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trashlie · 2 years ago

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in which nol is incapable of resisting friendship (part two)

It’s no secret that episode 179 has set me off on a deeper wave of ILY brainrot and I am incapable of shutting up. This is a follow up to my last post, which was largely just me revisiting some old ILY scenes leading up to and including the formal, re-examining some scenes that had always given me some pause win the light of what we’ve recently learned and with Nol’s general mindset.

This is a companion piece, that doesn’t really require you read the one prior, that visits something I’ve been thinking about since around 151, which is the way that though Nol has made it his mission to walk out of his friends lives and yet, we see him struggle at that with Shinae. I once noted that Nol is very much like Minhyuk in that both of them seem incapable of resisting trying to help her even though they know well enough she can take care of herself and somehow that seems a little more significant now.

It’s kind of weird, but finding out that Nol had never intended to truly be with friends with anyone - that he thought he could just enter these peoples’ lives and help them and then leave when his good deed was done - makes the friendships he formed so much more special to me. He never intended to really be a friend, to care about them, but in the end, he couldn’t help it. It brings us here, to a post-Kim-formal Nol who has already decided to walk out of everyone’s lives but finds it’s not that easy to do, or to stop caring.

I do believe he had every intention of it and even had Yui not played dirty at the formal, Nol would have been off to Oxford and wouldn’t have looked back. I’m not saying he wouldn’t have felt guilty, but it’s pretty easy to compare Nol to a feral cat; there’s a couple people he’s grown comfortable with but the moment he sees that opening he’s taking off and breaking free. Obviously his methods were never right and frankly, the idea that he could just walk out of everyone’s lives and they’d be better for it, without ever giving them the option to choose, was unfair and wrong, but I also get it, to some degree. Especially in light of the arrest, the upcoming jail sentence, he’s cagey and ready to be gone. He already believes no one is going to miss him or care when he’s gone. In fact, to this point, we already know that he had no idea how important a friend he was becoming to Shinae, what their experiences at the Kim forma did to strengthen her attachment to him. He even states outright that he had no idea she felt that way about him, that he was important to meant anything to her.

Something I find especially interesting is that while Nol has every intention of leaving, booking it to the UK and exiting their lives, a fleeting memory of a kid who helped these people in their hard times, we still see the way he’s drawn to his friends - or at least to Shinae. We don’t really see Nol with his friends after the formal and I imagine it’s because he’s purposefully keeping his distance, whereas with Shinae, he doesn’t have that option given how much they’re around each other working in the same building.

It cannot be denied that he’s cagey as hell, keeping his distance, careful to keep Shinae at bay and yet, despite this, he always gets drawn back in.

Nol can’t help it - at this point he legitimately cares.

Especially with Shinae, I think this goes even deeper, because we now know that the only reason Nol even resurfaced in that pool was Shinae. As he much as he was saving her, she saved him too, although I imagine he doesn’t exactly view it that way. (In a way, the task of saving Shinae can almost be seen as a burden; though he was ready to let everything end then, he felt emburdened to help her, and that meant denying himself something he craved, but I think in time we’ll see him change his feelings about that.) They both are still here because of each other, and I think that’s a bond that will play into their relationship as they recalibrate their friendship.

Even as early as the day after the formal we can see Nol drawing his distance, and it’s not because he promised Kousuke he’ll minimize his interactions with Shinae, but his own choosing. He throws his phone after seeing her calls - but he still cares. I like this detail a lot because it’s something I puzzled over a lot before, but now it’s clear that he tried not to return the call because he knew she’d be worried, because he needed to create space between them, because he needed to be able to walk away. But he can’t. He doesn’t want her to worry, or maybe deep down he likes the idea of her concern, that someone he cares about might also care about him. I still love that whole scene, their exchange on the phone with the hugged pillows and concern and we see a bit of the real Nol peeking out - no forced smiles or masks, just a weary, tired boy who has been through too much too young and has so much on his shoulders, and his friend so concerned about him despite her own injuries. I think it reads as so very honestly them and I hope we see more of those scenes - relying on each other, caring about each other, lending a shoulder of support. Though Nol doesn’t actually open up on that call, I like to hope we’ll see him learn to do that.

There’s a number of moments that I think carry new weight with what we now know about Nol and his intentions to leave everyone behind that I want to touch on.

On Shinae’s first day of work, we were able to get the sense of Nol being evasive - he can’t just avoid her, but he makes no point to linger in her presence, even when he finds her on the floor in the elevator. Shinae is very aware that something is off, and while you can argue that it’s because he’s not acting like Yeonggi, I think it’s more that she’s honing in on Nol’s evasive behavior. He’s doing the bare minimum as a friend but he’s also leaving a lot of space between them. In fact, Nol even states “It’s not like I’ll be disappearing any time soon” with his eyes closed - a lie, because he knows he will be. Yet, on her second day when she’s late, Nol takes it upon himself not only to take the fall for why she’s late, but also go to and pick her up, which is above and beyond, for someone who is pointedly distancing himself from Shinae.

Nol has no obligation to help - he could just talk to Kousuke like she asked without going through the motions of going to retrieve her and yet he chooses to. It’s a small but big detail - something I’ve always called out - Nol’s helplessness in refuting Shinae. It would be so easy for him to do exactly what she asked, to simply talk to Kousuke and leave it at that but he doesn’t, and it’s beyond his grapple for absolution, because he knows by this point that this is a friend he cares about and he wants to help and when Shinae needs that assistance, he finds himself beholden to doing that and minimizing the trouble she could be in. Obviously part of it is because the excuse he used was dependent on him being Shinae’s ride to work, so retrieving her was the only way to make it believable, but he could have come up with any number of excuses on her behalf. I think it’s a nice demonstration of how even though Nol should be keeping his distance, it’s difficult for him to successfully do it. He’s only good at avoiding them when he doesn’t actually have to face or talk to them.

Because he’s picking her up, we’re treated to that cute conversation they have about Dieter and his feelings for Shinae, but also Nol gets to witness the way she uses words that he has used on her when Dieter does the very kind of self-beating-up that she’s prone to. His smile is cute - realizing that he has, indeed, helped her, and that help is now going on to help others. Maybe he feels some sort of comfort, knowing that he’ll be leaving Shinae a better friend and person?

I would not be me if I didn’t yell into the night about episode 93, which is actually what prompted me to write this whole thing, all the way to part one, in the first place, because there’s a line that REALLY stood out to me after reading 179. I’ve talked about this a lot before but to reiterate, Nol has made his decision to leave his friends and let them “move on” without him, and yet at every opportunity, he finds himself concerned. You could argue that he’s rankled about how Kousuke treats Shinae because of his own feelings about Kousuke, and certainly that likely colors it, but Nol understands how much is being thrown at her with so little breathing room. He also understands being tossed into the sea and expected to sink or swim. Nol clearly cares that too much is being expected of Shinae, who is still a student, who has so many other issues going on at home, and he can’t help but caring about it.

When he follows that he’s going overboard as her friend again, I think it’s a very honest moment for Nol. Unlike before when he forced friendship on her for his own gain, now he cares about the line she drew, now he’s being that good friend, again despite his intentions. Nol is also being more honest than usual with Shinae. I think there’s something more to his surprise that Shinae went ahead and invited Kousuke to the party, because Nol’s personal intentions were bad, because he wanted to make Kousuke feel uncomfortable the way he’s been doing to Shinae. It’s revenge-y and it does make Nol look bad - but he doesn’t realize Shinae, too, feels the same. It’s one of those moments of their mirroring that’s really laid out - Nol didn’t expect her to do it because he doesn’t know she, too, felt the same way he does, that she, too, was feeling upset with the way she’s been treated by Kousuke.

The way Nol sits, angled away from her like earlier in the locker room, despite how honest he’s being, revealing these small, secret parts of himself that he keeps under lock and key, revealing the depth of his concern and care. I love how very at odds it is - that he wants to stop, that he’s trying not to, he’s angled away he’s trying to create that distance but he still can’t help the honesty that comes out. He still can’t help the caring.

I feel like there’s so much new weight to this line. He’s saying it for Shinae’s benefit - that though he knows she’s capable of taking care of herself and fighting her own battles, as a friend he still is going to care about her and worry. But given that, until some weeks ago, he was convincing himself these relationships meant nothing, that these friendships were one sided had no hold, to admit out loud “That won’t stop me from caring” is a confession not only of his attempt to respect Shinae’s wishes but also an admission of his own truth. No matter what, no matter how he tries, he cannot stop himself from caring.

Shinae is an important friend, someone he cares about, someone who matters and it can’t be undone anymore.

Maybe that’s the source of his frustration? That these people who were meant to mean nothing now mean everything and, moreso, they care about him in return. No one but Nana does that, no one plays attention to the little details or his an earbud that’s fallen to the ground, but now he has friends like Shinae who express so much concern over him. Does he wish he could stay? Does he wish he could indulge in those relationships though he knows (according to his logic) no good can come of it? When he immediately texts Dieter, I still think he’s trying to tie up loose ends - if he can help ensure Dieter and Shinae’s friendship, they can be better off together in his absence, maybe? That lingering look of frustration, though - I don’t think it’s that he’s developing feelings, so much as he realizes how much he cares, how much he wants to indulge, how much he wants to be cared about in return and how dangerous it is for him to entertain these notions.

idk I’m endlessly obsessed with that episode and what it means for Nol to be unable to help himself from caring, despite how much he never meant to.

And on this topic, the other favorite episode to fixate on and overanalyze, 117.

I love this one a lot because we have Shinae becoming more aware of Nol’s evasive attitude and calling him out on it. As natural as he tries to be, he fails, and yet even though he could escape while she’s working, he instead gives Shinae his word and stays to her break as promised. It’s like, even though what he’s doing isn’t really being a good friend - that is, this game of friendship where he doesn’t tell her he plans on leaving, maintaining friendship in these little pockets of time but with every intention to leave and ghost everyone - he still can’t help but be a good friend. Shinae is worried that he’s avoiding her (and he is!) so he stays to assuage her feelings.

I’m sure it’s been wondered before but, what is Nol even doing hanging out there? He knows she works there and will be around shortly - does he secretly want to see her and talk? Maybe it’s just that it’s the nearest place he can escape and be alone, but again, the point still stands that he knows she’ll be by at some point. Maybe he just wasn’t counting on her working the night he was sitting there? He’s clearly avoiding going home or staying at work, so I’m not sure we can assume he is acting on a secret desire to have a moment with a friend, but the fact that the only option he’s got is the very place the friend he’s avoiding works isn’t in his favor. Either way, we know the weight of everything is hanging heavy over him and he’s drowning.

So it’s no surprise that Nol, once again, opens up JUST a smidge. All in all, he’s hardly revealed his true self to Shinae, but there’s a handful of moments that he kind of starts. Is it because he believes he’ll still be gone by the end of the year and he’s allowed to let himself open up a bit? Or is it just a moment of weak vulnerability, where he can’t help open up a little. Nol has made such an effort to take care of his friends that I think he probably can’t help but want that in return, even though as he’s noting, he doesn’t know if he should be allowed that.

No matter what he does, he feels like things get worse, like he doesn’t DESERVE to come out on top. And yet, for a moment, he indulges in friendship. He indulges in the comfort of sharing your burdens and opening up to someone and feeling, for a moment, like he’s allowed to want for better.

I think that might be why he shares his music with Shinae, too? Again, I wonder if this is because he believes soon he’ll be gone and these are selfish pockets of friendship stolen for himself, that won’t matter soon. Because, again, this is such an intimate episode, with him opening up (a fraction lol) and sharing one of his favorite songs with his head tucked so close to Shinae, who lately has done nothing but show concern about him.

The ambiguous “I like this” reads a little differently now - Nol has denied himself “real” friendships so long, has denied himself the opportunity to really engage with people, that the moments he’s spared with Shinae, Dieter, and Soushi probably are unique for him, something he hasn’t really experienced otherwise. I like this - the feeling of companionship and being seen, of someone who is concerned and cares about you? Of sharing a private part of yourself and being met not with revulsion but actual concern?

Knowing what we now know about Nol and his intentions, the way he tried so hard to carry these fake friendships and help people without growing attached, idk it just makes these scenes feel a little more special. It’s the inevitability of it that gets to me - that he went in expecting one thing and in the end he couldn’t help who he became, couldn’t help the care that developed. It also makes the way he avoided them ring even more painfully - because the whole time he did that, he, too, wanted to reach back out. He, too, wanted to return to them, but his beliefs had clouded his judgment.

With that in mind, it makes me rethink some things in 151, too.

Before, I had thought that when Nol hugged Shinae, it was because he felt bad that his actions made her doubt their friendship, that it killed him for them to part with her thinking that. But it was true! So much of their friendship was a lie! At least, it was founded on a lie, built upon lies. To Shinae, it was an important friendship, one that meant a lot to her, and she was finding that maybe she was never really as important to him as he was to her. We know now that’s not the case, but she didn’t know that at the moment.

Nol doesn’t finally reach out and hug Shinae to reassure her; he does it as an act of apology. He does it because he realizes how much he’s hurt her, how his quest for absolution has, yet again, hurt people regardless of his intentions.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m sure the hug is also some kind of reassurance, but above all, it IS an apology, because she is right and she’s calling him out even though she doesn’t realize how right she is. It all began a lie and he tried so hard to keep it a lie but he couldn’t help but come to care, and now he’s hurt her - now she’s hurt again and it’s his fault - and he cares about if he hurts her and he knows (believes) he can’t stick around and he hugs her because it’s such a messy tangle of feelings and idk having this additional layer of knowledge makes it SO bittersweet. Nol being faced with just how much he’s hurt Shinae and the regret and apology and all the things he cannot yet say.

Idk man, knowing that Nol never intended to truly be their friend but couldn’t help but come to care about them, couldn’t help but fall into real friendship will always have me howling because boy do I know a noble fool on a quest he cannot fully commit to.

#I Love Yoo #ILY Brainrot #Shinae Yoo #Nolan Oliver T. Lochlainn #admittedly not very shippy this time around since i'm only focusing on how their friendship is conducted #and mostly reexamining certain scenes with the knowledge of yknow. the way he approached these friendships #it's nothing groundbreaking or anything but if you're like me and you just like to suffer a little lol #just examining the implications of the way nol was hellbent on quietly escaping his friends' lives but also could not resist being drawn #back in to help. his inability to stop himself from caring.#that's lmao that's literally what this is #a dumb thought dump on nol's inability to stop caring #'but that won't stop me from caring'#HOWLS #HE'S SO DUMB HE'S SUCH A DUMB FOOL HE THINKS HIMSELF A NOBLE IDIOT BUT HE'S JUST A DUMB FOOL AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH ;A;#alternatively titled: when will nol give him and accept the love people want to give him #thank you #alkjfjfkjafkjfakjafkj

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watermelonlipstick · 4 years ago

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Parking Lot

This is a love letter to the Dean who told Cassie everything about his life after knowing her for 2 weeks and who didn’t see What Is And What Should Never Be as a horror show until he saw his bond with Sam was gone. I don’t think it would work for a later seasons Dean, who had pretty conclusively abandoned this idea for himself. I’d love any advice or critiques!!

Title: Parking Lot

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Word Count: 3801

Summary: A parking lot quickie leads to an illuminating argument between Dean and the reader.

Warnings: Swearing, smut, angst, ~*idiots in love*~, fluff

In a couple ways it seemed like a lesson; you really shouldn’t have been fooling around in a parking lot no matter how late at night it was. Especially not a bar’s parking lot, potentially more likely to be busy at this hour, shadows be damned.

But it wasn’t all your fault, not by a long shot. Dean knew exactly what he was doing, getting a Manhattan rather than his standard straight bourbon just for the cherry, rolling it around with his tongue and licking his fingers of the juice while you waited for the guys you were playing pool against to shoot.

If Sam had been there you might’ve been able to keep it together for politeness’s sake, but you didn’t give a shit about these people and you weren’t doing research for a case, just blowing off steam post-job before heading out of town in the morning.

Two could play at Dean’s game, though, you arching your back deep into the table to make a shot and practically purring “your turn” when he was up, hovering close enough to see the goosebumps spread over his neck when he smirked and obeyed. He finished the game lightning fast with a string of laser-focused shots and you silently downed the rest of his drink as the guys ponied up, tossing thick folds of cash onto the table and shaking Dean’s hand. You didn’t even feel guilty for hustling them, partly for their ignoring you but mostly for the distraction of Dean’s hands reracking the balls and grabbing your coat, sliding a palm to your lower back with his pinky just barely under your waistband. It was all you could do to wait until you get to the back of the parking lot to shove him up against the Impala and bite his bottom lip almost too hard before slipping your tongue into his mouth.

You felt the smile and heard the groan at the same time, both pouring into your mouth as you ripped at Dean’s jacket, trying to yank his flannel off his shoulders with it. You abandoned the project to paw at Dean’s tee once you’d gotten the outer layers bunched down around his elbows, kissing him hungry and dark like he was yours to take.

One of Dean’s bitten off groans trailed off into a barely-there whimper. For all his posturing he loved this, when he could give up being predator and let go for a few minutes to be your prey. He didn’t start fumbling for the door handle until you flicked open his belt, his other hand clutching at a handful of hair at the back of your neck and kissing down your jugular fast and hard. Imagining the way Sam was going to roll his eyes at the hickeys only added adrenaline while Dean finally got the backseat door open, sliding you in and unfurling on top of you. Still working on his jeans, you dragged him tight between your legs.

“You are—so—mean,” you grinned between kisses. “Teasing me like—that.”

Dean’s eyebrows kicked up on his forehead, playing dumb like you knew he would. “Me? Never.” His act dropped the moment you finally got his fly open, wrapping your hand around his cock through his boxers and punching all the air out of his lungs. His head rolled back on his neck almost violently, impossibly long eyelashes grazing his cheekbones and lips parted around a breathy “fuck.”

His switch flipped, Dean scrambled to strip you as fast as possible. You tried to help him in large part to avoid tearing your clothes, ending up crushed into the leather of the bench seat somehow with one leg fully out of your jeans and underwear, the other knee tangled up in the fabric. He’d shoved up your shirt and bra and it would’ve been uncomfortable and tight if any of your senses had been turned to it instead of Dean wetting his middle finger to slip-slide along your clit, murmuring something about “I love it when you do that,” into the side of your neck as he swirled circles into you. After a few moments you were writhing in the seat and Dean pulled that finger back up, sucking you off of it before pushing it up inside you, then another.

“Fuck me, Jesus Christ Dean,” you moaned against his tongue, yanking him forward until he guided himself into you. The stunted warm-up helped but that first push was always a shock, and whatever sound you made was loud enough that Dean covered your mouth with his hand, grinning conspiratorially down over fingers still steeped in you as he thumped you into the car door.

“Quiet—someone’s going to hear you.”

You bit his hand and Dean yelped with a chuckle, pulling it back before you roped around his neck and kissed him lasciviously. “Don’t tell me what to fucking do,” you smirked.

He stabilized himself against the Impala’s door to pound into you harder, you wrapping your legs around his waist and whisper-moaning filthy nothings into his ear, biting his neck until suddenly you felt that finely honed awareness pique in the back of your mind, flaring hot enough to burn and you froze, thighs clamped tight around Dean.

“Baby, I—”

“Don’t fucking move—did you hear that?” you hissed.

Dean tried to pull back and tensed hard, shuddering into you as you tried to lift your head to see as surreptitiously as possible before the delayed processing hit you. When you looked up at Dean he didn’t meet your eyes, wincing over one shoulder with his arms still planted.

“Tell me you didn’t,” you whispered.

He was silent for a half-second, still didn’t meet your eyes. “I tried t—you fucking death-gripped me with your legs, what was I supp—”

“Oh my god, get off of me,” you yelped, trying your best to sit up and snatch at anything to clean yourself up before realizing it was useless. “FUCK! Fuck, Dean, fuck, what’re we going to—I can’t be—”

He leaned back into the seat to get back into his jeans and fasten his belt. “One thing at a time, okay? They’ve got like pills and stuff right? We don’t even know if it’ll take.”

