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literaila · 2 months

Text

slip-up

gojo satoru x fem!reader

summary: megumi says something he's not supposed to

warnings: bit of sad megumi (same babe), gojo is a terrible comforter, reader doesn't get a lot of screen time but she's always there, a good lack of conflict resolution

a/n: the one-shot that started this series. i figured it was time to give it up

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year four.

megumi doesn't notice the slip-up right when he says it. he's not even really paying attention to the conversation.

instead, he's thinking about the homework assignment he was supposed to turn in today--the one that gojo refused (couldn't) help him with.

"my mom usually drops us off," he's telling his teacher, trying to be polite like you taught him and not start whining (like gojo taught him). "but she's out of town right now, so gojo dropped us off instead and he gets the times confused..."

in all honesty, megumi could blame this whole thing on gojo. because it was his fault.

usually, you woke him and tsumiki up, pulling on his hair when he whined into the pillows, packing their lunches while they both sat at the table, eating cereal or tamagoyaki. usually, you reminded megumi to tuck in his shirt and helped the two of them get their books together, taking an occasional moment to shout at megumi's budget dad to get up before he was late. usually, you walked them to the door, kissing them both goodbye and watching both of them until they closed the door.

later on, you'd be there again, welcoming them home with another smile, asking about their days. forcing them into a thorough recap.

but today megumi woke up with a sore neck and gojo smiling at him, asking if he was planning on being buried in his bed.

because even though megumi heard you tell gojo that he needed to help out, step up, the mornings while you were gone, all of you should've known better.

megumi hasn't even ever seen gojo out of bed before nine-thirty.

so here he was, with his shirt untucked, his homework missing, and a bag of lollipops that gojo packed for lunch.

here he was, three hours late for school, trying to explain to his teacher that it wasn't his fault.

and here he was, accidentally calling you mom.

but megumi doesn't even realize that until his teacher smiles a little bit, telling him that she understands, asking him when his mom gets back.

megumi freezes.

the word repeats in his mind, and he finally realizes his slip-up.

sure, he's heard tsumiki call you it before--because for all intents and purposes, that's what you were. after four years of your unconditional love, the two of them knew, truly, that they could depend on you.

but megumi has never had a mom, and he doesn't now.

so it's still gojo's fault when the first tear rolls down his cheek. which megumi promptly wipes away. he's not going to cry--he's not the sort of kid that cries. he prides himself on it, actually. not needing the same sort of attention that he's seen his classmates get, never feeling things that deeply.

but he's crying now, and his neck still hurts as he turns away from his teacher, going to sit down at his desk.

and megumi isn't the type of kid that cries, but when he puts his head down, his cheeks feel a little damp.

megumi's got a headache now--another reason why he doesn't cry--and he sort of wants to curl up in bed until tsumiki gets home, and then convince her to run away with him.

but he doesn't.

when gojo unlocks the door, megumi goes through it without stopping to look around. he drags his backpack to his room--gojo watching the whole time, of course--and closes the door before the man can say anything stupid.

he can't deal with him right now. or ever, actually.

megumi sets his backpack up against the wall with a brief thought about homework and the class he's going to miss because of this, but he doesn't care enough to dwell on it.

everything about him feels stiff, like glue got between the seems of his very core.

he's ten years old. he shouldn't have to worry about anything.

he takes off his blazer, sets it on his desk with sweaty palms, and feels quite naked--even with the layers of clothes and lack of eyes. and his head hurts. megumi wants to get up and restart his day just so he can tell some version of his former self not to be so stupid.

but he knows that's just the guilt talking, so he ignores that too.

and it's only ten minutes into his glooming that there's a knock on the door, and gojo doesn't knock, so megumi knows immediately that something's wrong.

he's lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, but he leans up on his elbow when you peek your head into the room.

for a brief moment, megumi is so relieved to see you that he almost jumps up and clings to you--like some child would.

he wants to hold onto you and beg you not to leave again, because everything seems to go wrong when you’re not there. he wants to tell you that he’s scared, and that he’s not sure what to do.

but he refrains, and blinks idly, confused about why you're here, and why his heart hurts just from looking at you.

“hey, you okay?” you whisper, taking a step into the dark room. you don't look banged up, and megumi wonders what gojo said to get you to come home. he probably told you that megumi was dying, or something.

you sit on the edge of his bed, and your hand is on his forehead before megumi can blink. “you feel sick?”

megumi nods, but his eyes don’t meet yours. it's a small enough lie.

“i’m sorry. did satoru give you any medicine?”

“did you have to come home for me?”

you smile, slightly. “no, buddy, don’t worry. it was easier than they said, just a grade one. plus i kinda rushed it cause i missed you guys.” you push his hair out of his eyes, “now, medicine?”

“i don’t want any.”

“if you don’t feel good—“

“actually,” he interrupts. “can—i, um, i don’t really want to talk.”

you pause, eyes roaming over his face. “oh. okay. that’s fine.”

you remove your hands from him immediately, walls of metaphorical space flying up between the two of you. “i’ll leave you alone. just ask if you need anything, okay? i’m going to go unpack.”

he nods and you give him a little grin.

and right as you're at the door, he falters. he doesn’t really want you to go. he wants you to crawl into bed with him, treat him like he's actually sick, and let him lay with his head in your lap. he wants to ask you the same question that's been in his head since he said it, but he can't.

“y/n?” he whispers, instead, your name feeling wrong in his mouth.

“yeah?"

“will... will you get gojo?" he asks, even though it's not what he wants to say at all. "i want to talk to him.”

“gojo?” you frown, looking at him. “yeah. of course, yeah. i’ll go get him. one sec.”

and when you close the door, megumi feels like he’s said something wrong. slipped up again.

he sits there and waits, feeling incorrect in his body. he wants you to come back and tell him that it'll all be fine, but he knows that you won't. if there's one thing you're good at, it's respecting boundaries.

and megumi has a lot of them.

gojo doesn’t knock when he comes into the room, and megumi is so lost in thought that he jumps as soon as the door clicks open.

megumi’s neck flies as he looks at him, wide eyes. he's already sat up, preparing himself for an influx of anger.

“is this about your lunch?” gojo asks, immediately, words fast and smooth. “because that wasn’t my fault. i thought your school did that.”

“you bought us our lunchboxes,” megumi argues, “you made me get the weird one with the dragon.”

“do not insult dracomon like that.”

megumi rolls his eyes. “whatever.”

“so, you wanna talk to me, huh?" gojo sits on megumi’s desk chair, legs hanging off the sides. “i think this is the first real conversation we’ve ever had.”

megumi rolls his eyes again.

gojo waves a hand. "alright. what is it?"

megumi pauses. he can't ask gojo. even if he had an answer, it would be the least trustworthy version of one.

he scratches his neck, not sure how to lie about this. knowing that he's not supposed to lie in the first place.

he's doing everything wrong today.

gojo shakes his head, white hair the victim of many fashion crimes. “spit it out, kid. i just did you a huge favor, and i don’t have time for the attitude.”

“you didn’t do anything,” megumi frowns, crossing his arms.

gojo snorts. “you think they just say ‘come get your child’ when you’re crying at your desk?” he asks, rhetorically, and megumi’s face goes still. “no, they disrupted my nap, saying that you needed to be picked up and handed me a card for a child psychologist.”

“they told you?”

he nods. “and i didn’t tell y/n,” he grins, self-satisfied. “so you’re welcome.”

“why not?”

“because she would’ve freaked out, and i don’t need that, and i’m pretty sure you don’t want that…”

megumi nods immediately.

“it can stay our secret if you tell me what’s going on. i’ll edit the report when y/n asks,” then he turns, looking at the door. “even though she’s already listening in.”

“really?” megumi bites the inside of his cheek, checking the crack under the door for feet.

satoru kicks him. “no. she’s in her room. now, talk. i don’t know how long she’ll take.”

megumi swallows. he doesn’t really want to ask—not his only real question—but he’s already gotten this far.

at least it doesn't matter what he says, because no one will believe anything gojo makes up anyway.

“megumi…” gojo prods.

“do you know where my mom is?”

there’s a pause. a very long pause where megumi feels like he’s being scrutinized.

he can tell that gojo is looking at him very closely, a microscope to megumi’s cell, even though he can’t see his eyes.

“i—“ gojo pulls a strand of hair by his ear. clearing his throat. “i, um, im not sure. why?”

“no reason.”

there’s a very weird wince on the man’s face. “do you want to… talk about them? your… parents?”

“no,” megumi says immediately.

gojo sighs. “look, i’ll tell you if you really want to know—“

“i don’t care. i just… i don’t care.”

“…okay.”

“okay.”

the two of them are both lying. they have the same neck-scratching, and looking away tells. if you were in the room, you would be monitoring both of them very harshly. probably scolding them for the look on both of their faces.

gojo’s expression is so much weirder than megumi’s ever seen it. “are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“i just wanted to know if you knew,” megumi says, crossing his arms, then doing it again. “i don’t care about them. they don’t care about me.”

“well, i don’t know that—“

“no. you and y/n took us in and they didn’t care. so why should i?”

“right.” gojo nods. “right we… took you in.”

megumi nods, as a finality, and then deflates a little bit.

he doesn’t care about his mom—whoever she is, wherever she might be. he doesn’t. he just… also doesn’t want to replace her.

it feels wrong to think about. she doesn’t care about his life, so why should he care about hers?

it's a stupid sort of guilt. if tsumiki said anything like it, megumi wouldn't talk to her for a week.

but it's the sort of guilt over you, and a woman he knows nothing about. someone he doesn't really want to know about.

maybe that makes it worse.

“did someone say something at school?”

megumi frowns. “no. why would they?”

gojo shrugs. “kids are jerks,” he answers, simply, and then mutters “i would know…” under his breath, making megumi want to punch him again.

“no one said anything.”

“then why were you crying this morning?”

“i wasn’t crying.”

“hey,” gojo frowns. “crying is fine. it’s good.”

“i know,” megumi crosses his arms.

“okay, then.”

megumi doesn’t even know why he wanted to talk to gojo in the first place.

“look,” gojo sighs, his fingers tapping along the body of the chair. he whispers something that sounds suspiciously like “y/n is so much better at this,” and then meets megumi’s eyes—metaphorically, of course. everyone knows that gojo doesn’t have any eyes. “if you want to talk about your parents, we can talk about them. tsumiki asks questions every once in a while. and…” he breaks away, shaking his head. “if there’s something i don’t know, then i'll—we’ll figure it out. i’ve got eyes everywhere.”

gojo is grinning at his little joke, but megumi’s frown deepens.

"i don't care about them," he says, again, as a reassurance to them both.

"they are your parents, you know?" he holds his hands up in defense, probably from the glare megumi is giving him. "i'm just saying. curiosity is normal."

"how would you know?"

gojo sighs, tilting his head back. he looks almost hurt. "i'm wise. i've got years of experience on you."

"no, you don't."

he shakes his head. "now i'm going to start crying."

megumi stares at him. if he could trade gojo for literally anyone else in the world, he would.

and yet, he doesn't want to talk to you about this. he doesn't want to talk at all. and he does.

at least he knows that gojo won’t take any of this too seriously. that he won’t get to the bottom of the problem, like neither of them wants.

"do you think..." megumi starts, whispering. "do you ever regret taking us in?"

gojo swallows. he looks almost hesitant to answer, but megumi knows that must be wrong. gojo has never hesitated a moment in his life.

"well, you guys are pretty mean to me. but no, we don't regret it. why would we?" he asks, teasing, like always. "children are for chores."

megumi shakes his head.

"you should--" gojo scrunches his nose. "i can get y/n. she's got better answers, anyway."

"no!" megumi holds his hand out when the man begins to move from the chair, heart racing. "i don't want to talk to her."

"did something happen with you guys? you think someone might mention it to me..."

"no, nothing happened. i just... want to talk to you."

gojo snorts, but he sits back down. "whatever you did, i'm sure it's not that bad. remember that time i set tsumiki's hair on fire when she was gone? that was bad."

"i didn’t do anything. i'm not like you," megumi scowls, looking away.

"would you like a reward?" gojo asks, dryly. "most people wouldn't openly admit that. i admire your confidence."

both of them are silent, megumi considering the consequences of just saying the words out loud, nonetheless to gojo--who definitely won't know what to do with them.

after a minute, gojo clears his throat. "okay, megumi. my turn. do you regret coming here with me? instead of going with your family? you'd be clan head someday, you know."

"that place with the freaky shed of weapons you showed me?"

"yup."

"no," megumi doesn't have to think about that. "tsumiki's with me here. and i--"

i like it here, he almost slips. i love you guys.

megumi sighs. he doesn't want to say that to gojo.

but the older man looks like he already knew what he meant, a dumb smile on his face. "good. okay. well, i don't know what's wrong with you," he gives megumi a pointed look, saying that he actually does. "but i'm sure it'll all work out. you've got me here, so there's nothing to worry about. and y/n would kill me if anything happened to you, so. don't worry about your parents, kid."

megumi blinks at him. because his problems can be summed up with a quick "yeah, that's cool."

he rolls his eyes.

gojo's hand nudges his knee. "you can still ask if you want. anytime. we love you, you know? y/n more than me, but still..."

megumi shakes his head. "well i love her more than you."

"good. tsumiki's my favorite anyway."

"good. she's the only one who can deal with you."

"good," gojo retorts, like a child.

he leans in, ruffling megumi's hair as he does it. "even if you are pretty annoying, i'll still do some research for you. see about your mom."

"you don't have to--"

"i can't pick you up every time you're crying in class," gojo shrugs, so simply. definitely a joke in the words, but no teasing. "and i won't tell y/n. but you should talk to her. she worries."

"i know."

gojo smiles. "okay. as long as you know."

the two of them sit there for a while more, gojo making an awful comment every couple of lapses in silence, megumi answering with an equally sarcastic retort, and the two of them not minding at all.

and megumi still can't get the question out--are you his mom?--but there's the undeinable feeling that no one else can answer it for him anyway.

and gojo seems to know that, so he doesn't say anything about it. just lingers there, like an illness, waiting until megumi is okay, or maybe waiting for him to ask something else.

even though megumi doesn’t want to give the man any credit, he knows that gojo understands a lot more than he lets on. and, just from the weird little prideful looks he gives him every time he says something, megumi knows that he probably gets what this is about.

but if gojo isn’t going to say anything, then neither is he.

still, it’s nice to have him here.

there’s no comforting glances, or squeezing of hands with gojo. no acute words and adept gestures.

megumi has never expected gojo to overcome his tendency towards immaturity, or to become something that he’s simply not.

but there is just this. just the man who’s been there for long enough for megumi to notice. to understand that he’s not going away so easily.

and it’s nice to have you both. (megumi won’t admit that the gratitude he has for his makeshift parents is much stronger, more vehement than any worry about biology, or being left behind).

eventually, megumi's eyes begin to droop, and even though his headache is less stress-induced, it's still there, a gentle pounding at his skull.

like a reminder that things are going to change, even if he doesn't want them to. that he's growing up, and he can't protect everyone from his emotions forever.

but megumi doesn't have enough energy to think about it. so he lays down against his pillows, eyelids fluttering open and closed.

and he can just see it when gojo sneaks out of the room, whistling softly as he leaves, purposefully leaving the door open.

megumi should've gone to live with that clan.

"hey," you stand from your chair, looking not at satoru, but behind him, like the essence of their conversation is going to follow him through the door. "what'd he want? is he okay?"

you dance on your feet awkwardly, looking like you were waiting that whole time (you were).

satoru smiles, leaning on the counter to stare at you, at your nervous little lip bite. "he's fine."

"is he feeling really sick? he told me he didn't want any medicine, but if he's got a headache or something, then i could give him a pain reliever. did he seem bad? should we take him to the doctor? i can probably schedule an appointment--"

you're cut off by satoru as he nears you, crushing you against his chest in a hug so tight that it knocks the air from your lungs.

seriously, jujutsu sorcerers and their sheer amount of muscle training are ridiculous.

"satoru--" you squeeze out, but he holds you even tighter.

"it's all good," he says like it's an answer, and he sounds like he knows something that you don't. probably because he does.

but after a moment you relax into him. even if you have to bribe him with cuddles, someone's going to tell you what's going on...

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qiwoomi · 1 year

Text

ii. unexpected gesture

warnings: trauma, death, mentions of blood

series masterlist main masterlist prev next

You don't even want to recall how you end up having a dinner in a fancy restaurant with your husband in the first place.

Or rather, it is actually the first time that you both eat dinner together.

Only the clinking sound of your cutlery could be heard, making the silence between you both all the more obvious. Gods above, it's as if the universe itself turned its back towards you.

The silence drags on, until both of you finally finished your meals. Alhaitham looks up from his plate, grabbing a tissue as he wipes his mouth. You do the same, anticipating if you should say anything.

"I... want you to postpone the divorce." The man before you uttered, finally filling the uncomfortable silence. His gaze focused on you, searching for your eyes. You internally shrink under his eyes, his sudden suggestion to eat dinner with you is already enough to make you feel out of place, and now he is trying to make an eye contact with you.

The statement alone left you taken aback. "...Why?" You finally replied. There is so much you want to say, but you could only dream of mustering up the courage to say it to him. After all, he's quite unpredictable. What if you said something stupid? He would probably internally mock you, thus it's better for you to keep it to yourself. It's why you never try talking to him first.

It's laughable really. Maybe, even the moon and stars above would be entertained. What a loser. It's humiliating to think that you would end up in a loveless marriage when you've always been a hopeless romantic.

What's even more embarrassing is that the exchange of conversation between both of you is comparable to a regular discussion between business partners.

However, what Alhaitham says next is what fully caught your attention. "To be honest, I've never thought of our marriage as something out of convenience. It's no wonder that you would think that of course, since our situation itself is quiet... eh." It's the first time that he talks a lot. Usually, it would be either just a short request, question or reply. Nothing more than that.

"Like I stated. It's neither you nor is it my fault that we end up like this... So if you are planning to apologise, you shouldn't." You finally look at him in the eye. His mouth forming into a thin line, his brows furrowing. It's evident that he's already coming up of a reply.

