#sorry to post 2 comics in a row I wanted to make this before I overthought it and got scared | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

reidsnose · 3 years

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happy campers

overview: the bau goes on a team building camping trip but reader and spencer spend most of their time together

genre: fluff

a/n: ive been kicking myself for not posting in forever but i think this one is pretty cute! please lmk what yall think :)

masterlist

the stuffy, eight person suv finally rolled to a stop, the overgrown children that call themselves the bau tumbling out as quickly and gracelessly as possible. Morgan and Reid nearing the end of a 2 and a half minute long slap fight that you happened to be caught directly in the middle of. you looked at jj, pleading to make them stop with her mom powers.

"boys behave or ill ground you both," she sighed, going to help out with taking things out of the trunk.

they immediately stopped, muttering under their breath that the other one started it. but before they could start again, Spencer caught a glance at you. you were taking a deep breath, smiling contently, very clearly happy to get some fresh, forest air. despite being in direct sunlight, your smile was far brighter than anything he'd seen in his whole life.

before he knew it he was being snapped out of his daze and asked to help set up the tents. he was really hoping to have a chance to share a tent with you, like you sometimes had done on cases when hotel rooms were scarce. but he knew that almost everyone wanted a spot in your tent because you're that much fun to be around. Penelope would win, obviously, and he would be paired up with morgan again.

he let out a sigh as he finished up pitching one of the tents, pulling the corner and nailing it into the ground. as he did so, something caught his eye: a pink, round, fat little worm crawled out of the dirt.

his attention was now fully on the worm, ecstatic to see it because he had been reading up on worms for a while. he called morgan and hotch over since they were the closest to him, rambling excitedly all hes learned about them so far. he looked up and could see the disinterest behind their polite smiles. his own smile faltered for a second, until he saw you finishing up pitching a tent.

"im gonna go show y/n. shes gonna love this!" spencer giggled, already walking towards you.

"hey kid i dont know if she-" morgan began.

"reid she might not-" hotch started as well.

but he had already reached you, sticking out his hand and revealing the worm. hotch and morgan looked at each other worriedly, concerned that the tiniest rejection from you, even about something as small as a worm, would tear his heart to pieces.

their faces changed from worry to confusion as they watched a wide grin crack on your face.

"oh! a worm!" you exclaimed gleefully.

they observed as you put your hand out and Spencer dropped the worm in your hand. you watched it wriggle around and would occasionally look up and nod along with his rambling, asking questions and listening intently. hotch and morgan were speechless, knowing full well if they offered a girl they liked a worm, she would not have the same reaction.

you and Spencer started walking back over to the tent, where hotch and morgan tried their best to seem busy. you two were laughing, something about putting the worm back where he found it so it gets home safely. if there was ever any doubt that you and Spencer would be the perfect couple, its completely disintegrated now.

you and Spencer were typically joined at the hip, but after the worm encounter, you two were especially inseparable.

the girls went down by the lake to tan while you and Spencer tried to build a hut out of random sticks and logs you found around the forest. and while the guys were fishing on that same lake, Spencer and you were rock skipping, and he was explaining to you the physics behind it. and you were both scaring away any potential fish for rossi, hotch, and morgan to catch. so you two were banished back into the forest for the time being. when the rest of the team came back, you and him were up in a tree, eating some of the snacks they'd packed, talking and laughing and subconsciously leaning into one another. you didn't need to be a profiler to see the signs. you two were head over heels already, even if you guys didn't know it yet.

after a bonfire full of roasted marshmallows and scary stories, laughs and giggles. it was a wonderful, but tiring night and before you knew it you were getting ready for bed, sharing highlights of the day back and fourth with Penelope.

"i'm picking up on a bit of a pattern," she giggled, wiggling her eyebrows.

you wracked your brain, "what pattern?"

"all of your highlights included a certain adorkable genius."

"what? no we just...he's my best friend so we-cause its fun and i just-" you stammered, feeling your face heat up with every passing second.

"relax my love, i was just teasing," she chuckled, turning over to go to sleep.

"yeah i know. goodnight pen."

"goodnight lovely," she sighed, "but give some thought to lover boy."

you chuckled lightly before whispering to yourself, "trust me i have."

you woke up and checked the time, it was 4:47am but you just could not fall asleep. you crawled out of the tent, grabbing your blanket when you felt the cool morning air rush at you. you didn't want to wake anyone, so you made your way over to the little hill that the suv was parked on, stealing the keys from hotch's bag and crossing to the other side that faced east. the sun would be rising soon, it would be nice to watch; you draped your blanket across your shoulders. you heard footsteps coming from behind you, your blood running cold, immediately assuming the worst.

you turned around and were met with Spencer's sleepy smile. his hair stuck up in all directions and he looked perfectly adorable. you had to resist your urge to give in and kiss him right then and there.

"you scared me!" you whispered, trying to stifle a smile.

"im sorry," he giggled, "why are you up?"

"im not sure i just couldnt fall back asleep. why are you up?" you echoed.

"morgan keeps farting."

you and him let out hearty laughs, quickly covering your mouths as to not wake up the rest of the team.

you faced the car for a second, legs growing tired from standing.

"look how pretty the fogged up windows look," you observed, facing back and fourth between the colorful sky and the muggy version reflecting on the suv. you pressed your hand against the window, leaving a print, "so cold!" you chuckled.

spencer put his hand next your handprint, quickly recoiling, "you werent lying," he laughed, shivering a little.

you looked at the two handprints, his comically larger than yours and you couldnt help but smile to yourself.

"do you want some blanket?" you asked, opening your arms.

"i think im too tall," he frowned, "maybe if i crouch?"

"how about," you dangled the keys infront of your face before opening the trunk of the suv, "front row seats to the sunrise and some blanket."

"that sounds perfect," he smiled, begging his body not to redden his cheeks.

you two crawled into the trunk, draping the blanket across both of your shoulders, being pulled together by the small piece of fabric. you two were completely cuddled together, getting maximum warmth from the blanket and each other's body heat. a comfortable silence floated between you, faint bird songs and the others breathing filling it with peace. you felt your eyelids droop, despite the breathtaking rebirth of the sun happing in front of you. spencer was just so comfortable.

he felt the same way, his head falling to rest on top of yours as sleep pulled at his eyes. he yawned lightly, pulling you closer and breathing you in. you smiled. perfectly content.

about an hour later, hotch woke up, searching frantically for his keys. he ran up to check if the suv was still there, only to be met with your sleeping figures in the open trunk, wrapped up tightly in a blanket, smiles on both of your faces despite being asleep. hotch was good at predicting things, he saw scenarios play out fully before they truly began.

he snapped a picture, knowing it would be put to good use in a few years, he smelled a wedding.

spencer and you spent the drive home smiling like a couple of idiots, grins growing wider each time the sun hit the window just right, revealing your handprints.

ultra mega super cool taglist:

@mac99martin @imhreid @spencersmagic @hollydaisy23 @raelady1184 @a-broken-pact @padfootswife @hey-there-angels @star-stuff-in-the-cosmos @sonnydoesrandomshit @averyhotchner @laurakirsten0502 @reidyoulikeabook @rem-ariiana @spencerreid9 @vampire-overlord @takeyourleap-of-faith @spenxerslut @violetspoetic @aperrywilliams @b-a-utiful @eevee0722 @srhxpci @reidemandweep @imdefinitelyfloating @random-human-person @gurkiloni @luvspence @calm-and-doctor @ssavanessa22 @singularityjc

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phenomenice · 3 years

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So excited to get to post these now! I’ve been working on art for @radiantmists‘ wonderful fic, see fire in their eyes for @pilesofnonsense RQBB 2021 collaborating with @dedicatedfollower467. Please check out the fic and def’s art! The fic is a superhero AU so we decided to do comic-style works and def was a huge help laying them out because this was a GIANT challenge for me! Also, each row of panels is from a different section of a given chapter of the fic, so please check them out in context! Def and I worked on alternate chapters so there’s art for each one.

This was such a wonderful experience, thanks so much to Edgedancer and Def as well as the RQBB crew!

Image ID’s under the cut because they are CHONKY.

Panels for chapter 1:

Row 1: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring Amelie Rose from Rusty Quill Gaming. Amelie Rose, a white human with chestnut hair in a bun wears a purple jacket and holds a microphone. She says, "Amelie Rose, here live outside the Office of the Meritocracy ..." as she stands in front of a grey concrete brutalist building covered in plants. They sky is blue and the lighting is bright to indicate a sunny day.

Row 2: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) a supervillain, Zolf Smith and Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan from Rusty Quill Gaming. At the top of the image, a text box reads "Hamid had watched with creeping nausea ..." On the left side of the image, Hamid's television shows a cowering supervillain surrounded by a fire he set as a huge jet of water, deployed by Zolf, douses the flames. Zolf stands in front of the villain, commanding the water. On the right, Hamid, am Egyptian halfling man with a warm taupe complexion and deep brown hair looks on. His fingers are brought to his mouth and he stares in concentrated shock at the image.

Row 3: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Azu, Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan and Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam from Rusty Quill Gaming. Azu, a brown-skinned orc woman wearing a pink tank top and holding a purple athletic back, says "Hamid! Good morning!" as she looks with a slight smile at Hamid. Hamid, an Egyptian halfling man weaing a purple jacket, responds "Good morning, Azu!" Grizzop, a grey goblin with red eyes, is walking past Hamid to get on with his day looking focused.

Panels for chapter 3:

Row 1: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Oscar Wilde and Zolf Smith from Rusty Quill Gaming. Hamid, an Egyptian halfling man wearing a purple jacke, says "Erm ... happy birthday, Zolf." Zolf, a white dwarf with white hair and a braided beard, faces Hamid. He is wearing a dark blue coat and says "Pleasure's mine." Oscar, a white human man with brown hair stands behind him, with his hand on Zolf's back, smiling slightly. He wears a grey suit with teal highlights and an aqua tie. On the right side of the image, Hamid's hand with long green thumbnail passes a small gift wrapped in purple with teal ribbon to Zolf's hand. Zolf has short fingernails and white arm hair.

Row 2: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Sasha Racket, Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Azu and Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam from Rusty Quill Gaming. On the left side of the image: Sasha Racket, a white woman with dark hair and a scar on the side of her face wearing a dark grey jacket and trousers opens a trap door in the floor. Azu, a brown-skinned orc woman in a pink and purple costume and Grizzop, a red-eyed grey goblin in a dark grey tactical outfit gather around to investigate. The back of Hamid's head is visible at the bottom of the image as he looks on. On the right side of the image: Azu and Grizzop have climbed into the basement through the trap door. Hamid's knees are visible as Azu holds out a hand to help Hamid down. Grizzop says, "Oh -- sorry" as he looks up at Hamid as he's forgotten to turn on his flashlight and it is very dark in the basement.

Row 3: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Einstein, Eldarion, Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Azu, Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam and Sasha Racket from Rusty Quill Gaming. Einstein, a white man wearing a full-face Venetian mask with white feathers around it and a grey coat, stands behind Eldarion. Eldarion, an elf woman, also wears a full-face Venetian mask tied behind her dark brown bun. She is wearing a dark burgundy velvet sleeveless evening dress and opera gloves, with a watch under her glove around her right wrist. On the right side of the image: Hamid, an Egyptian halfling man wearing a purple jacket; Azu, a brown-skinned orc woman wearing a pink and purple costume; Grizzop, a grey goblin with red eyes wearing a dark grey tactical outfit; and Sasha Racket, a white woman with a scar on the side of her face wearing a dark grey jacket and her arms crossed face off against Einstein and Eldarion. Grizzop says, "And you worked with this person?"

Panels for chapter 5:

Row 1: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Azu, Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Oscar Wilde, Apophis and Zolf Smith from Rusty Quill Gaming. At the top right of the image, a text box reads "As the door before him had been wrenched open, his whole world had been washed in heat." The text is italicized. Hamid's arms, originally those of a halfling with a warm taupe complexion, have become dragonlike. He has brassy and orangey scales, and his green-pained nails have become more clawlike. He is clutching several test tubes which have broken, spilling neon pink liquid over his hands and throwing shards of glass into the air. To the right of the image, a huge burst of orange, red and yellow flame throws three figures into silhouette. Sparks and black specks of ash surround them.

Row 2: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Azu, Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Sasha Racket, Grizzop drik acht Amsterdam, Oscar Wilde, and Zolf Smith from Rusty Quill Gaming. Azu, wearing a pink and purple costume; Hamid, an Egyptian halfling man wearing a purple jack; Sasha, a white woman with dark hair in a dark coat with a scar on the side of her face; and Grizzop, a red-eyed grey goblin wearing a grey jacket all approach a set of bars. Grizzop says "Yeah, we're here, you absolutely idiot". On the other side of the bars, Oscar Wilde leans against the grey stone wall. He is a white man with brown hair wearing a grey coat with teal accents and an aqua tie. He is bruised and has blood on the right side of his mouth. Zolf, a white dwarf man, sits beside him. He is also a bit bruised and wears a dark blue coat. He has white hair and a braided white beard.

Row 3: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Oscar Wilde and Zolf Smith from Rusty Quill Gaming. Hamid, an Egyptian halfling man, is on the left of the image in extreme close-up. He wears a shocked expression and there are bright orange lines around his face to emphasize his shock. Wilde, a white human man with brown hair, is bruised and has blood on the right side of his mouth. He says "they want Hamid." He is wearing a grey coat with green accents and an aqua tie. Zolf is to the right, looking intensely at Hamid. He is a white dwarf with a braided beard and scar on hsi left temple.

Panels for chapter 7:

Row 1: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Eldarion, Oscar Wilde, and Azu from Rusty Quill Gaming. In the top part of the image, a black military boot and a copper stylish men's shoe stand on floorboards. Below the floor, Eldarion, an elf woman, Oscar, a white man with bruises, and Azu, a brown-skinned orc woman look apprehensively towards the upper floor. Wilde is wearing a coat with teal accents and an aqua tie. Azu clutches her morningstar over her shoulder. The background of the image is a dark reddish room in deep shadow.

