#I hate not knowing what is wrong in this chapter because of hugo

[cliozaur]

The Thénardiers continue to wait for philanthropist’s arrival, and their interaction and family dynamic unfolds further. Éponine’s longing for her father’s approval and attention just hurts! Her gesture of putting her cold hands into his, seeking sympathy after running errands for him all day in the winter, is so tender and natural. But we are dealing with the heartless Thénardier, who only says kind words to manipulate his daughters and not out of genuine care. Instead of showing compassion, he claims he feels even colder. I hate him so much!

Mme Thénardier caustic comment about her husband’s response reveals the change in her attitude towards him. That’s understandable; in the last few years, they lost their property, business, and relative well-being because of his wheelings and dealings.

And, of course, I have to say a few words about Thénardier’s hateful ranting. “Oh! how I hate them, and with what joy, jubilation, enthusiasm, and satisfaction I could strangle all those rich folks! all those rich folks!” The sad thing is, he is not entirely wrong in his criticism. Philanthropists indeed have been and still are reluctant to give money directly to the needy and let them decide how to use it: “Because they say that we would go off and drink it up, and that we are drunkards and idlers!” Instead, they prefer to donate in kind – offering “clothes” and “bread.” This practice is truly degrading and disrespectful to the poor. I believe Hugo is aware of this problem, but it’s puzzling that he places this criticism in the mouth of one of the most untrustworthy characters! Moreover, we know that Thénardier would not use the money for his family’s benefit, rendering this criticism ineffective. Thénardier goes as far as calling all rich people thieves (which is unfair regarding Jean Valjean, who will appear in just a few paragraphs), and proposes to “smash” society so that “no one would have anything” – that’s his terrible way of solving social problems.

Marius is back to life, as he recognized his love interest in philanthrope’s daughter. We can assume that the boy is probably done with his own philanthropic project of helping the poor, as he is now refocusing on his love obsession.  

The last snippet is Éponine gazing at Cosette’s nice clothes and happy face with “sombre eyes.” This way the beginning and the end of the chapter highlight her longing for something she cannot have - her father's attention and a more comfortable life with nice things.

[15001700tt]

Prologue- The Feud Train

chapter index

Prologue 

September first, 2017

It was finally Rose's first year at Hogwarts. To say she was excited would be an understatement. She was ecstatic to start her courses and learn everything she could. Her family, the Weasley’s, were able to give her a little taste of what was in store for the next seven years. Hermione Granger-Weasley would not allow her daughter to not have the magic and non-magic experience, naturally. 

Rose was enrolled into a muggle school until she turned 11. She had basic understanding in all subjects, excelling in English and Math. Her parents had no doubts she would thrive at Hogwarts. 

They reached the train station, where she would meet with Albus and James Potter. Together they would cross the platform. Rose Weasley grew up with all her cousins, but she was quite close to Albus Potter specifically, her no-nonsense personality going well with his easy-going-but-sensible one. Though they were quite young, in Rose’s opinion, people rarely change after a certain age, and she doubted both Albus and her would change much. Maybe in knowledge and wits. (Oh how wrong and sure she was at eleven years old) 

“Are you ready for a life-changing journey that we may or may not come to hate in a few weeks?” Albus posed the question as they stood next to each other, waiting for their parents to finish greeting one another. Rose rolled her eyes, grinning widely. 

“I doubt it! Hogwarts is magical and will probably be the greatest thing we ever experience,” she dismissed enthusiastically. 

“So much confidence for a pesky first year,” James teased as he was going back for his second year. He bore so many expectations set from his father’s time, not by his father, but by Hogwarts. You see, by Harry Potter’s second year, he had defeated Voldemort twice and shown up to school in a bloody flying car. But knowing James Potter, he would never let the crippling expectations get the best of him. He was setting his own records with his best friend and cousin Fred II of becoming the new generation of pranksters. With the way things were going, they might beat the Weasley twins' score by the end of their seventh year. Fred Weasley’s dad would not be disappointed, as he is part of that legacy. 

“Nothing you say will change the fact that Hogwarts will be the best years of my life,” Rose retorted. “Oh man, I can't wait to go!” Lily whined as she lightly stomped on the floor next to James. Hugo stuck out his tongue at her as she whined. He only had one more year to go, too. 

“You will in two years’ time,” James quipped, ruffling her hair with affection. Despite being a twelve-year-old boy, he wasn't cruel to his sister. Mostly because he was deadly afraid of being hexed by his mother (Ginny bat bogey hex Weasley) and didn't see a point to it. Yes, he was a prankster, but that meant he wanted to bring 

smiles to peoples’ faces, not frowns. He shook his head at Hugo, grabbed his neck, and ruffled the red hair there with his knuckles. Hugo grumbled as he broke free from the older boy. 

“Alright, it's time to cross over! Everyone got their luggage? Their pets?” Ginny checked her two sons as she took Lily's hand in her own. Then looked at Rose with a smile as she checked with her, too. Albus had chosen a small Golden retriever from Curious Creatures, while Rose chose a Siamese kitten, barely bigger than the size of her palm. Rose checked on the cat in her cage, curled up in the corner against some toys Rose bought for her. Albus and Rose spent a whole day picking and naming their pets. That memory might be one of Rose’s favorites and most prized possessions. Albus named his puppy Duke, while Rose named her kitten Nala. 

They reached the platform in between 9 and 10, and Harry nudged James to take the lead. Rolling his luggage trolley straight towards the wall, James disappeared as soon as the cart made contact. Now, it’s their turn. Albus put his cart in position, threw a grin at Rose, and ran in after his brother. Rose took a deep breath and followed. Crossing to the other side, the difference was immediate. Still incredibly loud, whistles going off every 20 minutes, but somehow the noise seems to be enchanted. Like it was charmed to sound more soothing and less obnoxious. 

Her aunts, uncles, and parents, with Lily in tow, came up right behind her. Fred was waiting for James by his parents, grinning as he spotted the emerging group. 

As they reached the point, everyone began saying their goodbyes. 

“You’re going to do great, Rosie,” Ron reassured, seeing his daughter’s nervous smile and squeezing her closely in her arms. 

“No matter what, we are very proud of you,” 

Hermione followed, giving her daughter a tight hug and a lopsided smile. Rose caught Mr. Potter lowering to his son’s height, (which in hindsight he wasn't that small, definitely taller now) leveling with him and whispering something. Probably something about Hogwarts Houses. Rose mentally shook her head. Albus worries for no reason, he will do great in any house. It would be disheartening if they weren't in the same house, but she is sure they can make their friendship work, whatever happens. 

“Look who it is.” Ron pointed out a family of four, a dark brown haired woman with a thinning face, a small girl that had bright brown eyes, and a thin man crowned by blond hair coupled with a receding hairline. (apparently, but for the record Draco Malfoy was a very handsome man, don't let Ron Weasley’s opinion taint that) 

“So that's little Scorpius,” Ron mused, looking at the fourth installment of their family. A moderately sized boy who had identical hair to his father and eyes just as cold. 

“Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie.  Thank Merlin, you inherited your mother's brains!” With brows lifted high, Ron made a point to give Rose an intense look followed by a quick wink. The ends of Rose’s lips quirked up at her father’s confidence and humor. He was only half-joking, but Hermione slapped her husbands’ arm, scolding him. Rose’s lips curved to a small smile. 

“Don't turn them against each other before they even start school!” Ron only nodded, not paying attention to his wife’s warning. 

“Well, don't get too friendly with him, though. Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a Malfoy.” (because honestly, Arthur would be more appalled by a Malfoy than a pureblood. And by the way, they totally finesse Grandad Weasley because Albus is the one that introduces Scorpius into the family and then Rose marries him so)

 “Ron!” Rose fondly rolled her eyes at her parents’ tactics, landing on the boy in question. He didn't seem interesting to her at all, just a normal boy. If normal boys gelled their hair to pull so far back like an old man’s hairstyle sort of way. She mentally shook her thoughts away, focusing on other things like petting Nala. Though she wouldn’t heed her father’s warning seriously, she wasn't going to actively seek out the old-man-hair boy to be her friend. 

Soon everyone was done with their goodbyes and the enrolled were boarding the train. Rose, Albus, and James met up with family friends before finding an empty compartment to settle their pets and themselves. Percy Wood greeted them, taking the open seat next to Rose. 

“I won't stay for long, I want to play exploding snaps with Fred.” James paused, looking at the two first years in front of him. 

“Try to make friends, yeah? It's not as scary as it seems,'' James beamed a genuine smile, which, suffice to say, is a very rare occurrence. (then Albus proceeds to make friends with Scorpius bloody Malfoy) Albus nodded, smiling at his brother through the churning nervousness bubbling in his stomach right now. James excused himself soon enough, leaving to find his own friends. 

A minute later, Alice was scrambling in, out of breath. Rose lit up at the sight of her childhood friend.

“We almost missed the train! Mum and dad took forever getting their luggage in the car,” plopping next to Albus with a huff. Grinning, Albus bumped her shoulder, but the playfulness soon ran short. A shrewd shriek sounded out. The train was going to take off soon. Silence came over the room, everyone’s thoughts on the uncertainty of what was to come or not to come, apprehension filling the space that the lack of banter left void. 

Soon, a soft knock resounded, disturbing the quiet in the small compartment. Rose and Albus suddenly came back to reality, the sound snapping them out from their aggressive daydreaming. The boy knocking is Scorpius Malfoy. Although eleven years old, the air surrounding Scorpius exuded someone who knows exactly who they are and what they wanted. 

“Can I sit here? Everywhere else was full,” his high-pitched, youthful voice asked, starkly contrasting his mature aura. Albus gave a shy nod and an even shier smile. The blond boy came in and settled his identical cage that Albus had next to him on the floor, in it was the smallest white puppy. The cute puppy started the conversation when Albus asked for his name, and Scorpius Malfoy responded with Apollo. 

Rose opted to stay quiet, hoping to go unnoticed by the blond boy and be able to sit in peace the entire ride to Hogwarts. Putting her plan into motion just as the train did the same, Rose pulled out a book as the train pulled out the station. It was a muggle fiction book. They were not uncommon as the magical world started adopting more muggle technology and culture into their lives. Currently, she is reading a very popular series about demigods. 

Throughout the whole ride to the castle, Percy, Albus, Alice, and Scorpius made small talk, but she wasn't paying too much attention as all her focus was on reading. Albus tried to include her in the conversation. A futile effort. He gave up pretty easily, knowing that it was impossible to get Rose to pay attention to anything else than a book if it was within a 6 feet radius of her. (she realizes later that the reason Scorpius started to annoy the shit out of her is because she gave him no attention whatsoever in their first meeting, neither negative nor positive. And that irked him enough to start a whole ass rivalry.

chapter index



[ravenkinnie]

Ah thank you!

I recently started to write my first fanfiction (I’m still working on it since it’s multi chapter). I had A LOT of fun writing it despite not knowing if it’s actually good or bad. But regardless if people would say it’s good or bad I really liked what I wrote for the first like 4-5 days but yesterday I re-read it and suddenly I hated so much of it? Literally cringed at some stuff my brain came up with and felt no (positive) emotion while reading it, at all!

Now like I said it could totally be that my story is objectively bad but is it normal to suddenly feel so differently about what I wrote? I feel embarrassed about it…like I put my feelings into it and that’s wrong

Is there a way to overcome this? I had so much fun writing but now I’m stuck because every new sentence makes me feel..almost ashamed? :(

you have to leave it for a while, there are multiple fics I fucking hated while writing, made peace with it editing and then fucking hated while posting. and then I reread some months later and went yeah this is okay I don't know what's wrong with me. there are very few ones I didn't despise while working on them dhshjsjs I think with time it's easier to push through it because you're able to judge more objectively what you're good at and where you're struggling and accept that it's a process that sometimes produces drafts that suck

if you have a disease where you don't do new things unless you're immediately perfect and natural at them you're going to swing from hating it to thinking its great and fun and that's just something you have to push through. you will notice waaaay more wrongs and holes in your stories than other people reading because you know the ideal you created in your mind before and that means sometimes you will overlook the things that fit that picture and only focus on discrepancies - I think that's what having a beta or writer friends can be good for, so they can look at your wips from an outside perspective but I'm a loner writer who never has a beta shshsjjs

also on a hater note. sometimes you gotta click on things you think will fucking suck and see that they do suck but both OP and people reading enjoy it and think to yourself does it matter if its good if its fun. nobody is winning hugo awards on ao3, its like smashing barbies with words, there's no pressure to be ~good~ if you don't care about it

[dolphin1812]

I never have high expectations for Tholomyès, but his song is so bad and I can’t tell if it’s intentional (to emphasize that he’s trying to show off and isn’t actually that intelligent) or if Hugo just wasn’t great at Spanish.

To be perfectly honest, Hugo loses me when he rants about love, so I’m sure there’s a lot of interesting stuff here, but most of it went over my head. One line that did stand out to me, though, was this:

“The patrician and the knife-grinder, the duke and the peer, the limb of the law, the courtiers and townspeople, as they used to say in olden times, all are subjects of this fairy.”

I think presenting love as something that strikes all equally regardless of class is meant to be part of the happy atmosphere of this chapter, but strangely, almost all of the examples here are definitely high-class (”patricians”, “dukes”, “peers,” and “courtiers”). Given his focus on artists in this paragraph, this may be a result of who would have access to “high culture” to, for example, publish poems on love. Someone writing from a court would likely differentiate between different people there and label everyone outside of that “townspeople.” And yet this group is predicated on class inequality. All of the women are workers to some extent, even if their exact situations vary, while all of the men are students from well-off families. Maybe they’re all capable of “falling in love,” but their experiences are shaped by their backgrounds.

