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writerblue275 · 2 months

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How Heartsteel would act when they are tipsy. (18+)

Let me say this right off the bat: PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY (AND ONLY IF YOU’RE OF LEGAL AGE TO BE DRINKING). BE KIND TO YOUR LIVERS AND FOLLOW LAWS Y’ALL.

(Seriously drinking too much is not fun. Either while you’re drinking, or the day after. I once learned the hard way in college that I become extremely emotional if I have a bit much and it’s just straight up not a good time. I still drink, but very occasionally and not much.)

Inspiration: Now all that being said……I’d love to have a drink or two with the Heartsteel members. I think that would be so fun!

Champions: Heartsteel

Genre: Headcanon

Type: Fluff (I’m still saying this is 18+ only. I’m American so technically the legal drinking age where I am is 21, but I know for a lot of places around the world the legal age to drink is 18.)

Gender: Gender Neutral Reader

TW: We’re talking about alcohol use in this one. Mention of a drinking game or two. Mention of sobriety. Swearing.

Aphelios

If you want a calm, chill, but still fun night, Aphelios is the guy to drink with. 100/10 vibes and I’m all here for it.

This is when he’d use more sign language to communicate. (I’m imagining tipsy Phel signing incredibly cheesy pick up lines to his partner and I’m OBSESSED.)

And you know how words can start to slur when people get tipsy? That concept maybe translates into his sign language juuuuust a little bit. Maybe a slightly sloppy sign here or there. But you know him well enough that you know what he’s trying to say.

And while he’s not super touchy, when he’s tipsy, he’s definitely staying connected to you somehow.

Either through linked hands/pinkies, an arm around you, or just some other way of him keeping connected to you.

You two turn into the parent couple a little bit, making sure everyone, including yourselves, is staying safe and hydrated. Aphelios might be mischievous and like pranks, but he knows when it’s time to be more serious, and keeping everyone safe when alcohol is involved is definitely a time to be more serious. (Surprise surprise, you might have thought Yone would be the parent but he’s already the band mom sober. The man needs a break. Out of the other members, I actually think Phel could wrangle people pretty well.)

Ezreal

Ezreal would be such a fun person to drink with just in general, but especially as your S/O. He’s energetic, fun, generally positive. In my experience, those people make for enjoyable beverage buddies (alcoholic or not). He’s the life of any party (#1).

He’s also a lightweight. Absolutely no question in my mind. He’s not a large man by any means. (I love this teeny pop prince.)

It doesn’t matter if the two of you have been together for years, once he’s tipsy, he’s pulling out all his best (read: cheesy as fuck) pick up lines and using them on you.

“Hey, my name is Microsoft. Can I crash at your place tonight?” “Ez, we’ve been dating for over a year.” “Yes we have. And? Can I not flirt with my own partner?” “…Ok that’s very sweet, please continue.” (He always manages to make you blush and make it feel like the first time you met him.)

Only uses them on you though. As flirty as Ez can be, this green bean is LOYAL to you. Only you get his flirty side. Anyone else tries flirting with him and they get some truly bombastic side eye.

Otherwise Ezreal’s just really fun to chat with or play drinking games with. The absolute best beer pong partner. There’s no one more accurate. And unless you’re sitting out a round, he’ll always ask you to be his #2. It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are. When you do sit out and he plays, there’s always an argument about who gets to be his partner. The next best player is Sett, who is also very good, so there’s a house rule that the two of them can’t be on a team together 😂.

Kayn

I was struggling to figure out how to describe Kayn while drinking, and now I realize why I was struggling so very much…

Plot twist: Kayn is sober. (Shoutout to anyone on a sobriety journey, for whatever reason. I have so much respect for you. Our society loves to glorify alcohol and drinking culture, so for those who actively choose to go against that, props to you.)

I genuinely don’t think he drinks at all. Maybe he did in the past but he doesn’t currently. Rock stars historically haven’t always had the best relationship with substances. This could be one of those situations where he realized he didn’t like who he was when he drank.

Kayn is self-aware enough to know he’s already fairly impulsive and a little wild while sober. Alcohol added to that mix wasn’t helping anything. So he stopped and surrounded himself with a network of people that fully support his decision (that ofc includes you and the other Heartsteel members).

Now all of that being said, Kayn still likes to enjoy himself. He’s a fan of fancy beverages, even if they’re non-alcoholic, so he’s always getting a mocktail or a non-alcoholic beer (I’m really glad to see bartenders/companies starting to include NA options. Listen, sometimes I just want to feel fancy and sip a fun beverage that doesn’t have alcohol in it). Having something to sip on makes Kayn feel involved even if he’s the only one in a group that doesn’t have an alcoholic beverage.

Now even though he doesn’t drink, don’t think he’s a spoilsport. Even without alcohol he is a very fun person to be around, so when you’re out with him you’ll still have a great night filled with some shenanigans, fun talks, and laughter.

K’Sante

I’m not kidding when I say I want to have a drink with Heartsteel K’Sante so badly and I’m genuinely a little sad I cannot. I want to pick his brain. I’ve said it before but I get great vibes from him. To me, it’s very easy to see why he’s one of the co-leaders of Heartsteel.

Absolutely gets philosophical/goes into deep conversations when he drinks and those people are SO FUN TO BE AROUND. A perfect companion for someone who might be a little more introverted since he’d be focused only on you and he’d maybe take you somewhere a little quieter so you can hear each other.

I feel like it’s very easy to lose track of time when you’re talking with K’Sante. Like you look down at your phone/watch and an hour has passed just like that while the two of you chat and sip on your drinks.

These deep conversations can be about anything too. Maybe about literature that you’ve both read, dissecting their music with a close eye, discussing the meaning of life, or even him listening to you discuss your problems and offering you advice if you want it.

And even if the topics of discussion are deep, K’Sante is still making things light hearted. He never wants to cause you to not enjoy your evening.

In between discussions of deeper topics, he’s cracking some jokes or telling you funny stories about himself, his family, or the other members of Heartsteel. Whatever is being discussed, the overall vibe with K’Sante is very safe and fun. When you have a drink with him, settle in and enjoy a fun night talking about anything and everything.

Sett

Oh my god Sett would be so fun to have a drink with. He absolutely gives off “life of the party” vibes (#2) and I absolutely love that for everyone around him. Hell he gives off those vibes without alcohol.

This is going to be so damn specific: Sett gives me slight frat bro vibes BUT IN THE VERY BEST WAY!! (I SWEAR I mean this as a compliment!)

When I was in university/undergrad, I was in a sorority. (Hehe surprise! I’m definitely not the stereotypical sorority girl.) Because of this I am familiar with fraternities and frat bros. While generally I don’t have a high opinion of them, there was one frat on campus that was actually awesome. Their guys were safe/fun to be around, respectful, and kind (a lot of them were athletes so they knew they better behave if they wanted to stay on their teams).

THAT is the kind of frat bro vibe I get from Heartsteel Sett. Ma raised him fucking right. He has manners and is incredibly respectful to those around him always. (Unless they give him reason not to be but that’s a whole different thing.)

And just like Ez, his flirty side is totally coming out, but again, only with you. I can’t imagine Sett ever being unfaithful in a relationship. Ma raised him far better then that.

And if you’re out with him and getting unwanted attention, he’s definitely sticking up for you, whether or not you’re dating him. Hell even if you’re a stranger, he’s the type to pretend to be your boyfriend/brother/friend to get you out of a situation. Just overall a 100/10 man to be around. You’ll definitely have a blast with him!

Yone (Yes his is long but listen, I have thoughts!)

This man. This man is my dark horse. There are two possible ways I see Yone acting when tipsy. 1. Completely fucking normal and alcohol doesn’t affect him like at all. 2. Turns him into a clingy koala man who is a lightweight.

Clingy koala man is far more entertaining so THAT’S WHAT WE’RE GOING WITH. I feel like it doesn’t take much for him to feel it. Part of that is, Yone wouldn’t drink that much to begin with. Maybe a glass of wine on a dinner date with you, or the occasional drink at a party, but otherwise it’s not his thing.

All this to say, when he does have something, he definitely feels it. And that’s when he’ll be glued to your side. Now obviously if you’re in public, he’s not going to be wrapped around you, but even then, he’ll link arms to walk with you, keep his hand on the small of your back, or even link pinkies with you.

Now if you two are alone? And you’re not going anywhere for the evening? Oh all bets are off. You better do everything you need to do before sitting down with him, because once you do, he’s pulling you into his lap and that is going to be your spot for the foreseeable future. (It’s like the unspoken pet rule: “if a pet is on you, you’re not allowed to move until they do” but in reverse. As long as Yone is cuddling you, you’re not allowed to move. [Like of course you’re allowed to move, especially if you need to go to the bathroom or get more comfortable. He’s not an asshole. But he just really loves holding you.])

You’re already the only person besides Heartsteel’s hair stylist Yone lets touch his hair, but when he’s tipsy? He practically leans his head into your touch until you play with his hair, sighing happily as you do. He especially loves when you braid it. (God damn I want to braid his hair so badly.)

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! I was discussing with my friends which fictional characters we’d like to have a drink with and that’s where this idea really stemmed from. Random, but fun to think about! 💙

(Also this is just a small reminder that my requests are currently open. If you have specific ideas, send them through my asks! Just check the rules post [linked on my masterlist] first!)

#heartsteel #heartsteel headcanons #headcanon #heartsteel x reader #reader insert #heartsteel fluff #heartsteel aphelios #heartsteel ezreal #heartsteel kayn #heartsteel k'sante #heartsteel sett #heartsteel yone #league of legends headcanon

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discotitsposts · 19 days

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born to die

reader is secretly best friends with a famous singer

bau x reader

set in season 7 so 2012

“Have you guys heard about that new singer, Lana Del Rey?” JJ asked the team while waiting for the brief of the new case on the jet. Hotch and Rossi had taken up conversation in the corner leaving the younger team members some quality time. Derek shakes his head. You smile to yourself. Lana was actually a stage name and her real name was Elizabeth and she had been one of your best friends ever since you had met her in the seventh grade during an incident in Lake Placid.

The team didn’t know that though. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to tell them. It’s just that the topic had never come up before so you didn’t reveal it. You were very mysterious to them. Honestly you were just private.

Emily smiles, “Yes!! Her album is called ‘Born To Die’ it’s so good!”

Morgan tells you that he’s going to listen to it. He puts his headphones on and closes his eyes. He starts singing ‘Summertime Sadness’ out loud. Spencer looks around confused. Not being kept up on pop culture he had no clue who she was. You explain to him Lana’s vibe is very vintage and her voice is beautiful, which is why people love her. You, having heard her early music when she first started, are very excited about her newfound popularity.

“I heard she’s playing a show in New York soon, wanna go?” JJ asks Emily when the jet lands

“I’d love to!! Who else wants to go?” Emily looks around at everyone. Morgan raises his hand and says, “I’m in!”

They look at you and Spencer.

“How about you guys?” JJ asks with a big grin. Spencer stammers trying to think of an excuse when you say, “I can get the tickets for us. I have an in at the arena.” They nod excitedly. Spencer, being quite fond of you, nods.

“I’ll go. It might be fun.” He smiles at you. Hotch and Rossi were listening in and tell you they would like to join. You smile at them and shoot off a text to your so called contact at the arena. The performer herself.

You smile and put your phone down.

After the case, you’re all back on the jet.

“Hey you got a ticket for Penelope right, I called her and she said she would die to go.” Morgan asks you.

“Of course! Couldn’t leave her out.” You didn’t tell them you didn’t need to buy tickets.

When you get back to the BAU Penelope runs in.

“We’re actually going!! I’m so excited!! What should I wear!” She asks you.

“Whatever’s comfortable!” You respond while folding your sweater up and putting it in your bag.

“Hey do you know what section we’ll be in?” Emily asks looking up from her phone.

“Right up front.”

Everyone’s jaws drop. “You got us all front rows?” JJ asks. You nod.

Day of the show

You and the girls had gotten ready together in your hotel room. Rossi had ordered a limousine for everyone.

“Where are the tickets?” JJ asks when you get to the ticket station and the man holds his hand out to check for your tickets.

“Oh we don’t need tickets.” You laugh and look for a security guard. You motion everyone to follow you. They look at each other in confusion but follow you. You tell Ed the security guard your name and he tells you all to follow him. He brings you to a backstage room.

“Are we MEETING HER?” Penelope, JJ, Morgan, and Emily jump around screaming.

Lana walks in and everyone damn near passes out. She looks absolutely beautiful. She’s wearing a white dress with her hair big and heavy makeup. She spots you and grins.

“Hi! I’m so glad to see you!” She runs to you and gives you a big hug.

“I’m so proud of you! Look where you’re performing! How do you feel?” You ask.

“I know it’s so crazy. I’m feeling a huge adrenaline rush,” She smiles fiddling with her hands. “Maybe some nerves too.”

“Well you’re going to do amazing. Just think of it as the bar you used to play at and I’m gonna be right there cheering you on!” The whole team is watching you interact with her in such awe.

“Alright, I’m going on soon. Ed, can you take them to their row? Have fun everyone!” She squeezes your hands and waves at everyone as she walks to the door. She blows you a kiss and you blow one back and shake your hips. A secret handshake you guys made up.

Emily smacks your arm gently. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re friends with a singer who’s been all over the radio lately?”

“You didn’t ask me.” Their faces drop. They hadn’t asked you much of anything when you’d first joined. Everyone was nice they just hadn’t spoken to you about your personal life much. Therefore you hadn’t told them anything.

“Know anyone else famous?” JJ asks jokingly as if you might secretly be friends with a whole bunch of A-list celebrities.

“Ever hear of Taylor Swift?” She was also a good friend of yours. You show everyone a picture you had taken with a Tay a few weeks ago when you had gone to dinner with her. JJ almost faints.

The show was a blast and you all had fun. She played everything from Born To Die and her latest release, Paradise. You had even noticed Spencer seemed to like the song, Diet Mountain Dew. He had been tapping his fingers rhythmically to the beat. Lizzy had pointed at you and smiled and waved to you all during the show. Her voice live is so beautiful. After, you had all hung out with Lana and went to dinner with her and everyone was spilling with questions for her. You were laughing for hours with everyone.

“I heard Britney Spears is playing at a stadium nearby tomorrow.” Penelope winds some more spaghetti on her fork with Rossi giving her a disapproving look at the improper way she wound her pasta.

“Oh yeah. For ‘Femme Fatale’ she invited me to that. I might go. Who wants to join?” You speak as if you’re just asking them if they want to get coffee. Leaving everyone wondering how the hell you know all these people.

Needless to say, after that everyone asked you a lot more about yourself.

#criminal minds #spencer reid #bau x reader #bau team #mgg #matthewgraygubler #lana del rey #taylor swift #jj jareau #emily prentiss #penelope garcia #derek morgan

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thirteenashmctrash · 1 year

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okay so i have gained a new species of spore for my collective brainrot and i have found the perfect selling pitch to drag everyone i care about down with me. if you know the show this is hilarious. if you haven't watched it pay attention:

the show's called leverage. you know how there's those crime serials that aren't good at all but we've all watched a little too much of at least one of them even though they are blatant copaganda which is morally terrible? take your favorite one of those, but remover the copaganda. all the characters are criminals but their only victim is capitalism. every cop in the show is stupid at best and blatantly corrupt to a disgusting level most of the time. there is just as much genuine and intelligent social commentary as this premise demands.

i sense i already have you hooked. i can make this better. stick with me for a minute on this: the character dynamic is a muppet movie but also the Scooby gang

stick with me here!