Row 2: A digitally coloured comic panel featuring (left to right) Azu, Hamid Saleh Haroun al Tahan, Oscar Wilde, Apophis and Zolf Smith from Rusty Quill Gaming. Azu, a brown-skinned orc woman, is wearing a pink and purple costume and stands behind Hamid, backing him up. Hamid, an Egyptian halfling man, is in a purple and green suit and in a defiant stance with his arms out. He is addressing Apophis, an Egyptian man, and says, "As long as you're going to be transparent with us, and you're trying to make the world better ... yeah. We'll help." Apophis sits in a wingback chair in the middle of an indistinct, dimly lit red room. His fingers are steepled and he is regarding Hamid thoughtfully. He wears a grey suit, copper ascot, and red shirt. The back of Wilde's head with his brown hair is visible a the bottom of the image. Zolf stands off to the right, a white dwarf man with white hair and beard. His beard is braided with a golden ring set with an emerald. He wears a blue coat.

#rqbb2021 #rusty quill big bang 2021 #rusty quill big bang #rqg #rqg fanart #rqg fancomic #rusty quill gaming #my art #art for fics

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taglegend · 3 years

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Tag Fact #3 - I’ve come to realize I’ve always been a fan artist more than I thought. so here is a timeline of influences that shaped my childhood to now. from nostalgic times, to sad changes, to great loss, to strange rises to fame and phases, to stepping stones and finally a laughing place. all the things that make up your favorite fan artist Tag.

1. Rayman (bumped into this in the year of 1999) was actually the first fandom (with crossovers) I bumped into when I was 9. although the internet wasn’t available at the time it was still fun to dwell in home amusements. I remember the storylines and the OC’s I made but they’re kind of embarrassing and it’s probably a good thing there was no internet. I’ve done fanart and comic crossovers of Rayman with Calvin and Hobbs and Nights Into Dreams, spinoffs of Sonic the Hedgehog OC’s, Yoshi with Pikachu, and the Pokemon/Digimon craze with OC’s and other Nintendo comic shorts. but the drawings and comics are long gone and disappeared in the garage in a backpack due to suspecting my sister’s dad accidentally throwing them away. years later towards the year 2018 (now 28), we decided to move to North Carolina and it was my chance to find them again. unfortunately the backpack was gone just like I suspected (my main stuff), but for some reason I found my Pokemon/Digimon fanart, a good batch of Super Mario drawings (vaguely remember doing these), my sister’s drawings and some other neighborhood kids’ drawings in a dirty box. I was partially happy I found something at least but it was the backpack I wanted the most. sometimes I regret not looking for the backpack (’cause I was too busy being a kid) but it’s alright, noone needs to see that shit anyway, ha ha. anyways, I recall being a fan of Rayman from 1999 ‘til 2002.

2. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (bumped into this in the year of 2003) my second fandom I bumped into when I was 12 going on 13. at the time, my sister and I both liked the Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise based on the Battle remake and ended up making our own secret fanart club that consisted of only us two members. she liked Sonic (and that was her boyfriend, ha ha) and I liked Knuckles (and he was my boyfriend, ha ha) and we were crazy in love about Shadow’s backstory. we listened to the game’s soundtracks as we drew fanart and comics after school and man, those were good times. however, as we grew older towards the year of 2005, we ended up having separate rooms and I believe it played a part in disconnecting on the same interest. then one day, I asked her why she wasn’t into Sonic anymore and she replied, “Because I grew up.” I was sad after that and slowly observed that she was influenced by the emo culture and the new friends she’s made. I was the only member of our little club for a little longer...but eventually I moved on too. I still have some surviving fanart we did together but it doesn’t mean shit anymore since she turned out to be an abusive mother from the last I’ve heard of her.

3. Gorillaz (bumped into this in the year of 2006). as the Sonic years were at its end, I first heard the song “Feel Good Inc” on Music Choice and seeing the first image of them as displayed on this post (except the fan-made background doesn’t count since I can’t find the original artwork). this was my third fandom and later had proper access to the internet to the website I still currently use called DeviantArt. at first I liked 2D but eventually fell for Murdoc and developed a spiritual connection towards the character as obviously seen in my old fanart and rare photos of my devotion shrines on Valentine’s Day and his birthday every year. for the longest time since being a permanent fan from 2006-2017 (11 1/2 years) I had no knowledge that it was a political propaganda band and other realizations I don’t want to talk about. I only followed them because it was a cartoon and not the bullshit behind the musical project. the world I’ve built and support for them for all those 11 1/2 years shattered the fuck out of me and I just wanted to be left alone to find myself again, somehow. activity stopped on all my profiles, the flow of fanart stopped since I now cringe from the fan service and felt I was used for my talent. I didn’t want to be reminded of it all so I took down all my Gorillaz fanart and archived them for old followers’ nostalgia but also in the hopes they’ll be forgotten in my timeline. I ceased to exist in the fandom for huge personal reasons but it’s best to not say why. I know for sure that the fandom wonders what happened but it’s none of their business. THE END.

4. Waluigi (although I knew he’s been around since 2000 during childhood, I took deep interest once I revisited the character again in the year of December 2013). as silly as this sounds, when I revisited him again, the character was so bizarre that I ended up staying up 3 nights and 3 days in a row just looking all over the internet on everything about him and the questionable “hush-hush” absence of a backstory. despite there being no backstory he slowly gained a cult following and in many ways it’s a good thing. however, since the early 2010′s tension has been building up between Nintendo and its fans about him starring in a main game but everyone hasn’t fully gotten it in their heads that it’s not gonna happen. as long as Nintendo is in control of that, the fandom will not win, I’m sorry to say. on the other hand, if it’s going to be this way, then that’s what fanart and comic projects are for. as for me, I am doing my very best to get my comic project “Waluigi Land” going. again, I apologize if it’s taking very long to get Chapter 2 going if you’ve been keeping track but aha moments need to develop before I start permanent drawing (since concepts, character design and storyline needed improvement badly). as of right now I am still a Waluigi fan and I will not quit on him.

5. Turbo from Wreck-It-Ralph (although it debuted in 2012, I watched the movie two years later into the year 2014). for some bizarro reason, I had an unhealthy obsession with this character to the point where I dressed up as him for Halloween 2014. only 2 fanarts of him and the Turbo Twins exist on my profiles, mainly because my mind was more focused on just ‘thinking about him’ or ‘being him’ rather than drawing physical drawings. luckily, this supposed alleged fandom didn’t last long a little after Halloween so I chalk it up as a very short phase. to this day I don’t know what has gotten over me about him. the only thing I can think of now is that I think it’s because the character had yellow eyes and teeth but I don’t know. now that I think of it, that little fucker was ugly as hell and I STILL don’t know what had gotten over me. one day, my brother mentioned what that was about, and I said to him, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

6. Undertale (although it debuted in 2015, I later took interest in it in 2016). It was all about Sans and Papyrus. I couldn’t get enough of the skeleton bros. eventually Toriel and Mettaton EX became my favorites but it took a long time to draw more of all 4 of them because I had other important things to do in my life plus I was still waiting for the next Gorillaz album to revive my imaginative juices (or so I thought). I really want to have this as one of my frequent fandoms but I just don’t have time for it anymore. it’s still in the back of my head to want to draw them but at this point I still have other better interests to be in. and besides, I’m lazy just like Sans.

7. Cuphead (June 28th, 2017 was the official day I called quits on the British-based band Gorillaz due to the bullshit behind it. since that date I was lost, had no inspiration to look forward to and no cartoon guy to make me smile...but lo and behold of the same year, I took an interest in playing the game Cuphead and man...that shit was a frightening exaggerated metaphor for being on that one drug (forgot the name though) and having sex at the same time but man that was the best fun I’ve had in years. I mean, it’s like, enemies are just so happy to murder you and that scared the shit outta me. and the facial exaggeration?....I think I should stop, ha ha. anyways, the Moldenhauers saved my ass from spiraling down, they have no clue. anyways, eventually I became a permanent fan of their work so to ease the hurt and erase my past from the G-fandom I had to re-wire my brain into a different cartoon category that’s a rather more American, so anything Toon related like Roger Rabbit, Felix the Cat or another favorite that’s a western-based cartoon makes me feel better, especially my new man .......King Dice <3 <3<3<3. however, there was something about this new fandom category I still didn’t quite understand until the date March 14th, 2020. I finally understood what it was but I feel I shouldn’t bring it up. anyways, Cuphead and anything western or rubber hose is my last stop in inspiration for the remaining years of my life. many say never say never but I believe I’ve found my laughing place and that’s all that matters.

#tag facts #influences from cartoons #likes and dislikes #thoughts i have about characters #toons #rayman #sonic the hedgehog #gorillaz #waluigi #turbo #wreck it ralph #undertale #cuphead

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argylemnwrites · 4 years

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Why Are We Still Waiting? - Chapter 2

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment universe)

Word Count: ~4900

Rating: PG-13 (language)

Summary: A trip back to Cordonia, meeting someone new... just not the new person they thought they would be meeting.

Author’s Note: Well, I’ve utterly failed at posting this with any semblance of regularity, but... it’s back. And I’m trying to get back in the habit of more consistent editing/writing (so things don’t take me five times as long because I am rusty). We left Drake and Riley engaged, but with a postponed wedding due to Savannah and Bertrand’s unplanned pregnancy. They just recently had their second child, a little girl, and Drake and Riley are off to Cordonia to meet their niece. To catch up on this series, you can check out the It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment masterlist (link in bio).

Drake twisted slightly, stretching out his back as he waited for the rows ahead of them to exit the plane so he could stand up and finally move his legs. He’d gotten more used to flying coach in the past couple of years, but that still didn’t exactly make it a comfortable or enjoyable experience. But there was obviously no way that they could make the trip to Cordonia a few times a year if they didn’t keep the flights as cheap as humanly possible.

As soon as he could, he shifted into the aisle, handing Riley her coat from the overhead bin before grabbing his own jacket and their duffle bags. And then they were off, shuffling through the airport, over to immigration, then off to baggage claim and customs.

Drake pulled out his phone as soon as he and Riley and their luggage were cleared. It was odd that Bastien hadn’t responded. He had texted him when they landed. It had become their habit over the past couple of years. Since Drake had sold his car, having Bastien take it to a dealership for him a few months after he permanently vacated his old quarters at the palace and putting the money towards some furniture for their new apartment, Liam had let him just borrow a car from the palace garage to use during his trips. With expedited immigration and customs, giving Bastien a head’s up when they landed in Cordonia usually worked out pretty perfectly with time, with Bastien waiting for them in short term parking by the time they got out, keys in hand.

But today, he hadn’t confirmed that he’d even seen the text. It was strange. Drake was just about to give him a call, when Riley nudged him with her elbow.

“Look,” she said, pointing across the concourse. There was a tall man ahead of them, wearing a navy sweater, a pair of jeans, and a bright blue baseball hat pulled very low, almost entirely hiding his dark hair. He was holding a sheet of paper that said “Walker/Liu,” but he wasn’t looking for them. In fact, he was clearly avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Drake just shook his head as he smiled. He should have known.

“Real subtle, Your Majesty,” Drake said as soon as they were close enough that he could drop his voice and still be heard by Liam.

Liam’s head jerked back and forth. “Not so loud!” he hissed out.

“You look so suspicious right now. You know that, right?”

“I’m trying to keep a low profile,” Liam said, shaking his head as he welcomed Drake’s loose hug.

“By doing what, dressing vaguely casual and then acting like someone who is terrified of being picked up by security?” Drake stepped back, shaking his head yet again.

“It’s not that bad.”

“No, Drake’s right. At JFK, you would have been carted off for an interview in some secret back room already,” Riley added before giving Liam a hug herself.

“I used to think your snark was rubbing off on her, but now I’m pretty sure I had that reversed,” Liam said over Riley’s shoulder towards Drake, earning himself a little shove and an eye roll as Riley stepped back. “Come on, let’s get out of here before I get recognized.

The three of them strolled out of the airport into the crisp winter air, the sun bright and blinding even as Riley shivered and handed Drake her duffle bag so that she could put on her coat.

“So what did we do to earn a ride in the royal motorcade?” Drake asked once they were clear of the crowds and vehicles in the drop off zone.

“I thought it might be a fun surprise.”

There was something in Liam’s tone that gave Drake pause. It was just a little too falsely cheery and rapid. There was something he wasn’t telling them. “And?”

He let out a little sigh, “And your mother and aunt decided to stay two extra nights, so they aren’t leaving until tomorrow.”

“Oh,” said Riley, “and who made the call that Leona and I shouldn’t be under the same roof?”

“That’s not the case, Riley,” Liam said with a shake of his head. “Bertrand wanted me to relay a message that you will always be an honorary Beaumont, and that therefore you are always welcome at Ramsford.”

Drake glanced over at Riley to find her already gazing his way. She raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes, and all Drake could do was shrug. Riley and his aunt had clashed pretty intensely during her first trip down to Texas, and things had only gotten worse the next two visits. It was clear someone decided that Riley and Leona shouldn’t be allowed to run into each other if it could be avoided, and Drake didn’t exactly disagree with that thought process.

"Right," said Riley, “because I'm sure me snapping at her judgemental ass would be much appreciated."

Liam glanced back at Drake, clearly looking to him to see if it was fine to speak candidly. He still was getting used to the fact that Riley didn't need things tied up in a pretty diplomatic bow and honestly preferred blunt assessments. Drake got the sense that Liam still almost felt like it was a trap at times, so used to courtly politics being the norm with everyone but Drake himself. But Drake just gave him a little nod. Riley was self-aware enough of the nature of her relationship with Aunt Leona that she didn’t need Liam to dance around it.

“Well, Maxwell did mention that he thought that… that Caroline might be making enough noise for the estate and there wasn’t a need to add to it.”

Drake let out a chuckle at that, watching as Riley rolled her eyes but otherwise had no reaction. He was pretty sure she vented to Maxwell about his family on occasion, so it wasn't exactly surprising that he was the one who had decided any meetings between Riley and Leona should be avoided if possible. Liam's shoulders relaxed slightly once a few seconds passed and it was clear that Riley wasn't offended by his statement.

