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renegadewangs · 3 years

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Van Zieks - the Examination, part 9

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

How the turnabouts have turned! It's time for Twisted Karma and His Last Bow!

Episode 2-4: Twisted Karma and His Last Bow

With Van Zieks's tragic backstory (…) exposed, it's time to head on into waters we've charted before, waaay back in the very first Ace Attorney game: The Prosecutor becomes the Defendant. It all starts off with some shenanigans which appear to have very little to do with Van Zieks (the arrival of Mikotoba and Jigoku, the Red-headed League, a missing prison warder, etc.).. Ryu does still run into Van Zieks very briefly in Stronghart's office, with Susato noting that there appears to be an awful lot of tension in the air. I expect Van Zieks is questioning that decision to leave Genshin Asogi's son in his care, but even so, he's very civil towards Stronghart. Susato also notes that Van Zieks gives Ryu a cold stare as he leaves, with Ryu wondering what he's done to earn that. This may also be a result of him being besties with Kazuma, since Van Zieks had already buried the hatchet towards Ryu for the most part. When Ryu asks about the decision to leave Kazuma in Van Zieks's care, Stronghart explains it was to best keep an eye on this 'mysterious amnesiac with no identifying papers'. Well OK then. Stronghart also explains he made Kazuma wear a mask because he didn't want to “burden Van Zieks with tiresome explanations about why he had an Eastern appearance.” … I would assume the very simple explanation is that it's because he's of Eastern descent, Stronghart. Regardless, the Lord Chief Justice has high hopes for Kazuma's future and isn't at all bothered by the fact that the guy has gone missing for a little bit.

Things take a turn later when Gina Lestrade comes barging into 221B with some pretty shocking news. Inspector Gregson was murdered. Yes, THAT Inspector Gregson. The suspect has already been arrested:

It's true that to the average civilian like Gina, Van Zieks's name is pretty much synonymous to the Reaper (of the Old Bailey). Even so, to have her outright calling him by that title adds a sort of emotional distance that's really striking. Gina explains they caught him at the scene and there were several witnesses, but Ryu thinks to himself that there's no way Van Zieks would have taken Gregson's life. So naturally, we owe it to our good pal Gregson (who actually was just coming around and being nicer to Ryu) to find the truth. Time to go have a talk with Van Zieks in prison!

… Okay that's funny. Don't worry, Barok, one day we'll all look back on this and laugh. Anyway, Van Zieks says he's in the last place on earth he'd want to be, with the last person on earth he'd want to see. And this line can easily be misinterpreted as Van Zieks saying he hates Ryu more than anyone else in the world, but what he's actually saying is that Ryu is the last person he wishes would see him in this troublesome situation. Ryu says he couldn't very well not come, but Van Zieks tells him to go home since it has nothing to do with him. Susato interjects, pointing out that Gregson has helped them out on numerous occasions and so, they're indebted to him. She pleads for Van Zieks's help with the investigation and he's silent for a moment, only to say: “There's really nothing I can tell you.” Which I suppose means he doesn't think he has anything helpful to say. Ryu asks about what Van Zieks was reading when they came in and assumes it to be a case report. Van Zieks says the Yard wouldn't share case details with a suspect (keep that one in mind) and explains it's a letter from Albert. Dear Professor Harebrayne has arrived in Germany safely! Ryu notes that Van Zieks usually never minces his words, but they seem to have less bite than usual now. No wonder, really, since he's in prison for the murder of an old friend. Van Zieks asks how much they already know about the case, so the two of them go through the facts and Van Zieks says they're well-informed. He's got nothing to add, because... Well.

Oh, this is going to be another one of those cases, huh. Susato asks what Van Zieks was doing at the crime scene in the first place, but Van Zieks points out he doesn't need to answer that, as they aren't representing him. When asked who is representing him in court, he says it'd be anyone other than Ryu. That said, he doesn't actually have any representation because of his reputation as the Reaper. Sixteen people he's prosecuted have mysteriously died and now that he's actually been apprehended for a murder, that whole Reaper ordeal is sure to be thoroughly examined.

BOY, have we got news for you! When it's pointed out that Van Zieks didn't actually have anything to do with those mysterious deaths (right???), he replies that no one wants to know the true identity of that killer more than he does, but it seems things may come to a head before he can uncover the truth. Van Zieks basically tells Ryu to leave, but being the kind-hearted gentleman that he is, Ryu offers to advocate for him in court. Van Zieks asks whether Ryu trusts him, which is a pretty fair question to ask. He's built up so many racist scumbag points and has such a bad reputation in town, it would be weird for Ryu to trust him unconditionally. Luckily, Ryu has been paying attention just as much as I have; he's heard Van Zieks speak in court and seen the way he treats people (uhh, English citizens, anyway), so he doesn't believe this 'Reaper' has it in him to take a life. Unfortunately, Ryu also has to acknowledge that feelings can't be used as evidence in court. Van Zieks considers the offer gracious, but...

“Not the police, not the judiciary... And not you Nipponese.”

One more scumbag point for putting “you Nipponese” in its own category for no reason. Either way, this man has built up such high defensive walls, you could see them from three galaxies away. Trusting no one is a pretty drastic way of living. Ryu thinks to himself that there's a chasm between the two of them that's 'just too wide and too deep'.

As a sidenote, presenting the attorney armband doesn't lead to any interesting conversation this time, but we can also present the Red-headed League advertisement! Van Zieks surmises that if it were a Black-headed League, Ryu would join without delay, which Ryu then confirms. Van Zieks says that sadly, his hair is neither black nor red. He goes into a most curious identity crisis of sorts, where he looks quite anguished as he wonders which coloured league he should join instead. There have been several debates over his hair color, actually, from lavender to purple to grey. Regardless, Susato points out that “people are troubled by the most unexpected problems at times.” It is unexpected, since Van Zieks needs neither the money nor the company that he would get from joining any such league. It's just the principle of the matter, I suppose.

Over by the crime scene in Fresno Street, Gina gets a little razzled when she suspects Ryu is thinking of defending “that Reaper bloke”. Susato points out that if “Lord van Zieks” really is responsible for the crime, he'll be judged fairly in court. This gets Gina to calm down again, because she really wants to know the truth of what happened and much like Van Zieks, she must know that getting the truth is what Ryu does best. A bit of conversation later, Gina points out one more interesting thing; Gregson apparently held a lot of respect for 'the Reaper'. “I take my hat off to that fella,” were his exact words, apparently. Ryu is skeptical, as am I, because I've seen the way Gregson talks about Van Zieks behind his back.

Gina explains that's exactly why he respected Van Zieks. That's... a little weird and ambiguous. So either he respected Van Zieks's ability to stand tall despite all the public scorn, or he respected the fear he struck into people's hearts. There's one more option; Gina keeps talking about the Reaper instead of Van Zieks, so it's possible that Gregson was talking about the actual Reaper. This seems unlikely, though, since he didn't seem to enjoy being part of the Reaper organization.

And now that we know Van Zieks is the defendant, one might be wondering: Who is the prosecutor? Who is the antagonistic force who will try to stop Ryu from uncovering the truth? Well, we find him over in Stronghart's office. Apparently he took an express train back to London from wherever it was he's been these past few days.

YOOOOUUUU!!! Though before we can address his presence properly, we need to discuss the new case. Stronghart wastes no time asking Ryu and Susato whether they've heard “the sickening news about the Reaper's latest devilry.” Which stands out, to say the least, since Stronghart has always been a strong supporter of Van Zieks up until this point. When Susato points out that surely he doesn't believe it, Stronghart says he believes only in facts, which all point to the unavoidable accusal of Lord van Zieks. Someone sure had a quick turnaround when it comes to his number one prosecutor, geez... Stronghart points out the irony that there's no salvation for anyone prosecuted by the Reaper of the Bailey, and now the Reaper himself must stand in the dock. Just as Van Zieks had already alluded to, Stronghart now claims the public will want answers about those mysterious deaths. Ryu and Susato both point out that which had been rubbed into our faces several times already; Van Zieks denies any involvement, and also there have been several investigations into whether he had anything to do with it. Stronghart kind of brushes this off, though. Turns out, Van Zieks is being traded in for a newer model number one prosecutor: Kazuma Asogi! Which seems weird at first glance, since Kazuma is a defense attorney, but Stronghart considers that a bonus:

“A devastation combination, wouldn't you agree?”

I do agree. Granted, it seems Van Zieks had already figured out the defense's strategies too, he just never actively used them to his own advantage. It also turns out that Kazuma personally requested the prosecutor position for this trial. Susato thinks it's pretty unprecedented to grant a newcomer exchange student such a request, but Stronghart offers some petty excuse about how this way, it won't look like the judiciary are closing ranks. Kazuma, who assumes his friend will take on the defense, says he'll see how Ryu's skills have been honed after practicing law in England for so many months. (Uhh. Actually, bestie, it was only about two months of being a defense attorney and six months of disbarment.) Ryu notes that Kazuma is being hostile towards him and wonders why. On a final note, when asking Stronghart about the gun found at the crime scene, we're told that it's issued to all members of law enforcement, including prosecutors. Van Zieks claims to have lost his. That's a troubling claim indeed, because it's difficult to prove or disprove. GOSH, if only fingerprints were allowed in court.

As Ryu and Susato turn to leave, Kazuma stops them. He once again states he wants Ryu to witness this trial as the defense counsel, to “see how it ends”. Since Kazuma has a very distinct vision for how he wants it to end, I guess this means he intends to confront Ryu with Van Zieks's guilt and have his bestie see that a man like him is unworthy of his trust. Either that, or he expects Ryu to use this trial to find the truth of what really happened with the Professor ten years ago, just as he used Albert's trial to dig into that incident. Still though, this reads as pretty scummy to me, because it means he wants Ryu to lose a trial and lose some of his belief in his clients. In the trial itself, it seems to me that Kazuma desperately believes Van Zieks to be a horrible person deserving of the guilty verdict. Therefore, he in no way can hold hope that Ryu will prove him wrong (unlike what went down in case 2-3 with Albert). Anyway, Ryu says that Van Zieks would never put his fate in his hands.

“... It's not easy to see behind the facade sometimes.”

Case 2-3 already told us this, but it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who was closer to Van Zieks. Because remember, Kazuma spent three months by Van Zieks's side (and even fighting by his side), so of course he would know more about his personality than we do. Kazuma hands over a photograph of Barok when he was younger and

GOOD LORD, HE CAN SMILE. Or he could when he was younger, anyway. Kazuma states the picture was displayed in Gregson's office. What he's 'trying to say' is that if Ryu really thinks he can trust “the Reaper” (distancing choice of words again), he might find that some straight talking will change his view. I got the impression we've been straight talking Van Zieks ever since we first met him, but okay. Let's take the picture and back to the gaol we go! Van Zieks is once again reading from some paper and Ryu points out that either he's an incredibly slow reader or it's an incredibly long letter, but either way, Ryu might even be able to read English faster than him. Naturally, this was said loud enough for Van Zieks to overhear.

Scumbag point for hypocrisy, but also a scumbag point for “Nipponese”. When Ryu asks whether it's still Albert's letter he's reading, Van Zieks says he had the case report brought to him in secret. So wait, the Yard does share case details with its suspect? Hilarious. Once again, Van Zieks insists the situation has nothing to do with Ryu, up until the prosecutor's name is revealed to him. And so, the masked cardboard cutout student has become the master! Ryu notes that all the color drained from Van Zieks's face, which is pretty impressive when there's barely any color there to begin with. Ryu has the opportunity now to thrust the photograph into his face, so let's do that. He's immediately alarmed, since he assumed it to be lost and would never have expected Gregson to have it. When Ryu says that Gregson had a deep respect for him, he dismisses that as nonsense, only to correct himself. “There was a time things were like that.”

Van Zieks thanks Ryu for that nice glimpse into the past, and Ryu thinks to himself that there was a glimmer in Van Zieks's eyes- a brief twinkle. He considers that “an insight into the true nature of this man known to all as the stone-cold Reaper of the Bailey”, with “the true nature” being highlighted as orange. So this right here is undeniable; this is what the narrative is illustrating to us now. The true nature of Barok van Zieks is that of someone who was hopeful and jovial; kind-hearted, as Albert knew him. What we see now, that harsh exterior full of harsh words, is not his nature at all.

Van Zieks is more willing to talk now. He once again speaks of Klint, rehashing the same story we've heard several times already. Van Zieks claims there's not a single day where he doesn't curse the name Asogi. He considers it a cruel twist of fate that the man's son intends to crucify him in 'some kangaroo court'. Clearly, he doesn't think highly of the upcoming trial if he refers to it as a kangaroo court, but that's likely because he knows he isn't the real killer. When Ryu points out that he still doesn't understand why Stronghart apprenticed Kazuma to Van Zieks, the explanation is that “it's what he does”. Van Zieks believes that Stronghart knew Kazuma's true identity from the outset, but still provides no real explanation as to why Stronghart 'did what he did' and even assigned Kazuma as the prosecutor this time. Van Zieks goes on to contemplate the name Asogi some more and calls it 'the epitome of his bane'.

I've talked before about how utterly flawed it is that Van Zieks attributes Genshin's crime to his race and/or cultural upbringing and proceeds to tar every single Japanese person with the same brush. There's no need to go into this again; we all know it's wrong. Turns out, even Van Zieks knows it's wrong, but we'll get back to that momentarily. First, Van Zieks needs to talk about Klint even more. (good lord...) He explains that Klint van Zieks was hunting down a mass murderer and “assigned to the investigation as his partner was a certain visiting student dispatched by the Yard.” This was Genshin, of course, and I believe this is the first time it's said that he too was looking into the Professor case. So Van Zieks already mentioned in the previous case that the Japanese students had left a deep impact on him, and also that he once toasted friendship with a Japanese person, but now we have this:

“But none of us saw the true nature of the man.”

True nature is once again in orange here, but this time as a red herring. Van Zieks believes that the Professor murders were Genshin's true nature, when it isn't quite true at all. Regardless, since Van Zieks was still in university at the time the exchange students were in the country, I don't think he would've had that much contact with Genshin. I expect he encountered the man on rare occasion while Klint associated most with him. Every meeting was enough to foster this respect and friendship, though, so it's clear that young Van Zieks was easily influenced and had a very open mind towards a foreign exchange student. But then, that's what makes the next portion of the story all the more damaging.

“My esteemed brother... The people I believed in... And any semblance of right prevailing over wrong!”

As Van Zieks also already alluded to in the previous case, he found himself in a very dark place. That isn't surprising. Every positive thing Van Zieks knew in his life, from his family to his closest friends, was ripped away from him in extremely close succession. What must've been the final nail in the coffin was Genshin outright admitting to his crimes. It erased all doubt that perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding or a frame job. Going over everything Van Zieks has said so far, it seems he didn't just blame Genshin for the tremendous loss he suffered; he blamed himself. He must believe that his trust in Genshin blinded him to this supposed 'true nature', just as it must've also blinded Klint, and that the whole tragedy could've been prevented if only he'd been more cautious. So now, in present day, he no longer trusts anyone. He outright says so.

Van Zieks goes on to talk about how he was the one who prosecuted the Professor. Since he'd only just graduated, such a thing usually wouldn't be allowed, but he “beleaguered the ascribed prosecutor until he consented.” This person was Mael Stronghart, who back then was apparently still no more than a prosecutor. A highly accomplished one, but a prosecutor nonetheless. Since Klint was the Director of Prosecutions (or Chief Prosecutor???) at the time, that means he actually ranked above Stronghart. Interesting. Regardless, since Stronghart agreed to let Van Zieks lead the prosecution and instead only acted as an advisor, Van Zieks now feels indebted to him. That certainly explains why he's usually so good about following Stronghart's orders and not asking questions.

“And, of all things, as a lawyer.”

Ahhh, this is the part where Ryu enters the chronology. Our protagonist points out that he's felt Van Zieks's animosity since the first time he faced him in the courtroom; his obvious deep loathing of Japanese people. And here comes perhaps one of the most important, yet most overlooked lines Van Zieks will ever utter in these games:

“But for so many years, that hatred had festered inside me, I could no longer control it.”

So here, Van Zieks admits to two things. First of all, he admits that he was wrong to hold such deep loathing and by extension, to give that loathing a voice. He's a man of logic, after all. To cling to something which he refers to as illogical is about as wrong as one could get. Not only that, he admits that this was an unstoppable force he should have controlled, but was too weak to do so. The hatred overpowered him and did away with common sense. He behaved stupidly and irrationally because for ten years, hatred and negativity was all he knew. But what's even more striking here is Ryu's answer, which is also often overlooked:

Ryu, bless his heart, doesn't blame Van Zieks for succumbing to this weakness. Bear in mind, he's the victim here. Van Zieks wouldn't have encountered many other Japanese people in those ten years, if at all. This means the first person he lashed out against was Ryu. Naturally, Ryu can't speak for Susato or Soseki, who received their own verbal assaults and might have different opinions on the matter. Ryu is just one man, but in our narrative, he's the main protagonist and the main target of these outbursts. Is it misleading and perhaps even problematic in the grand scheme of things to have the protagonist sympathize with such motivation? Well, that depends on many different factors. There's no easy answer for this because it's a nuanced, cultural sort of thing. Personally, I was a bit bothered by it, but not to the point that it ruined the experience for me.

Van Zieks admits that just as the Japanese were the bane of his life, Kazuma Asogi must believe Van Zieks to be the bane of his. He is, after all, the Reaper who sent his father to the gallows. Van Zieks thinks that Kazuma intends to take revenge in court and... Really, this is true.

There's a quick bit of conversation about Gregson now. Turns out, the only reason the Professor was caught at all was because Gregson forced an autopsy on Klint despite it being considered the highest taboo at the time. Van Zieks says that as a result of Gregson's powerful conviction, he could avenge his brother's death. He looks quite torn, a bit pained. He must believe he owes Gregson something for this. The conversation then moves on to Van Zieks's revolver, which he claims to have misplaced an undetermined amount of time ago. “I must have stowed it somewhere, I suppose. Or left it somewhere, perhaps.” Van Zieks clearly doesn't think highly of firearms as a weapon, since he's constantly carrying a sword around instead. Susato points out that Ryu has a talent for misplacing things in common with Van Zieks, which leads to one more scumbag outburst.

… Dude. Come on. You just admitted it was illogical. You came so far! Scumbag point for you. Still, as the conversation rounds to a close, Van Zieks utters the words “Mister... Naruhodo”, much to Ryu's surprise. This is the first time he's actually said Ryu's name! Van Zieks once again reiterates that he's lost all confidence in England's judiciary system. He doesn't trust the police, the judiciary or lawyers. Even so, there's still one thing he's willing to believe in.

“That which you see in the eyes of another across the courtroom: a simple determination to know the truth. From the very first time we clashed in the Bailey almost a year ago now... I couldn't deny it, even though I dearly wished I could. 'Here is a loathsome Japanese... who has absolute integrity as a lawyer.' There are only two other men I've known with that same look in their eyes: my brother, Klint. … And Genshin Asogi.”

This is interesting. So at first when he saw that look in Ryu's eyes, he must've been reminded of Genshin. And again, this is why he directed such hatred towards Ryu; he saw someone who wasn't alive anymore. But now he recalls that Klint also had that same gaze, and so he wants to believe that Ryu is not similar to a deceitful murderer, he's instead similar to his beloved brother. (Boy is he going to have to reevaluate how he judges people when he finds out that his beloved brother was the deceitful murderer.) Van Zieks says that when he saw the photograph, he was reminded of a time when he could laugh, free of the shackles of mistrust which plague him now. This is very relevant since Van Zieks indeed can't laugh anymore. We never see him do it. He can't even smile.

“But at times the mire into which I've sunk makes it almost impossible to breathe.”

Someone please get this man to a professional therapist. If he means that in a more literal sense and he does occasionally feel like he can't breathe, that's telltale signs of panic attacks. It could just be, of course, that he's being overdramatic and the “impossible to breathe” bit is just fanciful wordplay to go with the mire analogy. Still though, considering he's also mentioned being in a dark place and that he's willing to die so long as it serves a useful purpose, and that he drinks his wine to stave off tedium... He's clearly depressed. But then, he seems to know it. He acknowledges that the way he is now is not the way things should be, and that he needs to fight to overcome it. And so:

“... In tomorrow's trial... Will you advocate for me?”

Boom. Swallowed his pride and turned to Ryu for help because he knows it's what's best for him. He no longer trusts anyone, but he's willing to trust Ryu because once he starts opening up again and has that trust repaid, then perhaps things can gradually go back to the way things were when he was younger. Mind, he still hasn't apologized for his actions, but that doesn't change that Ryu at least is willing to extend a hand to Van Zieks. It's a little sad that Susato doesn't properly form her own opinion on this and instead just goes along with whatever Ryu says. I would've liked to know just how she feels about Van Zieks's attitude and whether or not he deserves to be helped. She doesn't object to it, at least, and since Susato usually always speaks her mind, I can only assume she genuinely agrees with Ryu's sentiments.

The next day, in the defendant's lobby, it's remarked there's a 'menacing tension' in the air and Ryu surmises out loud it's the result of the menacing appearance of the defendant. Well-deserved, that remark. Touché. Van Zieks asks him for a little more courtesy in a polite enough manner, but considering the lack of courtesy he's shown Ryu over the past 8 months, that's hypocritical. He informs Ryu that this is a closed trial without a jury, which bums me out because it means no more Summation Examination. I would've liked to see Asogi react to that. (S)Holmes comes in and has the weirdest little banter with Van Zieks that I honestly can't... really decipher. There's several things about it that really strike me as being off:

- “And I you. I see London's celebrated great detective is as active as ever.”

- “Oh, you exaggerate, my dear fellow. Compared to my paltry engagements with a few trivial cases... The Reaper's overbearing presence is a far greater deterrent to the black roots of crime in our capital. And whilst I may not agree with your methods... There is at least one point on which I would readily commend you.”

- “What an honour. And that would be...?”

- “Your eye for a good lawyer, sir. […] Behind this lawyer there is a very great mind. My own.”

Alright, so... First of all, we know (S)Holmes is super arrogant and would never refer to his past cases as “trivial” in all sincerity. Plus, it's established that he's very weird with compliments, such as referring to Gregson as “the best of those blunderers of the Yard”, so complimenting Van Zieks directly on the effect he has on crime feels off. Aside from that, (S)Holmes addresses Van Zieks as the Reaper and continues to talk about 'his methods', when it's already been established (S)Holmes doesn't believe Van Zieks has anything to do with the Reaper killings. Taking all that into account, I can only really assume that the first half of this above conversation is (S)Holmes being weirdly passive aggressive towards Van Zieks, with Van Zieks being passive aggressive in turn. It really, truly feels as if there was some sort of backstory between these two that they had to scrap at the last second. Regardless, the exchange ends with (S)Holmes warning Van Zieks that this will be “quite a trial”.

Gina Lestrade shows up with Yujin Mikotoba (….. when did they meet???), saying they intend to watch the trial, and I am very impressed with how (S)Holmes manages to disappear from the scene and not say a word when his old partner arrives. Anyway, Gina looks Ryu square in the eye and asks him why he agreed to take Van Zieks on. Everyone's saying it was him who killed Gregson. Considering everyone was saying it was her who killed Pop Windibank six months ago, you'd think she might want to tone down her attitude, but she's clearly in mourning and lashing out. See? People who are hurting can say insensitive things. Ryu insists he doesn't believe it to be true, but Gina demands to know that if it wasn't him, then who?

“An' if it turns out it was 'im wot killed the boss... Then God 'elp 'im!”

It's interesting to remember that during The Unspeakable Story, Gina wasn't afraid of Van Zieks for his Reaper reputation. She didn't believe in the curse and didn't think she would end up like the other defendants. Now, she absolutely no longer gives a damn whether Van Zieks is the mysterious Reaper or not. She only thinks he might be a murderer who took away her mentor and that's what has her judge him so fiercely. Van Zieks remarks on her fiery eyes and tells her that the culprit does indeed deserve every inch of her loathing. “At least that may be some solace to the deceased.” So here, in a roundabout way, it rather looks as if Van Zieks is sympathizing with Gina's anger. At the very least, he's condoning it, just not towards himself.