You have Parker, who fit into the Scooby gang as Scooby and would be played by Gonzo. her crime thing is that she is a cat burglar and she is very good at it. her skill with it is borderline slapstick (hence Scooby) and she is very autistic coded and misunderstood (hence Gonzo)

You've got Eliot, who is the Shaggy and is played by Sam Eagle. He is the brute force of the team and he wants you to think he is all serious and grimdark. but he loves making the employees and victims of their capitalist targets aware of unions and he is a big himbo. i say he is shaggy because he plays Parker's straight man, he has the second most cartoonlike abilities, and he has a passion for cooking

Hardison is Velma as played by Kermit. he is a geeky hacker with a passion for orange soda and he is the heart of the team. he gets overlooked as leader even though he is the driving force of everything they do. like Velma. he also has that trademark Kermit brand of slapstick and deadpanned humor in balance.

Sophie is Daphne as played by miss piggy. she is basically the world's best grifter, she usually the front man interacting with the target the most. she has that crazy streak and the self defense capacity that miss piggy and Daphne (when she's done right) both have. she also has the confidence and style.

Nate is Fred and he is the human character. Fred has "let's split up gang" and Nate has "then we have to steal *fill in the blank with something comedically unfit to finish the sentence*" Fred and Nate are both flat characters with the main trait "i think I'm the leader but my smart friend does all the work" and the main interest of "trapping and screwing over capitalists" he mainly gets to call himself the leader because he's the idea guy and he has an apartment. his role in the muppet analogy is the peak of my pitch if you're still here. because while this is definitely not the Christmas Carol, Nate is the human character because he is Ebenezer Scrooge if instead of being a capitalist, Scrooge was an alcoholic and instead of character growth he was just steadily losing his mind. his moral compass and general intelligence are on a roulette wheel that is spun at random intervals lasting from seconds to the occasional few hours. also he and Sophie have divorced parents of grown children syndrome and the other three are said children. in vibes, of course, they aren't actually related.

if anyone stayed with me through all of that you should seriously watch it. even if i sound like i pulled this all out of my ass. it's so good.

it's an actively anticapitalist, copaganda free crime show where you get to see fun characters beat up every thing bad in society and fuck it all over. it balances fun comedy and wild characters with serious topics and moments in a way that is very natural and genuine. it also has one of my favorite autistic coded characters, a positive and healthy relationship that develops in a way that feels natural to the characters (as well as a rockier one if you're into drama) and it is in the midst of what looks to be an actually well handled revival series with the original cast. i haven't caught up yet but I'm so excited for it. the original had 5 seasons and the revival is waiting to be renewed for season 3.

please go watch leverage. it's so good and it deserves more fans. also i want more fic and that next season

#leverage #please watch leverage #i have only had those blorbos for a few weeks but if anything happens to them i will die #new blorbos #Hardison really is the heart of the group though #you can pry these gay crime dummies from my cold dead hands #parker leverage #alec hardison #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #nate ford #nathan ford #scooby gang #the muppets #muppets au #scooby doo au #kind of #blorbo #new blorbo who dis

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wandabear · 10 months

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WISH YOU WERE HERE - WANDA MAXIMOFF X FEMALE READER

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Summary: 17 years ago, a New Jersey high school girls’ soccer team travels to Seattle for a national tournament. While flying over Canada, their plane crashes deep in the wilderness, and the surviving team members are left stranded for nineteen months.

Jules is portrayed by Adelaide Kane. Here.

chapter warnings: smut, angst, death, violence, blood, mentions of abuse. Please, as I said before, this is going to be harder on this and the next chapters. And this one is... doomcoming. I'm responsible for letting you know that, but if you don't like that, you can choose not to read it. ㅤㅤ

I must clarify again, all of them are 18 years old or more. Lots of characters will not survive, that's it. That doesn't mean I hate them or I don't like them.

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CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN FINALE

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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤCHAPTER SIX: DOOMCOMING

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BEFORE

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Despite the fact that the deer hunt had brought good vibes to the girls and full bellies for about three days, the days that followed became more difficult.

They thought that perhaps luck would still be on their side, but the arrival of autumn and soon winter made it more and more difficult. Some animals migrated to warmer places, leaving them without hope.

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“Here you go.”

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With a look of desolation, they all looked at their plates, completely fed up and disgusted. It wasn't smiles and fun anymore after weeks of being lost.

Y/N thought that the disgusting stew her mother used to cook right now seemed like an exquisite culinary masterpiece.

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“it's all we got, we're saving some deer meat left for tomorrow.” Wanda explained as she sat down with her friends.

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They all began to eat 'what they had managed to get' and although it didn't seem to make them happy, at least it kept them alive for one more day.

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“Okay, I can't do this anymore.” Carol complained exhausted, setting the plate aside. The blonde caught everyone's attention when she got up to go get something in the corner where she was sleeping and approached them, leaving a huge glass jar with a purple liquid.

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“What is that?” Y/N frowned.

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“It was some berries I was trying to save, but…” Carol sighed and opened the jar. “I think it might've turned into booze? I don't know about the rest of you, but I could use a drink.”

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They all watched intently, completely interested in the idea of forgetting everything for a while.

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Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Do we think it's safe?”

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“Do we care?” Jules shrugged, smiling kindly at Carol who just nodded, grateful to have her support. Things between Nat and the brunette hadn't been quite the same, and everyone was starting to notice it.

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“I have a few more.”

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“If we have booze, let's have a party.” Jennifer exclaimed and some of them giggled, even though things weren't too bad, they couldn't afford to lose their spirits.

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“'Cause we've got so much to celebrate.” Sharon rolled her eyes.

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“Do we need a reason?” Y/N got up from her seat and looked out the window. Some clouds in the distance said that the most difficult time would soon begin. In summer, that place was spectacular, but winter? It was a subarctic place, definitely if they didn't find them soon, the girls would start to suffer more or even die. “If they don't find us and we don't forage for food to get us through the winter, we'll be dead. I say we party now.”

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“There's a full moon tomorrow night.” Wanda added maybe a bit excited, which was very cute. “And it's almost Homecoming.”

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“We packed dresses, right?” Jules said interested in the idea of drinking and forgetting about that damn place for a while. “For the awards dinner?”

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“There we go.” Y/N put her hands on her hips, willing to make this moment something different and not let her spirits die. “We have dresses, we have booze. We can decorate.”

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“Have a sort of... moon homecoming.” Wanda smiled, looking at Y/N. The connection between her gazes stole her breath.

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“More like a doom homecoming.” Pietro scoffed but Wanda quickly nudged him.

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Jules chuckles softly. “A Doomcoming.”

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Some of them chuckled, but they all seemed to agree. Even Sharon agreed saying: “Now that's a party idea.”

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“All right. Doomcoming.” Natasha patted her leg and got up, although she wasn't entirely sure, drinking a little and losing your mind for a while wasn't bad at all. “Tomorrow night, we'll drink rotten berries and celebrate our impending death.”

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They all cheered and whistled, ready to relax for a night at least. Not knowing that in the attic, a man was growling just listening to them.

Grant Ward looked at himself in the mirror, those dark circles and his weeks messy beard made him look more careless.

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He didn't even care, what he did care about was seeing that part of his leg was missing. Chopped. Feeling like there was no future, and his future as a real coach was gone when he lost his leg. Seemed to be drifting further and further from reality.

They were all doing their best to make the night the best. Some were in charge of decorating around the cabin, using pieces of cloth, colored stones and flowers, as well as huge dry leaves.

Others used some candles, wild animal bones, and also made torches to make the evening special.

In a few hours, they would be having the fun they deserved.

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“Сука!” The girl muttered between teeth, after winning the battle with her suitcase that seemed to be stuck. Natasha smiled when she finally opened the damn thing, looking through her stuff. All the girls were outside so she took advantage of using the kitchen to be alone.

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Nat exhaled in relief when she saw that fabric, was starting to think she lost it. Her dress, the one Melina bought for the awards ceremony; the redhead finally smiled wistfully.

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“Hey. What are you doing?”

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Jules's voice made her close the suitcase quickly, looking up.

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“Just trying to open this.” Natasha sighed, perhaps a little more exasperated than she expected to show. “What's going on?”

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“I- umh, they are all doing this kind of pairing tonight and…” Jules licked her lips nervously, walking up to face her. “Will you go with me to the party?”

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But she didn't get an answer, Natasha just sighed deeply.

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Why the hell had she thought that maybe there was hope of having something with Nat? Nat never gave her a sign, she just used her to have sex and nothing else, that was the deal between them. But Jules didn't give up, expecting Natasha to realize her feelings. It was useless, that would never happen.

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Jules just shook her head, smiling sadly. “Oh, it's okay. I get it.”

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“You know I don't do that.” Nat raised an eyebrow, then looked down at her suitcase, unable to keep her gaze on it and not feel guilty. “That's not what we had and you know it.”

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“I know. It was really dumb.” The raven haired girl exhaled and then turned to leave the kitchen, trying to hide her teary eyes.

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While in the back of the cabin, hiding from the other girls, Wanda giggled as she felt how Y/N kissed her neck slowly, hands settled on her hips but never crossed the limits.

The tender and sweet kisses began to gain a passion that increased more and more.

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“You ever think about what we'd be doing if we hadn't crashed?” Wanda asked once they separated, making sure no one saw them.

Not because either of them felt embarrassed, not at all, but they wanted to keep something unique together. Something nice between just them.

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“Like, we'd be going to so many parties?” Y/N joked and adjusted her shirt. Maybe if she thought about what would have happened, they would both be in some nice hotel celebrating or even being just 'friends', without daring to get close.

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“Yeah, I-I guess.” Wanda smiled and shrugged, thinking about 'what could have happened' could become painful if you let yourself go. “I don't really think about it.”

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“Well, all I think about is you.” Y/N responded completely in love, leaning in to kiss her lips once more.

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“What if this is it, Y/N?” The brunette wrapped her arms around Y/N’s neck, lost in those eyes that she liked so much. “Everything we did, uh, everything we didn't do.”

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Y/N didn't know what she meant, just decided to listen to her girl's concerns.

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“I'm not gonna die a virgin.” Wanda sighed deeply, ready to make that decision, Y/N just widened her eyes.

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“What?” Y/N babbled, of course she understood correctly but that was quite surprising.

ㅤㅤ

“I wanna be with you.” Wanda's cheeks blushed, looking even more adorable. “I wanna be yours. Please.”

ㅤㅤ

It was an important decision, but the truth was that they were completely crazy about each other. Y/N would be lying if she said that she hadn't dreamed and fantasized about it many times, especially when the kisses became more and more passionate and needy.

ㅤㅤ

“Are you sure?” She caressed her girlfriend's cheek gently, and Wanda could only imagine being touched that way under her clothes.

ㅤㅤ

“I’m so sure.” Wanda bit her bottom lip and then smiled excitedly. “Tonight?”

ㅤㅤ

Smiling as well, Y/N nodded. “Tonight.”

ㅤㅤ

It was a date.

ㅤㅤ

“So…” The raven-haired girl began as they both finished decorating an arch with some branches, flowers and strips of cloth. “I have seen that you disappear from time to time. Strangely, Wanda is not here either.”

ㅤㅤ

Jules smiled mischievously.

ㅤㅤ

Y/N looked at her sister a bit nervous but then she just shrugged. “Yeah? Weird…”

ㅤㅤ

“I’m not stupid, Y/N, but the team haven't noticed yet.” Jules murmured as they finished the arch, making it perfect for everyone to go through. “Are you happy?”

ㅤㅤ

Y/N hesitated to answer but then she understood that she was one of the most important person in her life. How not to tell Jules the truth? “Very happy.”

ㅤㅤ

They both smiled, keeping that secret.

ㅤㅤ

“That's all I want.” Jules leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. “I want you to be happy, sweetie. And this place is... I don't know how long we'll be alive, so enjoy.”

ㅤㅤ

“I love you.”

ㅤㅤ

“Love you too, Y/N/N.”

ㅤㅤ

They sat down for a moment to rest and talk about Wanda and her, but after a few minutes, they noticed that Carol was coming towards them. ㅤㅤ

“Hey.” Carol approached slowly, almost as if she was afraid or something. She had something in her hands that quickly hid, looking at Jules. “Can I ask you something? I mean, can we talk?”

ㅤㅤ

They both eyed her curiously, Jules nodded. “Shoot.”

ㅤㅤ

“Alone.” Carol said so fast and looked at Y/N out of the corner of her eye, who narrowed her eyes without understanding what was happening there. “Please?”

ㅤㅤ

“Okay, weird, got it. I will go to wash myself in the river and for my clothes.” Y/N got up from her seat and looked at them somewhat confused before leaving. ㅤㅤ

“What is it? Are you okay? Is about the berries?” Jules finally asked, not understanding what was so important or secret that Carol wanted to say.

They were friends, teammates, but they had never been close. Carol was a somewhat crazy, funny, kinda grumpy sometimes, but she was a good teammate.

ㅤㅤ

“Yeah, I guess, in the mood for a burger.” She joked and they shared a laugh. “How are you?”

ㅤㅤ

Jules had an endless number of responses and none of them were too positive, but she just decided to fake a smile. “I’m okay.”

ㅤㅤ

“I've noticed you've been a bit down lately.” The blonde pursed her lips and came over to help light the torches.

ㅤㅤ

“This place doesn't make me feel very good, but it's all we've got.” Jules swallowed. “I'm starting to appreciate it.”

ㅤㅤ

“You're not doing your makeup and looking for what to wear like the girls over there.”

ㅤㅤ

Watching her out of the corner of her eye, Carol noticed that the brunette lowered her gaze, something happened. Of course. “I was thinking… you know…”

ㅤㅤ

Jules looked at her, she'd never seen Carol so nervous.

ㅤㅤ

“Some of the girls are going in couples or- or pairing to this ‘doomcoming’ and- I want to…” The blonde seemed to have trouble saying it, but even so she took courage and said it: "Would you go with me?”

ㅤㅤ

Danvers was asking her. Carol fucking Danvers, wild one, love for leather jackets, Top Gun and bad reputation.

ㅤㅤ

“I thought you would go with Valkyrie.” Jules frowned, but she wasn't going to deny that she was quite flattered.

ㅤㅤ

“Yeah, she's my friend but… I kinda… kinda like you too.” Carol handed her a pair of yellow daisies, a tiny bouquet. “…So?”

ㅤㅤ

Perhaps one of the cutest gestures Jules had ever received and never expected to come from fucking Carol Danvers.

What to say? ‘No, I'm waiting for Natasha to reconsider and come over.’ But the truth is that Nat wasn’t going to do it, the russian would never accept anything more and Jules' feelings would never be reciprocated.

ㅤㅤ

“I would be happy to go to the doomcoming with you.” Jules smiled tenderly and nodded, taking that flower. It was a pretty yellow daisy, the kind that grew near the lake.

She smiled, not out of courtesy this time, especially when Carol beamed and nodded quickly, excited.

ㅤㅤ

“Yeah? Awesome! I’ve to go, I left the booze alone and I should go back...” The blonde turned to go get dressed and get ready, but not before saying: “I told you someone was going to invite you, remember? Before the pep rally.”

ㅤㅤ

And she was right.

Wanda sighed and looked at herself in the mirror once more, couldn't even remember the last time she was so nervous.

Dates with Vision no longer that exciting tension, and although this time it was just a simple reunion in the middle of the forest, it made her heart pound fast.