"So, I hope you both can forgive the last minute change of plans, but I thought you might find a night at the palace more enjoyable. I know I would like the chance to spend some time with both of you. Plus, there is… well, there is someone I would very much like you both to meet."

"What?"

"Yes. She is waiting over there, by the car."

Drake followed Liam’s gesture and saw a woman standing by a non-descript silver sedan, one of the cars kept in the palace garage for trips where a member of the royal family might need to keep a low profile. They were still far enough away that he couldn’t tell much about what she looked like. This had to be a girlfriend, right? Again, Drake looked over at Riley, wanting to see if she had the same thought. Her eyes were wide and her eyebrows almost comically raised as she mouthed, “What?” at him. Alright, so she agreed. Well, this was definitely going to be interesting.

In all their years of friendship, Drake had never met someone Liam considered to be a girlfriend. In fact, it was rare for Liam to have a girlfriend. The politics, the diplomatic implications, all that shit just made it tough. Or at least that’s what Drake had assumed. It was kind of the whole point of the social season - a safe way for members of the royal family to date.

As they approached the car, Drake got a better look at the woman in question. She was definitely pretty, with warm brown skin, deep brown eyes, and a wide and gentle smile, even if that smile did look a little strained at the moment. That was likely due to some nerves, as she was twisting her hands in front of her waist. She was also wearing jeans and a sweater, although her sweater was yellow, and her tight curls were pushed back with some sort of sparkly headband.

“Drake, Riley,” Liam started, standing next to her, his hand sliding along her back, "This is Iris Dertrain. Iris, these are my friends, Drake Walker and Riley Liu."

"It's nice to meet you both," Iris said, reaching out her right hand. "Liam has told me so much about you."

"Oh… uhhh, nice to meet you, too," Drake said, grasping her hand and giving it a shake. He didn't want to throw Liam under the apple truck, but he had told him nothing about this woman.

Liam stepped forward, his hands raised in front of his chest, smiling rather sheepishly. "Iris, I am afraid I haven't mentioned you to either of them."

"Why not?" She pivoted at that, yanking her hands back to her waist, her eyes wide.

Liam reached out, wrapping his hands around hers and stepping up close to her. Instinctively, Drake looked off to the side and slid backwards, giving them as much space and privacy as possible. Liam’s voice dropped off, but he still picked up a few scattered words and phrases, including “too important” and “phone calls.” After a few moments, he chanced a glance back towards them. Iris was nodding as Liam slid his hand off her cheek, so he cleared his throat.

Iris smiled, then spun around to face Riley, reaching out to shake her hand as well, but Riley wasn’t having any of that, instead wrapping her arms around her in a loose hug.

“Sorry, not gonna do a handshake,” she said, “even if Liam decided it was best to drop you on us without any warning.”

“Riley, I-” Liam started, but she shook her head as she stepped back from Iris.

“First, you change our travel plans by barring us from Ramsford for the night, then you spring a girlfriend on us. Are you trying to make my life hell? You know how he is with the unexpected,” she said, cocking her head towards Drake.

“Hey! I can handle surprises!”

Both Riley and Liam laughed openly at that, which annoyed Drake. Not so much because he thought Riley’s assessment of him was inaccurate, but more because of how much pure glee she and Liam seemed to take in teaming up against him these days. He kind of understood that it was natural, given that they were the two people who knew him best… but still. Oh well, if anything it proved that over the years, Riley and Liam had settled into a comfortable friendship that was their own. And that was something Drake would gladly pay the price of some light ribbing for when it came down to it.

After loading the luggage into the trunk and climbing into the car, they headed off towards the palace. Even though the drive wasn’t that long, Drake was infinitely grateful that Riley was steering the conversation. If it had just been him with Liam and Iris, it would have undoubtedly been stilted, awkward, and formal, no matter how hard Liam would have tried to make things feel natural. But Riley knew how to put people at ease, to keep things flowing.

“So, did Liam have a secret social season he hid from us and the media? Or did you guys meet in a more normal way?”

Iris let out a little laugh at that. “I was one of the teacher representatives on the educational council.”

“So you’re a teacher?”

“Used to be. Now, I work mostly as an administrator, deciding on curriculum changes, making sure schools in different regions are reaching their goals, that sort of thing. That’s why I was on the council - I was lobbying for increased funding so that we could work on reducing classroom sizes in Portavira.”

“Do you miss teaching?”

“Sometimes. I was a science teacher, and there are points when I miss getting to guide my students through experiments, to get to see minds literally learning concepts first hand. But… I taught 12 to 14 year olds, and I do not miss the interpersonal drama that was always brewing between them.”

Riley laughed at that. Even though she was seated behind him, Drake could just picture the way her head was tossed back, her eyes narrowed. It was her genuine laugh, not her fake, customer service laugh. It seemed like with each trip back to Cordonia, the real laugh came out more and more.

“So was it their shitty adolescent angst that pushed you into the admin side of things?”

Riley’s question drew another chuckle from Iris. “No, I’m tougher than that. I just felt like I could do more, make a difference for more students by working for systemic changes. Luckily, we live in a country where our political leaders listen to teachers about how best to educate our children.”

Drake glanced over to Liam, who was smiling broadly at Iris’s comment. “Only a fool would think that he knows everything just because he holds a position of political power.”

“See, I’m lucky.” said Iris.

Somehow, Liam smiled even wider at that. Drake suspected that if asked, Liam would say he was the lucky one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley spun on the couch in the private lounge, swinging her legs up onto the cushions as she took the glass of whiskey Drake offered her and leaned up against his side as he sat back down. Liam and Iris were on the couch across from them, although Riley could tell that Iris wasn’t as relaxed as the rest of them. Sure, she had loosened up a lot over the evening, but there was still this edge of fearing that she didn’t belong in a palace, that she was going to mess this up. It was a feeling Riley knew well.

Of course, Riley could tell that Iris’s fear was not quite the same as the anxiety she had carried during that fateful social season. At first, it had been this belief that she was going to fuck up so badly, let her brash, judgemental, potty-mouthed self shine through, and get kicked out, a joke who was sent packing back to nothing, not even her shitty job since she’d quit that on a whim to fly to a country she’d never heard of before. As time went on, her fears had grown to losing the closest people she had to genuine friends by falling for the wrong guy. She had been a ball of mad nerves by the night of Liam’s coronation.

But Iris’s fears seemed to be centered more on Liam himself. She kept glancing towards him, almost as if she was afraid she was going to let him down or make things difficult for him. It was so much kinder and more selfless than Riley had ever behaved with Liam. It was very sweet to see.

Liam was equally sweet in response, which wasn’t surprising at all. He could definitely sense her remaining traces of nervousness, as he frequently reached over to hold her hand or to run his hand along her back. It was part of the reason Riley was going for a little more PDA than she would normally be comfortable with - she wanted them to feel comfortable with their level of PDA.

Iris took a sip of her wine before noticing what Riley was drinking. “Wait, I’m the only one here not drinking whiskey?”

Riley cocked an eyebrow at her. “I’ve always been a hard liquor sort of girl.”

Iris shook her head before drinking a little more of her wine. “I’ve never really had the stomach for it. I can do those fruity cocktails, but straight liquor?” She let out a shudder at that.

“Better get used to it; it’ll be the only way to get through endless balls and galas and fundraisers for rare pigeon species or whatever is the cause du jour,” Drake quipped. Riley nudged her elbow back into his side, causing him to chuckle.

“He’s exaggerating. It’s not that horrible.”

He let out a scoff, so Riley twisted to glare at him.

“Liu, you bitched to me endlessly about how much you hated all the pomp and pretentiousness and-”

“-and she’s not me! Quit scaring her off!” Riley rolled her eyes at him before spinning back around to Iris. “You seem much less bitchy than me, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. After all, you’ve taught preteens, so that proves you are way more patient and tolerant,” she said, waving her hand in what she hoped was a reassuring way. “Who have you met so far?”

“Only Olivia Nevrakis.”

“Yikes, you really led with her?” Drake called out to Liam, causing Riley to elbow him yet again.

Liam just chuckled. “You know, she can be rather pleasant if she isn’t being antagonized endlessly.”

“Are you kidding me? She always starts it.”

Iris just gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. I only met her for one dinner, but she didn’t seem cruel or unwelcoming. And her boyfriend was quiet, but seemed nice.”

Riley felt Drake moving beside her as she leaned forward, her eyes jumping to Liam. His eyes were pinched shut as he winced, bracing for the inevitable questions.

"What the hell?"

"Olivia has a boyfriend?"

"Oh crap, was that a secret?" Iris looked horrified at her slip up, twisting around to glance at Liam.

He let out a short sigh. "Well, she hasn't gone public with him yet."

"I just thought that was only because Christopher’s divorce wasn't finalized."

Riley could practically feel the joy rolling off Drake in waves as Liam's slight wince turned into a full on grimace.

"Olivia's dating a married man?"

Liam shook his head. "He has been separated from his wife for over a year now. And I would appreciate you two keeping this to yourselves for the moment. You know how Olivia values her privacy."

"We won't tell a soul," Riley said, nudging Drake with the side of her foot to keep him quiet.

"Sure, but Iris, what other of Olivia's dark secrets do you want to spill?" he teased, ignoring Riley's gesture, instead grinning at her when she shot him a glare. All she could do was roll her eyes.

"I had no idea that it was a secret! Oh Liam, how mad is she going to be?"

"It'll be fine; I promise you. Drake and Riley aren't going to tell anyone, right?" he asked, staring at both of them pointedly.

"Of course. We live in New York; no one cares about Cordonian gossip there," Riley said, trying to lighten the mood and calm Iris's worries.

"Besides, we like you enough to spare you from the she-devil's wrath."

Liam just shook his head. "Drake… Olivia's not that bad. She can just be… intense."

Riley nodded at that. "She’s honestly probably one of the harder ones to impress, so if you feel like she was fine with you, I don’t think you have much to worry about. Except Neville. And Madeleine if she’s still around.”

Liam shook his head. “She’s still in London. No one here has seen her for a year or so.”

“So then just Neville. Otherwise, they’re largely harmless. Just varying degrees of out of touch. Nothing a few cocktails won't help you tolerate.” Liam shook his head gently at Riley’s assessment. She still sometimes felt a little weird being completely honest about her perceptions of things in front of him. He was so kind, and she… well, she knew she judged everyone. But Liam claimed he appreciated honesty from her, and he’d never made her feel bad for sharing her thoughts, so she always made an effort not to censor herself in front of Liam. Well, not too much. He was still a king, after all.

“Well, I guess I’ll find out in a couple weeks,” Iris said, dropping her eyes to her lap and tracing her fingers along the stem of her wine glass.

Liam nodded. “You’ll do fine, love. I know you will,” he said, running his hand along her arm. “Iris will be attending the Twilight Ball at the end of the month as her first official appearance,” he clarified to Drake and Riley.

“So you’ll be going public then?” Drake asked.

“Yes, that’s the plan,” said Iris. “My letter of resignation is being reviewed by the palace PR department currently, and once I submit that, things should be clear for us."

Riley frowned at that. Iris had seemed to really love her job when she talked about it. "You're resigning?"

Iris tilted her head off to the side as she gave a little shrug. "It could be perceived as a conflict of interest. The teachers aren't going to believe I am advocating for their best interests if I am in a relationship with him. And his critics are going to accuse him of being unobjective in his policy decisions due to our relationship."

Riley felt Drake shift against her. "That's… that's a big step," he said.

Iris opened her mouth to respond, but Liam placed a hand on her knee, essentially stopping her. "Yes, it is. Iris and I have had several frank discussions about how complicated my life is, and she asked me if this would be beneficial. Neither one of us has taken this decision lightly.”

Considering how little thought Drake had put into dropping his whole life to move to New York, Riley didn’t really feel like he had a leg to stand on here, questioning Iris’s decision to leave her job for a relatively young relationship. But she also knew that Drake sometimes liked to play devil’s advocate with Liam, even if he didn’t personally disagree with Liam’s decisions. So she didn’t say anything, but instead just glanced over to Iris to see how she was handling it all.

She didn’t look too fazed, but she was squinting at Drake slightly, almost as if she was trying to read him. “Are you worried for him or for me?” she finally asked after a couple of seconds. “Because it would make sense for you to worry about him, but I don’t understand how me quitting my job would be at all harmful to Liam.”

Riley twisted around slightly to look at Drake. He gave a little shrug and took a sip of his whiskey. “Don’t want to see either of you get trapped.”

“This isn’t locking us into anything. I can go back to teaching at any time; I’m just stepping down from my more activist-like role.”

"Sure, but you're going to get a lot of media attention regardless here. Are you ready for that?"

This time it was Liam who started to speak, but Iris jumped right back in. “I can’t know for sure, of course, but I think so. I’ve given speeches and interviews before as part of my work, and while that was obviously on a much smaller scale, I never had a problem with the media.”

“And I wouldn't make this public if I wasn’t sure, Drake. You know that.”

Drake gave a nod. “Okay then. Don’t fully trust anyone besides Liam, though.”

And that was it. Drake leaned back, relaxing fully into the couch, as Liam took a drink from his glass. Sometimes, Riley felt like they had their own little language, their private way of communicating, but she supposed that was only natural after decades of friendship. She caught eyes with Iris, looking almost bewildered at the shift of the energy in the room and gave her a little shrug. Iris smiled and raised her eyebrows. It was nice, having someone else who got to observe the weirdness that was the friendship between those two.

“Alright, so cautious and careful with the members of court. Any other tips for me on how to handle my first ball?” Iris asked.

Everyone else in the room burst out laughing at her question, erasing any last traces of tension.

“What?”

“You could not have picked two worse people to ask,” Riley said, shaking her head. “He’s just going to tell you to get drunk and avoid everyone.”

“Oh, like that wasn’t your strategy by the end as well! How many times did you just straight up steal my flask off of me because they were only offering wine and champagne?”

“I was just making sure you didn’t have to drink alone. It was simply out of concern for you that-”

“-Uh huh. Yeah.”

