#very deliberately not tagging or describing any names here as you can see

[sungbeam]

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨! — two

ep. 02 ☆ big brother *gulps*

1.5k words (whoops sorry) + social media

Xu Minghao literally could not believe his eyes when he saw you walk into the living room of the SVT frat house, clad in a cool leather jacket and dark, pleated skirt. You had your arm tucked into Xiaojun's as the two of you searched for the best way to get from one end of the living room to the kitchen across. 

Christ, you were so goddamn pretty. Minghao couldn't even describe in words how effortlessly you made his heart pound in his chest with a simple look. You hadn't even looked in his direction, actually. Where he was, tucked away and out of people's immediate view in a nook between the window and a bookshelf, there was no way you would even look in his direction. Even if he was wearing an awfully vivid shade of sapphire blue. And showing a lot more skin and very little button than usual. 

Now he was glad for that. As long as he could get your attention though. 

But as he watched you and Xiaojun start moving again, he thought to himself once more that there was no way the two of you weren't an item. 

"Ey! Minghao-ah, hey!" 

Minghao's eyes left your form and smiled as he greeted NCT's Qian Kun, who had found Minghao with his friend Jun—SVT's Jun, not your Jun. Oh god, he really needed to stop referring to Xiaojun as "your Jun". 

"Hey, ge. How are you?" 

"I'm good," he replied, nudging Wen Junhui with the back of his hand. "Me and Jun were about to grab a drink. Wanna come with?" 

The universe was on his side and Minghao had some thanks to give tonight. He nodded, perhaps too eagerly because Jun narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Yeah, I'll definitely tag along." 

"Ah, that's the spirit!" 

When Kun went ahead of them to start the journey to the kitchen, Jun murmured into Minghao's ear, "You're not slick, y'know that?" 

Minghao plastered a smile on his face as he waved to Vernon and Chan, who were on the couch setting up Mario Kart. "Who says I'm trying to be?" 

Jun chuckled, shaking his head. "I hope you actually talk to her this time." 

"I do, too." 

The three of them were somehow able to maneuver themselves into the kitchen with minimal problems and stops. Kun made a beeline for Seungcheol and Wonwoo who were seated at the breakfast table with playing cards. Jun clapped Minghao on the shoulder before following after. 

Minghao channeled every ounce of calm that he could muster, then made his way to the island where all of the drinks were set out. But the one thing he hadn't anticipated was... Xiaojun wasn't there. Only you were. 

You were calmly busying yourself with surveying your options, then picking out liquids to carefully pour out into two different cups. It seemed like you were deliberately choosing things to mix together into your own special cocktail. 

Minghao couldn't believe his luck. 

He cleared his throat, plucking a cup from the bag, and heading over toward you. "Any recipe you're going by?" He asked, reaching for the vodka. Jesus, Hao, can you be any more lame? 

Your head perked up at the sound of his voice, and he could have melted on the spot. "Oh, this? Nah, just playing by ear." You paused, reconsidering. "Or I guess, by eye?" There was a half smile sort of expression on your face, and it somehow had the power to make Minghao's heart take flight. 

You nodded to him. "What about you?" 

"Same here; whatever looks good." He traded the vodka for the jug of apple juice. "I'm Minghao, by the way." And my heart's gonna fall out of my chest any second now. 

"Oh, I know," you smiled. "I'm Yn. Do people call you by your frat name or do you go by Hao?" 

Minghao suppressed a grin. "Either one. But my friends call me Hao." 

You took a pair of chopsticks and began stirring one of the drinks. "Okay, cool. Nice to meet you, Hao." 

"Nice to meet you, too, Yn." Finally. "I don't really see you around often. I'd definitely remember someone as pretty as you." He almost cringed; that was so lame. 

But there you were, making him forget everything, because you were giggling. "Yeah? You're not too bad yourself." 

Were his eyes tricking him or did you just glance down at his very exposed chest? Was that blush? God damn—he was not going to last. How were you this cute? 

Minghao took his finished drink and shifted so he leaned one hip against the counter and faced you. He brought the cup up to his lips for a small sip then licked his lips. "I'm guessing you didn't come by yourself since you have two cups." 

"Ah yeah." You brought one of the two up to drink, shrugging when you decided you liked it. "He's gone off somewhere." 

Minghao asked over the rim of his drink cup. "Boyfriend?" 

But before you could answer, there was a loud holler from the kitchen entrance. You and Minghao turned your heads in that direction, only to see that Xiaojun had come back. Right beside him, however, was Dong Sicheng (more commonly referred to as Winwin), your older brother. 

Great. 

"Look who I found!" Xiaojun exclaimed, hurrying over to your side to accept the drink cup from you. "Thank you, Ynnie. Hey ge." The latter was addressed to Minghao, to which he replied in kind.

You hummed in response, idly sipping your drink while Winwin walked up to the island and stopped on Minghao's other side. 

"Hey," Minghao greeted Winwin pleasantly. 

Winwin smiled warmly at him. "Hey." 

It wasn't that Minghao disliked Winwin. Actually, it was the complete opposite. Minghao respected Winwin so much that he feared not living up to his expectations. They were the same age, but Winwin had made a big name for himself on campus for his acting in the theater, as well as his impressive traditional dance training. Minghao dabbled in that realm as well, but preferred more contemporary styles. He just found Winwin intimidating half the time, even though Winwin was very friendly toward him. 

Minghao looked up and made eye contact with Jun across the room. Jun wagged his eyebrows up and down at him, and Minghao deadpanned. Help me, he mouthed. 

Jun snorted, shaking his head. You're doing great, bestie! He mouthed back, then returned his attention to the round of cards he was currently participating in. 

"Gege! Are you DDing?" You suddenly asked, peering around Minghao to look at your brother. 

Winwin wrinkled his nose, gulping his new concoction. "Uh, no. Kun usually DDs." 

"There's no way he'll DD tonight if he's hanging out with them," Minghao mused, inclining his head to the poker table. "He's gonna get sucked into that shit quickly and he probably won't wanna leave the table until dawn." He had personal experience with that one. Wonwoo was impenetrable. Jihoon was even worse; they should feel lucky he was somewhere else tonight. 

"I'm already drinking," Winwin shrugged, his comment directed at you. 

Xiaojun nudged you with his elbow. "We'll just find Renjun somewhere and get him to stay sober." 

"True," you agreed. 

Xiaojun was grabbing your wrist and hauling you away faster than Minghao could grapple with an idea to keep you to stay. "C'mon, I saw Jieun just down the hall earlier!" 

Your groan echoed in his ears as you left, but as you did, you glanced over your shoulder and sent Minghao a small wave. The corner of his lip quirked upward as he lifted his hand to wave back. And then you were gone. Not even a five minute conversation. 

Beside him, Winwin swirled the liquid around in his cup. "They're so weird sometimes. But at least I can count on Xiaojun to repel all the cretins at these events." 

Minghao raised his brows. "Are they dating?" 

To Minghao's utter disappointment, Winwin shrugged. "Beats me. They never give me a straight answer." He smirked in a sort of laugh, eyes flitting over to Minghao. "Isn't that weird, that I don't even know my baby sister's relationship status? They look like a couple, don't they?" 

"Definitely." He tried to not linger on that too much. 

"Yeah, well." Winwin sighed, sipping his drink once more. "I dunno about..." He paused, suddenly deciding against it, "Ah, never mind." 

On the outside, Minghao was calmly finishing off his drink. But inwardly, he clung to every word Winwin said. "You don't know about what?" Does he approve of them? 

Winwin chuckled, waving his hand around. "Aish, I just don't know." He bit his lip. "They don't seem quite right. What do you think?" 

Minghao's heart was currently a competitor in a Formula 1 race. "I guess I haven't seen enough of them to figure it out. Yn seems happy." 

"Well, that's because they're best friends." Winwin dunked back the rest of his drink. "Poker sounds kind of good right now. I'll see you around?" 

"Definitely. See you, Winwin." 

Winwin saluted. "See you, Hao." 

Minghao leaned his back against the counter again and shut his eyes. That was more nerve wracking than he wanted it to be. But he seemed to get a few things out of that conversation... Though there was one thing that stuck out the most to him: if Sicheng didn't approve of your best friend dating you, then what would he think of Minghao?

a/n: man, if only they knew huh :/

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[hjemve]

Hello, my name is Emory! I’m 25+, Canadian, use they/he, & have been RPing on tumblr since est. 2012. This is a highly selective, low-activity roleplay blog for my original character, "The Vagrant". An exorcist wanderer with mysterious, otherworldly powers. Set in medieval fantasy. Ex-villain. Follows from @bcneheaded. Heavily Dark & Religious themes will be present. Please read the info and rules page before following! (This blog uses the beta post editor!)

HELPFUL LINKS:

✦ Prologue. ✦ Memes ✦ Opens ✦ Interest Tracker ✦ pinterest board

OTHER BLOGS YOU MAY KNOW ME FROM

✧ @polyphagist / @boarish / @aeipcthy / @ccnfessional

✧ mobile friendly rules + muse info under the cut ✧

RULES:

➤ Well hey! My name is Emory; I’m 28 (they or he please!). Thanks for coming to read this! I’ll try to keep it as brief as I can. This is a highly selective, low-activity blog for an OC of mine. Created, developed and loved by me! :)

➤ When sending memes/asks/liking for a starter, please try to specify a muse that you're interacting with if you're a multi-muse blog, otherwise you may be ignored, or I may prioritize others before you

➤ I work a full-time job, and often struggle with my mental health, as well as deal with chronic pain – I may take a long time to respond both ooc and ic because of this; I apologize in advance. It’s not because I don’t want to write or talk with you, I promise! I’m also quite forgetful, so don’t be afraid to nudge me if I haven’t gotten back to you in a few days time; but on the same breath, please don’t hound me for responses.

➤ This blog is generally Mutuals-Only. Plotting and dms are reserved for mutuals only, but ask memes and open starters (unless tagged “mutuals only”) are open to anyone. Mutuals will be prioritized though.

➤ I’m not follow for follow, so that means I only follow those that I’m interested in writing with! I also read everyone’s rules and character information before following/interacting, and expect the same from others. I won’t follow those without a rules page or a finished (or mostly at least) character info page; I like to know who I’m writing with! I also follow from @bcneheaded as that is the main blog this one is attached to. If I follow you there, it's safe to assume I'm interested in interacting here as well!

➤   I ask you to please do not repeatedly unfollow and refollow me (or likewise like/unlike things) to get my attention; this behavior will result in a hardblock. Please communicate with me if you need or want something.

➤ Triggers will be tagged as trigger tw. Things I need you to tag for me are ped*philia, and emetophobia (irrational fear of v*mit** For me, in example… Saying you threw up is OK, but do not discuss or describe it any further than that please. Thank you.] ) If you deliberately ignore or frequently forget this rule, you will be blocked and anything we have will be dropped.

➤ Quality over quantity! But of course, please don’t give me a sentence in return for a couple paragraphs. On a similar note, I have the tendency to ramble. So please don’t feel the need to match my length if I’ve gone off and made the thread quite long. I’ll be happy with just about anything you give in return!

➤ Ships will be based on chemistry, and are possible here. Though given the nature of the muse, it may be a very long game, or a difficult thing to initiate. Discussion for pre-established relationships of any sort are super welcome and encouraged.

➤ I love continuing ask memes as threads and I definitely encourage you to do so if you’d like to (though it’s not necessary!) as it’s a great way to break the ice and start something in general. If you do though, I only ask that you do so on a new text post, @ my username, and possibly put it in the tags as well. I’ll like the post to let you know I’ve seen it, so if I don’t, don’t be afraid to ask to see if I have or not; we all know tumblr’s a little (a lot) funky, so I may have missed it!

➤ I don’t do drama, so please don’t involve me in it. Any passive aggressive or hateful asks or messages will be ignored and whoever it is sending it will be blocked. The anonymous feature is a privilege, please don’t abuse it.

➤ NSFW content of sexual nature might appear on this blog, but probably not often as I don’t often participate in those kinds of threads/they don't last long if I do. But if I do, it will be tagged as “ ( nsft ) ” and will only be done with people I’m close with or have discussed it with beforehand. NSFW themes may be more likely to appear in terms of DARK themes, as this muse is horror based. (depictions and mention of torture, existentialism, death, abuse, demonic imagery, religious themes etc will all appear here.) But these will be tagged as such. The catchall tag will be “ ( horror tw ) ”

~ These rules subject to change over time, but if/when they do I’ll be sure to make a post about it to let ya know! Thank you for your time; it’s appreciated!

_____

General Information:

- Name/Aliases: "The Vagrant". "Crow Caller", "Wanderer" - Age: 30-40 - Family: None - Place of Birth: The Kingdom of Amaran - Gender: Cis Male - Current residence: Thread dependent. Everywhere. - Personality/Attitude: Melancholy, quiet, impatient, violent, reckless, secretive, cold, sarcastic, wrathful; generous, determined, calm, loyal, diligent, dauntless, resourceful, empathetic, witty. - Abilities/Talents: >*Exorcism (the ability to weaken, expel dark entities from a person, place, or thing, and send it back to where it came from). > Annihilation (the ability to completely destroy dark entities.). > Puppeteer (ability to control darkness and/or dark entities.), > Necromancy (the ability to raise corpses or call upon spirits.), >***Demon's Essence (he is the product of a disaster that merged his human soul with the essence of a demonic lord; he has almost all of it's abilities. He just needs to discover and hone them, or eventually be consumed by it. Because he is spliced with a powerful demon, lesser dark entities may be forced to obey him if he wills or commands it.) , > "Crow caller" (can summon and command any number of crows. Act as a hive minded entity if more than one is summoned & have otherworldly abilities. They behave like normal animals.) >*Enhanced senses (has the ability to detect life signs, see in the dark, & has overall enhanced senses, mostly but not exclusively in the portions of his body that have already been consumed by the demonic essence). >**Human Soul (because he still possesses his humanity and soul, he is largely unaffected by holy items [such as crosses, holy water, etc] prayers or holy phrases or passages [cannot be banished/exorcised], and can walk unharmed on consecrated grounds. Can also use Light/Holy based abilities due to the human portion of his soul, though at the cost of his stamina.), >"Leech" (has the ability to draw power from consuming the blood of other powerful creatures at no cost to himself), >Magical resistance (is resistant to most forms of magic, but is generally invulnerable to most forms of fire.) >*Immortal. (he has lost the ability to die of natural causes such as illness, poisons, and age, making him effectively immortal unless destroyed.) ++ more undiscovered / unlisted - Weaknesses: Using his own abilities worsens his condition (every time he draws purely from the powers from the demonic essence, it consumes his soul and body a little faster. Consuming demon/monster/etc blood for power slows the rate of decay slightly), Holy fire (the only fire, along with fire summoned by fae, with the ability to harm him), Has magical resistance, but isn't invulnerable, Weak against ice and electricity, It's very likely he'll eventually be consumed by the demonic essence if he cannot control it (or dies), and the demon he was spliced with will return to life (&likewise with all of the vagrant's abilities and knowledge) but in this realm instead of its own... it is crucial he does not die, lest the rest of the world end up like Amaran. - Fears: The demon essence, demonic gods/lords, the underworld (hell), his identity being discovered, loss of control, holy entities, ... deep water.- Hobbies/Interests: travelling, drinking, sex, meditating, training, reading any books he can get his hands on... not much else. - Religion/Beliefs: Faithless. Uncertain what to believe in - Sexual Preference: Pansexual. - Occupation: travelling exorcist / none / a vagrant

-----

Backstory:

(Prologue.)

wip

#( pinned post ) #( ooc ) #( muse info ) #( rules ) #please always keep in mind that this character is a former BBEG !!! like THE BBEG of his story . except he /succeeded/.! unfortunately #hes forced to try to be different lest he do more damage than desired w how he is now <3

[shakysniffles]

a quiet hello post :)

look i'd memorised all my fave blogs and was starting to search them every night bc I was that horny for sneezes this wasn't going away any time soon

I'm Dorrie, and all personal info I’m comfortable sharing is in my blog description. This kink is extremely sexual for me and you should know that in advance. I will sometimes post non-snz sexual content. I will update tags as needed (see below). If I slip on a tag feel free to let me know (politely) but my headspace isn't always great at remembering details.

should you choose to follow please be aware that you can expect posts that are n/s/f/w and that involve mess and contagion. I do not apologise for finding deliberate contagion hot and if you can’t distinguish between sexual fantasy and reality then I recommend you don’t follow me.

this is intended to be an 18+ space for my own personal use - by interacting you confirm you are also 18+. I periodically block followers with no age in their bio.

I'm open to conversation/RP with people and have a background in writing fic, although I'm not yet brave enough for true self-indulgence :P

tag list and OC descriptions below the cut:

🛌 - colds / flu / illness

🌼 - allergies of any kind (pollen / animals / dust / perfume etc.)

🪶 - feathers

🧪 - science or scifi adjacent (i assign this one on vibes :P)

---

💦 - mess

🤧 - contagion

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📚 - stories or snzarios

🔂 - wavs / audios / videos

🎨 - art / photos / images

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🏳️‍🌈 - queer content

♂️ - male sneezing (cis or trans men)

♀️ - female sneezing (cis or trans women)

note i don’t currently tag nb, gen/derfluid, gen/derqueer or unspecified genders. I also try not to tag people’s OCs bc i know sometimes they use multiple pronouns. I also only tag queer relationships if explicitly queer, so no character A / character B scenarios. I might change that bc sometimes often I am thinking of queer characters when I reblog.

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🥵 - descriptive and hot af

🫠 - [redacted] (it’s the horny tag)

🫦 - not snz / other kinks (will add specific tags as I feel like it)

🌌 - posted by me (both snz content and personal posts)

---

Character Symbols

I use the following to help me find posts associated with particular OCs. None have names that have stuck yet but I’ll briefly describe them here. edit: i like how these got longer and longer the more I wrote lol...

🌺 - [she/her] high class spy who appears very gentle but hiding a steel resolve. Snzfckr, very in love with her partners 💛 and 🖤. Has a rather strong sensitivity to dust and owns an adorable puppy <3 Has some slight dom tendencies and really enjoys watching people putting on a bit of a show while holding off on her own pleasure and edging for as long as she can.

🖤 - [she/they] another spy, met 🌺 on a mission and decided to switch sides and is now a double agent. Isn’t often around as a result :( also a snzfckr and discovered this in a snzing while hiding scenario, but isn’t yet ready to explore it much :) Clams up at people telling her what to do and finds it very difficult to relinquish any kind of control or be vulnerable in front of others due to years of only being able to rely on herself but 💛 and 🌺 slowly earn her trust and are very sweet and patient while they wait for her to be ready.

💛 - [they/them] ray of sunshine <333 Has a wonderfully sneezy pollen allergy, which extends to floral perfumes, and very eager to please 🌺 and 🖤 and will happily induce for them. Sneezes are very drippy and spray all over and constantly borrowing tissues or handkerchiefs because he likes how flustered it makes 🌺 and 🖤. They’re just being a shit on purpose, they’ve never been ill prepared despite their laidback attitude in their life, but they LOVE to tease by asking for snzy supplies.

💚 - [he/him] He gets all the himbo tags not bc he’s dumb (he’s not!!) but his brain stops working when he’s sneezy and he comes over all bashful and clumsy and his sneezes sneak up on him so fast that he gets rather sloppy with his covering. He’s absolutely mortified by the whole affair and is very apologetic and interrupts his apology with yet more sneezes. Very messy and snotty and LOUD, his sneezes are a whole spectacle and a half. He doesn’t have any allergies, he’s just prone to head colds. He’s also really artsy - loves to paint and play music and is very generous and shares everything with his friends and family :) I sometimes ship him with 💖

🧡 - [he/they] snzfckr, scientist, lonely heart. lives with an android he built himself (💿) and they get up to some wild times together. He’s pretty clumsy but when he’s sick he plays it up bc they’re super fucked up and there’s nothing they like better than spreading those viral particles far and wide and he really really gets off on it. They also get turned on by their own sneezes and if he’s being honestly, he loves being all gross and disgusting and sneezing openly and spraying over everything. However this is all very much only in his own home, they do take their work super seriously and have a minor mental block with regards to sneezing in public so when he loses control at a conference it’s the absolute worst thing that could have happened and in the aftermath he runs into 💖 and they get together soon after <3

💖 - [he/him] another scientist but much shyer than 🧡 He really enjoys letting people take the reins in a relationship and He’s so polite like literally the nicest guy ever and at first 💿 has beef with him for “taking over” and tries to torture him with allergens but this only revealed that he’s also a snzfckr (just much more mild in manner) and at first he was super embarrassed at being found out bc he thought 💿 had gone snooping but the misunderstanding was soon cleared up and the happily sneezing household now gets along swell :D Sometimes I ship him with 💚 bc I like the art / science contrast <3

💿 - [she/it] the most sadistic lil android you never knew. Not technically a snzfckr but she was programmed and built by 🧡 to help him and it interpreted that to include helping him get off so it’s really just an extension of their desires. but it has an AI brain so it’s developed and evolved beyond that and now enjoys torturing both 🧡 and 💖 and frankly anyone foolish enough to ignore warnings about being left alone with her....

💙 - [he/him] obligatory businessman always down for an office fuck :P Son of the CEO, is actually genuinely good at his job, garners a lot of respect, and is set to become the big boss some day... if he can stop sleeping around the office lmaoooo... was put onto snzfckery by a secretary he slept with while he had a brutal cold and he has a bit of a praise kink so it all meshed rather well and he’s more than happy to keep exploring snz kink further. Bit of a workaholic and frequently shows up to work while atrociously unwell and his brother will come out and drag him home. He has some awful allergies too but swears up and down that they don’t affect his work - meanwhile the entire teams’ getting a free shower while he tries to present because he’s pretty damn useless at stifling

🔘 - [he/him] ngl he’s just a dilf and frankly i’m embarrassed about him <3 amalgamation of every old man I find attractive and he gets tagged when I get the vibe lmaooo. technically 💙‘s CEO dad but I try not to think to hard about that part bc 😳😳😳

Might add more later for example it’s a real tragedy I have no milf character but lmaooo this ought to do for a start.... I keep the universes pretty loose so although you can probably see three clearcut stories / worlds, they do overlap however I see fit.

#heyo folks #sneeze kink #sneezeblr #now need to go through all my fave old posts and ~~collect~~ them #aka reblog #uh #yeah #🌌

[soberyinragingyang]

I don't neccessarily think bsmits should be canon- like I don't trust the writers with that at this point lol. But people saying smits 'deserves better' really irk me- like he clearly doesn't WANT anyone else. If the series ends with him going 'eh I think I'd rather go for someone else' that's great but what he DESERVES (in my personal opinion) is the love of the person he wants to love him, even if said person is an old gremlin man.

He gets to decide for himself what he wants, you know. But I think that's something too complex to broadcast on 'longest running show ever' on Fox, which despite being a cartoon distanced far from what it used to be people expect to Do The Right Thing- and maybe it ought to, I don't know.

I'd rather just play around with it myself and with you guys 🤷 it's more interesting and fun to me than deciding by some arbitrary standard who'd be the most wholesome match, anyway.