"I want you to give me some space to think," Alhaitham folded his arms, his face morphing into his usual poker face. "it is to make sure that I don't make rushed decision. Moreover, I have yet to manage your alimony."

To make sure that he doesn't make rushed decision? It's not like he's the one who wants a divorce. Your relationship was fake anyway, what decision is there to make?

As if reading your thought, Alhaitham adds, "By the way, I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings in any way. I just... nevermind. Just give me 6 months."

Now that you think about it, you also do have to prepare for some things before the divorce. You still hadn't thought of which place you're going to stay at and etc.

Though a logical part of your brain wondered why would he need about 6 months to make up his mind. It's not like he's the one who requested for a divorce anyway.

You still agreed however. He might just want to exaggerate the time. Knowing him, he probably didn't take that much time to make up his mind... Alhaitham is known for his cleverness, he's the type to make a final decision immediately after hearing about them. Though, this is a different case.

As if last night's scenario isn't enough to leave you internally gag, you find yourself waking up to breakfast that is already prepared on the dining table.

A sticky note was then found beside the plate. 'I made you breakfast. — A.' You read.

You set yourself down, placing the glass of coffee as you start munching on the food. It makes you feel somewhat guilty for eating something that he make. After all, both of you mostly eat individually. Except when there's a special occasion of course.

Finishing the food, you immediately clean them up as usual.

Unexpectedly, you finished your class earlier than you thought. Your lecturer had business to do, so the class had to end at 3PM.

Your friends invited you to go out with them, but you refused. You want to head home and rest.

Stepping your foot inside the apartment, you went straight to your room. Immediately going for a warm shower. After that, you cooked some meal, and eat it inside your room while facing your laptop, which contains drafts for your assignments.

After finishing your meal, you clean them up and put it back to it's usual place, while also tidying up the living room for a bit. You continue where you left your assignment, typing away on your laptop now in a prone position on your bed.

Without your will, you inevitably pass out from exhaustion.

"You will lose everyone Y/n. Everyone will turn their backs from you. Just like me. " A voice echoed in the unknown room.

"You... Who are you?" You questioned. The woman in front of you has her face blurred, her body hidden from the mist. She's far from you, but her voice is loud enough for you to hear.

The figure only drew closer, your eyes widen at the sight of bloods dripping from her dress. As she draws closer and closer, you instinctively step back from her, as her face finally shows what you didn't expect. "Silly little girl, can't even remember her mother..." She then laughed maniacally. Her face was distorted, as your breathing becomes out of control.

"NO! Stay away from me! I don't know you!"

"You can deny it if you want but every time you remember about what happened, you'll always think about me. I'll always haunt your mind."

You covered your ears at this, shutting your eyes. "Please, leave me alone. I don't want to see you. Go away!"

"You know Y/n," She calls your name in a sing-song voice, "I've always wished you were dead. If only you were the one to die, years ago..."

Images of the incident years ago flashes through your mind, as you hyperventilate. The woman then walk towards you, her pace now increasing. It's as if she's chasing you.

"GO AWAY FROM ME!"

"Y/n! Hey, wake up!" Your body was shaken up. You quickly opened your eyes, only to see Alhaitham next to your bed. You don't even realise that your eyes are dripping with tears, your cheeks stained.

You are still recollecting what happened, but your body instantly reacted against your consent. As it reaches to hug the man beside you.

The man flinched, before resorting to pat your back.

taglist: @odevote118 @levisbebe @hitomi-inaru @no3hg3nshin

author's note: the first few chapters are a bit boring but it gradually gets better i swear 🤫 also taglist is open if u guys want

est. 020323

do not copy, translate and repost my work.

#genshin impact #genshin fanfic #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin fluff #genshin angst #alhaitham #alhaitham fluff #alhaitham angst #alhaitham x reader

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trashno0dle · 27 days

Text

what if i just left this here

summary:

Out of all the possible scenarios to take place at the fortress, Cal never once thought about Darth kriffing Vader showing up and flipping the plan on its head, leaving him completely and utterly lost and admittedly, terrified. He was alone, well, almost alone. Trilla was dead and Cere was nowhere to be found and Cal was standing facing the Shadow of the Empire. The feared Sith Lord who brought nothing but death, fear and despair wherever he went. ~~ [or - cal's encounter with vader in the inquisitorius, except it plays out a little differently, resulting in the story forever changed.]

basically a silly little self indulgent star wars au which i'll be posting as oneshots / short fics - aka, due to lack of time to write a fully fledged fic i'm just writing the parts and scenes i wanna write. the full au summary is in the series notes :))

snippet below the cut !!!

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

The plan had been simple, or, as simple as it could be. Break into the Inquisitorius, retrieve the Holocron from Trilla and escape with minimal damage. But unsurprisingly, like everything in Cal’s life, it all had to go abruptly wrong in so many different ways. Perhaps it was his fault for not really taking the one thing that could mess up his plan into account, that maybe he should've added another plan just in case. But no, he hadn't, and it had really come back to haunt him.

Because out of all the possible scenarios to take place at the fortress, Cal never once thought about Darth kriffing Vader showing up and flipping the plan on its head, leaving him completely and utterly lost and admittedly, terrified. He was alone, well, almost alone. Trilla was dead and Cere was nowhere to be found and Cal was standing facing the Shadow of the Empire. The feared Sith Lord who brought nothing but death, fear and despair wherever he went. He'd tried running, knowing full well he couldn't take someone so powerful by himself, but now he’d found himself backed into a corner with no way out.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, Cal thought, as he raised his saber with an unsteady hold.

He was exhausted. His disheveled appearance was enough to show that. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead dampening his hair, his breathing came out sharp and heavy after running and exerting himself with overuse of the Force. He knew Vader could sense that. He was an easy target now, he could kill him with a lazy flick of his finger and that would be it. The death of Cal Kestis, a former Jedi Padawan who let his Master die, who died himself at the hands of a Sith just like countless others had. He knew that he shouldn't feel angry at that, but with how tired he felt, how damned scared — he wasn't exactly able to keep his emotions in check, he didn't see the point of releasing said emotions into the Force either, not when he was just moments away from death. He failed everyone. His Master, Cere, those Force sensitive younglings who were now in danger because of him.

He was a lousy excuse for a Jedi. He wasn't even that, not officially.

The thing that managed to drag him out of his thoughts was a shrill, frantic beep from BD-1. The droid still clung to his shoulder, perched in a crouch, Cal could feel the vibrations from his tiny body — he was scared too. He felt guilty for thinking he wouldn't die alone at least. But he hoped maybe BD could escape, find Cere and the Holocron and make up for his stupid mistakes. Cal stared ahead at the looming figure of Darth Vader before him, trying his best to appear brave, but his facade was crumbling and he felt so tired. He prayed that it would be over quickly with minimal pain, which was less than what he deserved, in his own personal opinion.

“Surrender now, or die. ” Vader’s deep voice rumbled from the vocoder in his mask, his heavy breathing echoed across the walls of the Inquisitorius.

Cal swallowed thickly, shifting his stance slightly. “Sorry, but no thanks.” He quipped lamely, his voice wavered, his fear betraying him.

“It is pointless to resist,” Vader told him. “Either fall like the Jedi before you, or submit and perhaps the Empire will forgive you for your negligence.”

“With all due respect–” which is none “–I’d rather be a traitor to the Empire than one of your little lap dogs.” Cal’s own confidence surprised him, he didn’t question it, he hoped it would last.

“Your insolence will be your downfall.” Vader growled. “However, I sense potential, it would be a shame to put it to waste. You have spirit, too much for a Jedi, perfect for an Inquisitor.”

“Again, not interested in joining your merry little band of sithspawn.”

“So many have said, but if you will not join of your own volition, there are ways of breaking you instead.”

#star wars #star wars au #jedi fallen order #cal kestis #anakin skywalker #darth vader #star wars fanfic #noodlesfics

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homicidal-slvt · 7 months

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"Strangers Are Especially Strange Here"

Part 2

OCs x F!Reader

You are a young woman who also happens to be a witch- ending up with you in a college of mythical beings... {This story is gonna be silly chaos and will be aimed at my fellow bisexuals.}

Warnings: None- just silliness.

You unintentionally discovered you aren't entirely human a bit late in life, which resulted in where you're at now. Learning how to control your abilities should be fun though, right?

Right???

You've so far spent the whole day running around getting lectures on what you shouldn't do as a witch. Yes, it's very very important that you learn that stuff- blah blah.

But it's boringgggg... And you have every right to be complaining in your head, waddling down the hall books in hand like a depressed penguin.

At least the long corridors of the old building are beautiful, an intricate lacy gold pattern that imitates the look of vines lines the wallpaper, the floor beneath your feet a shiny black marble with gold streaks through it- feeling as though the place has a strong energy and power of it's own.

Though without warning you are harshly dragged from your thoughts to the sudden appearance of a young guy's head popping out of the wall...

"Sup!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!?"

You let out quite the shriek but miraculously don't fall or drop your books. The dude has thick fluffy medium length creamy blonde hair that is wavy in a very unruly way, his eyes are more rounded in shape and the picture perfect example of the color baby blue, his skin tone closest to that of pale ivory and you could describe his face shape as being more heart shaped. He quickly came fully out of the wall and stood in front of you, he's probably somewhere around 5'11 in height, from what you can tell his body type falls more into the category of 'inverted triangle'. He's wearing an extremely baggy but comfy looking ice blue sweater, a pair of simple jeans and some scuffed up white tennis shoes. Despite the fact the guy just scared you shitless- he still has a bright smile on his face.

"Oops. You must be new here."

Oops??? Not an apology??? Just- oops???

You do not have time to deal with this, you're already tired and bored and annoyed- so you just make your way around him and keep walking. The guy pauses for a second before calling out to you.

"Hey- wait! Sorry! I really didn't mean to scare you!"

Too little too late- you rounded the corner and kept on going.

You know- you failed to realize just how big this place is. The separate building that you get to stay in is huge, you have your own bedroom in it. Granted- there's set times for breakfast, lunch, dinner... Yeah, not like a normal college at all. You have decently cooked food and you just have to show up to eat it.

However of course- you still had to pay to be here. Well, more like your aunt paid for you to be here- you didn't even know you had an aunt for a long ass time... You know what- that's not important right now.

You open your laptop and start typing away, you do have normal assignments to get done on top of the extra classes to do with your powers.

Pros and cons...

You're also surrounded by so many different kinds of people, you swore you saw a guy with cat ears earlier.... However he didn't stick around very long and seemed to want nothing to do with any of the socializing happening around him.

Totally understandable.

This place is giving a whole new meaning to the word 'strangers' but hey- that isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it?

{Is this bad? I don't know. It's October and I had a silly idea for a series and decided- fuck it. You only live once.}

{@sofasoap @shadofireshinobi @scar-crossedlvrs sorry if you guys don't wanna be tagged. Just let me know.}

{More Content}

#vee's oc works #vee's spooky season series #blood oaths & autumn harmonies

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nicks-disks · 4 months

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** CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SPOILERS!!! **

honestly, I lowkey liked the ending of Ghosts. But like, lowkey, y'know? I do sort of mourn that we lost the chance to have an open ending, as I think it's under-utilised in shows and such a heartwarming, comforting and undramatic end for a series, but I definitely don't hate what we got given.

Is it perfect? No not really. Is it good? I mean yeah I think it is, I enjoyed it.

I see it as more of a showcase to display how much all the characters have grown, as they all act in ways that would be insanely out of character and unbelievable if they had done so in season one.

My main gripes with it are really kind of petty and very subjective and based on personal opinion, so literally, genuinely take them with a grain of salt.

It was a bit too dramatic for me, Ghosts has always been one for realistic dramatics, the type of stuff that's not a huge display but so immeasurably important and I feel like this Christmas special deviates a little from that. I was hoping for something more standard and something that felt a bit less, like, "the end" y'know? But also I think that stems from me not wanting the show to end while also not being too fond of the "found family splits" trope, so it doesn't quite hold up lol

I thought the semi-B-plot with Mikes's mum felt a bit off for some reason, a bit shoehorned in at times. I do like Mike's mum, and I thought her thinking the house was haunted and bringing in a priest was funny as shit, but it did drag slightly. This with the more dramatic, somber tone made it feel like a bit of a downer not really the pacing you want for a finale. Again though, this is exactly how Mike and Alison were feeling, so it deffo helped me empathise and understand why they chose to move out, it's very smart filmmaking just not what I personally prefer for the finale.

However, I actually do like the whole idea of the Christmas special. I think it's very mature, I think it's pretty realistic, and also I think it's kind of for the better for Alison and Mike. They have their daughter, Mia, and fortunately and unfortunately she will need to be the most important thing in their lives as she grows up. They just can't afford to live in Button house, both figuratively and literally.

But I think the best way to have fully realised this idea and plot would be to have made it another season!!! It feels a bit rushed and underbaked just being one episode, but imagine it being fully explored and developed over let's say 5 episodes, a miniseries. For example, a very vague overview that I'm gonna pull out of my ass on the spot,

Episode 1: Essentially the Christmas special. Mia is brought home, Mike's mum is being a bit overbearing, and everyone is kind of miserable. All of the same events play out, the Ghosts are all in a funny mood because of the new edition and Alison has to tell Mike's mum she needs to take a step back, yada yada. Then, like the Christmas special, the Ghosts make the speech that Alison needs to leave and she agrees, it's heartfelt and meaningful. However, something that's said is that Mike and Alison can handle taking care of Mia all on their own, and that they'll be absolutely great parents.

Episode 2: The Ghosts begin regretting their decision. They start to fear their afterlives will return back to how it was before Alison came into the picture, and while they want to beg her to stay like they have so many times in the past, they also try to convince themselves that Alison, Mike and Mia's wellbeing is the most important thing, and that they shouldn't get in the way. The episode ends with the Ghosts understanding that they're allowed to be upset at Alison leaving, they're allowed to say that they're going to miss her, and they have permission to mourn the loss of this live they've grown to love. However, it's also okay to let these feelings sit and experience them while also letting Alison go. It's a miracle that as Ghosts, they can feel at all, and honestly the fact they have Alison to miss is better than decades of boredom.

Episode 3: After having briefly contacted the contractors off-screen, it fully sets in for Alison what it means to the ghosts that she's leaving Button House. As a way to subside her guilt while also trying to ensure they continue to have the best possible afterlife with her out of Button House, she says that she'll try and get it so the golf hotel thing will have a request from each of the ghosts. They all put in their wants, like Pat wants a movie night and some clubs, Robin wants a pilates class, the plague ghosts want the basement revamped (the idea of a sauna would eventually be put forward by the contractors), so on and so forth. However, Alison promises this before the possibility is even finalised, so she spends the whole episode running around and nagging the contractors to allow her to add these things, in the end basically saying "you might be buying this land and house off me, but it's mine. It has stayed in my family for decades, and I've housed so many friends and memories. I would like to have a say in what happens to it, even after I leave it behind." and after a bit of debate, it's allowed.

Episode 4: Over the course of these episodes, Alison and Mike have been trying their absolute best with trying to take care of Mia between the ghosts, dealing with contractors and selling Button house, but it is so so, so difficult. The plot in this episode is putting that as the centre, with Alison and Mike struggling to keep up with all the demands of being a parent. As Alison runs around, she pushes the ghosts aside and gets annoyed at them, and while the ghosts have come to terms with her leaving, they still want to spend as much time as possible with her before it's too late. However, them being so insistent makes Alison even more irritated, and this episode ends with Alison snapping at the ghosts due to her exhaustion and frustration. That's it. This episode ends on a bummer.

Episode 5: This episode is a continuation of being a bit of a joykill. The ghosts try to completely stay out of Alison's way, not wanting to further add to her stress again, and Alison feels incredibly guilty. Eventually she voices her fears to Mike, wondering if they'd be good enough parents to raise Mia (mirroring the parental freak out Mike had in series 5, honestly all parents go through it and it's so valid). Alison confesses that if they leave Button House and still can't take care of Mia, what would it be for? Would it be a mistake? How can they be so responsible when they're really, truly not? Mike tries to comfort her, but he's having the dame doubts and fears too. Remember how in episode 1 they said they'd be able to raise Mia without any help? Yeah that's bullshit, all parents need and deserve help to raise a kid because it's such an immensely fucking gigantic task and no two people should feel they have to tackle it alone. While they're both scared that asking Mike's mum will result in her being overbearing again, they give her a call and she comes over. She gives them both a heartfelt pep talk and remembers to not be too pushy, but her assistance allows Alison and Mike to have the first good sleep they've had in months. The ghosts, also having heard Mike's Mum soothing Alisons fears, give her the lecture on confidence she needs, saying that both her and Mike will be incredible parents, they already are in Button House and they might even get better once they leave (*cue snarky yet fond smiles*). Then, cue the end of the original Christmas special where Mike and Alison drive off, saying goodbye to the ghosts while they follow the car. And also the final scene when Alison and Mike are old and grey, and they check into the golf-hotel thing and it's all so so sweet and lovely.

And that's it, that's the end! I tried to basically make it how I'd see the team expand the story, keeping in all story beats and ideas that I'm personally not fond of but still think they're interesting and worth keeping in. But like, isn't it kind of better now that all the ideas presented get expanded on?? I feel like the awkward pacing in the Christmas Special was just because they had so much to say and no time to say it.

I'm so sorry for the absolute goliath of a post and I'm sorry if it's all over the place, I wrote this on the spot so it's sort of just rambling but I hope it sort of explains why while I do have some complaints, overall I did like the Christmas special, I just think it would've been better fully realised as multiple episodes instead of one

If you have any thoughts or ideas I'd lovveeee to hear them! I know the Christmas special is CRAZY divisive and I completely understand why but I'd like to hear your reasons too <3 let's just try and be respectful to the Ghosts team while we air our opinions though, at the end of the day this is their show and it honestly probably means more to them than it does to us.

