and you heard a bit of splashing in the water below.

Curiously, you let your eyes drift down and almost screamed at the sight of a tail instead of legs. Pushing yourself against the hard rock wall, you swallowed the gasp that was threatening to bubble up your throat and clapped a hand over your mouth. Eyes roaming, you studied his tail. The rich blue scales glistened as the little light reflected off it and his fins curved in, delicately, a translucent blue. The scales looked as if they were sequins made of the finest sapphires and were sewed in by the most skilled hands.

A bit extravagant for a Halloween costume.

"You have a tail," you stuttered out and crawled forward to the edge of the rock platform you had been placed on. The water beneath you was a dark murky blue, the depths of it unfathomable as the creatures lurked underneath.

"You're stating the obvious," the male snorted and pushed himself off the rock, swimming towards you with an offhanded curiosity that glittered in his eyes.

Approaching your figure close to the jagged edge of the rocks, he held his hand out and you found yourself slowly leaning towards him, eyes wide as you got lost in his, the dark brown surrounding you with a sense of normalcy.

His touch was soft, unlike his narrowed eyes and snarky look. Dainty fingers traced your jaw as they tapped along your cheeks and played with your hair strands.

You observed all his sharp but delicate features as they matched the energy of the sea, every wave like his unflickering eyes. Before you knew it, you were leaning closer to the water, closer to where he was before he jerked you back by the shoulder, the tip of your nose almost touching the water.

"For a species that's supposed to be smart, you sure are stupid," Yeosang said and checked you over once before swimming further into the water. Resuming your position against the rock wall again, you brought your knees up to your chest, wiggling your toes to get rid of the freezing numbness was that was taking over.

"You humans have such odd features," Yeosang commented as he swam around a bit before resting his arms and head on the rock platform. His platinum blond hair stuck to his forehead as some of the strands came down into his eyes.

"And what do you know about humans?" You asked and narrowed your eyes a bit, getting oddly defensive at his careless comment.

"Nothing actually. I've always heard about them from my brothers. You're the first one I'm seeing up close."

Gulping, you crossed your legs and leaned against the rocks, the pointed edges digging into your back, making every small move uncomfortable.

"When can I go home?" You asked to no one in particular but Yeosang just snorted and flicked some water at you.

"The one I caught drowning, now wants to go home?"

There was a certain sarcasm in his voice that just didn't sit right with you. He had stabbed you right where the festering wound was and you bit your lip, swallowing every bit of abuse and inhaled the salty ocean air instead.

"Can you at least tell me where I am?"

Yeosang looked around, the moon had now risen on top of you and was visible from a tiny hole in the rocky walls.

"An island a couple kilometres from where you jumped," he said as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

You looked around once more, seeing nothing but saltwater dripping from onyx coloured rocks and more pointed edges.

"How do I get out of here?" You said Yeosang gave a bit of a sad look.

"Why would you want to leave? Just live here! You didn't want to live anyways so you can think of this as your fresh start." Yeosang rushed before his face turned a bright red and he ducked his head into the water.

The words that flew out of his mouth were fast and didn't quite register in your head until you went through every letter he had uttered.

"Huh...?" Were the only words that left your mouth until you heard a huff from Yeosang who had now begun to swim away. It was strange to you that a half fish-man would have any sort of fascination with you even if it was purely just scientific.

But then again, you are the first human he's ever seen up close.

You watched with a confused face as Yeosang's blue tail flipped on the surface before disappearing into the blue abyss again.

Yeosang swam through the reef as he came face to face with his older brother, Hongjoong.

"Where have you been?" He asked, the red scales on his tail resembling a fiery colour.

"Somewhere," Yeosang replied and tried to move past his brother when a hand caught him.

"Wooyoung said he saw you lurking by the surface again, says that you've brought a human into the ocean."

Hongjoong's voice was cold and hostile. In entire merfolk history, never has a human ever been intertwined with their kind and for good reason. Humans were simply just too extreme for their own good. See something pretty, they'll hunt it until it's extinct. See something foreign and they'll alienate it.

"And what if I have?" Yeosang bit back with a snarl in his voice getting defensive about the human he had been observing for a while now.

"What's so special about this human," Hongjoong said and Yeosang found himself thinking back to the first day he saw you.

You had been sitting on one of the rock clusters near the beach, crying. Bleeding from the strange fingers that you had attached to your lower body as you furiously wiped at the blood with seawater, only for it to sting some more.

Absolutely fascinated by your odd state, Yeosang found himself lurking by the surface often, just to catch a glimpse of you.

He heard those other humans call you by your names, (Y/n) and what a pretty name he thought it was. Prettier than any of the pearls he would collect from the sea.

And oh, how his heart almost stopped when he saw you floating alone in the empty ocean. He had seen you enough to understand that you couldn't breathe in water. You didn't have the gills he did at the side of his neck. You needed that foul-smelling air to survive.

"I saved that human," he replied watched as Hongjoong's eyes widened before narrowing distastefully.

"Where are you keeping the human?" He asked in a clipped tone and Yeosang's shoulder dropped before he told his elder brother of the small island he was keeping you on.

"Return this human to the surface, Yeosang. And make sure we never hear of this again."

With that, Hongjoong swam away, his red tail flicking aggressively as he pushed himself through the water disappearing from Yeosang's view.

Yeosang watched as his elder brother swam away with sad eyes. He had only begun to exchange a few words with you and his brother was already telling him to return you to the surface. But he knew the truth. Yeosang knew how much you hated the surface, there was nothing for you there! At least under the sea, you'd have him and maybe even his brothers after they come around.

Sinking to the ocean floor, Yeosang let out a few tears fall out of his eyes and watched as they turned to sea glass, hitting the sandy floor before getting washed away with the slow current.

He's going to have to return you to the surface.

The ground beneath you was soft and warm and you were reminded of the warm sun that would often soak your bones as you played with Seonghwa in the backyard of your childhood home. It was different that time, the chilling cold of loneliness never cracked at your bones and you were satisfied with your, completely wholesome.

"You...you're awake," you heard a voice say as you sat up, clutching the back of your head in pain. You were half expecting the half fish-man to greet you again but instead, you saw Seonghwa's piercing gaze looking down at you with furrowed eyebrows.

"(Y/n), don't you ever do that again," he said as he collected you in his arms and held you close.

You bit back the feeling of sadness that bubbled up in the back of your throat. You never wanted to see Seonghwa again, your elder brother who had made the recent past of your life a living hell but yet, he tried to talk you down and then was also the one to find you.

You had every reason to be grateful to an extent.

"Seonghwa, just..." you trailed off and pushed your brother off you slightly, dusting the sand that clung to every crevice of your body.

A lump of green caught your eye as you moved to lift yourself up from the sand. Clutching the small parcel like thing, you unwrapped what seemed to be seaweed to find small pieces of translucent sea glass that thrummed under the sweltering sun of the beach. Each one had a blue-ish colour and the familiar blue hue of the half fish-man's tail crept into your head. Shaking your head, you wrapped the seaweed again and tucked the small parcel into drenched clothes.

"Let's go home, (Y/n)," Seonghwa said as he pulled you forcefully towards town.

Looking back over your shoulder one last time, you blinked as you saw a mop of platinum blond hair bop in the ocean. Just as you snatched your hand out of Seonghwa's to go closer, the ocean stilled again, leaving you with nothing but the curling waves.

"You're thinking about that human," San, one of Yeosang's brothers stated with a sigh as he settled next to Yeosang on the rock.

"No..." Yeosang trailed off and watched the fragments of sea glass drift away into the ocean current that glittered under the sunlight.

"Yes, you are," San pushed and Yeosang just sighed, ripping one of the seaweeds out of its roots and tearing it apart in frustration.

"I'm just so fascinated by (Y/n). There's something about that human that calls to me, San," he said and pouted at the fish that floated through the coral reef.

"Then go to them," San concluded with a determined tone and Yeosang just looked at his brother with narrowed eyes.

"Hongjoong would never allow that," he said and flicked the end of his tail, losing all hope and sulking.

San sighed in frustration and grabbed Yeosang by the arm, dragging him through the ocean by his arm, inching closer to the surface.

Breaking through the water surface, San and Yeosang settled near a cluster of rocks, the wind whistling and mixing with the ocean sunlight.

Human littered the shore, some walking their dogs and others just sitting on the sand. Yeosang's eyes searched for yours but in a crowd filled with strange limbs, he never saw yours.

"(Y/n)'s not here" he sighed and dived back into the ocean, San following.

As Seonghwa dragged you through town, you found yourself cowering under the gaze of all the individuals you thought you had left behind. The stares and the whispers, isolating you from the world just as they had before.

Seonghwa didn't stop until he had reached your room and pushed you inside of it.

"You're going to stay here until I deem it safe for you to go out again. What do you think mother and father would've thought if they saw you now, huh?" He demanded and you hung your head in shame.

The sound of Seonghwa exiting the room and locking the door echoed through the drab grey walls as you sat on the single bed with white bedsheets wallowing away in your self-pity and loneliness as you had in the past.

Days passed and you found yourself teetering on the edge of insanity, with nothing but the grey walls staring back at you.

Trying your luck for the fourth time today, you banged your hand against the door as the sound of footsteps shuffled closer.

"Seonghwa...please...just please let me out. I'm going to crazy in here," you cried and banged on the door one last time before your brother's face appeared in front of you.

"(Y/n)," he sighed and pushed a plate of food into your hands before closing the door again.

Only this time, you jammed your foot in between, preventing your elder brother from closing the door.

"What-" he started but wasn't able to finish as you thrust the plate of food into his hand, shoving him aside and running towards the front door and throwing yourself to the wind.

Seonghwa watched with frustration in his eyes as you ran, barefoot through the town.

This time, he'd have to let you go, his little sister.

Yeosang yelped with peaking curiosity and a racing heart as he saw a human sitting on the same cluster of rocks he had first seen you on. Said human was bleeding from their toes, scrubbing at them with saltwater furiously.

The merman found himself thinking about you again as he inched closer, hoping it was you.

Ripples formed in the water under you, causing you to look up and squint into the distance. A familiar blue tail diving into the distance caught your attention as you hurried to your feet, diving into the ocean again, trying your best to follow the tail.

The gashes on your feet stung with the salt being rubbed in the wounds but you wanted to catch the blue tail. Your lungs burned, the lack of oxygen reaching your head, making you dizzy.

Before you knew it, a hand reached to grab your ankle, pulling you close and into their chest. You opened your eyes, eyeball stinging as you saw Yeosang in front of you, his platinum blond hair sticking up in the water.

You opened your mouth in shock, a rush of bubbles leaving your mouth as Yeosang drew you close and pressed his lips to yours.

There was a sense of urgency in the kiss, desperation that you had never felt as he moulded his lips against yours, air entering your system, flooding it to life.

You pushed yourself away from him, feet kicking as you tried to reach the surface, clawing at our throat to rid the closing feeling.

Yeosang rubbed at your arms in an indication to calm down.

"(Y/n), just calm down and take deep breaths," he said and but you shook your head and continued to struggle, pulling away from him with thrashing arms.

He was trying to kill you.

"Just please, let me go. I'll find a way to go back to the island you had held me on, I don't want to die like this," you said and breathed in only for Yeosang to chuckle and stroke your cheek.

He found you so impossibly endearing that his brother's words felt like some sort of blur in his mind.

"You can breathe fine," he said and let you go, only for you to freeze up and take another breath just to make sure you weren't dreaming.

Your throat opened up and found yourself taking deeper inhales just to put Yeosang's theory to test.

"Holy shit," you whispered as you stared at the blue-tailed boy in front of you.

"How did you...what did you?" Your lack of words made Yeosang smile as he swam towards you slowly, pulling you by the arm and leading you deeper into the water,

The water shimmered under the sunlight that reached the surface as the bottom morphed into an inky blue. Fish of different colours swam by you as they tickled your skin, giggles escaping you at the sensation.

Yeosang stayed quiet as he watched you marvel at everything his world could offer.

If only he was a human or you were a mermaid, maybe he would have an actual chance at winning your heart. This thought made Yeosang frown as his heart dropped to his stomach. His sensitive scales bristled against the water due to his sudden mood change and you felt the water around you get colder.

"Are you okay, fish-man?" You asked and drew your eyebrows in with concern.

Yeosang shook his head and scoffed lightly, trying his best to change his mood and divert your attention to another topic.

"My name isn't fish-man. It's Yeosang, I've already mentioned it to you before."

There was a tone of annoyance in his voice and you couldn't help but give him a playful smile which he happily returned.

Swimming further, Yeosang led you back to the small island where you had first woken up.

Hosting yourself up onto the rocks, you looked around at the drab atmosphere and inhaled, feeling good to have some oxygen in you.

"Isn't there any vegetation here?" You asked and Yeosang just tilted his head in confusion.

"This is the only part that's connected to the water. You can try and find a way out but I won't be able to help you," he said and brought the tip of his fins out of the tail, flicking some water at you.

"Oh, alright," you said, slightly disheartened at the reminder that Yeosang wasn't human like you.

Yeosang must have seen the drop of your expression as he quickly swam up to you and hoisted himself up so that he was at the same level as you.

"You'll never be alone, though," he said and pushed some of your wet hair out of your face.

"You're still a stranger to me," you whispered back and he smiled.

"You're not one to me and I'll try my best to not be one to you either. Although now that I've saved your life twice, I would say we're past the stranger phase."

You gave a dry laugh and squeezed some of the water out of your clothes causing the seaweed wrapped sea glass fragments to fall out.

You reached up to tuck it back into your clothes when Yeosang's hand grabbed it first.