#TL;DR: just end the darn show #it's enough we're done it's over! #and yes I still ship s/m/oe #I think they'd be a chaotic self-loathing couple which is great #very deliberately not tagging or describing any names here as you can see #just kinda bothered by things I've seen #but tbh I encourage everyone to produce content of what they think our boy deserves just don't shit on what he doesn't deserve or whatever #like I've seen someone suggest smits should kill burnsie bc THAT'S what he deserves?? please go away #he's not a victim and he never was #this is what you get for being the only gay main character on the show #discourse // #ask to tag //

[vilithshaven]

I'm not gonna lie, your posts especially anything that has childe in it makes me wanna scream in happiness. So how about god darling asking childe if she can visit his family in morepesok? Imagine his mom on her way to the market and suddenly childe with the creator side hugging him is in front of the door

DOTTORE'S WEAPON PART 5

Here's the long awaited fifth part in my Experiment God series! It took me longer than usual to write unfortunately, but it's here now, so who cares, right? :D

If you're new and want to check out the other parts, you can find all of them on our masterlist!

Tagging @nicebonescomrade because she wanted to be tagged. <3

Warnings: Reader throws up once, mention of torture, trauma, mental breakdown, scalpel

- Lilith

(Name) eyed the Liyue doctor warily, eyebrows furrowed. Their mind told them that they knew this man, but they just weren't able to put his face to a name. Any memories of before the experiments Dottore put them through refused to resurface. Their mind was a blank space. They didn't even remember if they had family or friends.

A sense of unease spread through them and they tried to hide behind Childe, grabbing onto the back of his top. The Harbinger frowned, while Scaramouche and the Tsaritsa stood next to him, focused on the current conversation.

"I hope Tartaglia already told you that this is of the utmost importance. Noone is allowed to know what you're going to do here; not even anyone back in Liyue, once you finish your job and return", the Tsartisa spoke, tone flat and full of distrust. She would have prefered a Sumerian doctor as the nation was known for its wisdom, but this was the only doctor Childe had accepted. He'd outright told them that he wouldn't put their God's life in any other hands. Although the Harbinger deliberately failed to tell them that Zhongli was going to kill him if anyone else touched their God.

The green-haired man nodded. "Of course. I swear on my life that I will not speak about this nor write it down anywhere."

The gathered people did their best to relax. Scaramouche put his hands on (Name)'s shoulders and gently pulled them forth so that Childe's body wasn't shielding them anymore. They cringed and averted their eyes.

"(Name), this is Baizhu. As you probably have heard just know, he'll be in charge of getting that Delusion out of your chest", the Balladeer introduced them, not letting go of them even as they tried to worm their way out of his grip.

The doctor smiled. Although he'd like to come closer and give the Creator a proper welcome, he refrained from doing so upon seeing the fear in their eyes. Eyes that resembled the nightsky. "It's an honor to meet you, Your Grace. This on my shoulders is Changsheng, my beloved friend."

(Name)'s eyes flickered to the snake, eyes focusing on her. It's like a muted conversation took place between the animal and the god, and Changsheng slithered down Baizhu's body to get to them. A soft smile graced their lips at the feeling of the cool and smooth body underneath her hands and they picked the snake up, placing a kiss on their snout.

Their God looked back at the doctor and nodded hesitantly. "Very well. I can agree to that."

They had to. No matter the discomfort it would bring in the future, it was worth it in the end.

Baizhu started the process by reading through Dottore's notes several times, pointing out key notes to whoever had been tasked with watching over him on that day. It was always either a Harbinger or a high-ranked Fatui agent. They didn't trust him to leave him alone with the mad Doctor's research. And that was good. If circumstances had been different, he would have loved to delve deeper into them and try a few of those experiments himself.

The Delusion held a unique power in it, one Dottore described as 'Darkness Manipulation'. He found nothing about its exact abilities, only that it was a revolution to all known things and, should their God ever learn to control it, an unstoppable force. The crazy Doctor had been working on a training schedule for (Name), but he never got around to start it. If it was for the better or the worst, Baizhu couldn't tell. Had they been able to control it, they at least wouldn't hurt anyone. Now he'd had to tread with even more care to ensure he wouldn't activate the Delusion on accident. Childe had told him enough of their God's bad days to know that its power wasn't to be underestimated.

After he was sure he understood enough about the Delusion, the true test began. Baizhu took skin samples from the affected area on the Delusion, tried to see what kind of movements or touches would force it to repel him. It happened quite so often that he'd be flung into a wall, their God apologizing to him whereas the Harbingers laughed at his plight. He'd only remind them that it was his job to work out the kinks, even if it meant he'd get hurt. There was nothing to worry about.

But the worst reaction happened the day he tried to cut out the Delusion for the first time. Baizhu numbed the area with a potion in advance to ensure (Name) didn't feel any pain during the process. Changsheng slithered around their neck, resting her head against their cheek and flicking her tongue out in a way of comfort.

Scaramouche and Childe both were present, arms crossed and anxiously watching the procedure.

The scalpel slit into the skin with ease and (Name) turned their head away, eyes shut tight. He removed the excess skin covering the Delusion, careful not to cut into it. Scaramouche cringed at the sight of the skin now lying on a medicinal tray, opting to focus on their God's face instead.

The Balladeer gasped, rushing over to cup their God's face. Tears had been pouring down their cheeks, teeth biting into lips so hard it brought forth blood. "(Name)?", he asked gently, repeating their name several times. But they didn't respond, only grimaced and started to shake their head.

Their expression was a mixture of confusion and terror, body tense and ready to run for it. Although the affected area had been numbed, they still felt the pressure on their body. It brought them back to that lab, until their mind slipped fully back into the past.

The Delusion's light pulsed in beat to her heart, alerting them of what was to come.

"Doctor Baizhu, I suggest you leave the room."

Baizhu nodded and picked up Changsheng, hurrying out with one last glance at their God. Sweat had started forming on their skin.

Childe strode to (Name)' head, placing his hands on their shoulders. They writhed and bucked up, a quiet cry tearing from their throat.

"(Name)!"

Their desperation was obvious. If they didn't get them under control now, they'd be forced to knock them out to prevent the havoc their Delusion would ultimately cause in response to their feelings.

"(Name), please. Listen to me", Childe urged, bending down until his lips brushed against their ear. "You're not with him anymore. We're here. Your Ajax and Kunikuzushi. You're not alone."

Scaramouche rubbed their cheeks, placing his forehead on theirs despite their movements. Their breaths intermingled and his distinct smell slowly perturbed the iron stench of blood their memories had procured. "You are safe. You are free", he whispered. "You're not his puppet. Not anymore. We found you."

(Name) opened their eyes, lids fluttering. They gagged at the burning sensation of vomit in their throat and the two Harbingers helped them up just in time for them to vomit onto the floor. Scaramouche turned up his nose at that and closed his eyes for a brief second. He took a deep breath in his gloves.

Their God heaved and shook, a dazed look in their eyes. Sweat dripped down the side of their head.

"You're fine. You're safe. You're free", the two Harbingers whispered. They only stopped once (Name)'s eyes shut and they fell asleep.

From that day on, they were forced to take it even slower. None of them had thought of their trauma or the fact that this resembled what Dottore had done so much. They'd been careless to believe their God had forgotten what had been done to them.

Several weeks after that first failed attempt, (Name) had their first bad day in months. They stared at the ceiling, hands clutching the blankets close to their body. No movement was seen expect for the occasional subconscious blink or gulp. They didn't even listen to any orders urging them to eat and drink.

Childe stayed by their side the whole time, sitting on the bed, their head resting on his thighs. His right hand stroked her head, the other lay intertwined with his God's on the silk sheets. He rambled on about his dreams and the latest talk going around the castle. Then he'd reassure them again, speaking to them in hushed tones how much he treassured them, that he was so grateful to have them in his life.

They showed the first sign of life during his stories about his family. Specifically Teucer and his mother.

"I'd like to meet them."

Childe stopped, unsure if he'd heard it right. Their voice was oh so quiet, barely audible over his own and he hadn't expected a reaction at all the whole day. He looked down at his God, but their eyes remained vacant. "Who?"

"Your...family."

A euphoric warmth spread through his chest and he lifted their intertwined hands to place a delicate kiss on their knuckles. He smiled into the skin, his warm breath causing goosebumps to form on their skin.

"It would be my honor to introduce you to them, (Name)."

Therefore it was decided. Childe made quick work of convincing the others that it would be good for their God to leave the Ice Palace for a few weeks. They'd been cooped up in here ever since he brought them back, the only times they went out was for his departure and arrival. Besides, Baizhu's procedures drained them rather rapidly. He was sure that once their God managed to get a nice vacation with his family, they'd be feeling better than ever and noone had to fear an outburst. Most likely.

The Tsaritsa didn't like the thought of their God leaving her palace' safety, however even she found herself accepting Tartaglia's request. It wasn't healthy for them to stay inside all the time and interactions with people that weren't servants or the Fatui surely would do them good.

Not even three days after (Name) had uttered their wish they found themself in a carriage, bundled up in thick fur coats provided by the Tsaritsa. They were sure that these were from the Archon's personal collection, the icey smell and length telling them so. Once upon a time the thought would have made them feel uncomfortable, now they buried into them.

"Are you excited, (Name?)", Childe asked them. His bright grin made them smile back at him.

"I am. Thank you...for all of this."

"No need to thank me! Just enjoy this trip away from any prying eyes and tell me if you're overwhelmed. My family can be quite strenuous and I'll understand."

The journy took two days. Morepesok lay far up north where even summer days never brought any warmth and the generic occupation was fishermen. Most houses were ramshackle buildings that looked as if a harsh gust of wind would destroy them in a second in spite of the fact that Childe reassured her that wasn't going to happen. His family owned a more luxurious mansion, he said, thanks to his high pay as a Harbinger. Or a toy salesman, which was the occupation he told his family he had. They never questioned it, thankfully.

They came to a stop at a market and Childe helped (Name) out of the carriage after helping them put on a scarf and mask, instructing the driver how to reach his home. His arm wrapped around their shoulders and he steered them towards the various booths holding warm drinks and food, fabrics, clothes and so many other things.

Their eyes brightened at the sight, at the happiness the people exuded despite the unbearable cold and bleary environment. The both of them strolled through the market. (Name) got wary looks from the citizens, them openly displaying their distrust to the covered stranger, although they greeted Childe in a familiar way.

However that wasn't a surprise to them. They wore a black mask that covered half of their face. A safety precaution. One of many the Tsaritsa had worked out with Childe beforehand to ensure that nothing would go wrong on this trip.

Suddenly Childe whooped, opting to grab their hand and pulling them along as he ran through the crowd. A few people leered and insulted them, but most just shook their hand and continued on their day, smiling fondly at the scene.

(Name) found it hard to keep up and clutched the scarf around their neck closer, breath coming out of them in fast puffs. Due to staying inside ever since...that, they hadn't worked out or done anything to uphold their stamina. Hence they bent over, hands resting on their knees to catch their breath. They heard Childe apologizing and he ran a hand along their back, rubbing in soothing circles.

Two snow-white hands came into their vision and cupped the back of their head, making them look up. (Name) tensed at the sudden touch, but relaxed as soon as their eyes fell on a ginger-haired woman. Familar blue eyes looked back at her. "Are you okay, dear?", she asked, frowning in concern. "Please excuse my son for making you run like this."

Childe pouted and crossed his arms. His mother let go of them. "I already apologized!"

"And they were just focusing on breathing and probably didn't hear you! Again, young man!"

The ginger groaned and leaned down, his lips touching their forehead. "I'm sorry for not taking care of you better, (Name)", he whispered, careful as to make sure noone heard him say their name.

(Name)'s eyes crinkled and they chuckled, taking his hands and intertwining their gloved hands. "It's okay. You were just excited. I understand."

Coos disrupted their peaceful moment of looking into each other's eyes and both looked at the ginger-haired woman, who now adorned a big smile on her face. "I'm glad you're back, Ajax. Your siblings miss you. But who is this? You did mention someone was going to come along with you..."

Ajax grabbed the basket from his mother with one hand and motioned the woman to follow him. This time he walked slow, glancing (Name)'s way to make sure they were alright. "Let's get home first. This is no place to talk."

His mother was visibly confused by this need for secrecy, but she accepted it nonetheless. She hummed as they trudged through the market to the outerskirts of the village, the song a sweet lullaby.

(Name) saw their home the moment they turned a corner. Unlike its neighbors, it was two stories high and upkept. A fence surrounded the grande building, the metallic gate opened halfways. Just in front of the door stood the carriage that had brought them here.

"It's quite different", they murmured as they walked up to the entrance. Ajax squeezed their hand. "It's...nice."

They separated once they entered the building into the lobby. A fire burnt in a fireplace to their left, its warmth attracting the newly arrived. Ajax and his mother discarded their winter clothes first, hanging them up on racks while (Name) waited. The Harbinger came to them and went onto helping them out of the several coat layers. The scarf stayed, hiding the Delusion from sight for the moment.

His fingers toyed with the strings of the mask, a contemplative and sad look in his eyes. "Mother. What I'm about to tell you is a state secret. It was hard enough to get them out of the Ice Palace, so if anyone were to find out...yeah."

Telling his mother about their Creator meant admitting to working as a Harbinger. His mother who was the only person of his family to be granted such a privilege. (Name) put a hand on top of his, stilling the nervous movements of his fingers. They nodded.

Ajax took a deep breath, shoulders slumping. "Meet (Name)...our Creator and the God above all gods." The mask came loose with a soft tug of his hand and fell off, fluttering to the carpeted floor.

His mother looked at them with wide eyes, confused and shocked. She grabbed onto the back of a couch as a wave of dizziness washed over her. "Our...Creator? What? The Ice Palace? Ajax, what do you mean?"

Ajax went to his mother and helped her sit down. He stood staying, his hands resting on her shoulders. "It's a long story and I promise I'll explain more later when we're alone. Just...you can keep this secret, can't you? (Name) needs this reprieve. They just need to feel normal again."

(Name) walked up next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, snuggling into his side. He accepted the hug, pulling them closer.

"I'm just (Name). Nothing more", they said, voice hesitant. They didn't want to overwhelm the poor woman. It was clear that she was close to a breakdown. "Frankly, I...I wanted to come here to meet Ajax' family. The family of the one who saved me."

It didn't matter that it was Scaramouche who found them first. Ajax, their Ajax, was the one to get them out of that horrible place. They shivered and burried their face in his shoulder as old memories resurfaced.

A lithe hand touched their hand and pulled them down, only to be replaced by warm arms. The distuingished smell of fish entered their nose. Hands rubbed soothing circles into their back.

"I may not understand this situation, but..." His mother breathed out shakily. "You are in need of a family, aren't you? Your eyes...they remind me so much of my boy's after he came back from being kidnapped."

Her mouth found its way to (Name)'s cheek, lingering there. "It's nice to meet you, (Name). I hope you'll enjoy your stay here."

(Name) felt their eyes grew wet and she bit into their bottom lip to stop the sobs from bursting forth. But his mother looked into her eyes, and that look told them everything they needed to hear.

The first drops ran down their cheeks and they hiccuped as they pressed their face into her shoulder. Warm hands caressed their back and waist and soft humming tuned out the rest of the world.

(Name)'s heart was ready to burst as it realized it finally has found what it was missing all this time.

#genshin impact #genshin impact sagau #self aware au #yandere genshin x reader #self aware genshin #sagau #genshin impact x reader #genshin cult au #cult au #imposter au #experiment god reader #dottore x reader #scaramouche x reader #childe x reader #tsaritsa x reader #baizhu x reader #tw vomit #tw mention of torture #tw mention of trauma #tw mental breakdown #tw scalpel

[douxie-casperan]

Rise of the Titans and the assassination Hisirdoux Casperan’s character development

I’ve been ranting so much since Wednesday morning that I finally condensed by thoughts of WHY this one subject keeps setting me off namely the utterly diabolical way they handled Douxie and Archie’s relationship in Rise of the Titans and how it wasn’t just enough to hit him with the nerf bat.

Please note I’m at the point where I literally cannot tell the difference between Aaron headcanons, Teny headcanons and my own they are all mixed together in the blender that does funky things. I also apologise for typo/weird wording it’s half 1 in the morning and I’d rather sleep than edit.

~

If asked to sum up Hisirdoux Casperan there are certainly several things that come to mind:

Sees the value in people as a whole and will find do anything if there is a chance of help someone out

Prefers tactics that disable/banish rather than kill an enemy yet willing and able to pull the trigger if circumstances become forced

While not academically inclined he is very capable of thinking on his feet and outside the box calling back to his time on the streets where a split-second decision making is the difference between being caught and not

Terrible at planning he’ll be in there figuring it out as he goes along which is what makes the previous point so vital to literally how he goes through life

A natural charmer that would let him talk his way out of trouble 9/10 providing a perfect cover for his distrustful nature and reluctance to be touched by random people

Very down to earth, humble and never one to brag unless outright sassing someone

Will bang out some hot tunes at the drop of a hat, his love of music has never wavered once since he caught the bug despite instrument hopping ironically becoming a jack of all trades much like his magic style

The earliest memories he can recall are him as a young boy lost in the woods where he was for an unknown amount of time before his soon to be familiar finds him amongst the roots covered in dirt and drying tears, there is nothing before that. Unbeknownst to him is the colour of his magic matches the blue of a lost mother’s eyes and the song that haunts his nightmares as much as fire could well be hers though there is no way to be sure. From that moment on Archibald, shortened to Archie, would become his entire world and their friendship only becoming closer during the years they prowled Camelot together trying to keep themselves in one piece until the fateful day Douxie tricks the wrong person leading him straight into the path of the famous wizard Merlin Ambrosius.

It's no real secret that Merlin is a very closed off person who keeps his emotions as well guarded as his secrets, prefers the style of negative reinforcement over positive encouragement and is a very strict perfectionist in his. At this point in his life he can be very easily described as a disaster that is genuinely doing his best with every little mistake held of his head and his future self when brought back to that time period is belittled by Lancelot (Errand boy) and Arthur (Boy) too meaning it’s hardly a wonder his confidence was very fragile revelling in the times where he could do things without being told off for it. With Morgana largely ignoring him too (Though personally I like to think as he got older she’d occasionally take an interest until the blistering arguments with their master started to talk over daily life) a certain disguised dragon would have remained a lifeline and give that physical affection he craved much like being told he’d done well never seemed able to earn.

With Killahead he’d lose that home and family he made leaving just the two of them behind struggling to figure out their place in the world that had abandoned them.

There wouldn’t have been the words for it back then but the way he had been treated prior was outright abusive instilling very bad habits into Douxie yet by irony he was always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and help those in trouble without thinking earning a reputation as the Shepard of Fire. He refused to become like him seeking to be better, perhaps not as a wizard (Even though he was learning new charms and spells along the way) but certainly as a person. Despite everything he suffers through or witnesses in the intervening years, the loss of friends and kindling of far newer ones he never loses his good heart 

That said is it any wonder that after rightfully sassing Merlin for resurfacing, ignoring his existence despite being in the same town and only visiting him to run a finding errand that all the confidence he’d managed to build completely from scratch after Camelot wavered causing him to fall back solely into trying impressing his old Master who was acting like his humble apprentice must have coasted the past few centuries who himself fell back into old habits of belittling? It’s only when Merlin started to truly listen and acknowledge that this was not the same Moppet he once knew after Excalibur was fixed that their relationship finally started to become more like equals. After the defeat of Janus the changeling that broke into the castle he touched Douxie’s shoulder with a genuine smile and for a second he simply didn’t know what to do because the old man never did this before his brain kicked into gear and realised he’d finally earned that one thing he’d been so desperate for his entire life: That in Merlin’s eyes he could be more than a failure who only caused problems for the closest thing to a father figure he’d ever had, never solved them.

A staff will be earned, history would be set back on trap by banishing Morgana tag teaming with Archie because they know one another inside and out, as promised he’d get the kids back to the present but soon after things would go badly wrong. They’d lose Jim and because of his very nature he’d make a gamble to try and get him back because that life is worth trying for just for in a moment of surprising selflessness Merlin would be sacrificed to save him. The only constant in his life apart from Archie would apologise, openly express pride and how the greatest thing he’d ever done was saving this orphan, call him son for the first and final time before turning into ash in his arms. There would be no time to grieve for things will barrel into the crescendo of Douxie sacrificing his own life to buy everyone time to escape because if they did that everything he’d ever done would be worth it with one last whispered goodbye.

(Zoe sees him fall, so does Archie – His heart would break if he was conscious just like theirs does when his body crumples into the ground)

On the very fringes of the Light Realm he is gifted one more conversation with Merlin in a truly heart-breaking sequence (THANKS TENY) where they can just talk without any fear of consequence or politics and just be completely honest. Douxie is allowed to stand equal to Merlin, to have the hug he’d needed since he was a child and be allowed to simply let go of every pretense and cry his heart out because this can never happen again. He’s allowed to say goodbye to both his master and Morgana who had both shaped so very much of his life but like the painting he’d always remained firmly in the long shadows of until that moment.

When Hisirdoux Casperan finally leaves Wizards if we just accidently deliberately put the shawarma back in along with checking in with Zoe before departure, it is with having learned to live during his wandering years but this is the point of true freedom because he can finally escape into his own light with Archie by his side to keep Nari out of the hands of those that would see the world harmed. It won’t be easy but it feels possible somehow even with the knowledge everything is simply running on borrowed time.

Then Rise of the Titans happens.

At first everything is genuinely fine! No more running, they engineer a solution shut the Order’s magic down to make them a lot less dangerous and potentially at least incapacitate them until they can come up with a longer-term solution but all the best laid plans and all that. Douxie’s quick thinking stops the train from crushing any of the people below and it’s a very him style move to switch places with Nari to stall for time because for some reason the plot disabled Claire from portaling her or any of the threatened people/heroes to safety. He openly sasses the Order despite knowing the consequences will be bad for him because once again he’s managed to trick them, buy time that at the other end isn’t even slightly utilised until he’s forced back into his own body in excruciating pain. Archie immediately mobs him with comfort just as he has done every single time the wizard is distressed or collapsed with exhaustion without thinking because that is what their bond is like, incredibly close and far more than the Soul Bond mark that connects them together. They’re very alike in that regard, you have to earn the right to touch while equally knowing exactly what form the other needs the most in that precise moment in a way very few others could.

Bar the moment of figuring out that an illusion is in place to hide where the Order is opening the Genesis Seals and the brief insistence on reconnecting with Nari somehow Douxie manages to forget everything that makes him who he is after this point choosing to stand in the background being very no thoughts head empty or can only use the most basic spells of his youthful days not the seasoned master wizard he should be. Nomura is treated like an innocent slip rather than an outright death he did absolutely nothing to prevent (Not to mention the stupid daytime thing) nor seems to care particularly about afterwards yet with Nari’s he’s allowed to openly grieve in a gorgeously animated visual showing how he’d failed to keep her safe despite everything. He did nothing to help here either mind despite allowing himself to be tortured in the same piece of media to keep her safe, just watched another loss happen right in front of his eyes in his conga long line of them.

