#(like. replaying the game. she's more frustrated than anything at him + obviously thinks the 'bunnies' are cute)
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Umineko EP3. Replay Part 3
She probably expected it but giving out so much of her trauma away just to not even be believed must have hurt a bit...
Yeah...
Again, obviously using this story as a device to talk about herself. K Beatrice never really considered suicide like that, the one that did was Yasu. The way the story says that Kinzo and Beatrice's love is one-sided is interesting - that's not how its portrayed in ep7, though I can imagine that's how Yasu saw it, due to how her life was fucked up by Kinzo.
The referring of Kinzo as mage/magician/blacksmith is pretty interesting to me. I think it shows how yes a complete dismissal of 'maigc' we see in Battler and later Erika is bad and can hurt people who need help the complete enabling that Genji and others did of Kinzo's magic is bad, too.
B-batler theres another more obvious and clear definition of the "miracle of creating life" here stop getting frustrated!
There are like a hundred million hints here Battler! No wonder Beatrice is starting to get frustrated with you. The only bigger hint she could give at this time is basically force-feeding the answer.
Awkard phrasing considering that's not even true aside - you can tell how their dynamic has changed a bit by now. By this point at the last chapter Battler was talking about how she was evil and would never accept her.
He's starting to get it but then he forces himself out of taking the story seriously.... Ronove tries to get him back on track though.
Woah I didn't realize they gave actual dates here... honestly, I don't have the timeline of events 100% clear in my mind on certain stuff so maybe I should work on that with this reread....
He's able to get the general gist back, though! Thanks, Ronove!
Ronove chastises him for trying to use Beatrice as a sacrificial piece here too - obviously a hint that we should look into the people he loves.
Here is Rosa basically talking about the time she heavily considered suicide and then there's her brother and her sister making fun of her for 1. Not trying harder and 2. Being a failure at what she likes. I sit really any surprise Rosa ended up as fucked up as she is?
Man, this so fucked up.... not allowed to know anything, completely stuck inside one man's delusions....
I think the fact in this episode you spend time with a younger Rosa and Eva a very interesting a necessary choice for the game - here you meet an Eva before the realization that her dreams will never become true and a Rosa before she was thrust into adulthood with a million unresolved traumas and no support system - I think this was a very necessary choice so that we could see this characters not as people to scapegoat for all the misfortune but as complicated people.
Yes, that's a better assessment, as her entire life has been a trick by and for Kinzo...
This must have really fucked up Rosa a lot - I imagine she felt so so guilty about it. I don't really think you can blame Beatrice or Rosa here - the fault lies with Kinzo grooming someone to be so defenseless and naive to the point they can barely understand danger.
Beato has had enough of having Battler try to blame an ethereal 19th person now, Battler is forced to play like a big boy now.
I think this is probably referring to how Kinzow is unable to take any results other than Beatrice being brought back to him... other people might think of ways of moving on with their life and accepting their misfortune.... Kinzo chose to spend the rest of his life chasing something impossible and ruining the lives of many people in the process.
I can't really express it very well here but holy shit an animated CG.
I might be overthinking this but the fact this episode, outside the meta, refers to the previous episodes is a hint that this one was written a bit after the other ones - the contrast between episode 2 and 3 Shannon is kind of interesting but ultimately it's not that different, Shannon doesn't believe that a real future with George is possible so she's fine with dying after getting the highest attainment (the ring) she believes she can possibly achieve. It's just her death here came earlier than it did in ep2.
Ouch that line about crying himself to sleep over being furniture hurts....
These conversations are pretty interesting when you consider it is the same person struggling with their own thoughts, the part that is fine with killing themselves after getting a ring since that's the happiest they will ever be and the part full of regret and bitterness...
The lines of pure self-hatred are pretty tragic too...
With this board being the first one to go really off the rails the fact Genji died so early probably has to do with it, lol, that's kind of hard mode for Yasu.... of course, the narrative purpose is Tohya knowing the board didn't go as Yasu planned I and to hint us towards how it actually went down in actuality.
Huh.... they bring this up again right after they bring up how Kinzo's wife did the same thing when she thought/knew Kinzow as having an affair.... I guess Natsuhi suspected that as well.
You can tell this episode isn't written by Gohda anymore because Gohda has a scene without someone remarking that he is a snake and evil.
The fact original Beatrice roughly means "played a lot of pranks" is pretty funny.
Battler going uh uh I can't take this anymore here always felt a little weird as if this was any weird than the Kanon goat fight in epsidoe 2... that was due to the changed plans in 3 probably though.
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mary doesn’t know what a gay person is enough to be homophobic towards gary
#ib spoilers#(written after All Of This: Apologies for the brain vomit.)#this eventually turns into a screed against liking sibling ships LMFAO#ok now the tags begin:#thats the only thing stopping her#(semi-joking. like lol heehee mary hostility moments but. honestly i'm not sure she even dislikes him particularly????????)#(like. replaying the game. she's more frustrated than anything at him + obviously thinks the 'bunnies' are cute)#(she doesn't HATE the guy and has some sorta warped affection for 'im in that 'rips up your heart flower in a loves-me-not game' way but.)#(still clearly sees him as an Obstacle more than anything. a means to an end.)#(jealous of ib's trust in him in their dysfunctional three-person found family dynamic BECAUSE SHE CAN ONLY CONTEXTUALIZE#HER BABY-BRAIN AFFECTION FOR IB AS A SISTERLY THING BC WRAPPING THIS AROUND SHE DOES NOT FUCKING KNOW WHAT A GAY PERSON IS#also for the record i said this before but i Do Not Ship Them!!! and frankly mary would move on by the time she realizes what being gay actu#actually is. she's like 9 and ib was the first girl she met in her age group. we aren't having any funny buisiness here thats gross.#i. hate explaining that every fucking time i bring this up but i cannot stress enough how unwelcome *those* sorts of shipping-brains are.#it sucks. i just want to discuss the definitely-embarrassing-to-her-#.-later-in-life motives of the human sacrificing painting girl and insinuate she's gay without the precident of FREAKS getting wierd aboutit#ANYWAYS CITRUS FUCKING *SUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS* AND IF YOU SUPPORT FICTIONALIZED GLORIFICATIONS OF STEP-SIBLING SHIT DIE fJHKSDHGLKJSDG#*cough* anyways but yeah mary doesn't know what a gay person is
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Keeping a Secret - Part 6
pairing: Tsukishima x f!manager of Sendai Frogs genre: sexual tension/crack/fluff/slow burn wc: 7.1k
Part 5 || Part 7 || masterlist
[a/n]
I’m sorry for the slow update (As you know, I finished my other mini series last week and I was just a ball of exhaustion, until now tbh)
I think we’re halfway along the story now. I think. Lmao.
AO3 link is on the masterlist’s page.
Let me know if you want to be part of the taglist uwu
No one budges - not Tsukishima, not the team, not even you. You scram the insides of your brain, trying your absolute hardest to come up with a panic-stricken solution on how to remedy the carelessness brought by your surge of pride from winning.
You can feel your heart pounding on your chest. Or maybe it's Tsukishima’s against yours. You can’t tell at this point and you don’t bother trying to. You push your cognitive skills to its maximum as you strive to think for a fix for your current predicament.
Luckily, you’re not a university scholar for nothing.
You release Tsukishima and open your arms wide to the next person you lay your eyes on.
“Kyou-kun! Good job,” you manifest the joy on your face as you come up to Kyoutani for the similar hug you just gave Tsukishima.
Like Tsukishima, Kyoutani also stills when you embrace his perspiring body. Kyoutani is not a touchy person, but unlike Tsukishima, you know he’s fond of you. So he doesn’t push you away. Rather, he awkwardly pats you at the back.
“T-thanks,” he says with his low, raspy voice. You beam at him and move on to the next player until you’ve hugged all six on the court.
When you come back to the benches, there’s an organized line of the rest of the Sendai Frogs.
You blink quizzically for a few seconds, wondering why, until you realize that they’re waiting for their turn as well.
“Aww, you guys!” you gush dotingly at how adorable they are. Yet, you can’t indulge them.
“Maybe next time? You need to line up already,” you remind them. They all groan downcastedly, but Coach Mira castigates them immediately.
“What the hell are you all sighing for? You won. Stop dawdling around and fall in line over there, not here!”
The guys snap out of it and do as they’re told. Before Coach Mira joins them, she shoots up an eyebrow at you, probably looking for an explanation for your behavior.
“Sorry, Coach.” You chuckle as you apologize for getting the team a bit sidetracked, but provide no reason why you did so. “Won’t do it again,” you supplement the apology.
She lets it go casually and lines up with the team as well.
Once the match is officially done, you head over to the restroom. You enter one of the cubicles quickly and lock its door, you knock your head on it.
‘What is wrong with you, you dumb bitch!’ you lambaste yourself while staring at tiles with petrified eyes as you replay the scene again.
When you made the deal with Tsukishima, you were confident that there wouldn’t be problems with hiding what you two have. He is one of your athletes first and foremost; that hasn’t slipped out of your mind. Yet for one moment there, you blurred the line that you and Tsukishima had established.
You got cozy with him when you’re not in private--when you’re not supposed to. It was just a hug, but still, it was something when you’ve made the whole Sendai gymnasium your audience.
You’re the one who even assured Tsukishima that no one will know about your set-up. Tough luck, you’re also the first one to mess up.
You bang your head on the cubicle door again. The sound of your frustrated groan echoes through the whole bathroom. After a while, you take a deep breath and unlock the cubicle. You go back out to the halls.
When you turn left to head for the bus, you’re startled at the presence of the blonde that was just in your mind. Tsukishima is there, leaning against the wall next to the door you emerged from.
“Fuck! You scared me,” you exclaim.
“Tell me about it,” he replies with a straight face. Despite the nonchalance, you know there’s meaning behind his short retort.
You scan the area, looking for any other member of the team who might be present. When you see none, you drag Tsukishima outside to a secluded area at the side of the gym. Once there, you check around again just to be sure no one will pass by.
Tsukishima just watches you acting in distress, waiting for whatever it is you’re going to say. Obviously it’s important enough to you that you tugged him all the way here. Once you’re done confirming that the coast is clear, panic sets in your face.
You clutch his jacket and start lamenting. “I’m so stupid, Tsukki! Oh God. They’re gonna find us out. We’re screwed!”
He thought that you were just going to explain and apologize for your slip-up earlier. He was stupefied when you did it. He’d probably be giving you an earful right now had you not resolved your mishap before it became an object of inquiry to the others. Admittedly, he was still planning to scold you a bit. However, seeing you this freaked out about it makes him change his mind..
“I’m so sorry!” you go on as you drive yourself deeper to hysteria.
He can’t understand why you’re having this kind of reaction. You solved the problem. You hugged five huge, sweaty men to make up for it. That was a convincing distraction for testosterone-filled players who just won a match.
“Can you calm down? I do-”
“Maybe we should stop it already,” you suggest strongly, cutting him off as perturbation clearly clouds your judgement.
This throws him off. The idea didn’t cross his mind at all. He was just going to reprehend you to be mindful, not call off the agreement you two made.
He doesn’t mind it anymore - kissing you. Sometimes, they’re more enjoyable than he initially anticipated them to be. Most importantly, they’re harmless. They’re just meaningless kisses born out of what little attraction you two have for each other. No one is getting out of line. You don’t go beyond kissing. You both act like the deal doesn’t exist unless it’s just the two of you in your room.
That’s why he is willing to let your mistake go, apart from the fact that you were successful in covering it up.
But instead of contesting your suggestion, he says, “If you say so.”
Even though he’s accepted that kisses from you are allowable, if you want to back out from it, why the hell should he stop you?
“Right??” you persistently convince him even though he basically said yes already.
“Right,” he presses on as well to satisfy your apparent need for him to agree with you.
His answer effectively calms you down as you let go of his jacket and sigh a breath of relief. You swiftly regain composure and face him with your trademark sassiness. “Awesome,” you say with a reassured smile.
“You go ahead first so Coach won’t ask me to chew your ass for taking too long to get on the bus.”
“And you?”
“I’m the manager. I’m always the last to get on the freaking bus.”
He turns around and walks back to the bus. That’s strange. He thought you love taking advantage of every opportunity there is for you to pick on him. He might be wrong.
He can be sure about one thing though: you really are the manager who looks out for everyone, including him.
Maybe that’s why it bothers you so much. Above all else, you are their manager. So when you acted upon something other than such in the court, you lost your cool.
Oh well.
It’s not as if scrapping the deal off is a loss of any kind. He’s gained some sort of fun from it. That’s that. Nothing more. Nothing less.
--
Tsukishima knocks for the second time. He wouldn’t have bothered knocking since it’s your scheduled time to meet today, but he also doesn’t want to barge in without your permission. So he knocks again.
Sure enough, it opens this time. Yet, no one’s there to meet him.
“Tsukishima...”
His eyes drop further down to where your voice came from. You’re on your knees, your head faced down on the floor, and your arm reaching on the doorknob where your hand is latched onto.
What is it this time? What kind of antic will you throw his way? He waits for you to do something unearthly again, readying himself for anything you might surprise him with.
But nothing. You just stay where you are while he stands still.
You groan weakly and ask, “Did you not get my text?”
He slouches down and gets on your level, still not discarding the thought that you have a trick up your sleeve, and you’re waiting to spring it on him.
“What text?” He didn’t check his phone on the way here so he doesn’t know.
You lift your chin to face him while he anticipates your big reveal -- your comedic idea of the day -- but it doesn’t come. What greets him are your squinted eyes, almost beet red cheeks, and pale lips.
“Not today,” you struggle to say which comes out raspy and frail.
He instantly reaches for your forehead to confirm his speculation. His eyes widen with worry when his palm touches your skin. Even without a thermometer, he can confidently conclude that you’re sick. Not just sick, you’re burning with fever.
He looks behind you and sees your laptop open with a mug filled with brown streaks of fried liquid he can only assume to be coffee.
“Jesus Christ,” he hisses. You really won’t fucking stop at nothing even if you’re literally sick already.
He peels your hand off from the doorknob. He scoops your legs and waist with ease and stands up.
“H-Hey,” you protest. You’re gravely debilitated so you do not move at all aside from a hand feebly clutching his shirt for support. He kicks the door close and walks over to your bed.
“Do you have a fucking death wish, y/n?”
Even with his harsh tone, he’s extra careful to duck down from your top bunk because he’s too big for the damn thing. If he’s not mindful, he’ll surely bump his bed on the metal frame.
He delicately lies you down on your bed as he manages to sit beside you without hurting himself.
Your eyes are closed and your whole face screams of discomfort. Your mouth opens as you scuffle the words to come out.
“Go home. You’ll get...sick too. Game soon,” you whisper hoarsely.
As usual, you’re still thinking about the team. Is it always everything else before yourself? Don’t you really know how to take a fucking break? It’s an eyesore. Watching you slowly but surely deteriorate yourself is more taxing than handling your childish nonsense.
He’d love to give you an earful of his thoughts about your pressing behavior, but it’s not what you need to hear at the moment. “Who should I call to be here?” he asks instead.
You force your eyelids to open and look at him. “No one. I can take care of…,” you trail off as your eyes begin to flutter close again.
He can’t decide if it’s funny or foolish that you think you can take care of yourself when you can’t even finish your sentence. “Right,” he says, unable to help himself from sounding sarcastic despite your situation. It’s just so stupid how this easily could be avoided if you didn’t push yourself too hard.
He’s in no way responsible for you. He should just walk out like you said. You did this to yourself. There’s no reason for him to stay there.
Yet, he puts down his bag and takes off his jacket.
“Do you have a medicine kit?”
His question is no longer heard. You’re already passed out. He stands up and starts looking around your room for anything that resembles a first aid kit. If you do have one, you didn’t place it where someone can easily see it.
He sighs as he’s left with no choice but to go out and buy the stuff you need. He can’t possibly go through your things. It feels like an invasion of your privacy.
When he comes back from the pharmacy, he’s expecting that you’d ease up even a bit since you finally stopped working. But when he sits beside you again, he can see the same worrisome distraught wrinkling your pretty face.
Alt hough he doesn’t want to disturb you, he has to. He needs to feed you, get you to take medicine, wipe you with cool compress, chang e your clothes, then tuck you back in bed. After that, he still needs to stay to make sure your stubborn ass won’t get back to working once you feel a tiny bit better.
He feels all his facial muscles droop down at the amount of chores he needs to do for you. He really shouldn’t bother. He can just turn a blind eye and go home, leave you alone since you brought this upon yourself.
But there he is, tending to your needs for no substantive reason other than him being a decent person. Well, he’s already taken the first step, so screw it.
He can still work on his own uni requirements while he watches over you anyways.
Although you resisted a bit at first, your own lack of strength makes you give in to his attempt to cater to your sickly needs. The feeding and the medicine was an easy task. You were practically a lifeless doll and just went with whatever he tells you to do.
Now that he’s in your bathroom with a small basin of cool water and a small towel hanging on his shoulder, he contemplates on how to proceed with the next step: a sponge bath. He should just hand you the towel along with a new set of clothes, leave the room, then come back after a few minutes.
Because he is not doing it.
He won’t be undressing you and wiping your naked body. Just no. You should gather whatever energy you have left because you’ll be doing that all on your own.
He dips the towel in the basin and squeezes the excess water out of it. He puts the moist towel in a container and goes back to your bed.
“Hey, sit up for a bit.”
You groan softly, but does as you’re told. He puts the small plastic case with the towel on your bed and helps you get up. “I’ll get you a new set of clothes, then wipe yourself down,” he instructs you.
You let out one short hum of approval, so he goes to your drawers. He pulls the first shirt and bottoms he sees. As long as you have your blanket, it should be fine if you’re not wearing thick clothing.
When he turns around, he finds you holding the wet towel to your shoulder, completely still as you rest against the wall by your bed. You fell asleep with the towel soaking up your shirt.
“Crap,” he curses as he rushes back to you.
He places your fresh clothes to the side and hurriedly removes the towel off of you. He’s about to shake you back to consciousness but aborts his plan as soon as he touches your other shoulder.
You look like you really want to do it yourself as well. Even now, he can see minute movements from your fingers as if you’re still trying to follow his directions earlier.
Goddamn it. It’s really up to him now, isn’t it?
He glances at you one last time, thinking of another way out. If you hadn’t gotten your shirt wet, he would have ditched the sponge bath idea already. Now he’s left with no choice but to proceed with it.
Whatever. It’s just a human body for Christ’s sake. He shouldn’t be as alarmed as he currently is. He’s seen a female human body before. Yours should be no different.
He takes a deep breath and gently tugs up the shirt you’re wearing.
‘They’re just mammary glands,’ he repeats in his head but makes sure his eyes never land anywhere near the blob lump of fat on your chest.
He gets to work, brushing the cool towel starting on the sides of your face, then down to your neck. You must only be half-asleep because you lift your chin up a bit to allow him access to the column of your neck. He keeps his eyes on it as his hand travels down a bit further.
He spreads the coolness of the towel on your chest, but as soon as he feels a particular softness, drags his hands back up. With his hand still on your chest, he feels the pace of your breathing quicken a bit. When shoots his eyes up to your face, you’re already looking at him with dazed eyes and slightly agape mouth.
Beautiful. Too fucking beautiful for his liking.
It’s ridiculous. People are supposed to look like shit when they’re sick, not inviting.
A certain delicate temptation kicks in, urging him to back away a bit to reward himself with a quick sweep of your semi naked figure.
‘No,’ he grounds himself.
He’s not that barbaric. He’s not doing this so he has an excuse to ogle at you.
So why is he doing this?
With the turbulent thoughts reigning in his mind, he unknowingly squeezes the moist towel he’s holding against your skin.
The cool water drenching from his palm distracts him from his pondering. Reflex makes him look at his hand and involuntarily follows the slow trickle of water down the supple mount of flesh he’s been meaning to avoid looking at this whole time.
He realizes he’s been staring, but he’s too enthralled to stop. He lets his eyes wander further down, still watching how the droplet glides to your stomach. It gets absorbed by the fabric as it reaches down the waistband of your shorts.
The absence of the water he’s been trailing with his eyes snaps him out of his trance.
What the fuck is he doing?
He quickly moves on to your arms, patting your skin aggressively and haphazardly so he can finally get this cumbersome chore over with.
When you recover from this, he’s going to barrage you with a litany of fulmination on your self-destructive habits.
He’s supposed to wipe your thighs and legs too, but the idea is already tossed away as his train of thought is antagonizingly twisted today.
As fast as he can, he puts on the shirt he got for you. He was being gentle previously, but his priority at present is to cover up your exposed body away from his sight.
When he successfully clothes you, he gently lays you down again. He pulls the blanket to your shoulders and looks at your overall state.
You look a bit better now so he goes to your study table. He tidies up your stuff and puts them aside for him to set down his own.
Finally, he can get his shit done while he waits for your fever to go down.
He’s halfway through his elective course when he hears you whimper. He ignores it the first two times, but he hears it again louder the third time, he concludes something is wrong.
When he gets to your bed, you’re shivering frantically even with your blanket covering your whole body. He quickly searches for another one and piles it over the one you already have.
It only lessens your trembling but it’s still there. Your pretty face is still ruffled with unease. He touches your arm and finds out that you’re shaking way worse than you look.
In just seconds, he slips inside the blankets and draws you in to provide you the body heat you might need. You desperately cling onto him, pressing your body to share what he silently offered. Your fingers that are clutching the back of his shirt are quivering. You sink your face on his chest with agitation, badly in need for an additional source of warmth.
His displeasure towards your self-negligence dwindles when he feels your trembling body against his. Yes, this might be your fault, but he’s certain you hate this more than he does. Not only are you in pain, but you probably see this as a waste of your valuable time. You brought this upon yourself, but you don’t deserve it.
He encases his arm on your waist and tugs you even closer. He lowers his body a bit and gently nestles your face on his neck so you can feel the direct warmth of his skin on your cheeks.
Within a few minutes, you begin to relax within his embrace. The tremors become less and less until your fingers on his shirt loosen up.
You faintly pull back to look at him. “Sorry, Tsukki,” you mumble groggily with forlorn eyes.
“Shut up,” he utters without any trace of hostility as he cups the back of your head and buries your face on his neck again.
Your grip on him slackens but you don’t let go. You ease into him with your breathing getting even and your heart beating softly against his chest. When your chills completely fade away, he’s left with nothing but the softness of your body within the confines of his touch.
He becomes more aware of your bodies tangled against each other now that you’re completely still. The plumpness of your breasts are pinned on him. Your ample lips are grazing his neck. His pinky and ring fingers are hovering just below your spine, almost touching the curve of your behind.
To make things worse, you begin letting out small moans of succor which he can hear only because you’re too close.
He should be immune to this. He’s already had his fair share of kisses with you and sometimes, it involves a lot of touching. However, it is never as intimate as this. The furthest you two have gone was when he slipped a hand underneath your shirt before your friend barged in.
Before today, he had never seen your bare body. He had never held you to the point that almost your every curve melds with his. He has never thought about what it’d be like to do more than just making out. Only now when you’re not even doing so.
He considers himself a level-headed person driven by logic and rationality, but for crying out loud, your thigh is nudging on his crotch as if challenging his self-control.
As much as he wants to keep himself in check, his own body betrays him when his dick starts to nudge back at your right thigh.
‘Breathe in, breathe out,’ he reminds himself repeatedly to calm himself down.
“Hmmm,” you snuggle even more on his neck, your moist lips tracing his skin before you press it on him as you relax even further.
Fuck.
The shameful tent in his pants is becoming painful on his jeans as his imagination runs wild. How will you sound if it's the other way around, if it's his lips that’s traveling on your neck? How will you react if it’s his palms kneading the supple flesh pressed against his chest right now? Would you blush a deeper shade of red than the one you’re wearing if he slams his…
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He can’t decide who is more sick: you or him, who’s lusting over you despite your situation. His plan to chastise you for your own inattentiveness for your own health is back in action. He’ll make sure it's ingrained into that irresponsible, beautiful head of yours.
To distract himself from his inane fantasies, he forces himself to recall the scientific names of all the reptile species he’s aware of. And when he’s exhausted his mental list, he moves on to whatever animal species he can think of until he dozes off with you.
--
You haven’t opened your eyes yet, but as you regain consciousness, you can tell that you had an amazing nap. For the first time, you reap the benefits of a power nap. It feels like you slept for a complete eight hours or even more. You no longer feel sick. You celebrate the after effects of the nap, stretching your legs before you get up.
You look out your window and see that the light is still a dark shade of blue so you still have the whole evening to finish what you need to do.
When you turn your glance to your table, Tsukishima’s seated on the floor with his laptop in front of him.
Why is Tsukishima here? You texted him and called off your meeting today.
Something’s off.
You don’t really remember going to bed. You just remember doing one of your subjects when you heard someone knock.
“Tsukishima,” you call his attention urgently.
He turns to you, but you can’t see his eyes from the light reflecting on his glasses from his screen. “What time is it?”
He looks back to his laptop. “It’s 5 am.”
What?!
You didn’t take a nap. You fucking slept. A more horrid realization comes to you when you remember what happened before you did. You passed out and Tsukishima fixed you up.
Shit! He’s been telling you all the time to stop overworking yourself and he had to be there and clean up the mess you did to yourself.
You panic when he sits beside you. You sit properly, hands on your lap, pressed lips, eyes on the floor as you prepare yourself for a long, tedious arduous lecture from the blonde.
“Hey.”
You slowly turn towards him, anticipating the slew of curses about to unroll from him.
“Y-yes?”
You keep your eyes leveled on his chest, embarrassed of yourself for burdening him with your unwell ass.
Instead of speaking, he inserts a thermometer in your mouth, causing you to shoot your gaze up to him. Neither of you say anything and just hold each other’s stare until the thermometer beeps.
He takes it out of your mouth and checks your temperature.
“You’re okay now,” he announces, then starts getting ready to leave. “Don’t bother coming to training later or else I’ll tell Coach that I caught you extremely sick,” he threatens nonchalantly.
Your mind is running laps on how to process everything all at once, but you decide to deal with the most pressing one.
“Uhhhh..”
He glances at you, silently waiting for what you’re going to say, but you only gape at him as well.
What were you going to say again? Shit, you actually can’t remember what it is.
He disregards your quietness and proceeds to your door. “You should just stay in. One day of missing classes won’t cost you your scholarship,” he says before he closes the door behind him.
“Wait.”
He’s gone. It’s only then you remember you wanted to say thanks.
--
When you come back to the gym two days after, everyone expresses their worry about you. You assure them that you’re completely fine now. Even with the love and concern you are showered with, your eyes scan for someone who isn’t among the players in front of you.
There he is, dribbling the ball and is about to do a jump serve. Just before he tosses the ball in the air, he looks at your direction.
“Y/n?” Kogane’s voice pulls you back to them.
“What was that?” you ask because you didn’t hear whatever they were saying.
“He was asking if you’re really okay now,” Eiji says.
You nod enthusiastically. “So stop wasting your training time on me and practice instead,” you say with cheerful authority that they’re very pleased to hear again.
Once the crowd disperses, you spring your way to the middle blocker who didn’t welcome you back.
“Hello!” you greet him sprightly.
“What?” he asks with a bored tone.
You step closer to him for the next thing you’re going to say is for his ears only. “I really appreciate what you did the other day.”
Tsukishima sees the earnest, grateful expression on your face, but what grips his attention is how refreshed you look. You look brighter than you usually do.
He was almost sure that you were going to ignore what he said about going absent on both in classes and in here, but you seem to have taken his advice with how well-rested you are.
But most of all, he didn’t expect you’d bring it up during your working hours. Neither of you talks about what happens in private when you’re the ‘Sendai Frogs’ manager,’ not his classmate, or occasional kiss-buddy .
“I don’t,” he responds vacuously to your thankful sentiment. It was a very tough night for him. When he woke up, his erection was still raging through his pants. As undignified as it was, he got himself off in your comfort room just to ease the unbearable sexual tension that was still there in the morning.
As usual, you don’t take offense from his sour remark. You chuckle whole-heartedly and pat him hard on his shoulders. “Of course you don’t,” you say mirthfully before you walk over to Coach Mira.
It was a very tough night you made him endure, but he’s relieved to see you back on your feet.
--
The team is going to the fourth match of the regular rounds. Three more after this and you get the chance to have a game from the bottom two teams from Division 1.
As you and the team march towards the court, you hear someone call Tsukishima.
“Tsukki!”
You look at whoever it is and stop when you see Kotarou Bokuto, the wing spiker of MSBY Jackals, crazy energy on court, super clean line shot.
He’s waving energetically at Tsukishima while the latter just nods at him. You grab Tsukki by his shirt and stop him from advancing any further.
“You guys go ahead. We’ll be there in a sec,” you tell Kogane who’s the person in front of you. He nods at you then walks off with the rest of the team.
“Why did we stop?” Tsukishima asks with a frown.
“How do you know Bokuto?” you ask.
“I used to train with him during high school,” he says like it’s nothing because to him it really is not a big deal. Bokuto and Kuroo practically coerced him to join their free practices when he already wanted to call it a day. Training with them was a drag - a drag that pushed him to become a better blocker.
Among the four of them who regularly practiced in the third gym, it was him and Bokuto who went professional. Even if the wing spiker is in a higher division, he still sees Bokuto as the same person who told him it only takes one hit to be hooked on the sport. Bokuto just got better at it.
Other than that, he still seems like the silly guy Tsukishima knows him to be.
“Can you introduce me?” you say as you try to hide the zeal in your eyes, but horribly failing to do so.
“Shouldn’t I go warm up?” he counters instead of responding to your question.
“I promise to be very nice to you in the three succeeding training days. Introduce me, please, ” you beseech graciously at him, insistent on meeting the athlete.