ㅤㅤ

Natasha went into the attic and noticed how Wanda was struggling to close the zipper of her dress, so she came closer. “Come here, I’ll help you.”

ㅤㅤ

“Thank you.” Wanda smiled kindly and turned around.

ㅤㅤ

“hey, you look beautiful.” Nat told her with a kind smile and then reaffirmed it when Wanda turned to see her.

ㅤㅤ

“Would you help me braid it? My hair, I mean.” Wanda sighed and watched as her hair had fluffed up a bit due to the lack of hygiene items.

ㅤㅤ

Natasha agreed and they both went to the window so they could enjoy the sunlight, or the few minutes that were left of it.

They were chatting for a while until Wanda noticed that one of backpacks was open. She frowned, no one touched her stuff. Especially the bag where the girl collected the mushrooms and stuff she found in the forest, many could be toxic.

ㅤㅤ

“Hey, do you know if anyone searched my stuff? The bag where I keep the mushrooms is open.” She looked at Nat with some concern. “The ones we shouldn't eat.”

ㅤㅤ

“I have no idea, I just know that Carol was making the booze but I didn't see any mushrooms.” Nat frowned, finishing combing Wanda's hair. “Maybe some girl was looking for makeup?”

ㅤㅤ

Not very convinced about that but really hoping that it would be so, Wanda just nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

ㅤㅤ

Each of the girls met at the arch and ‘crossed it’ together. Between friends or couples, no one was ever alone. Even Pietro was encouraged to ask Monica, who accepted gladly. Yelena and Kate went together, the archer wearing a black suit -that Pietro gave her because her dress was torn- while Yelena a pretty blue dress.

ㅤㅤ

Y/N looked at herself once more in the old broken mirror and then left the cabin to walk towards the arch. She was wearing a beautiful black dress, they all had pretty flower crowns, her hair was loose.

But Y/N’s smile grew even more when she saw Wanda shyly approaching her. The brunette was wearing a beautiful dark scarlet dress, her hair was braided to the side, surely Natasha helped her. Y/N knew that she should say goodbye to her heart forever now.

ㅤㅤ

“Woah, you look…” Y/N searched for the exact word with which to define her but it was impossible, she was much more than all that. Feeling captivated just by seeing her, that beauty left her breathless. “You look amazing. Beautiful.”

ㅤㅤ

“Thank you.” The blush made her look even prettier if that was possible. Wanda held out her arm. “Shall we…?”

ㅤㅤ

“Let’s do this, gorgeous.” Y/N took her arm and they both crossed through that arch, listening to how their friends cheered those they were coming. They all laughed happily, imagining that it was a nice event at school.

ㅤㅤ

But once Wanda and Y/N walked through the arch hand in hand, they all cheered and smiled happily as they joined the round around the campfire.

ㅤㅤ

“Are they…?” Kate asked, smirking.

ㅤㅤ

“Duh.” Pietro responded, watching them happy.

ㅤㅤ

Being under everyone's gaze, they both turned to look at each other. And leaving any fear behind, Wanda took Y/N's face and kissed her. So bravely, her heart had no room for fear.

The cheering and happy laughs from everyone warmed their hearts, not realizing that an evil gaze was watching them from the attic.

ㅤㅤ

The last ones were Carol, who was wearing a black suit and her blond hair loose, making a perfect contrast. Next to her, Jules was wearing a dress of the same color, with some touches of lace.

ㅤㅤ

They all seemed happy too, except Natasha, who from her look seemed quite surprised and hurt to see them. The only one to notice this was Y/N.

ㅤㅤ

“Let the Doomcoming begin!” Jennifer yelled hitting a pot, starting that party. They all cheered and raised their glasses before trying some of that drink.

ㅤㅤ

“Oh, now we just need a DJ to pump up the volume.” Jules made a face as she tasted the drink, which while it wasn't the best, at least it was something.

ㅤㅤ

At that moment, Y/N took out her portable player from her pocket and held it up high, saving everyone's spirits. “Here's your savior, losers! Worship me!”

ㅤㅤ

“But dude, your battery will die tonight.” Kate pouted.

ㅤㅤ

“I know. I've been saving it for a special occasion.” Y/N just shrugged and approached Yelena, together they tried to fix it so the echo would make it louder.

ㅤㅤ

They all squealed again and jumped with excitement when ‘Genie in a bottle’ one of the songs of the time, began to play. They dance through the choreography completely, remembering for once that they were just teenagers. For one night, they all danced, laughed and drank, leaving behind all the bad things and enjoying themselves. Not knowing how hard tomorrow would be.

ㅤㅤ

Everything was going well until the player started to fail, until it ran out of battery in the middle of the party. They all began to boo and silence embraced them again.

ㅤㅤ

Y/N took the device and the battery was definitely dead. “Thanks my friend. You've come a long way... Yep, it's dead.”

ㅤㅤ

“That’s sad… We missed the slow dance.” Jules scrunched her nose.

ㅤㅤ

“There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea.” Kate began to sing, making the others laugh, but little by little they all joined in singing that slow song.

ㅤㅤ

Carol didn’t hesitate to take Jules hand and begin to dance slowly, without realizing that the russian seemed to annihilate her with just her gaze.

ㅤㅤ

“May I have this dance?” Y/N held out her hand to Wanda, playing a bit to make her laugh, and of course, she succeeded.

ㅤㅤ

They both danced slowly while their friends sang. Wanda closed her eyes, trying to imagine that she was at the school homecoming, surrounded by everyone, finally with the person she truly wanted.

ㅤㅤ

“So… is this what a high school dance feels like?” Y/N murmured with a small smile, noticing how Wanda looked up to see her.

ㅤㅤ

The sokovian bit her bottom lip. “I guess so.”

ㅤㅤ

“You look beautiful, Wands.” Y/N leaned in to peck her lips and then moved away when the girls stopped singing because they were busy drinking.

ㅤㅤ

Wanda smiled as she took Y/N’s hand, moving away from everyone a bit. “Aren't you going to drink?”

ㅤㅤ

“Nah, I don't wanna drink too much… my mother is an alcoholic.” Y/N shrugged, trying not to lose her mind as Wanda fixed her shirt collar. “You?”

ㅤㅤ

“I think one sip was enough.” Wanda scrunched her nose. “I don't want to despise that ‘expensive’ berry liqueur.”

ㅤㅤ

“Hey… You want to get out of here?” The taller girl leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I have something for us where you know.”

ㅤㅤ

That whisper made Wanda feel a chill down her spine, her body tensed exquisitely. They both knew exactly what that meant.

ㅤㅤ

“Oh, my God, yes.” Green eyes that sparkled with desire.

ㅤㅤ

Y/N smiled mischievously, leading her by the hand away from the party.

ㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤ

And the party went on for quite a while, until things started to get weird.

Natasha, who was standing in a corner watching that everything was okay, noticed that many of them began to laugh excessively and stumble. While the drink seemed strong, Nat found the girls' behavior quite strange.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The redhead approached to see the jar and noticed that they had almost drunk it all, but what surprised her the most was seeing some pieces of something strange at the bottom.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha thanked that she didn't tried that thing.

ㅤㅤㅤ

About to reach in to remove it, Natasha stopped when she heard Jules voice, laughing out loud and sensually dancing to Carol, not caring too much who saw her. Back to the jar, Nat confirmed that they were mushrooms. The ones that Wanda was looking for in the afternoon.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Hey. We have problems.” Natasha quickly approached to them, trying to get the attention of both but neither seemed interested. The brunette seemed interested in watching her hands in the air and moving, Carol was interested in her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh, god. Look at these...” Jules muttered gawkingly, grinning when she finally discovered the stars, Natasha frowned quite worried.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Jules, listen. We need to find Y/N and Wanda, I think someone poisoned all of us… With shrooms.” Nat looked around to see who was missing, besides her friends. Neither Pietro nor Ward were there.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You mean, like, shrooms-shrooms?” Jules chuckled and rolled her eyes, not even seeming to care too much about what she was saying. “Oh, god, this feels so good.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

All her senses were clouded when Carol placed her hand on her lower waist, pulling the girl closer. Jules seemed to enjoy it which annoyed Natasha enough to get in the way.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Can you listen to me for a fucking moment?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You look like a tree. Like a really hot tree.” Carol buried her face in the brunette's neck, making her moan.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Hey, enough, let her go.” Natasha finally pushed Carol away, making her stumble and fall to the ground. But Carol couldn't even get up, she just stayed babbling nonsense, lying on the ground in the craziest astral journey of all.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Fuck, this doesn't make sense.” Natasha just walked towards the cabin to look for the others.

“Guys, doesn't Natasha look like a tree right now?” Carol asked and they all started laughing.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“She kind of does, looks like fire too.” Jennifer babbled and moved closer to the torch, reaching out her hand to feel the heat but not burn herself. They all found something to loose themselves or just dropped on the floor.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Shut up. You all shut up.” Slowly Jules began to come to her senses even while completely drugged. She stopped, holding on to one of the trees. “Someone drugged us.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I feel weird. I don't like this.” Kate blinked rapidly, looking down at her hands. Her hands were no longer hands, they were hawk claws.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Shh. Do you feel that?” Jules swallowed, trying to hear through all the screaming. She narrowed her eyes, something was speaking to her, an almost imperceptible whisper.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I think I do, like... energy coming up from the ground.” Yelena lay back on the ground, sinking her hands into the earth.

Jules whispered: “Something is coming… It says we won't be hungry much longer.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Yelena laughed out loud.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“She needs help… Can't you hear it?” The brunette covered her ears, trying to concentrate but they just kept going in that madness. Without further ado, she walked to the cabin to take the axe.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Hand in hand, Y/N and Wanda arrived at their special place, smirking. Y/N borrowed some candles, of course they surely wouldn't notice the lack of these with the party going.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N, this is… ” Wanda couldn't even finish.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N lit some old candles, they had some blankets on the grass and the most romantic atmosphere that both of them could imagine in such a situation. In the distance you could see some fireflies hanging around, making the moment even more special.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I found these yesterday, had to hide them well.” Y/N pointed to a small bowl with some berries, not many but enough to share. She'd had a hard time hiding them among her stuff without Jules or Nat noticing.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You’re the cutest.” Wanda smiled widely, the way Y/N made her feel was so unique and so pure. She never thought someone could show her so much affection like that, even having so little.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I just… I want to make you feel good.” The girl sighed deeply, feeling so nervous. She cleared her throat before going on.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m in love with you… Ever since I met you, I haven't stopped thinking about you. When you came from your country, you sat at the back of the classroom. You didn't talk much.” Y/N took Wanda’s hand, inviting her to sit next to her. “You had those adorable braces, and your glasses… which I love how you look with them.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda just blushed, adjusting her glasses.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I love everything about you.” Y/N finished this little love speech before sealing it with a soft kiss.

ㅤㅤㅤ That promise became real, that night was special. Slowly, both of them took off their clothes carefully. Though desire was there and the need made their skins burn, patience was an exquisite addition to this moment.

The first time Wanda made love, leaving all fear and prejudice behind.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N made sure that every touch made her feel safe, just as she also made sure that Wanda felt at ease by giving her pleasure.

Holding her, Y/N helped Wanda move her hips quickly looking for the third orgasm. Her fingers completely saoked from the humidity of that tight sex, asking for more. The way her hand cradled Wanda's breasts perfectly, or how their lips met before coming together.

The way Wanda's lips ran over Y/N's belly, kissing and biting the area to make sure it was hers. It didn't matter if it wasn't Y/N’s first time, she knew that this was the most important one. ㅤㅤㅤ

She didn't know how to do it, the sokovian had never even seen those pornographic TV channels or magazines like the cabin ones, but Y/N taught her every place she had to touch until Wanda knew her completely.

Her tongue ran through Y/N’s sex and she knew perfectly well that she just had to let herself go, devouring her girlfriend completely.

ㅤㅤㅤ

No one had ever told Wanda that this was a trap, giving pleasure to Y/N also caused her exquisite pleasure.

The first time together, one of the most perfect of all.

They both put on their clothes slowly, smiling completely in love. Both decided to stay a while longer, lying down, catching their breath, they both watched the stars feeling like a small part of that vast universe.

ㅤㅤㅤ “I love you, detka.” Wanda was encouraged to confess, she couldn't understand how all that excitement and happiness only seemed to increase more and more. Now she understands what everyone means when they talk about sex.

ㅤㅤㅤ

With a big leap, Y/N’s heart was ready to give itself completely once more. “I love you, Wands.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Both remained embraced for a moment until the sound of the leaves breaking made Y/N alert and quickly get up.

Maybe a wild animal? A wolf? Maybe a deer, the good thing is that maybe the fire could help. But the footsteps didn’t seem to be from some wild animal, the steps were slow and clumsy.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Wait here.” Y/N whispered, Wanda tried to stop her but the girl just told her to be quiet.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N took a step forward, grabbing one of the gas lamps but a grunt and a 'fuck!' made her relax.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Coach Ward?” Y/N frowned, coming out of their place to look for the man. Perhaps he got lost, the man had been quite lonely lately.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N, you have to help me… something is over here.” The man begged. Y/N searched through the trees but the only thing she found was a strong blow to the back of her neck, making her fall.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The man they thought it could be trusted, approached against Y/N and began to hit her over and over again. On her face, on her ribs, on her back.

Ward held back her anger for so long, finally releasing it in the most cruel and hateful way.

ㅤㅤㅤ

He had always been a rather cold and unhappy man, especially with his job as a mediocre high school coach. Ward never believed that there could be anything worse than that, until the plane went down.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Losing his job, his life and his leg caused him to lose his mind as well. Poisoning all the girls with the mushrooms to make them completely helpless was the first step. With each blow, Ward felt his anger rise. The only way to feel powerful was to make others worse off than he was.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda screamed horrified, running to help Y/N but only received a blow from that man's cane, making her fall to the ground too.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You're the one who chopped my leg, right?” Ward yelled furious and moved toward her, he took the girl and dragged her, staying on top of her. “You fucking cunt!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“HELP!” Wanda yelled with all her might, hoping that one of her friends would hear.

ㅤㅤㅤ Y/N was unconscious next to her, her face began to swell due to the strong blows.

Taking advantage of his strength and knowing that he could subdue the girl, Ward prevented Wanda from escaping or moving her hands.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I'm going to kill each one of you. I'm sick of all of you!” He growled through his teeth, squeezing Wanda's neck with his dirty hand. “Stop jerking around like a fish! I'll do something you'll like.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“NO!” Wanda's eyes widened, terror chilling her blood. “HELP!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

But nobody responded. She kicked the man on his injured leg, making Ward to grunt in pain.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“HELP ME!” Wanda screamed once more before Ward punched her face and pulled out a hunting knife, slashing her thigh.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Staggering desperately, clinging to every tree she found, the brunette felt the screams grow louder. Everything around Jules was spinning non-stop, the effect of the mushrooms and the alcohol began to hit hard.

Dragging the ax to her side, she walked over to where the voices were growing. More and more, they whispered that she must do it.

ㅤㅤㅤ

She frowned seeing how a weird monster tried to attack Wanda, desperate, about to do something horrible. As soon as Jules saw that scene, she approached and without thinking, without hesitation, raised the ax and hit the man's back with strength, making him cry out in pain.