Then there’s Archie, oh god then there was Archie.

The dragon who even here he’d been shown to have an incredibly close bond with him decides you know what sod that tell him goodbye I’m going to make a joke about having a kingdom now dad and me are trapped in here forever. Douxie on his part looked sad for all of three seconds saying that he hoped he’s happy like it's a pet that wandered out into the world one day and never came back instead of a lifelong companion that has been there for as long as he can remember. He was now completely alone in the world since Zoe was also written out entirely and because every bit of his background had been forgotten about it somehow meant nothing. This wasn’t “I know you miss him, I know you need to grieve but you are running out of time” moment like things had been with Charlie, this was “cool shapeshifting dragon cat is now stuck in a plot hole that’s a shame” with zero pay off or any of the genuine reaction that should have been there or hell even trying to Ohana him back that very second because it never should have happened in the first place. Then even this wasn’t enough somehow, they managed to de-power Douxie even further into uselessness bar the (Admittedly nifty!) sticky feet stunt, the one who fought Skrael and Bellroc to a stalemate was shunted aside with barely a thought and his head would somehow get even emptier.

The one person who knew the danger of time magic the most stood by and said nothing.

The one person who would suffer the most by a reset because the lynchpin to his issues would be asleep if you got it wrong and should have drilled it into Jim’s head the best time to aim for stood by and said nothing.

The one person who had just suffered the loss of his familiar, best friend and only family along with the almost sister like Nari stood by and said nothing.

Then to add further insult to injury the caption when Douxie and Archie is shown says Some go their entire lives living an existence of quiet desperation because every drop of his character growth, his ability to finally start addressing his trauma instilled back in the 12th century, the staff he longed for was instead openly mocked by going “Aww he got his cat friend back how nice!” Everything he’d rightfully earned and had now would be unable to progress until certain criteria are met because it hinges entirely on the Trollhunter going to Merlin’s tomb and there’s only so much your support network of two (One if she’s written out) can do, the root of the majority of his issues all stem from one man.

And this folks is why I’ve been going on multiple rants about Douxie in particular, everyone was hit with the out of character bat to some degree in this film but when they came for him they didn’t just stop after they took his legs out because they wanted him to suffer from something he’s never had any control over to begin with all over again. Abuse survivors deserve better, these characters deserve better and we as viewers deserve far far better writing than we were forced to endure.

#Ooc - Behind the curtains #Rise of the Titans #Rise of the Titans spoilers #RotT Spoilers #RoT spoilers #Wizards #Tales of Arcadia #ToAWizards #Hisirdoux Casperan #Douxie Casperan

[mightyoctopus]

I am obsessed with your "Jet tries to rescue Zuko from Iroh" au after reading the posts. Is it possible you have more thoughts/scenes regarding this AU?

Aww, thank you so much! I don’t have anything else written, but I could... ramble a bit, if you’d like?

There are two major things to consider with this AU.

Underlying themes

Angst potential

To start with number one: I originally envisioned it as a 2 part series. In the first part (the one I have actually written), Jet comes to the conclusion that not all fire benders are evil/ the enemy.

He comes to this conclusion through a mix of misunderstanding and deliberate deceit.

At the beginning, he believes Li (Zuko) to be an Earth Kingdom citizen getting coerced by a fire bender. Then he learns that Li is a fire bender himself. However, he still regards Li as a victim and is under the impression that he is the son of an Earth Kingdom woman and a Fire Nation colonialist who forced himself onto her.

Li was burdened with fire bending on top of everything else the Fire Nation put him through, in Jet’s mind.

Conclusion: You can be a fire bender without being aligned with the Fire Nation government, or even being a Fire Nation citizen.

Which is true, y’know, but in part 2, Zuko would have made a bit of an opposite discovery. Or maybe a complementary discovery?

Namely, that, if he looks away and does nothing, he is complicit in the Fire Nation’s actions... and his beloved uncle is, too.

We can already see seeds of this in part one.

In canon, Zuko is not reformed at this point. But I decided to make some changed to better suit me. For one, he realized that non-Fire-Nation people are full people too and that Uncle has harmed and killed actual real people in his time in the army.

 [This got long, so I’m putting a read more.]

I think that people often say “Silence is violence” too un-critically. Not everyone has a voice and not everyone’s silence is equal. I do not know if Zuko, banished as he was, would have had the power to change anything. But Iroh, crown prince Iroh, important military leader Iroh, could have surely done something. Anything.

It would have come to the point where Zuko confronted Iroh, and asked him, “These horrible things are going on. People are suffering. Why didn’t you do anything? Why aren’t you doing anything?”

I don’t know what Iroh would answer.

There are many paths to choose from.

Has Iroh been working behind the scenes?

Did he realize that war is bad, but never fully internalize that the “opposite side” are real people who are suffering every day under the Fire Nation?

Morally gray (black?) Iroh who doesn’t value life as such and doesn’t see protecting it as a priority.

Did he have a spirit vision that made him believe waiting it out would be best? (Which like, bad choice. Yikes.)

Some people head-canon that Lu Ten’s death wasn’t natural and was instead orchestrated by Ozai. Maybe Iroh was no longer safe in the Fire Nation and thought leaving with Zuko to be his best choise?

Like I said, many paths to choose from.

To summarize:

Part 1: The state of biologically being a fire bender doesn’t make you a bad person or complicit with the Fire Nation government.

Part 2: Being complicit with the Fire Nation government makes you a bad person.

Now, to get to the second point: Angst potential.

I think there is great angst potential, but I don’t quite know how to milk it. I have never written angst before and I have, in fact, not written anything since I was 12 years old.

I think I managed to make it emotional, though? At the very least, I got super emotional writing part one.

Even though he is mistaken, Jet genuinely believes Li to be abused by a fire bender.

Jet has been collecting and protecting orphans ever since he became one himself, and to be confronted with his worst nightmare in Ba Sing Se, where he went to start a new and safe live?

---

I think, if I were to continue this, I would probably not write the part 2 described above and instead focus some more on Jet. Maybe more Jet + Zuko interactions or Jet + Smellerbee + Longshot.

Possible things I could write about:

After part 1, Jet learns the truth about Li’s identity (not good for his mental health)

Jet talks to Smellerbee and Longshot about his suspicions

Jet wonders why Mushi would coerce Li. Very strong angst potential and dark themes here.

Because Li doesn’t seem to be “useful,” he doesn’t seem to have any special talents that would warrant a kidnapping. He isn’t a particularly good waiter, and it doesn’t seem like Muchi is profiting off of him. Ransom seems unlikely.

So why would Muchi go through the trouble of taking Li with him?

And then, one day, while spying on them, he sees Iroh be affectionate – maybe a hug or a hand on a shoulder – and Jet comes to a horrible conclusion.

Bonus points if Zuko violently rejects Iroh, shoves him away, yells some. One of his usual canon-like temper tantrums.

It’s sure to give Jet the worst possible impression.

 ---

Okay, that was a lot a lot of rambling. I hope it’s what you were looking for? It got pretty dark towards the end, I guess.

Oh, and to anyone reading this: Feel free to write for this AU! Even if it is completely different from what I outlined here. I love to see what other people do with my ideas, so please tag me/ send me a link.

@electronswrites 

#jet + zuko #Jet thinks Zuko has been kidnapped AU #rape mention #my writing #I'm the OP #jet #zuko

[outofangband]

Maedhros at the Palace at Alqualondë, Part Two

Previous Part

Next AU masterlist + explanation Other masterlists

CW: abuse of power, gaslighting

Fun fact! This AU was originally going to be about Thingol! It’s different enough that I might still write it actually, I’ll make a longer post about it soon

I used formal but modern grammar here for the most part (exceptions are intentional) to indicate the difference between elven and Valarin dialects when translated into English. I’ll go into more about this later, it’s kind of hard to explain but I hope this is ok and that the language is in character enough.

Random clarification: The exact age difference between different members of the house of Finwë actually differs throughout Tolkien’s notes and there aren’t really a lot of clear answers. I do personally headcanon that Maedhros is younger than all of Finwë’s children although he is not much younger than Írimë and Arafinwë who were still children when he was born.  

I’m slowly writing something in chronological order but I’m taking requests for short pieces from anywhere in the timeline

One night’s lost sleep should not cause noticeable distress among the highborn elves but Nelyafinwë (the name still brought a twinge of distaste to his lips, even now) looked to be in poor condition at the early hour Arafinwë entered the room he had left him in. Eyes were widened, hair askew as he twisted around to look at his visitor.

“I hope you did not spent the night struggling against these, Russandol,” Arafinwë says calmly, moving forward to examine the restraints, debating whether or not to remove the leather from his nephew’s mouth. The younger elf tensed visibly as his fingers moved towards the straps on his face.

“I mean this for your own sake, of course. No harm will come to you here. There was no need to remain in such a state of agitation.” Despite his calm and even tone there is no denying that his words are almost mockingly empty; Nelyafinwë is naked, strapped down, completely vulnerable and Arafinwë knows perfectly well how much the younger elf detests this so vividly and why.

“I will remove these now, provided you remain calm.” Nelyafinwë doesn’t look anything resembling calm but Arafinwë moves to undo the straps around his head, carefully pulling the leather piece from his mouth.

He pants softly for several minutes as the other straps were removed. When his limbs were freed, he sat up, knees pulled to his chest in an attempt to cover himself. The look he gave Arafinwë was a deeply uncertain one. There was no avert animosity to it but the elf king was nevertheless cautious as he moved around the bed as though he might be sprang upon at any moment. Nelyafinwë’s eyes did not leave him as he walked to the cabinets and removed a sheet. His pace was slow, deliberate as he stepped back into plain view and offered it out to his guest.

“I will retrieve your clothes from the guards later today, Russandol. In the meantime you may use this.”

A small gesture of acknowledgment as he pulled the sheet around himself. Arafinwë wondered if Nelyafinwë was aware of how poorly he hid his apprehension. He wondered too if his half nephew would trust in it or simply dismiss it as paranoia caused by the traumas of the past.

“Thank you, Lord Arafinwë,” Nelyo says curtly once he has settled his arms in front of him again.

The king nods in response before walking over to the small table by the door and returning with a glass of a breakfast juice, something like a thin smile playing on his lips as Russandol eyes it.

…

It should have taken a bit longer for the effects to take hold, perhaps he had been too heavy handed with the mixture.

Arafinwë takes the glass before the younger elf’s grip becomes too unsteady. Nelyafinwë’s eyes appear rather blurry and unfocused but he’s still lucid enough to be angry.

“You had no right to..” he stumbles on a word and Arafinwë coolly cuts him off.

“No right to ensure the safety of my subjects when I am housing a kinslayer, however temporarily?” The look Nelyafinwë gives him might be described as dour but he does not, or perhaps cannot retort.

“Besides,” Arafinwë continues smoothly, “I was under the impression that being held in restraints brought back unpleasant memories. Is this not a reasonable alternative?” He searches his half nephew’s face; a blink that might have been a prelude to an argument had he been more able to articulate,

“I have read the reports of the healers who initially treated thee following thy rescue from the Iron Prisons. I know of thy tendency to lash out should you receive enough provocation.” He was given another blink, the expression clearly impudent but there was nothing Nelyafinwë could do to argue so Arafinwë went on, his face closer to the other’s now, his voice softer, “You are not the only one to return from the clutches of the Dark Foe with the disposition of a wounded animal but I would not be remiss in saying that you are one of the most dangerous cases. Both because of thy previous actions and because of the rather…unique connection that you shared with Him.”

This brought a reaction. Nelyafinwë actually made an almost convulsive gesture with both arms as though attempting to throw himself up and off the bed.

“None of that, now,” Arafinwë chides softly, pushing him back with minimal force, “But really, Russandol. This was precisely what I spoke of.” Arafinwë eases him down again on the bed, allowing him to keep his sheet to cover himself. Nudity was not typically a source of shame among the Eldar but the Fëanorian became so agitated with his clothes taken. And he could not afford for Nelyafinwë to become so agitated. Yet.

Nelyafinwë can’t see it, he can barely keep his eyes open but there is the slightest hint of satisfaction on the king’s face as he stood and turned to leave.

Author’s note: I should add here that Arafinwë actually knows a decent amount about Maedhros’s trauma in Angband. He’s seen the healer’s reports including Nolofinwë’s wife’s private journals. I headcanon that Anairë is a healer and after the events of Silm she becomes very good at treating survivors of torture and long term injuries from their experiences on Arda. Arafinwë asks her to borrow her notes on a different case and she agrees, trusting him to not look through the private parts of her journal. But he does read them. They contain not only her own observations but very personal details of Maedhros’s torture that he had confided in Nolofinwë. Ara also has information from what his own son has confided in him.

Tag list: @elarinya-nailo @iwenttomordor @mozart-the-meerkitten @tears-and-lilies @oswaldinator3000 @much-ado-about-whumping

#the silmarillion #maedhros #Finarfin #Arafinwë #splinters like jewel shards #short writings #I’m going to be in the car for awhile for travel which is really stressful

[kirythestitchwitch]

Til I Tasted You: Chapter 2

Bonnie talks Caroline into trying out a "To Find A Mate" spell. The traveling through time part was completely unexpected, as was who the spell reveals. Chapter One on AO3

Uh hi so, this is like three years later! I got inspiration and like was well, I might as well do that sequel everyone asked for!

Thank you @cupcakemolotov and @certifiedceraunophile for your advice and encouragement!

Tags: Time Travel, Mates, Woodsy Makeouts, Magical Accidents, Human Klaus Mikaelson, Vampire Caroline Forbes, things do not go as planned, Werewolf Mates, this isn't a slow burn this is two idiots , tanding around on fire, very tense conversations on porches, You ever just YEARN?, it's yearning hours, Hybrid Klaus Mikaelson, Yeah the 'does he find out?' chapter is here

Caroline parked her car in front of the house and breathed for a minute in the dark, forehead pressed to the steering wheel. She'd had to haltingly explain to Bonnie while wrapped in her comforter what happened.

Embarrassed, horrified, and intrigued in equal measure, Bonnie had seemed to understand what she meant when she tried to explain the way touching him had felt. “It’s the mate bond. It how they… know,” she said awkwardly, gesturing to one of the books still on the floor.

A horrible thought occurred to Caroline. “So you knew. You knew that Tyler wasn’t, because we didn’t...” she trailed off, but Bonnie seemed to understand.

“I knew,” her friend nodded guiltily. “I thought maybe someone new might help, after he...” She bit her lip, obviously thinking how badly that had backfired.

"Damon's going to want to use this," her friend had whispered. And not for the first time, Caroline wondered how much of herself she had to give up for Elena’s happiness. Klaus wasn’t good, he wasn’t kind, but according to very adamant magic, he was hers. And he’d tried to kill her twice.

She could deal with this tomorrow, she thought, finally climbing out of the car. First period history tests didn’t care that your world had been upended, they only cared about essay questions about the political tensions of France in 1789. As she set her foot on the top porch step, Klaus’ voice came out of the dark. “Having a pleasant evening, Caroline?” Her head snapped up.

Klaus leaned casually in the shadow of one of the porch posts, like showing up unannounced at 9pm when she was in a crisis didn't make him a big creepy weirdo. His eyes perused her appearance before refocusing on her face. Something a little like hope, like satisfaction, dawned on his face. "Leave something in the woods?"

Caroline inhaled sharply. Under Bonnie's borrowed shirt she could still feel echoes of his hands gripping her close, could still taste him when she licked her lips, and it felt like the most searing of damnations to still somehow want him. She scoffed anyway. "Did everyone go hiking today? I must have missed the invite."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "That is not the yellow shirt you were wearing this morning. Rebekah was quite... detailed."

She looked away, flush crawling up her cheeks in mortification. "I guess it was too much to hope you had forgotten?" Perversely, desperately, she had wanted him to have remembered.

Klaus didn't seem to breathe and then with a quick step he erased the concept of personal space. "If you think I have forgotten a single moment of what it felt like to touch you in all the time I have had to contemplate what you mean to me, you have not been paying attention." He lifted his hand and with careful fingers touched one of her curls as one touches something precious and burning.

She swatted his hand away. "I think I've been paying attention every time you tried to kill me, Klaus!"

"Do tell," he said neutrally, rubbing his fingertips against his thumb before dropping his hand.

Crossing her arms, she glared at him. This close to him the urge to reach for him was prickling under her palms again and that way lay madness. “You kidnapped me and tried to use me in your murdery hybrid ritual,” she said.

His fingers twitched again, and he shoved them in his pockets. “Yes, I can see how having you and my hybrid safely tucked away from the Salvatore’s incompetence for an afternoon was actually mistaken for an attempt on your life,” he said mildly.

“They snapped my neck and manacled me to a wall, and I was supposed to think ‘Ah, Klaus is trying to save my life, of course, that’s completely obvious!’”

Klaus lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “It seemed expedient at the time.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Okay, then please explain making Tyler bite me over a pissing contest you had with Stefan.”

For the first time, Klaus looked away, lips pressed firmly together. “There was never a moment where I would have let you die.”

“Hey no, you don’t get to pull that ‘You were never in any danger’ crap,” she snapped. “I was terrified and I was dying, and you...” You made me want to start living again, was what she couldn’t say.

“He called you his girlfriend,” Klaus’s golden rimmed gaze practically collided with hers with a fury she could feel like radiant heat on her skin. “His girlfriend, like such an infantilizing word could describe what you could be to someone, like you were his. I gave him the chance to prove me wrong, to show me he could defy me for your sake. He failed.”

It took a moment for Caroline to speak again. “You had him bite me because you were jealous?” she asked, incredulously.

Klaus shifted his weight, and then clenched his jaw, gold fading from his eyes. “As if I could be jealous of a boy who has no concept of what it is like to touch the sun and then spend a millennium looking for daylight in every strangers’ face.” His arms bunched as he held himself still, and Caroline remembered what they felt like under her hands, warmth and crystal clear belonging humming at her fingertips.

She closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the swooping feeling in her stomach. “You can’t just… you can’t just say things like that when I’m furious with you,” she said looking back at him, frustrated, mad, and horribly, undeniably charmed.

Giving her ample time to move, Klaus leaned in slowly until his breath feathered against her face. “When you left me in that forest,” He said lowly, “It was with a name, a bit of fabric, and a yearning I had no reference for. I went home and I died that night, and days later when the wolf came clawing out of me, I awoke tied to a post with the bone deep knowledge of what I had gained and what I had lost.” He licked his lips and she could hardly breathe.

“For a thousand years you stayed lost, and I kept your shirt until time unwound it and the faintest scraps remained. So do not presume to tell me that Tyler has something for me to be jealous of when he fled at the first hint of shame.” Very carefully he took a step back, hands sliding from his pockets to clasp behind his back, as if those few precious inches would make the difference.

Caroline dug her nails into her arms and held onto her anger with both fists. “Klaus, you’ve done… so many terrible things since you came into our lives and you, you did them knowing who I was. You killed Elena, you killed Jenna, you tortured Stefan, you turned Tyler into a minion, and… me. You hurt me.” Mulishly, she set her jaw against the gnawing pit behind her breast bone. “Just because I did some dumb spell that says we’re-” She cut herself off, unable to erase or fit the enormity of time travel into the universe’s neon sign sized hint that they were mates.

More evenly she said, "You chose to do those things and you didn't choose me."

Something cracked open behind his eyes, a yearning of a thousand years laid bare. Voice low and rough, he said, "And if I did? If I did choose you? Would my mate also choose me?" He watched her so carefully, this monster that even death didn't want, and she remembered the way he had barely touched her, not so long ago in her bed.

Carefully, Caroline stepped close, unclenching fingers, unwinding her arms. Klaus went hunter still, waiting while she brought a hand up to his face and deliberately cupped his cheek. The pleasurable rush this time was instantaneous, honey-gold and thick through her veins, leaping skin to skin with a roar of here here here is what I was looking for. With a shudder, Klaus closed his eyes and leaned into her palm, breathed in the scent of her pulse, lips pressed to the base of her thumb. It was relief, it was torture, it was like putting out a hearthfire by burning down the house.

This was a mistake, a miscalculation. The ache of arousal twisted through her, opening a chasm of need in her that didn’t answer to principles or objections, that knew his silver tongue could make better promises on her clit until she begged for his cock. A core deep knowledge that he would deny her nothing she wanted in this and more than she could know to ask for.

Drawing in an unsteady breath (don’t moan don’t moan) she pulled her hand back, the pads of her fingers scraping against the scruff of his face. He didn’t quite follow her hand, letting her go. The wolf in his eyes, he watched her clutch her hands to her chest and it looked like triumph.

“Will it always be like that?” Caroline asked shakily.

Klaus made a considering noise in his throat. “It is said there is some element of intent to it, after a certain point,” he said, the smugness back in his voice. “If it’s what you want.”

She narrowed her eyes, ignoring that rude inner voice that whispered how much she did want. “I guess we’ll see.”

He smiled at her, charm tucked in his dimples as he rocked back on his heels. “I look forward to seeing how I can make things up to you, Caroline.”

And then with a whisper of wind she was alone on her porch, her blood still singing in memory of his heat on her skin.

#my fic #klaroline fanfiction #klaroline fanfic #mates trope #me constantly: drag him Caroline #klaroline #tvd for ts #klaroline for ts #i had to get out of bed to post this shit bc i forgot before i got in bed

[eagles-translated]

Analyzing the writing of Eagles

Here's a post I've been wanting to make for a while! I've expressed my thoughts on some of the storylines in previous posts, but I've never done a complete post on the writing of the whole show. I've divided this post into separate parts, focusing on each season and its plot points. Keep reading to see my analysis of the writing in Eagles! 👇 Word Count: 18k

If you've stumbled upon this post from the Young Royals or the Beartown tag (tagged them since I've drawn some parallels from those shows), here's a brief summary of what Eagles is, which you can watch with English subtitles here. This post contains Eagles spoilers from 1x01 - 3x10.

Eagles is a Swedish TV show that revolves around a few teenagers living in the Swedish ice hockey town Oskarshamn while experiencing friendship, love, and rivalry on the ice.

To start this off I would like to say that I have no experience with professional screenwriting and if anything, this is just a way for me to procrastinate on actually writing my own projects.

I love experiencing new stories and when I discover one I really like it's just natural for me to branch off with "what ifs" and to start wondering how the story would've turned out if some things were changed. Sometimes it's with a storyline improvement in mind, and other times it's just out of plain curiosity.

You might feel like this post is leaning towards the critical side, and I can definitely understand why since there are a lot of small details that I've picked apart from all seasons. I added a section for each season with things that I thought were really well done so this post wouldn't be too negative.

I actually did enjoy all seasons and I feel like the quality of not just the writing but every single thing has steadily increased each year.

Season 1: Tropes and clichés

Eagles premiered its first season in 2019 and was, despite many negative reviews, a big success among its target audience. Every episode on SVT Play amassed around 700 000–800 000 views and there didn't seem to be any doubt that the show would get renewed.

What the critics had issues with were that "Eagles rarely takes the unexpected path, and feels like a slightly soulless product of studied target group thinking a little too often," (Karolina Fjellborg in Aftonbladet) and "In Eagles, the characters seem to be locked in the role of a "teenager" but the humanity is missing. They've simplified the construction of the character," (Django Lorentzson in MovieZine).