“Make it five days,” he tests to see your conviction.
But you easily agree, “Deal!”
Seeing that you won’t let this go easily, he thinks it would be better to just give you what you want.
You both walk over to where Bokuto is. Beside him is another part of the third gym, Kuroo, who’s now the official promoter of the Volleyball Association.
“Hey hey hey, Tsukki!”
“Hey,” the lack of enthusiasm in his response totally contrasts Bokuto’s. “This is-“
“Hi!! I’m Y/n, Tsukishima’s manager,” you cut him off which makes him jolt. Why even bother asking him to introduce when you’re more than capable of doing it yourself?
You grab Bokuto’s hand and shake it vigorously. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” you dramatically state, your eyes twinkling with idolatry.
Bokuto, as expected, is exceedingly glad from the adoration. He uses his two hands to shake yours and reciprocate the same energy you gave him.
“I’m such a huge fan. Personally, you’re my favorite player from Division 1. I don’t care what others say. That chest bump. Flawless save!” you drag on, endlessly showering the spiker with compliments which Bokuto is totally eating up.
He’s egging you up even more by constantly nodding, laughing, and agreeing in everything you’re saying.
Meanwhile, Kuroo and Tsukishima are just standing there watching the whole exchange.
“I’m sorry if this is a stretch, but can I hug you?” you ask almost like a tame puppy.
He’s been disregarding the entire conversation, but really? A hug? Have you no shame? Not that he cares but should you be ogling at another athlete when you’re wearing the uniform of Sendai Frogs?
Great. Go worship a big brawny dude from Division 1 minutes before your own team’s game. How thoughtless.
He imagined it would be a civil hug but then you open your arms to Bokuto and envelop him in the warmest hug he’s ever seen you give. His eyes drop to Bokuto’s limbs which are ensnared around your waist as the spiker hauls you closer to his body.
How imprudent. It was a mistake bringing you to Bokuto. You should have known it’s unwise to mix up your personal agenda with your work. You should have known that it was better if you just ignored Bokuto and made him warm up, than make him introduce you to your favorite player.
What is wrong with you?
Kuroo’s attention slips from you to Tsukishima’s change of demeanor. Tsukishima is usually unbothered, but as soon as you embraced Bokuto, Tsukishima’s mood became sour. It is an amusing sight to watch.
He never thought Tsukishima would associate himself with an individual as lively as you. But who could blame him?
He, himself, has just been watching since you fanned the ego of his old buddy. You have not graced him even a glance since you approached them. Your eyes were all set on Bokuto. You’re probably not aware that another presence is also there.
So he’ll make you be aware.
“Ehem,” he clears his throat to grab your attention, which works as you shift your gaze from Bokuto to him. “Hello,” he flashes you the best smile he has, but has no effect whatsoever at you.
The difference in treatment is drastic. While you revere Bokuto with adoration, you regard him like a nuisance. It’s not that palpable, but it’s there. You look at him like he’s an obligation to deal with.
Your smile is rehearsed and so is the cheerful “Hi” that you give him.
“Kuroo Tetsurou,” he introduces as he offers his hand. You take without hesitation, firmly gripping his extended hand for a brisk, professional handshake.
“Y/n, manager of the Sendai Frogs,” you respond in an amicable, yet refined manner. He gets his business card from his pocket and hands it to you.
“So, Miss Manager, how are the Frogs doing?” he asks to strike up a conversation.
You scrutinize his business card for a quick while then pockets it. “I believe as their manager, I, myself, represent the team more than my words can. So what do you say, Mr. Promoter?” The professionalism chips off and reveals a real slice of you - sly and mischievous, as you compose your stature and put a hand on your hip, accentuating your curves.
He crosses his arms as he eyes you from head to toe without any reservation, then back up again.
“I say the Sendai Frogs are looking hot this season,” he says with his own grin that’s just as devious as yours.
“There’s your answer then,” you give him a wink that almost makes his heart flutter.
‘Geez, lady. Take it easy on unsuspecting men,’ he thinks to himself but easily recovers as his grin spreads out.
“Oy, we should be getting back,” Tsukishima says, breaking Kuroo’s trance towards you. You snap out of it as well, agreeing with Tsukishima as you give the blonde a nod.
“It’s so nice to really meet you, Bokuto,” you tell Bokuto before turning around. Even though you’re treating Kuroo as if he doesn’t exist, he can’t help but be intrigued even more by you.
“Bye, y/n,” he says a bit loudly for you to hear since you’re already a few steps away from them.
You’re about to look back but Tsukishima puts a hand on your shoulders and starts talking to you. Kuroo would have disregarded it, but he doesn’t miss the quick glare Tsukishima throws at Kuroo and Bokuto. What’s even more eye-catching is how Tsukishima’s hand travels down a bit on your back.
You don’t take notice of it though. It might because you’re preoccupied or because you genuinely don’t mind. But for Tsukishima to do so, it’s a different story altogether.
“Hey Bokuto, did you see that?” he turns to his friend.
“Uh huh. She’s so pretty!” Bokuto squawks out, obviously not catching what Kuroo did. Kuroo just lets it go since it wouldn’t really do much even if he tries to explain. He looks back at you and agrees with Bokuto instead.
“Yeah, very pretty.”
--
Even though you’re the one who broke off the deal, you still feel the urge to kiss Tsukishima at times. He does too. You notice the way he glances at you briefly then returns to his work as soon you catch him.
It’s not awkward. There’s none of the tension-filled air, probably because you’re both aware that the impulse is there. You just silently agreed to dismiss it.
It’s all good though. It’s for the best. You don’t want another slip-up like the one from the Jaguars’ match. What’s weird is that even though you’re no longer making out, it feels like nothing has changed.
You still sit beside him. He still lets you lean on him. He still lets out nasty side comments but he’s not as rancorous as they used to be.
“You’re spacing out again,” he points out.
“That’s cause I’m done, Tsukishima,” you counter immediately while still gazing at your window across you. “Anyways, I’m gonna nap,” you announce.
He stops typing and looks at you. That’s weird. He’s always the one strenuously suggesting that you take a break when you’re feeling tired. What gives?
“Are you sick?” A bubble of unwarranted concern rises within him from your sudden inclination to take a nap.
“Oh, no. But I’m going to a party later so I need to recharge a bit.” You head to your bed and start straightening out the crumpled bedsheets.
Party? Are you out of your fucking mind? You could rest instead, make the most out of the night by catching up on sleep. But you’d rather attend a pointless party? Here he thought you were being thoughtful of your own health.
Not to mention, there might be perverts getting their hands all over you again. Obviously you can protect yourself, but wouldn’t you prefer not having one ogling and harassing you?
“Mind enlightening me how a vomit-smelling gathering is of any benefit to you?”
“Mind enlightening why it’s any of your business?” you retort instantly.
“It’s not,” he responds just as swiftly. “I’m just curious because I honestly don’t get it,” he says calmly. If you want to go to the damned party, then by all means. He really doesn’t care what you do with your free time.
“If you’re so worried, Tsukishima, you’re very welcome to come,” you tell him, mockery dripping from your invitation.
“I’d rather not,” he says dryly.
You shrug as you slip under your blanket. “Lock the door when you leave.”
“Unbelievable,” he mutters.
--
‘Truly unbelievable,’ he tells himself again as the smell of cigarette and alcohol tickles his nostrils while he sits at the bar, mulling over whatever the hell possessed him to come there.
It definitely isn’t because of you.
He’s not looking for you either nor is he worried about you.
It’s worse than he remembers. There are more people than last time and the music is banging on his eardrums.
“Are you getting anything?” the bartender asks him.
Although he absolutely detests alcohol, he feels like punishing himself tonight for lack of better judgment in coming there.
“Your worst drink.”
--
Even though you slept that afternoon, you still don’t plan on staying out too long for the party. You just wanted to catch up with some uni friends and instead of meeting them all one by one, it would be efficient if you attend this party and meet them all at once.
Although you would prefer if you just slept or watched a documentary, you think it’s necessary for you to be here. You almost don’t have any time to spend with friends. This might be your last chance to do so since it’s almost graduation.
As usual, you avoid drinking since you hate dealing with hangovers. You learned that the hard way when you had to keep up with who’s scoring points in an official match while an invisible hammer pounds your head.
So, despite the endless free shots given to you, you persistently decline. You also did not pay much attention to the dance floor to save your energy.
After a while of talking to everyone you know, you look around to check if you missed anyone. That’s when you catch a glimpse of a familiar blonde slouching by the bar.
‘ No. It’s not possible ,’ you say to yourself but you’re already smiling hard as you saunter to where he is. It’s very unlikely that it’s him but on the rare chance that he is, you’re not going to let it slip by.
He’s facing down his glass which is joined by two empty shot glasses. You lean back with both your elbows on the counter.
“You new here?” you playfully ask. If it’s not who you think it is, you’ll just dance awkwardly to throw him off.
“I actually am,” he says as he encircles the rim of his glass with his index finger. Then he raises his face to turn to you.
When he reveals his face, you confirm that it is indeed Tsukishima, but at the same time, he looks nothing like his usual self.
The tips of his ears up to his neck are burning red while his eyes are dazed like you’ve never seen them before. But that’s not the weirdest thing.
He’s smiling. He’s fucking smiling like a happy idiot.
“Tsukishima?” you ask him for confirmation in any case that it’s just someone who looks extremely like him.
“Hmmm?” he asks with a little bit of a slur that throws you off.
As if you’re not astounded enough by the scene unfolding before you, he grabs you by the waist and lugs you until you’re situated between his thighs.
“Who did you think it was, manager?”
Part 5 || Part 7 || masterlist
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THE PURGE; Sanctuary C.E x black reader
PT III
60 Days Until The Purge
THEN...
"I'll order take out. I know you like Thai-"
"Don't order anything. I'm actually not even hungry." You said as he took your bag and put it on his shoulder. "What?" He was looking at you weird and it made you frown.
"Where's the rest of your stuff?"
"You asked me to stay the night. That is my overnight bag." You replied folding your arms and walking over to the couch. Your hand touched your forehead and you sighed. You could still feel him looking at you as you tried to relax with your head leaned back. "After I tell Shonda about our situation, you're signing the papers."
"What do you mean-"
"You know what I mean." You shot back
"Ok, well theirs a lot to consider now." He motioned to your stomach and you sat up straight. "We're having a baby, now."
"No no no." You shook your head feeling your petty insides bubble a bit in sarcasm. "I'm having a baby. Me. Just me.”
"Obviously I want to be apart of our baby's life." Chris argued back and you frowned and scoffed. He put your bag down and crossed his arms as you brushed it off. "You can't seriously think I won't. V that's insane."
"You wanna know what's insane? You think you're gonna get anywhere near it. Why in the hell would I allow you and your broken promises anywhere near my child? Do you think I'm stupid? To make the same mistake twice!"
"Again? V what do you want me to do?" He asks throwing his hands up. "Acting is what I do, that's my job-"
"I don't care about that. I'm not asking you to chose your job or me-"
"It damn well near sounds like it. I would never make you choose." He countered back and you gripped your fists together.
"You may not have said it directly, but there have been many times where you have indirectly patronized me. I just found out I'm pregnant and I have been trying so hard to deal with it." you replied watching him pace back and forth and shake his head. "I have been getting the worst headaches, I can't keep any food down and I literally get lightheaded on set every single day because hiding my pregnancy has been a real joy ride." You replied sarcastically with a small chuckle
"What do you want me to do? I tell you to tell the producers, you get mad. I tell you to take a break, you get mad. I tell you to come over and you’re mad.” Chris said in disbelief. “I don't know what you want from me." He shrugs brushing the hair from his eyes.
"Not once since you found out have you asked me how I'm doing? My whole career is at risk I could lose my job. And you don't even seem to care.” You said
"V, I do care." He reached for your shoulder and you took in another breath. "I want you to stop worrying all the time. And you're right, I should be concerned more about you. I should be there for you-I should've been there for you in the beginning.” He admitted and you folded your lips again.
Are For real this time? Should I let it go and move past it? Again? No because it'll start all over again.
"This baby is mine. This is a life changing thing that's happening, I can't let you ruin it too." You spoke
" I'm taking responsibility because this is something I want. Ok? Can't we find some common ground? You of all people should know what it's like to grow up without a father!"
"You know too!" You shouted back. Chris' dad had died when he was younger. He talked about him sometimes but not as much. "I'd rather have had my father six feet under then to have him choosing when it's convenient for him to show up!" You said with your foot down shaking your head.
"Forget the divorce. Me and you living here happily married for the years to come. Whats so bad about that? Why can't I have that? What's so wrong with the picture of two parents raising a child?" His voice was loud and he was getting frustrated. He didn't shout, but you could tell how passionate he was about it. He always wanted to be a daddy, a parent. "Huh?"
"It's not just about you!" You said stepping closer. "Because..." You shrugged feeling your eyes water as you suck in your cheeks. "I knew the kind of man I was marrying. So involved with his job it took him almost fifteen years to actually start dating. It's not about you or your career. This baby is all I have right now.”
He looked confused as he relaxed his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose. From two feet away you could feel his heartbeat and you felt a little bad for how foolish you probably looked. You still loved him, not like you ever stopped, but you remembered that you still loved him.
Because, it's not about me either anymore. You thought
"Forget the papers okay..." You said swallowing your own pride. "just forget it. You’re right. I want our child to have two parents who will love him unconditionally. But it has to stop, because it takes two. I can't have you with one foot in the door." You admitted
“Yeah yeah.” He nodded “yeah I get that. I’m not going anywhere.” Chris said and you walked forward and took his hand kissing his palm as you placed it on the side of your face. “I promise V.” He cups your face and stares into your eyes. His stubble poking at you a bit as you held his wrists.
“I love you.” You said with a small smile
“Still?” He laughed making you roll your eyes as you giggled a little. “I love you too. Are you sure you aren’t hungry?” He asks again
“Yes.” You nodded “now shut up and come take a nap with me.”
NOW....
CHRIS POV**
“Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!” I said throwing the phone on the couch. I had called five times and her phone went straight to voicemail.
“This is not a test, this is your Emergency Broadcast System. Announcing the commencement of the annual purge sanctioned by the U.S. Government. ALL Weapons have been authorized for use during the purge. Government officials of ranking 10 have been granted immunity and shall not be harmed. Commencing at the siren, any and all crime (including murder) will be legal for 121 days. Police, fire, and Emergency Medical services will be unavailable until December 15, 12:00 o’clock midnight, when the purge concludes. Blessed be our new founding fathers and America... A nation reborn. May God be with you all.”
My tv was replayed the message nine more times before shutting off. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Today is august 15, Vanessa’s birthday is tomorrow which was when she’d be 17 weeks. We had marked it on the calendar together. More than half my wife’s pregnancy would be spent during the purge. I needed to find her!
I didn’t support the purge. Something about killing people to be “cleansed” just didn’t sit right in my gut. It made my heart ache thinking about the clean up at the end. I could bring Dodger, but he can only do so much. Maybe he could help track her scent. Grabbing my coat I folded my lips together.
“Fuck!” I shout
With what weapon? How was I going to run the streets looking for my wife without a gun? I loved the idea of owning one, but Vanessa made me swear not to bring one in the house if she was there. So I just dropped the idea. Looking in the kitchen I grabbed one of the Chef knives off the rack. Maybe this would be enough for now...
“Damnit!” I curse looking at Dodger. “She said she was at Topanga Park. Start there?” I asked, as if he’d answer back. I grabbed her bonnet from off the bathroom door handle and stuffed it in my backpack.
I didn’t hesitate l. I locked up everything and jumped inside my truck. Dodger sat on the passenger side and I felt my hands start to shake as I put my foot on the gas. I started to promise god I would go to church if he would keep her safe.
“I don’t even know if you’re even listening or you even care. I love her, I’ve been such and idiot and I don’t wanna lose her.” I looked at Dodger and he was sitting up straight. “I remember you didn’t like her. You wouldn’t let her anywhere near me, you bark and squeeze yourself in between us when we sat down in the room to watch movies.” I chuckle wiping the little tear that slipped from my eye “You stole one of her wigs too.”
“WHAT THE FUCK!” she shouted chasing you around the house. “DODGER GIVE IT BACK! COME BACK!”
We chased him around the house and Dodger thought it was some sort of game. We had been officially dating for a month. I had started laughing when I caught him and held her headband wig in my hand. She stood their with her arms folded while I petted his head and she rolled her eyes.
"I told you he doesn't like me." She said as I stood up and she took the wig from my hand.
"Come on, he's just getting used to you."
"I've been over here every day. Your dog hates me."
"What?" I tilted my head to the side and touch her nose with my index finger. "Deal breaker? If my dog doesn't like my girlfriend, I'm gonna dump her? Tell me where that makes sense."
She walked closer to me and wrapped her arms around my waist looking up at the ceiling as I kissed her neck. "I guess you have a point." Vanessa sighed.
"He's just warming up to you that's all."
"What's stopping me from breaking up with you?"
"Over a dog?"
"This is his third assault against me. First it was tearing up my purse, then chewing up my crocs, not to mention the little shit I found inside of them. And now stealing my wig and playing cat and mouse." Said Vanessa as I rested my head on top of hers. "Luckily this is a backup wig."
“Aren’t you wearing one right now?” I asked
“Headband wig. And that wig your dog has destroyed,” she gave him the side eye “it was my favorite and expensive.” She gritted her teeth
“I’ll buy you another one.” I offered
She purses her lips and shook her head. “I don’t want you buying me anything. I’ll just break up with you. For real this time.”
"Fine then..." I baited her shrugging my shoulders. "Break up with me."
“Over a dog?” She frowns mocking me as I smile down at her and her eyebrows bend downward a little as she caressed my face. Her finger was gentle and she stood on her top toes and kissed my lips. “Never.”
...
I look over at Dodger and pat his head. "We'll find her. I know we will." I say trying to lift my spirits.
When we arrived to Topanga Park, it was a sight. I didn't even want to leave the truck. I felt my heart race a little more. "What the hell..."
In the middle of traffic-in between the cars were bodies. Dodger started barking at the train of blood that stained the streets. It was empty, but I could feel a heavy weight on my back. Walking behind me, next to me...it was all around me. I hadn't realized I had my hand over my mouth an nose, it was hard for me to breath as the stench of dead bodies. Dodger kept barking and that led to me chasing after him. I had her bonnet in one hand and I called after him.
I came to a halt when I came face to face with another person. He had Dodger in his hands and I felt my muscle tense up. He was tall and very familiar looking. I swallowed the lump in my throat and held the kitchen knife in my hand with a firm grip.
"Captain America?"
I tilted my head sideways and licked my lower lip narrowing my brow a little. "Yeah, give me the dog and we can go our separate ways. Ok?"
He nodded his head. He ran his fingers through his hair and put the dog down. I wasn't really concerned about who he was I was trying to prepare for a fight. He dropped his gun on the ground and held up his his hand.
"I'm not going to kill you. I'm looking for my wife." He said "She left her watch in that building." He pointed to the school and slowly pulled the watch from his pocket.
"In there?" I asked
"Yeah." He nodded, but I still couldn't shake the feeling I knew him from somewhere. "My name is Jared. My wife's name is Gianne, I'm pretty sure she was with someone else-are you looking for someone too? Maybe we could help each other. There was something written on the chalkboard in there, I wasn't something Gia would write, but she was here. All I wanna do is find her-"
"Supernatural?" I asked turning my head to the side. Vanessa loved that show. Whenever she had spare time she would watch it or on those many night she'd spend the night at my house we would watch it-well not really watch it. The Netflix and 'chill' was emphasized. "You said something about some sort of message on the wall?" I asked motioning with my hand. "what did it say?"
"um, CE equals BE or something like that." He shrugged
I laughed a little. Vanessa Evans plus Chris Evans equals Baby Evans. It was a stupid joke-an Easter egg if you will. Shonda put in the show on the whiteboard in one of our love scenes as a way to announce our pregnancy to the audience. She often left clues to the next episode in every episode except this one was not only in the show but in real life.
"Chris Evans." I say extending my hand out to him. I'm pretty sure he knew by the little smile playing on his face. He shook my hand and nodded his head.
"I know. I'm a big marvel fan, I know all your lines." Jared chuckled and then cleared his throat as he nervously laughed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jared Padalecki - I know I said that already..."
I introduced him to Dodger and I felt a little more relaxed. I gathered that she was alive and we both came to the assumption that they were traveling together.
"Where do you think their headed?" I asked as we walked to his car which was tricked out and full of ammunition and guns. Not to mention government level protective gear.
"While I was in there, I picked up someone else. Heavy footed and big, traveling with dogs. Hair everywhere." He went on tossing me a bullet proof vest. "You heard of Sanctuary?"
"The safety place? Yeah, but it's hard to find. It's for people who get caught in the Purge right?"
He narrowed his brow and shook his head. "No." Said Jared sharply. "Sanctuary is a secret government funded task force. It started off as a conspiracy some myth to explain all the random disappearances throughout the year. It's a government project designed for population control." He went on
"Ok...what does that have anything to do with the Purge?"
"Everything. An organization designed to control the US population. We're talking Pro killers who were once on a leash, but when that horn sounded and the Purge began, they are just as free to kill anyone they want." Said Jared handing me an ipad. It was a list of celebrities. From pro athletes like Steph Curry and their immediate families to movie stars and singers like Rhianna and Tom Cruise. "There are rumors that they are hunting celebrities. The kardashians and Jenner's are fair game. If not the stars themselves then they choose their parents, brothers and sisters."
"And do what?" I asked quietly as I saw mine and Vanesssa picture
"Most get auctioned off to the highest bidder, I've also heard they kill them on the spot for money or bring them in to fight for the death. Bottom line, there is a bounty on our heads. During the Purge everyone is fair game, their is no protection."
"You're telling me she's out there being hunted by them right now?" I asked
“Possibly. The dog hair isn’t a breed we know. They are a combination of hunting canines, bloodhound, foxhound, Labrador retriever with the built and aggression of a something like a pit bull a Rottweiler.” Said Jared as I looked up from the iPad and gave it back. “You’re gonna need more than a kitchen knife. We find the dogs and the hunter and we’ll find them.”
He held a gun out to me and wiped my mouth with the palm of my hand trying to mentally prepare for what is to come."
“Do you believe in the Purge?” I asked still questioning why his car was full of weapons. “You kill people?”
He nodded his head. “Yes. I don’t believe in hiding or waiting for someone to kill me. We all have the right to Purge."
"What's stopping you from killing me?"
Jared sighed and shook his head. "I'm hunting them. I'm surviving and if you decide to threaten my survival, then I'll kill you." He went over to the driver side of his Ford charger. "Get in. Knowing Gia she is headed for Roberts hole."
"What's that?" I asked climbing in the passenger seat of the car.
“It’s a Cassino for celebrities. Jack Black owns it. It’s locked up right but open to his favorites during the Purge.”
“They’ll be there?”
“Relax.” He out his hand in my shoulder and looked at me as dodger sat in the back seat. “We will find them. You know how to shoot don’t you?” Jared raised his gun in the air and nodded my head.
I guess it wasn’t confidently and he chuckled. “Vanessa isn’t a fan of guns.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll practice. Ok?”
.
.
.
.
.
A/N: Sorry it took so long😬 don’t hate me, please. Lol, I hope everyone is doing well and safe out here. If you wanna be tagged leave it in the ask box, Anyways…Untill next time!
Tags!
@Tantricevans
@rosey1981
@toni9
@onceuponahuntersrealm
@pm-my-hubbies
@Cynthetic
@liqourlaughslove
@melaninfalconbucky
@omg-mymelaninisbeautiful
#chris evans x black women#fangirls#fanfiction#fans#chris evans#fanfics#chris evans fluff#chris evans x black reader#chris evans x poc!reader#chris evans x reader#the purge: sanctuary#the purge fanfic#the purge au#chris evans x pregnant!reader#chris evans imagine#imagines#the purge#pregnant reader
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Plot: Chenle really regretted saying all the things he said during that argument with you. Your relationship wasn’t something to hide and he would make sure every single person in this world would know the two of you were dating after his live stream.
Word count: 5k
Warnings: Some swearing during the argument but nothing more!
Pairing: Chenle x reader!
Genre: A little bit of angst but some of the fluffiest fluff!
A/N: Another oneshot for another event I signed up to! I was finally able to write something for NCT 😭 Hope you guys liked it! And shoutout to @dearncityy for letting me participate in this! Thank you!
Event’s Masterlist!
Laying there in bed with Chenle besides you, the words you've been dying to say all these days burn in the back of your throat.
The two of you have been playing this push and pull game forever and even though you knew you stopped being best friends a long time ago to become something else, the fact that none of you had referred to it as a relationship made the alarms in your head ring.
Your careers didn't get along too well with public relationships, being an idol was difficult for various reasons but the dating subject becomes taboo as soon as you sign your contract with your company. Some were okay with couples working together, some were completely against it and fired the idols as soon as they found out what was going on but Chenle was that important to you, that you wouldn't kind of lose your job because of him.
The two of you were incredibly good when it comes to performances, you were sure another company would hire you if anything like that happened.
However, in a soju night with your manager and closest person to a sister you had, you confessed your situation with Chenle and her with a total clear mind explained the options the two of you had.
"Wouldn't we get in trouble?" You asked, forgetting about your soju shot, eyes glued to your manager's expression as she thought about it.
"They won't be happy about it" She muttered with a shrug, leaning back against her chair, crossing her arms on her chest "Dating scandals are always a pain in the ass to deal with" The small pout that appeared on your lips squeezed her heart and she quickly added the following words "But Chenle and you wouldn't be fire, it would just take some time to reveal your relationship little by little"
"You think so?" You asked, eyes wide open, hope blooming in your chest.
"I believe so" She said nodding once "Chenle and you are too good to let go"
"(Y/N)?" Chenle's sudden voice interrupted your train of thoughts, snapping you out of the hopeful memory that replayed in your head.
"Yeah, it was good" You automatically replied, thinking he was just probably asking about the movie the two of you had been watching. The credits rolled up the screen and you realized you've been more than thirty minutes spacing out.
"What?" He asked with a chuckle, looking at you incredibly confused.
"The movie, weren't you asking about that?" You asked feigning confusion, staring at him.
"I was just saying how I didn't feel like going to the company's Christmas party this year" He explained, scratching the back part of his head as he snickered, obviously realizing you've been ignoring him and the movie for the entire time. "I didn't know you liked it so much" He said teasingly, making you smile as you shook your head.
"I hate it, specially because we can't even look at each other" You complained, whining as you leaned closer to him, resting your head onto his shoulder.
"Well, we can always sneak out and-"
"Too dangerous" You suddenly cut him off. The idea of sneaking around the higher ups to just share a few private minutes with him was exciting, too enticing but you've finally found a way to bring the subject that's been keeping you awake for nights up.
"It wouldn't be the first time we did it" He shrugged, casually wrapping one of his arms around your body, letting you cuddle up to him.
"I mean" You cleared your throat, keeping your eyes down on your hands as you fidgeted with the hem of his hoodie, too scared of how this would all turn out to look him in the eye "Wouldn't it be easier if everybody was aware of….Us?"
You felt Chenle's hands froze in your hair when he heard your words, his hesitance loud and clear even though silence filled the room "The guys know about us, they'll cover our absence" He replied, looking down at you when he felt you shaking your head against his chest.
"I meant, it would be easier if we didn't have to hide" You said in such a small voice that if the television hadn't been turned off, Chenle wouldn't have heard you.
"I still don't get what you're saying" He said with a nervous chuckle, giving you the impression this was not going to end well.
'I should have stayed quiet' You thought 'This is about to go worse'
"What if" You stopped yourself, knowing you still had one more chance to stop the upcoming storm but now that the subject had been brought up, why would you drop it once again? "What if we just told everybody? So we could like… . Stop hiding as if we are doing something wrong?"
Chenle's silence was not a good sign, the way his muscles tensed a little told you he wasn't happy with your proposition. You couldn't blame him though, he was scared of the consequences just like you had been before talking with your manager.
“That’s because we’re doing something wrong” Deep down, you knew that wasn’t what he wanted to say. You’ve known Chenle for long enough to know he loved you as much as you loved him and that he would never ever refer to you or your relationship as a mistake but that afternoon, you were feeling a bit more sensitive and it would be stupid to deny his words hurt you.
“This is wrong?” You asked, instantly moving away from him. Your eyes looked up at him and you saw Chenle panicking, his mind desperate to find the right words to excuse himself as he sat up behind you.
“That’s not what I meant to say” The door of his bedroom was opened and the two of you heard some of the guys were back from practice, in a normal occasion, you would have stood up and closed the door so Chenle and you could have a bit more privacy while having the conversation but you were too impatient for his answer and didn’t even attempt to move. “What we’re doing it’s not alright, you know it” You blinked, not really understanding why he thought saying the same thing with different words would somehow improve the situation.
“So our relationship is not alright? Which is exactly the same thing as saying it is wrong” You repeated, making him sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair stressed. He could hear the pain in your voice, he too was hurt to crush your hopes like this, so carelessly when it hadn’t been his intention. He should definitely start thinking before talking.
“You know relationships between idols don’t turn out fine” Chenle added, trying a different approach, seeing by the corner of his eyes how Johnny and Yuta entered the room in order to get some clean clothes so they could shower, their smiles instantly vanishing as soon as they heard what the two of you could talk about.
“You don’t know that, some of them did turn out alright” You argued, looking down at your hands, rage vanishing to be replaced by sadness instead.
“Yeah, three out of one hundred” Chenle scoffed, leaning back against the headboard, ignoring the daggers his hyungs were throwing at him with their eyes.