“Fine. To answer your question, Iris, do the exact opposite of what I did. And as long as you don’t show up in denim to the ball, you’ll be a step ahead of this one.”

“Wait, you wore denim to a formal ball?”

“Oh, not just one!” added Liam, a huge grin spreading across his face, his eyes lighting up as he stared Drake down. “Years and years of formal events saw Drake decide that denim was the most appropriate attire.”

Iris’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She glanced around the room, almost as if she expected someone to pop out and tell this was some massive prank.

“We aren’t kidding,” Riley said, “He and I just set the bar insanely low for you to clear. Wear a nice ballgown, don’t openly refer to other members of the nobility as ‘little bitches,’ and you should be all set.”

Iris glanced between her and Drake, the shock evident in her wide eyes.

“Yeah, so not exactly surprising we left court,” Drake said, downing the rest of his whiskey.

Iris just shook her head. “Liam told me many things about both of you, but I feel like he left out that you were so…”

“Irreverent?”

“Mad stubborn?”

“Damn foolish?”

She smiled and took a sip of her wine. “I’ll defer to your descriptions. So, I take it your wedding won’t be very formal?”

Riley felt Drake shift slightly next to her, his knee starting to fidget. “Uh no, not at all. To put things in perspective, we invited less than 25 people the first time, and we might do even less now.”

“The first time?”

“Drake and Riley ended up postponing,” Liam said, his eyes flickering over to Drake before glancing back at Iris, “They were originally set to get married this past June.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I had no idea! I never would have brought it up if-”

“-It’s fine,” Drake said, cutting off Iris’s apology. “Something came up with my family last minute.”

Iris looked conflicted as to how to best move on from the topic of conversation she’d innocently stumbled into. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that you had to make that choice. Have you set a new date?”

Drake tensed up at that and Riley had to hold back a sigh. If only Iris could have decided to change the subject instead of talk through it. “No, we haven’t yet.”

"Soon, though," Drake added before standing up, walking over to the side of the room to refill his glass.

Iris looked worried that she had said something horribly offensive, so Riley just gave her what she hoped came across as a reassuring smile as she shook her head lightly. “Yeah, it’s no big deal. Just something that had to happen.”

She could hear ice clinking into a glass, but she resisted the urge to spin around and see just how tense and uptight Drake was. She knew that as the months had passed by, the postponement had become more and more of a sore spot for him, that Drake was frustrated that they couldn’t just plan their wedding over again right away, that they had to save up again after losing all their deposits for a late cancellation. She just didn’t understand why he had gotten so stuck on this one thing. They still lived together, they still had a future together, and they were still getting married. Nothing had changed. Yet as the months had rolled by, the topic of their wedding seemed to just make him more and more antsy each time it got brought up.

Part of her wondered how much of this was due to the fact that everyone else around them was making these big life changes, and much like being back at court, he felt like he was just being left off to the side. Hana and Catherine were married. Savannah and Bertrand had another baby. Back home, Luke and Nicole had just announced they were pregnant. And now Liam was in a relationship that seemed mad serious. It probably was creating this weird sense of being an outsider for him again. She was sure that had to be a factor.

Deep down, she knew it was very sweet that Drake’s frustrations largely stemmed from that fact that he just wanted to be married to her. But part of her wished he could just relax about it all. They would get married when they got married, and until then, they should just enjoy their lives together. Instead, it all seemed to just stress him out.

But until they saved up enough for new deposits and got things planned and organized again, Riley knew that she was just going to have to deal with his… moodiness around this whole topic. As he rejoined her on the couch, she placed her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze, just hoping that was enough to provide some reassurance and to calm him down. She didn’t want their entire trip to have those worries hanging over their heads. This was supposed to be a fun and happy visit, after all.

Perma: @walkerswhiskeygirl @octobereighth @kimmiedoo5 @mom2000aggie

TRR/TRH: @iaminlovewithtrr @mskaneko @axwalker @jovialyouthmusic @marshmallowsandfire @kingliam2019 @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @debramcg1106 @masterofbluff @sarahx206

Drake x MC: @no-one-u-know @iplaydrake

ICWAM: @thequeenchoices @sunnyxdazed

#drake walker #drake x mc #trr fanfic #trr au #trr au fanfic #choices fanfiction #liam x oc #trr

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agentofscifi · 4 years

Text

Success is the Best Kind of Revenge: Ch 2

The whole classroom is sitting there in shock as Marinette, Chloe, Alix, and Juleka leave the room. Juleka’s mom follows them out, giving a smile to the Superintendent.

Alya was still pale after being told she was now the Class Representative. She’d seen the piles of paperwork Marinette had to complete. None of it was quick or easy.

The silence in the rooms holds until the door shuts behind them and then the yelling starts.

“How could she have lied so well!” Rose is crying once more, thick tear trails soaking the tissue Marinette had given her earlier. Rose’s mother pulls her in for a small hug.

“We collected money for her!” Myléne’s eyes are wide. “We collected money for her charities!”

Kim raises an eyebrow. “How’s that a bad thing?”

“Because it’s charity fraud.” Ivan’s voice is heard throughout the room, despite the fact that he wasn’t yelling. “We collected money for a charity that doesn’t exist. It’s illegal.”

“We,” Myléne cuts off with a sniff. “We could have gone to jail. We almost went to jail over break.”

Kim looks away with a grimace. “I went through something similar. Lila gave me this stuff, she said it would help with my swimming. She told me her olympic friend recommended it. You know, like organic stuff. Turns out it was steroids. They found out at my last surprise drug test before winter break. All my Universities pulled out and I got kicked off the swim team this morning.”

Kim’s Mom blinks and then she lets her face fall into her hands. “You took pills from a classmate, without asking what was in them!”

His father groans. “Well, this explains how you got those pills. Why didn’t you just tell us this?”

Kim flushes. “I thought Lila was lied to, you know. I didn’t think she’d do this on purpose.”

His mother lets out a sob. “All your scholarships! All your Universities!”

On the opposite side of the room a different argument was taking place. Nino’s mother is glaring down at him, disappointment in her eyes. “When you said you weren’t talking to Marinette as much, I assumed it was because you grew apart. I did not think it was because you ignored all common sense to trust an exchange student over someone you’ve known since école maternelle.”

Nino’s face is red. “I-I just her stories were so great and our class has done some amazing things. I didn’t think it was so far-fetched.”

His mother purses her lips. “You didn’t think it was so far-fetched that Marinette was a bully. Marinette, who brought in cookies and cupcakes for every birthday. Marinette, who made you a custom jacket when you lost your favorite one on a vacation. Marinette, who brought you soup and get-well gifts every time you stayed home sick. This is who you thought was a bully.”

Nino opens and closes his mouth a few times before finally closing it and looking down at the table. His mother throws her arms up in the air. “You stood there and watched, or even recorded, as your classmates physically assaulted Marinette. You are lucky, so very lucky, that she didn’t press charges. You were 18 for some of the worst offenses.”

“I lost all of my University acceptances, Mom.” Nino hesitantly looks up at her.

Mrs. Lahiffe whips her head down. “Nino! You could have lost a few years of your life, thousands of euros, and the ability to go to college. You have no criminal record, but you could have started one with the stunts you have pulled. You are lucky the police were willing to just give you service hours. This won’t even appear in your permanent record.” Nino nods mutely.

Nathaniel is having a similar, but less heated argument with his parents, too. “My comics! They’re all missing online and the company that I signed a contract with has pulled the contact. There’s a pending copyright suit!”

“Nathaniel!” His father sighs and places a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve talked to the people issuing the suits and explained the situation. They agreed to not press charges if you were dropped from the company and all of the art work is pulled off the internet.”

Nathaniel stares at his father. “What! They can’t do that!”

“Yes, Nathaniel, they can.” His mother is on the other side of him. “You copied someone else's work and didn’t credit them. You tried to sell that work and make money. That’s illegal. ”

“Lila said she helped! That I could do this and it was ok.”

Nathaniel’s father sighs. “Even if Lila had been involved, you still should have credited the other person. It still would have been illegal”

Nathaniel’s head drops onto the desk. “My life is ruined.”

His mother places her hand on his shoulder. “A year off to...reimagine your art will do you some good.” Nathaniel only moans.

Across from Nathaniel is Rose and her father. There was no lecture or comments from her father as Rose was too busy sobbing into his shirt. Prince Ali’s abrupt and simple ending of their relationship made more sense now, as did the comments by the music schools. Rose had changed so much of herself to help Lila or because Lila gave her some advice. Rose honestly didn’t know what to do now that it was all a lie.

Sabrina, up in the front row, was hunched over herself. Her father had given her a none stop lecture about responsibility, trust, and legality that she hadn’t said a word. “You’re grounded for the next year!” Officer Raincomprix is red in the face. “We’ll talk about University after the next New Years, but for the next year you will be staying with me.” Sabrina nods.

Her father deflates slightly. “Sabrina, you have no idea how lucky you are. 100 hours of community service will feel like nothing in the long run.” Sabrina just nods, curling in on herself.

Back up by Max it was quieter. Max’s Mother was mumbling into her hand, asking how her brilliant son could be so stupid. Max’s was looking at his hands sheepishly. He’d attempted to disprove all of stuff about Lila by finally looking her up only to find nothing good. The Ladyblog came up first, filled with all of Lila’s lies. There were several news articles and twitter posts after that from Celebrities calling her out for lying or casually asking who this Italian Rossi girl was when it was brought up in interviews.

Max then looked to Markov to ask why he said that Lila wasn’t lying only to find out that his robot marked most of Lila’s stores as inconclusive. It was all very vague and “he said, she said” situations. He couldn’t form a true conclusion without the other people in the stories being asked. This screwed the results in Lila’s favor. Max hadn’t looked up since Markov made that announcement to the class.

However, the loudest and biggest argument was happening between Alya and her Mother, who were practically in a screaming match. “Alya! Stop blaming everyone else for your mistakes!” Marlena Césaire's coat was askew and her face red with narrowing eyes.

“But Lila lied! I didn’t do anything! Why am I being rejected from my Universities? Why do I have to get rid of the Ladyblog!”

“You attacked Marinette! You physically harmed her on the word of another student. Instead of getting a teacher or the police, or talking to us, you attacked her. Marinette got a concussion and stitches after the last assault when you pushed her down the stairs. As for the Ladyblog, you posted so many lies. It’s practically a shrine to that girl Alya.”

“But Lila told us Marinette pushed her!” Alya’s phone is in her hand, clenched in a tight hand. “And, Lila told me all those stories!”

“And yet, Lila had no injuries. And yet, Lila didn’t go to the proper authorities. Instead, you suggested getting even with Marinette. You started this!”

“But Lila lied!” Alya sounded like a broken record, always repeating the same things. “Lila’s a psychopath or something!”

“And you're the sheep who followed that psychopath Alya. You didn't look into any of this. You took her words as facts. You lectured Marinette about facts and yet you looked for nothing! Even now, you seem to think about no one but yourself. You’re screaming about how Lila lied and how that’s affected you. Have you once thought about what this must have been like for Marinette? You reject her for a new, shiny thing. You bully, verbally insulted, physically harmed, and stole from that girl. If it had been me, I’d have used the full force of the law against you. You’d have gotten more than a cease and desist order, a restraining order, and order from the blog’s removal.”

“But Mom!”

“Alya!” Otis Césaire stands from up. “You made mistakes, now you have to pay the consequences. You’ve been telling us for years that you’re an adult. Now act like it!”

Mrs. Vaux chooses this point in time to clear her throat. “Mr. Agreste?” Adrien looks up from his seat. He’d been silent and pale as everyone took in the truth about Lila. “Your Aunt is here for you.” Amelie Graham de Vanily was standing in the doorway, a severe look on her face.

Nino looks up at him. “Dude, what about your Dad?”

Adrien gulps and looks down. “My Dad was hawkmoth. Ladybug caught him over the weekend.”

The whole class, and their parent’s, take in a deep breath. Alya turns her eyes over to him. “You worked with Hawkmoth!”

Marlena Césaire grabs her daughter and drags her down onto the bench. “Alya!”

One of the police officers clears his throat. “We have questioned Mr. Agreste and found him innocent. Ladybug spoke on his behalf after Hawkmoth’s identity was revealed.”

Adrien shrugs. “I’m moving in with my Aunt and cousin in London. I’ll be finishing Lycée online. I just… need to get away.”

Nino gives Adrien a small smile. “Keep in touch.”

Adrien returns it nervously as he packs up his stuff. As he walks up to his aunt he turns to give the class an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, about Lila. I didn’t think she’d taken things this far.”

Nino blinks slowly as the rest of the class starts to process those words. “Wait? Dude, did you know that Lila was lying?”

Adrien nods. “I thought she just wanted friends at first and didn’t know how to make real ones. Marinette called her out and she got akumatized. I didn’t want that to happen again!”

“So, you let her lie to us?” Nino leans back on the bench, putting a few more inches between the two of them.

“I thought she was like a tabloid. You have to ignore the lies for them to go away.”

Alya lets out a blood thirsty scream. “This is all your fault! If you had just told us-”

“Alya Césaire!” Her mother grabs her once again and pulls her down.

Most of the class is staring at Adrien in horror. Rose was just sobbing even harder. The parents had more of a pitying look as they gazed at the son of Hawkmoth. Being the child of a magical terrorist who doubled as an abusive father probably didn’t help a child learn right from wrong.

Adrien looks down. “I’m sorry.” His aunt places a hand and guides her nephew out the door, giving the police and the superintendent each a nod.

The door closes in the silent room before chatting starts up again. The students are all trying to talk to each other and their parents at once. No one was quite sure of what they were supposed to do with that information. Hawkmoth had been found, they’d gathered that from the police saying that Hawkmoth named Lila as an accomplice. However, Hawkmoth being Adrien’s Dad was another matter entirely. Then there was the whole fact that Adrien knew about Lila. He had stood there, for years, letting them be used. Their overly kind classmates had done nothing to stop Lila as she twisted all of them like puppets.