Eagles was unfortunate enough to constantly be compared to SKAM in its infancy, and that's a tough comparison to live up to. SVT sort of shot themselves in the foot as they were the ones who contributed to it. While the show was still in the casting process, SVT wrote an article hyping the show up as a Swedish SKAM (which has since been edited, but led many to falsely believe that it would involve all the familiar SKAM characters with some hockey elements sprinkled in).

So, why exactly did critics think the first three episodes of the show were predictable and soulless? Well, it's pretty simple. They'd seen it all before. The setting, the characters, the storylines—just in different TV shows and movies.

Season 1 for me is nostalgic and very enjoyable despite its clichéd nature. I also felt like I'd seen the show before due to its generic storylines, but there is a reason why tropes are tropes and why clichés are clichés. It's because they're tried and true, and actually somewhat good writing tools as long as you expand on them. The keyword here is to expand—a story doesn't magically become good simply because you mimic something another writer has done. Tropes are fine to use but you can't just apply them and stop there. Everything in a story needs to be developed in order to be good.

It's safe to say that it's pretty much impossible to write a story without any tropes that have been used before. Striving to avoid clichés at all costs in hopes of making your story as original as possible is harder than it sounds, and almost impossible to boot. Here's a great piece of advice for aspiring writers written by a user on Carvezine:

[...] if you look down at your story and are worried it’s already been told before – don’t spend another second thinking about it. It has. A million times. The only difference is that it hasn’t been told by you. Accept that regurgitation is part of writing, and just do your best not to regurgitate the same way as the guy next to you. We’d all do well to acknowledge there is at least a portion of our stories that are really someone else’s. [...] Beyond that, write with the motivation that if you don’t get around to telling your story, eventually somebody else will.

Even the greatest books have storylines with some clichés. And that's not really a bad thing, either. Think about it. How many times have you decided to binge a TV show solely because it reminded you of another series? Or picked up a book simply because you love a good enemies to lovers romance, a battle between good and evil fantasy, or whatever it might be?

I found this article from Masterclass that perfectly describes what tropes are and why they're used. It's written from the perspective of novel writing but it is still applicable.

A trope in literary terms is a plot device or character attribute that is used so commonly in the genre that it’s seen as commonplace or conventional. For example, a trope in superhero stories is a villain who wants to take over the world. Tropes are popular for a reason—if something has been written about over and over again, there’s a good chance that it’s something readers enjoy reading! Tropes can be helpful, but a novel made up only of tropes will quickly start to feel stale and predictable to readers. That’s why you need to read up on tropes—and then innovate. Deliberately taking a favorite trope and turning it on its head is a great way to put your own unique spin on the genre and keep your readers interested.

Eagles, in its first season, didn't really do a lot of expanding upon the tropes they used and it's understandable that they were still trying to find their footing. I can also imagine it's difficult to do so when you only have eight 20 minute episodes in the season.

However... There definitely should've been more work put into these characters to make them their own. It's tricky, yes, but still achievable if you don't abandon them in their cookie-cutter form and try to actually decorate them with something unique and fresh.

So, how did they write their characters?

Felicia's character and backstory

To start off, Felicia is a famous influencer known for starring in a reality show next to her former NHL professional father. There's already a clear disconnect because it's hard to relate to a character with such a public past and large following. But it is 100% possible if you let the viewer know the character has humane qualities just like the person watching the show.

Look at Wilhelm from Netflix's Young Royals, another Swedish TV show. Wilhelm is the prince of Sweden, set to attend a prestigious elite boarding school, and is the heir to the throne. That doesn't exactly sound like a relatable scenario, does it? And yet the writers make it work because when we're introduced to Wilhelm we realize he's just like everybody else. He wants a normal life, he latches on to his older brother for support, he has anxiety, and he struggles between following his heart versus doing what his family is expecting him to do. A lot of these factors are relatable among the audience.

So, let's look at Felicia Kroon. She is in many ways portrayed as the main character of the show. Eagles starts off with her family having moved to Oskarshamn and the following episodes focus on her developing relationship with Ludde as well as her traumatic past. There's almost too much focus on Felicia here, and I'll get back to that.

Comparing Felicia to Wilhelm from Young Royals, they're both well-known teenagers with famous parents. Of course they have different circumstances considering Felicia is Instagram popular and Wilhelm is a blood royal, but in the grand scheme of things they're similar. Felicia is even referred to as a "Kroon princess" because of her last name Kroon bearing a resemblance to the Swedish word kronprinsessa, meaning crown princess.

The students of their respective schools treat their attendance as a big deal when they first arrive and then Wilhelm and Felicia start spending time with the "popular" crowd despite not really fitting in there.

I personally found it easy to relate to Wilhelm but difficult to relate to Felicia. Some people may feel differently, but her character is basically a popular party girl who attracts the attention of one of the school's star players and is "welcomed" by the popular crowd on her first day of school. I put welcome in quotation marks because Klara, the leader of the girl group, isn't exactly the most welcoming person but she does welcome Felicia to the school. My point is, Felicia doesn't have a lot of relatable traits in the first episodes.

Felicia then goes on a date with the guy she's met, Ludde. Okay, so there haven't been that many layers to her character yet. We're at the third episode and so far she's been kind of flat.

Near the end of the third episode, we get some depth to the character and we hear her back story.

Felicia: [...] We don’t have a good relationship, my dad and I. And that’s probably why we moved from the beginning, because he’s an idiot. We’ve never been close, but… Elias and he have been since they’ve had hockey. [...] And mom has been really involved, so… And I… They’ve never really cared about me. And… And I haven’t really been a problem either. I’ve had good grades, good friends, and… I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I don’t talk about it to people. [...] I just felt so fucking lonely and invisible. I was worried all the time, couldn’t sleep, panicked because I couldn’t sleep… So I started going out more. It went overboard. It started affecting school, my grades slipped… I started taking things to be able to concentrate. Everybody does stuff like that. And then I still couldn’t sleep, so… I started mixing with sleeping pills. And there’s always wine and booze at our place. I don’t want this to come out, that’s really important. Ludde: Of course, I’d never tell. Felicia: One night, something happened that made me… Act out of control more than usual. I woke up the next morning in the hospital. So they sent me to rehab. It was really rough for mom and dad that I was suddenly in focus. When I woke up, dad wasn’t even there. Ludde: What made you take too much that night? Felicia: I’d forgotten my phone at home, so I ran up and got it while my friends were waiting in an Uber. Then I came into the hall and I heard noises. You know, like, when somebody is doing it. Ludde: Okay. Felicia: And I thought it was really weird because mom wasn’t home. So I went into the living room… Dad was fucking my mom’s best friend. On the rug below the couch.

This gives Felicia more layers and does separate her from every other "popular pretty party girl" trope that you see on TV. But this is a huge info dump, and that's a problem. I would've liked to see this happen on-screen instead of only being told what went down. The golden rule of Show don't tell, as people like to say.

Show, don’t tell is a writing technique in which story and characters are related through sensory details and actions rather than exposition. It fosters a style of writing that’s more immersive for the reader, allowing them to “be in the room” with the characters. In his most commonly repeated quote, Chekhov said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass."

This back story could've been more impactful that way if, perhaps, the show began with Felicia in a hospital bed with a strong headache and hazy flashbacks of that night where she saw her dad sleeping with another woman. Then we're introduced to her mother and brother sitting next to the hospital bed tired and worried, and Felicia notices her dad isn't present. They tell her Felicia is being sent to rehab and then there's a time-jump before we see the Kroon family having moved to Oskarshamn.

That's just an idea I threw together at the top of my head, but you get my point. It would've been more interesting if we knew from the beginning that Felicia had a traumatic past like this, leading the viewer to want to know more about what actually happened.

We did get a brief flashback at the very beginning of the show—we see Felicia partying with her friends and taking some pill before lying unconscious on the ground. There's also a glimpse of Ludde's car accident with Andreas yelling at him to get out of there.

That segment only lasts for around 45 seconds and it's easily forgettable upon your first viewing of the show. It's also hard to even recognize Felicia in the dark nightclub setting with the flashing lights. Some dialogue in that short scene could've made it more memorable, because I found that when I first watched season 1 I remembered Andreas yelling at Ludde despite that being drowned out by the music.

Ludde's backstory was way more well-done, in my opinion. We see him having crashed the car and bleeding from his head. He looks terrified and almost frozen by fear, needing to be pulled out of the car by a panicked Andreas yelling at him to bring Ludde back to the reality of the situation. We see Andreas yelling and pointing, telling Ludde he needs to run now. It's more powerful when we get to see it.

And in episode 8, when we learn the truth of what happened, it's not a long and dragged-out monologue. It fits into what's going on in the story. Felicia and Ludde have known each other for a few months now and are much closer than they were on their first date. They've had disagreements and fights, but at this moment they're in a good place.

And it feels like the right moment for Ludde to come clean about what happened to him.

Ludde: Hey… There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Felicia: What? Ludde: About… My brother. It’s not really as everybody thinks. Felicia: What do you mean? Ludde: That night when he crashed… It wasn’t Andreas who drove the car. We were on our way home from one of his buddies. We’d had some fun drinking. And then… I’d just started learning how to drive. So I nagged and nagged at him. Felicia: So you were the one driving? But he’s an adult- Ludde: He was drunk as hell. He was going to leave the car, but I thought it was so cold and it was only three blocks away so I thought that I could drive. Felicia: And what happened? Ludde: It was slippery and really dark… And a car came. I hit the brakes in time, but it… Yeah. Right after he pushed me out of the car and yelled that I should run home straight away. He really didn’t want me to get into trouble. So, yeah… It was fucking bad luck. I want to just gather everybody and scream that it was me. Felicia: Hey… I love you. Ludde: I love you too. I love you so fucking much.

As Ludde is telling Felicia what happened as the other car came, we see a silent flashback of it along with Ludde's voice narrating. We see Andreas pulling him out of the car and yelling. Cutting to this scene that we've already seen in the beginning but might've forgotten about is a smart choice and makes the story Ludde is telling more real. We see it unfolding as Ludde is telling this to Felicia. It's a powerful scene.

We then see Felicia hugging Ludde from behind, a sign of support with no words needed. She tells him she loves him and Ludde says it back. It's an honest and sweet moment that comes at a perfect time in the story. It's not too early like Felicia's backstory was.

I sort of understand why Felicia's backstory was info-dumped because it was right before the drama of Mats accidentally spilling the beans to Klara's family. They wanted the audience to know what happened to her early, so they could move on to the plot point of Felicia thinking Ludde was the one who told everybody.

But we don't need every single detail of Felicia's story. Let it come organically. The only thing that was really needed was for Ludde to know that Felicia had struggled with drug use and was sent to rehab for this storyline to work. The reason why could've been saved for later, and it would've made for a more interesting reveal. Maybe just have Felicia allude to seeing something that night, but don't tell the viewers right away what it was.

In 1x06, Felicia is incredibly upset when she hears that her dad was the one who told Klara's family what happened to Felicia in the US. And rightly so.

Felicia: Don’t you get it? You ruined everything! Mats: What? Felicia: You told the whole damn town about me! About the US! Mats: I really didn’t mean to disclose you- Or disclose us. Sorry. Hey, sorry. Flisan, please. Hey. Felicia: Did you tell them you fucked mom’s best friend too? Yes, I saw you.

If this had been the moment where we first find out what Felicia saw, it would've been more surprising. Our reaction would've mirrored Mats's, and it would've been more heart-wrenching to know that Felicia was traumatized by an affair her dad had only to be cheated on herself in the very same episode.

Ludde's problematic nature

One of the scriptwriters of Eagles, Fanny Ekstrand, was interviewed in the behind-the-scenes documentary Edvins Skådisdrömmar. In this interview, she states:

Ludvig, he's the one who's been the easiest to retain the personality of. Because he's so... He's calm and friendly, but he makes dumb decisions. Ludvig isn't a typical hockey guy. He has a bunch of other qualities—music being one of them.

I found myself slightly disagreeing with this take, despite knowing Ekstrand is literally a part of the writing team and most likely helped shaped Ludde's personality. I just interpreted Ludde's character (at least in season 1) differently.

I also didn't find him that much different from any other typical hockey guy just because he happens to have another interest. That's a bit like saying Archie Andrews from The CW's Riverdale isn't a stereotypical jock because he also plays the guitar.

In season 1, we see Ludde break into the rink because he wanted to test out the ice. He just loves hockey that much. He also uses it as a way to express frustration and anger, which we saw in 1x05. He flirts with the new girl in school and in the beginning he even uses it as a tactic to gain a position on the main hockey team. This was confirmed by the creator Stefan H. Lindén in his Q&A, where he said:

My idea has always been that Ludde was blown away by Felicia and that he really likes her but that they both initially interacted and met to go swimming because Felicia knew it would piss her dad off and Ludde knew that it might throw Elias off since they were competing for the same position in the team.

I would say that the characteristics of a typical hockey guy would be someone like Adam—obsessed with the sport, flirting with girls, going to parties, and just spending a lot of time in the rink. Ludde checks off all of these points. However, I will give this the benefit of the doubt since season 2 Ludde seems to change a lot and it's easier to interpret him as the calm and friendly guy he was supposed to be in season 1.

So to me, Ludde wasn't calm and friendly at all. In season 2, yes, but when we're first introduced to him?

Ludde shows anger issues and violent tendencies in 1x05 when he head-butts Elias and breaks his nose. It's violent and messy. He then yells at Felicia to leave when she's trying to communicate with him and belittles her drug problems solely because she's rich. To me, Ludde wasn't a nice person in 1x04 either when he let his friends make suggestive comments about Felicia and what she was like in bed.

Omar: I can tell you one thing - you’re not borrowing my towel today cause I don’t know where that dick has been. Adam: It’s nice when she sucks, right? Omar: Can’t you tell us some more, does she bite you or is it just really, really nice? [...] Adam: Is that what you sound like when you’re coming? What does she sound like?

This was described as "locker room talk" and the writers probably wanted to show an authentic view of what being a hockey player is like. I understand that. But it's a little problematic when it's later swept under the rug and treated like something that we're just supposed to accept.

Elias: [...] it’s not very fun to sit in a hockey locker room where people are talking about how nice it is to fuck my sister. Felicia: Ludde would never say anything like that, you know that. Elias: He wouldn’t? It’s a locker room, Felicia. That’s the only thing they talk about.

It did not sit right with me how Felicia seemed to be the one Elias blamed in this scene, and Ludde and his friends never faced any real consequences for what they said. Elias did lash out at Ludde, but there was no severe consequence for Omar and Adam's comments.

Compare this scenario to another Swedish show, Beartown on HBO. Beartown is similar to Eagles and focuses on a hockey team in a small town with one of the star players hooking up with a girl who's recently moved to their small town.

This girl is raped by the hockey player. And because of his status as the star of the team, he has almost the whole school behind him. The girl however is labeled as a lying slut. It's unfair and frustrating to see it happen, but it's authentic and done in a way that doesn't glamorize the ugly side of hockey culture.

Eagles is not as dark as Beartown so this comparison might be a little unfair. Beartown's whole storyline did revolve around this incident while in Eagles the hockey culture is treated more as a side thought. It's like they decided to throw in a taste of what goes on in a locker room just to create drama without really addressing it further.

Beartown did a much better job of portraying the problematic and toxic elements of hockey culture without making it seem like it's just something normal that we should accept. It was honest and raw. If you haven't seen the show, this short video does a great job of depicting how much thought was put into the toxic hockey culture, winning mentality, and subsequently hockey players thinking they're entitled to do whatever they want.

So, to respond to Ekstrand's quote from Edvins Skådisdrömmar—I did not experience Ludde as a "good guy" who only makes dumb decisions at all. In season 1, he's a bad person for letting his friends sexualize a girl he likes and letting her brother hear their disgusting comments. He's a bad person for fighting with her brother and later yelling at her, saying her drug issues are insignificant despite acting supportive of her only two episodes earlier.

I don't mind conflicts like these because they drive the story forward. I didn't particularly like Ludde in season 1 because of the reasons I just stated, but they're necessary to create drama and make the show interesting.

It's just weird to me how one of the writers is saying that Ludde is a calm person and a good guy when that is not at all how I interpreted his character.

Eagles is a show targeted towards a young audience, among them probably a lot of easily influenced pre-teens. What kind of message does this send to them when the guy letting his friends sexualize a girl he's slept with and on top of that laughing at their inappropriate comments is referred to as the good guy?

Klara is mean... What else?

From the moment we're introduced to Klara, it seems obvious that she'll play a living and breathing version of the infamous Alpha Bitch trope. She's also a prime example of the basic Popular is Evil trope and has her own Girl Posse consisting of Sara and Amie.

Klara feels threatened by the arrival of a potential new popular girl, Felicia, and does everything in her power to bully Felicia to show dominance. She barely shows any good sides of herself.

The only instance I can think of where we sort of see season 1 Klara in a positive light is when she talks to Amie in 1x05 about their friendship and then accompanies Amie to her audition for the school band.

Klara: Ever since Felicia started at school… It’s felt like you only hang out with her and that you’ve forgotten about me. She like took you from me. Amie: But I haven’t forgotten you. Klara: No, but do you get what I mean? Amie: I get it, but I haven’t forgotten you. Klara: No, I know. Amie: I know, but it just turned out that way when school started. Klara: Okay. Amie: But I’m sorry. Klara: It’s fine. Amie: Are you sure? Klara: Yeah. You can make it up to me when you go on your world tour.

Klara is really supportive of Amie's musical endeavors, but she also uses her support as a way to alienate Felicia from the girl group. It's very on the nose and kind of feels suffocating in the way it's written.

Klara: Amie, did you remove the clips? Amie: Yeah, she said they weren’t good. Klara: She’s just jealous. It’s so obvious. I mean, I’m jealous. You sing absolutely amazing. I don’t know, I just think it was really rude of her to sit in the cafeteria and criticize you like that Amie: Yeah, maybe. But she apologized. Klara: But still. That clip of you in the bathroom… Like… Sorry, but I’d be so mad if someone had posted something like that of me. I mean, you were standing there without makeup, completely non-fixed up. And the whole thing with her filming you without you knowing. That’s really weird. You don’t do that. Don’t you think so?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who act like this in real life. And maybe that's part of the problem, because Klara in season 1 really isn't an interesting character. We've met this person before and we know exactly what she's like. There's nothing new to discover. So season 1 is essentially just Klara being petty and rude every chance she gets, and to me it felt like a large part of her character was written just to stir up drama.

In 1x06, we see Klara backstab Amie by filming her making out with Ludde at her Halloween party. But I thought it was established in 1x05 that Klara feels like Amie was taken from her? And if Klara actually cared about Amie and didn't want to lose her as a friend, she wouldn't just stand by and watch with her phone recording the whole thing. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Klara even made that whole point about how it was really weird of Felicia to film Amie without her knowing. So why would Klara do it, when she expressed that's weird and not something a normal person does? Is that supposed to be foreshadowing? Because if so, that's a clear contradiction and not how foreshadowing works.

When Sara happens to see the video on Klara's phone she immediately says that Klara should delete it.

Sara: What is that? Did they know you were filming? Klara: No, of course they didn’t know. Sara: Oh my god, Klara. You should probably delete it. Klara: I’m going to! But it’s crazy, right? Sara: Yeah, god. But seriously, delete it. Klara: I’m going to.

So Klara says she's going to delete the video. But it's still unclear why it was filmed in the first place if Klara insists that she's going to delete it. It's not like she filmed it just to show it to Sara either, since Sara wasn't meant to see it and only saw it by chance while swiping through Klara's photos on her phone.

It doesn't make sense for Klara to film a video like that of her best friend that she's supposed to care about. It doesn't make sense for Klara to film a video of anybody without their knowledge when she previously made a big deal about how you shouldn't do that.

What Klara's character is, is a bad attempt at the classical mean girl. She's clichéd, boring, and full of tropes.

Even her eventual character development is riddled with tropes like the Heel Realization where a character realizes they're actually one of the bad guys. This realization seems to come in 1x08, where Felicia calls Klara out on her behavior.

Felicia: You know what, Klara. I’m so fucking tired of your fucking comments. You didn’t get to be Lucia this year. Poor you! Was dad unable to fix that? Cry then, Klara. Cry. You’re so fucking mean. Everybody here is tired- Everybody here is scared of you. Even those who liked you once, they can’t take it anymore. Klara: That’s not true. It’s not true. Felicia: Yes, everybody is scared of you. You know what? Look around. Show people some fucking respect. Klara: Well say something, Amie! Amie: What is there to say? She’s right.

Klara needed a wake-up call like this. It's just unfortunate that she goes back to her mean girl behavior and posts the video after Amie insinuated that Klara wasn't a real friend. Klara already knew that Amie felt that way since she said Felicia was right in her assessment of everybody being scared and tired of Klara. So wouldn't it have made more sense for Klara to post the video right after that moment instead of during Amie's performance?

Or rather, why not pull a Subverted Trope and not have Klara post the video at all after she realized how horrible she'd been acting? That would've made me respect her so much more and be a great introduction to her character development in season 2.

The Halloween Incident

To me, the whole Halloween episode was questionable. First off, we never got actual confirmation of what happened in that room between Amie and Ludde. Some viewers insist that they only made out and others believe they went all the way. Here's what the creator of the show, Stefan H. Lindén, had to say about this in a Q&A post he did:

I think if you went into the writers room of Eagles and asked all of us what really happened in that room [between Ludde and Amie at Klara's Halloween party] we would all have different answers.  I know what happened, but I’m not sure we will ever truly know for sure, unless Ludvig or Amie eventually are open enough to admit to anyone what really happened.

This is kind of a vague answer, but that's fair considering that when Stefan did this Q&A the latest episode that had been released was 2x05 and he probably didn't want to spoil anything. However, looking back at this answer knowing how the season turned out I still feel like it's unclear what happened. It's also strange that Stefan seems to be saying that they never actually decided what happened between them since the writers "would all have different answers".

1x06 was just an odd episode for me overall. Lots of things felt rushed and underdeveloped. Let's not forget that this episode also contained, in my opinion, some of the weirdest lines in the whole show (along with Elias's strange monologue about plague vampires).

Ludde: Hey, I only have like 3%. Do you have any power? Adam: Are you wondering if I have a power bank in my shorts? It’s coming-

Ludde: I like shellfish. (said to Amie, wearing a lobster costume)

Up until this episode, Ludde has shown zero interest and attraction towards Amie. We are basically told that Ludde only hooked up with Amie because he was so drunk that he practically had no idea what he was doing.

In 1x02, we see a drunk Amie try to kiss Tobbe and upon getting rejected she moves on to make out with Adam. She gets overly friendly when she's drunk so the fact that she makes out with Ludde later is... Weird, but not entirely out of the realms of possibility.

Ludde on the other hand is moping about Felicia all night. He regrets how he yelled at her at the end of 1x05 and it shows. He's trying to drown all his problems in alcohol and it seems to be working, because when it enters his system he seems to be on top of the world.