“We could be the fourth one” You shrugged, not giving up “I actually talked with my manager about-”
“You did what?”
Everyone froze in the room. Johnny and Yuta stopped rummaging through their wardrobes for comfortable and clean clothes, even Haechan, who had poked his head inside to greet the two of you stopped right in his tracks before he decided to turn around and walk away.
Chenle stood up suddenly, too nervous, too anxious to stay still on the bed besides you. “(Y/N), WHAT DID YOU DO?” He was scared of his career, not only would you screw Chenle’s idol job with your relationship but the whole dynamic NCT had would also be damaged if your relationship caused trouble in the company. You could ruin another twenty two careers and he definitely didn’t want to be guilty of that, Chenle wasn’t that selfish, you weren’t that selfish, you loved the guys as if they were your own brothers and you would never do something that could hurt them in any way. “(Y/N)!?”
Unable to look at him, you just kept your eyes down on your hands, shrugging silently when he called your name for a second time, you just looked like a kid who was about to cry while being scolded by her mother. “She said we would be fine” You said quietly, ignoring the way your voice shook with every word, tears threatening to fall.
“She said we would be-” Chenle repeated your words but instead of being more calm, he only grew more angry “What if things had gone wrong (Y/N)?” He asked, looking down at you so disappointed, so genuinely mad that you couldn’t help but feel incredibly bad “What if, I don’t know, what if we would have been fired!?” His voice started to raise again and you flinched, he had never been this mad to you and you definitely didn’t know how to deal with this side of Chenle.
“I wasn’t thinking and I just wanted to-”
“You wanted what?” He asked when you finally looked up at him “To go public? To let everyone know we’re together!?” Chenle was just rambling, letting his frustration out and he wasn’t realizing how much he was hurting you. His hyungs on the other side, that were watching the entire argument unfold from another perspective were getting ready to calm him down “Well we can’t! You said you were okay with us being like this!”
“I didn’t want to sneak around anymore” You shrugged avoiding his eyes again, noticing Johnny approaching “We’re doing anything wrong, we shouldn’t be in trouble for-”
“You didn’t even ask me if I was okay with you talking with your manager!” He said frustrated
“Chenle breathe” Johnny was quick to reach out and place his hand on his back, looking down at you, noticing how upset and sorry you probably felt “You should calm down and talk with her, not shout it out so the whole dorm hears you”
“What’s going on?” Hendery poked his head into the bedroom too and you couldn’t help but feel even more ashamed.
“Apparently we’re going public thanks to (Y/N)! That’s what’s going on!” He shouted, making the older look at Johnny confused before his eyes landed on you.
“Did someone leak rumours or something? Was it dispatch?” He asked innocently, walking into the room too, willing to help in comforting the two of you.
“She decided it was a good idea to tell everyone that we’re fucking around!”
As soon as the words escaped Chenle’s lips he knew he had screwed up. The fact that he had described your relationship in that way, the feelings he supposedly had for you as just “fucking around” broke your heart and the embarrasment you felt thanks to the rest of NCT hearing your conversation made everything worse.
“I’m going to be late to practice” You mumbled quietly, lower lip shaking and vision blurred by tears as you stood up from the bed, stumbling when one of your feet got tangled up in the sheets but Yuta reached out and held you up before you fell down “Thanks” You said quietly, not meeting his eyes as you looked around, searching for your phone, purse and jacket.
“You didn’t say you had practiced” Chenle muttered looking at you, feeling extremely bad but knowing reaching down to you wasn’t a good idea right now.
“Studio, the album is not going to record itself” You answered, it was obvious you were using it as an excuse to get out of there, everyone knew it but nobody dared to say it out loud.
“You’re joining us for dinner on Thursday before the Christmas party? We might not be able to hang out there but-”
“Can’t” You cut him off, after knowing his true opinion about everything your will to go to the Christmas party had completely vanished, you didn’t even feel like hanging out with him anymore. “I’ll have a comeback soon, there’s a lot of things to plan”
“Everyone will be at the party though?” Chenle asked hesitant, hands itching to hand you your jacket but staying still inside his pockets as he watched you getting ready to leave.
“I won’t” Chenle looked at his friends for help, quietly begging them to say or do something that would stop you from getting out of that door. He knew you weren’t going to listen to his apologies right now, the two of you had a few fights before and the best thing to do was let you cool off for a few minutes before spoiling you with some love and affection. However, this seemed to be way more serious than anything the two of you had argued about and he was feeling uneasy, afraid to lose you for something he had said without thinking twice about it “(Y/N) I-”
“It was nice to see you guys again” You said forcing up a weak smile as you faced the older males, seeing the same hesitant yet serious expression on their faces when you ignored Chenle. It was obvious you didn’t want to hear him out.
“Do you need a ride home?” Johnny asked, not feeling well by letting you go back home alone in this state, what if something happened to you? “I don’t mind, can use the drive to clear my head”
“It’s alright, Mina is on her way here” You said looking at Johnny, feeling one tear roll down your cheek as you quietly yet quickly reach out to wipe it, not wanting to cry again “She’s coming to the studio with me” Johnny nodded and took a step back, letting you walk through the room’s door if you wanted to get out of there.
“Babe, let’s talk this out” You heard Chenle plead but you were already walking out of the room, refusing to listen to him.
“Hey (Y/N)!” Yangyang’s happy voice echoed down the hall as you walked out of Chenle’s bedroom, eyes down on the floor when more tears started flooding your face “I didn’t know you were-Hey...What’s wrong? What happened?” You shook your head, words stuck in your throat as you just walked past him.
“Bye Yang” You simply whispered, barely able to hold your sobs as you ran out of the dorms.
Almost an entire week had passed and you had locked yourself into the studio, focusing only on the lyrics and beats you still had to finish for your upcoming comeback. The group had already started to record the tittle track and some of the solos that the members would do, but there were some songs that still needed some editing and the sooner you finished them, the sooner you could stay in bed being lazy and binge watching all the k-dramas you hadn’t watched yet.
NCT hadn’t stopped contacting you or trying to at least. You constantly got calls from the guys at random times, some of them were picked up and they just told you to take care of yourself, to drink water and eat healthy and to please answer Chenle’s calls and messages that were being ignored. You didn’t want to talk to him, you didn’t feel like seeing your boyfriend because every time you thought about him, you could only remember the way he had thought your friendship was a simple hook up. He surely wouldn’t have said that if he truly thought it was like that, didn’t he? Guess the two of you weren’t on the same page after all….
“(Y/N)!” One of your group members, Chanmi, slammed opened the studio’s doors, not even knocking first to give you a warning and almost resulting in giving you a heart attack “Oh god, stop whatever the hell you’re doing right now, you have to see this!”
Frowning, you took off your massive headphones and looked up at her phone, taking a few minutes to bring your brain back to reality and out of the little bubble you put yourself in when you focused on your music. The only thing you could read was a Vlive notification on her screen that said Chenle was doing some live streaming since a few minutes ago “What? It’s not the first time he goes live”
“Watch it” She whined frustrated with you for being so slow, stealing the mouse from your hands to close all the windows and programs you had opened so you would only focus on her “Come on!”
“Alright, alright! I’ll watch it”
Sighing, you searched for the web page on your computer and a couple of minutes later Chenle’s face occupied most of your screen. Your heart broke again when your eyes met him through the screen, noticing the little black bags that were badly covered with makeup under his eyes. His messy hair was hidden by his hoodie and the nervous smile on his face told you he wasn’t really comfortable with what he was doing.
“Ah, yeah, we’re going somewhere in a couple of minutes, I’m waiting for Xiaojun to drive me there” He said softly, smiling to the cameras as he read the messages that were being spammed in the chat. You didn’t pay attention to it because as always, you expected them to be fangirls thirtying over your boyfriend, something that wouldn’t be too nice to read considering the situation the two of you were in at the moment.
“Didn’t he realize it or what?!” Chanmi screamed from behind you, absolutely horrorized, you frowned, watching the screen harder, more focused as you tried to see what she was talking about.
There, behind your boyfriend, it could easily be seen some pictures which captured some random moments the two of you had had during the different dates he had taken you out over the years. The little sneak out excursion the two of you did to the amusement park, that time you travelled to Europe together during one of your tours, the night he officially asked you to be his girlfriend, the late night picnic by Han river….Chenle knew really well the pictures were there.
Just what was he doing?
“Everyone is going crazy in the chat” Chanmi muttered, leaning closer to the screen as she attempted to read some more of the comments, your stomach turned into a thousand knots at her words, not even trying to read some of the chaos that there was in the chat. “Are you going to get in trouble?”
“I don’t know?” You said hesitant, scratching the back part of your neck anxiously.
“Who’s her?” Chenle suddenly said, reading out loud one of the questions that had been thrown in the chat “Come on, you surely know who she is” The smirk on his lips was playful, amused even as more of then fans started freaking out about his reaction “Let me tell you though, she’s the most wonderful, sweetest person in the universe….She’s amazing”
All the following messages were full of hearts and crying faces along with compliments and some other words in different languages that you couldn’t comprehend but were hoping that weren’t insults or hate being thrown at him. Chenle kept talking, explaining something about their latest comeback but you had zoned out, trying to see if your boyfriend had gone nuts or if this simply was a twisted prank he was pulling on you to get your attention.
Xiaojun came into his the live and Chenle instantly stood up, picking up a plastic bag from the floor before the two of them started walking out of the dorm. Everyone kept asking where he was going or what the content of the bag was but Chenle skillfully ignored the questions and kept making small talk with his older friend, he even did some carpool karaoke, stealing laughs and chuckles from you and his fans.
It was all fun and games until you recognized the road Xiaojun was driving on, you knew where Chenle was going.
“Oh hell no” You muttered standing up, scaring Chanmi as she looked at you confused “Oh hell no” You repeated looking around the studio, not knowing what to do with yourself or your own thoughts, heart pounding hard against your chest “He’s coming”
“WHAT?” Your friend asked, eyes frozen on your computer’s screen as she too realized they were almost at the studio parking “OH HELL NO” She screamed, looking at you with her eyes as wide opened as plates “I'M OUT OF HERE”
“CHANMI NO” You screamed, surprised at her sudden betrayal as you stared at her.
“CHANMI YES, GOOD LUCK!” Right before you could reach out and stop her, Chanmi ran out of the studio, closing the door behind her and speeding up down the hall towards the elevator that Chenle would soon use to get there.
Taking a peak at the screen, you noticed their car was already parked downstairs, both of them just sitting there as they read comments. Chenle seemed to be nervous, his hands were fidgeting with the bag he kept holding carefully while he let Xiaojun do most of the talking.
“Where are we?” Chenle read out loud, Xiaojun smirked besides him.
“Yeah, where are we, Chenle?” He asked looking through the window, staring at the building in front of him.
Chenle took a deep breath, keeping his tense yet sincere smile up as his eyes scanned his phone camera “This is where my favorite girl works at” He explained sweetly, a small blush appearing on his face as soon as Xiaojun started laughing incredibly loud, making fun of him for being so sweet and cheesy “We’re going to visit her” Your boyfriend added, opening the car’s door to abandon Xiaojun’s teasing.
Your heart started beating too fast and too hard as you sat there, waiting for what was inevitably going to happen now that Chenle was out of that car. Your eyes kept drifting down to your phone, waiting to see your manager or somebody from the company call you to fire the two of you for the little scene Chenle was making, you were sure this was definitely not the right way to go public and that the two of you would get in trouble for it.
“Why?” His voice brought you back to the live retransmision, your hands tapping the desk nervously “Cause I was an asshole a few days ago, we had this argument and I lost it, she didn’t deserve to be treated the way I treated her and now I’m here to apologize”
How could you not love him? How could you stay mad at him if he did these kinds of things?
“Yeah” He laughed at something one of the fans said as he walked into the building “I’m hoping you can all pressure her into apologizing to me and we fix this as soon as possible, I miss her too much, you know? I hate it when we argue”
“I hate it too” You whispered as if he could hear you, tears already appearing in your eyes just by the thought of seeing Chenle once again.
The couple of knocks on your door make you flinch on your chair surprised, he sure had gotten there fast. Glancing at the screen, you saw Chenle was already standing there, signaling for his viewers to be quiet as if you somehow could hear them freaking out in the chat.
“Jagi?” His voice sounded insecure, nervous and scared. Chenle knew the things he had said during your argument had been horrible, in fact, he knew he would have to do something pretty big this time if he wanted to be forgiven.
That’s why after a long talk with his fellow band members and his manager, he talked with everyone in the company about the relationship the two of you had, about the feelings you two shared and how you would make sure to act professional even if they let you make your relationship public. There wouldn’t be any scandals, there wouldn’t be any problems and after some begging, he finally got the green light to do what he was doing today.
He was sure no idol had leaked his own relationship like this, he was surely the first one to do something like this.
“I brought food”
You had to bite down onto your lower lip to not laugh at his words, a small smile came up to your lips when you saw the people in the chat laughing, most girls relating to Chenle’s small incentive to make you open the door. “You’ve gone crazy Zhong Chenle” You said loud enough for him to hear without opening the door.
Your heart skipped a beat when you saw the smile on his face, the tone of your voice telling him you were watching the live right now “Who told you? I asked everyone to be quiet about this, I wanted it to be a surprise” He whined, resting his forehead against the door, acting as if thousands of fans weren’t watching the two of you, as if he wasn’t doing this.
“Chanmi, you forgot about her” You said with a quiet chuckle, looking at the door before you checked his reaction on your computer, seeing he was laughing quietly.
“Damn it, I forgot about the maknae” He mumble softly, shaking his head as he looked at the camera “Our surprise was ruined, (Y/N) had been watching us this entire time” Everyone started laughing in the chat at Chenle’s defeated face and you couldn’t help but laugh softly “Open the door? Please?”
You stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking whether you should let him in or leave him outside but how could you after everything he’s done? You surely were in trouble after this, why wouldn’t you want to spend your last minutes alive together?
“We’re so dead after this” You mumbled, hearing your own voice in his live streaming as you stood up and opened the studio door. You found Chenle standing there, wearing a Christmas hat and the brightest smile ever, shoving his phone’s camera close to your face so your viewers could see you well.
“Yah, Chen!” You exclaimed blushing, moving back so he could walk inside and you could hide from the camera “What are you doing?” His question made him laugh as he shrugged, not really knowing himself what he was doing.
“You mean what am I doing here? Or what are they doing here?” He asked pointing at his phone before he placed it down on your desk so the camera could capture the two of you perfectly “They’re here because I finally got the green light to make our relationship public and I’m here because…” A pink shade started appearing across his face, stealing a smile from you.
“Because?” You asked quietly, looking at him, avoiding to look at the phone.
“Because I was a huge asshole and I really want to apologize and oh god, I’m so sorry about what I said” Chenle started rambling once again, he always did that when he felt anxious about something “I was scared we would both lose our careers and I would ruin NCT and we would both get in awful scandals but I love you so much and I love what we have so much that I didn’t want to lose it and-”
There was only one way to make your boyfriend stop talking and that was by cupping both of his cheeks and pressing your lips against his in a gentle kiss, silencing his rambling and his verbal diarrhea. The two of you looked into each other’s eyes, chuckling shyly as he rubbed his nose against yours, pressing gently kisses against the corners of your lips.
“We have an audience, you know that, right?” He asked quietly, making you hit his chest gently before you buried your face into his neck, hiding your red face “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
“What food did you bring?” You asked quietly, seeing everyone in the chat laugh at your question.
“Fried chicken” He said proudly, knowing that it was your favorite food.
“Damn, you really do want me to forgive you huh?” Chenle couldn’t help but laugh at your words, nodding quietly as he kissed your cheek.
“Missed you too much, Christmas holidays sucks without you”
“Why the Santa hat though?” You asked amused, leaning back to get a better look at his entire face
“Because it makes me look cute? This would surely give me some points to be forgiven” He said winking at you, totally forgetting the live was still on.
“Yeah as if declaring your undying love for me in front of the entire fandom wasn’t enough” You rolled your eyes laughing, pushing him away as you went to dig inside the plastic bag he brought, noticing that apart from the fried chicken he had also brought some Christmas lights to decorate the room. “No”
“Yes” He said grinning, turning to the phone “We’re so decorating the studio”
“You’re so annoying” You complained, plopping down onto your chair, looking at the camera “Don’t get tricked by his cute face, he’s the most annoying person in the world, trust me”
“She loves me, don’t listen to her” Chenle said, sitting beside you, ready to devour the fried chicken he brought.
There, talking to his fans and playing fighting with you while reading all the supporting messages they all sent, Chenle realized that despite his initial fear, going public with your relationship had been one of the best things he’s ever done in his entire life.
#kafenetwork#kdiarynet#nct#nct dream#chenle#chenle x reader#nct x reader#nct dream x reader#nct fluff#nct dream fluff#zhong chenle#chenle fluff#zhong chenle fluff#zhong chenle x reader
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omggg congrats on your dad getting his vaccine!!
hmmm THOUGHTS ON THE COLONIAL ASSASSINS?
send me “thoughts on __”
for the kenway fest head here ♡
Roll Call time, in this particular group we have: Adéwalé, Mary, Achilles, Shay and Aveline!
When it comes to my man Adéwalé I’ll admit it’s been a hot minute since I replayed Freedom Cry (I plan too, as soon as I’m done with Valhalla dlc and Black Flag) but I’ll say that I love him, as I love every single protagonist in this saga. When I was younger this whole time period wasn’t my favorite, I think I was still mourning Ezio pretty deeply and the shift in the scenario was particularly tough for me ‘cause I obviously associate Italy with home and now I was being thrown in new game mechanics that didn’t make much sense and maps with english and american npcs everywhere. It sounded boring and I kept getting confused so I resented them for a time. But now that I’m older I can recognize that while other settings and games in general are more my taste, the character dynamics in this particular era were all incredible, so intertwined!
Loved how Adéwalé acted as a very three dimensional character even while he was by Edward’s side, I still think his friendship was fundamental for him. Adéwalé often acts like the voice of conscience but he also deeply respected Edward, even when he was making a total fool of himself. That’s friendship babey. ♥ His own experience with slavery and liberation is powerful and inspiring. I’m just sad he ultimately had to fall by Shay’s blade. Again, loved how everything is connected but the thought still makes me sad.
Mary is just iconic. She’s the moment. She’s the legend. One of the most interesting historical figures we have seen so far. I absolutely love her interactions with Edward. I never shipped them honestly, they work so much better off as friends, the teasing, the cameradie, the genuine concern and frustration made them both so human! How she subtlety swerved him into giving the Assassin’s a chance. And advocated for them to give him one too. At one specific point in time she was literally the only person to believe in him when he was hitting rock bottom and that’s so important. Her whole story is cool but that’s just who she was, a tragic ending for an incredibly bright character.
I have conflicting feelings towards Achilles. Didn’t know really what to think during AC3, kinda hated him during Rogue but that was the point right? To show a broken man, what kind of beast grief is, how it poison both the heart and the mind. It was clever of them to show someone like him among the Assassin’s ranks. Reminded us all that we’re not talking about good or evil, black or white. Everyone walks in between those grey lines and sometimes they fall. By the time he takes Connor in, he’s old and he’s burdened with too many regrets. I do believe he loved him and I hope he found peace in trying to atone what he did to Shay.
Shay was an enigma. Before playing Rogue for the first time I didn’t know what to expect. This game punches you in the gut and throws you face first in the mud. I can bet anything, no one would ever expect to like this man the way you end up liking him in the end. I need to replay Rogue too, to refresh my memory properly but holy shit, I’m so fond of him. You can actually feel what he feels during this entire ordeal and I can’t actually blame him for anything? His actions were more than justified, his whole world crumbled beneath his feet and he had to live with the knowledge all of this could have been prevented if not for the secrets his mentor and his friends purposefully kept from him. It’s a betrayal that goes deeper than factions, he was literally stripped of his identity and had to start anew. That took courage and that took strength. It pains me to remember he was the one to kill both Adéwalé and Arno’s father but at the same time, they really make it so impossible to hate him. What the Templars showed him was a distilled version of what he lost and was desperately trying to find again: belonging.
Aveline. Aveline my girl, my actual daughter, wonderful angel. I love her, pure and simple. She’s funny, she’s witty, she’s dedicated, she’s strong. I want 3 games with just her and Connor making the States an actual better place. She’s so independent and it’s sad to think that is because she lost her mother so young and her mentor seemed more bent to antagonize her than anything else. I love how resourceful she is, if one pays attention it’s easy to notice she’s almost always the one to come up with plans and strategies, that’s not an easy skill. The doubts she had towards the Brotherhood were just the result of something she couldn’t control, she deserved better than to be treated like a novice just because she refused to take anyone else’s word as a dogma. Her dedication to the slaves is commendable and she too, like Connor, like Adéwalé she is more than just a character. Their struggles will never be “just” personal. Finally, I’m obsessed with the last plot twist she pulls on Madelaine. When the credits first rolled my jaw dropped but then BAM, the power that she has, the intelligence, the international implication. Absolute legend.
#ask games#replies#many thoughts! many! these are just snippets cause i don't want to bore you all too much#but this is really the most interactive part of the saga if you really thing about it#everyone knew everyone at some point#how cool is that#i hope we can see it again sometime#shay cormac#aveline de grandpré#alethiometry#thoughts on
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a quick visit
characters/ships: goldie, scrooge, beakley, scrooge/goldie, (slight) webby/lena word count: ~3500 summary: Goldie stops by the mansion shortly after The Forbidden Fountain of the Foreverglades! ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27023359
Bentina had a bad feeling.
She often did when Scrooge took all four kids by himself and it was just adults in the mansion. Well, adults and Launchpad, who came by twice already - having forgotten that Scrooge wasn’t around.
It didn’t help that she hadn’t gotten Webbigail her own cell phone yet, so there were no updates coming from a trusted source. Scrooge didn’t know how to send a proper text and the boys just sent weird pictures and emojis so she was stuck in the dark until they returned.
Fortunately, the trip ended early, and as the family burst through the door only two days after leaving, the first thing Webbigail did was throw herself into her grandmother’s arms. “GRANNY! You won’t believe what happened in Florida!”
“Something tells me I will.”
Before Webby could open her mouth, Scrooge loudly cleared his throat. “Ahem, um...Webbigail, perhaps you should let me talk to her first. If you wouldnae mind.”
Webby considered that for a moment before doing a backflip and landing gracefully on her feet. “Okay! I’m gonna call Lena and Violet!” And then she rushed upstairs.
The boys were chatting amongst themselves, clearly interested in what Scrooge was going to say to Beakley but knowing they wouldn’t be allowed to stick around for the conversation. Louie in particular was excited to see steam come out of their housekeeper’s ears.
Beakley’s eye twitched as Scrooge grumbled a bit and motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen. Huey and Dewey decided to go find their mom or Uncle Donald, while Louie stuck with his original plan and held his head against the kitchen door to listen in.
“What kind of danger did you put my granddaughter in this time?”
Louie almost snickered.
“So listen, Twenty-Two, I need to start by pointin’ out that it could’ve been much worse! She was far away from the real danger!”
No response. Louie worried he was missing something and leaned in a little further, but it seemed Beakley was just waiting for more information.
“...Goldie was there.”
“Don’t tell me you let her anywhere near Webbigail!” was Beakley’s very quick response. Louie knew the housekeeper hated Goldie, but she didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“Ah...well. Webby spoke to Goldie just as you would’ve wanted her to,” Scrooge said with a chuckle.
“Then what happened?”
“Ehh...Goldie ‘n I drank some youth water, got a bit rambunctious in our young bodies, and left Webbigail by herself in the middle of the woods.”
Louie waited. No sound yet. Maybe Beakley just killed him quickly and quietly and got it over with?
“Is that it? She’s well equipped for a few hours by herself. Better than spending anymore time with your thieving ex-girlfriend.”
What a disappointment. Louie scoffed and got up, walking towards the back of the mansion where he saw his brothers go earlier.
Beakley looked over at the door where one of the kids had been obviously spying, and then poked a finger in Scrooge’s chest. “If Webbigail goes on adventures with you, I expect you to be responsible for her. No running off with your girlfriend, no leaving her alone. Am I understood?”
He looked sheepish, but nodded. “I’m sorry, Twenty-Two. It was...I wasnae myself.”
“Oh, you were completely yourself. Just younger and stupider.”
“Quite right.”
There was a moment of silence before Beakley couldn’t help her curiosity. “So what did she take from you this time?”
He blushed a bit and smiled - a reaction she was definitely not prepared for - and started tapping his fingers against the top of his cane. “Ah...nothin’.”
“...really now.”
Scrooge had a look on his face that Bentina barely recognized - he looked lovestruck and downright silly - and it was making her eye twitch again.
“She took Isabella’s journal, but...then she gave it back. A lot happened yesterday. We...talked.”
“Goldie O’Gilt...talked. To you.” Beakley leaned against the counter and didn’t pretend to hide her disbelief.
Scrooge picked up his cane and swung it around briefly. “Oh, she talked, alright! Let’s just say, I havenae lost my touch when it comes to women.”
Now that was the least believable thing she’d heard so far. But Beakley bit her tongue on that remark. “...did you two sleep together?”
His blush deepened and his smile formed into a smirk. Pushing his hat up an inch with his cane, Scrooge just shrugged and said, “I would never kiss and tell.”
“That’s historically untrue,” she commented with an eyeroll. “Are you going to tell me you two are on good terms now? Or something equally terrifying?”
Scrooge shrugged again. “Hard to say…”
He started to hobble out of the kitchen, considering whether or not to leave Beakley with that non-answer, but chose to turn around at the door and expand. “...she’ll be visiting the mansion soon.”
And she felt a headache coming on as he waltzed out of the kitchen, leaving her alone to decide how many traps she needed to set up and how many items she needed to hide. Not that anything she could try would stop O’Gilt, who always seemed to be one frustrating step ahead of her.
This was a terrible turn of events. Not to mention unexpected. But, Beakley surmised, this was likely a long con that Scrooge hadn’t caught onto in his lovestruck stupor. She’d have to talk to Webbigail and get more details about what happened. She’d have an easier time figuring out what Goldie’s game was.
x
Webby was using her laptop to video call with her friends, going over the trials and tribulations of her recent trip.
“I still can’t believe Scrooge has a girlfriend,” Lena commented dryly.
Webby just laughed. “Yeah, it’s super weird. They just have...so much history together. But I thought it’d be cute! Or fun! Instead, it was just…” She couldn’t think of the right word.
Violet flicked at her hair. “Uncomfortable? Not only are they ridiculously old, but she’s betrayed him a number of times. I can’t imagine watching them interact was pleasant.”
“Exactly!” Webby waved her hands around. “And when we left the hotel they were all gushy and hand holding, but...I don’t know! Love after betrayal doesn’t really seem like a good idea.”
Violet nodded to that, but quickly noticed Lena’s awkward silence and turned towards her sister.
Webby, despite herself, also noticed Lena’s lack of response, and after replaying her sentence in her head, she immediately started to shake her head and laugh. “Ha, ha, well, I mean, you know, who knows!! It’s...I shouldn’t make assumptions! It was probably just weird because they’re so old! I don’t know the details, I should do some research! But maybe not too much research! Ha, ha, ha!”
Lena seemed comforted by that and just chuckled and shook her head. “You’re a riot, Pink.”
“I know,” Webby said with a smile, and she could tell Violet was going to comment on what just happened but was interrupted by a knock on Webby’s door.
“Webbigail, can we talk?”
“Oh, sure, Granny!” she yelled at the door. “Sorry guys, Granny wants to talk! See you later?”
The Sabrewings nodded and said their goodbyes as Webby shut the laptop in sync with Beakley climbing up the ladder.
“Scrooge tells me you were alone for quite some time,” Beakley said as she finished her climb and sat next to Webby on her bed. “How did you fare?”
“It was crazy!” Webby said enthusiastically. “I had hurt my back and mosquitos stung my eye and then suddenly I was alone with who-knows-what lurking around! But I used my quick wits and geographical knowledge to make my way back to the hotel in record time!”
Beakley responded with a few small claps. “I’m very proud of you.”
“It’s too bad I missed the fight, though!”
“Oh?” Now that made more sense. “So Scrooge and Goldie did fight, then?”
“Oh, no, I mean. Sort of, but that’s not what I’m talking about!” Webby proceeded to explain the situation with Ponce de Leon to her grandmother, not leaving out any details of what the boys and Scrooge had told her.
“Well...I supposed that explains his good mood.” Beakley put a hand against her beak in thought. “I can’t immediately tell what O’Gilt’s angle is, but I don’t trust this. If she tries to talk to you again, don’t give her any information she doesn’t already have.”
“Okay! Oh, and did you know she’s friends with Louie?” Webby added suddenly. “I mean, I guess friends might be a strong word. But they talked for a while and I was really surprised! Scrooge didn’t seem as surprised, but also...not. You know what I mean?”
Beakley let out a long hmmm in response. “...that’s interesting.”
“I was talking to Lena and Violet…” Webby tapped her fingers on her legs. “I don’t trust Goldie any farther than I could throw her, but...I don’t know, she and Scrooge seemed to be really happy together all last night and this morning.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And it’s not like you can’t have a good normal relationship even if there was once a lot of lies and betrayal!” Webby started to play with her skirt. “I’m trying to keep an open mind!”
Beakley’s face scrunched up in thought and her eyes widened in realization. “Ah...Dear, if you’re projecting onto this, I can assure you that your relationship with Lena is nothing like that of the infamous McDuck-O’Gilt rivalry.”
“Oh.”
“Goldie O’Gilt is proof that some people can never change,” Bentina said forcefully. “And no matter what she says or how she acts or even if she chooses not to steal anything one time, that’s no reason to trust her. She’s going to break Scrooge’s heart again, one way or another.”