"You...you found this?" He asked and you nodded, slightly scared he was going to accuse you fo stealing something precious.

"What is it?" You asked, voice pitchy as you tried to hide your growing panic.

"My tears," he said and you found all panic fade as sadness replaced it instead.

Silence lingered in the air as you stared at the translucent blue glass pieces.

"I'm sorry," you whispered and he just shook his head.

"It's alright, I left them with you for a reason. I just didn't think you would find them, let alone keep them," he finished and pushed himself back into the water.

"They're very tragically beautiful," you said and laid them out in front of you. They had faded in colour a little but they still no doubt resembled Yeosang's blue tail.

"My brothers just don't understand my fondness for you," he sighed and pushed himself below the water before raising his eyes to meet you again.

You pushed your legs forward, just enough to dip your toes into the water.

Yeosang swam around in circles before stopping in front of you.

"Hey, (Y/n)," he said and cocked his head like a little puppy asking for a treat.

You hummed in response, completely ignoring the fact that he knew your name even though you never told him.

"Who's that human that always makes you sad? He was there when I saw you jump from the cliff."

The question made you stiffen and stare at your toes as they dipped in and out of the water.

"His name's Seonghwa...he's my elder brother," you said and Yeosang just nodded, oddly watching your legs.

"I don't like him," he concluded like a small child and you laughed, tilting your head back and Yeosang swore it was the prettiest sound that had ever graced his ears.

"I don't either," you said and rested your chin on your folded elbows that were rested on top of your knees.

"I can sacrifice him to the sirens, if you want," Yeosang suggested and you laughed again.

"That's so romantic," you said and smiled at the way Yeosang's face lit up.

"Anything for you," he said and your heart soared at the declaration. This half fish-man wore his heart on his sleeve and it seemed as if it was for you.

"Thank you, that'd be nice."

Silence once again engulfed the atmosphere as you watched Yeosang play with the water. It was comforting to hear the water drip from the jagged edges of the rock.

"Hey, (Y/n)," he asked once again and you raised your head.

"Yeah?"

"What are those strange things attached to your lower body?" He asked with a certain childlike innocence that made you want to coo and stroke his hair.

"You mean..." you sniggered and pulled your legs closer.

"My legs?" Your lips curled up into a smile as you broke out into the heartiest laughter that ever racked your body.

"Oh, they're called legs. What about those small fingers?" He said and touched one of your toes, swimming back slightly when you wiggled them in his face.

"They're called toes," you said and watched in inhumane curiosity as Yeosang inspected them, only to bring his face close and sniff them.

"What are you- no! You're not supposed to put them in your mouth! Yeosang, stop!"

The waves crashed onto the shore as you peeked down at the sea with a smile on your face.

The sun was bright above your head as the cool wind blew through your hair, making you close your eyes and reminisce in the feeling.

"(Y/n)," you heard a voice call and you giggled at the smooth tone of the voice that was calling your name.

"Are you ready?" Yeosang called and you smiled, crossing your arms over your chest and jumping into the water below, squealing due to the pure delight.

Landing in the water with a gush of bubbles, Yeosang wrapped you in his arms, pulling you close for a kiss as he gifted you with the ability to breathe underwater.

"Let's go," he said and you nodded, letting yourself be pulled by Yeosang as you watched his blue scales twinkle in the ocean and his tail flicker seamlessly along with the current.

You were finally free.

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nebraska-is-a-myth · 4 years

Text

The pilot episode - Dream team crime au part2

Part two of the crime au I first posted, this is a direct continuation of the events that were taking place in the original. More from the dream team criminal organization coming soon if you want more. ( Maybe featuring other next time such as the sleepy bois and Skeppy&co )

part 1 here & part3

Masterlist

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The deaths aren't shown on camera, whether that was purposeful or at fault of dreams trigger happy entrance no one knows, but you can see the bullets fire. Pools of blood seep into frame and droplets of it splatter at the trio, George is still squirming where he stands, looking at sapnap and dream in awe. He almost looked surprised it worked. They don't stay in place much longer however, the camera faintly picks up the noise of loud voices and guns being cocked, but those were out of frame too.

Without warning the camera angle changes, it's angled at the bottom of a hallway so that you can see dream standing at the end of it, and the back of an armed officer's head. It then cuts quickly to the hallway opposite, where sapnap mirrors dreams actions at another officer. Dream shouts for them to step back and put their weapons down and sapnap cocks his head to the side as if to say “you heard him”.

It cuts back to dream as the officer complies, holstering his weapon and walking backwards. As he turns around the camera catches his face, no emotion,no fear, and graying hairs on both his balding head and in his beard. The man had clearly been in the force for some time, any rookie would have attempted to confront the masked men in combat, wanting to prove themselves and become the hero of the day. Dream was almost upset that the man complied to his demand. Clearly seeking more of a thrill, dream puts the end of his gun to the back of the man's head and continues his strides, positioning the man in front of him like a human shield against any aggravated hostages.

The camera then changes positions 3 times, once to show both sapnap and dream walking into the main room with the two officers in front of them. Again to show the majority of the open space, and the hostages hiding underneath desks and a few people in the holding cell. And again a final time to reveal a few more hostages and another officer eyeing the back of the room rather suspiciously.

George eyes the screen on his homemade device and switches between the camera determining which view of the room gives the best angle, tongue poking between his teeth as he concentrates before settling on camera number 7 and following down the halway dream took, duffel bag in hand.

He hears the commotion ahead of him, hears the other people cowering in the room begging for their lives. Pleading saying they've done nothing wrong, some haven't, most have. George laughs to himself at the thought.

“Oh dreeeaaam” The younger boy smiles as he bounds into the room, he sets the duffel bag down by the masked man and continues his journey round to the back of the open room besides the desk the young officer he caught staring at earlier. He sits on top of the empty desk, kicking his legs back and forth like a child. Dream watches him, and watches where George's eyes have settled.

“Anything interesting george?” He knows its something, he knows the delighted look on george’s face that screams ‘I know what you did’. He knows that there is a panic button somewhere in the station, assumes that's what's gotten his friend so riled up. But he stays quiet and lets George have his fun.

“I don't know, but Mr grayham here seems to know something we don't.” George looks at his device for a moment, changing angles so the man under the desk is revealed to the audience before quickly glancing back to the officer who is now audibly in shock. “How do you know who I am?”

Dream laughs and sapnap once again smiles under his mask, georges face never wavers from his already joyous expression.

“Oh please.” Dream chuckles, startling the officer. “Don't think you're special samuel. We know all of you.”

The room goes silent

“Just let us go please, we've done nothing wro-”

A shot rings out and the hostages recoil.

sapnap lowers his gun and looks at dream just to shrug his shoulders and point his gun back at the group of hostages scattered around the room

Dream shakes his head and smiles “Oh well, she was a sex offender anyway. But lay off the executions for now sap, gotta let georgey do his thing.” Sapnap rolls his eyes and Dream signals to George for them to swap places. The younger boy hops off of the desk and over to the duffel he left at the front of the room, he pulls equipment out of the bag and starts to assemble what looks like a high tech camera.

Dream takes George's place by the desk but instead of sitting on it, he begins rifling through the draws. “I know you know something samuel.” Dream pulls out notebooks and pencils and files and scatters them across the floor behind him, his gun is pointed directly at Samuel and the man gulps rather loudly. He looks too young to be on the force, and Dream knows his grades werent the thing to get him this position. “Do you want to tell me what you know, or do you want me to tell you what I know.”

The masked man looks over to George and the younger boy nods, positioning the camera and adjusting the lens, giving dream the go ahead to get started.

“Get up” He says calmly as he continues inspecting the desk. He waits for Samuel to move but he doesn't even attempt to stand, and now, now dreams mad. He aims his gun and pulls the trigger in one swift movement, shooting Samuel's left foot and pressing the but of his gun into the wound when the man yelps in agony. “I said get up! When a man with a gun asks you politely to do something, you do it!”

Samuel squirms and whines as he stumbles to his feet, making his knuckles turn white as he grips the desk for support. Dream watches as his face pales and his legs shake, he trails the gun up his body as he moves and stretches his arm so that the end of it grazes samuels chest. The masked man relishes in the way the young officer flinches at the touch, his anger almost subsides from the excitement of it all. But Samuel still isn't talking, and dream is still mad.

“Samuellll” Dream drags out his name in a similar way that George did previously and pushes his weapon harshly into the other man's rib cage. “ Did you press, the button or not samuel!”

The young officer blubbers and stumbles through his words, trying to play the fool and pretend he was oblivious to what dream wanted to know. The man in question sighs and rolls his head back to the side to catch sapnaps eye, his eyebrows raised and lips pursed. They are both becoming seemingly more annoyed with the situation at hand and George captures the moment on camera. The smiling boy captures the way sapnaps cheeks rise as he watches dream shoot Samuel in the chest. The masked man doesn't flinch at the noise, rather it looks as though he wishes it was him pulling the trigger and ending the officer's life. George zooms in and you can see how desperately sapnap wants to speak, to finally calm his quiet trigger happy mind.

The night goes on, Dream reveales to the camera that the panic button in the station had been disabled hours prior to the start of the show, and that Samuel had died for nothing. Nothing except entertainment.

George mans the camera for most of the night as the other gunmen cycle through the hostages one by one, explaining how each and every one of them deserved to be executed at his hand. Sapnap dealt his fair share of murders that night, as did George when one woman refused to own up to the abuse and neglect of her two cats ( It wasn't the only crime she had committed, but George only heard half of dreams explanation before the younger boy marched into frame and shot her abruptly with his pistol )

Two of the three in the holding cell were gunned down for being drug abusers, the other for rape

Most of the remaining officers in the building were shot for corrupting the justice system and going against what they swore to do as officials of the law, apart from one who was spared for admitting his wrong doings

I mean, that's all the masked man really wanted from them, to admit they were corrupt

Only 4 of the however many hostages the team took that night were spared by dream and forced into the holding cell until morning, only to be saved when the video from the previous night had been streamed on public services. He explained to the audience behind the camera that these people should consider themselves lucky, being spared by his mercy was a luxury few could experience in this hateful world. He explained that this was only the beginning, that this was only the pilot episode in this season that would be chaos and destruction. He was the one in charge here, not the police, not the government, not the rich or the poor. He would decide who would live and who would die, and this vermin city deserved death more than anything.

George lets out a small laugh from behind the camera as dream reinforces that sparing these people is an expression of his mercy, that he isn't without morals. But dream just looks at the boy and rolls his eyes, directing his attention back to the camera as he whispers his final words.

The next morning as the video spreads across each news station throughout the city, police officials race to get to the final hostages and hope that there are some wounded still clutching to life.

The doors open and they rush in,

Past the dead officers in the lobby,

Down the long hallways,

Into the open office area,

Dream crouches down to face the camera, he gets close enough so that you can see the small splatters of blood contrast against the white of his mask, some of it even drips onto his face, just below the rise of his cheekbones. He faces the camera directly and whispers, just to them, just to the audience.

“Call me a vigilante again, and I will burn this city to the ground.”

The video stops, the news crews stand silent for a moment. But more news comes rushing in.

The police station explodes

#dream team #dreamwastaken #dream team smp #crime au #georgenotfound #sapnap #mcyters #mcyt #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #tubbo #dream

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hargrove-mayfields · 3 years

Note

so sorry im late asking this (i was waiting for you to get more, super surprised you didn’t get more asks tbh) but could I hear more about your wips “I have a crush on Barbara Holland” “baby fic” and “HOH Steve” also if it’s not too much “girlyfriends” and “cali house” and “medical emergency” ik ik that’s a lot but I’d honestly want hear about ALL of you wips in that list if i could. thank u in advance

It’s alright anon! I’ll accept these asks until I run out of WIPs to talk about!

I have a crush on Barbara Holland- This one is a soulmates au, where Steve has his soulmates initials, B.H., on his wrist, and he is whole heartedly convinced that that person is Barb. He’s very much in love with her, and there’s lots of talk about how pretty and nice she is (hence the title lol) but eventually she reveals that he isn’t her soulmate. Before she had hid the initials on her own wrist under a watch or a chunky bracelet, but she feels guilty, and shows Steve that her mark had long ago faded, because her soulmate passed away when they were in elementary school. Steve decides, despite how much value he used to hold in the whole soulmate thing, he doesn’t care about who some stupid mark says he should be with, so him and Barb date until her death. He’s heart broken, but the sadness very quickly turns into so much anger after Billy Hargrove, another B.H. rolls into town with a little S.H. on his wrist. He feels like the universe or whoever is even in charge of this soulmate bullshit is spiting him for thinking he could fall in love with someone he wasn’t destined to be with, so he rejects Billy for a long, long time, even after he himself figured it out that Steve is his match. When he does start to feel that way about Billy, he struggles with so much guilt and has to go through a very long grieving process to be comfortable with his feelings, because he’s not even sure if they’re his genuine feelings or the work of this soulmate bond. Very long and very angsty.

baby fic- Nancy gets pregnant that first time at the party with Tommy and Carol, and her and Steve try really really hard to make things work out for their baby, but it just isn’t meant to be. They make an arrangement that the Harringtons are very not pleased with, where Nancy has the baby at the Byers house half the time (because let’s be honest I think the Wheelers house is not really a safe place to be raising a baby) and Steve has her the rest of the time. Because it was like, a much more mature breakup without the cheating and the drunken confessions, they’re still pretty close friends. When the upside down starts making an appearance again, they have to try to figure out how to navigate it with this little four month old baby, and that means getting some help involved. Billy shows up at the Byers and instead of a fight, Steve’s all exhausted like oh good, you’re finally here, and gives him the worlds fastest run down of this monster fighting shit with a crying baby on his hip, and like, Billy just can’t say no to him asking him to go into the tunnels while he watches the baby. There is eventual Harringrove after a while, but it’s a slow burn for sure. This is also probably the least serious and least angsty thing I have ever started to write.