What I find frustrating about this section is that sometimes, I can’t tell why Hugo is saying something. For instance, he writes: “Beautiful women waste themselves sweetly. They think that this will never come to an end.” “Waste” and “sweetly” is a strange combination, and he adds that poets love this. Perhaps he’s reflecting on what he considers the tragically fleeting nature of beauty in women (in short: Hugo being weird and sexist)? Or on love itself being fleeting? He also says that women “think” this will never end; with “waste”, could this be foreshadowing something bad? And yet the rest of the paragraph seems positive (?). I just don’t know what to make of it.

On a happier note: the Russian Mountains! It’s the roller-coaster! 

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 5.5.6 “Each in his own way, the two old men do everything so that Cosette may be happy”

Do they. DO THEY???

I mean, “in their own way” I guess, if you say that Valjean’s way is literally erasing himself out of Cosette’s family and Gillenormand’s way is trapping her in his awful world by overwhelming her with unbelievably expensive gifts.

Does Hugo know? I really, really, really can’t tell. Everything in this chapter is so BAD, does he know it’s bad?? The bad keeps piling up!!

Valjean is being very clever with his mayor’s toolkit, building up a respectable background for Cosette so that Gillenormand and/or Marius won’t refuse the wedding--because he knows they might if they found out who Cosette really is. I like that little nod to the status of misérables, especially since we don’t see any others except maybe through the extreme contrast, since these chapters are very, very far away from the milieu of the rest of the book.

But Valjean isn’t thinking about Cosette’s feelings and what it must be like for her to have this ambiguous, highly questionable story suddenly appear around her, and for her father to suddenly not be her father anymore. He thinks he doesn’t matter, and his actions on the basis of that assumption are incredibly cruel. “I’m not your real father, but I’ve always loved you as if I was” is NOT an impossible thing to say! Might’ve helped!!

But all this would be great characterization and a fascinating arc if Hugo acknowledged it was happening! Horribly, I’m never sure he’s that much more aware of Cosette as a person than Valjean is.

Cosette learned that she was not the daughter of that old man whom she had so long called father. He was only a relative; another Fauchelevent was her real father. At any other time, this would have broken her heart. But at this ineffable hour, it was only a little shadow, a darken­ing, and she was so joyful that this cloud was quick to disappear. She had Marius. The young man came, the good old man faded away; such is life.

wtf wtf that’s not how anything works.

It’s so strange the ways the ending of the book seems to both take Valjean’s view and also doesn’t: the book surely knows that Valjean doesn’t deserve to waste away in isolation, and it surely knows Cosette loves him. But it does also keep trying to confirm Valjean’s frankly fucking abysmal view of her, that she doesn’t have enough attention span to remember the existence of more than one male family member.

What the absolute fuck.

And, like. Hugo sucks, but Cosette’s characterization doesn’t. It makes perfect sense here that Valjean’s shifting status is less momentous to her: everything is happening so fast, and is so entirely directed by the old men, that she barely knows which way is up, and she’s barreling towards a wedding that’s two months away. It makes sense that being inundated with wealth and fashion is a weakness of hers, and that she’s learned not to ask questions when things feel weird.

And yeah, relationships to parents do change when you build your own life, move out, maybe partner with somebody, and also, that doesn’t have to be LITERAL DEATH. But there may be a problem here where Valjean’s issues are way too close to Hugo’s own, and so the narrator is shifting confusedly between “Valjean’s view is wrong” and “No he is literally right about daughters marrying” without being able to find a stable place to stand.

I hate it so much.

I do appreciate the follow-up paragraph:

And then, for many long years Cosette had been used to seeing enigmas around her; everybody who has had a mysterious childhood is always ready for certain renun­ciations.

She continued, however, to say "father" to Jean Val­jean.

Yes, please, let’s have more of Cosette living with the ramifications of her past, drawing conclusions based on it, and sticking to her guns. Still wish Valjean had taken her aside and bothered to have ANY kind of conversation with her before he dropped the bomb of her new legal ID on her.

Valjean is being self-effacing and practical, and meanwhile Gillenormand is aggressively winning Cosette over with absurdly expensive cloth and the promise of fashion at a level she’s never been able to achieve before. Again, if this is meant to be part of an arc where we eventually reckon with the falseness of what’s currently seducing her, it's fantastic. Is that supposed to be what’s happening???? Unclear! We definitely definitely never get that reckoning, because Cosette’s internality somehow isn’t something this book cares about!

Marius, eerily like his grandfather, has changed who he has his opinions about but not the nature of those opinions. He says:

"The men of the Revolution are so great that they already have the prestige of centuries, like Cato and like Phocion, and each of them seems a memoire antique [antique memory].”

The men of the revolution (and, I imagine by proxy, his friends) have entered his mental category of the Dead Who Need Worshiping. He’s never altered his assumption that the dead need worshiping, or that the past is better and more worth looking at than the future. He’s still stuck in the death-like paradigm of the convent.

Again, if this is a gothic horror about how Cosette is trapped in this world, we’re doing absolutely fantastically.

Speaking of which, in the middle of a long, long speech about how much more fun everything is when you have excessive wealth and an ancien régime noble title (Hugo must know! He MUST. Mustn’t he??), Gillenormand says:

Who loves well lashes well.

Girl, RUN. Just fucking run from this fucking household, we’ve seen several times over that Marius is way, way, way too much like his grandfather already. Don’t tie a knot you can’t untie, RUN NOW.

And it really is disturbing how much of this show Gillenormand is running. His idea of a wedding is exactly what they’re going to have for their wedding--and his idea of being a husband afterwards is very, very terrible. Is that going to follow, once Cosette is drawn into the trap? Maybe it’s just his flaws on display and not Marius’s.. but these kids are not managing to do much to escape the world he’s setting up for them, and Marius has behaved like his grandfather under pressure in he past, and Valjean’s efforts to efface himself and vanish into thin air are Not Helping.

Meanwhile Mlle Gillenormand is floating around the house as a barely-living shadow, disregarded and petty, like a sign of what living in this house under a man like Gillenormand will turn you into.

WHY isn’t all this the prelude to Cosette finding herself in some kind of Lotus Eaters story, or some kind of Bluebeard story? Everything is setting her up to wake up a little ways into marriage and realize “Oh God what did I get trapped in??” and yet the story never ever gives her that moment, and as far as I can remember seems to actively discard the possibility of it.

WHY.

[ganyfreak]

Gany's book review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Where to start? I'm a jumbled up wreck after I finished this book. There was a discussion questionnaire at the end of the book for people in book clubs which was very helpful.

I love this book. I love how complicated the characters are and I love the world building of old Hollywood and Evelyn Hugo's life, and Monique Grant's.

I saw Evelyn's decision of wanting to end her life after she mentioned the article on dying with dignity to Monique. I love the twist about Monique's father cause I was at a lost on why, of all people, does Evelyn want Monique to write her biography.

I love the twist but I still don't know what to feel about Evelyn's decision after the car crash. Seems like everyone involved was a car crash after the accident.

What Evelyn did was so stupid and frankly, evil and selfish. It's crazy to me that Monique seemed to brush that off and only got outraged after learning her father was framed. Or am I just being too morally uptight about it?