“...oh.” Webby frowned and looked down at her knees. “You’re probably right, Granny. Maybe I just...want her to be better.”
“I understand.” Beakley stood up and brushed invisible dust off her skirt. “I do, too. But it’s safer to stay alert than to try and expect anything good from her.”
She nodded. “Uncle Scrooge invited her here.”
“He mentioned as much.”
“But she said no.”
“Really?”
Webby played with her fingers while she spoke. “She said, and I promise I wasn’t eavesdropping! But she told him that ‘meeting the family is too domestic,’ which I think is weird because she’s already met all of us so what difference does it make?”
Beakley wondered why Scrooge seemed so sure that Goldie would be coming over despite her rejection. This was already starting not to bode well. “I need to speak to Scrooge again. Why don’t you go find the boys?”
“Okay!” Webby shouted and did a front flip off her bed, launching down the ladder and heading towards the pool.
Beakley grumbled and followed after, determined to figure out why Scrooge had lied or what was going on. She needed to be prepared if Goldie O’Gilt was coming to visit, and prepared for Scrooge’s inevitably whiny heartbreak. You’d think he’d be used to it after so many years.
She found him in his room, staring at the inside of some ancient-looking box. As soon as he noticed her, he slammed the box shut and tossed it back into the locked desk drawer he came from. Curious as that made her, Beakley didn’t have the energy to comment.
“Goldie said she wasn’t interested in coming here.”
Scrooge flushed and shrugged. “I mean...technically, yes, but you had to see the look in her eyes, Bentina! I know she’s coming.”
“I think you’re likely misinterpreting.”
“I know for a fact she wants to see Della, at least,” Scrooge said with his two pointer fingers up in front of him. “We talked about her for a while and she hasn’t seen her since her return, so…”
“I stand by what I said.”
Scrooge stood up and stretched his limbs. “I understand your negativity, Twenty-Two, but I feel good about this! I feel like -”
Both parties stopped talking and turned to look at the window, which was slowly being opened from the outside. Scrooge smiled brightly and Beakley’s frown deepened.
“Hey, Hun, how about we……..oh.” Goldie hadn’t noticed Beakley at first, and wrinkled her nose as soon as they made eye contact. “Great.”
Before the man of the house could let his lady inside, Beakley stormed to the window and grabbed it. “How about you use the front door like a proper guest!?” She slammed the window shut and Goldie didn’t move for a moment, then smacked the closed window before disappearing again. Beakley made her way to the foyer in angry anticipation.
Scrooge didn’t even know how to react to that and quickly rushed to the window to see what was happening. Goldie had gone back down to the lawn and she looked up to shoot him a quick wink before continuing towards the door. He almost didn’t believe what he was seeing, but hurried after his housekeeper anyway.
The doorbell ringing was a surprise to everyone, and Scrooge was double surprised to see all four kids running towards the front door even after they saw Beakley reach for the handle. Maybe they liked Goldie more than she did. That wouldn’t be saying much at all.
The door opened and Goldie groaned loudly. “Is this what it’s like to wait for someone to let you into a building? It’s awful. Scroogey, don’t make me do that again.”
Beakley rolled her eyes and moved to the side so Goldie could enter, and Scrooge just smiled at her instead of moving to give her a proper hello. She put a hand on her hip and looked at the small army of ducks who’d come to greet her for whatever reason.
“I thought you said you weren’t coming!” Webby said suddenly.
“Yes, well…” Goldie rolled her hand around by her head, trying to think of what to say. “Here I am anyway.”
“Here you are,” Beakley said harshly as she shut the door. “And what’s your plan for this visit, O’Gilt?”
Goldie gave the housekeeper a sultry look. “Oh, Bentina, always so suspicious of me. Scrooge asked me to stop by on my way back to D…”
Everyone leaned forward slightly, looking very interested in the next thing she was going to say. Goldie took note of that.
“...doing my own thing.”
The resounding disappointment was palpable. Clearly no one knew where she currently hung her hat, and Goldie preferred it that way.
“So he did. Apparently you’re here to ‘meet the family,’ but of course,” Beakley walked past Goldie and stood next to her granddaughter. “You already know everyone here.”
Scrooge raised an eyebrow, not sure if he should interrupt or let this play out. Goldie didn’t seem put off at all.
“Are you testing me?” Goldie asked with a smirk. “Of course I know you, Bentina. Or would you rather I call you Twenty-Two?”
Everyone looked up at Beakley, who scowled. “Bentina is fine.”
Goldie took a look at all four kids, who were currently lined up in front of her. Their...names? She knew their names. But that didn’t really matter and she didn’t want them to get too attached.
“Well, obviously I know Sharpie,” she said, motioning to Louie, who just shrugged in response.
Next came the red one. “...based on your clipboard, I’m gonna assume you’re the Smartie.”
“Not technically my name, but observant nonetheless!” Huey tapped his hat with his pencil.
“And you…” She looked at the blue one, who seemed overly excited at her presence and was pumping his knees up and down. “Well I’m not about to call you Toughie when you look like this.”
“You can call me…” Dewey pulled out his phone and pressed a button, playing a short track of loud electronic music. “TURBOOOO!!!” he shouted as he dabbed dramatically and the music ended.
Goldie just stared. “...ah, you’re just a mini-Della, aren’t you?”
Dewey spun around and snapped some finger guns at her. “Compliment received and appreciated! That’s how we Dew it!”
“Right. So. Sharpie, Smartie, Mini-Della.” She pointed to each of them as she spoke. “And lastly we’ve got Old Lady Vanderquack.”
Webby looked up at her grandma and gave a sheepish smile to Beakley’s irritated expression.
“I suppose I can’t very well call you that when the real old lady is right there,” Goldie said with a smirk. “I’ll just call you Pink.”
That elicited a small gasp from the little duck. “You can’t call me that! That’s what Lena calls me!”
“Oh? She’s got a claim on that name?” Goldie crouched down and leaned her arms on her knees (which were feeling much better than the day before, thank God). “Well I’m sure your Uncle has told you that I’m quite the claim jumper.”
Scrooge chuckled at that while Webby just squinted and tapped on her beak. “I guess, in a way, you kind of remind me of Lena.”
“Since I don’t know who that is, I’m going to assume that’s a compliment.”
“It is!” Webby clapped her hands together excitedly. “She’s my-”
“Webbigail,” Beakley interrupted. “Remember what I said about limiting the information you give to thieves?”
“Oh, right!” Webby stood tall and did a motion of zippering her mouth shut.
Goldie smirked and stood back up. “The less I know the better, I suppose.” She looked around the room. “Well I don’t see Donald or Della, but as far as I know, that covers everyone who lives here, right?”
Beakley rolled her eyes, but couldn’t say anything before Dewey jumped up. “Oh! I bet Mom would be super excited to see you! I’ll go grab her!” He rushed off to the pool.
“What, no fun nicknames for them, too?” Louie said sarcastically. “How boring.”
Goldie crossed her arms. “That’s not something anyone’s ever called me before.”
“First time for everything.”
Huey glanced between Louie and Goldie, sensing an unexpected tension that he didn’t know anything about. Clearly he’d be grilling Louie about it later.
Scrooge sighed and felt a familiar warmth in his chest. All he wanted was for Goldie to be a part of his family, and for the first time...it felt like it might happen. Despite Beakley’s objections, of course. He shuffled over and grabbed one of Goldie’s hands.
“Are you staying long?” he asked hopefully, but trying not to sound too desperate.
She glanced at him and sighed. “No, I don’t think so.” She pulled her hand away from his and placed it against his cheek instead. “Meet the family, you said. Not have dinner with the family or move in with you, right?” She gave him a few little pats.
Scrooge smiled even though he would’ve loved for her to stay longer. “Right. Whatever you’re comfortable with, Dear.”
The little domestic nickname made her heart flutter, and Goldie had to look away from him to avoid blushing. Fortunately, it was at that moment that Dewey was dragging the twins into the foyer behind him.
“What’s so impor-....oh!” Della paused as she looked up, Donald stepping up next to her a moment later.
They both looked at each other and then back at their guest. “Hi Aunt Goldie,” they said in unison.
“Donnie. Fly Girl,” Goldie responded, giving them each a curt nod. “Glad to see you’re both in one piece.”
Della elbowed Donald in the chest. “How come you didn’t tell me this was still a thing?”
He coughed and put a hand over his injured sternum. “I didn’t think you cared?”
“I dunno, I’m kind of mixed on it,” Della said with a shrug. “But I like to stay updated!”
They bickered for a minute and Goldie felt a bit awkward - she didn’t know Donald or Della very well and could barely understand a single thing Donald said. She assumed everyone else could understand him perfectly and didn’t want to be the odd one out, so she opted to look back at Scrooge again.
He was staring at her. This whole visit he’d just been staring at her. She did what he asked! She stopped by! She spoke to his whole family! Why did he still look like he wanted something?
Finally he looked away from her, seeing that most of the rest of the family was talking to Della about adventures they knew about involving Goldie. He looked back at her and smiled.
“...Scroogey, just ask me what you want to ask me.” She swiped a hand through her ponytail and sighed. “I’ll die of old age if I’m stuck waiting for you to spit it out.”
He took a deep breath and reached out to grab both of her hands this time.
“I want you...to meet my parents.”
Bentina had a bad feeling.
She often did when Scrooge took all four kids by himself and it was just adults in the mansion. Well, adults and Launchpad, who came by twice already - having forgotten that Scrooge wasn’t around.
It didn’t help that she hadn’t gotten Webbigail her own cell phone yet, so there were no updates coming from a trusted source. Scrooge didn’t know how to send a proper text and the boys just sent weird pictures and emojis so she was stuck in the dark until they returned.
Fortunately, the trip ended early, and as the family burst through the door only two days after leaving, the first thing Webbigail did was throw herself into her grandmother’s arms. “GRANNY! You won’t believe what happened in Florida!”
“Something tells me I will.”
Before Webby could open her mouth, Scrooge loudly cleared his throat. “Ahem, um...Webbigail, perhaps you should let me talk to her first. If you wouldnae mind.”
Webby considered that for a moment before doing a backflip and landing gracefully on her feet. “Okay! I’m gonna call Lena and Violet!” And then she rushed upstairs.
The boys were chatting amongst themselves, clearly interested in what Scrooge was going to say to Beakley but knowing they wouldn’t be allowed to stick around for the conversation. Louie in particular was excited to see steam come out of their housekeeper’s ears.
Beakley’s eye twitched as Scrooge grumbled a bit and motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen. Huey and Dewey decided to go find their mom or Uncle Donald, while Louie stuck with his original plan and held his head against the kitchen door to listen in.
“What kind of danger did you put my granddaughter in this time?”
Louie almost snickered.
“So listen, Twenty-Two, I need to start by pointin’ out that it could’ve been much worse! She was far away from the real danger!”
No response. Louie worried he was missing something and leaned in a little further, but it seemed Beakley was just waiting for more information.
“...Goldie was there.”
“Don’t tell me you let her anywhere near Webbigail!” was Beakley’s very quick response. Louie knew the housekeeper hated Goldie, but she didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“Ah...well. Webby spoke to Goldie just as you would’ve wanted her to,” Scrooge said with a chuckle.
“Then what happened?”
“Ehh...Goldie ‘n I drank some youth water, got a bit rambunctious in our young bodies, and left Webbigail by herself in the middle of the woods.”
Louie waited. No sound yet. Maybe Beakley just killed him quickly and quietly and got it over with?
“Is that it? She’s well equipped for a few hours by herself. Better than spending anymore time with your thieving ex-girlfriend.”
What a disappointment. Louie scoffed and got up, walking towards the back of the mansion where he saw his brothers go earlier.
Beakley looked over at the door where one of the kids had been obviously spying, and then poked a finger in Scrooge’s chest. “If Webbigail goes on adventures with you, I expect you to be responsible for her. No running off with your girlfriend, no leaving her alone. Am I understood?”
He looked sheepish, but nodded. “I’m sorry, Twenty-Two. It was...I wasnae myself.”
“Oh, you were completely yourself. Just younger and stupider.”
“Quite right.”
There was a moment of silence before Beakley couldn’t help her curiosity. “So what did she take from you this time?”
He blushed a bit and smiled - a reaction she was definitely not prepared for - and started tapping his fingers against the top of his cane. “Ah...nothin’.”
“...really now.”
Scrooge had a look on his face that Bentina barely recognized - he looked lovestruck and downright silly - and it was making her eye twitch again.
“She took Isabella’s journal, but...then she gave it back. A lot happened yesterday. We...talked.”
“Goldie O’Gilt...talked. To you.” Beakley leaned against the counter and didn’t pretend to hide her disbelief.
Scrooge picked up his cane and swung it around briefly. “Oh, she talked, alright! Let’s just say, I havenae lost my touch when it comes to women.”
Now that was the least believable thing she’d heard so far. But Beakley bit her tongue on that remark. “...did you two sleep together?”
His blush deepened and his smile formed into a smirk. Pushing his hat up an inch with his cane, Scrooge just shrugged and said, “I would never kiss and tell.”
“That’s historically untrue,” she commented with an eyeroll. “Are you going to tell me you two are on good terms now? Or something equally terrifying?”
Scrooge shrugged again. “Hard to say…”
He started to hobble out of the kitchen, considering whether or not to leave Beakley with that non-answer, but chose to turn around at the door and expand. “...she’ll be visiting the mansion soon.”
And she felt a headache coming on as he waltzed out of the kitchen, leaving her alone to decide how many traps she needed to set up and how many items she needed to hide. Not that anything she could try would stop O’Gilt, who always seemed to be one frustrating step ahead of her.
This was a terrible turn of events. Not to mention unexpected. But, Beakley surmised, this was likely a long con that Scrooge hadn’t caught onto in his lovestruck stupor. She’d have to talk to Webbigail and get more details about what happened. She’d have an easier time figuring out what Goldie’s game was.
x
Webby was using her laptop to video call with her friends, going over the trials and tribulations of her recent trip.
“I still can’t believe Scrooge has a girlfriend,” Lena commented dryly.
Webby just laughed. “Yeah, it’s super weird. They just have...so much history together. But I thought it’d be cute! Or fun! Instead, it was just…” She couldn’t think of the right word.
Violet flicked at her hair. “Uncomfortable? Not only are they ridiculously old, but she’s betrayed him a number of times. I can’t imagine watching them interact was pleasant.”
“Exactly!” Webby waved her hands around. “And when we left the hotel they were all gushy and hand holding, but...I don’t know! Love after betrayal doesn’t really seem like a good idea.”
Violet nodded to that, but quickly noticed Lena’s awkward silence and turned towards her sister.
Webby, despite herself, also noticed Lena’s lack of response, and after replaying her sentence in her head, she immediately started to shake her head and laugh. “Ha, ha, well, I mean, you know, who knows!! It’s...I shouldn’t make assumptions! It was probably just weird because they’re so old! I don’t know the details, I should do some research! But maybe not too much research! Ha, ha, ha!”
Lena seemed comforted by that and just chuckled and shook her head. “You’re a riot, Pink.”
“I know,” Webby said with a smile, and she could tell Violet was going to comment on what just happened but was interrupted by a knock on Webby’s door.
“Webbigail, can we talk?”
“Oh, sure, Granny!” she yelled at the door. “Sorry guys, Granny wants to talk! See you later?”
The Sabrewings nodded and said their goodbyes as Webby shut the laptop in sync with Beakley climbing up the ladder.
“Scrooge tells me you were alone for quite some time,” Beakley said as she finished her climb and sat next to Webby on her bed. “How did you fare?”
“It was crazy!” Webby said enthusiastically. “I had hurt my back and mosquitos stung my eye and then suddenly I was alone with who-knows-what lurking around! But I used my quick wits and geographical knowledge to make my way back to the hotel in record time!”
Beakley responded with a few small claps. “I’m very proud of you.”
“It’s too bad I missed the fight, though!”
“Oh?” Now that made more sense. “So Scrooge and Goldie did fight, then?”
“Oh, no, I mean. Sort of, but that’s not what I’m talking about!” Webby proceeded to explain the situation with Ponce de Leon to her grandmother, not leaving out any details of what the boys and Scrooge had told her.
“Well...I supposed that explains his good mood.” Beakley put a hand against her beak in thought. “I can’t immediately tell what O’Gilt’s angle is, but I don’t trust this. If she tries to talk to you again, don’t give her any information she doesn’t already have.”
“Okay! Oh, and did you know she’s friends with Louie?” Webby added suddenly. “I mean, I guess friends might be a strong word. But they talked for a while and I was really surprised! Scrooge didn’t seem as surprised, but also...not. You know what I mean?”
Beakley let out a long hmmm in response. “...that’s interesting.”
“I was talking to Lena and Violet…” Webby tapped her fingers on her legs. “I don’t trust Goldie any farther than I could throw her, but...I don’t know, she and Scrooge seemed to be really happy together all last night and this morning.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And it’s not like you can’t have a good normal relationship even if there was once a lot of lies and betrayal!” Webby started to play with her skirt. “I’m trying to keep an open mind!”
Beakley’s face scrunched up in thought and her eyes widened in realization. “Ah...Dear, if you’re projecting onto this, I can assure you that your relationship with Lena is nothing like that of the infamous McDuck-O’Gilt rivalry.”
“Oh.”
“Goldie O’Gilt is proof that some people can never change,” Bentina said forcefully. “And no matter what she says or how she acts or even if she chooses not to steal anything one time, that’s no reason to trust her. She’s going to break Scrooge’s heart again, one way or another.”
“...oh.” Webby frowned and looked down at her knees. “You’re probably right, Granny. Maybe I just...want her to be better.”
“I understand.” Beakley stood up and brushed invisible dust off her skirt. “I do, too. But it’s safer to stay alert than to try and expect anything good from her.”
She nodded. “Uncle Scrooge invited her here.”
“He mentioned as much.”
“But she said no.”
“Really?”
Webby played with her fingers while she spoke. “She said, and I promise I wasn’t eavesdropping! But she told him that ‘meeting the family is too domestic,’ which I think is weird because she’s already met all of us so what difference does it make?”
Beakley wondered why Scrooge seemed so sure that Goldie would be coming over despite her rejection. This was already starting not to bode well. “I need to speak to Scrooge again. Why don’t you go find the boys?”
“Okay!” Webby shouted and did a front flip off her bed, launching down the ladder and heading towards the pool.
Beakley grumbled and followed after, determined to figure out why Scrooge had lied or what was going on. She needed to be prepared if Goldie O’Gilt was coming to visit, and prepared for Scrooge’s inevitably whiny heartbreak. You’d think he’d be used to it after so many years.
She found him in his room, staring at the inside of some ancient-looking box. As soon as he noticed her, he slammed the box shut and tossed it back into the locked desk drawer he came from. Curious as that made her, Beakley didn’t have the energy to comment.
“Goldie said she wasn’t interested in coming here.”
Scrooge flushed and shrugged. “I mean...technically, yes, but you had to see the look in her eyes, Bentina! I know she’s coming.”
“I think you’re likely misinterpreting.”
“I know for a fact she wants to see Della, at least,” Scrooge said with his two pointer fingers up in front of him. “We talked about her for a while and she hasn’t seen her since her return, so…”
“I stand by what I said.”
Scrooge stood up and stretched his limbs. “I understand your negativity, Twenty-Two, but I feel good about this! I feel like -”
Both parties stopped talking and turned to look at the window, which was slowly being opened from the outside. Scrooge smiled brightly and Beakley’s frown deepened.
“Hey, Hun, how about we……..oh.” Goldie hadn’t noticed Beakley at first, and wrinkled her nose as soon as they made eye contact. “Great.”
Before the man of the house could let his lady inside, Beakley stormed to the window and grabbed it. “How about you use the front door like a proper guest!?” She slammed the window shut and Goldie didn’t move for a moment, then smacked the closed window before disappearing again. Beakley made her way to the foyer in angry anticipation.
Scrooge didn’t even know how to react to that and quickly rushed to the window to see what was happening. Goldie had gone back down to the lawn and she looked up to shoot him a quick wink before continuing towards the door. He almost didn’t believe what he was seeing, but hurried after his housekeeper anyway.
The doorbell ringing was a surprise to everyone, and Scrooge was double surprised to see all four kids running towards the front door even after they saw Beakley reach for the handle. Maybe they liked Goldie more than she did. That wouldn’t be saying much at all.
The door opened and Goldie groaned loudly. “Is this what it’s like to wait for someone to let you into a building? It’s awful. Scroogey, don’t make me do that again.”
Beakley rolled her eyes and moved to the side so Goldie could enter, and Scrooge just smiled at her instead of moving to give her a proper hello. She put a hand on her hip and looked at the small army of ducks who’d come to greet her for whatever reason.
“I thought you said you weren’t coming!” Webby said suddenly.
“Yes, well…” Goldie rolled her hand around by her head, trying to think of what to say. “Here I am anyway.”
“Here you are,” Beakley said harshly as she shut the door. “And what’s your plan for this visit, O’Gilt?”
Goldie gave the housekeeper a sultry look. “Oh, Bentina, always so suspicious of me. Scrooge asked me to stop by on my way back to D…”
Everyone leaned forward slightly, looking very interested in the next thing she was going to say. Goldie took note of that.
“...doing my own thing.”
The resounding disappointment was palpable. Clearly no one knew where she currently hung her hat, and Goldie preferred it that way.
“So he did. Apparently you’re here to ‘meet the family,’ but of course,” Beakley walked past Goldie and stood next to her granddaughter. “You already know everyone here.”
Scrooge raised an eyebrow, not sure if he should interrupt or let this play out. Goldie didn’t seem put off at all.
“Are you testing me?” Goldie asked with a smirk. “Of course I know you, Bentina. Or would you rather I call you Twenty-Two?”
Everyone looked up at Beakley, who scowled. “Bentina is fine.”
Goldie took a look at all four kids, who were currently lined up in front of her. Their...names? She knew their names. But that didn’t really matter and she didn’t want them to get too attached.
“Well, obviously I know Sharpie,” she said, motioning to Louie, who just shrugged in response.
Next came the red one. “...based on your clipboard, I’m gonna assume you’re the Smartie.”
“Not technically my name, but observant nonetheless!” Huey tapped his hat with his pencil.
“And you…” She looked at the blue one, who seemed overly excited at her presence and was pumping his knees up and down. “Well I’m not about to call you Toughie when you look like this.”
“You can call me…” Dewey pulled out his phone and pressed a button, playing a short track of loud electronic music. “TURBOOOO!!!” he shouted as he dabbed dramatically and the music ended.
Goldie just stared. “...ah, you’re just a mini-Della, aren’t you?”
Dewey spun around and snapped some finger guns at her. “Compliment received and appreciated! That’s how we Dew it!”
“Right. So. Sharpie, Smartie, Mini-Della.” She pointed to each of them as she spoke. “And lastly we’ve got Old Lady Vanderquack.”
Webby looked up at her grandma and gave a sheepish smile to Beakley’s irritated expression.
“I suppose I can’t very well call you that when the real old lady is right there,” Goldie said with a smirk. “I’ll just call you Pink.”
That elicited a small gasp from the little duck. “You can’t call me that! That’s what Lena calls me!”
“Oh? She’s got a claim on that name?” Goldie crouched down and leaned her arms on her knees (which were feeling much better than the day before, thank God). “Well I’m sure your Uncle has told you that I’m quite the claim jumper.”
Scrooge chuckled at that while Webby just squinted and tapped on her beak. “I guess, in a way, you kind of remind me of Lena.”
“Since I don’t know who that is, I’m going to assume that’s a compliment.”
“It is!” Webby clapped her hands together excitedly. “She’s my-”
“Webbigail,” Beakley interrupted. “Remember what I said about limiting the information you give to thieves?”
“Oh, right!” Webby stood tall and did a motion of zippering her mouth shut.
Goldie smirked and stood back up. “The less I know the better, I suppose.” She looked around the room. “Well I don’t see Donald or Della here, but as far as I know, that covers everyone who lives here, right?”
Beakley rolled her eyes, but couldn’t say anything before Dewey jumped up. “Oh! I bet Mom would be super excited to see you! I’ll go grab her!” He rushed off to the pool.
“What, no fun nicknames for them, too?” Louie said sarcastically. “How boring.”
Goldie crossed her arms. “That’s not something anyone’s ever called me before.”
“First time for everything.”
Huey glanced between Louie and Goldie, sensing an unexpected tension that he didn’t know anything about. Clearly he’d be grilling Louie about it later.
Scrooge sighed and felt a familiar warmth in his chest. All he wanted was for Goldie to be a part of his family, and for the first time...it felt like it might happen. Despite Beakley’s objections, of course. He shuffled over and grabbed one of Goldie’s hands.
“Are you staying long?” he asked hopefully, but trying not to sound too desperate.
She glanced at him and sighed. “No, I don’t think so.” She pulled her hand away from his and placed it against his cheek instead. “Meet the family, you said. Not have dinner with the family or move in with you, right?” She gave him a few little pats.
Scrooge smiled even though he would’ve loved for her to stay longer. “Right. Whatever you’re comfortable with, Dear.”
The little domestic nickname made her heart flutter, and Goldie had to look away from him to avoid blushing. Fortunately, it was at that moment that Dewey was dragging the twins into the foyer behind him.
“What’s so impor-....oh!” Della paused as she looked up, Donald stepping up next to her a moment later.
They both looked at each other and then back at their guest. “Hi Aunt Goldie,” they said in unison.
“Donnie. Fly Girl,” Goldie responded, giving them each a curt nod. “Glad to see you’re both in one piece.”
Della elbowed Donald in the chest. “How come you didn’t tell me this was still a thing?”
He coughed and put a hand over his injured sternum. “I didn’t think you cared?”
“I dunno, I’m kind of mixed on it,” Della said with a shrug. “But I like to stay updated!”
They bickered for a minute and Goldie felt a bit awkward - she didn’t know Donald or Della very well and couldn’t understand a single thing Donald said. She assumed everyone else could understand him perfectly and didn’t want to be the odd one out, so she opted to look back at Scrooge again.
He was staring at her. This whole visit he’d just been staring at her. She did what he asked! She stopped by! She spoke to his whole family! Why did he still look like he wanted something?
Finally he looked away from her, seeing that most of the rest of the family was talking to Della about adventures they knew about involving Goldie. He looked back at her and smiled.
“...Scroogey, just ask me what you want to ask me.” She swiped a hand through her ponytail and sighed. “I’ll die of old age if I’m stuck waiting for you to spit it out.”
He took a deep breath and reached out to grab both of her hands this time.
“I want you...to meet my parents.”
#scroldie#goldie o'gilt#scrooge mcduck#bentina beakley#webbigail vanderquack#webby vanderquack#louie duck#ducktales#fic#fics#i like how this one came out#huey duck#dewey duck#della duck#donald duck#lena de spell#violet sabrewing#long post#scheme team
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The 100 7x11 Etherea
This is the episode we’ve been waiting for this whole season - and while I don’t think it’s the best episode of the season, it is certainly the most exciting one. It would be that just the fact that Bellamy is finally back on screen (and not just for a couple of minutes, but for an entire episode fully focused on him), and it was great to see him and have an episode fully devoted to him, and remember once again what an amazing actor Bob is and the presence and intensity he brings to the show. But it also turned out to be the first episode of season 7 that is a genuine game changer and that shocked the viewers with a twist that wasn’t entirely predictable.
Even though the fandom had been speculating on the so-called brainwashed Bellamy or “void Bellamy” or generally Bellamy that is for some reason the (temporary) enemy of Clarke, Octavia and the rest of the protagonists, and hoping for that storyline, with a Mockingjay-like possibilities for romantic angst between him and Clarke (especially after a photo of Bellamy in the white robe leaked early in the year, months before the season even started to air), the way it happened seems to have upset many of the fans )to quote a podcaster, “I was hoping for a brainwashed Bellamy, but not like this”). Probably because the show has Bellamy retain agency in his transformation and that it is indoctrination into a cult be more like real life and partially rooted in Bellamy’s own emotional issues, beliefs and needs, rather than taking the easier route of having him be Sci-Fi brainwashed, Winter Soldier style.
That said, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about this episode and how good I think it is. The first half of the episode, Bellamy was very much himself, and it was focused on survival and trying to get off the planet, and the dynamic between him and Conductor Doucette - throughout the episode - seems to play into the familiar trope of two enemies, or people of opposing views, who have to spend time together, gets to argue, survive together, and eventually bond as fellow humans. This story would not be particularly interesting - not only have we seen it many times, but it feels redundant for Bellamy, who has learned to see the POV of his enemies, bond with them and see the common humanity in them, many seasons ago. It also would not have been interesting if Bellamy managed to change Doucette’s beliefs - which the audience already thinks are rubbish - as this wouldn’t tell us anything new about Bellamy and would only give development to Doucette.
But instead, what was really happening throughout this episode, under the guise of bonding with the enemy, was Bellamy’s spiritual journey - aka his indoctrination into Cadogan’s cult. The crucial part of it happens not just to his exhaustion and desperation in tough circumstances, or his companion offering him faith as a solution, but through something Bellamy actually sees in the cave, and his own visions a little later. This is where the episode becomes a lot more interesting - and also a lot more frustrating. I don’t think I’ll be sure how I feel about this until I see the rest of the season, and learn how some things from this episode are explained or followed up on. In particular, the explanation (or lack of it?) for Bellamy’s visions in this episode will pretty much determine what course the show is taking in its final season and what it is trying to be.
Whatever the explanation, the end result - which we see after Bellamy returns to Bardo - is disturbing and painful to watch. It is something we have never seen before - Bellamy himself trying to enforce a total abnegation of everything Bellamy Blake is. Which includes willingly repressing his feelings for his loved ones to the point of betraying them (and results in the most painful Bellarke reunion ever, and one of the most painful reunions of the Blake siblings). I don’t know if I’m fully buying such a huge transformation - which is one of my problems with the episode. But this is certainly quality angst, and means that the season has become much more exciting to watch.