You rolled your eyes angrily at him as you jammed your leg back into your jeans. “Our fucking luck it’s already triplets.” You ran a hand through your hair and took a deep, hard breath. “Okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

“No, I get it.” He slumped into the seat next to you. A long beat passed, you and Dean both sitting stupid, half-dressed in jeans and untied boots, hair all over the place. He cleared his throat. “Wanna head out?” His voice was small and rough; you knew he was sorry and maybe a little embarrassed. If you were more highly evolved you might’ve been able to console him more in that moment, but your heart was bounding through your chest about what was going to happen next—if. You managed to squeeze his hand in solidarity if nothing else before grabbing your stuff and moving to the front seat.

Minutes of silent road passed before Dean reached over and covered your knee with his hand. You capped it with one of yours and saw his lips twitch up at the corner in response.

He glanced over at you tentatively. “Maybe it uh, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, you know?”

Your incredulity spun you around in your seat so you were fully squared to him. “What?”

It was dark in the car but you thought maybe Dean’s cheeks started to look pink. “I don’t know, teaching a little squirt how to play catch or whatever, might be cute.”

“You cannot be serious.”

His eyes flicked back over to you and his lips pursed out, trying to look non-plussed. “Whatever. Just trying to make you feel better.”

“No, you’re not. Because that exact possibility is scaring the shit out of me right now and two minutes ago you were trying to convince me we were going to pill this away. So it’s—is that something you want? Having a kid someday?”

Dean took his hand back under the guise of using two hands to turn the steering wheel. “No.”

You waited, willed your own heartbeat to slow down. As you knew he would, Dean kept talking, keeping his eyes on the road more to avoid the vulnerability of looking in your eyes rather than out of necessity on the long, straight stretch of road. “I don’t know. It really seems that bad to you? Having something that’s really, like, ours? Just you and me?”

“We’re not talking about a something, Dean, we’re talking about a fucking kid.”

“Jesus, fine, forget it. Sorry I asked.”

His knuckles went white on the steering wheel and underlined that Dean Was Done Talking. What an absolute waste of a fun little night out, leaving Sam to have a couple hours alone. Now instead of getting back looser to a well-rested Sam, you were going to barrel into this crappy motel terrified with a pissed off Dean, dropping it all at the younger Winchester’s feet to deal with (again).

It took you until the motel parking lot to muster up the courage to touch Dean’s wrist. “Can we talk for a second?” Dean pretended to be annoyed but you could tell it was an act shielding a spot of tenderness. He flopped his hands in his lap and looked over at you expectantly. “Maybe it’s dumb to even talk about this; like you said, it might be nothing. But I just—I mean if—do you really want that? What would that even look like? Not even with me or whatever obviously but leaving hunting, leaving Sam—”

“Leaving Sam? Who said anything about leaving Sam?”

“You volunteering him as nanny?”

Dean sort of half-rolled his eyes and shifted to face you. “You know as well as I do that Sam doesn’t want to be doing this, not forever. I’m not saying we should be fucking trying, obviously, I’m just—I’m going to stick around no matter what happens. I wouldn’t ditch you with my mistake.”

You scoffed. “How noble.”

“Not like that. But I’m not a complete moron, I know we’ve played with fire a couple times and I know what I’m doing.”

“I guess I just figured that was heat of the moment stuff.”

A flash of something passed over his face, gone almost too fast for you to decipher. Offense? Sadness? “Yeah, part of it. But you—you’ve never even thought about it?”

“Thought about how I’d get a couple hundred dollars and find a clinic, yeah. I—we can’t be hunters with a baby. And I won’t be stashed in some safe house somewhere, see you and Sam for a day or two every couple months, be the loner single mom who can’t tell anyone anything about her life.”

“Single mom? I’m not a fucking deadbeat. I just said I wouldn’t make you deal alone.”

You shot him an exasperated look and took a deliberate breath to keep from rising to the bait. “So what, now you want to get married? Dean, I’m not even really your damn girlfriend.”

He reached for the handle fast enough that you had to scramble across the seat after him, Dean pausing in the open door. “Look, if it’s not what you want, that’s fucking fine. But don’t patronize me. Not my fucking girlfriend? Fuck you.”

You flew across the Impala and out of the passenger door, following Dean as he stormed across the asphalt. “Fuck me? How are you mad at me?”

He spun on his heel in the parking lot. “I tell you I’m willing to leave all of this—all of everything I really know, fucked up as that is—for you, would make you my whole future and you, you—your response is that you’re not even my girlfriend? Yeah, fuck you.”

“Dean, that’s not what I—” but he had already started storming back to the room. “DEAN!” you yelled, standing stock still in the middle of the lot. He paused with his back to you for what felt like a long second before turning back around. “I don’t want to bring this back to Sam. I’m sorry, okay? I’m just—I’m scared shitless about something that might not even happen and then you spring the idea of some shotgun wedding on me—”

He rolled his eyes without even a hair of humor, the muscles in his jaw tensing hard enough to catch the cold overhead light. “See, how can you—” he started, before taking a deep, deliberate breath and starting over in a tone that was forced calm. “That’s everything I ha—that’s all I can give you, is loving you and fucking being there for you. So if it’s that fucking cheap or skanky to you then I’m sorry for wasting your fucking time.” When you didn’t respond his spine straightened a few degrees. “What? Say something. Tell me how stupid I am for suggesting that being tied together might not ruin your fucking life.”

You felt that your mouth had fallen open but didn’t care. “You love me?”

Dean’s face contorted like he was looking at a mirage of something bizarre, curious and disbelieving and frustrated. “I lo—of course I love you, what the fuck?”

“Y—you’ve never said that to me.”

“What? Yes I have.” His voice softened a shade, the certainty his anger had afforded him beginning to slip away like sand at high tide, but his eyebrows stayed indignant.

You’d never been more certain of anything in your life, that Dean had never said that, because it was something you wanted constantly. Craved, even. Were kept awake at night by; the desire to have your feelings for Dean reciprocated too intense even to dream about. So you justified and bargained with yourself: if fooling around and this kind of casual commitment—girl who would cover him and Sam in a firefight and didn’t hound him for a label—was what he wanted, it was what you would give. Anything for more time with him or the chance to kiss those lips, to see the way he looked first thing in the morning, to get annoyed at his bullshit idiosyncrasies.

“No, you haven’t.” So many more words tried to burst forward from you that you had to bite your lip to be sure your mouth stayed closed.

Dean held your eyes, willing you to say something until he lost his patience. “Who says that stupid shit all the time anyway? You know I love you; I’d do fucking anything for you.” His voice had started to rise again but the heat behind it was some sort of hungry desperation, not hurt rage. “I’m—you don’t think I love you?”

You started to feel completely exposed by the industrial light, seared alive by green eyes. Shifting your weight from foot to foot didn’t help, and you fought angrily against the lump forming in your throat.

He looked over his shoulder and the barked “FUCK!” startled you despite yourself. “Kid, I—FUCK, that’s what this is? I loved you since that first fucking hunt in Cleveland! You really think I’m just…? This isn’t some Beaver Cleaver ‘I put you in a family way’ bullshit, I—I don’t know, I just, with you it feels like for the first time maybe it’s not insane to think that I could—that we could—whatever, man, I’m not fucking talking about this.” A hand shot up to rub the back of his neck, a nervous tic you recognized immediately.

You took two big steps toward him. “Dean, I just—I didn’t know. That’s—I mean I’m not going to say I’ve been thinking about it; but it—it’s more because I didn’t even think it was on the table, you know? I thought we were, I don’t know, really close friends that sleep together.”

Dean’s eyebrows flew up his forehead and he blew an almost-laugh out of his nose. “I don’t even know what to say to that. Never heard of any friends that live together and fuck raw.” His tongue slid along his molars and he sucked his teeth looking down at the ground, flicker of a despondent, self-deprecating smile twitching his lips. “Uh, noted, I guess. Sorry I misunderstoo—” and his eyes on the blacktop prevented him from seeing you cross the few strides between you, catching him off guard when you kissed him hard enough to bruise, hard enough to feel everything you wanted to say, wanted to scream (at him, from the rooftops, ohmygodhelovesme) take a backseat for a moment. He grunted at the impact, stunned for a half-beat before surging forward into you, wrapping into your hair and pawing at your hips with desperate effort to get closer. Feeling the grin against your mouth, you wished you weren’t standing in the absolute middle of the parking lot, frenzy to have something to push each other against building to a fever pitch inside you when Dean tugged your hair back to look at your face.

He looked downright pornographic; swollen, flushed pout and impossible lashes framing bedroom eyes Marilyn or Sophia would’ve envied. A washing of cockiness only amplified the effect, those pillowy lips pulling into a lazy smirk. “So is this a really-close-friends kiss or what? Trying to figure out how much tongue I’m supposed to slip you.”

You giggled good-naturedly, letting the weight of your head press into his palm. “You are such an asshole.”

“Yeah, you fuckin’ love it.” He sucked on that sweet pulse spot under your ear deeply, some accessory movement with his tongue enough to make you see stars and miss that it was you letting out that ungraceful whine-moan. When Dean spoke the air passing over your spit-slick neck exploded in goosebumps. “And I love you.”

Dean kissed you in that searching, delicious, eat-you-alive way he sometimes did after a particularly victorious hunt when he either had all the time in the world or didn’t give a fuck about making it; soothing-probing with a little edge of danger that hypnotized you. It pulled at the sweater of your being and tugged, steady and cloying until you were something loose and ephemerous in Dean’s hands, something equally likely to float away or explode right there in that parking lot, clearing a hundred miles in every direction and leaving behind only the imprint of your craving for him. It’s a miracle your brain was able to function at all. In the best circumstances this flayed you open and coming on the heels of having the most beautiful gift you could imagine dropped at your feet—Dean loves you, he loves you and always has—it felt like it could stop your heart and you wouldn’t care.

“I need about twenty minutes in a cold shower or I promise I’ll knock you up right the fuck here,” Dean growled, low with sin directly into your ear.

You laughed breathily. “I thought you said that might be a good thing.”

His chuckle was rough as he pressed his lips to the crown of your head. He rested there for a moment before murmuring into your hair. “You really thought we were just messing around?”

“Dean, come on, I—don’t make me say it.”

“Say what?”

You swallowed shakily, tried to get a handle on your thoughts through the endorphins. “You—I—I’ve had it bad for you, thought if I really like, acknowledged it that it might fuck up what I did get to have of you or that some commitment would freak you out or whatever so I just—I don’t know, tried to be cool about it. Obviously we’ve always been kind of ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ when we were apart—”

Dean cut off your rambling. “Uh, has there been something you’ve been ‘don’t tell’-ing? I wasn’t ‘don’t ask don’t tell’-ing.”

“You haven’t?” you asked, surprised enough to be knocked off your nebulous trail of thought.

“No, I mean—no. You would’ve been fine with that?” The disbelief was so clear on his face it was practically casting a glow around him.

“Not fine with it—of course not—the thought of it kept me up nights, but I didn’t you to think I was some jealous freak.”

A smile spread over his face slowly, butter on hot toast. “So you would’ve been jealous?”

“I was jealous, I thought that’s what was happening.”

Dean’s head lolled back on his neck a few degrees, smirk cementing itself in place. “That’s kinda hot.”

It took the tension out of the moment and you chuckled under your breath, glancing down at your feet. “Yeah, you would say that right now, psycho.” It was breathy and shaky but Dean let you have it, throwing his elbow around your neck affectionately and tucking you into his side. With a kiss to the crown of your head, he started you both walking to the room lazily. At the door, you stilled him as he reached for the knob.

“Would you really want to keep it? Like, no bullshit, if that’s the situation, that I’m actually—you know, you wouldn’t want me to…?”

He licked his lips and bit the bottom one. They parted for a moment before he began to speak as his gaze flicked between your eyes. “Babe,” he finally breathed, and there was a note of croak there. “I’m in this for the long haul. If that’s where we’re going then we’ll deal with it. If you don’t—if you’re not there, I get it, but for me, I—yeah. If it’s going to be anyone for me, it’s you.”

“Even now?”

“I could think of worse things. Worse things have happened to me this week, probably.”

There were so many follow up questions running through your mind, so many rock-solid certainties that Dean wouldn’t really be able to quit hunting, that even figuring out how to go to an OB-gyn on fake IDs was likely to be more complicated than either of you realized, but his lack of hesitation was so sweet, so earnest, and you were still riding that he loves me high. And you might’ve gotten lucky; it might be nothing, no parking lot baby to contend with, just a tense reminder to be more careful next time. It was easier than you might’ve thought to give yourself permission to relish it for the night, consequences be damned.

Thanks again for reading! If you liked it, check out my Masterlist or send me a request!

Tags: @sams-sass @vxnderlindes @deanwinchesterswitch @akshi8278 @itsjensenanddean @flannellover67 @weepingwillowphoenix @tj-drinks-tea @whatareyousearchingfordean @winchest09 @winchestergirl2 @samwisethegr8 @nurse-sarahrn @lovers-in-japan-reign-of-love @deanwanddamons @stressedoutkitten @winchestershiresauce @tatted-trina6 @percico-heronstairs @downanddirtydean @queenoftheunderdark @lyarr24 @wonder-cole @that-one-gay-girl @fairlyspnfanfic @treat-winchesterswith-kindness @mimaria420

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cosmicjoke · 3 years ago

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Ya know, it gets me how in chapter 110, Levi really tries to talk to Zeke and understand where the hell he was coming from when he attacked and essentially killed all those people in Ragako village, and Zeke repays that attempt at understanding by continuing to act glib and lie straight to Levi’s face. Honestly, Levi’s attempts to understand Zeke are more than he deserves, but Levi holds out that branch anyway. But with the way Zeke responds, continuing to lie, and feigning confusion at Levi’s persistence in asking him, it only justifies Levi’s suspicion further. Levi KNOWS he’s lying. As it’s established again and again throughout the manga, Levi’s probably better at reading people than anyone. He’s got a better grasp on human nature, and on seeing what makes people tick than any other character in the story. He knows how people work, and has probably been exposed to more kinds of people than anyone else. So he knows Zeke is full of shit when he tells him that he “wishes I hadn’t had to do it, but I did.”. Levi is willing to admit to Zeke that he doesn’t know if he really wants to save Eldia or not, he can’t know Zeke’s true motivations, and he willingly says so to Zeke, but he can tell Zeke is lying about his remorse. Levi keeps asking him why he did what he did to Ragako, because he’s trying to glean if he’s somehow misread Zeke on this point. He’s trying to see if Zeke really DOES feel bad about what he did, if he feels any kind of genuine remorse. He’s trying to see if there’s anything at all human in Zeke. The fact Levi is even looking for that in him, after all Zeke’s already done to him and his friends, is frankly remarkable. That he’s willing to extend him that courtesy, to extend him that benefit of the doubt. But then Zeke continues to be dishonest with him, and to act snide and dismissive of Levi’s anger, and Levi flat out calls him on it. Zeke thinks he’s super smart, that he’s just fucking with Levi and having a laugh at his expense, but he’s unaware that Levi is studying him here, paying attention to the language he uses, to his body language, the way he says things, the tone he uses, etc... Levi’s reading him, and looking for clues as to Zeke’s true feelings. He isn’t assuming at all, the way Zeke accuses him. He’s trying to see if Zeke means what he’s saying, to understand if there’s more to Zeke than he’s letting on, to understand if Zeke maybe isn’t as heartless as he acted in Shinganshina that day, and he concludes from Zeke’s behavior and carriage that, no, he doesn’t mean what he’s saying at all about feeling bad, and he isn’t any different from the demented murderer who took real pleasure in killing a bunch of defenseless soldiers. He’s telling Zeke that yeah, maybe you really did it all to save Eldia (which turns out to be a lie anyway.), but you don’t feel anything at all at having killed a bunch of innocent people who had nothing to do with anything, and who never did anything to Zeke himself. And then Zeke’s response to this is to continue to mock Levi and make light of the whole thing. And people wonder why Levi hates the bitch so much. Zeke is the very definition of a conman, a pathological liar who’s willing to use any trick in the book and hurt anyone, so long as it gets him what he wants. When you look at Zeke’s actual, driving motivation too, it’s the definition of petty. He literally wants to wipe out an entire race of people so he can stick it to daddy, all while deluding himself into believing it’s for the greater good, that he’s doing it to “save the children”. Bitch, please. This guy knows deep down it’s not that, that he’s just upset ‘cause daddy didn’t love him enough, and he’s going to take out his anger and pain over that on an entire race of human beings. The same way we saw Zeke take out his anger at his father on the Survey Corps in Shinganshina, the way he lost control of his temper and started screaming at them all, calling them pathetic and disgusting, etc... That’s who Zeke really is. Someone willing to murder innumerable people to satiate his own pain at having been neglected for a couple years as a child. And running up against Levi’s blunt honesty and noble pursuit of wanting to help as many people as possible, running up against a character as selfless and non-judgmental as Levi, you really couldn’t have two more opposed characters.

What pisses me off about Zeke too is his smugness. He accuses Levi of making assumptions about him, but it’s actually Zeke who’s the one assuming. He assumes Levi is just a dumb soldier who’s easy to manipulate because of his compassion, and Zeke’s entire plan hinges on that assumption. That he’ll be able to deal with Levi because he thinks he’s just some kind hearted idiot who won’t be able to kill his own soldiers once they’ve been turned into titans. But like I said, Zeke’s the one here who’s being read. He’s exposing himself to Levi without even realizing it, thinking he’s the one in control of the situation, pulling the wool over Levi’s eyes, and amusing himself with it. But Levi never once falls for Zeke’s bullshit. He knows the guy’s a lying sack of shit, knows he’s up to something underhanded, knows the words he’s spouting aren’t anything but a twisted manipulation.

Honestly, I don’t get people who complain that Zeke made a fool out of Levi, or that Levi was acting out of character by letting Zeke rile him up. Levi isn’t riled up here. Not at all. He never loses his temper in these exchanges, he never gets overly angry or upset. He’s observing Zeke, and telling Zeke exactly what he thinks of him. Again, it’s Levi’s honesty against Zeke’s deceitfulness. Zeke’s the one that looks like the asshole here, because, well, he is.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #Levi Ackerman #zeke yaeger #snk 110

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marvelousmaize · 5 years ago

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53 and or 57 for the star au? Pretty please

Ask and ye shall receive! Warning for some mild gore and suggestive themes ahead. Thanks for this prompt, dear one!

53 & 57 -

keeping a secret & sacrifice - star AU

It’s been ten days.

Ten days since they took Jaskier. And Geralt has not slept, has barely eaten, is out of his goddamn mind with anger and fear because someone -

Someone took his bard. His Star. And now they were going to die.

See, even after all this time, people all over the Continent still fucking - still believe that consuming the heart of a Star would grant them immortality. And Jaskier is only half-Star, from his mother, but is smart enough to know that the technicality wouldn’t matter much to the wealthy lords and ladies obsessed with living forever. He’s kept it tightly under wraps - didn’t even tell Geralt for god’s sake. No, it was one Yennefer of Vengerberg, who is always observing, always miles ahead of everybody else; who saw Jaskier glow with love - who remembered what glows when it loves - and told Geralt.

And Geralt - Geralt figured out that Jaskier glows brightest around him; that he, a Witcher, made Jaskier shine with starlight. That he could crowd the bard against a door and bend his head so slow; press his lips to the line of his throat and Jaskier would gasp so sweet and shine so bright. That when they tumbled into bed and Geralt would stretch on top of him, marking him, touching him everywhere, bringing them both to new heights of pleasure - Jaskier would just keen and writhe and glow so deliciously, every inch of his skin awash with golden white starlight.

