#Also people are entitled to their no-bending AUs

[sepublic]

Furthermore, Belos is the type of colonizer who loathes a culture, but also feels entitled to it and is pissed off when it doesn’t bend over backwards to his demands. He wanted the glyphs of the Titan but he refused to respect her and her people, her body, her customs, and opted to take it by force; A method needlessly more complicated, difficult, and arduous than just humbling himself and learning on someone else’s terms. 

So to see some people have the fucking gall to treat Belos’ seizure of what is essentially a native resource as some W over that mean and unsuccessful Titan, disparage Luz as ‘not working’ for the glyphs like he did (ignoring how this brown girl actually put in the work of adapting to another culture), and unironically praise his ‘protestant work ethic’ is just… racist! It’s racist!!! 

It’s buying into the conservative strong man myth that Belos got where he did ‘by the grit of his own teeth’, when really he lied to and cheated people who actually put in effort and suffered the consequences for him; He stood on people’s shoulders without consent and attributed their sacrifices as his own like so many American Dream capitalists, instead of appreciating and reciprocating others’ help the way Luz did. It’s buying into the idea that Belos’ atrocities can be overlooked for the sake of admiring how he ‘got things done’, because that’s just the price of success!!! Like I dunno maybe we shouldn’t even jokingly praise a character for being a colonizing thief, a swindling capitalist in all but name.

This reminds me of that time I saw someone’s Road to El Dorado AU where Philip plays the role of one of the white Spanish dudes. Like are you fucking for real. You saw a genocidal white colonizer who impersonates a local religion he has no real understanding over to manipulate the natives for his own selfish ends and you actually said, “Okay but what if we treated it as a cute and good thing this time? What if we treated his blatant disinterest in everything that isn’t seizing the natives’ resources as a teehee trait???” I don’t care if Philip is chill and doesn’t murder people in this version of events. Y’all are just being lowkey, if not outright, racist. 

Belos is an effective satire of right-wing conservatives and radicalized white supremacists, genocidal colonizers who bastardize and appropriate cultures, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” success stories, entitled abusers with all their excuses, and Christian self-flagellation and savior complexes. Dana based him off of televangelists, cult leaders, and her own conservative relatives. And yet so many people willingly ignore the whole point of Belos’ narrative and themes to reduce him to just “Caleb’s moody brother” or some sadboi victim of religious trauma, as if Philip didn't willingly embrace Puritan ideology regardless of whatever drawbacks it may have had, because it ultimately promised superiority…

And with the AUs that strip Belos of everything that makes him Belos for the sake of some feel-good story that undermines the show’s themes and does his victims dirty, that isn’t even an alternate version that’s just a completely different, made-up guy with none of the depth. How’s he going to learn his lesson in a redemption fic if the first thing the writer does is undo the curse to restore Philip's White Man status that he so obsessively clung onto, and lost for that very reason? How is he going to learn his lesson if the writer can't seem to properly comprehend what exactly he did wrong and the actual reasons for it???

[heavencasteel420]

Maddie - Yay, great! 👏🏼

Here are the questions! Looking forward to reading your responses… 😊

I mostly have ideas for multi-chapter fics, especially when it comes to Jancy, but I think I like writing one-shots more.

I usually do a very rough outline before starting a chapter (a list of scenes/plot points/goals) but revise it a lot as I go (like deciding to combine two scenes or insert a new one).

Usually I have a couple of vague ideas about plot points and vibes first. For example, with Drive All Night, it occured to me that the S1 Jancy scene where they practice shooting in the woods had Bonnie and Clyde vibes, and then I saw the 1932 movie Wild Boys of the Road and liked how it escalated from "teen comedy set during Depression" to "bleak chaotic Depression Era social drama with really satisfying violence." I let those ideas percolate a little and maybe ramble about them on Tumblr or to my IRL friend who's never watched Stranger Things. Then I write a first chapter to see if it has legs. If I'm having fun and feel intrigued about what's going to happen next, I continue. With one-shots, I usually have a specific idea I want to convey, so I think more about the overall arc I want and how each scene pushes towards that.

I get a lot of ideas from watching other media and deciding that I want to put characters in that kind of situation. I have a Jancy-Byler idea (pretty low on things that I'd actually write) where Jonathan, Will, and El are siblings who have powers (mind-reading, being a medium, and telekinesis, respectively) during the 1930s and work for carnivals before deciding to run a con on the town of Hawkins (particularly the Wheeler and Harrington families, about to unite through the marriage of Nancy and Steve). This came about because I love the movie The Brothers Bloom and had recently watched the remake of Nightmare Alley. Sometimes fandom discourse provides inspiration. For Tonight, Tonight, for example, I got annoyed with people not understanding why Jonathan initially thinks Joyce is losing her mind re: the lights and so decided to write an AU where his worst fears come to pass; exploring the consequences for Nancy kind of followed from that.

I've participated in a lot of writing workshops and really appreciate constructive criticism in the right context, but on a fanfic I've already posted, from someone whose tastes/goals may be very different from my own, is not that context. People are entitled to their opinions, but at that point I'm probably not going to change anything.

I don't have my work beta'd.

I have two dual POV WIPs going right now (Tonight, Tonight and my not-yet-posted Robin-and-Jonathan friendship fic) and two fics (Drive All Night and Ugly as Sin) with a single POV. It depends partly on who's the main character (Ugly as Sin is way more about Chrissy than Eddie or anyone else), who's going through the more dramatic changes (Nancy in Drive All Night), and how much information I want to convey.

I like the middle of a story, because that's when everything gets complicated. Endings are the hardest to write.

Yes, I comment, but not as much as I would like to!

“Look, I get it,” she said, blinking rapidly. “Robin’s the pretty one. But she’s also really immature and flaky, and she’s never going to go out with you.” [Spoken to Jonathan by one of Robin's friends; he knows she's a lesbian and does not in fact want to go out with her, but he's like "hey" on her behalf.]

Off the top of my head: already wise, already worn by throttlegainwell; How Do We Get to There from Here? by nyctanthes; and where the hours bend by fakelight.

I don't need a ton of feedback, but just one person saying that they like or want to see more of something makes all the difference.

Don't get too attached to your vision of how a scene/chapter should go if it's not working in the moment. Also, if I want to do something weird or risky or gross, it's probably actually a good idea.

Sometimes emotional scenes come really easy, but other times I have to sit down and outline everything the characters might be feeling so I can decide how much to reveal/describe. There's always a decision to be made how direct to be about a character's feelings; there's a time to convey it really subtly through how the character perceives their environment and their body language and all, but there's also a time to go "he felt like shit." And I do feel what the characters feel, quite often! I cried a lot writing Tonight, Tonight, let me tell you. I also draw from personal experience a lot, although it's not always super-direct.

There's so much pressure in writing smut scenes! I generally don't try to make them "sexy" so much as I try to convey what the characters are feeling (i.e., that they like looking at each other and enjoy what they're doing). How graphic I get usually depends on the character's attitude and the pacing of the story. I value sexual frankness in writing in general, though.

Three active WIPs (two posted) and twenty other ideas, roughly. My two big ideas are (a) a slice-of-life No Upside Down AU centered on Nancy, Jonathan, Mike, and Will and (b) a film noir homage with some Gone Girl stuff going on.

I leave it for a little while. Then I go back and try to figure out where I stopped getting interested, or I skip to the "good part."

I usually come up with a title towards the beginning of the writing process and then change it a million times. Mostly I get titles from song lyrics.

Looking at "additional tags" only, "Child Abuse" and "Minor Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler" are in the lead. Jonathan and Chrissy are both going through it usually, and I do like writing Steve and Nancy as a temporary romance.

For some reason, "Jonathan buys a used car from Lonnie" is a scenario that comes up a lot? I like writing about food, clothes, and money. I like putting in random stuff that isn't really part of the current pop culture vision of the 1980s, like holdovers from the 1970s or how much awful TV everyone was watching.

Probably! I used to write stories with my best friend when we were in middle school (mostly original stuff) and that was always really fun.

I probably wouldn’t write a crossover with a work that’s already shown up a lot in the fandom (like It, The Black Phone, or Scream).

If you cut a passage from a story, save it in a separate document because it could be useful later.

So many people insist that “cum,” not “come,” should be used as a verb for orgasming, but that’s not true unless you’re going for the sleaziest vibe possible (no judgment).

I've been happy with the response on all my fics, but Tonight, Tonight, the Highway's Bright has a special place in my heart because it's so weird and sad.

Drive All Night, due to all the murders and crimes.

My favorite part is when you get a really good but unexpected idea, either out of the blue or after mulling things over for a while. My least favorite part is getting stuck on a scene because you can't figure out how to say that a character got up from a chair or something really silly like that.

250-500 hundred words, probably.

I'm a slow writer but I edit pretty fast. I check for typos and I take out unnecessarily wordy bits.

I share bits of rough drafts but not the whole thing.

[miss-midnightt]

So, basically, gold digger au of lock, she's a celebrity due to that, fun, yippee, she's a terrible fucking person with no real morals or humanity left in her, she doesn't actually know what romantic love really feels like because she so used to just, using people and manipulating people and bending them to her will, I should also mention that this au of lock is tied with her au of being Rufus' younger sister, but uh, she's kind of maybe way worse, she's a walking red flag and everyone who comes into contact with her is I guess, 'put under her spell' as people put it, this au of lock is also kind of based around the songs Maneater, This Is Love & Are You Satisfied? I'm thinking that the reason why she probably acts like this is because of how she was brought up by her father, she wasn't exactly.. taught right to put it lightly.

She's just.. not morally right to put it into a small amount of words. Oh, yeah, should I mention that she's entitled and a bit of a narcissist? She also takes pleasure in other peoples pain because I like to fuck up my main Oc. That's. That's fun.

Bonus: She's friends with Scarlett because of course she is.

Lock being friends with Scarlett is so correct for this au. She sounds like such a bitch (affectionate)

[whats-a-reading]

which wips do you have rn?

I'm gonna sort this by fandom (since how active they are is entirely dependent on what fandom)

ATLA (status - the other ones I'm not talking about are all abandoned)

Dishonor on Ozai's Cow - the literal reason I started this tumblr, unfortunately I bit off more than I can chew with the plotting so er... I'm just posting a plot synopsis at this point because I can't just drop it like a hot potato. Premise is postcanon, Ozai is being told to capture the blue spirit to restore his bending (because this is based on a tumblr post thanks leaf)

PJO (status - inactive)

I have a roman percy AU, a gdoc that's entitled "the apotheosis doc" (0 points as to what the premise of that one is), and also a titans win AU where there's some sort of stockholm/lima syndrome mess going on with percy and his undersea captors while there's a mess on the surface maybe

AA/DGS

Mainline: neither of these have titles (status - inactive)

- me imagining franziska as aroace, and the extra layer to her already complicated relationship with the idea of maturity as a result

- AU where phoenix has to present adrian's suicide note as evidence (thanks peg for that again)

DGS (status - I miiight get back to it next month, but only if I'm lucky)

- I'll await that trumpet's wail - kazuma character study (amnesia, those days between 2-3 and 2-4, postcanon)

- the stronghart-van zieks roleswap that I've talked about somewhere on here, pov klint (this is specifically the second setup where klint doesn't end up as notorious serial killer the professor, he kills 1 person tho)

- in the line - vanlock romcom where they're dead and waiting for charon's ferry

- I have a baroryuu wip where... I think I was trying to explore the outside perception of them, iris is learning steno and that's important, also AU where no homophobia

Good Omens (status - current)

- samael theory

- I am very obsessed with the fact that out of all the demons they could've made up, they made up the snake in the garden... so I made him satan a la that tumblr post about paradise lost

- There's this one wip that has been giving me a headache for a whole ass year because it's about revolution and the great man theory and also I'm mostly just having fun with the multimedia format interludes and not writing the fic itself

- Literal plotbunny I just thought of today: some random ass take on a reverse au (that being said, the twist is very important so I kinda just wanna... release it and surprise people)

[carnistcervine]

Modern ATLA AU Ideas

Okay, so, it kinda feels like most modern ATLA AUs are like: no bending! lol. And I'm just like: B-but that's the best part of the show?? ;w; I mean, people are allowed to write their fanfics how they want. But it does kinda suck when all I can find are fics where it's supposedly based on ATLA's world, but it's pretty much just ATLA characters transplanted into a modern, real life setting. Like, I don't wanna read about the Gaangs adventures of being boring normal humans in New York, or Japan, or China or wherever the fuck. I want the Gaang shitposting on social media, taking selfies while Zuko throws fireballs at them. Although, as someone with a lot of very niche interests, I've already accepted the fact that if I want something, I'm gonna have to do/make it. *cracks fingers* So here are my ideas for a modern Avatar AU.

-First thing, I know that most people tend to assume that with modernization, that would lead to a rise in machinery and a fall in use of bending. Personally, I disagree with this notion. Why? It's simple. Humans invented machines to do things they could not do themselves, or at least couldn't easily do themselves. We made complicated contraptions using pulleys and levers because we could not move rocks with our minds. In real life, people had to depend purely on what their own bodies could achieve, in Avatar, people actually can manipulate the elements to their will. So why go through all the trouble of inventing some convoluted, complicated machinery(that may not even work!) to lift a whole bunch of stone and earth, when you can just ask a few earthbenders to do it? Also, it gives the earthbenders something to do, so they don't take that energy and do something destructive. All this is just a fancy way of saying that, anything that can be done with bending, is.

-Irrigation, sewage systems, and all general water delivery systems are powered by waterbending.

-Most fire fighters are firebenders. Why? Firebenders can literally control fire. It's not hard for them to put out flames. Although, there are airbending fire fighters who use their bending to thin the air around fires, earthbenders who smother the fires with rocks, and waterbenders who douse the flames using waterbending.

-Rather than having hoses that attach to fire hydrants, the things serve as markers for where reservoirs of water can be accessed for waterbenders to use in cases of emergency.

-Hospitals employ various benders and non-benders. Non-benders find themselves being used in many different aspects of the medical field, but benders are often used for their particular talents. Water healers work both as first responders and in the hospitals themselves, usually to help the most delicate cases, but also to quickly treat minor issues. Firebenders are also surprisingly useful in the medical field, not only for their ability to cauterize severe bleeding, but also their ability to treat hypothermia victims, and even simply heating up blankets to keep patients warm. Airbenders not only help with CPR, but also act as a very calming presence for people in the hospital.

-Speaking of hospitals, on the other side of the coin, hospitals are often separated into different sections. One for non-benders, and one for each bending type. Simply put, not only do different benders have different needs, but also bring different complications to the table. For example, it's good to have plenty of water and fire-resistant material around when treating a firebender, but not so much when treating a waterbender. And spirits help you if a bender is giving birth. lol

-Schools not only have the standard curriculum, but also specialized classes specifically for bending students. And bending class starts from the first school years. Bending is dangerous, gotta learn 'em young!

-Most people get around by using vehicles like cars, but there are still plenty of people who use animal mounts. In fact, there are special places for "parking" said mounts. Like doggy daycare, but for ridable animals. Paid places even feed and pamper your animals, but it's a bit expensive.

-Benders are often included in natural disaster response teams. Waterbenders will band together to help with floods, or tsunamis. If advanced warning is available, they will use their powers to divert or block the water flow. Earthbenders will band together to rescue people from rubble and help repair infrastructure. Firebenders will either preform controlled burns to prevent wildfires, or control the flames of existing wildfires and when they get small enough, extinguish them. Airbenders use their powers to stop or divert storms and tornadoes.

-Airbenders will often come to the rescue of people(or animals) stuck in high places, or suicidal people looking to jump. Earth and waterbenders also make efforts to help people or animals that need rescuing. Firebenders team up with waterbenders to help people trapped in avalanches or stuck in cold climates. The waterbenders free them, and the firebenders use their bending to warm them from the core outward.

-Obviously there's also a lot of benders that just do dumb shit on twitter, instagram or youtube for views.

-Remember Ba Sing Se and Omashu? Mail and train systems powered by earthbending. And instead of a drone bringing you your package from some online retailer, it's an airbender.

-Airbender Uber and Postmates tho. Like, just using an app and a flying person swoops down, picks you up and jets off to where your trying to go.

-Obviously spirits and the Avatar are still very much a thing. But the Avatar is considered more of a spiritual leader than a political one. In fact, most of the political system is run by non-benders. The main exceptions being the nation's leaders who are often benders. The Avatar's role is mostly delegated to offering wisdom, peace-keeping, spiritual matters, natural disaster recovery/prevention, and apocalyptic threats. Any major political meeting will include the Avatar though.

-Airplanes that are powered by airbending. A lot of very powerful airbending.

-Highly trained and specialized firebenders use lighting generation to power cities(Yes, I got this one from Korra).

-A LOT of earthbenders in construction.

-Bending careers often involve going through years of specialized training in a bender's particular skill. However, the work is rewarding and pays well.

That's pretty much all I can think of for now. :P Any one that likes these ideas are free to take them! <3

[sketching-shark]

LMK fandom: Oh, what do we do about this guy who has nothing but hurt Xiaotian, tried to replace Sun Wukong and his crew, hurt Tripitaka and ordered servants to cannibalize a monkey? Oh I know! We’ll turn him into our little meow meow~ he’s so innocent and Sun Wukong is obviously the villain!

What doesn’t help is this idea is perpetuated by multiple fan fic writers and artists for some reason. Especially some aus they make that turn SWK into a bastard for the sake of the story rather than considering cultural context and thinking they should be respectful.

And almost everyone lets them get away with it just because the art or fanfic is good and they get so popular that no one can point what is actually wrong without feeling like they’re going to get attacked.

I'm starting to feel like my blog is the one anons go to specifically to vent their frustrations about the Six Eared Macaque in his lego monkey show form & the associated fandom lmao. But I guess this makes sense, as I’ve had fun quasi-dragging him before & will in fact use this anon submission as an opportunity to have my own, to put it academically, bitch fest about not just this fandom's favorite protagonist-traumatizing meow meow, but about the way villains are often treated in not just fanon, but increasingly in canon works as well. But same policy as with the last anon; I'll post my opinions below the cut, and as fandoms love to say, don’t like don't read if you don't want to see me dunking on the six eared simian & common fandom tendencies towards villains.

Oh man I would say where would you even begin with this but anon you’ve pretty much started yourself with my main gripe with a lot of ways that the Six-Eared Macaque is portrayed in fandom; there seems to be this unspoken agreement that his acts of violence towards Sun Wukong, Qi Xioatian, and Qi Xioatian’s loved ones are either to be framed as somewhat or totally justified, to be immediately forgiven/excused, or to simply & completely be ignored. Like friends maybe this is just me not seeing the proper posts but while the fandom is inundated with art and fanfics of Macaque as a generally decent individual & a true member of team good guy, I have yet to see one person address the fact that this monkey literally kidnapped & mind-controlled Xiaotian’s best friend and father figures & forced them to brutalize Xiaotian while ol’ Six Ear looked on and laughed (X_X). Like this kind of fandom villain treatment is definitely not something that’s solely at work for Monkie Kid, but it is kind of nutty how fandoms will swing between yelling that people should be allowed to like villains without even mild critique, and then will just flat-out not address the villainous behavior, and will even bend over backwards to frame even characters who committed genocide as just poor innocent widdle victims who need a hug. At its worst, I’ve even seen tons of people in a fandom get really angry at other people who don’t like a villain, and will even start accusing those people of hating real-life mentally disabled or abused individuals all because they don’t like the fandom’s favorite literal war criminal. The Monkie Kid fandom is FAR more chill & better than a lot of other fandoms I’ve come across in that regard, but that is an exceedingly low bar, & the tendency to woobify certain kinds of villains-- as with Macaque and the extreme emphasis on his bad boy/sad boy thing--is very much at work.  