What I found kind of ambiguous in this incident was if Ludde even remembered what happened that night. He was drinking so much compared to Amie, who doesn't really need as much alcohol before she reaches her "overly friendly" state. I thought for sure that Ludde was oblivious to the situation when he woke up in his bed the next day and immediately messaged Felicia.

There are just so many questions to unpack here that were never answered. What prompted Amie and Ludde to go into that empty room? Why did Ludde come with her? Why didn't Adam seem to care about this, when he'd been sitting next to Ludde and taking care of him most of the night? And as I wrote before, why would Klara film this video of her best friend when she previously expressed that was a weird thing to do?

There's just too much in 1x06 left unanswered. The Amie/Ludde hook-up was a badly executed plot twist because there wasn't anything hinting that this would happen. It just came out of nowhere.

Unbalanced screentime and Elias's wasted potential

A large portion of season 1 was dedicated to Felicia. This was kind of a let-down for me since I thought more focus would be placed on Eagles as a hockey team (after all, that's what the show is named after). I also thought more attention would be on Elias since he's the talented star player who's supposed to live up to his father's legacy.

The show starts with a couple radio hosts hyping up how Elias Kroon, son of the legendary Mats Kroon, is going to join the Eagles hockey team.

Host #1: [...] It’s finally official. New center in the junior team - Elias Kroon, son to the legendary NHL-pro Mats Kroon, who has now chosen to move home from the US to his hometown where Elias will play in his father’s old club Oskarshamn Eagles. Host #2: This is so freaking cool. Who doesn’t want a Kroon on their team? Host #1: We hope that he’ll take a spot on the A-team.

But we don't learn a lot about who Elias actually is in the first episode. The attention is on Felicia and her interest in Ludde.

Elias is so discarded that he barely has anything to say in the first couple of scenes we see him in. Here are all his eight lines in 1x01, and I'm not even joking.

Elias: Yes. Elias: Shut up. Elias: Ow. Elias: It's fine. Elias: Really? Elias: Fucking hell. Elias: I'll stay here. Elias: No, it's fine.

In 1x02 he has even fewer lines. Three, to be exact, and all he says is that his injury is a sprain and that it's fine. Essentially just an echo of two of the lines he had in the previous episode. It's nothing new.

There's a way to have a character stand out when they don't have many lines, but Elias just fades into the background with every other extra. There's too much time spent on having other characters talk about Elias than us actually getting to know him. So when we do meet him, it's pretty underwhelming.

Compare Elias to his sister who gets so much more attention from the writers. I don't really understand why either, since I thought Elias was a much more interesting character than his influencer sister. Felicia's character only seems to revolve around a guy. I wonder how many times we've seen that before?

In 1x02 we see the Eagles hockey team play their first game, but Elias is unable to play and has to sit in the stands for what was supposed to be his debut match. Why? Because during a hockey practice session in 1x01, Adam rams his stick into Elias to purposely injure him. I mean, fair enough. Adam is trying to get Ludde on the main team since he and Elias are competing for the same position. The shot of Adam smiling after Elias sprains his wrist is a bit too on the nose, but whatever.

What this does is minimize Elias' presence in season 1 by a lot. We don't see the son of the legendary NHL professional play an actual game until 1x05, which is more than halfway into the season. It's kind of disappointing but I understand the injury is done to dramatize his situation.

Elias barely gets his own storylines in the first few episodes. He just has things done to him instead of acting on his own. When we do see him on screen he gets injured by Adam, reprimanded by his father, and later told he can't play in his debut game.

His sweet side (or any side of him, really) isn't shown until 1x03 when Amie wakes up at the Kroon house and Elias reassures her that they didn't do anything together and that she can borrow Felicia's clothes.

Elias doesn't really do much for the plot until he hears Ludde's friends objectify Felicia and he starts a fight with Ludde and confronts Felicia about it. That's when it feels like Elias is actually a part of this show instead of just being an extra shoved into the background. His actions are finally affecting the plot.

Elias's potential in season 1 was hugely wasted. The only episode where we actually got to see him shine was 1x07, when he travels to Karlskrona with Amie. We find out he doesn't want the hockey arrangement his dad has planned for him and that he's actually a pretty goofy guy who likes making jokes (and eating green candy).

If less time was spent with Felicia and the distribution of every episode's 20 minutes was more balanced, season 1 could've been massively improved. It got much better in season 2, but season 1 suffered and made many people think that Felicia was a basic and unentertaining character.

The side characters and their comic relief

So one thing that I found really disappointing with Felicia's amount of screentime is that we barely got enough time for the other main characters, let alone the side characters.

What I mean here is that the only people we really know on the Eagles hockey team are Ludde and Elias. Ludde's friends, Adam and Omar, just feel like comic relief sidekicks. We don't really know what they're like, besides the fact that they like to make jokes and mess around.

This issue is largely created by the short running time the episodes have along with season 1 only having eight episodes in total. That's definitely understandable. It did get better in season 3 where we see Ludde having a deeper conversation with Adam and Omar and they finally don't just feel like the comic relief characters, but actual people with layers.

Ludde: I’m going to quit hockey. Adam: Are you serious? Omar: What the hell are you saying? Ludde: It’s not the same anymore. I’m not passionate about it. I… Yes, it sucks, but… I’ve thought about it for a while now. Omar: We make jokes about it and all, but… Yeah. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Kingelikingen. Adam: I get that it’s a tough choice. But yeah… You’ll work things out. You and Felicia. You always do. Ludde: You guys are pretty awesome sometimes, actually.

This scene was really sweet, and I wish we could've had moments like this between the guys in season 1. Just one scene to show that they're not just the "typical hockey guys". It feels like Ludde was the only person on the team in season 1 who wasn't just a background character. Even Elias, who you would assume should be at the forefront, isn't properly developed until 1x05 where we see him defending his sister and starting a fight with Ludde. Otherwise, it very much felt like Elias was kept in the background.

There are also guys on the team called Herman, Simon, Näslund, Ekbäck, Hoffmann, Berglund (even Montell, which was a fun nod to the show's director)... But who are they, actually? Do you even remember their names? To be honest with you, I don't. Because they're just names—not actual characters.

None of the other guys on the team get any depth. They're just sort of there as extras and to give the audience a sense of comedy with their "hockey team shenanigans". This was illustrated in 1x08, where Adam and Omar make their teammate Liam do a "sexy dance" on a table because he lost his virginity. Or a more extreme example—Jönsson, who only exists to be the comic relief and the unlucky guy who just can't catch a break.

In 2x04, Jönsson is told by Jack to do extra time in the gym and gets told off when he only spends a few minutes on the exercise bike. Later, Jack also makes a joke about how he should get Jönsson a defibrillator. In 2x09 Jönsson invites Ludde, Adam, and Omar to come to his mom's place to hang out. After he's left, Adam makes a comment about how there's no way he's going to "rot" in Jönsson's apartment that doesn't even have a balcony.

Don't get me wrong, these scenes aren't bad and I don't mean they should've been scrapped. Comedy can absolutely have its place in a show like this. Let's take the scene where Ludde flashes a couple of unfortunate old ladies on his first date with Felicia as an example. It feels like something a teenage boy would do to try to make a girl he likes laugh. It's a brief scene and it's nice to see Ludde being able to goof off only moments after talking about Andreas. We know that's a touchy subject for him.

However, it feels slightly overdone sometimes with how almost everybody on the hockey team is only there for comedic purposes and to fill space. It's more refreshing when they're shown to be multi-dimensional. I wish this is something that the writers would've considered when the show is literally titled after the hockey team, yet most of the hockey players are hardly in the story.

To add to this, it felt like Sara and Tobbe completely disappeared from the story in season 2. With Sara we understand that she probably didn't want to hang out with Klara anymore after knowing she filmed the Halloween video and posted it on Instagram, so that's fair. But it would've been nice to see Tobbe stick around in season 2, and I'll get back to why I think that.

The potential of season 1

When I look back on season 1 I feel really nostalgic. No matter how many small details that irked me, I can't deny that the setting of the show is beautiful and I really appreciate the depiction of it. Instead of showing Oskarshamn as a boring small town, we're shown the beauty of it which is incorporated into the storylines.

Some examples would be Ludde and Felicia's first date at Gunnarsö and walk through Havslätt, the gorgeous view of the Oskarshamn harbor from Klara's house Villa Högklint, and Badholmen where the school band performs and we later see Elias and Amie walking by in season 3. All these places are listed on the Eagles Oskarshamn site and I feel like they did a great job tying the storylines in with the locations.

Another aspect of season 1 and its writing that I really enjoyed was Elias and Amie's budding relationship. They just have a natural chemistry together and the dialogue between them also felt authentic and sweet.

Season 1 is just a very polished teen drama overall compared to some of SVT's previous series.

Back in 2007-2010, SVT used to air a soap opera-style show focusing on a few teenagers living in Gothenburg that was called Andra Avenyn (translation: Second Avenue). I was only seven at the time but I watched this show religiously as it aired three times a week. Just mentioning the show brings a lot of nostalgia.

Andra Avenyn amassed around 500 000 viewers per episode and was, just like Eagles, nominated for a Kristallen television award. But how good was it, really? If I take off my rose-colored glasses for a second and actually consider the show's highly dramatized storylines and unlikely scenarios, it had a tendency to drag on (which usually happens with soap operas). It didn't offer a realistic view of teenage life and on IMDb it currently sits at a rating score of 5.6 stars out of 10.

Comparing this old teen series to SVT's newer one, Eagles season 1 was a huge improvement and continues to be the most popular teen series that SVT has aired so far.

This idea and all the characters have lived in Stefan H. Lindéns mind since 2008, while Andra Avenyn was still on the air. It's actually amazing how high the quality of most TV shows has risen since then. Eagles has a rating score of 7.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb and has become internationally known in a way that Andra Avenyn never was.

Eagles season 1 laid the groundwork for SVT's most successful teen series of all time, and that's a huge achievement.

Season 2: "Subverting expectations"

When Eagles came back for season 2, the script made it kind of obvious that the writers had listened to the critique of season 1 being predictable.

I did find season 2 a huge step up from season 1—the directing was so much better and when it came to the script we got a deeper look into all the characters that they hadn't really scratched the surface of in the first season. My main disappointment however was that it felt like they threw in a bunch of weird plot twists just for the sake of "subverting expectations".

The core idea of subverting expectations can be great if done correctly. You lead the audience to believe they know what's going to happen, but then you surprise them with an unexpected and clever twist.

A post in Cinematography written by Mason Leaver defines the phrase of "subverting expectations" as:

[...] a method of surprising the audience with some element of a story, be it the plot, themes, characters, etc. This goes beyond a “twist” in a film. Expectation subversion actively works within the genre of a story, and attempts to reinterpret or subvert the conventions of that genre, breaking patterns in surprising and interesting ways. However, this method of surprising the audience is not always well received- it can sometimes be the source of heavy criticism from fans of the tropes which have been subverted.

This included "unexpected" relationships such as Elias/Klara and Amie/Ludde. The former actually worked, but the latter? Not so much.

Amie's crush on Ludde—make it make sense!

Amie and Ludde were my biggest issue with season 2, and it felt so out of character of Amie to be head over heels for Ludde. They work great as friends but romantically they're a huge mismatch.

But they have music in common, I hear you say. Yes, they do. But having a shared interest doesn't mean people are automatically a good match. You have to consider their chemistry and overall compatibility.

Before actors are cast in a show or movie where their characters will be romantically involved with each other, it's common to do what's called a chemistry read. Here's a neat description from an article in Backstage written by Caroline Liem:

Chemistry is the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people. If this were a romantic article, it would be about love. Instead, we are discussing the astonishing rapport between two actors, and how that connection is achieved in order to book [...] the role. A chemistry read is an opportunity to read with actors being considered for a role opposite yours, usually lead roles. The main purpose is to see how you instinctively connect and work with the other actor.

This obviously wasn't done for the actors playing Amie and Ludde, since there didn't seem to be any intention of having their characters be involved in a romantic relationship.

That was even confirmed by Stefan H. Lindén in his Q&A of season 2, where he said that a love triangle between Ludde/Felicia/Amie was planned but later scrapped.

I can confirm that from the beginning of development of the series and the first version of the storyline a triangle drama was at some point intended for season 1 but later removed  – however when creating the characters, Ludvigs skill in music and arts was always there from the beginning so by knowing that, we always knew that interactions would appear between them. When looking back at Season 1, in the first scene by the lockers when Amie tells Felicia who Ludvig is, she does know exactly who he is and she is well aware of that his friend Tobias is a music guy that Amie wants to get to know. Also when looking at it, when I was the same age as Ludvig and Amie I, and I am sure a lot of people can relate to it, fact is that we never really knew if it was love or friendship in the beginning.

Knowing that the triangle drama was scrapped for season 1, it makes sense why it seems so arbitrary. There was no groundwork laid down for this pairing before it was hastily thrown together in 1x06 for a cheap plot twist. This continues in season 2, where Amie and Ludde start spending more time together. Yet it's hard to see Ludde as a potential love interest for Amie in the way the writers want us to. They still come off as friends despite having hooked up at a party.

I mentioned that Tobbe should've stuck around for season 2 and here's why. Tobbe was written to be the leader of the school band that Amie later joins, and he was friends with Ludde before the video was posted. He would've been a perfect fit for the Amie/Ludde music storyline but he's completely absent. He had the potential to be the person who could've helped them with the song a little and then later picked up on whatever there was going on between them.

I think the Amie/Ludde storyline could've hugely benefitted from a scene between Amie and Tobbe, where Tobbe asks if she actually has feelings for Ludde and we get to hear exactly what Amie is feeling. Maybe she's torn, not wanting to get together with Ludde because of how much they hurt Felicia, but at the same time finds it hard to suppress her feelings. A scene like that would've allowed us to get into Amie's head and make the Amie/Ludde storyline much clearer.

To add, this storyline was in desperate need of more interest from Ludde's side. There needed to be some indication from him that would make Amie believe he liked him back, even if that wasn't the case. All we get is Ludde complimenting Amie's song and then a hug in 2x05 when Amie says the record label in Stockholm wanted a meeting. And apparently, that was enough for Amie to think Ludde was interested in her despite him blowing off the Stockholm meeting and Amie hearing Ludde say that the Halloween incident was a mistake.

Ludde and Amie don't really mesh as well as Elias/Amie do or even as well as Ludde/Felicia do. Elias and Amie had sparks flying from the very first scene they shared. That pairing is one of the main reasons why the show became popular internationally, and why is that? Because of the actors' chemistry.

Amie and Ludde are a clumsy attempt at throwing together two people who don't really work together with the intention of "subverting expectations". And I suppose that's what the writers wanted to depict—an awkward crush that doesn't really make sense, which I'm sure many people have experienced as a teenager. That part is fine. But what I didn't like about this storyline is that Amie had no good reason to believe Ludde would be interested in anything with her beyond a platonic friendship.

While season 2 was airing, I was convinced that Amie wasn't actually in love with Ludde. She was just lonely after the aftermath of the Halloween video and mistook her feelings for Ludde as love when she just appreciated his company. Here's what I wrote:

So as we know, Amie kissed Ludde in episode 6 when he was in the hospital after having been injured during the hockey game against Karlskrona. She immediately seemed to regret having done that and ran out without an explanation, leaving Ludde alone and confused. I honestly don’t think Amie has any romantic feelings towards Ludde. I think she might mistake her feelings for a crush or something, when in reality she’s just lonely and appreciates Ludde always being there for her and giving her compliments on her musical ability. Ludde was complimenting Amie at the hospital, saying she was amazing, and I think Amie was just really touched by that and maybe wanted to thank him somehow, and ended up kissing him. And then she freaked out and left because oh my god did she really just kiss Ludde. It was an uncomfortable and awkward situation and that’s probably why she ran out. However, I really believe that if she had just stayed to explain and apologize, Ludde would understand and they could’ve just laughed it off. But this is a drama show so of course that wouldn’t happen! Do I think the writers are making them into a couple? No, definitely not. They know that season 1 was sort of predictable and cliché, so they’re making season 2 as different as possible by including these unexpected pairings such as Klara & Elias and Amie & Ludde. But Amie and Ludde won’t ever be a couple, because Ludde is still very much hung up on Felicia. I don’t see them as a couple either - yes, they have music in common, but they work way better as friends than in a relationship.

In Edvins Skådisdrömmar, which is a behind-the-scenes documentary of Eagles season 2, writers Fanny Ekstrand and Michaela Hamilton discuss the writing of the show in the documentary's third episode. The third episode is mostly focused on the lead-up to the scene where Amie kisses Ludde at the hospital. Adrian Öjvindsson, who plays Ludde, says:

Filming the kissing scene was [...] awkward and weird, actually. And that's how it ended up. Yandeh and I haven't really had any intimate scenes. In this case you could take in that it was weird, because that's also what the scene wanted to depict.

When Edvin reads the script, he describes the scene as a "nightmare" scenario. I agree. And the lazy build-up to this Awkward Kiss trope doesn't make it any better, because just like the Halloween incident this doesn't make a lot of sense.

It's supposed to be awkward and weird, just like Adrian said. But he also mentioned one of the most important details: Yandeh and I haven't really had any intimate scenes.

Before this kiss scene, there was nothing that indicated any chemistry between them. No accidental hand-touching, no longing stares, no nothing. Just a friendly hug. A proper build-up to the kiss scene would've made it feel less out of place.

The love confession from Amie to Ludde in 2x10 really threw me off as well. The confession to me made no sense and honestly felt like a prank call. There was no feeling behind it and zero reason for Amie to believe that there was a chance Ludde liked her back.

At the end of 2x08, Felicia goes to Ludde's house after he's confessed the truth to the police about the Andreas situation. Amie happens to overhear the conversation and she hears Ludde very clearly say that he's not interested in Amie.

Ludde: Felicia, there’s nothing between us. Between me and Amie. It was really the biggest mistake of my life. Felicia: Goodbye, Ludde. Ludde: Felicia, please!

Amie, now having her heart broken, crosses Ludde's name off the contract while crying. She knows he doesn't feel the same. So why would Amie even bother to call Ludde up to tell him she's "in love with him"?

Amie: [...] Hey, Ludde… Ludde: Yeah? Amie: It feels really weird to hear our song now. Because I know who the lyrics are about. And… And I… I really like you. Or, well… I’m in love with you. I just need to know how you feel. Or if you feel anything. Just tell me. Ludde: I’ll always want to be your friend, Amie, but… It’s Felicia I’m in love with.

This moment is on par with the awkwardness from the hospital kiss between them in 2x06. The second-hand embarrassment with this one was really rough, and what I don't understand is why this was even added to the script when Amie had already gotten the confirmation that Ludde didn't think of her in a romantic way. This storyline could've ended in 2x08 after Amie overheard the conversation between Ludde and Felicia.

It really didn't need to drag on for the whole season, essentially making Amie's whole storyline in season 2 about a guy. Her moment of finally getting signed to the record label was ruined when it could've been regarded as a fresh start if the storyline had just ended where it should have.

What this storyline did instead was ruining my favorite friendship of season 1, which was Amie/Felicia. This mess made it so hard for them to reconcile and they didn't end up properly addressing it until 3x09, spending almost two whole seasons mad at each other. It sucks that the writers decided to drag out their fighting and disagreements for this long when they could've instead shown two girls in solidarity who don't let a guy get between them and their friendship.

Amie apologized in 3x03 for how she hurt Felicia, but Felicia made it clear in 3x06 that she still harbored ill will towards Amie for what happened at Halloween (which in the timeline of this show was more than a year ago).

Felicia (to Amie): Are you going to start slobbering with [Elias] now too? Just give me back that sweater first, I don’t want slobber on that. Thanks.

I talked about how much I disliked the Amie/Ludde storyline in this post, with my main reason being that it really messed up the character dynamics that were established in season 1.

This storyline [of Ludde and Amie hooking up]—along with Amie falling in love with Ludde—is by far my least favorite one because it messed up the whole character dynamic. I feel like Amie and Felicia won’t ever go back to the kind of friendship they had in season 1 before the Halloween incident because the trust was so broken, and Amie really should’ve tried harder to apologize to Felicia like Ludde did instead of going after her best friend’s ex in season 2.

If there's just one thing I could change about this show, I would 100% get rid of the Amie/Ludde storylines. There is nothing that annoyed me as much as those storylines did.

Amie's musical ambitions

I've talked about this a bit before in another post because this was something that really bugged me about Amie's character in season 2. Here's what I wrote:

I honestly still feel like Amie’s whole storyline with sending in a rather basic demo written by two teenagers with little to no experience and then getting praised on it [by the Stockholm music producers] with comments such as “it’s going to be a real summer hit” felt so unrealistic to me. Maybe they only said that so Amie would accept their offer or something, but that’s still very strange because she would have still said yes without a doubt. I can understand that they thought Amie was marketable as a person and there was this bonus with her having gone viral before on Felicia’s Instagram, but that demo did not seem good enough for me to be immediately released as a single and then have them decide on the spot that Amie would be given a contract. I mean, come on. It never felt earned because we never really saw Amie struggling with her songwriting journey to achieve this dream. Sending in one demo to one record label and having them immediately want to make a whole album with you just doesn’t happen in real life unless the song is extremely good or you have a very unique voice. Amie is really talented but there are hundreds of people just like her, if not thousands. I was never convinced by her getting signed so quickly in season 2. I understand that they wanted to establish her as a successful artist [at the beginning of season 3], but that felt so rushed. I was so sure that the record label would screw her over and steal the song rights to record it with another artist who was already established, and that we’d have to see Amie work even harder to achieve her dreams. But we didn’t get that at all. Where was the struggle? [...] Of course I wanted to see Amie achieve success (and I was happy when she did), but the journey there was so bizarrely easy. She didn’t start to seriously work on making her music career become a reality until season 2. Amie had dabbled in music prior to that, like when she auditioned for the school band and did that performance of Follow, but she didn’t truly start to work towards it until season 2 when she decided to have her work sent to professionals in the business. And then, just five episodes later, she gets contacted by the record label in Stockholm. To put this into context—season 2 took place somewhere around March, and episode 5 around three weeks into April. So when Ludde first started helping Amie it took less than two months for her to get signed. You could argue that the song was just that good or that Amie is just that talented, but it never felt like a realistic storyline to me.

It's tricky to write a storyline like this when you only have ten 20 minute episodes in the season and a limited amount of screentime for every character. All that is understandable. But it's strange that they didn't opt for a time jump to really sell this storyline and make it believable.

Eagles uses time jumps a lot, but somehow this particular plot point was omitted from that and kind of glossed over. I don't really understand how they expected us to buy this storyline. The viewers aren't stupid, and more effort should've been put into this storyline.

In the post where I wrote this, @gajana18 also had an interesting thing to add:

[...] it's equally unrealistic that this huge record company would be hounding Amie, a teenage onehit wonder essentially to come back to the label- don’t they have other bigger artists?

This is a very strong point. Considering how Amie kept expressing that she wanted to finish school and then proceeded to ignore their calls, it's weird that they didn't just decide to discard her contract when Amie clearly wasn't taking her singing career as seriously as they wanted her to.