HOH Stevie- They’re all in the government hospital getting their post Starcourt once overs, Billy and El of course being rushed into surgery, and Steve’s about to get discharged when he gets addressed by name and just, does not respond at all. The doctor is like hmm, and checks his ears, and they find out he has almost no hearing in his left ear, and only about forty percent in the right. All that head trauma from the Russians and then all of the explosions of the fireworks, it leaves him deaf.

Everyone tries to be supportive, but his dad refuses to let him get hearing aids because he doesn’t believe he actually needs them (Steve’s a diagnosed hypochondriac) so for the next several months while his parents are still home waiting for their next trip, he’s struggling. He basically gets iced out by the party because he just can’t hear anything they’re saying, and the kids get tired of repeating themselves, and Nancy got insulted the one time he told her her voice is too quiet, and Robin wants to do things right for him, but she forgets sometimes, and will ramble on about something without looking at him and everytime he’s like great, I didn’t catch a single word of that, lovely talk though. It’s very frustrating and isolating and nobody seems to want to make accommodations for him.

The very same day that his parents leave for their latest vacation, he goes back to hospital. At first he just has to get more testing done, since it had been upwards of six months since the last time they saw him, and on his way out he notices Max in the waiting room chairs. He hadn’t seen much of her at all since Starcourt, so he checks on her, and at first she tells him to go away, because her friends have said some not so nice things about how much time she spends at the hospital, and assumes Steve is there to tell her Billy isn’t worth it too. Because that’s not the case, he ends up going in the room to visit Billy with her.

They do the small talk, the awkward, sorry about the fact that you’ve been in the hospital for six months now and nobody wants to come see you thing, and at some point Billy realizes that Steve can’t hear a damned thing he’s saying. He tests his theory by saying Steve’s name when he’s not looking and just waiting for him to answer but, surprise he doesn’t because he didn’t hear it at all, and Billy’s just like, you’re deaf aren’t you?

The progression of the fic is basically Steve coming to visit Billy everytime he has an appointment for his hearing (and more, but Bill doesn’t know that) but the day of his last appointment to make sure his hearing aids are functioning as well as they ever will for how bad off his hearing is, Billy’s acting different.

When he’d first walked into his room Billy had been surprisingly bright eyed and bushy-tailed for what he went through, but now he’s just acting all mopey. Max makes him tell Steve what’s wrong, and he confesses that he feels like he’s going to get left behind now that Steve’s all better, because then he has no real reason to visit him anymore. But Steve has one very good reason, and the rest of the story is him making sure Billy knows it.

girlyfriends- This’n’s sort of a non-canon compliant character study about aromantic! Billy, focusing on how awful and uncomfortable he felt with his past girlfriends, messing up dates and never going as far as they wanted him to, which at the time he pinned on liking boys instead, but then after he gets with Steve, he feels like this is different and he likes it, but he’s still not too big on all the lovey dovey, romance stuff. He rationalizes it as like, maybe just being a side effect of him being an asshole or something, but he‘s actually super insecure about how he is in relationships. There is a fluffy resolution though where he embraces his identity, it’s really not all doom and gloom, boo hoo I hate myself stuff.

cali house- Years after Starcourt, the boys have moved to a decent house in California using their government hush hush money, and they’re there for only about a month when Billy’s mother shows up at their door.

She says she caught wind that her son was back in town and wanted to come see him, after all this time. Billy of course lets her back in his life immediately, his mom meant so much to his recovery process and now that she’s here, he can’t turn her away, but Steve’s a little suspicious of her intentions.

He thinks that if she wanted to see Billy, she would’ve done that years ago before he ever even left Cali in the first place, or that you know, she wouldn’t have fucking left him behind. He tries to bring it up with Billy gently, but he won’t hear it, and he feels beyond hurt by the suggestion because he thinks Steve is just jealous that he’s spending time with his mother, who he hasn’t seen for upwards of fifteen years at this point.

They fight and avoid each other for a few days until Billy’s momma admits when he brings it up, over lunch or something saying like, “Steve thought you were using me or something, isn’t that crazy?” and she’s just like “Well, actually...”and tells him that money was tight, and she needed a little extra money, so Billy and his disability checks and his rich (boy)friend seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some.

He goes back home to Steve and expects him to be mad, to rub it in that he was right, but he’s really not, he’s super supportive, and you know, Billy finally realizes he doesn’t need to have this bullshit family thing with his mother, because he already has one, Max and Steve and his friends and all the people that actually care about him.

medical emergency (tw attempted suicide)-

Billy, who’s living on his own in an apartment downtown after Starcourt, deliberately doesn’t get his prescriptions refilled because he’s so done. He’s weak and he’s hurting and he doesn’t feel like himself anymore, and he just feels like he wouldn’t care if his body gave up, if he suffocated in his sleep or had another heart attack. So he doesn’t take care of himself, and when he runs out of oxygen he just doesn’t go get anymore, but he’s halfway to choking on his own blood when he realizes he doesn’t want to die.

He calls Steve, because he’s not calling the cops and he can’t remember anyone’s numbers in his panic, but Steve’s is written on his calendar, scribbled there because they were supposed to make plans for something with the kids. Steve takes him to the hospital, having to fight him to put the CPAP on him to make sure his lungs didn’t collapse before they could get him to Hawkins General, and Billy’s just, so bone tired.

They do all their treatment stuff and get his body back under control, so Steve finally asks him what happened, if maybe he needed someone around to help him remember his meds and stuff, and Billy just, he breaks, like a dam overfilled he just pours out with all of this helplessness and sadness he’d been feeling, how he doesn’t want to live the way he does or at all anymore, and Steve’s heart just breaks for him.

He moves in with him, nobody’s willing to leave him alone after what happened, and Steve (along with Billy getting a new therapist because the old one was incompetent enough to not notice how bad off he was) helps him to realize he has something to live for.

#answered #anonymous #ejs wips #ej writer #yeah theres no such thing as sending it late #if y’all want to ask me just ask me! dont worry about it!

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keanureevesisbae · 4 years

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The alluring charm of Henry Cavill - Chapter 1

Summary: Adelaide Park meets Henry Cavill for the first time and she is obviously very nervous.

Henry Cavill x Adelaide Park (ofc)

Wordcount: 3.5k

A/N: If you want to be on the taglist, just let me know. And please let me know what you guys think. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it 😘

Masterlist // Introduction // Next chapter

I’ve never been to Italy before. Actually, before I was a renowned actress, I never came outside of LA. Growing up, my parents never had the money to go to a different city, let alone other countries. My vacations were spend solely in our small one room apartment back in Los Angeles by myself.

My parents were never rich. My dad worked long hours in a factory every single day, but earning just enough money to pay the rent and for me and mom to eat. One night, I saw him scraping the packages or our plats clean, so he had something to eat as well. After I saw that, I never ate all the food off my plate, because I realized that my dad was working the hardest, but was eating the least.

It always broke my heart to see both of them struggle. My mom used to be a cleaning lady, but after she got fired, she became a live-in nanny, which basically meant that from my sixth birthday, she was barely home anymore and I had to raise myself.

Hours on end I was alone. Back in school I barely had any friends—correction: I had no friends at all—and when I came home from school, I’d sit outside to do my homework, because dad didn’t have enough money to get a second set of keys.

I never complained about it, because I knew they were trying and I learned all too well from that one time when I asked for a Barbie doll back when I was five and I kept crying about it, because other kids had Barbie dolls and I was the only one who didn’t. My mom got so mad, that she grabbed my empty plate and threw it against the wall, while she was screaming something about how ungrateful I was. Mom never got mad, she was always admirably calm and collected, even when life got in the way like it did with us. Seeing her like this, meant she was serious and I never said anything about something like that anymore. I never asked for anything, at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and I am so thankful for everything they taught me and did for me. It may have been a hard time, but every year for my birthday, they gave me something. It was always something I really needed, but I always appreciated how they went out of their way for me, wondering how many meals they skipped for this present.

It all became worse when I finished high school at the age of nineteen. I was older than everyone else, since I read so slowly and didn’t even understand it most of the time, causing me to get behind on many classes over the course of the years. Besides, our school wasn’t known for having the best results overall, so the fact that I didn’t score well, meant I was blending in with the rest.

I was working in a diner, because I wasn’t smart enough at all for a scholarship, when my mom got in a terrible accident, when she walked back home and she was hit by a car who ran through a red light. She was paralyzed from her waist down and besides the high hospital bills, she also needed psychical therapy, something that unfortunately isn’t free.

With what my dad and I were earning together, we couldn’t even pay two percent of those costs. I was thinking about putting myself up on a sugar daddy website, but I know I couldn’t lie to them, when I would come back with a lot of money. Besides, my dad was always very strict about what mom and I could and couldn’t do to make money and sugar daddies were off limits. He told me multiple times—even after mom’s accident—that we had nothing to worry about. That he would take care of it.

But I had something to worry about, because my father wasn’t getting any younger. He had been working too hard for too long and all he wanted, was staying with his wife, who he still loved so so much, despite everything they had gone through. I took up more shifts at the diner, only slowly coming to terms that, even with the tips I was receiving, it was never enough to cover the bills.

In about two months, my mom would be discharged from the facility, if we hadn’t paid at least something significant.

One day, I was walking back home from work, when I saw a huge billboard, with a message that a studio was looking for someone to star in one of the biggest sitcoms of that time: Remembering High School. Apparently, one of the new main characters (who was an adult) was having a flashback from when they were in high school—the main premise of the show. And that character happened to be an Asian lady.

I went in and decided I would try it out. I mean, I had no acting experience and solely did it to earn some money, but being Asian American was apparently enough and that was the beginning of my acting career.

At first the amounts of money I made were not enough to cover the medical costs, but it was enough to delay further payment and my mom could stay in the facility.

For years I had difficulty with reading, let alone reading out loud, with an audience, but somehow on the set, I could forget about that. I could finally be someone I really wanted to be. For a few moments I could forget all the sorrows and worries I had resting on my shoulders.

The first five weeks, I’d combine my new acting career with my job in the diner, but after awhile I became a recurring character and for a whole year, I was part of the cast. I remember walking into my mom’s room, showing both her and my dad the first episode I was going to star in. ‘I’m from Minnesota,’ was my first line and the beginning of a very promising career.

My parents were so proud of me. My dad didn’t even care about the money I made at first, because he was so happy that I was doing something that from the looks of it, I actually enjoyed.

Over the years, I’ve come to love acting, but no one knows I do it because of my family. Actually no one knew about my family situation and since I have zero friends, even in the industry (because I barely talk about my personal life and I never budge, even when the try to pry information about it. My co-stars are acquaintances, almost like neighbors: you know one another, but you don’t know them), no one is aware that every penny I earn, goes directly to my family.

Nowadays I make millions, but I’m mainly spending it on my mom, but also on other people who are paralyzed and need psychical therapy, but were in the same boat as my family and my parents met over time in the facility. Money doesn’t mean a lot to me and these people can use it a lot better than I can.

Besides, my parents worked so hard for me growing up, this is the only way for me to pay them back. Despite not having any money themselves, nor stuff, they always taught me to share, to make sure that other people are well taken care off.

The flight from Japan to Italy moved along pretty quick, but maybe that’s because I was traveling first class. My latest movie took place in Japan and though I loved it there, I really want to see what Italy is like, after spending eight months in a lousy hotel in Japan.

After becoming an actress, I went to a lot of great places for shooting movies. I went to Suriname, Canada, Spain, Australia and this time it was Japan. I’m so blessed that I get to travel, knowing really well that other people are still struggling with what I used to struggle with. Sometimes I donate the earnings of a movie to movements that catch my eye, that help kids in certain areas of California with their school work, and with access of clothes and food. I always donate anonymously, not wanting to seem like a philanthropist who is doing this solely for her own image.

I always think that if you really care about something, you would do it without earning praises.

Participating on ‘The Celebrity Project’ wasn’t something I would normally do, but when they reached out to me, I was actually delighted that I was going to be part of this. Maybe I could finally show the world that I’m not as stupid as I appear in interviews.

Being a loner, a slow reader and probably has multiple learning disabilities (if I actually got tested, but the tests were too expensive and no one at school seemed to care and I’m actually too embarrassed to get myself tested now I’m a twenty-five year old), I often come off as an airhead and it’s my own fault really. I do give them enough stupid material to go on about that accusation.

However, I’m really nervous. I mean, I’m going to work together with Henry Cavill. He is charming and sounds so intelligent. When I was done filming and back at my hotel room, I’d watch his interviews, because I wanted to know what I was going to work with. The way he is so articulate and he obviously knows what he is doing, makes me feel even worse about myself. I’m a total disaster and already a burden to him I presume.

I’m sitting in a taxi, waiting for traffic to calm down a bit. It’s early in the mornings and thankfully I got to make myself a bit more presentable in the plane already. I notice the tiny camera’s being strategically placed in the car. It really begun, I think to myself. I’m part of a reality show now. ‘How are you feeling, miss Park?’ the taxi driver asks. ‘I recently heard about this program.’

‘I’m a bit nervous,’ I say, wondering whether or not he is payed to to talk to me about this. I rummage through my purse, hoping I can find my lip balm.

‘Are you looking forward to work with Henry Cavill?’