Entering the courtroom, it becomes clear very fast just how serious this trial will become. Just as was alluded to before, the judge confirms that the 'Reaper of the Old Bailey' has been undermining Her Majesty's justice system and therefore, the people will demand answers on this matter. Ryu thinks to himself the trial will be a lot more far-reaching than just Gregson's murder. Sure enough, Kazuma is at the prosecutor's bench and ready to get that vengeance Van Zieks referred to in jail. Shockingly, the first witness he summons is actually Van Zieks himself. The judge is surprised, but Kazuma explains that as a prosecutor, Van Zieks believes in the oath of office he's taken; he'll be compelled to tell the truth. Because contrary to what happened in Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro, Van Zieks is against perjury! (I WILL NEVER GET OVER WHAT HAPPENED WITH SHAMSPEARE!) Sure enough, he takes the stand and Kazuma says the court would like to hear him explain some things away.

He really is just brutally honest, isn't he? Both in his courtroom methods and in how he shows his emotions. He doesn't sugarcoat, he doesn't beat around the bush, he definitely doesn't lie... At most, he may withhold some information. Unfortunately, his testimony is mostly useless. The judge remarks that he didn't want to imagine this day would come, but ever since Van Zieks became known as the Reaper, he's been dreading it. The judge, our neutral ground, seems to be convinced that Van Zieks may have actually done the deed. That's not good. Kazuma acts all smug, saying that Van Zieks indeed hasn't explained anything away and that his testimony barely qualifies as an excuse. Van Zieks notes that his 'mute apprentice' has a way with words. Meanwhile, Ryu thinks to himself that Kazuma isn't behaving like himself, which is a sentiment they'll keep repeating throughout the case. … I gotta be honest here, I didn't notice all that much of a difference between this Kazuma and the one from the very first case of the game. I mean, come on, he sliced a man's hair off and cursed his descendants just for insulting Ryu. He's slightly more arrogant here, maybe, but since he was only the assistant there and is a leading counsel here, it makes sense for him to be more proactive and confident in his methods. Then again, I'm not a Kazuma expert; maybe there's something I'm missing.

In his testimony, Van Zieks revealed that he was investigating Gregson, but when pressed on it he won't admit the exact reason for it. He only says he'd identified a distinct possibility Gregson was involved in a case he was investigating. When asked how he even knew where Gregson would be, he openly admits to having stolen into his office and consulted his diary. (“Dear Diary, today I dropped my fish 'n chips on the way to Fresno Street-”) When told that illegally entering Gregson's office would warrant serious consequences, Van Zieks says he was aware of that risk.

The rest of the testimony is pressed without further hitches, though what did strike me as interesting is that at one point, Ryu suggests the gunshot might've originated from outside the room, but Van Zieks immediately says it's out of the question. He shoots the possibility down with evidence only he could have experienced (the bang sounded inside the room and he could smell gunpowder), and in doing so, only implicates himself further. Detrimentally honest, this one. Not only that, but he picked the gun up.

NO KIDDING that was carelessness. Is he related to Miles Edgeworth after all? Kazuma talks about how three street peddlers overheard the bang and burst through the door with some force. Van Zieks states they almost gave him a heart attack in the process (omg) and Ryu thinks to himself: “(But you're supposed to be the Reaper...)” C'mon Ryu, haven't you seen enough of this man by now to know he gets jarred easily?

When the testimony rounds to a close, things get interesting. Kazuma uses his defense attorney skills, as promised. He uses evidence from the Court Record to point out contradictions in Van Zieks's testimony, thereby 'proving he's lying'. Hey, what happened to Van Zieks believing in the oath of office and being compelled to tell the truth? Did Kazuma call Van Zieks to the stand just to expose him as a liar? He wins the judge over quite easily by illustrating these contradictions and casting doubt on Van Zieks's integrity. Tragic, because as Van Zieks says:

Van Zieks steps down from the stand and disappears for the remainder of the trial day. He doesn't even show up during intermission in the defendant's lobby. Characters do still talk about him, though!

I mean... He ain't lyin'. At one point, Kazuma utters the words “the defence is fated to lose. And the prosecution to win,” which once again confirms that Kazuma basically asked Ryu to take part in an 'unwinnable' trial. Which, y'know, is technically fine. Losing a trial isn't the end of the world, especially when the defendant (in Kazuma's eyes) is actually guilty. Still though, personally asking Ryu to take on Van Zieks just so he can watch the man be exposed as a killer is kind of... Kazuma, sir, are you also unable to control your hatred and having it lash out in illogical ways? Is that a parallel with Van Zieks I spy?

The rest of the trial isn't directly related to Van Zieks. It's just a whole bunch of roundabout arguing with street peddlers, red-headed scammers and the revelation that one of those peddlers is actually Daley Vigil, the missing former prison warder. Despite knowing of the dangers, Kazuma asks Ryu to help him forcefully break some of the man's black psyche-locks (c'mon, we all know that's what's impeding his memories) and they send the man to the hospital as a result. Welp. Unveiling the truth is becoming increasingly dangerous in this game and that's really upping the stakes for us.

Into the next investigation day we go! Ryu surmises that it's clear now “Van Zieks definitely didn't do it.” Even so, there are some unanswered questions about the man. What was he even doing at the crime scene and what's with that investigation into Gregson he didn't want to talk about in court? Heading on over to the Chief Justice's office, we overhear him pressuring Kazuma into 'continuing the trial as instructed'. Once he takes note of Ryu and the others, he tells them that he wanted Van Zieks's trial concluded that day and blames 'Asogi's unwelcome inquiries' for it taking longer than necessary. Stronghart's becoming increasingly ominous, here... I don't know for certain why he doesn't just go the extra mile to have Van Zieks proven innocent so he can keep using his Reaper tool to intimidate the masses. I suppose it's because with Gregson dead, he's lost his most important strategist in the killings and the tool of the Reaper's curse can't be used as easily anymore. Assassins probably come a dime a dozen, so Shinn can be replaced, but Gregson... Not so much. Ryu asks Stronghart whether Kazuma truly believes Van Zieks to be the Reaper, but Stronghart says he wouldn't know. He once again talks about the history of the Reaper with its very long run of coincidental deaths and tells us nothing new or interesting.

To prison we go, to visit Van Zieks himself! He's reading a book now, but we're never told what it is. He tries to ignore the visitors, but just as always, eventually comes up to the bars to talk.

YOU FREAKIN- I CAN'T- WHY- How many more times must we teach you this lesson, old man?!!! Thankfully, even Ryu is fed up at this point.

Finally. He spoke up. I've seen a lot of people criticize the fact that Ryu never properly confronts Van Zieks with the damage he's been doing, and on the one hand I would agree. Calling people out on their bullshit is a very useful step in having them notice their mistakes. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that is also a very Western view. It's very easy for us to think that Ryu should stand up for himself and call Van Zieks a prejudiced little tosser who needs to think before he speaks, but that simply isn't part of his character. There may be several reasons to explain why he doesn't confront Van Zieks more firmly, but I'd like to focus on just two. The first is that Ryu is an exchange student who came to England as a 'guest' and is facing not just one racist. Not even five or ten. Everywhere he goes, he's surrounded by people just like Van Zieks. We've seen it in the judge, we've seen it in the jurors, we've seen it in Gregson and in witnesses... Ryu is a minority in a very literal sense, since there's only one other Japanese person (two if we count Soseki) we know of in this entire city. There's a very natural, very understandable defense mechanism which may kick in when surrounded by potentially dangerous individuals, and that is to withdraw; to be as quiet as possible and to attract as little trouble as possible, since 'they outnumber you'. Bonus points for the extreme difference in social standing between Ryu and Van Zieks.

There's one other thing which adds to the above. Ryu was written to be your everyday Japanese person, and their view on confrontation is quite different from our own. I remembered this from a job interview I once had with a Japanese company and looked into it again to refresh my memory: Japanese people are non-confrontational. It's very important for them to maintain a sort of harmony during conversation and therefore, they'll rarely utter negative sentiments, such as criticism, in a way that will cause embarrassment to the person they're addressing. Instead, they employ something often referred to as indirect communication. “The pattern of Japanese indirect communication uses far less words to convey intent in a more subtle manner. Indirect communication uses expression, posture, and tone of voice of the speaker to draw meaning from the actual conversation.” This is very deeply ingrained into the Japanese culture and, if the sources I reviewed are correct, it goes all the way back to the feudal days. Mind, this attitude isn't even limited to Japan. I've been told there's several other countries who adopt that very same attitude and if you cause someone else to lose face, it can have some very severe repercussions for you. Kazuma is a bit more outspoken than Ryu, for example when they face Jezail, but this makes sense also, since Asogi was written to be more progressive. It seems to me that Ryu has been using indirect communication quite often already and, since Van Zieks is woefully unequipped to read this type of communication, Ryu has now finally resorted to something more direct. It's still not a sharp call-out, but rather, the above line reads to me as something in-between direct and indirect communication. And it works.

HELL FROZE OVER! We've done it, lads! Or, as Iris puts it:

So even the rest of the cast is acknowledging this is a big deal and we've made tremendous progress. Could someone else have confronted Van Zieks in a more direct, more Western way before this point? Sure. But would he have listened? The judge has already snarked at him several times during trials and it's always been brushed off as nothing. The only person he might've listened to would've been Albert, but what is the narrative significance of having a side character confront Van Zieks? There isn't one. This was a very impactful moment where Ryu himself resorted to a more Western tactic to get his point across and Van Zieks, in turn, finally uttered an apology. So now we get to have an earnest conversation with the man at last. Van Zieks says he was impressed; not by Ryu but by Kazuma. On first glance, this seems like a mean thing to say, but... Van Zieks is already intimately familiar with Ryu's performance in the courtroom. Why would he still be impressed by that? Kazuma, however, he's never seen in action before. Van Zieks thinks it's all rather “sardonic”.

It's called a cruel irony, Barok. A common tool in storytelling. He himself considers it “retribution for having played the part of the Reaper all these years”. So once again it's discussed how the Reaper minimizes the amount of crime in the capital and since that's a goal Van Zieks is committed to, he never said anything to disprove the rumors. Ryu insists that someone else is profiting off Van Zieks's silence on the matter and is basically using him as a scapegoat. As it turns out, Van Zieks wasn't quite as passive about the matter as he's led us to believe.

Hm. Alright, so he thinks it's good the Reaper's curse is reducing crime in London, but clearly he wants the Reaper organization brought to justice. In a way, he's profiting off these 'accidental deaths' since the fear that comes from them aligns with his goal of crime reduction, but he doesn't actively condone the Reaper murders and wants them halted. Since there's so much accurate information about the accused used in the killings, Van Zieks surmised a while ago that someone from Scotland Yard must've been involved in the killings. It's taken him “many years” to identify the central figure in the organization: Tobias Gregson. Naturally, everyone is shocked. We knew Gregson! And sure, he wasn't exactly a kind person, but he certainly didn't appear to be a killer. He was very rough around the edges, but from what we'd been led to believe, he had a good heart. … A decent heart. Mediocre, one might say. Ryu asks whether the reason Van Zieks was investigating Gregson was to expose him as the Reaper, but Van Zieks repeats the notion that the Reaper is not a single person. He doesn't have a doubt, though, that Gregson was a key member of the organization who did all of the planning. Believe it or not, Gregson was the brains behind the killings; the tactician who investigated and plotted, then left the dirty work to an assassin by the name of Asa Shinn. (LOCALIZATION WHY)

So now that we have this information, we can come to a very interesting conclusion. Both Gregson and Shinn are dead now, so by Van Zieks's reasoning, the Reaper is dead. You'd think this is good, but it does in fact make it very difficult to find the truth. Rather, Van Zieks believes that the truth died with Gregson (he hinted as much twice already) and while the seasoned Ace Attorney player knows it won't be impossible to expose a dead person as a killer, it'd be a hectic ordeal. The seasoned Great Ace Attorney player will know the Reaper hierarchy extends just a bit higher and the two who died are only pawns, but... Y'know. Approaching this from a first-time-player point of view, you'll know things will get troublesome.

There's another topic of conversation where Van Zieks once again addresses how sharp Kazuma is in court. He didn't miss a thing.

OUCH. So when Ryu first arrived, Van Zieks saw Genshin whenever he looked at him, not only due to his roots but due to 'the look in his eyes when searching for the truth'. Now, he sees Genshin in Kazuma, which surely makes a lot more sense. Van Zieks goes on to say that it's true some of the aristocracy from 10 years ago were problematic and abusing their power. “In a way, Asogi was carving out a canker from society that we British couldn't deal with ourselves.” So here, he sounds almost complimentary of the Professor's actions- specifically Asogi's actions. As if it would've all been well and good, were it not for the Professor's final victim. “But that's precisely why it makes no sense. Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man. He wasn't corrupt.”

Remember way back in The Unspeakable Story when I surmised that Van Zieks boiled Genshin's actions down to his race in order to avoid the belief that there might've been a reason his brother was killed? We see it here again. Van Zieks is in doubt. He may say vocally that “it makes no sense”, but that line in itself is already telling. The fact that he acknowledges it and draws it into question implies to us that he's skeptical of the story. Deep down, he knows something is amiss. He knows there's some sort of explanation he's missing, but if he were to dig too deeply into it, he'd have to acknowledge that perhaps his brother was corrupt. And this still isn't all of it. There's one more thing Van Zieks has to discuss before we can round this conversation to a close. Ten years ago, shortly after Klint died, Genshin saved his life.

There's that phrasing again. “True nature”. It's not in orange this time, but it's there all the same. Van Zieks is convinced that Genshin is the one who had a hidden true nature. In this story, we learn that 'the scum of London' had already targeted him several times even before he became known as the Reaper, simply because of who he was and who his brother was. JEESH. Harsh. So on the night in question, a couple of thugs also tried to kill him (allegedly) but Genshin stepped in to protect him. Genshin became lightly wounded as a result. This is the part where I would have expected them to explain Van Zieks's scars, but he never mentions being wounded himself, so we can't be sure this is when it happened. Curious. This was the perfect opportunity and they let it slide. So anyway, two days after that incident, Genshin was arrested.

Some more telling lines here. Van Zieks thinks he'd never recount the story to anyone; not because there's no need to tell it. It's because it must be difficult to talk about. On its own, that might be a farfetched conclusion I wouldn't make, but Ryu confirms it with his follow-up line: “Thank you... for confiding in me.” We can take this line to mean exactly what it says; Van Zieks confided something painful. He let down some more walls. Growth!

So with all this out of the way, there's a whole load more investigation to do before this case is over. Most of it has to do with Genshin's will, a mysterious trunk belonging to Gregson, the missing time of death on the autopsy report... Nothing too relevant to Van Zieks's character. However, if we go into the prosecutor's office and examine things while Kazuma is there, we do get some fun tidbits about how Van Zieks wouldn't trust anyone else to touch his things and would rearrange it all himself whenever needed. From the sound of it, Van Zieks is very meticulous and a loner, which aligns with what we know about him. Some more conversation later, we reach the topic of the Reaper with Kazuma. He agrees that Gregson was definitely involved in the Reaper organization, but there's one thing that's more important. “Who's been giving orders to the Inspector?” In my eyes, it's a bit of a stretch to assume with certainty anyone was giving orders; Gregson might've just taken up the vigilante justice by himself and found some way to pay Shinn enough money to get in on it. Kazuma insists, though, that Van Zieks is 'the real Reaper'. We as the audience already know that's nonsense, we know Kazuma is wrong. Or perhaps we might think that if somehow Van Zieks pulled the wool over our eyes and Kazuma is correct, that'd be one heck of a wild twist. Kazuma gives no real reason why he believes this, he only goes on to say that ten years ago, it was Van Zieks who 'decided his father must be a mass murderer'. Shockingly, Susato is the one to jump in here and outright say to Kazuma that he's wrong; that Van Zieks only saw that 'justice was done as the law dictates' and he wasn't to blame for Genshin's execution. Kazuma insists that people condemn people and the law is just a tool they use for it. So I suppose that's exactly what he's doing right now. He's condemning Van Zieks, just as Van Zieks once condemned Genshin. We're cycling! And my main question now is this: If Stronghart had been the prosecutor in the Professor's trial instead, would Kazuma be just as vengeful towards him? Because remember, it's people who condemn people. This implies that anyone who had taken on the job of prosecutor at that time is the one who 'decided that Genshin must've been a murderer' and would need to take responsibility in Kazuma's eyes. Kazuma's beef isn't with Van Zieks personally, it's with the prosecutor who used that tool of the law and also evidence.

HAHAHAAA! HAH! If you align this screenshot next to the “Klint van Zieks was a noble and upstanding man” line, you get a wonderful parallel. These two prosecutors are both dead wrong about their beloved family, and they're about to find out in the worst way possible.

One murder mystery spread out over two episodes? You bet! Stay tuned for the last case, The Resolve of Ryunosuke Naruhodo!

#dgs #dgs spoilers #tgaa #tgaa spoilers #barok van zieks #I can't believe I managed to cram it all into one post #phew #but this was a big one

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taetaespeaches · 3 years

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“Who says I don’t still get a rush from you?”

hoseok x reader (or oc) genre: fluff word count: 2.2K

a/n: Hobi time!!!!! This takes place the night the members all meet Joon’s new girl in “Do you mind if we dim the lights down, baby?” There’s hardly any plot, it just shows Hobi and Petal winding down at home after a night with the bangtan gang. I hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading! :))

WATCHING yourself in the mirror as you brushed your teeth, you actively ignored the man sat on the counter next to you as he observed you while you conducted your personal hygiene routine. He had already finished his routine and was rather impatiently urging you to finish yours by staring you down because, “I have something to show you.”

As Hoseok continued to shift closer to the sink, craning his neck so his head was invading your reflection in the mirror further and further, you rolled your eyes, the man letting out that same laugh you’d been in love with for over a year.

“You know,” you mumbled through your foamy mouth, Hoseok’s eyes widening at your sudden words. “Jin and Joon might be onto something.” Finally, you looked at your boyfriend to see him shooting a playful glare at you.

“I dare you to finish that thought,” he warned with a small smile toying on is lips.

“Oh you dare me?” You teased the man, watching as his smile broke through. “I’m just saying, there’s a resemblance,” you continued before spitting the toothpaste into the sink, Hoseok scoffing at your comment as he shook his head. “I didn’t say it’s a bad thing,” you defended, smiling at the man. “Brushing your teeth is also very refreshing.”

“You are not comparing mint chocolate ice cream to toothpaste right now, this is not happening,” he protested, giving you a feigned look of disappointment as he shook his head.

Earlier that night, the members and some of the girls had a debate over whether mintcho was an acceptable ice cream or not. Despite not really having an opinion on the ice cream, you happily took your boyfriend’s side, ensuring he won the debate. And then you proceeded to eat vanilla ice cream in front of everyone as they judged you for your loyalty to the man.

Smirking, you simply shrugged as you rinsed your mouth, Hoseok staring at you for a moment before quickly reaching for you, grabbing you by the waist and pulling you between the v of his legs, you giggling as you placed your hands against his chest, fighting his affections.

The man planted a series of kisses on your cheek, you groaning through a smile. “Take it back,” he muttered against your face.

“Why would I do that?” You asked as you slowly draped your arms around Hoseok’s shoulders.

“You’re so mean,” he told you affectionately, you giggling as he pulled his face from yours to look at you.

“And you’re so obnoxious,” you replied, just before pressing a quick peck to his lips. “Oh,” you suddenly spoke, your boyfriend’s eyes widening in anticipation. “Joon’s new friend,” you said simply, Hoseok letting out a knowing laugh. “How long do you think they’ll keep that act up?” You asked with a grin, Hobi chuckling as he dipped his face to your neck, kissing the spot lightly.

“I guess it can be fun to sneak around,” he whispered against your neck as his hands gripped your waist.

“Oh yeah?” You asked, running a hand through your boyfriend’s hair tenderly. “Do you wish we had snuck around?” You questioned with a quirk of your eyebrow, a playful glint appearing in Hoseok’s orbs.

“I wouldn’t change anything about how we started,” he grinned, you looking at him skeptically. “I loved you hating me,” he joked, you laughing at the comment as you gently shoved him away from you, the man dramatically falling back against the counter, supporting himself on his forearms as you took a step back from him.

“I never hated you,” you clarified through a wide grin. “I just thought you were annoying.”

“Oof, tell me more,” he joked and flirted as he stood up from the counter and reached for your hand, you playfully scoffing.

“We may not have snuck around but going from disliking you the tiniest bit,” you emphasized, Hoseok laughing giddily with his sunshine smile on display, “to not being able to resist you was pretty fun.”

“It was a lot of fun,” he agreed, shooting you a smirk. “I can say I thoroughly enjoyed it,” he added, you giggling at the flirty tone. His close-mouthed smile made his little dimples pop out, tempting you to poke your finger into one of the divots. His smile widened as he attempted to playfully bite your finger, you moving it quickly to boop his nose.

“Ok, come on, I still have something to show you,” he reminded you as he began leading you out of the bathroom. You expected him to turn into the bedroom but he walked past it, guiding you to the… front door?

“Uh, Hobi?” You questioned, the man looking back at you innocently as he opened the door. “Where are we going, Sunshine?”

“Just trust me,” he smiled, you looking at him skeptically.

“Trust you? That’s a high ask,” you teased, Hoseok chuckling as he dragged you out of your apartment, both of you standing in the hallway in your sleeping clothes, the oversized t-shirt, one of Hoseok’s extra baggy ones, that adorned your body landing so far down your thighs that you couldn’t even see your shorts.

Despite not knowing what your boyfriend was up to, you followed him easily, having complete trust in him. Trusting Hoseok was easy. It came naturally to you.

Dragging you down the flight of stairs, your slippers barely hanging onto your feet, you giggled as Hoseok smiled widely. It didn’t take long to get from your apartment to the front doors of the building, you looking at your boyfriend quizzically as he turned back, looking as excited and happy as ever.

“Are you ready?” He asked, you shrugging in question. Stepping behind you, he placed his hands over your eyes, temporarily blocking your vision as you let out a breathy laugh.

“Hobi, what are you doing?” You asked, receiving no answer as he guided you slowly out onto the front steps of the building, the cool air sending chills across your skin.

“Ready, Petal?” He whispered next to your ear, you smiling as you nodded. Removing his hands, he pointed to the sky above you, your eyes falling on the bright full moon that greeted your vision. “There’s a full moon tonight.”

A pout immediately formed on your lips as tears threatened to gather in your eyes. A couple people walked by on the sidewalk alone, looking at you both in intrigue. The duo probably wondered what was so special about a full moon. It happens once a month, what’s the big deal? But it was one of the first things you ever revealed about yourself to Hoseok.

“I love the moon,” you had told Hoseok on your first date as you both looked up at the full moon, the carnival noise surrounding you but you both feeling like you were in your own world. “I try to track it’s phases but I usually end up forgetting the day of the full moon. My fatal flaw.”

“I’ll try to remind you,” he replied hopeful.

Turns out both of you were pretty damn good at forgetting, but his intentions were pure. And whenever Hoseok was away on tour, he’d always text you to let you know there would be a full moon.

“You are the sweetest, cutest man alive, do you know that?” You cooed, Hoseok smiling as he pressed a kiss to your temple.

As you watched the moon shine above you, your boyfriend holding you in a back hug, you found yourself thinking back to the start of your relationship. Namjoon and his new friend had you feeling nostalgic in a sense.

Turning in your boyfriend’s grasp, you wrapped your arms around the back of his neck, cocking your head curiously.

“Do you ever wish you could go back to the start of us? Live it again?” You questioned, the man instantly shaking his head.

“As fun as it was, no,” he told you, the moonlight illuminating his soft smile, your heart fluttering at his expression and the sweet tone he spoke the words in.

“No? You wouldn’t want to feel that rush again?” You continued your questioning, the man again shaking his head before dipping down to place a kiss to the tip of your nose.

“Nope,” he said cheerfully. “Our start was amazing but I wouldn’t change a single thing about us and our timeline,” he assured you. “I wouldn’t even want to change your first impression of me,” he added, a smile spreading across your face. “I like where we are,” he said more seriously, his eyes scanning your features as you stared into his observant almond shape eyes.

“Yeah, me too,” you agreed, Hobi’s lips curving up into a small smile. You didn’t elaborate, not one for many words of affection, but the man knew that. And he could see the sincerity in your features.