Jaskier glows in sweeter, tender moments too. And though Geralt hungers for every moment of heat between them, he thinks a part of him favors those instances of quiet bliss. Like when they slide into a hot bath together, or when Geralt kneads at the soft flesh of his back, or when the Witcher puts his head on Jaskier’s laps and lets him card his delicate, lute-calloused fingertips through his silver-white hair.

Now somebody else must have figured it out - must have seen Jaskier glow, and put two and two together as Yennefer had and they took him. They took what is Geralt’s from right under his nose and he can’t even let himself think what they’re going to do to Jaskier; can only focus on tearing the Continent apart until he finds his Star and the assholes who took him and he’s going to kill them, and he’s going to enjoy it. Nobody takes what is his.

And it’s been ten days with no Jaskier, no sweet singing, no starlight, and Ciri’s been crying herself to sleep every single night, and Geralt is out of his goddamn mind with fear and anger, tearing the continent apart -

When Yennefer’s scrying spell finally, blessedly works. She bursts into his room at midnight after he’d coaxed Ciri into a tear-soaked, dreamless sleep; says just, “Redania. Let’s go,” before Geralt walks up her in three easy strides, silver and steel swords strapped to his back.

He heads through the portal Yennefer conjures up even though he absolutely hates them - the smell of sulfur and brimstone and smoke singes his nostrils and dulls his senses - but he needs to get to Jaskier yesterday so he goes through the goddamn portal.

They end up in front of some sort of estate with a sprawling lawn lined with rose bushes, somewhere in Redania - Geralt doesn’t very much give a fuck where, only that he needs to get Jaskier out of there. He unsheathes his swords - he has a feeling he’ll be using both - and stalks towards the entrance, vision already bleeding red.

“Geralt! Geralt, wait -”

But the Witcher ignores Yennefer, doesn’t want to wait. Jaskier has been waiting. For ten fucking days. And it ends now.

When he finds his Star, Geralt’s knees nearly buckle from a mixture of relief and horror and rage. He’s strapped down to a granite table, wrists bound with rope on either side of his head and ankles shackled. He’s surrounded by men - Geralt counts fifteen in the room - including one the Witcher guesses must be the noble-born by the fine fabrics he’s wearing. Geralt zeroes back in on Jaskier, his heart a riotous mess in his chest. His doublet is gone; his blue-gray chemise torn up and bloodied; his eyes wide and afraid.

And his skin -

Geralt feels his blood simmer hotter.

Jaskier’s skin is pale, dull; like the starlight has been sucked right out of him. Like he has no reason to shine. The Witcher’s jaw is clenched so tight he tastes blood at the back of his mouth. He takes a step into the expansive room, swords drawn.

“Hey!” one of the men spots him and yells. “Stay back!”

Geralt keeps walking, and when the man rushes at him, the Witcher runs him through ruthlessly with his sword. “Can’t do that,” he growls. “You took what is mine. You pay.”

And Jaskier - dumb, foolish, idiotic, beautiful, incredible, breathtaking - Jaskier, whose skin had dulled with misery and sadness, whose ocean eyes were unblinking and afraid, turns his head and finally sees Geralt.

He gasps; his eyes widen; his heart races - the Witcher picks it up from all the way across the goddamn room.

“Geralt,” Jaskier breathes, like a prayer.

And the bard starts to glow. It’s faint, and timid, but it’s there, and Geralt’s chest tightens. He keeps stalking forward, bolstered and determined and laser-focused. More of the men make a run at him - he disposes of them all with ease. He guts them all down, one by one, until there are bodies and blood and ruin littering the floor. Until the only one left is the pathetic little noble-born, properly trembling in his expensive trousers. Meanwhile Geralt’s barely broken a sweat.

He keeps walking. Both of his swords are coated with blood.

Jaskier is struggling against his bindings. His body is alive and thrumming with relief and his eyes are glued onto the Witcher. He is properly glowing now, surrounded by golden white starlight, love in his eyes and joy curling his lips. “Geralt.”

The reverent murmur of the Witcher’s name appears to kickstart something ugly and desperate within the noble. He whips out a dagger; sticks it to the Star’s throat.

Geralt’s vision tunnels.

“D-don’t come closer Witcher,” the noble says through pathetic, chattering teeth. “Or he dies.”

Jaskier’s eyes are wide and remain focused on Geralt. He is afraid, but he is still glowing, his faith in Geralt all encompassing.

Geralt sneers at the noble. “You took what is mine. You die.” And hurls his steel sword with cutthroat precision; watches with no small amount of satisfaction as it stabs clean through the little lord’s skull.

He eats up the remaining distance between him and Jaskier, hands immediately going to unfasten the bindings at his wrists, before forcefully yanking out the metal shackles from the bard’s ankles.

Jaskier sits up as soon as he is free and clambers into Geralt’s arms, hands clutching at the back of the Witcher’s shirt. He lets out a small sob of relief, even as he glows brighter still.

And with the Star at last in his protective embrace, Geralt finally, finally exhales; shudders out a heart-wrenching “Jaskier,” as he presses kisses onto wet eyelashes, cheeks, forehead, before claiming his mouth.

“You - could’ve - died,” Jaskier says fiercely in between kisses. Geralt is pleased to note that he’s glowing still, so his Star can’t possibly be that upset.

“I would not have,” he assures, tracing the seam of Jaskier’s lips with his tongue, demanding submission, his arm curling possessively around the bard’s waist. “I had to find you. I’d move heaven and earth for you.”

He punctuates each word with a swipe of his teeth to Jaskier’s neck, gathering him up, whisking him away from the fear and the death and the ruin. Yennefer is just outside, a relieved if exasperated expression on her face as she conjures up another portal. Geralt walks through it with Jaskier still curled against his chest; doesn’t let go of him until they’re back in their room.

He drops the Star on the bed, stretching on top of him soon after, caging him in. “I wasn’t going to stop until I found you. I’d do anything for you. You must know that,” he groans possessively against the Star’s lips, and Jaskier lets out the most delicious of whimpers; scrabbles to hold onto the Witcher.

“You - are a fool, Geralt of Rivia,” he gasps, awash with starlight. “Always diving into things headfirst.”

“Only for you, my love,” and the fervent admission makes Jaskier flush and glow brighter. “Just for you.” He divests the bard of his shirt, presses him further into the bed, wishing to tell Jaskier with touch what he’s conveying with his words - that Geralt would lay down everything, absolutely everything, to have Jaskier alive and safe and shining in his arms once more. Because Jaskier is his. Now and forever and always.

Jaskier’s eyes are sparkling, as if he understands what remains unspoken but still so palpable between them. The Witcher thinks they glow almost as much as all the bare starlit skin underneath him. “Oh, darling -”

Geralt swallows any other word on the bard’s tongue. There will be time for conversation later. Right now, he has more pressing matters he’d like to attend to.

#prompt fill #writing prompt #the witcher #the witcher fanfiction #geralt x jaskier #geraskier #with #star!jaskier #once again coming to fill you all with starlight

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midnightactual · 4 years ago

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Yoruichi and Co. & Kaien (Part 1)

It’s an established fact that Yoruichi grew up alongside Kisuke and Tessai in the Shihōin Manor when they were all kids. She and Kisuke entered the Onmitsukidō and Gotei 13 at roughly the same time. She became friends with Kūkaku sometime very early on as well. (This is unsurprising given the interactions of the Five Great Noble Clans: she visited the Kuchiki, thus meeting Byakuya, and Byakuya had a lot of interactions with Kaien, which you wouldn’t expect to occur on the job; you can infer she was around the Shiba a lot as well.) Kūkaku also clearly had a lot of interactions with Kisuke to trust him implicitly..

The exact nature of the history of those four would require its own post to speculate on. What we’re here to do today is to see how they were influenced by Kaien. For Kūkaku that’s obvious: he was her older brother. But I think it’s very clear that he had quite the effect on Yoruichi and Kisuke (and by proxy Tessai) as well... one that fundamentally shaped the plot going forward.

I’ve previously conjectured that the entirety of Bleach pre-timeskip, revolving around combating Aizen, was not so much the story of Aizen and Kisuke as it was the story of the maneuverings of the Hōgyoku. I stand by that. However, I would also suggest that if there was an opposite to Aizen in that time period, it wasn’t Kisuke...

... It was Kaien.

You could easily say that what the Urahara Shōten does, it does in the name of the example set by Kaien. They are, if anything, his disciples. And what they engage in with regard to Rukia and Ichigo (and other matters) only truly makes sense in my estimation when viewed from that perspective. In many ways, you might say that their efforts to build up Ichigo and Rukia are a direct effort to reconstitute Kaien.

A bold claim, but what evidence is there for this? Well, buckle up, because it’s a long ride...

Yoruichi & Kaien

In chapter 62, Yoruichi is starting to train Chad and Orihime. She says:

Cut to chapter 268, where Rukia is reflecting on Kaien during the Aaroniero fight:

Going back to Yoruichi in chapters 62 and 70:

I personally think that this congruence in philosophy is too exacting to be dismissed as mere coincidence, whether it’s the focusing on protecting or on ‘the heart’. While protecting might be the dogma of the Gotei 13, the emphasis on ‘the heart’ is Kaien’s alone. Where did Yoruichi get it from? Given she was good friends with Kūkaku, and the Princess and later Clan Head of the Shihōin, the obvious answer is... from Kaien, the Clan Head of the Shiba. Yoruichi has most likely adopted and internalized Kaien’s ethos.

Doesn’t Kaien seem oddly practiced at this speech too, when he gives it to Rukia? Almost like he’s done it before... You can thus imagine a much younger and vulnerable Yoruichi getting more or less the same speech as Rukia did. (In my own personal headcanons, this would be part of what grounded Yoruichi against the influence of her father. I think it also fits neatly into @saranel‘s thoughts on Yoruichi at one time having confidence issues, as she notes here and here, but that too should probably be its own post.)

Okay, so let’s take it for granted that Yoruichi knew Kaien and was personally greatly influenced by him. What sort of knock-on effects does this have?

Ichigo & Kaien 1

Well, let’s go to Ichigo for a moment. We know that others see Kaien in Ichigo. Byakuya (and Rukia) do in chapter 56, in the fight in Karakura:

Rukia does in chapter 117 on the Senzaikyū bridge :

Immediately thereafter Jūshirō (and Byakuya) do too, also in chapter 117:

And, most concretely, Byakuya does in chapter 167, but we’ll come back to that later because it’s rather important for other reasons.

Yoruichi & Ichigo, Rukia, and Jūshirō

Instead, let’s focus on chapter 117 (and 118) for a moment. Who else shows up there right as everyone is suddenly thinking of Kaien? Yoruichi. And she is none too happy:

She is cold, calm, and on a mission, which is very unlike her demeanor throughout the rest of the Soul Society arc, whether it be before this (more on that in a bit) or later when she’s training Ichigo and fighting Soifon (where she is much more emotive). We see it come to an end once she’s successfully knocked Ichigo out:

She still looks resolved, but there’s a different kind of determination in her eyes... like she’s crossed a threshold. Until she hears Jūshirō. And then her expression becomes rather different again: almost wistful or sad? Why? Because, as Kaien told us earlier, and as Jūshirō told us himself in chapter 135:

@saranel, in her post PSA: Urahara Kisuke and Shihōin Yoruichi are NOT nice people, notes that:

Ichigo expressly told her he doesn’t want the help, but Yoruichi knows the fool is about to die a painful death, so she drugs him, violently incapacitates him and carries him away, despite his wishes. There were also a million different things Yoruichi could’ve done here, but as she herself explains to Ichigo later, none of the rest were real options, so damn his pride.

One of the (lesser) reasons I believe people never took offense to this scene, but did in Kisuke and Yoruichi’s case, is that Yoruichi has a mentor/student relationship with Ichigo. And I get that, but let me remind you that calling each other out on their bullshit is a cornerstone of Kisuke and Yoruichi’s dynamic:

True friends don’t shy away from calling their friends out when they’re being idiots. And when they’re about to make massive, life-threatening mistakes, then you can damn well bet consent flies out the window. Especially when it comes to war; don’t forget that Kisuke and Yoruichi are soldiers.

Bold emphasis is mine. Yoruichi does on the Senzaikyū bridge to Ichigo what Rukia will later wish she’d done in Metastacia’s lair to Kaien: she saves him from his own pride. Rukia, previously in chapter 135, had declared to Jūshirō:

And as that post intones, Yoruichi doesn’t just advance the same argument as Rukia, she acts on it, as she goes on to explain in chapter 120:

Yoruichi’s look to Jūshirō on the Senzaikyū bridge signifies exactly two things, in my estimation: 1. “Your philosophy was wrong,” and 2. “I’m not letting another Shiba die for no good goddamn reason.” The fact that she seems to be calling him just “Ukitake,” and not “Ukitake-senpai,” or “Ukitake-san,” or “Jūshirō,” as well as the way she describes him to Ichigo, also seems significant to me: she does not hold him as especially close, or with all that much respect given his age and station, and their past history, presumably exactly because she still holds him somewhat responsible for Kaien’s death. We’ll come back to Jūshirō later, however.

Ichigo & Kaien 2

Would you believe me if I told you that Rukia, Byakuya, and Jūshirō weren’t the only people to recognize Ichigo’s similarities with Kaien? Let’s start with Yoruichi, since her narrative feeds directly into the points just addressed. But first we have to rewind a little. When the Ryoka are leaving for Soul Society, in chapter 70, just after her reminder about heart, Yoruichi gets a small monologue:

There’s a lot to unpack here. First, Yoruichi’s words of “Do not stop. Do not look back. Do not think of those you are leaving behind. Just... go forward. Those who can do that, follow me,” tell you that she is capable of doing exactly that, and that should be read as a guide for understanding her departure from the Urahara Shōten for a long time: she was on a mission to go forward in her own way (but that’s a topic for a different post).

Second, notice Ichigo is the one who first steps forward (quite far forward, although they all clearly move around and advance in his wake). This isn’t surprising, but notice that Yoruichi focuses in on and addresses him specifically. This won’t be the last time this happens. That he speaks for all of them makes him the leader, and unsurprisingly Yoruichi goes to him after his fight with Kenpachi to retrieve him in particular. He is already, as of this moment, special within her consideration.

So, to return to just before the events on the Senzaikyū bridge, in chapter 116:

Byakuya’s reiatsu flares when he uses his shikai on Ganju. Notice how pissed Yoruichi looks at it. But once Ichigo explains himself, her expression completely transforms. This is a look of recognition and it is, I think, Yoruichi seeing two things: 1. Seeing Kaien in Ichigo’s behavior, and 2. seeing herself in Ichigo’s behavior. This was exactly the logic she used when rescuing Kisuke and Tessai (and the future Vizard) a hundred years earlier. Ichigo is living up to her model, which we already established was founded on Kaien’s. The moment is short-lived as:

She runs after him and shows off one of the most frustrated and annoyed expressions she has in the manga, because she knows he’s running off to his doom and they’ll lose yet another Shiba for no good reason. This is why she shows up at the Senzaikyū bridge acting like a cold killer: because she’s on a mission to save his dumb ass after she’s truly recognized him as being Kaien-esque.

Kūkaku’s recognition of Ichigo is similar to that of Jūshirō, and occurs in chapter 78:

That we have a sudden close-up of her eye, and then a panel focused in on Ichigo even as she says “these kids,” tells you that she’s looking at him in particular. This isn’t a coincidence. The resemblance hasn’t escaped her, and she likely knew from the moment they’d entered that room.

Kisuke’s recognition of Ichigo is a little harder to pin down, given he knows exactly what’s going on with Isshin, but I think that we see it during the battle alongside Don Kanonji at the abandoned hospital, in chapters 30 and 31:

Ichigo and Don Kanonji are confronting the Hollow in front of the crowd that’s there to watch the filming, putting everyone in danger; Ichigo then hauls Don Kanonji (who’s refusing to retreat) into the hospital, drawing the Hollow away from everyone else and minimizing the number of people at risk. Kisuke isn’t surprised by this action, and seems to have entirely expected it... as though it reminds him of someone.

And finally, we come back to Byakuya in chapter 167:

Not only does Byakuya compare Ichigo to Kaien here, he seems to imply that Kaien has bested him in combat before. That Byakuya makes special note of the duties of the Four Great Noble Clans to provide an “example” for all Shinigami is probably itself a continuing dig at the Shiba, the demoted Fifth Great Noble Clan, who did not do such a thing, in his estimation (thus his animosity toward Ganju, a Shiba, on the Senzaikyū bridge).

But he also tells us that Ichigo, like Kaien, had made an enemy out of “the laws of Soul Society.” Do you know of any other member of the Four Great Noble Clans who not only didn’t uphold the law of Soul Society, but made an enemy of the laws themselves? I do: Yoruichi Shihōin! We see, yet again, the parallelism established not just between Ichigo & Kaien, and Yoruichi & Ichigo, but Yoruichi & Kaien as well.

Jūshirō & Kaien, Yoruichi, Ichigo, and Rukia

To return to Jūshirō, he will, fairly soon after the incident on the Senzaikyū bridge, confront Byakuya over Rukia’s execution date being moved up,in chapter 134. Byakuya will taunt him, leaving him fuming:

Do you think that Jūshirō’s remembrance of Kaien here is based purely upon having seen Ichigo? I don’t. I think it was partially if not largely based upon having seen what Yoruichi did with Ichigo. I think it was seeing Yoruichi’s example of, in Ichigo’s later words to Byakuya, “fight[ing] the law,” in Kaien’s image, which put this thought in his head. (Especially as, at this time, no one knew of Ichigo’s shared lineage with Kaien.)

And when Jūshirō decides to fight the law himself (along with Shunsui) after his request to Central 46 (being run by Aizen) is turned down, what does he somehow have in his possession in chapter 149?

A Shihōin artifact. Isn’t that curious? How do you suppose he got hold of such a thing? Do you imagine it just randomly happened to be in his possession? That’d be a very fortuitous coincidence. I don’t believe in it after everything else that’s been pointed out.

(This is an aside, but isn’t the timing of Jūshirō’s plan to use Fullbringers and Ginjō in particular kind of odd? It only happened some 20 or so years at most before the start of the series. He and the Gotei 13 has been around for at least 2,000 years, and this is the first time it occurred to him? Isn’t it suspicious... that it came so comparatively soon after Kaien’s death, and that the plan seems to have rather resembled that of Sōken Ishida?)

...

But I’ve hit the image limit, so read on for Part 2!

#Out Of Character #Bleach #Meta #Headcanons #Yoruichi Shihouin #[ this one is certainly okay to reblog ]

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mollysfoundfamily · 4 years ago

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Number one: The medieval au looks AWESOME!!!. And second, can we get a few Hc about this au?

Ramsey refused to do his job as merry bard and sing of their adventures so Zora took it upon herself to do so “🎶 and then the noble sir Percy stoped on her quest to let her horse PPPPEEEEEEEEE! And then she started glaring at mmmmeeeeee!!!🎶”

Percy’s not technically not supposed to really be a knight her real title is Ugh...”Lady in waiting” and she kinda maybe tricked them into thinking she was a boy so the would train her.... Once Ramsey and Zora found out perfect Percy broke that big of a rule and pulled something that sneaky they never let her live it down

Cars haven’t been invented yet so CarCrash’s Viking name is DonkeyCrash.... his soul is ridden with the guilt of so many dead donkeys

Gio and the other Viking blasters have never actually been on the ocean before they just ride around in a boat on wheels

medieval Healthcare is terrible and mera has been mistaken for a corpse and brought to the death cart several times... who ever brought her is usually the one who ends up there instead

Some idiot also started going around with a freaking GLASS SHOE And tried to make every girl he met wear it including Mera... it went about as well as you thought

Indus is actually pretty skilled as a home doctor from taking care of mera he bandages her up himself so she does have to go threw a crazy blood letting process and always kisses her booboos better for extra luck!