Drops of blood spattered on the girl’s pale face; Jules stepped back, watching as Ward dropped Wanda and scrambled to the ground like a trampled insect.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Julia stepped forward, still carrying the axe.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“D-Don’t-” he begged, raising his hand.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“SHE SAID ‘NO’!” Jules raised the ax again and hit him once more, two, three times, taking his life. But suddenly that man stopped, opening his eyes wide, finally finding death. Droplets of blood began to escape from his dry lips, falling to the ground. Moistening the earth.

ㅤㅤㅤ

A strange breeze moved their hair when that happened, as if something woke up in that place. And it did, something ancient and ancestral awakened.

ㅤㅤㅤ

The blood had been spilled.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda screamed in horror and pushed him away from her, Ward's corpse lying next to her.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What did I do?” Jules murmured, remaining in that trance. Still holding the bloody axe, clinging to it. “What did I do? What did I do?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

The girl repeated again and again.

Wanda got up and ran to Y/N, kneeling by her side, trying to wake her up. Her heart broke to see that Y/N her face and right eye swollen.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Detka, please wake up. Please, my love, wake up.” Wanda caressed her cheek, The Sokovian woman put her ear to Y/N's chest to check if she was still alive, and sighed to confirm it. Her heart kept beating.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Little by little, Y/N opened er good eye. Looked around her and understood the horror scene in front of them.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Are you okay?” Y/N asked to her girlfriend, was barely able to speak because of the pain.

ㅤㅤㅤ

At that moment Natasha came running desperately, the fear on her face was shown when she saw her friends on the ground and a bloody shocked Jules in front of Ward. Mumbling nonsense.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Jules, hey, do you hear me?” The redhead cupped Jules's face, trying to snap her out of her trance. She reached for the axe, stroking Jules hand gently to take the axe. “Let it go. Easy.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I heard that she needed me, I heard-” Jules kept saying, the tears began to fall down her face without stopping. “I swear. I swear, believe me. Something told me to come here and help her!”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Nat turned to see Wanda, who was helping Y/N get up. “Are you okay?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

The sokovian nodded slowly, worried about her girlfriend's condition. “He was going to… he wanted to-…" Wanda swallowed, feeling a tiny blood trickle down her leg from her body. She turned her gaze away to not see Ward's body. “She’s right, she defended me.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“It’s okay. Don’t look at him, look at me.” Natasha murmured. "We have to get them to the cabin, now." ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda helped Y/N to stay on her feet.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Her eyes are still dilated.” Natasha murmured, looking into Jules's eyes, then looked at her friends. “Let's go. We don't know if he attacked anyone else. Then we'll see what to tell them.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

How would they explain all this to the other girls? Oh, this was going to cause chaos.

ㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤNOW

ㅤㅤㅤ

How strange is. So strange to finally wake up without being the victim of nightmares.

Y/N sighed and opened her eyes, feeling Wanda's soft caresses on her belly. They were both lying on that bed after having spent a wonderful and passionate night.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Morning.” Y/N murmured in fear of breaking the moment, that it would break completely and everything would go back to 'normal', that cold place she already knew.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Morning.” Wanda answered with a soft voice, without stopping those caresses, which made Y/N sigh in relaxation.

They were both like that for a while, enjoying the pleasant silence that the morning offered.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N's fingers gently caressed Wanda’s thigh, feeling that scar. A memory of that night, so beautiful and at the same time so harsh.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Do you still remember everything that happened there or does it start to fade between memories?” Y/N whispered while her fingertips traced her belly.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“Sometimes I wonder if what we experienced was real or there are parts where my head makes it up.” Wanda sighed feeling the caresses. “The scar reminds me that it was true.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N kept her gaze on her thigh, somewhat thoughtful. “I’m sorry.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“It wasn’t your fault.” The brunette looked up to see her, noticing the guilt in Y/N's eyes. She placed a soft kiss on her jaw, despite the fact that she made all that guilt worse for a long time due to anger, Wanda didn’t want to see her that way. Not anymore. “None of it was your fault.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N said nothing, just kept caressing the bare skin of her beloved, running through it like that first time.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“What you did was to help us survive, Jules saved us that night and you saved us the following months… Hey, look at me.” The sokovian took her face to fix her gaze on Y/N’s eyes. “Those of us who did it, it was thanks to you.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N swallowed, wishing she felt the same way about herself. “Do you think I did it right?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“You did what we had to in order to survive.” Wanda assured her. And likewise, because despite the fact that she tried to go through life thinking that all that was behind her, guilt often used to drown her.

But life gave her the little ones, and she had to be strong.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“I love you.” Y/N whispered lost in those beautiful green eyes.

ㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda just smiled with a certain tenderness and kissed those lips.

The brunette sat on Y/N's hips, enjoying seeing the nakedness of the woman below her. Wanda's fingertips rubbed her belly slowly.

ㅤㅤㅤ

“So…” She bit her lower lip, happy to see that the taunt worked. It had been a long time since Wanda's sex life was as active as it is now. Feeling like a seductive woman, would do anything to please Y/N. “Pancakes or morning quickie?”

ㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N smirked, caressing her hips. “You know I can't resist you.”

ㅤㅤㅤ

“It's good because I really need to feel you.” Wanda said with a mischievous smile, leaning down to kiss her lips slowly, deeply and passionately.

ㅤㅤㅤ 🐝🐝🐝 Things will get ugly for the baby Yellowjackets... and maybe the grown ups too. ㅤㅤㅤ

the cutest and lovely people tags ✨ @kaiidth-wandika @yourfavunsub @pawiie @fanboy7794 @sunsol-22 @scarlettbitchx @arcturusseer @imnotasuperhero @chtte @lesbians-in-outer-space @starry-night17 @cristin-rjd @kenlymar @chtte @marvelogic @druggedduck @aliherreraaa @widowwaddles @gingiesworld

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x female reader

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aloekat · 1 month

Text

giving pokemon teams to d20 characters!

The Bad Kids / Fantasy High!

pt 1/?

part 1 || part 2

hello chat and welcome to aloe shoves their hyperfixation onto everything they enjoy! making pokemon teams for fictional characters has always been a fun past time for me that i enjoy greatly so i wanted to apply that to dimension 20! i plan on doing every season once i’ve watched it, starting with all the intrepid hero seasons before moving on to side quest seasons

(also i finally decided to post these after @jadelion made posts sharing their team picks, so go check those posts out as there are some great choices! i also wouldnt be inspired to finally post these without him doing so first! i made my list completely independent of hers so if there's the same pokemon its purely coincidental lol)

first i want to talk about some guidelines i’ve given myself for this, which will apply to future posts as well:

only 4 pokemon per team - this keeps things more easy and makes them feel closer to mid-game trainers rather than fully stacked end-game ones. or feel like gym leaders maybe? it also helps with rule 2…

try to have no repeat pokemon - this just keeps things unique between seasons but sometimes a pokemon is a perfect fit for more than one person but for the most part everyone gets unqiue pokemon and there are almost no doubles

low to no legendaries on teams unless for a good reason - same goes for shinies but im more lenient on the shiny rule lol

i made a lot of these these like 3 months ago as of posting this - some choices may be outdated or the character has changed enough that a choice may not fit as well but i didnt want to change it lol (this is solely for the fantasy high kids tbh)

thats all for the rules! finally it’s time to get into the teams!

! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE CURRENT SEASON! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !

Kristen

Lycanroc - representing Tracker, again i made these before junior year so trackerbees was still a thing but i imagine it can count for cassandra also since it’s a night themed pokemon. don't know which form of lycanroc she would have though Solrock - she was given solrock during her time with Helio, and while i know sunflora exists i think solrock makes a little more sense, since she was a chosen of Helio she would be at an elevated status and therefor have a better pokemon if that makes sense? it also pairs with... Lunatone - representing her change to Cassandra, a goddess of night. there's like cool symbolism with her pokemon now wow isn't that so cool and awesome!! Unown ("?") - a question mark unown to represent Yes? (and the other Yes forms) along with her cool question mark staff! can also ALSO symbolize doubt with cassandra

Fig

Toxitricity (Low Key) - low key form gives the vibes of a bass and Fig plays the bass! toxitricity would help fig practice her instrument and come up with music. also literally called “the punk pokemon”

Obstagoon - similar reasoning, obstagoon has The Vibes that fit along with also being a sort of rock n roll pokemon

Moltres - representing Ayda, i imagine Ayda gifted it to her once they became girlfriends :)

Mimikyu - a pokemon known for its imitation of another pokemon, very much fits into Fig’s actor feat and her high deception and her not wanting to be her real self sometimes

Fabian

Dhelmise - big connection to his father and being a pirate, his father probably gifted it to him as his first pokemon

Marowak (Alolan) - fun idea i had for this is he originally just had a cubone with him during freshman year, but once he went to Fallinel and learned about the power of dance it evolved into an alolan marowak! it's a fire dance pokemon of course he would have it lol

Sirfetch'd - representing his mother and also his general fencing/fighter style that he works with

Tentacruel - just a cool ass water pokemon i feel he would have, also vaguely pirate-y with big kraken vibes

Riz

Pikachu - detective pikachu go brrrrr i imagine he would have gotten a pichu when very young, and it's evolved over time! it would wear a tiny detective hat as well because um i said so

Inteleon - super spy/gun pokemon also go brrrr, very much a reference to his father and just the general super spy-ness of Riz and Pok in junior year especially

Togekiss - ok this one feels very out of place and i forgot why it was here originally BUT i think it's to represent like a guardian angel sort of? again another reference to Pok because i love Pok and think he's very cool

Voltorb - he's the ball. this is a pokeball pokemon. are we starting to connect the dots

Adaine

Politoad - representing Boggy of course, nothing much else to say

Espeon - a very psychic pokemon representing her oracle powers, it would be fun to think that she had an eevee that simply evolved into an espeon once Adaine realized that she in fact was the elven oracle!

Delphox - another powerful psychic pokemon, again this is just vibes and it's a cool pokemon and adaine is a very cool character lol

Audino - these pokemon are known for being able to hear super well and know how their trainers are feeling from listening to their heartbeat. a gift given by Jawbone to help with Adaine's anxiety but still a good member of her team regardless

Gorgug

Archen - "i'm Cloaca, i suck!"

Gogoat - a grassy pokemon which can sorta represent the tree he lives in but also intended to represent Zelda in some ways (again i wrote these before junior year came out). it would help him carry around a lot of scraps for tinkering

Rotom - found in the village near the Nightmare King's forest, this rotom had gotten lost in the forest and, with no tech from solace nearby, couldn't find a way home. gorgug rescued it and lets it inhabit the Hangvan a lot

Rillaboom - another grassy pokemon but this one is also a drummer! can we take a wild guess as to why i picked this one. for it's drumming ability. because. because gorgug is a drummer.

=====

whew ok that's the first season done! i'll probably do unsleeping city next, which will be linked to this post once it's done!

have a better option that would fit a PC better? please tell me i would love to hear everyone's takes on this!

ok that's it that's the post everyone go home now (once again go look at @jadelion for their pokemon team picks!)

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naompspsps · 4 days

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Uhhhhh, *Moonwalks into ask box* Shawty ily fr /p you and me one in the same, I literally two two very long chapters of a new fic today and having the Pomfiore boys was a cherry on top…..now I have a new idea for you….

What if the dark mirror picked up a child reader, like 8-10 y/o…how would the staff and students react? 🤭

Their reaction to 8 years old you.

Summary: You're an 8 year old kid who was always left out with your friend group, So while you watch them have fun, you just decide to sleep on a nearby bench.

Then you wake up in a strange.. Large room. Where are your parents? You don't know, and you don't remember for some reason. You remember the part where you felt left out, but you don't remember who were the people that pushed you out of the group.

You just appeared out of the dark mirror, leaving you to wander around the school with students looking at you. But then, they come to help you.

Ft. Divus Crewel, Dire Crowley, Mozus Trein and Ashton Vargas.

A/n: This was so fun to do lmao, now i wanna see Heartslabyul's reaction next. Anyways hi shawty, how r u.

Taglist bcs I wanna do it for fun: @frootloopscos

! do not repost or translate my works anywhere. do not copy or use my works in any site, Reblogs are appreciated alot though !

Ashton Vargas

He gives out the vibes of being a babysitter that you never plan to let go. Ever. Like, he made your whole life better just with one single idea that he pulled the whole student army for. That's a memory you never want to forget.

Vargas definitely made the students play with you, easily. With one command, They're already following. Obviously, He becomes the usual supportive audience with the other students, like it's some football team game.

Vargas was surprised into seeing a little kid, but who wouldn't be surprised? It took him only seconds to smile brightly and take the opportunity to babysit you. He looks like someone you could trust so, Here you are, with Vargas in the field.

You sit beside Vargas during class Comfortably, wow.. So many students on brooms! Your eyes sparkle. Oh.. How you wish to get to have fun like that. You look down on the grass.

Students look at you, Like they've heard of the rumours about you appearing out of nowhere without any memories of who were the people you knew back there. You play with your hands, bored.

You can't really have fun. It's like, forbidden for you. Maybe, it isn't.. As Vargas looks at you. "Heyy, Champ, What's wrong?" He kneels down beside you, a hand on your shoulder.

You look at the students on the broom, then back to your hands. "I'm just.. Bored." You whisper out.

Vargas thinks for a moment, then looking down at you, noticing the way you looked at the students and embarrassedly looking away. "Hmm.. Say, You wanna play?" You quickly look at him. Did you just hear that right? Play? You nod eagerly yet, excitedly.

He laughs out loud, "Alright! Students! We have a playmate!" Vargas cracks his knuckles on his hand, before lifting you up in the air and yelling. "GET THEM!!"

One of the students quickly fly down to you, grabbing you in a protective hold infront of him, just so that you won't fall. You look down. "Woooah!" You hold onto the broom. "Fun?" The student asks, You look up at them with a bright smile plastered on your face. "Mhm! Mhm!"

You can hear Vargas shouting from down there, cheering you on. "Here, throw this in that hoop." The student hands you a ball. You look at the hoop. "But it's too far!"

"It doesn't matter, go ahead and try." You use all your kiddie strength to throw the ball. To your surprise, It actually hit. You could hear Vargas and the rest of the students shouting and cheering. So did the student behind you also laugh and praise you.

"GOOD JOB CHAMP!!!" Vargas jumps and raises his fist up in the air. The other students offer Vargas chest bumps. How could he refuse to those in such a worldwide champion?! "...Look away, Kid." The student behind you whispers, covering your eyes with his hand. "Huh?" You question.

Mozus Trein

Trein wants to treat you like you're his other grandchild, you're just so adorable that he wants to take you. So, He does! Even if he thinks you would bother the class, Well, You didn't. You were just playing with Lucius under the desk.

He would realize so quick that you might be sweating in there, so he just brings you out to sit on his chair while he teaches, Lucius on your lap and letting you pat and caress him.

You walk with Trein inside of the classroom, The whole class filling with 'aw' and 'so cute''s, But, Does it bother you? No, Does it bother Trein? No. Does it bother Lucius? Yes. Lucius meows loudly at the students, telling them to shut up.

You look up at Lucius, who was getting held by Trein. Trein looks at you, as you make grabby hands. "Carry??" He asks. Damn, He's too old for this. You shake your head. "No? What is it?-- Oh, Lucius? You want to hold Lucius?"

You nod. Trein walks up to his desk and places Lucius on the desk. You walk at the side of the desk, hiding from the students so you aren't much of a bother in their class. Lucius jumps off the desk and lands on the ground, walking closer to you.