“Also,” he started, looking at you with a playful glare. “Who says I don’t still get a rush from you?”

Smiling at him, you bit your bottom lip, watching as the man’s pretty orbs curved into crescents at the adorable smile he flashed you.

“Did I say that?” You asked, playing dumb, the man giggling at you.

“You alluded,” he corrected, you humming in response.

“Well,” you smirked. “Maybe you need to prove it to me,” you teased, the man letting out an amused sigh, his arms wrapping a little tighter around your waist as your fingers brushed through the hair at the back of his head.

“Are you not feeling the rush right now? Am I the only one feeling the rush?” He asked in pretend offense, you holding back a giggle as you simply shrugged at him. Shaking his head at you, you scrunched your nose in response.

“You’re cute,” you cooed. The compliment, however, only made Hoseok step up his cute game as he made a silly sound effect, removing an arm from you to bring a hand to his face, framing his eye with a peace sign.

Rolling your eyes, he burst into giggles as a few more people walked by, though they didn’t deter him at all. Pulling another pose, he framed one side of his face and gave you a close-eyed ‘sweet’ expression. “Ugh,” you feigned disgust, the man opening his eyes to beam at you in amusement. “Again,” you said in a monotone, the man raising his eyebrows at you, appearing to be holding out to make you beg. “Again,” you repeated with a slight whine.

Removing his hands from you briefly, Hoseok framed his face in the classic flower pose, you pulling an expression of contrived dislike.

“Oh, you like that one?” He teased.

“I hate it,” you smiled.

“How about,” he started as he pretended to reach inside the pocket of his shorts before pulling his hand back out in a finger heart, “this?” He questioned you, holding his fingers toward your face.

Giggling, you shook your head. “Put it back,” you joked, shoving his hand away from you.

“You like it,” he noted, his hands gripping your hips. Pulling a face of scrutiny, you shook your head. “No?” Shaking your head again, his smile widened. “I think you like it a little bit,” he added.

“Only a little,” you replied, Hoseok giggling as you smiled at him. “Because it’s you.”

Squeezing your hips in his hands, he smirked at you. “That’s good enough for me.”

Scrunching your nose at him once more, you leaned toward him to kiss his lips softly, the man eagerly accepting the kiss and deepening the action instantly.

Resting his hands at the bottom of your back, he slowly worked his cold hands under your baggy shirt, the touch of his icy fingers causing you to shiver against him, giggling into the kiss. “Sorry,” he mumbled through his amusement, you placing a hand to his face.

Just a little over a year was all you’d been seeing Hoseok, but with the deep understanding and acceptance you had for each other, it easy to lose sense of time. Every day felt familiar but new, exciting but comfortable. The days had blurred into one incredible experience with Hoseok, complete with mostly highs and fewer lows, and so much love that only grew stronger and more sincere as time went on.

Pulling away from each other, you slowly dragged your eyes from your boyfriend’s face and looked up at the sky to appreciate the moon once again, Hoseok’s eyes staying on you. The two of you seemed to be opposites in a lot of ways. Much like the sun he embodied and the moon whose light was shining on your features beautifully in that moment. But much like the sun and moon, when they met, the whole world stopped and admired them. Luckily though, you and Hoseok didn’t have to wait over a hundred years to collide for a mere few minutes.

Your lips slowly curved up as you thought of the man in front of you, and how thoughtful he was to surprise you with something as simple and perfect as the moon. Looking from the sky back to the man, you appreciated him and felt so thankful that you knew him. That you got to love him. That you were loved by him.

“What are you smiling about, Petal?” He whispered before pressing a kiss to the corner of your mouth.

“Nothing,” you let out a breathy giggle. “I just feel the rush.”

The man smiled happily at you, rubbing his nose against yours cutely before crashing his lips against yours passionately. Lacing your fingers into the hair at the back of his head, you kissed him back with the kind of passion only Hoseok could pull from you. Because he was Hoseok.

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alpacaparkaseok · 3 years

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7 Secrets <pt. 11>

GENRE: Soulmate!au BTS!

WARNINGS: whole lot of uwu that’s what

WORD COUNT: 4.8k

I just...no words. I’ve been wanting to get to this point for a hot minute now, so I’m glad we’ve made it. No, this isn’t quite the end. Although we’re getting there. *cue tears* Have a happy halloween this weekend! <3

By the time we make it back to the house it’s nearly evening, seeing as Jin decided to take a detour and get lost. Kyung-soon didn’t mind, she took the opportunity to re-listen to Seventeen’s new album. And then listen to it again.

We’re nearly there when we get a call from Taehyung. Jin puts it on the car speakerphone.

“Hyung! Where are you?”

“We’ve been lost, that’s where-” Jin cuts Kyung-soon off with glare.

“We were hiking and enjoying the island. We’ll be there in ten minutes. Are you guys getting ready to eat?”

As if on cue my stomach growls. Our last meal was this morning, and the granola bars have only held up for so long.

“Yeah, we’re finishing up with the food now. Guess what we’re doing tonight, though?”

A few voices can be heard in the background. It sounds like utter chaos at the house. The sound of it brings a smile to my face.

“What? What are we doing?”

“Production team just finished editing the final episode! We’re going to project it on the side of the house and watch it!”

I nearly choke, Kyung-soon turning around and staring at me in horror. Namjoon chuckles, patting me on the back while I recover.

“That was...fast.” I mumble. The production crew must have been working overtime in order to finish up the final episode so we could watch it on our trip.

Kyung-soon is in the middle of involuntarily cringing. “Oh no, this is going to be horrible. So cringey.”

I nod in agreement, Jin reaching over to grab Kyung-soon’s hand. The houses pop up in the distance - we’re almost there.

“Just pretend that it’s somebody else,” Jin tries to reassure his soulmate. “I promise, it’s really not bad. We were thoroughly entertained.” He grins at Namjoon through the rear-view mirror.

“Yeah, and besides, you guys have seen plenty of weird content from us. Consider this an even playing field.” Namjoon adds.

“Ok, I’ll see you - huh? Oh, Ichika says hi. Alright, see you in a second.” Taehyung cuts the call.

↔

The side of the boys’ house has turned into a temporary movie screen. Taehyung is in the process of popping popcorn while Jungkook and Jimin are giving a detailed overview of three years worth of episodes.

I think they’ve forgotten that we were very much a part of those three years. After all, it is a documentary about us.

Aera sits beside Minsuh, the two of them grinning like cheshire cats at their soulmates. They look like they’re thinking the same thing that I am.

“Yah, so where did the last episode leave off?” Aera questions, raising her eyebrows at Jimin.

“What, you don’t remember what happened two weeks ago?” Himari asks, chuckling.

Aera shrugs her shoulders. “It’s been a busy week for all of us, I can hardly remember what happened two days ago.”

Namjoon emerges from the house, a couple of blankets in hand. His eyes scan the small crowd before landing on me where I stand beside Seohyun. I’ve been trying to get a feel for how her and Yoongi’s conversation went earlier, but I don’t dare ask anything too direct with Yoongi right there. He holds her hand, looking content as she explains how she tried and failed at painting.

“Where did the last episode leave off, Joon-ah?” Hoseok asks when Jimin and Jungkook have a hard time remembering the finer details. Namjoon is in the process of spreading a blanket out on the ground, motioning for me to come over.

“Umm…” He chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Aera had just pitched her new designs, and everybody made dinner for her when she got home. Then they were just getting Beth’s room ready for her to come back.”

Aera blinks as though just remembering that she has an actual job. A job she’s really, really good at.

“I can’t believe you forgot about that!” Aera feigns offense and Jimin freezes in his spot, eyes wide. “That’s my whole career we’re talking about, Jimin!”

Jungkook gives his friend a pat on the shoulder before walking over to plop into the seat beside Minsuh.

“I-I remember it now…” Jimin pouts, looking at his soulmate with puppy eyes. Aera glares at him, never one to give in easily. In fact, Aera is the fiercest when it comes to these kinds of things.

If I remember correctly, I’ve heard the boys state on several occasions that Jimin is absolutely terrifying when he’s mad.

“Hey,” Namjoon grabs my attention from the show up front. “Wanna sit? I got us an extra blanket for if we get cold.”

“Perfect.” I settle down on the blanket, laughing as Jimin tries his best to escape Aera’s wrath. She’s currently moving his chair to the opposite end, as far away from her as possible.

Minsuh turns around to look at me, her eyebrows wiggling mischievously. “Are you ready for this cringefest?”

Namjoon chuckles, settling down beside me. The butterflies in my stomach kick things up into high gear just from sitting beside him. He checks the time on his phone, his new background pulling my attention away for a moment.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I sigh. Namjoon places a comforting hand on my knee, smiling at me when he realizes that I’m looking at his lock screen.

“It really is that bad usually. I swear.” I roll my eyes, knowing a lie when I hear one. “Hey,” he nudges me. “Let’s see your new phone background.”

I excitedly fish my phone out of my pocket, already chuckling at the thought of our candid photo. Showing it to Namjoon, Minsuh and Jungkook wander over to see what we’re laughing about.

“Oh my gosh, that’s so cute!” Minsuh gushes, laughing at me. “I’m guessing you learned today that Beth is terrified of heights?”

Namjoon nods, shooting me a pitiful look. “I sure did. I’m pretty sure she bruised one of my ribs in the process.”

Jungkook proceeds to ask Namjoon about the hike, sounding like he wants to venture out there tomorrow. Jin and Kyung-soon come back out with Tae and Ichika, all of them carrying a couple of bowls each filled to the brim with popcorn.

“Movie time!” Jimin shouts from where he and Aera disappeared around the house. A moment later he appears with his chair in one hand and lugging a disgruntled Aera along with the other.

As soon as all the popcorn is distributed Yoongi flips on the projector from the back. A moment later the song “Psycho” by RedVelvet blasts through the speakers, and the episode begins.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe they actually made that the theme song!” Seohyun shouts, already laughing as she and Minsuh appear on screen. Little title cards appear above their heads from where they study in the library, lost in their textbooks. I grin, all of this appearing a little surreal.

“I can’t believe we actually have a theme song!” Himari says. She’s the next one in the opening credits, trying and failing to flip a pancake. “Oh, come on, that’s how they introduce me?” Hoseok laughs beside her, his eyes darting from the screen back to his soulmate.

Next is Ichika, and I notice Taehyung scooting a little closer to her and she hides behind her hands. She’s opening the door to the apartment, her lopsided smile greeting the cameraman as she invites the cameras inside.

“This is the best part!” Jimin shouts.

The cameras follow Ichika inside the apartment and catch their next victim for the opening credits: Aera.

She’s clearly in a rush, probably running late for work. Careening down the stairs she freezes once she sees the camera, quickly pushing her hair out of her face as she waves before rushing out the door.

“See, told you it was the best part,” Jimin mumbles, Aera dissolving into a fit of giggles beside him.

Namjoon scoots closer, adjusting so that his right shoulder is just behind me. “Ready for the next part?” I can hear the smile in his voice.

Kyung-soon and I appear on screen, and I can hear my friend groaning from where she sits with Jin. We share a look across the way.

We’re sitting on the couch in the living room, locked in an intense game of rock, paper, scissors. Kyung-soon wins, and she throws her hands up in triumph right as our title cards appear. I get up wordlessly, walking straight out the door.

Despite how strange it is to be watching the documentary after all this time, I find myself shaking with laughter. Maybe we are kind of entertaining to watch, after all.

“Do you remember what we were playing for?” Kyung-soon asks me.

“I think it was over who had to call the takeout place.”

She laughs, returning her attention to the screen. I find myself avidly watching as well.

Episode basically from here until just before the end, enjoy! (actions/dialogue in real time will appear in as normal text, whereas the documentary is in italics)

Himari and Aera sit in the kitchen, both of them staring down at their breakfast. Himari glances up at Aera, noticing her worried expression.

“I’m sure they’ll call you soon. Anybody who turns you down is a complete idiot.”

Aera nods, not saying anything. Jimin reaches out to hold Aera’s hand. Minsuh comes in from down the hall, stretching.

“Morning,” she says around a yawn. “Any news A?”

Himari answers for her friend. “Not yet. What do you have going on today?”

Minsuh reaches for a bowl, waving at the kitchen camera like she does every morning. “Nothing much. I think Seohyun and I are going to study for a while, she’s going to help me prep for an exam I’ve got coming up. What about you guys?”

“Ichika and I have lessons. Want to join us, Aera? Brush up on your Japanese?”

“No,” Aera shakes her head. “I’m going to start getting Beth’s room ready.”

“Oh!” Himari grabs her phone from her back pocket. “That reminds me, I have to call that little punk.”

I gasp at Himari, my friend giving me a shy smile and shrugging.

Himari places the phone on speaker while the other two girls quietly eat their food and wait for me to answer.

“Was this the day before I flew out?” I ask no one in particular.

“Yeah, I think so.” Himari responds. Suddenly my voice cuts through the audio, and I physically cringe. Namjoon chuckles, reaching a hand up to steady me as I rock back against his chest.

“I knew you were going to call me,” I say, and Himari rolls her eyes while Minsuh snickers. “What’s up?”

“Are you all packed and ready to go?” Himari asks.

“Yeah, I think so. My flight leaves in...six hours. I’ll start heading to the airport in a couple of hours so I get there on time.”

“Hey, when’s the last time you logged anything?”

It’s silent on my side of the line for a while. “Er...a while.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“No, probably not.”

“Well this is me calling you and telling you to do your log before you leave. BigHit sent us some of those questions, answer them if you don’t know what to say.” My voice starts to cut in but Himari cuts me off. “I mean it! If you don’t I’m making sure you sleep on the couch when you get here.”

My sigh is audible, Aera looks up at Minsuh with the ghost of a smile.

“Ok, will do. I’ll log it as soon as I get off this call. How is everybody?”

Minsuh pipes up. “Hey Beth! We’re good!”

“Am I on speaker? Hey Min! Who else is there?”

“Just me,” Aera says, leaning closer to the phone. “I’m about to clean up your room so there aren’t any cobwebs. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, B. I miss you.”

“Aw, I miss you too A. You don’t have to worry about my room...but make sure nobody has stolen my Jeju Island photo. Where’s everybody else?”

The camera jumps to another location, answering my very question. Kyung-soon is walking up to a nice looking apartment, double checking some files before kindly greeting a couple. She must have had a client.

Again the camera jumps, this time to a different continent where I’m settling down before my camera as I record my first log in months. I’m sitting at my kitchen island in my apartment back in the states, a picture of all the girls and I hanging on the wall behind me.

“Hello camera, it’s me again. Sorry for not logging in a while, I’ve been busy. And now I’m about to leave in a couple of hours to catch my flight to Seoul.” I look at my phone before me, reading something off of it. “This will be pretty quick, but I’ve got some of the questions BigHit sent me, so I’ll try to answer a few before I have to leave. Sound good?”

I scroll through the list of questions, eyebrows furrowed as I try to find a good one. “Hmm, it looks like these have gotten more and more personal over the years. I guess I’ll go with this one: ‘what do you look forward to the most returning to Seoul?’”

Shuffling in my seat I bite my lip as I stare down the camera. “I think I just get excited to be back with everybody. I know I don’t usually say anything like this, but I really miss them when I’m gone. I’m kind of stranded out here in the states. It’s hard to be here and know that all six of them get to stay together while I jump around from place to place. At least I’ll get to stay for a solid six months this time around, maybe more. Just depends.”

Namjoon fidgets behind me until he’s directly behind me. Slowly he pulls me back against his chest until I’m laying with my head tucked under his chin.

“Wow, this one’s intense. Should I just answer it? I doubt anybody will actually ever watch this. I feel like my logs are pretty boring. It says, ‘if you could go back and say anything to yourself three years ago, what would you say?’”

I lean back against my chair, pushing my hair out of the way. “I’m not sure I would really say much. There was just so much going on, it was information overload. I remember when I woke up the next morning, I thought everything was a dream. My sister had no clue, so I just left her a note and left our hotel to go on a run.” I laugh a little, recalling the memory. “I probably looked so crazy! This white girl running around Seoul like a maniac. I finally got to a point where I stopped, and finally was starting to calm down. Then, ha! Oh my gosh I remember this like it was yesterday, seriously. I checked my phone and saw that I had a notification from Weverse. It said ‘RM commented on so and so’s post’ and I lost it. Right there in the middle of this random park I started bawling. I was so overwhelmed.”

Namjoon’s grip tightens on me, and I take a deep breath. I’d honestly forgotten that I’d even done this log, I really didn’t think they’d put it into the documentary.

“So if I could go back to three years ago, I think I’d go to that moment and just give myself a hug. I was so terrified and had nobody to talk to. I’d hug myself, and say, you figure out how to keep moving forward. Just enjoy the ride, because it’s a crazy one.”

The screen fades out, my voice still narrating as I talk over the others girls’ actions. Kyung-soon is helping that couple to sign some paperwork.

“It’s definitely been crazy, but I’m better because of it.” I narrate and Kyung-soon gives an award winning smile to the couple, saying her goodbyes before heading back to her car.

Now we’re watching Minsuh laugh about something with Himari in the kitchen.

“I don’t want to think about where I’d be without my soul sisters, they mean so much to me. I really never thought I’d meet people as amazing as them in my life.”

Aera is in my room, sweeping and straightening my photo of Jeju Island.

“Sometimes I still wonder if there’s been a huge mistake and I’ll get a call from BigHit saying that I don’t actually have a soulmate. Things are so good that I think they may be too good.”

Seohyun jogs in a park, making faces at the camera each time she passes in front of it.

“But I’ll just keep living this dream for as long as fate will let me.”

Ichika struggles up the stairs to the apartment, grocery bags all over the place. The camera shakes as it’s set on the ground, and the cameraman assisting her.

“And as for the last question for this log… ‘if you could say a single sentence to your soulmate, what would you say?’”

Suddenly we’re back in my apartment, where I give a side smile to the camera.

“Hey Namjoon, wanna go out sometime?” Winking at the camera I lean up and turn it off.

The screen goes black, and then words cut across the screen.

Final Installment- Episode 132 “Finally.”

Everybody comes back to life as the introduction to the final episode ends and the rest of the episode starts up. Namjoon leans down to whisper in my ear.

“I’m sorry for making you cry in the park that morning.”

I shake my head. “I can’t believe you’re apologizing for that and not for trying to kill me earlier.”

My body shakes with Namjoon’s laugh, and we settle down to continue watching the documentary before us.

Kyung-soon stands in the living room with a huge mass of balloons before her. Minsuh comes up behind her, staring in awe.

“That’s a lot of balloons.”

Kyung-soon nods, biting her bottom lip. “Do you think it’s too much?”

“No, I think it looks great. Just, how are we going to get them into the car?”

“I have no idea.”

The two of them discuss possible game plans as Himari wanders in looking at her phone.

“Ok everyone! She’s over the ocean between us and Japan. We should probably get going. Wow,” she finally notices the balloons. “Looks good, Soon-ah. Don’t fly away, though. Seokjin would be so upset.”

Footsteps sound as the other three girls come in, each one’s attention going straight to the balloons.

“Ha! That’s amazing.” Ichika says. “She’s going to die when she sees that.”

The scene cuts to the airport, the girls anxiously waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Himari once again checks her phone for my flight information.

“It says that the flight landed fifteen minutes ago, she should be here any second.”

Aera nudges her. “Yah, you’re acting like your long lost lover has finally returned.”

Himari raises her eyebrows. “And?”

“Oh, there she is!” Seohyun shouts, and sure enough I appear on camera. Hat down low and a mask on I wave at everyone. A few people pause to look at all the commotion before continuing on.

Namjoon whispers to me again. “You look like a celebrity with your hat and mask.”

I chuckle, watching my reunion with the girls that only happened earlier this week. “I felt like one, too.”

My soulmate lets out a breathy laugh when the girls start teasing me, asking me what my reaction would be if he were the one to pick me up from the airport.

“You know, I’ve noticed that you’re really good at avoiding teasing.”

“I’ve had lots of practice.”

The documentary skips to our apartment, the girls hanging out in the living room debating whether or not to wake me up or let me sleep.

“I’m going to wake her up, she’s probably starving.” Aera says, and Minsuh follows her out of the room. The other girls remain in the room, Seohyun talking about one of her classes.

I nearly fall asleep in Namjoon’s arms, it’s so comfy. What brings me out of my stupor is the distinct sound of Seohyun’s rendition of “Mic Drop” and everybody laughing along with her.

I watch as we enjoy the show, Kyung-soon announcing to everyone that we’re going on ahead. Suddenly I jolt up, Namjoon jumping at the sudden movement. I remember what comes after this.

“What’s wrong?” Namjoon asks. “Did you see a bug?”

“No…” My attention is pulled into the documentary as Kyung-soon and I quietly converse. “It’s just - that was a hard night for me. That’s all.”

I can feel Namjoon’s eyes assessing me but I refuse to look at him for fear of him seeing right through me.

“If you’re uncomfortable we can go inside,” he offers.

Finally I look over to him. He calmly returns my gaze, awaiting my answer.

“I think I’m fine for now. Just, don’t judge me, ok?”

Namjoon nods fervently. “Never.” Extending his arms out, he pulls me back into his chest. “Let me know if you want to leave, and we’ll go.”

Kyung-soon and I appear on the balcony of our apartment, where we both study the stars above us.

“I can’t-”

“You have to. Beth, please don’t lock us out and keep all of these feelings to yourself. You don’t have to tell us every little thing, but you need to talk about it. Just because you don’t say it out loud doesn’t mean that you won’t feel scared or worried anymore.”

The tension is palpable as my sobs cut through the silence. I’m pretty sure Namjoon stopped breathing.

“I look at our boys, and I feel like they’re already complete. They have each other, they have ARMY, they’re complete. They have no idea that soulmates are even a thing, let alone that they have soulmates. There’s a part of me that’s mad about that. Mad that for the last three years I’ve been waiting for a man that is already happy without me, that is already more loved that he can even fathom. Mad at freaking Mr. Bang, because he refuses to tell them until the ‘time is right’. It’s been three years! And I’ve picked myself back up and tried my hardest to continue on in my career, and it’s fulfilling. I have the most amazing friends in the world, my family is so loving and supportive, and I love my job. So why do I feel so lonely?”

Namjoon wraps his arms around me tightly, and I feel that strange ache in my chest again. This time, though, it aches and aches until it cracks. With it, come the tears.

Like a dam come undone the tears flow from my eyes as the echoes of my sobs from the documentary cut through the night. Namjoon holds me tighter, tighter until he’s all I can feel.

“You know what, come here.” Namjoon says, his voice thick. He stands, pulling me up with him. We’re near the back, so nobody really notices us as Namjoon pulls me away. He leads me around my beach house until we’re completely blocked from view. The audio from the documentary follows me, and I keep my eyes trained on the ground as the tears blur my vision.

Namjoon finally comes to a stop, his hands resting firmly on my shoulders. I can’t bring myself to look up at him, thoroughly humiliated at one of my most vulnerable moments being on full display.

“Beth, look at me.” I shake my head, angrily wiping away my tears. He reaches up to catch a tear as it rolls down my cheek. “Look at me. Please.”

Again I shake my head, completely mortified at the situation I’m in. Wasn’t this supposed to be a fun trip? Worry-free?

“Ok, that’s ok. You don’t have to.” Namjoon moves to grab my shoulders again. “I just need you to listen to me. Can you do that for me?”

I clench my teeth as I nod, trying so hard to keep in my sobs.

“Alright. I am so-” his voice cracks and he takes a moment before speaking again. “I am so sorry, Beth. For all of it. For making you feel that way. I wish - I just wish we could have avoided all that heartache and pain. You were so strong, for so long. You still are, I can see that. From the second we first met I saw that you are strong and the most incredible person to ever walk the earth. I might be a bit biased,” I croak out a laugh which seems to spur him on, “but nobody can change my mind about you. I was lonely, too. Did you know that? Even with all the love I receive every day, I’m still lonely. Do you know how infuriating that is?”

Steeling my nerves I peak up at him. My heart twists further when I see the tears running down my soulmate’s face. He continues on, paying them no mind.