 I’ve also talked before about a kind of monoculturalization of certain character interpretations and story beats in fandoms, and one of the more popular ones that seems to be applied to Macaque a lot is the “hero actually bad, villain actually good” cliche, as observable from the general fandom assumption that Mr. Six-Ears he wasn’t even slightly lying or remembering things through a rose-tinted or skewed lens when he gave his version of his and Sun Wukong’s past. Like at this point it seems the possibility that people WILL NOT even consider is that Sun Wukong never did & still doesn't care that much about the Six Eared Macaque (in JTTW they weren’t sworn brothers & in Monkie Kid the only thing the monkey king really said to Macaque before attacking him was a pretty contemptuous "Aren't you ever going to get sick of living under my shadow?," & responds to his "beloved friend" getting blown up with "You did good, bud" to Qi Xiaotian, who did the exploding), or that their original fight may in fact have mostly been instigated by Macaque. After all, to repeat what this anon summarized & what I've said before about their original JTTW context (& in an example of the things that do feel like it's often lost in translation) is that the Six Ear Macaque was a villain not just because he beat up the Tang Monk, but because he wanted to take over Sun Wukong's entire life and identity so he could have all that glory, prestige, and power for himself. To quote the macaque himself from the Anthony C. Yu translation, "I struck the T'ang monk and I took the luggage...precisely because I want to go to the West all by myself to ask Buddha for the scriptures. When I deliver them to the Land of the East, it will be my success and no one else's. Those people of the South Jambudvipa Continent will honor me then as their patriarch and my fame will last for all posterity." And in order to do this, the Six Eared Macaque had apparently made Sun Wukong's "little ones," his monkey family, his captives through either trickery or force, and gotten a number of them to take on the appearance of Tang Sanzang and the other pilgrims. It's also made clear that in very direct contrast to Sun Wukong, he doesn't care about these monkeys beyond how they might serve him. In fact, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey posing as him the Six Eared Macaque not only all but immediately replaces him with another, but also "told his little ones to have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines." So this monkey is not only willing to risk the lives of a lot of other monkeys for his own personal benefit, but is also a literal cannibal. And yes yes, I know a lot of people have argued that Monkie Kid shouldn't be considered a direct sequel to JTTW & that's fair enough (for example, Sun Wukong probably shouldn't be smashing anyone into a meat patty in a children's cartoon lol). And of course, it needs to be noted that there are a buttload of really out there & really cursed pieces of media based on JTTW & that were created in China. Yet the above description is the oft-ignored in the west original facet of the Six Eared Macaque's character. And it is this selfishness, entitlement, and treatment of other individuals as tools for his own self-serving ends  that is, from where I’m standing, still very much present in Monkie Kid. Like besides repeatedly going out of his way to physically and psychologically traumatize Xioatian, with the last episode Macaque seemed to be going right back to his manipulative ways. I’ve seen people frame their last conversation as Macaque softening to Xioatian a little bit, but personally that read a lot more like that common tactic among abusers where even after they’ve hurt you they’ll dangle something you want or need over your head (in Macaque’s case, the promise of desperately needed training and information about a serious looming threat), with the implication that you’ll only get it if you do what they want you to, such as, in this case, Xioatian going back to Macaque as his student even after having been so terribly hurt by this monkey, which would give Macaque power over Xiaotian and probably Sun Wukong as a result. And it is this violence and manipulation that it seems the fandom at large has tacitly decided shouldn’t even be addressed, instead leaning more towards a (and this is an exaggeration) “Six-Eared Macaque my poor meow meow Sun Wukong has always been bad & has always been wrong about literally everything” reading. 

And while it is the case that I am not Chinese and feel that as such it would be best left to someone who actually comes from that background to provide more context into how common interpretations of the Six Eared Macaque from China may clash really badly with the stuff the western fandom creates, it also must be noted that, as much as we all want to have fun in fandom & in spite of all the out-there versions of JTTW from China, we westerners should recognize that there is a very long and very ugly history of western countries stripping other cultures’ important religious and literary works for parts & mashing them into their own thing while implying or even insisting that what they present provides a true understanding of the original piece. And while I trust most individuals in regards to Monkie Kid are able to step back and think “this is a lego cartoon and not a set guide for how I should understand JTTW” (especially given the insistence that JTTW and Monkie Kid should be considered there own separate works) there does nevertheless seem to be something of a tendency to take the conclusions people come to, for example, about Sun Wukong’s characteristic in his lego form & then assume that’s just reflective to Sun Wukong as a totality. I imagine a good portion of this is due to people not reading JTTW & especially to not having easy access to solid information or answers about JTTW’s many different facets (like geez awhile ago I was trying to get a clear answer on what is considered the most accurate translation of the names of Sun Wukong’s six sworn brothers & got like 5 different responses lmao), but that tendency to take a western fandom interpretation & run with it instead of doing any background research or questioning said interpretation is still very much at play. As such, & as made prominent in the way people have been interpreting the dynamic between Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque in the lego monkey show, tbh it does seem kind of shitty for western creators & audience to sometimes go really out of their way to ignore all of this original cultural & narrative context for the sake of Angst (TM) in Macaque's favor, demonizing Sun Wukong, and shipping the monkey king with his evil twin (X_X).

And speaking of which, even beyond the potential inherent creepiness & revulsion that can be inspired by this specific ship given common interpretations of the og classic's original meaning (again, it's my understanding, given both summaries of translated Chinese academic texts I've been kindly provided with, my own reading of the Anthony C. Yu translation of JTTW, & vents from a number of Chinese people I've seen on this site, that the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China as having originated from Sun Wukong himself as a living embodiment of his worst traits, hence why only Buddha can tell the difference between them & why the monkey king is much more slow to violence after he kills the macaque), I'd argue that in the face of all the uwu poor widdle meow meow portrayals lego show Macaque is, especially if you include JTTW's events, still in the role of “Sun Wukong but worse” as he is very much a violent & selfish creep. Like he was basically running around in JTTW wearing a Sun Wukong fursuit, but there he had the sole reason of wanting to replace Sun Wukong wholesale so he could have all the good things in the monkey king's life without actually having to work as hard for them. But if you combine that with Macaque now claiming that he used to be best friend with Sun Wukong in his pre-journey days (something that's made funny from a JTTW context given that that status actually belongs to the Demon Bull King lol), his original violence has now blown into this centuries long and really unhealthy obsession with the monkey king. Like he's apparently gone from wanting to literally be Sun Wukong to being so obsessed with getting revenge on Sun Wukong that he's got basically nothing else going on in his life. Like he's only appeared in two episodes but...does he have any friends? Any family? A career or even a hobby that DOESN'T center the monkey king? Anything at all outside of his "get revenge on and/or kill Sun Wukong/use his successor as my personal punching bag” thing? Like dude! That is extremely creepy and extremely bad for everyone all around! As I’ve said before, this seeming refusal to see beyond the past or to do something that doesn’t involve Sun Wukong in some capacity is a trait that makes Macaque an interesting and somewhat tragic villain--he even seems to be working as Sun Wukong’s reflection in a mirror darkly, with lego show Sun Wukong pretty clearly not being able to heal from his own past which is hinted to be defined by one loss after another, and with Monkie Kid even kind of having these two characters somewhat follow their JTTW characterizations in that in the latter half of the journey Sun Wukong often gets sad & starts crying in the face of what seems insurmountable odds (& Monkie Kid Sun Wukong does seem to be hiding some serious depression behind a cheerful facade), whereas the Six-Eared Macaque retains a worse version of Sun Wukong’s pre-journey characteristic of getting pissed and lashing out if things don’t go his way--but it’s also what would make any current friendship or romantic relationship between these monkeys horrific. Although to be fair even the fandom seems to recognize this in an unconscious way, in that a lot of the art & fanfic seems to swing erratically between them kissing & screaming at each other in yet another example of bog-standard fandom adulation of romanticized toxic relationships lol.  

At the end of the day, of course, this is nothing new. You'll find versions of this dynamic across a ton of fandoms and now even canonical work. And as such, I can only look at this kind of popularized relationship dynamic with a kind of resigned weariness whenever it pops up, & my frustrated question with the popularity of this kind of pairing is the exact same one that I have for a multitude of blatantly toxic villain/hero ships, given common fandom discourse & the tendency to either ignore or justify the villain's actions & demonize the hero: if you're THAT convinced that everything is the hero's fault, if you believe THAT much that the hero is the one in the wrong for the villain's pain and their subsequent actions, then why are you so set on them not only becoming a romantic pair, but framing this get-together as a good thing? Like I know we contain multitudes but that's waaay too many contradictions for me to wrap my head around. And it definitely doesn’t help that one branch of underlying reasoning behind this kind of pairing seems to be the ever-present “you break it, you fix it” mentality, where the assumption is that if you’re in a failing, abusive, and/or generally toxic relationship (platonically or romantically), if you put in enough time and effort & attempts to compromise, you’ll be able to restore/have the relationship you dreamed of, even with someone who hurt you really badly. And this assumption isn’t limited to fandom: I’d even argue that it’s everywhere in the culture, hence why a lot of people feel like they “failed” if they have to get a divorce or make the choice to leave an unhealthy friendship. Personally, I feel like people could really benefit from more stories about how it is not only the case that the people you hurt don’t owe you their forgiveness & you can still become a better and happier person without the one you hurt in your life, & that while it can be really hard it can also be a good thing to leave a relationship, even if it’s one that once meant a lot to you. 

  But in all honestly, from my own perspective this kind of pairing is starting to read far less like enemies to lovers and far more like a horrible fantasy where you can pull whatever shit you want, even on the people you "love," & never be held accountable for your terrible behavior or even have to consider that maybe you were in the wrong. It's another facet that makes me larf every time I see people insist that fandom is an inherently "transformative" or "progressive" form of storytelling like friends you are literally just taking status quo toxic monogamy & rebranding it as somehow beneficial & romantic (X_X).

But as to anon’s last frustration, it is hard to know what is the appropriate response with this kind of thing...like for my own part I’m keeping my frustrations to my blog & now increasingly to posts that you would have to click on the “read more” button to see what I have to say, but I totally get the hesitation to give even a mild critique to big names in a fandom. Like I've now seen it happen repeatedly where someone who has a big name in a fandom will make something that's kind of shitty for one reason or another, someone will message them with some version of "hey, that's kind of shitty, you shouldn't do that," and the typical response is either to blatantly ignore the issue completely, or more popularly to make a giant crying circus that seems deliberately geared towards stoking emotions on both sides of the, for example, fiction does/doesn't affect reality issue so that something that didn't even have to be that big a deal gets blown out of all proportion, with the big name often framing what often started out as a very mild critique into a long crying jag about how the initial response to their kind of shitty thing was so mean/cruel and they're just a poor innocent & that YOU'RE the true racist/sexist/bigot etc. if you don't agree with their opinion. It must of course be noted that there have also been numerous instances of people taking it too far the other way & sending not just big names but smaller creators literal deaths threats over stuff like innocuous ships which like holy hell bells people that’s a horrible thing to do. But for the big names at least, the end result of all this fighting is usually that once the dust has settled they have more attention/fame/money/power in the fandom than before, and with anyone who might have a problem with their stuff feeling afraid to voice their opinion lest they be swarmed by that person's fans. In that way fandom does often seem to increasingly be geared towards presenting an “official” fandom perspective about various facets of a piece of media instead of allowing for a multitude of interpretations, and with criticism, no matter its shape or form or how genuinely warranted it may be, being hounded out of existence. I feel like a lot of this could be made less bad if there wasn’t this constant assumption & even drive to think that a different interpretation of or criticism of your favorite work of fiction or your fanwork isn’t a direct claim that you are a thoroughly loathsome individual (& maybe also if people cultivated an enjoyment of learning things about important works from a culture outside their own, even if what you learn clashes with your own initial understandings), but I guess we’ll see if that ever happens. 

So these are my general thinks about the Six Eared Macaque’s current fandom meow meow status & some of my bigger gripes with fandom tendencies as a whole. I stand by my idea that the most interesting & beneficial route for Macaque moving forward would be a kind of “redemption without forgiveness from the ones you hurt” arc--as I think was done pretty excellently with the character Grace in Infinity Train--and if for no other reason than gosh dern this monkey really needs to cultivate some sort of identity beyond his “Sun Wukong but worse” persona. 

[dreamescapeswriting]

Your New Boss ~ KTH [M] [Request]

WORD COUNT: 5K

GENRE: Fluffy, Non Idol! CEO AU, Smut, office smut, unprotected sex, fluffy smut,

PAIRING: Kim Taehyung x Fem!Reader 

As vice president to the company that you worked for people would assume you'd be on time and organised for every day that came at you but today just wasn't your day. Normally you would be up earlier than you had to be, you'd have some coffee and a real breakfast but for some reason, the universe had it out for you today. There was a power outage in your small apartment quarter setting your alarm off and giving you no chance to charge your phone and to top all that off your car was refusing to start for you. As well as having a flat tire at the back, you slammed your head down against the steering wheel wanting nothing more than for this day to end. All you wanted to do was go back to sleep.

"This is just fucking magical!" You screamed sarcastically as you took your black faux leather side bag from the boot of your car before booting the wheel that was flat and storming off towards the closest bus stop. It wouldn't be so bad being late if it wasn't for the new CEO that was taking over the business. You had no idea what his name was but from what you heard he was a hard ass on everyone. The only reason he was even taking over was that your boss was retiring and leaving it to someone he barely knew.

"Here," An elderly man held out an umbrella for you as you reached the bus stop, you thanked him and held it above your head. The uniform you were wearing was suited for the pouring rain that had seemingly come out of nowhere on your walk over, it had been scheduled sun all day which was why you'd worn the skirt and white blouse. Not expecting to get caught in the rain leaving your shirt almost transparent and your legs freezing cold.

"You're late, you're late for a very important date," Your junior worker said as she watched you scramble off the elevator,  it had been creaking the whole ride up. You'd think for a million-dollar company they would learn to upgrade their elevator.

"I know, power outage and then my car wouldn't start, then the traffic coming in-" You sat down on your desk chair feeling defeated in yourself. You were freezing in the clothes you were wearing, the one day you don't bring in a spare change of clothes would be today.

"Then to top off the rain." You hissed as your assistant came rushing over making you jump, he was a little jumpy himself but he plugged a small heater in for you before standing in front of you.

"Do you have this morning's business reports?" You nodded over at the bag and he reached for it, telling you how you were the one supposed to give a meeting this morning but instead, the new CEO took over.

"Oh shit, is he nasty? Think he'll fire me?" Panic raced through you at the thought of being fired, you'd worked so hard to get to the vice president you weren't about to lose it because today the Universe hated you.

"I don't think so, he seems rather nice actually. He has the nicest eyes as well you should-"

"Miss Y/l/n, you're requested in the head office." One of the bitchy females told you as she glanced you up and down, she licked her lips before leaving to go and giggle with her friends. You gathered the papers from your assistant who began watching you closely, you slipped on a pair of heels you kept under your desk before heading over to the main office cabin.

"This day can't get any worse, it just can't." You mumbled to yourself as you placed your hand on the door to the main office.

"Come in!" A voice sounded from inside that seemed strangely familiar to you, it was odd. There was something about the voice, you couldn't quite place where you knew it from but there was a feeling in your gut that made you not want to head inside.

"Sir, I would like to formally apologise- ah!" As soon as you walked through the door the papers you'd been carrying began to fly out of your hands and all around the floor of the room. Taehyung looked up from the piece of paper with your name on it and his mouth almost fell open, he had no idea that it would be you.

"Miss Y/l/n?" He called out as he continued to watch you bend down and pick up the pieces of paper that were scattered around his office floor. He sighed to himself and got up to close the window, the breeze had been relaxing to him until now.

"Sorry Sir," You mumbled still not knowing where you knew his voice but as soon as you turned around and came face to face with him you could have died. Coincidentally the day could have gotten worse and it just did. Taehyung's mouth fell open as soon as you locked eyes, it was you.

"Why are you late?" He wasn't going to waste time on pleasantries, he kept up his stern look as he sat down on his chair and looked over your file. There'd never been an incident with you being late before so he saw no reason for you to be late today, even before he was your boss he knew how strict you were on your timekeeping.

"Sir, I was-" You glanced at him, he was still the same person as he was before you broke up only to you he was someone who hurt you badly.

"There was a power outage in my apartment building, then my car wouldn't start and there was traffic. As you can see I've never been late in the past..." You trailed off your own words not wanting to ramble in front of him, there was no reason for you to ramble to someone like him.

"Hmm, how odd that it all happened on the same day. You must have some serious bad luck," He said with a giant smile on his face,

"Hmm, I'm starting to think so." You mumbled while staring at the floor,

"Sorry? What did you say?" You shook your head as you plastered the fakest smile you could manage onto your face,

"Nothing Sir," He hummed before going back to looking through your reports and files that you'd produced.

"For being late this morning I want you to play catch up, you'll be filling out reports all week." He shut the folder and turned to look up at you, his eyes locking with yours.

"Before you leave, I run a strict business here. You'll have to change into something more appropriate for the workday. A white see-through shirt just isn't right for business." Your arms slowly folded over your chest as you grew insecure of him seeing all of this again,

"Yes Sir, won't happen again." He nodded to you and you turned to walk out of the door,

"Another thing," Your hand rested on the door handle of his office door, you turned to glance over your shoulder at him and his demeanour had changed now. His eyes seemed to have softened as he watched you closely.

"I don't want our past to disrupt our working environment-" You scoffed rolling your eyes at how unbelievable he was acting right now. He was still just the same entitled, can do no wrong guy he was before.

"What you mean is, you don't want me running around and tell everyone what you did to me." You snapped coldly as you turned to face him again, it was evident that you weren't going to leave the room just yet if this topic was being brought up for discussion.

"What I did to you?" He put the emphasis on the 'You' as he spoke, he raised himself from his desk and placed his palms flat on the table as his demeanour changed back to someone that was cold and cruel.

"What did I exactly do to you?" Your weight shifted from one foot to the other as you tried to match his cold stare but nothing could compare to his.