Plus bfr I know we're all hurting, but it's honestly not that bad. It's not the way we wanted or expected it to go, but it's a great piece of television and it's their piece of television

Edit: Also I'm stupid but a bit of closure for the ghosts and Alison between them leaving and the final geriatric scene would be nice, but I guess it's not necessary. Like how it's stated before that the ghosts would have been miserable with Button House being a hotel, please show why it's perhaps less miserable than anticipated. The plague ghosts were a great example, but the upstairs ghosts probably get the brunt of the hotel life so seeing how they'd grow accustomed to it would be super interesting. Honestly, the only thing us fans want is to see the ghosts happy because it makes us happy, and admittedly it's a bit parasitic but we have grown to care for their wellbeing. Plus, showing a few cute hijinks would be, well, cute. Perhaps instead of a full episode where it intrudes on the pacing, it could be done as a separate short.

People say Alison would be miserable because she can't find a house without ghosts but that's not true, there's newer houses with less history with no ghosts, she just didn't like it because it was too quiet. Now I don't actually think this is a bad thing, it's just something that she has to adjust too. Also it's probably going to be less quiet now with Mia, so that issue is half solved. Honestly, now they have the money to chose a piece of land that has no ghosts and build their perfect dream house, so finding a suitable property probably isn't going to be that hard.

Of course she's gonna miss the ghosts and vice versa, but just because an ending is bittersweet and has some changes that everyone has to get used to doesn't mean it's a miserable disaster.

#bbc ghosts #bbc ghosts spoilers #bbc ghosts christmas special #bbc ghosts finale

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adanima · 1 year

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alice in borderland s2 thoughts

just finished s2 so immediate reaction thoughts. i've only watched the netflix series but i do know some manga details from their wiki pages. spoilers obviously

ann and kuina are so gay for each other. we deserved more of them

no seriously like the queen of clubs game?? deserved full coverage of seeing ann and kuina team up and knock everyone out

half of the people that got injured in ep 7 should have realistically bled out and died by the time arisu cleared the queen of hearts

as much as i'm happy ann returned to the real world, it makes no sense. they already showed her dead in the borderlands, meaning she wouldn't have been able to make a choice to stay in borderlands vs return meaning she shouldn't have woken up in the real world

akane and aguni - their scenes together were actually really touching. i didn't expect to like them as much as i did. the way i see it (and taking a quick look around how most people on tumblr see it, although the same can't be said for certain other social media platforms) it's very much a paternal relationship for aguni. for akane, it's ultimately familial but she's got a past of using her body (heavily hinted coercion) and is applying it here to a relationship she genuinely cares about and is mistaking it for romantic/sexual interest

aguni really got developed and humanized this season. half of it was akane, half of it was all the flashbacks/hallucinations with the hatter (aguni is totally gay for the hatter)

akane has a will of steel. girlie really dragged herself around while hugely injured twice. also the scene where aguni reaches out for her when she crawls to him and they both deny citizenship was really sweet

i liked the development in arisu and usagi's relationship. it felt natural and went at a realistic pace imo. i fully admit i squealed during the hot spring scene

i kind of wanted to see chishiya and kuina reunite in the borderlands. i know in the manga chishiya didn't care about kuina at all but in the series it seemed like chishiya did care a little. and kuina definitely cared about him. (tbh i headcanon them as MLM WLW solidarity)

speaking of differences from the manga, i think not including dodo was a missed opportunity. i read about him in between watching ep 6 and ep 7 and thinking of what we could have had with found family aguni-akane-dodo makes me kinda sad

still talking about the manga, i don't think the series relayed the idea of citizens and the current king/queen/jacks being the "victors" of former stages of games well enough. maybe at least one flashback showing kyuma, mira, king of diamonds dude, and king of spades dude all talking to each other about beating their face card games

honestly if netflix really wants to do a cash grab, they can do a prequel series following kyuma, mira, etc first arriving to borderland and how they cleared all their games. i'd watch it lol

seeing kuina reunite with her parents (both of them!) in the hospital was a tearjerker. no other notes there, just full on tugging at the heartstrings

last, but i have to say it - the queen of spades makes me feel some type of way

#aib #my ramblings #mine: *#mine: meta

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miiserableee · 2 years

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( POLAR MYSTIQUE ) ▸ TRES : ! ( dos ) / ( quatro )

scaramouche × fem!reader ! ( summary ) in which two persistent people's story is shared and discussed , a hopeless sinful love finally dimming its dwindling light . ( mentions ) of reader having an older brother , being perfect , smart athletic u know the drill , xiaoven ! unrequited feelings ! rejection ( xiao receiving from reader , sob ) toxic (?) relationships ! ooc xiao , venti , scaramouche ! drunk reader ! reader w/ abandonment issues ! reader kind of a bro-con ! reader is weak to alcohol ! this is uh , kind of in a 2nd person viewpoint of xiao ! transparent cheating ? xiao mentioned to be in love with reader and venti ? ( 7k words ) modern!au!

also might feel like a xiao x reader cause , cause yes i kinda felt like writing him these days i hab no idea why , using him as a semi-reference for a character im doing in a orig taglish series maybe one of the reasons but yes , im getting off track again . MIGHT FEEL LIKE A XIAO × READER IF U SKIP CHAPTER UNO & DOS ! cringe level of this broke my records so beware ! yes , please-ism .

𖥼 , MESSY STRAYED BLOOMING YOU'VE DONE !

HE STARES . at his phone's screen . he's been staring since earlier actually . almost looking as if he's glaring at it now . what exactly was the object of such serious peering ? well , it's one of your messages . a hastily typed , come if u can—!! standing as the last message in said message box . he had been staring at it , even got so mad when a classmate of his , taking the same class asked him why he was so occupied . well , mad wouldn't really fit it , enraged maybe , his amber eyes gleaming darkly at that guy's greens . xiao was sure the classmate with a name he had never heard or bothered remembering before felt offended and scared enough to spout half-baked insults as he drags away his things to flee .

was in such a hurry that he didn't know his bag wasn't zipped and most of his pens dropped down the white of the marbled flooring . xiao didn't bother going to fetch the pens and chuck it back that guy's bag or something . he just pushes his phone away on the large of the desk . the lecture hall , now empty , the lecture ending about a few dozens of minutes ago . his last class was this one so he didn't bother packing up right away . not like he even did put out any of his things . no more class seem to be planning on using this hall for now too . he grunts .

leaning back his head on the seat , staring at the ceiling and muttering unintelligible nothings . "Should I go ?" he sucks on his tongue and settles it between his teeth . "I shouldn't ," remembering your face and to keep himself from biting into the poor pinkish pierced muscle , he just shuts his eyes . inhaling deeply . "Wanna see her ."

"Really ?" ticklish against his pale skin were trails of hair , all soft and smooth , smell all too familiar for him to feel wary . he sighs . the question floating around until he catches up with it , a butterfly net , snuggling it in a jar with his answer , "Hm , sorry ." he helplessly mutter , eyes of greens , almost too blinding , seemingly flash a set of relief . venti chuckles , pressing a kiss unto his forehead , "It's fine ."

xiao sighs at the feeling of those lips pressing up at a space on his tattoed skin , almost sending tingling electric volts in him . venti pulls him up from how he slouch himself into his seat . his black coat straightening up , his sleeveless turtle neck suddenly having him feel , just a teensy bit , stuffy . chains dangling and earrings gleaming with the lights suddenly emitting , the clouds are making way . the smell of apples slapping his worries away . "Go , pick her up . I'll be waiting at the cafe ." there wasn't a hint of worry . a hint of doubt . a hint of envy .

and as much as that should impale xiao , it relieves him .

"I'm sorry ." he so repeats , venti giggling one last time , one last squeeze on both his palms before muttering a low , "As I said , it's alright !" xiao smiles softly at the reassurement , though of course , not at all convinced , he knew he had to turn a blind eye to it , again , like he had been doing for two years on start and end . since , deep rooted feelings aren't that easily erased . grabbing his phone and slinging his sling bag over his shoulder , he was ready to go .

"I'll get going now ."

the considerably bubbly alcoholic nods and wave . watches as his lover turns his back to leave . a low hum leaving him as he fetches his phone from his own coat's pockets . "Ah , I forgot to the end the call ."

"So it seems ."

venti laughs , a bit heartily , quite not what diluc wanted to hear but he kept his mouth shut . this wasn't his business , none of his business . he sighs against his phone . venti knew what was coming , he even has his answers ready . "I didn't at all think you'd be this generous of a being ."

"I'm not ." venti grins , his tone lively , voice full of blissful melody . not even a hint of melancholy . despite what come may , despite the potential tragedy . diluc strikes a light glare , maybe intended for his regular costumer , but only ever landing on an empty seat on the other side of the counter . "Then are you just foolish ? Allowing him to remain by your side despite how he's already admitted of having feelings for someone else . It's either some bad case of over brimming stupidity or generosity ."

diluc pauses , oh right , he doesn't have a say in this . his sentence ended with an obvious falling cut , venti doesn't say a thing for a while . an unlikely thing for him to do with that loose mouth . he's always been a talker , be it drunk or sober . "It's neither ." he finally answers , stepping down the stair case to leave the hall . "I'm just sure ." diluc rolls his eyes .

"That he doesn't have a chance !"

venti would also comment on his tones and choice of words and voicing but , he doesn't really mind , so long as he pushes his message on . he needed to be pushed on with that message too . to say that he wasn't worried , would be a lie , really . xiao is one to be rather devoted . be it by the act of loving or hating , doing anything . it's hard to say that he'd even be able to get over you . seeing as , you've rejected the guy already but there he was still .

helplessly in love with you .

maybe even , stupidly in love with you . venti would hate on the thought , on the idea of his lover's persistence , but that devotion was also the reason he fell in love with him . venti couldn't say no when xiao asked , no , begged for him to not leave . but in truth , he didn't want to leave him either .

he even went as far as to act like he wouldn't mind you being in their relationship . like a throuple per say . you were one lovely girl after all , it's hard to not trip , not fall for one like you . especially applicable theory to one like xiao . if he was really giving , then he would've given xiao to you , done something to make things for you two work . seeing as how things with you and scaramouche is going , it wouldn't be that hard to forcefully make you turn over a new leaf .

turn over past feelings and start developing new ones . but venti didn't . venti couldn't . it'd hurt , hurt so bad . he can only hope that you wouldn't somehow find the path to this turning over a new leaf maze shit , that'd be bad . super bad .

just as bad as how xiao's feeling right now . heart raging in his ribcage , somewhat pounding and hitting its veins within said premise that he so vividly felt it . he shakes his head , he hasn't even seen you yet . just why is he so excited ? well , there is the idea that he'd be able to see you again . considering how you were so occupied with things these last few weeks he couldn't really get a hold of you , not like he tried to anyways . with his circumstances , even if he could , he still really shouldn't .

y/n l/n

im at the benches near our department !

are you sure abt picking me up ????

i can go by myself !

a feeling akin to that of buds of cotton blooming into his chest , he imagines how you'd say those messages in person . probably with small expressions and barely any big-on emotion . he doesn't bother reply . already seeing you seated by one of the benches . still staring at your phone , probably waiting for him to reply now that he's got it on read . hm , he should walk to you faster .

he does . almost sprinting to you .

"Hey ." almost a whisper , his voice sounded as so . but you heard him , he's made his presence known , holding you by your shoulder . crisp looking top , looking a bit crumpled . you turn to him , already knowing who he was , a look of mid glee proposed to him . he scanned your face , amber eyes sticking at your visage . you didn't mind , immediately standing and having his hand feel lonely with the way it didn't have your warm shoulder to clasp on anymore .

"You're not wearing a coat ." he says , it's cold season , he would've said as well . you just smile , "I like feeling cold ." and he nods , he's heard you mention that before , but he can't help but worry , seeing as today it's particularly really cold . he planned to take off his coat , put it over your shoulders , have his scent mixing with yours . but you hold at the back of his hand before he can , "You don't like the cold ." you say , looking at him with the words , so don't give me your expensive looking coat , etched at your e/c eyeballs .

he chuckles , you must've caught glimpse of his bare arms under the thick of said coat . "Hm ." putting it back on , you whisper a "Let's go ?" which he answered with a silent nod . "I'm reaaaally sorry you had to go , the cafe I work in is really weird . Having such requirements mandatory for us employees to meet ." you whine , undeniably , sounding as though you felt bothered , which was expected . you only ever felt such sensation during moments you felt like you're bothering others . he doesn't keep silent , knowing that you'd go on and on and bury yourself too deep again .

"It's alright , classes ended early and I had tons of free time ." he mouths , the cold fogging up the air he breathed out , "Venti too , he ," pausing to stare aside and breathe in this time , you patiently wait . "His ended earlier than mine so he went ahead to the cafe ." you glance at him before nodding , bottom lip chilling between both lanes of teeth , "Did you bring your motor bike ? Are we going to take the bus ?"

since the store is about three long ass streets away . though he knew you knew he doesn't do buses , you still put it out there . as if knowing he would ride on one if ever he has to for you . he shakes his head , the thought drifting away with the shaking . "I bought a car last week ." he says , which you just smiled at , "Nice ! Does that mean I can hit up a ride ? Or do I go by bus ?" your questions could be regarded idiotic and unexpected to be questioned by one of your kind , someone supposedly acing the hardest exams of every difficult class . but he liked the contrast .

"Yeah , it means you get to hit up a ride ." he answers , noticing soon then that your attention wasn't on him anymore , as normal as that is for him from you , he still opt to know the reason for your distraction . and won't you look at that , it's an arcade machine . a claw machine to be precise . mounds of soft looking stuffed toys inside , animals like bunnies , cats and what others there are , all in pastel light colors . shining were they , and he bets you were blinded enough by the sheen that you forgot all else . just staring at it . he stares too .

couldn't find anything special about it . but it seems that you have . so he should probably try and find it too . to be better in the field of understanding you , to better himself enough to compensate for the years he couldn't get to spend with you , for the mere reason that fate decided you meet him too late . literally , too late .

"Can I try ?" you ask , pointing at the machine and he looks at you before slowly nodding , why are you asking him ? it isn't like he owned the thing . he had a few of the kind at home but he obviously wouldn't own something so cute-looking . he lets it slide seeing how cute you are simply pleading for him to tell you that yeah , you can , go ahead . is it some sort of wealth-rank complex ????? he just watches you clutch at the joy sticker , the red nub being a stopper . you held unto it so tightly he almost felt bad for said part .

moving the crane , you seem to want the meaty cat one , almost looking like some low budget edition totoro , but he keeps his mouth shut . watching you push the button looking all sure that you'd get it . the way it didn't at all grab the thing and just lifted back up looked akin to how quickly the edges of your lips risen , dawned down at the sight . he stares , "One more time ." but oop , you failed again . maybe there are some things ms. perfect can't do . though he didn't expect this one since you often frequent an arcade somewhere near the area . he figured you still haven't gotten the hang of it .

"Let me try ." he offers , which you look at him questioning at first at before your jaw slacked upon some inner realization . boy he wished you didn't just think what he thinks you did . you make way though . and decidedly , he was now the maneuver of the machine . the machine's sound effects as it moves the crane almost sounded like screeching as he moves the joy sticker , the machine anticipating the chances of ripping you off slipping . said machine had amazing future-looking skills ! the crane lands ! and the claw ? snatched that cheap ass totoro ! you were silently gaping as it moved from where the low budget built totoro is , to that open slot . when it was on the price out you looked at it with a look of holy shit . almost as if you've just seen michael jackson rise from the dead . xiao was the one to take it from the slot .

also was the one that handed it over to you , its size being just , perfect ! you couldn't believe he actually got it on the first try , or so he thought you thought from the way you looked . you did mention a few times , that you take three to four tries to get one stuffed toy .

he would've bought the machine and given it to you then and there instead but with how you look now by just the toy itself , maybe it was wise that he didn't at all propose such idea aboard . "You don't want it ?" he questions , as you just let him flail it between you two . you took it at hand right away , "Man , that was so cool ! Thank youuuu !" he shyly nods , but he bets that nod deemed like one of his usual ones , which he'd prefer .

"Yeah , let's get to my car ." he pushes you gently with a hand pressing at your shoulder since time seem to have meant nothing to you anymore as soon as the toy landed on your palms . guiding you to his said car . you just blatantly follow .

"Pretty car . It suits you ." you fastened your belt , you tried at least . where the fuck is it . you seem to fume out . he waits for you to put it on and just like with the claw machine he just offers to help you get it over with , though this time there was no warning . just putting an arm in front and finding the thing quickly . fastening it over you and you thank him again .

"Venti helped , picking it out ." you nod , holding the stuffed toy up your bag down your lap . "How's things going for you ?" he starts the engine , "Alright , Diluc's new bar near the area is opening up tonight . Been helping out ." looking back to get the car out of parking . "Mr. Ragnvindr opened up a new branch ?"

"Mhm hm , the one we went to two years ago had been doing well so he had a chance to open up a new one by the opposite area of it ." he starts to drive , and he was glad he picked up on how quite quickly . "Nice , are you gonna start working there too ?"

"Nope , the one we went to two years ago is nearer my dorm , but I'll be working there for a bit after the opening to , hm , he said something about attracting customers ." unlike him who didn't at all understand what that meant yet just agreed to it cause fuck further discussions , the context seem to click on you quicker than the moment he just agreed to it . "Mr. Ragnvindr sure is smart ." xiao doesn't at all try and question what you mean anymore and just drove . "What about you , how's it been going ?" you shrug , "Been alright too . Same old same old ." you smile , "Thank you for coming again , must've sucked . You could've gone to a date with Venti or something ."

he blinks , turning the wheel , "We'll consider our time there as a date , don't worry about it ." you laugh at this , shoulders jittering , "Me third-wheeling your moments , yay ." though sounding sarcastic , with the laughs your emitting , he couldn't tell . "Throuples exist you know ." he mutters , you hear . "Yehp ." he knew you knew what he meant , but you shoved it down the back of your head . just as he should have .