Is it weird that such a big twist happens in episode 11, out of 16 episodes, after 10 episodes that have been mostly setup for the big plot? Yes, just like it is weird that Bellamy has been MIA before this. BTS reasons obviously affected this season a lot - if it hadn’t been for them, I think we’d have a similar storyline, but this would have happened much earlier in the season. Are 5 episodes enough to resolve this in a satisfactory way? Well, it’s certainly enough to resolve it - this is a show that has characters go from hate to love over the course of 5 episodes, has characters hook up/fall for each other after knowing each other for 2-3 episodes, the show that showed Hope’s entire 10-year relationship with her father figure in a 7 minute scene, and the show that just had this massive character transformation happen over one episode. Will it feel satisfactory and convincing - it could, if it’s well-written and if the show doesn’t waste too much time on the Sanctum plot and fully focuses on its two main characters now that one of them is finally back.
Starting from the beginning - this time, its Bob saying “Previously on”, in line with this season having different cast members saying those opening words in different episodes (Eliza in 7x01, Marie in 7x02, Luisa in 7x03, there was no previously on in 7x04, Marie in 7x05, Lindsey in 7x06, Richard in 7x07, no previously on in 7x08, Eliza in 7x09 and 7x10 - it’s a bit surprising that Eliza said it in episode 9 even though she wasn’t in it at all, but otherwise those fit characters that were strongly featured in the episode in question).
We also get yet another version of the opening titles - which start and finish with a shot of the Anomaly. Earth again makes a cameo near the end, just as it did in 7x10, though it’s in the shadow now so can’t be seen as clearly.
While 90% of the episode takes place on Etherea, it opens and ends on Bardo. The opening scene is the only one not featuring Bellamy - apart from a replayed memory. We learn that the MCap machine was damaged by Echo, and is only now operational again. Finally, a good explanation why the Disciples did not put Echo, Diyoza or Octavia - again - in MCap after they agreed to cooperate. Levitt is using it on one of the Disciples who were in the Stone Room during the explosion. I guess he was still recovering a week after, and now they are presumably trying to help him, since - as the other Conductor tells Levitt - he is suffering from PTSD. Hey, isn’t that the first time anyone has mentioned that word on the show? At least the Disciples have kept the knowledge about mental health issues, even if their ways of dealing with it are questionable at best. We learn that no one is being punished, not even for killing Anders, as the other conductor says. (Not even? Does she think that’s worse than attempted genocide? Hope didn’t even back down from it as Echo eventually did, and the two Disciples Anders called witnessed it. The Conductor may think that the consequence is more important than intent... But even so, she clearly thinks Anders’ life was more important than those of two other Disciples, who were murdered by Echo as a part of her torturing Levitt. I guess that “For all mankind” thing doesn’t mean you consider all of the people, or even all of the Disciples, equal...)
Levitt finds out what 99% of the audience was sure of anyway and goes “He’s alive!” Surprise, surprise. But Levitt, shouldn’t you say “They are alive?”? Knowing Levitt’s attachment to Octavia, he is talking about Bellamy, not about one of his colleagues, Conductor Doucette, who was also presumed dead. (Doucette, not Douchette - even though the latter would make for a good joke.)
Let’s think about why this scene exists (apart from being used as a sneak peek). Obviously it was full of exposition, but why was it important for Levitt to find out that Bellamy is alive at the same time as we learn about it? We could have just seen Bellamy falling through the Bridge to the planet of Etherea. I suppose the purpose is dual: 1) to learn that the Disciples indeed did not know Bellamy was alive and on Etherea, 2) to learn that Cadogan knew Bellamy was alive an on Etherea, at least a few hours to a day before his return, which may be important for the events of this episode.
One of the questions the fandom has been debating is, did Anders intentionally send Bellamy to Etherea to be indoctrinated? Since 7x05, I have believed that Bellamy was on Etherea, and my initial reading of the scene was that Anders made the decision to send him there - and that this was why Doucette started to beg him: “Please, sir, no”, as he wasn’t happy to be stranded there. Then I started second-guessing it, because it became increasingly obvious that Anders was dumb as a brick and unable to come up with any smart plans how to brainwash people (as we saw with HEDO - he just threatened them into compliance instead of trying to really change their minds). Now I think that sending people to Etherea may be a standard practice that Disciples do on very special occasions when they want to send someone on a spiritual journey/pilgrimage/true brainwashing that they can’t come back until they make a ‘leap of faith” (just like they use Skyring as a standard prison). Maybe this is not even something that most Disciples know, but info only reserved for Level 12s or even Level 13s. But the grenade attack was real and made Anders believe Bellamy was dead and the plan was off - as there is no reason to believe that anything before Bellamy’s last day in the cave was manipulated from Bardo.
However, that last day - with Bellamy’s visions - could have been, and it happened around the same time Cadogan would have found out from Levitt that Bellamy was alive and on Etherea. There seems to be no time differential (or too small a differential to matter) between Etherea and Bardo - just like there seems to be none between Earth and Sanctum, since Bellamy and Doucette retained their memories going from Bardo to Etherea and back, both times without a protective helmet.
Etherea, the planet
The promo for this episode made the planet look much worse and less survivable than it really seems to be. Apart from the grey filter* that the show is using to make it look worse and kind of drab and gloomy, it seems to be a perfectly nice planet, with vegetation and an OK climate - as long as you are not trying to get off the planet through the Anomaly and climbing the extremely high mountain to reach the Anomaly Stone. It’s funny that, aside from Nakara, every other planet connected by the Anomaly has better living conditions than Bardo. The Disciples obviously use Bardo just because of the facilities they’ve found there. But Skyring is a really lovely planet - its only problem is the time differential from the other habitable planets, but that would not be a problem if a big group of people just decided to live there and start a community. Sanctum is lovely, too - well, except for red sun toxin and killer insects and meat-eating trees. (Why have the Disciples mostly ignored it? Is it because of those things, or maybe they didn’t want to mix with the Primes and other Sanctumites? Or they just didn’t see a use for it?) And Etherea is another problem where people could decide to live, if they gave up going to other planets.
*The show uses different filters to make the woods around Vancouver look like different planets:
Sanctum - bright colors, lots of red during day, purple at night
Skyring - blue filter (nice planet)
Nakara - blue filter (frozen planet)
Etherea - grey filter
Earth - normal, except in S5 everywhere outside Eden - greyish yellow filter for a desolated post-Praimfaya Earth
But of course, Bellamy is definitely not interested in staying there and only wants to find a way off this planet, and Doucette, unlike Orlando, is neither serving a sentence he wants to see to the end nor is expecting the Disciples to send a team to retrieve him. This is another one of the “just two three four people on the planet” episodes, but this stay is just a few months rather than years, and spent in much harsher and most exhausting conditions during most of that time - because Bellamy never stops trying to get off the planet. There are parallels and strong contrasts to every one of those other situations:
Eden - The first few months of Clarke’s experience surviving on the desolated Earth parallel Bellamy’s months on the mountain - surviving in tough conditions (extreme heat in Clarke’s case vs extreme cold in Bellamy’s), physically and mentally exhausted to the point of breaking. There are even visually parallel shots of both of them walking with a stick or eating bugs. But the big differences are: after trying and failing to get in the bunker and after the Temple collapsed, Clarke had no way of getting off the planet or out of her current situation and reuniting with any of her loved ones. She could only survive and wait. She was all alone and only talking to Bellamy, who wasn’t there, to keep herself sane. Bellamy, OTOH, was actively trying to get off the planet and reach his loved ones all that time, and he had a companion - another adult with strong beliefs, who he talked to and who did his best to indoctrinate him. After those first few months, Clarke found Eden and met Madi, and the rest of her (mostly off-screen) life on Earth during the next 6 years was much more similar to Octavia’s life with Diyoza and Hope on Skyring.
The Garden - Unlike Bellamy, Octavia lived in a beautiful place and with someone who was already her friend and a child she came to look after, finding family she loved (rather than faith and abstract “love for all mankind”). Like Bellamy, Octavia kept trying to get off the planet and reach her sibling and her friends, which was equally difficult for a different reason, as the Anomaly entrance was deep under water (unlike Bellamy, she wouldn’t have actually able to leave the planet as she didn’t have a Conductor or codes for the Stone - but she didn’t know she needed them) - for 6 years, before she eventually gave up and settled for her peaceful life for the next 4 years and sending Bellamy a letter.
Hesperides - Like Bellamy, Echo, Gabriel and Hope wanted to get off the planet and reach their friends/family, but unlike Bellamy, they couldn’t get the codes and had to wait for 5 years, and, unlike him, they lived in lovely place. Like Bellamy, they had a devout Disciple as a companion, but there were three of them, which made it more difficult for him to indoctrinate them, no matter how much he wanted to make them Disciples, and they were the ones trying to manipulate him. They developed a friendship with him, as Bellamy did with Doucette, but while Bellamy saved Doucette when he didn’t have to anymore, Echo betrayed him and left him as expendable, and the other two eventually went along with it.
But Etherea is not just another planet for the Disciples - it is notable for what can be found in a cave on the way to the top of the mountain, which Cadogan apparently looked for and found, as a part of his pilgrimage - his own “40 days in a desert” - because, of course, he sees himself as a messiah (and, as we saw in 7x09, this is an important thing in the Bardo religion and something children are taught about in school).
Bellamy immediately learns all about Cadogan’s teachings - everything the rest of the characters took several episodes to learn about - by reading his book (”pocket propaganda from another false god”) and immediately pokes holes in it. He makes all the good points and lists most of the reasons why the Disciple faith makes no sense, including the fact that it makes no sense to be fighting for peace and end of violence by waging another war. Everything he says in the first half of the episode are things I would completely agree with. Which makes it all the more frustrating when he starts ignoring his own reasonable arguments by the end of this episode. One might say that the Disciple propaganda attacks both his heart - using his desire to find peace, an end to all the struggle and pain, and eventually, his love and memory of his mother, to ignore what his head is telling him - but they also eventually attack his head, by presenting what seems like actual physical evidence, and the end result is to ignore not just the rational objections he had, but also try to suppress his love for the most important individual people in his life.
He lists the people he loves - “Octavia, Echo, Clarke” - which is the first time Bellamy himself has used the word love for the latter two (and in fact, for anyone other than Octavia). BTW, notice that no one in the show has ever used the word “girlfriend/boyfriend” except Diyoza (when this was what she assumed Clarke was to Bellamy)? Maybe these words have fallen out of use in the post-apocalypse societies. The main characters usually talk about their “friends” or “family” (the latter not always being biological). Doucette later talks of "your family, your friends” and “your obsession with your sister and your friends” - where Echo and Clarke are both lumped into this category. Echo is not singled out as “your girlfriend” or in any other way.
Here’s the thing about Bellamy’s and Doucette’s dynamic: if this story wasn’t really about indoctrinating Bellamy, there really wouldn’t be anything there we didn’t know about Bellamy before. Of course he wouldn’t kill this random Disciple guy if he didn’t have to - and, in spite of what he tells Doucette at the start, it’s not just because he needed him to survive. Bellamy learning to see the humanity of his enemies and working with them and bonding with them is something we have seen many times: at first with Clarke, then with Lincoln, Indra, the Grounders, Kane, Echo. All the way back in season 2, he valued human lives, even from the enemy side: he opposed Murphy’s idea of killing the captive Grounder thief (while Finn summarily killed him), he angrily said he’d kill everyone in Mount Weather but then tried his best for that not to happen, after seeing the children there; even during his Pike-supporting days, he tried to persuade Pike and the others to spare the wounded Grounder warriors, in season 4 he talked Riley down from trying to assassinate Roan, and in season 5, he refused to kill the cryo frozen Eligius prisoners, and later convinced Madi to spare the Eligius convicts who were their PoW. And while Bellamy has been motivated, most of all, by personal love (particularly for his sister and Clarke), we’ve seen him save many people, including strangers or near strangers. That speech Doucette gave him about “loving all mankind” is something season 1 Bellamy needed to hear, the one who was focused just on Octavia and then just on her and the Delinquents, but Bellamy has had a massive character development since. Bellamy knows more about loving all mankind than Doucette or any of the Disciples do. Doucette says he “loves all mankind” including a total stranger - well, dude, didn’t you try to kill Bellamy at first? And the rest of what we’ve seen from Disciples is much worse. They talked the talk, but don’t walk the walk, unless they think kidnapping and torturing people and trying to break their spirit is “love”, And Anders definitely showed that he did not “love all the mankind” when he ordered a hit on Hope, or when he gave that speech in 7x10 about what disgusting “wild beats” all these non-Disciples were.
But unlike Anders, Doucette can talk in a convincing way and make decent arguments in favor of his faith to non-believers, rather than just preaching to the converted - or at least, he can appear to give decent arguments. He’s taking a page from The 100 fandom with the argument that Bellamy is so selfish and egotistical for... loving his sister and his friends and constantly fighting and sacrificing himself for them. (The 100 fandom loves making that same argument about Clarke.) Quite a skill, to make such BS argument sound convincing. He basically gives Bellamy a version of the “Love is weakness” advice - in this case, that “love is selfish” and leads to destruction and pain. And when Bellamy asks the rhetorical question, if that means that you shouldn’t love anyone - Doucette turns it around and talks of love for all mankind. But that “love” he speaks of is abstract and fake - it is impossible to love everyone. You cannot love total strangers, or people you simply don’t like - certainly not the same as you love your lover or friend or family member. You can, however, be compassionate, and value human lives,.Which is, in fact, something the Disciples don’t do, as we’ve seen on Bardo (but Bellamy has not seen it yet) - they just value lives as more soldiers for the cause. Their “humanity” is abstract - they are ready to sacrifice individuals for it (everyone except the Shepherd). Bellamy, on the other hand, has always been about valuing individual lives and saving them - be it Mel on season 2, or the slaves in season - and he managed to do it while also loving his sister and his friends. The Disciples and Doucette’s arguments present a false dichotomy. But, unfortunately, Bellamy still has deep guilt and self-loathing that he never fully resolved (even in season 6, he still talked about his many sins in 6x04), and he’s tired by always having to fight another war for survival, just to followed by another. (Which is similar to Clarke’s misgivings in 7x03: “I’m afraid that fighting is not what we do, it’s what we are” and Raven’s and Clarke’s conversation about guilt over having killed so many people.) The only time he didn’t have to always worry and/or fight were the years on the Ring, but he was still grieving Clarke and missing Octavia and motivated by going back down to reunite with her He knows what he’s capable of doing out of love - and he also has unresolved issues with the women he loves. In season 4, he lamented how pathetic he was coming back to his sister when she kept treating him badly, and in the 7x07 Ring flashback, he thought his love for his sister was his “weakness”. He’s certainly been hurt by her, finally rejected her and then later got to reunite with her, get an apology and forgive and make up with her. He and Clarke have also certainly hurt each other and forgiven each other, and that relationship is still unresolved. Bellamy himself admitted to Jo!Clarke in 6x09 that he was exhausted by their ups and downs and lack of resolution. And Echo... well, he should know exactly where he stands with her, but he didn’t seem happy about their relationship and seemed to want her to be Clarke someone else.
I can see why Bellamy started to envy Doucette his emotional calm that his faith and worldview seemed to bring him.
We got another Pike mention in this ep (and again, it was a reference to his positive role - as a teacher of Earth skills). The last time Bellamy made it was in 6x07 when he found out Clarke was alive. Pike was also a father figure to Bellamy - just like Kane, and now Cadogan. Bellamy has been called both a King and a Knight. Some of his biggest mistakes were when he chose to trust in a leader/father figure (the last time, it was Pike - who was, however, very different from Cadogan and his views on the opposite side the spectrum from Bill’s), and ALIE!Raven thought that one of the ways she could try to taunt him and erode his confidence was to call him a follower rather than a leader. Only she tried to convince him that he was in subjugated position to Clarke - which IMO was never true. They have always had an equal relationship (except when external circumstances made it otherwise - see, Kane and the adults taking the power away from Bellamy, while Clarke was able to take it back from Abby mostly because she was backed up by the Grounder Commander), and Clarke was the one who always tried to boost Bellamy’s confidence in his abilities as a leader. He was definitely a leader of his people in season 5 and season 6, and he works best as co-leader with Clarke (and vice versa). But even when Bellamy supported Clarke, he was questioning his decisions, even though he was rarely able to change Pike’s mind - he wasn’t blindly obeying and accepting everything, as he would have to with the Disciples.
Another factor in Bellamy’s transformation is of course the fact that he spent months in the cave - to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. Every time he and Doucette would climb the mountain, the peak where the Stone was would turn out to be even higher. Bellamy himself used two of the Greek myths to describe the task - Sisyphus and Icarus. A pointless task that results in having to do everything all over again (just like what he said about having to always fight another war), and a dangerous task likely to destroy you.
Bellamy was still insisting on reason over faith - “I believe in what I can prove” - but then he got to see the beings of light, as “proof”..
And here we come to the more interesting part of this ep and something that the show may or may not explain. I’m pretty skeptical about Cadogan’s views of what these beings are. How do we know that they have really “transcended” and become eternal or whatever, living on some kind of higher plane? No one has communicated with them, or have they? They are aliens, from our POV. Maybe that’s their natural state? Maybe they’re dead and this is just what remains of them? Maybe they died in a similar catastrophe as the Bardoans but one that was more about fire than ice, as Selina hypothesized in her review)? Maybe they are in agony? Sure, they look beautiful to human eyes, and fit the human culture’s idea of what spirituality and transcendence is like - but you can’t know that for sure. The frozen crystal giants on Bardo also look beautiful, after all, and that entire species died horribly
And then the second “otherworldly” thing happens after Bellamy finally agreed to prey - and he has a vision, involving Cadogan as his spiritual guide, leading him from a place full of weapons - swords and guns - to the place where he sees his dead mother, Aurora. It’s a beautiful and emotional scene, and I can’t imagine all the things Bellamy is feeling as she touches his face - including, probably, more unresolved guilt - over getting his mother executed (because he loved his sister and tried to make her happy). Aurora tells him Go to the light, Bellamy” and he looks at the figures of light - but we don’t learn what, if anything, he saw there .
I hope we learn that Bellamy saw something important - maybe something connected to the Judgment Day Becca talked about - that would explain the extent of his conversion, although it seems that it is mostly supposed to be a consequence of the fact that the storm stopped at the moment when he chose to prey.
The final step in his ‘spiritual journey’ is after that, when he barely managed to reach the top. After repeating the mantra “I am not afraid” (something else from the Blakes’ childhood - the same line Octavia was repeating on Bardo to resist the Conductors), he admits to himself “I am afraid”. In retrospect, a sign that he was broken, and started feeling that his past and his family were not enough to give him strength and faith. The jump from the top was described as a “leap of faith” by Doucette - which is kind of ridiculous, since it had nothing to do with faith, just with the fact that Cadogan was there and knew how the Anomaly worked, and the fact he was able to climb the mountain and leave is proof that the Anomaly worked properly.
(I wonder why the heck the Anomaly works so differently on different planets - in some cases you can enter the Anomaly right next to the Stone when you’re leaving the planet, and in others, you have to go back to the original entrance that’s somewhere else.)
Now, the visions may be explained in several different ways:
hallucinations - earlier, Bellamy found a family photo and recognized Cadogan, and he would know how Conductors and high ranking Disciples dress, he’s seen the white robe on Anders and Doucette
everything in the cave is real, and Cadogan has some sort of a telepathic connection to the cave (the true believer’s interpretation)
the brain implant/hive mind theory (by Selina again - I don’t believe in this one as there has been no evidence of it so far)
projections/hologram - see Jean’s theory that Cadogan used the hologram technology to project images of himself and Aurora (whose image is familiar to the Disciples from Octavia’s memories)
a combination of some of the above - the beings of light may be real, and Cadogan may have stumbled onto something but has again misinterpreted what it was all about; Bellamy’s vision of Cadogan was a hallucination or projection, but he also did see something real when his mother (again, possible hallucination or unexplained spiritual phenomenon) told him to look into the light.
It’s possible that the show will never fully explain what really happened here, just as Murphy’s vision of hell has never been explained.
The reunion
Up until this point, the episode doesn’t seem to show a seriously disturbing turn in Bellamy: we saw that he was starting to take the Disciples’ faith seriously and even to believe in it, and the first thing he does when turning up in the Stone Room on Bardo is look happy and relieved he made it, and hug an equally happy Doucette. So, he made a friend among the Disciples and will be the one telling Clarke and the rest: “We should take this seriously, they have a point, here is what I saw on Etherea...” - right? That would make perfect sense while not fundamentally changing who Bellamy is.
But no! Bellamy falls to his knees and calls Cadogan “My Shepherd” - which was one of the most painful scenes for me to see in all of the show, even more so than the later scene where he snitches on Clarke. There’s been a lot this season about “kings” forcing subjects to kneel - but instead of the “kneel or die” approach that Anders more or less used (while Sheidheda is using it in the most literal way possible), this is out of genuine belief. I don’t know if I’m really buying this massive transformation that we see here and in the next scene. It’s just a bit too much. Maybe information about what it was that Belalmy saw when he went ‘into the light’ would help explain it better.
Cadogan is happy to use Bellamy to convince Clarke to cooperate, and informs him: “Your friends are here, they have gotten themselves in some trouble”. Maybe this adds up to the reason why Bellamy is uncomfortable when he sees them a bit later, because they’ve been bad - but only some of them were (Echo with her murders, torture and genocide attempt, the others - not really, except Hope, someone he doesn’t even know yet). But when he comes to see them, he looks broken, exhausted and numb after all his experiences. And probably wary of giving in to the “selfish love”. (His friendship with Doucette is presumably in line with his new faith, but he seems to think his friendship with Clarke is not? Is that his relationship with Clarke actually involves love, real love for an individual?) After finally reuniting with the people he had been trying to reach all that time on Etherea, he doesn’t even look happy to see them. To quote Bellamy from earlier in the episode,Sometimes, Bellamy Blake, irony is funny. This is not one of these times.
Meanwhile, his friends are in Cadogan’s living quarters in house arrest. Conveniently, it’s just Clarke, Echo and Octavia there - plus Gabriel, but the focus is on Bellamy’s reunions with the three women he named as the people he loved earlier in the episode. Raven is not there, neither are Miller, Jordan, Niylah or Hope. (The last time Bellamy saw Jordan, Jordan was the brainwashed one. Hey, what happened to that storyline? Did it end up as a casualty of the rewrites?)
They’re discussing what to do, and Clarke has decided to basically sacrifice her life so the others could escape. We know that Clarke is a very selfless person, but the way she’s been increasingly casually deciding to sacrifice herself feels a bit disturbing - as if she’s stopped caring about her own life or hoping for happiness. At this point, her big character development would be to choose happiness and try to have what she wants. Even her “selfish” actions up to this point were mostly about trying to protect others. We haven’t even seen her show much emotion this season - as if she was on autopilot - except for her early grieving Abby earlier in the season, and moments when she’s silently grieving Bellamy,
Cadogan is there to offer the carrot rather than the stick, and being a drama queen, doesn’t Clarke and the others that Bellamy is there, but lets him in. They are massively surprised but don’t notice something’s off, or rather, they seem to assume he is just physically exhausted and in pain rather than mentally/emotionally off, as he silently looks at Clarke and Octavia and then Echo. Camera shows close-ups of the reactions of the people who love him: Clarke’s, Echo’s and Octavia’s reactions before going back to Clarke. (Probably because she’s the main character, in case people have forgotten, and her relationship with Bellamy is at center of the show), Octavia is happy and proud tries to hug her brother, but the Disciples pull out weapons. Clarke ignores the weapons, counting on her status/leverage, and hugs him.
She looks lovingly at him, with something we haven’t seen from her in a long time - happiness, that’s definitely not “best friend that I’m not attracted to” but “best friend I have naughty thoughts about”. (Only love can make you hug someone who must be smelling really badly at this point, considering Bellamy hasn’t washed or changed his clothes in over 3 months!)
This hug is different from any other Bellarke hug ever, since Bellamy is so numb, even when he hugs her back, but she is too happy to see him back to notice. And then when she takes the chance to also get him up to speed and tell him about the Flame - he gets an incredibly sad look on his face. He is not unemotional now - but he has decided he must ignore and suppress those feelings, betray her trust and tell Cadogan the truth, because his faith and the so-called “love for all mankind” comes first.
Everyone is shocked when he calls Cadogan “My Shepherd” and then beyond shocked when he betrays them - and camera again shows Echo’s, Octavia’s and Clarke’s reactions, going back to Cadogan, and then the episode ends on a close-up of Clarke’s shocked face. Because, you know, she’s still the main character. And finally, now we can hopefully have a S7 storyline that properly focuses on the show’s protagonist and utilizes Eliza’s talent allowing her to show a range of emotions. When Clarke believed Bellamy was dead, he was someone she could hold in her memory and try to honor it by saving his sister and girlfriend - but this is a whole new way of losing him, right after thinking she got him back, and means real emotional turmoil.
Bellamy has become a true believer and decided to stop being himself. And the people who love him will now have to deal with his loss - in another way - all over again, and try to save him. I’m torn because this storyline offers huge opportunities for a “power of love” storyline right out of a fanfic, but I’m uncomfortable with the idea that it may come at the expense of having Bellamy be manipulated and subjugated to a white megalomaniac villain in the last season. But I hope and expect we will see genuine character development and re-affirmation of who Bellamy Blake is. Now, there are a lot of things Bellamy doesn’t know yet and that have contributed to him drinking Cadogan’s Kool-Aid (he hasn’t seen Cadogan’s dealings with his family or Second Dawn, or what he did to Becca, or Anders’ actions on Bardo, or the way the Disciples mistreat their own people, and he doesn’t know about Cadogan’s mistranslation of the Bardoan text), but I don’t think the resolution of this storyline will be about Cadogan or what Bellamy knows about his religion. I think it will be Bellamy himself and his relationships. Clarke and Octavia had big character arcs in season 5-6 where they had to deal with who they are, who they’ve become and what they want to be negating everything he is. He needs to finally really deal with his self-loathing and guilt and he needs to gain back trust in himself, the Bellamy Blake that others loved and trusted and relied on. He needs to feel loved and decide that love is strength and a positive rather than just ‘selfish’ force. (And who can show him that? Hint: not his girlfriend Echo, whose love he would definitely see as confirmation that love is selfish and destructive, as it makes a person do things like murder, torture and attempted genocide out of revenge. Another hint: probably the same person who gave him confidence and made him believe in himself and grow as a person, multiple times, all the way back in season 1 and again in season 3 and season 4, telling him he was a person that other follow because of his big heart and the way he can inspire people. And third hint - the same person Bellamy was saving - her physical self - in season 6, will be the one who’ll have to save him, mentally, save who he is., in season 7.)
Rating: 8/10 (could go higher or lower depending on how the cave visions are explained and what the outcome of this plot is)
#the 100#etherea#the 100 7x11#bellamy blake#clarke griffin#bill cadogan#octavia blake#the disciples#the anomaly#bardo
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Umineko EP3. Replay Part 2
Obviously, it's at least partly just damage control but Natsuhi takes the role of Kinzo sooo often. Sad to basically headcanon someone who hated you into someone who understood you.
Woah that was throwing Shannon to the wolves rather unprompted.... also she didn't need to put on a dress at all!
Been a while since I started this chapter so I got shocked by the Kuwadorian hint but I guess the episode started with Baby Beatrice on Kuwadorian anyways.
In other words, stop trying to look for an out Battler!
Jeez Natsuhi, little you know they have the authority to dismiss you out of the island if they wanted.
Interesting... Didn't realize Eva had any thoughts about Beatrice besides thinking she was bullshit but I guess it's not hard to imagine for someone whose efforts were constantly denied due to being a woman that seeing a female ruler of the island appear would be something they look forwards to....
Um ah uh yeah sure
The way Eva switched to a sad face in this conversation is pretty interesting to me - it seems she's pretty sympathetic to Kinzo's wife... no one else seems to have much an opinion on her.
The scenes that draw attention to how Beatrice's mythology was created are pretty interesting. A lot of Kumasawa's stories are for that purpose too.
You are trying so fucking hard for someone that doesn't like you Natsuhi.
Natsuhi frames a lot of it as an offense to Kinzo and whatever but I am pretty sure a lot of her heartened defense is her own insecurities about being a politically kidnapped wife.
Oh yeah, the game just says this directly later lol - also with how defensive she's being I think she might honestly suspect Krauss of having an affair but that's mostly just my interpretation I don't think anything in the game hints at it.
Yeah. such as already having won the headship lol.
This is exactly what happened when everyone 'acknowledged' Beatrice at the church during ep2 as well! Obviously besides asking for the headship - they already have that. but they did force the siblings to acknowledge her using her gold.
The obvious intent of this scene is to hint you at towards how they convince people to be accomplices - just throw money at them.
That's surprisingly harsh from Hideyoshi, though I think Eva probably needed to be told stuff like that more. Eva and Natsuhi are pretty obviously the only people that remotely give a shit about headship, Krauss' ego would be hurt by no longer being head too but he isn't aggressively defensive of it like those 2. They still would trade it for money, though, at least with enough convincing from their partners.
Not really, her goal was to get caught by Battler! Or anyone really but preferably Battler.
Kyrie's not really wrong here, though, when she added that condition she seemed to consider that basically a miracle - in reality, it was solved like 10 minutes into her plan.
Oh Battler - Ronove and Beatrice are trying to guide you so hard but you refuse anyways. Battler really is kind of a naive sweet child at this point.