That name alone makes me nearly make me shit my pants already. ‘Yeah, he seems like a nice man, so I really look forward to work with him.’ And I sure as hell hope that I won’t let him down.

The drive to the hotel is about an hour, but it feels like time is going by a whole lot faster. The chauffeur talks about his family and how his wife is actually a fan of my movies and has watched every single one of them. I took a few pictures with him and signed the inside of the cracker box, because that was all he got with him for me to write something on.

After I said goodbye to him, I’m told that I should go to room 346. With my suitcases with me, I step into the elevator, a cameraman close by. They told me that at one point, these cameramen would just be invisible to me, but I highly doubt it. They are only with us during the assignments. In the cars and at the place where we’re staying, the camera’s are hidden.

When I’m in front of the door, I take a deep breath.

I can do this I think to myself. I have starred alongside other talented people. My first real role was playing Keanu Reeves’ daughter, I was Angela Bassett’s assistant and I also had some pretty steamy scenes with David Castañeda, after his Umbrella Academy days. I can handle being around Henry Cavill, right? I knock on the door three times and I open it a bit, peeking my head around the door.

I can conclude that I’m severely underdressed. I’m wearing a simply jean short, white crop top with some lace on the borders and socks with the same lace details as my top, paired with white sneakers.

I look like a slob, compared to Henry, who seems like he stepped out of a Disney movie. His white blouse, off-white pants and those loafers. The only thing that is missing, is his yacht with the name Serenity.

A smile creeps up on my face, as I step into the room, rolling my pink suitcases with me, because he actually looks approachable.

‘Hi there,’ he says with a small smile on his face. He walks up to me, holding out his hand. ‘I’m Henry, nice to meet you.’

I can’t help but blush. He is so charming and his accent makes him so posh. I place my hand in his and it almost disappears. Not to be that girl, but my size kink is activated right here and now. ‘Adelaide,’ I say. ‘Uhm, it’s nice to meet you… Too.’

I curse my tongue.

‘How was your flight?’ he asks, as he gestures to the couch for us to sit on.

I take place right next to him and I feel like a child sitting next to her dad. Why is he so massive? ‘It was okay. Yours?’

‘It flew by.’

I raise my eyebrows. ‘Was that… a pun?’

Henry chuckles nervously. ‘Maybe, I’m sorry.’

I look around me. The hotel room seems okay, but I bet we’re not going to stay here for long. I stare at the silver tray in front of us, with a set of keys and an envelope with our names on it.

Henry takes the envelope from the tray and holds it in front of me. ‘You want to read it?’

I shake my head. ‘No, you go.’ The whole idea of reading out loud without practice, makes me want to vomit. Before the table reads, I use this program that will read everything for me, even using the right intonation. I stay up for way too many hours for that, because once I’ve heard it, I made notes, I can better read it.

Back when I was doing ‘Remembering High School’ I had the woman who played the adult version of me read it to me, because I had to portray the young her and keep her character in mind. Since she was an established character on the show, she had certain ways of saying things I had to copy. She never knew the real reason I wanted her to read it out loud for me.

He cocks an eyebrow, but then opens the envelope. He clears his throat, before a dramatic reading of our first assignment rolls out of his mouth. How can he make a simple note sound so… Sensual, almost? His deep and dark voice, making it sound way more intense than it actually is. I wouldn’t mind if he read my scripts out loud for me.

‘Dear Adelaide and Henry, the adventure of ‘The Celebrity Project’ has officially started,’ he says, tilting the card a little, so I can read a little bit with him. It’s a nice gesture really and I appreciate the thought. ‘We have provided you with a nice car, to drive to the little cottage, specially arranged for the two of you. Tomorrow will be a nice day for you to relax (because you two are both severely jet lagged we presume) and the day after that, you’ll be expected for your first assignment. Enjoy the car ride and remember: look out of your window every now and then. We are aware that Henry is really handsome, Adelaide and you’ll be forced to only look at him, but nature can be beautiful too.’

I scrunch up my nose. That last sentence seemed so forced and this is exactly the reason why I don’t like these types of survival, borderline reality shows. It’s not reality. It’s this forced setting, hoping to get people to believe that this is how real life should look like.

And I don’t like deceiving people like that. I almost regret participating.

‘Right, well, we might as well just go,’ he says, his tone flat, maybe just as annoyed with that last sentence as I am. Probably even more so.

◎ ◎ ◎

Why is there a pink carseat in the passengers seat? I mean, I’m not the tallest, but I’m definitely not that tiny. I look around us, only to see no member of the crew around. This is great. I want to take the seat out, because I don’t want to sit on it, but it’s securely fastened and only with a different set of keys, I can undo it.

And of course I don’t have that.

I really regret being here.

However, I still sit on the carseat, because I don’t want to sit in the back because I’ll get carsick and when I see Henry’s cocked eyebrows and a poorly hidden smirk, I simply say: ‘Don’t.’

Okay, maybe I do understand why they put me on a carseat, because this man looks so enormous and otherwise I’m simply non existent. He starts the car and simply drives off. I don’t know whether or not I should say something to him, because I feel like we should talk. I mean, that’s why the camera’s are here right?

‘What is your newest movie about?’ Henry asks.

‘About a woman escaping from her past and she moves to Japan, when one day an old friend becomes her new manager,’ I say.

‘Romantic comedy?’

‘Of course.’

He nods. ‘You don’t get tired of doing those?’ he asks.

Yes, I do get a bit tired of them, but there are two things: for starters, just like those romance books (that I would buy my mom one for her birthday every year, because I knew how much she loved those), romantic comedies sell really good. And no one wants me for something else. I feel like directors don’t trust me with big roles, like Rose in Titanic or someone else major. Besides, I’m Asian American, when was the last time one of us got a major part in a movie that’s not a romantic comedy?

But I don’t want to seem ungrateful and it’s a nice stream of money coming in every time and that’s basically all I want.

‘No,’ I say. ‘It’s okay. You shot something new… new movie… Right?’ For fuck sake, Adelaide, you were doing so well.

‘I did, actually,’ he says. ‘It’s something I’m very excited for. It’s more of a dramatical part.’ I listen to Henry, as he is talking about this movie. How he plays a single dad, trying to figure out this parenting part with his daughter, when his brother and sister-in-law pass away and he has to take in four monsters of boys in his house. The way he talks about this, I notice a shimmer in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ he apologizes. ‘I let myself go there for a second. It’s just I’m really excited about this movie.’

‘No, I get it,’ I say, as I look out of the window. I let out a deep sigh, as we drive over the sandy roads. Before I can say something else (as if I knew what), Henry hits the break and like the cliches in the movies, he holds out his arm in front of me, as the car comes to a halt.

There are four dogs and one owner on the road and the man screams something in Italian to us. Clearly we were supposed to stop for him. ‘Shit, sorry,’ Henry mumbles, as if the man could hear that.

His warm hand dropped to my bare thigh and with my pointer finger I tap him on the back of his hand. ‘Excuse me,’ I say.

‘Oh no, terrible sorry,’ he says quickly, retracting his hand. ‘What do you think the cottage will look like?’ Henry asks, when he pulled up again, not driving as fast as he did before.

Shrugging I play with my water bottle. ‘I don’t know, but I think I know one thing.’

It takes me a while before I can get the words out of my mouth, but Henry doesn’t force me to say anything, by asking something like: ‘Care to let me in?’ He actually lets me find the words and it feels nice not to be rushed into saying something.

‘I bet there is one bed that is large and comfortable. However, there is also one uncomfortable couch, too small for you. So people want to see whether or not you are a… gentleman and offer to sleep on the couch.’

‘You think?’ he asks frowning. ‘A bit far fetched, don’t you think?’

When we arrive at the tiny cottage, we walk inside. It’s nice decorated, warm colors mixed with nice hints of different pastel colors. My eye falls on the very uncomfortable looking couch that is pretty tiny if Henry is supposed to be sprawled out on that, but we don’t know what the rest looks like.

After a small tour through the house, we have come to the conclusion that there is indeed only one bed. I look over my shoulder, my eyes meeting Henry’s. ‘See?’

Taglist: @thelastsock // @jolly-polly // @henrythickcavill // @maan24 // @diegos-butt / @agniavateira //

#henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill #henry cavill x oc #henry cavill fanfic #the alluring charm of henry cavill #henry cavill fandom #henry cavill x actress #henry cavill x adelaide park

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e-vasong · 4 years

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Leverage AU ideas

Submission (Hey, it looked like tumblr sent this to me under your real name, so I’m not gonna say who submitted it just in case that was an accident, but @ submitter if you want credit feel free to hit me up with a URL or something, or reblog this and @ me or whatever!):

Idrk how tumblr works but, for your leverage au: Vanya is Reggie’s real daughter which is why she has the violin but she was neglected bc reggie was obsessed with the others. The others are jealous of Vanya for her normal life/being Reggie’s real kid.

Eventually however she comes to the for help (probably bc of Lenard) and she helps them and they become a real family.

Maybe at some point she gets infected with a bio weapon that could kill everyone (maybe lenard tries to sell it to the commission) or learns dangerous information and they all have to save Vanya!

Oh God. (Presuming these are about the Reginald-As-Archie-Raises-The-Kids-As-Criminals AU.) These are so good.

The others are all homeless kids or kids from the system that Reggie plucked out and adopted because he saw tendencies in them that he believed, with training, could make them the best team of criminals around.

And this all translates so well to the canon dynamic where Vanya/the rest of the family both don’t really process the abuse endured by the other party.

Reginald neglects Vanya in favor of the others; tells them they have potential. And when Vanya asks to join in on the lessons he tells her that she has no talent at all. He tells her again and again how he chose the others, and the implication is clear. That if it had been up to him, he never would have chosen her at all.

Meanwhile, the others are jealous of Vanya, Reginald’s biological kid. They’re always aware, on some level, that he only took them in because he thought they might be useful--that it was money and power that brought them into his care, as if he’d bought them. That he could always just...put them back, in a way they feel he can’t do with Vanya. They look at Vanya, who spends her days practicing the violin and studying normal school subjects while they have to devote their days to things like disabling laser grids, swindling people out of their funds, and getting beaten into the ground in martial arts training, and they’re--they’re jealous. Of course they are, even if they don’t know it.

It takes them a long time (though not as long as in canon, I think) to realize they never should have blamed each other. It was always their father.

Instead of writing a tell-all book, Vanya turns over a bunch of information to the FBI. Their father gets arrested, a handful of the siblings get their covers blown on an important job and almost get killed by the mark’s henchman. It’s a shitshow all around. Their dad’s the only one to go to jail, though before he serves any real time a sniper takes him out through a courthouse window. They can’t figure out who did it; the mystery haunts them all for years. The others don’t get caught, but they’re still furious that Vanya almost got them killed.

(And later, much later, Vanya will join up with her family to run a con. Some of them haven’t let go of their suspicion and hurt yet. She doesn’t quite blame them, but it still stings. But here’s the thing. There are always people out there looking to exploit weakness. And Vanya will argue with her siblings. Diego will snap: don’t pretend like you care, you almost got us killed!

And Harold Jenkins will be waiting. Once a young homeless thief and grifter himself, Harold heard of Reginald Hargreeves collecting prodigious young criminals off the street and begged, begged Hargreeves to take him in. Hargreeves had sniffed, shouldered the child out of the way. If you really had any talent, Hargreeves had said, you would have conned me into it.

But Reginald Hargreeves’ vision had always been flawed. Harold is no perfect criminal, but he’s a dangerous one. And when Vanya storms out of the team’s homebase in the torrential rain, Harold pops his hood up, plasters the gentle, personable smile of Leonard Peabody onto his face, and sets his con into motion.)

They all split ways for a while, the way I described in my other post. Allison keeps grifting. Falls in love with a mark, Patrick, at one point. It ends badly. Ben and Klaus are a hacker/thief duo, except Ben has more scruples about who they victimize than Klaus, and it makes things tense as hell between them sometimes. Diego is working as a ‘retrieval specialist’ with an intense moral code and a willingness to turn on anyone that hires him if they prove themselves shitty enough. Luther gets out of the life and goes to live in the same apartment complex as Vanya. They end up staying close the whole time, with Vanya giving music lessons out of her apartment and Luther teaching martial arts classes.

And then they all get a missive. An invitation, a promise of a job. Luther almost throws it away, but Vanya stops him. We should check it out, she says. And so they do. And there they find all the others: Diego, Allison, Klaus, and Ben.

And Five. Five, the brother they’ve long thought dead. He looks tired. And after he fields their frantic embraces, their questions, and even lets them cry on him a bit (though he doesn’t look very happy about it), he leans back, and he tells them he has a job to offer them all.

He gets a chorus of rejections almost immediately. Vanya presumes she isn’t invited. Luther says he’s out of the game, and Allison says she’s trying to get out. Diego mainly seems skeptical that Five has anything worth offering. Klaus wants to go back to his apartment and not take jobs that are like, hard, or anything. Low risk only, please. Come on, Ben, let’s go.

Ben shoots Klaus a furious glare. Actually, he says. I can make my own decisions, Klaus. I want to hear what Five has to say.

Five has to repress a grin. Ben has always been Five’s favorite brother.

Five puts a manila folder on the table. His siblings pick it up, start passing it around. It’s not long before they’re frowning, clearly distressed by what they’re reading.

“His name is James Moore,” Five says. “He’s seven years old. He has a rare blood disease, but there’s a new experimental treatment that his doctors believe could save his life. His insurance company is refusing to pay for his treatment; they keep forcing the family to jump through loopholes. It’s a, uh, company policy that they didn’t include in the contract. Stall paying for treatment until it’s too late. Commit a moral atrocity, let innocents die, profit. Y’know how it goes. Age old story, really.”