Molly actually once saved sylvie form getting burned at the stake at a crazy witch trial. she dumbed down the flames so they wouldn’t hurt him and got him untied with Gio and the boys fought everyone off... it was the single kindest things anyone had ever done for him

Indus and Mera are actually already married here because marriage was basically the same thing as a permanent work for hire contract back then... it’s not like she actually liked him or anything... *she said as she flusteredly blushing*

Gio is all powerful because soup is all anyone eats here!!!! Plus now he has badass war paint and tattoos and is getting way more jacked now!!! But most of all HE HAS A CLUB!!!!! WITH A SWORD TIED TO IT!!!!!! Being a Viking Captain is freaking awesome!!

Howie is a blacksmith and more of a king to the common people than the real one is. him and his Worker bees have been planning to over throw The fool King Martian for years

They’re keeps Princess Molly though she’s sweet and a good worker

Percy and Howie are still rival frenemies but now it’s because Percy believes the monarchy can still work and Howie believes it has to go entirely but they both believe in the people’s justice

Molly in typical princess fashion has made friends with a group of friendly forest animals!! particularly a group of grizzly bears!! They help her with her chores sing with her And try to maul anyone who comes near her!! Phoenica and trixie are also princesses too; feenie is the daughter of a dignified French high noble and trixie is the daughter of a ruthless barbarian lord and they’re both BFFs!!

(And now some fun facts!!) Knights used to crewcut their hair in the back leaving only the bangs and Percy is no exception it’s actually kind of cute on her! Many renaissance sculptures and artists used to scam people by selling them fake works of art they said were actually a Greek originals in fact a lot of artists where hired by the people they scammed because they where so good at making the fakes look authentic Ramsey is literally the best at doing this and thus he is this universe’s Michelangelo

#Epithet Erased #Medieval AU #AU #headcannons #ask

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lemonyellowlogic · 4 years ago

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the harder the rain, the sweeter the sun: chapter one

summary: Prince Roman Sanders of the Sanders Kingdom lived his entire life desiring more than just becoming king, he wanted to actually live, explore the world. When his jealous younger brother plots to kill him, he escapes across the border into Alimagia, a realm of magic users who his father tried to destroy, and is found by a group of Alimagians.

Roman hides his identity from them, living peacefully until neighboring villages are beginning to be attacked by the kingdom for the first time in decades. Roman has to figure out a way to save his kingdom and Alimagia with the help of the people his kingdom attempted to erase, but can he do that while still managing to hide the secrets he holds buried deep down?

-o-

masterlist

-o-

chapter one: the beginning

“My son, long ago, in this world, there was a kingdom ruled by men, named the Sanders Kingdom. This kingdom ruled over all of the humans, the purest of the races.

But, across the border lay the realm of Alimagia, where the wicked magic creatures lived and plotted. Years and years ago, they had free reign over all of the world, but a single man refused to bow down to their evil.

He gathered an army, and defeated the wicked Alimagians, pushing them behind the border and allowing the humans to be free. This man was named Thomas Sanders, and it was him that the kingdom was named after. He ruled for the rest of his life as a kind, just leader, and it is him that the kings have always looked up to.

You, my son, are the descendant of the great King Thomas, and one day, it will be you who will be the kind and just king our people need.”

The young prince looked up to his father with bright eyes, a wide smile on his face.

“I will, papa! I’ll defeat the evil Ali...Alimag…”

His mother helped him, “Alimagians, dear.” as she played with his little brother, Remus, near the king and prince.

“Yeah, I'll defeat them, mama! I’ll make sure you never get hurt!!”

The queen chuckled, but her smile didn't reach her eyes as she held her child close to her breast, “Alright, Roman. Alright.”

Roman sat, his back completely straight as he listened to the court talk about new taxes and what have you. The prince didn’t care much for such meetings, but, if he was to be king one day, it was important he learned of every aspect that there was to ruling the beautiful kingdom of Sanders.

However, his mind loved to wander during them, and so off it went, imagining a world of fun and freedom. Roman wished that he could just hop onto a horse and ride into the sunset, but he couldn’t. He had his people to think of, and his father and brother to worry about. He’d love to at least know what was beyond the forest that grew wild on their northern border, because at least then the people wouldn’t have to be afraid of it. Alimagia was a dangerous place, but how dangerous could it-

“Roman!” The king barked, and the prince jumped, his mind clearing and returning back to his head. The court all stared at him, awaiting his response, most relaxed but some annoyed.

Roma sheepishly grinned, “I apologize, what was the question at hand?”

His father took a deep breath, pinching his brow, “The court asked if you had any other idea of what the increase on the people’s income tax should be or how it should be announced.”

Roman’s hand went to his chin, his thumb sweeping across his lips as he thought.

The court liked him enough. It was a mixture of people, one leader representing each village in the kingdom, some poor and some filthy rich. Roman, as a prince, would consider himself to be wealthy, but he was born into wealth and had done nothing to gain it. He had spoken with the poorest villages of the castle’s adjoining town and he wanted to speak for their plight, because Roman knew that they needed the loudest voices to speak for them.

“Well, it shouldn’t be one general number. The very poor shouldn’t pay the same as the very richest. One-tenth of everyone’s income if their income passes…” Roman hummed, “Let’s say fifty-thousand gold per year should probably be enough to sustain our kingdom comfortably if everyone does their share.”

His father nodded, many representatives smiling gratefully at him while others scowled.

“I see your point, my son. We will continue to speak on the subject another day, however, as this day’s time has almost run out.”

The king stood, “This meeting is adjourned,” and the representatives filed out of the door one by one and continued out of sight down the halls. Roman planned on following them out the door and talking to Elliott, the youngest representative and elected leader of the village Beania. However, he was stopped by someone forcefully grabbing the back of his tunic, pulling him back.

He jumped in surprise, but his face quickly settled as he stared at his younger brother, Remus.

Rolling his eyes, he asked, “What is it, Remus?”

“What, I can’t just ask my big brother how the meeting went? Wow, how cruel of you. I’m hurt.”

Roman pushes the man off him, straightening his tunic as he glared back at him.

“Name one time you ever actually asked about my day.”

Remus looked back at his, his brow furrowing. Roman continued, “Anyways, it was fine. We got things done and I believe the people will be pleased. Is that all?”

“Ooh, pleased. What does that mean? You gonna give them prostitutes?”

Roman’s face contorted and he brushed an imaginary piece of dust off of his shoulder, “No, you dimwit. The tax will be equal throughout all of the people past a certain point.”

“Uh oh, I dunno if people will be happy with that, especially people who’ve been at our father’s side the longest. You prepared for them to leave you, to leave us?”

Roman sighed, “You have nothing to do with this, Remus, and those people were at our father’s side for the wrong reason, but of course you wouldn’t know. Have you ever taken a simple class on civics?”

Remus’ face reddened, “Well, no, but that doesn’t matter!”

He spat, “I’ve learned more from being at our fathers side throughout the years then you’ve learned in some dumb class. I should be king!”

Roman rolled his eyes, “Stop making a scene, Remus.”

“A scene! I-You!”

Remus glanced around and saw most of the nobles and leaders eyes on his, confused and annoyed at his yelling. He growled, pushing Roman back and running out the hallway.

Roman sighed, straightening his tunic as he turned to look at Elliott, who rolled their eyes and clapped Roman’s arm as they walked up to him.

“Sorry about your brother, do you know what’s going on with him?”

Roman chuckled as the two continued walking, “This is normal, he’s usually like this.”

“What’d you mean?”

“He always starts idiotic arguments in an attept to humiliate me, but he always ends up making a fool of himself instead. I don't know why he dislikes me so, but it’s just a fact of life.”

“Is he jealous of the throne?”

“Possibly. However, that doesn’t matter. How is your village?”

“We are...alright. We’re running a bit low on seeds for our crops as multiple of our farmers had some thieves during the summer who stole some supplies.”

“How many do you need?”

“Ehh, a few pounds for each farmer, if that is alright?”

“I’ll talk to my father about it, but I think that is definitely doable.”

“Truly? Oh, thank you, Roman.”

“It’s nothing, Elliott.”

The prince yawned as they walked, and Elliott smiled at him. He smiled back sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he cracked it, “Apologies, my good friend, but I’m truly exhausted after today. I’ve got to head to sleep, but I will see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, goodbye!”

Roman waved them goodbye as he walked to his bedroom, sighing as he closed his door. Sitting on his bed, he pinched his brow. He laid back, staring at his ceiling, the stars painted by his mother shimmering with the setting sun's light.

Roman often wonders how different his life would've been if he was born to a common family. He would be able to have friends outside of politics, maybe even jousting or becoming a knight, but no. Roman was to become king, and though politics were not something he loved, he had to allow it to become his life and his passion to help his country.

Maybe Roman could've even found love. But no, his love had to be political, choosing from one of the nobles’ or chiefs’ daughters to wed instead of finding it naturally. He wasn’t even sure if he liked women at all, but that doesn’t matter, it’s his job to be king and to have a successor. He wasn’t allowed to love someone who couldn’t help him be king, so he wasn’t allowed to make his own choices.

It made him sad. He wanted to be his own person, to be free, but he isn’t allowed.

Looking out of his window, Roman saw that it was almost completely night, and so he got ready for sleep. Roman shrugged off his tunic and slacks, throwing them into a hamper the maids would pick up the next morning. He tiredly put on some sleeping clothes before falling into his bed, leaving his candle lit as he wrapped himself into a tight cocoon of warmth and passed out.

Remus grumbled to himself as he stalked through the hallways, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. It wasn’t fair. Roman was the worst person for king, but only because he was born first, he got to rule. Sure, Remus may not know as much politics as his brother, but he is still educated on the subject, he is, after all, second in line.

A thought seemed to fall into Remus’ head, and he froze where he stood. If Roman were dead, Remus would be the only candidate for king. But, Roman wouldn’t just die out of nowhere and Remus couldn’t do that to his brother, he’d look like a monster if he was caught. He has to make a plan. As he walked by Roman’s slightly ajar door, he peeked in, and a grin split upon his face upon the sight of his brother in bed. Perfect.

-o-

#lemon talks #lemon writes #the harder the rain the sweeter the sun #thtrtsts #thtrtsts spoilers #ts sides #sanders sides #thomas sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #unsympathetic remus #dlamp #lamp

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shellheadtm-a · 4 years ago

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Steve x Tony @shieldslinger / send me a ship and-

Who asks the other on dates: lbh with each other here, these are the kind of assholes that have an actual date night. sometimes they even make it to it and do date things. but also let's be honest with the fact they've been going on dates for years and were too dumb to realize it. museums? burgers and a movie? you know they've done it, you know it was a date, and you know they had literally no idea. because they're dumbasses. Who is the bigger cuddler: with all the unnecessary touching that went on with them from like literally steve's first day out of the ice and you come into my home and ask that question? as touchy as they were before (those sweet, sweet shoulder squeezes of validation) you know it's worse now. movie night's probably a nightmare just because you know it's either bc tony's draped some part of himself on steve, or they're jammed so close together you couldn't squeeze a sheet of paper between them, or...listen. when two tactile people love each other very much, they're probably really gross and annoyingly handsy, and i don't mean in the...gropey kind of way, they're just touchy. all the time. must toch. plus they have a shitton of issues, which probably doesn't help in that either but eh. Who initiates holding hands more often: there's a theme here, you know that right. there's a theme here, because it's a theme in canon, and it's tony offering a hand up to steve. like it's a thing, you know it, i know it, so if you don't think tony's needy hand holder in this relationship, you'd be wrong. it's sad, he gets this weird little thrill at even being able to do that, and on the one hand...you gotta feel bad for him. he'd take whatever steve gives him and tell himself that's enough and he's content with it, because it's steve. but knowing steve's okay with it? a religious experience.

Who remembers anniversaries: well, it's not steve rogers, i can tell you that. and you know what, that's okay, and that's fair, and tony loves him anyway. he might be the man with a plan, but he's useless with a planner. he gets caught up in things, it's fine, tony remembers for the both of them, it's why he has friday. what i'm saying is the only one who really remembers any important dates at all is friday. Who is more possessive: i don't know that...you could really classify either of them that way? overly protective, sure. clucky with mother hen tendencies, the both of them, yeah. taking what they can of each other's time, even if it's just to be able to say good night and good morning, absolutely. but i don't think...with who they are as people, they really can't be. Who gets more jealous: which goes back to being possessive, right, like tony has a little jealous streak but it doesn't manifest blatantly as one. two, they're public figures so...there's not a lot of room for jealousy there. like captain america and iron man might be characters they play (which are still them, i know i've talked about it but bear with me, it's an idealized version of them, separate from the inner selves) but they're public, you know, they're superheroes, and there's an expectation you share each other with the job. and with the people you save. with the world, really. i think it's more about taking what time they do have as steve and tony more than anything else. Who is more protective: this is a joke, right? this is a joke. these two idiots would throw themselves in front of each other over and over and over again if you let them. that said, tony's moreso. and i'll tell you why. everything he's done? all the bad? the times he's sold his soul? was to keep steve - and their loved ones - safe. or happy, in a situation where there was really nothing they could do. every time. or i'll go one better. tony will absolutely trade his own life for steve's in the blink of an eye, because he's always believed between the two of them steve's the better man. he's done it. willingly. without a second thought once he's made the decision to do it. he probably has a "sacrifing myself for the greater good and especially steve" face. i'd like to lie and say that he understands if something happened to him how badly it would hurt steve but...if it came down to a choice of tony dying if it meant steve would live, he'd trade himself in a heartbeat. that's uh. something he's working on (he's not). Who is more likely to cheat: this really is a joke. steve "my middle name is noble" rogers and tony "has been in love with steve rogers for years" stark. like tony would never, ever, ever say it, but this is it. i don't mean in some fatalistic way, and i mean he fully believes he has an expiration date so he wouldn't say anything anyway, but this is it. steve's always been The One. his Person. never would happen, not in a million fucking years. Who initiates sexy times the most: you would think the answer is anthony edward stark and in most cases you'd be right, but steve rogers is not most cases, it is steve rogers and the rules don't apply to him. by which i mean surprisingly steve is the proactive one here, and i think it's because tony is...he is hesitant. it's weird, he's pushy with his forms of affection and then he backs off in this arena but i would argue he's getting better about it, and that the only reason he is like that is because he doesn't...he's very careful with steve, really, he's still walking on eggshells a little. give him time, the tables will turn, he'll be pouncing steve from dark corners like an overgrown house cat with the 3am zoomies and a need to fight. Who dislikes PDA the most: they're not, you know, public yet. so it's not like this is really a thing outside of their friends circle, and even then, like. i'm willing to bet literally nothing has changed in the slightest except you might walk in on them smoochin. oh, the huge manatee. tbf, for some people it might be (clint, looking directly at you) considering who wants to see their parents doing that but you know. tough tiddy. anyway, they’re just...not really the type. Who kills the spider: listen they know some spiders who are very good people, and it's not nice to talk about premeditated murder. there is a strict catch and release program in place and by that i mean tony will absolutely release said spiders back with their people. except nat, because she's scary. Who asks the the other to marry them: steve's joked around about that once. once. and tony did not take it well with his past history of failed relationships. not out of a fear of committment, are you kidding me, this is tony who makes being married a personality trait. but because he thinks he's a jinx. i can tell you one thing, it won't be him that asks, if they ever get around to doing something more official than cohabitating. shaking up. whatever you want to call it. not unless it's a jokey thing that gets taken seriously (which would change his tune embarrassingly fast). he's gunshy at this point. he's been engaged a few times and it's telling that he doesn't have like three divorces under his belt. and also they're still feeling out the new them, which is fine, it's good they're doing that. but he'd say yes in a heartbeat. Who buys the other flowers or gifts: the answer you're looking for is tony stark. it is tony stark who does this, thank you. it could be big things, like, i don't know, a mansion (hello, 890 5th avenue). training robots for the gym that...no one needs to know the price tag on that steve's going systematically tear apart. training scenarios for the danger room he's spent three days straight coding and putting together. new uniforms. or it could be little things like a book steve's been meaning to get and read or his favorite bagel or...either way. it's just who tony is, he can't help it. if he has it, he gives it. honestly i feel like at some point steve's just learned to roll with it because there's no stopping it. he's been doing it forever, since day one (hey guys, remember the cray mainframe?), but now he's signed up for no complaining so you know. that's on him. Who would bring up possibly having kids: said like it hasn't already happened. it's steve, by the way. it's 1000% steve and he's already done it and tony's giving ten million reasons why he shouldn't when he knows he's going to say yes, and so what i'm really getting at here is they need to start thinking nursery colors for the mansion, because they're not fooling anyone. and they're gonna be amazing parents and that kid is gonna be the most spoiled, loved, protected baby ever. she hit the jackpot and doesn't even know it. this is also the only superfamily content i am here for. just a dumbass, a himbo, and a superbaby. also consider. all the cute. knitted things. i demand cute knitted things, it's not up for debate. Who is more nervous to meet the parents: that's...not an issue, for one thing. for another, like. literally their entire friends group are...all...the same people. lbr there was literally a betting pool in place and i wonder who won. it keeps me up at night, wondering who cashed in on tony and steve no longer being quite as big of a pair of dumbasses as they have been. part of me hopes it was peter parker, i worry about you, spooder-min. Who sleeps on the couch when the other is angry: tony uh. will stay in his lab if they have a row but i can promise you he doesn't sleep much. if at all. it's part and parcel with the tony stark experience in this case. he'll stay in his hidey hole and be sad because steve's mad at him, but won't do anything about it at first, just stay and be sad. because he's sad. and also Feeling An Emotion is hard and they don't know how to use their words. Who tries to make up first after arguments: i'd argue 70% of the time it's probably tony. like, they're both stubborn, we know that. they both dig in their heels and think they're right, the other's wrong, and they're being stupid about it. and about some things they're just literally never going to agree but don't know how to agree to disagree. tony gets set in a rut and won't consider a deviation from what he's already decided is going to happen. steve gets mulish and refuses to listen to another point of view. they butt heads. but honestly, at this point, at the end of the day (if he can stop sulking), after everything that's happened? you know, at this point it's obvious that when they argue and stay mad, bad things tend to happen. tony doesn't even have memories of the worst of it but he knows he took it badly, let's be real here (i say, like badly's not a hilarious understatement). he may not apologize in a way that says he's wrong, but he may do it for helping escalate a fight. bc, you know, blah blah, not half as good as anything as i am doing it next to you, blah blah, azure eyes, blah blah, good morning beloved. Who tells the other they love them more often: honestly, now that those big scary words are out there, and there's no takebacksies in having said it, they've both been pretty free with them. making up for lost time, i guess. i think they have different tones, though. tony's as free with those with steve as he's ever been with anything else. he gives them...often? and with no expectation of anything in return. because that's how he's always been with steve. and from steve like...a lot of time it seems like...as much as he says it? it's a reassurance more than anything (because we know how tony is). sometimes tony even lets himself believe it without second guessing himself.

#shieldslinger #array //: ( ooc asks )#paradigm //: ( main )#bind //: ( shieldslinger :: there's that one you circle back to - for home )#// one day i'll do one of these memes without like #// writing a ship manifesto #// but today will not be that day #// anyway i fail at successfully putting into words #// how intense tony is about steve #// but here's this ig #array //: ( queue )

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leoxerickson · 4 years ago

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At The Beginning || Leo & Rosaline

@thenorthernrose

12 Years Ago... In the Northlands...

It was about half past noon when the young thief made his way down the corridor. A light whistle filling the air as he went. It had been about a month since the first time Leo had returned to Chateau Mer Sereine after his mother’s disappearance. The handmaiden was all but forgotten in the grand Chateau. A thought that seemed to creep its way into Leo’s mind and torment him in the middle of the night. But, today was not the day to dwell on how expendable people like him seemed to be to the nobility. Today was, instead, the day he had planned to swipe some of the Desrochers family jewels.