"We're here ."

and so you were . the drive went on with more talking , not like the silence was in any way awkward . but he felt the need to hear your voice as much as he can , so he kept going on with questions masked with a sense of concern . what a joke . though aware , you answer anyway .

it was the usual small cafe , in front of the small bookstore , beside the antique shop . resting rows of flowers in small black pots , some hanging , some just there on the floor . he knew you watered those plants during your shifts , you also are the one who picked out most of the seeds . you've said once that the pay here is good , due to being run by some wealthy old married couple , living by the same street . i sure am surrounded by rich people . you joked once .

he walks the path of shining stones , they were flat but you'd mistake them for being bumpy . he twists the knob of the glass door , the sign welcome ! swaying and the chime bells ding . he steps aside and urges you to go in first , you just smile at this and does just as he motioned you to do .

you're walking in as a fellow customer today . bringing two friends in . to somehow bring up the sales a bit . though this cafe is already pretty famous around here . maybe the bringing of a friend is to pledge some sort of loyalty within the employees ? for the employees to see more benefits since for the friend they bring the prices lowers ?

ah well . he couldn't tell . he just wishes to see you in that usual shop-uniform though . you always looked cute in it . though with now looking the most comfortable , maybe its for the better . "Y/NNNNNN ~ !"

the shouting of your name was indeed loud , but melodious nonetheless , you seem pleased with the welcoming gesture of pressing hugs as well . "Venti !" your take on his greeting is well , pathetic , but venti did not mind , simply snuggling more into you . oh how xiao wished he can do that too . "I missed you so much ! It's been real long !" he presses on and xiao was now busy wondering if the jealousy pent in his heart right now is because you're hugging his boyfriend , or because his boyfriend is hugging you .

"It really has been long ! I missed you too !!" you beam back , its been like , 2 months since the two of you got together after all . part of the reason why venti was real hyped to this bring a friend or more thing . which xiao felt totally not so jealous about , totally . venti pressing kisses on your cheeks which you just giggle at and in terms of giving back you just press your cheeks against his , xiao stared . if you were dating , could he do that too ? he shakes his head . fucker , venti's right there .

"Anywho , I'll take your orders . Which here do you two want ?" you seem to be planning to take the menu for them to pick but xiao got a hold of your shoulder again so to speak . feeling like your shoulders were the only place he's allowed to lay hands on . "I'll go ." he offers again , stealing a glance at venti who just excitedly puts up thumps ups . your e/c eyes bore into his ambers before you cease to a light grin and nod , "Mmkay , I'll pay for my share though ."

he'd like to pay for the three of you , but seeing venti just shrugging and doing those just shoo shoo and do as she says gestures , perhaps he should just let you pay this time .

the girl in clothes you usually wore , behind the counter , looked particularly flustered when he was the one to take order after the earlier guy . he bats no mind to the blushing or gushing of hearts and speech bubbles of kyakya !! he also just waits there by the other side since supposedly that's where you wait for your order .

he looks back and sees you and venti talking , your h/c hair drifting with its strands here to there . he wonder why some still fall off though you've got it tied already . he stares at the way you giggle , your eyes looking the most lively . you are the kind to mirror your companion at a certain degree after all .

he stares , now that he thinks about it , when did these sinful feelings start to explode in him . he couldn't really pinpoint when , or how . it just came about . like the dwindling sunlight outside , you just engulfed him like that . a feeling so sudden , a feeling he should have expected , a feeling so , so faltering . even he didn't get most of what he just thought . but it felt like that .

he's seen you a lot before though . a lot . one would think , venti was the bridge and he was forced to cross to get on good terms with you but it was the other way around . xiao was the one to have met you first , both taking unneeded but frequent classes . he always finds himself seated somewhere near you , and he never even intended to do as so back then . he's seen you so diligently listening into classes . he's received multiple pens he's dropped and you picked up . it came to a point where you probably noticed just how much he's observing you every class every other day . and that noticing led to you smiling and nodding to him , accommodating his existence . which he somehow felt fuzzy about .

he started talking to you after then , started going on about your notes , if he could borrow and copy them . if you'd like to meet venti , if you'd want to have lunch together , if you had classes after , what major you're taking , all those and for what ? because you were poking at his interest .

poking so unintentionally .

the poking pushed buttons , buttons that switched him from being the epitome of winter , to that of autumn , then somehow naturally shoving him to be one with spring . he doesn't speak much to anyone , not really finding the benefit of such trivial exhange of words . he believed that all the changes he's built were enough and all just for venti . but you came . and smashed such belief to millions of pieces he's struggling to find and put to one again .

he's not one to talk about things like , I've actually grown taller you know . to someone like you , who just looks at him surprised and laughs . he doesn't know but somehow letting you know about certain things concerning him felt natural . he liked to share his day's happenings , especially those days were you two couldn't get even a class in together .

he didn't think it was love .

considering his past with some friends , he thought he was finally receiving his luck with you . he enjoyed being with you , a friend . a good friend . someone he liked to protect , some he liked to be around with all the time ! but it was just a farce set up by his mind , and that farce soon fell down enough , "You like her ." it hurts that venti was the one that said that .

xiao felt like a part of his heart crumbled .

he liked you ? looking at it with that sense in mind maybe he did ? does that explain why he get the feeling of wanting to hug you ? of wanting to hold your hand ? of wanting to always be there for you ? of wanting to be the one owning the shoulder you cry and lean on ? is that why he felt so infuriated to see that all those , those are all scaramouche in one , for you ?

infuriated enough that he muttered about it to venti .

his boyfriend . his lover . his significant other . does that make him a piece of shit ? loving another ? do they need to break up now ? because he likes someone else ? but he still loves venti . he still loves him . he still do . he knew he shouldn't like you , he doesn't have a chance or even hope that you'd be able to feel the same anyway , and he was sure he loved venti more .

so he begged .

looking so regretful . knowing full well the thorns of his words . knowing full well the impact . knowing full well that pity could be a stronger feeling than pain . he still remembers how venti looked at him with a look so accepting , "Hm , I'll wait , yeah ?"

yet two years passed , and what he wished was just some infatuation blast , continued to persistently last .

it was an endless struggle of not knowing what is hurting him anymore . is it that you loved another and would never look at him that way ? or is it that he loved another despite the presence of his significant other for long half a decade ? venti never outright said it , even proposed something along the lines of forming a poly-relationship , all for supporting xiao with this transparent cheating , but he knew , somewhere along those wordings ,

venti was losing all those godly patience too .

running low , while his love for you continuously grow , he felt disgusting . disgusted and repulsed , at himself , at his feelings . for not having properly account it to what it is , for underestimating it . it wasn't supposed to be that hard to let you go .

seeing as he had the right heavy reasons to do so .

"How are you and Scaramouche doing ?" venti downright asks , the topic at hand was more interesting than all discussions going on this evening , interesting enough that it pulls xiao off of his though trail of thinking . it was getting too dark there anyway . "Same same ." your answer is always as doused with mundane as this so called special deluxe , worth fucking almost 250 mora and for what . maybe for the dandelion wine infused ganache drizzled over it . chocolate drippings he's been avoiding like the plague .

"Still not on the dating stage ?" he asks again , xiao continues to munch on the ice cream , he hopes someone creates almond tofu flavored cream iced and frozen too . maybe that'd taste liken shit , like he's feeling right now . "I heard he's just broken up with a girl from the Business Department ." that was a way to say , I can't possibly do anything right now . And it's obvious he wouldn't be advancing anytime soon either . which is just an assumption of a thought , really . but xiao has it canon-ized in his mind as he steal a glance at you sip your smoothie .

"How sad , it's surprising that you've invited us though . I thought you'd bring the wanderer and Scaramouche for sure ." unlike xiao is venti whom was scraping all of the custard ice cream for it's alcohol-contaminated parts . "Yeah , since they originally always hang out here . More than us too ." xiao contributes into prying more out of you . since you're like that .

it's either they shovel the 6 feet of soil for you to fish out at the presented coffin what they want to hear , or you just leave it to rot there and become fertilizer to then help grow your urge to keep everything under your deepest depths within .

"Scara is ," you weren't one to be particularly gentle , but you weren't at all that harsh , "Being a piece of shit right now so I didn't really feel like asking him for this favor , yeah , hm ." or maybe that's just one of xiao's canon-ized assumption right there , though he'd have the guts to actually bring up that isn't he already a piece of shit on a regular basis ?

he didn't at all have his guts steeled enough right now to actually be able to handle having your pretty self down drunk again and just by arm's length . he closes his eyes again and sighs . you continue chugging at one more huge glass , the numbing to you so quick that the burn on your throat probably wasn't even a thing to bother expressing or feeling anymore .

venti just had to invite you to the grand opening of the bar mentioned earlier . well , seeing how sad you looked earlier and how careless you look now , maybe it was for the better . still though , why does he have to be the one to watch over you . he's been doing his best to not spend more than 3 hours with you today but venti just had to—

he heaves in a breath now , and tugs at the tie of the uniform he wore . he would rather start blending mixes of cocktails right now than feel his innards sear along the scalding burning feeling in him . a bit more pull at his once thick rope of patience , and he'd really flip those innards of his out for you to see . maybe the idea that he's feeling like that would finally get you to consider a life with him .

it's not like he can do that . it's not like he can do anything . even when he's the one here with you right now , he knew you were thinking of someone else . how ? well , you've been mumbling about it since earlier , slurred whines and complaints becoming more and more dented in his brain with all the repeating .

he pushes down a hand of yours that plans to chug another mug , he's heard you speak of the foam looking rather tempting and yummy but no , he can't let your liver suffer any more . "I think that's enough , Y/n ." he says , also pushing aside the other mugs , some spilling .

"It , it's not ! I need more ! Why are you putting it , putting it away ! Gimme !" two years ago , you were a crying drunk . two years after , you're an angry drunk . brows furrowed and lips down on a displeased frown , he stared , your puffed cheeks , all red looking cute . "Any more and you'd pass out ." he says , and you scoff , "No , I won't ! Liar ! I drank like , like 105677 mugs . . . last year ! The fuck you mean pass out ?????"

if that was true then you wouldn't have just passed out you would've probably died on spot . he says nothing and just shows you a bottle of water . his stretched arm on your waist as you leaned down the huge brown table , pushing you back as you try to reach the mugs . "I no want that tastless shit ."

"I bet the beer doesn't taste like anything anymore to you too ."

"I want the burn !"

"Can you still feel the burn ?"

". . . No , but I bet I will , I will when I drink one more mug !" well , aren't you stubborn . "The more you drink , the more it blurs and numbs everything . Have some water and sober up . Let's get you home ." you finally take the bottle and jugged up the whole contents , how , cool .

"It's no good , Xiao ." you sulk , crushing the plastic of the bottle and straightening your arms to then fall into the table , your face stuck on the surface . he retreats his arm , "What is ?"

"I'm not forgetting , I want to , forget ." he hears you sniffing , crying again . he guessed that in the end , you fall into crying drunk after all . "That Scaramouche told you he doesn't care whichever or whoever it is you date ?"

"Hm , it's so , annoying ."

"Why ?"

"Because I like him ."

he knows . why'd he even ask . "Right , like him . You like him ." he wished the bitter in his tongue remained there and didn't at all slip itself out and covered the whole of his statement . "Why not tell him ?" since , he obviously likes you back . you shake your head , "He'll reject me ." he fucking won't . he settles down the way his breath clogged in on his throat , chains clamping at his heart , now also , heating up . "How about this ," you immediately look back at him , your cheek pressing at the table now , half-lidded eyes looking drowsy enough that he lost himself in them for a second . "You don't forget things when you get drunk right ? But it's also common that people forget things they do and say when they're not sober ."

no . stop . stop talking .

"Are you telling me to , confess to him ? Then if he rejects me I can just , act like I was just drunk and it was just a joke and I didn't even at all remember it even if by fact I do and with that method I can be free of the wonder that he might reject me ?" for a minute , he was sure you were sober , not drunk , not wasted , sober . he bites at the inner parts of his bottom lip . it bled , bled a lot . "Yeah ." this is for the better .

you slowly sat up properly . "Xiao , you so weird ."

you laugh lowly , "Very nice though ."

"You said that before too ."

he felt his heart shrink , his entire being falter , his inner sanity walking out , he heaves in a breath . "You said that before too ." he repeats . he remembers it well , the first time he confessed . the first time you joked to him with doubt as a sideline , the first time you looked like you wished he was just joking . he still remembers the way you rejected him , not saying that you liked anyone else , not at all mentioning anyone else , not trying to just push your way out of it through someone else .

you looked like you wanted to cry back then .

when you said that you didn't want him to like you . when you said that he shouldn't like you . when you said that he's wrong for liking you . but still told him that he was nice , that he was kind , that you liked being with him . but any more tha friends or pals , is not in your options or choices . because he had venti . and you aren't supposed to be the one receiving all that attention and affection .

he knew you'd say that . but he still hoped .

he hoped hard enough that even when you crushed it with your words and statements and attempts of leaving , he still couldn't let go . "You have Venti , Xiao ." there's no way you were drunk . he shakes his head , "He already was alright with the idea of us being a throuple , some poly relationship , he said he was—"

"You know he doesn't mean that ."

of course he does , of course , of course , but couldn't you just , "Sorry ." he mumbles , his head dropping down , his eyes falling to stare at the way his fists have clenched . you have always been like this , all calm and direct , the faltering you once showed just bringing alight another form of interest .

"There are , two . Two Xiaos . Man , can't see straight anymore . . ." you meant that , literally . the absence of the alcohol in your system coming back in your veins with tenfold impact , you jelly plop your head and whole weight back on the table . still supposedly facing him . he looks at you , "I bet ." he release a heavy breath , said air let out probably had all his feelings drenched along every molecule of it , he'd like it if that was actually happening .

but no , it wasn't .

it stays there , no matter what he does , no what he thinks he need to do . like how he stays there looking at you , he's got his hair all messy now from the many times he's been ruffling it . "Let's get you home ?" you huff , turning your head to the side . "Home , naur ." your slurring more evident now .

"Call . . . Scaraboobies !"

his eyes squint , his heart jitters , he loses it , but just breathes it out . "Can't you do it ?"

"Can't . See straight anymore ."

"Hand it over ."

and like a suddenly called on student from their day-time dozing off , you shuffle your whole entire outfit for said phone . hands it to him and he immediately goes to dial and phone him . the ringing almost sounded like the sand drizzling down the sand glass . he kept it in , just a bit more , maybe he wouldn't answer , maybe he can be the one to take you home .

the ringing stopped , and a few faint cussing and laughing was heard . xiao bites back a cuss . "Hey , uh , Scaramouche . Yeah it's , hm , us again ." he says , almost sounding too tired that anyone that hears him just heads on to patting his back , a good job to keep him going . "Xiao ? Why are you on Y/n's ," he pauses , realization hitting him . "She drank again ." xiao nods , "She drank again ." repeating his words , tone just a bit more sure , though somehow scaramouche sounded sure-r . "And I'm supposed to drive her home ."

xiao turns and sees you expectantly staring at him , silent and just looking . he turns back to the front , "She seem to want you to . But if you're busy ," he silences himself for a moment , to somehow indent the loud of the one on the other line's background . "I can do it ." scaramouche scoffs , a few clinking heard and the background noises diminishes with a bleep . "She most likely wishes you not to even dare ."

what confidence . not wanting to admit how right scaramouche is , xiao turns to look to you again and your head's already turned back to the other side . he clicks his tongue . "Right ."

"I'll be there in a bit . Don't touch her ."

it's not like he would . well , he could . scaramouche ends the call , which somehow pisses xiao off . how can he have the actual assurance that xiao wouldn't touch you—ah , he groans . pushing back his weight and leaning on the black couch ,

"Confess to him ."

"Is that an order ?"

"If it is would you do it ?"

"Nooope ."

you both keep silent for a while , since he says nothing more , which is rather unsettling , not for you but for him . you seem to have dozed off . he watches as quickly as it happened , how his putting of his coat that have already draped down your waist back up your shoulder blades , have been disregarded by it falling down naturally down the couch when he arrived . you were dazed , looking drunk , smelling drunk and sounding drunk , "Scara !" which the man of said name just scowls at . "Y/n ." and you beam at him , holding on his forearms as he held unto your elbows .

and xiao watches . heart aching , eyes wanting to wander away , stray the gaze yet he didn't . he's seen scenes far more worst , worst being more affectionate and loving looking . this much shouldn't hurt , but it did . way more too . he notices that you were about to be pulled away , like the first night , like all those time . now was the only time he had the courage to try and make you stay , the way he latched at your opened palm too sudden , his skin touching yours bringing shivers .

"Hn ?" you look to him and he sees that familiar glow in your eyes , shining bright , like tides so high , since her moon has come . he wince at the revelation , hand clutched , not wanting to let go . but maybe it's in those eyes of yours , e/c and doe , a lot different from the dead dull looking ones , your pair seemingly glossed . reflecting his stature . reflecting his pleading eyes of amber . ah , he has to let go .

"You don't wanna go home ?" scaramouche aids , and your drunken eyes shift , the confusion's drip faltering and there it was again . that gaze , so comforting . "I'll get going now , Xiao . Thanks for today ." he would mistake you sober , if it weren't for the way you sway back your legs and wave your hands at him , as scaramouche finally pulls you out of that secluded area , into the crowd , and away from him . away from xiao .

he watches , the partying swarm you disappeared in .

SCARA-LiNE ! / WORK NAVi ! 7k ampota (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

falling in love with you , the sweetest sin he's ever committed . he doesn't regret it , as wrong as it is . he's glad it was you . it's hard , knowing that since the beginning , he had no chance , really , none . he could be everything you want him to be , the kind of guy that would bend himself for your own wishes and conveniences , would you love you for all your worth .

he would do everything , anything , whatever there is to do . however he can , whenever he can . he'd give you everything , offer you all things , there was nothing he couldn't give , nothing he's lacking . all that , he was willing to sacrifice just for you to give him a chance . but he knew ,

the moment your eyes first glistened with tears right in front of him , the moment your e/c's shone in a manner that ached at his heart and slowed its beating . he figured , that even if by chance he was capable of saving you from an ending world , you'd just give him that same look , and choose to meet an end with someone else .

perhaps this was one of the reasons why he's fallen for you . for being so capable of a love so stubborn , a love so persistent , a love that wouldn't give up no matter the preface or epilogue . perhaps he wanted to be at the receiving end of that .

he shuts his eyes close . if by chance you and that lucky guy still aren't a thing by the end of this day , he'll really consider being a bit more forceful .