“I don’t con sick people,” Diego says, and Five rolls his eyes.

“Good, because that’s not what I’m suggesting.”

“The insurance company?” Allison catches on first. Ben follows suit, eyebrows shooting up as he realizes what Five is saying. “You’re suggesting we con Perseus Insurance? Owned by one of the most powerful men in the world? That Perseus Insurance?”

Five leans forward, rests his elbows on his knees. He’s planned this speech. He has a plan to take down the Commission, but it involves moving a lot of pieces very, very slowly. And if he can take down some other bad people along the way? Good. But he needs a team he can trust. He needs his family, which means this pitch needs to work.

“The rich and powerful take what they want,” Five says slowly. “Right now, James and his family,” he gestures to the Moore file, “are suffering under an enormous weight. I’m suggesting that we provide...leverage.”

#long post #tua #the umbrella academy #leverage AU #WHOOPS #i want to say the vanya situation doesn't get that far? theyre closer in this verse #but harold very much is trying to destroy their family #luckily the others catch on and wreck his shit first #is five the sniper that killed their dad?#[sips tea] PERHAPS #submission

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a-solitary-marshmallow · 4 years

Text

Do No Harm Take No Shit Chapter 5 - Home(room) Coming

They discussed how best to break the news to everyone, while feeding each other ice cream. (call Adrien a sap, he didn’t care, this was the best day of his fucking life) It seemed a bit obtrusive to walk into class and announce, ‘Hello Marinette is my girlfriend now, any questions?’

On the other hand, Lila would probably take advantage of any ambiguity. Not to mention Adrien’s fans – they would throw a tantrum when he and Marinette went public.

In the end, the simple approach was taken. Adrien took a selfie of them sharing their couples’ cone, one in which Marinette’s face was scrunched up adorably as he dabbed strawberry ice cream on the tip of her nose. Her hair was out and tumbling in the breeze, slapping Adrien on the cheek while he laughed and held the camera up blindly. It was his favourite shot – he was almost loathe to share it with the world. A quick caption. Magical ice cream with my magical girlfriend – best day of my life. Adrien posted it on Monday morning while the Gorilla drove them to school.

“Aaaaand… done.” He leaned his head against Marinette’s shoulder and watched the comments start to filter in.

“That was fast.” Marinette said.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a few stalkers on here.”

“You don’t say.” She teased.

Paris flashed by, and then they had arrived. They walked into the school hand in hand – Marinette’s hand was an honour Adrien held with pride. In the hallway Mylène glanced at them, glanced away casually, and then her gaze snapped back, accompanied by unashamed jaw-dropping. She elbowed Ivan, who looked around and blinked at the two, before grinning excitedly. They started to whisper between themselves. Adrien stifled a laugh.

“So,” He murmured as they walked, “How many people know about your huge crush on me, exactly?”

Marinette groaned. “No.”

“Because if Alya and Nino were shipping us…”

“Please, there are too many names to remember. You are the one person who didn’t know.”

“Was everyone on team Marinette-Adrien?”

“Adrienette.”

“What?”

Marinette looked away, face blushing a lovely shade of red. “Nothing.”

Adrien hummed and swung their joined hands. After a moment, Marinette gathered her courage and spoke again.

“Most people were on the team. Except for Chloe, of course.”

“Chloe’s always the exception.” Adrien noted.

They stepped inside the class, and Rose began to squeal. Adrien jumped at the pitch of it – all eyes were on them suddenly. He smiled nervously at the wide-mouthed stares.

“Uh, hi?”

“Congratulations!” Rose squealed. She rushed down from her chair to hug Marinette and Adrien in turn, swiftly followed by a grinning Alya who slung an arm around her best friend’s shoulder.

“Mari! Why didn’t you say something earlier? Congrats you two!”

The class was loud with cheers and excited voices. Kim laughed from his seat, “Adrien, bro! We thought you were gonna be oblivious forever.”

“Well, what can I say?” Adrien shrugged, fingers still tangled with Marinette’s. “I saw the light.”

“Oh, this is wonderful!” Rose cried. She glanced back to the very stiff figure sitting at her desk, “Lila, I told you they would figure it out!”

“Yes, you did.” Lila’s voice dripped with saccharine contempt. Adrien could feel her glare drilling into him from across the classroom. He suppressed the animalistic urge to bristle and hiss, instead sending a sweet smile towards the teeth-gritting girl. ‘Look out. You have no idea who you’re messing with.’

“So, when did this happen?” Alya urged. Marinette shrugged.

“This weekend. We went out, and talked, and… well.” She slightly lifted their joined hands, and the girls cooed. Marinette’s cheeks were flushed with happiness – even Lila’s presence didn’t seem to impact her. Adrien wished she could be this happy all the time. Damn it if he wasn’t going to try and make it so. “I’m expecting some rabid fangirl lashback though.”

Alya crinkled her nose. “Ew. Don’t worry Mari, we’ve got your back.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“Soooo,” Alya leaned in towards the new couple, “I was wondering, would you guys object to a slight seat change today? I really want to sit next to my boyfriend, and – gosh – that leaves you two together in the front row!”

“Real smooth, Alya.” Alix elbowed her with a snort. Marinette laughed.

“I’d like that. Adrien?”

“Definitely.” He said fervently.

“Oh, and do you guys want to have lunch at my house?” Marinette offered Nino and Alya. Nino sighed happily.

“Ah, Dupain-Cheng pastries. It’s been too long.”

“So that’s a yes.” Alya clarified.

The classes went quickly, with Marinette by Adrien’s side. When she was waiting for the other students to finish up with their note taking, she would doodle in the corners of her sketchbook. Adrien picked up her pen to draw a little love heart on her cast. She returned the favour on the back of his hand. At lunch time he, Marinette, Alya and Nino met outside the classroom to walk to Marinette’s house. They were about to start off when a voice called out.

“Oh! Would you mind if I joined you?” Lila’s sickeningly sweet cry made Adrien stiffen. Marinette bit her lip, hard, as Alya and Nino turned to see the brunette hurrying over. Alya tipped her head with a confused smile.

“Of course, girl, but I thought you were busy? You said you were having lunch with… a special someone?” Alya pointed surreptitiously to her earrings. Lila sighed, an impressive show of disappointment.

“Oh, I was so looking forward to having lunch together, but she had to cancel! Her partner got into trouble and she had to go and bail him out again. Honestly, cats can be so troublesome can’t they?”

Oh. Cats, earrings. Was Lila really talking about Ladybug? Having lunch with Ladybug? Not only was that an incredibly stupid thing to brag about, given the whole being-targeted-by-a-supervillain thing, but Lila had picked the wrong people to boast to. Adrien was almost ready to give her a cataclysm to the face.

But he wasn’t suited up right now, and Alya had already invited Lila along with a smile and a reassurance that she was sure it wasn’t personal, Lila’s bestie was a very busy person after all. A quick glance at Marinette’s uninjured arm revealed the way her fists were clenched. Adrien threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. I know. It’s bullshit.

“Are you guys coming?” Nino called from up ahead. The others had already started off. Adrien pasted on his model smile.

“Yep! We’ll catch up to you in a sec.”

“Adrien.” Marinette whispered. He turned to her, allowed his smile to drop into a scowl that mirrored hers. “I don’t want Lila in my house.”

He shuddered. “Ugh, I know, I’ve already had that experience. She’s creepy.”

“No, you don’t understand.” She whispered desperately. “Lila hates me. What if she gets her hands on something important? What if she finds the miracle box? Or lies to my parents? Or spills paint on my ball gown commission? She knows I’m being commissioned by Clara Nightingale, she asked Alya about it the other day. I’ve been working on it for weeks, if she ruins it I’ll have to start again and buy all the fabrics with my own money and the bakery will go broke and Maman and Papa will have to sell and I’ll never get a job in fashion and I’ll live on the streets and get stabbed in a mugging and-”

Adrien squeezed her hand, and Marinette trailed off.

“It’ll be fine.” He promised. “We won’t go to your house.”

Marinette looked up at him with such desperation, that Adrien felt his heart break. Had he really made her feel like this? That no one was here for her? Adrien lifted her hand to kiss it before turning to call after the three students on the footpath ahead of them.

“Guys, hold up! Marinette forgot about a huge order her parents have at the bakery, if we go there we’ll just be in the way. There’s a cool café down the road we can go to instead.”

Lila’s eyes widened like a kicked puppy’s. “I-I don’t have any money with me, I gave it all to Prince’s Ali’s charity for disabled orphans.” She put on a pained smile. “It’s okay, though. I don’t need to get anything – my diabetes won’t be a huge problem if I skip a meal or two. It’s enough to just spend time with my favourite people.”

Alya ‘awww’ed and slung an arm around Lila’s shoulder. “Mari, are you sure we can’t just stop by your place? Your folks have plenty of food they don’t sell, right?”

Marinette squeaked. Adrien spoke over her smoothly. “Don’t worry, Lila! I’ll pay for your lunch. It’s the least I can do, after how good you are to those disabled orphans.”

He could feel Lila’s glare, and it was hilarious. She said sweetly, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly take your money!”

“I’m literally rich. Besides, wouldn’t it be the same if you took Marinette’s food?” He smiled at the fuming girl. “Please, let me treat you. I’d do the same for any friend.”

He was really laying it on thick now, he could tell from Marinette’s stifled giggle. At Lila’s side, however, Alya hadn’t picked up on the passive aggressive note. She was beaming as she linked arms with Nino and Lila. “Great! Let’s go, before lunch time runs out.”

Marinette and Adrien followed behind. As they walked Marinette leaned in to murmur, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Adrien whispered back. “Your knight in shining leather is always here to help.”

She snorted and bumped him. Adrien grinned.

“It’s a tail as old as time. Fur as long as I can remember, it’s always been the princess and her alley cat against the world.” Marinette groaned, but the sparkle in her eye betrayed her. “What’s wrong, Milady? Are you feline okay? You didn’t catch a cold or something, did you?”

“What secrets are you two whispering about?” Nino joked. Adrien sent him an innocent smile.

“I have no idea what you mean. I’m just complimenting my beautiful girlfriend.” He leaned in to Marinette to add, “Let me know if all the whiskering is bugging you.”

Marinette laughed out loud. “Please, Adrien. Please get some new material.”

“Why would I, when I have the purrfect puns already?” He lowered his voice again. “Seriously though, if I am annoying you or if Lila’s making you feel uncomfortable, just let me know.”

“I will, kitty.” Marinette smiled. Adrien was thrilled that he could make her smile like that. He would tell awful puns every day for the rest of his life if it would make Marinette smile.

They walked together, with a liar, to go get lunch.

Two months later

“Are you sure about this?” Adrien asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time as Marinette shoved her bag into her locker. She still held her newly-uncasted arm carefully against her body, out of habit. “I can do it instead, it doesn’t have to be you.”

“Yes it does.” Marinette closed her locker firmly. “I have to do this. You just make sure to get it all, okay? You have an important part.”

“Of course, Milady.” Adrien wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her hair. Marinette hummed happily and buried her face in his jacket. And everything was wonderful for a short, blissful moment.

There was a faint zipping sound, and then Plagg stuck his head through the wall of the deserted locker room and barked, “She’s alone in the courtyard. Now’s the time, Pigtails.”

Adrien wished this moment would never end. Alas, he could not hold the love of his life forever. Marinette proved that when she lifted her head.

“Okay.” She pulled in a deep breath and smiled up at Adrien.

“You’ve got this.” He told her. She nodded.

“Yeah. Okay. Tikki, spots on.”

When it was over Adrien rushed to meet Marinette in the garden behind the school, tucked away between trees and bundles of flowers. She had beaten him there and had already detransformed, Tikki sitting on a nearby branch and munching on a cookie. When Adrien arrived she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and lifted her arms.

“Hey, hey.” Adrien ran into her embrace and hugged her tightly. She was shaking. “It’s okay. You did it. You were amazing Marinette, and now it’s all over.”

“I know.” Marinette mumbled again him. “I just can’t believe…”

“I know.” He held her firmly and Marinette returned the gesture, clutching at his back. “You’re done. You can relax now.”

Marinette made a muffled sound. Adrien stroked her hair.

“Do you wanna go home?”

She nodded, not lifting her face from his chest.

“Do you wanna be alone?”

She shook her head.

“Do you wanna cuddle and watch cartoons?”

Marinette nodded again.

“Do you wanna watch the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie and laugh at all the stuff that they got wrong?”

Another nod. Adrien kissed the top of her head.

“Then that can be arranged. And we’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes.”

“When it comes.” Marinette mumbled.

Adrien walked to the front of the class the next morning just before school was due to start. Most of the students were already in their seats – including Marinette, who Adrien had insisted was due for a break. She had already done the heavy lifting of the plan, now Adrien could see it through. Besides, she didn’t need Lila targeting her even more for this. Speaking of Lila, Adrien could feel the girl’s suspicious glare drilling into his back as he spoke to Ms. Bustier.

“Excuse me miss, is it alright if I show the class something before the lesson starts? It’s urgent.”

She frowned from her desk. “Can it wait? We have a lot of important information to cover this lesson.”

“Ms. Bustier, this is very important information. I think everyone should see it as soon as possible – including you and the other teachers.”

She shook her head. “Mister Agreste, I really don’t see what could be so important that you must interrupt my lesson. Why don’t you go and sit down, and talk to the principal at lunch?”