“I felt like there was something so wrong with me, but I learned with time that it’s normal. Everybody feels lonely. It’s a horrible feeling, and confusing sometimes. Especially when it feels like you have every reason to be happy. But we’re human. This is part of our human experience, as much as it sucks. Beth,” Namjoon rests a hand under my chin when my eyes fall again, gently urging me to look up at him. “I don’t feel alone anymore. That’s because of you. Just seeing you, I feel like everything is going to be alright. Do you see how amazing that is? I’m not lonely anymore. Please, Beth.” He releases a shaky breath, the earnestness in his eyes bringing a fresh wave of tears to my eyes. “Let me try. I don’t want you to feel alone anymore. Let me in,” Namjoon gestures to his heart, “and I swear I’ll never leave.”

Staring up at him, I know he’s telling the truth. I can tell he means every word he’s saying. But I have to know. I have to ask.

“You’ve been promising a lot of things,” I mutter, inhaling sharply as the tears rush down my face. “Are you sure you can keep all your promises? Please, Namjoon. Please don’t promise me something you can’t keep.”

Gently brushing the tears from my face, Namjoon leans in. Slowly, and close enough that I can see the light reflected in the tears still on his face. My heart, limp and weak as it may be, jumps at the close proximity.

“Do you mind if I make another promise?” Namjoon whispers before his lips brush up against my cheek. I freeze as he licks the salty mixture from his lips before moving to the other side.

“N-no,” I mumble.

Just there, the only warning I have is the feeling of his warm breath before he sweetly kisses away the remaining tears on my other cheek.

He pulls away just enough to look into my eyes. “I promise that I will never make you a promise that I cannot keep.”

Eyes drifting down to my mouth he tilts my head up ever so slightly. My eyes drift shut of their own accord, the only thing keeping me tied to the earth being Namjoon’s hands that hold me like I may break at any moment.

The first brush of his lips takes my breath away, the feeling so light that I wonder for a brief moment if this isn’t all just in my head.

Slowly he deepens the kiss, just enough for the salty tang of my tears on his lips to seep into my senses. The bittersweet taste has me reaching out to him, hands fisting the material over his chest. I cling to my soulmate as he clings to me, and even the world slows for a moment in order to accommodate this moment. Fate has never been my friend, but in this sliver of time I feel that it has been uncommonly kind to me.

By the time we pull away, resting our foreheads together, the ache in my heart has subsided. Namjoon’s hands slide down to my waist, holding me in place. As if I’d go anywhere.

I look up at my soulmate only to find his eyes still shut, drinking in the moment. Taking the precious seconds fate has given me, I study him out. Bliss suits him.

As though feeling my gaze, his eyes slide open. A small smile crosses his features, and the word that I have come to associate with Kim Namjoon over the past couple of days reappears in my mind’s eye, hanging over us like the stars in the sky.

Perfect.

Previous - Next

Taglist is open! Happy Halloween this weekend everyone! Thoughts? They finally kissed! (lol, finally. they’ve known each other for what, two or three days?) I love these two. Stay safe and healthy!

taglist: @mae-musicbitch @taylorroe3 @heartblackerthancoffee @eusticenatalie @agustneeds

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stachmousworld · 4 years

Text

Steve is dumb (Part 3)

Tags: Somnophilia kink, Daddy kink, vaginal fingering, a lot of teasing too, unprotected sex, breeding kink.

Summary: Steve finally gets some action.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 4

A week later

Steve couldn’t believe it. He threw his jacket on his couch and flopped on it. He laid there staring at the ceiling.

This entire night has been shitty. Entirely shitty.

There were no words for what happened. Sylvie, his wife, has been hellbent on meeting everyone in the goddamn room and has flashed her jewelry to everyone who didn’t even care. She hadn’t tried to stay polite and had dismissed a lot of influential people. The same people who financed his art department.

He needed to call Tony and ask him to do some control damage. They were supposed to raise some money to help students pay their tuitions. Steve was afraid that Sylvie had ruined it. He had known from the get-go that she was vain. But tonight had been particularly awful. She has raised the bar and broke her own record.

Someone knocked on his door. Before Steve could speak the door swung open revealing a disheveled Bucky. He was fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. His pants were still open. His face was red. There were a few hickeys on the top of his chest and his hair was down. Steve took a deep breath not ready to enter this territory right now. Or ever.

“I’m sorry Stevie, but I gotta go. Some kind of emergency,” he struggled with his pants. “Fuck, my belt is still in her room. Well, fuck it.” He pulled his hair into a bun. “Can you do something for me?” he asked urgently.

Steve waved his hand telling him to go on.

“I…I know we haven’t really talk since last week but tonight was supposed to be really special,” he babbled. “You know that we talked about somnophilia and how she was really excited to do it, right?” Steve barely hummed. “We were supposed to do that tonight. She is already asleep, and I barely got the time to prepare her that…” He showed his phone. “Emergency.”

Steve sat slowly upright. “You want me to have sex with my stepdaughter, while she is sleeping, and she doesn’t know that it’s me?”

“Well, it’s her biggest fantasy, Steve.” Steve opened his mouth to argue. “No, listen. She had told me about her…” He looked behind him as if she’d popped up. “fantasy journal.” He finished in a whisper as if it made sense to Steve. “Please, Steve, I beg you. I promised her.”

“Yeah, YOU promised her to fuck her. Not me,” he rectified, stretching his sore muscles.

“But it’s literally her fantasy. I-I-I.” Bucky threw his hands in the air. “Ok, you know what, I’m going to send you the screenshots of our convo and let you decide.”

Bucky tapped angrily on his screen and puffed. He put back his phone in his bag and left the room with little to no words.

Steve staid still, ignoring his phone. He took a few breaths to calm the small buzz below his skin. Once the phone stopped vibrating, he finally decided to give in. He should go to sleep and pretend nothing happened. He should put his phone back on the table and leave the room. He should…

Despite his resolved, he unlocked his phone and read the messages. All 10 of them. They went from descriptive to porn. Some had a plot and others were just about her being his “cum dump”.

It took him way more time register the words on the phone. She really…really wanted that. Steve bit his lips and rose to his feet. Before he could chicken out and go to his room, where his drunk wife was probably passed out, he walked to his stepdaughter room.

The air was unbearable. Every time Steve inhaled, he was unfairly attacked by a sweet carnal scent. Arousal and sweat. Steve closed the door behind him and pressed his back against the cool wood.

“What are you doing, Steve?” He asked himself. “You should go to your bed and forget about this crazy night.”

Instead, his body moved by itself. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and pants, letting the silky material slide on the floor. He bent to take them and played with the material. Why was it so difficult? He sighed and folded his clothes. His boxers were next.

“That’s it,” he said to no one. “I’m really going to cross that line.”

He walked to the bed and slid under the cover. He laid there, still, eyes on the ceiling. Her breathing was shallow and rhythmic. He got lulled by it for a second. Until his arousal was hard to ignore. His hard cock stood proudly between his legs.

He took a deep breath, readying himself, and scooted toward her. He pushed her on her back and laid on her. She was still deeply sleeping.

“What am I doing?” he whispered, lost. He nudged her legs open and instinctively rocked his hips against hers. He hissed and moan as his cock slid between her lips. Wet noises could be heard even from under the cover. Steve accented his thrusted, pressing against the warmth and wetness.

“God, so good,” he moaned into her ears, before kissing her neck. He sucked and bit the appetizing relaxed tendon. His mind whirled around his pleasure and all his fears went through the window.

It was becoming unbearably hot under the cover. Steve threw them away, still thrusting. If he stopped…if he stopped…his mind shut down. Under the moon natural light, her body was ethereal. Even in his dreams he never could have imagined it.

Attracted by the brown areola, he leaned forward and took one nipple in his mouth. He grazed softly the hardening bead with his teeth. He tried to take more of her boob in his mouth and almost choke. Steve went back to sucking and licking until both her breasts was covered in his own saliva.

He started palming her boobs enjoying the weight. “What am I doing?” he asked again. He grabbed his dick and slapped her clit. He slid the tip of his dick on her hole and froze. He had forgotten the condom. He barely repressed a relieved sigh. Maybe it was his way out. He’d go out of the bed and realize how stupid he was. Yeah…that was a…

The body underneath moved, yet so slightly, but enough for his tip to enter her willing body. Steve’s mind shut down. Again. His instincts, needs and deeper feelings took over.

He finally let go.

He leaned forward and pushed into her. He wanted to be gentle…He wanted to take it slow…he swore it was true…but…she was too tight, to wet…he had wanted to do that for so…

He let out a screamed as he slammed into her. Her boobs jostled under the force. She was still sleeping. The dark side of Steve rejoiced in her stillness. He wanted her to wake up as he pounded into her. He wanted to see her wake up with his cum leaking from her hole and a certain ache…

He leaned down and muttered to her ears. “Such a good Baby girl. So good for Daddy.” If the words had sounded so surreal in his dreams, hearing himself pronouncing them made everything concrete. He was fucking his stepdaughter and she wanted him.

Steve’s eyes rolled as his greedy pleasure grew. “I’ll fuck you tomorrow, don’t worry.” He bit her lobe “One you wake up I’ll fuck you 6 ways till Sunday. I’ll fuck you in the car, on the table, in the garden for everyone to see…”

He grabbed her legs, bending them onto her chest and pounded deeper into her. His balls slapped against her ass. God…she took all of him.

He gazed at her in awe. His orgasm was near. He fastened the pace enjoying the contact of their hips. He’d let a bruise he was sure. She’d finally belong to him. Fuck…his balls were tight and heavy.

“Daddy’s going to cum into you. You like that don’t you?” Her walls spasmed against his hard shaft. He gave threw sharp thrusts and came. Deep inside.

Fuck!

He fell onto her, not caring if he was too heavy. He wanted to enjoy her body a little bit longer.

It took him a few minutes to calm down and get his breathing under control. He kissed her sweaty face, rolled besides her and stood up. He took the time to cover her, but before palming her breasts a little longer.

Steve groaned at his indecisiveness.

Go, go now, his rational side screamed at him. You’ve done it, so go now.

She started moving in her sleep. She rolled onto her front and bend her right leg high. High enough for Steve to see his cum profusely dripping from her greedy hole.

He dropped his clothes and climbed back on the bed. He kissed her back, licking her spine. He slapped a few times her buttcheeks enjoying the roundness. He pressed two fingers in. Her eyebrows furrowed making him grin. A little more and she’d wake up. How would she react? Would she be thrilled that she finally got what she wanted or disgusted? No…definitely not disgusted. Her fantasies had been to wild and recurrent for her not to really want it.

The door creaked open. Steve pulled the cover over both of their body and laid flat on her. Why the fuck was Sylvie still awake? Steve felt the adrenaline pumping into his veins mixing with the overall arousal. In other words, he was hard as a rock and the hot body beneath didn’t help. His dick was perfectly nestled between her lips. A little more and he’d be inside of her.

He closed his eyes and grimaced under the torturous choice. Sylvie didn’t come in the room. She stayed at the doorframe. Steve couldn’t make up what she was saying, through all the blood rushing through his body.

Just a little…he thrusted forward and was easily welcomed into her tight pussy. He cussed under his breath, not really caring if Sylvie heard him. Even after being thoroughly pounded she was still tight. Steve dropped his head on her back, hands roaming her sides. He grabbed other leg and bent it. His dick slid deeper and deeper.

Steve’s carnal needs snapped. He bit her neck and started moving slowly. All that mattered was the warmth around him and the wet slid. He’d never leave her warmth.

Never.

That’s why it took him more times to realize that Sylvie has stopped talking. He barely moved when she pulled the cover, enough for the top of her stepdaughter’s head was visible. She leaned and kissed her.

“It’s a furnace under these covers. I don’t know how you can breathe,” she stated, pulling the rest of the cover. Steve’s breath halted. Fortunately, Sylvie’s phone rang, before she could see him. She groaned and left the room quickly.

Steve exhaled. His hips kept moving chasing some sort of relief. If he’d been on the edge before, he was now hyperaware. His nerves were on fire, his brain overstimulated.

Sylvie could have seen them. Sylvie could have seen balls deep inside her sleepy stepdaughter. Steve chuckled. He went on his hands and accelerated. His hips met her butt making the full globes bounce. His balls slapped her clit repeatedly.

He growled and tensed when she started moaning. He grabbed her hair in his fists and slammed into her. He didn’t even care if she woke up. All he wanted was to breed the hell out of her. The brief image of her heavily pregnant triggered his climax.

He choked on his saliva and trembled. His hips stuttered as his cum coated her walls. He snaked a hand to her clit and rubs furiously.

“Come one! Come on, cum,” he growled into her ear. “Show Daddy what a good girl you are.”

A few seconds later and her whole body tensed and spasmed under him. He kept thrusting until he was sure her womb was full of his cum.

Steve whined and cried as he rubbed his callous hand over her belly.

“God, I’m fucked”, he sighed.

Final Part

#steve rogers x poc!reader #steve rogers x black!reader #bucky barnes x ofc #bucky barnes x poc!reader #bucky barnes × black!reader #somnophilia #consensual #steve rogers smut #smut

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jiminicus · 4 years

Text

Fluffy First Times

Genre: Fluff 🐨 , Smut ⛓️

Pairing : Jungkook x Reader

Word count : 4.6k

Rating: Explicit

Warning: Sexual Content

Mealis was an average college student in the fourth year of her studies. In high school, she was the quiet girl that rarely went out to with her friends. When she first entered college, she thought she would be finally able to socialize, get a boyfriend, fall in love, and do all the good things that people did in their youth. However, as the years passed, she always preferred to focus on her studies, never finding time to meet new people and achieving her so-called “social goals” that she had set. She was starting to get disappointed with herself. All her friends, even the shyest ones had at least had their first kiss.

Today, this was all going to end. She was now in the waiting room of a nicely furnished, modern building, filling some paperwork. She was here for “sex therapy”, as the website she found out about them liked to refer to their services. At that time, she was not looking to get laid, but after reading the reviews on their website for a couple of months, the idea didn’t seem that bad. All service providers were trained to create unique experiences for every guest and tailor the session according to the needs, desires, and personalities of their clients. They specialized in providing “therapy” to those dealing with problems in their sexual life as well as people who had insecurities and fears, and sometimes even helped people explore their sexuality, showing them new ways to have fun.

This kind of experience was of course expensive, and she had to work some extra hours in the nearby café to be able to afford it. It seemed to be worth it though, getting an actual boyfriend was time consuming, and based on her friends’ stories, she didn’t want to end up having her first time with someone that would break her heart. Spending the night with a professional was going to be easier, and it would also take away some of the nervousness she was feeling. She would never see him again after all.

When she filled the papers and checked them thoroughly, she passed them to the lady on the front desk. She instructed her to wait some more in the waiting room until her “therapist” was ready to take her in. Drinking the hot tea she was offered when she first entered the building, she looked around the place. Nothing about it hinted to what happened behind the closed doors, it looked like a normal lobby to normal business. She was happy for it though, she didn't want to be seen is some sort of a sex dungeon.

In some nerve wracking minutes, the young lady from before reappeared.

“Your therapist is ready and waiting for you in room 003.” She said politely and gestured towards the pathway Maelis was supposed to take.

She walked towards the room slowly, trying to calm herself.

“It’s finally happening.” She told herself taking a deep breath, feeling her heartbeat in her head.

She knocked on the door with the number 003 painted on it. In a few short moments, the door opened and a smiley boy stood in front of her. He had long black curly hair and an adorable bunny smile. He was dressed comfortably in some sweatpants and an oversized shirt that revealed part of the tattoos on his forearm. He looked young and friendly and his soft eyes immediately calmed her.

“Hello, my name is Jungkook and I will be your therapist for today.” He said as he opened the door wider to let her in.

“I am Maelis.” She responded quietly, still studying his features.

“Nice to meet you Maelis, please take a seat on the bed.” He said as he motioned towards it.

She sat on the corner of the bed while he set himself in the middle of it. Seeing her awkward position, he spoke.

“Take your shoes off and seat here.” He patted the place next to him.

She shifted her weight towards him, but the proximity made her shy and she diverted her eyes to her lap, trying to hide her blushing cheeks. His charming aura may not be that helpful after all.

“We have an hour and a half at our disposal today. We will spend some time talking and getting to know each other in the beginning and then we can go to more intimate acts. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, please let me know.” She did feel uncomfortable. He was perhaps the hottest guy she had ever seen and the fact that he was staring at her right now made her heartbeat go wild.

“You should know that this is a safe place and anything we say and do will in this room, will stay here.” He finished, summarizing the rules on the papers she had agreed on.

“Okay.” She said simply, unable to form a more complex sentence.

“On your papers you said you have never had sex before, so I assume you must be nervous.” Jungkook said as he shifted his weight so he was sitting in front of her.

“I am very nervous.” She admitted feeling his eyes burn her skin.

“It’s ok to be nervous,” he smiled softly “But don’t worry, there is nothing scary at all.” He said and he took her hands in his, slowly moving his thumb across the back of her hand, trying to calm her down.

“So, tell me what kind of romantic intimacy you’ve had before?”

“None...” It felt embarrassing to say out loud. “Nothing at all.”

“Really?” He looked surprised at her confession. “Not even a kiss or holding hands with someone?”

“No. I have never had a boyfriend or anything.” She wished for the floor to open and swallow her in. She always felt that people were going to make fun of her and call her prudish when she told them about her nonexistent romantic life. Jungkook however, seemed to sympathize with her. He dealt with people who had problems in their sexual lives every day and he really wanted to help them feel better.

“Is there a reason for that?” He said with caution, knowing that it could be a sensitive topic for her. He didn’t want to admit it now, but he was also curious, why has a beautiful girl like her never experienced romantic love?

“I never had time…. And I guess I just never really wanted to.” She said as if she just realized it, lifting her eyes to meet his for a second.

He wanted to ask more questions. Why did she change her opinion now? Why did she come to him? But he knew those questions were prohibited to ask since they usually made the clients feel embarrassed or humiliated having to admit they needed help.

“What matters is that you want to try new things now, right?” He said cheerfully.

“How about we do something simple as we talk? Do you want to cuddle?”

“Yeah, sure.” She said relieved that the conversation about her life ended.

He sat with his back resting on the headboard, making some space between his legs. “Come here!” He said, the kind smile never leaving his face.

Maelis sat with her back relaxing on his chest. He put his hands around her waist and hugged her from behind. This position was definitely more comfortable and less awkward, as she didn’t have to look at the model looking guy she was supposed to have sex with.

The conversation took a lighter mood this time. He told her that he was a post-graduate psychology student and that he did research in the field of human sexuality. She told him about her failed previous relationship attempts, feeling more comfortable knowing she spoke to an actual psychologist.

It was fun and easy to talk to him and she almost forgot the actual reason she was there, until she felt his warm breath on her neck. Her body tensed as he pressed a soft kiss on her skin.

“Relax Maelis, it’s just a kiss.” Her cheeks took a rosy shade and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

“Tell me what you wished your crush did that night.” He placed another kiss just under her ear, referring to the story she was just telling him.

“I don’t know… I just wanted him to talk to me some more.” She said, trying to respond as if nothing happened.

“And then what?” He said in a suggestive manner.

She started to get nervous now. The conversation had taken a quick turn and she wasn’t prepared for that. She fiddled with her hands. Jungkook noticed her sudden change, but despite that, he wanted to make her express her desires, knowing very well that she was not going to do that by herself.

“What do you want me to do?” He said separating her hands and intertwining his fingers with hers. “You know I won’t judge you, nor I will make fun of you, I just want to know what will make your heart flutter.” His voice was gentle and soft as if he was talking to a child.

“What you do, already makes my heart flutter.” A shy smile appeared on her face. It was a simple confession, but it made her feel relieved she didn’t have to describe to him some kind of a porn scene.

“This?” He replied as he pressed another kiss on her neck. Another one followed, this time he parted his lips and slightly licked her skin. A shy moan slipped from her lips as he continued to shower her with kisses.

“I am so sorry!” She said right after, feeling embarrassed once again.

“Don’t be so shy sweetheart. I want to hear you enjoy yourself.” He whispered in her ear.

He then let go of her hand and slowly slid it under her sweatshirt, letting his fingers ghost over her skin. It felt electrifying having her stomach touched by someone in a situation this. It felt new and exciting and she sure enjoyed it, but something inside of her couldn’t quite let her let go, and live in that moment. She was tense and her mind was rushing through all the things that could happen next. She felt anxious. Was she really going to have sex now? Was she ready for it? Was spending the night with a stranger a good idea? She didn’t know what to do or how to act, she was frozen.

“What are you thinking about?” Jungkook said letting his head rest on her shoulder.

“I am sorry... It’s just a little overwhelming...” She snapped out of her trance.

“Stop overthinking babygirl. I know it’s all new to you, you don’t have to be perfect, just try to enjoy yourself.” Treating such an inexperienced person was new to him and making her comfortable was going to be challenging.

“Wanna turn around so we can do things a bit differently?” He said gently pushing her back. She turned around and he laid down on the bed, next to her.

“Imagine I was your boyfriend now and I’d let you do anything you want to me.”

The offer was tempting. What did she want to do the most? She wanted to kiss him, but he was too intimidating for her to attempt that. She opted for a hug. It was not that intimate and she felt nice cuddling with him. She wrapped her hands around his waist and lowered herself to his level. He embraced her back and pulled her down so she was now laying on top of him. Her head was on his chest and she could feel his heartbeat. He was calm and relaxed, nothing like the way she felt.

“Now what?” She said with a smile.

“Now nothing. You can do whatever you want. You can kiss me or touch me as I did to you. The hour is yours.” Did they spend thirty minutes talking? If she had to be honest with herself, she wouldn’t mind spending the rest of their time just cuddling in each other’s arms, but she wasn’t here for a cuddle session, she was here to have fun for once. As much as she enjoyed her time with him just chatting, she had paid way too much for her to waste it so easily.

She pressed her lips on his neck and he immediately tilted his head giving her more skin to work on. She tried to copy what he had done to her before while he run his hand through her hair. To her surprise it didn’t feel as awkward as she thought it would.

Maelis continued her actions for a minute or two before she decided to let her hands explore his body. The baggy shirt he was wearing didn’t show his musculature, but the thin material gave enough for her to feel his toned body. In a similar fashion, she slipped her hand underneath the fabric and let her fingertips barely touch his warm skin. It felt nice exploring his body while planting kisses on his neck and collarbones, but this was all he had done to her and she didn’t know what to do next.

“Jungkook.” She called him quietly. “What do I do now?”

He opened his eyes and smiled cupping her face with his palm. “What do you want to do? Wanna take it off?” He said while placing his other hand on her hand beneath his shirt.

She nodded. He got up and let her slip the material off his body. It was hard for her not to look at his well-defined abbs. His chest was broad and his arms were equally as toned, decorated in beautiful drawings. He looked like a Greek statue and she couldn’t help but stare at him.

"No wonder he had such good reviews on the website.” She thought.

“Like what you see?” He smirked.

He came closer to her, putting his hands on her thighs to support himself. He leaned even closer, leaving only a few inches between their faces.

“Your lips are so beautiful.” He said, running his thumb over her bottom lip. “They feel great against my skin too.”

Maelis was both uncharacteristically calm and having a heart attack at the same time. She had just locked her eyes with his and became enchanted in them. For once she wanted him to continue his suggestive words.

“Want to feel them against my lips too.”

He looked in her eyes, searching for a reaction, a permission to fulfill his words. To his surprise, she closed her eyes and leaned in first. He closed the remaining distance and connected their lips. It was a slow and soft kiss, gently touching their lips together.

Maelis never knew that lips were so soft and sensitive to touch. The feeling was inebriating and she felt the butterflies in her stomach again. Not knowing how long the kiss should last, she slowly pulled away.

For a second, she made quick eye contact with Jungkook before joining their lips for the second time. She felt his tongue licking her lower lip asking for permission to deepen the kiss. She parted her lips and let him slide in, intertwining his tongues together. All her thoughts were gone, she just wanted to feel more of him.

The kisses continued for a few minutes, as Jungkook slowly became more dominant, pushing her towards the bed. Once she was laying on her back, he set himself above her figure. He let his hands roam across her body. Her curves were exactly as he loved them and it would be a lie if he said he didn’t enjoy the session a bit more than usual. He wanted to see her body, so he started to lift the hem of her sweatshirt.