"The cheating for starters, all the women you were seeing behind my back but don't worry Sir. I won't let anyone know, I wouldn't want them knowing I snooped so low to date someone like you," He began shaking his head the moment that you told him he was seeing women behind your back,

"It's not true. Why would I ever cheat on you?" He was trying to get across to you that there must have been some kind of misunderstanding but you weren't going to stand here and battle it out with him. It was in the past now and that was all that mattered to you,

"I won't let anyone know about our past, it's something I wish I could forget also." You mumbled sarcastically as you stormed out of the room making sure to slam the door behind you as you headed for your desk.

"What happened? You look like you've seen a ghost." Your assistant was worried Taehyung might have said something that had upset you but it wasn't true...Almost wasn't true.

"Can you just go and buy me a new shirt please, I feel exposed." You were handing him your purse trying to get him out of your hair, if you spoke about it even a little it would bring back all of those feelings again and leave you crying on the floor.

"Right away ma'am." He could sense there was something you didn't want to talk about so he headed out of your way while you sat at your desk contemplating the decision of quitting. You'd worked so hard all these years to have your ex come above you and potentially ruin everything for you.

"Do you want a lift back? I can drive past your apartment," Your assistant said to you later that night as you sat at your desk. Your heels were kicked off under the desk and you were at with one foot under yourself while you tried to stay away to finish the reports.

"No, it's alright. I have overtime tonight. I'll see you tomorrow though," You mumbled to him as he walked behind you and left. The rest of your floor was empty except for a few of the cleaners and of course Taehyung who was observed to make sure you did the overtime like you were supposed to. The words on the pieces of paper were all starting to blend together and make less sense the longer you stared at them, it was infuriating to do.

"Here," A mug of coffee was slipped onto your desk by Taehyung. He was already starting to feel guilty for making you do overtime but he didn't want people in the company to think he was picking favourites. You had to be tough in this company or it would chew you up and spit you back out. Glancing at the cup you ignored it and continued on with working not wanting to take anything from him, you didn't even want to be in the same room as him.

"You're free to go as soon as this report is finished and on my desk. You'll be doing overtime all week and you have a meeting on Friday." He slammed another folder full of reports on the desk before storming out of the building leaving you alone with the cleaners who had all turned to see what was happening.

The week continued on just like that, snide remarks being made by you in direction of him and Taehyung piling more work onto your desk with the excuse that, 'It was your job.' Later nights meant less sleep and less sleep meant you weren't pumping out the best of work but it was finally Friday night which meant you could go home and get away from him for the weekend.

"Drinks tonight?" A lady from your office questioned as she walked up behind your chair and began shaking it playfully,

"Erm I'd love to-" Your eyes looked behind her to see Taehyung watching you, he was sitting against his chair with his eyes dead on you.

"I have work to finish, next week?" The girls all began leaving and you were alone in the office with Taehyung again. Luckily for you, there was a large wall keeping you both apart but it wasn't large enough to your liking. You could still feel his eyes burning into the back of your head as you worked on the papers you were doing.

Taehyung wasn't in his office which meant you had about two seconds to get the report put on his desk and get into the elevator so you wouldn't have to face him. You dropped the papers down on the desk and began sprinting your way over to the lift, sliding inside and leaning back against the cold wall as you breathed a sigh of relief. Managing to avoid him all week had been difficult but you'd managed by sending your assistant in to give him or ask him for things. Or leaving whenever he wasn't around. There was no reason for you to talk to one another and you wouldn't have to feel hurt by him whenever you looked at him anymore.

"Y/n! Hold the door!" You scrunched your face together hoping the door would close as quickly as possible as he continued to yell your name out and begged you not to let the doors shut. The doors were so close to closing, you were almost free when his long shoe stuck in the door to open them again. The tension quickly began to grow awkward as he stood inside with you,

"Didn't you hear me calling?" You shook your head not wanting to admit you'd been hoping to get away from him. You just hoped that the elevator would move as quickly as possible but you seemed to move one floor and it began rumbling and it sounded as though it was about to fall apart.

"S-Shit," You whimpered your hand gripping onto the bar behind you, Taehyung glanced at you with panic in his eyes. He knew how badly you hated confined spaces and being trapped inside of an elevator probably wasn't what you had in mind for a fun Friday night.

A loud crunch sounded and the elevator jolted to a stop before the lights began to flicker out plunging you and Taehyung into complete darkness.

"I'll push the emergency button." Taehyung went to move but the elevator made another creaking sound so you gripped onto his wrist not wanting him to move.

"S-Stop, what if we fall?" He shook his head at you, he could tell just how frightened you were but there was nothing to be afraid of.

"We're okay, the ropes and wires will be fine it's just the power outage...Remember, they've been happening all week." You knew he was doing his best to keep you calm but it didn't help you at all. You slowly let go of his wrist so he could call someone but the button did nothing, it just seemed to push in and not do a thing.

"I don't have my phone it's up in my office," He whispered as he looked over at you, you were showing him your dead phone battery as you slowly slid down the back wall.

"We'll either start moving soon or someone will come to get us it's okay." But this was far from okay, this was all things not okay because you were stuck in here with your ex-boyfriend who was now your boss.

Time seemed to be passing by slowly, neither of you was sure of what the time actually was but you could have sworn you'd been in there for two days - which was impossible someone would have found you.

"We could talk you know, save us sitting in silence." He was sitting across from you on the opposite wall, his shirt was untucked with the top three buttons undone looking as immaculate as he always did. His brown curls were a mess from all of the times he'd been running his fingers through it and he'd even put his glasses on. Something he used to do whenever he got headaches from what you could remember.

"What should we talk about?" Your eyes were locked onto the ceiling, you didn't want to make eye contact with him as you spoke but you had to admit this was better than sitting there doing nothing.

"We could talk about why you think I was cheating on you..." You looked at him with raised eyebrows, pulling your knees into your chest.

"I don't think you were, I know you were." He rolled his eyes at you as he tried to move closer to you,

"Y/n. I love you I would never do something like that...Why would you think that?" Taehyung's words were buzzing around in your head as you tried to focus on them, the one constant thing was that he said 'loves' you and not loved past tense. Taking in a deep breath you tried not to think about the way your heart was pounding rapidly, at the way your body longed to be closer to him for this.

"I saw you with those other girls, I saw the way they flirted...T-The way you touched them," He shook his head as you fumbled over your words, none of it had been true. He would never do something like that to you, he couldn't stand hurting you.

"None of it was true, I was seeing a lot of girls towards the end because I was getting something for you...A lot of them were private jewellers." Your brows knitted together as he spoke to you, denying everything you thought to be true this last year. Taehyung could see how confused you were so he began to reach into his pocket,

"I take it everywhere I go, it reminds me of you and how much I'll always love you." There it was again. Love. Present tense.

"Tae-" He cut you short by pulling out a small navy blue box, he popped it open to reveal a silver chain with a ring around it.

"It's like a promise ring...only for adults and not teenagers. I wanted to make it perfect so it-"

"Has the date we met engraved," You whispered as you saw the date etched into the outside of the ring with enough space beside it to add another date to it.

"So you weren't cheating on me..." He shook his head slowly,

"But you let me walk out," You whispered to him as he crawled to sit next to you, he looked at your hands wanting nothing more than to reach out and take it into his own. He knew you were single, he'd been asking your scrawny looking assistant everything he could about you and he knew you hadn't dated anyone since.  

"I didn't want you to hate me by trying to force you...I-I figured you'd realise I would never-" He was cut off when you suddenly, out of nowhere, began kissing him hungrily. Your hands working their way into his brown curls as you pulled him to face you, he hummed against your lips moving his hands to your waist.

"W-Wait, what are you doing?" He questioned part of him not wanting the kissing to end but the other part of him confused as to what was happening.

"I love you too...I-I thought you were cheated and I- I've never stopped loving you." Those were the only words he needed to hear from you as he brought you into another hungry kiss, you took control by sitting on his lap and smirking as you felt him bite down on your lip.

"As needy as ever." You whispered as you began kissing down his jawline and towards his neck, his aftershave was still the same. It made your body lurch forward as you ground your hips down onto his pants, you could feel just how much he needed you. He let out a whimper as you ground down and you giggled,

"I love you," You whispered to him as he cupped your chin in his hand and forced you to look into his eyes.

"I love you too," He mumbled bringing you into a rough kiss, his hands moving the edge of your skirt up as he pushed his palm along the inside of your thigh. Letting out a loud gasp as his thumb brushed along the outside of your core through your underwear you looked at him, begging him silently to take you then and there but the lift jolted and the lights flickered on.

"My office," He ordered as you stood up to straighten yourself out.

Once out of the confined space reality began to seep into you about what you were doing with Taehyung. How you'd practically pounced on him without a second thought but your body didn't care. You still wanted him badly so you raced to his office with him. He drew the curtains shut around the small window that looked out over the offices while you looked out at the city view.

"It's beautiful," You whispered as you stared out at all the nightlife. The lights on all the buildings were the only thing lighting up the top half of the sky, it was lovely. Taehyung stood behind you while watching you instead of the view,

"It's the second most beautiful view for me," You groaned at how cheesy he was being and looked down at the floor not wanting to show him how shy he still managed to make you.

"Don't hide from me," He whispered standing behind you and placing his hands on your waist, your breath hitched as soon as he touched you.

"You're beautiful," He whispered as he leant down to put a long kiss on your neck making you whine out at the feel of it.

"I missed the way you sound," He admitted as he continued to leave small kisses on your skin. Biting down softly as he pulled you closer to him. He was still hard for you which made you weak at the knees,

"You like this baby? You like the way I touch you?" You couldn't fathom the words to speak quite yet so you pushed your ass back against him and gasped feeling how hard he was.

"Want you," Was the only thing you could manage to say while rolling your hips back,

"Want you inside." You whispered but he cocked his head to the side and decided to tease you as he sucked on your neck.

"You want me inside? Inside where?" He ran his hands down your body, lifting up the tight pencil skirt that had been teasing him all week. Then his thumb came into contact with your wet panties,

"You're so wet Y/n, did I do this to you?" You nodded weakly and he smirked pushing the edge of your panties to the side as he began to rub harder on your exposed clit.

"Say it, I want to hear you say it." He whispered as he began rubbing roughly on your clit, teasing one finger at your entrance but never once pushing it into you.

"I want you inside of me, I want you to make love to me on the desk." You panted heavily, moaning out at the smallest of touches.

"Good girl," He praised spinning you around so fast you didn't have time to comprehend what was happening until you were placed onto the edge of the table.

He had a cocky smirk plastered across his face as he sunk down in front of you, looking up into your eyes as he placed a small kiss on your clit.

"Taste so much better than I remember," He wasted no time in teasing you and dipped his tongue into you. Moaning against you as he could feel you clenching around his tongue.

"Oh shit." You let out a high pitch yell as your hands pushed into his curls, pushing him closer to your core as you bucked against him, whimpering as he continued to eat you out on the desk.

"Look at me," He ordered as your head rolled back, you hissed as he pushed two fingers into you and chuckled.

"So tight, has no one fucked this pretty little cunt?" You shook your head, you'd not slept with anyone since the moment you left. It was always going to be him you would let touch you, no one else.

"T-Tae please, I'm close." You panted as he continued to push his fingers in and out of you, curling them as he pushed them knuckles deep. The room was starting to feel like it was spinning each time he thrust his fingers into you.

"You want to cum all over my fingers?" You nodded pathetically and he chuckled kissing up to your ear as he continued to fuck his own fingers to you.

"So fucking tight, cum all over my fingers then angel." You whimpered hearing him whisper into your ear, you bit down on his shoulder bucking against his fingers to drawer yourself closer to the edge.

"Ugh, shit- T-Taehyung!" You cried out feeling a warm sensation rise through your body before white clouded your vision. Cumming all over his fingers as he continued to pump them in and out of you. Staring into your eyes as he slowly pulled them out and sucked them clean.

Seeing this you went to slide off the desk to return the favour but he shook his head, unbuckling his trousers as he looked at you.

"N-Need to feel you around me." You smirked this time, seeing how desperate he became within a matter of seconds.

"Then take me." You slowly spread your legs for him on the desk and he gulped looking at how wet you were, your cum still dripping from your folds and he grunted. Reaching out to run his fingers through your arousal before coating himself in it. Pumping himself slowly as he grunted out your name,

"S-Shit baby...I don't- I don't have any-" You shook your head at him as you knew what he was going to say,

"I'm on the pill." As soon as the words left your mouth it was like something took over him and he slowly pushed himself into you. Your nails dug into your shoulders as you whimpered out his name.

"T-Taehyung i-it hurts-" It'd been so long since anything like this had happened for you, he kissed you lovingly.

"I know Y/n, I'm sorry." He pulled back out before sliding back in moaning as he felt your walls tighten around him.

"Even tighter than before," He grunted as he kissed you again, holding onto your hips as he continued with the slow thrusts into you not wanting to hurt you.

"F-Faster," You panted as your back arched forward into him. His eyes scanned over the white shirt and all he could picture was Monday morning when your shirt was wet, he ripped your shirt open and smirked seeing a black bra.

"So fucking hot." He hissed as he buried himself deep into you, freeing you from your bra and throwing your ripped clothing somewhere in the room.

"Argh fuck." You whimpered as he began tugging and twisting on one nipple while biting softly on the other. He had you in the palm of his hands and he knew it.

"T-Taehyng faster please." You begged him so he began to piston his hips forward, bringing you closer to the edge of the table to pick up his speed. Thrusting in and out of you quickly while you let out screams of his name and curse words.

"J-Just like that!" You cried out as he reached down to play with your sensitive clit again. Tugging it between his fingers and rubbing it roughly.

"Oh god, Tae!" You screamed out as he continued to thrust into you, you clenched around and he grunted.

"B-Baby d-don't," He stuttered out as his hip movements began to stutter, every clench as bringing him closer to his own release and he didn't want this to end.

"W-Want you to cum." You whimpered out to him as his rhythm picked up again, hitting your hilt every time making your eyes roll back.

"Y-You first princess," He chuckled watching the way your eyes rolled back as he hit you in just the right spot. You clenched around him a couple more time before moaning out his name loudly, so close to your second orgasm you wanted to push him away from the over-stimulation but pull him back and never let him stop.

"S-Shit I-I'm cumming." You whimpered as he pushed into you roughly one last time, making your core clench around him and released onto his cock. His hips jutted as he let out a growl from his lips, holding you in place as he filled you up. You whimpered feeling some of it drip out of you already but he held himself inside of you. You convulsed a little and he chuckled pulling out slowly before cupping your face in his hands and smiling at you.

"I love you so much Y/n," He pulled you into a loving kiss but you pulled away,

"I love you too," Your voice came out hoarse from all the yelling and you whimpered laying back against the desk not caring that you were laid on stacks of ruined papers.

"Am I off the hook for being late now?" You laughed as he pulled you up and wrapped his blazer around your body, he chuckled at you.

"You're only off the hook if you come back to mine tonight. I want to wake up with you in my arms, cook you breakfast...Like old times." He whispered as he pushed his head into the crook of your neck and kissed softly.

"Of course," You whispered back to him as he pulled you down from the desk, laughing softly as you whined out desperately. You suddenly felt empty when his seed left your body and he rolled his eyes at you, promising to do it again when you got back to his place if you behaved yourself on the ride home.

Tagline: @fluffyjoons​ @lyoongx​ @mitzwinchester​ @fan-ati--c​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @taestannie​ @rjsmochii​ @bisexualmess007​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ 

[nevertheless-moving]

thanks again to @dykerory and @willowcrowned for this genius au. this is an incomplete collection of very specific set of headcanons/daydreams i had about a tangential version of your au that made me emotional in the middle of the woods. whenever you feel the time is right, i’m very eager to hear your og version on the ‘but obi-wan, tho!’, because i admittedly pushed this one’s resolution really far chronologically because i wanted batman to be involved.

continuation from here

note: my understanding of dcu is as sporadically informed as my understanding of the gffa. 

newly graduated clark kent gets his first journalism job and starts settling more and more into the superman thing. the rest of the justice league has been around but his entrance onto the scene is the one that really inspires the various heroes to actually start coordinating to deal with the weirdness magnet that is dcu Earth. Clark is in his early 20s. Anakin is in his late 30s.

He’s been living on Earth, without the force, for nearly 2/3rds of his life. He has a close knit circle of friends who were kind to him even when they thought he was just a weird and crazy emo cult victim (the gradual increase of public encounters with aliens and superpowers sparks some awkward apologies, Anakin at 38 just waves his friends off, smiling and changing the subject, neither confirming nor denying his high school ramblings of spaceships and magic. it doesn’t really change anything).

He lives an hour’s drive from smallville, and runs a successful auto shop. people travel from pretty far to check out some of his more wild and specialized motorcycle abominations. makes enough money selling them to rich idiots to fund his free auto-class and auto-repair programs for impoverished communities.

It took a while but he eventually came around to the idea of helping people without physical force (ironically, this is happening around the same time Clark is coming to the realization that he can help people with physical force). Generally respected as a pillar of the community. When people start to realize how profoundly weird he is as a person in a number of inexplicable ways, someone will generally pull them aside and quietly whisper that he was in a cult at a child, no one really knows much about it except that it’s what inspired his anti-modern-slavery work, which is a little telling. Not married. Was in a long-term relationship for like 9 years. It didn’t end well but no-one knows the details.

Has several cats. 

He’s- wistful but settled. He’s been through a lot of therapy. He meditates every morning and night, clearing his mind and examining his emotions in the way Obi-Wan taught him. He thinks Obi-Wan would be proud of him. He know his Mom would be.

Once he gets used to the idea, he never really stops loving the concept of learning just because. Duel bachelors degree in in african american history and american literature, masters in engineering, masters in astrophysics a phd in theoretical physics, another phd in medieval folklore. He’s worked a lot of jobs. 

He was already pretty well versed in astronavigation back at the temple. Over the course of his time on earth, he gets more educated in earth astronomy and physics. With is increased knowledge, his theory for ‘how did i get here’ shifts from slight hyperdrive miscalculation, to big hyperdrive miscalculation, to some sort of hyperlane incident. he realizes that none of the stars he knows are familiar in any NASA database. He must be beyond wildspace, which helps him let go of the last bit of hurt he felt that Obi-Wan never found him.

Then he really learns physics- and- light doesn’t exactly work like that right? He thought it was just primitive Earth understanding but... he gets a phd more or less accidentally, trying and failing to disprove that the speed of life is constant constant.

Get’s another even more accidentally, explaining how alternate universes might form if we assume slightly different universal constants. He publishes his thesis anonymously around the same time metas are becoming a household term, and at least one science journalist speculates on it and how alternate universes might explain the increasing prevalence of wildly different superpowers. He doesn’t claim credit for the honorary diploma awarded to the unknown theorist- he doesn’t want to risk drawing any attention to him and by extension Clark, who’s alien differences are far more of the ‘military experiment interesting’ variety then his.

He stops tinkering with Clark’s ship. He finally gets how it works. Now that he realizes how FTL travel has to work in this universe, tinkering with the mechanical generation and harnessing of the massive quantities of energy necessary to do is startlingly familiar. But it doesn’t matter. No matter how far and fast he travels, he’s never going to be able to get back to the life he used to know. 