If Harry survived that accident, would he have understood Evelyn? Would he have forgiven her? I don't know.

I guess up to that point, I was rooting for Evelyn through and through and I continued reading for the payoff of it all, not necessarily for Evelyn herself. I understand Monique's misgivings when she learned it was her father and understood the resulting jumbled complicated feelings she had for Evelyn.

There are times Evelyn does come off as unlikeable and so does Monique and it makes for a beautiful depiction of the human psyche. The narration is beautifully human. We all have inherent bias to ourselves, even when the things we do or think are objectively wrong, we only perceive it as such because we are the ones living in that reality. This book captures that tug-of-war in our brains beautifully.

I want to go into the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo because that was a fun part of the book. There was a question at the end on who was your favorite husband. Of course it was Harry Cameron, what is this question?

The next one is Don at the start of his chapters but I was devastated for Evelyn with how it turned out. Evelyn getting hurt by Don's kiss with teeth was a great foreshadow of the events to come.

Rex comes in close after Don. Evelyn's relationship with him was black and white, purely business. He's almost like a male version of Evelyn and I love their potential. I wish there was more development for them and their relationship. It's so wonderfully trope-y but I get that it doesn't fit the themes of the book.

Now Celia. Oh Celia, the love of Evelyn's life. Another complicated soul. She hates Evelyn's actions even when it benefits them both, even when doing it her way will lead then both to ruin. Celia was selfish like everyone in this book and the author did a great job in capturing her struggles with being in the closet and sharing Evelyn with other people. She wants something that's very risky and both of them never really took that risk and Evelyn only told the truth after her death.

Lastly, Monique. Despite being the other narrator of the book, she's really just a side character where things happen around her which forced her to react. If not for Evelyn's influence, she wouldn't have character development. I think she was being selfish with David, her husband. She practically settled on him which led to their divorce. There was a part when she got introspective, saying her fundamental flaw was always underestimating herself and not living up to her full potential, and I understood her at that moment.

I love her oh so complicated relationship with Evelyn, how she hate her and respect her.

One flaw I think this book has is Evelyn's decision to frame Monique's father during the accident. I had to do mental gymnastics to believe that she got away with that but I forced myself to look past that. I almost didn't, but the writing was still so good after that one literal car crash.

There's plenty more to discuss about this book but essentially, I love how the author captured the humanity of everyone in this world. There is something selfish and sometimes bad parts in everyone and it shows through their actions, even if they have good intentions. The author did an amazing job in writing humans that are relatable.

I would highly recommend this to everyone. On top the greatly written characters, the world building is immersive, it's set in Old Hollywood, and the relationships are beautiful.

4.5 stars

[yuzukult]

from home 06 || jjk & reader

title: from home pairing: jungkook x reader  genre: richkid!jk, baker!reader, fakedating!au, fluff, angst, e2l, smut in next chapter word count: 7.2k prompt: jungkook is the youngest of five boys, the last in line to truly inherit any his parents’ money. but what if his mom suddenly cuts him off due to his current poor behavior and he’s forced to learn how it feels like to be part of the working class? a/n: um........ hi and thank you guys for reading, i honestly cannot believe how much i’ve blown up bc of this fic... a fic that i purely wrote for fun, expecting myself to maybe get like 50 notes AT MOST! crazy... thank you, seriously ;u;

please let me know if you’re interested in being tagged! but also let me know if you want to be removed! taglist: @scalubera​ @strugglingartistno16-2​ @taestannie​ @teresaisla​ @drumsofheaven​ @vampgguk​ @christiandosworld​ @madjammil​ @jungkookieyoongs​ @bananakookmilk​ @shuttheelleup​ @yobroitsjayden​

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Brewing coffee at the café had never really been a task you hated, that is, until Hoseok stands by the pick-up station, resting his elbows against the granite countertops with the biggest vexatious grin stretched across his face. He won’t stop probing you while you’re trying to get out other customers’ orders. “So, when’s the last time you got laid?”

“Hoseok,” you say his name with a stern voice. “Don’t ask things you don’t really want the answer to.” Every time he enters this shop, he does the same thing like it’s a religious ritual and it’s called, ordering the Hoseok’s sugar high. A vanilla bean java chip frappe with both caramel and chocolate drizzle, topping off with whipped cream in combination with a plethora of inappropriate questions that will get him in trouble later.

“OK, fine, I guess I don’t necessarily want to know when your last hook-up was, but particularly if you hooked up with our boy, Jungkook.”

“Define what ‘hook up’ means in your terms and maybe I’ll answer that.” Placing a hot cup of coffee on the pick-up area, you holler out the order and thank the customer. “What about... kissing? Making-out? Did you do that with him?”

“Possibly,” You reply cryptically, wiping your hands onto your apron before taking the blender out from the shelf, pouring some ice in it to start Hoseok’s order. “Why do you care anyway? It’s not like we’re serious or anything,”

“Ah,” Hoseok gasps, snapping his fingers. “That means he’s chasing you, and you’re the one playing hard to get. Didn’t expect that, honestly, but maybe it’s for the best.” Twisting your torso to catch a glimpse of Hoseok, you pour some of the ingredients into the blender. “And how is that a good thing?”

“I don’t know how I feel about you chasing a guy like that.” He retorts openly, playing with the plastic straws at the edge of the counter. “It’ll only end in bad news for you. However, if it’s Jungkook going after you, I approve. Means that he’s changing.”

“And how is this any different from any of the other girls that he has grown a reputation with?”

“Because, don’t take this the wrong way, he would never go after someone like you, who is obviously one-step ahead at him at all times. He doesn’t normally go for smart, independent women because that means they’ll drop him the instant they knew what kind of guy he was. He likes girls who let him keep them on a leash.” 

You grimace. “That doesn’t sound like a feminist.”

“Guys like him don’t care about feminism when it’s about getting that pussy.” The way Hoseok speaks about the topic so casually makes you feel slightly uncomfortable. Jungkook didn’t seem to be that kind of guy, but by all means, you didn’t necessarily have the best history with dating, so anything was possible. “But... seems like he’s starting to care, at least, with you. So, what kind of trope is this? Fake dating from enemies to lovers?”

“We’re not enemies,” You clarify, clicking the on button for the blender so you don’t need to hear any of Hoseok’s annoying words anymore. It drowns his next comments, him repeatedly saying something illegible until you shut off the machine, turn around, and freeze in your position when you see Jungkook standing there beside him. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh, before you blasted that shit to cancel me out, I was trying to say that I see the lover boy walking toward here.”

“Right,” Clicking your tongue, you resume finishing up Hoseok’s drink. “Hi, Jeon. Are you here to grab something to drink?” 

Although unable to see the interaction unfold behind you, it’s obvious that Hoseok is nudging Jungkook to speak, giving him that motivational push to do what he came here for. “Uh, I, uh, no. I actually came because I heard your shift ends in 15 minutes.”

“Oh?” Capping Hoseok’s drink with a lid, you slide it over to the older male. “Why’s that?”

“It’s getting dark out, and I’d like to walk you home.”