Mrs. Vaux clears her throat again. “You all have the rest of the day off. It was mentioned to me that this must be stressful to you all and I agree. You won’t learn anything else today. Besides,” she turns around to glare at Miss. Bustier and Principle Damocles. “We have some staffing issues to handle.” Both of them shrink down at the gaze.

Mrs. Vaux looks back at the kids. “You all have mandatory school therapy twice a week for the rest of the school year. With everything that has happened, I think it will be healthy for all of you. Miss. Lucilia,” one of the women behind her steps forward. “Will be your teacher for the rest of the year. Ms. Birch,” the second woman steps forward. “Will be the acting principal for the rest of the school year.” She gives the class more onceover. The students all looked overly confused and their parent’s looked exhausted. “You are all excused.”

Ch. 1 ~~~~~ Ch. 3

#lila salt #alya salt #bustier salt #ml salt #class salt #miraculous ladybug #marinette deserves better #lila is exposed #Success is the best kind of revenge

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mirkwoodshewolf · 4 years

Text

Falling for you; Tom Holland x reader

*Author’s note*

And here we go with another fic this time I’m posting up a Tom Holland fic. So the premise of this is that you reader are the daughter of RDJ and have been chosen to be apart of Spider-man: Far from home. I won’t spoil anything else but that’s basic characteristics for you the reader. And like I said this isn’t the end. I’ll be posting some more fics coming up in the next little while.

Warnings: FLUFF, teasing dad!RDJ, injuries (falling off a wire).

Taglist:

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@dancingcoolcat

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

___________________________________________________________

It was like any other day on set. But being the daughter of the one and only Robert Downey Jr. the studio will treat you like royalty, even though I don't want to go to the extreme. And how did I manage to join the cast, well funny story actually for the next Spiderman movie Far from home Director Jon Watts wanted to introduce Peter Parker's new love interest, Carmen Dela Cruz otherwise known as "The Jaguar".

Much like the Black Panther character for speed and stamina, the Snow Leopard was introduced in Spiderman issue 312 number 2, a Latina character from Guatemala, she comes to America hoping to make a better life and save her family from a war that is going on so that they can make a better living in America.

She takes the mantle of "The Jaguar" when she was just 16 years old cause according to the comics, she was beaten and assaulted one night and left for dead but the spirit of the Jaguar warrior came to her and granted her the power and strength of all the jaguar warriors that came before her. She used her powers to get revenge on the gang that assaulted her and has vowed to protect any woman who is threated by assault. She's a protector of women and vows to never let anyone go through from what she went through.

She's teamed up with the Avengers in the past as well as Spiderman but you can see her majorly through the Black Panther comics as being a cat warrior herself, she looks up to T'Challa as a proud mentor and guide.

Now you may be thinking "AHH why another white-washing a character like this?" Well not true, cause you see my mom is actually from Guatemala herself, before my dad met his current wife Susan, after the divorce with his first wife, he met my mom and she ended up pregnant after a one night stand. But even after my birth, I've been constantly taken back and forth between both my parents even though they continued on with their lives and married different people.

But once I became 18, I permanently decided to stay near my dad's while I still visited with my mama. Now I have done acting in school and in college but this was my first breakout and my dad recommended me the part thinking I would be good at it.

So having seen Kevin and growing up with him ever since the beginning he and Jon both gave me a shot and after 2 callbacks, I got the part for Carmen and this would be her big debut onto the screen, as well as my own.

I was currently going over my new lines when I bumped into someone and that someone turned out to be none other than Tom Holland.

"Oh sorry (y/n)." He said.

"No, no it was my fault. Hey, did you get the new re-write of the script?"

"Yeah Jon just gave it to me actually, do you maybe want to go over some lines before we start filming?"

"Sure." We got together along the side and I said, "Can we go over pg.24 I'm having a hard time with that scene."

"Okay pg. 24 it is." We both opened our scripts to pg.24 and Peter first began his line. "What made you change your mind?"

"The same reason why I told you not to get involved with Mysterio in the first place. Maldito you Americans never listen to since or reason, particularly you white boys." I said in Carmen's thicker accent.

"You know, I think it's because you can't resist me. I mean twice in a row we've met you've saved me and always talked to me, even though you said this would be the last time you would."

"Don't be a fool, I'd never fall for someone as reckless as you, Spiderman. Anyone who listens to Stark is automatically a fool to me."

"Don't speak ill of Mr. Stark he is—he was the greatest man to ever live. He—he died a hero."

"I know he did, as did Captain Rogers." For this movie, Carmen always looked up to Steve Rogers as a child because he always knew what was best and he knew to never give up on a fight. He was her hero, even though she never got to meet him.

"Then tell me the real reason why you came and found me?" I turned towards Tom and seeing him so close to me, knowing that our character would eventually be together, but not by the end of this movie, I felt my heart flutter almost chanting out his name as I looked deeply into his eyes. I breathed heavily in character and turned away muttering incoherently in Spanish as it said in the script. "Carmen,"

He took my wrist and a shot of electricity shot up my arm. I turned back towards Tom and seeing him stand so close to me almost made me go weak at the knees. We stared into each other's eyes and just when Tom began to lean forward over a megaphone we both heard my dad's voice.

"Alright you two lovebirds on the set now!" I tensed up and turned towards my dad and flipped him the bird. "Don't you point that finger at me young lady or you're grounded!"

"I'm 20 years old dad you can't tell me nothing!" I cried back out to him. I turned towards Tom and said, "Well we better get to costume and makeup."

"Yeah guess we should." He said solemnly. We stood there in silence before he cried out as he took on ahead, "Race you!"

"Hey no fair you got a head start!"

Filming proceeded as planned, I was now being strapped onto some wires for the last big fight scene with Mysterio.

"You all good?" asked the stunt director.

"Yeah I'm all good. I can do this stunt Erik don't worry about it."

"Okay, but I'll have Stacey on standby should you need her." I nodded and saluted to my stunt double Stacey and Jon then told me how things were gonna go.

"Alright so Tom's already been swung into the crates, you come up from the top of the warehouse and meet up to Jake. All you need to do right now is just grab onto him, don't begin any of the fighting sequences yet, we'll work on that on the levitation bars."

"You got it Jon" I gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright you're all set." Aaron my wire guy said.

"Thanks dude."

"Alright clear the set please!" Jon said into his megaphone. I crouched down on my marker and waited for rolling and then action. "Quiet on the set please!" I took a couple of deep breaths and got into Carmen's mindset as I stared at Jake who was on wires just ahead of me. "And action!" The crates moved around which was my cue to jump out and just before I reached Jake, I let out the Jaguar Warrior cry but on my first take I totally missed Jake by like three feet.

The entire crew was laughing as were me and Jake.

"That was terrible!" I cried out. "Can that please be in the blooper reel!?" I laughed out.

"Reset let's go again!" Jon called out. I was then guided back to my cue point and I set myself down on the catwalk and went back to my marker. "Rolling, take 2! And.....action!" Th crates moved again and this time I jumped from a different angle and let out the Jaguar cry again and this time I managed to grip onto Jake. "Cut! Okay that was great! Let's just get one more for safety!". I released Jake and I was guided back to my catwalk.

But as I got there I noticed that one of the wires seemed a bit loose one me, with Jon starting from the top for a final take, I tried to hurry and tighten the wire as best I could and quickly got to my marker.

"Places please! And.....action!" The scene repeated itself and as I leapt out on cue, suddenly the wire snapped and I was dangling by one wire.

"Okay not good! Not good!"

"Cut! Get the mats under her now! Hang on (y/n)!" I looked towards Jake who was trying to come over towards me and he reached out telling me to take his hand. Just before I could grab it, my second wire snapped and I fell over 10 feet from the air and landed on the mat beneath me.

I let out a groan and soon I heard voices surrounding me and I heard emergency services telling everyone to back up and give them some room. I felt this sudden pain in my arm as I let out a scream of pure agony.

"We know sweetheart, we know but you have to lie still for us" one of them said as they began to examine me. "Broken shoulder, we have to get her to the hospital, get the gurney in here!" I was then set up on a gurney as I screamed and moaned in pain.

I was wheeled across the set and to an ambulance vehicle and I heard one of the men say.

"Now Ms. Downey, I'm gonna give you a sedative, it should help dull the pain and help you sleep. You'll be alright, we're taking you to the hospital now." Next thing I knew my vision was going fuzzy and then I went out like a light.

When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital with a sling over my arm and my shoulder bandaged.

"You're awake," I turned to my right and saw Tom standing before me, as well as Harrison and Zendaya.

"How you feeling chic?" asked Zendaya.

"A little funny, so what do I got?"

"You broke both your shoulder and your wrist in the fall plus a mild concussion. The doctors said you're lucky to be alive, most people falling from that height usually end up in a coma if not dead or multiple broken body parts."

"Gee thanks Harry" I said sarcastically.

"Good to know the Downey sarcasm is still intact." Zendaya praised.

"Hey guys could you give us a moment along please?" Tom asked. Zendaya and Harrison both looked at each other with a know it all grin before Zen said.

"Sure, fine."

"Don't have too much fun you two." I flipped them off as they left my room leaving Tom and I alone.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me.

"A bit in pain, but I've had worse, once I broke my leg when I was just 9 years old doing a risky bicycle stunt that my friends dared me to do. Boy dad was so pissed he never let me ride a bike again for 6 months."

"You serious?"

"Yeah." When I looked back up at Tom, I noticed that his eyes now held such worry and fear as he said.

"When you fell I—I was so worried that you'd....that you were gonna be.... I even tried to ride with you to the hospital but they wouldn't let me. God never before did I wish I really was Spiderman I—"

"Shhh it's okay Tom. It wasn't your fault. I should've spoken up and had the wiring guys tighten my wire before anything. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." I then felt Tom take my free hand in his and I looked right back into his eyes again.

And damn that heartrate monitor because it was starting to spike up and I let out a groan of embarrassment to which Tom softly chuckled and he said.

"If it helps you feel better, my heart would probably be doing the exact same thing." I looked at him and he continued, "When I first met you I—I thought you were the prettiest girl I've ever seen, I know the press always says that it's me and Zendaya but truthfully I hope and pray that once Far from home comes out that they'll start to say you and me. God I hope I didn't freak you out or ruin this friendship because I—" I stopped him with a kiss.

He placed his hands on my cheeks as the kiss got a little deeper before I finally separated from him.

"You're so much like Peter, you ramble on too much." He chuckled nervously and he said.

"So....when you're released do you—wanna go out for coffee or something?"

"Coffee sounds wonderful, Parker." I teased using Carmen's accent as I said Parker.

"Cara mia Carmen." He leaned in and kissed me once more. Just before anything could go further we both heard my dad's voice say.

"Alright you two, don't be sucking each other's faces off!" We separated from each other and we both cleared our throats in embarrassment.

"Really dad?"

"Hey! Be thankful that once you two lovebirds got together I was gonna allow hand holding and little pecks but after my virgin eyes have been tainted with what I had just seen I may not allow any PDA at all." I shook my head at him and I turned my attention back to Tom and he smiled down at me as he took my hand in his and gave my knuckles a kiss.

Man I wish my release would come faster, I really could use that coffee right about now.

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cheruli · 4 years

Text

Received this request but I will be splitting them into 2 posts, fluff below!

This was very self indulgent for me honestly, I see Akiyama as a terribly mushy man who enjoys doting and being doted on~

In this drabble I reference a Japanese festival game where you scoop goldfish with a paper hoop before the it soaks through and breaks. Usually kids play this game and take any caught fish home

Akiyama fluff - “You’re adorable, and I can’t believe I have you all to myself.”

Akiyama was quietly excited when he realised you hadn’t travelled much of Japan or seen many of it’s festivals. It’d been a while for him too so he jumped at the opportunity to rediscover some of his favourites with you.

You’d both arrived in Osaka a few days ago to see the fireworks festival, it was nice to see Akiyama finally ditching his stuffy suit in favour of some shorts and a thin button up this evening.

Swarms of people swept through the streets; people from all walks of life melded together under the summer heat as they marched to the festival. You realised you were close as the scent of the food stalls got closer and the crowd started to slow and splinter off into every nook and cranny of the elaborate rows of stalls with some heading straight to the field.

“Here we go” Akiyama breathed out in relief. It had been a while since he’d gone to a festival himself, it was a little more overwhelming than he remembered.

You took his hand and offered him a big smile, “Let’s go!”

Akiyama squeezed your hand appreciatively, “Yes, boss”

The colourful stalls stood out against the setting sun, the glow of lanterns dotting the place like fallen stars. You and Akiyama took in the atmosphere, poking around the most exciting looking vendors. You’d been walking a long while, chatting and giggling about something and nothing when the smell of fresh takoyaki wafted over you, tempting you deeper into the lively flock.

“Ah, do you smell that Akiyama? It’s so good~” you say, sniffing the air hungrily. “I think it’s just over there. Let’s go get something before the fireworks begins”,

The sun has almost set, orange hues in the sky above fading out into navy as you begin to drag him into the stream of people.

He resists a little, grinding you to a halt, “I need a cigarette so I gotta find somewhere less crowded, go ahead and let’s back here. We'll eat on the field so buy lots okay?” Giving a nod in response, you head off.

Orange sparks of his cigarette fizzle out beneath his foot before he wanders back to the festival find you. He’d been waiting a while before he started to worry, perching up to scan the passing faces, weaving his way between them looking for yours.

A humble goldfish scooping stall is where he found you; squatted down and surrounded by a growing crowd of little kids watching in suspense as you glide the fragile paper hoop through the water. Despite having bags of food running up both your forearms, your hand stays steady.

The hoop raises victoriously as two little goldfish flop on the surface as the crowd roars in tiny excitement! The old man behind the stand pours them into a small bag full of water, tying it with a red string and handing it to a little boy next to you.

“Thank you miss!” he chirps before he trots back to his parents, the other kids huddle closer - already pointing at the fish they want.

“You’re welcome, be gentle with the fish okay? One at a time everyone!” you giggle, handing over another 300 yen for a fresh hoop.

Akiyama’s heart fills with relief, strolling up to you while you’re focused on scooping a pretty black fish for the little girl beside you. You catch it with ease as she cheers, collecting her bag from the old man and thanking you.