"Would that also mean you'd finally let her go if they do end up dating by the next time we hear from them ?" venti can't read minds , xiao just mumbled the last part out unconsciously . golden eyes dim at the thought , glass being wiped almost cracking but he heaves a breath out . trying to calm himself , some part of himself at least .

"Hm ." he'll try . for you . for him too .

maybe this was his karma , for falling in love again while being in a relationship . for not wanting to let any of the two go . for persistently being selfish . for being so head-strong . he really , should've thought things through before he associated anything he felt for you with such heavy phrase like , i love you .

#x female reader #x fem!reader #genshin impact #genshin x reader #polarmystique!scaraseries!#genshin scaramouche #scaramouchexreader #scara x reader #xiao #scaramouche

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kinetic-elaboration · 8 months

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August 20: Scream V

Limping my way along to the end of the Screams. Thank fuck there's only one more left because... meh.

I had high hopes for 5 and B told me he liked it--but he also hasn't seen 1-4, which is obviously a huge caveat.

...I didn't like it. I didn't. I wish I did. I tried.

There were aspects of it I liked and sequences I liked. I thought having the first victim survive was a good twist. I thought the new-teen cast, though they had sort of a rocky start (being introduced and then sidelined for a huge portion of the movie...) stepped it up in the party scene. Here we started seeing some real twists on the meta-slasher genre that, apparently, doesn't have that many twists: that knowing the rules means knowing that anyone can be the killer, and thus that they should all distrust each other. That was smart, interesting, and new.

I also liked at least some of the Dewey scenes, mostly when there were glimmers of the Real Dewey ("I shouldn't have sent that smiley face"). I also liked the boyfriend. For most of it. Again, carrying the entirety of the "comedy" part of comedy-horror on his back. And at first I did like the sisters, though I... soured on them as time went on.

Also, I appreciate that this movie is like Justice for Stu lol. There! were! two! killers! in! Scream!

Here's the stuff I didn't like:

First off, I don't think there's any difference, functionally, between sequel and requel and this word is stupid. This is a sequel. It follows from the events of the previous films. There's a big gap, enough time to introduce a next generation, but it's all in the same timeline and universe. That's a sequel.

This shouldn't have been a sequel. Everything that made it a sequel and not a reboot dragged it down. Sam being a serial killer's daughter? Who cares. Tired. We don't even know who her mom was, and it just seemed... really shoe-horned in every way. Dewey being a sad, lonely, divorced ex-sheriff? Only acceptable if he comes back strong as the new sheriff and saves the day--and gets back together with Gayle. Gayle, being in the movie at all? That was Courtney Cox, fam, that wasn't anyone with a recognizable Gayle personality. Sydney being in it? A cameo.

None of these people or elements brought anything to the story. All they did was drag it down, drag it out, and take away focus from the new generation, who really were quite promising but never got a chance to shine.

The original characters are also part of the second problem, which is also part of the just-do-a-reboot argument: they've done this too many times. Sydney was hip to the routine in Scream II. It's now her 5th go around. She and Gayle know everything. To bring guns. To catch a fake out from the killer. To shoot in the head. Boring. Snooze fest. They're going through the motions and so is this movie.

These movies are extremely formulaic. I'm not... always against that because I think there's a comfort to watching slasher franchises, a comfort that comes from the formula, and if I'm getting bored, that's sort of my fault for watch 5 in a row over the course of 5 weeks. But it doesn't help when they are formulaic for the characters. They're bored; I'm bored.

My next issue: I've been feeling during this whole marathon that the series really is more horror than comedy, but at least the others had some comedic elements, even if they were deeply rooted in the constant meta analysis. This movie had almost no comedy at all. There were glimmers, again mostly in the form of meta jokes, but they were few and far between. (I had mixed feelings about Mindy. I thought her first monologue was a little too manic, but she grew on me.)

And a related issue: some parts of it were really damn depressing!! The biggest offender here is obviously Dewey's death. Look, not to be That Fan (apparently the knife wielding type but we'll get to that) but this genre is in the service of fan service. So why be so cruel to the characters who have largely held this franchise up for 4 films now? I was ready to shut the damn thing off when Dewey died. That was unnecessary. And to have him die after one scene with Gayle during which they basically admitted they would never work as a couple? Just throw ME off that cliff, this despairing, depressed, empty feeling is the exact opposite of what I'm looking for from these films. Meeting fan expectations IS okay you know??

(Aka did you learn nothing from killing Randy you FREAKS?)

I thought the Wes and Sheriff Hicks deaths were pretty depressing too, to be honest. First, that sequence is too long for characters who ultimately mean too little (a point related to the all the new kids get barely any screen time among them complaint above--I mean I don't really get who Wes was supposed to be, archetype wise?). And second, taunting a mom about her kid's death just to kill them both is, to me, a step of cruelty too far. I recognize this is really subjective and parents and kids lose each other in slashers all the time but it just... it bummed me out.

This is sort of a different point but I'll just stuff it in here: the Carpenter sisters... didn't hold up for me. I didn't understand what was happening there. They had an awful lot of screen time for a story that was pretty one-note and yet also I feel like there could have been more depth there, to justify their screen time. And maybe this is just the Adult in me but I really wanted someone to tell them that no kid is at fault for a parent leaving. Like that sort of pissed me off, that no one was around to correct Sam on that. Anyway, ultimately, I didn't connect to either of them sufficiently as Final Girls.

And finally, the killers.

How to put this?

Scream has a big problem, one that Amber acknowledged actually in this one, which is Ghostface is not the unkillable Michael Myers. Ghostface is very killable, he/she/they always dies, and then if there's another movie, there has to be another Ghostface. And yet on the other hand each of them is functionally the same. They're all utterly deranged. They're Movie Psychopaths (aka stereotypes of violent mental illness). Their brains are all warped, mostly by the meta, and they're all looking for the same thing: fame, and sometimes there's some personal beef wrapped in, like with Billy and Sydney's mom, or Billy's mom in Scream 2, or the brother in Scream 3. But all of them have the same laughing-psycho deranged demeanor. And with each movie I just feel increasingly like... how many more of them can there BE? If it weren't for half the movies not taking place in Woodsboro I'd wonder if it was something in the water.

And these two were lame. First of all, you can't blame "psycho fans radicalized on reddit" in the same movie as you kill off Dewey, that just seems like a personal affront. Second, "how can fandom be toxic"??? That's such a... it's like a line that's meant to be infuriating and I can't tell if I'm actually infuriated or meta-infuriated lol. I think it's... I think it's Stans-with-Reddit-brain-rot combined with Dewey's death and how shitty he and Gayle were treated. It's like, in the middle of this movie, we'll include something we know will make long term fans Big Mad. Then at the end, we'll place all the blame for everything on fans who got Big Mad about a beloved movie franchise and then lost their minds over it. Like, daring you to be mad and align yourself with the villains. It felt... mean, to me. Like spitting at fans for being fans.

And most importantly, ultimately my biggest issues with the Ghostfaces: Richie and Amber just don't have the Verve of the OGs. No one has, and the closest were the Ghostfaces of Scream 4 imo. Just like get Matthew Lillard to come in and teach these young people how to be Seriously Deranged, because they're not anywhere close.

I'd be more impressed by them if I hadn't seen Scream 1996. It's just that they're SO pale in comparison and I am SO bored of seeing laughing maniacs over and over.

That Amber lives in Stu's house could have brought like a little glimmer of Halloween-like supernatural horror, like the place itself is evil... but I don't know if Scream could pull that off.

As Sydney herself says, you can't get more derivative than this. I don't think Scream has 5 movies' worth of variations on the formula. I liked Scream 4 a lot and I think it was worth undoing the conclusion of Scream 3 for it but after that they probably should have stopped. Or at the very least gone the full reboot route, something more like Scream the Series, rather than bringing back Sydney and Gale to yawn through their relentless torture at the hands of the same violent dumbass with movie/internet/pop culture brain rot archetype that's always there to bother them, yet again.

I'll watch the sixth one. I'll watch VII when it comes out. I might take a break before VI. I don't know. This franchise is no Halloween.

#the year 2023 #2023: fandom thoughts #2023: movies

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bi-bard · 3 years

Text

Never - Winchester Brothers Imagine (Supernatural)

Title: Never

Pairing: Winchester Brothers X Platonic!Reader

Requested: by @shinestuart

Word Count: 1,084 words

Warning(s): torture, injury, cussing

Summary: (Season 11) It was stupid of the boys to believe that Amara was unaware of the one thing that could've killed her. Now, they had to face the consequences of dragging (Y/n) into the hunting world.

Author's Note: I kinda worked with my imagine "Milkshakes" more than anything else. I think it was where I most explicitly noted the reader as a weapon.

Hey! I did a rewrite of the ending of Supernatural. It took a really long time to complete, so it would mean a lot to me if you check it out. Here’s a link! (it’s on my personal account)

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I gasped as I woke up.

I looked around. It was a warehouse or an old factory. It was dark and empty. The windows were too high for me to see out of. I didn't see any light coming through them. It was nighttime.

There were candles surrounding the whole building. I wasn't pegging Amara for the "pay the electrical bill" type. She was definitely more of the, "make sure to set the mood" type.

I was tied to a metal cross. My arms spread out, wrists tied to either end. My legs tied together and to the pole behind me. There was another rope around my waist to hold me still.

Amara stood before me. Grace and power. The two elements that could perfectly instill fear. I pulled on the restraints on my arms.

"Hello," she greeted. "I believe you know my brother."

"Not personally," I bit back. I had only known them for a matter of months, but Sam and Dean had already impacted how I acted.

She chuckled.

I tugged on my restraints again.

"I know about you," she explained. "God's perfect weapon. Probably that only thing that could defeat me."

"You should be scared of me then."

"Oh, no," Amara held and hand out and I felt my throat closing. "I don't need to. First of all, the- admittedly complex- sigil carved into that pole will stop your powers. Second of all... I have an offer. You have two choices, you can die or... you work with me."

She stopped choking me. I coughed as I tried to catch my breath.

I looked her in the eye, "Go to hell."

Suddenly, she was right in front of me, grabbing my jaw so I couldn't move my head.

"What was that," she sneered.

"I said, 'go to hell,'" I replied. She let go of my chin. "I will not help you destroy the world."

"Why because it's so great?"

"Because the people I love are here."

"The people the Winchesters dragged you away from?"

I fell silent, clenching my jaw.

Suddenly, I was choking again.

"You have nothing keeping you here. Join me and I can give you a purpose. Teach you to use your gift."

She released her grip again. I spit in her face.

"No," I said with a shaky voice.

It felt like I took a phantom punch to the gut.

"Oh sweetie," she teased. "You are in for a long night."

--time skip--

She was right.

It felt like days of the same cycle. Hitting, choking, and then negotiating for me to join her.

I always said no.

I held onto my free will and was ready to face death for it.

My body was weaker now. Arms barely holding up, legs weak, my head hanging down.

I yelped when there was a sudden jerk on my hair.

"You could make this all stop," she taunted.

"Go. To. Hell," I repeated like I always had.

She growled at me and used her powers to grab my throat, "You ungrateful, cowardly, selfish little-"

Amara didn't finish her speech before she was thrown into the far wall behind me.

I could barely even process what was happening before Sam was in front of me, untying the ropes.

"Sam," I muttered, voice weak and head spinning.

"We're here, we've got you," he promised.

I reached out and grabbed his shoulders as he worked on the ropes by my legs.

"What's going on," I asked.

"I'll explain in a minute," he said.

Sam was then thrown across the room. I almost collapsed as disappeared.

I was frantic.

I pulled at the ropes around my legs, convinced that I was going to die in a minute. My legs were weak and probably had some blood flow cut off earlier.

"Hey, hey," Dean was at the side of the platform, helping me down carefully. "There you go."

"I got them," Sam promised, running over from wherever he had been thrown. "Go help Cas and Chuck."

Who the hell was Chuck?

He helped me into the backseat, "Are you okay?"

"I feel like one massive bruise," I muttered. He sat next to me, letting me rest on his shoulder. "You should go help them."

Sam shook his head, "No, I was told to protect you."

I nodded against his shoulder. I was getting tired after all that had happened.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "It was my idea to drag you into this world. I knew the risk but I was just so desperate to stop Amara that I... I didn't care."

"I'm okay," I moved so my chin was on his shoulder. "I just need to work more."

"You shouldn't have to carry this weight-"

"I wouldn't have agreed to go with you guys if I thought that," I cut him off. "I'm alright now, Sam. Don't blame yourself for this."

Sam didn't speak. I knew that he didn't believe me. But he didn't speak against me either. He just wrapped his arm around me and held me close to his side.

It was only a minute longer before the others came running out. Dean, Cas, and... that must've been Chuck.

"Who is that," I mumbled to Sam.

"You alright, kid," Dean asked as he got into the driver's seat. Sam didn't have time to answer my question.

"I'm alive," I replied. "Is Amara-"

"She vanished on us," he said. Cas got into the passenger seat and Chuck sat in the back with Sam and me.

"Here, let me," Chuck reached over a touched my forehead.

I took a deep breath as I felt myself healing.

"Better," he asked. I nodded, still tired and not getting off of Sam's shoulder. "I should introduce myself. I'm Chuck... or God."

"What," I asked, now overwhelmed. "You're... You're God?"

"He's telling the truth," Dean promised as he pulled out onto the road quickly.

"Woah," I muttered. "Some of your angels are dicks."

Chuck let out a laugh at my blunt comment. I saw the rest of the car tense up.

"Yeah... that's my fault."

"Oh, I know," I nodded. "Thank you... for helping them save me."

"You're welcome," he grinned at me.

I closed my eyes, relaxing against Sam's shoulder again, wrapping my arms around one of his. I slowly let myself fall asleep.

I knew this life was going to be hard when I first met the boys and I was ready for that. I'd rather it be me suffering than the rest of the world.

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

Masterlist

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folklore/evermore Writing Challenge (and Masterlist)

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masterwords · 2 years

Text

Give and Take

Summary: Derek is just counting the ways this time is better than the last time. Route 66 aftermath, a sfw sponge bath, no plot all sweet.

Warnings: none

Pairings: Hotch/Morgan

Words: 1.4k

Notes: I haven't written anything in a while and I'm not sure what this is...it isn't really a story, but it's cute. 50 Type of Kisses Prompt #33 - An unexpected kiss that shocks the one receiving it.

Read on AO3: soon

“Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give… it’s about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.” ― Rocky Balboa

Comparatively, this time is easy. He's been telling himself that every morning he wakes up in bed beside Aaron. (He's supposed to be in Chicago visiting his family, that's where everyone thinks he is and he doesn't feel guilty lying to them, not yet anyway.) One incision to care for, to clean and bandage up daily. Only one this time, not nine. Aaron shifts in the bed beside him, he's been sleeping almost constantly since they'd come home from the hospital, real sleep, no nightmares. The pain is deep, but the medication keeps it at bay and he's able to deal with it; he doesn't fight the pills, doesn't fight any of it. He likes to sleep on his stomach with a pillow right up against the flat expanse of his hips, says the pressure feels good against the deep ache that lives in his stomach, dictates his every movement. Derek can't remember anyone telling him he shouldn't sleep like this, so he allows it, it's not like he's ever alone.

They have a TV in their room now that keeps him busy in the quiet hours, occupies his mind so he doesn't drive himself crazy. Aaron can sleep all day and he'll turn his brain to mush with movies...right now he's halfway through Rocky, and he fully intends to slog his way through the entire series without moving. He listens to Sylvester Stallone mumble, but his eyes are trained on how beautiful and peaceful Aaron looks sleeping soundly beside him, on the way his eyelashes flutter while he dreams. Softly he places his hand on the back of Aaron's neck and drags it upward into his sweaty mess of hair. He needs a trim, he'd been putting it off for a few weeks, enjoying the carefree look and the longer sideburns but now it's unruly, sticks up in all directions no matter what he did with it. Couldn't be tamed.

“...time is it?” The voice is thick with sleep, muffled by pillows and Derek watches as he shifts, tries to move his heavy, aching body. It's slow, he grimaces when he moves his hips and stops, settles just for moving his chin until he's facing Derek. “Jack home yet?”

“He's at lunch with Jess,” Derek replies, sliding down into the blankets until he's nose to nose with Aaron. It's Saturday, the two of them went out to run errands, get out of the apartment...Jack isn't handling this well, he needs to be kept busy. Derek's hands find Aaron's hips and he nudges them gently until he's on his side, tucked in close. “He won't be home for a while. You're stuck with me.”

Aaron hums and wrinkles his nose, his train of thought already sliding out of focus. “I stink.”

“You don't smell great...” Derek whispers, closing his eyes. “You feel like a trip to the bathroom?”

There is a chair in the bathtub, it's not too hard to get Aaron into since he installed railings. Getting back out afterward is the tricky part, he's slippery and he's always so tired after sitting up for that long. The walk is slow, Aaron forgets how painful it is until he's upright trying to use muscles that have been sliced open, torn apart. But they make it, they're there, steaming water on the bottom of the tub so his feet stay warm, so he doesn't get a chill. Derek drags the sponge up and down his legs first, carefully lifts and inspects each foot before moving up to his arms. Precise movements, steady hands, he's kneading life into sore muscles as much as he's washing. The incision with its angry staples is covered with plastic wrap in layers, no way anything's getting in there but he's careful, nonetheless. It's still swollen, his belly looks full and soft and he's careful not to linger there too long. Aaron's chin drops to his chest while Derek washes his neck and back, drags the soft sponge up and down his spine. It is slow and rhythmic; Derek is humming a tune he can't quite place. The feel of the water between his fingers, running down his forearm as he does his best to be gentle makes him shiver.

This one is easy, he thinks, because Aaron can move his arms this time. He can walk, and maybe it's more of a shuffle than a walk but the important part is that he isn't in so much pain that he can't function. Some hours are worse than others, but it's easy in comparison. Small victories, little mercies. He saves the hair for last, stands behind him with the shampoo lathered around his fingers and scrapes at Aaron's scalp, plays with his hair mindlessly for a few minutes and plans out the rest of their day around the pills on the counter and the little boy who will be home soon. He'll be glad when they can really shower, just a few more days. This is fine, but they're both covered in goosebumps by the end and he's looking forward to the hot water coursing over their skin.