Hoseok squeals at the confession, excitement running through him. “Look at that, our little Kook is asking you on a date.”

Although you want to scream, ‘it’s not a date,’ the way that Jungkook’s cheeks tint to a peachy shade, holds you back from doing so because he’s just too cute to embarrass.

When you close shop, Jungkook stands outside in his winter coat, shaking his shoulders in order to gain warmth back underneath. As you’re quickly stuffing your belongings into your bag, you notice him from afar—how much has Jungkook has changed since the first time you met him. His coat is definitely from the Gap rather than Fendi, and his jeans are from H&M, one that Hoseok recommended to him several weeks back after he finally sold the Hugo Boss suit. He has even learned how to manage his hair a lot better despite complaining in the first week that he didn’t have the specific products. 

Maybe the two of you weren’t from entirely different worlds after all.

Locking the doors behind you, you glance over your shoulder to see Jungkook leaning over to put more pressure against the door so you can close it properly, murmuring a ‘thanks’ to him in return. 

“It’s nothing,” He grins as you face him. The bruises on his face have faded a bit since the last time you’ve seen him, cuts still remaining on his lips but seem better than before. “Should we get going? Or would you like to grab something for dinner instead?”

“We could order something and take it back to my place... if you want,” You suggest, clearing your throat slightly at the confined feeling building inside you. “But if you don’t—“

“Sounds perfect. How’s fried chicken sound?”

After grabbing a case of beer and a box of spicy fried chicken (super spicy, Jungkook notes that he’s definitely going to have a tummy ache later), the walk to your house is strangely... more enjoyable than you thought it’d be, mostly because there weren’t any awkward silences but rather just laughs swarming around. 

He’s been so much better at conversations too; Jungkook rarely even brings anything up that has to do with money or anything that involves his lavish lifestyle from the past. His personality seeps through recently, his true personality. 

Seated on the floor of your apartment, you have the food sprawled out on the small coffee table as Jungkook comes over with plates for the two of you to eat on. “I’m kind of surprised,” You admit, sneaking a glimpse of him as you’re dropping a drumstick on his plate. “You used to be repulsed by foods like these.”

“I kind of am, if I’m being honest,” He laughs anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck. “But... you like it, and if you do, I don’t mind eating it and getting used to it. I think I’m only exposed to certain foods growing up and you’ve expanded my palette. I really liked the kimchi your mom made—“

“You’ve never had kimchi before?” You scrunch up your nose, startled by his response. He shakes his head, tearing a piece of the chicken from the bone. “No, we only eat... European or American food, remember?”

Popping your lips in realization, you nod your head slowly, backing away. It shows proof of how good he’s gotten with dismissing his wealth in discussions because you actually forgot for a brief moment that his upbringing was completely different. 

“How am I doing?” Jungkook ultimately questions in the midst of tying his long hair back, clear from his face so he could eat properly. “I mean, as of late. I’ve been putting extra effort to not seem... spoiled?”

“Excelling, if that’s what you want to hear.” Leaning over to take a bite of your chicken, Jungkook continues. “Well, what about me and you? How am I doing in that?”

You choke on the skin of the chicken, sides of your mouth greasy as you quickly search for a napkin before Jungkook sees— it’s too late because he’s handing you a tissue. Rapidly wiping the mess, you wheeze. “Uhm... what do you mean by that?”

He chuckles, it’s deep and sweet like honey, goosebumps crawling up your arms at the sound. “I’m talking about... you know, what we talked about before. Me pursuing you, getting a chance to possibly date you. I know it seems rushed—”

“—Hella rushed—“

“—I wasn’t finished,” Jungkook snaps back with a narrow glare, “There’re so many couples that still gave it a shot despite the odds that they just met but that doesn’t mean they didn’t immediately click! Come on, I’d be good for you. Just as good as you are for me.”

You stuff your cheeks with the chicken, chewing consistently in order to avoid answering him. Despite your lips turning red and swollen from the spiciness, you don’t stop, only for Jungkook to pull the bone from your hands.

“Why’d you do that!” You exclaim, meats of the chicken nearly spilling from your mouth. “Stop steering away from the conversation, will you?”

“I just...” Sighing, swallowing your mouthful, you drop your hands onto your lap as your body falls to rest against your sofa. “I’m just tired of having such a bad dating history. I really don’t want to show up to another big family event with a guy who I probably wouldn’t even be with years from now. It’s embarrassing, showing up to a New Years or wedding with the same guy every year, only for him to show up with my sister the next, and for the years following, I have to bring a new date every time to save myself from humiliation.”

“But you won’t this time, it’ll be me.”

“That’s sweet, Jungkook,” An awkward smile on your face, shoulders dropping in an indolent manner. “But you can’t guarantee that.”

He pauses, taking in the words you’ve said and letting it sink in. Deep down, you didn’t want Jungkook to take your words to heart, too seriously. He was the only person in your life with such hope lately, someone who had viewed things that seemed so unrealistic in a pragmatic way, versus you, who only saw things through a sensible glass. Jungkook was a breath of fresh air, someone who let you take a cessation from your busy life to really see things for the moment they are. 

Sure, he was from an utterly different world— one of riches, where even his utensils were made of pure gold. His meals consisted of foods, prepped with groceries of the finest, created and crafted by the most experienced chefs. His tutors were people who graduated from ivy leagues, the best of the best universities, and his private teachers were professionals, those who coached the celebrities you’d see on TV. Jungkook had it all, more than anyone you’d known combined, however at the same time, he had nothing. He lacked a home, a place where he could find comfort in. Friends, true ones who would be there through thick and thin, guiding him through rough times. He needed a cushion to fall on, someone to lean and depend on when he’s going through something difficult, and it’s evident he’s been alone through it his entire life.

But he’s not anymore. He’s not alone, and he’s developed relationships with people who he can truly call friends. “You’re right,” He begins, and truthfully, your heart nearly drops at hearing such a hopeful guy start off a sentence so cynically, but he’s not done. “I can’t promise that I’ll be holding your hand next year, that I’d be sitting as a sixth person at your dining table during family dinners. I also can’t vow that you’d be by my side either during my personal family events. But for once, just once, can you allow yourself to be loved by someone instead of you only loving others? Let me reciprocate that love? You need someone to take care of you, I’ve said this before. I want to be that person.”

“Jungkook,” suspiring, you throw the napkin onto the coffee table in relentlessness, “You don’t even know how to take care of me, let alone do any of those things you’ve mentioned.”

“Then guide me, show me. Let me see more into what you think your world is supposed to be in comparison to mine, teach me how to be better and take care of you. I’ll do it.”

“You seem rather... determined.” 

It’s true. He admits wholeheartedly that maybe his feelings for you had developed in a rather sprinted current of events but in actuality, he’s never felt this way before. He’s never found someone he wanted, had this type of attachment to and with a drive to sway their heart. It was just you, and despite the harshness that you come with at times, he knows your blunt responses and nonchalant tones had underlying meanings that only weigh with care. Jungkook hasn’t found that with anyone but you. Even if this is a dud in the end, he knows that at least he knew how it felt like to be cared about with the absence of money. 