“Because it concerns my classmates and-”

“All the more reason for it to be dealt with discreetly – we don’t need a spectacle.”

“You didn’t give Marinette that luxury.” Chloe called mildly from the front seat. Adrien turned to stare at her in disbelief. “You called her out in front of everyone during that whole cheating scandal. Why not give Adrien the same luxury? Or do I need to bring my daddy into this?” She pulled out her phone threateningly and Miss Bustier whitened.

“That will not be necessary, Chloe. I’m sure a… a few minutes is fine.”

“It won’t take long.” Adrien assured, sending Chloe a grateful look. She smiled smugly. Adrien quickly plugged in his USB and opened the document, taking a breath to raise his voice to the whole class.

“Thank you all for your time. At first I wasn’t sure if I should share this – but after doing a bit of research, I’ve found some worrying things that I think everyone here should know about.” Adrien could feel Lila’s glare searing through his forehead. He resisted the urge to smirk at her, instead schooling his expression into hesitance and worry. He had a part to play – the innocent bystander. After all, a malicious witness wasn’t very trustworthy. “I sent a copy to Mr. Damocles and the Ladyblog – Alya, you probably haven’t seen it yet – but I think it’s important that you all watch it before anyone else.”

Marinette met his eye, and nodded. Adrien smiled at her and pressed play.

#fic #my writing #ladybug #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #lila #lila gets exposed #dnhtns

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theblackbirdsgemimagines · 4 years

Note

May I request for the Leona, Vil, Azul and our boy Jack getting stuck in their MC's world and their experience? (MC is with them)

Oh sweet Jesus akdhakdhsk FORGIVE ME OF MY RATHER CYNICAL OUTLOOK ON OUR LIL BLUE PLANET 😬 I think it’s understandable to be more cynical than ever in this Hell Year, lolll

Send these poor, sweet babies back home, they deserve better than to be stuck here of all places 😅 ESPECIALLY JACK AAAAAA SAVE THE BABY 💔

Ok, not even going to play with you... Vil would thrive, lol.

Just give him time enough to stop panicking over all his lost clothes, magic, etc., and find new things that works for him and his detailed self-care routine, and whatever he chooses to do, he will make Fat Stacks in.

He’s the male version of Belle Delphine, here ajdhakdhsj

He appears anywhere, on tv with some company to continue his performer career he had back home, or on youtube/instagram, and he is almost immediately just as famous here as he was in Wonderland.

Can we really blame anyone, tho? Look at him.

And there’s no Neige here!

Also, ‘my’ Vil is definitely the one that knows there are many different ways to be beautiful~. He may be a bit more blunt to his friends if he thinks they’re not quite hitting the usual mark their talents place them in. But that’s only because he cares about them, and wants everyone to see their best, as he does~. He’s an absolutely encouraging sweetheart to anyone else/a beginner at whatever their passion is, though~. And either way, he’s your best cheerleader~.

Of course he still just doesn’t feel himself without his magic, or ability to do potions. I don’t think he’d find the witchcraft in our world would suit him very well.

If he was really stuck for good, of course he’d make the best of it. But if he could go home, especially if you wanted to go back with him, he’d jump at the chance. And always be on the lookout for the chance.

But that being said, I think, aside from all the world’s problems, of course, he’d find it interesting just how similar, and vastly different, things are here.

He donates Ass Loads to so many charities, like honestly.

Rich boy knows his privilege, and lets others ride off his advantages as much as he can. 💜

He becomes friends with James Charles. You know he does.

You can’t be truly fully beautiful if you’re not also lovely on the inside, too, after all~!

Rip Rook wherver he is, he is lost without his Queen 😔

Gosh, in direct contrast to Vil, Leona probably suffers the most over here?? Jahdkshdj

I know they based his sleep habits off a irl lion, but that also sounds just a Tad Bit like possible depression to me (along with a lot of the other ways he’s behaved so far, lol).

Get this sweetheart to some therapy, maybe?? Help him get a lil energy boost at least to help him feel better 💛

He’s going to HATE the work pace people have to maintain just to eat here, 100%.

He enjoys the entertainment the most, though~. Video games, things you can watch online, all those sorts of things~. Might like a few of our sports, too~.

Poor bby struggles with having to work, though, please help him 💔

At least he doesn’t have to live under being Forever Prince, here, and doesn’t have to worry about turning anything he touches to sand. And the lions in the zoos are pretty cool to go see~!

He’d probably love it if he could go to Africa and see what our “Afterglow Savannah” looks like here~. Meet the lions that are in the wild~.

I imagine he and Jack would both lose the ears for human ones, and the tails, too. (😢💔) So he probably feels weird seeing himself like that, and might miss his tail. Especially if it helped him with balance. Give him some time to adjust to it~. There’s these neat new tails people made for cosplay, that can move around on their own, if he’d like one to help him not miss his old one so much~!

I had to really think about what the heck he’d even do for a job, cause he’s so grumpy to everyone, retail’s just OUT, lol. And I don’t think he’d be that great at something like youtube, either ajdhsjjd

It’s hard for him to not just lay around all lazy, rather than think of stuff to do for it/actually get up and go do it. Let alone all the meetings, and interacting with fans, and the like.

So maybe actually being one of the zookeepers would be a good fit for him~. He’d be obligated to actually go, and he’d get to be around lots of different animals~. Might help him feel more at home, too~. I think he’d be pretty good at it, and the animals would probably be drawn to him~ 💛

He’d also absolutely challenge the authority here (or anywhere else that has appalling governments, especially if they’re not run by women). The state of things, and the way women and minorities are treated by white men around the world, and men in general, would absolutely appall him. He so drunk on that respecc women juice, he just can’t wrap his head around what the hell the problem is with those rich assholes in power. Put him in power, and he’ll ruthlessly show them what-for! ALL the others behind him would be women! Good grief, humans!

All in all, he doesn’t mind it here, but would also prefer to be home, where he can sleep more, and Ruggie can run around for him most of the time, lol

Besides, that allowed him to spend more time with you~! 💛

(LOOKIT THAT HAPPY BOY SMILE!!! I’M DEAD 💞💞💞)

Oh, Jack. Sweet, sweet Jack.

He absolutely becomes a personal trainer as a job, here. 1000%. He lives that Exercise Junkie Lifestyle, there’s just no doubt about it.

He’s VERY encouraging to his students, though~! Build up that beef, guys, he has total faith in you~! 🤍🤍

He absolutely loooooooves going anywhere to see wolves. He’d probably really love the wooded mountains in Europe, if you ended up there, or in Oregon/Washington if you ended up here in America~. Definitely Canada, or Alaska, too~! Just give him huge trees, snowy winters, and nearby mountains, and he feels right at home~.

Idk if he’d miss his magic a whole heck of a lot, tbh?? But he WOULD miss his friends and family! It’s just not quite the same here, though he thinks it’s beautiful and interesting to see where you came from~. 🤍

He’s a good boy 😭

Also appalled with the state of so many rulers and governings both in your home, and around most of the world, lol.

He can’t stand seeing so many people suffer like that! How can they possibly live the life that’s the most healthy and happy for them to live, disabled, chronically ill, or not, if they’re suffering under an iron fist all the time?!

He CAN’T stand for it. You won’t stop him till he sees good change starting to finally happen. Especially if you live here! There’s no way he can just sit around and have you be subjected to that!

HE’S A GOOD BOY 😭

You gotta calm him down a lot and remind him there are others just as good and kind as he is, fighting to change things too 🤍

God help people if he gets here anytime within 2020-2021. He’s sucker punching nearly everyone he sees without a mask.

He’s also sucker punching every nazi he sees, too.

My goodness, please show him the movie Wolf Children! He’ll hide the fact he’s crying multiple times through it, but it’s one of his favorite movies here~.

If you do manage to go back to Wonderland, please try to bring a copy of it with you. It’s the one thing he’ll miss most, and keep asking to watch with you again, before remembering it doesn’t exist there. 😭

He also misses his tail and ears a lot. Losing all of that + his senses would be very a very awkward adjustment for him, and he wouldn’t really like it poor bby 💔 Give him lots of hugs to compensate U-U 🤍

His favorite thing to do with you would probably be to go hiking, and stay in a little cabin in the woods, for a week or two~. Somewhere in one of the previously mentioned places~.

(I couldn’t find a chibi gif of Azul to use, rip 😭)

Azul is just straight up becoming a mafia boss, probably wkdhakdjjs.

He’s the ‘good’ kind, though. He’s learned his lesson since his overblot, and he won’t outright kill people for not paying him back, or introduce drugs, or anything like that.

He’ll help people obtain what they want as legally as possible... But that doesn’t mean he still won’t be sly as hell about it, haha~.

He’ll protect loyal/good customers and the areas they live in, too~. In fact, he’d probably reDUCE crime from doing so.

He just learns all the dirty ins and outs of everything about how things run here. And as much as he’ll fight for change as the others would, because there’s no way any of that is an acceptable way for you to live, he’ll work dirty in order to take advantage of the system, to do so. What better way, right? Make the dominos fall from the inside out.

He’s a good business man, he knows doing so would also benefit him, too.

He’s like Bruce Wayne if Bruce Wayne was a rich mafia leader jeehskdje

Need health benefits to work for him? Covered. Need above-average pay to actually afford your bills and other stuff? Covered. Need education to do a job for him? They’ll train you.

He’s also practically a Gordon Ramsey, tbh. Lots of his bars will pop up across the world, if he stays here long enough, lol. But they’ll all help a good number of people, in doing so~.

He also donates as much as he can, too. If he’s gonna become even a fraction as rich as Jeff Bozos, he’s ending world hunger and homelessness every year.

And boy oh BOY will he swindle the rich akdhakdhwj

He will whip them so hard, they won’t know what the hell hit them.

He may have been under restrictions at the college, but he sure as hell isn’t here. Watch out as he spreads his tentacles wings.

And, of course, he adores being anywhere near the coast. Doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re in, he just needs to be by the sea.

All the polution absolutely breaks his sweet little heart, and that’s one of the first things on his list to fix. Dealing with trash back home was much easier... you could just zap it all away at big trash fields. But you don’t have that luxury here.

Being that he doesn’t really like his ocotpus form (bbyyyyyy 😢💔), he probably doesn’t mind the permanent legs. At least he doesn’t have to constantly take a potion to keep them, anymore.

But it’s still awkward to get used to. And he can’t stand that he can’t breathe underwater anymore, or go too far down without dying from the pressure.

He’ll dive as often as he can~. And loves to dive, or snorkle, or just swim~, with you, if you want to join him~.

He does miss his home, if only for the beauty and familiarity it had, despite a lot of bad memories around it. But there’s no doubt he’d thrive here, in a way only he could~.

He totally believes your own version of mermaids exists, and gets excited over anything that could prove it to be true 😅

Plus, he’s just obsessed with how marine life works here in general~. If he can juggle being a freakin maffia boss, and a marine biologist just out of the pure love for it, I have no doubt he’d do it~.

Humans most likely evolved from creatures in the water?? That’s amazing~! So the ocean feels like a distant memory of a second home~! He’d love to bond over that, the romantic~ 💜

#twisted wonderland #leona kingscholar #vil schoenheit #jack howl #azul ashengrotto #twst leona #twst vil #twst jack #twst azul #sweet anon #answered #BLESS FOR THE ASK MY FRIEND I HOPE YOU LIKE THESE THOUGHTS OF MINE~! 💞💞💞

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calypsoff · 3 years

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Ten.

I have never felt so excited, the last time I have felt like this was maybe when I was arriving to America the very first time, I was ever so happy to be here, I couldn’t wait to just make a change. Being from a home that had not much, to get that kind of opportunity, I was so blessed. I am just excited to see him, to see Chris after all these weeks. I lost him before, never again. God has really blessed me with this, he has blessed me. I think Dolly is looking down on me, she knew I needed to feel something with a man, she knows I never felt this way with any other man besides Chris, she guided him back to me, I am so glad he came that night. I swear, I never forgot him, but I learned to live but now it’s like it’s not normal to not speak to him, every day we are just constant, it’s normal to be talking that much and still we have plenty to talk about. I know Chris has been kind of mentioning about my birthday and the fact he won’t see me on the day, but I would take him with me, I just want to hide him also. I want him to have his own sanity, something I can’t really get unless I hide my face, I don’t see why I should let people get to him. He deserves his peace, I know how draining the outside world can be and I honestly don’t want that for him, he hears my moans and groans about it so I know he knows it’s shit, but I am excited to leave that in Cali and I will be here in Virginia. Rich did question a few times if he needed to come, he didn’t want to let me come alone but I said I will be ok. I know where Chris lives, I have a SUV waiting when I get off this jet so I will just get in there and I am gone. We will be staying in the apartment anyways so it’s fine, he feels I won’t be safe, but Chris is very protective even with his broken leg and fingers, he continues to reminde this every day we talk, he will be stopping that business when I am there.

There is a lot of people outside his apartment place, it was quiet that time I came with Rich. The group did look into the SUV but it’s blacked out “are you wanting to get out now Miss Fenty?” my driver asked, I have been sat here waiting for them to go “just a few more minutes, I really don’t want people to know I am here” he looked ahead of him, he understands. The group of boys and girls, they are teenagers to me, they keep looking here and it’s like they are waiting for the person to come out but I won’t “thank god” I breathed out, they are moving “if you want to start to get my things out, then I can take it from there thank you” putting on my shades, zipping my coat up and pulling my hood up. I am well covered now, opening the car door. Getting out of the SUV, I look a mess to be honest. I wanted to come here looking sexy for him, but I can’t really, I am trying to hide myself “your bag miss” my driver held my duffle bag “I would tell you to walk me upstairs but then it’s creating drama but thank you” my bag is a little heavy, I tried to fit in everything I could. I am still missing some things because I didn’t want to bring a suitcase, I have a dress in this, but I can walk around in Chris’ things because I know I will be in that for a while.