Once her stomach was uncovered, he broke the kiss. He gave her a quick peck on her nose and smiled kindly. He then lowered himself leaving kisses on her neck and then skipped over to her tummy leaving a row of raspberry kisses.

“You are tickling me.” She said through a wide smile, always having been sensitive in that area.

“Is that so?” He replied playfully and continued to blow even more raspberries on her tummy.

“Jungkook stop!” She felt tears start forming in her eyes from the laughter.

“I’ll stop only if you let me take this off.” He said holding the hem of her sweatshirt.

“Fine.” She agreed without much thought.

She got up and let him peel the material off her body. The cold air made her feel naked and she brought her hands to her front trying to cover herself.

Seeing her discomfort, Jungkook connected their lips again. In this position he took her hands in his and let them fall to her sides.

“You are beautiful, bub, don’t hide it.” He whispered against her lips. The innocent sweet kisses from before were gone. He was now passionately attacking her lips. She began to feel excited, anticipation replacing the nervousness in her lower stomach.

He moved his lips on her jawline and her neck. She felt more comfortable this time and let her heavy breathing be heard, sometimes letting a moan slip from her lips. He went lower, to her collarbones and cleavage. He found a place right on the curve of her right breast and placed an open-mouthed kiss, sucking on the tender skin. After decorating her cleavage with kisses, he licked the strip of skin right on the hem of her bra.

“Let me take it off?” He said lifting his gaze, to meet her eyes.

“If you want to.” She replied, trying to copy his tone from before.

Hearing that, he slipped the straps off her shoulders, leaving a kiss on each collarbone. He then reached behind her back and unclasped the bra. Once the bra was off, Maelis’ hands traveled to her now naked breasts in embarrassment. He placed a kiss in the center of her breasts and his mouth traveled up, towards her nipple.

“What did we say about hiding?” He said as he bit on her finger that was covering his target. His dorky behavior definitely worked and she removed her hand smiling at his actions.

He took the nipple in his mouth and toyed with it with his tongue. It felt good and she felt herself getting wet, rubbing her thighs together to get some friction.

“That’s my job darling.” He warned, placing his hand between her legs spreading them apart. He put one of his legs between hers and laid down on top of her. The pressure his thigh was putting on her core was making her skin burn but not giving her much pleasure.

His mouth was kissing and sucking on one of her breasts and his hand kneaded the other. After one particularly good lick on her nipple, she involuntarily moved her pelvis against his thigh, letting out a moan from the sudden pleasure she felt on her core.

“Impatient huh?” He said teasingly and moved lower, towards the hem of her shorts. He placed a kiss bellow her belly button and then continued south. He hooked his fingers on the waistband and tugged gently, asking her to take them off. She lifted her lower half letting him remove them.

As the fabric left her skin and found itself on the floor, all her worries fled her mind. The only piece of clothing remaining on her body was the thin fabric of her panties. She was naked in front of a sexy stranger that was supposed to take her virginity. She wasn’t on birth control. Did he have condoms?

“Of course he has condoms, it’s his job after all.” The rational part of her reminded.

But then, she didn't know what to do. What if he doesn’t enjoy the experience? What if she messes something up? What if she didn’t shave that well? What about the stretch marks on her thighs? Had he noticed them?

“What’s wrong?” His angelic voice took her thoughts away from her mind as he was running his hand soothingly over her thigh.

“I am nervous... What if something goes wrong?”

“I am here sweetheart." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I’ll tell you if you need to do something. For now, just relax.” He found his place between her legs and leaned in for a kiss.

“Do you have a condom?”

“Why? Do you have a preference for texture or flavor?” He said smiling at her naïve question.

“Maybe.” She said connecting their lips again. As the passionate kiss ended, Jungkook went down again, never breaking eye contact. He found her pink panties and placed a kiss on her clothed core.

“Let me take those too?” He said as he trailed his fingers on her inner things. A simple nod was enough and she found her wet lips exposed to the cold air.

“So wet baby...” He run his finger collecting some of her juices.

“I want to taste you.” He said licking his finger. He then licked a stripe from her clit to her opening. Maelis let a loud moan. She had surely touched herself before, but she had never found herself that sensitive in that area. The simplest touches were sending waves of pleasure through her whole body.

In the next few minutes, his lips never left her clitoris, constantly playing with it. Sometimes with feathery licks and other times with harsh sucks on her most sensitive nub. When she was wet enough, he slowly slipped a finger in her core, watching closely for any sign of discomfort. None was present and when he started moving his finger, her moans became louder.

He added a second finger, but this time, she felt some discomfort from the stretch from the depth at which his fingers penetrated her. After giving some more attention to her clit however, she felt the warm feeling in her lower stomach and told him to move his fingers, trying to chase out her orgasm.

Just before she could go over the edge, Jungkook stopped all his movements.

“Wait some more princess. Can’t let you cum now.” He said taking off his sweatpants and boxers at once.

She looked at him as he took a condom from the bedside table and slipped it on his cock. He looked beautiful naked, she thought. His muscular chest and thighs, his well-defined abs and... She didn’t want to stare at his cock for too long, but it was the first time saw a man naked in front of her and the girth and length of his member made her feel both intimidated and excited.

He turned back to her and lay between her legs. Their lips connected once again in a lustful kiss.

“Ready babygirl?” He said, pressing their foreheads together.

“I’ll be gentle. If you feel any pain or if for any reason you want me to stop, let me know and I will, okay babe?”

“Mhmm” Was all she could mutter. He lined his member with her entrance and delicately pushed forward. He moved slowly as he left gentle kisses on her neck and shoulders, trying to distract her from any discomfort.

Somewhere halfway through, she felt ripping pain and asked him to still his movements for a second.

“It’s okay baby.” He said kissing her shoulder.

When the pain started going away, she gave him a sign to continue. He slowly moved forward again till he felt himself bottom out.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Tell me when you are ready to move.” His voice softer than ever, his lips never leaving her skin. The feeling in her lower region was no longer painful but rather uncomfortable. Having something inside her felt unfamiliar.

“I am ready, Jungkook.” She said running her hands on his back. He started moving at a painstakingly slow pace. God, he wanted to move faster, she felt so good, he thought.

After a while, the uncomfortable feeling was almost gone and she began to feel the pleasure as he moved.

“Go faster.” It was all he needed. He gradually increased his speed and made his thrusts more powerful while always keeping it gentle.

It’s been a while since he treated a virgin but for the first time, it felt as if it wasn’t just the sex, they felt... close. Their lips danced on each other's bodies while their bodies moved in sync. It felt intimate, almost as if they were a couple that had long waited for their moment together. Maelis thought it was because Jungkook was a professional, but he knew, that what he felt at that moment was far from professional, ever for his job.

They felt their orgasms approach and the pace became faster, Jungkook moving his hand to rub Maelis’ clit. She felt a warm feeling build up in her lower stomach.

“Jungkook I...”

“Me too baby.” His thrusts lost rhythm, becoming more sporadic, chasing his orgasm. The change of pace sent Maelis over the edge, her body starting to shake as the orgasm rushed through her body. Shortly after, Jungkook too felt his orgasm approach, spilling his milky cum into the condom.

He let his body fall on top of hers, placing one last kiss on her forehead. She run her hands through his hair as he caught his breath.

“How do you feel bubble?”

“It felt good. It never feels this good when I do it by myself.” She admitted. “How do you feel?” She asked cautiously, not sure if he actually enjoyed his time with a beginner.

“Amazing. Are you sure you have never had sex before?”

“You don't have to try to not hurt my feelings.” She said pushing him playfully away from her. He laid next to her staring at the ceiling.

“I don’t.” He looked at her direction with a smile. “You did well sweetheart.” He caressed her hair with his palm.

“I’ll go take care of myself for a second. You can stay here and rest.” She watched him go to the room attached to the one they were in.

“Did I really do this?” She wondered. It felt better than what she had expected, and Jungkook … he was so gentle and caring. She heard the sound of water in the other room. Was he taking a shower? She looked at herself. She needed a shower too. They got pretty steamy after all. Turning around she saw a stain on the white sheets.

“Oh, no!” The sheets were now covered in bright red blood. The pain wasn’t terrible and she didn’t think she had bled. How was he going to react when he sees it? She put a pillow on top of the stain, she was going to deal with this later. She got up and took her sweatshirt from the ground. It was better if she at least had something on.

Jungkook had just exited the bathroom, wearing only his boxers.

“Where are you going bub? Leaving so soon?” He said wearing a pair of sweatpants.

“No umhh... Something happened...” She said sitting on the bed, while he looked at her with concern.

She lifted the pillow covering the stain. “I am sorry.”

He looked down at the bed and let his bunny smile shine through.

“It’s okay. It’s normal to bleed on your first time. I’ll change the sheets.”

He came back after discarding the stained sheets and hugged her from behind, pulling her towards the bed.

“Isn’t our time over?” She said remembering their time limit.

“Yep.” He said simply. “My next appointment is in an hour. Wanna cuddle some more?”

“Do you do this with all your clients?”

“No, but you are a good cuddler.”

“You are good with other things too.” He said whispering in her ear. “Maybe we can try some of those textured condoms next time.”

#jeon jungkook #reader #jungkook x reader #bts #smut #fluff #oneshot #story #first kiss #first time #sex worker #jungkook is a sweetheart #shy #btsguild #bighitcity

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words-writ-in-starlight · 4 years

Note

the untamed is on netflix, right? i think i've seen it. i'm enjoying your posts about it and my mom would love if i watched a chinese show (it looks chinese, i might be wrong though) but i'm kinda short on time so please pitch to me why i should watch it so i will be convinced and look past the lack fo time

Anonymous asked:

ok the untamed looks cool af how doesone watch it

A L L R I G H T I’m finally going to make a rec post, I’ve put this off long enough. You’ve definitely already started to watch it, clever, so please forgive me for using this as an excuse to pitch this show.

So, for starters, Anon, The Untamed is indeed on Netflix! It is in Chinese! If you (like me) do not understand Mandarin Chinese, the Netflix English subbing is…fine, it’s fine, but I recommend poking around in the fandom because every single form of address is changed to the character’s full name. And maybe I just spent too much time doing translations for my old Spanish and Chinese and especially Latin classes, but I think there are some things that, A, shouldn’t be translated or, B, should be translated awkwardly over being translated incoherently.

I digress. My thoughts about maintaining forms of address in their native language for the sake of clarifying levels of respect/etc are not relevant here. Chuck a note in my inbox if/when you get confused about everyone’s three names and I’ll write/link you a guide.

POINT IS. The Untamed is an adaptation of the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi, which is generally translated as “The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation,” and my quick pitch for it is: There’s a plot, sure sure, it’s the story of Wei Wuxian (his fall from grace to Most Hated Person In Magic!China, and then his resurrection and efforts to solve a murder), and if you like character-driven fantasy narratives you Will Like This

B U T

You know that post “but is he…you know…your narrative foil?” That’s this show. If what you crave is “one character committedly pines over another for twenty years even when the entire world hates that person,” please let me interest you in Lan Wangji, the love interest. They have a kid together. It’s a great romance. Literally what else do you want from me. I love a narrative foil, I love a tragedy, I love an epic love story, I love a found family. And good GOD do I love a character who self-destructs in an effort to do the right thing.

Wei Wuxian isn’t evil. He’s not even especially malicious. But when the chips were down and he needed to survive, and to save people, and to figure something out, he took the only avenue left to him, and it was—it was inevitable, really, that it make him the villain of the piece. He saved a lot of lives. Everyone except Lan Wangji hates him for it. He’s already thoroughly despised by the time he starts actually doing things that are objectively bad. Talk to me about it forever.

My usual list of free-form associative Things I Like That You Will Probably Also Like under the cut:

Wei Wuxian! I know he’s the main character but I love him so much that he gets a bullet point! He’s the kind of lighthearted goofball who’s perfected the “I Would Honestly Die Before Showing Emotion To Anyone, How Dare You Imply That I Am Not Sincere In My Perpetual Good Humor” mask, and it hits like a sledgehammer when that mask cracks. I would watch this actor flip between smiles and homicidal rage all day. He gets a hug from Son Boy in the last episode and I almost cried. 50000/10.

Lan Wangji! A great love interest! Noble to the core! Incredibly bitchy! I want five more just like him!

This is where I mention that China has strict censorship laws, so, despite the fact that they kiss and have sex and get married and the whole nine in the book, the show is all Intense Staring And Love Declarations Where They Never Say The L-Word. But like. Please trust me, it’s actually So Romance. If anything I think I like the romance in the show better.

Wen Ning!

I don’t have anything else to say about him, I just love him so goddamn much. He and his sister Wen Qing are stars and the rest of these sinners don’t deserve them.

COMPETENT. VILLAINS. I’ve spilled a lot of ink on this one lately, but I love competent villainy, I love villains who have Goals and plan to Achieve Them and actually pull it off. Jin Guangyao, the big bad of the “present”(the part where Wei Wuxian is resurrected and kicking around trying to solve a murder), is actually phenomenally good at his job and I support him even though I enjoyed watching him go down in flames. There are enough villains in this show for everyone to have their preferred type of villain, from Devoted Right Hand Man to Megalomaniacal Overlord to Freewheeling Engine Of Death. GREAT villains in this show. Which brings me to…

YI! CITY! ARC! I’m not going to tell you that much about it, but it’s dark and tragic and features my very favorite villain in the entire show, Xue Yang, who is just. *chef kiss* A horrible monster of a man. An unapologetic, cold-eyed shriek of a villain. The very best at what he does, and what he does is absolutely horrible, and I would watch an entire series about this five-ish episode arc. Also, I’ve adopted Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen from the Tragic Ships Shelter and someone should toss me a headcanon ask for them. Any AU your little heart desires. I love them.

THE MAGIC! I know it took me a long time to get here, but it’s a very character driven show and I am a very character driven person and I just wanted to yell about characters for a minute. But anyway, I’m told that the Untamed is a great onboarding point for this genre of Chinese fantasy novel, because they do a really good job of making the necessary points accessible. I had no familiarity with wuxia/xianxia/etc when I started watching this and everything about cultivation made sense to me, or at least enough sense to be going on with. It’s very lovely and fascinating and it’s where they put their Entire Non-Clothing Budget.

This is where I mention that their effects department clearly used their entire funding for, like, cool sword stunts and beautiful clothing. The wolf puppet in particular is just. Almost adorably terrible. If that’s going to severely impact your enjoyment, Idk what to tell you, man.

Related to the above, I love plotlines about characters losing control of their magic. That’s all I’m going to say about it.

Unreliable narrators, baby! They set up a lot of concrete facts about Wei Wuxian in the first two episodes that become obvious as complete bullshit as you go on, and it’s very satisfying to watch! See also, Nie Huaisang, the most unreliable narrator of them all, whom I adore.

Beyond all those things…it’s just got a lot of great relationships in it. It’s hugely driven by the affection people have for each other, or the places they feel they’vebeen deprived of that affection. It has a lot of iterations of the same relationship in wildly distinct ways, if that makes sense—offhand, there are maybe four major sets of siblings, five if you count the Jins, and they are all radically different and insanely compelling. The basic structure of Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji, the “black cultivator/white cultivator on a crusade to change the world” thing, appears a lot of times, and goes horribly awry in a slightly different way for all of them. That kind of in-universe repetition of themes, doing the same thing over and over again looking for the Right Path, is one of my favorite things to appear in a story—see also, the Kencyrath (twins, Dreamweavers, Knorth lords, loyal Kendar, etc), the Animorphs (warrior teams, deaths on the field, etc), any number of other things I yell about.

TL;DR: The story is great and the cultivation is fascinatingand the schemes are elaborate, but

#the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #SORRY CLEVER YOU'VE DEFINITELY ALREADY STARTED IT I THINK I JUST ANSWERED ANOTHER ASK FROM YOU #I GOT DISTRACTED HALFWAY THROUGH THIS POST AND FORGOT ABOUT IT FOR SIX DAYS #i cannot be trusted i am sorry #but yeah anyway #show rec #here's the post that i'm going to link people to if they're looking to know why I Personally am into this show #'what's the plot star' WWX WAS AN ADMIRED HERO. THEN HE WAS THE MOST HATED MAN ALIVE. THEN HE DIED.#NOW HE'S BACK AND HE HAS MORE PROBLEMS.#THAT'S THE PLOT #WHO CARES ABOUT THE PLOT I CARE ABOUT THE ANGST #that's not true i also care about the plot #but like. if i'm recommending you the show you'd best believe it's because of the above reasons.#a queue we will keep and our honor someday avenge #insert-cleverurl #asked and answered

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yoonguurt · 4 years

Text

The King

A/N: I got excited and decided to post the first part a day early. Oops. I am so happy to start off this series and I love this so much. This amazing moodboard was made by the even more amazing @bopping-to-my-kpop! I love it so much!

Seungcheol knew this day would come his entire life. He has been preparing to become king almost from the time he could speak. Being the eldest has its perks, he can always pull rank when Ji-yoo and Chan were arguing with him about something and to be honest he loved that, but now the role he was born to play was upon him. Sitting in front of all of his people, he put on a smile and gave a bow. “As king, I promise to always do my best to make sure our entire kingdom flourishes. Thank you for all of your support” he spoke loudly as he gave a finally wave and disappeared behind a curtain.

He could hear the chatter on the other side of the curtain and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He dragged his feet on the way back to the meeting room only to receive a scolding coming from his right. “Pick up your feet. You were raised better than that. Why are you acting like this is the end of the world? You knew this day would come eventually.” Jeonghan, his best friend and adviser walked beside him with a slight scowl at his behavior. He knew Jeonghan was right, this wasn’t the end of the world, and he was happy that he was king. He had so many ideas on how to improve the life of his people, it was just that suddenly despite all his preparations, he didn’t feel at all prepared.

You stood in the hallway with the new maid, trying to keep the smile on your face. This one had managed to step on the curtains and cause a huge tear. You remember being new in the palace so you had sympathy, but this was the third accident she had caused today. You were thinking of sending her to the kitchen where at least her accidents could be contained to where important eyes couldn’t see. “Seo-yun, it’s ok, accidents happen. Let’s go to the kitchen to talk to Mingyu about helping him out, yeah?” You spoke softly, not wanting to upset the girl further. You had always made sure not to talk harshly to those under your leadership, you didn’t feel like that helped anyone in the long run.

You had begun working as a maid at the palace in your early teens and you had thoroughly enjoyed it. The head maid at that time was definitely strict, but she had never given up on you. You worked your way from scrubbing the bathroom floors, to taking over your mentor’s position when the time came for her to step down. She had told you she had chosen you to take over and you were flooded with happiness, but you weren’t sure you were up to the task. She had always said you were a great worker, but you were a little too soft. When you brought your worries up, she gave you a tired smile and told you to use that to your advantage, just because she was rough around the edges didn’t mean you had to be. Use what worked for you. So, you had and it had worked. You had an amazing staff under you and you were looked up to.

Leading Seo-yun down the hall to the kitchen, you came across Seungcheol and Jeonghan, and you quickly stopped to curtsey before the new king. You had known him for years, and you knew he hated when you did it, but he was king now and you knew to show the proper respect. You heard a sigh and lifted your head to see a slight pout on Seungcheol’s face and a narrow eyed Jeonghan. “You know I really hate when you do that, Y/N” he spoke to you in a rather casual manner. Moving your eyes to the girl on your left and back to his quickly you gave him a quick “Just showing the proper respect, Your Majesty” causing a snort from Jeonghan before he quickly recovered. The adviser’s eyes suddenly grew wide in recognition, “You! You’re the one who broke the vase this morning! Do you know how important that vase was?” You cleared your throat before he could start in again. Seungcheol took that moment to tell his friend to calm down. You took that opportunity to curtsey again before giving your parting words. “It was an honor as always, Your Majesty, but I really need to get Seo-yun to the kitchen to see if that’s a better fit for her.” you shifted your eyes to Jeonghan before shifting them back to Seungcheol and continuing. “Have a good day, sir.” You gave him a genuine smile, and hurried your newest maid down the hall, while your heart tried to resume its normal pace.

Seungcheol watched you walk away, invisible strings tugging at his heart, and Jeonghan nudged him signaling it was time to continue towards the meeting room. As he reached his old familiar desk, he let out another sigh, prompting another scolding from his trusty adviser. He flipped through the papers on his desk, looking to see what business he had to attend to in the coming days. Most were routine things, there would be some visiting nobles, an ambassador from the neighboring kingdom, and it seems he had a theft case to review which was not something he had to do much. Once paper in particular caught his eye. As his eyes scanned the words on the page, they widened the farther along he got.

“Why so soon? I JUST got crowned today. Why are we already planning balls to find me a wife?” His tone gave away just how annoyed Seungcheol was with this process. Sure, he’d always known that he would need a queen, but he didn’t realize he’d need to start the search this soon after being crowned. “Can you calm down, you’re giving me a headache.” Seungcheol watched as his friend rubbed his temples with a sigh as he continued speaking. “Who knows how long it’s going to take you to choose someone, especially since I have to make you stop watching Y/N walk away. It’s better to start the process now.” He knew Jeonghan was right, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Doing his best to force a smile, he looked up. “So. When’s the ball?”

“I mean, she’s a little accident prone, but you can work with that. Please, Mingyu? I can see she works hard, she just needs a starting point.” You knew Mingyu would give in to you, he may have been a big man, but he was sweet. “Ok fine, but she needs to try her best. Jeonghan just informed we that we have a ball next weekend and I have a whole menu to plan and execute” Ball? You hadn’t heard anything about a ball? Jeonghan must have forgotten to tell you when he was busy yelling at Seo-yun. You gave Mingyu a hug, thanking him immensely and told Seo-yun to try hard and to be careful before turning and heading to search for Seokmin to see if he knew anything about this ball.

As Seungcheol lay in his chambers, he thought over the events of the day. Being crowned had felt like such an honor and he was very happy to have the crown, but the other things not so much. He wanted to set into motion helping his kingdom, did he really have to marry someone for that to happen? And someone he didn’t even love at that? Without really meaning for it to, his mind shifted. He began thinking about the encounter in the hallway. He knew that you had only curtseyed like that to set an example for your new maid, but he still hated it. He hated when you acted as if you were below him, because in his eyes you weren’t. You were just Y/N who he had known for years. Just the one woman who owned his heart.

You awake before the sun the next, heart a little heavy. You had tried to talk yourself into not feeling this way, but it was no use. You didn’t want there to be a ball to find a bride, but you also knew there was no other option. He was a king and you were simply just staff, you had grown used to that feeling, but today it hurt worse.

Seungcheol sat at his desk in the meeting room, finalizing the guest list for the ball. He had been at this for hours and he just needed a break. He stood and stretched, moving into the hallway to walk about the palace. He thought it might be nice to visit with some of the staff, keep up a good relationship with the people he employed. He passed the visiting noble, Seungkwan, in the hall and greeted him with a small hello and kept about his way. Thinking on it briefly, he turned to head towards the kitchen. He knew you spent a good amount of time there, but if anyone asked, he could tell them he was checking on the menu. As he neared the kitchen, Jeonghan came storming out, covered in flour. Seungcheol opened his mouth to ask what happened only to be met with a hand and a swift “Don’t.” Chuckling to himself, he turned into the kitchen.

For you, watching Seungcheol walk into a room was like looking directly into the sun. He always seemed to just shine and light up the whole room. He came in, eyes searching the room until he found yours. He gave you a large, genuine smile before turning to Mingyu. You could hear them discussing the menu for the ball, and your heart did that nasty twist again. You tried to focus on your task of sweeping, but that proved difficult. Especially when you heard him say your name. “Oh,and Y/N while you’re here. Do you mind walking with me? I’d like to go over some details for the ball.” You had never wanted to say no to him more than you did right now, but you did your best to smile and nodded.

Walking through the halls, you were both silent. Seungcheol wanted to speak, but he couldn't seem to make himself. When you had finally reached the ballroom, he had finally talked himself into letting the words flow, but it seemed his mouth and his mind had two different plans. "We've decided to use blue and gold for the decorations." That was in no way what he had wanted to say. Why had that come out? He didn't want to talk about decorations, he wanted to ask you if you would be attending. Looking toward you, he saw you give a small nod and look around the room to start your planning. After staring at you for a few beats, he opened his mouth to speak again.