“With money, it’s easy to buy things you want. Name designer clothes, foods... even people, you could lure them in with money. Hell, I even lured you, right? The whole... bakery investment has hearts in your eyes and birds that halo your head. Nonetheless, you wouldn’t let me pay without actually knowing what I’m putting my nonexistent money toward. I want that—I want someone as genuine as you in my life to tell me when I’m gullible. I don’t think I’m capable of weaning off this myself.”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaking this as friendship?” Chewing the skin inside of your cheek, the beating of your heart races, unsettled with your own question yet in search for an authentic answer for Jungkook. “Isn’t that for us to figure out over time? I still want to explore this, see what we could be together. I mean, after all, we’ve already started, right?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m good. We can handle it here, don’t worry about it, Mrs. Jeon.” Wrong, false, please don’t believe me, save me. “I can... figure out how to do this with a lighter staff!”

Mrs. Jeon uneasily stares at you however the words that escape from her lips are the complete opposite. “Okay, doll, I’ll leave you to it. Should I ask Jungkook to come by and assist you?”

“If you could, it would be very appreciated.”

Just as requested, Jungkook enters into the kitchen after some moments his mother leaves; a beaming bright expression on his face as he strides to where you’re standing by the counter, hair tied up loosely in a ponytail with remnants of flour on your face. “Seems like my baby has been working up a storm here in the kitchen.” He comments, eyes skimming the room at the equally restless workers who shuffle around to complete their tasks. 

You glower at the older boy. “Too soon for ‘baby.’ I thought we were taking it slow.”

“Would taking it ‘slow’ mean dry humping me like the other night after dinner?” He asks, raising a brow. You would’ve lunged at him if it weren’t for the many witnesses surrounding the two of you. 

“Jungkook.” You hiss but your face is heating up.

“Sorry, baby. What’d you call me over for?” Practically on the brink of tears, you pout. “Why didn’t you talk me out into catering desserts for your mom?

“Because I know you’re capable of it. Why? Having second thoughts?” Resting against the messy counters, he brushes his hands off from any debris, grinning innocently. In spite of the fact that you’re lowkey freaking out, he knows you’re able to do it— you just need a little push.

“How am I supposed to make it taste as well as you talked me up to be? Your mom is going to have a fit if this isn’t as great as you described it. ‘The angels descended and swooped me into their arms, taking me to their lord and savior.’ What the hell kind of description is that?”

Jungkook laughs. He recalls the conversation with his mother on the phone vividly, especially when it was interrupting your little grinding session that night. She was in a frenzy about how the desserts chef had cancelled on her last minute, something about catching the flu, and all Jungkook could rave about was your cinnamon rolls that it sold his mother.

Now you had to make 300 of them from scratch for the event.

With the help of the kitchen staff, of course. But regardless, 300 cinnamon rolls could kill someone.

That someone... Jeon Jungkook.

“If anyone could do it, it’s you,” He hums, pushing the strands away from your face and behind your ear. Rubbing the flour off your cheek soothingly, you’re still discouraged. “Then grab an apron and get some flour on yourself and help me, Jeon. Especially if you’re expecting me to stay your girlfriend any longer.”

You don’t have to tell him twice.

“Why are you scrunching up your face like that?”

Jungkook scowls. “It’s sticking to my fingers.”

“Well, no shit, put more flour on your hands, you dumbass!”

“Stop saying bad words, it hurts my feelings.” He counters. Jungkook knows you’re tense, easily irritable, but he loves to test the waters to see what calms your nerves. 

“OK, sorry,” Raising your hands in defeat, your palms are beaten white. “Please put flour in your hands. They will prevent you from sticking to the dough.”

“Thank you, baby,” He smiles cheerfully, the edges stretching from cheek to cheek. “Now, gimme a kiss.”

“No.” You retort sharply, resuming to rolling the dough. “I don’t have time to feed into your little game here. Hurry up and finish, we’re supposed to get ready for the banquet as well.”

“Ah,” Jungkook snaps his fingers, and it poofs a cloud of flour. “That reminds me. I forgot to tell you that I invited your siblings today and told them to bring a plus one.”

Your head nearly snaps off when you turn to him sharply. “You what?” 

“Daehyun and Miyoung. Possibly Miyoung’s boyfriend. I kinda wanted him to see you in your position, your new state. Successful, catering a banquet for the CEO of Jeon Markets and the wife of the CEO of the Jeon Corporation. Not to mention that you got a really hot boyfriend—“

“Jungkook,” You whine; despite attempting to throw a tantrum at this revelation, you’re still trying to slice the rod of dough into pieces for the rolls. “I really am not in the mood for any of this today, why’d you do that?”

“Because... I don’t want people to look at you with that pity expression anymore.”

He knows that look all too well, the look of sympathy and mercy when his parents’ friends meet him, learning that he’s the youngest child of the Jeon siblings, the problematic one. It’s the same one that’s written on your sibling’s faces when Miyoung brings up the topic of your ex-boyfriend. He wants them to regret ever feeling that way toward you, never reacting that way again, not after he walks with your arm hooked with his into this banquet.

“That’s really sweet but I don’t think it matters.”

“It so does matter, so stop acting like it doesn’t.” Quickly glancing over at the clock, his gaze scans the room. “Look, the rest of the team can finish this themselves. How about we head upstairs, get ready and join the rest of the crowd? You deserve a break. You’ve been hauling away since 4am, before any of the staff even arrived. Let’s enjoy the rest of the day, alright?”

Jungkook thinks you’re gorgeous— well, rephrase that because he believes the word isn’t enough to describe how you look right now. Although you’re recycling your dress from the last event, he swears that he’s lucky because he gets to see you in it a second time and really gets to absorb the beauty you are in it.

“Ready?” Smoothing out the uneven lines of your dress, your eyes finally meet with his and he attests that his heart skips a beat. “Jungkook?”

“I-Uh-shit, uhm-” He stumbles over the duffle bag on the floor with your clothes and makeup pouch, hitting his knee on the bed-frame. “Fuck—” 

Shuffling in your heels and the fabric of your dress, you’re already by his side before he could even finish his sentence. His breath hitches in his throat when he realizes how close you are to his face, rubbing his knee with your palm. “Idiot, why are you so clumsy?”

“I-Sorry. You look pretty. It made me lose my balance.” He admits, but you’re unconvinced. “Yeah, sure. Get up, you’re fine. Let’s head out, yeah?”

Honestly, you were too busy wondering what was running through both of your siblings’ minds. Were they impressed with what Jungkook had come from? Do they think you’re the gold digger for dating someone from money? 

Stepping out to Jungkook’s backyard is completely different from the night in the ballroom. It’s green with green flooding the property; vines weaving through the fences and onto the table where food is laid out for the guests. It’s similar to that night you first met his family— people crowding around with glasses of champagne, fingers occupied with hors d'oeuvres while the women had dresses that were flashy in both colors and jewels, elegantly laughing and smiling as they conversed with their counterparts.