So, back to season 2. Maybe they could've gone with the record label stealing the rights to Amie's first song and screwing her over. This fuels her to try again and after a time jump of a few months we see Amie having worked really hard on a new and better song. Maybe even a whole album. And this time, she's learned from her past mistakes and improved her songwriting. This time, she's successful in her endeavor and it feels so much more earned after knowing the struggles she's been through to get there.

I also feel like a storyline like that would've made people sympathize with Amie more in season 2. It was really hard to root for her when she had nearly screwed Ludde over by not giving credit to his songwriting and saying "fuck him" when he didn't return Amie's feelings.

Klara's character development

When we're introduced to Klara in season 1, she's a stereotypical mean girl with wealthy parents who is the popular girl at school and has her own followers.

In season 2, the writers decided to develop the character. We find out Klara has issues at home and her mom is barely there. When she is, her parents will start fighting. Klara is feeling really lonely and doesn't really hang out with her friend Sara as much as she used to.

I appreciated the added depth, but it seemed like a drastic shift. The changed perspective could attribute to that but when you step back and really look at s1 Klara and s2 Klara, they're like two completely different people.

Maybe Klara's reputation suffered after she posted the Halloween video? Maybe she had a change of heart after Felicia finally confronted her during Lucia? I mean, I guess.

But what most fans (including me) didn't like about Klara in season 2 was that there were no clear consequences for her after she posted the Halloween video. Klara still hangs out with what seems to be the popular crowd and she has people to go out with. In a post I wrote last year about my thoughts on season 2, I wrote this:

I actually wish that Klara would’ve become more ostracized from her school friends to emphasize how alone she is, but she seems to still be pretty popular so that was kind of disappointing. I thought the fall-out of her posting the video would be worse, but I guess not. Anyway, I like that they’re taking a disliked character and making her into a better person. Feels like it’s been done a few times before, but I still appreciate them doing it. I hated s1 Klara for being so one-dimensional, but s2 Klara is well on her way to being a pretty good and nuanced character.

Her character development sort of comes a little out of nowhere, though. Her reputation wasn't ruined by posting that video and she didn't really lose any friends besides Sara (she had already lost Amie prior to posting that video considering what Amie said to her after Lucia in 1x08).

So what prompted Klara to become this whole new person who actually considers other people's feelings in a relatively short amount of time? Here's a conversation between Felicia and Klara in 2x07.

Felicia: Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about? I understand that we’re not best friends just because you and Elias are together. We’re not here without a reason, right? Klara: No, I get that this feels weird for you. And if you don’t trust me after everything that’s happened - or that I’ve done. Felicia: Klara… Klara: I know that I haven’t acted like the world’s best person. And I regret that. Sorry.

But why does Klara regret her past behavior? What made her realize she hadn't acted like the "world's best person" if the ramifications from posting the Halloween video were so minimal?

Was it the relationship with Elias that made Klara change? No, I don't think so. When they first start talking at the bar in 2x03, Elias tells Klara that he doesn't always agree with Felicia and that he has his own viewpoints. In 2x07, he says Klara wasn't the one who messed up, but rather Amie and Ludde. And in 2x09, the script tells us that the Elias/Klara relationship seemed to bring more change to Elias rather than Klara.

Felicia: What did you do to him? Klara: What? Felicia: He’s smiling. Elias is like a whole new person since he met you. Klara: Stop. Felicia: I mean it!

So what made Klara change? In 1x08 she's mocking Felicia's drug problems and posts a video that will for sure ruin Amie's reputation. But at the start of season 2, she's suddenly become more withdrawn and considerate of people's feelings.

I can only name one factor that actually makes sense, and that's the fighting between her parents. Klara seems to turn into this quiet child when she has to listen to her mom and dad yelling at each other. This is something that didn't really begin until season 2, when Ola's company GECED started going under. This storyline was very well done.

But the other things, like Klara's reputation and friend group which you would assume would be affected, remain as they were in season 1.

Jack's sudden character change

Jack came into season 2 as a charming and charismatic character, seemingly fooling everybody into thinking he was a good guy. He knew the Kroon family from before and both Felicia and Elias were none the wiser when it came to the eventual reveal of his true colors.

Here's what Stefan H. Lindén had to say about the Jack character in his season 2 Q&A:

Bringing Jack in was actually originally not my idea, it came from my writer colleagues after that they revised my storyline notes for Season 2, while I was still down in Oskarshamn shooting Season 1. We had always intended for a character to come in and raise the stakes but I never imagined it to be Jack. When we started to develop the character, we all started liking him so he was kept in the story. Like with any new character we never really know who they are and what [the] point of them for coming in is [...]

Personally, I feel like the point of Jack's character is pretty obvious. When he first comes to Oskarshamn he is very much the embodiment of the new love interest coming in to date the girl who has broken up with her previous lover, while the previous lover still loves her and does anything he can to get her back although she's dating someone new. Jack is the Romantic False Lead trope who later becomes an alpha-dog Jerkass.

What I found interesting about Jack compared to Klara (in season 1) is that Jack isn't just a bad guy. He's very clever with his manipulation tactics and can easily charm people with his good looks and charisma.

When Felicia accuses Jack of cheating in 2x07, he manages to spin the whole thing around and make Felicia apologize to him and say it was stupid of her to believe he would cheat on her. I talked about this in a post while the season still aired, before Jack's true colors were revealed. Here's what I wrote:

I still don’t know if Jack really is cheating on Felicia with Olivia (the girl that texted him) but I would say he is. Jack is incredibly confident and charming, which makes him able to easily lie and manipulate people. We know he’s not an entirely good person since he’s already lied to Elias about not knowing that Mats would bring him back to Eagles. I wouldn’t be surprised if he really did hook up with Olivia and ended up being a really good liar. The fact is that not only did he deny it but he then shamed Felicia for blaming him and causing a scene, ultimately shifting the focus in the argument to her and making Felicia feel bad that she even confronted him in the first place. Jack says that maybe they shouldn’t even be together, which causes Felicia to backtrack and apologize. It’s actually pretty impressive how Jack was able to spin that around to blame Felicia and make her apologize.

Jack is able to take a small detail and use it as ammunition to get what he wants. In this situation, he brings up the girl in the Stockholm club that Felicia partied with and also kissed.

Jack: You shouldn’t accuse me, either. Felicia: What? Jack: I saw on Instagram, you and some girl in Stockholm. Have I whined about that? Coming here and blaming me for things, it feels really immature. Felicia: Fuck. Sorry, Jack.

Jack wasn't bothered by that at all. It happened before Felicia and Jack were even an official couple, and all they had done was hooking up at a party while Felicia was high. Jack, having cheated on Felicia, couldn't care less about the random girl Felicia kissed. That was just something he used to manipulate her.

When we discover that Jack is actually cheating on Felicia, he immediately reverts to a one-dimensional "evil" character. He's become the 2.0 version of Klara in season 1—written in just to stir up drama.

This "master manipulator" version of him just goes down the drain and Jack turns into a manchild who starts petty fights, files a police report because Ludde pushed him, and says to Felicia "I'm gonna tell on you!". Alright, maybe those weren't his exact words, but you know what I mean. It's a sudden shift and you start wondering how Jack was able to hide this version of himself so well before.

In 3x05, Jack sees Ludde and Andreas after a hockey game and fumbles trying to find any insult he can to hurl at Ludde. Everything he says from that point on is just line after line to really solidify that Jack is the bad guy. You didn't forget that, right? Here, let's have Jack call Felicia a druggie so you know just how shitty he is. And have him call Andreas a junkie later for good measure—there, that should be enough for people to understand that Jack is the villain here.

Jack: Johansson! Ludde: What the hell are you doing here? Jack: What does it look like? Ludde: I guess it’s you I should thank for the victory. Nice work. Jack: What is Felicia doing these days, then? Does she miss me? Ludde: Hey, you’re shutting up now, do you get it?! Jack: Jesus Christ. Do you think you can save her? What do you think she even sees in you? You two play in different leagues, Ludde. Ludde: You have no idea what we’re like. Jack: Come on! You should leave her. While you can. She’ll just pull you down into the dirt with her. You’re no hero, Ludde. Isn’t she still doing drugs? Once a druggie, always a druggie, right?

Jack is a horrible person, but at least he was able to pretend to be a good guy in season 2. And that was actually really fascinating. I wish we could've seen more of Jack's manipulative side that he showed in season 2 instead of making everything coming out of his mouth be a half-assed attempt at insulting the other person. That's a pretty boring villain, in my opinion.

Jack's backstory of his father being an alcoholic and him starting to resent the whole Kroon family because they had everything growing up while he didn't is interesting. It would've also made more sense if his anger was only directed towards the Kroon family since they're the ones he grew up with. They're the ones he was after the whole time.

His anger towards them feels cheapened when Jack also starts insulting Andreas (who he's probably never met before) for no good reason. It's like Jack's human qualities are just gone and all that's left is this empty shell made to start fights. His backstory didn't really make anybody sympathize with him, either.

The improvements of season 2

What I liked about the writing in season 2 was that they explored new ideas and had some solid storylines (besides the mess that was Amie and Ludde). Elias and Klara actually worked pretty well as a couple, even if they were pretty much the 2.0 version of Felicia/Ludde as the "wealthy, popular pretty girl starts dating the star player on the sports team".

Felicia finally gets some more depth. The scene at the end of 2x02, where Felicia and Leila park their car near the harbor and just start crying, is so powerful.

2x05 is also one of my favorite episodes of the show, as well as the ending montage of the 2x10 season finale. In Gameday, we had a very touching scene between Felicia and Mats where they finally communicate. It's not the most understanding conversation but it's a start. It's an interesting contrast between their talk in 1x06 where Felicia revealed she saw Mats cheating on Leila versus the talk they're having now.

Another one of my favorite scenes is when Felicia and Ludde meet up at their bench in 2x10 after Ludde has called her up asking Felicia to come if there's any chance of them getting back together.

The dialogue is simple and to the point. There's no long-winded love confession for the sake of drama. It's a moment that the whole season has been building up for, and when we finally get there we realize that this is how love should be.

Easy and simple.

Ludde: You came back. Felicia: Yeah, I did. Ludde: Do you remember our first date here? Felicia: No. I’ve forgotten. Ludde: I was so freaking nervous. Felicia: Everything you said… Did you mean it? Because you hurt me, Ludvig. And I… I’ve really tried to hurt you back, but… It’s not possible. I can’t… Not love you. Do you think… Do you think it can be us again? Ludde: What do you think? Felicia: I don’t want anything else.

Ludde admitting how nervous he was on their first date is sweet and shows us how much they've been through. Felicia is struggling to find the words to say and she's acknowledging how hurt she was, but still can't seem to find it in her heart to hate Ludde. It's honest.

Another plotline that I think was a little underrated in season 2 is the GECED company going bankrupt and Ola, Klara's dad, is under investigation for financial crime. This isn't a storyline you would usually see in a teen series. It's much more serious. It also gave us a really touching and poignant scene in 2x08 between Ola and Klara sitting on the floor of his office, where Klara has to comfort her father who starts crying.

Ola: When you were little you used to sit like this. On the floor, while I was working. You had your own room, but you wanted to sit with me. “Help daddy work”. Mom’s doing the right thing by leaving for a while, don’t blame her for that. Klara: What, you can’t just leave because things get a little tough. Ola: Maybe you should get away for a while too. You know, I never wanted you two to… That you… Everything’s gone. Klara: It will be fine. It will be fine. Ola: Sorry. I’m sorry.

In 2x09, Klara is at a party when she notices a bunch of missed calls from her dad. She immediately senses something is wrong and rushes home to find her dad having attempted suicide. It's executed very well and I really liked the more serious tone they went for in season 2.

It set up season 3 perfectly, which continued with the darker themes but balanced them very well with the more light-hearted moments.

Season 3: Finding one's footing

Season 3 was a highly anticipated season. I thought the season 2 finale was masterfully done and it left me wanting more. When season 1 finished on its cliffhanger of the video leaking, the focus only seemed to be on that.

But with season 2 there's Felicia/Ludde getting back together and Ludde having been sued by Jack, Jack threatening that he would leak all of the Kroon's family secrets, Klara's dad passing away, Elias deciding to get on the train and go to the draft combine anyway, Amie having finally become a recording artist but being isolated and heartbroken... There's so much to unpack, and it's a lot more interesting than the ending of season 1.

Where's Jack?

Jack is supposed to be the main villain but he's gone for most of the season, failing to show up until 3x05. In the season 2 finale Jack makes a huge deal about how he's going to destroy Felicia's life. He's threatening her in a very violent and abusive way.

Jack: [...] I know a lot about you, Felicia. And your nice family. It’s enough for me to leak to one news site. I can destroy you. Do you get it? I’ll tell them everything. The drugs, the cheating, your abortion! Felicia: Shut up! Jack: Hey. Huh? Did you seriously think I wanted to be with you? The little Kroon princess, who has gotten everything for free her whole fucking life! You and Elias! Like spoiled brats! You don’t understand what it means to fight for something!

In 2x10, Jack decides to report Ludde for assault but he doesn't follow through on destroying this family that he hates. If there's anything Jack seems to despise above all, it should be the Kroon family, right? So why did he fight back with Ludde but not the Kroon family?

I expected Jack to leak all the Kroon secrets at the beginning of season 3, but Felicia seems strangely calm at the funeral which I'm assuming only takes place two weeks or so after Ola's passing in the season 2 finale.

Then, a whole year passes with no indication that Jack is ever going to leak anything. As season 3 was airing, I commented on how strange this felt in an ask I received:

One of my main questions about the time jump is the whole thing with Jack saying he was going to ruin Felicia’s and the Kroon family’s reputation in the press. It seemed like nothing really came of that? I’m pretty sure that detail hasn’t been abandoned entirely and that Jack will come back (we’ve already seen a glimpse of him in the third episode), but it feels strange that Jack threatened to leak all her secrets and then just never did. I got the impression that Jack was a person who, when having his pride wounded, would do pretty much anything to get back at the person who insulted him. And yet there’s no mention of where Jack has been during that time or what he’s been doing. I feel like I would be pretty paranoid about this if I was Felicia, but we don’t see this haunting her until episode 3 when she sees a flash of Jack before realizing it was just some random guy. It seems strange that Felicia was relatively at ease during the funeral (which I assume took place not long after Jack first threatened her) and after the time jump. We don’t really know what’s been going on during that year, but Felicia seems to be fine and like she hasn’t had any thoughts of Jack at all. Maybe she assumed that his threats were empty and that he wouldn’t actually leak anything to the press, which is reasonable but at the same time I don’t understand why Jack has yet to do anything after a year. He was really pissed off in the season 2 finale, after all.

Going to repeat one of the things I wrote here because it deserves to be mentioned twice, and this point is one of my biggest issues.

I got the impression that Jack was a person who, when having his pride wounded, would do pretty much anything to get back at the person who insulted him.

I feel like this was kind of a plot hole that wasn't explained. Jack is ruthless and doesn't hold back at all when his true colors come out. He has no problem talking about the sexual relationship he had with Felicia in front of her father. Jack is just that horrible.

So what prevented him from ruining the Kroon family's lives earlier, when it seems to be the thing he's wanted for years?

Michael's predictable predicament

Michael first appears at the end of 3x04, where he calls Amie up to tell her he's her father.

Man: Hey! Sorry for calling so late. Is it Amie? Amie Condé? Amie: Yeah. Man: I saw you on TV the other day. I’m Michael Condé. I’m your father.

In the next episode, we get a voice-over of the continued conversation between him and Amie.

Michael: [...] I understand if it’s shocking. I’m in Oskarshamn for work for a few weeks and— Could we meet up someday?

So, it's clear what the writers are going for here. It's the estranged father who returns into the child's life when they've become successful. We're made to believe it's a Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You trope when Michael meets up with Amie and tells her why he left.

Michael: So Petra, she— Has she said anything about me? Amie: Well… That you moved from Sweden before I was born… That you’re working as a lawyer. That you didn’t want to see me. Michael: I was… I was young when we met. Your mom and I. And everything went really fast. I was in love, but she had feelings for somebody else. And when she found out that she— That she was expecting you, then… She didn’t want me there. She said I wasn’t father material. To some degree she might’ve been right, but… I wasn’t much older than you are now. I had just gotten into a law school in Berlin. When I finally came back to Sweden, then… She didn’t let me see you. I had already lost you by then, but I want you to know that I— I’ve thought of you. And about a week ago, I… I’m seeing you. On TV. There you are. With my last name. I’m so proud.

However, it's pretty easy to identify the holes in Michael's story. To be honest this whole storyline was predictable from the very start. Before Michael even came into the story, I made this post which pretty much summed up Michael's whole character when we didn't even know he existed yet (this was when 3x03 was the latest episode that had aired).

I don’t think we’ve heard any mention of Amie’s dad in the whole series except for 3x02 when Amie was being interviewed and was asked about the Condé name where she said that while Samuelsson was from her mother’s side, and Condé was from “the other side”. I found her word choice a little interesting. I don’t think Amie’s dad has passed—but rather that he’s alive and just chosen to not be a part of her life, which is why Petra seemed to be a little offended when asking Amie why she didn’t want her last name anymore. This might also be why Amie said “the other side” rather than “my dad’s side” because they have an estranged relationship. [...] I’m not really sure if they’ll do anything with Amie’s dad (maybe they’ll go for that trope where the parent who previously abandoned their child returns after the child has accomplished something big/something major happened and the parent wants something from them for personal gain?).

When we actually get to meet Michael and hear his explanation of why he left, I wrote this post pointing out some of the holes in this storyline.

Michael meeting Amie only after she’s become famous is a little suspicious, but it’s understandable if he previously thought she didn’t want to meet him and then sees her with his last name on national television. Obviously he would contact her after that. I feel like there were some question marks with Michael’s whole story though, and the fact that his work just conveniently happened to send him to Oskarshamn after he’d just seen Amie on TV. Maybe I’m missing something here, but how did he know Amie had gone back to Oskarshamn if he saw her living as a pop star in Stockholm? Was this information about Amie quitting the tour and going back to her hometown even online? If Elias (who actually witnessed Amie saying she was done and quitting) seemed taken aback when he saw Amie in Oskarshamn, then how did Michael know?

I do think Michael will return for season 4 though, so hopefully this storyline will be straightened out a little. We don't really know what Michael has been up for the past few years and if he has a family of his own. Maybe he'll contact Amie again to tell her she has some younger half-siblings?

They ended on sour terms, but if Michael does have his own family it's something Amie deserves to know and she can decide whatever she wants to do. I'd also like to see a Michael/Petra reunion, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

This storyline wasn't bad, and I do appreciate we got to find out what the situation with Amie's dad was. I also liked how I was able to sympathize with Michael. He's not entirely awful, even if he did put a lot of blame on Petra. It's one of those situations where you don't really know what it's like to be in Michael's position unless you've experienced it, and it's very realistic.

Plot holes

Some of the plot holes of season 3 that I've already mentioned are how Jack waited a whole year before leaking the Kroon family's secrets and how Michael conveniently knew Amie was in Oskarshamn when nobody seemed to know she was coming except her mom.

I actually don't mind that it was never explained how Michael got Amie's phone number either, because that's usually pretty easy to find with a Google search. Things like addresses, economic status, and even your criminal history are easily accessible in Sweden when googling someone's name. So finding someone's phone number is probably fairly easy as well.

On the other hand, one of the most glaring plot holes appeared in 3x08. In this episode entitled Lost, the Kroon family is frantically searching for Felicia who has gone missing. Leila and Elias knock on Petra's door to see if Amie is there and might know something about Felicia's whereabouts. Petra tells them Amie isn't there and they leave.

Someone left me an anonymous ask which I answered in this post, pointing out how it was strange that Elias didn't just call Amie to ask her when she wasn't at home. We know Elias has her number because they've been talking on the phone and texting each other several times before in the season.

In 3x08, when Elias and his mom go to Amie's house and ask Petra if Amie has seen or spoken to Felicia or whether she's home, I couldn't help but wonder, uh Elias why not just call Amie and ask her if she has seen or spoken to Felicia? [...] if Elias had called her and she heard how frightened him and his family were and police being involved she would have told him and then there would be no point in the 3x09 episode really.

This is a very strong point. You could argue that maybe Elias just didn't think of that but if they went out of their way to visit Amie's house only to not find her there, it would seem like calling her instead would just be a logical next step in the situation? Here's what I wrote in response to this ask.

This is an issue I had with 3x08 and 3x09 as well. I had a hard time actually enjoying the moment between Felicia, Klara, and Amie knowing that her family was getting increasingly worried for her and even thought for a short moment that Felicia was lying dead at the bottom of the ocean. All that could’ve been avoided. To add, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me that when Klara finally decided to call someone she called Amie instead of Elias. An ex-friend of Felicia’s instead of her brother who could’ve helped a lot more. What was Amie supposed to do when she showed up at the hotel, exactly? I know there was the thing with Klara only knowing Amie’s number off the top of her head, but there is no reason why she couldn’t have gone down to the reception while Felicia was sleeping and asked to use a computer just to get a quick message to Elias. Like, “hey, Felicia attempted something bad but she’s safe with me, we’re at this hotel in this room but she didn’t want me to call anybody, I don’t know what to do”. That would’ve been so much better than keeping quiet about the situation for nearly 24 hours. I know that Klara probably has trauma from leaving her dad at the hospital after his suicide attempt and that she probably didn’t want to go against Felicia’s wishes. I understand the first part 100%. But Felicia was in a very bad place emotionally and was thinking that her whole family hated her when that wasn’t the case. I feel like in a situation like that you kind of have to be the bad guy just to ensure the family that Felicia was safe. Even if everything turned out alright in the end, it could’ve gone so much worse if Felicia had wanted to be kept hidden for longer. [...] Elias calling Amie would’ve been an easy solution to this whole debacle but we would’ve lost the drama. It’s still somewhat of a plot hole though, like you said.

I understand it was done this way for dramatic effect, but that doesn't really patch up the plot hole.

I also found it strange how many people turned on Felicia after Jack ruined her reputation in the press. I talked about this in an ask I received.

I don’t understand why the public turned on Felicia so harshly. And Leila too, for that matter. The way Jack told the story about how these two women had things done to them should indicate that they’re not the ones to be blamed. If I read this article and found out an 18-year-old girl got pregnant by a “violent criminal” who forced her to abort and then abused her I would not be angry with the girl. I would be angry that she was physically abused and also outed on her sexuality for being bi. If I read this article and found out Leila had been cheated on by her husband repeatedly with her best friends, I wouldn’t be angry at her. I would not agree with the decision to turn to alcohol (same as Felicia turning to drugs), but I wouldn’t blame them. And I feel like a lot of people should’ve been on Leila’s side after finding out the reason why they divorced. I don’t understand why people are saying they’re disappointed in Felicia and calling her fake when she’s been through so much trauma in her life. I feel like if this actually happened in real life, all the blame would be shifted to the men because they’re the ones who—in this story—are painted as the bad guys (with the exception of Jack, considering he was anonymous).