“So this is where you ended up.” Akiyama chimes, honestly impressed with your performance. Caught off guard, you jump up, suddenly realising your mistake.

“Sorry Akiyama. I didn’t mean to disappear, I was having too much fun”

“It’s okay, it’s my fault I couldn’t keep up... I really gotta stop smoking.” he laughs, meeting your eyes lovingly, “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself”

Removing the bags off of your arms, Akiyama waves off the disappointed kids “Sorry guys, but our food will get cold. It’s almost time for the fireworks, make sure you don’t get lost!”

Waving them goodbye, you both turn around to make your way to the field when Akiyama pulls you in close, singing sweetly into your ear,

“You’re adorable, and I can’t believe I have you all to myself.”

He plants a comically big kiss on your cheek as fireworks crackle in the night sky. Vibrant colour splashes across the skyline as you and Akiyama race to the field. Burnt gunpowder had never smelt so good.

#shun akiyama x reader #akiyama shun x reader #yakuza self insert

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twiststreet · 3 years

Note

As a fan of manga (mostly everything Tezuka), I'm intrigued by your comments about One Piece, but my assumption is it HAS to be at least PRETTY GOOD to be as popular as it is and to have run as long as it has. I'd be interested in more detailed posts about it, as well as how you recommend reading it, if you do. On a somewhat related note, today I started reading all of Batman. Planning to go from 1939 to 1999, when I first picked up the comics.

Whoops I wrote a lot; sorry:

I’m 615 chapters in out of 1000 (and in the middle of the Fish-Man Island saga which I think fans rank as either the worst or second-worst arc)(the other worst one, this bad tournament arc, I’ve already gotten past)... so I guess I have a lot to say, but you know, nothing especially original, just...

There’s a stretch (namely, the Water 7 arc all the way through Marineford) that is a hall of fame stretch. He drops like 5-6 arcs that just land perfect right in row (though it’s hard to imagine it ever reaching the heights of the second arc in that series, Ennies Lobby ever again). But that being said, it’s a little funny to tell anyone “Oh it takes 150 chapters to get really good” (that’s at least 2000+ pages of comics) let alone, that the A+ stuff starts 300 chapters in. A chapter of One Piece only takes a minutes or so to read, if that, but it’s still a big ask. People used to get angry if you told them that Deadwood only gets good after 3-4 hours, so...

But that stretch is ... not “life-affirming” but... it touches a very old part of my brain in a very satisfying way.

I had a whole long post I deleted because I thought it was boring, but... when I was into classical American superhero comics, the thing I’d constantly be nerdiest about is that there was this Great Possibility, to do something truly epic in that space which I didn’t think had been done. There’s been a few novels (Watchmen, the Enigma) but not that many. And American superhero comics don’t really have a Lord of the Rings or a Star Wars or, an example for me as a kid even though I hadn’t read all the books was the Gunslinger books (or sure, The Stand if The Stand had maybe a different ending? I don’t know-- I’m not watching the TV show but I don’t really remember that ending fondly). The epic driven by a creator who is creating his own personal mythology, basically. Most of the genre is tied to pre-existing universes which foreclose that as a possibility and people who work outside those universes tend to just make shit like that Peter Cannon thing or Supreme or whatever that comments back on those universes...

Maybe you could argue the Hickman X-Men thing but for me, everyone after Claremont on X-Men is just inheriting so much from Claremont that... It means very little to me. It’s not a personal mythology. Same with Crisis. The closest to me comics came was Kirby with the 4th World, but... Carmine Infantino shut that down. And the Claremont run itself is ... an interesting discussion, but again, Bob Harras. But back before Watchmen 2, back when I thought comics could be this thing that improve over time (haha), I’d look for that (or for any ambition! any!) and just gave up as time went on. The careerist generation came in; the ambitions shrank even further; etc., to where I’m at now where my attitude generally with comics is “that’s nice; who care; so, is your wife dating anyone right now, what’s her story?”

But then One Piece ... One Piece, of all things, becomes this epic thing! And it’s great! I was right that it would be great!!! I was right! (My favorite thing to be!).

Not at first-- at first the formula is “Wacky Pirates go to an Island, they find out something sad is going on in the Island, a character acting extremely emotional causes the biggest fight possible which goes on for 50 chapters, and then they leave the island and maybe take someone with them.” And that’s a lot of big arcs... until little by little, tiny bit by tiny bit, Oda’s built up this world. And then that world starts to become the story. And that’s still kind of the formula but... but then they’re stakes.

The archetypal shonen cliche story is “a boy wants to be the best in the world at something”, right, but what One Piece does (and I haven’t read as much as other people so I don’t know how common this is, I haven’t read Naruto or Bleach, neither of which I’m too excited to check out, though i think david brothers vouches for Bleach heavy so I’ll probably give that one a shot), what One Piece does is sees how that would necessarily become a political struggle eventually. Because what does it mean to be the best in the world at something when there’s an entire world out there already in operation, and built around you not being the best in the world, built around someone else being that...

And then there’s just this amount of worldbuilding that goes on, that is so slowly fed out over those first 300 episodes that you don’t even notice it... Until suddenly around Water 7, these bigger forces have now noticed our wacky pirates, and are shifting around them and getting upset about them. Culminating in this arc called Marineford that ... again not as good as Ennies Lobby but... I don’t think there’s a comparable arc in American comics to Marineford. The scale of that one... The fact he managed to draw that on a weekly basis!

While still being a goofy kid’s pirate comic. It’s funny. The power sets are all really silly, but in a way that reminds of how kids play more than a Dragonball thing. (He takes like 400-500 chapters to even get to a Dragonball-style levelling up concept, which I thought was pretty patient of him). But within that, I’m enjoying it now in a very Claremont way of... there now not just being these scrappy outcast heroes I’m rooting for, but an entire universe of people around them, with their own agendas, that I have varying levels of investment in.

There’s this saying that the Golden Age of science fiction is 12 years old, the idea being that’s the age where stuff lands with you the hardest because it’s all NEW for you. But the thing is if you’re really immature (lifts hand)... I think part of things is you run out of the Good Stuff. I go back and look at old Chris Claremont X-Mens and if I somehow find one I’ve never read before (and this was the lesson of Dazzler in Hollywood for me), I’m still right there, it still lands with me, there just aren’t that many people who can actually land that plane. Once Scorcese is gone, what gangster movies are people going to be watching? Blow? Savages? Kubrick only made the movies he made. People add a little every year, but the really good stuff is rare.

And so when I’m looking at One Piece and I’m enjoying it the way I’d enjoy a Claremont X-men comic (even if aesthetically it’s a VERY different thing-- sexless and not as weirdo-operatic and less violent and more childish and definitely younger-skewing)... but that I’m getting that same thrill of “oh this comic is a portal to this entire fictional universe this guy made up and that kind of exists now thanks to this (kinda disturbing I guess it turns out) guy” to me is... Not “life affirming” that’s not the right word but... It feels good on my brain to know. Because then being sour and grouchy isn’t just me getting older and the inevitability of age-- then it’s just... People need to make better shit!!! Or I need to do a better job not wasting my time on, you know, an industry that’s not built to deliver what I need as a reader...

I mean, I’ve been saying for more than 10 years, I should just quit American comics and just be one of those guys to switch to manga. And I’m not 100% there because... I mean, because of Copra and because of like an extremely small list of things that aren’t Copra. (I just signed for Kate Beaton’s Patreon). But... I’m 95% there, and it’s been great, and I just feel dumb for not having done it earlier.

One Piece has big problems, too. (There’s a whole “Sanji meets drag queens” thing that’s very much not landing with me right now). I don’t think you can ever top Ennies Lobby because Ennies Lobby is about convincing a suicidal person whose been betrayed their whole life that life’s worth fighting for-- there’s never going to be an emotional engine to the story that’s as good as that one. It’s trying to work its way back to a “normal One Piece story” in this Fish arc and it’s... I want to see it level up again! The core cast is just a little too big (it really didn’t need Bones). I think the shonen model generally creates a sort of “power arms race” where it’s like constantly “oh you learned how to crush mountains with your dick in the last arc? Well, too bad our mountains are made of diamonds now” escalations that ... feel a little like a treadmill as opposed to a story. I feel like it needs to kick into a Second Act, after the big ending of that first Act at Marineford. And just... I don’t know how it can keep topping some of these fights, and think it’d get to be diminishing returns to find out. But...

A “team of buddies versus the world” is already a great thing for a story to be about, and it’s just really satisfying having One Piece having the “the world” part of that equation being so complicated and varied and colorful. It’s like if the Ocean’s 11 gang had to rob an overwhelming-more-powerful global crime syndicate, with multiple competing factions, while still convincing Julia Roberts to love them-- they just robbed Andy Garcia and I watch that movie like once a year.

(And thematically, the comic-- it’s not deep, but it’s basically got an anti-authoritarian streak to it, which I think is important for a kid comic to have. It’s a pirate comic and you can’t really do a pirate comic without being like “fuck the cops” at least a little bit. The pirate thing is interesting because it basically means that there’s always a discussion going on about what it means to be free, though I think sometimes the comic doesn’t really reckon with that-- it sometimes falls back into “well if there was a good monarch though” thinking... but there being good pirates and bad pirates and good government characters and bad ones, I like that... and the very worst characters just being rich assholes... yeah, good lessons in One Piece for the kids!!).

That and I just like how that dude draws. He’s not doing some dreary realism thing-- the layouts are fun without being showy or confusing-- he really improves as the series goes on (though some of the recent stuff I’ve seen hasn’t looked as good, but I’m not sure if I’m seeing low-quality scans or he’s been thrown a loop cause of COVID or what). I’ll always put up with a boring stretch in a comic if someone, like, crosshatches an arm in a way that I find interesting, so that probably distorts how I read One Piece too...

I could go on and on, basically because ... goddamn, what else do I have to talk about, ughhh. But yeah: that’s why I think it’s popular-- it’s the worldbuilding. It’s 100% the worldbuilding. (By which I’d include that it has this massive cast, that i can keep kinda clear in my head, not all of whom want the same things, etc.)(though also geographically-- there are maps and everything)... But recommend it? I don’t know-- I mean... It’s a little kid’s pirate comic. There’s a THOUSAND of them. It’s more modern than a Tezuka thing-- it’s jumping off more from Toriyama than Tezuka, and that’s a different vibe. It’s like not something you can just “recommend”-- it’s a major time sink. I’d recommend Chainsaw Man first to someone with my age and background because even though it has its own flaws, it’s more “age appropriate” and there are only 90 chapters, and it’s got that rad stretch about 20 chapters in so you see the “good part” faster...

#one piece #Worst Hobby or Worstest Hobby?

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timefirewrites · 3 years

Text

COMIC SANS INTRO

Taglist (ask to be added/removed): @black-lakritz-dragon @marewriteblr @spacetimewraithwrites @emmaschoutenwrites

ID under the cut would’ve prefered to put it here, but the post is already super long, sorry

[ID: thirteen google presentation slides, all written in the font comic sans, black text on a white background.

1. Title: “Gay Space Pirates", subtitle: “thats it thats the story”

2. Title: “What.” Text:

Okay so, everyone is queer

Literally, there’s not a single cishet character in this story

I’m not sorry <3

Most of the cast are non-humans, but the ones that aren’t are super diverse

Transfem muslim gal, intersex nerd with vitiligo, nonbinary overweight dumbass, I’ve got them all

There are also some disabled and mute characters

Oh, also they’re all neurodivergent because I said so

3. Title: “Setting!”, Text:

So, humans discovered aliens are real

and joined their Intergalactic Union

(which is definitely not evil)

That happened about 300 years ago and humans are now vibing all over the galaxy

Sounds great, right?

Well, for most humans, sure, but the ones who had to stay behind on Earth because they couldn’t afford space travel don’t like it as much

The situation on Earth is kind of shitty, and some people want to leave

4. Title: “pLoT??”, Text:

Neb is one of those people

They got an amazing plan to “borrow” a spaceship and never look back

Problem: Neb didn’t account for a robot to suddenly accompany them

The plan kind of fails real bad, but in the end the two escape from Earth

And immediately get picked up by space pirates

Fortunately, they don’t get killed

Because those pirates could really use an extra pair of hands or two, for their biggest mission yet

Which is retrieving a weapon apparently powerful enough to destroy the universe before someone else does

Nobody knows what it actually looks like though

5. Title: “Neb”, Text:

Nonbinary, aro and ace (they/them)

overweight

has idiopathic hypersomnia (basically means they sleep a lot)

also chronic migraines

pretty impulsive and says what they think

has a hard time trusting others

dreamt of going to space for as long as they can remember

On the right side of this slide is a picrew image, showing a person with brown skin, dark brown eyes and black, curly hair. They’re wearing a red bandana as well as a torn yeans jacket and have multiple scars on their skin. The background is the nonbinary flag.

6. Title: “Ahdia”, Text:

Transfem, bigender and pan (she/they)

mute

mechanic of the ship and the only one with a sense for fashion

happy go lucky and just overall fun to be around

pretty laid back, but would absolutely hunt you down if you hurt one of her friends

proud holder of the single brain cell this crew has

On the right side is an image as well, it shows a woman with fairer, but still brownish skin and brown eyes wearing a black hijab and a long-sleeved light blue shirt with clouds on it. The background is the trans flag.

7. Title: “Cap”, Text:

intersex, queer (they/them)

First time they show up, they’re holding a soda and pizza

likes organization in theory

wants to appear like a badass, but is too chaotic for that

needs to wear glasses, but doesn’t bother

Captain of the crew that picks Neb up

certified mess

Again, an image of the right shows a person, this time with dark brown skin and vitiligo, dark brown eyes and long, black dread-locks. They have some silver piercings in their ears and wear a dark purple hoodie. The background is the rainbow flag with the brown stripes on top.

The next three slides feature two columns each, each with an own title.