Perhaps this is what being the chosen one actually means- he’s meant to live a life without the force, so that when he returns to it in death he’ll be able to somehow...educate? the force? maybe?

Ok, he’s not great at the metaphysical spiritual side of things, but he does accept that going back is out of his control, and he’s doing good here, even if it’s not galaxy altering.

Despite all the therapy, he never doubts that his early life was real. He has his saber and deep, deep down he can feel a spark in the kyber. He can’t do anything with it, but it’s there. There’s also pieces of the utter wreck that was his ship in the cellar, next to the sleek unblemished pod that Clark arrived in. Shortly before Clark becomes Superman, he asks for his help in melting down his old ship to make unearthly alloys. 

He’s not surprised when Clark tells him he met a ‘real’ ‘magic’ user- it stands to reason that considering how relatively easy it is to convert energy from one form to another in this universe (Clark can fly), at least one kind would bend to sentient willpower in a similar way as the force does.

It’s still a little nervewracking showing his lightsaber to someone new for the first time in a decade. Zantana scrutinizes, bewildered. 

“There is some sort of power locked within, but it’s unfamiliar to me,” she admits finally. “I could probably brute force it and force the energy to release itself, but it would likely destroy the container.” Anakin politely refuses. 

Later, after the justice league’s formation, Clark mentions to J’onn that he has a friend who might be able to work on his ship. J’onn is extremely doubtful when he’s brought to a bizarre autoshop in the midwest that looks half-like a roadside attraction. Anakin sighs and digs his hands into the guts of the craft, muttering incomprehensibly and yelling at clark to melt down some pieces from the special scrap pile. A few days later he explains the patches he’s done to an impressed J’onn. When he asks how a human came to learn such things, he’s absently informed that,

“I used to work in a junkshop in Tatooine. All sorts of ship parts came through.”

“I’m unfamiliar with this world.”

“Tell you what, if you ever meet anyone who’s heard it of it, send them my way, and I’ll make your next repair free.”

“Oh! I’m afraid I don’t have any earth money...”

“Ugh, of course you don’t. it’s cool, capitalism sucks anyway and everyone’s entitled to free transportation, regardless of the area they happen to live. I do ask that if you can’t pay for the repairs that you spend an equivalent number of hours either attending one of my free auto classes, or volunteer at a community-led charities of your choice, here I’ll get you a pamphlet-”

So the Martian Manhunter becomes a weekly volunteer at a Midwestern Food Waste Reclamation Facility. J’onn J’onzz ends up becoming Anakin Skywalker’s friend well before he becomes comes truly comfortable around Kal-El. For a telepath, 39 year old Anakin’s Jedi orderly mind is a soothing relief.

(again, Anakin has spent far more time meditating on Earth then he ever did at the temple. Before all this, spent five years dutifully memorizing the Jedi way even as he struggled to live up it’s basic practices. For the first few years on earth, religiously practicing every meditation technique Obi-Wan ever taught him, thinking obsessively about the philosophies he never had time to really process, is just a desperate attempt to reconnect with the force, prove himself worthy of it. But even after he gives up on ever touching the force again, he keeps up the practice, he can’t release his emotions exactly, but he does find peace. The tendency to stop mid-rant to earnestly pronounce made up zen bullshit and then sit quietly for an hour before picking up on his tirade again as though there was no interruption is one of the things many things people find profoundly weird about him)

Kal-El doesn’t stop asking new aliens and dimensional travelers if they’ve ever heard of Coruscant, or Hutts, or the Jedi Order. Anakin might have given up, but Superman remembers his older brother scrubbing away his own tears to focus on helping Clark calm down enough to touch the floor again. The more the Kryptonian’s powers developed in alarming ways, the more Anakin set aside talk of missing his home galaxy. Anakin might have claimed it wasn’t like that, but Clark was determined to take every chance his increasingly weird life threw at him, no matter how vanishingly small.

In the middle of his first battle with Braniac, Clark starts insulting his incomplete database. The world collector pauses, demanding a more precise explanation. Clark complies, giving his best technical description of Coruscant’s cityscape, Tatooine’s binary star system, and so on. Braniac is so distracted that Superman recovers completely from his kryptonite poisoning and easily saves the day.

Neither the lantern corp or the denizens of the neutral zone have the answers. Superman doesn’t mention it it Anakin, but he never stops looking and listening.

“How did you even meet that guy?” Flash asks curiously after stopping to say hello on one of their after work laps of the country. 

“Aliens among us support group,” Kal-El responds deadpan. 

“Oh. Wait, what? He’s an alien? I thought he was from the future or something! You’re messing with me. No way that’s a thing. How many people are in the support group? This is a joke, right?”

“Sorry, most of them aren’t out and I don’t want to violate their privacy- a lot of them have high profile jobs. How do you think I met J’onn?”

“SUPES I’M FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW YOU’VE GOTTA STOP”

Anakin is just sort of vaguely known by a solid chunk of the super community as ‘that one midwestern zen space mechanic’ and no one really questions it because everyone’s life has just gotten so goddamn weird. A few of them know he used to be a space wizard of some kind. Space wizards now being a regular hazard of life on earth, no one has reason to doubt this, and it’s as good an explanation as any for Anakin’s general vibe.

well. almost no one doubts this. Batman does not simply accept Anakin’s general bullshittery without carefully investigating and drawing his own conclusions. He does not share these with anyone.

But one day Clark- this is well after Superman became Kal-El to him, and not long after Kal-El tells him to call him Clark- comes up to him and asks for his help finding about an alternate universe. Knowing and dreading where this is going, Batman stalls,

“Shouldn’t you be asking one of the league members who regularly travels between universes?”

“I have, over the years,” Clark admits, awkwardly scuffing a boot on the floor of the cave. “But no one’s familiar with the exact one I’m looking for, and I thought since you’re a detective, and also one of the smartest people I know, you might be able to help me...”

“You’re an investigator yourself, and you can survive the vacuum of space,” Bruce shoots back flatly. “I’ve told you before Gotham is my priority, and this has ‘personal project’ all over it.”

“Come on, B, please,” Superman pleads, trailing Batman around the cave like an overgrown puppy. “In a few months it will have been 30 years! He’s my brother! Just let me see the research you’ve already done!”

“Who says I’ve already done research on your brother?”

Clark shoots him a look. And Bruce concedes the point with a grunt.

“I’ll need need to talk with him first,” Bruce finally concedes. “Bring him by the cave. Take the-”

“Take the tunnel entrance, I know, I know,” Clark agrees with a grin. “This doesn’t mean he’s authorized to know your secret identity. Thanks Bruce, this means a lot. I’ll ask him tomorrow about his schedule.”

Superman flies off and Batman scrubs his face with a gloved hand. After a moment he pulls up Anakin’s file on the main monitor. Bruce honestly respects and likes the man, as much as he respects and likes anyone who’s not family. He admires his sense his style, appreciates his upgrades to the batmobile, and is impressed by both this civil rights work and his additions to the scientific community.

That doesn’t mean he’s not convinced that Anakin’s brother is a bit insane. Again, he’s not judging! He dresses like a bat to scare random henchmen and beat up actual demigods! He wishes his rogues gallery was as capable of directing their ptsd-inspired delusions and staggering intellects towards such productive pursuits!

Bruce was already in quiet awe of the Kent’s ability to raise an outrageously superpowered being without blowing up a chunk of the country; their success in derailing a supervillian origin story just puts him over the edge. He stares at the three most likely profiles he’s pulled together. Christen Jones, from a negligent family, death certificate filled out suspicously sloppily at age 3. Earl Lucas, went missing at age 9, both parents dead in a violent assault. And Jake Hayden, who at age 5 disappeared along with the rest of his family in a seismic accident later linked to Luthercorp.

Anyone of them could have suffered on the streets for years and coped by establishing an elaborate fantasy world, aided by self medication, only to eventually be picked up by the Kent’s and start healing. Certainly Anakin had the intellect to create worlds in his mind. All his rogues were smart enough to create their own little realities in their heads- it doesn’t mean they were actually reachable. 

Unfortunately Anakin had a Kryptonian younger brother who was determined to actually find the space wizard knight homeworld, even as the 'Jedi’ in question had slowly moved away his reliance on the delusion as an adult. Batman really didn’t see any way bringing up his conclusions to Anakin or Clark could possibly be helpful, and so many alien allies had a ‘If you find about the Jedi please contact Kal-El of Krypton on Earth’ pamphlet that it would be excruciatingly awkward to try and discretely correct anyone.

Bruce was not looking forward to this conversation.

[ships-and-what-not]

Atla au where Katara had actually confided in Zuko about how she doesn’t know what to do in regards to Aang who she had previously thought she had a crush on but after time isn’t feeling the same way but feeling like because she’s already shown interest previously she can’t go back on it now otherwise it would hurt him, and that she feels uncomfortable now about his advances but feels like maybe she owes it to him, and Zuko who’s had his own change of heart and mind reassures her that there’s nothing wrong with changing her mind and following the path that she feels most aligns with how she truly feels, that she’s her own person who’s allowed to change and doesn’t owe anyone anything, that the right people will accept her as her authentic self. Upon Katara still looking worried and conflicted Zuko offers try to mitigate Aang’s unwanted advances towards her in non-confrontational ways, which she agrees would be appreciated and is thankful. And that when we see Zuko sitting in between her and Aang he was actually acting in accordance with Katara’s own wishes.

In addition to this idea by @perfectlypanda​ 

an au where following Aang’s kissing Katara without her consent after she’d said she was confused and him never apologizing for it, Katara also confides in Suki to ask if she has any fault in it happening due to not being clear enough and having shown previous interest. Suki makes sure Katara knows that it wasn’t her fault and that she should never attribute blame when someone does anything physical without enthusiastic consent from her, the difference between coercion/emotional manipulation and enthusiastic consent, and that considering she had been indicating she wasn’t interested at that time both verbally and with her guarded body language it was particularly bad that he did what he did, compounded by the fact that he never apologized. Suki also talked with Katara about her own observations of male entitlement to women and how it’s connected to the sexism that Katara has seen and objected to before, how it’s not always going to be stereotypical ‘bad guys’ who it comes from, and that it doesn’t matter how otherwise “nice” someone is, that it still doesn’t make it ok and it’s important to correct them and stand up for herself, even if that means standing up for herself against a friend.

Suki being particularly worried for Katara after their conversation offers to teach Katara some non-bending physical defense moves if Katara would like (which I also think would make for a good bonding moment between them).

[kim-miyeon]

Hell Above-Chapter Two

PAIRINGS: Hwang Hyunjin X Female Reader

WARNINGS: Mafia!AU, strong explicit language, family problems, pregnancy,  mentions of birth control, angst, mentions of murder, alcohol, cigarettes,  18+

WORD COUNT: 4.1K

Previous | Next

I Know You’re Tortured Within, Your Eyes Look Hungry Again.

You pushed your hand into the door of the rundown bar, emitting light into its darkness from the outside. The smell of liquor and smoke from lit cigarettes stung your nose as your eyes gazed at the immediate sight of drunks who never made it out from the night before.  Your sight was darkened more due to the gold rimmed sunglasses that held on the bridge of your nose, as your eyes rummaged through the area until they spotted the far table with your cousins sitting. Strutting towards the table, the sound of your heels gaining attention from the lowlife bodies of men surrounding the bar. You rolled your eyes as you passed by and finally reached the table where Seungmin, Minho, Felix and Jeongin all sat.  All four boys stood from their seats to formally greet you as you nodded softly and grabbed the empty chair in front of you to take your seat. As they followed, you brought your arm in front of you , bending it to get a close view of the rose gold watch that rested on your wrist. The time changed to 9:00 AM and you smiled softly looking up at the boys you were waiting for you.  You licked your lips and reached to remove the glasses off your face before folding them and setting it on the table. You leaned back and crossed your arms firmly. 

“I know it's a Saturday morning and we would all rather be anywhere else but here, so lets make it brief.” You advised as you snapped your head to Felix, “What do you have?” 

“Body was disposed of at the location, like you wanted. Police arrived this morning to investigate but the public won’t receive any more information that just another murder in the streets.” Felix informed as he handed you a photo of the crime scene. You extended your hand and grabbed the sheet to look and saw the remnants of ash in a pile by the train tracks. Burned. A form of execution that you found liberating. A way to mark your territory and erase any evidence. All that could remain was the teeth of the victim, but you knew better than to allow such evidence to be kept at the scene of the crime, even when you owned the police. Scanning the photo more, you managed to look at a train cart that stood in the background and to your delight, was a perfect stroke of the letter ‘L’. 

“L for Lee.” You cocked your eyebrow up and looked at Felix who smiled.

“Written in our color, using real material,” Felix emphasized and you nodded pleasantly. 

Blood Red. It was the long standing color of the Lee Family. One that bonded the family together and also was a message to anyone who would know. But to use the blood of the victim as a marking of a murder was the way the Lee’s had practiced their executions for generations, and with the silence of the family, you had managed to make sure that it was incorporated in subtle ways. It helped to know that your money paid the detectives who otherwise would pass along information to other gang leaders, people who could out the Lee Family. Each case of a murder had its own form of marking, this one being the first to truly state something bold. 

“It’s definitely a message for Y.” You handed the picture back to Felix.

“Someone who also had a message for us,” You turned your gaze to Seungmin who spoke up, “He knew you’d kill that man and bring the body there.”

“I can’t say that I’m shocked to hear that,” You smirked “What riddle did he send this time?”

Seungmin handed you a manila envelope and you took it. Opening it to feel a thick piece of paper, you let your fingers pull it out. Your eyes scanned the sheet that was filled with large dots and dashes. The way it looked could cause anyone a headache. It was so much on one page, you hated the way it looked. 

“Morse code?” You looked at Seungmin, in disbelief. “He wants us to decode a morse code message? What the fuck is this guy on?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” Felix chimed in annoyed and you shook your head. 

“How long do you think it will take you to solve it?” You questioned Seungmin as he  took the page back and analyzed it, sucking in air between his teeth. 

“A few hours maybe, definitely by the end of the day. I have other things to work on too. ” He stated and you nodded your head in confirmation. 

“Do that then,” You finally looked over to Minho who had been quiet the whole time and completely unengaged. You watched as he sat back and tapped his fingers against the table and you grew annoyed. He was always like this, so cold. Distant and bluntly just mean. You could tell that he wanted to say something but was holding back, probably trying to prevent another screaming match. You both had been head to head for years and even though you did love him, he managed to make your blood boil just by the way he looked. You sighed loudly.

“Something eating you, Minho?” You asked and he stopped tapping his fingers on the table and slowly looked up at you. You continued, “You look aggravated.”

“I’m fine.” He muttered softly.

“Did you take care of the associates like I asked?”

He scoffed, “You think I can just commit a mass murder of 100+ men overnight without raising the ears of our enemies?”

You tilted your head in an innocent way, “I don’t know,” You paused, “ I assume that you have it under control, am I right?”

“I do have it under control,” He growled. 

“Well, with each second that passes, more of those fuckers keep talking.” You clicked your tongue and Minho looked at you darkly. 

“With each second that passes, one of those leaders are gonna see that message and begin planning.” Minho spat.

“Ohhh, so that’s why you're upset. You don’t like our little message?” You grabbed the photo of the crime scene and looked at it again in amusement. “I think it’s a lovely message to Y.”

“IT’S AN IRRESPONSIBLE MESSAGE,” Minho slammed his hands on the table and yelled at you as you looked up at him coolly. “Y is not the only one after us, Y/N. There are others, like your beloved little husband.

You clenched your jaw tightly at the mention of Hyunjin. Minho shook his head in aggravation. 

“What is even taking you so long Y/N? The longer he stays alive the longer we all have to keep this shit secretive. What are you waiting for?” Minho snapped and then took a quick pause glaring his eyes at you, “Are you not strong enough to pull the trigger? Is that it? Does your little Hyunjin dick you down so well that you can’t find another fuck buddy, huh?”

You slammed the table and stood up angrily. All the boys held in their breath and you took a slow inhale as you tried to bring yourself to a place of peace. You exhaled audibly and you opened your eyes to look back at the table and then directly to Minho. 

“Okay. Everyone listen to me.” You waited for each boy to look at you before you began. “I respect and love each one of you. We are family first and our blood bonds us and makes us strong. You have stood by my side all these years and I am thankful for that.” 

You saw Felix flash an innocent smile and Jeongin nodding his head in agreement to your words. Minho deterred his gaze from you and Seungmin bit his lip preparing for your next words. 

“However, none of you are Won Shik’s child, I am. And my father died and left me with this organization, with my mission. I am the rightful leader of the Lee Family and this is a business and you all work for me. It is not the other way around.” You looked to Minho aggressively. “Hwang Hyunjin will stay alive for as long as I want him to. And if any of you have a problem with that,” You halted and  looked around the table at the boys who were in slight fear of your indirect threats. “I suggest you keep that shit to yourself.” 

You sat back down and watched Minho stand and walk away from the table. You rolled your eyes and Seungmin called out for Minho as you rested your hand on his, shaking your head for him to just let Minho go. You turned your gaze to Jeongin and Felix.

“Speaking about my husband, how was his trip?” 

“Well, you’d be happy to know that he is about to finalize a million dollar contract.” Felix laughed a bit.

“A million dollars I’ll never see.” You leaned back into your chair.

“Still not as much as you thought” Jeongin cutely stated and you snickered,

“Money I can’t even flaunt,” You stated as you gathered yourself, “But I can use it for groceries. I gotta go and pick up some stuff so I will take my leave.” 

“Can I come with you?” Jeongin asked and you smiled.

“Always little one” You patted his head and he smiled back. You looked to Seungmin and Felix who all stood up, “Morse code by tonight?”

“Promise.” Seungmin stated and you smiled. 

“See you all later.” You turned to walk with Jeongin by your side. 

As you walked out of the bar and towards your car, you opened the door and sat in. Jeongin sat next to you and you groaned out.

“He is SO entitled. Why is he such a fucking asshole?” You ranted, more to yourself but loud enough that Jeongin heard.

“He cares alot about you.” Jeongin reassured and you looked at him. “Minho just has a strange way of showing it.”

“He doesn’t care about me. He only cares about himself.” You huffed, “What about the family?”

“Safe. In police protection, set to deport the country.” 

You closed your eyes in relief and then took Jeongin’s hand in comfort. “Thank you Jeongin. I am so sorry that I keep asking you-”

“No Y/N. Don’t apologize.” 

“Jeongin I’m serious. It’s not right of me to keep putting you in those situations, I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.” Jeongin took a hold of your shoulders and made sure you looked at him.

“Nothing is going to happen to me. I will always do what you need me to do. We are family, it's what we do.” You nodded at him and sighed softly. Your phone alarm began to ring through the silence and you whined.

“It’s that time.” You chuckled, pulling your phone to snooze your alarm and reaching into the middle console and pulling out a small packet of pills. Popping on into your hand, you placed the pill in your mouth and dry swallowed it. Jeongin watched the whole scene and after you were done you looked at his sad eyes and laughed. 

“What’s wrong with you?” 

“Why do you take those?” He asked. 