He had been scouting out the palace for weeks, parading around as the court fool no less. A sight that, more likely than not, would send his father into an early grave. It was almost funny how far the young Erickson had fallen. He used to play in these halls as a kid, imagining what it would be like when he grew up and became a knight. He wondered if it would prestige, pacing around the corridors with the Gold Crown and Red Roses craved into his armor. He used to wonder a lot of things, but he never could have predicted that the armor would be exchanged for a floppy hat and oversized shoes with bells on the ends. Bells which he had removed the bobbles in to stop them from producing any sort of sound. It made it easier for him to sneak around that way.

It was the perfect disguise really. Court jesters were there to be poked fun at and cause a good laugh. They were unpredictable idiots in a way that was amusing to no end. But, they weren’t ones to often be paid attention to during their times off. Leo used the spontaneous nature the court’s fool was known for to his advantage.

Passing a few maids down the hall, Leo waited until he was far enough out of their line of their sight before dipping into what at the time would have been the Crown Princess’s quarters. He had already managed to swipe a look at the future queen’s schedule and was sure she was supposed to be no where near her room for at least another hour or so. It was more than enough time for him to make off with some of the noble’s less valuable possessions.

He wasn’t planning on taking anything she’d miss. He was looking for items such as antique vases or some earrings that never seemed to be worn. Something along the lines of a jewel encrusted pen. Something that would go unnoticed for people whom had everything, but would mean life or death for himself and the few other street kids he kept an eye out for now and again. It would mean a warm meal that hadn’t been dug out of the trash. It would mean a bed and place to rest his weary head. It would mean not having to return home and face how disappointed his older brother must have been of him- how disappointed he was with himself.

Popping off the funny hat, Leo began plucking up the smallest knickknacks and paperweights he could find. Dropping them into oversized material, he continued to rummage around right up until he heard the sound of a creek of a floorboard behind him. Fuck, Leo thought. It was time to run. But, instead of knocking the first thing he saw over and darting towards the nearest window, Leo slowly turned around on the back of his heels to face the other.

“Hey… How’s it going?” Leo let out a low whistle, shooting the Princess as innocent of a smile as he could muster as he placed the hat back on top of his head. Holding it in place so that it wouldn’t spill over with all of his spoils.

Rosaline: The day had not been going well for the Crown Princess of the North. Her schedule had recently been fleshed out with royal duties to attend alongside her parents, and though she had been educated from an early age how to be future Queen, it was more difficult to put into action. Rosaline was good at hiding her mistakes and embarrassment, but it was enough to boil over by the time the sun set.

She had managed to sneak away during teatime, craving the solace of her room to breathe easier and check a welt on her arm from archery practice. Rosaline could already feel the tenseness in her shoulders start to ebb as she hurried down the hall to her bedroom. What she wasn’t expecting was to see the bright stripes of the court jester clashing with her furniture. She slowed and stepped carefully in slippers, eyebrow arched high in suspicion waiting for the intruder to turn and see he was caught red handed.

“These are private rooms.” Rosaline said sharply. “No one in your position…” Her words faded when she recognized the jester beyond the floppy hat and jingling bells. “You.” She had heard the whispered rumors around court when Leo dropped his knight training. It was a rare occurrence for Northern boys born to the privilege. She crossed her arms stiffly, “Why are you poking around my things? Give me one good reason I shouldn’t call the guards on you, Leo.”

Leo: “Oh! Are they?” Leo feigned innocence, blinking around the room as if he had set his sights on it for the first time. “My bad, your highness,” He said, bowing in her gesturing. His hands still glued to the side of his head as he tried desperately to balance the now stuffed hat on top of him. “You know I knew something seemed off, put I just couldn’t put my finger on-“ Leo started to say, but his words cut off as Rosaline recognized him.

Shit! Leo’s brain was practically screaming at him to drop the hat and make a mad dash for it. He could fling himself out the window if he really needed to. It wasn’t that far of a drop down… Or if arrested, he could live a fairly quaint life behind bars. They’d probably feed him better than how he had been eating up until this point, he mulled his options over in his head. “Leo? Leo who? I’m not-“ He tried to argue, before letting out a stiff sigh.

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry, Rose,” Leo said quietly. His tone growing soft, but serious for the first time since he entered the room. Slowly taking the hat off of his head, Leo placed it down on the vanity table with his stash along with it. “I mean I wouldn’t say it’s a good reason, but… for food mainly? I also owe some guys a whole lot of money and if I don’t pay them off soon, they’re gonna come for head or worse- the last people they saw associate with me which happen to be a couple of street kids. But, that’s not really anything you need to worry about. I mean you’re a princess after all, right? I’m sure you have more important things to do than to be concerning yourself with likes a thief.” Nor did he really think she would. The Desrochers didn’t seem to have a care when his mother went missing and she had devoted her life to serving them, so why would they give a second thought towards a boy who was robbing them blind? And the more he thought about it, the more the window option was becoming a lot more appealing…

Rosaline rolled her eyes as he tried to act clueless and anyone other than he so clearly was. Being taken for a fool was almost the greater slight than being stolen from. She stepped up to the vanity where Leo had placed his hat and the items he’d swiped. It was nothing she would have noticed, at least not for a couple of days. Still, the betrayal stung slightly and Rosaline pouted to herself as Leo slowly came clean.

She wanted to point out, first and foremost, it was Leo’s choice to be living on the streets now. He could still be training as a knight and safe in the barracks, but he’d given that up. But Rosaline had also been visiting the poorer villages and sections of the Northlands, she saw what hungry people looked like. She would not know the strife personally, but she had witnessed it and understood. “I wish you weren’t wearing that stupid outfit.” She murmured, “You stand out like a sore thumb.” Rosaline was already trying to strategize the food issue, at least.

“I’m the princess. It is my concern. They’re still my people.” She scowled at him slightly, “What sort of trouble did you get yourself in to, owing money?” Rosaline looked him up and down, Leo clearly had so little to spare. “If you put my things back, and don’t run away – I’ll help you. We were friends, once upon a time.” Friends for Rosaline were hard to come by.

Leo: At the sight of the slight pout against the young girl’s lips, Leo felt a wave of guilt wash over himself. A feeling he all, but forgotten until that very moment. A sudden urge over came him to reach out and brush his thumb lightly across her lower lip as if to will the pout away, but he resisted. A person like him wasn’t capable of comfort like that anyhow. So, instead, he just stood there. His gaze soaking her in as he watched her debate over in her head what to do with him.

A soft smile traced across his lips at her comment about his ridiculous attire. “You and me both, Princess,” He admitted. Running his fingers through his tangled locks as his gaze fell down to his feet. “But, it worked, didn’t it? Up until now anyhow. It’s hard to imagine anyone would be dumb enough to steal looking like this and yet, here I am,” He let out a low whistle as he gestured to himself. He had fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe, he might make her smile? But, as soon as it popped into his mind, he thought better of it.

“I know. But, you’re also a girl. One whom I imagine has a hard day which is why she’s chosen to come back earlier than anticipated, only to be rudely interrupted by some fool,” He met her gaze. Not looking at the scowling girl before him as a princess, but as a person. “How off am I here?”

He didn’t need her to answer, to know that he was right. Playing different parts had already given him a sharp sense when it came to reading people. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll figure it out. I always do. Same goes with the food. I am respectfully relieving you of your duties, even though I would prefer if you didn’t call the guards. I don’t want to take away any more of your time you should spending on you. That and being locked up doesn't exactly sound pleasant... And I um… I didn’t think you’d remember,” He admitted. His hands slipping into his pockets as he gave her another light shrug.

Rosaline: “Just barely.” Rosaline responded dryly, lips still pursed in observation over Leo’s completely changed appearance. It would be easy to miss him if one didn’t give a second glance, and who would give any jester a second glance? The Desrochers had better duties to attend than that. That’s what made the disguise so clever, but then here they were face to face, and there was no mistaking him. “You’re dumb enough to pull it off for as long as you did.” Rosaline jeered him.

But the slight playful attitude was quickly pulled from her when Leo pinpointed her day so perfectly. He’d been gone for so long but could waltz back in and see her better than her parents or close handmaidens. It bothered her. “You’re just a boy.” She shot back defensively, “Have you really come to terms with turning your back on everything your family did before you? Do you think that makes you brave?” She just saw a desperate hungry thief instead.

Even though her words were harsh, she didn’t fully hold them against Leo. Rosaline would be damned if she’d be relived of her ‘duties’ from him though. “I can get you sandwiches and treats from tea.” She answered instead, “Just meet me by the kitchen later.” She took a seat on a stool by the foot of her bed. “Given the chance I could recognize you in a crowd of thousands Leo Erickson.”

Leo: “Aw come on, Rose,” Leo said, taking a small step forwards, just enough to be able to whisper in the girl’s ear, “You’re honestly telling me you don’t find me in this get up amusing? Even in the slightest?” He asked. He cocked his head slightly to the side as he looked her over as if searching for the smallest hint of a smile across her lips. “Not quite the smile that I was hoping for, but I’ll take it,” Leo chuckled at her jest. His tongue running across the front of his teeth as he shook his head lightly in her direction.

But when the Crown Princess reminded him of his place, Leo found himself recoiling back the step he had taken. His eyes zoning in on a spot on the floor as he rocked back and forth on his heels. “I know,” Leo’s words were all but a whisper after a long drawn out pause. He knew he was nobody. He was a criminal and a thief among a long list of other equally negative adjectives. He was on a path of destitute, while she was destined for greatness. He had no right to even be standing there let alone looking at the future Queen to be. That was how things were supposed to be and, yet, here he was.

He lifted his head up towards her. A brow raising at her question. “Brave? No. Foolish? Maybe. But, would that really be anything new for me?” He said with a nonchalant shrug, despite the weight behind his words. “I mean let’s play this out, shall we? Say I did what every other Erickson has done before me? Say I became your dear knight? Then what? Hmm? I take orders I don’t agree with that will inevitable get me killed or have me vanish into the night? No ones gonna send a search party or mourn a guy like me. You said it yourself. I’m a just a boy. While you? You are going to travel the world and forge decisions. You are going change the course of history. You are going to get married to some Prince or Duke or some other guy with a title that, let’s be honest doesn’t actually mean a whole lot other than the fact that they have some whoopididoo prestigious parents and won the lottery at birth,” Leo exclaimed, messing his fingers through his hair as he did. “Everyone acts like being a knight is this prestigious thing, but the truth is, either way? Knight or not, you’re the one who will make the history books, while I’m the one who’ll be forgotten. And if I’m going to be forgotten anyways, then I might as well get live freely while I still can. Is that what you really wanted to hear, Princess? That I’d rather starve than stay in line?” The truth laid buried in between his words; Leo didn’t become a knight because he was afraid to end up like his mother- squandering his life protecting a family that wasn’t his.

“I can’t do that, Rose,” Leo spoke softly. Shaking his head back and forth as he took another step back towards the window ledge. “I can’t meet you in the kitchen, just like you can’t relax around me because you’re a Princess and I’m a prideful nobody and that’s the way it has to be.”

Rosaline: “You act as if every guard and soldier is disposable. The past may lead you to believe so, but that is not how I plan to run my kingdom.” Rosaline spoke with slight breathlessness. If that is how Leo and others looked at her she would prove the opposite if she had to. She didn’t want to be feared or resented. Not even as a princess.

Rosaline shook her head, “I don’t understand how you can believe living off the streets is more prosperous than under Desrochers barracks- but you have made your decision.” A slight against his family, against her, she lifted her chin slightly in her own defiance: Rosaline wanted to scold herself for feeling that ache in her chest, but the emotion was there nonetheless. Leo was only disposable because he believed it, and he’d only be a street urchin as long as he kept himself there.

But then he openly refused her, and her expression turned into a momentary grimace. “If we’re keeping with decorum make your escape. Or I have to turn you in.”

Leo: “Maybe not every guard or soldier, but can you honestly promise me I would not? I have no doubt you will be an incredible leader, Rosaline. But, if a war happens, there will inevitably be collateral. I mean you speak of everything my family did before me, but can you honestly stand there and tell me one of those knights names and what they stood for that was so extraordinary? Because I can’t,” He didn’t mean it in a slight against her family. He understood why his brother and the men before him chose to serve. He just didn’t see the point in it himself and how he could he look her in her eyes and fight for something he didn’t believe in? “I can’t and I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s more prosperous. I just don’t believe being a knight is for me is all. You’re talking to a boy who values his freedom more than anything. Who values the free will I have to stand before you and speak my mind instead of having to bow and refer to you as your highness or your majesty. And sure this freedom could get me locked up or killed, but at least it would be my stupid mistake that brought me here.”

“If I could be my brother, I would. But, I’m not and I know you don’t. But, hey, if it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one,” He admitted quietly under his breath. No one ever seemed to understand why. He was treated like so much of a disappointment from one simple decision that his own father wouldn’t even look him in the eyes. At least Lucan would speak to him, but it wasn’t without a saddened or downcast disposition. Everyone he cared about seemed to see him as a boy who threw his life away while he viewed himself as someone fighting for something bigger; Fighting for a world where a princess and pauper could stand on equal playing fields, where a boy like him might be able to approach a girl like without any false pretenses, and the highest position he could hold in society wasn’t a solider. But, those democratic thoughts of his would be treasonous if he ever dared speak them out loud.

“Always about the decorum, huh Rose?” He asked her cheekily, despite the solemn look in his eyes. Lifting himself up onto the window sill with ease, he glanced back at her once more. “See you around, Princess,” The thief gave her a salute before taking a step backwards. Sliding down the slated part of the roof, he disappeared out of sight.

End.

#rosaline ft. leo #c: leo

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crowned-ladybug · 5 years ago

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So I said I wanted to see demon AUs that aren’t smut and that I sadly don’t have the energy to make my own rn, and then I went ahead and accidentally made one anyway

So here’s some incomplete notes on it. It’s 2.7k words. I’m so sorry.

Local dumbass heir to the throne (Joseph) doesn’t Wanna be a heir to the throne bc it’s Boring he’s always wanted to be an Adventurer but here he is anyway. Then one night he gets drunk off his ass and manages to?? accidentally summon a demon??? in his friend’s Magic Lab???

(The friend is Avdol and he’s v v tired of Joseph’s shit)

fuckin Joseph made a drunk deal with a demon who Absolutely saw nothing against making a deal with the royal heir currently drunk off his ass bc hey, free deal

luckily the deal wasn’t for Joseph’s soul or firstborn child or half his kingdom or whatever. Instead the deal is a magical bond between Joseph and the demon that allows the demon to share in Joseph’s life energy/general basic human magic and thus be able to exist in the human world in a stable form without having to go home to rest every once in a while or having to maintain like ten spells Just In Case

the demon is doing this whole deal thing bc 1) he Has to, it’s kind of his Job and 2) he’s looking for vengance on a gang of demon hunters who have killed his family but since they’re human, he needs a way into the human world for a longer term to be able to hunt them down

the demon is Caesar in case you haven’t figured that out yet

Joseph is a lot less concerned about having made a deal with a Literal Demon than he should be. He thinks it’s p hilarious actually and Caesar immediately starts having regrets (he’d bond with Avdol over it if he were willing to lower himself to the level of Measly Mortals)

the fun thing is that bc he’s tied to Joseph magically to allow him to freely exist in the human world, Caesar can’t get out of a few mile radius of him, which kinda makes his plans to hunt down the demon hunters (*cough* Pillar Men *cough*) a lot harder and Joseph even more annoying to deal with

the logical solution to that is to pass Caesar off as a servant Joseph befriends, so that he can stay in the castle, and then eventually they can go off on some adventure together to defeat the Pillar Men (or, well, so that Caesar can defeat the Pillar Men while keeping Joseph at arm’s length) which would also mean that Joseph can Finally get his big adventure he’s been dreaming about

then Joseph gets the genius idea to kill even More birds with one stone and decides that Caesar should pretend to be his bf bc all the annoying ass nobles and shit won’t leave him alone about not having a partner and “oh no, you’re of age now, what will happen if you have to take the throne but have no queen by your side?” and everyone keeps trying to woo him and it was fun at first but now it’s just goddamn Tiring

Caesar agrees to it eventually bc Anything as long as Joseph lets him do his research on the Pillar Men in peace. He doesn’t really realise what fake-dating the annoying bastard entails until he’s already too deep into it and he kinda literally can’t go back on his promises to Joseph, being a contract-bound demon

(Caesar looks like a proper demon normally but he Can disguise himself as p much entirely human-looking if he needs to. It takes energy tho, so he reverts back to his demonic looks whenever he’s safe from prying eyes, or if he’s unconscious)

they’re essentially fake-married for magic tax benefits it’s so great

there’s Definitely some Magic Soulbond Shenanigans along the line of “if one gets hurt the other also feels it”

they find out that Caesar reverts to his demonic form when asleep when he pulls two all-nighters in a row looking for information on the Pillar Men and passes out in Avdol’s study, scaring the shit out of poor Avdol. After that they manage to land a room for him in the castle with some lie about him having travelled here from faraway lands (technically true) and having nowhere else to stay (also technically true), but he also spends a lot of his time in Avdol’s study and Joseph’s room without his disguise, solely for convenience’s sake

they ofc have to fool Everyone with the fake dating, including Joseph’s family, bc No One else can know that Caesar is a demon on a quest for vengeance. The worst, most unexpected part for Caesar is that Queen Erina and Lord Speedwagon actually seem to like him?? they’re just genuinely nice to him??? simply bc he’s around Joseph and bc they find him likeable??? he did Not expect Anyone to be nice to him in the human world, what the Fuck, he doesn’t know how to Deal With That

Suzi is Technically a servant but she’s been Joseph’s friend since they were lil kids so she was essentially raised alongside him and they’re best friends and Suzi can only keep Joseph out of dumb shit like half the time bc the other half she’s right there in it with him

she is Entirely unfazed by Caesar, sees through the pretend relationship in like two minutes and knows immeditely that Something Is Up. When she accidentally catches Caesar in his demon form while checking to make sure he’s not stacking all-nighters again, she doesn’t even bat an eye (meanwhile Caesar’s thoughts are entirely “oh fuck do I have to kill her now, Joseph’s gonna kill me if I do, oh fuck, oh fuck”) just tells him to go to sleep on time and then leaves (to call Joseph out on getting himself into even deeper shit than she’d originally thought)

look idk what he does or what relevance he ends up having to the plot but Polnareff is also there, he’s a dumbass knight who’s the reason Joseph knows how to Not fight properly (bc Polnareff has a shitton of dumb tricks and Joseph knows all of them) and has a giant crush on Avdol

god there’s just. A Shitton of dumb shenanigans during their time in the castle, both with the fake-dating (like having to teach Caesar proper royal etiquette and him getting Very confused and flustered when Joseph casually flirts with him) and with hiding Caesar being a demon (they have so many stupid close calls and make so many dumb decisions they Really Shouldn’t, it’s great)

when the time comes to go and find and kill the Pillar Men, it’s only Caesar and Joseph going bc Caesar doesn’t want any more ppl in this mission than absolutely necessary, totally not bc they’re his friends and he worries about them or anything

they get some tips on where to look and how to get there from this weird adventurer dude who passes through the castle on his travels every once in a while. Joseph’s only met him in passing but he thinks he seems fun and has his own dumbass theory that he’s totally some runaway royalty or something. Instead turns out that the dude is half demon and actually related to Caesar and Caesar, being an orphan and all, had thought finding a remaining member of his family would be Way more thrilling but no this dude is just as weird and annoying as Joseph so he’d like a refund pls