Walking up the steps to his apartment, I mean it’s bad enough this bag is heavy but walking up these steps, not fun. Looking up at the group of girls coming down the stairs, let me just keep my head down. I don’t want them to question me, the girls giggled as they went by me, not sure on what they was laughing at but they was laughing at something “thank god” I said to myself as I reached the top of the steps to Chris’ apartment floor, that was painful. Breathing out stood outside Chris’ apartment and knocked on the door lightly, please let him answer the door quickly. I don’t want to be stood here for so long, maybe that knock was a little light. Knocking again but louder, unzipping my coat and pushing my hood back, let me not be so impatient, he will mention his disability, he will bring that up of course. Stepping back from the door looking up “please” I said to myself, you know what let me knock again and see if he opens up this time, if he is not home I will scream. Hearing the door unlock “I am disabled you know!” he shouted through the door, I knew it, I knew he would say that. He is terrible at mentioning this, the door opened but Chris wasn’t there “come in” he is hiding behind the door of course “mess” now it’s official he hasn’t shaved that is why he is hiding, I huffed walking inside “I am in pain and you’re huffing out” rolling my eyes.

I guess I shouldn’t run inside the place, he is taking his time closing the door. Placing my duffle bag down “sorry” turning around “oh my god!” I spat, seeing Chris clean shaven, medium length messy overgrown hair with a fade cut, his beard gone, his chiselled bone structure is now exposed “you have no?” I pointed “I am better, I lied” I feel so emotional seeing him all clean shaven, he looks so sexy “oh my god, Chris you look so sexy. I love it. Your hair, I just. I am turned on” Chris smirked at me walking over to me slowly, he is so cool and calm about it all “I have missed you so much, facetime doesn’t do it for me. I really missed you” why is he looking at me like I look good, I have no makeup on, I am a mess with a big coat on, him on the other hand. He looks so sexy, he held onto my hand and bought it up to his lips “I love you” I am shook, what bought this on. I am so speechless, he bought me into a hug. I can’t even speak, I wasn’t expecting such a feeling from Chris because he can be pretty closed off about feelings and things, but I can feel it, I can feel how much he has missed me, he yearned for me. Chris pressed his lips against mine but then grinned against my lips and I ran my fingers through his hair, moving back from the kiss, his face just inches away, I traced my fingers lightly over his face “I thank god you’re ok” I leaned forward and nibbled on his bottom lip and then began to kiss him hungrily. Chris wrapped my legs around his waist and deepened the kiss, Chris broke the kiss and laughed “I am so happy” I said in a whisper “likewise” he nuzzled my nose, I am just so happy he shaved.

Chris put me down, I can’t stop staring at him. Like I am finding him so sexy, I mean I did anyways. I liked him when he was a teenager but now, my god “you look so good, I can’t stop staring at you” I admitted, we both just laughed “I can tell, I feel happy I ain’t in that shit anymore. I am me but come. I have a little something for you, come. Sit here” he pointed at the couch; I wonder what he is up too demanding me to sit “what happens next?” I asked as I sat down “you sit down, one moment” he walked off, I am so fucking happy. I am just so happy that I am here with him, I am here in his arms. All I have wanted to do is be with him, I feel like I have left my mind at the door when I entered his place “close your eyes!” I sighed out, I really don’t want to do that but I guess I need too “fine, they are closed” closing my eyes “if they ain’t closed then I will kick you out of my apartment, don’t test me” laughing at him, I think he would too “they are closed! Hurry up” I feel anxious because god knows what he is doing, feeling something being placed on my lap “open them” he tapped my lap, opening my eyes “I wish I put makeup on now, I feel a mess” I am so annoying, why didn’t I just look better “don’t, you look beautiful, but look” he pointed, looking down seeing the box, a small box “you getting down on one knee now?” I joked “my knees are too precious, don’t push it now” shaking my head as I pulled open the box “oh god, don’t tell me you’re going to make me find this thing” there is a piece of paper wrapped in here, pulling out the paper, it’s a little weighty actually. Pulling open the paper and a key dropped out of it and onto the floor “two hours?” I read out, leaning down and grabbing the key “you hold onto that key, we are travelling again. Come” what is he doing “two hours? Where though” he doesn’t want to hear me, he just picked the box off of my lap “don’t ask questions, just follow” he’s been planning, I like it.

I don’t think I need Rich anymore, Chris is carrying my duffle bag and doing everything for me “I was going to blindfold you but I know you like to see my face” he opened his car door for me “how did you know? Is this new?” I pointed at the car “I hired it, for us” I didn’t want him to do the most “Chris” I stood staring at him “my other car got totalled, I will tell you when we get in the car. Come” I am questioning on what he is up too now, I don’t want him to go above and beyond. I am guess with the key is that we are going someplace, I can only guess because he took my duffle bag of things so we must be staying elsewhere, sitting in the car “ayo, my nigga breezy. How you are?” some guy said, I put my head down as I sat in, the door closed which then altered with what I could hear but I am trying to hear “good, I am alive” I vaguely heard Chris “good seeing you, man. I heard and I was so upset. I am like Chris is a good man but it’s hard, you know how niggas be. Just because that happened they don’t want to be seen with you but you good people, keep your head down. If I heard anything or see anything I got you” Chris seems to get some real trouble about here, I don’t like it at all, it scares me.

I can finally move my hood and take my shades off, that was painful. I thought let us drive off before I did all of that, looking down at my hands with the key in hand “where are we going?” I asked “somewhere, don’t worry about it. Just relax” raising an eyebrow “wait, where is your bag? Are you kidnapping me? This is concerning now, I just realised that he didn’t exactly put a bag in the car for himself “mhmmm, it is kidnap. For a few days” I am so happy Chris is back to himself “so tell me, what happened to your car?” I would like to know now “well, what happened was they totalled my car, set it alight while I was in hospital” my eyes bulged out “excuse me!?” I shouted, “yes you’re excused” grabbing his arm “Chris, that is dangerous!” I shouted “it is, but my car was parked outside my parents place, it happened there. They don’t know where I live Robyn, it’s fine. I promise you, let’s just think of this time away. Me and you” I can’t even think of that “you need to move Chris; I am being deadass now. I don’t like this; it’s giving me anxiety now. Listen to me, please move” Chris nodded his head, reaching his hand over to me as he touched my face. He wants me to be quiet “hold my hand” I want to slap his hand away, but I will do it, he is driving so I will save it until we actually get there, and I will harass him.

It feels good to be with someone I want, so much love between us even in silence “I wanted to ask actually, why the change. I mean when you opened the door you were so different. Much more loving towards me, I don’t know. I just felt it?” he’s still holding my hand, I love it. A man, he is just oozing sex “because I fucked up that time, you know about and we spoke about, but I was down bad. Being at my parents’ home, it’s wack but they took care of me and I was down about it. I ain’t show it to you, because when you were calling me, and checking on me you really made me feel better. And it wasn’t just like one call a day, we were communicating constantly, it showed me how much you cared for me, I love that. And then how you took care of me from afar, you in Miami and since I told you my address all you kept doing was sending me food, my mom was like the hell is happening, tell Barry to stop. You took care of me and I love that about you, that’s real wifey movement. I just think, I mean I am saying it now. You the one, I see it. Also you actually flew out to me before your birthday, you don’t have too. So yeah, I hope that answers your question” staring at Chris in awe “it does” I said in a whisper.

Chris dragged the door open “what the hell?” I pointed laughing “this is us, peace” he pointed at the cabin “I paid out for this, we can just be us and have fun. You got the key, so come. Get out” getting out of the car, my legs are a little jelly after sitting in the car for those two hours “you can see the blue mountain here, it’s like the most scenic shit you will see” Chris pointed, looking to where he is pointed “wow, it is. I love it Chris. You are right, we will get peace here” Chris pushed the car door shut “after you” he gestured, nodding my head. The cabin looks amazing, it’s big too. I think this must have cost him because the views are amazing already, walking up the steps to the door “you know this where most people come to kill?” Chris laughed out “how can you joke about death when I near tasted that twice” I scoffed putting the key in the door “close you eyes” he placed his hands over my eyes, I hate surprises now. I feel nervous “open the door for me, I can’t even see now because of you” I don’t know why but my hand automatically just gripped his wrist, I just don’t trust him with his antics sometimes “can I trust you to keep your eyes closed once we get in?” Chris asked, I would like to say no but I won’t “yes” I lied.

I was going to cheat and open my eyes, but I didn’t, I can hear Chris moving around and I am just stood here “opening your eyes slowly” Chris said, he is close to me. I mean his voice alone gave it away, but I can feel his presence near me. Opening my eyes ever so slowly, laying my eyes on the candle lit cake in front of me “Chris” looking up at him, my heart literally skipped a beat seeing him just stood smiling at me “happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Barbadian cherry Happy birthday to you, make a wish” I breathed out, I am speechless but I closed my eyes and wished for the very thing I know what my gran gran would want for me, blowing the candles out “you like?” looking down at the cake “oh my god, Chris. Where did you find this from?” seeing the picture of Chris and I at the basketball game he had “I was such a cheerleader for you, you had me sat with the players waiting for you, we acted like a couple, I mean just look at the whore sat on your lap” Chris chuckled “yeah well she my whore now, not in a bad way but I did all this for you, I drove here early. Decorated the cabin for us, got us food, everything is prepped” seeing the balloons and the banner “I am speechless Chris” he walked off with the cake “I had time to think Robyn so yeah, also. You need to follow the roses, so go and have fun” he is spoiling me, I want to cry.

#Chrianna FF #Chrianna #Chrianna Fanfiction #Fanfic #Fanfiction

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fanmode-activated · 4 years

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Things I ought to talk about regarding skam france s5 (basically a long ass rant)

Being the first original Skam season to be made by a remake, there is, of course, going to be many things to discuss about Skam France. It has always been the more dramatic one of the remakes in terms of cinematography and events. The show looks like you’re watching something very produced and professional as opposed to the more “authentic” look that the original show had. It’s not that important honestly for me regarding the quality of the show, it’s more a question of taste, whether you like it or not. The actors are older than their characters, which is not a bad thing in and of itself. It hasn’t been affecting the show negatively is what I’m saying (unless we’re talking about Charles, but I lowkey love Michel and Marilyn’s chemistry, it made me care about their relationship in s2. Only s2. Otherwise fuck Charles). Like every other version, the cast is talented and fits each other well. I think my main issue is that Skam France (and some other remakes, but this is about France) seems to have missed the purpose of Skam, which is to give teenagers hopeful stories that teach them how to communicate.

I want to start by saying that there were a lot of good things in s5. The choice to make it about Arthur was smart, because he is a mysterious guy who would say the weirdest shit unprompted, like how he slept with a 34-year-old woman (we still don’t know what that was about btw), and we basically knew nothing about him, except that he thought his dad was an asshole. He was a blank slate to work with, which is somewhat of a dream.

Making the main theme of the season be about deafness was, in my opinion, a good idea. It had the ability to teach people about a community that is very rarely portrayed in media. It gives D/deaf people representation, which is always good, as long as it is done carefully and respectfully. Luckily, the Skam France team seems to have done its research. They worked with a deaf run theatre company and made sure to hire deaf actors, just to be accurate. Whether every medical detail of Arthur’s sudden deafness is realistic and accurate, I can’t say. It seemed reasonable to me, but someone with more experience would have to tell me. On the technical front, everything seemed fine.

Having Arthur’s dad be abusive was a good idea, because it is a reality, and it would be beneficial to show in the Skam style how this reality affects teens and how to potentially get out of a bad situation. In theory, I am on board with that. What I have an issue with is the second part of that story, which I will address here.

Like I said earlier, the deaf storyline was a great idea. They managed to include other disabilities through the characters of Melchior and Laura, which was amazing. They are adorable and I know some people felt really happy to be represented that way. Noée and Camille are a great addition to the cast, I mean Noée is an adorable badass, and Camille is a toned-down Mika, I could not have asked for more, they’re literally perfect. I think there was a great potential to make them sort of guides for Arthur, friends he needs in this new journey and they achieved that in many ways. However, I could have done without the love triangle. Mainly because, love triangles are so overdone at this point, it’s painful. I mean, literally everyone is so done with love triangles, can we come up with something else, please? From Skam, I would expect a little more originality. Especially Skam France, who unnecessarily pushed the love triangle in s4 with Manon, Sofiane and Imane that didn’t really exist in the original and got a pretty huge backlash. I thought they would learn from their mistakes, considering that the characters often mention previous seasons in s5 to refer to mistakes they made as people, so it’s kind of ironic that the team wouldn’t make an effort themselves to correct their mistakes.