"You are building a connected theory instead of making shit up on the spot! Good for you Battler!"
Beatrice is giving away a bit of her game here though - she's no longer forcing Battler into the magic theory but into the one of the 18 is the culprit theory!
They had a whole ass tangent before anyone even brought up witches again lmfao. Forgetting your role here a bit Beato!
Yeah, you are getting it Battler.
Battler's finally realizing the red is more for his benefit than anyone else's!!
Hahaha.... I am sad now....
Kinzo prevents that red haha, that's probably a little frustrating for Beato. Though I also think she wouldn't have repeated it anyways because giving him the harsh truth rn would probably break Battler.
Not a horrible assessment of what witches are, though an unsympathetic one.
It's pretty weird contrast to see this and ep2 Rosa - though I guess in that case she physically saw Beatrice in person and a couple hours later she explained the situation and in this case she didn't, and in episode 1 they didn't take the letter seriously at all so there wasn't time for her trauma to flare up again (or it did off screen)
The fact that Kuwadorian Beatrice doesn't even seem 100% sure Kinzo is her father because of his delusions and gaslighting is so heartbreaking - she just wants to know basic details about herself and is denied.
Beatrice is pretty clearly talking about both her life as Yasu and about her mother here I think.
"Cage of flesh" is really sad wording when you think about what she felt about her body....
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Say Thank You XIII
Series Summary: Nearly five years have passed since Steve Rogers saves your life without so much as a thank you. When he sees you again by chance, he makes sure that he’ll never let you go and maybe teach you some manners in the process.
Series Warning: This will be a dark!Steve fic with stalking, kidnapping and manipulating as well as non-con and dub-con situations. Please don’t read it if you don’t like that sort of thing.
Chapter Warnings: Mentions of death and hyperventilating.
Word Count: 3.2k
AN: Just a little reminder that this was set in between Civil War and Infinity War but obviously occurs over the course of a few months....
I. New York ~ II. Madrid ~ III. The Apartment ~ IV. The Trip ~ V. The Basement ~ VI. The First Lesson ~ VII. The Waiting Game ~ VIII. The First Attempt ~ IX. The Darkness ~ X. The Truth ~ XI. The Syndrome ~ XII. The Meeting
Series Masterlist
My Masterlist
XIII. The Mission
Bucky had barely even gotten halfway back to the flat he shared with Sam when he got Steve’s call. The screech of tires rang through the New York City streets as he rushed into a U-turn, immediately heading back the way he had just come. The short, less than a minute long, conversation he had just had with Steve replayed in his mind on a loop.
How the fuck had they missed this?
Bucky blamed it on the fact he had been at Steve’s, out in the suburbs nearly all day because there was no other logical explanation of how they could have missed a flying doughnut in the middle of New York City. He thumped the wheel in frustration. Maybe if he hadn’t been so lost in playing house Tony would still be here, that kid would still be here.
As he approached the house, he saw Steve out in the driveway, waiting for him. ‘Wheels up is in twenty, I just need five minutes to go talk to her and then if you could drive me out to the hanger that would be great.’
Bucky followed him numbly into the house, lost in a daze. ‘Yeah sure, whatever you want. I just… I just don’t understand why I’m not going.’
‘Because, the team needs me and I need you here Buck, I need you here with her. Not only do I need you to look after her but I won’t be able to do my job, not until I’m a hundred percent positive that she’s safe.’
‘She’ll be safe with Banner. You need me on this Steve, we have no idea what we’re going up against.’ Bucky tried to argue despite knowing how futile it was. When Steve made his mind up about something, it stayed that way.
‘She doesn’t know Banner and Banner doesn’t know her. Plus, I know she’ll be safest with you. Please Buck, I really need this. You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.’ Bucky sighed, running a hand through his tangled locks.
‘Yeah okay, I’ll babysit her for you. Just get home safe Punk.’
‘You know I will Jerk, especially now that I have someone to come home to.’ Bucky’s heart clenched as he watched Steve turn, darting up the stairs to his room, a sinking feeling settling in his chest.
+
You stirred as you felt someone shaking you gently, heard them softly calling your name, ushering you back into the realm of consciousness.
‘Sweetheart, open your eyes. I don’t have long and we need to talk.’ Your eyelids fluttered open at the worry you detected in Steve’s tone, your head groggy from being awoken so soon after retiring for bed.
‘Did Bucky go home? I’m sorry I had to come upstairs, I was just so tired. It’s been a big day.’ The words escaped you in a yawn, your mind still half asleep.
‘That’s okay Sweetheart, I know you’re tired and after we talk, I promise you can go back to bed.’ You jolted further awake, whatever was happening had obviously made Steve very stressed.
‘What’s going on Stevie? Why are you… Why are you packing a bag?’ You hadn’t noticed his frantic movements until this moment as you were transfixed on the small duffle bag that was slowly being filled with his belongings.
‘I have to go out of town for a few days. Three days max but probably only two. Bucky is going to be looking after you while I’m gone okay? And then, when the mission’s complete, I’ll come right back home.’ He momentarily paused his packing, coming back to the bed to cup your cheek in his palm. ‘I’ll miss you so much and I’ll be home as soon as possible but I need you to be a good girl for me. Do you think you can do that? Do you think you can behave for Bucky?’
You shook your head with fervor, ‘No, no, no, no. I don’t… I don’t understand. Why are you going? Where are you going? You can’t leave me Steve, you can’t. I need you. I know that I haven’t been the best behaved but I thought… I thought we were okay. Why are you leaving me?’ Panic heaved through your body as you clutched at him, trying to force him to stay with you.
‘I’m not leaving you Sweetheart. It’s just for a few days, I need to get in touch with some old friends and after that I’ll be right back here with you. Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.’ You hadn’t noticed the tears spilling from your cheeks until he brushed them away with his lips, kissing you softly, longingly, lovingly.
‘Everything is going to be okay Sweetheart. Bucky will look after you while I’m gone but you need to behave for him, promise me you will.’
You nodded, still not quite understanding why he was leaving. ‘I promise Stevie.’ His hands clutched yours, his eyes dancing around your face, memorising you before he picked up his bag.
‘I-’ He cut himself off, gazing out the open door. ‘I’ll miss you Sweetheart, behave.’
You nodded, clutching the sheets to your chest. ‘I’ll miss you too Stevie.’ He spared you one last longing glance before disappearing out the door, the thunk of the front door swinging shut echoed through the silent house a few moments later.
+
You watched as the sun rose, the sky slowly lightening turning from midnight blue to a soft and hazy cornflower and then eventually a grey-ish baby blue. The streaks of pink and orange coloured the sky just as the streaks of your tears covered your cheeks, darkening the soft grey sheets.
Only when you were certain that Bucky was awake did you finally slip from your silken prison, your feet padding over the soft carpet to the bathroom, your hands numbly twisting the cold metal taps. You relished in the warmth the water gave you, and if you tried hard enough, you could almost imagine he was here with you. All night long sleep had been evasive, the bed too cold, too unfamiliar without Steve lying by your side and now you were paying for your dependency.
You stayed in the shower for far too long but no one was there to bother you or tell you to get out, so you allowed yourself this one reprieve. It was only once you got out of the scalding hot water, your entire body burning from the heat that you realised your mistake. Just as it had been yesterday, your clothes were still downstairs, locked away in the basement and without Steve with you, you had no way of getting to them. You supposed his clothes would just have to do.
Dressed in a bottle green t-shirt and a pair of soft grey trackies rolled up more times than you could count, you made your way out of the room. You paused at the top of the stairs as you saw a door ajar. It had certainly been closed yesterday when Steve had taken you to your new bedroom. Softly, you crept over to the room, promising yourself and Steve - despite his absence - that you would only poke your head in before going down stairs to Bucky. Yet, as you approached, the promise flew from your mind, replaced with thousands of burning questions.
The room in question was clearly a guest bedroom, a calming blue motif, echoing your lonely night of staring out the window. However it wasn’t the room itself that made you pause, but the man inside. His back was to you, glistening with water from his own shower, and your eyes widened as you noticed the soft pink scars that stemmed like tree roots from his left shoulder. From his visit yesterday, you knew that he had some form of metal prosthetic yet you hadn’t realised the metal extended up past his wrist to his shoulder. Whatever had happened to him clearly wasn’t a child friendly story.
You stumbled back from your perch behind the door as he suddenly whipped around, his eyes meeting yours. ‘I- Sorry. I was just… I didn’t know what this room was. I’m sorry.’ Your gaze was locked on your hands, twisting nervously in front of you as you saw him pull a shirt on hastily.
‘It’s okay, this is just the guest room, I’m going to be staying in there until Steve gets back. Do you want some breakfast?’ You nodded softly and followed him as he led the way downstairs, heading into the kitchen. ‘What would you like Doll?’
You glanced around the room, taking a seat at the island bench. ‘Just some toast please.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘You sure? I can whip you up some eggs, bacon too.’
‘No thanks, just toast is fine… I don’t think I’ll be able to eat anything anyway.’
He nodded pensively pausing slightly before speaking again. ‘You miss him already.’ The click of the toaster being pushed down screamed into the silence as you thought on his words. It was true. It had barely been twelve hours yet you did miss Steve, the bags beneath your eyes a clear enough indication.
‘Yeah I do, but it’s not just that. I’m worried. Why did he have to leave so suddenly? Why did he leave me here with you? Please don’t take that the wrong way, I just don’t understand what’s going on.’ The words poured from you uncontrollably as you let out the questions that had swirled around in your head all night.
‘It’s okay I get it. Personally I don’t really understand why he left me here with you either but that’s just Steve. He always has to be the hero.’ Bucky seemed lost in his memories, only to be brought back by the toast popping and he moved off, gathering a plate and some spreads for you.
As you started spreading the raspberry jam, he began speaking again. ‘Apparently yesterday, while we were busy catching up and getting to know one another, a spacecraft came down to Earth. Tony, Bruce, and the kid, Peter, and some wizard or something tried to deal with the situation but these people, they were after the time stone.’
‘The time stone?’
‘Yeah, I don’t really understand it myself but according to Bruce and the wizard there are six stones, apparently called the Infinity Stones. And there’s this guy, Thanos, who is trying to track down all six stones which will allow him to eliminate half of the human population and he already has two of them, three if we count the fact that he has Strange now - he’s the wizard who holds the time stone.’ You didn’t understand a word of what he was saying but one clear message was coming across in screaming bold letters. The world was in danger.
‘And so Steve has gone to get the Vision, he’s one of us but… well again I don’t really understand it because I wasn’t there for it, but apparently he somehow has the mind stone embedded in his brain and so we have to make sure he’s safe from Thanos. I’m not sure what the endgame is but- hey, hey, hey, don’t cry. It’s okay, you’re going to be fine. We’ll all protect you.’ He awkwardly patted your shoulder, trying to calm you down as you began to hyperventilate. It was just like the last time you were in New York.
When your breaths didn’t slow, he pulled you into his chest, wrapping you up in his warm embrace, whispering words of comfort. If you tried hard enough you could convince yourself that his large and incredibly warm body was Steve’s and that it was him soothingly rubbing your back. ‘Shhh… shhh Doll. You’re going to be fine, I promise.’
Minutes passed before you could pull yourself together enough to disentangle yourself from his embrace, because while he was comforting you, he wasn’t Steve, the one person you longed to see now more than anything.
A silence stretched over the kitchen as you poked at your toast that had grown cold but you didn’t mind, your appetite had vanished, not that you had much of one in the first place. ‘Thank you Bucky for comforting me, I just… I just don’t have the best experience with New York and now Steve’s gone and I just don’t know what to do.’
‘I understand Doll, Steve told me about what happened but you’re safe here with me and when Steve gets back from his mission you’ll be safe with him. There’s nowhere in the world where you would be safer, I can promise you that.’ You nodded accepting his words but finding it hard to trust them. ‘Hey, why don’t we play a game or something to take your mind off of things? I know Steve at least has a deck of cards lying around here somewhere.’ You forced yourself to smile, graciously accepting his offer as you followed after him, searching through the house for a deck of cards.
+
The day has passed slowly despite Bucky trying his best to keep you distracted. Even though he tried to hide it, you caught him nervously glancing at his phone multiple times, checking to see if there was an update. Eventually the sun had started to dip below the horizon, the sky fading from a clear blue to an orange-purple haze and eventually darkening to a gentle twilight.
Bucky had made dinner, some chilli con carne that made you feel a little homesick for Madrid but you appreciated the thought. He had brought out some wine too that you had gladly helped yourself to. Perhaps a little too much considering how long it had been since your last drink but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. The alcohol alleviated your pain and worry with every glass so it wasn’t surprising that by the end of the meal the bottle was empty. You were tempted to try and persuade Bucky to get another but your slurred words didn’t help your case. Instead he had sent you to bed, making a show of how tired he was himself and mentioning numerous times how Steve would want you to look after yourself.
Although the alcohol had helped while you were awake, when you finally drifted off to sleep it was another matter entirely. Bucky’s words from earlier in the day haunted you, conjuring up memories that had long since been forgotten of a heavy weight pressing against your body, pinning you down onto the hard tarmac, the screams of unseen civilians, the blood of those that hadn’t been quick enough. And Steve.
Steve being beaten by numerous aliens, his shield lay discarded, broken in two by your face as he fought defenselessly. You tried to warn him, tried to scream at him as one of the Chitauri crept up behind him, its’ scepter in its hand, ready to deliver a fatal blow. You could only watch in horror as Steve fell, a gaping hole in his chest right over his heart, the life fading from his eyes as the Chitauri cheered in victory.
+
Bucky heard the sobs first, uncertainty as to what to do crawling through him. Although you had spent the day together, he wasn’t sure where he stood with you, whether or not you would appreciate him coming in and trying to comfort you. He also didn’t want to overstep with Steve, he knew that you were his girl and that a bedroom was a very private place, so he did nothing, merely sat out in the hallway listening to you cry.
It was only when he heard the screams that he realised you must have been asleep, suffering from a nightmare. Considering everything that he himself had gone through, he could understand just how terrifying they could be so he didn’t hesitate before standing up and rushing into your room. He watched for a moment as your body writhed on the bed, unsure of how to proceed. Personally for him, he had to be woken up from a distance, the light turned on and someone calling his name otherwise things could turn very bad very quickly, but he doubted that would be an issue for you.
Instead, he softly padded over to you, gently pressing a hand against your shoulder, shaking you softly as he called your name. He watched as you slowly came out of it, your screams ceasing before your eyes slowly fluttered open. ‘Bucky? What’s going on?’ Your voice was hoarse from the screaming and his heart hurt as he saw you so broken.
‘Shhh… It’s okay Doll, you were just having a nightmare. It’s okay, Steve’s okay.’ You nodded as he handed you a tissue to wipe your tears with.
Bucky waited until he thought you had calmed down enough before he made to stand up from the bed, his own calling to him like a siren. When he got to the door he heard you softly call his name. ‘Bucky?’
Turning back around, one hand on the door handle, he waited to hear what you needed. ‘Could you stay? Please?’ A rampage of emotions flowed through him as he processed your question. On one hand there was nothing he wanted more but on the other hand he knew that was the exact reason why he shouldn’t. Yet finally, the memory of Steve making him promise to look after his girl surfaced, making his mind up for him and so he nodded, shedding his shoes and pants, crawling into the silken sheets, his heart racing as you curled into him, pressing your body against his. ‘Thank you.’ He couldn’t respond as he felt your heart rate calm down, your breaths slowing, becoming deeper as you fell into a slumber.
His heart ached as he stared up at the ceiling, his arms wrapped around you. He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t because he wanted you to be his, just that he wanted someone and the way that your body curled against his, despite seeing just how torn and broken he was, gave him hope that maybe, one day, he would find his someone.
Eventually, his eyes drifting shut as his breathing matched yours, a faceless woman dancing through his dreams.
+
You were awoken by the shrill of a ringtone, screaming into the silent bedroom, a groan escaping you as the warm body beneath yours moved, leaving the bed in search for the culprit. Through your shut eyes you listened in on the conversation absentmindedly, stretching your body as you tried to wake your mind up.
‘Steve, hey. What happened, how’s Wanda and the Vision?’ You couldn’t hear Steve’s response, but you could almost feel the tension build in Bucky as a long silence stretched before he responded. ‘Are you sure that’s the best idea?’ You waited again and heard Bucky sigh. ‘Yeah okay, I’ll go wake her up and pack a bag. We’ll meet you at headquarters.’ He hung up and turned to you, poking you gently in the cheek. ‘I know you’re up Doll, we have to go.’ That was enough for you to instantly open your eyes, searching his.
‘What? Where are we going?’
Bucky’s lips pursed as he answered, his brow furrowed in thought.
‘Wakanda.’
+
Tags will be added in a reblog
XIV. The Reunion
Series Masterlist
My Masterlist
#steve rogers#steve x reader#steve rogers x reader#dark!steve#dark steve#dark steve x reader#captain america#captain america x reader#dark captain america#marvel#mcu#dark marvel#dark mcu#dark verse#bucky barnes#the winter soldier#infinity war#honeyhan writes#say thank you
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The Promise Analysis (Cloti)
Sorry about that, Nonny, I relate the promise between Tifa and Cloud to some of the stuff that happens during their resolution and went full tin hatter on it.
Ok, spoiler warning for ppl who haven't played (I tag FF7R spoilers as final fantasy 7 remake spoilers) and it's gonna be a long one so prepare to scroll.
Also, this is one person's interpretation of the scene, so if you disagree that's cool and we'll agree to disagree.
You're also gonna have to excuse the janky quality on some of the screens, I'm grabbing them from Youtube and it's frustrating af trying to get the exact moment I want.
Other analyses if anyone's interested.
Shinra HQ vision scene (Cloti/plot analysis)
Chapter 3 (Cloti reblog)
Tifa character analysis
Aerith Resolution (plot analysis/theory)
Train graveyard (not really an analysis, but I got some sweet screenshots of Cloti)
Clotiscrew tunnel analysis
Cloti reunion analysis
Now, strap in and enjoy the ride.
Recapping for anyone who's forgotten the basics – cause I assume by this point you're ok with spoilers and me pointing that out is kinda dumb lol
So, chapter 4 and it's mission time with the trio – I love these dorks, especially Wedge, he is my child and if he's dead Imma riot. Jessie is off being sneaky and it's up to Cloud and co to play tag with the security team.
As Charlie Biggs (if you got the ref kudos) explains the plan, Cloud looks up at the night sky — which is a whole lot different to the one we fade up to and I personally wonder what it was about that sky that made him recall the promise to Tifa. Was it just the fact he'd been talking to her and it was his first time he'd paid attention to it? Before that he was under the plate and before that he was in the reactor, so I guess it's safe to assume this is his first chance to relate the two things.
Ok, after the fade in, we're treated to a pretty damn romantic set up. The water tower, the night sky and lil Cloud waiting for Tifa.
In the OG it mentions he waited for so long he started getting really cold, but he stuck it out because he wanted to see her and hoped she'd show. That's an OG lifestream detail not in the first OG promise scene, but let's assume for now it's gonna get a callback in the Remake. That means bby Cloud has been sitting there waiting for Tifa for a while now.
Ok, call her a thirteen year old bitch if you feel good about yourselves here, but she's thirteen and her dad is super overprotective. He stopped Cloud from playing with Tifa after she had an accident at 8 that wasn't Cloud's fault and in fact if he hadn't been there she'd have died on the mountain because nobody would've known where she was. Ok? Ok.
So, he's been waiting, and it's clear he's nervous – he looks so fucking cute I just can't stand it! Nervous fidgeting, balled fist, head down, mouth pulled into a pretty grim line. He thinks she's not coming, but still he's waiting for her.
Sorry, just to further hit home the above points. That is the face of a boy who is desperately hoping the girl he likes is gonna show, but has half given up hope. There's sadness in his eyes and a tensing along his jaw line. This boy is disappointed and my heart breaks for him.
Going back to that focus in on Cloud's eyes before the flashback and we can see here the massive difference mako makes to the colour. Cloud's eyes are a deep blue, while his mako infused eyes are blue/green. I get why he goes on about them a lot because he's probably not used to seeing them like that yet; maybe he never will be. Tifa's comment was about the look in his eyes – which I touched on in a comment I made while replaying. Tifa isn't focused on the colour, she's dismayed he has such a hard look in his eyes and when you compare the look in this boy's eyes, it's clear to see what she's getting at. This Cloud is the real Cloud and he is soft as fuck and trying to look tough.
GODDAMNIT!! There's way too many good moments to grab for this analysis! Look at this precious boy! All but folding under the weight of disappointment! But, what's this in the bg? Our heroine, here at last!
If anyone anyone tries to say Cloud didn't have a great stonking crush on Tifa as a kid then please tell me what this means if it isn't he's gutted he's waited and waited and she didn't show.
We don't know why she's late – maybe Remake will clear that up for us – but I'm guessing she couldn't sneak out or maybe, judging by the amount she's dressed up, she was doing the typical girly thing and couldn't decide what to wear, asking herself if this is a date and second guessing why Cloud called her to the water tower – which is known as a romantic meeting place. Whatever the reason, she's thirteen, sheltered – thanks to her dad – and naturally shy. Maybe she worried herself into a state about whether she should go and had to find her courage to meet Cloud. She likes him just as much as he likes her remember. It's canon, don't argue.
Now, her face is this bit is out of focus, but that's nothing to my weirdly myopic eagle eyes – it's a very specific gift. Tifa's smiling. That we can tell even before she's fully in shot. There's a bunching of the cheek muscles that tells us that. She's pleased he's still there. Obviously, she can't read his body language, but she'd probably be a bit upset to realise she upset him. Because she's not actually a bitch like some people like to claim. Sorry, but she's thirteen. How threatened are yall that you gotta call a thirteen year old girl a bitch and try to erase how important she is in Cloud's childhood just to further your own ends? Seriously, get help.
Sorry for the janky, but this is a transition between focus so it's not gonna be great anyway. Here we can see Cloud's expression when Tifa says heya. Eyes open, wide with surprise. She showed. That's what his face is saying. He's trying hard not to show his emotions too much – I mean he is still Cloud and too cool for all that nonsense – but he's relieved. Maybe his heart even skips a beat, but I'm speculating. Her greeting is casual, reserved. Tifa. She’s being cute even though he’s not looking because she wants him to think she’s cute.
Tifa, ever respectful and respectable sits the right amount of difference away that both encourages Cloud she's interested in being near him, but doesn't over encourage him and make him think of her in a negative way. She's likely cultivated this on purpose – she's the mayor's daughter so she's always got to be proper – because she's got a lot of male friends and having any of them get the wrong idea would be bad. You'll notice in her other flashbacks where the boys feature that she's not sitting too close to any of them and they're running around her, not touching or anything. They're satellites that revolve around her because she is untouchable to them. Because she's the mayor's daughter and has to be a good girl all the time. This is further evidence that goes towards Tifa's overall personality. She's very careful and respectful to people. She doesn't go out of her way to offend anyone unless she has no choice. Though she's a skilled fighter, she's very slow to anger and tries to look on the bright side as much as she can, despite the tragedy in her life. (I'm gushing, I know, but she's such a great multifaceted character and way more than the tropes people shove on her to make her into nothing).
Where was I?
Right. So, in direct contrast to their later conversation during the chapter 14 resolution, here we see Cloud with his back to Tifa and her with her head tilting, inviting him to confide in her. Yes, there really are that many awesome parallels purposely inserted in this game and that's why you need to take more than one look.
From her face we can conclude she's optimistic. She's smiling and doesn't look like someone who's expecting a bomb to drop any second – Cloud if you only turned around you wouldn't have gone through this shit. Sure, you'd have likely died when Sephiroth came to town, but hey, you'd have gone out with your childhood sweetheart lol
What she's probably expecting is for Cloud – who has purposely invited her to the watertower hot dating spot – to ask her out. And since she's there and dressed up, we could conclude she'd accept him.
Cloud is trying to find the cool words he wants to say that'll motivate Tifa to miss him, maybe even push her into saying, “No, don't go,” because even though he's fourteen, Cloud is no good at talking to women. This is just one of his character traits. It's why we wanna strangle him over the Triangle. Bby Cloud is hardly better than adult Cloud, but at least bby Cloud knows he likes Tifa.
Bomb dropped. Kaboom. Poor bby Tifa. Look how disappointed and upset she is. She wasn't expecting this one bit! She looked so hopeful in the seconds before Cloud's hesitant declaration, only it wasn't the kind she hoped for. I wouldn't go so far as to say she's crushed, but she's upset, that's for sure. Her brows have come together and she's turned away from Cloud because she doesn't want him to see how she looks in this moment. She's trying to put a brave face on it, but bby Tifa isn't as good as her grown up self. You can see the mouth trying to form a smile, but the eyes have a different expression in them.This is again seen in chapter 14 when Tifa tries to put a brave face on for Cloud before breaking down.
Shots fired! Tifa goes for dismissive and succeeds! Never mess with a girl with a crush lol
Cloud was trying to get a reaction out of her, but she got one out of him instead. Brave face wins. Well, what did you expect? She's the mayor's daughter and raised on being proper.
He stutters that he's not like the other boys – so cute – and shows off his lofty dreams. He's trying so hard to impress her. He only has these dreams because of the incident when they were smaller where her father said if Cloud can't take care of Tifa then he has no right being around her. This is what drove Cloud to distance himself from Tifa and her friends. Talk about shoving an inferiority complex and identity disorder on a kid. I get it, the mayor was worried about his daughter, but Cloud didn't deserve the bear the brunt of his anger and blame. Still, the fact that nine year old Cloud took that, held onto it for five years and still decided to pursue Tifa by becoming a SOLDIER has huge meaning for them. He was nine. Ok, for argument's sake let's say he didn't have a crush on her, but they were friends and he was told he wasn't good enough to hang with her. So, thanks to propaganda he gets it in his head that SOLDIERS are the best and if he's one of them he'll be good enough for her father to let him see Tifa again. We're not told at any point – nor shown it – that Tifa is only interested in Cloud if he's this elite who can impress her. Remember, she already likes him. Look at what she's wearing compared to him ffs. This girl – again – dressed for a date with Mr Oblivious. Yes, I'm rolling my eyes. Yes, I want to smack him upside the head. Yes, I know he's 14, I meant adult Cloud.
Back to it. The look on his face here is one of “she thinks I'm like the others? I'll prove I'm not. I'm better than that. I can be next to her if I prove myself.” At this point, he's definitely gone from wanting to be around her in a friendship capacity to borderline romantic. I mean, he did call her out to the watertower. Did I mention that? A few times? Because it's significant. He's frustrated she compared him to her friends – no she didn't friendzone him, she likes him. He thinks she friendzoned him. Kids are frustrating and the adult versions aren't much better.
Shots fired part two! Points to Cloud this time! Smug lil fucker, I see that smirk!
Okay, so Cloud says he's gonna be like Sephiroth and at this point in time Sephiroth isn't batshit crazy, he's someone to be admired. Tifa to be fair, doesn't sound impressed, but she's humouring Cloud. Then, she says, “Isn't it hard to become a SOLDIER?” And Cloud replies with “Yes, so I won't be back for a long time.”
Okay, now. This is definitely to get a reaction. The smirk on his face is saying that he's partly getting her back for her earlier shot and partly trying to goad a reaction from her because he thinks he didn't get one before – this is why eye contact matters.
Tifa, for her part, doesn't look happy. He's got a reaction out of her, but it'd be really super helpful if he was facing her to see it. Because he isn't, she can get away with a breezy reply that makes him think she doesn't care.
I'm sorry, can I just say serves you right and leave it at that? Seriously, Cloud, don't mess with girls when you can barely form coherent sentences most of the time. What did he expect? She'd throw herself on him, clinging, crying and begging him not to go? Probably. Once again, our angsty hero is on the backfoot in their conversation. This is why eye contact matters. He's looking a bit gutted at her reaction. He likely hoped for more and got far less than he wanted. It's no wonder he goes to Midgar and doesn't approach her when he comes back as a grunt. He's carrying this presumed disappointment around with him that stops him from seeing her. (I can't really go more into CC events since I haven't played it and I've only seen a few bits and pieces, but what I got from it was Cloud is an idiot.)
Tifa asking if he'll be in the papers is both a brush off towards his baiting and also she's trying to encourage him. This is his dream. He called her out of the house late at night to tell her – just her – that this is what he's gonna do. Of course she won't stop him. She's not that kind of girl. She's supportive and kind. She doesn't understand that Cloud's doing it for her – I honestly don't think it enters her mind at any point until he reveals it OG during the lifestream sequence. She's pretty much as oblivious as he is and assumes they're just really close friends and her attraction is all one sided; same as he does about her.
Ah ha! Tifa thinks, realising that Cloud's lukewarm effort to be in the papers won't be enough to satisfy her. If Cloud's going to become a SOLDIER, then he'll be a hero – like Sephiroth. What do heroes do? Save people. He said he won't be home for a long time, but there's even less guarantee he'd come back at all, and she wants to see him again, even if it's just once. She can't leave Nibelheim. As the mayor's daughter she's got responsibilities to the people there – even though the town is dying out and nobody new is settling. Eventually, she'll be the only person her age left and maybe never hear from any of her friends again. But, she can't leave. She can't abandon the people. She'll be left, alone and lonely, until everyone’s gone. Her life wasted. But, she could see Cloud again and that makes her optimistic. Maybe she wouldn't mind the time so much if she thought she'd get to see him again. See that at least he's pursuing his dreams and he's happy with the direction his life took. Maybe she'd get one grand romantic gesture in her life if SOLDIER Cloud could save her.