(the dude’s Gyro. Ofc it’s fuckin Gyro. Johnny’s there too somewhere I just haven’t figured that out yet. He might actually be the top horse trainer/caretaker/whatever of the castle and the True reason Gyro travels this way every time is bc he’s smitten as hell)

while Gyro gives them some advice he also tells them that hey. Maybe you shouldn’t do this?? esp not just the two of you??? Considering the Pillar Men are known to be ruthless and Very good at killing demons

ofc these idiots Don’t Listen and go after them together anyway

the plan technically is that Joseph stays a safe distance away while Caesar goes and fights the Pillar Men and Totally wins but like. ofc he doesn’t listen and refuses to stay on his ass and let Caesar leave so they go in together anyway

they manage to find Santana alone and Actually Kill Him but it’s a close one, much tougher than anticipated bc as I said before, these dudes are Really Good at killing demons and also just killing in general. It’s also when Caesar realises the full scope of the “if one gets hurt, the other also feels it” part of his bond with Joseph bc Joseph gets hurt worse during the battle and Caesar is so shocked by his own reaction to it that he’s frozen for a moment and it almost costs him his life

that night when they’re camping out after the battle, Joseph reveals that a long while ago he figured out how to break their magic bond without it hurting either of them or sending Caesar right back to his own world. it’s some old spell he found in one of Avdol’s books or something, idk, and at first he’d kept it hidden from Everyone bc he was starting to really like Caesar but knew that Caesar was only around him out of necessity (not true actually but Caesar hid and denied his growing fondness for v v long) and he didn’t want him to leave the moment he realised he Could, even if it was v v selfish of him and he feels like shit about it now. And then later on when it turned out that they’re gonna see this quest through together anyway, he figured it didn’t matter anymore and so he kinda just forgot about it

but he’s remembered it again before they left and packed what he needs for it as a grim Just In Case (and it may or may not be a weird red gem bc yknow, but idk yet) and now he offers to break the bond already bc of how him getting hurt almost got Caesar killed. But Caesar tells him not to, bc it doesn’t matter now and a spell like that would probably take a lot of energy out of both of them when they need everything they’ve got for the upcoming battles

in reality he doesn’t want the bond broken bc it makes him feel like he’s got a right and a reason to stay, without having to fully face just how much he cares about Joseph, and bc it makes sure that Joseph is never far from him and lets him know if he’s hurt and maybe like this he can somehow protect him from getting hurt again

spoiler alert: he can’t

the fight with the other three Pillar Men doesn’t go their way at all. I mean it’s 3 vs 2 and the 3 are Very Good at killing so it should be Expected, but they’re young and dumb and Caesar is stubborn and still thirsting for revenge and if Joseph can’t hold him back then at least he can stay with him

they both get badly hurt and when it looks like it’s just it for both of them, Joseph brings out that spell again and breaks their bond before Caesar could tell him to stop and tells Caesar to run, to get away and don’t even fucking look back, just Go. When Caesar tries to object, Joseph tells him that he’s not dying just so Caesar can get himself killed too and Caesar is too scared to do anything but listen and run as Joseph leaves himself no escape and takes another two of the Pillar Men down with him before Caesar could figure out a way to save him

Joseph survives, Somehow, minus a hand anyway. He wakes up again in his own room in the castle and he has No Idea how he got back or who even found him and his best guess is that Gyro and Johnny have followed them and lbr Avdol’s magic has probably had a part to play in it too

and Caesar is just. Gone. Separated from Joseph and already weak from the fight, he didn’t have enough magic left to remain in the human world for long and thus got pulled back into his own world, and being just a normal demon, he can’t even cross back over without being summoned. But Joseph doesn’t know any of that, he just knows that Caesar is Gone and he strongly doubts he’s coming back bc he hasn’t already and he’s p damn heartbroken about it

meanwhile Caesar isn’t having much better of a time in his own world either. Bc nothing went well, Nothing, but he realises that he doesn’t even care about his revenge plan anymore, he doesn’t care about hunting Kars down and avenging his family. But he’s just lost the only family he’s had Again, the ppl in the castle this time, and he’s stuck here without any way back unless someone accidentally summons him again, and for what he knows Joseph had died to save him and Caesar didn’t even get to say goodbye or bury him

this v shitty state lasts until Joseph’s desperation + a lil nudge from Avdol and Suzi gets him to try summoning Caesar again (bc Joseph decides that if he gets no response at all, if the spell fails, it means Caesar’s really just Gone and he hadn’t made it out alive after all, but having definite knowledge of that will still be better than just Not Knowing and hoping for the rest of his life)

Avdol lets him take his study all to himself and so Joseph settles in during the afternoon and gets to finding the spell which is Not Easy bc he’d been drunk off his ass when he’d first found and performed it. He’s starting to lose hope and think that maybe the spell doesn’t even Exist in Avdol’s books, he’d just butchered a completely different spell and that’s how he got to Caesar, when he Finally finds it, and it’s almost midnight at that point and he’s Exhausted and Scared and Sad and he just Wants This To Work

the spell asks for an offering for the demon’s services, and the first time around Joseph had said something like “idk name your price” which is how Caesar had got the bond he needed (tho Joseph doesn’t actually remember this)

this time he just says “anything” which is a p dumb thing to offer when making a deal with a Literal Demon but he doesn’t care, this is Caesar, he trusts him and he loves him and he’d damn right give anything to just know that he’s okay and maybe get to see him again

and the spell Works it fuckin Works even if it takes a moment and there’s a flash of light and then suddenly there’s Caesar, sitting on the ground in Avdol’s study in all his demonic glory, blinking as his eyes adjust to the dim light and until he sees Joseph sitting on the ground in front of him, crying. And from then on it’s just a big “i thought I lost you” reunion moment that’s so happy it Hurts. They stay sitting on the floor for Hours despite it being late at night, just pressed together and talking about anything and just enjoying each others presence bc they’ve missed each other and thought they’d never see each other again

the next morning Avdol finds them sitting against the wall in a pile and fast asleep and decides to take the day off and goes to find Suzi and Polnareff to tell them the news

idk where the rest of the plot goes yet bc Kars is still out there and Erina and Speedwagon still don’t know about the whole demon thing but have this for now

#jjba #caejose #joseph joestar #caesar zeppeli #mohammad avdol #suzi quatro #polnareff and the pillar men are also there but not enough to ba tagged sorry #also gyro and johnny yeah them too #I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS IT JUST HAPPENED #my mind went ''heir of dumbass Joseph accidentally summons a demon but it's mostly just fake-dating'' and then this happened??#ill add a tag for this au once i figure one out bc i guess now i need that too huh #goddamnit #demon au

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nezzfiction · 5 years ago

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STRQ Team Ch. 2 - Athos Bleu

Series Synopsis: This is not the fairy tale of hopes and dreams. This is a tale of legacies, of predecessors. Of those that came before, who fought and offered their strength to those who would come after. Before Team RWBY, there was STRQ Team. Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen. Through the actions of these four special individuals, some of noble cause and some borne of infamy, the gears of fate will be set in motion for the World of Remnant. And the future as a whole.

Links to read the series: Ao3 or FF.net

Or hit the jump below:

Athos Bleu

The Strength in One

Becomes the Strength in All.

From the farthest corners of Remnant, students of all shapes and backgrounds filtered into Beacon Academy’s auditorium. Some came from within the Kingdom and others without. But whatever their origins, they shared a single objective.

To earn the title of Hunter.

…

“What took you?” Raven asked.

“What? Lonely after leaving you alone for five minutes?” Qrow asked back.

“No. Just wondering how long it took you to get anywhere with your mark. By the looks of it, you didn’t even get her number.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Sure, it wasn’t,” Raven rolled her eyes to Summer, who just walked through the entrance hall. She scrutinized the girl’s figure, flirting with a few ideas. “This isn’t the time to get distracted, little brother. Doubt we’ll be here for long.”

“Still trying to figure a way out, huh?”

“Of course.”

“You know, if we stir shit up here and get expelled, Temujin and Shepherd would probably just send us to another school.”

“Then, we raise hell there, too. Whatever it takes to get it through their thick skulls that this idea is a complete waste of time.”

“I gotta be honest, sis. I think we’re gonna be here a while. We might as well get acclimated,” Qrow started walking backwards in line with Raven’s pace. “It can’t be all that bad, or else Shepherd and Temujin wouldn’t have sent us here in the first place.”

“I know that much, idiot. They want us to be normal kids like the rest of everyone our age.”

“Then, why are you fighting this so hard?”

“Because this isn’t home, Qrow. Home is Vacuo, with Temujin and even Shepherd. You wanna live the honest life on the straight and narrow? Good luck to you! But I’m going back—one way or another.”

“You’re wrong if you think I don’t want to go back to them.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“I just…I want to respect their wishes. They’ve never been wrong before. Maybe, I dunno. We actually find this better life they keep talking about.”

“You are seriously dumb. Of course, if we stay here, we’ll have better lives.”

“So……What? You allergic to the idea of being at peace or happy?”

“Maybe, I don’t want to be happy.”

“…I’ve heard you say a lot of angsty teenage stuff, but that by far is—”

Suddenly, Qrow was knocked off balance, when he walked backwards into someone. He turned to see it was a short boy wearing bright baggy clothes, sunglasses, and a hiphop cap. Despite their height only reaching his shoulders, it was Qrow who was knocked on looser footing.

“Very smooth, little brother,” Raven snorted.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, short stuff!” Qrow yelled.

“Y-y-yeah? But you were the one who bumped into me,” the other boy replied.

“Yeah, and how could you tell anything, when you’re wearing sunglasses indoors?”

The Branwen twins looked the kid up and down more closely.

Besides the sunglasses and the backwards hat, he also wore a mix-match of what could be considered the hippest fashion. The problem was, it was all too obvious the boy was trying too hard, and it resulted in him looking ridiculous instead.

“I take that question back. Didn’t even need to ask it.” Qrow snatched the boy’s cap to reveal their spikey, yellow hair. “So, is that dyed, or are you a natural blonde?”

As the boy readied to use force to take his hat back, Raven snatched it from her Qrow’s hand.

“Sorry about my brother,” she apologized, while handing the hat to its rightful owner. “He can be a dick about the dumbest shit. My name’s Raven. And, you are?”

Raven leaned close to him with an air of seduction. By the way she shortened the space, it was clear she tried to emphasize her ample but still growing chest. It made her target sweat profusely.

“T-t-taiyang. Taiyang Xiao Long.”

“Taiyang Xiao Long…” Raven echoed in a low tone. “It’s a strong name.”

“Eck!” Qrow expressed behind, with a finger in his open mouth.

“See you around, Tai,” Raven winked, and then made her way closer to the auditorium stage.

Taiyang couldn’t help watching the girl’s figure leave, her hips swinging with a subtle sashay in her step.

“So, gross,” Qrow commented, once he caught up with his sister. “Seriously?”

“That, little brother, is planting the seeds of weakness.”

“So you can reap the later victories,” Qrow completed Temujin’s saying. “Still, almost had me fooled you were interested in the little twerp.”

“Please. That’s why I keep telling you, you need more training. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Raven glanced back at Taiyang still gawking at her with a lovestruck stare.

Not to mention, his fatal lines are unusually small.

Despite how he looks, he’s obviously trained to minimize his weak points.

She played back the moment Qrow bumped into him. The boy’s feet stayed firmly planted to the floor. And even though, he was knocked into by someone bigger than him, his stance remained completely solid, while also being caught by surprise.

He’s definitely no pushover.

Raven brandished a fake smile and gave a fingery wave. Taiyang responded with a robotic wave of his own.

Well, I guess everyone this age is weak to a little stimulation.

“Taiyang Xiao Long, huh?”

…

Might’ve been a threat—

If he wasn’t such a chump.

X X X X X

As the last of the students entered the auditorium, the lights dimmed and the Headmaster of Beacon took the stage.

He was a tall man with a lengthy beard, dressed in formal, forest-green robes. Lining his hood and collar, sprouted vibrant vegetation and a few stems of flowers. The irises of his eyes possessed a bright pink luster to them, lending him the appearance of something supernatural. In his grey beard, the heads of a small falcon, snake, and spider, peaked out momentarily. Once they saw the crowd, they seemingly retreated back into their nest.

“I am Headmaster Myrddin. Welcome to Beacon Academy.”

His voice carried over the entire chamber without the use of microphones or sound systems. And he did not yell, yet it was as if he were whispering in the ear of all those in the audience.

“Today will mark the first step in the rest of your lives. You may think I am overdramatic in saying this, but your years spent here will introduce violent change into what you think you know; about life, about the world, and especially—about yourselves.”

Murmurs rose in the students, but immediately quieted again once he spoke.

“For it is only within the storm we find what truly matters, what it is that truly survives. And in that material, weapons are forged for the sake of…Hm.”

Myrddin stopped himself midsentence.

“No…No, I don’t think I will reveal that quite just yet.”

More confusion erupted from the audience, but the Headmaster only resumed his speech.

“I’m sure you would rather take some time to get acquainted with our facilities, but first things first. A test will be implemented tomorrow morning. Prepare your equipment, talk amongst yourselves. Perhaps, strategize as you see fit. Be ready when the sun rises. That will be all.”

As Myrddin left the stage, leaving the new students in complete bewilderment, the lights of the auditorium turned back on. Little did the audience know, while they were watching the Headmaster, their future Professors and Mentors were watching them.

On the second floor of the theatre, a group of veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses observed from a one-way window.

“Haha! I wonder which one of these young minds will have the honor of receiving mentorship under me!”

“Indeed, Peter! Our first year as Professors seems marked by a similarly interesting generation of students!”

“How about a wager then, Barty? There is the Vytal Tournament later this year! Let us see who can train the best team of youngsters! Ah… I wish I had a Mentor like me when I was their age. Then, blah blah blah blah…”

As a number of professors discussed and spied on the potential candidates of students, one particular faculty member seemed indifferent to it all.

He leaned against the back wall with his arms crossed. The cape and leathers he wore were dyed a deep, sapphire blue. They were worn and torn from long-time use. His wide-brim, musketeer hat tipped low above his eyes. Two large feathers, one black and one white, tucked into its band.

Rather than paying attention to the students or the Headmaster’s speech, he seemed only to be waiting for the orientation to finish.

In his boredom, he drew a steel flask from his pocket and drained it heavily. His brown mustache and beard, which bristled out like wild grass, caught some of the liquor. A sloppy arm went to wipe it.

The man appeared rather unkempt and rough around the edges. But a certain intimidation hung around the atmosphere of the veteran Huntsman. A presence that warded off practically all his colleagues, save for maybe one.

“Any of the students catch your eye this year, Athos?”

“Ozpin,” he muttered with slight acknowledgment. His voice resounded with a low, tough crass. “No, none. Myrddin said something about this batch being special, but the brats look as unimpressive as last year’s, and the ones before that.”

“Really? No interest at all? Not even the young Summer Rose?”

“Yours and the Headmaster’s shining, prodigy. Hook from Signal, put in a good word about her, too.”

“And?”

“…She’s got silver eyes. Practically doomed and cursed to live a life of tragedy.”

Ozpin sighed. “How about the Branwen twins?”

“Peh. ‘Branwens’. Thought they all died out. Can’t believe Temujin didn’t want to save a pair of talented killers for herself. Make better assassins than Hunters. But I guess, assassins are just another a kind of Hunter.”

“Hm,” Ozpin chuckled. “And here I thought this would be the year a group of youths finally earn apprenticeships with the legendary Athos Bleu.”

“Stop blowing smoke up my ass, Oz. There’s nothing legendary about me.”

The man emptied the rest of his flask annoyingly. Seeing as he didn’t feel drunk enough, he decided to ditch the rest of the ceremony to find more booze.

On his way from the balcony, he caught sight of someone through the window.

Taiyang Xiao Long, huh.

He’s probably a standout, too…

If he didn’t get all googly-eyed around the Branwen girl, like some kind of chump.

X X X X X

At the strike of dawn, the “prospective” students of Beacon Academy gathered at a grass clearing. Before them, was the tree line of the Emerald Forest. And standing along its perimeter, facing them, were various Professors.

As the students wondered what kind of entrance test they would be taking, an unknown figure stepped in front of the faculty to greet them.

The woman gazed intensely at them all with an almost angry look. The black fur trench coat she wore was lined with armor. As if to accentuate the intimidating impression she gave, her face and skin exposed by her low-cut shirt, were covered in tattoos. Her hair was colored with a burning red, and the silver decorations weaved into their ends clinked as she turned to scan all of them.

“My name is Gavein Caliburn! But that’s Professor Caliburn to all of you!” Her voice rung across the landscape with a tone that was noble, inspiring, and proud, but also frightening. “I am the Vice Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Professor Myrddin had to attend to other matters, so I will be explaining the details of the test!

“As you may have already heard, students here are divided into teams of varying numbers. You can be divided into teams of one, four, even ten or twenty. Each team, is led by a Professor or ‘Mentor’ as you will refer to them in the future. Your placements will be determined entirely on the results of your test. Any questions?”

Not a single hand or voice spoke up, though, likely not for a lack of curiosity.

“Very well. As prospective students aiming to become future Huntresses and Huntsmen, you will—in frequent cases—obviously be required to Hunt. Therefore, this test is designed with the straightforward purpose of measuring that skill.”

She extended her arms to her right and left, referring to the Professors behind her.

“Your future Mentors will enter the Emerald Forest. After five minutes have passed, you will hunt them down.”

…

All the students immediately started murmuring to each other with uncertainty. Several voices cried out in hushed words:

“Is that all the instructions we get?”

“We’re supposed to hunt veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses?”

“So, we have to find them? Wait, do we have to capture them, too?”

“That’s too hard, isn’t it?”

“We probably aren’t meant to succeed, right? They just want to see what we can do.”

Many of them wanted to raise a question, but were too afraid to ask. Nothing in the Vice Headmaster’s demeanor gave the impression that anything was up for debate. Instead, the students stared helplessly, hoping someone would point out the absurd difficulty of the exam.

After some time passed, and it seemed no one would raise a point, a single hand went up.

Professor Caliburn mugged at them, before calling them out.

“Yes, a question.”

“When you say hunt down a professor,” Raven started. “We talking capture…or kill?”

For the first time since she appeared, Caliburn broke into a surprised smirk.

Cheeky brat.

“I’ll leave the method up to you to determine. But I will say this, you’re usually tasked with eliminating Grimm, than taking them alive. Interpret that how you like.”

Caliburn turned a glance to her colleagues. More than a few were surprised by Raven’s question. Some tried to play it off as a student getting ahead of themselves, but there was no mistaking a subtle trace of fear underneath. And then, there were the words from the Vice Headmaster herself.

Should serve to keep the Mentors on their toes, too.

“Ah! Youth! This is getting very exciting, Barty!”

“Indeed! I, myself, feel positively ecstatic by the potential of these newcomers. Or maybe, it’s the coffee!”

Well…some of them, anyway.

Caliburn shrugged, and like a conductor, swiped her hand across the air.

“Scatter!”

On her signal, the various professors dashed into the Emerald Forest at full speed. Their figures, disappearing completely in a matter of seconds.

The students could only gawk at the monumental task set before them. Some seemed overwhelmed before they were even given the chance to start. And it took a while for a few to notice that there was one professor that didn’t leave with the others.

The Vice Headmaster sighed at the man sitting on the ground, drinking liquor from a barrel with the utmost casualty.

“Really, Athos? This year, too?” she shook her head at the professor’s delinquent antics.

The man gave a loud burp, before replying.

“Not all prey run.”

“You’re just being lazy.”

“I’m being helpful.”

“Sure, you are.”

“……Drink?” he offered, clutching the barrel’s rim with a single hand.

Caliburn rolled her eyes, and then, joined him in sitting on the grass. The two traded the barrel back and forth, enjoying a casual discussion.

Meanwhile, the prospective students all eyed the odd Huntsman as he grew increasingly drunker. Not knowing what to make of it, they wondered if the man was simply open to taking anyone as an apprentice.

After some time passed, Caliburn stood up and took the vibrating scroll from her pocket.

“Twenty seconds until you start!” she announced.

At the same time, Athos lazily got up, continuing to down large gulps of liquor.

“Ten seconds!”