I got another anonymous ask sent in after this, pointing out how the anger directed towards Felicia was considerably more about her drug use rather than the abuse she endured. Here was my response to that:

[...] the drug use should’ve been understandable considering the stuff Felicia had been through was also written in that article. I don’t know. I can understand people unfollowing her if they didn’t want their young children to be exposed to all the controversy, but it’s still strange that everything Felicia received was hate messages. Did everybody just skip over the part where the anonymous source stated that Felicia was violently forced to have an abortion by an ex-criminal and probably did so out of fear for her life? Yes, we know this is fake, but why didn’t anybody seem to mention this? [...] they seem to have written this storyline with the idea in mind that the public was against the whole Kroon family. Felicia got comments such as “So fucking disappointed in you and your family”, “What a nasty fucking family”, “You and your family are so fucking disgusting”. So I think Leila received plenty of hate for drinking instead of divorcing her husband sooner and basically turning a blind eye to all the problems her family went through. That’s what Jack told the press, at least. The anger seemed to be directed towards every member of the Kroon family and that didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Again, this is something the writers did to dramatize the situation and they kind of forgot to consider that what Jack actually told the journalist wasn't as incriminating for Felicia and Leila as it were for Mats and Elias.

The magic of season 3

What season 3 really excelled in, to me, was delving into some more serious topics as well as showing the gradual development of Amie and Elias' relationship. Amie and Elias are the prime example of how a slow burn is so much better than having a couple get together too fast, like Felicia and Ludde did back in season 1.

While season 3 was still airing, I wrote a post dedicated to questions I had received about Elias and Amie. Here's one of the things I said about them:

I think Elias’ interest in her really started to grow after he saw how caring Amie was to Felicia, and later on connecting with her on how they both ended up back in Oskarshamn after following their dreams which didn’t exactly turn out the way they expected. Yes, Elias has always sort of been watching and admiring Amie from afar, but that interest didn’t start growing until he actually got to know her. The experiences they had in the US and Stockholm, respectively, probably changed their mindsets and in my opinion it makes so much more sense for them to get together now than it would’ve in season 1 or season 2.

I still believe that Elias and Amie are the best-written couple of the whole show (at least so far), because they just make sense. We'll see what season 4 has in store for them because we have yet to actually see them in a romantic relationship, but I feel like their personalities and characters just fit together really well.

Another thing I really appreciated was the depiction of Felicia and Ludde's declining relationship. Things like that happen so easily, and I liked how we see Felicia do this huge gesture of planning a picnic for Ludde in 3x04 but there were still underlying problems between them. It's like that in real life too—no matter how big of a romantic gesture you make, communication will always be the number one priority in any relationship and that's where Felicia and Ludde fall short.

The obvious disconnect between them when it comes to money is also important. It's been like this from the beginning, but season 3 gave us an actual conversation about it.

Felicia: Please, I can’t talk about this. Seriously. It was stupid of me to bring this up from the beginning. Fuck, I get such anxiety talking about the future— Ludde: You get anxiety? I’m the one walking around with no money in my account. Mom and dad had to get a loan to pay off mine and Andreas’ fines. I’m playing on a shitty old synth, and living off you like some leech. That’s anxiety. Felicia: Everything isn’t about money. Ludde: Says the one who has money. Felicia: Move out then, if it’s so fucking hard to feel like a leech.

This felt very realistic. Of course a person like Felicia wouldn't think money is everything when she's never experienced financial issues. She's able to move out into her own one-bedroom apartment as soon as she's turned 18, it seems, and doesn't worry at all about the cost of furnishing and decorating it. She didn't even pay for it herself, because Mats mentions he's the one on the mortgage loan. It seems like Felicia has never had an actual job either, and that's starting to worry her because she has no idea what she should be doing.

Felicia: [...] I don’t know what I’ll be or what I’ll do in the future. I don’t know that. Ludde: You’re still an influencer— Felicia: Don’t say I’m an influencer, please. Do you think I want to be that my whole life? It’s not even a career. I'm— I’m graduating next year, and I… My grades suck, and— I have no plan. I only have you. Not like that—I have you. That’s what I have. I want to be here, in Oskarshamn. I don’t want to go to the US and chase some dream and be a hockey wife. That’s not a life. Sometimes I wish neither of us had a plan, just us together here.

Felicia's character finally offers something interesting here, which I've waited for since season 1. She's not just a party girl anymore who has issues with drugs. She's a privileged teenager who is co-dependent on the guys she meets and who has anxiety about the future, to the point where she wishes she could stay in Oskarshamn in her little apartment forever stuck in limbo.

She has to face a harsh reality when Ludde decides to break up with her, and later on when her name is slandered in the press and people all over the country are sending her hate messages. Her own family is furious with her and Felicia has nobody. She's pushed away a lot of people and her mental state is just crumbling in front of our eyes.

It's a strong storyline and actually very well executed. Almost everything gets taken away from her, and at the end of 3x07 you can almost feel what Felicia is feeling. We've been with her through this whole journey, almost, and we understand why she feels like suicide is the only answer.

It's tough to watch that final scene of 3x07. It's greatly amplified by Alva Bratt's superb acting, but the writing of the journey there is also amazing. It's very difficult to write a sensitive storyline like this.

Overall, I don't have a lot of critique towards season 3. I loved most of the episodes. I elaborated on this further in a separate post:

[Episodes 3x04 and 3x05] showcased what Eagles should be all about so well, which is relationships plus the struggles you go through as a teenager in a small town, and then of course hockey. The hockey game episodes are really good, even if I don’t think 3x05 topped 2x05 (the game where Ludde got tackled and knocked out). I loved the contrast in Date night of the budding relationship between Elias and Amie and then that fight between Felicia and Ludde on the cliff. [...] It was interesting to see how this sweet gesture from Felicia turned into a fight between the two of them. I thought that was very realistic, because no matter how big of a gesture Felicia made to apologize there were still underlying problems that they needed to talk about. I also loved the “non-date” between Elias and Amie in this episode. It was cute to see them goofing off before the movie started and then talking about it on the way home. I liked how Elias could connect to her on how they had both returned to Oskarshamn. The recent episodes that dropped last week (3x08 and 3x09) were very strong and discussed some important subject matters [...] They were dark, but not necessarily bad because they needed to happen. However, I have to say that I prefer Eagles when it’s about hockey and teenage relationships. 3x04 and 3x05 made me kind of nostalgic for season 1 and I liked the vibe they both had.

Eagles season 3 is in my opinion the best season of the show so far, and we haven't seen any signs suggesting that there is any reason for season 4 to not be even better.

Season 4: Hopes and wishes

Considering how each season has been increasing in quality bit by bit, I have pretty high hopes for the writing in season 4. I'm excited to see how the transition from teenager to young adult will be portrayed in the main characters, and what their future will hold for them after they've graduated.

My main questions are if Felicia and Ludde will find their way back to each other or if they'll remain broken up (that would be realistic as well), if Klara will reconcile with her mom, what's in store for Elias's hockey career, and if Amie will leave her label and maybe opt for something more independent.

I also want to see how Felicia deals with the new home she's checked in to, and if Ludde will in fact go to the school now that it seems Andreas will be getting into trouble again.

Amie and Klara are kind of wild cards here, because it somewhat feels like they've already reached their happy endings. Amie is famous and successful in her pop music career, and Klara has found her place as a businesswoman following in her father's footsteps. Maybe these developments should've come in season 4 instead of rushing them.

Nonetheless, I have faith in the writers. The writing suffered a little in seasons 1 and 2 but it has gotten better. Most of the things I pointed out about season 3 were just small details in an otherwise stellar season.

In conclusion...

This post was critical, but I tend to be critical of every show I watch. Eagles is still a very special show for me and having grown up in a Swedish small town myself I'm very fond of the show and its characters.

So huge thanks to the creator, Stefan H. Lindén, for making this show a reality and also to the director Carl-Petter Montell for contributing to the writing in season 3. And of course the writers of the show which include Michaela Hamilton, Fanny Ekstrand, and Anton Nyberg (plus Amanda Adolfsson who helped write 1x02 and 1x05 and Simon Ekbäck Nordström who is credited for helping with the hockey scenes in 3x05).

I hope you guys enjoyed this long, long post and major kudos to you if you read this far!

#eagles svt #svt eagles #eaglesspoilers #young royals #beartown #björnstad #been working on this post for a few days so i really hope you enjoy it!

[patchofsunlight]

Stand You | Bakugou Katsuki x Fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Bakugou insists he can’t stand stupid Y/N, even while he changes his entire routine to fit her in it.

WORD COUNT: 5.1k

WARNINGS: if this doesn’t show up on tags for the fifth time i will simply give up on it, cursing, bakugou is a lil bitch but he’s also a softie, there’s a nosebleed at one point but nothing concerning tbh, aizawa and recovery girl find young love amusing, shouto is baby

Y/N wasn’t sure of exactly when she started thinking of Bakugou Katsuki as a friend. Maybe it had been during their first year, after the first time he allowed her to join his study group alongside Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina; or maybe it had been a bit later, when she hugged him tight in the middle of a crowd, almost as if she could squeeze the pain being kidnapped by the League of Villains had brought him, and he let her — while All Might fought his last battle and all of Japan feared for its future, Bakugou let her hold him.

She was deeply aware of the fact he tolerated her at best, as he made that abundantly clear every chance he got. He didn’t exactly hate her presence, but she was on thin fucking ice, and, even though Y/N knew this, she still managed to somehow develop a crush on the angry ash blond, like the stupid idiot she was.

It was ridiculous, to be honest, especially considering how there was no way he would ever feel the same. She would go as far as saying he didn’t even know her name — “Stupid,” he called her (how enchanting!) —, so, yeah, there was absolutely no possibility of her feelings being reciprocated in any way, and the dumb hug they shared was nothing but a coincidence. He was a bit shaken, a bit shocked, and those few warm minutes didn’t really mean anything.

Y/N didn’t mind. She was okay being Bakugou’s friend, satisfied with study group meetings and the occasional sparring. That way, at least, she could be sort of close to him, and that was pretty much enough.

Katsuki wasn’t sure of exactly when he had stopped thinking of Y/N L/N as another stupid extra. Maybe it had been when he found himself walking a little slower while she accompanied him towards class, or maybe it had been a bit earlier, when she hugged him tight in the middle of a crowd, almost as if she could squeeze the pain being kidnapped by the League of Villains had brought him, and he let her — while All Might fought his last battle and all of Japan feared for its future, Bakugou let her hold him.

He didn’t particularly like her. She talked too much, too fast, too loud; she insisted on walking him to and from the dorms everyday; and she was weak, stupid, useless. To be completely fair, Bakugou would say he despised her.

And yet, he found himself around her way more often than necessary.

“Hey, Bakugou, wait up! Let’s walk together!”

He groaned loudly at the sound of her voice, having been hopelessly hoping she wouldn’t be able to catch up. 

“Fuck, no. Get out of my way, Stupid!”

He slowed down nonetheless, soon walking by her side. Her smile was bright and excited as she kept on blabbering about something Kirishima had done when they were paired up on training that day.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

“— and then he threw me off the training mat so easily! Who taught him how to do that? I wanna do that!”

“I don’t give a fuck, Stupid.”

“— but I won the second time we sparred, so I guess we’re even. It was fun.”

Y/N never seemed bothered by his harsh words. In fact, she usually either ignored them altogether, unfaltering and patient, or laughed and added some opinion of her own to his rage. It was maddening — she couldn’t take a hint.

Moments like this were common, almost routine. If Bakugou didn’t know better, he would’ve thought the girl had taken quite a liking to him. It was an obvious conclusion, considering she was always around him in some way or another, trying to spark up friendly conversation and letting him know how her day went.

(It was so, so calming to have her here like this. He would never admit it, but hearing Y/N’s endless rants brought him a sense of security he had never really felt before. She talked too much, that was for sure, yet he didn’t really care. It was okay if it was her.)

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

“Come on, try again. We’ve gone through this already.”

“I can’t, Bakugou. I—I’m sorry.”

The ash blond sighed, running a hand through his hair. The bite to his tone had disappeared after a couple of hours, red gaze intensely attentive to the frustrated tears gathering in the girl’s eyes. Every other student had gone back to their dorms, and the librarian seemed very intent on shooting the duo angry looks as if to tell them to hurry up and leave already, finally allowing their long afternoon shift to end.

“Yes, you can. I know you can. Try again, you’re almost fucking there.”

Katsuki had never been good at positive reinforcement. He was better at screaming and cursing and insulting, and, yes, he had tried that with Y/N a thousand times before, but he could see how hard she was trying. He noticed how disappointed and tired she was, and he couldn’t find it in himself to be anything less than what he recognized as incredibly soft. He was glad they were the only ones in the library — he wouldn’t know how to explain himself if anyone saw him like this, watching this random girl who he refused to call a friend mess up her homework in various different ways, talking quietly to stop her from crying.

“We don’t have all fucking day, Stupid. You can do this, go on.”

Yeah, definitely not good at positive reinforcement.

“Okay,” she inhaled deeply, pencil moving slowly through the paper, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. 

There was a slight crease between her brows as she worked, and Bakugou felt the sudden urge to rub it away, which he rejected immediately. That was ridiculous! There was no reason for things like this to plague his mind — L/N Y/N was an idiot, and he didn’t deliberately think about her in any way, form, or universe. She wasn’t worthy of his thoughts.

“Is this it?”

His attention immediately returned to the equations and messy notes on her notebook while he looked it over, a surprised glint taking his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s basically it. It could be better, but you got it right.”

“I did?”

“You did. I told you you could do it, Stupid.”

Katsuki choked on his own air when the girl jumped towards his place on the table, hugging him tightly by the neck while spouting a great variety of thank you’s and praise, disrupting the angry librarian. Bakugou could feel his cheeks heat up under the worker’s glare, both with irritation born from their silent attitude and from the weird warmth growing in his chest at Y/N’s attention. 

It was the first time she hugged him since the kidnapping accident, and it felt different. It wasn’t a comfort hug like last time, no — it was almost like she had been so happy she couldn’t stop herself from touching him, and that thought alone was enough to send sirens flaring inside his head. Every single inch where her skin touched his seemed to tingle, a calming sensation flowing through his body.

He instantly decided he hated the feeling, pushing her off harshly but still a tad more carefully than he would’ve if it was anyone else.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, no need to freak out. Let’s just get done with this already and go back to the dorms.”

She smiled widely as she picked her things up, shoving them inside her backpack and patiently waiting for him to do the same. Strangely, the explosion boy couldn’t find it in himself to meet her eyes, avoiding the light blush he feared would coat his features when he saw her staring at him like that, with that pretty — no, not pretty, no, he didn’t think she was pretty in anyway — with that stupid smile on her face.

“I’m glad we can walk back together,” the girl declared cheerfully the moment they left the big and lonely library, strolling through the empty path side by side, the sun nowhere to be seen. “It’s late already.”

“Whatever,” he groaned back, refusing to look at her yet still maintaining a pace he was sure she could keep up with.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

Bakugou felt hyper-aware of every movement beside him. For a few days now, his heart would pump a bit faster whenever she smiled, and his skin would crawl with what he could only describe as the craving to have her hold him again.

It made him weak, and he wouldn’t have it. Bakugou Katsuki was a lot of things, but he refused to be weak.

Specially because of someone like Stupid.

“What grade did you guys get on last week’s math test?”

They always sat next to each other during lunch. It wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t for how her knee touched his ever so softly, her body too close for comfort because of Kaminari’s presence on her other side, pressing onto her enthusiastically each time he spoke. Kirishima had asked her once if she wanted him to exchange places with the electric boy, but she simply laughed it off — Kaminari’s manners were endearing, in a way. For some reason, those words gave Katsuki the urge to break Kaminari’s nose.

“I got an 87,” Y/N declared, delight dripping from her words while she played with the food on her plate.

“Y/N!” Mina’s smile was so big it almost didn’t fit on her face. “That’s almost 30 marks higher than you got on our last test!”

“I know!” Bakugou scowled at her excitement before she turned her head to look at him, a sunny grin directed entirely to him, stealing all the air from his lungs. “Bakugou is an amazing tutor!”

“Damn right I am,” he managed to rasp out, clearing his throat loudly before shoving a bunch of spicy noodles in his mouth. Kirishima and Sero exchanged a look.

He would never admit it, the raw pride that consumed his chest at her happiness. He knew how hard she had worked for that test, and was glad to see it went even better than she expected. 

“Maybe now you could tutor me, Y/N,” Kaminari wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing a laugh to escape the girl’s lips while she turned away from Katsuki to stare at him.

“I would love to, but I’m pretty sure I would make your grades even worse.”

“Hey,” Bakugou barked angrily, fighting off the blush creeping up his ears, “don’t sell yourself short, Stupid. You’re not that much of a dumbass.”

A heavy silence fell down on the group, surprised stares pointed to the ash blond. He could feel his stomach twist in anger at the unwanted attention, yet something about the way her smile widened at his words caused his irritation to decrease exponentially.

“What are you idiots staring at?” he lashed out despite the calm settling inside his heart at the sight of her, rolling his eyes at the bunch of morons he called his friends.

“No, nothing,” Kaminari’s voice was high-pitched in obvious lying that brought out snickers from everyone else on the table but Bakugou himself. “Nothing.”

“It better be nothing, Dunce Face, or I’ll kill you.”

“Of course,” Kirishima bit down on his lip to contain his laughter, “don’t worry about it, Bakubro.”

The day went by slowly and way more often than not Bakugou found himself stealing glances towards where he knew Y/N’s seat was. There was a weird whispering in the back of his head, reminding him of how her arms felt around him when they hugged in the library the week before, reminding him of the warmth that invaded his skin and implanted itself in his brain, reminding him of how bright her smiles were and how nice her laughter sounded.

Oh, there was something wrong. Did she have some sort of secondary quirk guilty of making him feel like this? Never before had he ever given her much thought, even though he had to admit his mind wandered to her sometimes and he did try to somehow be nicer to her, but it wasn’t because he cared for her or anything, right? Of course not! He just thought she wouldn’t be able to take his usual self and he didn’t want to deal with her crying or whatever. It wasn’t because he cared about what she thought of him, hell no! Bakugou didn’t waste his time worrying about others, that wasn’t like him at all.

Bakugou Katsuki didn’t think about L/N Y/N, he didn’t, he wouldn’t.

The ash blond forced his gaze away from her once more, trying to make sense of what should’ve been neat notes instead of the mess of scribbles staring right back at him. He snarled to himself, immediately considering his disorganization as entirely her fault. How dare she play with him like this? How dare she think herself worthy of his time like this?

He couldn’t stand her.

And yet, less than two hours later, there he was, listening to her rant about this one movie she desperately wanted to watch while they walked beside each other after class. It would be so easy for Bakugou to pick up his pace and leave her alone, but his body refused to obey his mind’s wishes, and so he kept himself slow enough for her to stay with him.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

His whole body was sore, barely able to move his arms after overusing his quirk all evening. Bakugou knew he shouldn’t push himself this hard, but he refused to falter, refused to stay behind and risk being weak again. He needed to get stronger, smarter, and, for better or for worse, that involved long training hours. 

The path back to the dorms was strangely lonely without a certain girl keeping him company — not that Katsuki minded, he obviously didn’t. Some loneliness was very much appreciated after the last couple of weeks, which were filled with study group sessions and stupid walks. 

He sighed heavily when the 2-A dorm finally came into his range of vision, causing his tired figure to relax. He was almost there — he would soon be able to eat something, take a nice shower, and then fall straight into bed. He would soon be able to rest, and that was the only thing in his mind.

The ash blond kicked his shoes away the moment he reached the door, tossing them aside without a second thought. 

He would’ve liked to say he bee-lined to the kitchen.

He didn’t.

“Stupid, what the fuck are you doing?”

Y/N looked up from the common room coffee table, startled by the sudden interruption. She studied him for a second before answering, “I’m just looking over some homework. Why? Did something happen?”

He grunted in distaste, unable to stop himself from sitting down next to her on the couch. Every single one of his muscles felt like it was on fire from overexertion.

“It’s fucking late. Didn’t we study yesterday? Did you even have dinner yet?”

She tensed slightly at his angry questions, returning her stare towards the papers in front of them. “Yeah, but I just thought it’d be good to go over everything once more. I’ll just eat some crackers for dinner, it’s fine,” she shrugged nonchalantly, missing the way his eyebrows furrowed at her words, “where were you anyway?”

Katsuki simply rolled his eyes, arms crossed. “It’s none of your fucking business, Stupid. And you can’t have crackers for dinner, that’s not a proper meal.”

“What are you gonna do about it, Bakugou? Will you cook me dinner?” Her tone was teasing, joking, but he stood up immediately, snatching all the papers and notes from her and walking to the kitchen without a second of hesitation. “Hey, what the fuck!”

“Come with me already, you dumbass,” he snarled angrily, a tint of red covering his cheeks, “what do you want to eat?”

Her voice suddenly went soft, “Bakugou, I was kidding. You don’t need to get me dinner, I can just heat up some ramen or—”

“Shut the fuck up, Stupid. I was already going to cook dinner for myself anyway.”

He wasn’t, actually. He planned on eating leftovers from lunch, but he knew there wouldn’t be enough leftovers for both of them, and it was good to prepare some lunch for the next day, anyway. It wasn’t like he was doing it for her, of course not! It was just… Mutually beneficial. Yeah, it was mutually beneficial, not—not special treatment. He didn’t care about Stupid, he didn’t.

“Can I help with anything?” she asked nervously, face flushed from bashfulness and hands fidgety. Katsuki shook his head, ignoring the twitching pain on his forearms as he stirred the pot.

“Just sit down and wait.”

“Are you sure?” Y/N bit her lower lip with furrowed brows. “You seem tired, I don’t want you to do everything by yourself.”

An angry remark sat on the top of his tongue, but the ash blond hesitated. Well, if she helped with the simpler things this would be done faster, and he could go back to his room and rest earlier. Besides, the idea of cooking and spending time with Y/N in the kitchen caused some type of warmth to take over his chest — a warmth that wasn’t exactly insufferable.

It felt strangely soothing, hearing her hum while slicing vegetables and waiting for the noodles to cook through. It felt even more strangely soothing to sit before her on the kitchen table, staring anxiously while she took the first bite of his food. The worst, however, was the way her smile brightened up the room when she started rambling about how good it tasted and how much of a good cook he was and how he now had to cook for her more often. He disagreed loudly, the tip of his ears burning with embarrassment, saying he didn’t cook for her — he cooked for him, and she just happened to be there too. She cackled, and his heart seemed to burn.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

Seventeen minutes. Y/N was seventeen minutes late.

Had she forgotten about it? God, she was the one who brought it up in the first place, and now she was the one making him wait. Katsuki felt incredibly stupid sitting in his dorm floor, a bunch of her favorite snacks neatly organized next to the nightstand and pillows on the ground for them to sit on. It was supposed to be a study date or whatever, even though he repeatedly refused to call it that (“it’s not a date, Stupid, it’s just one of our homework sessions like always!”). 

They had been spending a lot of time together between studying at the library, walking to the dorms, and cooking and eating dinner, and Bakugou had to admit he didn’t absolutely hate it. Don’t get him wrong, Y/N was still annoying and stupid and insufferable but—but something about her made him come back every single time, ignoring the knowing looks from his friends and the snickers from his classmates.