You looked at him in confusion, “ Birth control? Obviously, so I don’t get pre-”

“That’s not what you want.” He interrupted and immediately you felt sadness run through you.

“You know I can’t have a child, Jeongin. It would be chaos.”

“What if a child was the only way?” he responded.  You turned your head, “What if having a child was the only way to end the feud? Giving birth to the heir of both families?”

“The feud can never be ended Jeongin, a child would only cause problems.”

“The love you and Hyunjin have is not fake, what you two have is real and powerful. They say love overcomes hate. You two could unite and bring peace. You wouldn’t have to complete your mission and you two could live, happily, with a family.” He optimistically recommended and you looked down at your wedding ring that rested on your finger. Jeongin’s hopeful words made you sad at the harsh reality of your life. Jeongin sighes in a mixture of frustration and sadness. 

“You deserve to be happy Y/N. You don’t want this.”

You started the car and you nodded. Jeongin had always been your rock, the person who knew you better than anyone. He knew your heart and where you stood. The love you have for Hyunjin, how you wanted to be normal. You hated living this life, but what choice did you have? You were born into this, this was your fate and Hyunjin was your enemy. One day you’ll have to kill him, you knew that one day you wouldn't be able to live your life with him. You couldn’t grow old together, you won’t start a family. It hurt you. This was not what you wanted. 

“I don’t get to be happy.”  

*******************************************************************************************

Hyunjin walked through the kitchen and laughed softly at the mess you two made the night before. All the silverware on the ground and food left out made Hyunjin remember how he felt to have you again. Even though he was gone for a short time, it felt like a lifetime for him. There was something exuberating about being in your arms and having you close. It was like your heart beats were in sync when you two were together. It never ceased to amaze him how you were like his soulmate. Reaching down to grab some of the utensils on the ground, a knock broke the silence in the house and Hyunjin shot back up. Looking at the time, 9:04 AM. He surely didn’t think his wife was back from running her errands for the day. 

Walking over towards the door, Hyunjin grabbed the handle and pulled it open.

“Yo Yo Yo!” The brown headed guy exclaimed and smiled as Hyunjin leaned back in surprise.

“Jisung! What are you doing here?” Hyunjin asked as the two quickly hugged and Jisung pulled back.

“Came to welcome you back and give you some updates, is the wife home?” Jisung asked suspiciously.

“No she went out to run some errands, come in” Hyunjin walked leading Jisung into the house, “Sorry for the mess by the way.”

Jisung looked at the mess in the kitchen and smirked, “Doesn’t seem like a lot of eating went on last night.”

Hyunjin playfully glared at Jisung and Jisung held his hands in the air in defeat, “Sorry, sorry. But he congrats on the contract negotiations this week. Hell, you get any richer and I might have to marry you.”

“Hey, she doesn’t know about it so hush.” Hyunjin warned and Jisung nodded, “What do you have?”

“Confirmation that the Lee Family is operating. Take a look.” Jisung pulled out his phone to show Hyunjin the photo of the crime scene by the tracks.

“I assume that that is not just a pile of random ash, anyone could have burned a body.” 

“Not the body, the train cart.” Jisung pointed and Hyunjin’s eyes grew wider as the realization, “Blood red. ‘L’. So it’s a message.” 

“It’s something. Blood red is a Lee Family color. Maybe it’s a message for us, it's almost been twenty years since the death of Won-Shik. A new heir would be old enough to take reign.” Jiung informed. 

Hyunjin’s mind went red. The inkling and the thought of his natural born enemy gave him an profound adrenaline. It was always just a rumor, a plan in the shadows, that if the Lee Family had an heir, Hyunjin would be the one to end him. It had always been an image in his head to claim that kind of power, to never let the Lee Family come back. Generations of leaders all look to Hyunjin to lead the family to its greatest potential. 

“If a new leader is here, then we better get to moving on it.” Hyunjin stated, “Does my father know about this?’

“Uh I don’t think so, but um…” Jisung trailed off and Hyunjin looked at him concerningly. 

“What Ji?” 

“You’re father did come by the office this week...asking a lot of questions...” Hyunjin froze in fear. 

“What kind of questions?” 

“If you’re considering any one to marry, like any of the women he recommended. You’re coming to the age where you have to.. you know.” Jisung stood there awkwardly.  Hyunjin sighed frustratingly. 

“Maybe it’s time to tell Y/N.” Jisung suggested and Hyunjin stood there biting his lip.

He couldn’t just tell you. How could he tell you. “I can’t Ji.”

“She’s not gonna leave you.” 

“How would you tell the woman of your dreams that you are the leader of the biggest mafia gangs in the world? How do you tell her that you aren’t a PR representative and that you go out of town to make illegal deals with other gangs? That we can afford to live in a house triple if not quadruple the size as this one. There’s blood on my hands Ji, I’ve killed more people than I care to count. How do I tell her?” Hyunjin proclaimed at Jisung and Jisung hung his head down.

“What are you going to do about a future heir?” He asked concerningly. 

Hyunjin ran his hands through his hair, “She can’t have kids.”

“What?” Jisung asked shocked, “I didn’t know that.”

“She’s infertile. We’ve tried but she... just can’t” Hyunjin’s demeanor grew sad and Jisung nodded. 

“If she loves you the way I know she does, I think she will be understanding of your situation.” Jisung stated and Hyunjin shook his head in agreement, just to end the conversation, “ I do have to get going though, and you, my guy, need to get cleaning.”

Jisung patted Hyunjin’s back as he headed towards the front door. Hyunjin stood there in the middle of the kitchen mess and rested his hands against the island in front of him, lowering his head down and groaning in frustration. He hated it. All of it. When you came into his life, he never wanted to protect another human in the way he wanted to protect you. You made him feel secured and safe, and all he has ever wanted was someone to love him for him. Not for the money and the luxury that came with who he was. Hyunjin knew by getting involved with you early on that perhaps one day he'd have to come clean. Then some days, he just wants to take your hand and run far away and live a life without all of the damage. Jisung’s optimism for you was so high, but Hyunjin knew it wouldn’t be that easy. He didn’t want to lose you. He can never lose you. 

*******************************************************************************************

You took another sip of your red wine as you focused into the television that was playing recurring advertisements. Your legs curled up on the couch with a blanket resting over you and you heard the sound of the water from the sink turn off. Looking over to see Hyunjin drying his hands after washing all the dishes, you smiled in content as you looked back over to the tv and felt your phone buzz in your lap. 

SM: The morse code message is almost done. 

You read Seungmin’s text and you clicked your phone off when you heard the floor creak from Hyunjin walking towards you. You raised your head and saw him make a beeline behind the couch, approaching you. He stood behind you and his long fingers grazed your neck up and down and you moaned into the touch. You leaned your head back and he bent down to place kisses on your lips. His thick lips taking all of you with him as he tried to deepen the kiss but you laughed and he laughed with you in response. 

“Thank you for dinner” You whispered against him and he kissed you again. 

“Hmm.” He groaned as he kissed you a final time, pulling back and making his way around to sit next to you on the couch. 

You pulled your legs away to sit in front of you as he laid his body across the couch and rested his head on your lap. Your hand naturally rested on top of his head, and your fingers began to stroke through his soft locks. He hummed into your legs as he let you play with his hair. You smiled softly at the whole scene. This is what you lived and craved for, small moments with him that filled your happiness. He meant everything to you and you never wanted to be a second without him. 

Your phone buzzed again and you picked it up to read the messages. 

SM: Done. 

FX: What did it say?

SM: “ When the clock strikes upon the new day, won’t you meet me under the stars?”

MH: Of course, he’s not gonna give us anymore than that. 

FX: It is a riddle though, not very far from before. 

MH: It’s aggravating. We don’t know what it means. 

JN: Maybe it has something to do with constellations? Or something about the moon? 

You: Could be Jeongin, let’s look into that. 

You sat your phone down and aimed your eyes back at your husband who was watching the news for the night. You looked back up at the screen and then saw the news report.

“And we have some breaking news tonight, a community in fear after learning about a potential homicide by the local train station. Police were called to the site after complaints of a stench was called in, some believing a body had been burned.” 

“That’s crazy.” Hyunjin mumbled out and you stared sternly at the program, intrigued by how your most recent kill made a debut on television. 

“What is?” You asked back.

“That someone could kill a human by burning their body.” He said softly and you mentally scoffed at the sudden change of heart he grew from watching the scene. You knew that Hyunjin put up an innocent act when you were together. How every time a murder was casted on the news, he act like it was the worst thing. However,  you also knew that he had committed murders far more gruesome than you and allowed the bodies to be shown more publicly.  

Hyunjin shifts his head to look at you and you respond by looking down at him. 

“I would never let anyone hurt you like that.” He pouted and you chuckled to yourself and caressed his soft face. 

“You’re so silly Jinnie,” you smiled at him and he shifted back over to face the tv again. 

“Well, the event of the year is right around the corner and we are very excited about it!” The newscaster exclaimed as she looked at her co-caster.

“That’s right, the 72nd Annual Charity Ball Event is in two weeks and today we have brought the Chairwoman of the Ball, Young Mi Hyuk with us to announce the theme of this year's event.”

“Isn’t that the ball you go to Hyunjin?” You asked and Hyunjin groaned. 

“Unfortunately.” He grumbled, “ Another year of fancy cocktails and blood sucking pieces of shit I guess.” 

“Well maybe the theme will be fun this year.” You insured as you paid attention to the women on the screen. 

“We are very excited and honored to host another year of the The Charity Ball and we have worked very hard on developing a theme to accentuate what a special night it will be,” The chairwoman spoke in octaves to try and seem more excited than she actually cared to be. You knew that those who went to the ball did not care about charity, they only cared about reeling money in for themselves. You watched as the women grew anxious about the reveal and it happened so suddenly that you almost thought you went deaf. The way the words left her mouth felt unreal, exquisitely unique. It was hard to believe. You simply couldn’t believe it. 

“This years’ theme... ‘Under the Stars’.”

******** 

A/N: WOW so sorry this took forever to come out. It’s a bit short and underwhelming but I promise its gonna get good. I’m thinking of doing a taglist if people are interested. Please let me know! Also don’t be afraid to share your thoughts, I really wanna know my readers:) Okay until next week! -KMY

[you-did-well-moon]

Werewolf!Seonghwa meeting his mate

Type: werewolf au, fluff, angst kinda felt bad writing this

Pairing: Werewolf!Seonghwa x Witch!female reader

Word count:  2,939

A/n: O o f . All i really have to say is to once again excuse my poor photo shopping skills. I really like this y/n and wooyoung and san be clowning >:( also please don’t be afraid to talk to me i need friends who don’t call my dogs dead rats. You know who you are. 

TW: Insecurity, insulting of reader, loneliness, putting down of witches word wise and society wise. 

You walked at a leisurely pace as the grass of the damp forest floor swayed and danced with you, seemingly reaching out to you by gently curling over the edges of your boots. An easy smile tugged at your lips at the comfort the forest brought to you. 

The trees whispered kind words of praise slightly bending towards you offering their own sense of protection. The mischievous childlike winds carried those words softly caressing your face with it’s refreshing touch and playfully tugging at strands of your hair swirling around you gleefully when you giggled. 

There was no mockery from humans or entitled jabs thrown by other magical beings. A sense of belonging existed within you when in the forest. It was cruelly ironic how you neither belonged with the humans or the other magical beings. Werewolves believed you were bad luck, and the vampires treated you like a pet for them to order around. Even the fae did their best to avoid you.

In the forest, you were safe, a feeling you didn’t get to enjoy very often. Loneliness didn’t plague you with it’s vile harsh hands. In the forest, you were surrounded by life, life that didn’t grow disgusted just by the mere sight of you.

 You tugged your hood lower over your eyes traveling through the forest knowing it like the back of your hand after practically living your whole life there. You usually didn’t go this deeply into the vast forest, but you were looking for a herb you needed in order to complete a potion you were making for a vampire. Unlike others of her kind, she was relatively nicer. Quiet but temperamental, and so harshly against what she was. Truly believing she was a monster when you had continuously told her otherwise. 

You still couldn’t help feeling empathy for the fledgling, remembering what you went through when you first found out what you truly were. Months spent ignoring the buzz at the base of your spine, and the soft but firm voice in the back of your head urging you to mutter the words of a spell no other being can say. To make a potion no other being could even dream of producing not having the touch of a witch. You promised yourself you would only indulge her for a little bit, yet you unnecessarily continued to drag it out.  

The potion’s effects were rather simple, but it was complex in both the making and ingredients involved. It hid the eerie red eyes and terrifyingly sharp fangs of a vampire, but it only lasted for about a month. You had just run out of leaves from the dodder plant, and you needed at least 13 of them.  They were the last herb you needed after letting the potion soak in the moonlight for exactly four hours. 

A happy gasp tumbled out your lips at the sight of the mentioned plant wrapped around the trunk of a poor tree, feeding and living off of it. You really didn’t find any amusement in the irony of it. You hiked the strap of your bag further up your shoulder as you walked closer to the plant cooing at it. 

“Look how pretty and lovely you are. Do you mind if I take some of your leaves I really need for a potion. I won’t take many, just a little, I promise.” You spoke in a soft and high pitched tone, much alike to how one would talk to a grumpy child. Even the mean plant keened at your voice and request, leaning towards you.

A small smile tugged at your lips as you softly thanked it and did your best to to cut the leaves from the plant as carefully as you could with the scissors you brought with you. 

You placed them in a jar skillfully placing it back inside your bag once you got the amount you needed. You thanked it again lightly caressing it before standing up ready to go back to your little cottage. 

Instead, you froze when a very recognizable sound rang throughout the woods. A howl. You cursed yourself under your breath unease pooling at the bottom of your stomach making your body unbearably stiff. 

You silently kneeled down to dig your fingers into the soft dirt under the grass of the forest floor exhaling in defeat when you felt the mark of what could only be werewolf territory. You were so distracted looking for the herb, you didn’t notice you had walked right into the wolves’ jaws. You felt like a fool. 

A small part of you knew that howl was because whatever wolves owned this area had sensed someone break through their defenses without permission. You almost scoffed rolling your eyes. What great defenses they had. Wolves and their stupid territorial tendencies. You had walked right in without problem, and you hoped to get out in similar conditions. 

Still, you couldn’t help but hope that maybe, just maybe, the cry from the furry creature was for something else. Not for a wicked little witch walking into their space unannounced. You gulped harshly clutching the strap of your bag nervously as you whipped around. 

You tried walking as silently as you could at a fast stride hoping against all odds you’d make it out without any run-ins with the dogs. In the end, it seemed like fate was against you when you heard the irritating yips and haughty huffs of what could only be werewolves behind you.

You clenched your jaw keeping your composure and ignoring them continuing steady to your original course feeling pathetic for essentially running away. You really didn’t want any trouble today, but you felt your patience running thin when you heard the wolves let out sounds in what oddly sounded a lot like laughter, now feeling both humiliated and mocked. 

There really was no way to avoid confrontation, especially when you heard the unnatural sound of cracking bones meaning they were shifting, and looking for a fight. You wondered how bored they had to be to poke at a witch when they did everything they could to avoid your kind. 

“Oh look Wooyoung, it’s a witch, don’t get too close or she’ll give you frog legs'' The pair erupted into loud aggravating laughter making your teeth grit as you maintained your composure. 

“She’s actually not ugly for a witch” You felt your lip curl up in disgust. How dare they speak as if they knew anything about you or your people. They knew what it was like being looked down upon for being born what they were, yet they did the same to you. It was an endless cycle of hate, and frankly you were sick of it. You just wanted to live peacefully, but you knew that wasn’t possible. 

“Don’t be stupid, it’s probably just potions or something. Witches aren’t that pretty, there’s no way”  Anger was surging through you making your insides boil as you pressed your lips in a thin line. Of course, you were used to this kind of degradation and mockery, but you had always been able to leave the situation without looking back. Right now however, you were trapped, left with no choice but to hold your head high and deal with the insults being thrown at you by people you had never met in your life. 

You felt frustrated tears prick at your eyes scolding yourself for being so sensitive. “Easy San, don’t want the witch cursing you and stealing your first born” You groaned knowing no matter what you did, they would keep bothering you. You didn’t think they would stop following you even when you left their territory, so you set your shoulders and narrowed your eyes whipping around. They wanted a reaction, they would get one. 

“Play with me little wolves, and you won’t like what happens.” You stated darkly, conjuring an orb of light in your dominant hand. It was harmless, a little trick you learned for when you needed to see in a dark place or investigate something, but they didn’t know that. You didn’t want to hurt them, you just wanted to scare them a little. Exhaustion dragged you down, and you just wanted to get home. 

You were in a little bit of a rush. The potion had to be delivered by the next day from tomorrow, and you still needed to let the potion sit in the sunlight after adding your newly acquired herb. 

Being able to face them, and you were able to see their youthful faces. You were also able to see them step back, fear swimming in their once bright and playful eyes. It made you swallow against the bile traveling up your throat making you sick to your stomach. Even when you tried your damn best, you were still the bad guy. 

 “Y-you wouldn't dare hurt us. Our pack would never rest until they found you and tore you to pieces” his shaky voice made guilt flood you, but it was either protect yourself, or let those entitled dogs walk all over you. 

You felt the forest bristle as the tension between its two guardians, and you momentarily felt bad. But you really couldn’t, not right now. You just had to scare them a little, so you could return to the safety of your cottage without any more trouble than necessary. All you wanted was to get them off your tail. 

You stepped closer maliciously grinning, “Try me mutt”. The evil smile on your face felt forfeign and ugly, but if it got the job done, it would have to do. As you took a step closer to the pair, a shout echoed throughout the forest. You stood frozen still in shock and feeling ashamed while a figure tore through two trees coming to an abrupt stop in between you and the two wolves. Great, another wolf. You didn’t stand a chance. If you died, at least you were surrounded by the forest, the only living thing that had ever shown you any kindness.

The figure was harshly whispering to the pair that had been giving you a hard time. You didn’t have any enhanced hearing, but you could still make out his words.

“I’ve told you idiots time and time again never to provoke a witch and the first thing you do on your first patrol is the exact opposite-” You don’t have the heart to keep listening. You, a kind and bright being, had been reduced to a ghost story to strike fear in the young hearts of others. 

 The newcomer’s back was turned to you, but you could still feel the waves of power rolling off of him. Not an alpha, but close to it. 

“Keep your pack in line beta, or i'll do it for you” You tried your best to remain confident, but if they tried hard enough they could hear the slight lilt in your voice.

The figure finally turned around meeting your eyes. and a loud growl ripped through the air making everyone lean back from the older wolf. Right now, it didn’t matter to Songhwa what or who you were. All he knew was that you were his, his mate, and that you were scared. 

He was so focused on you, all his senses instantly attuned to you. He could see the nervous shake in your hands, the uneasy tremble of your lips, and the fear and regret in your eyes. 

“She trespassed territory Seonghwa, what else were we supposed to do?” one of them whined. A low rumble racked Seonghwa’s chest. 