Confused boi is confused. From Cloud's pov, he doesn't understand this odd request. He hasn't thought about Tifa saying everyone leaving means she's alone. He's only seen this from his pov, so he can't see why Tifa would need saving or how he would even know she needs him. He doesn't realise it's her way of trying to get some guarantee they'll meet again.
I mean, we can see he's trying to understand her. He's actually turned to look at her this time and his expression is searching, like he's looking for clues why she said this. He also invites her to explain by making a verbal cue.
And now that Cloud has her full attention – you know, the thing he was trying to get all along – he doesn't know what to do with it. He's flustered and awkward, and she's cajoling and turning on the charm, which she likely has in spades because mayor's daughter. I know I say that like it's a personality trait, but in part it is. She's had to learn decorum and everything that goes with it. She needs manners and good behaviour. She has to be just enough of an extrovert that she can attend functions – because even though I know I said the town is dying, they still have a reactor and that means they still get visits from important people. She can't show her dad or town up. In the Resolution analysis I made I said she hasn't been allowed to show emotion for five years since she arrived in Midgar, but it's very likely she's never been allowed to show much emotion. She's gotta be the doll. So, since she can't show she's sad, she goes for positive, and Cloud's frowning because he's not sure how he'll keep this promise she wants so bad and if she isn't interested in him then why is she asking for one anyway? Remember, they just did a do-si-do with each other's feelings acting like they don't like each other.
But then, oh look! Oh look! In the face of Tifa's unrelenting cheer and optimism, Cloud starts to smile. Eyes soften and the slightest lift at the corner of his mouth. He's starting to like the idea of being her hero. And it's just once and maybe from that one time save things would move forward for them. He's definitely not opposed to the idea – especially since he's the one who brings it up with Tifa later and she's pretty embarrassed at the reminder. The confusion from before could be because he thought she wasn't serious, but looking her dead in the eye – this is why eye contact matters – he sees she's serious. She wants him to be her hero. She wants to see him again and even offers a get out clause by saying “just once.” He doesn't have to do it forever or whenever she wants, just once. So, she can have hope she'll see him again some day.
And now we're back with the big idiot, who squeezes his eyes shut as he remembers Tifa in the bar earlier saying she feels trapped. Guilt likely pinches. Maybe he wonders if this was a hint she wanted his help – I'm wavering on this because she does say later she didn't expect this kind of thing when she asked for his promise – but if we go by choice of words alone it's leading. Then again, bby Tifa uses the word trapped, so it could just be a word that she feels comfortable using to describe her feelings. How we speak is made up of specific words we go to that feel right when we say them. It's just one of those things and why not everyone speaks the same even when they're from the same region or you have friend groups where you speak one way and other groups where you speak another.
From the dev pov I'm assuming it's meant to be a callback to the promise, but I wouldn't put it on Tifa doing it purposely to encourage Cloud to help her. If that makes sense.
And we close off with Cloud clenching his fist and resolving to help Tifa. To keep his promise.
At no point do we have confirmation from Tifa that the reason she asked Cloud to make a promise was to get a favour off him.
Conclusion
This is actually a very tragic scene from Tifa's pov. I've seen some people say this is because she's a young girl acting like a fairy princess, but I can't marry that idea with the gritty themes FF7 portrayed, and Remake does still hit those notes. Tifa is a young girl who had her romantic hopes dashed and she's looking for some kind of consolation from the boy she likes. He's leaving her. They're all leaving her. She'll be alone. She just wants hope that she'll see him again.
Is it manipulative? Yeah, ok, if that's how you see it. She's thirteen. Did I mention that? I'll say it again. She's thirteen, and one of the last people her age in town. Soon, she's gonna be the only one her age. She's lonely and doesn't want to lose everyone in her life. If you say that's manipulative by asking her crush make a promise so she can have hope she'd see him again, then go off I guess.
And let's touch on hope. Tifa is someone who has a lot of enduring hope – this is why I initially linked the ask to the resolution scene because the theme of hope runs through both. Tifa gets knocked down a lot. She's almost died several times, lost people close to her when they left town, lost Cloud when he left and still found a way to go on. She was never a damsel or trying to be one. She's wearing a cute dress because Cloud asked her out. She thought it was a date. Or she wanted it to be. And since when does wearing a dress make someone a weakling? Or does it only apply to Tifa because convenience?
After Cloud leaves, Tifa begins training every day. She learns from a master and develops her skills until she's at the peak. I mean, you've seen her fight. She kicks all the ass.
She wasn't sitting around like a damsel waiting for an opportunity for Cloud to come and save her. She got on with her life. She was happy at times, sad others. It was normal. She missed Cloud, I know that much from CC. She dressed up – again – hoping he'd be part of the group inspecting the reactor. She was disappointed when he wasn't there.
The promise between them wasn't about furthering a childhood romance or making Tifa someone Cloud couldn't get over. Neither of them was aware the other had feelings. It was awkward mutual oblivious crushing that clearly carried on for another two years until Cloud showed up with Zack, but didn't appear before Tifa because he’s that kind of idiot.
And what happened during the trip? Well, a lot of stuff, but the thing I know about is Sephiroth went batshit cray cray and slaughtered everyone in the town and then burnt it to the ground. He nearly killed Tifa. Cloud was there and that's what we see in his headache flashes about “I let you down again”.
He carries a lot of guilt about not being Tifa's hero, which is why he tries so hard to protect her. He made a promise to her that part of him believes he hasn't kept, but if it wasn't for him, she'd be dead. Again. He did save her. And he keeps on saving her. Not because of the debt of a promise but because he wants to be her hero. The real Cloud that's hidden deep within him, the one that made the original promise, the one that almost died saving her and got stuffed in a mako chamber for years until Zack rescued him, that Cloud wants to be Tifa's hero.
That's why after he recalls this moment – and it's one of the ones where he doesn't have a headache at all (just thought I'd mention that because certain people go on about how a specific scene is all Cloud not headachey Cloud whatever) – that he becomes focused on helping Tifa. He opens up both to her and others – check the camaraderie with the trio after the mission and him offering to walk Wedge home.
This recollection of a promise is the first step for the real Cloud to finding his way back. That's why it anchors his development and that's why his and Tifa's relationship will never be less than something deep and meaningful.
#final fantasy 7 remake spoilers#cloti#final fantasy 7 remake analysis#the promise#Cloud Strife#Tifa Lockheart
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Time for my feels dump thoughts on Diabolical Box...! y’all, this game. this game. I don’t think people give it enough credit for... a lot of what it does, despite the messiness of the plot reveals... but it’s so special and unique, in ways I’m only now appreciating. also this is gonna be really REALLY fucking long I am so sorry, but I have a Lot to say about the ending parts... i just love this game so much...... so i wrote a fucking novel bc of course i did.
also i played this in October, completely unintentionally, so that’s noice.
The amount of voice acting and cutcenes in this compared to CV is amazing, I love it so much, even if it is funny sometimes the dialogue they choose to voice and then abruptly cut off a few lines later.
I had COMPLETELY forgotten about Luke jumping on Chelmey and trying to rip his face off and it’s just the funniest fucking thing omg; Hershel in the background going “NO LUKE THAT’S HIS FACE” is comedic gold.
Will we ever know what Hershel was going to say when Chelmey asked him what Luke’s relationship to him was... dammit Luke why’d you have to cut him off.
Hershel calling the hamster “generously proportioned” is amazing. also “I’ve always said that helping rodents in need is among the duties of every true gentleman” Hershel... please tell me what other situations have made you say that... please...
Why is there an entire subplot about finding this Karen’s dog, just to make Chelmey look like even more of an idiot? if they needed to pad the game out more, they definitely could have done it with flashbacks or in places that I’m... ahem... emotionally invested in
Flora’s treatment in this game is so infuriating to me, like... why did they think this was a good idea? What was the point of bringing her into the plot for NO other reason than to be kidnapped and impersonated? Was it literally just because they needed a way for Hershel and Luke to run into Don Paolo and get the box back from him??? Why couldn’t, idk, Katia run into him in Dropstone and get the box from him and save Flora, that would still get the box to her and keep Flora in the group, and it would tip them off to Katia being related to all this even earlier, and Don Paolo could still be shown there if he absolutely has to make an appearance in each game. I know it’s because he has to be built up and then revealed, and because Hershel always has to have a dramatic point-n’-reveal every game, but whyyyyyy does it have to be at the expense of Flora. :))))) It would have been interesting to see her reactions to Folsense and Anton and everything, and not have Katia be the only female involved in all this; maybe she could, you know, actually have a personality!! hahaaaa who am I kidding...
beluga: “it’s already been a year since she passed away” me: whythehellyoucryingsodamnloud.jpg
Anderson talking about Dropstone and the sacrifices made to found it and how it can’t die out like “other towns”... with the song playing... whythehellyoucryingsodamnloud.jpg
The sheer coincidence of Katia going to Folsense on the same day that Hershel and Luke would end up in Dropstone and then there, and on the 50th anniversary of the town... not a likely one.
Didn’t some versions of the game come with a real version of the train ticket to Folsense? I want it D:
i also want a real Elysian Box, like can i commission someone to make one minus the whole you know actual gold, please, i’ll pay aNYTHING- *sobs*
LUKE HOW COULD YOU FORGET THAT HERSHEL IS AN ARCHEOLOGIST, AFTER ALL THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SHIT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH
Hershel to “Flora”: “you’re as white as a sheet!” Don Paolo, minutes ago while the others aren’t looking: *furiously powdering his face mask or some shit*
Why was Anton’s diary lying in the street though... it doesn’t make sense that Katia or Beluga would have it, and they couldn’t open it anyhow. probably just a gameplay thing that should go unquestioned but I want to knowwww lol. Also wish Hershel and Luke had reactions to the entries.
Ilyana tho. Also bootleg Clive asdfghjkl
I LOVE THE TOWER OF HANOI PANCAKE PUZZLES
Am I the only one who doesn’t understand the obsession with the tea set... like yeah it’s fun to serve tea when you actually get it right, but I’m stuck with like two recipes missing and getting frustrated just trying and trying countless ingredient combinations on end because some of the npcs are NOT helpful enough in telling what to make :))))
Obviously Katia can’t reveal anything or say anything about why she’s there at all to keep the suspense till the end, but it would have been cool to see her working together with them and making a plan to get into the castle and help Anton aka I just wanted more scenes with Anton being nice and not flying into a rage over a misunderstanding ugh
It’s honestly pretty impressive some of the deductions/connections Chelmey makes in this game, despite his... other incredibly stupid ones lol
“iSnT iT oBvIoUs?”
WHY DOES HERSHEL RISK KILLING LUKE (AGAIN) WITH THE BOX. And why tf does it not do anything to them since they assumed it would...?
The biggest mystery of the series is how Pavel gets where he does, truly
The music in the forest is truly one of the best osts, god I love it. I also adore the Herzen Castle ost now, I never really noticed it before but it is WONDERFULLY creepy and heavy and melancholic and just... idk, those harpsicords go hard. damn.
Opening the Elysian Box is the best puzzle in the series, because of the meaning behind it. Or at least, it’s my favorite for that reason :^)
Alright folks so I’m gonna be completely, unabashedly honest here, and reveal myself to be the superficial, shallow fucker I am lmao: Anton is super hot and I’m still attracted to him even now, and I hate that we get so little time with younger him dklslskdfkflssd I AM SORRY I CAN’T HELP IT OKAY. BLAME THE VOICE ACTOR, HE HAD NO RIGHT TO SOUND SO UNEXPECTEDLY DEEP AND INCREASE ANTON’S HOTNESS LEVEL BY 1000%... just. god damn. damn. the dining room scene. the lighting. the way he puts his hands down and closes his eyes at one point. the way he says Herzen. the freaking sass with “chalk it up to my bad taste then.” the little clap. his entire design which just oozes Victorian era anime bishie beauty. kudos to the character designer who was like “well they said make someone cool and handsome and i wasn’t sure what to do but i tried and i guess it worked out” GOOD SIR BOY DID YOU SUCCEED. how dare this man turn me on so much, fUCK. And I know it’s super shitty of me to not like his old design as much!!! but just!!! why the beak nose.... why.... he was so gorgeous and then you give him the Bronev nose treatment..... i’m already so sad over the ending but you make him look so much sADDER, THE SADDEST POSSIBLE DESIGN FOR OLDER ANTON. It’s not that I mind him being old, I just wish he looked more like himself... there didn’t need to be such a drastic change. But I know I’m just being petty lmao. anyway stan Anton for most beautiful PL character always 🙏 Descole and Clive’s hotness have nothing on this man
*ahem* But to get back to serious topics, replaying this now when I’m older, with the ones after it in mind, I think I finally realize why this game stands out to me so much from the others, making it my favorite. To put it as best I can, Diabolical Box, to me at least, just has a different feel from all the other PL games. Yes, it’s still definitely a Layton game, you still investigate a mystery, there’s still puzzles everywhere, it still has a relaxing city or country feel to the atmosphere, there’s still lots of charm, but once you hit Folsense and the climax and the ending reveals, the tone sort of... shifts? Not drastically, but enough that’s different from any point in all the other games that I can remember; I feel like Last Spector might have the closest kind of atmosphere to Folsense at certain parts, but even then the plot of that game is nowhere near to having the same tone as this one. Diabolical Box, when you really look close at it and think about it, is dark. Dark in a way that none of the other games are, despite the darkness some of the others do have. And I think part of that is because almost every other game/movie is connected to the overarching story involving Hershel’s past and people involved with him, and so the drama and angst is very much grounded in London or other places Hershel would be/was, and in his time, but Diabolical Box is unique in that the story and characters in it have nothing to do with him. And to reflect this, Anton and Sophia’s story is based in the early 1900′s, the Victorian era, in a city so far separated from, again, everything to do with Hershel, that if you were to just watch their story by itself and take the professor and Luke out of it, and you knew nothing about the series, you could reasonably argue that it isn’t from a Professor Layton game at all. What I mean is that Anton’s story could be an entire anime all on its own surely it’s not obvious how badly I want that, nope, not at all, completely separate from this series, and it would work; it could be its own period era-esque drama series, still with all the supernatural shit intact later on. I can think of a few existing anime similar to what I’m imagining.
And I really do think it would be amazing, because like I said this story is terribly, terribly dark, and sad; as a PL game, like a lot of the other ones, it can’t go deep into the nitty gritty of what makes Anton’s story so fucking depressing, but just like... Imagine it. Imagine being alone, for so long in that castle, so long that you don’t even know how long it’s been anymore, with virtually no one, after having your heart broken and being abandoned by the person you loved the most, and who you thought loved you, and getting no closure about it. This long post goes a ton of detail about Anton’s character and things he was probably feeling/reasons for his behavior, but in short, Anton’s mother is never mentioned, so combined with how distant he was from his father and the fact that he feels alone in his role in society and that no one truly sees him as a real person, it’s quite possible that he clung to Sophia unconsciously as a mother figure, and, in general, she was the only person who made him feel seen, and loved. The only exception was Beluga, but Beluga leaves the town and Anton behind after quarreling with their father, so... It’s just extremely apparent when you read the diary entries and his dialogue (with the voice acting) that Anton was always alone and terribly insecure, and that Sophia made him the happiest he ever was - and so her leaving him was devastating to him. He was alone for fifty years (and who knows how long it actually felt, to him), in a lonely castle and emptying town, his entire family either left or dead, his body slowly aging without him even knowing it, while he had a daughter and granddaughter born without even knowing it, and all the while he’s left with the misunderstanding that Sophia might have loved someone “better” than him all along, never getting answers, having to live with all that grief and guilt and blame and jealousy and self-hatred over a situation that wasn’t even entirely true. Imagine what your MENTAL STATE would be like, jfc it’s a miracle he’s as sane as he is in the game!! Not to mention everything that crashes down on him within TEN MINUTES AT THE END. Yes, Unwound Future and the prequels very purposefully heap the angst on with Clive/Dimitri and Descole respectively, like “we are trying so hard to make you feel for this guy cry cry cry” and I fall for it like the trash i am love them too, don’t get me wrong, but Anton’s tragedy is much more understated but in my opinion is by far the absolute saddest of them all. I just... i’m crying y’all, this poor man. give him a fucking HUG. Anton Did Nothing Wrong 2k20; he doesn’t even hurt the people he lures in with his vampire scheme!! he lets them go without a scratch!!! what a guy... give him a hug and blankets please i love him so much, him and Sophia- *sobs*
and also as a side note, I honestly think Descole/Desmond would fit perfectly into this game for a lot of these reasons, in the trend of “trying to fit Descole into the first trilogy”; he’s got the right Aesthetic™ for one thing, but mainly just he and Anton have a LOT in common...! actually, now that I think about it, Randall and Anton do too, but I much prefer the notion of Descole and Anton interacting. honestly, I’m toying with the idea of an AU where Desmond and resurrected Aurora end up in Folsense and solve that mystery themselves instead of Hershel and Luke; i think it’d be fascinating.
However, by the same token, as much as I LOVE this game and characters for all of those reasons... it also makes no fucking sense ahaha. How the FUCK does the gas work. The illness that started killing people when the ore was first unearthed and is the reason everyone starts leaving, is THAT from the gas I assume?? but like why?? cause eventually it just turns to making the town appear as it was years ago and keeping people young, so...? ARE ALL THE TOWNSPEOPLE NOT ACTUALLY THERE, OR THEY ARE AND ARE JUST YOUNG LIKE ANTON; I’m still not clear on this!! because Hershel at the end says they’re illusions, and yet when you talk to the npcs so many of them complain about being tired and feeling old, so what is the truth!! It would make sense if newcomers see the town as it is in the pictures, but there’s no reason for them to not age... in fact, I don’t understand where the not aging thing comes from at ALL, since if the idea is that the gas makes what you think will happen happen, how tf did that even come about in the first place??? There’s no way everyone who inhaled the gas would think the exact same things and have the exact same hallucination. And if fifty years passed in reality, how long did it feel like to Anton/others; surely it couldn’t have been that long if they never questioned why they weren’t aging? If the gas in the box put Schrader in a coma, what was his theory about what would happen? Why does nothing happen to Hershel and Luke upon opening it when they clearly assume something will happen? Related to other things, how does the box become the source of a rumor, and how does Schrader even get it? Do people just assume Anton is dead or otherwise gone, or do they know/assume he’s still in the castle but don’t try to see him because of the vampire? Does Beluga know Anton is still there, if he does it’s pretty shitty of him to ignore him, and why does he think the box has to do with the fortune of all things if he possibly knew Sophia wanted it and knew it had something to do with her and Anton (seriously I don’t understand Beluga, I really wish they’d done more with him; he looks so shitty even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he knew the least amount possible)??? Did Sammy know that the drugged flowers related to getting into Folsense? Did Katia know how to get into Folsense, and what was she planning to do if she never found the box in order to prove she was who she said she was? Why do some of the npcs act like they know the deep dark secret of Folsense and keep saying Hershel and Luke don’t need to know, and keep talking about the town being cursed, like do they really know the truth?? Or not??? LEVEL-5 I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS AND I’M TOO DUMB TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWERS. EVEN LAYTON VS. WRIGHT’S STUPID REVEALS MAKE MORE SENSE THAN THIS AAAAAHHHH
anyway DB best game anton hot Even with all the weirdness though that makes this game the most Layton the Layton series has ever Layton’d lmao, I still love Diabolical Box so damn much. I love it so much, guys. It’s not part of a huge narrative, it’s not connected to the main characters; it tells its own little story and it does that perfectly. It’s so unique from all the rest, like I said, the plot has so much depth I don’t really see talked about, Anton and Sophia’s story is so beautifully tragic and underrated on a mature level that none of the other games really reach, and despite how upset I am we don’t get to see more of them, their love story is so impactful and emotional just from what little we do see, despite some of the oddities of how it plays out... they’re so sweet together and I cry so damn much over them ಥ⌣ಥ Iris is one of the most beautiful and touching songs in the series, too, and my favorite. And I’m a sucker for the Victorian era and cute romance lmao, so it just gets me like nothing else does... it’s so wonderful. saddest PL game, I will die on this hill. Even if I seem to talk a lot more about some of the other games/characters simply because there’s more content to talk about and there’s more to say about the more flawed content. you can’t improve perfection *chef’s kiss*, deep down, I think, this game will always be my favorite. ❤️
#professor layton#professor layton spoilers#meta#'thoughts post' more like Dana Rants An Entire Novel of Feels#but what is tumblr for if not this amiright#anton and sophia utterly destroy me and they always will#there's not much shown but what IS shown is so goddamn devastating and painful and bittersweet#i don't ship much but they're one of my otps so u know they good :')#i wanted to say even more here but i felt so guilty for how fucking massive this post was alksdfkfl;ss i cut some of it out already#i can kinda relate to Anton though tbh.... not getting closure on a relationship ending is truly painful; it's one of the worst things ever#so i feel for him </3#and i love him#protect anton herzen always#and stan DB always
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Thoughts on Even More Games
[vague, unspecific spoilers for Heaven’s Vault, Later Alligator, and Life is Strange 2]
Thoughts on Heaven’s Vault
Heaven’s Vault is a game about archeology, which means it’s also a game about incompleteness. This is very clever. Inkle - also the developers of 80 Days, which I will play someday! - specialize in deep narratives that can be explored many, many ways, allowing for a lot of player choice. You make a lot of small decisions - do you share a discovery with the trader in exchange for a valuable item, or hide it so he doesn’t plunder it? do you go looking for your missing friend, or let her stay missing in case there are people trying to follow you to her? These all have their own little arcs and resolutions, and there are so many of them, and so many ways they can play out, that the game can never be played the same way twice. The overall story begins and ends in the same place and theoretically hits the same major beats, but the journey is tailored broadly and finely to each player; it’s a style of design Aaron A. Reed refers to as “not... a branching tree but a braided rope.”
Making a narrative about archeology is how you dodge the exponentially complicated nature of that design: if there are dozens of locations, characters, plot threads, bits of color, which can be engaged with at many points in time, or ignored, or dropped by the player halfway through, how do you avoid telling a story full of gaps and dead ends? Well... you don’t. Having only partial information and having to infer the rest is what archeology is.
The protagonist of Heaven’s Vault, Aliya, is digging up the secrets of an ancient civilization, having been sent by her academy to find a researcher who’s gone missing, and stumbling into his incredible discovery. Everywhere she goes, there are holes: she has partial understanding of the researcher’s journey and motives; he, in turn, had partial understanding of the mystery he was uncovering, and Aliya has only fragments of his knowledge; the ancient texts she translates are usually fragments of larger works, and she is guessing at the meanings of many of the words; the game’s constantly updating historical timeline has entire centuries with nothing but question marks. Aliya arrives in a new location and wonders aloud to her robot companion about what this place was, when it was founded, when it was abandoned, how her predecessor found his way her and where he went next and what he took with him.
The constant feeling of discovery - of unearthing - is magnificent. Site after site, I asked, “What is this place?” Always thinking, if the eventual answer is any good, this is going to be one of the best games I’ve ever played. And, in the end, it doesn’t give you an answer, it just give you enough to make the story feel complete. It answers by not answering.
Also, translating alien texts is just extremely my jam. I’m the weirdo who enjoyed the ending of Arrival but secretly wished the whole movie had been about xenolinguistics like the first half. I guess Inkle felt similar.
The game’s by no means perfect. I think I enjoyed the sailing between worlds more than most - it’s slow, but very pretty - but it’s going to discourage a replay. I don’t think the relationship between Aliya and her robot, Six, ever gets terribly interesting. Some of the archeology is a little too obviously game-y - sail around, wait to find a random ruin, beam Six down to grab an ancient doodad, translate a bit of text, lo and behold it’s from one of the sites you’re looking for and it’s narrowed your search radius somehow. (It gives Star Trek explanations the first few times - e.g. “it has radiation that only exists in one part of the nebula” - and then stops bothering.) And the game sags a little in the middle; it could’ve hacked out 3 or 4 dig sites and still given me the same experience.
But, all told, there’s magic in it, and it just feels good to be there. Do not sleep on this one.
Thoughts on Later Alligator
There’s not a ton to say about this game except that is charming as hell. Lindsay and Alex Small-Butera have build a beautifully animated world of cute alligators, one of whom is having a birthday party where he’s convinced he’s going to be murdered. He wants you to run around getting information out of everyone who’s going to be there, which you get by completing minigames. It’s a cast of weird and funny characters with weird and funny dialogue and there’s not much more to it than that.
The design can be a little frustrating. Some minigames, if you lose, you don’t get to try again. Some are annoyingly finicky. You need to complete them all to get the true ending, which means, in my case, playing the game three times to complete all the bits you missed or got locked out of. The ending was a little different each time, so it wasn’t a total wash, but the game’s on a timer that only advances when you play a game or take the bus, and once you’ve completed most of the games there’s a lot of traveling back and forth from one nowhere to another just to advance time to the next unskippable plot beat.
(It’s also a little unclear what you’re missing as you try to get the final ending, as some of the ongoing puzzle are optional.)
But I can’t get mad. The game is too damn cute! Each character is lively and unique, with tons of personality, and the dialogue is just clever enough not to fall into empty adorkability.
It good.
Thoughts on Life is Strange 2
Somewhere, early in the development of Life is Strange 2, some Dontnod employee wrote in a design document “Episode 4 - cult?” (but in French) and nobody told them “no.”
I will not forgive them for this,
After twenty minutes of LiS2, I was ready to yell at everyone who had reported it was boring. It has one of the most powerful, gut-punching openings of any game I’ve played in recent memory. And all through the first, second, and third episodes, I was in love. Unlike Before the Storm, this was its own creature, willing to make dramatic departures from the original game’s template. Instead of controlling a character with supernatural powers, you play as the superpowered character’s older brother. The one with the magic is a 9-year-old, unable to fully understand or control his abilities, suffering a recent trauma, and needing to be guided through a dangerous and racist world. All the ambition missing from Before the Storm is back, and this time the animation isn’t creepy and the writing is wildly improved (thanks to some journeyman script work from Fullbright’s Steve Gaynor) and I even have a computer able to play it on higher graphical settings.
But nothing good lasts.
Everything good about the series screeches to a halt in Episode 4, the one where some asshole said “cult?” and didn’t get a Nerf football thrown at their head. And it’s not just that it’s a terrible idea; it’s actually sort of amazing how much the game relies on an alchemy of plot, tone, theme, and writing, and how a slight imbalance can throw the whole thing off. Episode 4 has scene after scene that are powerful in their conception - brothers reunited after a violent rift; a boy having his first conversation with his estranged mother in nearly a decade; getting interrogated by the feds for a crime that can’t even be explained by physics - fall flat because the writers can’t think of anything interesting for the characters to say. (Steve Gaynor’s name stops appearing in the credits as of this episode.)
And here the game’s rickety bits, kept delicately together for three episodes, start to shake apart. Dontnod’s overly-earnest voice direction, which I didn’t notice in the early episodes, started to wear me down. (”Could you sigh mid-syllable, like you’re slightly overwhelmed with emotion?” “Sure, on which line?” “All of them.”) The thinness of the secondary characters, most of whom pop up for one episode and disappear, became more noticeable. The lack of a mechanical hook like the time rewinding of the original game, and the attendant commentary on choice-based games and power fantasies, made the game feel less substantial. The surreal imagery of the original, obligatorily evoked in the prequel, is sensibly absent, but there’s nothing equally striking that replaces it. Even the branching path decisions become less clear: the end-of-episode stat screens for the final episodes mentioned at least a dozen choices I didn’t even know I’d made, some of which were critical in shaping my younger brother’s morality and were not necessarily the choices I’d have made if I’d known I was making a choice at all.
Come the final episode, I got An Ending that seemed right for the way I’d played, but much of the way I’d played felt accidental.
So what are we to make of this? Life is Strange is a beautiful disaster, an ambitious disaster, where Life is Strange 2 is almost less interesting for being more competent. It has a huge mess of charged topics - American racism, teens losing their virginity, raising a child outside the nuclear family, grief and trauma - and, while it handles them without the gracelessness and sledgehammer subtlety of the original, it doesn’t come to any conclusions about any of them. LiS1, for all its jank, had some opinions, where LiS2 falls into the category of “this sure is some shit, innit?” games.
It starts with a powerful premise, deeply relatable characters, fine writing, beautiful art, but can’t even manage, in the end, to be a disaster. It is the only game in the series so far to be forgettable.
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The Spring of Burning Forests: Chapter 10/10 ❤️ (Geraskier)
A happy ending with Jaskier? The idea is inconceivable, really. Impossible.
But it’s at least worth a try.
Read on AO3.
For a full summary, see this post. Go here if you want to start from the first chapter.
Big thanks to @booichiboo, @sdmcburney, @goshdraws, Rita, @valdomarx, @carmillacarmine, @thelastsock, @katesierra @ro-the-bard-writer @geraskierficrecs ❤️ Dedicated to @variousnoises.
No more updates, of course, but I have a Geralt Fluff Week entry coming up on the 4th August.
Here’s the first scene:
The closed border meant customers were scarce, and the inn was nearly empty. The place had an unsettling, ghostly feel. As they walked through the front door, Jaskier had glanced at the name, The World’s End, stopped for a moment, and stared at it.
It was as if a premonition hit him, eyes wide, hope draining from his face.
Geralt wasn’t eager for them to go into their rooms, having bad premonitions of his own. He was convinced things were about to turn bad and hated the uncomfortable wait much more than he ever hated a confrontation. A tongue-tied Jaskier was not something he was prepared for. Not as bad as a self-sacrificing Jaskier, for sure, but bad nevertheless.
No way he could stay quiet that long and yet, they got as far as an awkward climb up the stairs, the steps creaking underneath their feet, without a single world from Jaskier still.
At the top of the stairs there was a long corridor. All doors were open, not a single soul in sight. They stood in front of their respective rooms, almost ready to go in when, finally, Jaskier broke the silence.