All the students drew their respective weapons, and took their starting run poses.

“Five…!”

Athos pulled out a long musket rifle that had a full-length sword attached to its end, like a bayonet.

“Three…!”

Any light breeze dissipated, as the air went dense. The smell of alcohol lingered the air, along with something else. Not an actual scent, but a possible feeling of dread.

“Two…!

An explosion of bloodlust could be felt. Athos kicked off the ground violently, sending dirt and rock up behind him.

“One…!”

By the time Vice Headmaster Caliburn finished the countdown, Athos was landing his rifle amidst the first batch of students.

The earth sundered with a thundercrack. A violent shockwave blasted most everyone off their feet. Students were sent flying. And when the dust finally settled, they watched the Huntsman strut threateningly from the crater.

His musket resting across one shoulder, while he took his time downing another helping from his liquor barrel.

“Hah…” he sighed contently.

Another shockwave, and Athos was swinging his rifle wildly again.

Realization dawned on the students, for some of whom it was too late. Unlike the other professors, the students were not meant to hunt Athos Bleu.

Athos Bleu was meant to hunt them.

#rwby #TEAM STRQ #Summer Rose #raven branwen #qrow branwen #taiyang xiao long #rwby fanfiction #STRQ Team

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secretagentspydetectiveninja · 5 years ago

Text

hey so remember like last year when i was re-reading misadventures and fixing typos? (well, i say that, but it was just an excuse to re-read it and write some absolutely absurd commentary on it...) i found old notes in my phone from january with even more so guess i may as well post it because people seemed to find it funny at the time, it’s basically just The Misadventures of Aish Realizing Things though

[yeah so here’s the original notes i’m not even gonna change anything even though lots of Lore has happened in the show and we Know things now, you just get to see what january aish typed]

ok well let’s go then chapters 31-35 oh god

oh yeah the ML Blackout! I remember that

hm it’s occurring to me maaaaaybe I should post a bit of a warning on this chapter. like “yes this starts off stupid and cracky and fluffy but takes a complete 180 in the middle and you will end up sobbing.”

or maybe I should put that as a disclaimer on the whole fic cause it’s one hell of a ride

THE AROACE SCIENCE JOURNAL YESSSSSSS THAT COMES BACK LATER

yeah the reason why the early parts of this chapter are very lighthearted is honestly because the fic was getting a bit too bleak, I needed something cheerful, so paper planes and arm wrestles it was

wait... isn’t this just that scene from Anansi??? where like Nora challenges Nino to an arm wrestle but then he wins because Someone Else Nearby Did A Thing

also this is Peak characterization, damn Aish, you rly outdone yourself, congration

any time I drop the word “inkling” into a fic it is always 100% a splatoon reference

MAX WOW TONE DOWN THE GAY

heh... BI-ceps...

oh my godddd Max trying to play off his ogling as “ah yes I am scientifically studying Kim’s arm muscles ofc, it’s science I swear” is SO frickin funny I’m already losing it

Alix: “scientifically speaking I’m hot therefore you have to lose this arm wrestle” hshdhdghshskkjkdhshs

^literally the kind of nonsense every single teen I know spouts irl

including me when I was a teen, I just said things

(I still just say things)

you can’t bring up the sports bra thing goddammit, I agree it’s cheating because it has the power to one-hit kill anyone in the vicinity

I love how Max thinks his crush on Kim is “under control” while like. visibly swooning over him

OH MY GOD THE PILLOWS SHHDJDHDHDHSKHS

OKAY SO LIKE I was supposed to put the thing about Kim snogging a pillow in chapter 20 but I forgot or something and then I just had to get it in somehow, oh it kills me dead just thinking about it, I’m dying, I’m dead

and the fact that he admits to it as well, holy moly

KIM

K I M

THAT’S GAY

OH WOW

this is the moment when Alix’s Kimax shipper heart was suddenly feeling validated like “omg wait Kim DOES like Max??? like for real??????”

awwwww Kim, Max doesn’t have those kind of superpowers, you just have a crush on him that’s all <3

THE SKATEBOARDING SNEK!!!!!!!!!!!!

“What the heck is that?” “My snake.” DYINGGGG

Kim trying to figure out if the snake is sitting or standing is a whole mood

ohhhhhhhh my gosh poor Alix trying so damn hard to subtly ask Kim if he likes Max and Kim’s just. so DUMB he doesn’t even get it no matter how obvious she is

she’s even trying to pull out those stupid amatonormative “so is he MORE than a friend???” questions just to get this idiot to figure it out because she knows allo-romos are Like That and he still doesn’t get it,,

[future aish says: the word is alloro, past aish. it’s alloro]

AND SO NOW SHE ASSUMES THEY’RE NOT INTO EACH OTHER BECAUSE SHE THINKS EVEN KIM CAN’T BE THAT STUPID

YOU UNDERESTIMATE HIS STUPIDITY

oh no... oh NO.... the letter.... here we go....

btw yes Gabriel had Kim’s grandad assassinated, it was indeed his doing

...isn’t this lowkey the plot of The Lion King?

or Long Live The Queen

hmmm let’s just say in the sequel poor Kim really will have to deal with the stresses of ruling a country >:D

NO MY POOR SON HAVING A BREAKDOWN, I WANT TO HUG HIM

(also can I just say like... this chapter is actually well-written for the most part? I’m actually kinda impressed)

unfortunately I know the feeling of wanting, needing to return home, but it fills you with dread... *hugs Kim forever*

Kim crying all over Max both hurts me and sort of heals me because Max is so sweet and comforting about it ohhh my heeeaaart

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

THIS IS LOWKEY A LOVE CONFESSION I SWEAR, IT’S SO CUTE

chapter 32 being called “Un chat noir” is kinda dumb af but also it just so happened that I accidentally had the chapter called “Coccinelle” be chapter 64, aka exactly double of 32, so that was kinda neat

Plagggggg!!!!!!!!!!

and Wayhem lol, I think I’ve already mentioned how originally this noble was just some random irrelevant unnamed OC until I decided way later it’s gay stalker fanboy

oh yeah that’s how the nobility recognize the royalty, I forgot lol

(also nobles from countries with widespread newspress or tv will recognize them from news reports and stuff I guess)

the fact that Plagg just hates Wayhem is funny to me for some reason

MISADVENTURES

HOLY SHIT I ACTUALLY THREW IN THE ACTUAL WORD

except it was in reference to Adrien... let’s just say that The Misadventures of Imperial Prince Adrien may or may not make an appearance in the sequel >:D

...the Adrienette is literally just in this fic so that people would read it, ngl

hhhhhhhhhhhh okay it’s true Alix is an aro idiot who doesn’t know anything about romance but for once she’s RIGHT, Kim IS in love with Max, but she assumes she’s wrong hshgshdjhdnsnsh

oh my god noooo timeline twin go away and stop giving me nightmares

I still love how they hate each other, that’s some top-notch self-hatred right there and I need to get on their level

[future aish note: no past self!! be nice to yourself!! you are a cool bean!! own it!!]

YOU FOOL... EVERY CLASSMATE WOULD TAKE A SWORD TO THE HAND FOR ALIX, WHY WOULDN’T THEY

ỳïķèš,,,

honestly I probably should stop being lazy and actually go back to like idk chapter 8 and put in an actual monopoly game (it had to have been before the oracle sessions in ch10 at least)

fun fact!! I have indeed very nearly had a fist fight over the last dark blue card in a monopoly game!! also I blatantly cheated, and the main opponent locked someone else (an 8 year old btw) in a cupboard... it was Wild(TM)

me and my irl friend actually came up with the butterfly thing when we were at the cinema once, she made up this random angry gardener OC who stepped on a butterfly after being fired or something lol

I mentioned Rose liking unicorns!!!! before Captain Hardrock!!!!!!!

shdhdhkshs Alix is such a moody emo brat in this fic I adore it

“The only real difference between you and me is one dead butterfly.” goddammit that’s the creepiest fucking thing, I’m genuinely shaking

technically it’s a butterfly’s fault for ALL the timelines which means that we’re all one butterfly away from death at any moment

cheerful stuff

no, no, you’re not trying to block it out on purpose... I’M trying to block it out on purpose bc I’m highkey shamelessly projecting

god I wish my timeline twin would manifest in the astral plane and punch me in the arm too

“Count yourself lucky you’re not a pillow, idiot.” in-context this is contender for Most Cursed Line I Have Ever Written In My Life

and yes Alix was about to straight-up swear

Mylène rollerskating is extremely blessed and good

pfffffffff Max you coward, I stand on swivel chairs all the time

*me, chanting at the spider in my room* KIMAX! KIMAX! KIMAX!

Kim literally making every excuse to not put Max down is amazing honestly

Kim and Max’s origins story is sooooooooooo cute wtf

THIS IS SO BLESSED OH MY HEART

HE’S JUST STANDING THERE CUDDLING HIM I’M

DECEASED

I,,,, swear to god,,,,,,,

so like. I know it’s now canon in the show that Kim really is as oblivious to his feelings as I wrote him in this. but MY GOD. IT’S FRIGGIN PAINFUL

KIM YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH MAX, FULL HOMO, THAT’S WHY YOU’RE FEELING LIKE THIS, IT’S NOT THAT COMPLICATED DAMMIT

oh yeah I wrote the kimax bits rly early and my old url was @queenkubdel haha

aight now a no-kimax chapter, but at least it’s a goodun

there’s that catradora-esque weather girls frenemyship again

Kim having a full-on breakdown when he finds out Alix’s hair isn’t really pink is actually really blessed, no lemme explain

so this universe has magic, right?? so he thinks to himself that the reason his friend has pink hair is because she must be some sort of anime protagonist or Really Important and Cool or something, and it never even occurred to him to doubt her

in other words he’s betrayed because he WANTED HIS FRIEND TO BE A COOL SHONEN HERO

which is both hilarious AND very sweet

...oh wait I’ve scrolled down and it turns out I literally explained all that in the fic itself hhdgjdvzjdjhs

and yeah honestly I can’t blame poor Kim for taking it so badly, he’s still reeling from his grandfather’s assassination so it’s natural his emotions are not exactly Regulated atm

actually when are his emotions ever regulated

1703-1899 hm... might change that since the fic takes place in 1957-1960 so even though it’s a commissioned history of the empire it was before Gabriel was even born so like why would he even care lmao

“Great Western Ocean” so pretentious, just say the Atlantic omg

I’ve been playing way too much civ because the first thing that came to mind was that everyone’s denounced Agreste due to the high warmongering penalties of the industrial/modern eras

Chloé and Kim is one hell of a brotp okay I still firmly believe that

also Chloé still loves her rococo fashion, she’s just toned it down enough that she can fit through doors and it’s not quite as “in your face” towards commoners

listen I know in the show Kim still liked Chloé for a while after Dark Cupid but in this he got over her quicker because his crush on her wasn’t as deep in the first place

Kim literally tells Chloé he gave the brooch to Max and yet STILL doesn’t realize he likes him!!! KIM!!!!!!!!!!

Chlodemption arc yesssssssss

also she’s a lesbeean

(ye Pollen will be in the sequel don’t you worry)

god I’m so proud of her <3

it feels believable too, so I’m proud of myself!! (I’m trying to be nice to myself before next chapter where I will no doubt roast myself so badly I’ll never recover)

outdated laws about marriage... jeez was that cursed foreshadowing or what

YES IT’S IVAN, I LOVE THIS BOY, HE’S SO GRUMPY AND ANGRY ALL THE TIME AND HE HATES KIM

...actually wait this is sibling culture

I literally speak like this to my brother and he’s my best friend so in conclusion Ivan thinks of Kim as an annoying brother

Jalil why are you a historian. just go be a psychologist and stop your sister accidentally hecking up the country

omg the Antarctica thing, I’m just imagining Jalil in the freezing cold with a massive coat on and getting chased by penguins

I love how the timeline twin’s plan was “escape school, force Adrien to get a venomous pet, then abandon him immediately in the middle of nowhere” and later on it turns out she skipped step two and just ditched him lmaoooooo

being so ace that your brain goes straight to “death and murder” before anything else is the biggest mood, I speak from experience

Jalil knows... he had that conversation with Kim in chapter 20... he Knows

“a bit unsupportive” um that is an extreme understatement good grief he was more savage than ME

RISE OF THE KIMAX SHIPPERS

oh don’t worry the venom death still haunts me too

chapter I Hate You... “A rather rotten winter party” well it should have been named A RATHER ROTTEN CHAPTER DO YOU KNOW HOW IMPOSSIBLE THIS ONE WAS TO WRITE OMG I HATE WRITING MYSELF INTO CORNERS

you see I had to have a motive for the timeline twin to explain things properly so that I could put in a really really dumb pun later but that meant I had to unfortunately suffer many allergic reactions again

[future aish note: forgot to mention, i also needed a motive for kim to stop eating chocolate forever, so i had to Curse this chapter as a sacrifice in order to save his life later on]

alright, alright, here we go, I’ll stop procrastinating and just get this over with

oh yeah it’s chapters like these that the fic’s rated T lol

the Adrikim friendship is indeed important... for later... like, plot-relevant levels of important... life-saving levels...

“some event” is the Peace Ball actually and I can’t wait because that chapter’s actually a good one

KIM BRAGGING ABOUT KISSING ADRIEN LAST YEAR IS SO FUCKING FUNNY OH MY GOD I’M LOSING MY MIND???

like last year he was LITERALLY LIKE “oh boo hoo I cannot tell anyone about this because Adrien is Ã Bøyê” and now he’s just like “yeah I kissed a hot boy and what about it???”

to be fair he is on an extreme sugar rush from all the chocolate he ate, which will... be a plot point in just a moment...

PILLOW GIRLFRIEND

I’m the amused nobles, they are me

oh my god Kim we get it you want to kiss someone (Max) and you don’t want to outright say it

holy shit do any of these kids ever think before they speak??? not to sound like the timeline twin or anything but alix... you could have avoided this if you’d bothered to use your one (1) brain cell

[future aish note: bold of me to assume that alix has a brain cell]

Kim wants to now fight his PARALLEL SELF oh my god, get on my level Kim, I want to fight my actual self like right now so there

stfu all of you, this is poisoning my liver

Max is the biggest mood and at least mildly sensible thank god, but he really shouldn’t have left those two alone for even a second

I AGREE PLATONIC LOVE IS UNDERRATED

the chair... the fucking c h a i r... I’m already lying down but I need to lie down harder just to process the absurdity of this

(I think I was gonna have Alix fall off the chair just because that’s hilarious but I forgot)

look I can’t take heartrate seriously but if you ever write it then you are legally required to put in kissing contests or you’re doing it wrong

fudgin Adrienette kiss offscreen and irrelevant

DJWIFI!!! AND ACTUAL PROPER DJWIFI!!!! I was sick of seeing it treated as some kind of pair-the-spares beta couple so I flipped the script and had them literally call out that trope while treating Adrienette as irrelevant instead, which is also why the sequel will be extremely djwifi-centric

“super swanky bae” please stop misusing commoner slang I’m begging you

THERE’S THE PLOT POINT I WAS TALKING ABOUT

Theo was right here, he witnessed with his own eyes how much chocolate Kim ate, so he knows for a fact that if you give Kim chocolate he will scarf it down without a second thought... so hypothetically if one sent him poisoned chocolates... dyou see where I’m going with this...

oh and Theo still has like every job btw

Alya!!!! no!!!!! hire him again!!!!!!!! then he won’t send the chocolates!!!!!!!!!! aaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

there goes me hinting how alyadrininette is the ultimate ot4 again

...do I really wanna scroll down and keep going? no I don’t but I guess I gotta, and relive every one of my most embarrassing school sleepovers in the process

full offence to everyone bothering to read this but kissing sounds gross, actually

(for the record it was probably like... 10 seconds or something idk it was Not Long At All)

“probably not more than 5 minutes” omg I just said it was 10 seconds??? hmmm m okay like 20 seconds maaaybe, Kim just has no sense of time perception

neither do I based on my microwaving skills

SHIT THIS IS LITERALLY A SCHOOL SLEEPOVER

INNOCENT DUMBASS AROACE ASKING “what does that mean? what’s this? what’s that? it’s okay you can tell me :-)”

omg I forgot the snake was there ahshdhdkshfs I’m the snake, probably wants to launch itself out of the window so big mood

most of the fic so far had Alix being really aro so I was like damn... gotta make her really ace too

(if I ever bother writing the Kimdine AU then you actually get an aro character who isn’t ace, because we need more of them, but I won’t say who) (okay fine it’s Luka)

I tend not to be too British in my writing so as not to give the Americans heart attacks whenever they see someone referring to their mother as “mum” etc, but like... sometimes you just gotta throw in the word “snogging”

(I’m typing this out on my phone rn and it has exactly 69% battery, I hate this and also hate that I felt the need to mention that)

THE HOCKEY THING MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN BASED OFF A REAL LIFE THING. *SWEATS NERVOUSLY*

honestly I was soooooo tempted to actually write The Talk bit, it would have been the funniest thing ever, but I was also 99% sure I would have to change the rating to M (despite it not even remotely being smut lol, just a regular biology lesson) and there was no way I was doing that, pretty sure I pushed the T rating at some points as it is

[future aish: god i am still so tempted to write it. man, i’m tempted. it would be the funniest thing. but no... i have sworn not to write anything above a T rating so guess i won’t.]

YEAH THE THROWING UP THING TOO WAS DEFINITELY NOT BASED ON REAL LIFE OR ANYTHING *MORE NERVOUS SWEATING*

(it genuinely wasn’t a flowerpot though. it’s my life’s goal to throw up in a flowerpot and I still haven’t achieved it.)

all of this is an Ace Mood(TM)

also I love how elaborately I’ve worded this, like yeah idiot royal teenagers are too royal and posh to ever bother just saying the word “sex” like a normal person

to any 17 year old aces: you aren’t too young to know, I told myself that aggressively when I was 17 but now I’m 22 and I’m still just as ace as I always was sooooo yeah

I also hope I can wake up tomorrow and forget I read this trash

well tbh... it’s not total trash... it highkey reminds me of my school days, like, maybe that was subconscious or something... god who even knows

jeez if timeline twin slapped me in the face I’d just keel over and die from sheer terror, other than that that’s HILARIOUS

timeline twin: “YOU HAVE ONE (1) BRAIN CELL NOW P L E A S E CONSIDER USING IT”

fuckeninf hell listen,,, so when I was writing this chapter I didn’t know I was aro... I mean, I was kinda questioning it?? but all I knew was I was ace, and that me not knowing that as a teenager almost totally screwed me over because like

to be normal or to feel normal there’s things you do or say that you don’t want, and things you know would happen or whether you want something or not you’ll take it because you think you’re expected to, because otherwise you’ll have to confront yourself with the fact that something is wrong with you and you don’t know what or why or how to fix it

and being aro on top of that is misunderstanding how to navigate close friendships because of this fundamental fear that if you want to be close with someone then friendship can’t suffice, that how much you care about them doesn’t matter

and things I did or almost did, or had the chance to do and only stopped because (awfully enough) crippling anxiety which ironically saved me (let’s just say the dude turned out to be a creep)... yeah basically this is all a callback to that aroace teenager feel where you can’t help not being true to yourself because you don’t want to, because you don’t know what’s wrong or right, only what’s “normal” and the ache of knowing that you’re not, no matter how much you try

and I didn’t know I was aro while writing this but in hindsight it’s easy to see how that played into it too, and writing this definitely played a part in me realizing I’m aro and was somehow trying to work through some very pent-up feelings about friendship and closeness with people, as well as pent-up feelings about being ace and how that tied into everything too

...in short, do not phuck the pharaoh or you will get HOUSE ARRESTED and DIE

(jk jk she’ll just be awkward around you forever lol, and then SHE’LL get house arrested and die, because you’re not commoners so your actions actually have consequences you dumb idiots)

this entire thing is just a whole mood and lowkey my teenage years holy fuck holy fuck I hate that I’m only just realizing how bloody hard I was projecting

I literally read a post the other day about how unrequited love is only ever usually explored from the perspective of the person who’s in love, whereas aros are usually on the receiving end of it and it’s a tragedy in its own right that you might do things that wind up driving you apart because you can’t bring yourself to love them back but you can’t tell them because of the fear that it’ll push them away... and I gotta say, I totally nailed it 💪

...you know what I’ve changed my mind, chapter 34 is good actually, and now I need to make a time machine and go and hug my 17 year old self for living this, and then hug my 20 year old self for writing this, I’m sorry I was mean to this chapter it’s very relatable and I shouldn’t keep beating myself up over it

thinking makes me miserable too!! that’s why it’s optimistic nihilism only lads

impulse control, hmmm... someone who’s good for him, hmmmmmm... it’s almost like someone like that is right there and exists and is already in love with him 😏

so apparently timeline twin’s idea of “fixing her life” is burning all her bridges and then hecking off to the Kazakh wilderness for over a year

did Alix just... ask the snake if it’s aroace too???