“What was she doing when you found her” he questioned, his tone anything but happy. You had let your little light orb disappear long ago, now just standing there hands clutching the strap of your bag. The two didn’t answer his question knowing he would only grow angrier by their answer. 

“I asked you a question, are you really disrespecting your beta?” he huffed out, eyes still trained on you. Anger swirling in his irises, but something else you couldn’t quite place. You felt a strong pull towards him, and although a small part of you was smart enough to know what you were to him, you didn’t want to accept it.

“S-she was walking away” a louder growl than the last one made your heart lurch to your throat, but oddly you weren’t scared of him. Instead, you wanted to get closer to him, but shock basically glued your shoes to the grass underneath you. Even with the angry set of his eyebrows and clenched jaw , the expression on his face tight, with the soft light of the setting sun shining on him he was stunning.

His narrow pointed nose and round soft but intense eyes. Your entire being was being pulled towards him, and the more you resisted, the more the little voice in the back of your head pushing towards him. A feeling you had never felt before surged through you. It was much alike to fire, warm and protective but passionate and exhilarating. Even if strange, it felt right. 

Meanwhile Seonghwa was livid, absolutely furious. He could not forget the scared look in your eyes when he was running towards you being able to sense the unease in his younger pack members and being the closest. He had known. He was fully aware you were his when he first laid eyes on you, but he had wanted to talk some sense to Wooyoung and San before dealing with the unstoppable feelings he would soon have to face. 

He had been waiting for you for so long, he didn’t want to scare you off, but it seemed the troublesome pair had already done enough of that.  When he first heard your voice and his wolf had run out of patience, he couldn’t stop himself from turning around to face you. As he took in your fearful but strong stance, your pretty eyes, his whole world shifted.

He was so in tune with you, San and Wooyoung didn’t have to tell him anything for him to know they had probably said some hurtful words to you. They said you had been walking away without a fight, so they must have said something to get you this defensive. His wolf was growling for just one punch, but he decided he would deal with them later when he wasn’t so emotional.  Right now, he just wanted to get closer to you and comfort you. 

He sighed, hand reaching up to pinch at the bridge of his nose as he momentarily turned to look at the mischievous pair, eyes softening when he saw the regretful look on their faces. 

“I’ll talk to you back at the house” he kept his tone curt and harsh still mad at them for the hard situation they put him in. They quickly nodded mumbling an apology before scurrying in the direction of the house. 

He looked at you noticing the hesitancy in the slope of your mouth, your eyes not meeting his. He took a step towards you, and you took a step back. 

“Are you scared?” he asked not wanting to get closer to you no matter how much it pained him to do so,not wanting to make you uncomfortable. 

You nodded but looked up to make eye contact with him taking in a shaky breath. “Not of you” His chest rumbled contentedly and a bashful smile broke out on his face making you smile softly at just how affected he was by you. “I’m more scared of the situation. I’ve never heard of a witch being a werewolf’s…” 

“Mate” he finished looking down. You humed in agreement the word making a shiver rack through your body. Hearing it made it all the more real. Strangely, you didn’t want to run away screaming. The small voice in the back of your head was telling you to do the exact opposite, and you had long ago learned to trust that voice. 

Seonhwa was terrified of you rejecting him. He knew the other kinds weren’t the nicest to witches, which he had always immensely disliked and found pathetic because who were they to put another kind down when they were all the same at the end of the day. Some turned into large horrifying predators and others drank blood to survive. You merely had magic by your side even helping people with your potions and spells. 

You saw the doubt in his eyes, the crease between his eyebrows and it made your heart sink. Seonghwa was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t hear your light footsteps making your way towards him. You took his hand in yours cradling it gently, and giving it a small shake. 

The contact made sparks run up both your arms as he looked up surprised to see a gentle grin on your face. “Y/n, my name is Y/n”. He smiled, shaking his head at your sudden confidence. “Seonghwa”. 

You reached out to smoothen the crease between his eyebrows with your thumb, hand falling down to cup his face a purr shaking his chest at your warm touch. You smirked, shaking your head and turning around to walk away. A surprised sputter came from behind you at the abrupt loss of contact making you snicker. “H-hey! Will I see you again?” 

You continued walking as you turned around to flash him a bright smile, “This time tomorrow in the same spot, don’t be late.”

You felt his eyes linger on you as you walked out of his sight, and you decided that perhaps fate wasn't so cruel.

[1dfangirls35]

The Language of Your Soul

An enemies to lovers Ballet AU in 5 Acts

Masterlist

Act I

A/N:

First of all, thank you so much to @booksncoffee for the absolutely gorgeous banner!

I am so excited to share this story with you all! Inspired in part by a night rewatching Center Stage on Netflix and from years of ballet classes, I hope this AU brings a new twist on Harry fics (and maybe even helps you gain a new appreciation for the world of ballet). Please note, while I have used my own 10+ years of classical ballet training in addition to research on this topic to hopefully make this as realistic as possible, this is still a work of fiction- and some details may have been changed to better fit the constraints of the story. The companies mentioned in this fic are real, however this story and its characters are entirely works of fiction. On a more personal note, while I have chosen to publish this story now and believe I will be able to maintain weekly updates to its entirety, I am preparing to take my boards in less than four weeks. Should I not update as scheduled- please be patient and know that an update is only a few weeks away! :) Thank you so much for reading!

Warnings: This story will contain language, mentions of emotional abuse from a parent and eating disorders. Please read at your own discretion.

Ten Weeks to Opening Night

Albert Einstein once said, "dancers are the athletes of God." Giselle Mason certainly doesn't feel like pne of God's athletes at the moment. Not with the way her muscles are screaming with every movement that she makes as she stretches before class, not with the way her right hip cracks as she lifts her leg onto the bar, and certainly not with the way her feet sting as she tapes up yet another blister on her toe before shoving her foot into her pointe shoes for another day full of torture.

Giselle stands, sticking one last bobby pin into the bun of her nearly ebony hair and finding her spot at the front of the barre in the center of the studio. She grasps the wooden cylinder with her left hand before releasing her body in a forward bend, taking a deep breath in and then a deep breath out. There is a familiar ache in her hamstrings as she begins to stretch, which loosens ever so slightly with every breath.

And so begins her daily morning routine in the studio. Fifteen minutes of stretching before company class begins. Relaxing each hamstring, hip flexor and spinal muscle until a sense of calm washes over her body. Letting her mind drift into a thoughtless focus, preparing itself for the waves of choreography that would be coming in minutes. Typically, this time is quiet; the only melody present the rhythmic breathing of company members preparing for class. But today, the studio seems to be filled with an underlying buzz. And Giselle doesn't have the slightest idea why.

"I heard he slept with the artistic director's wife, so they kicked him out of the Royal," she hears one of the new corps de ballet members murmur.

"I mean have you seen him, I don't blame her for getting her hands on a piece of him," another girl giggles.

"Did you hear, G?" Caleb, Giselle's friend, whispers as he slides into a spot on the barre behind her, adjusting the black bandana keeping his signature black curls in place across his forehead.

"Hear what?" Giselle asks, removing her leg from the bar before reaching down to adjust the black leg warmer that had fallen down her calf.

"They've hired Harry Styles- you know from the Royal," Caleb adds as if Giselle hasn't heard of Harry Styles. Everyone who was anyone in the ballet world had heard of Harry Styles. A good chunk of the non-ballet world might even be able to point him out as that 'sexy male ballet dancer' from the Sports Illustrated nude edition.

Harry Styles was a rare kind of natural talent. The type of person that was put on this earth to dance ballet. His talent had landed him the honor of being the youngest person to be named a principal in the history of the Royal Ballet. And if the rumors were true, that talent had also landed him the reputation of one of the ballet world's most arrogant. Giselle had heard several stories about how the male dancer had been a terror to work with- demanding, rude, uncooperative. Giselle didn't doubt it- people of that skill and fame rarely developed without some sense of entitlement.

"Why would we hire Harry Styles, we've already got Viktor?" Giselle questions. This isn't the first time a rumor has circulated through the American Ballet Theatre company, and it certainly won't be the last time. 

"Rumor is they want Viktor to retire," Caleb shrugged before stepping back to his place behind Giselle as Mistress Ivanova claps to gain the class's attention.

Giselle couldn't believe the rumors. Viktor Dmitri retiring from ABT? He was practically the face of the company. The man had been dancing for the American Ballet Theatre for over a decade. He'd been the principal ever since Giselle had joined the company as a corps de ballet member five years ago. 

Giselle knew that retirement came early for a ballet dancer. Her own mother, the famous Natalia Korsakova, had retired at the age of 33 after a knee injury. Viktor had just turned 35, but he'd shown no signs of slowing down. She refused to believe that he was calling it quits. Or to believe that the board would be stupid enough to bring in someone with Harry Styles's toxic reputation into the company.

She shoves the thought aside. Viktor is in his usual place at the back of the studio and Harry Styles is nowhere to be seen. This was simply another piece of gossip threatening to distract everyone from the Swan Lake auditions tomorrow afternoon, and Giselle won't lose her focus. The auditions are too important.

Giselle Mason has dreamed of playing the role of Odette/Odile ever since she first watched her mother on stage at the age of four. It was one of her earliest memories of the theater- her mother twirling about in a bright white tutu that at that time Giselle could only dream of wearing. In fact, Giselle wasn't sure there had ever been a moment where her dream hadn't been to be a principal dancer at ABT, like her mother. She'd been in ballet shoes from the second she could walk, wore a leotard and tights more often than she'd worn pajamas, and didn't recognize herself in the mirror if her hair wasn't pulled back into a bun. She'd ate, slept and breathed the art form. But she supposed that all came with having a prima ballerina as a mother.

Natalia Korsakova was a ballet sensation. "One of the greatest to have ever danced," according to the New York Times  at the time of her retirement. The world had come to watch her dance and she'd traveled it performing: Russia, Australia, London, Paris. You name the location and Natalia Korsakova had danced there.

When Giselle was growing up, she was constantly told how lucky she was to have Natalia as a mother. To have seen the shows she's seen, to have met ballet royalty, to have traveled the world. But Giselle never felt lucky. Not when she was the accident that put her mother's career on hold for almost a year. Not when her mother was gone for months at a time performing, missing recitals, parent days and school concerts. And certainly not when an injury forced her mother into retirement, shifting her focus from her own artistic talents to turning her daughter into her next protegee.

Much to her mother's dismay, Giselle was not the younger version of her mother. She was good, great even, but she was no sensation. Giselle made soloist in her fourth year at ABT, which was a feat all on its own, unless you compared it to her mother's two. Giselle lacked the raw, natural talent that her mother possessed. Instead of her mother's high arches, she had her father's averagely flat feet. Instead of her mother's uncanny ability to match the music, Giselle had spent hours counting eights in her head to get down a rhythm. Instead of looking effortless the first time she ran through a routine, Giselle spent hours in the studio after rehearsal, running through the choreography until it wasn't possible for her to get it wrong. Giselle had gotten to where she was because of her hard work, not her natural talent- something her mother would never let her forget. To Natalia Korsakova, Giselle would never measure up.

The Swan Lake auditions are Giselle's first real shot at landing a lead, especially with principal dancer Anna Elliot out with a back injury for the foreseeable future. Giselle wants this role more than anything. To prove to herself that she is capable of  following in her mother's footsteps. And to prove to her mother that she is just as capable a dancer as she. For once in her life, she wants to hear her mother say not that she'd lost her spot or forgot to point her toes, but that she was proud of Giselle. Four words- that's all Giselle really wants.

"And will start first position, demi, demi, grand, demi and port de bra. Repeat in 2nd, 4th and 5th and then balance in fifth position arms in fifth," Mistress Ivanova barks, before gesturing to the pianist to begin.

Giselle focuses on her movements as the music begins. She tightens her core, elongates her neck and reaches her fingertips to the edges of her silhouette. Her legs quiver slightly as she bends her knees into the first grand plié, her mind focusing on maintaining her turnout.

"Relax that face Giselle," Mistress Ivanova corrects, as she makes her way around the room. "I don't want to see that this is work."

Giselle takes another deep breath, this time releasing her lips from their concentrated place and focusing on her breath. She lets the downtown Manhattan studio disappear from the background. Gone is the distant honking of impatient taxi drivers maneuvering their way through the New York City traffic. Gone is the light shining in from the full-length windows looking out at the city skyline- well what you could see of the skyline behind the crumbly brick building neighboring the school. There was nothing but the dancer, the barre and the music flowing gently through her veins.

"Beautiful lines Teagan, thank you," Giselle hears Mistress Ivanova say from across the room and she fights the urge to roll her eyes. Giselle has known Teagan Davidson since she was fourteen years old, when Teagan had moved from California to New York to join the ABT school. Over the course of a decade of competing for roles, partners and teacher's praises, the two had developed quite a rivalry. To Giselle, there was almost no better feeling than snagging a role that she knew Teagan also had her eyes on.

Giselle uses Teagan's praise as motivation to work harder, feeling the burn in her inner thighs as she pushes further into her grand plié in second. The role of Odette/Odile was hers, Teagan would have to settle for understudy.

The class is in the middle of their balance, Giselle's focus locked in on a spot just at the edge of the window at the rear of the studio when a loud bang reverberates through the room. Dancers drop their balance and turn their heads, looking to see who has caused such a commotion with their entrance.

"Mr. Styles, you're late," Mistress Ivanova snaps.

He is taller than Giselle imagined, and even from this distance she can see the definition in his arms through the black tank top that clings to his body. His hair is slightly disheveled, curling at the top. His face plastered into some cheeky grin, dimples present on both cheeks, like he knows exactly what he's doing, interrupting class like this. Almost like he's enjoying the attention. He throws his black messenger bag to the side before grabbing his ballet shoes and scurrying over to an open spot at the barre near the front of the studio.

"My apologies," he replies in a thick British accent. His tone sounds anything but apologetic.

"Damn, he's even better-looking in person than he is in magazines," Caleb mutters under his breath, eliciting an eye roll from Giselle.

"Well, I suppose after that entrance," Mistress Ivanova sighs, stepping to the front of the class. "Now is as good of time as any to announce that Mr. Styles will be joining our company as a principal dancer."

Gasps fill the room, and Giselle turns her head to look at Viktor, whose face is stoic after Harry's entrance. A low chatter fills the studio, everyone trying to figure out exactly what is going on. Would he get the lead in Swan Lake? Would he be understudying Viktor?

"Silence!" Mistress Ivanova shouts. "This chatter can wait until after class is over!" She turns to face Harry, her lips turned into a stern frown. "If you'll find a place at the barre Mr. Styles, we will continue our class."

Giselle watches as he slides into a spot at the front of the room, shooting a grin at the young company member behind him. Giselle rolls her eyes, returning her focus to the mirror in front of her. Two minutes with the company and she was sure Harry Styles was exactly who she thought he would be.

Giselle tries to forget Harry Styles is in class with them. Instead she focuses on her breathing, her turnout, the rhythm that comes from the pianist in the corner of the room. She watches the early morning New York City sunrise reflect off of the mirrors, leaving little spots of sunlight over the gray Marley floor. Everyone else in the company could focus on Harry Styles all they want, but she is only focusing on one thing- and that is landing the role of her dreams tomorrow.

But Harry Styles wasn't the type of person whose presence could be forgotten so easily.

********

Harry Styles isn't scared of a little attention. In fact, he typically thrives on it. That's why he is a performer after all. To Harry, there is no better feeling than knowing all eyes are upon you, that you are the center of attention, the focus of the room. Maybe that is a prideful and egotistical thing to say, but it is true. Everyone wants to feel important, valued, admired- and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

But the attention Harry has been getting since he walked into the American Ballet Theatre studio a little over twelve hours ago has not been the type of attention he necessarily sought out. He knew there would be rumors, leaving the only company he had ever been a part of during his dance career was sure to draw up the best of them, but something about this felt different. It was the whispers. The stares. The way some members of the room were staring at Harry as if he was a god and a few wouldn't dare look in his direction.

Harry doesn't know what's come over him- this wavering self-confidence. Maybe it's this new place. This new country. Or maybe it's the fact that in the words of his agent, if he "doesn't get his act together" he will never dance at this level again. And if he's not dancing on the world's biggest stages, well, Harry might as well not be dancing at all.

Harry grabs his phone from the side pocket of his black messenger bag, connecting it to the Bluetooth speaker he found in the corner of the studio and presses play on his hip hop playlist. He needs something to drown out his thoughts, and classical music just doesn't cut it. As the beat begins to fill the studio, Harry lets the music take over his body and begins to dance.

Giselle tries to focus on her music, but there's the noise of a pounding bass in the background interfering with concentration. She's always the only one at the studio this late at night- that's why she comes- to be alone and without distractions.

She tries to ignore it, focusing on the one and two of the music as she fouettés. One and two, three and four, five and... a boom from somewhere in the building breaks her concentration and she falls out of her turn, letting out a groan. This could not be happening to her the night before auditions, and if she found out that Teagan was here trying to interfere with her practice...

Giselle makes her way down the hall, guided by the incessant bass that sounds like it belongs in the backseat of a teenager's car and not one of the most prestigious ballet studios in the world. When she turns the corner to enter the studio, it's not Teagan she sees but Harry Styles.

But he's not dancing. He's laying on the floor, wearing nothing but a pair of black athletic shorts that show off the god-like definition of his thighs. His signature butterfly tattoo stands out on the middle of his chest, beads of sweat dripping towards the center of his stomach, the bass vibrating the mirrors around him. He doesn't notice her at first. How could he with the music so loud?

"Excuse me," Giselle says loudly in an effort to get his attention. His body doesn't even flinch.

"Excuse me!" she yells this time. 

Harry looks up. In the corner of the studio, towards the door stands a girl. Her almost black hair is pulled tightly back into a bun. Her thin arms are crossed like she's about to lecture him, and her lips are held in a tight line that looks anything but happy. The corners of Harry's mouth curve upwards in a grin, entertained by the fury that was seeming to come from her tiny body.

She taps her foot impatiently, like she's waiting for something. Harry realizes that she is- she's waiting for him to turn off his music.

He sighs, reaching over to his phone beside him and sliding one sweaty finger across the screen to bring the rhythm to a halt.

"Yes?" he asks expectantly, not bothering to move his body from his reclining position.

"Other people in this studio are trying to practice, you know. It's kinda hard to do that with this," she gestures into the air, as if trying to find an appropriate adjective to describe the torture that had been gracing her ears over the past half hour.

"Not a fan of my music?" Harry smirked.

"I'm not a fan of someone disrupting my rehearsal." Giselle spit back.

"Rehearsal? It's bloody 11pm."

"I know what time it is, and like I said, your music is interfering with my ability to practice." Giselle stares Harry right in the eyes. He doesn't intimidate her, and she's not going to back down until he agrees to turn down his music.

"Wasn't aware you were the owner of this studio," Harry taunts.

"I could say the same about you." Giselle moves her hands to her hips. Just agree to turn off the damn music, she thinks to herself, even though she knows at this point, it's not worth the time it will take to warm back up to continue practicing.