‘That was… something.’
Geralt was relieved to hear him talk. Not interested in reliving the experience, he wanted to skip right to the point. Only the point proved difficult to discern, let alone skip to.
‘Listen, I know you…’ Geralt hesitated, and his voice was unusually raspy.
He barely started and was already getting frustrated, unable to articulate any fucking thing.
Jaskier seemed startled by that beginning.
‘No, Geralt. You really don’t need to...’ he paused, flustered.
‘No, I really think I should.’
‘Just forget it,’ he blurted, sounding more insistent than he intended. ‘It’s not like I was hiding this before. It was far from a dark secret.’ He seemed slightly amused by the idea but his smile was sad.
‘No, but-’ Geralt started again, and Jaskier stopped him.
‘It was pretty obvious. And because you didn’t seem to see it that way, I just…’ He didn’t quite know how to describe what he ‘just’ did. ‘But I did try. And even at minimum you were finding it…’ he considered a couple of options before arriving at ‘…intrusive.’
‘Sure.’ Geralt nodded lightly.
He was just about ready to continue but Jaskier wouldn’t let him.
‘So don’t worry about it.’ Jaskier took a deep breath. ‘I mean, regardless of what you might think, I wouldn’t have said anything. It’s just that today…’ He was getting agitated by the memory. ‘Well, in my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have been able to imagine a shitshow of such magnificent proportions. To be fair, I had no clue I’d be capable of that… but I just really went with it, didn’t I?’
He seemed to find that half tragic, half funny.
‘And I’m glad I did,’ he concluded, confidently. ‘Even if it was all just a morbid joke to them. Even seeing what I saw. And even if it made this the perfect time for you to state you don’t want me. Like, out loud, directly, using words, not through whatever-the-fuck you did before… looks, stares, grunts, movements, sighs… any physical manifestation available, I suppose.’
Geralt grunted uncomfortably in response, and Jaskier just nodded, resigned.
‘Exactly... although,’ he started again, remembering a distant mountaintop, ‘I can recall some words. Quite a few, actually. I guess that task required extra measures. And it wasn’t to this exact end but it was pretty close. There was a significant proximity to the issue at hand, there, I’d say. So it’s not like I wasn’t aware of what you were trying to convey. You can’t exactly surprise me now. It’s not the most important thing, really.’
He suddenly realised something, and blinked a few times, obviously unsettled by the idea.
‘I definitely didn’t do this to exert any pressure,’ he added, quickly. ‘I’m not hoping for anything. I’m not…’ He stopped himself from saying ��delusional’, worried he might be making the situation worse. ‘I just didn’t want you to die. That’s all. That’s hardly a horrible crime.’
He was just about ready to finish but then hesitated a bit, knowing his effectiveness was highly questionable.
‘It seemed like the right strategy at the time,’ he said in the attempt to justify himself. ‘It was worth a shot. I did the right thing. I’d do it again, if needed. I guess it makes me a bit more useful.’ He realised he was starting to sound bitter. ‘You’ve always been a great friend, Geralt. You did so much for me. So…’ he did his best to sound perky but failed ‘…does this even matter?’
‘I think it-’ Geralt started but Jaskier didn’t let him finish.
‘I know you don’t feel the same way. You’ve made that abundantly clear… in hundreds of ways… for years. So you don’t have to worry as far as clarity is concerned.’
It didn’t take long for Jaskier to get worked up. He just kept going, and his discussion with himself was becoming increasingly heated.
‘And it’s not like this changes anything now, right? Or does it?’ He wondered for a second. ‘Are you going to leave because of it?’ He didn’t wait for an answer, his thoughts running ahead at a frantic pace. ‘Fuck… I said it out loud and we’re done now, aren’t we?’
He seemed shocked by the realisation.
‘Jaskier-’
‘It doesn’t matter that I… I mean, regardless of what I implied before… and what I did, sure. Why would you want me whining in your ear, now that you know? Feeling guilty… and for something nobody should feel guilty about, by the way,’ he sighed, his frustration slowly transforming back into sadness.
‘Ja-’
‘But can I change anything by saying this?’ he just kept going. ‘No… You might feel like you’re not doing the right thing by staying, regardless. And we can’t have that.’
He was now upset by his imaginary conversation with Geralt, who was just slowly coming to terms with the fact that he was not allowed to participate.
‘Well, it’s not your fault,’ Jaskier continued. ‘It’s quite certainly beyond our control. If I did have a choice in this matter… you know, ehm… there are safer, less deadly, more welcoming options out there. Let’s face it.’
Geralt just blinked a few times and Jaskier nodded as if he was trying to convince himself.
‘Although, none of them is…’ Jaskier threw a glance at Geralt and stopped, weirdly shy all of a sudden, backtracking again. ‘Regardless... my ideal romantic adventures do not involve waiting to hear that your dead-crisp-of-a-body was discovered in the forest, or putting my life on the line, just to find out it was actually some fucked up game. And yet, the consequences are real and now I have to…’
He suddenly realised something.
‘While also knowing that, of course…’ He slowed down, his mind racing again. ‘None of this would have happened if you…’ He stopped.
‘If I what?’ Geralt was glad to finally break through the flood of words.
Jaskier didn’t dare to say it.
‘I meant what I said to her, you know,’ he started again. ‘I really did. But there are those days when… sometimes I believe the bullshit she spews. Because it’s hard… it’s like, fucking… swimming against the current from morning till night. It’s pushing, and prodding, and trying. It’s… Sometimes you’re a bit much, Geralt.’
‘I’m a bit much?’ Geralt’s confusion was turning into anger. ‘I didn’t make any of this happen. I never asked-’
‘But the way you treat me… sometimes. It’s like I’m nothing more than an annoying child.’
‘That’s because sometimes you act like one.’ Geralt raised his voice in anger. ‘I told you to leave. What the fuck were you thinking?’
Jaskier was genuinely hurt this time.
Geralt felt a sudden pang of guilt which almost stopped him.
‘Everything I’ve done was to avoid what just happened,’ Geralt continued. ‘Let alone what could have happened. But no matter what I do… there you are. It’s like you have a fucking death wish. It’s like you want me to give you a hard time.’
‘I have a death wish? And I want...’ Jaskier laughed, sounding borderline hysterical.
He shook his head in pure frustration.
‘Yes, you.’ Geralt was getting carried away, and decided to just give into it, no reservations. ‘Has it ever occurred to you that you ask for too fucking much?’
‘I never asked for anything. I offered.’
‘Don’t fucking start…’ Geralt raised his voice again and Jaskier flinched slightly. ‘All you do is want and ask. Every time I look at you… you’re like a fucking human-shaped question mark. A ball of fucking need and hope, demanding more than I can give.’
‘But I just…’ Jaskier stared at Geralt for a moment, looking as if he was slapped in the face.
Geralt hated the sight. The thought that he just finished what Aliya had started crossed his mind. And he did a good fucking job too.
Jaskier looked much more hurt and shocked than he had under the threat of a sword. He blinked a few times, shaking slightly.
‘How did we even get here, hm?’ Jaskier asked, his voice faint. ‘Not that bloody long ago, I was perfectly happy...’ He was determined to get back on track, and desperate to ignore Geralt’s last words ‘...chasing after women who like my singing. This…’ Both his hands motioned towards Geralt. ‘This… was far from my plan, believe me.’
He sighed angrily, but his voice was breaking again. His mind was working against him, frantically replaying Geralt’s words. He forced himself to speak again.
‘I could cope at first, I really could. But then… I honestly don’t know how.’ He stopped, realised what he was doing and got angry with himself. ‘What am I even saying? Why am I even...’ His breath turned shaky.
He stared at Geralt. It was clear he was craving some reassurance. Perhaps he was still hoping Geralt would take back what he said. He was strangely disoriented as if he was genuinely surprised by his own response, and disappointed with the both of them.
Geralt just stood there, confused.
‘I’m sorry…’ Suddenly Jaskier seemed exhausted and resigned like a long-distance runner giving up a few meters before the finish line. ‘It’s not fair. What I’m doing. What we’re both doing, I suppose. It’s not fair. And I just can’t… anymore.’
He rubbed his temples and started again.
‘Back there, I’ve said enough. And I can’t take it back now, can I?’ He looked down, and his voice was growing weaker and quieter by the second. ‘And I did mean every word.’
He punched out the last words with determination and strain as if admitting that again was more difficult than it was before.
‘I guess,’ he whispered to himself before speaking up again. ‘I just wish I could feel this way about someone who...’ He stopped again, feeling like there was a wall slowly growing between them. ‘Or, at least, who could appreciate…’
He shook his head, and closed his eyes for a moment.
‘Listen-’ Geralt started but Jaskier just shook his head in response.
‘Well, emerging from this with a broken heart rather than a broken neck is, in itself, a success of a kind.’ He laughed and it was the saddest laugh Geralt has ever heard. ‘I really don’t know what the fuck I was thinking...’ he said, gasping for air a bit ‘...all this time.’
He was clearly on the verge of tears but managed to stay calm, his breathing restricted.
‘Jaskier…’
‘No, don’t. I’ve had enough already.’ He moved away from him and walked into his room. ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ he stated, his tone of voice suddenly assertive. ‘We’re going into these lovely, separate rooms, having an uneventful, restful night, and tomorrow… we probably should say goodbye and go our separate ways. Goodnight.’
He shut the door in front of Geralt’s surprised face.
Read more on AO3.
#geraskier#geraskier fanfiction#geraskier fandom#geraskier fanfic#geraskier fic#final update#my fanfiction#fanficion#fanfic#fic#the witcher#the witcher netflix#the witcher and the bard#the witcher fandom#the witcher fanfiction#the witcher fanfic#the witcher fic#gerlion#jaskier#dandelion#geralt x jaskier#geralt x julian#geralt of rivia#geralt z rivii#complete#complete fanfic#julian alfred pankratz#geralt witcher#happy ending
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New Friends Ch. 9
Ch.1 / Ch.8 / Ch.10
(It’s here! Are you ready to be thoroughly annoyed with Agreste???)
Chat Noir managed to recharge rather quickly, but when he got back into the fight, Ladybug was nowhere to be found.
“Where could she be?” he thought aloud, scouring the rooftops for his Lady.
“Chat Noir!” Ladybug suddenly called from behind him. He turned around to see not one, but two heroes. Ladybug, of course, and a familiar, bee-like heroine. Except..
“That’s not Queen Bee?” He said in confusion. This new hero had two ponytails instead of one, and they were longer. Not to mention, she had black fuzz lining her waist and.. Were those shoulder pads?
Ladybug smiled, gesturing to their new friend. “Chat Noir, this is Bumblebee. She’s gonna help us out.”
Bumblebee gave an excited wave and a bright grin.
Chat squinted, putting his hands to his hips as he scrutinized the new hero. Then he smirked.
“Any friend of My Lady is a friend of mine.” He extended his hand, which Bumblebee gladly took.
Unfortunately, the introduction was interrupted by another loud crash.
“Bumblebee, you know the plan.” Ladybug nodded to new recruit, who returned her nod before leaping onto another rooftop.
“Chat Noir, help me distract Nocturne a little longer.” She then ordered next, glancing at him and jumping off the roof towards the crash. Chat followed without question, using his baton for momentum.
-
It didn’t take long to overlap Nocturne once again. To Ladybug’s dismay, there were even more people asleep now. Nocturne cackled as she flew through the streets, touching anyone she could with her staff.
“Hey, Sandman! Looking for us?” Chat Noir called out to her, causing the akuma to pause.
“As a matter of fact, I was! Hawkmoth still needs those pretty jewels of yours that he’s so obsessed with!” She shouted, bolting in their direction. Ladybug and Chat Noir scattered, basically starting a game of cat and mouse.
Nocturne raced after them, tapping anyone else she came in contact with along the way. She was so focused on the two main heroes, she didn’t notice the yellow blur following close behind her.
“So, what’s the plan again?” Chat whispered, peeking around a chimney. Nocturne was currently searching the rooftops for them. They didn’t have much time till she found their hiding spots.
“You’ll see.” Ladybug smirked, landing next to him.
“Ah! There you are!” The akuma grinned, causing Chat to jump. She raised her staff, and Chat went to dodge, but Ladybug just stood there with a smile.
He almost called out to her when the akuma suddenly sucked in a breathe, going completely still. That’s when he saw Bumblebee standing proudly behind her, clipping her top back to her side.
“Great Work!” Ladybug praised, pulling out the akumatized item, which was a balled up piece of paper.
“Thanks, it went better than I expected.” Aurore smiled appreciatively.
Ladybug broke the akumatized item, then purified it. That was when Bumblebee’s miraculous beeped.
“It was nice meeting you, Bumblebee. Maybe we can see each other under better circumstances next time.” Chat Noir joked, leaning on his baton with a cheshire grin.
“Not likely, kitty.” Ladybug smiled, giving a small wave. Bumblebee waved as well, before leaving with Ladybug to give back her miraculous.
~~~~
The two managed to sneak back into the gym without a problem. Thankfully, everyone was still groggy from waking up, so no one was there yet. Aurore detransformed, handing Ladybug the miraculous.
“If there’s anything else I can do to help, just let me know!” She said sincerely.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for your help today.”
Aurore nodded, then ran off to find her other classmates and make sure they were alright. Ladybug did something similar, except she ran to the girl’s bathroom first to detransform.
-
When she emerged, she found more students roaming the school halls to go back to their classes. Specifically, a blonde boy dressed in grey determinedly searching the school rooms. It was only when his silvery grey eyes met hers that he faltered.
“Cheng!” Felix called out to her, immediately walking in her direction.
“O-oh, hey Felix!” Marinette smiled.
“Where have you been??” He almost yelled once he caught up to her. “You’re not supposed to run off when there’s an akuma! What were you thinking!?” He continued in a scolding manner, nearly grabbing her by the shoulders to shake some sense into her or something.
Marinette blinked at him, not used to this kind of behavior from Felix.
“Ah, sorry. I- uhm, I got stuck in the bathroom.” she chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head.
Felix squinted at her, crossing his arms. How do you get stuck in a bathroom??
Nevertheless, he blew out a sigh, lightly touching his forehead.
“Whatever. Just don’t run off again, alright? It’s both dangerous and reckless.”
Marinette nodded, though she felt guilty knowing she couldn’t keep that promise to him. She was Ladybug, after all. She had her own duty to protect Paris.
Even so.. Felix’s response to her sudden disappearance was strange. Was he- no. she was probably just imagining it, right? He couldn’t possibly be.. Worried?
“Let’s go. Class is bound to start back up in a few minutes.” Felix suggested, taking Marinette from her thoughts as he turned around to head back to the classroom. She followed behind him, trying not to replay his words too much in her mind.
~~~~~~
“What do you wanna do now, Marinette?” Tikki asked from the safety of Marinette’s purse.
“Go home. Luka has band practice. Kagami has sword training, and Aurore has to figure out her presentation for the weather cast tomorrow. I think Wayhem is just gonna study at home.” Marinette explained, glancing down at her kwami.
“And Felix?”
Marinette flushed, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. “Well, he’s-”
“Marinette, wait up!” She was interrupted by Adrien, who was running up to catch her.
Panic flashed across Marinette’s features, but she forced a smile.
“Oh, Adrien..”
“Hey! I tried to catch you yesterday, but you’ve- uh- you’ve been busy.” Adrien chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
“Have I? I guess I have. There hasn’t really-”
“I wanted to apologize.”
Marinette stalled. He wanted.. To apologize?
“I should have noticed earlier why you were so upset about Lila.” Adrien continued. “You were hurting over this and I didn’t notice.” he placed a hand on her shoulder with a soft smile.
Marinette sucked in a breath. Was Adrien really agreeing to finally do something about Lila?
“So, what are you saying?” She asked anyway, just to make sure.
“I’m saying,” Adrien sighed. “That I’m here for you. We’re in this together. I know it hurts to see Nino and the others get their hopes up like that, but when Lila finally sees what her lies are doing, everything will go back to normal. Until then, you can talk to me about anything when you need to.”
Marinette scoffed. He had single-handedly built up and shattered her hopes in a matter of seconds.
“Wait, wait, wait.” she interrupted, taking a step back. “So we’re..not exposing Lila?”
“What? No, I thought we agreed not to?” he furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused.
Marinette didn’t know what to say. She had thought.. Well, it didn’t matter what she thought now. It was obvious her and Adrien weren’t going to see eye to eye.
“I’m gonna go home. I have homework. Thanks for the talk, though.” Marinette gave a tight smile.
She could tell Adrien was hesitant to let her leave, but a honk from Gorilla persuaded him to let it go.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“See you.”
~~~~~~
Adrien stared idly out the car window as they drove back to the estate. That conversation could have gone better, but at least Marinette knew he understood where she was coming from now, right?
From her reaction, he assumes she still wants to expose Lila. Adrien was sure she would come around though. Just like Lila needed to see that her lies were bad, Marinette needed to see that Lila could be good! It was only normal to get frustrated sometimes. And he knew Marinette well enough to know when she calmed down, she would see reason and agree with him. She might even apologize for her rash behavior.
As long as we stick together, what could go wrong?
Adrien smiled at the thought. He had a feeling everything was gonna be just fine.
~~~~~~
Marinette plopped into her rolling chair, spinning into the middle of the room.
“I can’t believe him!” she growled, resisting the urge to pull her hair out.
“At least he apologized?” Tikki pointed out, trying to find the bright side.
“Yes, Tikki. He apologized…. Then he turned around and threw that right in my face!”
Did he even care? Did he even mean the words he said? Or was he just trying to keep her quiet as always?
Tikki went silent, obviously trying to find another good thing about the situation. The fact that she couldn’t only made Marinette angrier.
She was about to go into another rant when a light knock on the trap door interrupted her.
“Marinette? Are you up there?”
Marinette blinked. “Aurore?”
She quickly got up and opened the trap door.
“Hey!” Aurore beamed, stepping up into Marinette’s room.
“I thought you were at the weather station.”
“Oh, I was! But I found one of my go-to presentations in my dressing rooms. So I came to see you! I was thinking we could-” Aurore suddenly paused, her bright smile fading into a concerned expression.
“Are you alright?” She then asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You seem upset. Did something happen?”
Seeing her genuine concern, Marinette considered telling her.
It wouldn’t hurt right? I don’t have anyone else to talk to right now.. Marinette pondered, glancing back at one of Adrien’s photos she had on the wall. He didn’t appreciate her venting to the group last time.
“Is it Adrien?” Aurore frowned, noticing Marinette’s gaze.
Marinette pulled a sheepish smile in response. It didn’t count if Aurore was the one who brought it up, right? On that note, why should it matter what Adrien thinks? He hasn’t really cared for what she’s thought recently.
“Yeah.” she finally answered.
Aurore closed the trap door behind her and took Marinette’s hands into hers.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
The fact Aurore was even concerned for her well being at all made Marinette feel better. It showed at least someone cared.
“No.” Marinette smiled.
“No?” Aurore furrowed her eyebrows, confused.
“Nope. I don’t wanna talk about Adrien anymore right now.” Marinette decided. She didn’t want to dwell on all of these negative thoughts, lest she be akumatized.
So what’s the next best thing? Hanging out with your friends of course.
Aurore blinked, taking in her response. “O-Oh. alright, yeah! What do you wanna do?”
Aurore was hesitant at first, but once she accepted Marinette’s response, she was back to her bright, cheery self.
Marinette hummed in thought, looking up at her window.
It was in the afternoon, but there was still daylight out. They probably had a few hours until sunset.
Marinette smiled. “Do you think the others are free by now?”
tag list: @unabashedbookworm @bluerosette23 @minightrose@kuroko26@im-here-for-the-content @angstyrastuff @clumsy-owl-4178 @fanboy7794@choaticneturcl @bigcheeseyboi @burntnugget-tae @ayuchan07@honorisfortheweak @knightrose15 @mjisntme@rhub4rb @simplythebestbug@wilhelmares@zebrabaker@dargeon-lissa @kristycocopop @alumneia @kaydenth3gayden @thornangelic727 @flirtshobi @whatamessofwords
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‘ people say friends don’t destroy one another (what do they know about friends?) ’
Peter Lukas/Elias Bouchard, 1947 words.
Peter and Elias watch The Weakest Link.
CW for toxic dynamics and british game shows
--
They’re almost always busy. Organising the apocalypse was hard work, and when Elias wasn’t submerged in paperwork and plotting, Peter was out to sea and mourning his failure – and when Peter wasn’t on the Tundra, Elias was too busy laying traps for his Archivist. It was nothing personal, though Elias sometimes liked to act like it was, just to bait a reaction. It was simply hard to schedule time for relaxation, hard to plan when getting hold of each other was near impossible. But, on the nights where they both happened to be available and in England, Peter always ended up on Elias’ doorstep. Somewhere along the line, Elias would let him in, they’d pour drinks – cider for Peter and red wine for Elias, the latter stocked high and the former with just a few cans gathering dust in a corner – and they’d end up in front of the television. And Peter would put on a game show.
They’re an odd little fascination, one Peter developed during a horrid interval when the Tundra was trapped portside for a week, or maybe two. Though he’d expected his enjoyment of them to pass when he was finally free to sail on his silent ship once more, the habit stuck and more often than not he found himself watching one quiz show or another. Not the silly ones like Eggheads or Pointless, when it all boiled down into teamwork and collaboration, but the truly cutthroat ones, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and such, where the contestants were pitted against each other from the start. The ones where they were all so obviously praying their fellow contestants would fail so they could get their chance at whatever meaningless award was offered.
Elias – though he had been James Wright at the time, if Peter remembered right – had called Peter for the first time ever when that couple cheated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, gloating over how they’d worked together to snatch the top prize from ITVs helpless hands. It took all the fun out of it, really, working together. It robbed the shows of that intoxicating isolation that populated so many of them, the terrifying knowledge that there would be no help given, that everything had to be done alone. That was quite wonderful.
Peter allowed himself to sprawl over their shared sofa. For once in his overlong life, Elias had decided to be pleasant, only complaining twice when Peter commandeered the remote to put on a rerun of The Weakest Link. And he’d kept quiet during the best bits, when the contestants nominated the contestant to leave the show that round.
“You are being kind tonight.” Peter remarked, when the second-rate replay channel shoehorned in yet another ad break.
“Am I?” Elias asked, swinging his long legs into Peter’s lap. Peter shuffled away to the tune of Elias’ laugh. The last thing he needed was Elias ruining the delicious pain of second-hand isolation by forcing Peter to remember his presence. He regretted talking at all when Elias began prodding his toes into the worn jean of Peter’s thigh. His socks were covered with eyes, tessellated together into some sickening collage of sight.
“Can you see from those?” Peter asked without thinking. On the television, some pointless celebrity offered up a brand of washing power in a variety of scenarios, her face never losing a bland smile, her eyes clinging to hollow vacancy. Peter’s heart rose. There was nothing more enjoyable than the knowledge that this woman, whoever she may be, would have left the recording studio for a flat far too big for her in the centre of a bustling city, the open plan forcing her voice to echo and rebound from the stock-photo walls should she try to call any of the fake friends she had. But there were still millions of women across the country watching her vacant face and wishing with all their lonely little hearts that they could be her, convinced that if they just had her hair or her face, her money or her family, they could wash the loneliness from their lives for good. They were wrong.
Peter hoped no one told them.
“Can I see through my socks?” Elias mused, closing his eyes. Seconds, minutes later, he blinked them open again, “Your trousers are terribly frayed.”
“I don’t need to see through my socks to know that.”
“You should fix them.” Elias suggested, in the voice that meant he wanted Peter to do no such thing. Elias fed from making sure Peter always felt his Eye on one of his flaws or another and Peter, in turn, fed from never listening to Elias’ opinion when he chose to give it. It made Elias feel terrifically, terrifyingly lonely, when people didn’t care what he thought about them.
A five second clip of the introduction music signalled the end of the nauseating ad break. Peter was very conflicted about ad breaks. On one hand, it didn’t really seem fair to exchange five minutes of mediocre television for five minutes of mind-numbing adverts displaying things no one person could possibly need, even if they lived as long as Elias had. On the other hand, advertisements were built around the need to make the viewer feel inferior, a gateway drug to loneliness if there ever was one. Where there was inferiority there was insecurity, the fear of being left out or left behind, and both of those were fears The Lonely found delicious.
Yes, Peter would adore ad breaks, if he didn’t have to see them too.
“How could they cancel this?” Peter sighed, as onscreen Anne Robinson belittled a contestant for enjoying wrestling.
“It’s possibly the only good thing the BBC has ever done,” Elias said, purely to provoke a reaction, “I mean it. I’m not antagonising you.”
“I didn’t think antagonising, I thought provoking,” Peter said pleasantly, “I would prefer it if you stayed out of my head, though.”
The thought of Elias watching his thoughts, taking a personalised tour through his brain like a tourist at an isolated art gallery, sent Peter’s skin crawling. It was the worst thing about spending time with Elias, the knowledge that he, should he feel inclined, could dip into Peter’s head and watch to his heart’s content, dig up every little secret and throw them back into Peter’s face just to see how he’d react. And the knowledge that any reaction Peter gave would feed Elias’ patron.
“What a shame.” Elias remarked, tugging Peter’s attention back to The Weakest Link.
“What happened?”
“She didn’t bank. Lost them almost all of the money.” Elias clicked his tongue in a sham of sympathy.
Peter groaned, “You made me miss it.” The frustrated looks of the other contestants weren’t nearly as satisfying without the memory of the woman’s mortification to back them up.
“What a shame.” Elias repeated. His feet were still pressed against Peter’s thigh, a constant, bony reminder that Peter wasn’t alone anymore, would never be alone again should he ask. He wondered if he should be happy about it.
“You think,” Elias said, “far too much. What does it matter if you’re not always lonely? I’m not always Watching.”
“You had your Eye on that archivist of yours not ten minutes ago.” Peter said, taking Elias’s sudden frown as confirmation of his hunch. But that was all wrong too. Surely normal people wouldn’t be joking if their partner had spent a night with them watching one of their co-workers. Surely they’d be upset about it.
“We’re not partners.” Elias reminded him.
There were two contestants left, vying for the money that hadn’t been lost by their idiotic competitor. Peter tried to focus on them, and not on the way Elias was looking at him, on the half-smile playing across the lips Peter liked so much. When they were together, of course. When they were apart, Peter thought, Elias’s mouth was just another mouth.
“Liar.” Elias hissed. The bolt of insecurity that darted through him was honeysuckle sweet. In retaliation, Elias dug his heel into Peter’s leg as he stretched out over as much of the sofa as he could, crowding Peter against the arm. Peter didn’t look away from the television.
“The man on the left wins,” Elias snapped, “It’s a question about Hadrian’s wall and he snatches it right out from under the other man’s nose. He spends his pathetic gains gambling himself into worse debt then he started with.”
“Oh,” Peter complained. Anxiety swelled in his gut at the show of Elias’s power. He didn’t know Elias could dip into the minds of people on television too. Was there anything he couldn’t See, any secret he couldn’t Know as soon as he wished to?
“I can’t. I’ve just seen this one before.” Elias said, observing Peter’s wide eyes with barely-concealed delight. What did Elias care if the power he’d hinted at didn’t exist? Peter’s original rush of fear had been enough to make them even.
“You,” Peter said, “are a bad boyfriend.”
“I don’t care, as long as I’m not yours.”
Careful, Peter closed a hand around Elias’ ankle, covering some of the eyes that danced and winked along it. Elias’s smile widened.
Peter tugged, and Elias let himself be moved.
Peter lifted, and Elias let himself be raised.
When he sunk his fingers into Peter’s hair and pushed his nails into Peter’s scalp, Peter didn’t protest. Instead, he placed Elias in his lap and let himself be kissed.
Kissing Elias was a little like breathing in a burning building. It was a little like Christmas, or existing on a crowded ship. In other words, it was unbearable, but Peter wanted, needed it anyway. It was choking and over-hot and crowded and pushy and Peter wanted it more and more and more and more, until he couldn’t breathe without Elias pressed firm against his chest.
Elias pulled his mouth away, because it wasn’t enough for Peter to just feel his smirk apparently.
“Your metaphors are ridiculous.” He wiped his mouth with one hand and smoothed his hair with the other.
“I never was fond of words.”
“That much is clear.” Elias said, as if they hadn’t had this conversation a thousand times before, as if they wouldn’t have it a thousand times again before they were finally done with each other. Peter caught his breath as Elias rolled his shoulders, blazer slipping down from the movement, before craning his neck to glance at the television. Peter watched the credits reflect in his shiny, dark eyes.
“Can we put Big Brother on? After all,” He patted Peter’s cheek, “You’ve had your fun.”
“If you want.”
All those people trapped together but encouraged to hate, to isolate even when there was nowhere to go, to say one thing when they thought and felt another, to not trust anyone they were confined with. It was lonely enough for Peter.
“Everything’s lonely enough for you,” Elias said, rubbing at the faint red of beard rash decorating his cheeks, “You’re very simple to please.”
The familiar panic washed over Peter again, the fear encapsulated in the knowledge that Elias would always, somehow, Know Peter better than Peter knew himself. The fear that, whatever Peter was, Elias could See it and take it and keep it for himself.
Peter pushed Elias from his lap.
They split a pack of biscuits, though they were both hungry for something more sustaining, and Peter wondered if he could never get used to having all his secrets laid out in a glass cabinet, for Elias to view as he pleased.
The look on Elias’ face said that, even if he could, Elias wouldn’t let him.
#tma#the magnus archives#peter lukas#elias bouchard#lonely eyes#long post#fanfic#fanfiction#spoon writes#did this a few nights ago n forgot to put it on here whoops
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