“Will you be attending the ball?” You heard the words come out of his mouth, but you weren’t sure you were hearing them correctly. Why did it matter if you were attending? And why would he want to know? You continued to look around the room, deciding what was going to go where. You could hang nice royal blue curtains from the window on the right, and do gold curtains on the left. You knew there was a nice gold and blue rug you could have placed at the door. You needed to make sure the floor got polished so it would shine while guests were dancing.”Y/N?” you heard him call you and you realized you had been so lost in your preparations that you hadn’t answered his question. He looked at you with soft eyes, awaiting your answer. “I hadn’t planned on it. It’s my night off and it isn’t really a place for me.” You spoke softly, eyes on the floor, silently hoping that would be the end of it. Your heart couldn’t take this conversation, and to be honest you really weren’t sure you could hide your disappointment. Seungcheol was quiet for a moment, seemingly taking in your answer before he gave you one of his own. “I’d really like you to be there. It would mean alot to me.” Right then you knew, there was no other option for you. It would hurt to watch him with the many women that would certainly be attending, but you wouldn’t tell him no.

On the morning of the ball, Seungcheol found himself rather anxious. He knew there was a lot riding on tonight. He didn’t HAVE to choose a lady to court tonight, but he knew that it would look good if he did. He didn’t want to rush this process, though. He had hopes things would go his way, but he was ready to fall to a backup plan if they didn’t. He had thought long and hard about his decision and he knew that he had to at least give it a shot. He spent the day making final decisions and making sure everything was as he wanted it. He stood in his room getting ready for the ball with Jeonghan at his side. He gestured to the corner to his right, looking his trusted companion in the eye. “Have that delivered to Y/N’s room.” He could tell his words had somewhat shocked his friend, but they had also talked about his thoughts and though Jeonghan had told him to really think hard, he knew he would be supported if this was what he really wanted. “Are you sure about this?” Jeonghan’s words made him chuckle slightly, before he nodded. He had never been more sure of anything in his life.

Once you were done with making sure everything was absolutely perfect, you headed to your room. Of course you had told Seungcheol you would be at the ball, despite your better judgement, but now you had no idea what you were going to do. Sure, you had some nice clothes, but nothing fitting of a ball. You opened your door, ready to just flop on your bed for a moment to think about how you were going to handle this night, and stopped before you could fall to the bed. Something was amiss. Laid out on your bed was a dress, a dress that you had never seen. It’s long dark blue fabric spread over your bed, ends falling off the edges. Placed neatly on top was a card. “I’d be honored if you wore this tonight- Cheol”

Seungcheol had sweaty palms as he waited to see if you were actually coming. He had already had a few dances and while they were pleasant and beautiful women, they weren’t you. Their smiles didn’t light up rooms and their laughs didn’t make his heart beat faster. As his dance ended, he shifted his weight between feet, knowing someone else would approach him soon. He just happened to look up at the perfect moment. There you were. The dress fit you just as perfectly as he had hoped, and they blue went nicely with your skin, gold trim at the bottom making the look complete. It was like he lost all ability to think. He just stood there for a moment, mouth agape before Jeonghan drifted by and closed muttering to him about just going.

You looked up to see Seungcheol walking in your direction, and he looked divine. His dark hair fell just slightly into his eyes, and you weren’t sure you had ever seen anything more beautiful. His smile lit up his face and your heart just melted right then. All the nervousness and worry you had felt before stepping inside the room melted with it. He stopped in front of you, smile still prominent on his face. “You look beautiful, Y/N.” You blushed slightly at his words, looked down and mumbled a thank you. Lifting your head, you noticed his hand was outstretched towards you and you gently placed your hand in his. He led you to the center of the floor, and while you could see the many disgruntled looks you were getting, you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. If he was going to marry someone else, you would at least have this dance.

Seungcheol held you close as the music began, nervousness still slightly present. As the two of you moved, it seemed to him as if time had slowed. He could still see and hear the people around, but only a little. He felt as if he had never belonged more than he did in that moment. Neither of you dared speak, afraid to break whatever spell had been cast on you, you just danced. When the song ended, he could hear the soft, sad sigh you made and he felt his heart twist. He never wanted you to be sad and if there was anything in the world he could do to keep that from happening, he would. A woman came up to his left, trying to catch his attention. He gave her a small smile, before letting her know that he would be dancing another dance with you.

You couldn’t hide your surprise at his turning way of the noble woman, but he just smiled before bowing and asking for another dance. You quickly agreed and the music started up again. You were expecting silence again, but Seungcheol seemed to have other plans.”Y/N, I want to thank you for accepting my invitation. I’m so very glad you joined me tonight.” You hid your face slightly, telling him it was no big deal. “Oh, but it is. It means the world to me that you came.” You couldn’t stop the word from falling out of your mouth, even though you wanted to. “Why?” The look on his face was a mixture of confusion and hurt, and you wished you could take it back. He quickly regained his composure, stopping the dance to hold your face in between his hands. “I’m supposed to be looking for someone to be my queen, but I don’t need to. I think I had decided on a queen years ago, it just took me until now to say it. It’s you, Y/N. Always has been. Will you be my queen?”

Your face was a mess of shock, you could just feel it. Seungcheol’s eyes never left your face, waiting for you to answer him. Tears pricked the edges of your eyes. After all these years of pining for a man you could never have, the emotions finally let themselves out. Your hand left your side and landed on top of his hands, and the worry hit. You looked around the room, expecting to see many angry faces, but were met with more smiles than scowls. Even Jeonghan had a small smile. You looked back to Seungcheol and gave him a wide smile and a nod. He gave you a smile back, before planting his lips firmly on yours for a brief but passionate kiss. You were slightly shocked still, but the happiness outweighed that. It was odd to think that you would be looked at as queen one day, but then again, you never could tell Seungcheol no.

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nrsranger · 3 years

Text

2.7

Hosnian System

NRS Ranger

Conference Room

1902 hrs

Phlaxes looked around the table, Captain Namin was on his right and on his left was the Duro Space Station Commander, he tried recalling the name but he gave up after a few moments. Also around the table was, Alek Mauz the Captain of the Air Group, The Tagurta, Captain Anatha Violet Captain of the Theed another Star Cruiser, Captain Gideon Park Captain of the Torrent the third MC-80 Cruiser that made up task force four and the Bothan L.T Commander Ralrost Maldoza. The last person in the room was the hulking Wookie Major Snrykkk. But the empty chair at the head of the table drew everyone's attention.

“I don’t know why I’m here, after last meeting” Assistant to Senate Daline Phlaxes said spiteful

“I don’t know either but I know the Admiral has a reason, so trust in that reason” Captain Namin said calmly

As Thadmin entered the room, and set down a holo transmitter.

The pale red headed man said over the holo.

“Today is the end of the Republic.

The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder.

At this very moment in a system far from here, the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the rogues of the Resistance.

This fierce machine which you have built, upon which we stand will bring an end to the Senate, to their cherished fleet.

All remaining systems will bow to the First Order and will remember this as the last day of the Republic!"

Admiral Thadmin began “13 hours ago his message was transmitted on every channel across the galaxy.” His voice paused and became more serious “The final casualty report are still coming in but what is known is all seven Starhawk Battleships, all 12 Star Cruisers dozens of light cruisers and support craft were all destroyed” Thadmin looked down and paused for a few seconds, causing each person at the table to focus on each of the Admirals words “It, has, been ,confirmed, that, that, I am now the highest ranking Naval Officer in the Fleet.” His words hung their full of the unsure confidence that all people have when responsibility is thrust upon them. Thadmin took a breath and recovered his confidence “That is why I’m issuing Battle Order Number One” Thadmin held up his data pad and read “Make no mistake from now on we are at war. First All New Republic Ships will stay on Yellow Alert for the duration of the Crisis. Second all surviving New Republic Ships shall retreat to Raysho Station to be resupplied and rearmed as soon as possible, Commander, is that possible?” Thadmin looked at Commander Chino who replied,

“Yes sir!”

“Very good, now more than ever we need steady nerves and stout hearts”

“YES SIR!” All the officers around the table shouted synchronized

“Good! Now, Commander Chino, tell us what happened.” Thadmin said sternly as he took a seat

“Yes, sir” Chino said standing up and displaying holographic data “at 21:47 five superlaser bolts entered the Hosnian System, one minute later they impacted Hosian Prime briefly causing a solar singularity three seconds later the bolts impacted all other planets in the Hosian system penetrating to the core and causing almost instant disintegration, At 22:07 the Hosian Prime Singularity collapse.”

“Ok but how did your station survive?” Captain Park said

“Raysho station, primary source of power is solar, so when long range scanners picked up the Superlaser bolts I had all power diverted to the shields. Usually it takes 10 minutes at .8 lightyears to fully charge the station. As far as we could tell the Hosnian Prime Solar Singularity formed it supercharged the shields even though it lasted 15 minutes it was .000005 lightyears away and since all power was diverted to the shields all that solar energy went directly to the shields saving the station. It almost blew out every circuit in Raysho Station.” Commander Chino explained

“Ralrost has the Bothan network picked up anything further information?” Thadmin asked

“Yes, sir, hours before the attack The Resistance engaged a First Order division on Takodana, this caused the First Order to initiate the preemptive strike against the Hosnian system, The Resistance is now currently launching attack against Starkiller base, the super weapon responsible for the destruction of the Hosnian System; however, The Resistance base has been found and The First Order is assembling a Task Force to Count Attack” Maldoza said

“Sir, should we help them?” Alek asked firmly

“I wish we could CAG but our Star Cruisers and Fighter Squadrons to valuable to risk, right now but we are the ONLY defense the New Republic has left” Thadmin said matching Alek’s firmness

“But sir, if they succeed they are going to need help” Alek said

“I know, but we don’t have any craft to spare” Thadmin explained disappointed

“Well, that not entirely true, sir, we have a dozen or so old MG-100 StarFortress Bombers that don't serve us anymore” Commander Chino said

“Ok, once the Torrent and Ranger are recharged and resupplied we will depart to deliver those bombers” Thadmin said “Captain Namin I’m putting you in charge of this one, remember DO NOT RISK OUR CRUISERS.

“Yes, sir” Namin said, accepting the responsibility of the cruisers.

“Excuse me sir, what about the Theed?” Captain Violet asked tentatively

“I’m glad you asked, Captain, A.S Phlaxes” Thadmin said, causing Phlaxes to snap up in his seat “Despite all your flaw, no one knows more nor can fight more effectively in the realm of politics than you, so while we fight the war, we need you to keep the New Republic alive and running, the Theed will escort you to Ryloth, now why Ryloth you might ask” Thadmin said taking the word out of Phlaxes and Violet’s mouth. “We have been attempting to track all surviving senators, the first one is Senator Galbo Sandcha of Ryloth.”

“Understood sir,” Captain Violet said hesitantly

As the meeting continued Joker made his way through the ship until he arrived at the Female Marine barracks he knocked twice. L.t Driver answered the door

“Oh hey Joker,” she said trying to muster a little happiness in her voice

“Hey Lila, I’m just wondering if you're doing alright?” Joker asked

“Oh yeah, I’ll be alright but, it’s just hard to process” Lila said beginning to remove the sadness from her voice

“Did you know, Jawook, well?” Joker asked

“Umm, yeah, yeah I knew him very well, do you want to come in?” Lila asked

“Um, sure, thanks” Joker said

Lila led the way in, Joker noticed the similarities to the Pilot barracks, with each bunk bed being well made and the floor clear of debris, then he began to notice the differences, it appeard of the 12 Bunk beds but only two Foot lockers. He continued to follow Lila to her bunk, which was a top bunk the unit boarding the leftmost wall, when she arrived she moved Jawook’s Ryyk Blade from where it sat on her bunk she then climbed up and sat down. Joker followed her and sat on the top bunk of the opposing unit letting his feet dangle.

“Sorry for the lack of mess” Lila said “There aren't too many Female Marines.

Joker laughed that off and asked “Then whose foot locker is that?”

“Oh thats L.t Jax’s bunk, she's one of the bridge sensor officers but she's on duty now” Lila said, “she moved in once she learned that I was here alone and it's kinda nice to talk to someone”

“I know the feeling,” Joker said before changing the subject “So how did you know Jawook so well?”

“Wait here” Lila said, jumping down and kneeling by her footlocker she pulled out a holo photo and jumped back up and handed it to Joker, Joker looked at it, it showed two Wookies and an older Human Male and a young human toddler. “That’s me” Lila said smiling

“Wow, I didn't know your were so hairy back then” Joker said

“Not the Wookies the Girl” Lila said playful punching Joker dangling leg “This was my Dad’s proudest moment, the day he met Chewbacca,”

“How’d he met Chewbacca” Joker asked

“Well it's a long story but he was Biologist for the Empire on Kashyyyk, he was always kind to the Wookies sneaking in extra food and supplies and such, and he developed a strong friendship with Jawook”

“He sounds like a great guy” Joker said

“Yeah, he is” Lila said smiling “the Wookies really respected my dad for that”

“Wow I could imagine” Joker said

“That picture was taken when the New Republic Liberated Kashyyyk the Wookies vouched for my dad and he was accepted into their culture and he stayed on Kashyyyk using his biology skills to help regrow the Black Forest” Lila said

“Wow that's amazing” Joker said thoroughly enjoying how L.t Driver told the story

“But when I was born, during the Imperial reign Jawook swore that he will protect my dad’s family, my dad took him up on that offer when the New Republic came and the shooting started, My dad hid my mom and I with Jawook until it was over ever since then Jawook has almost felt like my adopted dad, and he helped me get into the Navy, and even brought my name up to Captain Namin for assignment to the Ranger.” She said, beginning to break into tears “I just can’t believe he’s gone, he was always been there for me, and now he no longer will be”

“Hey, Lila,” Joker said laying his hand over her’s “it's going to be alright,”

“It’s easy for you to say that, you can always make Jokes of things and be alright” Lila said wiping tears with her free hand

“Your right, it is easy for me to say, I never had anyone I care about leave me” Joker said his tone softening. “But if you love and honor Jawook, that is a great blessing, because that mean you can love, you can feel positive feelings, sadness is not bad, it is an indicator of love, and that's something I have not experienced so count your blessings” Joker finished with a single tear crawling out.

Lila looked up into Joker’s eyes releasing his hand “aww thanks, Joker, your sweeter than what the rumors said”

“What rumors!?” Joker said contorting his voice in moch offense

Lila laughed it off, Joker jumped down from off the bunk and said “Do you want to grab some caff?”

“Sure, I could use some,” She said, joining him.

As they walked out of the room, Lila linked her arm through Joker’s, Joker lips tilted into a half grin

“L.t Diver you know romantic relationships are forbidden between officers on the same ship!” Joker said spoofing regulations

“I know” Lila said sweeter than Rishi Honey “but if anyone asked, I’ll just say I’m being escorted by my faivor X-Wing Pilot”

“Lila, are you sportsflrting with me?” Joker asked fully knowing she was

“Maybe,” she said with a wink.

#star wars #new republic #writing #fanfic

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yourcoffindoor · 4 years

Text

A Spike in my Heart

Pairing: Vampire!Gerard Way x Reader

Prompt: Request from Anon- “Can you please do Gerard Way imagine when he’s a vampire and he haven’t eaten in many days and he’s weak so you let him feed from you but he goes too far and you faint cause of blood lose and he thinks he killed you?”

Summary: Your new boyfriend is more than a bit mysterious. After disappearing for a week, he shows up at your door with a startling confession. Things only escalate from there. (Welcome to angst city.)

AN: Loved to work on this prompt. Hope you enjoy Anon :)

Word Count: 2,175

You pulled your fleece blanket tight around your shoulders as a spring thunderstorm began to intensify outside your window. You wanted to relax and enjoy it, since you loved rainy days more than any other, but your anxiety would rest for nothing and no one.

Your boyfriend Gerard had all but disappeared for the past week, with no calls or indication that he was still a living human. He was a frustratingly difficult person to reach, since he had never owned a cell phone or even an email address. Qualities that you once found odd but charming now made you curse his name.

You wondered if you even had the right to call him your boyfriend yet. Yes, you had been seeing each other for nearly two months now, but you and Gerard had never even kissed. He was strange when it came to physical intimacy, always keeping you at an arm’s length, preferring to play the gentleman and taking things painfully slow. You teased him often for being stubbornly old-fashioned.

Not that you hadn’t thought about kissing him since the day you met. He was immediately attractive despite his odd appearance- unkempt black hair that framed his alarmingly pale skin, with large hazel-green eyes surrounded by reddish, bruise-like shadows. His delicate features were dressed with a dangerous edge. Somehow, it only complemented his beauty.

The last time you saw him you tried to kiss him. It had been a casual date at your place, spending time together hunkered down on your couch watching black and white horror movies. Halfway through his film of choice, Dracula, Gerard struck up a conversation.

“Do you believe in anything like ghosts or vampires?”

“Like how they are in the movies?” you paused for a moment. “Not quite. But I think it would be foolish to assume that we know everything there is to know about this world.”

He smiled as if he were somehow relieved by this response. "A very diplomatic answer. And let’s say you were to run into one of these ghouls. Would you be scared?“

"Depends on the ghoul,” you stated frankly, “If we’re talking Nosferatu, I’m running.”

Gerard laughed. “What if it looked like the most beautiful, charming being you’d ever seen?”

“What, like you?” The words fell out of your mouth before you even had a chance to think. The atmosphere in the room changed immediately from lighthearted to deadly serious, romantic tension surrounding you like a thick fog. Your eyes traveled to his lips and you spoke again, no longer stopping yourself from being boldly honest.

“If it were you, I’d want you to bite me.”

Gerard’s pale face lit up briefly as if those were the words he’d been waiting for.

“Is that so?” he said in a low voice.

It was, you thought to yourself, but you’d settle for a kiss. Instinctively,and nearly breathless, you leaned in towards him. His effect on you was unlike anything you’d ever felt– How was he so otherworldly?

Your face was mere inches away from Gerard’s when he suddenly tensed up. Embarrassment welled up inside you as he quickly turned his face away.

“Everything ok?”

Gerard clenched his jaw and stood up. “I’m afraid I’m not feeling well, sugar. I better head off.”

“Oh.” was the only response you could muster, barely able to conceal the sadness in your voice. “Well, I hope you feel better soon.”

He merely nodded in your direction before wishing you goodnight and rushing out your front door.

And that was the last you’d seen of Gerard. You tried to force your brain to think of something– anything else, but you’d fallen so hard for him that it felt like you were under his spell. You resigned yourself to gloominess, wrapping yourself tighter in your protective cocoon.

The storm outside intensified. Rain poured down in heavy sheets so loud that you felt as if you were lost at sea. In the midst of it all, you were shocked to hear what sounded like a quick succession of knocks on your door.

You paused for a moment, wondering what lunatic was out and about in this weather without a lifeboat, when three more knocks rang out with desperation.

“Who is it?” you called out hesitantly as you took a few steps toward your door.

“It’s Gerard,” a familiar but wearied voice called out, “please, can I come in?”

You rushed to open the door, your hand moving so quickly it fumbled on the lock. What the hell was he doing?

“Gerard!” you exclaimed at the sight of him, soaked through and and breathing heavily as if he’d over-exerted himself. “Come in, I’ll grab a towel.”

You stood back and let him shamble inside of his own accord, looking thoroughly like a stray dog who was expecting to be kicked.

“Don’t worry about it. I doubt you’ll want me here for long, anyway.”

You closed the door behind him. A whirlwind of anger and sadness seemed to hit you all at once when you finally spoke again.

“So what made you come out of hiding?” your voice wavered as you tried to your best to remain composed.

He turned to face you, and your anger softened to concern as you got a good look at him. He looked weak and exhausted, almost sick. His dark circles were pronounced, as if he hadn’t had a night’s sleep in the past week he’d been gone.

“I don’t blame you for being angry. And after I tell you what I’m about to tell you, I’ll understand if you never want to see me again.”

You finally grasped from his tone just how serious the situation was. You tried to brace yourself for what he was about to tell you. Was he dying? Was it another girl?

“Gerard, what’s going on?” you took a few steps towards him, but he moved backwards, just out of reach as usual.

He sighed deeply, as though resigning himself to an unknown fate. “Do you remember that conversation we had the last time I saw you?”

“While we were watching Dracula?” your confusion was deepening by the second. “What about it?”

He let out a short, sad laugh. “Well, I can’t pretend anymore. They are real. I know because I am one. Y/N,” he looked at me through strands of damp black hair, his eyes dark and heavy with burdens I couldn’t begin to comprehend, “I’m a vampire.”

You don’t know why you weren’t scared when he told you. Some people would gasp or run away, others would probably laugh at the absurdity of it all. Perhaps it was the shock of the news, but you simply paused, trying to wrestle your racing thoughts into a coherent sentence.

“Your hands.” was all you had to say about his revelation, turning Gerard into the confused one, his dark brows furrowing.

“What?”

You smiled softly. “Your hands. That’s why they were always so cold. You should have told me sooner, I wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to warm them up.”

Gerard wrung his hands, his eyes frosted with fear as he still awaited your inevitable rejection. Your soft spoken words had caught him off guard.

“You’re not scared?” his face flashed briefly with hope, before quickly darkening once more to a familiar sadness. “You should be. You ought to be disgusted.”

“Never.” you whispered.

You saw his hands clench into fists. “I thought I could be something other than a monster. I thought I could have something with you that was beautiful and pure, but I can’t. I let you get too far into my heart for your own good.”

You didn’t know if it was the sight of his distress, or the tangible regret in his voice, but you felt hot tears begin to well up in your eyes.

“Is that such a bad thing?”

Gerard looked for a moment as if he wanted nothing more than to rush over to you and offer his comfort, but he held back.

“It is if you get hurt.”

For a moment, there was only heavy silence between you. Gerard began to sway slightly as if loosing coordination, his hand trembling as he reached for the wall to steady himself.

“Are you hurt?” you asked, once again stepping towards him.

“No, don’t!” he hissed, causing you to jump at the brief but blinding sight of his bright white fangs. He lowered himself on your couch to prevent himself from falling over, regaining some composure. “I haven’t fed for…awhile. I don’t know that I trust myself around you. I’ll leave just as soon as I’m able.”

The memory of your rejected kiss sprung fresh into your mind. Everything was beginning to make sense.

“That’s why you left so suddenly the other night,” you said softly, “that’s why you barely touch me, why wouldn’t kiss me.”

Gerard looked heartbroken. “I wanted nothing more than to kiss you that night, Y/N. And I’ve spent every night since we met wondering which would be sweeter, your blood or your lips.”

You sat down on the opposite end of the couch. “Then you deserve to find out.”

“We can’t.”

“Don’t you remember what I said during our last conversation?

"Yes, but–”

“Well I meant it. Gerard, I don’t care what you are. I’ve been with you long enough to know that you’re no monster. Besides, I’m not going to let you leave here in the state that you’re in. Even if you still believe we shouldn’t be together, you need blood.”

“What if…what if I go too far?”

You pondered for a moment. “How about I give you a signal to tell you when to stop, like a safe word.”

He considered. “If you think that’s a good idea…then I’m willing to try it. What should the word be?”

“How about Nosferatu?” you joked, hoping to alleviate some of his apprehension.

He smiled weakly. “Alright, if you’re sure. Nosferatu it is.”

Gerard moved closer to you, and, still hesitant, brushed the hair from your face. He placed one icy hand on your cheek, causing a wave of goosebumps to rise on your skin. Your eyes locked with his and you noticed how he gazed at you, how his eyes glowed softly like embers that needed only the slightest provocation to catch fire once again.

His lips landed gently on yours, causing what felt like a jolt of electricity to course throughout your body. After a moment it was if a switch flipped, and Gerard deepened the kiss. You felt the sharp tips of his fangs brush against your mouth, and yelped in surprise when one accidentally nicked your lower lip.

“I’m so sorry!” Gerard said, pulling back immediately to inspect the damage. A small rivulet of crimson gleamed from the corner of your mouth, and you licked it away before it could drip onto your clothes. You looked back up at Gerard and noticed a different expression cross his face. It was darker, more animalistic, like a wolf that had just spotted a wounded deer. There was no going back now.

“Don’t be sorry.”