Harry sits up, grabbing a blue towel from inside his bag and wiping the sweat that remains off his forehead. "Fine, music's off. Continue your rehearsal. I'm too jet lagged for this shit," he stands, wrapping the towel around his neck.

"Thanks," Giselle says under her breath, before making her way back to her studio, where she knew she would be gathering her own belongings.

Harry groans, grabbing his bag from the floor and sliding it over his shoulder. You could travel halfway across the world and still run into the same entitled ballet brats who thought they ran the place. It's those type of people, company members and otherwise, that were precisely the reason he had left the Royal. Well, not that he had necessarily had a say in that scenario, but they had been the cause of all of his problems.

You just have to dance, Harry, he tries to tell himself. But Harry knows that as much as he tries, there's a lot more too it than that.

**********

“Gi!" Caleb exclaims, bounding down the hallway towards her without concern for anyone in his way. "Cast list is up."

Giselle gulps. She isn't sure that she is ready for this. The look of disappointment on her mother's face if she doesn't land the part. The list of corrections that her mother has come up with from watching Giselle's audition. "Now you see there, you've lost your center. You're never going to make that triple if you don't hold your center Giselle." The reminder that "you only have so many opportunities to prove your worth, before they move onto the younger, better version of you." It didn't matter to her mother if Giselle was the youngest soloist at ABT by five years. It didn't matter if nearly every other soloist had previously understudied for the role. Everything but a lead was a disappointment to Natalia Korsakova.

"C'mon," Caleb exclaims, and before Giselle has a moment to collect herself she's being pulled down the hallway by her arm.

And there it is. The thin, white piece of paper that holds the fate of her next ten weeks in its hands. When she looks at it at first, she thinks she must be dreaming. Because her name has never been on that spot on the list before. Not since she officially joined the company five years ago.

Odette/Odile- Giselle Mason

Sigfried - Harry Styles

She feels frozen. Like she's in a dream and she's paralyzed. It's what she's always wanted-this role and yet, suddenly it feels like a whole lot of pressure.

"You did it Gi," Caleb exclaims, lifting her up and spinning her around before Giselle even has a moment to look any further down the list. Giselle laughs, giddy with excitement. "New York will have never seen a more beautiful Odette."

Giselle rolls her eyes at his comment. Caleb, her friend since joining the American Ballet School at the age of six and partner for many years had always been her biggest cheerleader. In a way, he made up for what she didn't have in her mother.

"And you Caleb?" Giselle asks, realizing in her excitement that she had forgotten that her best friend also had a role in the this ballet.

"You're looking at the newest Benno," Caleb says with a grin. Giselle often wondered what it would be like to be like Caleb. To be happy with any role. To not care about his place in the company. To simply want to dance. Caleb had always been like that- relaxed, calm- the antithesis to Giselle who was always high strung and anxious. Perhaps that's why they'd always been such good friends, because they balanced each other perfectly. Giselle pushed Caleb when he needed some extra motivation and Caleb- albeit not always successful- tried his best to keep Giselle out of her own head.

Giselle watches as Teagan makes her way over to the board, her long black hair swinging from the ponytail at the crown of her head. She grins in slight satisfaction as she sees Teagan's face turn into a frown. Giselle turns and gives Caleb her best, "what did she get?" eyes. He exaggeratedly mouths, "UNDERSTUDY".

As if sensing that she is the topic of conversation, Teagan looks over at the two. "Congrats Giselle," she says, her face moving in a way that makes it seem like the words taste disgusting leaving her mouth.

"You as well," Giselle responds, to which Teagan only scoffs and storms off.

"You know she's going to make your life living hell as your understudy don't you?" Caleb said with a laugh.

"Ugh, I know," Giselle groaned.

"It will be worth it though. You are going to be dancing the role you've always dreamed of." Giselle smiled. "Plus," Caleb begins, leaning down so his mouth is next to Giselle's ear. "You get to dance with the greatest male dancer of our generation. Think of all the hours you're gonna get to spend looking at that GORGEOUS body."

Giselle groans. Her perfect moment temporarily ruined by the realization that she would have to dance with Harry Styles. Sure, he may be talented, a great dancer, and likely a great partner. But his entrance yesterday and their encounter last night told her everything she needed to know about Harry Styles. And she was sure that working with him would be anything but easy.

"That GORGEOUS body," Giselle imitates Caleb with an exaggeration of the word, "Doesn't make up for the fact that the guy's an asshole."

"Okay, okay, point taken. Now can we go get some lunch?"

Giselle nods, but she already knows she's not hungry. Instead, all she can think about is how she's going to get through the next ten weeks of rehearsals with a man she already loathes.

**********

Giselle slides into the rehearsal studio with extra joy in her step later that afternoon. She's so on Cloud 9 that she doesn't even realize Harry standing at the barre doing pliés as she hums the opening notes of Swan Lake aloud.

"Sorry didn't know anyone else was in here already," she apologizes quickly, standing and stretching out her feet.

Harry looks at her, his face hard and eyes sharp. If he recognized her as the girl who interrupted his jam session last night his face didn't show it. "And who are you?" Harry asks, his voice laced with condescendence.

"Odette," Giselle smiles, the words feeling foreign leaving her mouth.

"Obviously," Harry scoffs, and Giselle feels her confidence waver. "Who are you?"

"Giselle Mason, soloist."

"Doesn't ring a bell," the corners of Harry's mouth turn up at his comment, like he gets satisfaction out of reminding others that they aren't the household name that he is.

Giselle wants to say something back. Something sharp and witty to show him that just because he was one of the greatest dancers in the world and she was still trying to make her way into the spotlight didn't mean that he could treat her like a nobody. She was going to be his partner after all- whether he liked it or not. But then Gregory Alexander, ABT's Artistic Director, enters the room, clapping his hands and tells them they are about to begin on the Act II Pas de Deux and Giselle doesn't have a chance to say otherwise.

"As new partners you will need to put in the time to understand each other. Build trust. Anticipate the other's movement. Portray to the audience that you are a swan and a prince in love." Gregory moves his arms in the air theatrically, as if he isn't wearing a designer suit.

"Now I understand that the ten weeks we have to prepare before our season debut isn't an ideal amount of time to form a relationship with a new partner. But in this case, it simply must do." Gregory's face turned serious, the wrinkles on his forehead more defined as he furrows his eyebrows. "I expect that the two of you will put in the time outside of your scheduled rehearsals to work on this chemistry. Anna and Viktor will also be assisting with rehearsals and my hope is that they will also be able to assist the two of you with this transition."

"Gregory," Harry interrupts, then as if realizing he'd made a mistake, he corrects himself. "Sir."

Gregory nods.

"I'm not sure what the concern is. I've danced with hundreds of partners in my career, I'm not sure how the other principal's would have much more experience than me?" Giselle thinks Harry is meaning this as a question but it comes out more like a statement.

Giselle watches as Gregory's eyes narrow again. He looked irritated, and why wouldn't he be? Harry had been here all but forty-eight hours and was already questioning the artistic director's decisions. 

"That may be the case, Mr. Styles," Gregory paused. "But when the two of you step onto Metropolitan Opera House stage in ten weeks, I expect the audience to believe that you two have been dancing together for years. Have I made myself clear?"

Harry nods, this time remaining quiet.

"Now then, I'd like us to start with the Act II Pas de Deux. The very beginning- with your entrance Harry."

It's an hour into rehearsals when Giselle hears the echo of heels clicking down the wooden hallways. She doesn't even have to look up when the steps stop as they reach the studio floor. She could recognize that walk anywhere.

"Aahh, Natalia!" Gregory exclaims. "So glad you could stop by," Gregory reaches over to embrace Giselle's mother, his grey hair brushing the sides of her face as he kisses each cheek.

"Mr. Styles, I'd like to introduce you to Natalia Korsakova, former ABT principal and member of our board."

Natalia Korsakova looks as put together as always. Her dark brown hair pulled tightly into a neat French twist. Her tight black dress and coordinating pumps show off every bit of the dancer's body that she still maintained. Giselle watches as her mother's mouth curves to form a polite smile.

"A ballet legend. It's an honor to meet you Madame," Harry says offering his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine. I'm so glad you are joining us here at ABT. And what a joy it will be to watch you next to my daughter," Natalia gestures towards Giselle, with a polite smile plastered on her face that was generally reserved for generous donors and patrons of the ballet. It is all a show. That's all Giselle's mother ever did was put on a production. She was a performer after all, how could anyone expect her life to be anything but a crowd-pleasing performance?

"Your daughter?" Harry turns to look at Giselle, raising an eyebrow. His eyes narrow, as if he's caught Giselle in a lie. As if she'd snuck her way into this position and was just hoping that someone wouldn't notice she wasn't the real deal. "Why that makes this even more special."

Giselle fights every urge to roll her eyes from across the room. It is clear that Harry Styles is every bit as much of a performer as her mother. Just minutes before he was looking at her as if he had been paired with an amateur and suddenly working with her is 'something special'?

"I'm going to watch rehearsal for a bit," Natalia announces, making her way over to a stool next to the pianist. "Carry on." The pit in the bottom of Giselle's stomach grows as her mother takes a seat next to Gregory in front of the mirror.

"Odette makes sense to me now," Harry whispers into Giselle's ear, as he slides behind her to resume practice. It takes everything in her to keep her face stoic as Harry's hands settle once again on her waist.

Rehearsal goes badly. Giselle can't seem to get her leg into the attitude position that Gregory wants, she losing her balance on her penchés, and Harry almost drops her on several promenades. Giselle says almost, because someone as experienced as Harry Styles would never let his partner hit the ground, but she should have, because she surely wasn't holding her weight quite right. And then there's the fact that Gregory pronounced that Giselle "looks at Harry as if he is the villain of the story instead of the prince she's fallen in love with". 

Giselle wants to say that's because he is the villain. The villain of her story anyways, the person that is somehow going to turn her dream role into somewhat of a nightmare. Why couldn't she be dancing with Viktor? He was so patient and kind and he would never look at his partner as if she deserved to be in the audience instead of on stage with him.

After yet another failed run through of the first half of the pas de deux, Gregory announces that they are done for the day, but that he expects to see them in the studio bright and early tomorrow morning to work on their timing. Giselle's never been so thankful for a rehearsal to be over, and as she sits down to remove her pointe shoes, running her hands over her swollen feet, she watches Harry leave the studio without saying a word.

"I hope you realize how big of an opportunity this is Giselle. It's not one you should take lightly," her mother's voice startles her, as Giselle had almost forgotten she was there. Almost.

Natalia stands above Giselle, one hand on her hips and the other on her forehead, as if watching today's rehearsal had been exhausting for her. It probably was exhausting for her, keeping tally of all the things that Giselle had done wrong for the past two hours. Natalia's voice is shrill as she speaks again. "There are thousands of ballerinas around the world that could only dream of getting to dance with Harry Styles. And here you are dancing with him in his first show with ABT. That's an enormous responsibility, darling. This performance with him will set the stage for his entire career with our company. One that the board is hoping will last until his retirement."

Giselle nods. That's all she can do when her mother begins one of her lectures- nod. She thought maybe this would be the time that her mother told her congratulations. The time that her mother did what she'd watched countless other mother's do during her time as a dancer, wrap their arms around their daughter and express their pride to them. But instead, today is like any other day, and even with a lead role in an ABT production, Giselle still hasn't done enough to make her mother proud.

Giselle shoves her shoes into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she stands.

"And Giselle?" her mother adds, as she makes her way towards the door.

"Yes mom?" 

"Might want to hit a few more cardio classes this week too, my dear. Got to make sure you are going to be an easy dancer to partner with." 

And with that comment Natalia Korsakova clicks away, leaving Giselle standing in the middle of studio wondering if her biggest dream has suddenly become her biggest nightmare.

[danurso]

The Goddess and the Minotaur AU

*A group of four adventurers wander on a labyrinth inside of a empty island in the middle of nowhere, in search of an extremely valuable treasure for their leader *

Sky: are you sure it's here?

Russel: yeah, we've been looking around this damn labyrinth for hours.

Dove: also, i think we're lost, and if the rumors about that monster are real, we shouldn't stay here for much more.

Cardin: you're all just a bunch of lazy cowards, we spent too much time to find this place and I refuse to leave without getting to the center of it first.

Russel: for what!? Just so you can get a hot wife!?

Cardin: haven't you heard the stories you idiot!? This isn't just any woman we've seen before, we're talking about one of the three goddesses of beauty, who got trapped in this labyrinth and is being held hostage by a terrible minotaur.

Sky: we know these stories already, but they're so old that this "goddess" is probably an old hag at this point.

Cardin: i doubt it, they say she never ages so she's always at her peak.

Dove: which makes sense if she's the goddess of beauty.

Russel: i still don't think that's worth the effort though just to find a wife.

Cardin: I'm the future heir of the winchester house! And if i'm going to have a wife, i'll accept nothing less than a goddess to marry me!

Sky: *deadpans* that if she even accepts to marry you.

Cardin: don't worry about that, after I save her from the beast of the labyrinth, she'll surely fall for me, and even if she doesn't. . .well *grins* let's just say that there are other methods i can use to persuade her.

Dove: damn man, that's dark even for you.

Cardin: i'm not paying you guys to judge me, i'm paying you to help me.

Dove: *sighs* okay, fine.

Cardin: good. Anyone else has anything to add?

Russel: nothing, except that we should've left already.

Cardin: we're not leaving until I find my wife!

Russel: just marry someone else! I doubt this goddess is so beautiful to the point of risking our-

Russel's speech comes to a halt when the group arrives at a large open garden, covered with grass, some trees and a small lake in the middle. But it wasn't the sight of the garden that robbed them from their ability to speak, instead what did so was a beautiful girl with long white hair, icy blue eyes wearing a pure white dress and standing next to the lake.

CRDL: *completely speechless*

Weiss: . . .huh? What a surprise, it's been a few years since I've last seen a human face.

Russel: . . .is. . .is she the. . .

Dove: goddess? i don't know, but i've never seen anyone so beautiful before.

Sky: *nods, eyes still glued on her*

Weiss: Tell me, what is your business here? do so and leave at once.

Cardin: *approaching her* goddess of beauty, i am cardin winchester, son of frank and katherine winchester from the winchester house. *kneels, taking her hand* and i came here to ask for your hand in marriage. *tries to kiss her hand*

Weiss: *pulls her hand back* so that is what you're here for? *sighs* Why am I not surprised? I'm sorry but i must refuse your proposal.

Cardin: w-what!? *gets up* you can't do this to me!

Weiss: why not? I clearly already did.

Cardin: I am from the winchester house! One of the most powerful and influential families of vale!

Weiss: i could not care any less for that. You are just another tiny man who thinks you are powerful just because people know your name and your family has a decent amount of treasury.

Cardin: *clenches jaw*

Weiss: You are nothing but an entitled human that thinks just because you were born in a high social status the world has to bend on its knees for you. I would never even entertain the thought of marrying someone like you.

Cardin: SHUT UP! *draws his mace* YOU'RE COMING WITH ME! AND YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN SOME MANNERS AS WELL! OR ELSE I'LL SMASH THIS PRETTY FACE OF YOURS!!

Weiss: Oh? So you're going to force me to come with you?

Cardin: YES!!!

Weiss: . . .farewell then, shall we go?

Sky: wait, what?

Dove: so. . .you're just going to come with us like that?

Weiss: yes, i'm an unarmed girl against four armed men, and despite being a goddess i'm not an avid fighter like my older sister, therefore any resistance that i tried to put up would be futile.

Cardin: good thing you know that, at least you're not only looks but you have some brains as well.

Weiss: unfortunately though, i don't think he's going to like the idea of me leaving.

Cardin: he? Who are you talking- *feels a tap on his shoulder* what is it!?

When Cardin looked to the side to see who tapped him, he saw his three men looking behind him, they all were completely pale and wore terrified expressions. When he himself turned around, all the color in his body vanished and was replaced by the same pale tone of his comrades, they all stood still staring at the nine feet tall creature standing behind them with a huge white sword in hand. It had a human body with several scars and with only a red tattered cloth covering his lower half, but his face looked like it was made of metal, and it was surrounded by a long golden mane with a pair of horns coming out of it.

???: uhr. . .

Cardin: w-what the. . .

Sky: *eyes wide* this is-

Dove: no way. . .

Russel: MINOTAUR!!!!

Weiss: oh gods, you shouldn't have said that.

Cardin: *looks back to her* what!?

???: RRRHAAAAAARHH!!!! *swings his sword at them, hitting the ground and making a crater and making the group fly away*

CRDL: AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Weiss: *sighs* you had to call him like that didn't you? He hates being called by that name.

???: *charging at cardin and swinging his sword again* RRHAAARH!!!!

Cardin: *barely dodges* what the hell!? How strong is this thing!?

???: GRRR. . .

Cardin: *getting up* goddammit, hey! Come help-

_RDL: *already running away*

Cardin: HEY!!! COME BACK HERE YOU COWARDS!!!

???: RRHHAAAAAARH!!!! *swings his sword again, this time hitting cardin and sending him to the other side of the garden*

Cardin: GHAACK!! goddammit. . .we're not over yet!

???: RRHAAARHH!!!! *charging at him again*

Cardin: shit! *runs away*

???: RRAAAARH!!! *chases after*

Weiss: *sighs*

*a few minutes later*

Weiss: *sitting near the lake*

???: *walks into the garden and sits in front of weiss*

Weiss: so, are they gone?

???: un *nods*

Weiss: will we ever have to deal with them again?

???: uh *shakes head*

Weiss: good.

???: . . . .

Weiss: . . .so?

???: *tilts head to the side* ?

Weiss: for how long do you intend to keep the mask on? You know i don't like it.

???: ah. . .sorry.

He reaches out for the metal mask, taking it off and revealing his human face. Well, human if you ignore the black sclera around the red iris of his eyes. Weiss noticed the down look on his face when he took the mask off, and she had a pretty good idea of why that was.

Weiss: what's wrong?

???: . . .

Weiss: Is it because they called you by that name

???: *nods* me is monster.

Weiss: *sighs* what is you name?

???: me. . .? 

Weiss: yes, of course it's you. Is there anyone else here for me to be talking to?

???: my name. . .jaune.

Weiss: Yes, and what are you jaune?

Jaune: me. . .is weiss guardian.

Weiss: correct, you are my guardian, my protector. Now tell me, what does a monster do?

Jaune: monster. . .destroys, and hurts.

Weiss: and what did you do when those people tried to hurt me.

Jaune: me protected weiss.

Weiss: exactly, you are my protector, not a monster. Understood?

Jaune: *with a smile, nods* un!

Weiss: good. so? What were you doing earlier when those guys showed up? *deadpans* just please don't tell me you were going after butterflies again.

Jaune: *happily nods* un!

Weiss: *facepalms* of course you were.

Jaune: oh! Me remember something! *gets up, running into one of the pathways of the labyrinth*

Weiss: ?

Jaune: *comes back with an excited smile and a big circle of flowers in hands* Here! Here!

Weiss: what is this?

Jaune: *puts on his head* flower crown!