You watch Lucius get comfy on your lap. He wouldn't mind right?.. You gently rest your hand on his fur, and he doesn't resist. Then you slowly caress him, and he still doesn't meow or scratch you. It might take a while.. You mutter to yourself.

It's been, How long.. 40 minutes? You've been hugging and playing with Lucius for a while now. It's bit hot in your spot.. But you also don't want to disrupt Trein's class. So you just, continue running your fingers through Lucius' fur.

You don't even notice Trein looking at you. "[Name], Child, You're sweating. Go ahead and take a seat here." Trein pats on his chair. But isn't he..- Oh- He's teaching. Oh well. You stand up, carrying Lucius in your arms as you plop on the seat like a slime.

That causing everyone to let out giggles of how cute you were. You cover yourself embarrassedly, Looking down at the cat and pretending you're busy. But even if you don't understand, You still try to by listening to his lectures.

Yeah, Okay. You don't Understand a thing with the lesson. You sigh softly. The thoughts of your friends' blurred faces in your head. You remember the situation.. But you can't remember their faces and their names. It's like they're just. Unknown to you now.

You kick your feet on the Chair, playfully pointing at the ceiling and closing one eye, Just doing random things by boredom taking over. At this point, Everyone can't focus with you acting so adorable. It's making them forget what part of lesson they're in right now.

"And that's the-" Trein looks at everyone in the class, seeing that they all had their focus on you. He lets out a frustrated sigh. "Oh dear. My child. Could you tell them to focus in my lesson?" You look at the class, trying to look tough.

"Go back to studying!" You yell, which everyone starts giggling more. "Uhh.. It didn't work.." You look up, only to see Trein holding his laugh. "Goodness, You are such an adorable child." He mumbles before announcing the most heart dropping, air losing, oxygen needing in a bad way news ever.

"Also, Homeworks about today's lesson. It's due tomorrow."

Divus Crewel

He is skeptical of the issue at first, He doesn't even know what to do with you. But as time goes by, he starts to get comfortable with you, and ends up wanting to stay hanging out with you.

He brought you everywhere, Class, Lunch, Breaktime and even in his office. Everyone just isn't used to seeing the strict and cold teacher so warm around you.

You stare at Crewel. He stares back. While the rest of the teachers watch you both intesely stare, He takes a deep breath. "..Want a beer?" Crewel asks. "THEY'RE 8." Crowley shouts. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO."

"Oh dear.." Trein sighs. You walk closer to Crewel, tugging on his coat and giving him your dog plushie. Crewel just looks at you blankly. "I'm keeping the kid." He picks you up with ease and walks out of Crowley's office. "So.. We won the argument?" Crowley turns to Trein, who just nods. "We did."

You stayed with Crewel the entire day, not a single moment of you staying away from Crewel. In class, You just sit on a chair, taking a nap. Hugging the plushie that was in your arms. The students couldn't focus, nor could he. Not to mention, one of Crewel's dogs were on the desk, allowing you to use them as a pillow.

A few minutes later, You slowly open your eyes and yawn. You had a good nap.. You look at Everyone, who looked dead serious of getting a good grade. You get off your seat and rush towards Crewel. "Nice dream?" He asks, picking you up again. You look down.

You see the cauldron filled with magic. "Woah.." You gasp, seeing the liquid turn to a different color. "Cool?"

"Yeah!"

With your cuteness, it makes most of the students clench on their chest with tears in their eyes. How could you be so adorable?!

"Wanna mix, pup?" Crewel gives you the big stirring stick, and you take it, slowly stirring. The liquid is a bit thick.. So you struggle to stir it. But who says that's something you can't handle? You see the liquid turn purple. "Oooh.." You lean in closer.

"Is it interesting to see? Well watch this." Crewel puts a drop of another chemical, making it explode glitters. "WOOOAH!!" You yell. Crewel sighs. "Don't adopt the kid.. Don't adopt the kid.." He mumbles to himself.

Staying with him during his lunchbreak wasn't that bad at all, He just brought you in the courtyard to go to the flowers, And while you do that, you pick a red rose, run to Crewel and hand him the flower with your cheeky little grin.

Crewel has officially lost it. In a good way, He feels like his heart's been shot millions of times.

Dire Crowley

Yall heard of the theories that Crowley might be Malleus' dad? Imagine that /j Nah, He'd have absolutely no idea what to do. But he just makes you stay in his office, Bring you to special lessons with his own hat on you instead.

Students may think him without a hat is weird because they've never seen him without it (cough cough book4 crowley cough), but looking at you makes them forget everything.

Coming out of the dark mirror was.. Confusing for Crowley, He had to blankly have a staring contest with the dark mirror. But he feels like he needs to find out why you don't remember your parents but you remember what happened back there.

Not even that, You weren't even crying at the fact that you literally do not know where you are or who were the people around you. You were just.. Nonchalant. Maybe still sleepy, but nonchalant. Crowley made you stay with him until he figures out what to do with you.

Should he adopt you? He doesn't want to send you to an orphanage, He thinks you're too special to be there.

Watching over you isn't that hard. All you did was sleep on him while he wrote his paperworks, play around and not bother him. Atleast you didn't give him a hard time.. But because of that, After he was done with his paperworks he asks you if you wanted to play with him.

How could you say no to that? You both ran around the office, putting on hats and random stuff. It was fun, you had to admit.

So, Now you're with Crowley on the rooftop, right under a classroom. "Okay, so what I want you to do is hold on to me and we'll be alright." Crowley whispers to you. You nod, holding onto him tightly.

Crowley jumps in the classroom from above, landing perfectly. Oh! You're still wearing his hat.. And his coat! "SPECIAL LESSONS!" He yells. Everyone looks at him weirdly. "Headmage.. Why do you look like th- OH MY GOODNESS!" A student points at you.

"AWWWW" Is all you hear in the classroom. "Special lessons!" You shout excitedly. You don't know what special lessons are, but just follow Crowley's lead. Cro- Crowley??

He's on the floor.. "THAT IS THE CUTEST KID I'VE EVER SEEN." Crowley sobs. You're just too cute that you even had the headmage tear up.

"But- Special lessons.." You mumble. He clears his throat and quickly gets up. "Ahem, Right. Right, Thank you, Little Assistant." Crowley takes his hat off your head and gives you little pat before putting the hat back on you again.

Author's End Note: I'm putting Sam in the next part along with Heartslabyul, I can't 🗿🗿

! do not repost or translate my works anywhere. do not copy or use my works in any site, Reblogs are appreciated alot though !

#twisted wonderland #disney twst #gn reader #kid reader #twst #divus crewel #twst divus #dire crowley #crowley #twst dire crowley #mozus trein #twst mozus trein #twst trein #ashton vargas #twst vargas

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inkblackorchid · 2 months

Text

What the hell happened with Crow: an autopsy (Part 3)

Trying my absolute damnedest to finish this one and part four sooner now that I've finally covered the Pearson backstory. *Ehem* Hello again! I hope you're ready for more yelling about a certain spiky-haired Blackbird aficionado, because I sure am.

To get some things out of the way first, though, here come the usual disclaimers:

This is part three of a series of posts about hpw Crow's character was handled during 5Ds' whole run. You can find part one here and part two here. Reading them technically isn't required, but things sure will make a whole lot more sense if you do. (Bring snacks, they're long.)

This post isn't meant as a Crow hate post, nor is it meant to convince people who didn't vibe with his character to change their mind. This is my very long winded-attempt to analyse the writing decisions surrounding his character as best I can, without too much bias. That said, full disclosure, I do personally like Crow, so there's a good chance that will shine through whether I want it to or not. But also, I'm trying to have fun here, so please cut me some slack.

In case you haven't read my previous Crow posts (no shade there) and/or still believe the many, many production rumours that have been haunting the 5Ds fandom since the show's original run, please let me burst your bubble(s) with some insanely comprehensive research by someone over on Reddit (thanks again to @mbg159, who's also here on tumblr): No, Crow was not meant to be a dark signer, or the final boss of season 1, and his spike in screentime has nothing to do with his cards. And also, No, Aki didn't get less presence in the narrative because her VA got pregnant. What if you don't have the time to read either of those long posts? In that case, please take away this simple, very easy rebuttal of why the above theories are bullshit: Their would-be "key points" don't line up with the 5Ds production timeline. At all. Not even vaguely. So please, ditch them, let them die, seeing them still talked about makes me feel like I'm gonna break out in hives. And for the love of god, don't use this post or in fact anything else I post to pit Aki and Crow against each other. Both characters have their strengths and their reasons to love them. I am not the least bit interested in starting any character discourse. So please, spare my sanity. Ok? Thank you.

And now, we can get to the good part at last. In my previous post in this series, I stopped my analysis at episode 95, a.k.a. part two of the Pearson backstory. In this post, I will thus be picking up right after, at the very start of the WRGP—with the Team Unicorn match. The goal for this post is to analyse Crow's part in this particular arc, then provide some food for thought/ideas on how things that rubbed some people the wrong way could have been improved.

More below the readmore, and I give you not just my usual warning, but an extra warning, too: The universe will not let me write short things, so tread with caution, stay hydrated, and expect a veritable dissertation below, because this post feels long even to me, who has long since lost her sense of length when it comes to text. (But I'm well aware this is the result of me refusing to split the WRGP part into two separate posts, so I take full responsibility for that.)

Since we left off right after I chewed through all the issues with Crow's rather belated backstory and especially Black-Winged Dragon last time, we jump right into the thick of things now, with episodes 96 and 97, which serve as the preamble to Team 5Ds' first WRGP duel against Team Unicorn. Crow only gets two major things to do during this short stretch of episodes, the first being that he's Team Unicorn's gateway into roping Yusei into a duel during practice, which helps them set up a ruse that baits the 5Ds gang into sending Jack as their first wheeler because they think Jack's deck is best suited to countering Andre's—which, as it later turns out, it is not.

(Arguably the screenshot where Crow gives off the strongest Youngest Sibling Vibes during the entire show. Look at him, all chastised.)

Crow's second role is an odd one that I argue only he out of the main three guys could fulfill at this point: He's the one to get injured right before the Team Unicorn match, rendering him unable to compete, which leads to Aki offering to take his place for that particular match.

(Pictured: Bird Boy regretting all his life choices up until that point simultaneously.)

Here's the first moment I have to talk about in greater detail. See, the thing is, I don't know what the fandom consensus on Crow getting injured here is, but I argue that this moment was a (rare) strategic decision made by the writers at this point. Crow's injury accomplished several things: 1. It sets up the mystery of why his back wheel locked up out of nowhere, which is later paid off through Team Catastrophe's shenanigans. 2. It organically allows Aki to take his spot without introducing any argument about which of them is "worthier" of having that third spot. 3. Through this, it also allows him to actually bounce off Aki for once (a point I will come back to below, during the Team Catastrophe section). And 4. It allows the show to (TECHNICALLY) pay off the setup they did in letting Aki get her turbo duelling license and train with the boys. (Generally, Crow's and Aki's character writing intersects a bit during the pre-Diablo incident WRGP section, something I'll touch on below.)

Moreover, I think this is also the only match where they could have done something like this, and the reason for it is very simple: Team Unicorn are one-off opponents whose presence in the narrative is only relevant as far as it concerns the WRGP, and they are also one of the first teams the 5Ds gang faces. If we think about the opponents Team 5Ds has after this, it becomes very obvious why Crow could only be injured during this duel: If they had tried pulling this stunt later, it would have forced the writers to pull Aki centre stage during a much more plot-relevant duel than this one (which they were apparently allergic to, but let's not go there), not to speak of the fact that it would have forced them to sideline someone they were definitely trying to sell as the third portion of their protagonist trifecta, which would have probably been awkward. (If not for the fact that they literally did this to Crow later in the show, but I'll get there. Yes, I know there's a lot already that I'll still be "getting to".)

The thing is, whether or not it feels like an awkward writing choice to make so early in the big tournament of this arc (you be the judge of that), Crow's injury finally allows him to have a few interesting character moments for once. For one, there is his immediate disappointment about being forced to stay on the sidelines. Aside from the fact that this is a human and relatable reaction to his injury, it stings even more for the character than it does for us as the audience, because Crow got a moment where the Satellite orphans he previously took care of cheer him on for the tournament literally within the same two Team Unicorn preamble episodes.

(Say what you will, this is just stupid cute.)

So when Aki eventually offers to take his place during the match, he's understandably apprehensive—and again, this is human. It may seem mean in the moment, but from a character writing standpoint, it's a natural response. Plus, it's certainly more interesting to watch the group have a bit of conflict among themselves, rather than everyone immediately jumping straight to acceptance. It introduces tension, and, for however brief a moment, raises the question of whether Crow might refuse to let Aki take his spot. This is also the point where Aki and Crow's character writing officially intertwines, at least for the stretch of episodes between the Team Unicorn duel and the Team Catastrophe duel. And you know what? Say what you will, but I think it does a world of good for both of them. The 5Ds cast, as lovely as it is, doesn't get a lot of room to bounce off one another where it concerns personal matters anymore, once the WRGP starts. Arguably, they get little time to bounce off one another outside of plot-related discussions at all once this portion of the show comes around. The characters are treated as "fully developed", and thus, the writing largely doesn't take the time to show us how the group naturally interacts with one another anymore, especially not with how many side characters (chiefly Bruno and Sherry), antagonists, and duels the show now has to juggle. So Aki and Crow getting even a smidgen of personal conflict here is honestly a breath of fresh air. The interaction kicked off by Crow's injury isn't completely plot-irrelevant, like most character interactions during the pre-WRGP were, but it's not something that feels like it's only there to explain the machinations of the antagonists to the audience, either.

Let me go through this in a little more detail to illustrate my point.

So, episode 97. Crow storms off after Aki offers to take his spot, while Aki heads out to prepare her runner, intent on helping her team. The personal motivations here are already very nice and reflective of these characters as we've gotten to know them up until this point: Crow's angry and disappointed (mostly at himself, which is noteworthy!) because he can't compete. And specifically, he's angry because not being able to compete in the first match means he can't show the kids his duelling like he wanted to. Then there's Aki, whose offer to take Crow's place is every bit as much of a strategic suggestion as it is a bid for acceptance from her. Acceptance, which is the thing she's been all about ever since she was introduced, basically. So she pleads with her friends to accept her, see her as an equal, and allow her to duel for the team, which they do. And Crow initially throws a fit, but then...

(Listen. You have no idea how much Crow and Aki getting to actually be friends means to me.)

He comes around to the idea and not only gives Aki his express permission to take his spot, he even coaches her a bit right before the match. Moreover, as his text states above, he literally entrusts her with the kids' hopes, as well as his own. This quickly brings both of them full circle: Crow, who already has a theme of legacy attached to him, passes the torch to Aki for this match, and in so doing, offers her the acceptance she asked her teammates for. (Frankly, stuff like this makes me wonder why on earth people were so eager to pit these two against each other, when their shared moments are actually some of the best-written during the often rocky WRGP arc.) So, though this injury pulls Crow out of the duel, it, funnily enough, ties him better into the story and to the other characters.

From there, we then dive into the Team Unicorn match proper. And well, being injured as he is, Crow doesn't exactly get a whole lot to do there. However, since we're in the portion where his and Aki's writing overlaps a bit, I do need to go on a quick tangent about what Aki's portion of this duel means for Crow.

(Sigh. Okay, buckle up for a quick and rough detour.)