Title: “Com”, Text:

AI of the ship

shy and nervous mess

wants to visit all kinds of planets

loves taking care of plants

panromantic and ace

uses she/her, but doesn’t really care about gender

spends most of her time watching trashy romance movies

Title: “Coal”, Text:

The robot Neb befriended

Realized they were self-aware not even a day ago and already got anxiety

easily overwhelmed by everything

Has no idea what to do with themself

they/them

someone tells them knitting is a thing and they never do anything else ever again

Title: “Laser”, Text:

genderfluid, uses he/him or she/her

weapon specialist and tired of it

suffers from chronic neurogenic pain

speaks in a very monotone voice

writes poetry, but nobody is allowed to read it

canonically wears crocs

Title: “Lifo”, Text:

gender? no thanks (uses fel/fels pronouns)

tiny, but deadly

lost an arm and half a leg and replaced them with robotic parts (same for fels spine)

usually very loud, but can be completely silent if fel wants

cook of the ship

loves collecting trinkets

Title: “Nova”, Text:

He’s absolutely enormous, huge, colossal and every other synonym for really big you can think of

looks like he can kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll

licensed medic and mom friend of the crew

I lied when I said Ahida is the only one with a brain cell, Nova knows what he’s doing too

loves painting

Title: “Mer”, Text:

Don’t tell anyone I said this, but Mer is my favorite

if the name wasn’t clear enough, his species is aquatic

he’s beauty, he’s grace, he’ll punch you in the face

killed a man and will do so again

don’t cross him, he will get his revenge and you will regret your actions

seems like he has everything under control, but really doesn’t

11. Title: “some of my favorite lines”, Text (in no particular order):

“What’s up with your display?” Their voice sounded more steady now, which was good.

“I do not understand.” Their voice on the other hand just sounded confused.

“Oh, right. You probably can’t see it. You’re currently displaying an error message. Which just reads ‘error’. Not very helpful.”

“Fuck. I didn’t deactivate it.”

“We could just go in and race to the top.”

“What? No. Why would we do that? We can’t afford to get caught, we need to make a plan, Coal.”

“You said you wanted an adventure. Plus, I do not think we could create a plan, seeing as we know next to nothing about its defence and security.”

They said that because of them? They were just rambling earlier, not really thinking about it, just talking to fill the silence.

“Okay. But if anything goes wrong, it’ll be your fault.”

“Uh, I don’t think so? Better not touch it, though.” As Lifo said that, Cap could see fel fighting against the desire to do just that. At least Com would be happy.

Chapter 13 - they did surgery on a grape Neb

“Oh. I’m the ship. Nice to meet you?”

Whatever the hell was going on, they didn’t sign up for this.

“I am fine.” Perfectly fine. Mhm.

Coal nodded, then just stood around?

"You're outnumbered now! Coal agreed to watch Love On A Foreign Planet with me. So, uh, get moving, Fishsticks."

They settled on two things they were pretty sure were edible: a soda labeled “SpacePop: the best soda in the universe” with a “multiple sunsets on Madoras” flavor and some leftover pizza. (They were pretty sure Madoras didn’t exist, they never heard of that planet before. Maybe they shouldn’t drink that soda after all.)

“I’m Laser, my gender is a burning trash can and my pronouns depend entirely on the mercy of the universe.”

12. Title: “Homegrown memes”, this slide is filled with six different memes.

A windows error message, but the title and text is just screaming. The two options are “AAA” or “AAA”. It’s labeled “Coal”.

A photo of two people in wedding clothes. They’re labeled “Laser and Lifo”, in the background is a person falling from the sky, labeled “Com”.

Spiderman (labeled “Mer”) is holding a screen labeled “dealing with a breakup like a normal person”, in the next frame that screen is being thrown away as spiderman looks at a pc being held by someone else labeled as “commiting murder”.

A person is being kicked into a lake by someone else. They’re labeled “Coal trying to figure out what to do now that they’re self-aware”. The person kicking them is labeled “the plot”.

The “is this a pigeon” meme, but the guy is labeled as “Cap”, the butterfly as “wearing a hoodie and truly horrendous shorts” and the caption now says “is this formal dress attire?”.

The last meme is a chart, with five rows and two columns.

Row 1: Regularly says fuck: Coal, Lifo

Row 2: has sworn of saying fuck, but said it at some point: Cap, Neb

Row 3: has not said fuck before, but can if so desired: Laser, Ahdia, Mer

Row 4: has not said fuck before and refuses to say it: Com, Nova

Row 5: legally cannot say fuck: also Coal

13. This slide is an image of Earth as seen from space. Above it white text reads “the End”. /end ID]

16 notes · View notes

becomingbts · 4 years

Text

After Class

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Type: fluff fluff fluff

Warning(s): none if not overload of fluff

Around 2.1k

summary: Is it possible for someone to be more similar than her? I’m going to protect mini-me!

notes: Hello everyone! I hope all of you are fine! I’m happy to be able to post this one shot! This was actually a prompt from @ialwayschangethemelody ! It got me inspired and I liked it quite a lot! so here we go for that random one shot, not supposed to be born, but welp, bear with me! Have a great week, love you!

Admin Dolly

Jungkook was stunned.

When Taehyung had mentioned that a girl from his class would quickly come to explain a point of his lecture to him, he didn't expect her to be that kind of girl. Taehyung had mentioned her once or twice already. She had been helping him to take notes on a new subject that he didn't get at all and when Taehyung did not understand something, his mind just blanked for a few minutes before coming back and acknowledging that he indeed missed the most important points, leaving him even more lost than he previously was. She had apparently been sitting next to him when he had had his little breakdown, because, how was he suppose to pass a subject he didn't understand?

She had been helping him since it happened, she gave him additional notes when he had missed important points and helped him making small doodles about several topics, trying to draw little comics, making it easier for Taehyung to follow the lecture without being 100% lost.

From what he had heard until now, Jungkook had made himself an image of the character, probably a small girl hiding behind round glasses, always first row, ready 30 minutes before the lecture would begin. It was very clichée but honestly, it sounded just like that.

So imagine his shock when the said girl arrived in the coffee shop, short hair under a black cap, 3 little silver rings on her right ears, 4 on her left (actually, he noticed that one of them was a little star but that was only a detail), 2 helix piercing, high on her black shining platform shoes, looking the opposite of what he had been expecting her to look like. For a second, he was pretty sure that she was mistaken and had the wrong table, he wasn't sure that it was indeed the girl who Taehyung had been speaking about.

"I'm sorry for being late, couldn't do much better, tried my best, you know me. Hi to everyone I don't know, name's (Y/N), sorry I won't interrupt for long so don't bother, I'll be leaving quickly!" she smiled a bit, getting her stuff next to Taehyung's, already asking him which point he wanted to go through again.

Jimin, Hoseok and Yoongi continued what they were doing after greeting her as well, waiting for Namjoon and Seokjin to show up in order to leave. They had a presentation to do and they all had been speaking about it for quite a while now, Jungkook couldn't wait for them to be done with it, he felt always lost when they began to talk about their subject.

He, himself, came because Taehyung had promised that his study session with (Y/N) wouldn't be long and that they could play some video games afterwards. He had agreed on the spot, not really wanting to focus on school as midterms were coming, closer and closer, apparently not stressful enough for his family who kept on asking him everyday if he had been studying, which only added stress each time he heard the question. He couldn't focus, his stress rate was way too high for him to actually be productive, and it was stressing him even more, because damn, mid terms were truly coming and he didn't know if he would have the time to study everything without have to skip some subjects. That truly was a vicious circle. Motivation was nowhere to be seen and stress was constantly plaguing his mind : definitely the best mindset to study.

Note the sarcasm.

Jungkook even thought that seeing Taehyung study for his subject would also stress him. Taehyung was the one to never seem to be bothered by a subject he didn't fully understand. He would pass eventually and he didn't really care if his grade wasn't the best, as long as he passed the subject, it was enough. Don't get him wrong though, Taehyung studied really well and was a pretty good student, but he didn't really care about being the first of his promotion or anything like that. Yet for some reasons, this class was really bothering him and Jungkook felt like he really was the only one left to not study for the midterms, only fueling his stress rate that honestly had already gone above the maximum level.

However, as he actually began to listen to the young woman in front of him, her soothing voice did not send him into panic mode and he surprisingly listened to what she was talking about, without really paying close attention to the subject because he didn't even have that lecture. He saw little doodles she had apparently made for Taehyung about an important point that had been said to be "exam relevant". As he watched her taking a pen, Jungkook noticed a few rings around her slim fingers as well as a small sleeve tattoo. Her over-sized sweater did hide it but he could see it a little bit as she had slightly rolled up her sleeves. He watched her with great interest and curiosity. How did it come he never saw her before? She had a pretty distinctive character, making her pretty easy to notice in a crowd despite her quiet demeanor. She didn't seem to want attention, hence why she probably didn't get much, but she looked stunning and Jungkook couldn't help but blush as he watched her drink her coffee, his eyes lot leaving her lips-

Jeon Jungkook what the hell are you doing, get a hold of yourself, you don't know her?!

Damn he felt so embarrassed that he couldn't glance at her anymore. He heard Jimin suddenly asking her questions because he was supposed to take that lecture the next semester and wasn't really sure what it was about. She answered all of them, easily falling into a small conversations with all the boys who joined, much to Jungkook's surprised. He did not think that even Yoongi would go out of his comfort zone to talk with the young woman, yet, here he was, talking with her about music while Taehyung whined because they were not done. She giggled quietly, calling him out for not studying enough for the subject as he laughed before adding that he couldn't believe she would betray him like that, claiming that she knew that he studied after all.

"I know you're studying, I'm kidding, come on, we're almost done, the last part is the hardest though so you better concentrate, I'm not explaining it twice." she moved slightly, stretching before moving back to her original position as Jungkook's eyes fell on her again. Seokjin and Namjoon arrived shortly after they took up where they had left, quickly greeting her before asking the boys if they were ready to go. They all left, not without saying bye to (Y/N), promising a hang out as they added her in a new group chat while she laughed, telling them to not expect a reply any time soon after she added "I might or might not be kidding" before she broke into laughter with them.

Jungkook kept on looking at her, shyly smiling as he heard her laughter. Her eyes suddenly caught his and they both burst into laughter again. After they both calmed down, she smiled warmly at him even though he wasn't looking before going back to Taehyung.

Jungkook thanked all the divinities as she didn't say anything about the way he had so obviously stared at her but instead just focused back on Taehyung without embarrassing him more than he already was. She had obviously noticed that he had kept on glancing at her but she didn't call him out on it, letting it slide without any snarky remarks, which he was grateful for. He didn't know if she had sensed that he felt embarrassed to be caught looking at her, hence why he burst into laughter, but he just felt thankful that she did not mention it more than he hoped she would.

"And that's it! We're actually done, see? It wasn't nearly as impossible as you claimed." she laughed at Taehyung who just grumbled.

"It's easy for you, I don't get it when the professor explains" she hummed quietly as her eyes met Jungkook's again.

"Is he always that whiny?" she asked, ignoring Taehyung's outraged expression.

"Trust me, he's way worse at home, I'm his roommate." Jungkook tried to keep his cool but he felt excited to talk to her.

"Hey I'm not that whiny come on!"Taehyung protested while she just laughed.

"You are, stop complaining already, you are indebted to me for the rest of your life, peasant" she laughed loudly and Jungkook couldn't but snicker.

"Excuse me your highness, you're too good to me." he dramatically cried while Jungkook and her couldn't handle it anymore, the three of them laughing loudly, earning death glares from the barista.

"Ah anyway, so you're the famous roommate, the one that plays overwatch until 3 am?" she asked playfully after she had calmed down and told Tae that he could still show her gratefulness by buying her a coffee, which he just answered by a "in your dreams fake princess" that she had laughed off.

"Taehyung! You're not supposed to expose my sleep schedule to anyone, that's a private matter!" he whined as she laughed.

"Don't worry I'm not far better than you, been playing Symmetra recently just for fun but it's definitely easier for me to play D.Va." Jungkook's interested rose up even higher than it already was.

"God you play too?" he smiled widely.

"Of course I do, do I look like I watch anime until 5 am?" she puffed out her chest before laughing with Taehyung.

"You liar that's exactly what you do, you spent a whole lecture talking about Fullmetal Alchemist"

"What can I say, I'm guilty." she shrugged while Taehyung giggled.

"You definitely have to do a sleepover with us and the boys, we have similar interests it seems!" Jungkook laughed excited as he spoke.

"How can you tell, you don't know me" she smirked for a second before giggling to herself when she heard Taehyung interrupting her 'serious-not-so-serious' moment.

"(Y/N) you're basically Jungkook's female version, who are you trying to lie to?" Taehyung had his backpack in his hand, ready to leave as they all stood up and got their coffee cups with them.

"Trying to look decent for a few more second Taehyung, could you stop ruining it?" she punched him slightly in the shoulder, and he laughed as he complain about her fist lacking strength.

"Should I remind you that I'm boxing? Taehyung sweety I could send you to hospital if I wanted, don't joke around like that" they both laughed but Jungkook's eyes suddenly shined.

"PLEASE TEACH ME BOXING!" he shouted excited and Taehyung laughed as he saw (Y/N)'s surprised expression.

"He was searching for someone to go to the boxing club with him but we all ran away before he could drag us in his adventures." Taehyung explained while Jungkook was still watching her with hopefulness surrounding him.

"You want to go to boxing? I go to the club of the school but also to another club in the city after class on Monday, you can tag in if you want" she shrugged as if it were no big deal but damn Jungkook had finally found a boxing partner and he couldn't be stopped.

"YES DAMN FINALLY!" he yelled thrilled as they both watched him getting overjoyed.

"Is he really that excited?" she asked glancing at Taehyung.

"Can't you tell?" he giggled happily.

"We need to exchange number so that I can come! I don't know where it is! You have to show me and-"

"Yes okay, wow, calm down tiger, we'll go don't worry!" she laughed as she gave him her number. "I need to go, I still have a lecture in 30 minutes, I'll see you both later I guess! Bye!" she quickly left running as she noticed how far from university she was.

"Bye (Y/N)! Thanks again for the notes!" Taehyung yelled, as he saw her hand rising, waving it in the air before she hurried.