“How is it?” Derek asks, holding Aaron close to him. They're out of the bathtub, dry and standing with their toes in the plush rug. His hands are folded together at the small of Aaron's back, against the flat of his tailbone and he can feel the swell of his belly where it's never been rounded before. The plastic wrap sticks to him; he is acutely aware that this is not a normal moment, not really. He can easily fool himself while Aaron sleeps, it's just a lazy weekend, but he can feel the staples and the way Aaron's legs are barely supporting his weight. This time might be easier, but it's still hard. They have a long way to go.

Aaron hums his response, lost in the heat that prickles his skin, the wet hair at the nape of his neck. Derek won't let him go, won't let him move far. “You look happy.” He can't just stay silent; the silence scares him. He has to fill it with sound, and the way that Aaron's heart thunders against his chest isn't enough, he can't hear it over the rush of blood in his ears. Aaron doesn't answer him, not with words, he likes the quiet. Prefers it. He leans forward and presses a wet kiss to Derek's lips, uses his tongue to part them and tastes the grin that spreads. Derek's breath catches in his chest, the kiss is unexpected, shocking but he won't pull away, even if he's now the one who is lightheaded. Even if it is his legs that feel weak. He's frozen, unable to breathe, the world shifts on its axis beneath his feet and he's just so thankful that gravity has his back. He waits for Aaron to stop, to press his cheek to his chest again and sink into his embrace. There is the crisp scent of the soap still on his damp skin and he grips Aaron a little tighter instinctively, but releases just as quickly when he feels Aaron shift in his arms, hands sliding to his hips, mouth against his mouth again. Goosebumps spread like wildfire up his arms, and he knows it's not because he's cold.

“Let's go back to bed,” he whispers, even though Derek knows that won't lead anywhere, can't lead anywhere; lying beside Aaron in the bed is really all he wants right now too.

They settle back in, a Ziplock bag full of crushed ice and wrapped in a towel pressed against Aaron's freshly bandaged stomach. He hates the ice, but it helps, stops the low throbbing from becoming unbearable, settles him even if it makes him shiver. Derek can help that part, he's warm and he has plenty of blankets to heap on top of them. They live from timer to timer, medications down to the minute, ice every few hours, sleeping and eating at scheduled intervals. Derek starts the next Rocky movie, nods his head to the soundtrack while Aaron settles back to sleep. They're close, Aaron pressed right up beside him, his nose buried in Derek's shoulder, and he smiles. This time it's easier, he thinks. It's exhausting and scary and huge...but it's easier because he gets to be here. Jessica will bring Jack home soon, they'll cook dinner and coerce him into eating something solid...even if it's just a dinner roll, he'll do it, he'll sit there and pick at it while everyone talks and yeah, Derek thinks, this time it's easier.

#aaron hotchner #derek morgan #hotchgan

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rinstars · 3 years

Text

the call

pairing: suna x reader

genre: a little smut, angst, cheating, unrequited love

word count: 1.5k+

warnings: nsfw, weed/blunt, unhealthy relationships, no proofreading whatsoever im so tired lol sorry

note: i literally just reached 100 followers yesterday but thank u sooo much for another hundred! u guys have no idea how happy it makes me. here's a little gift in return :D in my head he's 99% this type of guy and i wanted to know how far i can take my imaginations with the image i have of him and this is where it took me heh.

The smell of leather and weed floating in the space surrounding you constricts your breathing, making you gasp for air – even more as he suctions the air out of you through your heated shared kiss, your lungs burning with the need for oxygen. But you ignore it. Running your fingers through his hair and meeting his hunger with kisses equally as rough, you ignore the building pain on your chest.

You rock your hips towards him, feeling his hard crotch rub you through the lace of the panties you bought just a few days ago. Pulling away for a moment only to gasp on his reddening plump lips while he lazily guides your movements on his lap, triggering a flood of pleasure to wash over you.

Slender, pale, and long fingers reached over to snatch another blunt, taking a long drag before the very same fingers of the opposite hand take the back of your neck so he can pull you closer to his lips. He breathes the smoke out of his mouth into yours, connecting your lips once again.

Despite the distinct scent of the drug, you taste a tinge of sweetness on your tongue as his own massages yours. Rocking your hips harder to his forces a moan out of you, making your fingers curl around his jet black hair. You pull away, muttering a small give me a minute to him. Leaning back on the steering wheel, you watch him while you try to control your ragged breathing.

His hair is long. Long enough that it falls softly all the way to his eyes and cheeks, the ends brushing his really pale skin. With your earlier statement, he just shrugged with the same unchanging look of nonchalance in his eyes while proceeding to take drags out of his blunt. His beautifully shaped eyes now bloodshot and shiny with moisture.

He's almost like a vampire, now that you think about it. So beautiful. Such pale skin but such dark hair. Sharp gaze but soft lips. Intoxicating scent but still so sweet.

The most similar thing between him and vampires, you thought, is the way he sucks all the life out of you. Drying you out and taking all your light.

This man has corrupted you more than you're willing to admit.

You opened your mouth to say something when the blaring ring of his phone makes you jump. His eyes glanced over the source before grabbing it with a sigh and scanning the monitor. You didn't even need to ask who it is. You're very well aware who it is, and why he never hesitates to answer.

When it comes to you, it always takes a lot of rings and missed calls before he picks up, though. You understand. You tell him you do, you always will.

His childhood bestfriend, Astumu whispered as if he heard you ask the identity of the mysterious caller in your head one night when you were drinking with him in a bar. Loves her a lot. Probably too much.

The alarms rang in your head that night, no matter how much you tried to ignore it. So annoying but at the same time so painful. You didn't know how to turn it off and you wish every single time you could.

"Darling. " He whispered with such a loving voice, one you never heard from him when he answers your calls. Your heart ached but you knew better than to confront him about it. Instead you cry in the arms of the twins, more on Atsumu's, since Osamu takes you through an hour long lecture of why you should have known better.

You know that much.

You shouldn't have let yourself get dragged in this stupid situation, craving a taken man and his touches. Letting him in on your secrets even when he barely lets you get a peak in his.

"I miss you too, my darling.. Oh?.. I'll be home soon." He speaks in pauses as he lets her finish speaking first. You close your eyes to prevent the liquid threatening to spill out, taking a deep breath before slowly lifting yourself from his lap to the passenger seat. His eyes widened a millimeter when he noticed you getting off him without having to tell you. You noticed he ended his call with her and you refuse to look back at him cause if you do, you are sure of another sleepless night.

Cold fingers hook under your chin, slowly turning your head to the left. He leans over the center console, connecting his lips with the soft skin of your neck, making you exhale out at the feeling of him sucking all the reason in you again. He runs his tongue wet on your collarbones, creating a glistening trail.

"I'll see you soon?" He whispered on the crook of your neck, nibbling it a little with his teeth. The bruises he leaves on your skin another reminder that everything is real.

You just hum with a nod, cupping his jaw and slowly pulling him away from you with a small smile. One of his bangs fell on the middle of his face, you reached up to brush it away.

So many unspoken words from you. Too many. You wonder if he has anything he's holding back to say too as his eyes linger on you a second longer than usual. Or maybe you're just desperately reading into the lines again, like what Osamu said way too many times.

"Rin, what.. what are we?" Every parting is like this, like a new way of saying goodbye that you both developed. You just needed to be reminded, to wake up from whatever delusions you're starting to have.

"Nothing." He replies as flatly as all the other times before. Not a hint of emotion – no amusement or remorse.

You swallow, letting your hands fall to your sides. On the verge of turning around and reaching the door, his voice echoes once again. "How many times are you gonna ask me this?"

Until you start feeling something. You thought to yourself.

Anger, disgust, love, hatred, adoration, anything. You just want him to feel something. Prove to yourself and everyone else that you're not just a tool to him.

"Sorry. Slipped out of habit." You settle for that response now. No point having a conversation with him about this.

"You don't have to leave right away, I can still drive you home."

Losing all the strength to refuse, you found yourself just agreeing with him. Why the fuck are you even so upset to begin with? You knew what you signed up for. You knew about the girl. You saw him with her in the very same bar a few nights ago before your first night together. Watched how much attention he gives her, how tightly he holds her.

"I'll break your heart by the end of this, baby." He warns you as you feel his length slip inside you, making you moan out in ecstasy.

"I don't care." You pant, grabbing him by the hips as a way of telling him to go faster.

Looking back, you shouldn't have been so foolish and say that. Now, you're paying the price. Now, your exit has been sealed.

The moment you met him, you forgot everything – your reason, pride, dignity, loyalty, sense, self-love. You hate how intoxicates you like the drugs on his backseat and yet you can't stop. You wonder if he knows how you feel about him. If he notices the way your eyes would light up when you see him or the way you would wrap your arms so tightly like you're afraid of letting him go.

The car stopped soon after and you looked out the window to find yourself in front of your house. You collected your things and fastened the clasp on your sandals then opened the door, stepping a foot outside when he once again stops you by the wrist.

"I'll call you soon. I promise."

"I'll be waiting." You wriggle out of his grip without looking back, stepping your remaining foot out to join with the other as you stand up to leave. "Take care, Rintarou."

"You too, baby." The sound of his tires grow fainter by the second as he speeds off to his and his girlfriend's shared apartment. You didn't notice the sobs wrecking your body. Not until you feel warm droplets fall to your open palms in front of you. You clutched your phone tightly, holding it to your chest.

You can only hope the next call comes soon.

note: a little smut + angst for everyone. whether or not this will be turned into a mini series completely depends on the feedback! let me know what u guys think <3

#suna rintarou smut #suna rintarou angst #suna rintarou x reader #suna rintarou x you #suna smut #suna angst #suna x reader #suna x you #haikyuu angst #haikyuu smut #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu fic #suna rintarou fic #suna fic

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ming-yu-hao · 3 years

Text

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder | Chapter 1

Pairing: fratboy!mingyu x female reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Synopsis: When you transferred to a different university, you and Wonwoo promised that you would make long distance work. But distance proves to be more difficult than you both originally thought.

This Chapter’s Tags: some angst ig, light cheating? (not really lol), mingyu is just flirty, female masturbation, mentions of alcohol and weed

Warning: THIS SERIES IS ABOUT CHEATING. DO NOT READ IF IT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!

A/N: it’s gonna get spicy soon just trust me ;)

Chapters: Next | Masterlist

30 minutes. That's how long you had spent anxiously perched in front of your computer, waiting for the familiar ring of the video call to echo through the speakers. You cycled between scrolling through social media, checking your reflection in the camera, and debating on whether or not to text Wonwoo. You understood that he was busy; it wasn't unusual for either of you to call a few minutes later than you had originally planned. But Wonwoo had never left you hanging for this long without an explanation. Normally, your mind would begin to fixate on the worst case scenario, but Wonwoo had already cancelled on you the past two weeks because he was busy working.

The loud vibration of your phone against your desk drew you out of your thoughts, and you hurriedly picked it up and saw Wonwoo's name glowing across the screen. "Hello?" You answered quickly.

"Hey," Wonwoo's deep voice sounded through the phone. "You're gonna hate me," He chuckled.

"I could never," You replied. You already knew the next words that were going to come out of his mouth.

"I can't FaceTime tonight." He explained. Even though you saw it coming, you couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that weighed heavy on your chest.

Your eyes met with the reflection displayed on the laptop screen. It taunted you, reminding you that Wonwoo's face wouldn't be there to replace it once again. "Well, I would be a lot happier right now if you told me that half an hour ago," You laughed bitterly. Running a hand through your hair, you quietly sighed.

"I know. I'm sorry." Wonwoo apologized. His voice was laced with genuine sorrow; you could clearly picture the frown that lined his lips right now. He added after a moment of silence, "I don't wanna keep doing this to you, so I think we should change our date day. I've been working more Fridays lately."

You nodded despite him not being able to see you and hummed in agreement. "What day then?" You asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I still have to figure out my schedule. Just text me what works for you and I'll let you know soon, okay?" He sighed.

"Oh, okay... yeah." Your lips drew into a tighter line with each word he spoke.

"Okay, I have to get to get back to work right now. I'm sorry again." He continued quickly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The three tones signaled the end of the call, and slowly you pulled the phone away from your ear. Your tired reflection stared back at you. Finally, you shut the computer for the third Friday in a row.

The remainder of the weekend passed and you had barely heard anything from Wonwoo except for the usual good morning and goodnight texts. By the time Wednesday came around, the both of you finally agreed that Saturday could be your new set day for FaceTime dates. You powered through the rest of the week, and on Saturday you excitedly set aside all the work from your classes and waited patiently for Wonwoo to call.

You really missed him. It'd been just over two months now since you last saw him in person, when you moved into your dorm at a university three hours away from the one where you and Wonwoo met. He stayed behind while you transferred to a college with a renowned journalism program. At first, you were hesitant to leave him, but Wonwoo refused to let you give up such a great opportunity just to stay close to him. That was what you loved about him: he wanted to see you be happy and successful.

Situating yourself comfortably on the bed, you pulled up some random Netflix series to entertain yourself while waiting for Wonwoo. You only half paid attention, glancing between the computer screen and your Instagram feed on your phone. Time crawled, and slowly you sunk deeper into the softness of the mattress below.

Cold, small hands shook you awake. You rubbed your eyes and sat up, disoriented. The series you were watching was still playing quietly. Your roommate, Jisoo, stood next to your bed with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared at you with a raised eyebrow. "You're passed out by 7 on a Saturday night?" A teasing smile was displayed across her face as she shut your laptop.

You suddenly realized that it was an hour past the time that Wonwoo had promised to FaceTime you. Your heart sunk in your chest as you thought about how you probably missed his call without an explanation. You picked up your phone, but quickly noticed the notification for a missed phone call from him, followed by a text that said: I'm so sorry, something came up I promise I'll call you tomorrow.

Jisoo surveyed you for a moment; a more serious expression began to cross her features. She sat down at the bottom of your bed. "Did something happen?"

You rolled your eyes and looked down at your hands. "Wonwoo cancelled on me again," You sighed, "But I shouldn't be mad at him for it. It's not his fault he's busy."

Jisoo tsked and patted your leg through the sheets. "Of course you can be upset! How many times has it been now?"

"This entire month. And he always cancels super late."

She scoffed, "See! That's shitty. If this was the first time it wouldn't have been a big deal. But four times?" She stood up quickly and opened up her wardrobe. "If he wants long distance to work, he needs to have better communication."

"Yeah, I guess." You replied. Jisoo held a black top up to her figure, observing herself in the mirror. "Where are you going?" You inquired.

"A party at the SVT frat. You know any of them?" She explained while changing her outfit.

You had heard of the frat before, but you racked your brain for any of their names and couldn't remember one. "I don't think so."

Jisoo faced you again and smiled. "Well, let's go."

You chuckled, "No way."

She pouted. "Come on. You haven't gone out with me I'm so long. You're in college!" Jisoo begged. "Just this once. You'll have fun."

Jisoo had a point. You really had nothing else better to do besides sit around and mope over Wonwoo ditching you. You let out an exhasperated sigh of defeat, "Fine, I'll go."

"Yes! Go get all cute and dressed up." She cheered.

You emerged from your bed and strolled over to your own closet. "Alright, I'll be quick."

You and Jisoo walked into the party hand in hand. Immediately, the stench of weed and sweat overwhelmed you. Loud music vibrated through the walls of the house and clashed with the sounds of people cheering and yelling. An intense game of beer pong captured the attention of most people in the main room, but you could see a separate crowd gathered in the kitchen too.

"Who do you know here again?" You shouted over the music at Jisoo, not seeing a single person you recognized so far.

She leaned closer to you so you could hear. "Choi Seungcheol. I have a chemistry class with him." She scanned the room and suddenly perked up. "Oh, there he is!" She called his name and pulled you along with her towards him.

He stood against the wall with a red cup in his hand, talking with another tall boy. At the call of his name, he looked over at the two of you and smiled brightly. "Jisoo! I'm so happy you made it." He exclaimed while wrapping his arm around her lower back. Seungcheol watched you with kind eyes as you approached him. "And who is this?" He asked Jisoo.

"This is my roommate, Y/N. Y/N, this is Seungcheol." She introduced you both and you smiled and gave a small wave to the two boys.

The other boy flashed you a sweet smile that caused his eyes to form into crescents. "I'm Seokmin. I live here with Cheol." He explained.

All four of you continued to converse casually until Seungcheol pointed to you and Seokmin and said, "Hey, why don't you two go get some drinks? We'll wait here." You swore you saw a gleam of mischief in his eyes, and you quickly glanced at Jisoo to see if she noticed it too, but her expression remained neutral. This was exactly why you strayed away from parties. You wanted to avoid any encounters with flirty, drunk frat boys. But Jisoo, who was basically a mind reader, didn't react, so maybe you were just being overly paranoid.

You nodded and walked over to the kitchen, Seokmin following close behind, and watched as he began to mix some drinks together for the four of you. He let out a frustrated sigh as one of the bottles of liquor reached its end. Seokmin peeked over his shoulder and shouted, "Mingyu! Can you get me the other bottle of vodka?" You perked up at the familiar-sounding name, but couldn't remember where you had heard it before.

A moment later a presence approached you and Seokmin from behind and set the bottle down on the counter. "Now you have to make me one too," The deep voice joked. You turned around and immediately recognized the tall figure.

"Mingyu?" You called out in surprise.

His eyes dragged over and met yours. His face lit up instantly as he recognized you. "Y/N! What are you doing here?" Mingyu laughed.

Seokmin turned around and handed a cup to Mingyu with a raised eyebrow. "You guys know each other?" He questioned.

You grabbed your own cup and took a sip of the bittersweet mixture. "Yeah, we have a digital media class together." You said before smirking at Mingyu. "I didn't think you were the frat boy type."

Mingyu rested his right hand on the counter beside you, almost trapping you in between the wood and his body. "I guess I'm just full of surprises," He replied.

You felt your heart flutter in your chest at his flirty response. This was a whole new side of him that you had never seen before in class. Granted, he was most likely tipsy and maybe even a bit high, but in class he was usually polite and reserved. He cracked jokes with you sometimes, but you never expected him to be so bold. On top of that, he always had his hair styled back neatly. Now, his dark hair fell over his forehead in messy curls. His skin was sheathed in a light layer of sweat, and the muscles in his arms and chest were suddenly more prominent under his white tee in the dim light of the house. You had to admit, he was ridiculously attractive.