He leaned in and kissed your neck. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

You shivered as he nipped at your delicate skin, moaning slightly with each movement of his lips. You felt his fangs rest against your neck momentarily, as if giving you one last chance to change your mind.

“Do it.” you breathed, and that was the only encouragement he needed.

Gerard sunk his teeth into your flesh, allowing a warm stream of blood to flow freely. You cried out at the pain, as it was sharper than you had been expecting, causing your eyes to water. Gerard didn’t pull back this time. Instead he latched on, fully intoxicated by your taste.

After a few moments the pain subsided, and the warmth of Gerard sucking at your neck felt almost pleasant. You realized then that this was far more intimate than any kiss could ever be, and you began to revel in the feeling, allowing a soft whimper to escape your lips.

Still he drank, and you were helpless, utterly lost in the sensation. Your neck began to tingle and feel numb, which you paid no mind to at first; but it soon traveled down your arms and up through your lips, until your whole body was being pricked with pins and needles. You opened your eyes and realized just how dizzy you were. You were seeing double, your vision slowly fading to black.

Too much, he had drunk too much and you hadn’t even realized. You opened your mouth to speak but found that your mouth wouldn’t cooperate. It was only after you began to go limp that Gerard seemed to notice anything was wrong, and he finally withdrew his fangs from your neck, grasping your face with his hands.

You were fading fast, but you could distinctly make out the distress in his voice as he called your name. It wasn’t enough to prevent you from slipping into unconsciousness as Gerard held you, making the last sound you heard his horrified cries, begging you not to go.

#gerard way fanfic #gerardwayxreader #gerard way imagine #my chemical romance fanfiction #gerard way x reader

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bigdaddyomega · 3 years

Text

The Nunz: Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far, far, far, far away, there was a church. This church was far different from an ordinary church. If one were to pass by, they probably would have never expected it to be a church. The appearance of the building seemed very old and rundown. Most were surprised that there were people still living in it. Though it was still very active. The yard and the greenery was indeed a very beautiful sight to see. The pond was perfectly clean where fish and many other small creatures were able to swim freely. The grass was perfectly cut and the flowers began to bloom. Which meant that spring was beginning to come.

Despite the beautiful sight of everything, Alyssa Nelson hated this place. It made her sick to her stomach just to look at it. She despised the way that the building looked. She felt that she would be living under terrible conditions during her stay at this place. If she could go back in time, she would have tried to convince her mom to not even think about sending her to this place that she believed was so horrid. She observed who she assumed were humans wearing silver masks and all black outfits playing a game of football with one another. She believed that they looked intimidating and already decided that she wanted nothing to do with them.

"Mom, do I really have to do this?" Alyssa asked her mom as she turned to look at the older version of herself.

"Yes, it's for your own good." Mrs. Nelson replied to her eighteen year old daughter. Alyssa shook her head.

"But I'm eighteen years old. I shouldn't have to go to rehab." She disagreed.

"It's not rehab. It's an alternative program for you to better yourself. And I am sending you here because you are eighteen. I don't want you to go down the wrong path and end up dead when you're twenty. That's my worst fear." Mrs. Nelson explained. Alyssa could hear the worry in her mother's voice and that made her feel extrmely uneasy.

"They always say that one time won't hurt, but that could not be further from the truth. I want you to better yourself. Just give this place a chance, Alyssa." Her mom said. This was the last time she could convince her child that this was what was best for her. The only response that her daughter gave was to roll her eyes and get out of the vehicle. At this point she knew that she no longer had a choice. All hope was lost for her. She popped the trunk open and began to get all of her belongings out with the help of her mother. Luckily, Alyssa was able to carry it all with both of her hands.

Meanwhile, a girl the same age as Alyssa was still sitting in the car in front of them. She observes the entire area. She admires the beauty of it all. But hates the fact that she has to be here with a passion. Like Alyssa, she felt that she had done nothing wrong. Or at least nothing horrible to where she needs to be here. Her father stared at the spitting image of himself in disgust. He most definitely believed that she deserved to be here. He wanted her to change. He just didn't want the responsibility of helping her to change.

"I hope that you get something out of however long you need to be here. So that you will never do what you did again." He told his daughter in a stern tone. She didn't mind him talking to her in this tone at all. In fact, she wanted to get out of the car so that she could get the hell away from him.

"Alright, later dad." Were this girl's departing words from him. She stepped out of the car and slammed the door to the passenger seat just to spite her father. She opens the back seat of the car and starts to take out each trash bag containing her belongings one at a time. The attention of those who are outside is now on her. Not a single one of those ghouls could take their eyes off her. Some were admiring her beauty. Others were judging by the way that she carried herself. Fire, the smallest ghoul of them all, could not help but to laugh. He did his absolute best to hide it by pretending to cough, and clearly that did not work. His best friend Aether shook his head.

"Dew, Don't laugh, it's not funny." Aether criticized. However, Fire just could not find the strength to stop.

"I can't help it!" Fire almost screamed and began to become hysterical. Those around him could see the tears of laughter streaming down his eyes.

"I really don't get it. She couldn't just ask somebody if she could borrow a suitcase?" Rain commented.

"I bet you she's too poor!" Swiss said. All of the ghouls looked at each other and began to laugh in unison. Fire was right, it indeed was very comical.

The other girl made it to the front of the convent without her father. She wanted to do this alone. It was also too late to want her father with her, he had already driven off. There was no turning back from here. She was officially stuck. Both Alyssa and her mother stare at the girl. Regardless of them judging her, she gave them a smile. Before anybody could say anything, the door opened to reveal a petite aging woman who had long gray hair that was tied back. Though she was aging, she was still very pretty and presented herself very professionally.

"Hello. I'm Sister Imperator, and I'm the director of this institution." The older woman introduced herself. She held out her hand to Mrs. Nelson first. They both shook hands and Sister gave her a smile. This smile was almost too nice. It had the potential to be deceptive.

"Hi, I'm Adele and this is my daughter Alyssa." Mrs. Nelson introduced the two of them. Sister Imperator then shook Alyssa's hand giving her that same smile and turned to the other girl.

"I'm Star. Nice to meet you." The other girl was finally able to reveal the name that she had given to herself just before being here. Sister Imperator furrowed her brows.

"I'm sorry, there has to be a mistake of some sort. I didn't get the name of Star in anyone's paperwork." She stated out of confusion. Star had to think of an answer. She couldn't stand her real name and believed that now was her chance to get away from it.

"Ok, that's just my nickname. If you read my paperwork thoroughly, you would know that my real name is fucking awful. So please, just call me Star." The young girl practically begged. The only instant response that Sister could give was to nod after she shook her hand.

"I understand completely. My real name isn't all that great either. But anyways, it is nice to meet you all. We are so happy to have you join us. Come inside and I'll show you around the convent before we make any final decisions." She said and reentered into her own home. All three of the other women followed her inside. All of their expectations of what this place was going to be were now gone. The interior of this place was absolutely stunning. The entire place was brightly lit due to the row of crystal chandeliers. The pillars surrounding the second floor looked as if they were just built in. The checker printed tiled floor was probably just cleaned minutes before they entered.

Sister Imperator showed them every inch of the inside of the building. From the cafeteria that was empty at the moment, but it was a very clean place. She also showed them an example of the rooms which they are going to be staying in. The king sized beds made both girls tired just by the sight of them. They did not have to lay in them to know that they were extremely comfortable. Even their bathrooms were very luxurious. However, nothing could beat the chapel. This entire area of the large building was the most beautiful of them all. The stain glass windows reflected many colors into the room and behind the altar was a large cross. Alyssa and Star had never seen a crucifix so big in their lives.

"As you all can tell, we are a very Christian organization. We do our best to help late adolesence and young adults to better imporve themselves in order to go out into the real world in just under two years." Sister Imperator explained as she opened the back door which lead to the outside of this place. Everyone followed her. Alyssa and her mom seeming normal, and Star, her eyes were so wide due to thinking about how she may not get out of here until she's twenty. All three women enjoyed the sight of the outside. Mrs. Nelson was observing from a critical view. But the girls were more interested in the football game going on between the ghouls.

"One of the ways of improvement that we have observed throughout this entire program is having at least two hours of physical activity every single day." Sister added her commentary once again. All of them watched as a nameless ghoul named Mountain had the ball in his hands. He was trying to throw it, but another ghoul named Swiss was blocking him from doing so.

"Swiss, move!" Mountain yelled in a very annoyed tone. However, Swiss did not respect his request and actually did the exact opposite. Swiss made the wise decision to kick Mountain in the ballsack. This was the worst feeling in the world for ghouls and humans alike. Mountain held onto his crotch area as if he was holding on for dear life. The only female ghoul out there at the moment took notice of what had happened. Cumulus was probably one of the most caring individuals of anyone in this place. Not only that, but anyone who came into contact with her found her to be adorable.

"Blow the whistle! Blow the whistle!" Were the only words that Mountain could say at the moment. Cumulus did just that.

"Half time!" She called out. Everyone groaned out of annoyance because one of the two teams was on the verge of winning.

"Typical." Swiss shook his head. He kicked Mountain in that same area again. But this time the pain was a lot worse than the previous kick.

"Let me ask you something, if this is such a Christian envirionment, then how come all of them over there are wearing devil masks?" Mrs. Nelson inquired.

"Oh well, it's one of the forms of punishments that we have here. That would mean that they comitted a mortal sin." Sister replied. Mrs. Nelson nodded even though she may not have agreed with that. It seemed that this was the end of the entire tour, and it was now time to make the decision whether or not Alyssa would be staying there. Alyssa was hoping and praying to the god that she doesn't believe in, that her mother has changed her mind.

"So, the last thing that I need to go over with you is pricing. I have the bill right here for you to make the final decision." Sister went into her jacket to take out an average piece of paper. Mrs. Nelson took it and her eyes nearly came out of their sockets as a result of reading the price.

"So, this is the price per year, correct?" She asked.

"No. Actually per week." Sister replied. Mrs. Nelson turned to her daughter and then placed her signature on the bottom of the paper. At this moment, Alyssa was officially doomed. She hated this feeling more than anything. She felt that she was about to have a heart attack.

"I'll pay for it the best way that I can, even if that means me getting a loan. But please help my daughter to improve. That's really what I want for her." Alyssa's mother said. Sister Imperator placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about that, she's in good hands with us." Sister reassured her. Alyssa and her mother shared one last hug with each other. This was the last embrace that they would have with one another for a long time. Potentially two years if her mother could not afford another flight to come see her. Her mother told her that she loved her as they left each other's embrace. Alyssa didn't tell her mother that she loved her back. In fact, she wanted nothing to do with her at that moment. She wondered how her mother could say that she loved her but send her to a place like this.

Once her mother had driven away, Sister Imperator's smile completely disappeared. She was now completely serious. It was almost like she had mutated right before their eyes. It scared both girls because they had no idea what to expect next.

"Alright bitches, listen up. Almost everything that I had said was complete and utter bullshit. I really could care less about your well being. I only do this program because I love my money. So if you two can keep your goddamn mouths shut for two years, then maybe your life won't be so miserable here!" She explained in a very feisty tone.

"So, this isn't a church?" Star wanted clarification. Out of all the question to ask, she asked that one.

"It is, just not a Christian church." Sister Imperator answered. Star nodded and then she tried to figure out what kind of church it really was.

"Now, you two should be escorted to your rooms. Cardinal!" Sister Imperator directed. Now the girls had their hopes up. Only because they saw how comfortable the beds were and only wanted to get at least an hour of sleep at the moment. A young looking man appeared suddenly. He was wearing all black and his light brown hair was neatly in place while the hat was able to stay on top of his head. Both of the girls thought he was sort of odd looking.

"Cardinal, this is Alyssa and Star, they are new potential sacrifices. Could you please escort these ladies to their new rooms?" Sister Imperator requested.

"Of course." Cardinal Copia answered and motioned for the two young women to follow him. Copia lead them back inside along with all of their stuff. When he noticed all of the luggage that they had, he was reminded of what needs to be done.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I need you to leave your belongings right here." He said. Both girls gave him a confused stare.

"What? Why?" Alyssa questioned.

"You're not allowed to have anything personal here. Anything that you need we'll provide for you." He explained.

"So then what's going to happen to my shit?" Star asked.

"You'll get it back when you're released." He said. Both of the girls dropped their stuff on the floor and displayed as much attitude as they could.

"You're making this shit sound like a prison." Star commented.

"Shut up and follow me." Cardinal Copia ordered and continued walking. Both of the girls followed him and now felt empty without carrying all of their belongings. He leads them down to a dark stairway. For them it was very scary. Star was wondering what the hell they needed to go into the basement for. Because that was what this place was, a basement. The further down they went, the more spearated from the sunlight they became. It took them about five total minutes to make it to the floor. It was cold and made of pure concrete. Alyssa jumped as soon as she saw the pentogram spray painted red on the floor. She didn't really know why she was so scared of it. It was only a geometric shape. But to her, there was just something so eerie about it. Star looked down as well and the symbol did not even phase her on the outside. But on the inside she was just as scared.

"So creepy." Alyssa whispered. Star nodded agreeing with her. Cardinal Copia stopped at a door on the side wall and took out an entire ring of many keys. Somehow he was able to pick out the right one to unlock the door. When the door opened, he motioned for the two of them to go inside. When they stepped in, neither of the girls were impressed. There were just two rows of twelve beds on each side. The only light source that they have is a single lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling. They both looked extremely disappointed.

"You're not going to tell me that this is our room." Alyssa protested.

"Pick a bed." Cardinal Copia said and closed the door from there. Both Alyssa and Star heard the sound of a click before the footsteps leaving the basement. That one click scared both girls to death. Alyssa immediately sprinted over and tried to turn the knob of the door. She couldn't. Neither of them could even try to break the door down. Both turned to each other with anxiety taking over the both of them.

"Shit. I hate to break it to you, but we're locked in." Alyssa revealed.

Author’s Note: wasn’t that shitty as fuck? Yeah I agree. But this is the first chapter of my first Ghost fanfic. As I said in my previous post, this is on my Wattpad but I’m going to post it on here. Enjoy regardless and I love y’all.💀❤️

#fanfiction #fanfic #fandom #ghost band #nameless ghouls #dewdrop ghoul #multi ghoul #infestissumam #papa emiritus ii #papa emeritus iii #papa emeritus iv #papa nihil #cardinal copia #tobias forge

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pass-the-bechdel · 4 years

Text

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

Yes, once.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Nine (25.71% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Twenty-six.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Film Quality:

For a movie which is pretty much wall-to-wall fight scenes...I love it. I always start out going ‘maybe I overrate this movie, maybe it’s not as good as I remember’, but by the end, I’m right back in there.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Wanda apologises to Natasha for lying. It’s a close call.

Female characters:

Pepper Potts.

F.R.I.D.A.Y

Gamora.

Mantis.

Wanda Maximoff.

Natasha Romanoff.

Okoye.

Nebula.

Shuri.

Male characters:

Ebony Maw.

Thanos.

Thor.

Loki.

Heimdall.

Bruce Banner.

Stephen Strange.

Wong.

Tony Stark.

Peter Parker.

Ned.

Peter Quill.

Rocket.

Drax.

Groot.

Vision.

Steve Rogers.

Sam Wilson.

The Collector.

Thaddeus Ross.

James Rhodes.

T’Challa.

Bucky Barnes.

Eitri.

Red Skull.

M’Baku.

OTHER NOTES:

Heimdall had proven himself too much of an MVP in previous films to be allowed to live in this one. Bastards.

Heimdall and Loki, both dead before the opening titles. That’s how you know this movie means business, it’s not faking at high stakes.

I also am from space and have come here to steal a necklace from a wizard.

“Mr Stark, it smells like a new car in here!”

“All words are made up.”

Not gonna lie, when I saw this at the cinema and I realised that Captain America had arrived? My heart LEAPT. It was intense.

Depressed Thor is a great touch - after all previous films with Thor had him so bland, and then Ragnarok made him funny but essentially glossed over any of the difficult emotions it was dredging up, I’m glad to finally get something real and meaty from the character. If characters go through all manner of Hell and don’t show any signs of labouring under that weight, you’re doing character development wrong.

Nice callback with Red Skull.

The sacrifice of Gamora on Vormir is a really well-balanced piece; it was asking a lot, to make the emotion of it land despite how little of Thanos we’ve seen before, and without genuine emotion at it’s core it’s just the killing off of a female character for shock value. I feel like they got the pitch just right (most thanks to the music).

As much as I enjoy Thor and Rocket’s bantering, the side-quest for Stormbreaker feels like an unnecessary and over-the-top distraction in an already stuffed-full film. Easily the weakest part of the plot.

The fact that Quill fucks everything up with defeating Thanos on Titan because he can’t keep himself under control for two seconds certainly does not endear him to me in the slightest. Like ok, you’re upset, but if you can’t stop yourself from getting violent that’s on you, that makes you a dangerous person with serious issues, that’s not normal and it’s not ok. Also, literally half of all life in the universe was at stake. So there’s that.

Listen, I’m very susceptible to heroism (and that’s why superhero movies work for me), so every time someone comes to someone else’s rescue, I have feelings.

I had convinced myself that somehow, Thanos wouldn’t succeed with his whole plan in this movie, that he would get all the stones but that he would like, go to a special place or something before enacting his plan, so that the good guys would have a chance to regroup and race to stop him before it was too late, all that jazz. So (even though Thanos had already snapped at that point), when Bucky Barnes disintegrated before our very eyes, I was SHOCKED. That got me like a smack in the face.

Considering I’ve never really been a fan of Tom Holland’s Spider-man, it’s a credit to his work that Peter’s death scene is so effective. That’s acting.

So, what makes this movie work despite being so heavy with bombastic action? The short answer is: it’s because the good guys lose. I’ve made no secret of being a fan of the ‘hour darkest before the dawn’ in storytelling, so this is playing to the sweet spot for me there, but it’s not as simple as just making everything miserable and hopeless. In this case, specifically, the lead-up to that ultimate failure is key; it’s gotta still feel like a superhero extravaganza, even as it takes an increasingly dark turn. The action works because it’s part of what we signed up for (the best camouflage for subversions of the traditional model), and it works because it’s all carrying the story forward - the Infinity War is comprised of multiple battles, and because of the way the pieces of the narrative are separated, the characters don’t know how any of the other battles are turning out; everyone is just trying to fight what’s in front of them and defend the stone in their midst, they don’t have the option to sit around doom-and-glooming and restrategising as news of each defeat comes in. Rather than dragging us wholesale from Point A to B to C in ever-escalating stakes and complications, the writers have had the good sense to spread things out and let things fall apart for our heroes (and the universe) in multiple smaller pieces until they reach a cumulative critical mass. Consequently, instead of feeling as though we’re sitting there watching things go from bad to worse, the audience forms this false sense of security in the action; it’s a superhero movie, after all. We expect them to work it all out in the end, to build toward a moment of apparent hopelessness (a darkest hour before the dawn), and then to rally triumphantly for the big win. As such, we perceive small victories (i.e. the defeat of Thanos’ various ‘children’, the creation of Stormbreaker, the way things draw out in the battle on Titan) as if they are more significant, as if they are signs leading us to that big win; without those small, expected victories, the ultimate failure would not hit as hard, because after two and a half hours of watching the good guys get wrecked without a chance, what surprise would there be in the snap?

Of course, plenty of viewers knew about the snap already or expected an ultimate failure of some sort based on the fact that we pretty much all knew that this was the first half of our grand Avengers finale (my mother, who is not a superhero movie fan, did not know what she was getting into and was...very shocked), so it’s important that the film still works to engage us on a character level so that the good guys losing in the end can hit like a ton of bricks even if you knew it was coming (and even though you no doubt expected to get the big win eventually, once Endgame came out). After all the fighting and the bantering, all the usual stuff we expect to see our heroes go through in the course of an average adventure, having them then watch their beloved friends/allies/whatever literally disintegrate before their eyes in a quiet, drawn out scene of devastation is a magnificent piece of cinema, communicating the shock not only of the event itself, but of the complete disruption to the superhero status quo. It’s not just that good guys don’t lose like this, it’s that they don’t lose with a whimper instead of a a bang. It’s not only that the cost of failure has never been this high; it’s also that they have never been forced to watch it play out with such inevitability; they have never before been rendered so powerless. If the entire film had the tone of the last ten minutes, it wouldn’t work so well, it’d just be a drudge and the audience would be desensitised by the end. By the same token, if the rest of the film had not planted the seeds of the finale so thoroughly in all its smaller losses and smokescreen victories, the ending would not be so horrifically fitting.

Neither, of course, would the ending be so affecting, if we were not as attached to the characters as we are. We have many, many films worth of history with most of them, or at least one solid encounter in which to become attached, and even in a movie chock-full of more characters than any other before, everyone gets a chance to show their personality and remind us why we care if they live or die. I’m not going to argue for this being an incredible character piece (nor is it pretending to be one), but it plays its very large hand very well, putting emphasis where it needs to be without overloading or unbalancing the story. As I noted above, I was particularly impressed with the way Thanos was handled, considering our exposure to him previously was very minimal and it was left up the this film to build his ethos as well as his relationships with his ‘children’ almost from scratch, creating complexity and simplicity without falling into the trap of trying to make the villain sympathetic; Thanos isn’t necessarily relatable (nor does he need to be), but he is understandable in that we’ve all probably encountered at least one person who holds the same limited worldview and is somehow convinced that they could ‘fix’ everything, given the power. Thanos isn’t actually aiming for universal domination in the traditional sense, and it makes him more disturbing and more realistic as a villain, because his evil is not nebulous or purely self-serving; he is a true believer, and his delusions have an all-too-familiar ring about them, so as we watch him lumber and pontificate around the story, we get a clearly-drawn image of someone possessed of such basic and humble flaws that he is - again, without being treated as sympathetic - quite significantly humanised, despite all of the non-human elements that make up both his character, and his situation. Even as it planet-hops and draws upon cosmic magic, the narrative is grounded by a centrepiece of plain, ungodly fallibility.

Now, I recognise that in all of this praise for the way this film was executed, there isn't really anything to be said for it regarding the purpose of this blog; on the female representation front, it's not really doing anything (the fact that it juuust manages to pass the Bechdel and juuust over a quarter of its cast is female does not win it brownie points; its better than not having either of those things, but that's not a genuine achievement). The two female characters who were more prominently positioned in this movie are Gamora and Wanda; Gamora largely in context of her relationship with Thanos, and Wanda as Vision’s significant other and the means of his destruction. Notably, both women’s arcs are accessories to the arcs of male characters, which is not what we’re aiming for in good representation, though it does not exclude the possibility of quality content; Gamora’s role may have a lot to do with Thanos (not least, after he kills her), but it is still distinctly her own story, rich with emotion and coming to a surprising and depressing end which I felt struck the right chords to be compelling rather than an enraging disposal of one of the few female characters around (more on this after Endgame). Wanda’s presence leaves less of an impression, in terms of screen time, plot complication, and audience engagement, but all things considered I don’t think that was a terrible choice; Wanda and Vision’s relationship had been a somewhat sparse subplot in previous films and the chemistry was not strong, so I don’t think it would have been to the film’s benefit to try and expand on that relationship further than they did. As it was, there was enough there to sell the emotion, and nothing extraneous, and as much as I enjoy this movie, I wish I could say better things for its female representation than that. It is stuffed-full, and definitely not perfect, and space could have been made to pump up some of the other female characters’ roles more (the Earthbound characters get the least attention in the movie, and since basically all my faves are there it is a testament to how well this movie works for me that I enjoy it so much anyway, but a little more attention there would not have gone astray, especially since that’s where most of the female cast is). That said...I still really enjoy it, man. As far as popcorn action goes, this is top shelf.

#Marvel Cinematic Universe #Avengers: Infinity War #female representation #Bechdel Test #MCU

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justlurkingintheshadows · 4 years

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@nutsandvoltsweek I got some soft for that angsty heart, doctor's orders I'm afraid. I REALLY enjoyed this one, much much more than I can actually explain. I started writing this at like 1am because it wouldn't let me sleep, I eventually fell asleep but I got half of it done then so there wasn't too much left when I was able to get back to it.