I mean it definitely is, but...

UGH SNAKES DON’T BLINK, I’M STILL SO ANGRY ABOUT THIS

chapter 35, thank god, the title “Finally!” is very apt

(because I can finally change the music from Death Valley to something else lol)

oh poor Max, his heart goes on a real rollercoaster these few chapters doesn’t it? it’s okay buddy, in like 10 chapters you’ll get your man...

NO BUT SHE H A S FIGURED IT OUT!!! SORT OF!!!

I just misread “despite” as “despacito”, I’m going to bed and continuing this tomorrow dammit

alright I am now funky refreshed and ready to roll, let’s get this kimax party started

Max is angsting internally like “no one’s realized I like Kim :( well except Juleka but she’s a lesbian so she doesn’t count” ashgdjsghskk that mlm/wlw solidarity is holding out I see

YES ALIX YOU DO NEED TO TALK TO NATH MORE, THAT’S YOUR FREAKING BEST BUD IN THE SHOW MAY I REMIND YOU

this is all so Irony it’s murdering me dead

okay yeah I’m gonna be really honest and salty here for a second, this bit where Max is annoyed that Alix takes Nath more seriously as a contender than him was me being a bit salty over the fact that like... kimnath/tomato ketchup is a great rarepair but got so weirdly popular amongst people who didn’t seem to care about Max as a character at all despite how close he is with Kim in canon, and as a Max Stan it made me sad because he’s already not very appreciated in fandom

[future aish note: HE IS NOW BABEY!]

THERE IT IS

I WANT TO HUG MAX TOO, BLESS HIM

I also want to hug Alix because godddds I’ve been in that situation where if you were allowed to just TELL the idiots that they like each other then all their problems would be solved but noooo, you’re sworn to secrecy... *sigh*

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t change, ever...” me: *thinks about the sequel and cackles evilly while cracking my knuckles* well,,

A R O M A N T I C

listen it was VERY IMPORTANT to me that I actually put in all these actual words in the fic and made them relevant, like gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc (I think the only one I didn’t was trans, oops?? gotta remember that for the sequel, at least Nino IS trans in this even though I never said the word)

[future aish note: i feel like i didn’t say pan either, or nonbinary... more stuff for the sequel folks! i can’t put in everything but i may as well try!]

bc you see all these tv shows where a character is bi but they say they “don’t like labels” or a character with no love interest get suddenly paired up with someone random at the end... like NO I wanted to do the OPPOSITE of that bc people’s identities are IMPORTANT so I wanted to MAKE IT RELEVANT 💪

and even though I didn’t yet know here that I was aro and highkey projecting, there’s already a fair few fics dealing with asexuality but not aromanticism?? so I rly wanted to make the aro side of things important

almost relieved??? Max, you buffoon, she IS relieved, extremely

Malix friendship is good and severely underrated and I still haven’t forgiven myself for not putting more of it in this

“He was never eating chocolate again” HO-HO-HOLY SHIT THAT’S SOME FORESHADOWING RIGHT THERE

Rose is a distinguished bi who doesn’t realize Kim is a disaster bi

Kim oh my god you can’t just out Adrien “just about functional bi” Agreste like that

I love that Rose calls Kim a casanova even though he’s very much not... how many people are even into him over the course of the fic? Max, Adrien, it’s implied Marinette used to be, Lila is ambiguous, same with the lacrosse guy later, oh yeah Ondine highkey lmao along with 90% of the teenage population of Saharan Africa, Kim himself in about 2 chapters time...

Rose giving Kim the gay talk is so blessed omg I need more interaction between these two

“If you swung one way you were gay, if you swung the other way you were straight, more than one way made you bisexual, if you didn’t swing any way at all then you were probably just Alix...” I will literally NEVER be able to outdo this line, this is Peak

hmm I don’t think at any point in the fic Max says to Kim that he’s exclusively into boys... I guess he said it offscreen then lol, point is He’s Gay

OMG KIM, YOU FINALLY REALIZED WHAT THE NOSEBLEED SCENE MEANT, GOD BLESS YOU

this is like in Syren when he realizes the mermaid is Ondine and that she was trying to tell him she likes him... except this is the gay version of that

yeah Rose I really do need to get more sleep, that one was directed at me and I know it was

Kim being all like “fellas is it gay if you take off your shirt and a guy swoons at you 🤔🤔🤔”

no, no... Max is definitely a complete trainwreck at romance, just slightly less than you

god freaking dammit not the sports bra again,,, I s2g later in the fic all Ondine would have had to do is to show up in a sports bra and Kim would immediately go full ot3 mode no questions asked,,,,,,,, (I mean he does see her in a swimsuit but that’s not the same??? sports bras are in a different league okay shush)

psssssst!!! you should read heartbroken!!!! it’s a kimax fic and it’s so good!!!!! this was a lowkey shoutout!!!!!!!!

genuinely tho, even if Kim hadn’t liked Max too here, he’s being so sweet about it?? he’s worried about his poor friend’s emotional state and wishes he could have done better to help!! gahhhh their friendship/relationship is just So Blessèd

hsndhkdhdkshdh I only noticed it after finishing the fic and occasionally skimming back through, but so much of the time whenever Alix shows up Kim’s all like *ungrateful* “oh not you again” like WOW that’s one way to greet your friend?? mood tho

[future aish note: i did the exact opposite in No Romo, funnily enough! kim’s not in it much but whenever he sees alix he’s like “friend!!! friend!!!!!” and she’s just like -_- “oh it’s that guy again”]

he’s not even paying attention to her omg she’s trying to save the timeline here you idiot

POOR ALIX how frustrating,,, and also I’ve literally been there,,, the woes of being a wing-girl indeed

and now Kim wants to fight himself, why am I not surprised

aND YES HERE’S WHERE IT HITS HIM, THE EXACT FUCKING MOMENT

WHERE HE’S SUDDENLY LIKE “OH WAIT MAX’S LOVE FOR ME ISN’T UNREQUITED??? I LIKE HIM TOO HOLY SHIT????”

aaaaaaand he immediately asks the aro for love advice, why is he like this omg

gosh this is sooooo sweeeeeet

I did not let up, did I? just went ahead and made this as cheesy and cutesy and over the top as I could because It’s What Kimax Deserves

(there wasn’t rly much Kimax content yet in the fandom at this point so I had total free reign and went all-out with it)

sfjsgskdhs and there goes Alix getting her wing-efforts sidelined again

“I’m never asking out someone on a whim again. Or, uh, confessing that I like someone on a whim either.” so uh... you know how I said I’m considering making the sequel Kimaxdine? well if I do then uh. hm. this might change. because reasons.

I don’t know why I made nothing Alix ever says make sense but I’m glad I did because she’s so freaking funny

I swear I talk about Max’s eyes being “magnified in his glasses” multiple times in this fic, either that or I’m having serious deja vu

Kim’s so cute dammit!!! now that he knows he likes Max he’s just swooning over every little thing and it’s!!!! adorable!!!!!

(I wonder if this is how it was with Kimdine in the show? it does seem like Kim already liked her but just hadn’t noticed...)

huehuehuehue Kim later on you do indeed recklessly propose to Max on the spot... in like 18 chapters or so

also the fact that Kim thinks things through better when he’s around Max is just the total sweetest and also what Alix was basically trying to aim for

I love Kim showing off that he can pack all his stuff in half an hour like buddy, the porters can literally help you with that, you’re royalty remember

omg I’d forgotten I left a note here later for binge-readers!! being all like “drink water and eat food and go to sleep uwu”

lmao guess I’ll take my own advice then and leave it there for now

[future aish note: same, goodnight]

#smalluns proceed with caution. it's T rated remember #it's not dodgy though. just evil and cursed #anyway i'm going to sleep now for like 12 hours #random stuff #misadventures #if you're on the mobile app and the keep reading glitches and you have to scroll then i'm sorry #this is under a cut on desktop i promise

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ontherockswithsalt · 6 years ago

Text

A Made Man

/1/ /2/ /3/ /4/ /5/ /6/ /7/ /8/ /9/ /10/ /11/ /12/ /13/ /14/ /15/ /16/ /17/ /18/ /19/ /20/

A/N: This night got out of hand and had to be split up in two chapters. So here’s the beginnings of the boys’ night at Rio. We love these dumb boys.

Chapter 21.

“Mm. No. Not fair.” Noble mumbles as my lips fall from his. “That's not fair.”

My eager mouth brushes across the edge of his jaw in the darkened corner of this bathroom stall. “No?”

“I offered to get us the fuck out of here back at the last spot and you turned me down.”

“I know. I regret that.”

“And you're not gonna get me off in this bathroom.”

“I probably won't. That might seem suspicious.”

He sputters a charming laugh, reaching for my sides.

I pull him to me, wrapping an arm around his neck and backing up a step to the opposite wall. “Alright, I'll duck out before it's noticeable. I just wanted to come say hi.”

“Don't be cute. God that's even worse.”

“Okay fine, I'm done being cute.”

Noble just growls his frustration low in his chest and it makes me laugh. There I set my palms and ease him away as I turn for the latch on the door.

“Knowing your girlfriend, she'll probably follow you in here if you leave her any longer than ten seconds,” I tease. Stopping at the sink, I give myself a once-over in the mirror, fixing my shirt back into the waist of my pants.

“Who?”

I scoff, echoing his obvious question. “Who do you think?”

“Oh yeah. She probably would.”

Mariana had been all over Noble since we got here. It turns out it’s her night off, but she works at Rio. And she’d been making it her mission to call girls -- dancers -- over to him as if seeking his approval.

He makes his way to the bank of sinks. “You act like it’s just me. If that other one parked herself next to you any longer, you'd probably write her a ticket.”

With a tipsy laugh, I find that more amusing than it really is and shake my head. “I mean what am I supposed to do? She asked me if I want a dance but like… what does that even mean?”

Noble cuts me a look, tilting his head as if I'm an idiot.

“I know what it means but like, I don't want one. So-- Do I just say no thanks, but you're welcome to sit and hang out?”

“I doubt she came to work tonight to sit and hang out. Even with you, Prince Charming.”

“She kinda looks like Nina,” I quip, noticing the flick of one eyebrow.

Noble merely manages a narrowed, thoughtful gaze just before the door is pushed open and another guy enters.

With a faint shrug, I turn for the door. “You think?” Then I make my way out, leaving Noble to wait a minute or two before he follows back to our table.

The section that Mariana had secured for us is tucked away, an almost private banquette on a raised level overlooking a bar, a stage and a dance floor below. It’s dark aside from pulsing turquoise and violet club lights. And between that, and the thud of heavy bass, the distinct sweet, powdery scent happening in here -- not to mention half naked women -- everything has got me on a little sensory overload. It takes a moment to adjust back to it once I exit the bathroom.

I find our section once more and return to the table beside Noble’s friends on the couch. “So are you friends with Nick from back when he…. you know, partied a lot?” Andrew leans in beside me to ask.

“Um.” My eyes scan the room before I ease back to answer him. “A little of that, yeah.”

“I’ve only really known him since like, last year but from what he’s told me about his past in New York, he’s come a long way.”

I’m not quite sure how much of his past in New York Noble has revealed. But I assume Andrew’s talking about his drug use specifically.

“Yeah, that’s never really been my scene,” I tell him. “But I know he’s had some close calls.”

“I think it carried over when he moved here. There were definitely a few mornings he didn’t show up for work when I first knew him. I got sent over to his place once just to check on him and he was pretty out of it--”

Pressing my lips together, I try to ignore the way my pulse jumps, twitching uneasy in my gut. I look at him. “Recently?”

“No.” Andrew shakes his head.

I nod, relieved. “That’s good.”

“Not at all. He’s like a changed man.”

I exhale a soft laugh and see Noble crossing over to our section. With a covert look, his gaze briefly meets mine and that uneasy tug is allayed.

“Changed for the better, yeah?” I wonder, almost absently. My eyes can’t help but follow him.

“Yeah.” Andrew laughs. “It’s good to see. Maybe he’s working out more or something.”

A subtle curve surfaces at my cheek. “Maybe.”

“He comes to work at seven a.m. and he’s already run like, a 10K or some shit.”

“What?” I have to scoff at the exaggeration, but there is some truth to that claim and I’m proud of him. “He’s an asshole,” I mutter with an amused smirk.

Andrew chuckles. “Hey, whatever keeps him out of trouble.”

“Probably not this place,” I quip.

Noble maneuvers behind our table and makes a big scene out of wedging himself between Andrew and me on the couch. We shift apart to make room. “Oh, you fools haven't been kicked out of here yet?” He announces over the music, letting his weight fall heavy at my side.

“I'm sure we would’ve but apparently you have pull around here.”

“No-no-no,” Noble insists. “Believe it or not, I have no strings to pull at this place--”

“Hey-oh!” Andrew shouts, clearly happy about the pun. “I could probably find some strings to pull around here.”

“Um, you watch your hands there,” Noble warns him with a tilted grin. “If Paige questions me about your behavior tonight, I want to be able to answer her honestly.”

Andrew nods with an appreciative laugh just before he downs what remains of his cocktail. Then he moves to stand up, lifting innocent hands. “I don’t want any trouble.” He gestures a finger away as if he’s headed elsewhere just as the brunette dancer, the Nina look-alike, who was chatting me up earlier returns.

“You don’t want any trouble?” She teases with an indignant cry.

With a shake of his head, Andrew retreats a step, as if to ensure he keeps his distance. “No trouble,” he tells her with a smile. “Light mischief, maybe. But you know who’s been asking for big trouble? It’s this one.” He drops a palm hard on my shoulder. “He’s from out of town. He said Miami girls aren’t as hot as New York girls--”

Her mouth drops open and she narrows a dark gaze at me.

“I never--” I insist, but I sputter a laugh anyway as I reach out to shove Andrew on the back. “Hey, I never said that.”

“Ha!” Noble shouts, leaning toward the table to reach for his drink.

Andrew, amused with himself, leaves me one more slap on the back of the shoulder before he rounds the table, calling “I’ll be back in a minute,” and makes his way down the steps.

“So what do you do in New York?” She wonders, helping herself to a seat on my lap. “Can I guess?”

“Sure.” I adjust beneath her, but her weight hardly bothers me. She’s just perched there on one thigh, turned so her body faces Noble, and wearing a tiny black, but completely see-through, bra tied in a bow in the center of her chest and skimpy black bottoms with a matching bow at each hip.

“Something with like, a bank. Investments,” she guesses.

Noble cracks up beside me when he hears this and I have to let my head drop with a laugh.

“What if I told you--” He chimes in. “That you could buy Branotech for nineteen dollars a share and double your portfolio in only eight weeks--?”

“Shhh--” My chest caves with a heavy laugh and I reach over to shove him. “Shut up. Dumbass.”

“Brani-what?” She wonders.

“Nothing.” I shake my head. “Don't listen to him.” Then I push my palm hard against his thigh, a move that I could easily chalk up to drunken, platonic contact. But the way he responds with the push back of his leg beneath my hand… god, fuck.

He adjusts, leaning forward to set his glass on the table. “It's a dark horse stock. Nobody believes me.”

“I don't work at a bank,” I tell her. “Or a hedge fund.”

“You’re in marketing.”

“No.”

She trails a hand through my hair prompting me to lift my chin to look at her with a heavy gaze. “A brain surgeon?”

With a half smile, I murmur and agreeable, “Yes, I'm a brain surgeon.”

“Mm, that's amazing,” she purrs, pretending to believe me.

“I know.”

She giggles, her fist tightening in my hair before she pushes my head aside. “Ugh, you. It's a good thing you don't live here,” she notes. “You'd break my heart in a hot second.”

“I wouldn't do that.”

She smirks. “Do you remember my name?”

“Veronica.”

“Yes.” Her eyes flash with her appreciative grin.

“Do you remember mine?” I wonder.

She moves a little closer, slowly shaking long dark hair off one bare shoulder. She looks at me, a coy jump of one eyebrow before she leans into my ear. There, she sips a faint breath, the warmth ghosting across my skin just as her bottom lip brushes my neck, right below my ear.

The move makes me blink hard and I know I don’t breathe for a moment. There’s no way I can sit unfazed at the sensation. My pulse is already so damn jumpy, little pops of electric heat shooting off inside me at just about anything at this point.

I feel her lips at my ear and she answers, “Jamie.”

I clear my throat and glance over at Noble. I see his brows lift, lips parting with a smile that’s caught by surprise. But he lets his head fall and he laughs, running his hand down his face.

“Good memory,” is all I can manage. I gesture to Noble beside me. “What about him?”

“That's Nick.”

“You've seen him in here before?”

She seems to scrutinize him for a moment and shakes her head. “No.”

Noble cuts me this offended look.

I defend the accusation before he even says anything. “What, I'm just asking. You know people everywhere else we've been tonight.”

As soon as I make the comment , Noble’s gaze settles on me for just a second longer than it should. But I don’t break it quick enough either.

Veronica speaks up. “I’m sure I’d remember him.”

I look at her, acknowledging that with a nod, and notice how her shiny eyes flit all around my face for a quiet beat. Then they narrow in thought and she bites her lip.

“What’s that?” I wonder, mirroring her contemplation.

“You don’t want a dance, do you?”

“I didn’t say that.” I shrug. Because I’m not sure how to answer that. It’s kind of the whole point of being here.

“Does he?” She turns her attention to Noble.

With a meaningful, furrowed brow, he beckons her closer with a finger and leans toward us. Veronica complies, stretching closer to him from my lap where Noble lets his hand go to the side of her head to steady her as he murmurs something there in her ear.

I glance over at him. This close to me, he consumes my attention and I don’t know how long I can fake that he’s not. I’m probably failing to convince people that he doesn’t already have it anyway.

He looks at me as he talks to her. And when that covert gaze connects it makes me feel my pulse in my throat. It’s all I can do to manage a steady, controlled exhale through my nose.

After a moment, she nods and begins to ease off of my lap. She squeezes fingers one more time in my hair before dragging her nails there and tells us she’ll be back in a minute.

A heavy breath escapes me when I look over at him, ready to cut this shit and leave. “Are we outta here?”

“No-no-no.” He smirks. “She’s coming back and you’re getting another drink. And a lapdance.”

Blowing out a laugh, I glance away and shake my head. “I’ll remember this generosity, I hope you know.”

“Good,” he notes.

What I wouldn’t trade right now to slam him up against the nearest wall in some dark room so hard it knocks the air from his chest. I’d grasp that thick hair of his in my fingers and fill him with the heat from my mouth until it was all that sustained him. I’d be the most shamelessly possessive fuck he’d ever known and he’d be ruined.

But instead I adjust back, blinking the room into focus when our cocktail waitress shows up with fresh drinks and Veronica leading the way.

#jamie x noble #aren't these two just full of good ideas?#i needed to get this part posted because this whole outing is a beast #don't forget to tip your waitress

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