"I'm gonna go give this to Cheol and Jisoo," Seokmin interrupted before leaving the kitchen with both cups in his hands.

Silently, you started behind him and Mingyu walked with you. "So what are you doing here?" He asked again as the two of you rounded the corner and entered the living room.

"My roommate was invited and made me go with her," You told him. You continued to sip your drink, basking in the warm feeling that the alcohol left in your chest.

"Makes sense. I didn't expect you to be a party girl." He teased. His arm slowly snaked around your waist and squeezed your hip lightly. Your skin tingled beneath his touch but you didn't give him any physical reaction, opting to just ignore the grip he had on you.

Your jaw dropped in a fake gasp. "You think I'm boring or something?" You narrowed your eyes at him and he chuckled.

"I never said that," He responded with a smirk on his lips.

Seungcheol and Jisoo had migrated from the spot where they previously stood, so you scanned the crowded room for the long haired girl. Finally you noticed her sitting close to Seungcheol on the couch. You could see they were laughing about something and considering Seokmin wasn't hovering near them anymore either, you decided to leave them be.

Mingyu noticed where you were looking and raised his eyebrows at you when you turned back to look at him. "Well, I guess my roommate is busy," You rolled your eyes.

You had forgotten about Mingyu's hand on your waist until he squeezed it again. "Good thing you have me then," He bantered. Your skin flushed; you slightly leaned into his touch. It had been so long since you felt someone else's hands roam across your body. You missed the feeling.

Mingyu slowly pulled your body closer to his until your chest was centimeters away. You gulped and dragged your eyes up to meet his. He stared at you intensely, his other hand coming up to caress your cheek. Your breathing hitched as he ran his thumb over your bottom lip. "You're so pretty," He muttered. It felt like fire had lit up your entire body. Your nerves tingled and your brain felt fuzzy and you hated to admit it but you could feel arousal growing between your legs. Somehow Mingyu pulled you even closer than before and you felt his hard cock brush against your thigh through his jeans. His tongue darted out against his lips and he inched his face towards yours. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered just inches away from you lips.

Guilt imprisoned you as soon as he said those words. They reminded you of where you were, and what you were planning on doing. You closed your eyes and pulled yourself out of his grasp. "I have a boyfriend," You admitted briskly.

Mingyu stared at you in confusion. "What?"

Shame overtook you. Wonwoo had trusted you to remain loyal, and here you were at a frat party, leading on some poor boy from your class.

Mingyu lightly grabbed your wrist. "Hey, I'm sorry. I should've asked-" He started, but you quickly cut him off.

"No, I'm sorry. This is my fault." You apologized and pulled your wrist out of his grasp. You looked at him; he stared at you with a sorrowful gaze. The regret on your face was evident and he knew that he had helped in bringing this guilt upon you.

"I- I have to go do something," You added before turning around and darting towards the door. You didn't bother to turn around or look for Jisoo, you just needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Once you were outside, you inhaled a sharp breath and pulled out your phone to call for an Uber. You waited near the street, sending a text to Jisoo to let her know that you felt sick and went home while you waited.

Eventually the Uber pulled up and you hurriedly sat down and told the driver where to go. You breathed a sigh of relief as they finally pulled away from the frat.

The drive was short, but you spent every one of those few minutes replaying the night's events in your mind. Your flesh still tingled in the places where Mingyu had touched you. Guilt haunted you, but you attempted to lessen that burden by reasoning with yourself. You missed Wonwoo. A lot. You missed hearing his voice and seeing his face and of course feeling his touch against your skin. You hadn't been fucked in over two months now, so it was no wonder that any bit of physical affection would have such a strong effect on you. What mattered is that you stopped it before anything happened. You could live with that, you decided. All you had to do now was just clear up things with Mingyu next week, deal with any awkwardness between you two, and focus on Wonwoo.

When you arrived at your dorm, you quickly changed your clothes, cleansing yourself of the faint smell of weed and the remnants of Mingyu's touch. Not long after, exhaustion began to take over your body. You laid down on the bed, not even bothering to check your phone before closing your eyes and letting sleep overcome you.

You weren't sure what time you fell asleep, but you awoke some time later and glanced at the clock. 11:54 PM. You stretched your arms behind your head and yawned as you scanned the room. Jisoo was still gone. You closed your eyes again and tried to fall back asleep, but your mind began to race.

You could clearly picture Mingyu's lust-filled eyes staring down at you, his hands running over your waist and pulling you towards the heat of his body. The glow of his skin, the messy curls hanging over his forehead, the fullness of his lips as he asked in his husky voice if he could kiss you—the images and sensations swirled around in your thoughts.

In a half asleep daze, you rubbed your thighs together. Friction built between your legs. You groaned quietly as your mind revisited how you felt when Mingyu's hands were on your body. More arousal began to pool in your heat, your underwear clinging to your wetness.

Languidly, you ran your hand down your stomach and toyed with the hem of your underwear before slowly pulling the fabric down your legs. You imagined Mingyu's sharp eyes staring at you from between your thighs as you ran your fingers through your slick folds. Arousal coated your fingers and you began to rub your clit in slow circles. You pretended that Mingyu's thick fingers were the ones teasing your clit, making your legs jolt each time you pressed the right spot.

You moaned quietly and began to grope your own breast. You squeezed and flicked your nipple, causing a quiet gasp to fall from your lips. You pulled your hand away from your clit and slowly pushed two fingers into your dripping heat. "Mmh, Mingyu," You groaned under your breath. You imagined his deep voice saying the dirtiest things to you as he pumped and curled his fingers into your pussy.

You gasped as you hit a particular spot that made you arch your lower back. You continued pumping your fingers at a fast pace until the knot building in your lower stomach snapped. Your eyes rolled back and you let out a sharp whine as an intense feeling of euphoria washed over your body.

Your body relaxed against the sheets as your heart rate began to slow and exhaustion overtook you once again. You sighed contently and wrapped yourself in your blankets, allowing yourself to drift off to sleep.

You promised yourself that you would never do that again.

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caesthetix · 3 years

Text

A LITTLE FEAR — Ep. Prime Real Estate

↪Jean Kirstein mini-series

↪content; canon universe, description of violence, season 4 spoiler, forbidden love, marleyan!reader, scouts!jean, chapter 139 spoiler

You stopped whatever you were doing in an instant, both hands freezing midair as a flock of birds suddenly landed beside you. That was strange, you never saw this type of bird flying around your house before. Those birds had silky white feathers and beady black eyes, some had their gaze fixated on you.

But then again, perhaps you shouldn't have been surprised that you never saw them before.

It was not like you have been living here for years, no. For the last three years, you were here as a new citizen in a world where the fear of titans finally gone. Everything was at peace for years as this newborn country strengthened its military — under the command of the Queen.

Yes, the Queen, Historia Reiss. Never once you ever thought you would be living here of all places in the world, tending flower beds and watering plants. A Marleyan like you, the mortal enemy of those Eldians somehow slipped inside the society and even lived inside the innermost part of the country.

You lived in prime real estate located in the countryside; a medium-sized house with huge land, different compared to those gigantic and majestic buildings in the downtown area. The atmosphere was unique and you preferred this kind of house instead of the luxurious, blinding one. For you, this is home, and you couldn't wait to share it with your lover.

"(Y/n)! Don't stay too long in the garden!"

A familiar shout rang through the open area, making you turn your head to face them. She stood there with her comfortable white dress, maroon-coloured apron draped in front of her figure to make sure that any specks of dirt didn't smear her dress while her brown hair sticking out from her tight ponytail.

"I will be there in a few minutes, Ma!"

You shouted back at the top of your lungs, knowing full well that her hearing was not as sharp as yours. She just shook her head in amusement at your answer since she could predict already that your few minutes could turn to an hour or even more. Just a habit of yours, though she wouldn't force you to stop since it took your mind off things.

Just as she did by cooking some omelette and comfort foods as she too — waiting for someone to come back.

She had a separate house near the Queen's residence, assigned there by her majesty herself. But ever since you knocked on her front door and introduced yourself to her, she decided that it would be better if she lived with you for a while, at least until her son came back. Until your love came back to your arms once again.

There were letters after letters being shared despite how out of reach he was from you. You lived every day in hope that his mission to make peace with the outside world resulted in success. Lots of prayers have been sung to whatever deity existed in this world, never once stopped for every day you woke up.

And today was just like any other day as you waited for him by occupying yourself with daily chores and a new hobby. You used to wake up to strategize the next move and train in the military, being a normal citizen was still a little bit bizarre for you.

Though you already told the Queen that if in case she needed assistance regarding the air force, you would be ready to be called.

Yet three years had passed ever since your arrival, and never once she called you to the military. You had a gut feeling that your lover might have something to do with it, so you could only hope he didn't try to pull any strings behind your back and become the reason why you were never once interrupted.

Well, it was not like you didn't want this. When you finally wake up without fear, without being afraid that you had to see another bloodshed, without being afraid to love whoever you wanted to love. This was the world that you have been dreaming of, so maybe, it's fine to just enjoy it as long as you can.

Your fingers used to be covered with blood, now only covered with dirt and soil. Sometimes you couldn't believe it yourself as you were afraid to go to sleep, not wanting to wake up and realise all of this was just a dream.

But it was not a dream.

It was all real — ever since that day.

Your whole body felt so numb as you stared into the distance, back leaning to the old building behind you, not understanding what actually unfurled in front of your eyes right now.

Everything was still replayed so vividly in your mind. His ash-brown strands dishevelled from the war he had been partaking of, chocolate orbs that filled with love and regret as he took another look at you, his voice — oh his deep, comforting voice that sung like a lullaby every time he spoke.

And then bright yellow light blinded your vision.

The impact of the explosion threw you off, back arching as your body hit a concrete wall. Your vision blurred, your head pounding from the impact. But you could still see the gigantic feet right in front of you — gigantic feet that belong to a titan, replacing where your lover once stood.

You saw it, the long, familiar strands of hair that you loved to caress, those eyes that now turned into the darkest shade of brown stared at you with an emotion that you couldn't fathom. Then he jerked his head to the other side, jumping off the cliff with the other titans like a puppet whose strings were pulled.

There goes your love, that is what you already believe. Everyone knew about how once someone turned into a mindless titan, there was no way for them to change back as a human except if they ate the nine titan inheritor. And you didn't put any hope over that, just slumping your body and surrendering yourself to the situation.

You didn't know since when you drifted off somewhere as black filled your vision. But in your mind, you see him standing in front of you as he reaches out his hand for you to take. In your dream, you saw him playing around the backyard with a little kid that looked so familiar with him. In perhaps a distant future, you welcomed him home after a day full of hard work.

Then you opened up your eyes, disappointed as it was the same as what you saw before. The blistering heat attacked whoever was unfortunate enough to be outside right now, dealing with the monstrous creature as the fate of the world was in their hands.

But it was silent now, the roar of those mindless titans, booming footsteps that rumbling the ground, two enormous titans who fought each other before — it all stopped and gone as the only thing that welcomed you was a quiet, somewhat peaceful atmosphere.

With your legs still wobbling from the impact before, you looked around as you wondered what happened now. Finding no one in sight, not even from the Marleyan Military made you raise your eyebrows in confusion. Was it all done? The war between Eren Yeager and the alliance of Paradis and Marley? What happened now and where are they?

There were so many questions popping in your head as you forced yourself to check out the land near Fort Salta, finding some of your troops pointing all of their guns to the Eldians that somehow — turned back into a human.

That was the only thing you needed before you ran to where they were, ignoring the pain that surged your body for every movement that you made. You were fine, this couldn't stop you from knowing the truth, this would never stop you from reaching out to the Eldian, to someone that introduced you to what it felt like to love someone.

Surely the Marleyan was just bluffing, you knew that all of the guns were already shot towards the sky before. But there was a possibility that they had another, and you couldn't bear to see another bloodshed, not when you felt like there was no need to continue this war if the main enemy was already gone.

"If we did still have the power of the titans, wouldn't we be using it to resist you?" Ah, was it true? That titan power was already gone for good from this world? "But the fact that we continue to be powerless even as you point your guns at us is the greatest possible proof of our humanity."

He made sense, even as you stopped a few steps behind the Marleyan Military, you could hear the sincerity from his words. Yet somehow, your race still couldn't accept the fact, not daring to lower their gun just yet. You couldn't really blame them for doing so, knowing how much terror that they have seen just for the last couple of hours.

So you stood forward, dragging your feet as you ignored the surprised gasp from your troops.

"Everyone, drop your guns to the ground." You still couldn't hear any movement as you said so, and you clicked your tongue over that. "Now!"

Then one by one, you heard how the metal weapon fell to the ground like a symbol of peace. There were around twenty troops behind you, the survivors of the explosion before, the only people who lived from Marleyan Military after such a horrendous event. And they obeyed your command, believing in you that you would make the right choice.

You turned to look at your troops, giving them a reassuring gaze one by one that from now on, everything would be alright. Some of them were crying, some of them fell to the ground as they screamed out, out of frustration or relief for being alive, you couldn't differentiate it anymore, maybe a bit of both.

Your job was done, for now, so you had to know what happened. You needed to know who was the man who stood in front of you now as his ocean blue eyes gazing at you with respect and gratitude. He gave you a firm nod, and you followed after as you straightened your posture.

"Then, who are you?"

"I am Armin Arlert, an Eldian from the island of Paradis. The man who killed Eren Yeager, the attack titan."

The way he said it was absolute. Certainty was there and somehow you wanted to just let your sore body fall to the ground as relief started to fill your heart. But not yet, you had to be the commander of the air force unit, probably the only higher-ups left in the military here.

"Greetings then, Armin Arlert." You started, giving him a Marleyan salute as he answered it by balling his right hand into a fist, resting it right in front of his heart after that. "I am the commander of the air force unit of Marleyan Military, my troops and I would do anything we could do to assist everyone here."

For the next few hours, everyone who was healthy enough was assigned to take care of those who had injuries or any other casualties. You as the commander, trying to call and inform the military base in the capital. Solace flooded over you once again when you received the news that more than a half part of Marley was still intact.

You immediately called for backup, informing them to tell the whole world what happened in Fort Salta. This needed to be distributed now, that they didn't have to worry anymore, that the world was finally free from titans. You told them all the little details about those who fought in the battle, you told them that it was thanks to the Eldians themselves that the rumbling stopped.

"It's..." You trailed off as the chief on the other line asked you the name of the war that shook the world just now. "It's the battle of heaven and earth."

Today marked the three years of the world's victory against titans. Eldians finally freed from the curse and lived a normal life like humanity in the rest of the world. Though, of course, doubt and fear still lingered in the heart of the people. That was why those soldiers who directly fought with the attack titan became the ambassador of peace, travelling around the world to tell their stories.

They were the ones who lived, the heroes who chose to fight humanity who always treated their race like an insect. They were those who chose humanity over their own life, the ones who cast their feelings aside and killed their best friend because that was the right thing to do.

And your lover was one of them, he was an Eldian, a soldier who was ready to sacrifice his life in war.

Jean Kirstein, the man that you met in a bar back then in Marley, the only person who could make you feel so bare as he painted you with affection.

The person who you would wait a thousand years if you had to, so long so you could be together.

You subconsciously touched your left fingers, tracing your coarse skin as you absentmindedly remembered the reunion that you had with him. Not the one where he shouted at you to stay back, not the one where it filled with painful tears as you saw him transformed into a titan in front of your eyes.

But it was the one that made you feel so full. After calling the capital and making sure the Eldian would be treated fairly, you finally could take a breather and sit just outside the tower in Fort Salta. The sun slowly turned into an orange hue that time, your body was all aching as the adrenaline from before started to wear off.

You didn't turn your face away from the horizon as you felt someone sat beside you on the ground, not saying anything for the next couple of minutes as you and the mysterious figure just basked yourself on the peaceful atmosphere, something that was never there with how war and violence always filled the ground.

The orange hue slowly reddened as the sun hid behind the mountain, letting the moon take over with thousands of stars adorned the night sky.

There were no words being spoken as two bodies decided to scoot closer to each other as if there were strings that bound them together. You dropped your head on his shoulder, letting out a long sigh as the realisation finally sank in.

"I am back, (Y/n)." His voice was still filled with disbelief. "Just like what I promised you." But it sounds the same as how it used to, lingering with something that you knew as love.

You lifted your head a little, wanting to take a look at him and scrutinizing his face. He was here, Jean Kirstein in a flesh. He was not a titan anymore, he was just an Eldian from the island of Paradis, a normal human, just like you.

There was a dingling sound as he fetched something from his pocket, your eyes never left his as you felt a warm metal slipped on your palm. He closed your hand after that, wanting you to know that he was real, that he finally could give back the silver key that he brought with him ever since in Marley.

You felt like you wanted to burst at the moment. You wanted to cry, screaming at him for fighting the attack titan despite being a mere soldier who didn't even inherit the nine titans, you wanted to ask how he felt right now and what actually happened, there was so much that you wanted to say, so many words that you wanted to tell him.

But there would be a time for that, you were certain that you would have a lot of time after all of these were done.

So you just curled your lips into a smile, orbs glistening with tears as it shone with adoration, palm gripping the key a little tighter with his hand on top of yours.

"Welcome back, Jean."

You patted the excess of the dirt in your hand on your black apron, finally done repotting some of the plants. When your eyes fleeted to the side, you tilted your head in confusion as the bird from before was still there, so loyal as it accompanied you for the last hour.

This one was different compared to the others. The birds that you saw before only had one solid colour, but this one that stayed with you had brown feathers on some of their features.

The bird just looked at you with wonder, tilting their head to the side as they jumped from the flower bed and landed beside you. Your lips immediately shaped into a smile, wondering why the bird decided to stay with you when the others left already.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

You cooed at the bird, careful not to move your body too abruptly, afraid that they would fly again. Of course, you didn't expect them to chirp, but maybe you could talk to them a little. And you could write it down in the letter that you sent for Jean later on.