Weiss: oh, you made it?

Jaune: *nods* un! Spring started. . .pretty flowers grow. . .me made crown for weiss. *hands it to weiss*

Weiss: well, as much as I appreciate the gesture, I think it's too big for my head.

Jaune: oh. . . *bummed*

Weiss: don't worry. *puts around her neck* see? It's still a pretty flower necklace.

Jaune: *back to the happy mood*

Weiss: what about you? Where is your crown?

Jaune: me only made for weiss.

Weiss: Do you want to make some more for us?

Jaune: *nods excited* un! un!

Weiss: good. Let's go then.

Jaune: *gets up and picks weiss up, sitting her on his shoulder and skipping away*

Weiss: hey! Don't skip, It shakes too much.

Jaune: un! *nods and stops skipping*

Weiss: better. . .and jaune?

Jaune: uh?

Weiss: *plants a kiss on his cheek* Thank you for protecting me.

Jaune: *with a small blush and a huge smile* me will always protect weiss!

Weiss: *with a small smile of her own* Of course, I'm sure you will. Now let's get those flowers.

Jaune: un! *nods and starts to skip*

Weiss: And no skipping!

Jaune: un!

[annabethy]

Okay but like fic for celeb AU where like Percy experiences a hardcore fan of Annabeth coming up to them and being a little to touchy and pushy to her just not respecting and overstepping boundaries and it makes him upset people don’t treat her with decency and/or his journey of acclimating to the fact that people come up to Annabeth all the time and becoming super protective of her in public

Percabeth Celebrity AU!!

One would think that after a year of dating, Percy would be used to the constant flood of people in Annabeth’s direction. She caught peoples’ eyes. It was just what she did.

He knew what he was getting into from the start, and yet he chose to stay by her side. By no means does he regret that decision because she was his world. She was a gift from the stars, and he’d do anything for her.

Still, the way people looked at her and spoke to her — touched her — as though they had a right to invade her space and privacy, made his blood boil. From the way the man was approaching her, stance tall and strong, Percy knew that he wasn’t going to be any different.

“Do you think I could get a picture with you?”

God, even the way he speaks made Percy want to start crying on Annabeth’s behalf. He wasn’t like this with every fan of hers, because most of them were the biggest sweethearts he’s ever met. There were others, though, that weren’t as kind. They were entitled and pretentious, and they didn’t even bother greeting her before practically demanding she drop everything and bend to their will.

Those were the ones that made Percy’s heart sink. This was one of those.

Annabeth turned her back to the bookshelf so she could eye the newcomer. Her grey eyes flashed, and Percy felt even worse because he knew that this was the last thing she wanted to do. He knew that she wasn’t feeling well and had just wanted to go grab a book before snuggling up and watching a movie.

Other people didn’t see it that way. They barely saw her as human anymore — she was reduced to nothing more than a figment of entertainment in their eyes.

“Oh, uh— What’s your name?” Annabeth asks, fiddling with the spine of the book she picked out. It looked slightly dusty and antique, and he knew she would go for that one the second they walked into the store.

“I’m Octavian,” he answers, voice snobby. It was dripping with narcissism, and Percy felt the need to remind him who he was talking to.

“Octavian,” Annabeth greets, “Today’s just not a great day. I really need to get going, and I’m not even dressed nicely—”

Percy could argue with that statement, but apparently, so could Octavian.

“You look pleasant,” Octavian says. Before Percy can question his wording, Octavian’s eyes are panning down her body, lingering too long on her chest. When he speaks, he shows not a single ounce of shame. “It’s just one picture. How often do you run into a movie star on the streets of New York?”

Annabeth wants to say no, he can tell. She wants to turn him away, even more now that his eyes have drifted lower and were tracing over the curves of her hips. He can see the conflict flash in her eyes, aware that if she does protest a picture, it’ll be turned against her. Her strength wavers.

“Your phone?” she asks, stepping beside him. She’s avoiding Percy’s eyes, and he feels a deep pang of sympathy through him. He doesn’t know how she does it.

Octavian steps even closer, but neither Percy nor Annabeth regard it as unusual. Everything about the man was to be weary of, but then he’s leaning in even closer to get his face next to hers. She moves a few inches, and he follows.

After Annabeth snaps a few pictures of the two of them together, she tries to hand it back only to have it snatched from between her fingers. Octavian’s holding it back above her, angling it downwards, and then his arm is snaking around her waist and pulling, causing her to stumble for a few milliseconds before catching her balance.

Percy sees red.

“You got enough pictures, don’t you think?” he tries, taking a menacing step forward. He towers over Annabeth, and he notes with triumph that he towers over Octavian too.

“A few more won’t kill her,” he replies. Percy flares with anger, but Annabeth shoots him a warning look. Back down.

He doesn’t want to, but he does.

She takes a few more, a painfully fake grin plastered onto her face. She looks like she’s in pain, and he doesn’t doubt that she is anymore.

Percy keeps his temper in check, but the second that his hand is trailing lower and lower, he doesn’t care about playing nice anymore.

“That’s enough,” Percy demands. He presses into the space in front of him, allowing Annabeth to break away. “You’re done now.”

“I wanted more,” Octavian protests, trying to forcibly grab Annabeth’s wrist, but he moves between them, blocking her from his sight.

“You’re done,” he says again.

“I said I wanted more.”

“And I said that you’re done,” Percy says back, raising an eyebrow daringly. Annabeth is hovering behind his back. He can feel the heat of her body against him, and her subtle trembling does him in. “Get out.”

“How about you let Annabeth talk for herself?”

“I’m not asking you again,” Percy growls, and this is not him. Percy is not the person to make people feel threatened, to make people feel unsafe. Percy is the warm light of the sun after a cold night — he is the calm after a storm. This is not him. This form of Percy is reserved for moments like this.

Moments that people threatened the ones he loves. He is not the person to fight back, but when it comes to Annabeth, he is willing to fight to the death to prevent anyone from laying a hand on her. He will do what needs to be done.

Octavian stands down, knowing he will not win this fight. Percy’s eyes do not leave his form until he is out the door and out of sight. Energy is flowing through his veins — not the good kind. It’s the kind that makes him want to explode and bring down everything in his path.

Annabeth whimpers, her face pressed into the space between his shoulder blades, and he comes crashing back to reality.

“Are you okay?” he asks softly, turning around to take her in his arms. She’s feverish and pale, and his heart breaks a little more when she rests her head against his chest and inhales deeply.

“I just don’t like people like that,” she says.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. He didn’t actually do anything. People have it worse.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Dismiss yourself. You’re allowed to be upset when people treat you like that.”

Annabeth breathes deeply again, and he can tell she’s holding back the building tears. It’s a dam waiting to break, he knows.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nods once. “I just didn’t feel like meeting anyone today. It just sucks, you know? I feel like I’m never alone anymore.”

He does know.

“I’m okay,” she repeats. “Let’s just go home.”

Percy feels like she’s holding back a lot. She told him what was bothering her, and he always knew that she hated that aspect of fame, but she’s never truly admitted it. She never elaborated on how it made her feel, and a part of him thinks it’s because she doesn’t think he’ll care. The thought makes him want to cry with her.

“You know I’m here for you, right?”

Annabeth picks at the skin of her lower lip with her fingernails peeking out from beneath the sleeve of her sweater. “I know.”

Percy’s hand caresses her hair, brushing a strand behind her ear before putting two fingers beneath her chin and lifting so she’d meet his eyes. “I love you.”

Annabeth sniffles. “I know.”

“Good.” He kisses her lightly once. The way Annabeth grins makes his heart melt, and his feelings from before are brought back.

He wouldn’t just die to protect her. He would bring the whole world down with him. It’s a terrifying thought, but it’s also not, because the only thing more terrifying than a world of fright and danger is a world where Annabeth is hurt, shoved inside this box, into the confines of what the public wants her to be.

He will never let anything happen to her. She is the love of his life, and he knows without a doubt that he’s there for her through thick and thin, for everything she needs.

He is there to keep her safe, and he’ll do just that, or he’ll die trying.

[limit-list]

this is not about the ask game but was wondering if you had any thoughts about modern au princess yue? (super random but i think i saw some yue love from you on my dash this morning and saw u were taking asks right now) have a nice night/day 💛💛💛

Hiya Sonny!! I’m a lil late responding cause today was hectic lmao, but it was good!! I hope you’re also having a good night/day haha.

Bud I am always taking asks, I love getting asks, I love this ask. I have never once had thoughts about a modern au Princess Yue, but now I’m BRIMMING with thoughts.

(This got a lil long, sorry bout that)

Imma put this in a modern bending world, cause I can

This is long post-war, don’t think too hard on how the history played out. Doesn’t matter.

Arnook is still the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and Yue is the princess. There’s still a bit of sexism in the tribe, but benders are equal and Yue is treated with the respect she deserves.

Whenever Arnook went to World Leader Conferences when Yue was little, she went with him as his heir apparent. Similarly, Sokka and Katara attended with Chief Hakoda. Lu Ten attended with Fire Lord Iroh, and Zuko tagged along sometimes.

All that to say, childhood gaang antics ensued.

Sokka had a crush on Yue from age 7 to age 14. Yue had a crush on Sokka from age 8 to age 10. At age 10, Suki came to a World Leader Conference with the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors to observe the guard work (aka her guardian couldn’t find a babysitter) and Yue instantly decided she was in love.

When she wasn’t traveling with the Chief, Yue had tutors teaching her about etiquette, politics, languages and dialects, cultures, and anything else a future Chief would need. She didn’t have time for friends back home, and even if she did, she never had the freedom for them.

Aang was raised by the Air Nomads, and was presented as the Avatar at 16.

So what I’m getting at, is that in this perfect world where there’s no war and no tension between the four nations, the Gaang are a well established group of the children of world’s leaders.

Yue, aged 17, presents her case to her dad for permission to attend University outside of the Northern Water Tribe. Arnook is extremely against it. After like 4 months of arguing and persuading, he lets her send in an application. She gets accepted to a prestigious Political Science program, and after another month of debate over it, he lets her go.

At this point, Zuko is the oldest at 22, Sokka is 20, Suki is 20, Katara is 19, Yue is 18, Aang is 18, and Toph is 17. They all study at Republic City University (RCU). Have I ever seen LOK? No. Did I do any research for this? No. Our imaginations are flexible. They study in Republic City cause I say so.

Everyone already knows each other except for Toph, who they meet at RCU.

Yue is dating Suki, Sokka is dating Zuko, who is now the heir apparent of Fire Lord Iroh. Katara, Aang, and Toph are all single.

Yue loves talking cultural differences with the Gaang. Whether that means ideological beliefs, ethics, laws, government systems, religion, the arts, everyday life, whatever, she finds it fascinating.

Religion-wise, Yue is very spiritual. She strongly believes in the power of nature. One weekend every month, Yue and Katara go on hikes in the mountains. She has a window-sill garden where she grows flowers and herbs.

Yue and Suki like to explore Republic City together. They dip into thrift stores, tea parlors, skate parks, the drive-in movies, everywhere they can. Ofc, the Gaang goes on adventures across the city all the time, but Yue and Suki make sure they have date night at least once every two weeks.

Yanno how back when Obama’s daughter was in college, they tried to make her look like a bad person for doing normal teenager things? People definitely do that to Yue and the Gaang. People follow them around campus sometimes, taking pictures without permission and generally being nuisances. After someone follows her into a lecture class, pestering her and disrupting the class, Yue calmly and politely posts a statement that clearly states that she’s entitled to an education just like everyone else, and if people insist on disrupting her education like this, she will be forced to take legal action. Like a bad bitch.

After Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Katara have all graduated, only Toph, Aang, and Yue are left in school. Toph, Aang, and Yue rent out a big apartment near campus. Sokka and Zuko live together, and Suki and Katara also share an apartment. Their parents or guardians have all agreed to let them have until the youngest ones graduate before they have to come home and get started on life.

That summer after Toph, Aang, and Yue graduate is absolutely insane. They sit down the week before graduation and craft an epic bucket list of everything they want to do before they have to enter the real world. They spend summer going through every single one, from pro-bending tournaments to hosting their own bake-off.

Sadly, everything must come to an end. Summer ends, Zuko goes back to the fire Nation, Sokka and Katara go back to the Southern Water Tribe, Suki heads back to Kyoshi, Toph decides to stay in Republic City with her girlfriend Smellerbee, and Yue and Aang go to the Northern Water Tribe.

Years later, they bring the world into a Golden Age. Avatar Aang holds peace among the four nations, but really it’s a Gaang group effort. Connections between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes have never been better, after Fire Lord Zuko married Ambassador Sokka in a wedding officiated by Chief Yue. Katara becomes Chief of the Southern Water Tribes. Toph is a master sculpter. She smuggles money, jewels, and drugs inside hollow sculptures sometimes to get things where they need to go, but that’s not the point here. Suki teaches martial arts in the Northern Water Tribe, and she advises her wife, Chief Yue, on the side. Together, they see about finally ending the sexism of the Tribe once and for all.

They’re all really fucking happy. Yue dies of old age.

[highladyluck]

For the ask game: Tuon (WOT) and Kuvira (LoK) high school AU.

I wrote an entire fic summary here, sorry not sorry! Most of it’s under the cut because it got pretty long. So first off, this is clearly a Japanese high school anime- personally, I'm visualizing Ouran High School- and for some extremely silly reason the high school has combined executive power (Student Council President) and social power (Prom Queen) into a single position, "The Empress". (This was translated in early fansubs as "President Queen", and some fans still call the position that.) Naturally, Tuon and Kuvira both want this role.

They start out hating each other. According to Kuvira, Tuon's been queen bee of the school far too long, coasting on her mother's position on the school board. Plus, she's entitled, snobby, and keeps trying to poach Kuvira's entourage. (It's easier than it sounds, most of them don't like Kuvira that much, while Tuon's entourage is fiercely loyal.) Kuvira, on the other hand, clawed her way up the social hierarchy with effective leadership (Tuon: "I think you meant to say 'blackmail'?") and is widely popular with the student body as a whole.

We see in a flashback that earlier in their rivalry, Kuvira slammed Tuon up against a locker in a way that onlookers would later describe as 'suspiciously homoerotic'. After staring at her expressionlessly, Tuon simply broke Kuvira's arm to get out of the hold. Kuvira spent the next few weeks stomping around glaring equally at Tuon and her arm, muttering "It's useless now!" Tuon made her point and Kuvira isn't interested in beating up on someone who can fight back that hard, so now they just snub each other icily in the halls.

This status quo changes when someone starts spreading nasty rumors about Tuon. They are close enough to the truth that they're making Tuon really uncomfortable, and she's not sure how to handle it. Kuvira discreetly offers to do damage control, given her expertise with blackmail propaganda. Kuvira is doing this for blackmail material, so Tuon will owe her a favor, and to get in close and see how she works. Tuon is very surprised, but she accepts, partially because nothing she's doing is working and she's very practical- when your friends can't help, call on your enemies- and partially because she believes in keeping your friends close but your enemies closer.

As they work together, Kuvira becomes grudgingly impressed with Tuon's judgement and integrity (while noting that she still has blind spots, especially around her privileged background). Tuon is also grudgingly impressed with Kuvira; she thought Kuvira was a jumped-up social climber and bully with no real skills, but eventually realizes that Kuvira works hard and at least sometimes has good intentions (while still thinking she can be very heavy-handed).

This whole time they're also still competing for the Empress position- but they don't talk about that, for the most part, although Tuon does get a rather closer look at Kuvira's tactics than she normally would, since Kuvira is using some of them to save her reputation. Their meetings, which are still ostensibly about damage control, become less laser-focused on that and start being more social- they talk about shared interests, things they agree on re: school governance and event planning, and they're each trying to find out stuff about the other without revealing anything about themselves. They also start realizing they're attracted to the other; Tuon is the first to figure it out but she mostly just compartmentalizes it. It's a distraction from the matters at hand, and while she suspects Kuvira might also be into her, she isn't interested in pursuing it unless Kuvira brings it up. Kuvira, on the other hand, literally doesn't realize she's into Tuon until she has the opportunity to betray the actual details of Tuon's secret to Varrick and Valan Luca (who are the B-couple here, they fall head over heels in the background of the first episode and team up to run the school festival, with Valan Luca doing crowd work and organization, and Varrick running the books and coming up with ideas.) Kuvira chooses not to betray Tuon, and as she's kicking herself afterwards she realizes that all she could think about was how Tuon would look at her with absolute, icy disdain again and MEAN IT, not as a joke between them but in all seriousness, and she can't bear that, and OH FUCK SHE'S IN LOVE WITH TUON, WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER, UGH. Kuvira has no idea Tuon is into her too, and gets extremely weird and awkward and fidgety around Tuon the next time they meet. Tuon is suspicious and alarmed and thinking through all sorts of nightmare scenarios with her usual poker face, but all she says is "You're being weird. What happened?"

Kuvira says that Varrick and Valan Luca approached her about the rumor. She hastily adds, "I didn't confirm anything. I stuck to the plan." Tuon is sure she's lying, because she's clearly covering up something, and while normally she'd have the stamina and patience to winkle out the truth, suddenly she's super angry and not thinking clearly. "You're lying. Once a blackmailer, always a blackmailer. I should have stuck with people I trusted." She gets up and leaves the room, slamming the door on the way out. Kuvira is devastated and also relieved, because at least things are familiar now. She doesn't tell Varrick and Valan Luca anything, though, and continues doing her end of the damage control- she tells herself that it's to prove she's better than Tuon, that she kept the faith even after Tuon gave up.

Their rivalry for Empress steps up again and continues at a fever pitch right up until the voting. The Empress election event is completely, unnecessarily formal, in a way that makes you extremely confused about how this is all being run by a high school, and the candidates are brought up on stage to hear the winner declared. Tuon narrowly wins the contest, and before she can accept the crown, while the ceremonial music is playing (it's Empire, by Alpines), Kuvira leans over and whispers "Congratulations. You earned it," entirely sincerely. Tuon stares at her and sees that she actually means it. Heartened, Kuvira adds, "I didn't tell Verrik and Valan Luca, because-" and the rest comes out in a rush, "I love you." Tuon's eyes go very big and she looks like she's about to say something, but then the music ends and the crown is presented to her- it's made of a bunch of small pieces, woven and linked together. Tuon eyes it and then presents it to Kuvira, pointing at specific points in the middle. "You're stronger than me- can you bend those two metal links apart a little?" Kuvira, extremely confused, nonetheless does what she's asked. Tuon takes the loosened links and separates the crown into two pieces. After crowning herself (because of course she would) she turns to Kuvira and gestures at her impatiently to bend her head a little. (Tuon is only 4'11" and she literally can't reach the top of Kuvira's head without help...) Kuvira catches on and allows herself to be crowned. While Kuvira is still bent down towards her, Tuon kisses her in front of God and everybody. Kuvira kisses her back. Rose petals fall from the sky for unexplained reasons.

Their reign is long, glorious, and actually pretty irrelevant because Varrick and Valan Luca are the school's actual power couple, but that won't become completely apparent until later seasons.