First, something I need to get out of the way and off my chest: I have made no secret out of the fact that I hate Aki's portion of this duel, save for the moment where she summons Stardust. Hell, this duel segment is pretty much universally hated by anone who has even a smidgen of sympathy for Aki. It's regarded by many as the very moment the writers axed Aki's character, and for good reason: After all the buildup surrounding her getting her turbo duelling license, the supposed "payoff" of it all is that she gets to duel against Andre for a depressing four turns before being defeated immediately, which leads into Yusei's frustrating portion of this duel, which, to my knowledge, isn't regarded any more kindly by fans than Aki's segment. It's a massive let-down, simply put. But the thing is, it's not just a let-down for Aki. After all, the brief character conflict she had with Crow about taking his spot here can and should be regarded as part of the setup for this moment, and as such, it can also be considered to be wasted the second Aki leaves the track after barely making an impact whatsoever.

However, I do need to mention that I have a theory on why this segment was handled the way it was, mostly because I feel like Crow's later interaction with Aki, shortly after she's out of the duel, underlines it (mind that this is just my personal theory, though, after having watched the show perhaps more times than can be considered sane): I think there is a cultural aspect to this duel. See, the word ganbaru, which anime subtitles often like to translate with "do your best" or something along the lines, has a greater significance than the translation implies. Though it's not inaccurate per se, there's more than just the idea of doing your best behind ganbaru, because it's something like an umbrella term not just for doing your best and succeeding, it's also the idea that you have to keep trying, even if you don't succeed. It's related to tenacity, to persistence, even in the face of terrible odds. And make no mistake, I don't mean the Japanese equivalent of "if at first you don't succeed, try again" here. I genuinely do mean "you have to keep trying, even if you fail". There is no guarantee of success here. And for that reason, the idea behind ganbaru is also that it's not simply the success that has value, but the effort made in the attempt to attain it, regardless of the result. (Side note: I tried to scrounge up a resource I could link to that nicely explains this concept, but unfortunately, all the promising articles were paywalled and the ones I learned it from require institutional access to lecture materials.) And this is where I will posit the tentative theory that this is exactly what the 5Ds writers were going for with Aki's segment of the duel—it was very much meant to be the payoff for her turbo duelling license setup and her plea to take Crow's place, but it wasn't so much her success that was meant to be valued, as the effort she (and by extension, Crow) made for and during this duel. And this is where Crow's little pep-talk with Aki after she's out of the duel comes in, because it feels like it supports exactly this interpretation:

(This is essentially the whole sequence. Note how Crow, despite so fervently entrusting Aki with his and his kids' hopes prior, doesn't admonish her for making a bad showing in the slightest.)

I don't think it gets any clearer than it is here. During this sequence, Aki is painfully aware of how poor her performance was against Andre, especially after she was so insistent on duelling at first, and despite having been entrusted with Stardust by Yusei, to boot. Yet, Crow doesn't have a single word of criticism to offer her. Instead, he even tells her she did well and that nobody's perfect. It very much reads as valuing Aki's effort over the result she achieved to me, and thus seems perfectly in line with the idea behind ganbaru.

However, if we assume I'm correct about the intentions behind this writing choice, we come back to why Aki's segment of the duel is so hotly debated and why it may have arguably been a disservice not just to her, but to Crow, too, character-wise. Because the majority of non-Japanese watchers of the show culturally don't have a 1:1 applicable concept like ganbaru, this writing choice was more likely to fall flat for them, because to someone who wasn't raised to understand the idea behind it, Aki's portion of the duel doesn't register as a payoff; it registers as a massive disappointment, because it feels like the writers, who had so much setup already done for her, let her fail on purpose, just to later let Yusei attain his arguably dumbest victory of the entire show. Thus, they also essentially waste the conflict she had with Crow about whether she would be allowed to take his spot in the first place, because with how little she achieved during the duel, she may as well not have gotten on the track. (Figuratively speaking. Please Do Not take this to mean I would prefer a version where Aki hadn't duelled at all. That would be worse. It would be infinitely worse.)

(Also, side note: If this post reaches anyone who's actually Japanese and still remembers this duel, I would genuinely love your input on whether my interpretation is feasible or just wishful thinking. Did you interpret Aki's part of the duel the way I did here? Or did it fall flat for you, too? If what I'm saying here feels like an absolute reach, please tell me. I'm honestly just trying my best to make things make sense here and remembered this concept from some classes I took in Japanese studies at uni.)

With all that in mind, it doesn't come as a surprise that some people were just as frustrated with the way Crow was barred from duelling here as they were with Aki's segment or Yusei's later victory. But it is what it is—the Unicorn duel concludes the way we all know it to, and with that, the show begins setting up the following duel with Team Catastrophe.

The only other, non duel-related, noteworthy thing that happens between the Unicorn and the Catastrophe match is a brief appearance at the Poppo Time by Sherry, who admonishes the signers for celebrating their victory early and warns them about Iliaster. Why do I bring this up? Because it's one of less than five times that Crow is in the same room with Sherry. Remember, Sherry. The girl he later, during the finale, talks out of working for the big bad evil guy because he suddenly seems to have such a deep understanding of her motivations and character that he can accurately deduce what argument will make her understand that working with Z-ONE won't give her what she's looking for. So, does Crow get a meaningful interaction with her during this scene, then? Nope. Not even in the slightest. Crow says exactly one sentence that is aimed at Sherry during her appearance, and that sentence is this:

(What a meaningful conversation!)

And yes, I will come back to Crow and Sherry's dynamic in particular. But we'll save that for the Ark Cradle arc post. For now, just keep it in mind as we move along to the other WRGP duels.

So. Team Catasrophe.

During the duel against this team, which was previously only hinted at ominously, the writing for Crow and Aki overlaps again, and this starts with the writers essentially doing a complete switcheroo of what came before: Instead of Crow getting injured and being unable to compete, it's Aki who crashes, ends up in the hospital, and is thus forced to give up her spot during the duel. (This also goes hand in hand with her suddenly losing her powers, which we are given absolutely zero explanation for, but let's not talk about that clusterfuck here. If you're interested in my opinions about that particular trainwreck, I have a rant for you.) Additionally, it's during this stretch of episodes (103-105, which is a whopping four episodes less than Team Unicorn got) that we find out that not only Aki's crash, but Crow's previous one, too, were both sabotage, caused by the rather unscrupulous Team Catastrophe by way of a special card that can cause real damage even when there is no psychic duellist present. (A card we also find out was given to them by Placido/Primo, but this is irrelevant for both Aki and Crow.) Crow's reaction to this piece of information, particularly once Aki gets injured due to the same thing, is where things get interesting for him again, because he gets pissed, to say the least.

(A moment I imagine firebirdshippers must have been positively delighted about.)

Here, I have to reiterate an earlier point: Think what you will of Team Catastrophe, of Aki's crash, and of the sequence where her powers suddenly don't work, but this moment here, where Crow gets angry on her behalf and swears to duel Team Catastrophe into submission—not because he wants his kids to cheer for him, or because he wants to prove himself, but as revenge for his friend—is one of sadly only a handful of moments the writers use to show the strengthened relationships between the individual members of Team 5Ds after the dark signers arc. It's one of the precious few scenes that actually shows, rather than tells us or lets us search for scraps in the subtext, that the signers, and the members of Team 5Ds as a whole, care for each other outside of revolving around Yusei like planets around the sun. Even if it's laughably small, it's at least a hint that there are individual friendships between the other signers, too, that they all stick around one another for reasons beyond gravitating towards Yusei for one reason or another. And for that alone, I'm grateful that they put this here, even if Team Catastrophe was otherwise so ridiculous and made such a bad showing at their actual match that they could barely be taken seriously as antagonists at all.

Speaking of which. The actual meat of the matter. The Team Catastrophe match. What does Crow do here? Well, he duels! Even though he wasn't supposed to, for injury-related reasons. What both his participation as well as the actual duel accomplish, though, are that they not only showcase previously established character traits of Crow's again, but they also make a (possibly unintended) callback to a previous, major duel Crow took part in: His dark signer duel against Bommer/Greiger. Where and how? Let's see.

Firstly, Crow's participation. The reactions of the other characters to this make it very evident that Team 5Ds did not plan for this, with Yusei and Jack even going as far as to say they "had no choice" but to let Crow duel, because he insisted. This is perfectly in line with the stubbornness we already know from him at this point—a stubbornness that was also a major reason for why he took Bommer on and later continued his duel with said man, despite Yusei showing up and telling him he shouldn't be duelling a dark signer.

Secondly, there's the manoeuvring thing, and here's where I can call attention to a fun tidbit: The WRGP isn't what introduces the concept of manual mode during turbo duels to the audience. It's Crow. During his duel with Bommer. Being crafty and a bit shrewd as he is, Crow, during said duel in the DS arc, purposefully switches to manual mode when he duels Bommer, because he figures that attacks that can deal real damage can probably be evaded if you actually have control over your runner and aren't stuck in autopilot.

(Don't believe me? Here it is. And frankly, it is somewhat hilarious, yet also very fitting that Crow is the only one who thinks to do this during a duel with a dark signer.)

The reason this particular bit is relevant during the Team Catastrophe duel is because Crow essentially repeats this trick here. Of course, it's a bit less impactful now, given that manual mode is standard for WRGP duels, but still: Due to Hook, the Hidden Knight, Crow is forced to pay attention to the track and manually evade the monster's attempts to make his back wheel lock up during the duel, mirroring how he thought to manually evade Bommer's attacks during the DS arc.

Thirdly, there's the revenge angle, and this one is a particularly juicy callback. Remember, Crow's major reason for taking on Team Catastrophe, despite being injured, is that he wants to get revenge for Aki. This directly parallels how his major reason for duelling Bommer during the DS arc was that he wanted revenge for his kids, whom he believed to be dead at that point in time. (It also, interestingly, establishes a bit of a connection to his deck, which boasts a fair amount of revenge effects, but I'll not get into that here, seeing as I've talked about Crow's cards a bit before.)

Keep in mind, despite all the things listed above that this duel accomplishes, it's also by far the shortest WRGP duel. It lasts a whole six turns, total, which is ludicrous compared to the likes of 27-turn Team Unicorn, 26-turn Team Taiyou, or 25-turn Team Ragnarok. And I don't think it's controversial to say that the Catastrophe guys are probably the most forgettable WRGP Team, too. Yet, somehow, despite all its shortcomings in terms of memorable antagonists and plot relevance, this is one of the best duels of the WRGP where Crow's character writing is concerned. Now, I'll be perfectly candid: Coming into this post, I did not expect the Team Catastrophe duel, of all things, to end up being as good at actually showcasing Crow's character and his ties to other characters (who aren't Yusei) as it was, but here we are. And we had better hold on to the good the Team Unicorn - Catastrophe segment did for Crow, because the next thing that's coming up is a harsh break from the WRGP, starting with the sudden appearance of Placido's home-engineered army of killer duel robots. And what does Crow get to do during this part?

Uh. Well.

(Pictured: Bird Boy being demoted to benchwarmer while the city's being ransacked by murder duel robots.)

Nothing. A whole lot of nothing, is what.

During the duel robot invasion, we only ever flash back to Crow to ascertain that he is, in fact, useless during this part of the show, something he shares in common with Ruka, Rua, and Aki here, because all of them get pretty much nothing to do while Yusei finally gets the hang of accel synchro. Granted, Aki gets to save a little girl at the hospital, but in comparison to Yusei's lengthy, plot-heavy duel with Placido, this feels like a consolation prize. And for once, Jack is only marginally better off, too, because sure, he gets to beat up a couple of robots, but that's it, really.

Where Crow is concerned, his plot relevance doesn't actually resume once the Placido duel finishes, though. (And neither does Rua's, Ruka's, or Aki's, while we're at it.) Because wouldn't you know it, the next big thing directly after the duel robot invasion are the Red Nova episodes, where three out of five signers (Crow, Aki, and Ruka, unsurprisingly) are removed from the screen almost in their entirety again while Jack gets his much-needed dragon upgrade so he can keep up with Yusei, in order to uphold his status as a classic, almost-evenly-matched yugioh rival.

Speaking of upgrades and dragons, let's make a quick detour while our protag and rival duo take their express vacation to the Nazca plains. It is, of course, no secret that no signer outside of Yusei and Jack ever got a dragon upgrade within the anime. (No, I'm not forgetting about Life Stream Dragon. But that one, unlike Shooting Star Dragon and Red Nova Dragon, was a.) teased all the way back in the DS arc and b.) didn't have a unique summoning method or some other gimmick that made it an "elevated" synchro. So I'm discounting Life Stream as a "proper" dragon upgrade on purpose.) Is this the point where I start arguing that Crow should have gotten one, then? Well, not quite. Not with the writing the show canonically gave us, at least—after all, with how late Black-Winged Dragon was introduced, it would have been bonkers to upgrade him here already, if even at all. However, I do argue that the way the show hands only Yusei and Jack upgrades seems a bit... off. Now, I know why only those two get upgrades, or at least I think I do. After all, they're the central protag/rival duo, and within the framework of the character archetypes the larger yugioh canon has created for itself, this would have always made them the first, if not the only candidates for dragon upgrades. What feels a bit off to me, though, is that specifically the 5Ds cast feels like it... chafes a bit against those character archetypes, for lack of a better word. The problem is this: The signers, as far as the first two arcs are concerned, are sold to us as equals who all have very powerful ace monsters. Yes, Jack and Yusei are still undoubtedly the best duellists among them, but not on account of having uber-powerful extra special monsters that were acquired through supernatural means that are categorically inaccessible to the other signers. However, with the appearance of Shooting Star and Red Nova, this changes. While Yusei and Jack were previously and would have always been the two guys who had a Special dynamic with a capital "S" on account of their character archetypes, their acquisition of the dragon upgrades—and even more so, the lack of upgrades their fellow signers receive—now decidedly puts them in a different power bracket and skews the balance between previous, supposedly "equal" characters. (Which, unfortunately, is yet another thing that makes everyone else easier to sideline.)

Why do I bring all this up in a post dedicated to Crow? Because this new power imbalance arguably impacts him more than the other signers—because he's Team 5Ds' second wheeler and doesn't miss another WRGP match from here on out. Thus, that power imbalance is felt in the upcoming duels, where Yusei and Jack bust out Shooting Star and Red Nova like it's nothing, while Crow is left manoeuvring with the somewhat underpowered Black-Winged Dragon and whatever else he can come up with. This is also why I claimed that the show did sideline Crow in some aspects further above. Because while some parts of his writing go to great pains to establish him as part of a protagonist trifecta that is now supposed to take centre stage before the other characters, he also permanently lives in Jack and Yusei's shadow, ultimately barred not just from reaching equal status as a signer (due to his late and rocky introduction and dragon acquisition), but also barred from becoming the equal of his foster brothers as a duellist. Frankly, I'm surprised the show didn't make this a plot point, because the first thing my mind jumps to when I think about this is whether Crow felt left behind after his brothers acquired such immensely powerful, special cards. But more on my personal writing ideas later. For now, let's just put a pin in the power-imbalance thing.

So, when is Crow back on screen in any meaningful role, then? (Note that I mean this as literally as possible. As per my discussion about "screentime" and my gripes about it in part two, I gloss over the parts where Crow is on screen, but could be traded for any other signer or even a lamppost without affecting the scene at all.)

Well, the next thing Crow gets to do isn't exactly glorious, but it sure is funny.

(I want you all to remember that he has to wear this costume and play this part in Team 5Ds' absurd plan to capture Yaeger/Lazar because he lost at rock-paper-scissors. This will never not be funny to me.)