"I don't know why you are here, but don't you think you should go back though?"

Those beady black orbs fell upon your face as if they understood your words. "You must have a family, right? Perhaps maybe a lover?" So you decided to keep on talking, throwing some random questions, conversing with them like an old friend. "Bet your lover is so beautiful like you, and they must be waiting for you, you know?"

"Like you wait for me?"

Silence. On the first second, the bird was in front of you. But now, they flapped their wings and flew, leaving you there with both pupils widened as a familiar voice rang through your ear. You didn't understand why they suddenly left, but maybe, maybe it was because of the fact that you were not alone anymore.

That maybe because they knew your lover came back.

And so they would do the same and flew to where their lover was.

"Jean?"

No, he was not supposed to be here. From the letters that you got last week, he was supposed to be in Marley right now with the others. He told you that through the words that he scribbled down on the old paper, and you remembered how he would come back next month.

But of course, your eyes wouldn't deceive you, of course, your ear could never catch the exact voice that belonged to him if he was not really here.

He stood around five feet apart from you with a cheeky smile that made you want to just slap it away from his beautiful face. His ash-brown locks slightly got longer, looking neat despite the wind that swayed some strands of his hair, and you wondered how many times he combed his hair to make it look like that.

Though you didn't care about it, you didn't care about how he was here right now when you were certain he should have been somewhere else. You didn't care that you stumbled on some of the gardening tools as you ran towards him. You didn't care if your apron could leave some dirt on his expensive suit.

What you cared right now as your feet brought you closer to him — was to feel his embrace once more.

You jumped right into his arms, chin resting on his shoulder as you wrapped your arms around his neck, not wanting to let go. Right now, you just wanted to shout and announce to the world that you wanted him for yourself, at least for just a few minutes, at least for a moment.

Everyone could call you selfish at this point you didn't care anymore. For all your life you never wanted anything but a world without fear. And now as you achieved it, the only matter that could complete it was to spend it all with the one that somehow had half of your heart anywhere he goes.

You have waited for him for far too long. You always waited for him afraid that he wouldn't come back to your apartment, you always waited for him with distress lingering at the back of your mind that he was not alive anymore when he was there on the other side of the sea.

But now as you felt the warmth within his touch, now as you felt his smile as his lips planted on the side of your face, you finally knew how it feels to live in a world without fear since from now on, you were free to love him.

He was too — free to love you as his real self, an Eldian, a war hero, Jean Kirstein from the island of Paradis.

"I am home."

And as the two bodies basked in the warmth of a loved one, hand intertwined that clashed a silver metal band next to each other, they both knew that from now on — they were going to wake up every single morning and live their dream.

In a world where there was no fear, spending it in prime real estate with a significant other.

Earning the right to live a happy life for hopefully, a long time.

"Welcome home, Jean."

↪Back to Wall Maria

↪Citizen; @yumaryko @may-machin @cuteissei

↪Send an ask if you want to be a citizen of Paradis (taglist)!

#Jean Kirschstein #jean kirschtien #jean kirstein #jean kirstein x reader #jean kirschtein x reader #jean kirschtein x you #jean kirschtein fluff #jean kirschtein fanfiction #aot imagines #aot x reader #AoT #snk #snk x reader #snk imagines

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lunarfly · 3 years

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Defending Harmione part 3!

I'm back to defend my fav ship!

I have a part 1 where I debunked some of the most popular arguments against Harmione and in part 2 I debunked the "siblings" argument. Time for part 3! This one is going to be about a video on YouTube titled "Why Harry and Hermione Wouldn't Work - Harry Potter Video Essay" and I'll go over the points the YouTuber made and try my best to debunk them. 💘

Also, I accept that there's still a few minor flaws to the ship, but these little flaws and obstacles make every ship beautiful. 🥀

1. "It would be too cliche. The hero gets the smartest and prettiest girl as a trophy."

This is a fair argument to the whole story itself, but it doesn't defeat the ship in any way. If you put it in other words: "Harry and Hermione wouldn't work together because they're both very powerful and great and that would make it very cliche." That's silly. But even that isn't right. The situation isn't exactly how people make it seem.

Hermione isn't the all-perfect girl, the most beautiful, the most intelligent, everything perfect. She has flaws, many flaws (which weren't portrayed in the movies) and she is a very realistic character. She is intelligent and productive, she is a perfectionist in a way, but that also causes her to be very anxious and stressed out at moments, she puts too much pressure on herself, and she's also insecure! Who said Hermione was the most beautiful one? Just because Emma Watson was gorgeous doesn't mean Hermione was too. Of course, Harry thought she was pretty according to OotP, but it's clearly stated in the books that she wasn't the prettiest girl in the series. Fleur, Cho and even Ginny were much more beautiful. Hermione is NOT the perfect superstar.

You might say that even if she's not perfect, she's still the female lead. But the actual "cliche" part is about the hero ending up with the perfect superstar and not necessarily with the other lead hero.

So back to Hermione being the brightest witch of her age. But her being very bright and powerful doesn't make her a bad match for Harry. Ginny was very smart in fact, she was beautiful and funny, very sassy and confident. Why isn't she considered as a trophy for Harry?

The point is, NO, Hermione is NOT a perfect all-star and their relationship wouldn't even have to be built on the hero and the heroine being perfect, their relationship would be built on trust and loyalty.

2. "Harry and Hermione's relationship prove that a male and a female can be friends without having a romantic relationship, so we shouldn't ruin that."

Yes, it's truly a beautiful demonstration that a male and a female can be best friends, but this says nothing that's actually against the ship, just like the previous one. If you put this in other words, it would sound like this: "Harry and Hermione were amazing best friends so they can't date." I understand that their friendship was amazing, but that in no way means their relationship would be bad. Of course, you don't have to see their relationship as romantic just because they were good friends, you can see it as platonic, but I'm just saying that the argument makes no sense.

Besides, was Hermione really the only female friend Harry had? What about Luna? What about Ginny (if you consider Harry and Hermione start dating and Ginny remains a friend, she was clearly very included after OoTP)? What about Ron's friendship with Hermione? What about Ron and Luna's friendship? What about Neville and Luna's friendship? What about Harry's quidditch teammates (Alicia, Katie, Angelina)? Why does everyone always make it seem like Hermione was the only female friend he had? Surely she was his only BEST friend but then Ron and Hermione were best friends too...

3. "It ruins the dynamic of the story. Harry's relationships were never meant to be the main focus, just a demonstration of his maturity. While Ron and Hermione's relationship developing in the background is nice to see."

I really didn't want to drag Romione into this because it's my second favorite ship from the entire Harry Potter universe. Just a disclaimer that anything I say here is not meant to bash Romione and hate on it because I'm truly a big fan of them and their love is undeniable.

I also mention Ginny and Harry's relationship in this and I have to say they're ALSO one of my favorite ships in the entire hp universe so no hate to them either. 🥺

Okay, so, basically every point he made in his video was about the story and not their actual relationship. The title is wrong, this doesn't show why Harry and Hermione wouldn't work, he's just saying how it would change the storyline. But I think we are all already aware that Harry and Hermione getting together would change a lot in the story. But I'll go over it anyways.

First of all, I don't entirely agree that Harry's relationships weren't the main focus, I mean half of the half-blood prince was about him developing feelings for Ginny-

But anyways, if Harry and Hermione were going to end up together, it would still happen in a similar way. We have all read the beautiful moments they shared together throughout the books, and those would've been enough for them to develop their feelings, but just not realize it until the last 2 books. We wouldn't have to add in any scenes that would change the story massively to lead them to falling in love, honestly, we had enough already in the books. So the only thing that would change would be probably Harry not developing feelings for Ginny, but instead slowly realizing his feelings for Hermione. Simple!

And as for Romione, I agree, the slowburn was beautiful, but we could've had the same thing, same development but as a friendship! Ron's character arc is one of my favorite things about the series and nobody can convince me that it wasn't amazing. Instead of Ron changing for Hermione to become her lover, we could have Ron changing for her to become a better friend. His character arc remains the same and Ron Hermione become best friends. Of course this would change many scenes and the storyline would've changed a lot as I already mentioned, but hey! At least we wouldn't have Ron haters who bash him for mAkInG hErMiOnE cRy. 🤡 And JKR could add different scenes instead of the ones hinting at Ron and Hermione's romantic relationship. We still would have had a beautiful story with a VERY SIMILAR dynamic.

4. "Harry wasn't the kind of guy Hermione was looking for. She already made a mistake with dating Viktor Krum, and she realized she didn't need a hero. She was a hero herself. Although Harry ≠ Viktor, they have very similar qualities like: bravery, loyalty and they are both heroes."

This is probably the best argument of the entire *almost* 5 minute video.

But there's still so much wrong with this.

Bravery and loyalty are literally Ron's best traits lmao. That's exactly why she chose him. 🤣 Every Romione shipper knows she doesn't value intelligence and looks, she values bravery, courage, loyalty. That's exactly what she said in the first book and stuck by it until the end.

She didn't need a hero? She was a hero herself? - Then why are we forgetting that Ron was also a hero? Everyone always makes it seem like Harry and Hermione are the mighty heroes and Ron is their goofy sidekick. He was also a hero! I believe he is even on the chocolate frog cards (correct me if I'm wrong)! And we all know that's the biggest flex. 😌

But besides that, Ron and Harry are very similar in many ways. They're both brave, they're both loyal, they both like to have fun, they're both lazy, they're both amazing at quidditch, they're both talented (Harry is very powerful and he's good at DADA, while Ron can do many impressive things like mimic voices and come up with quick solutions even when he's under pressure and his life depends on it!). So if Hermione liked one and thought he was her "type", then there's a hight possibility she liked the other too. In canon, she only likes Ron obviously, but I'm saying that since Ron and Harry are so similar and share the same traits, Hermione could've chosen Harry too.

Anyways, that's all that the video included, it was very nice hearing different opinions and I actually wasn't writing this out of anger like I wrote the post about defending Romione against *the ridiculously stupid* arguments that Dr*mione shippers like to use.

Once again, if it isn't clear, I STAN both Romione and Hinny, but Harmione definitely could've worked. :)

Thanks for reading! ~ Lia <3

Art: Asha47110 on DeviantArt :)

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rpg-elf-girl · 3 years

Text

Shadows House

I have a lot of thoughts surrounding this particular show, both good & bad.

Allow me to give a quick summary for anyone who hasn't seen/read it!

Shadows House is about 'a faceless family of nobles who all live within this giant manor, the Shadows House.

When a Shadow comes of age they receive a 'Living Doll' to both serve as their face and to clean the soot they emit from their bodies.

The most important rule of the living dolls is "don't fret over trivial matters"

A task which is difficult for the ever curious doll Emiliko.

Watch this tale unfold as Emiliko & her mistress Kate navigate this ever mysterious Manor together.'

For a fan of slow burn thrillers, horror, slice of life, supernatural & mystery series' this has been an absolute blast!

It's not quite the combination of genres you'd expect from a show, but it works really well here!

In fact I was so into the anime that this is actually the first show where I broke down and read the manga!

Unfortunately there's no official English release, but at least there are some people translating the series!

As much as I'd like to go on about the manga, this post is meant to be more so about the anime so I'll (try to) leave it at that.

Though i feel obligated to warn anime onlys I'll likely refer the manga a lot in a spoiler section latter in this post I'll try to be vague but I can't guarantee anything. For anyone worried about that I'll lable it do you can read on until then.

Everything from the animation to the music was amazing & completely fit the mood of the story! I remember a couple scenes where I actually teared up because of this!

The Ending theme is an absolute banger! I've listened to that on repeat ever since I first heard it! And the Opening is also great! It's cool for it to be an instrumental, stuff like that is pretty rare! I also heard the song in the op as a motif in the music throughout the show! It really sets the right mood in each scene it's in! It's amazing for getting into each episode!

In terms of adaptation almost everything from the beginning to the end of the Debut arc was done amazingly well!

Even with the stuff they cut it still holds true to the spirit of its source.

The main important part that was cut is something that could easily be introduced latter if they decide to go for a second season, so I'm not too mad about that.

However! Everything after the debut is a bit of a different story.

There was a lot I liked about the last couple episodes but there were some parts that were immersion breaking for me.

I've been being vague up until this point l, but I'm planning on going into spoiler territory for both the anime and manga after this. So I'll make a quick spoiler free summary of my thoughts before moving onto that.

I really really loved this show but in my opinion the last 3 episodes were the weakest of them all. They went anime only for the ending. I don't mind that on it's own, but it was rushed and the writing was sloppy at times.

Now I'm not telling you to not watch the show! Most of It's really really good, and I can still see people enjoying the parts I'm talking about if they want to give the anime a try. Overall I've fallen in love with this series and I could never recommend it enough.

If what I'm saying is giving you bad vibes the manga is available and doesn't have the issues I've mentioned. You can look for a translation online, it didn't take me long to find one so don't worry too much about that.

Also! if you're an anime only who's finished the series and want to know where to pick up the Manga I'd recommend at least skiming through the beginning. I know it might not be what you're looking for but there were a bunch of small scenes that either got cut or were merged for adaptation purposes that I think are super cute & give more context to different aspects of the setting. However! Pay close attention during the "night watchers part" something important got cut .

~~~Now for spoilers!!!!~~~

I don't want to make it sound like I'm some manga purist who hates the very thought of the slightest change from the source. I'm anime only for a lot of different shows and I've always despised it when that type of manga reader reared it's ugly head.

While I'll admit some changes did bother me I won't make a fuss about the smaller stuff.

With that said!

I hinted earlier in this post that I didn't have a big problem with Robe-same being cut. That was because without them there it does make for a more complete story if they only get one season to work with.

If there is another season they can easily be introduced latter on. Like maybe Emiliko & Shaun can meet them when the Debutant class reunion is going on before they talk on the roof (or right after that) I actually think that would be the perfect time to introduce them (other than the time they were supposed to appear, but I digress)

Louise teaming up & being friendly with Kate can be explained with some dialogue changes at the first Debutant Class Reunion. Louise can say she was just trying to show off or that she just wanted to get back at Edward and that she isn't interested in helping Kate with her problems. Things can then go on as they did in the manga.

Kates being reckless & telling everything to John can be explained by her being extremely panicked when Emiliko went missing, as long as there are some lines of dialogue adressing this it's fine. Though I do wish she tried to keep some stuff a secret but couldn't because Shaun tries to interfer because he's still brainwashed, or something along those lines. It felt a bit weird after she just told Emiliko to keep that stuff between them. Still that could be explained by how panicked she was.

There are other things, but I don't want to drag the post on too long. Most of the issues can be fixed with little changes here & there.

I never had a problem with the idea of them going in an anime only direction. I just want to have a good time with the show.

Unfortunately I can't 100% vouche for the direction the show went in. There were elements that I can't excuse, even viewing it as it's own entity instead of an adaptation.

My main complaint with it is how they handled the brainwashing of Ricky & Lou. They didn't say a word when the Debutants were talking badly about Edward & even went along with a plan to go against him. It makes absolutely no sense!

Shaun freaked out when John only suggested that he didn't have to be loyal to the house. These guys were flat out rebelling against an adult! It felt like Ricky & Lou didn't have a purpose & were just there to be there.

The whole point of the coffee is to influence shadows against doing stuff like this. It makes the coffee seem pointless and the adults seem dumb for relying on it to control the kids.

I haven't even brought up the fact that both of their brainwashings were broken by something as simple as a few kind words. It straight up contradicts the rules established by both the Anime and Manga.

This becomes very apparent when you consider all the trouble John & Kate went through to free Shaun & Emiliko.

This was my biggest complaint, but I have some other issues as well.

The next big one is how they handled Edward.

1. Why on earth would he even consider kidnapping Emiliko when he had complete control of the childrens wing? Before this point he was depicted as being a lot more crafty than this. He could easily have Kate monitored or something.

2. Why didn't he use his powers to stop them like what he did to Maryrose & Rosemary when they fought back being taken to the adults wing? He's already shown off his power at this point, why not?

3. Why did he reveal his soot powers at all!? Especially while using his face in front of the kids! The whole unification thing is one of the biggest secrets of the house for good reason! There's no way he wouldn't get in huge trouble for exposing it to children!

Here are some other related questions.

Why didn't Kate, Emiliko, & John react to Edward using soot powers? They shouldn't know about unification yet so why didn't they act shocked, or say anything about it?

Is Edward being banished even an option in the Shadows House? Wouldn't the third floor lords just dispose of him rather than risk letting him leave?

How did John even get a veiled dolls outfit? Louise had to use her powers to get Kate one & she left a long time ago.

I can't think of much else at the moment, but I think you get my point.

Please don't take this as me saying that I hate the show because of these episodes. Even if I consider them the weakest of the series I still found a lot of parts to be very enjoyable!

Like I thought it was adorable When Edward was attempting to interrogate Emiliko & she kept being her sunshine self pretending to eat & falling asleep.

Barbara getting to tell off Edward for breaking the rules was great!

I loved seeing Shaun hatch the plan to get Kate into the adults wing to save Emiliko.

Seeing John (attempt to) sneak around the adults wing had me rolling!

The ending scene of Shaun, Ricky, & Lou singing gave me the chills.

(Though I wonder how they'd handle Shaun & Emiliko being brainwashed again since they already used the scenes where they're freed)

Kate & Emilico being propelled by John back to the children's wing was absolutely amazing! I found Shaun & Ricky running over to catch them to be super sweet! (Not to mention the way that scene was animated was absolutely gorgeous!)

Getting hints to what was supposed to come after the debut was nice, at least the groundwork is there in case this gets a season 2!

To (try to) wrap this all up while there were a lot of things I loved and disliked about this show I still had a really fun time watching it!

I kinda hope there's a season two just to see if they can tidy up the mess that the last few episodes created.

Regardless of whether that happens or not I came out of this with a series I absolutely adore.

Heck I could make a whole other post about the manga. (Hopefully one that's less ranty)

Anyway! I won't take any more of your time.

I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! And I hope to see you in my next post!

(Sorry if this one was a bit of a mess!)

#Shadows House #Shadows House Review #Shadows House Anime #Shadows House Manga #anime #anime review #seasonal anime

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