Mrs. Jeon is even more flawless today, if even possible, than she did on the night of the charity event. Perhaps because her none of her sons hasn’t ruined the mood entirely, but she’s illuminating in the mass of people, still managing to stand out. 

“Should we greet my mother first or your siblings?” 

“My siblings?” You reiterate, alarmed that he was actually seriously about it. “They’re here?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook gestures toward a direction behind you with his chin; Daehyun surprisingly found a suit from somewhere within his black hole of a closet, and it abnormally fits after getting it years ago, since he seemed to have hit his growth spurt rather suddenly. Miyoung, however, has a brand new dress that you’ve never seen before, definitely a new addition to her closet, paired with her date— your past love. 

The sight of him leaves you breathless; the platinum hair that cascades down and slicks back away from his face, skin smooth like silk, and lips plump, soft like pillows from what you can remember. He’s dressed well, in his midnight black suit with a matching tie. Honestly, just the view of him has the memories of the two of you flooding back, to the point that you had to shake your head from these thoughts going any further. A smile dances across his lips when he sees you, and for a brief moment, you thought your feelings for him had lingered until you felt someone slip their hands into yours, fingers interlocked and tightened.

Jungkook. You get a better view of him under the sunlight; the sides of his hair clipped down and long locks pushed away from his face. The bruises and cuts are now fully healed, not an inch of imperfection on his face. He’s truly the definition of beauty, certainly something he inherited from his mother. He sports a different kind of suit, one that’s attention grabbing, part of the recent Fendi collection that he saved particularly for this event. It’s a deep shade of walnut, still complimenting his features and bringing light to his eyes. Giving you a reassuring gaze and squeeze, he tugs you along to meet your siblings.

“Miyoung, nice to see you again. You too, Daehyun. It wasn’t too much of a hike to get here, was it?”

Daehyun shakes his head, a deep laugh escaping from his chest. “No, it wasn’t. It’s nice to see you all dressed up, little sis. Who knew that it required a guy like Jungkook to get you like this.”

Miyoung chimes in. “Very true. You look lovely, Unnie.” Glancing over at her date then at Jungkook, she uncomfortably clears her throat. “Uh, Jungkook, this is my boyfriend, Yeonjun.”

Jungkook releases his hold on you, only to extend his now available hand to Yeonjun who shakes it firmly. You swore that the exchange was longer than intended, especially with the glare that’s directed to Yeonjun, until he decides that it’s time to let go. “It’s nice to meet you, Yeonjun, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Uh, Jungkook here is Unnie’s boyfriend.”

Yeonjun steals a gander over at Miyoung prior to turning back to meet with Jungkook’s stare. “Another new boyfriend, right? It’s nice to meet you, Jungkook. You’re rather quite lucky to have her as yours.” Miyoung tugs his arm back in suggestion. Why Yeonjun is acting suspicious, Jungkook isn’t sure, but he keeps an eye out regardless. “Absolutely right,” He responds, stiff as if he’s speaking through his gritted teeth. “I am lucky. Hopefully, I’m the last.”

You cringe at the words. “Anyways, you guys enjoy the banquet. Jeon and I are going to say ‘hi’ to his parents before we go off and relish in the party. We’ll catch up with you guys later?”

“You call him Jeon? By his last name and not his first?” Yeonjun raises a brow skeptically.

When you subsequently getaway from your siblings, you slap Jungkook’s chest and he whimpers at the impact. “What were you doing back there?”

He rubs the area you hit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just said ‘hi’ is all.”

“No, you were being weird. Why were you being weird? You do realize that he’s dating Miyoung right, not me? You made it seem like he was making a pass at me and then you acted like a possessive boyfriend!”

“It’s because I am a possessive boyfriend, in case you forgot.” He emphasizes. It’s weird— usually you’re the one scaring Jungkook, but this time, you’re not sure if it’s his height, but the way he’s hovering over you is intimidating. “He called me ‘another boyfriend.’ Doesn’t that bug you at all?”

“No.” You respond short and sharply. “I don’t care about those who have nothing to offer me.”

If Jungkook was being completely honest, he’s frustrated. He understands where you’re coming from when you say that you don’t give attention to those who you don’t care for the opinions of but he does, and he very much so finds himself involved in what people see you as. Your hard work, your independence, your determination for your goals and dreams— he wants people not to just see it, but truly fathom what efforts are implicated to make any of those things come true. He wants Yeonjun to regret leading you on for all those years, his desires are for Yeonjun to wish you’d come back— only this time, you wouldn’t, because you had him. You had Jungkook.

“I want people to appreciate you.” Jungkook confesses earnestly, as if he’s been holding it back for decades. “He just threw you away like a rag doll and has the audacity to say something like that. Who does he think he is, walking in here and speaking about my girlfriend so lowly?”

“Relax, big guy. We’re not even a real item yet. Calm down and lets go talk to your parents—“

“Hello everyone!” Mrs. Jeon greets, standing on the stage that’s strategically placed in the middle of the lawn. She has decided to go with a baby blue dress, trading in the lavender for something that resonates with the sky. “Thank you for attending our lovely banquet. We figured what better way to introduce some new plans for our companies than preparing a party beforehand and sharing the good news during it!”

“Mm, guess it’s too late for that.” Jungkook whispers, arms crossed against his chest. He looks like a child in this stance but you scoff in response at his immatureness. 

“My husband and I have come to terms on many things lately. For one, we are getting very old, so old that we almost mistake each other’s medication for our own,” The crowd laughs, and you’re uncertain if it’s because they undoubtedly think it’s funny or they’re just there. “... but nonetheless, we have come to a conclusion that had been very difficult for us to accept, since the both of us are such workaholics...”

“Where is she going with this?” Jungkook questions, and you hush him silent.

“... My husband and I will be announcing our retirement this week.”

“—What?” Jungkook is gasping for air. “She’s never mentioned this to any of us. None of us. I would’ve heard something by now if any of us knew.” Eyes skimming through the audience, he’s able to make out a couple of his brothers scattered in the crowd, faces equally as stunned as himself. 

“... And, we have dedicated that the new CEO of the Jeon Corporation would be Jeon Junghwan, CFO would be Jeon Jonghyun...”

Jungkook rolls his eyes. “Of course—”

“... My portion of the Jeon Markets, including the cafés, will be in the hands of my youngest who has done nothing but proved himself worthy, Jeon Jungkook.”

His mouth drops. “What the fuck—”

“You’re kidding, mother, not only did you completely go against everything we’ve been arguing about for the past two decades, but you went ahead and gift Junghwan the entirety of the Jeon Corp and gave Jungkook your percentage of the company? And how much is that even? Forty percent?”

“Seventy percent.” She retorts nonchalantly, confident in her answer. Jongseok is brimming with anger, face stained crimson. “Seve—Seventy percent?” He’s wheezing at the number, hand gripping against the backrest of the dining room chairs. “You’re just giving him seventy percent of your company?”

“He’s been working the floor. Jungkook knows what the workers want, what they go through on a daily basis. If anything, he deserves that portion. Good suggestion, Seok, it really put him in his place.”