"Bye! Can't wait to see you again!" Jungkook smiled brightly and Taehyung laughed at him.

"I found a mini-me Taehyung and it's thrilling!"

"More like you found your soulmate and you'll get jealous next time I'll talk to her!" he laughed as he saw Jungkook's ready to protest, not missing the crimson blush on his cheeks. "Come on, I saw you staring at her the whole time we studied! Tell someone else you don't find her attractive but don't lie to my face!" Taehyung burst into laughter again as he saw Jungkook's eyes falling to the ground in embarrassment.

"It's okay, don't worry, you can protect your mini-you, we're just friend don't worry." he smiled soothingly, not trying to make fun of him anymore.

"I know you are, hyung. I just.. like her a lot." Jungkook smiled slightly, still blushing, not really understanding how similar someone could be with him, but he liked it a lot.

He even had found a boxing partner, if that was not his lucky day.

239 notes · View notes

melwritesbadly · 4 years

Text

With Wings in All Black

After a tragic turn of events, Kazama Kaori , AKA Hex, has her investigation swept out from under her by the #2 Pro Hero. Reluctantly she joins Hawks in the pursuit of justice. On top of trying to solve the biggest case of her career, Kaori is still a young woman struggling to find her place in the world. Life is turned upside down as her professional and personal lives start to blend.

Rating: T (subject to change)

Content Warnings: slight language, implied violence/death

________________________________________________________

Assistance Requested: Information and surveillance details urgently needed regarding reported missing persons. Suspected Vigilante involvement, or other syndicates. Please respond for additional details.

Status of current investigation: Ongoing

__________

A Murder of One

Hex adjusted the dial on the receiver on her headgear tuning in to the frequency of the microphone planted in the bar below her. She hoped the ungodly amount of paperwork she traded for the device was worth it. The other detectives at the station simply shrugged at her evidence- or rather, her lack-thereof.

Still it didn’t change the facts.

Fact 1- Low level criminals are disappearing.

Fact 2- People are disappearing

Fact 3- No one cared- but her.

Fact 4- Takei Kenji, one of the missing, had recently been seen in the area and was seemingly ‘not himself’ as described by the anonymous tip that was forwarded to her.

Takei Kenji, age 27. Minor invulnerability quirk. Last known occupation: ‘Nightwatchman’ for a warehouse commonly used for clandestine meetings for the local riff-raff. Reported missing by his mother 3 weeks ago.

After speaking with Mrs. Takei, she pieced together Kenji’s new schedule. After tailing him a few days he truly seemed like a new man, reformed.

His dress was proper and pristine, clean shaven and hair combed and presentable. It was a stark contrast to the photo used on the missing person flier taped to her pinboard (along with all the other missing persons). With no discernible pattern, at least not to her, about the next victim(?) or the whereabouts of any of the others, Kenji was her best, and only lead.

Tonight, she could expect him to show at one of his usual haunts. The bar below her. Not to her personal taste, the clientele of the more stabby nature.

Earlier that week she managed to convince the bartender to spill a few snippets of the conversations between Kenji and the other patrons.

“The Bard this, The Bard that.” griped the bartender as he dumped the trash into the alley dumpster. “It’s pissing off my regulars and they’re pissy enough as it is.”

He should have been here an hour ago though. Hex sucked on her lower lip, displeased as she scanned the road leading to and from the bar entrance. She’d give it another half hour then try and regroup on his trail in the morning.

“Cheers to another late night.” she muttered to herself listening in to the chatter and ambiance of the dive bar.

________

Her 30 minutes go by and she huffs before finally switching the receiver off. She’d go by tomorrow to get the mic back. Just as she was about to stand from her perch Hex heard the unmistakable beat of wings above her, large ones, judging by the sound.

It reminded her of her father. Probably one of the last people she wanted to see right now. Especially since her only lead ditched her for the night.

This night sucks.

Hex thinks to herself, finally looking up intending to see the dark wings of King Crow finally come to drag her home but instead, she sees red.

This has to be the reason Kenji never showed. The thought bounces around her head angrily as none other than the number 2 Hero in Japan descended from the nightly heavens and landed on her rooftop.

This night really sucks.

“Yo!” Hawks held up a hand in greeting neatly folding his very noticeable wings against his back, shoving the other hand into his pocket.

“Will you get down!” Hex harshly whispers, gesturing him to stoop down and out of sight.

“Jeesh, hi, hello how are you? I’m fine, thanks for asking.” he jokes casually but still squats down feet planted on the ground resting his arms on his knees. Hex shakes her head and resumes her post looking up and down the street despite her previous resignation.

“You’re Hex right?” he starts “I’m-” She cuts him off not taking her eyes off the street.

“Obviously I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are. Especially every lowlife in the area who’ve probably fled after seeing your chicken legs flailing in the wind.”

“Ooo, ah, that’s my physical appearance. That hurts you know.” Feigning being wounded, Hawks placed a hand over his heart but still kept the jovial tone. A smart smirk inching up his cheek continuing.

“But you’re not after ‘every lowlife’, though right? Just the one. Takei Kenji?''

She turned to him and tilted her head, large round eyes finally meeting his sharper, more angled ones.

“How did you...?” she trailed off, honestly surprised. It wasn’t common knowledge on how her ‘investigation’ was going. Uncommon because, well quite frankly… no one cared. Especially other Heroes.

“Sorry Chickadee but I got some bad news.” Hawks stood back up and crossed his arms leaning against a nearby cooling unit.

Hex rolled her eyes

“Don’t call me that. What happened?” She looked up at him.

“Well, one of my guys found your guy in… not great shape.”

Hex cursed running a hand through the back of her head, then sighed.

“How bad?” prepping for his answer.

“Morgue bad”

“Dammit!” cursing again, pinching her brow reeling from the implications.

“Your buddies at the station said you'd might want to know as a professional courtesy” brow pinched once more, Hex felt the annoying start of a headache between them.

“Courtesy? For what...” a thought flashing through her mind and she stood eyes going wide “Don’t you dare close my case!” jabbing a finger in his direction.

He turned his head to face her more, still calm, still leaning, still observing.

“Close it? Oh no, wouldn’t think of it Chickadee. I’m taking over the investigation.”

Hex gaped. Momentarily at a loss for words. The frustrations starting to come to a point at the back of her neck, feeling an uncomfortable bristle forming.

“What no, you can’t! Do you know how much work” gesturing wildly with her hands “How much time! The favors I had to do, the resources I scrounged for-”

“Which are no longer a problem.” He blocked one ear with a finger and shot her what would have been an award winning smile “No need to shout Hex. Obviously I want to keep you,” He paused, throwing a wink her way “Keep you on the investigation that is.”

Hex scoffed,her head bobbing back as she shot him an incredulous look.

“I don’t do agencies, and I’m no one's sidekick.” she threw another annoyed jab of her finger in his direction.

“Ooo touchy. Freelance then. Sound good Chickadee?” Hawks held up his hand to maybe physically shield him from her ire.

“Stop calling me that and maybe I’ll let you help”

He smiled-no smirked again pushing off of the cooling unit he was leaning on stepping towards her shrugging his shoulders.

“That doesn't sound like a mutually beneficial arrangement to me.” Hex rolled her eyes and crossed her arms haughtily with a huff.

“And how does calling me stereotyped nickname benefit you, birdbrain.”

Hawks chuckled. He didn’t expect it to be so easy to ruffle her feathers.

This was going to be fun.

“Isn’t that how these buddy cop movies play out? One hard-ass with a secret heart of gold and their handsome, comic relief partner put aside their differences to crack the case and learn the meaning of cooperation and friendship. Roll credits”

Hex tilted her head and shot him an unamused expression, opening her mouth to speak.

“I am not a hardass-” she stopped herself holding her palm up to stop the little banter she was getting pulled into. “Can you circle back, Takei Kenji?”

“Can we circle back to this team up? After all this is my case now?”

Hex scrunched up her nose, not pouting, she told herself, and re-crossed her arms.

“Sounds like something a hardass would say.” she snarked and he grinned again, throwing his arms up bringing them down behind his head.

“You caught me. Hawks, the hardass with a heart of gold. Guess that makes you my handsome, no wait, beautiful partner then. So how's about it Chickadee?”

“Uhg” Hex clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes again. Squaring her shoulders she placed her hands on her hips

“I want a contract. Full access and authority over any and all future developments and details about my case.” Hawks nodded but shot her a finger gun.

“Our case.”

“Whatever!” she sighed looking up at the night sky hands still on her hips.

“The agency manager can draft up whatever you’d like tomorrow. Let’s go see what Kenji had in his pockets shall we?”

Hex nodded reaching up to her headgear. She flicked the visor portion that was pushing her hair back over her eyes. The experimental mirrored tint softening the city night lights. She switched the setting on her earpiece making sure the seal around the was snug. Hawks floated a foot above the ground looking a little bored as he waited.

Show off

Hex activated her own quirk, the bundle of jet black feathers at the base of her hair sending a shiver down her spine causing other inky feathers to erupt from her skin. The ebony plumes forming patterned rows along her arms covering them completely.

Letting them creep upwards to the sides of her neck but stopped them before then could go any further on her body. Just enough for her to achieve flight. She did a small jump maintaining the upward moment with a strong flap of her feather covered arms and started for the station.

Harpy Hero: Hex

Quirk: Harpy- Half human, half bird! She’s able to do most things a bird can do and then some! Most notably, she can grow enough feathers to achieve flight.

______

There is no traffic in the sky and the previously chatty #2 Hero was silent during their flight. Hex was thankful, it gave her some time, however brief, to think.

This new development was...tragic. Someone would have to tell Mrs.Takei in the morning.

It should be me...

It’s just, Kenji was small time. So why would he turn up dead?

And more importantly...

Hex cast a look in her periphery at the Fierce Wing Hero.

How did this fall into the lap of the number 2 Hero?

______

Hawks landed first. Not bothering to tame his windswept hair but did look up to observe Hex’s descent. She wasn’t quite as fast as him, well, then again, no one was. But she was graceful and skilled as she navigated the air currents.

Fanning her wings wide Hex slowed her movements getting ready to land. A few more well practiced flutters and she also touched back down. Before she can remove her headgear she dispels her feathers. Casting them off with a quick flick of her arms. She hardened them into slivers then ground them to sand with another flick to minimize the mess and general rudeness of not picking up after your quirk.

She adjusted her headgear and hair and blatantly ignored the cheeky claps and nods of approval from the man besides her. She strode past him and up into the station. The night reception paid her no mind but did double take when they saw Hawks’s crimson wings engulfing their foyer.

Just outside the morgue waited a man with an impressive and well manicured mustache. He wore a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, suspenders and the first few buttons open.

“This her boss?” he asked in an accent indicating that he was from Australia.

“Hex,” she offered “And you are?”

“Duke Amazing. Pleasure.” he greeted offering his hand. She was not expecting such a strong handshake.

“Given the circumstances…” she trailed off. “You found Takei?”

“Well, what’s left that is…” Duke gestured to the door he was waiting in front of “They’ve finished up for now. Just waiting on the bossman for the paperwork and whatnot.” He made another gesture in the direction of a door a little ways down the corridor.

“They’ve got his belongings in there”

“Perfect, cross the t’s and dot the i’s for me Duke?” before his sidekick could answer Hawks was already starting down the corridor. Hex followed close behind.

Duke shook his head crossing his arms.

“June’s gunna pitch a fit again Hawks”

“Op, can’t hear you, the doors closing!” gently shoving Hex in the room and hastily closed the door behind them.

“Uhg paperwork” He bemoaned and leaned against the door

“Paperwork” Hex commiserated but was already looking over the items laid out on the small table.

There wasn’t much but everything was bagged, labeled and detailed on a piece of paper next to the items.

There was a small wallet, no money, a personal ID card. An older model cell phone, unusable. Most likely damaged in whatever altercation Kenji found himself in.

“Probably a burner” Hawks shrugged “Still, I'll get someone to pull the numbers.” He made no move to examine the items himself but instead watched Hex very carefully as she examined each one.

She cupped her chin as she looked at the final piece of evidence, brow furrowed.

“I’ve seen this before...” she commented, turning over the small business card over front to back several times examining it.

While it was the same shape and card stock as a business card it held no information. No address, phone number, or even a business name. All that was printed was an indigo triangle.

“What is it?” He was curious because he had no idea what the shape meant either.

“I…” she started, brows still furrowed. “I have no idea, but I know I've seen this...”

She placed the bagged card back on the table and leaned over it rubbing her hand to the back of her neck smoothing down her feathers there. The memory of where she’d seen this particular shape eluding her.

“Maybe at his apartment?” she muttered to herself, then sighed

“I’ll have to go back over my notes.” Hex leaned up from the table and unzipped her jacket pulling out her phone and snapped a quick picture on the item.

“How about we meet back up tomorrow then. Let me give you my number.” Hawks held out his palm asking for her phone. She was just about to hand it over but thought better and pulled it back causing him to catch air.

“No social calls, no memes at 3 in the morning, no unsolicited pictures.” her tone stern

“What if they’re tasteful?” he made a grabby motion with his hands and gave his brows a waggle.

“They’re never tasteful.” she quipped back but finally relented and handed over her phone.

Hawks flipped it over in his hands and quickly typed in his information jokingly setting the name for his number “Unsolicited dick pics” with an appropriate emoji next to it. He sent himself a quick text with her phone then clicked hers off and handed it back to her.

He was extremely pleased when she didn’t double check his contact info and simply zipped the phone back into her pocket. His little joke would be a fun surprise for the morning then.

“Send me where you want to meet tomorrow” She pressed her fingers to the back of her neck again “I’m heading out. Looong night”

Hawks moved away from the door and let her pass, parting for the night.

“Well that led to a whole lotta nothing” He mused to himself finally taking his turn to look over the offending card stock.

“It’s never an easy mess to clean up is it?” He tossed the card back on the table.

_________________________________

#wwiab #hawks #bnha hawks #mha hawks #hawks x oc #keigo takami #takami keigo #original character #hawks bnha #hawks mha #boku no hero academia #my hero acadamia #hawks x reader

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