Day 6, Royalty AU

Of Meisters and Menials

(Alt title which is essentially just adapted meanings of the initial words aka the original title simply explained: Of skill and degradation)

Word count : 1,957

Content tags : King!Watts, Jester!Tyrian, Royalty AU, attempted murder, minor character death

-----

There was something oddly fulfilling about performing for the king, he never looked impressed but deep down he enjoyed the show every time, though he would never admit it. And Tyrian liked to push the boundaries of what was truly acceptable in the king's court, it was something the guards hated him for.

It wasn't uncommon for Tyrian to suddenly approach his Majesty with no permissions, it sparked the natural instinct of the guards to protect their sovereign and there were times that it had almost ended badly had they not been halted by a direct order. King Arthur found it only mildly irksome that he would be approached so easily by the man of many tricks but he knew there was no danger to him and excused it.

Tyrian was adept with his hands, presenting a flourish during the intense telling of stories or at the end of a trick for flair, but it was his juggling that was most impressive, he didn't tend to use the regular means, instead of soft balls to throw and catch he used weapons. It was also not out of the ordinary for the mischief maker to steal the swords of the protective soldiers and balance them atop one another, either point to point or pommel to pommel, maybe sometimes a mix of both, he was able to find some way to balance them, much like he tended to find a way to balance himself almost anywhere too, whether that be a pillar or the king's own throne, a personal favourite spot because it was the most effortlessly irritating position he could find that guaranteed a scowl from many of the sentries, but he knew they couldn't stop him and since he didn't get in the way he was never directly told off for doing so by anyone who actually mattered so he kept doing it, his favourite part was sometimes leaning down to look into the emerald eyes of the only person who was allowed to sit there, they often looked back with raised brows and a comment about how he was perhaps being a bit too cocky and the response was to grin and giggle "Perhaps" yet he still never got chastised. The most negative response he ever got was a sigh.

He was clearly good at his craft, and there were many who couldn't stand him, thought his enthusiastic spontaneity was dangerous and irresponsible, though it still seemed to please their ruler who was never quite as mad as other observers seven if he didn't make it obvious.

Tyrian was essentially the only person who was actually allowed an unsupervised close personal audience with the king without having to announce himself (eventhough they would have preferred he announced himself beforehand he simply did not), he just appeared to bother his Highness whenever he could. He even had the audacity to incorrectly address the ruler calling him 'My Majesty' instead of 'Your Majesty' and sometimes even just 'Majesty'. In fact it was quite miraculous that he hadn't been accused of mutiny or the like as any other who dared to 'insult' the king in such a way would face death, but not Tyrian, his value to the court was his ability of charm and quality of amusement. He enjoyed showing up when he wasn't at all invited and hovering around quietly, certain visitors almost thought it was inappropriate but he was never truly reprimanded and so kept doing it time and time again, causing no disruptions despite some trying to claim otherwise.

There were other skills that some were less aware of but the most favourites of the sovereign was the unapparent expertise of knife throwing, despite the juggling and balancing you would never expect the jovial jester to truly be able to actually land an accurate hit with barely any effort, this had only been displayed once when someone attempted to cause harm to the crown and the guards had been unavailable or simply too slow to react, the attempted assassin had been the one to throw the blade, the target being the crown head, and yet they were the one who ended up getting hit; in an impressive set of moves Tyrian had pushed his Majesty out of his throne, caught the flying dagger before it struck the fine material, and fired it back in the direction it came, the strike landed wonderfully between the stunned eyes of a fellow trained for hostility. Trained to react against the king and his men but not for the King's court fool. Arthur was rather astonished, a little shocked but barely bruised from being shoved out the way, but entirely amazed at the swift involvement of his apparently innocent jokesmith with a deadly insinuation. While the royal may have been impressed his defenders were not quite so, though they couldn't be entirely displeased with this event. Arthur noticed there was a bit of blood in Tyrian's hand, upon inspection it was observed that in the act of catching the knife he'd caught himself, it was only minor but it was demanded that the doctor see to it, there was even some praise of thanks for saving the life. He was happy to have the attention of the single monarchy, he thoroughly relished in the attentiveness that multiplied after that event.

Years gradually passed and he was always welcomed even more into the castle, it was odd that he felt he belonged somewhere. The life of a fool isn't always so good-humoured.

One day his royal Highness had to leave on business and it was left to his steward to man the castle while he was away, there was only one empirical issue, they didn't like Tyrian at all. In the king's absence they'd ask for entertainment only to appear bored by it or laugh in such a way it didn't seem fair, this wasn't the same chuckle that sometimes managed to escape the mouth of the ruler, this laugh was more mocking and while Tyrian had grown up around those sorts of noises it got him a little annoyed. At one point the steward asked "Why do you insist on remaining so happy and bouncy all the time?" And Tyrian had smiled and responded delightedly,

"Because I know I am loved by someone" he knew that though King Arthur never showed it in reality his Majesty did appreciate his presence and that sometimes his little tricks really did make his day, though again he would never admit it. The steward laughed.

"You really think that the King cares AT ALL about /you/?" The smile faded from Tyrian's face, "Why would anyone CARE about /you/?" They didn't hold back, the jesters smile faded even more, "He pities you because you're pathetic and useless by any other means, it's not that he actually enjoys having you around it's just that he has to endure it to keep you complacent and loyal to his cause, not that you'd be of any assistance loyal or not" at this point the smile had turned to a sorrowful frown, if there was one thing that could hurt the jolly joker it was the thought that there was a chance his King actually couldn't care less about him. It hurt, those wounds cut deep, much deeper than any knife juggling accident could ever have gone. It scarred his soul.

Arthur was away for a while but when he returned he was, despite best efforts to keep emotions tightly reigned in, happy to see his favourite (and only) jester again, even if it was hard for him to express it. Business had been stressful, it was usually because of having to deal with other people for so long, he needed to relax and unwind with a good joke or a short tale or maybe a trick of some sorts but for some reason he could tell there was something not quite right about his dutiful jokester. He never usually had much of a conversation with Tyrian, it was generally one sided and mostly just in the form of a story with no requirements for contribution, so when he approached the young man while they were alone and asked him if everything was okay it came as quite a shock.

"Is everything ok? You don't seem to have as much heart, has something happened while I've been gone?" Queried the man with all the power. Tyrian blinked at him then remembered his manners and bowed lowly,

"Everything is fine Your majesty, nothing you should concern yourself with" he said as politely as he could. Arthur thought this was somewhat odd,

"Are you sure? It just appears that there may be something the matter, you're not acting quite as I recall you did before" there were attempts to hide hints of concern,

"I am simply remaining in my place Your Majesty, it would be improper for me to act wildly." This seemed to be a final straw

"Tyrian," came an oddly unusual soft tone, Tyrian couldn't help but look in utter confusion at this change of voice, "Are you okay? Something happened didn't it?" There was a silent refusal to answer but the shift of eyes to the floor indicated the truth, "You may speak, it is permitted..." He was trying, it didn't seem to work so another tactic was used, "I demand you inform me of anything that's happened to make you act this way." He stated. Tyrian still seemed reluctant but he couldn't ignore an order though he still took time to find the words.

"You need not worry yourself too much Your Majesty, I am aware you do not actually care for me in any way, I've been informed your apparent enjoyment of my display is simply pity…" he started to trail off, it upset him to think about it again.

Then Watts put a hand on his cheek, lifting his head up to initiate eye contact.

"And whom was it that told you that?" The tone was careful but there was an element of danger to it that Tyrian immediately picked up on, it almost made him shudder. Instead of giving a true answer he simply said,

"It is what I was advised" but the implications were there.

"Is that so?"

Tyrian looked into the royal green eyes that regarded him, he felt foolish for wanting to get lost in them, especially when a corner of them harboured some annoyance that was never going to be directed at him. Arthur smiled softly, his warmth threatening to melt the poor Scorpion.

"I don't want you to believe what you were advised, I want you to believe that I say"

Tyrian's eyes were wide and he was trying not to look too dreamy, he stuttered an awkward response "O-okay… I mean yes, o-of course.. Your Majesty" he was starting to feel like a fool

"I would never let anyone else be aware but I do care, you entertain me. Often your jokes and gimmicks tend to be the only thing I won't be so stone-faced about." His smile was slightly awkward, rather unbefitting of the leader of the kingdom, but somehow suitable for Arthur thought Tyrian. There was some mild hesitation as the other hand moved to hold the other side of his face, Tyrian couldn't help but enjoy the warmth of it. They stood there with the jesters face being cupped by an awkward King. Then Arthur touched his forehead to Tyrian's earning a little stunned gasp.

It was a sweet moment that neither really wanted to end, but it allowed the lord to realise that life would be a lot less interesting without his merryman to keep him company. He didn't want to imagine it.

-----

BONUS!!!

King snake and Jester scorpion

-I wish I could actually draw a king Watts with Jester Tyrian hanging over the back of his throne like the dick he is because that's my life and I need it but I will never 😭-

#arthur watts #tyrian callows #nuts and volts week #My trashy Fanfics #My trashy doodles #Royalty AU #King!Watts #Jester!Tyrian #I enjoyed this #It's probably bad but I don't care #This was fun #And this is actually early for once 😂

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kmindset · 5 years

Text

Grief & Hybrids: Chapter Two

Word Count: 3,319

Pairing: OT7 x Reader

Synopsis: Ready to begin healing from the death of your boyfriend, you become a volunteer at the local hybrid home. When you catch the attention of seven hybrids you begin to open your heart again. But are you ready to move on?

On AO3

“____! Would you mind waking up the felines?”

You nodded.

Two weeks of working here and you have effectively kept your distance from as many male hybrids as possible. Especially the one you encountered in the cafeteria. Happiness at interacting with the felines was growing, however. Personally, you loved all hybrids but easing into this was key. This was only your third day working with the felines but you loved it because you were assigned to female tigers. Typically, all male and female sleeping quarters were separated for many reasons. The main reason being the inevitable pain of their heat. That was a nightmare according to the day manager, Sulji.

“Alana, Naeun.” You called, recognizing the occupied beds of the two older hybrids. Whenever possible you wanted to allow them to sleep as they had a hard time before entering the home.

The familiar black and white ears of Naeun came into view as she slowly rose from the bed, waving sleepily at you as she passed. You slowly approached Alana’s bed not wanting to startle her.

“Unnieeee” you sang.

A deep voice caught you off guard. “I’m not your unnie, now shut up.”

You flung the covers back to reveal a male hybrid looking rather comfy in a bed that was definitely not his. “What are you doing in Alana’s bed?”

He peeked from where he was balled into himself. “If I tell you will you put the covers back?” In response, you flung them fully off of the mattress.

“Ok then.” He sat up with slightly widened eyes and a hint of an amused smile. “Alana was “embraced” yesterday.” He informed you, grumbling “fucking adopted” under his breath.

“That doesn’t explain why you are in the female quarters.”

“It actually does. I fucking hate the male quarters and now there is a free bed in the quiet, better smelling area.’

“Either way you have to get up, they’re cleaning in 5.”

That got him up. “Shit!” He didn’t have to say it for you to know the threat of multiple vacuums was not something he was excited for. You followed behind as the hybrid scurried out.

The way to the cafeteria was quiet, most of the other hybrids already indulging in lunch.

“Why do you hate the male wing?”

He snorted. “Have you not been in there?” He looked over and could tell by the confused look that you hadn’t. “Wait have you actually not?”

You shook your head.

“It’s… too much sometimes.” A thoughtful look painted his features as he contemplated how to explain. “Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful more than I can express for this home. I just…”

“You wish there was somewhere better for you.”

He glanced at you, briefly showing his surprise before looking away. “Yes, exactly. I’ve been to worse places though.”

You wanted him to elaborate however he jogged away to a group of men, one with a familiar tuft of hair that seemed excited to see him.

One more reason to steer clear of the male quarters.

An endless string of curses went through your head as you vigorously scrubbed the wide hybrid home sign. The night before, a small group of people that seemed way too angry about nothing came and trashed the front of the center. Your manager informed you it was most likely a group the volunteers had come in contact with before. The group was known to be outspoken in their distaste for hybrid rights. Often they complained that hybrids should be grouped together with animals in pet stores.They were few in number but worryingly aggressive.

It took what felt like an eternity but once you finished you returned to the building to see a debate already in progress inside the volunteer break room.

“Everyone with a brain to think about other species knows that hybrids can’t be grouped in quarters like this with full blooded animals without risk of further cross species contamination.*

“It sounds like inbreeding and experimentation in one.”

“I don’t understand it all truthfully. They are part animal, seems to me that would be healthy. The poor things are already the result of experiments anyway.”

You made eye contact with Barbara and tried not to roll your eyes. “Sulji, animals and hybrids can interact safely. The problem is similar to why male and female hybrids living quarters are kept separate. Natural instincts take over too heavily making for high risk for either one or sometimes both.”

“Not to mention, most hybrids are more in tune with their human side, not wanting to mate with a full animal or shit wherever. Their animalistic qualities and form are a byproduct of what they are not who they are,” you added.

“Ehh maybe I am old fashioned but animals are animals.”

Another volunteer began to respond but you had had enough. With thirty minutes left on your break, you opted to go to the library. The cleaning crew was finishing up, ensuring no hybrid was there and with Sulji’s ignorance you were sure all working volunteers were engaged in the increasingly intense debate against “old fashioned’ ideas about basic rights. Fun for sure.

You smiled at the last vacuuming janitor as you took a seat behind the first computer. There was nothing you were interested in looking at but the monitor blocked you from view of the entrance, allowing you to drift into your own thoughts without being spotted easily. Five minutes of listening to music, the last janitor was finished. You paused your music and looked around. The library was well organized and thoroughly cleaned but staring long enough you can see signs of aging. The walls were a beautiful muted golden but in the corners and crevices, there were chips and uneven areas where the old color was visible. The most noticeable was the old mural rather poorly covered up behind the volunteer desk. You remember seeing a picture of the mural in its glory days and while it was beautiful it represented the “old fashioned” way of thinking Sulji spoke of. It depicted hybrids as companions but it was clear it was thinking of them as pets, not people. Thirty years outdated for sure.

As you drifted further into your thoughts you had to admit that was part of the reason this place was bittersweet. The love radiating from everyone there created positive energy in every way but there were still reminders of the past. Not only the unequal past of all hybrids but his past. So many things reminded you of what he told you. His early life was heartbreaking. No one deserves to be in a volatile environment. It was beautiful though that despite his situation he still became loving with an affinity for kindness beyond belief. It brought a smile to your face but as you spotted a hybrid rights book you grimaced. The photo on the front of an angry man yelling at a cowering canine hybrid reminded you that no matter how brilliant and warm he was, it was repaid constantly with aggression and prejudice. Even in the end.

There was a whimper. But it didn’t come from you.

It took a moment to realize before you were looking around. You almost didn’t notice the black tail barely sticking out from the computer desk across from you. Carefully, you walked around to see a sad figure huddled into the corner under the desk.

“Are you alright?”

He sniffs and quickly crawls up to where you are kneeling to see him. “Are you?”

For a moment you’re shocked because of course you weren’t but that’s not his concern as you’re there to help all hybrids. With him in better view now, you notice right away he is a beagle. Their increased empathy often made it easy for them to pick up on the emotions of those around them.

“Shouldn’t you be in the cafeteria? Lunch was just put out. Or at the gym? Or anywhere else but under a desk?”

He pouted at his ignored question. “There were too many people in the cafeteria right now and Ms. Kim says I spend too much time in the gym.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

He was quiet this time, opting to scan your face. You grew insecure under his gaze. “Who was it?”

“Chef Bae I think. Either way, it smells goo-”

“No, who died?”

This time you were dumbfounded. After a moment of silence, you moved to leave but he whimpered again, his ears hanging lower in dejection.

“My boyfriend.” was all your offered before once again escaping the personal questions from strange hybrids.

You’d done your best.

After the last interaction with a nosy hybrid, you began helping out more in the kitchen. It was a job you wished you’d taken before. There was minimal interaction with non-volunteers and any opportunity to cook was welcome. Cooking calmed you which is why you were currently enjoying the music you were playing as you prepped ingredients for the day’s next meal. Until you turned around and met face to face with both hybrids of the hybrids you were mainly avoiding.

“You.”

“You remember me!”

“Why are you back here?”

“We got into a fight with an idiot.”

“ You got into a fight. I was having a conversion.” The shorter one corrected.

“No, you were being harassed.”

“Whatever.”

The taller one shook his head. “Either way we were put on food duty as punishment.”

With a hesitant nod, you bit your lip. “Put on a hair net, wash your hands, put on gloves and an apron.”

They stood staring at you for a moment.

“Now!”

The smaller one jumped a bit as they both did as you instructed. Taking on the manager role while Chef Bae was on the phone, you efficiently prepared lunch and avoided conversation with the two.

You could feel them staring at you every now and then along with whispers but you choose not to say anything.

Burning.

Everything and everyone is burning.

He’s somewhere in here but all you see is flames and unbothered neighbors. They sit as if their skin isn’t being charred off. The boiling flesh turning your stomach.

Then you hear his voice. He’s calling your name. Screaming it.

Finally, he is standing in the doorway of your apartment. His back is to you. The soft grey tail a flame and moving towards the top like a lit stick of dynamite.

Part of you doesn’t want to call out in fear of the horrific scene.

Then he calls out your name. But it isn’t right. The voice was demonic and taunting.

“It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream.” You chanted over and over. Eyes shut tight and begging for true consciousness. He was next to you, you could feel him.

“Accept.”

You popped your eyes open.

The next morning, you made an impromptu decision. The whole drive to the Hybrid Home was a blur as you spent the entire time thinking about your decision and trying not to think anymore about your dream.

Nothing was going to stop you from quitting. Until you saw the fire trucks. For a moment, it spooked you. The intense fear of still being in that horrible nightmare sped up your heart rate. Thankfully you were awake but unfortunately, that meant the lost looking hybrids in the street were real.

The road was littered with overnight and morning volunteers trying to comfort scared hybrids. You parked at the playground across the street. After a few minutes of search, you approached panic-stricken Sulji and Barbara speaking with whom you assume to be the fire captain.

“______!” Barbara’s panicked eyes found some relief in spotting you.

“What in the hell is happening?” The question seemed obvious in a way but you wanted something specific. The whole damn home was in the road.

“Someone started a fire in the male wing.”

“One of the hybrids?”

She shook head. “One of those anti group jerks. They think he didn’t mean to do this much damage but regardless it’s a mess.”

She informed you the whole home is burned to different extents. Parts are nothing but ashes others are only singed.

Sulji and Barbara gathered some of you who were not tending to the hybrids. ” ”We have just been informed the building is uninhabitable. Thankfully there is a hybrid shelter nearby able to help. The only problem is, it is a female shelter. They are willing to take all misplaced females but males are another story.”

Worried gasps sounded from the crowd. “What about the male shelter in Gwangju?”

“We can possibly arrange for travel for some but not all. We will still have about 20-25 hybrids displaced. That number is being very optimistic.”

Barbara spoke up. “We will be moving next door for an emergency embrace event. Some of you will go back with the females to inform them of the move. They are still going to be involved in the embrace event as we need to thin out our numbers. They are encouraged to stay together while we organize.”

Everyone nodded along in understanding. “The news is running the incident as we speak and asking for temporary volunteers and families willing to adopt or at the very least foster any of them.”

Sulji cleared her throat. “With that being said if any of you have room please considering taking in some of them.” It was silent but you couldn’t blame them. Many of your fellow volunteers were single parents needing this job, though low paid, with no time, money, or room to foster. Others were financially not able to do so.

Sulji nodded somberly. “Ok then. We need to begin setting up in the rec center.”

The small crowd breaks to get into action.

You get swept up in the chaos not long after. People in every direction. It isn’t helping your anxiety but the sympathy for the now homeless hybrids keeps you grounded.

Something crashes behind you. You whip around to see a tall man with fluffy ears almost blended into his brown hair. He is trying to set the water bottles he knocked down right side up until another volunteer tells him to leave. The tall man tries to get a water bottle but the volunteer smacks his hands and points for him to leave. As he walks away, she notices you staring. “The hybrid of destruction strikes again.”

The snort she lets out hints at a joke you clearly aren’t in on. Either way, you feel bad for the man.

Soon the adoption event is in full swing. All hybrids mingled with families and one another. Some opted to play amongst themselves. Two of which you noticed were the two you saw many times. It wasn’t until their “playing” got too rough that you interfered.

“It’s you!” the one with pouty lips spoke excitedly. You made a noise in confirmation, taking the chance to look at the hybrid ID tag to finally see his name.

“We know we won’t be fostered. It’s better to not get our hopes.” Taehyung spoke matter-a-factly. His words didn’t appear to have much emotion, but Jimin deflated a bit at the statement.

“Do you feel the same, Jimin?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know but if Taehyung isn’t there I won’t go anyway.”

You frowned at their somber words. There was so little hope in them. A nagging feeling began to grow. They didn’t mind as during your internal emotional battle Taehyung roughly hit Jimin’s shoulder and took off. The smaller male took off behind him.

You took your bottom lip between your teeth nervously as you eased over to the outgoing form and wrote down both names.

The nagging feeling ceased but a wave of anxiety threatened your sanity. Thankfully, a fellow volunteer asked you for a hand with the snacks.

Not long after, the feelings were pushed down momentarily to focus on the matter at hand. This was working until you went in search of a janitor. A younger hybrid came with a family interested in helping out but was spooked by the activity. He had an accident. You assured him gently you would find someone to clean it while the family apologized. You spotted the janitor coming from the supply closet. “Ma’am! There was a little accident on the court.”

She nodded mop already in hand. “Can you reach that spray bottle for me, love?”

You looked to where she pointed. It was a higher shelf but not too high for you. You paused for a moment then handed the bottle to her and waited for her to walk away before turning back to the closet. “Come out.”

“No.”

You felt his presence before you even spotted the cat eyes. You weren’t sure if he would be chastised for being in there so you didn’t inform the janitor.

“How did you know? She didn’t even glance my way.” The dark-haired feline emerged from the darkness of the corner.

“I have experience with a hybrid wanting to hide.”

He examined your face. From the look on his own, he found the answer to the question in his head but kept it to himself. “Ignoring the overwhelming aroma of cleaning products, this was the only place to get away from everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“ Everyone .”

You smiled, holding back a laugh and he looked as though he was doing the same. Though his smile was smaller and gone much quicker you felt something. An understanding of disdain for a crowd and the mix of people in it made you feel like you feel mutually accepted. With a small wave of your hand, you ushered him back to his corner, sure to catch the name on his ID tag you did. “I’ll bring you a snack. Maybe it will make the smells more tolerable.”

“Doubt it.” he scoffed but you could see another smile as you closed the door. You turned away to get him a snack.

And write his name down.

To your surprise, the community showed up in aspiring numbers. Many came to help with the event and transportation while many took advantage of the embrace opportunity.

Typically, home and background checks were done to ensure the safety of the hybrids however Barbara informed all embracers that an inspection and evaluation would be done a week from the event “When we have our bearings.” she had stated exasperatingly. The outpour of support helped thin the number of misplaced hybrids.

“The list of secured hybrids was much longer than expected,” Barbara announced happily at the end of the day. All volunteers and remained hybrids were crowded around. The volunteers all appeared worn out but proud. Some of the hybrids appeared sad while others couldn’t care less. A chunk of them were waiting to be transferred to the partnering shelter. Some were already on the way there but there wasn’t room for everyone. “Although, I see Taehyung, Jimin, and Yoongi‘s names written but they are still here.”

A stiff silence fell. Four long seconds pass before you bashfully speak up. “That was my doing. I can foster them for the time being.”

You dare not look at the men as you could feel their shocked gazes.

“Oh, that's wonderful! That only leaves these four.”

You don’t really want to but something keeps pushing you, the nagging feeling from earlier. The words tumble out before you can catch them. ”I have room for them.”

Barbara is taken aback. “Really?”

You nod reluctantly. “My home was originally built for a nine-person family. They will have to share rooms but nothing too crowded.”

Sulji spoke up. “____, that is truly amazing! Of course with your number embraced we will make your inspection priority as a precaution for them but until then thank you!”

An absentminded nod was all you could give. The true reality of your charitable act not hitting you until everyone else dispersed and only seven pairs of eyes remained on you.

#poly bts #hybrid bts #bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts angst

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