Ignoring the hilarious outfit and Crow playing the bait at a fabricated cup ramen promo event meant to lure Yaeger in, bird boy does actually get something that's not just for funsies to do during the two episodes where Team 5Ds is trying to get more information about Iliaster: He gets to have a duel revanche against Yaeger, who, if we remember the DS arc, ditched him the last time they squared off. Much like the Team Catastrophe duel, this one, too, calls back to previous duels Crow has had: For one, it's the obvious conclusion to his unfinished, first duel with Yaeger. And for two, Crow repeats a "trick" (for lack of a better term) here that is also unique to him: losing on purpose, which we remember from his duel with Lyndon.

(Identical-looking clown family jumpscare be upon ye.)

And again, much like getting injured for the Team Unicorn duel, I argue that this story beat here is something that could also only have been accomplished with Crow. Because he's the only one who has previously duelled Yaeger, firstly, because not wanting to make a child cry by beating their dad in a duel makes sense for him as a character due to him being a family-oriented person who loves children, secondly, and because losing on purpose in this scenario is a tactic that would seem out of character from anyone else, thirdly. (We recall, the only times Jack and Yusei, respectively, ever consider/offer to lose on purpose is when the lives of people close to them are on the line, in the shape of Carly/Rally. As for the others, aside from not being present, Aki, Rua, and Ruka are so heavily sidelined at this point that they would have never been an option for this. And if his writing is anything to go by, Bruno is mostly purposefully forbidden from accomplishing Plot Things, especially through duels, while he's Bruno.) But hey, due to the way this episode is set up, losing on purpose works out for Crow, because it convinces Yaeger to stop hiding and actually share his knowledge about Iliaster. This, by the way, is the second scene where Crow gets to be in a room with Sherry for a longer stretch of time. And look, him joking that Sherry might kill Yaeger if he doesn't spill the beans about Iliaster soon is fun and all, but in light of the Ark Cradle duel later, I have to point out that he, again, doesn't get to have so much as a shred of a meaningful conversation with Sherry here. Again. But moving on. The scene with Yaeger at the Poppo Time then leads us first to the small sequence in the arcade where the gang has to win a simulated duel to get Yaeger's encoded intel, then to episode 116—the Moment Express episode, where, due to this being a Yusei, Sherry, and Bruno-focussed episode, Crow gets nothing to do again. (And also doesn't get to interact with Sherry again.)

Congrats! We've survived the WRGP break. This leaves us with three more WRGP duels before shit hits the fan and the Ark Cradle arc commences. And full disclosure, I'll be doing a bit of a quick-fire round of those three duels. Why? Because despite them all having their merits in their own rights (they're the better liked duels of the WRGP for a reason), there honestly isn't that much focus on Crow during them. He duels, yes, and I've seen people point this out over and over again as the supposed smoking gun that shows how Crow had so much more relevance and screentime than Aki and yadda, yadda. We've been there. And it's not that I can't see where this argument is coming from—I'll be the first to tell you that it's a travesty that Aki never got to duel in the WRGP again outside of the Unicorn match. But I want to use the final three matches to dig into how the way these matches—and especially the opponents to go with them—were set up made it nearly impossible for Aki to replace Crow again during any point of the WRGP finals.

First, episode 118. This is the only preamble episode we get for the first two WRGP finals teams, and here, our group is split in two: Yusei, Bruno, and Rua introduce us to Team Taiyou, while Jack, Aki, and Crow introduce us to Team Ragnarok. There isn't much to say here, because the only thing this episode does for Crow is a shallow repeat of what the Team Catastrophe duel did: By putting him in a group with Aki and Jack, and letting them decide among themselves, independently, to check out the exhibition match, it implies that he voluntarily spends time with signers who aren't Yusei. Thumbs up. Gold star. You made an effort (I guess). Then, the real fun starts.

Round one. Team Taiyou.

(Pictured: The sweetest country bumpkins to ever grace this earth. Yes, I'm biased.)

So here's the deal with Team Taiyou, from a narrative standpoint, as best as I can grasp it: They are a callback to Team 5Ds' roots. Specifically, to the boys' Satellite roots. The Taiyou boys come from humble origins, have only one, mostly home-engineered duel runner, and play using old cards that are widely considered shitty, as 5Ds canon tells us. They are essentially the non-signer, countryside version of what Jack, Crow, and Yusei once were, which is why this is the first duel where the duellist constellation on Team 5Ds' end couldn't possibly have been altered. Team Taiyou is there to remind us where our boys started, so it has to be our boys duelling them. This also goes for Crow, even though this duel otherwise doesn't accomplish much for him, character-wise. Instead, it's more of a narrative wink at the audience, as well as providing a breather between otherwise extremely tense, plot-focussed duels. But yeah, Crow's part in this match isn't much to write home about; he doesn't get any verbal interactions that are very meaningful to his character, can't get so much as a scratch in on Zushin, even with Black-Winged Dragon, and is defeated so Yusei can take out the legendary giant.

Round two. Team Ragnarok.

(Behold the pizzazz of at least two contenders for Haircuts With The Most Spikes in the show.)

Though this duel is framed as being even more so aimed towards bolstering Jack's character writing than Crow's, given the inclusion of Dragan's personal history with Jack, Team Ragnarok gets significantly more interesting for Crow again than Team Taiyou did. This is, of course, mainly because of Brave/Broder. Where Team Taiyou were a callback to the 5Ds boys' roots, Team Ragnarok are their narrative foils. Dragan is the duellist who lost his pride to contrast Jack, who's brimming with pride at all times, and Harald/Halldor is essentially the rich, "destiny isn't bullshit, actually" version of Yusei. Meanwhile, unlike the first two, who highlight our 5Ds boys' characteristics by contrasting them, Brave acts as Crow's mirror. Through Team Ragnarok's flashbacks, we see that he gets almost exactly the same, lovable-rogue-type backstory that Crow did during the DS arc, just in a different setting. The only, major difference between them is that while Crow is more down-to-earth, Brave likes to be pretty flashy.

(Keep in mind that he's doing this on a runner. Is there such a thing as courses on how to do acrobatics on your runner? Like there are courses for vaulting on horseback irl? I'm overthinking this again.)

Unsurprisingly, the duel thus ends up addressing the similarities between Crow and Brave, mostly through two things: One, the duel essentially becomes a contest of who can out-trickster who, culminating in the famous, ridiculous-in-the-good-way sequence where Crow activates a trap from his graveyard, to the shock of pretty much everyone present. And two, despite being on opposite sides, the two bond over their concern for the children they took care of and their concern for children in general, which is expressed most clearly in the scene where Crow's kids, in an attempt to hold the poster they made for him higher, very nearly fall over the barricade in the WRGP stands. Despite the hefty length of the full duel, these are pretty much the only things actually related to Crow's character that come up, though. They're good, don't get me wrong, but in a duel that is otherwise this dense with plot, Aesir shenanigans, and Iliaster foreshadowing, it's no surprise that the duel doesn't add that much to Crow's character, outside of giving him someone he can bounce off very well and relate to. Again, though, we are faced with the same situation as with Team Taiyou: Due to the way the members of Team Ragnarok are written, meant to contrast/parallel one male duellist each from Team 5Ds, nobody other than Crow could have taken the third spot here, either. It would have felt awkward from a narrative standpoint (as much as I would have loved to see Aki duel more).

Now, finally. Round three. Team New World.

(Welp. Here come the robots.)

I had to check to make sure I wasn't misremembering this, but due to the way this duel was set up so José/Jakob could bust out Meklord Emperor Granel with a ridiculous amount of attack points, Crow gets a resounding four turns total in this duel. (Gee, I wonder which other character got this treatment during a WRGP duel.) During those four turns, there are only two things he accomplishes: One, leaving behind two combo pieces Yusei later uses, and two, showcasing the shrewd tactics that earned him the label of "trickster" during the Ragnarok duel by bringing out a non-synchro monster that can take advantage of a synchro monster's attack points and effects—Aurora the Northern Lights. And arguably, this is a very smart play, moreover, it's the only time anyone in the show has the bright idea to not use synchro monsters against the known and feared synchro-killer Meklords. Unfortunately, as smart as it is, the narrative doesn't reward Crow for this play—José all but shrugs what could have been a turning point in the duel off, then proceeds to steamroll Crow the next turn, leaving Yusei to score the win, as usual. To get back to the "Crow got so much more screentime than Aki during the WRGP" thing for a second, of all the duels in the WRGP finals, this is arguably the one where Aki could still most easily have taken Crow's spot again, because here, it doesn't matter whether it's him or someone else, as this duel isn't tied to his character in any way. Unfortunately, due to the Granel-steamroller-strategy, this is also the duel where letting Aki take his spot again would have been the biggest shot in the foot, because unless they had changed Team New World's strategy, Aki would have gotten brutally guillotined here, same as Crow—something I can't imagine anyone, not even people who hate Crow, being happy about.

With that, though, we've finally made it through the WRGP. So, what's the bottom line here? Frankly, speaking from my own interpretation, Crow occupies an... odd spot during this tournament, to say the least. Though he does get to duel the majority of the time, few of the duels actually cater to his character in any way. Moreover, he only gets to be the star of the show in a WRGP duel once, during the by far most forgettable match against Team Catastrophe. And mind that I use the term "star of the show" very loosely here, because the problem the WRGP arc as a whole has, in my opinion, is that the rather lame Team Catastrophe duel is the only one in the whole tournament that isn't won by Yusei, which categorically means that any of the other character's big moments are usually undermined by the fact that they ultimately still need him to save the day. Thus, moments like Aki summoning Stardust Dragon and Crow using an anti-synchro-killer strategy that for once actually forgoes synchros are somewhat cheapened by the fact that they're not actually the turning-point moments they're initially painted as, because ultimately, Yusei always has to be the one to save the day. What's worse is that this almost feels like a bit of a non-issue that could have easily been fixed—given that the show tells us that teams can shuffle around their line-up for a match any time. But unfortunately, the writing never interacts with this as a possible strategic element, nor does it ever seem to consider letting Yusei lose, or forcing him to give up his spot for a match. I feel the need to say that I don't put the blame at Yusei's feet here, though: This strongly feels like an oversight by the writers, and perhaps a disproportionate need to have a nigh-infallible protagonist (on the duelling side of things) that their audience would never run the risk of calling "lame". For Crow, though, this chiefly means one thing: In any duel other than the Catastrophe one, it was always clear that even if he partook, he would never finish the match. And yes, this is technically an issue Jack has, too. But this is where the character writing outside of the duels comes into play, too.

Unlike Jack, who actually gets to do something during the Diablo invasion (albeit very little), who gets his very own dragon upgrade and who gets a very personal, pre-duel plot with Dragan, the show's writing doesn't bother giving Crow a lot of plot- or character-relevant things to do, once the WRGP starts. This is also why I was so surprised at how much the Unicorn and Catastrophe duels embrace his interactions with Aki—compared to the later duels in the finals, this portion still makes Crow feel genuinely relevant and interwoven with the other characters. Meanwhile, out of the three final duels, only the Ragnarok one actually tries to establish a connection to his characterisation, through Brave. The Taiyou duel only sets itself up in such a way that Aki partaking instead of him would have been awkward. Meanwhile, the New World duel just has him being treated like a floormat in a sad parallel to Aki during the Unicorn duel, seeing as they both get a nice moment where it looks like they might turn the duel around (Aki summoning Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Dragon onto the field at the same time; Crow summoning Aurora the Northern Lights, which couldn't be absorbed by the Meklords), only to have their hopes dashed as they're mercilessly cleared off the track. Outside of the duels, many scenes sadly give the impression that they may as well not have included Crow, though—he often gets so little to contribute to a moment or even to say at all that substituting him with a cardboard box seems like it would not have impacted the scene in any way. And that's without addressing his non-existent connection to Sherry, which feels extra glaring, given his later interactions with her on the Ark Cradle.

All in all, the WRGP feels like a very mixed bag, where Crow's character writing is concerned. His belated backstory, which I talked about in part two, is front-loaded and asks as many questions as it answers. Then the tournament commences, gives him some actually decent character interplay with Aki for once (at the cost of letting her succeed in the tournament, it seems), only for him to be basically irrelevant during the WRGP pause again. And once the whole thing resumes, it becomes this hot-and-cold thing where some duel aspects seem tailored to him, while others treat him as completely expendable. The end result is an arc where I'm left wondering why exactly the writers felt the need to make it seem like Crow made up one portion of a protagonist trifecta, if they never actually bothered treating him as equal to the other two. (The answer, I believe, lies somewhere between the fumbled setup they did for him during the Fortune Cup and DS arc, and the way yugioh in general treats its character archetypes. But that's just speculation on my part.) The one, saving grace the WRGP (outside of the Pearson backstory) has for Crow is that it at least doesn't introduce any new character- and/or timeline inconsistencies. In fact, his character stays remarkably true to form once the tournament begins.

Okay, onto the final bit, then. As I've done in both previous posts, let me delve into completely subjective territory and offer some ideas on how this arc could have been handled to make it seem a little less all over the place with Crow. And since his writing here canonically intersects with Aki's several times, let me try to do it while offering the best of both worlds to both characters, if I can.

As far as Crow's backstory is concerned, I've already offered my solutions to that in part two. Now, to stay consistent with my own suggestions, I'll try to branch off what I wrote in the last post. This means that, as per my previous two analyses, we're dealing with two scenarios again: One, Crow stays a signer and we try to touch canon as little as possible. Two, Crow isn't a signer and we adjust canon in whatever way we need to to make him feel interesting and necessary despite/because of that.

First, though, let's get two adjustments I personally would have made in both versions out of the way:

The way the WRGP is structured puts every character that isn't Yusei at a massive disadvantage, where character moments in duels are concerned. Thus, I propose an overhaul. Among the changes I think could have benefitted the characters (yes, all of them) are: One - Aki actually getting to accomplish something during the Unicorn duel (she can and should still have her moments with Crow, but maybe let her portion of the duel end in her thanking him for coaching her, creating a more upbeat scene that strengthens their friendship, which could double as good setup for their later double-duel against Sherry). Two - letting the Team Catastrophe duel actually play out properly (as in, they become more meaningful as opponents by having a better strategy, for example, and Crow could stick it out longer against them, in order to make this more so his win than Jack's. Also, why not let Aki actually see him get back at Team Catastrophe for her?). Three - giving Crow an actual character moment during the Taiyou duel (what if one of the country boys had played a card or two of the ones he learned to read from? It could have helped drive the parallel between the two teams home.) Four - letting Crow's anti-Meklord strategy get at least a little payoff, if only for two turns (show us at least proof of concept, damn it!). Yes, the Ragnarok duel is the only one I wouldn't rewrite (unless special circumstances are introduced, see below). Additionally, let Team 5Ds alter their line-up more than once, damn it. Let them actually strategise about the duels, let them take into consideration who should go first when and whose deck might be better suited to which scenario. Also, remove Yusei from at least one duel. Doesn't matter how, just let him not partake once. Perfect setup to let Aki duel again, and would also allow for spicy character interactions. (Arguably the best duels where this could have been done would have been any of the final duels, though it would have also required rewriting the antagonists somewhat in any case.)

For the love of god, give Sherry and Crow some setup. Let them actually interact, let them introduce their philosophies to one another, just do something, anything to make Crow understanding and talking sense into her during the finale seem earned. A few chance meetings, or maybe even a tiny side-plot could have done so much here. And if you can't let them interact outright, at least let Aki and Crow talk about Sherry! Double whammy! The two characters who end up duelling against her are made to seem even more like a team, and Crow actually gets to find out what Sherry's deal is on-screen. Just. Set. it. up. I beg you.