Despite his anger, a bit of worry started to blossom inside the boy’s chest. Stupid Y/N (and he hated how affectionate the mean nickname sounded to himself at this point) was rarely late — he had been seeing her after school hours enough to know. The girl was always on time and, when she wasn’t, she made sure to let others know why.

There was no text from her, though, and it made his fingers twitch uncomfortably with the urge to make a phone call and check if everything was alright.

Not that he cared if she was alright or not, because he didn’t. She was just—just some girl who decided to invade his life with no permission whatsoever and then stayed. He didn’t care about her.

And yet— 

“Hello?”

“IcyHot? What are you doing with Y/N’s phone? Where the fuck is she?”

Bakugou couldn’t muster any reason for why Todoroki would’ve been the one to pick up the call instead of her. They weren’t even friends! Yes, they knew each other and he was vaguely aware of the fact the two had sparring sessions every once in a while, but not enough so for Todoroki to feel comfortable using her phone or for Y/N to bail on their study date.

“Oh, Bakugou,” Shouto’s tone was as casual as always, almost as if this was a common occurrence (which it wasn’t), “hey. Y/N is with Recovery Girl right now. She got into a fight, but she is okay, just a few cuts and bruises. I was the one to stop the fight, so Aizawa asked me to wait around while she gets checked up on. Do you want me to tell her anything?”

Bakugou had been out the door when he heard the words “Recovery Girl”, speed walking to the nurse’s office while Todoroki rambled. He could feel his heart picking up its pace. Why would Y/N get into a fight? God, this wasn’t like her, and the prospect of someone purposely picking a fight with her filled him with the most raw type of anger possible.

“What the fuck did she get into a fight for?” he voiced his concerns, and he was pretty sure Todoroki just shrugged.

“These two boys were saying things about—”

“Todoroki? Who are you talking to?”

“Miss L/N, I’m still not done with you—”

Katsuki furrowed his brows at the commotion heard from the other end. He could easily recognize her voice, even though it sounded raspy and tired, but the next bit of conversation was too muffled for him to understand. The future hero could already see Recovery Girl’s office a few meters away, and it made him walk a bit faster.

“Give me the phone, Todoroki.”

“Miss L/N, you are still bleeding—”

The door opened violently. Y/N met Bakugou’s glare and felt a bad shiver go down her spine.

Shit, they were supposed to have that study date today. God, did he come all the way over there just to scold her? 

Heavy silence fell over the small group of people. Aizawa and Recovery Girl exchanged a quick look, the small lady’s arm still extended towards the girl in a failed attempt to grab her and drag her back to the hospital bed, even though she was definitely not as hurt as they made her out to be. Yes, she had a bunch of nasty bruises after throwing hands with two random guys from the year above her, and, yes, her nose hadn’t stopped bleeding yet, but she was mainly okay. Todoroki had gotten there pretty quickly and stopped her from making things worse, so she was fine.

“What the fuck did you do, Stupid?”

Yeah, he definitely went all the way there to scold her.

“Uh. Now, that’s a good question!” She consciously chose to ignore the smirk on Aizawa’s face, pulling her phone from Todoroki’s grip a bit more violently than necessary. “You see, I’m sorry for my tardiness, I know we had plans, we still can—”

“I asked you what the fuck you did, Stupid. I’m waiting for my answer.”

“Miss L/N picked a fight with two third years after hearing them talk about one of her colleagues in public. Thankfully, Mr. Todoroki intervened,” their teacher cut in, crossing his arms and staring as the girl cleaned up a stray drop of blood on her lips with the back of her hand. “She’ll be getting a written warning and will hopefully stay out of trouble.”

“Yes, sir,” she muttered, frowning when Recovery Girl started fussing over her again, sticking band-aids all over the small cuts on her face. Y/N had refused to accept Recovery Girl’s quirk treatment, aware that she was very busy and that it wasn’t necessary for the school nurse to tire herself out for just a few bruises. She was so intent on glaring at her elders that she didn’t notice the worry swimming in Bakugou’s red gaze.

“Good. Can you two get her back to the dorms?”

“Yes, I—”

“Fuck off, IcyHot, I’m taking her back by myself. Find something to freeze or whatever.”

Katsuki grabbed her by the arm, dragging her out of Recovery Girl’s office without a second’s worth of hesitation. He wouldn’t even look at her, fuming the whole way to the dorms. Still, he walked slow enough for her to not struggle to keep up.

“Are you mad?”

He snickered humorlessly, “of course I am, Stupid. How the fuck did you get yourself into this? And you fucking left me waiting, too, you idiot.”

Usually, Y/N didn’t care about his harsh words. Y/N didn’t mind his angry remarks. This time, however, she felt tired, and she had just gotten into a fight because of him, so she refused to take it. She had tried so hard to get close to him, to make him like her. The girl could feel tears gathering in her eyes from fury and sadness — how stupid was she to actually believe he would ever like her, be it as a friend or more? She should’ve known better. Dinner and studying and walking together meant nothing to him. She was just a bother, and she should’ve noticed earlier.

Y/N halted, pulling her arm away from his hand with rage and deception coating her every feature, “shut the fuck up, Bakugou. I don’t have to give you any explanations, you piece of shit. If you’re so pissed about it, why don’t you just leave me alone, huh? I’m done keeping up with your bullshit. I always try to be a good friend to you and you just keep doing this! You keep pushing me away and treating me like an idiot, and I deserve more than that!”

The explosion boy had a crease on his forehead, a cold feeling going through his body. The angry look in her eyes was something he didn’t recognize, and suddenly she felt so unreachable, so far away. He quickly decided he hated it.

Why did he hate it, though? They had nothing to do with each other. They were barely friends. Wasn’t this what he wanted? He couldn’t fucking stand her, he didn’t care about her. This was what he had wanted for months now — for her to tell him to leave, for her to not stand him too. Why did it feel so wrong, then? Why did he feel the urge to collect her in his arms like she loved to do with him? Why did he just want to hold her and tell her he was worried and that he couldn’t wait to spend more time with her, that he couldn’t wait for their stupid study date? And, yeah, it could be a date if she wanted it to. God, he’d accept any name or title she gave their meetings if only they could go on forever.

How long had this been going on? When did she make him so attached to her? Why hadn’t he noticed it before?

“Fuck you, Bakugou,” she muttered, slightly out of breath after her short outburst, face dark with frustration, “those idiots were talking about you and about how you should be a villain or whatever, and I got mad. That’s how I fucking got myself into this, because I care about you. Thanks for caring, asshole.”

The girl turned to walk away, and panic bloomed in the boy’s chest. He didn’t know why exactly, but he knew he couldn’t let her leave. He couldn’t let her leave him, couldn’t let her think he didn’t care, because he was just now seeing he did — so, so much. Of course he cared about her and all her silly manners that made their way into his heart and stayed there, on the edge of conditioning him to feel better whenever she was around. Of course he cared about her and the study dates and the sparring sessions and all the stories she loved to tell, of course he fucking did. Of course.

Katsuki was quick to grab her arm again, pulling her so close to him their chests bumped. Y/N furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Bakugou, what the fuck are you—”

“I like you. I really—I really do,” he shook his head, trying to gather his own feelings. “A lot. I was worried. I’m sorry.”

Y/N blinked.

“You were worried? About me?”

“Yes,” he scratched the back of his neck, looking away to hide his blushed cheeks, which didn’t go unnoticed by her attentive eyes. A smile played on the corners of her mouth, and Y/N let herself enjoy the rapid bumping of her heart, the flustered sight of the one boy she had fallen for. Flustered because of her. She could feel a rush of confidence building inside her chest. “I guess… I guess I care about you, too. Even if you’re absolutely insufferable,” he added clumsily, causing her smile to widen considerably, “I can’t fucking stand you, to be honest. You annoy me to no end.”

“Now do I?” she took a step closer, so close that he could feel her breath on his face and it made his head spin. “You don’t seem very annoyed to me, Bakugou.”

“Katsuki,” he corrected thoughtlessly, feeling his face warm up even more when he took notice of his own words.

“Right,” Y/N nodded, smirk on her face, “Katsuki, then.”

He opened his mouth to make a mean remark that would push her away enough to give him space to breathe, but he was suddenly interrupted by her lips on his. Before he could register it, she was gone, speed walking back to the dorms. After a few shocked seconds, he started running after her, calling her name angrily and trying to conceal the dark red on his face, neck, and ears.

“Hey, come back here, Stupid! What the fuck was that?”

Bakugou couldn’t have ignored the way his heart fluttered at the sound of her laugh even if he tried, a lazy smile taking over his lips immediately.

“I can’t stand you either, Katsuki.”

“Oh, shut up.”

#bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #bnha #bakugou katsuki #mha x reader #mha

[one-boring-person]

Hey I had an fun idea for a request

A Terminator lost boys crossover.

After the events of T2 John and Sarah end up in Santa Carla. John meets Sam and the frog brothers (maybe at the comic shop) and swap stories.

I love this request so much, so I hope I've done it justice!

You'd Be Surprised.

The Lost Boys x Terminator: Judgement Day crossover

Warnings: swearing

Masterlist

"What is this place?" John's face is pulled into a tired frown as he looks around the bustling area around them, sniffing at the sickly scent of candy and sweat skeptically.

"The Boardwalk, I think." Sarah replies, body tense as they move further into the crowd, one hand on John's back.

"The Boardwalk?" The youth questions, flicking hair from his face, "Looks interesting, I guess."

As he says this, he has to stifle a yawn behind his hand, once again wishing they hadn't spent all night driving to get to this little coastal town - after everything that happened, John has gotten very little sleep, thanks to the sheer amount of moving around. Nearly everyday is spent driving around, or it was, until Sarah found out about this place, a small town called Santa Carla, which is small enough to be relaxing, but also big enough that it acts as a distraction from everything that happened with the terminators of before. Sarah had been adamant to get here, and it had meant that they hadn't stopped to sleep the previous night, leaving them both dog-tired.

"Looks like it's popular." Sarah muses, steering them through the crowd, unsure of what they're doing here - she had thought it would be a good idea to get out and explore, but now that they're here, she's just this side of uncomfortable.

"Yeah." John murmurs, turning to look across the way at a bunch of stores, his head cocked to the side, "Hey, is that a comic store?"

Sarah glances over, finding what he's looking at.

"Looks like it." She replies, knowing what's coming next.

"Can I go look? I won't go far." 

"Yeah, go ahead. Just be careful, ok?" She sighs, watching as he thanks her and moves off towards said store.

Glad to have found something familiar, John heads quickly to the shop, unable to help the small smile that creeps into place as he approaches the comfort of the comic books he knows and loves. As he reaches them, he runs a finger over the rim of the shelf, slowing his stride to pore over the glossy covers, marvelling at the vivid colours and stark linework, idly reading the flashy names and slogans. Comic books have always been his escape from the reality of his world, especially back when his mom had been taken out of the equation (however brief that now seems), finding that he could easily lose himself in the smooth textured pages and their detailed stories. At his foster parents' house, he'd had an extensive collection. 

"Wonder what happened to 'em." He murmurs quietly to himself, still somewhat guilty about the deaths of his two temporary carers, knowing it was his fault they ended up how they did.

"Hey man, we don't want no loons in here." A gruff, boyish voice behind him startles him, the sound unexpected as he spins on his heel to face the newcomer.

He comes face-to-face with a kid around his age, possibly a year older, the stern yet curious look on his face giving him a somewhat older appearance. The boy wears clothes not too dissimilar to military fatigues, though they're paired with the usual civilian-wear most people tend to have, as if he's trying to seem tougher, the red bandana wound around his head seeming to emphasise this. John has to bite back a sharp snort as his brain makes the connection it had tried originally to form: the kid looks like he's trying to be Rambo. 

As he watches, another boy joins him, his one wearing similar clothes, with a pair of dog tags hung round his neck.

"Don't worry, I ain't no loon." John replies, standing a little tensly, unsure of how to react.

"If you say so, comrade." The second boy intones, frowning as he looks over John's slightly dishevelled appearance.

When they don't immediately leave, John lifts an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" 

"Just checking you out." The first one informs him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh yeah? You the kid cops or something?" John scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Laugh at us now, but we're the reason you're safe." The same boy practically snaps at him, scowling.

"Sure, buddy." John shakes his head. 

"You scared of monsters, man?" The second questions, exchanging a knowing look with his companion.

John only snorts: he's learned it's not the monsters you have to fear, it's technology.

"You should be. Gotta watch out around here." It's almost a threat, the tone of voice in this boy sounding dead serious.

The three boys stare at each other for a long while, brows drawn tight as they face off, bodies tense. 

After a moment, a cheerful voice interrupts them.

"Edgar, Alan! What're you doing?" A blonde youth in vibrant clothing comes into view, grinning as he claps the other two boys on the back, "Who's this?"

"Nobody." John replies, smiling tightly as he goes to move away.

"Hey, wait a minute!" The newcomer calls after him, "Were these two giving you a hard time?"

"You could say that." 

The two boys go to protest, but the newcomer just shushes them.

"I'm sorry, they're a bit tense. It's been a rough couple of months." The blonde apologises, smiling brightly, "I'm Sam."

He offers John his hand, blue eyes friendly as he looks him over.

"John." He takes the hand, smiling at him a little, "It's been a rough couple of months for me, too."

One of the boys snorts, the Rambo look alike this time.

"I think we have you beat." The dark haired one comments.

"I think you might be surprised." John retorts sharply.

"Think so? Tell us and we'll decide." Wannabe Rambo instructs, placing his hands on his hips.

"Edgar, calm it, yeah?" Sam sighs, rolling his eyes.

"No, it's fine. I'll tell you, but you won't believe any of it." John shrugs - what has he got to lose?

"You might be surprised." Sam mimics him from earlier, grinning cordially.

Shooting him a swift smirk, John launches into his story, giving them all the relevant information, watching as their faces go from impassive and sceptical, to shocked, to enraptured. The three of them listen attentively, clearly enjoying the story, not quite believing parts, until John shows them the scars and marks he obtained, which are too deliberate to be accidental. As he comes to a finish, he waits for the others to react.

"Shit." Is all Sam can manage, eyes wide, somewhat pale after hearing all that.

"Yeah." John swallows, wetting his mouth again as he waits for Edgar and Alan to respond.

They exchange a glance, clearly not having expected that at all, unsure now of how to respond.

"That's some real shit, man." Edgar eventually says, his expression softening slightly.

"Yeah, sorry about your friend." Alan adds, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine." John acknowledges them, trying not to wince at the memory of his brief father figure, the terminator still rife in his mind.

"Maybe we should tell you our story." Sam muses, pulling at his shirt.

"Go for it." 

And so he listens to them trawl through their tale, listening intently as they describe the four bikers of the Boardwalk, who they had found out were the ones responsible for the hundreds of missing people in Santa Carla. It sounded unreal: vampires in a small coastal town? Sounds like a child's story, but he supposes it's not too dissimilar to his own in that sense; no one will believe him if he tells his story. As they go on, he finds himself enjoying their company, the wilder antics of Edgar and Alan balanced out by Sam, who seems to have a joking nature and a natural friendliness that rubs off on John. Eventually, they finish.

"Jeez, and I thought I had it bad." John laughs, running a hand through his hair.

"We all did." Sam chuckles, leaning against a nearby shelf.

"Guess we have more in common than we thought." Alan remarks, smiling for the first time.

"Yeah." John nods, grinning.

"John!" He turns to face the entrance to the store, where he sees Sarah standing, waiting for him, "Time to go."

Groaning, he pulls his coat on tighter, before he starts to say his goodbyes.

"You guys here every day?" He asks his newfound acquaintances.

"Yeah." They chorus, nodding.

"Mind if I come back?" 

"We'll be waiting." Sam grins, "See ya around."

The other two say their goodbyes, before John walks off to join his mother, the two starting the long trek back to the motel.

"New friends?" She asks, looking at him.

"Yeah." John grins widely, "I think so."

#terminator #the lost boys #terminator judgement day #terminator 2 #the lost boys edgar frog #the lost boys alan frog #the lost boys sam emerson

[humandisasterskywalker]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Temporary Blindness, No Beta We Die Like Clones Series: Part 7 of Whumptober 2021 Summary:

Whumptober 2021

Day 7 - MY SPIDER SENSES ARE TINGLING

Helplessness / Numbness / Blindness

“You need to leave me here. The Palace need to know something going on. The mission is more important.”

A wave of indignation threatened to overwhelm him through the bond. 

“I am not leaving you here Master! The people who fired that dart might come back. You can’t see. You wouldn’t have a chance defending yourself.”

“You must Anakin. Your duty is to the mission not to me.” Obi Wan said imploringly. He had to understand.

“My duty is to both!” Anakin shouted.

(Obi Wan is injured on a mission. Anakin's naturally power will always shock him, but this. This was something different.)

.

.

.

Obi Wan didn’t know what had happened. The forest had been quiet. There had not been any sense of any malevolence in the Force. They were only on a diplomatic mission, acting as advisers for the new Queens coronation.

There weren’t even any known opposition groups on the planet. It had seemed the perfect first mission to bring Anakin along. Eleven was typically still lightly early for a Padawan to be taken to an off-world mission, but by all accounts, he had passed his trials on Ilum with flying colours and had already been in his apprenticeship for two years. Even the council thought he was ready.

It was the perfect type of mission. Educational and fairly risk free.

Or it would have been. If Obi Wan hadn’t just been hit with a dart fired from somewhere beyond this clearing.

He had fallen to the ground, more in shock than due to the force behind it. He could hear Anakin shout his name. Could hear him running closer.

Could only hear him because he couldn’t see.

Obi Wan couldn’t see.

They were alone, on a strange planet out in the wilderness and he couldn’t see.

He was responsible for an eleven year old Padawan and he couldn’t even see him. Or any threats they could come across.

He couldn’t see.

Obi Wan felt hands drag across his robes. Pulling him onto his back. He assumed he was facing the sky, the sounds of the birds had got louder. As had Anakin's panicked muttering.

“Master! Master, please look at me. Say something. What am I supposed to do Master? Master, please wake up.”

“Anakin” he groaned. Obi Wan immediately felt the sense of relief rush through their bond.

“Master you’re ok.”

Obi Wan sighed pulling himself back up into a seated position. He closed his eyes, clenching them shut in the desperation that when he opened them he would be able to see again.

He couldn’t. He felt his eyes open but the world remained black. Dark.

“No, I’m not Padawan.”

Obi Wan winced at the return of the Anakins panic. His hands returned to his robes, desperately looking for any injury. He felt him catch the dart and couldn’t suppress the groan as it pulled against him.

“Master, what should I do with this. Its… I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Take it out Padawan. But keep hold of it we might need to show it to a healer.”

“What does it do. Master what’s wrong.”

“I can’t see Anakin.”

The low level panic flared into something that more greatly resembled terror before Anakin brought it back under control.

Obi Wan couldn’t help but feel pride. Anakin had always struggled with controlling his emotions but now when under situational pressure he seemed to be doing well. It was a very good sign for the future.

If their partnership had a future.

If he was unable to see how could he possibly be an effective master? Anakin would have to petition the council for a new one. He would never be able to teach him all he needed to know like this.

Obi Wan took a breath. He was supposed to be the Master. He would be of even less use to Anakin if he fell down his own panic spiral now.

“What do you need me to do Master?”

He smiled. He had been blessed to be given this Padawan.

“Remember the village where we were dropped off. Do you know the way back?”

There was silence.

“Anakin?”

“Sorry. I um… I nodded. I’m sorry Master I wasn’t thinking”

“Don’t worry about it Padawan. Are you sure you can make it back?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“I need you to take that dart back to the village. Comm the Palace. Tell them what's happened.”

“But what about you! You need to see a Healer Master!”

“You need to leave me here. The Palace need to know something going on. The mission is more important.”

A wave of indignation threatened to overwhelm him through the bond.

“I am not leaving you here Master! The people who fired that dart might come back. You can’t see. You wouldn’t have a chance defending yourself.”

“You must Anakin. Your duty is to the mission not to me.” Obi Wan said imploringly. He had to understand.

“My duty is to both!” Anakin shouted.

“Anakin-” Obi Wan was interrupted

“You can keep arguing with me Master but it won’t change my mind.” There is no way I am leaving you here. Whatever threat there is to the palace won’t be relived by leaving you to die on the forest floor.”

Obi Wan deflated.

“I probably wouldn’t die.” He reasoned. He probably wouldn’t. He might be captured, tortured for information or held for ransom. But he probably wouldn’t die.

“Master!” Anakin shouted.

“What do you suggest then Padawan. How exactly else will you get out of here.”

“I’m going to lead you out.” Anakin sounded sure of himself. Deeply confident

“Anakin, you can’t”

“Why not?”

“It would leave you vulnerable. I can’t risk your safety for me.” Obi Wan would not be able to cope if he lost Anakin the same way he lost his own Master.

“So you admit you would be vulnerable here.”

“That’s not what I meant”

“Then what did you mean.”

“You shouldn’t have to protect me. That’s not your job.”

“Would you leave me here?” Anakin had a distinctly smug tone to his voice. As if he thought he had won the argument

“Of course not. But I am the master and you are the Padawan. It is my job to look after you. It's not your job to look after me.”

“This last time I checked this apprenticeship is a two way street Master. Master Yoda always says that the Master learns as much by the apprentice.”

“He doesn't mean like this.”

“Then what does he mean?”

“He- I- Anakin!”

“Master I am not going to leave you here. The sooner you accept that the sooner we can work out an actual plan.”

“How exactly do you plan on getting me out then Anakin!” Obi Wan said frustrated. “I can’t see. That means I can’t walk.”

“I’ll be your eyes,” Anakin said earnestly.

“How!”

Obi Wan felt Anakin reach out through the force. It wasn’t like the usual emotion transfer. It seemed deliberate like Anakin was trying to share something.

Obi Wan had never felt anything like it before. Qui-gon had never shared anything like this. He hadn’t even ever heard Master Yoda describe anything like this.

The darkness seemed to lift. He could see shadows, different shades of dark in front of him. It wasn’t normal sight. It wasn’t like he could see the forest. But he could tell where the trees were. He could tell where the path was.

“Anakin. What have you done.”

“It is like I said, Master.” Anakin felt more distant. Powerful. “I am lending you my eyes.”

He grabbed Obi Wans hand and pulled him to his feet before guiding them forward.

Obi Wan couldn’t speak. He didn’t dare to. To be able to do something like this is power beyond the ability of all but the most experienced Masters. For Anakin to be able to do this as just a Padawan, and only an elven year old Padawan at that. With no training in the technique.

Obi Wan had never been a disciple of the ancient properties like his Master had been, but it was times like this. When Anakin displayed such effortless power he wondered if he has been right. Could his Padawan truly be the chosen one?

He deserves better Obi Wan thought. Someone this powerful deserves better than me.

“I don’t want another Master,” Anakin said heatedly.

Obi Wan was thinking far too loud.

He tightened his shields and allowed his Padawan to lead him to safety.

#whumptober2021 #no.7 #blindness #star wars #fic #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #look i write