The first major problem with this for me is that they introduced Arthur and Alex as being in a happy and loving relationship. Now, personally, I would have loved if they weren’t in a relationship at all because I mean a) imagine a season where the main character’s problems don’t revolve around a ‘love’ problem somehow, and b) it’s not really realistic to me that they would all be in relationships seeing as they are teenagers. But, forgetting about that because my personal experience of being a teenager is not necessarily universal, since they decided to have them be in a relationship, what was the point if it was only to throw trouble at it? It’s absolutely believable that they would have problems in their couple, and the first part of the season was actually very good at showing that. Arthur’s main problem was acquiring a disability and having to learn to accept it and live with it. The journey was very realistic, and the way Alexia reacted to it was also good and realistic. I was absolutely happy with that. But then, at the same time, we had Noée. She was purposely coded as a romantic interest, but not too much (she was introduced in a pool, the most romantic Skam location, I mean subtlety much?), just enough to confuse the audience. She was what Arthur needed a lot of times, a friend, a guide, and we could see that she had some feelings for him, but if we actually look at the facts, they didn’t interact that much, and a lot of those initial interactions were spent fighting because they had different views about Arthur’s deafness. But let’s say that I ignore the facts and focus on their emotional connection, which I totally believed, on Noée’s side anyway. Why did they do it? I have a few theories. Arthur is constantly torn between his hearing and the deaf world and they decided to represent that with his relationship with Alexia and Noée. Now, I’m not one of those people who need to pick a team (because binary is bullshit, black or white, male or female, good or bad, life is more rich and complicated than that, I don’t subscribe to a binary view of anything), and for those who do, remember that both of them are amazing representation, a confident bisexual girl and a deaf girl as romantic leads is badass either way. But, I reiterate, why make the effort of making Arthur and Alexia’s relationship strong and rootable for, if you’re going to introduce another viable love interest? My guess, like I said is that both girls are representative of the deaf and hearing world, and his relationship to Noée mirrors his relationship to his disability in some way, but if that’s the case then, it’s pretty reductive to both girls.

Noée was shown from the very start as being this independent, strong, confident, caring badass woman. She immediately reached out to Arthur when she saw that he looked like he needed help and guidance. She headbutted a guy who came onto her when she repeatedly told him no. She’s very proud of her deafness, and she has issues with hearing people because of childhood bullying and her father not loving her. In short, she seemed like a complicated, three-dimensional person. So, when clip 12 of episode 8 happened, I was very confused. The way the scene was written is very messy. First off, Arthur only “breaks up” with her because he doesn’t want to be like his dad (which is another thing we need to address later). He refers to the obstacle of their relationship as being communication, which is not actually an obstacle because, with patience and care, any language barrier is obsolete. I mean there are plenty of couples who don’t speak the same language that exists, deaf and hearing people included, so, not really an argument on his part. The second problem with that scene is that it’s constructed in a way where Noée is the one who has to run after Arthur and make the effort of talking out loud. Disregarding the fact that I hate the trope of “the deaf person who doesn’t like using their voice using it in a dramatic moment to be perceived as romantic” (I didn’t like it in Switched at Birth, I don’t like it now), it’s a very ableist view of what qualifies as romantic. I guess there is an argument that could be made about the fact that it’s like if let’s say someone is afraid of heights, but they go on top of a building to save someone who’s about to jump or other instances of conquering one's fear for a loved one. I don’t agree with it, but the right arguments could convince me maybe one day. Noée having to go against something she’s been uncomfortable with forever to say “I love you”? I absolutely do not believe it at all. She doesn’t love him. She cares about him, sure, she likes him even, that of course, I see it, I have eyes, but love? Big word for someone you met what, 4 weeks earlier? Either she doesn’t know what love is and said it out of fear, which I don’t know about, but it could be realistic I guess in some parallel universe, OR it was a ploy by the writers to be dramatic and have Arthur look back at her in a telenovela, 90s soap opera, early 2000s K-drama fashion right before getting hit by a car. Now, could it be argued that Noée suffers from abandonment issues because of her dad? Maybe, but if that was the case, based on the content we’ve had, it’s a pretty far-fetched theory that seems like an attempt to redeem bad writing. I mean, just the fact that he literally gets hit by a car adds to the very unrealistic dramatic flair of the entire clip. It feels like every drama show, which Skam is not supposed to be. It’s hard to enjoy the good acting when the story is so out there. My other main problem with this story is that they want us to believe that Arthur is also in love with Noée. The problem is, they don’t show us, they just tell us. “Show, don’t tell” is a pretty basic film technique, especially in Skam. If they wanted us to really believe that he loved her, they would’ve shown him stalking her Insta, or researching CIs after she talked to him about it, we would’ve gotten some clips of him alone obviously thinking about her, but we never do. The only time she’s relevant is when she’s physically there, or when it has to do with Alexia somehow, he never seems to think about her in a romantic way, only when she might be a problem. So when he tells her that he loves her in the last episode? I don’t believe it for a second.

The love triangle also reduces Alexia to an “issue”, because in the second act of the season, she goes from loving supportive girlfriend to “oh no I hope she doesn’t find out”. At that point, the only outcome was for Arthur to end up alone and figure himself out, which I think was their goal, they wanted him to end up alone and figure himself out, and that’s an amazing lesson to have, I mean it was the ending of season 1, but they didn’t execute it well. There is something there that didn’t need to happen or needed to be handled differently, and it wasn’t, which just left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I know better than professional writes, but as a Skam watcher and general TV and movie watcher, even I can tell that this was not handled properly. I did like Alex’s break up song, not gonna lie.

Now, onto the matter of his dad. As I mentioned before, him being abusive is a good storyline. Arthur had mentioned before that his dad was an asshole, so that being the reason is actually good. However, I don’t think the execution was well done. The set up was perfect for a good story, but somehow it fell short. The first clip Arthur’s father was introduced was perfectly executed from a storytelling perspective. There was an immediate shift in both Arthur and his mom’s demeanor, where they tensed up as soon as he got home. Then Arthur looked clearly uncomfortable when his dad was pressuring him into medicine. Everything about that scene screamed “something is not right here, but I can’t tell what”. Very good setup for a physical or emotional abuse situation. For the next few weeks, every scene with the dad was a bit meek, meaning he was being harsh, but so was Arthur and it was understandable. Arthur was going through the biggest change in his life and his dad just wanted him to look out for his future. While the way he talked seemed a bit asshole-ish, it can easily be explained as a parent wanting his kid to be okay. It was confusing, because the “threatening” aspect seemed to be gone, so we were left wondering where was this going. Then came the big reveal in episode 7, that Arthur’s dad is the one who made him deaf in the left ear by hitting him too hard (which by the way, I did not need to see, what is this, wtfock?). Before we continue, let’s take a second to look at the format the original Skam followed for its stories. The main character is faced with an initial problem that lasts for half the season or a few weeks more (Eva is friendless and she doesn’t trust Jonas, Noora is falling for William but doesn’t want to, Isak is gay but can’t admit it, Sana struggles with her dual identities and liking Yousef). That first problem is half-resolved and the main is faced with problem 2 (Eva cheats on Jonas and is being bullied, Noora gets assaulted, Even turns out to be bipolar, Sana loses herself and fucks up with her friends). Then by using communication, they fix both problems (Eva fixes things with Ingrid and her friends and breaks up with Jonas to find herself, Noora talks to Mari, confronts Nico and fixes her relationship with William, Isak talks to his friends and Sonja, accepts his sexuality and gets back with Even, Sana talks to Isak and her friends and fixes things with them, before fixing things with Yousef). If we follow this model with Arthur, this could have worked perfectly. Problem one, Arthurs becomes deaf and now has to learn to live with it. We see the impact it has on his relationships and himself. Problem 2, we learn that his dad is abusive and now this is his problem for a few weeks, like he tells Noée about it, and she tells him that this is abusive behaviour, and he tries to be like no it’s not, but then it becomes undeniable as the weeks go by and then he talks to someone about it, maybe his mom and/or the police, and so we get a mini-resolution that’s not necessarily immediate, just like with Noora and Nico, where we don’t see the trial or anything like that, but just the action of admitting that his dad is an abusive person and taking actions to protect himself. Then we conclude with him finally fully accepting being part of two worlds, and maybe those two worlds start to merge. This would have perfectly followed the format of the original and would have kept the realistic yet hopeful message. And there is no need to put a love triangle in the middle of it!

This was a very long tangent that addressed both the abuse and the love triangle to get to a specific point, which is that, the dad cheating storyline is very out of place in a show like Skam. I’m not saying it’s not out of character for him, I very much got cheater energy from him, but the stories told are supposed to be about problems faced by teenagers that can be fixed by learning to communicate (or made better, I’m not saying Noora’s story was fixed by talking, it just made her more in control of her situation, but it was still a very serious problem.) But Arthur’s dad cheating on his mom is not something Arthur can fix, it’s not even related to him, it’s a parent problem. All he can do is live through it. Does it affect him? Yes absolutely. But did they need to parallel Arthur’s behaviour with that of his abusive father for him to realize that it was wrong? There are other ways to do that! It feels like they just wanted to have the dramatic dinner scene, where Arthur and his dad scream at each other and reveal everything in a very dramatic Hollywood way. ( And that storyline took us away from his deafness for a while by the way, like did he momentarily stop being deaf? Idk, it was weird for a while. Also, did Arthur need to out Alex at dinner? Lmao, talk about trying to shock your parents.) And, quick tangent, when Arthur told his friends about cheating, can we talk about Yann and Lucas’s responses? They tell him not to say anything? May I remind you of season 1, when Emma tells Lucas about her cheating and he told her not to say anything because he knew that if she did, she would be forgiven? And Yann, who knows what it’s like to be cheated on, and knows that telling her himself directly might help (or not, but still) is also telling him to not say anything. Like, did they forget about their own lives? This is just more proof that they wanted drama from this situation, which is kind of sad. Basically what I’m saying is they made the second half of the season a dramafest, which turned me off so much. It reminded me a lot of s3 of wtfock, which relied on drama way too much for its own good and mad me constantly mad at a bunch of fictional teens. And, maybe this is going too much into details, so I understand if not a lot of people agree with me on that but, Arthur was never alone. In every season, the character reaches a point where, in their POV, they feel like they are utterly alone and that no one cares for them, and they have to be the one to make a move to reach out and communicate with others. It never felt that way with Arthur. He always had either the boys, Alexia or Noée in his corner, he never reached that point of total despair. It’s not a bad thing per sé, it just feels like something that is supposed to happen in Skam, it’s part of the character’s journey, and here it was left out, but instead, we got a lot of useless plots.

Now, the last thing that irked me about the season, (and I know it’s nitpicky and detail-y) but I realized applied to the whole series was the dialogue. Skam France’s dialogue was always too fast, but I always saw it as “oh well the French speak quickly in general and their humour is very quick and dry”, so I didn’t mind it much, because I was used to it and at least we had some quiet times. But in this original season, they talked so much! It’s like, they’re always on, there’s no pauses, no awkward silences, and Arthur doesn’t have many clips where it’s just him alone thinking. They don’t seem to realize people aren’t always funny, they’re not on all the time. It worked well when it came to showing Arthur’s personality, he’s the guy with the jokes, and he makes them even at awkward times, but in group settings, it’s like we were in Gilmore Girls, like, breathe.

Last thing I want to address before concluding this very long and unnecessary rant. The finale. I didn’t want to write about it before I watched the live on youtube after the season, but I was translating and the live was lagging, so I barely caught glimpses here and there, therefore I cannot talk about season 6, since I have no idea what they discussed, and I can’t talk about what Niels or David said about the choices for the season. But I can talk about the finale. That last scene with Noée and Alexia was very weird and felt very forced. What was its purpose except make Alexia and Arthur be on good terms for next season? I don’t know. It’s like they wanted to wrap it up immediately when it’s not something that can be done naturally that way. I do wanna shout out Alexia for learning more signs than Arthur in days than he did in weeks, what a queen. Second thing, I don’t know what all the thing with season 6 is, like what veto on characters they got from NRK or whatever, but what is clear is that they wanted the season to revolve around Daphné, since she’s the one we’ve been getting hints of for the entirety of season 5. But if that was the only way they could thing to introduce Lola, it was weird. She just appeared out of thin air (except that one scene in detention where we saw her back), and so I don’t care about her at all. Like, I have no investment in seeing her POV, so making her appear suddenly in the finale is not the greatest move. I wish they had built her up at least a little, like her herself, not just by having Daphné acting weird. And let’s talk about that last shot, where a group of people stood in the middle of a party in front of a mural, holding hands. Realism who? is what they said. I mean sure it was cute or whatever (why was Lucas crying, y’all are seeing each other next week, i-) but it did not have its place there. It felt like they really wanted that scene but didn’t know how to wrap the season nicely. Something felt really off to me. Then again, the entire second part of the season had me very confused, so maybe my perception is biased. Maybe I’ll love it on a future rewatch. All I can say is that it didn’t feel Skam like at all.

I don’t want to end this on a negative note, I mean I tried giving my opinion with somewhat coherent reasoning behind it because you can love something but still critique it, but I know negativity is a very easy train to get on, so let’s finish with the stuff that I loved this season.

Emma and Arthur’s relationship, I actually missed her and loved that they managed to seamlessly bring her into Arthur’s life, I was afraid she would be left behind because Manon isn’t there.

Basile and Arthur’s friendship, it was honestly the highlight of my week a lot of times, they literally destroyed toxic masculinity.

Alexia in general, I was glad to see her be overall amazing, we love the bi rep.

Lucas’s hair. Do I need to explain it?

Background Elu and Background Sofimane. We like happy couples.

No Marles (I don’t hate them I just don’t care for them).

Episode 2, Clip 3.

Camille watching the drama unfold in the background and being like 👀

The LSF lessons

Melchior and Laura

Camille and Mika

Robin’s acting, he’s very talented, he made me care about Arthur.

Some other stuff that is not coming to me right now.

#skam france #skam france season 5 #skam france s5 #skam france rant #arthur broussard #élu #alexia martineau #lucas lallement #lucas and eliott #eliott and lucas #eliott demaury #wtfock #skam remake #skam france arthur #arthur and alexia #arthur and noee

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