There we go. Now, onto the two branches.

Option A: Crow stays a signer and obtained Black-Winged Dragon.

Seeing as Crow's signer status, funnily enough, isn't all that relevant during the tournament itself (save for two notable exceptions), there aren't that many fixes to be made here. Crow can still get injured, miss out on the Unicorn duel and be the star of the Catastrophe duel. But giving him something to do during the duel robot invasion that isn't standing around and hoping Yusei will fix everything would also be nice. It's fine if he can't drive out there and duel, but why not let him do something else? He's a crafty guy, why not let him find, say, a way to fry the Diablos' runners, taking a few of them out even from a semi-stationary position without duelling them? He could at least get as much of a consolation prize scene as Aki got with her saving that child. Then there's Team Taiyou, which, save for what I proposed above, is a duel that doesn't feel like it needs changes. Crow does his thing here. That's it. The same goes for Team Ragnarok, especially given that they're specifically written to oppose an all-signers Team 5Ds. Finally, there's Team New World, which, if I'm being completely candid, I would personally overhaul to change the cyborgs' strategy entirely in order to actually let all three members of Team 5Ds shine. But this is the version where I touch canon as little as possible, so... Aside from what I wrote above, no changes needed. Just make Crow seem a little more relevant, make his strategy have at least a little payoff, even if Granel's back out and menacing literally two turns later.

Option B: Crow, as per my previous posts, isn't a signer and doesn't have Black-Winged Dragon.

This is the version that would categorically require heavier changes, though they honestly don't arrive until the break in the tournament. Unicorn and Catastrophe stay the same, I would still propose that Crow gets to be a little more useful during the Diablo invasion. But! In this version, seeing as he never acquired BWD, the break in the WRGP would be an excellent spot to let Crow acquire an upgrade for his beefy Blackwing ace monster of choice. Give him a little side-plot, too, something to do, something where he proves himself. Maybe let him run into Iliaster here, or maybe call back to Pearson again and introduce the new Blackwing upgrade as a treasure Pearson stashed away before he died (maybe this could have even been the card Bolger was actually after; the world is our oyster here). Then he's beefed up, too, and actually feels a little more on the same level as Jack and Yusei. The tournament recommences and again, the Taiyou duel could stay mostly the same, I think. Ragnarok and New World are where it gets really interesting, though. The way I see it, Ragnarok could go two ways with Crow not being a signer: Either he partakes as he did in canon and his non-signer status is called out as a peculiarity by our Swedish boys who happen to be obsessed with fate (which would make his performance against Brave seem all the more impressive), or, due to this being a duel all about destiny and celestial pissing contests, Crow's spot is given to Aki again for this duel due to her signer status (this would, obviously, require rewriting Brave, perhaps even switching him out for a Ragnarok lady instead). As for Team New World, this duel would honestly be a lot more juicy with a non-signer Crow, because much like he was for the dark signers, a non-signer Crow would essentially be an unknown in their plan for the cyborgs. He would be the guy who's Not Supposed To Be Here. Granted, he would still be beaten, but he could still get an excellent moment where his out-of-left-field anti-Meklord strategy genuinely seems to turn the tables for a bit, angering José and providing even stronger setup for Yusei to win later.

Aaaaand that's that. Somehow, I get the feeling the WRGP had the least things that needed fixing because it also had the least actual character writing. But that might just be me. It's late and I have been writing for A While. But hey, I got out part three faster than part two! I consider that an achievement.

Now, while I get my talking points in order for part four, I hope you'll have fun chewing on this one. See you in the grand finale to my Bird Boy dissertation.

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nattinatalia · 1 year

Text

Jack Harlow x Reader : ME OR HER?

Triger warning : Somewhat racists comments

A/N: This will not have a second part, perhaps an Instagram AU but that’s it.

You were currently in Atlanta for Jack’s last US show, you’ve been joining him on the road since the tour started and it’s been amazing so far.

Well as amazing as having to turn another way when little remarks from his team would be thrown at you.

You were hardheaded, there was so much you could take, but that little thread was about to cut loose.

You’ve been ignoring everything that was thrown your way, you’ve been sucking it up and turning a blind eye.

Jack, bless his soul, has a thing where he sees the good in everyone around him. He either doesn’t hear what is thrown your way, or he just decides to ignore it to avoid confrontation.

There was something in the air tonight though, and you can feel it. You just hope by the end of the night no one walks out handcuffed or with a bloody nose.

“Look at you, are you going to solve a mystery tonight?” You say at Jack and notice his outfit for the night gives you Fred and Shaggy vibes from Scooby-Doo.

He comes up to you and wraps you in a hug. “Yea, that mystery is finding a way to get in between your legs, while I’m on stage.”

You laugh “You’re such an idiot.”

He pecks your lips real quick and pulls back “Yea, but I’m your idiot.”

You and Jack had met a couple of years ago in Miami through your friend Nicky Jam, and ever since, you two have been texting back and forth, hanging out in the down low. You’ve been together for almost a year now but never put a title to whatever it was you two had.

It was great at the beginning, no one but your best friends knew, and you enjoyed that very much. Until recently, he took you back to his hometown to meet his parents and his little brother and introduced you as his girlfriend.

He had also talked about moving in together but that was something you both had to sit down and decide if it’s what you really want so soon.

Although he always tells you he’s been sure about you since the first time he laid eyes on you- yes he’s a romantic, who would’ve thought. But he told you he was ready for the next two huge steps.

When his tour started for his recent album, Come Home The Kids Miss You, he asked you to join him. It was fun but half way through it, there was a certain person who seemed to have something against you.

“So, when are you going to let me hear what you’ve been working on at the studio?’ Jack asks you, pulling you away from your thoughts.

You blush and shy away “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He raises his eyebrows “Now baby, I know you’re not lying to me because Nicky told me you two have been busy and that he’s impressed with your music.”

You smile “I’m just nervous, he said the song was ready to be put out, but I don’t think I want to, not right now anyway. I just want to enjoy being here with you and watch you do your thing.”

“I love you for that, but come on, this is what you wanted all those years ago, stop stalling and put it out already, I’m sure people will love it.”

He takes your head into his hands and makes you look up at him “Let me listen to it, and I’ll be brutally honest if that’s what you want. But if Nicky Jam is telling me you’re the next big thing for Latin Music, then I know your song is good.”

When you met Jack you were barely getting into your music, so he’s been asking you everyday to let him hear something from your upcoming album- your first album at that, but you’ve just been nervous to show him.

You nod “Let me work on some last adjustments to it and I promise to let you listen to it before it’s out.”

“That’s my girl, now come on, I want to love up on you before the show.” He says and pulls you along towards his dressing room, passing his team on the way.

“Ugh, why does he keep bringing her around?” Neelam asks Urban and Clay

“Bring who around?” Urban, Jack’s best friend asks from their spot on the couch.

“The little Mexican girl, she’s been tagging along for a while now.”

“Damn Nee, why’d you say it like that.?” Clay asks

“Plus, that’s his girl, and he wanted her close.” Urban says.

Neelam then whips her head towards Urban so fast “What do you mean she’s his girl? Since when and why am I just finding out?”

Clay shrugs and scrolls through his phone “For a while, she’s met my parents and I think there’s plans for her to move in with him.”

She chuckles, “That doesn't mean anything, he takes every other girl back home.”

“This is different though, but why do you care so much?” Urban asks her, looking at her confused.

“Does she have anything going on for her? Is she always around because she doesn’t have money? Because I think I can find her a cleaning job around here.”

Clay and Urban look at each other shocked that Neelam is even saying that “Yo, that’s a bit racist don’t you think?”

“No, that’s besides the point. Did she sign an NDA? Did Drama or Nickie give her one?”

“No, Jack didn’t want to, even though she’s said plenty of times that she doesn’t mind signing one.” Clay tells her getting annoyed, he gets up from the couch and looks at Neelam, “I don’t want to be rude to you, but you’re getting out of hand talking down on her, you’ve been doing it non stop, you don’t even know her.” he finishes and leaves.

“I agree with little bro, she’s heard you say things like this on numerous occasions and she decides not to call you out on it, that says a lot about her.”

“Oh come on Urb, the only thing that says is she’s looking for a handout, that’s why she lets me get away with it. Any other person would've stepped up to me.” Neelam says

Urban takes a deep breath and gets up to leave as well. “Maybe say it to her in front of Jack, let's see how that works for you.”

Neelam then gets up and takes out a stack of papers from her bag. “You know what? Maybe I will after the show.” She says and marches her way towards Jack's dressing room.

“FUUCCCKKKKK.” Urban says to himself.

*After the show*

Jack was on a high, his adrenaline was on a roll and all he wanted to do was take a quick shower, get something to eat and spend time with you and in you.

But as soon as he made his way backstage something in him knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“All I’m saying is, you’re always around and I never see you pay for a thing. So that tells me everything I need to know. You’re here because he’s paying for you or paying you to be here. Therefore I need you to sign these papers.” He heard Neelam say to someone but he couldn’t see who since there was a circle of people around her.

“I’ll sign the NDA, I have no problem with that. But don’t disrespect me.” Jack hears your soft voice and now that has him confused and on a different type of adrenaline.

The crowd consisted of Clay, Cope, Sunni, Drama and Ace Pro, all surrounding the girls.

“What is going on?.” Jack asks them which causes all of them to turn his way.

He notices your eyes are watery and he can tell you’re also getting angry.

He goes up to you “You okay baby?”

You go to answer him but Neelam speaks first. “Oh she’s fine. You just need to tell her to sign this and she needs to go home for a few days until this is settled into the books.”

“She’s not signing anything. If I wanted her too, she would’ve a long time ago.” Jack says.

“It’s ok, I’ll sign it.” You tell him and take the papers away from her and start reading through them.

“Don’t look at me like that Jack, I’m doing this for you. You barely even know her and she has you acting dumb. Since when don’t you have your little friends sign? We’ve worked too hard for you to lose yourself to this little girl.” Neelam tells him.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you right now? Have you gone mad.?” He asks and looks at everyone else “I told you two where we stand, and I made myself clear I don’t want her signing a damn thing.”

Drama shrugs “Hey I just got here when Nee started going off on her.”

“It doesn’t matter, you’re an idiot. Your career is rising and you decide now to get a girlfriend? Jack, there’s plenty of girls on the road who are more than willing to keep you company, but do not settle down now. If she’s what you’re looking for to keep you company, I’m pretty sure I can find you one that looks just like her in every hotel you’re staying at.” Neelam says

“What? What does that even mean?” Jack asks, “I don’t know what brought this up, but this ends now.”

He looks at you and takes the papers away from you. “Let’s go.”

He starts pulling you away from everyone and while you’re walking you pass by a trash can and he tosses the papers inside and then turns to Neelam “Get them if you really want them.”

“It's either me, or her Jack.” Neelam says

You both stop to look at her “What?”

She smiles “Me or her, plain and simple.”

“Are you out of your mind right now?.”

“No, I just know what’s best for you.” She then looks at you “Let the adults talk, go clean up catering, it's what you do best.”

You nod “You’ve been throwing racist words my way, one of them consists of saying all I’m good for is cleaning up. You don’t know me so stop.”

“I don’t need to know you, I know girls like you. You’re just paying attention to him now that his career is rising, he’s more known. Obviously you want to ride off his fame. But I won’t let you, like I said, if you need a job, I can find you one. But stay away from him.” She says coming up to you now.

You smile “If you’d bother to get to know me, rather than having your head so far up his ass, you’d know I don’t need a job and I definitely don’t need him to succeed in life. All you want to do is throw shade my way and expect me not to say anything in return? I’ve held my tongue because of him.”

“Bravo you actually have a backbone, but my comments towards you still stands.” She looks at Jack now. “I’ve been with you since you started, I know what’s best for you and your career. She’s not one of them. So again, it’s me or her.”

“I’m not doing this with you.” Jack tells her

“Jack, it’s not that easy, you’ve done this plenty of times, decide now, me or her. Because if you decide to stay with this-“ she points at you, “I’m out, I’m not staying for this shit.”

“What is it that you don’t like about her? She makes me happy, she keeps me grounded. We’re good, so I don’t understand where this is all coming from out of nowhere.” He tells her.

“It’s not out of nowhere, I just simply don’t like her, never have, never will. Not when you two met three years ago, not now.”

“Well you’ll have to suck it up because she’s not going anywhere.”

Neelam looks surprised at his words “So you’re choosing her then?”

“I’m not a child, I’m not doing this ultimatum bullshit.” He snaps at her

“None of you are going to stand up for me? Tell him he’s messing up his career for little miss girl?” She asks Drama and Nick “You two were saying how she’s been distracting him, so grow a pair and tell him.”

You’re getting annoyed at this point, you loved Jack, you did but this was getting out of hand and you don’t know if you can take it any longer.

You look at Jack and notice he looks hurt and confused all together. You know this must be hard for him.

Yes, Neelam has been there alongside him through everything, since day one, so you know this must be hurting Jack more.

You step aside from everyone and go towards the trash can and get the papers Jack had thrown in there not too long ago.

You dig through your purse for a pen “Y/N what are you doing?” Jack asks you.

You shake your head but don’t look at him and sign the papers “It’s ok.” You tell him.

You turn towards where Neelam is at and give her the papers “I don’t need his money, I have that. You’d know that if you’ve taken at least five minutes to get to know me. Or if you’d actually done your job and searched me up.” You tell her.

You then go turn to Jack “She’s not going to stop, she’s been doing this for a while now. I rolled with it because I know how important she is to you.” You take in a deep breath “I would never make you choose between me or anyone, that’s just evil and childish. But something deep inside also tells me you’d choose her, which I understand completely as well and I don’t blame you for it. I blame her.”

“What are you saying right now?.” He asks you, his tone a bit worried

You take in a deep breath “I’m choosing for you.” you tell him sadly.

He goes up to you, wraps his arms around you and places his forehead against yours. “No” he shakes his head. “I know what you’re doing and I’m not letting you.”

You pull away from him “The papers are signed, I won’t tell anyone. The world will never know him and I had anything to do with one another.” you tell his team.

“Y/N let’s talk about this in private, this is nonsense.” Jack says, trying to pull you towards him.

“Oh my god, let her go Jack, she’s not even all that. She needs to go back to wherever she came from.” Neelam says

You turn your head so fast towards her “Say that again, to my face.” You finally snapped and got closer to her. “You know what? No, I’m done, so fucking done. You preach online how being mean is so middle school, but you’re the meanest person around.”

You turn to look at Jack “This shit is hurtful because I honestly believe she does want what’s best for you. But she’s coming at me sideways and wrongly at that. Yes, even when she continues to talk down on me, I’m being nice, that’s who I am. But I’m not taking it anymore. You’re meant for greatness and the world is going to be so lucky to witness you grow, I’m just sad I won’t be around to see that.”

You tell him and and see he has tears in his eyes, you go up to him and leave a kiss on his cheek “You’ll do such amazing things superstar, I’m sure of it. Take care yeah?” You tell him in a low voice so only he can hear you.

You don’t even give him a chance to react or say anything. You just pull away and walk away from him, and he lets you.

He knows you won’t come back.

He knows he should’ve went after you.

He knows he should’ve stood up to Neelam.

But most importantly, he knows he won’t ever be the same.

He let you go, and the little box inside his pocket reminds him of what could have been.

**********

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