Jungsik looks like he’s going to claw his eyes out. “And what about Jongseok and I? Do we still get 10% each from the Corporation?”

Mr. Jeon had been quiet the entire time, seated at the head of the table, tired of the conversation before it had even been started. He’s sat throughout these conversations for two decades, he repeats to himself constantly, exhausted that his spoiled children fought over shares of his company, one that he built from the ground up by himself. He struggled trying to teach Junghwan and Jonghyun the basics, as they’re still learning ‘til this day, but seemed to have lost track when it came to the rest. When Jungsik queries his part of the company, Mr. Jeon stands from his seat, banging the glass table with a fist. “Let that be up to your brothers. It’s evident that you can’t settle this with me, so take it up with them. I am drained, fatigued of you spoiled brats arguing over what inheritance you get. I’d rather just die at that point.” He leaves the room with a slam of the door, startling the Jeon siblings, Hayoung, and yourself.

“You guys are ridiculous, you realize that, right? You didn’t earn anything and you expected father to give you anything?” Junghwan finally speaks up, infuriated. “I don’t know what you were hoping for, honestly. Just money? That’s all you’ve been getting. You complain about Jungkook spending absurd amounts of cash, yet here you are, doing nothing but the same thing you criticized him for.”

You get it. The weariness in Mr. Jeon’s orbs when he talks about his children, his five children who haven't seem to grow out of their adolescent ways, constantly contending to each other and making everything into a competition. It’s evident that Mrs. Jeon had played ‘good cop’ throughout the years because Mr. Jeon looks like he’s older than he actually is, worn out by the boys. 

Jungkook does what he’s been doing, yet another time, you observe. Regardless of the stories he shared about his own tantrums and intoxicated incidents, when he’s completely sober, he’s intact. Calm, cool, and collected, really, standing with his head bowed and hands clasped together in his front. It makes you think about whether he got in trouble often as a child, paying consequences of things that he did, or being blamed for something his own siblings had done in the past.

Maybe Jungkook wasn’t out of reach in the end.

Leaving the dining room thereafter at the start of the family war, Jungkook’s cheeks must be hurting from the amount of excitement flowing through his bloodstream. He got what he wanted in the end— money. Jungkook even found a new purpose: responsibility for his portion of the Jeon Markets & Café.

“Well, since you got what you wanted, I guess this whole dating thing is over?”

Stuffing his hands into the front pocket of his slacks, he can’t wipe that grin off his face. “Isn’t it funny? How you barely came to many family events, yet you swooned my whole family off their feet? Even taught me how to become a better person to the point my mother just gave me accountability of her portion of her company? Look at the impact you made. Of course the dating thing isn’t over, if anything, it’s real now.”

Startled, you choke on the champagne in your hand until it spills out of your nose.

Honestly, you weren't even sure what you had been thinking initially because it wasn’t set in stone if you'd ever get this far. Now Jungkook has more money than he could ever need, and it's his very own. Plus as his mother stated, it's what he earned. Although you couldn't necessarily agree, his mother did start up the company herself and not Jungkook, it was an obvious point to mention that he gained more responsibility from his parents now, meaning that he'd be leaving the grocery store.

But him actually being serious about dating is a little surprising. Sure, he's mentioned it multiple times before, but truth be told, you kind of thought he was playing a prank on you. 

Jungkook pulls a handkerchief from his chest pocket, patting your face where the champagne spills as you scrunch your nose up from the burn that it leaves behind. "So clumsy," He chuckles, gently tapping so that none of your makeup smears or transfers onto the cloth. "You make it sound like I've hidden this from you for a while, when it's all I've been talking about."

"You realize that you getting the funds back means that you're going back to the same lifestyle you had before?"

He freezes in the midst of his actions, watching the uneasiness in your expression. He hasn't thought of it in a while, not since he found how enjoyable life is without having to pay for every little bit of things. The three of you, including Hoseok, rarely ever went out unless it was for food, and that was always split three-ways. "What are you insinuating?"

You shrug. "Possibly that you're going to return to your old habits. Spend money, party... and this time, you'll have a lot on your plate, having to be trained on how to take over your mother's position. A relationship is the last thing you need to worry about, Jeon."

His forehead wrinkles in disagreement. "Why do you keep coming up with excuses?"

"Don't mix business with personal stuff, Jeon. It's what everyone says, maybe not in that exact phrasing, but it's known not to get involved with a girlfriend in that manner."

"Then don't think of it like that," He responds rapidly, in hopes that he could convince you without allowing you to give it a second thought. "I'm paying back for all the things you gave me. You helped me get a job at the market, you helped me sell the suit, you taught me how to be a better person, how to live a reasonably frugal lifestyle."

"You don't have to pay me for those things, just pay it forward."

"Pay... it forward? I don't quite understand."

"As in... do the same thing but for someone else. Reciprocate something similar but for another person." 

He doesn't get it. Mostly because he wants to do those things for you, not for somebody else. "I still want to pay you back in some way. You did more than enough for me, and plus, remember our initial agreement? You date me, and I'll pay for your bakery."

"Rephrase, invest." You correct.

"Right, invest. I'd invest in your bakery. I want to help you. The whole reason you agreed was because you want to be out of your debts, so I want to be the one to give you that benefit."

"No, I agreed because you'd be one less person off the streets with the mentality you had before. I'd work endlessly if I had to, Jeon. Don't forget that."

It feels like a push and pull. Sometimes, Jungkook thinks that you’ve finally caved into his pursuits, accepted that maybe Jungkook was right after all. But then you’re always quick on your feet to return back to your old ways, rejecting him again. He’s not ready to give up though, at least, not yet.

"Wow, look at that. Jeon Jungkook is suddenly a CEO within the past hour I've met him. Impressive, I'd say." Yeonjun has a glass of champagne in his hand, standing beside your little sister while resting against one of the high tables that's been set scattered for the guests to utilize. "New record. How's it feel, big guy?"

Jungkook has to refrain himself from rolling his eyes or else you'd probably whack him on the back of his head. "Great, really. Now I can truly help my love pay off all her student loans and start a business. If she wants anything in the world to make her happy, I will go to lengths to do it.” The way Jungkook says it is almost in a threatening way, no hint of kindness in his appearance until he looks over at your older brother. “Daehyun, have you met anyone that catches your eye?”

Daehyun laughs sheepishly and you’re close to socking him in his eye because he does not act like this at home. “Oh, no. But there’s been a lot of honeys here that are attracted to this bee.”

“Aren’t bees attracted to pollen and create honey? Not honey attracting bees because it’s an inanimate—”

“You always have to ruin things for me, don’t you—“

“No you’re just honestly stupid—“

If this is the kind of arguing that Jungkook and his siblings had, he would’ve felt his home was a place of comfort. Every disagreement that you had with your siblings never seems close to fatal; you were in the middle of an altercation with Daehyun about honeys and bees, and there wasn’t even a clear ground on when this would end but Jungkook loves how simple it was. Nothing involved money, someone’s insecurities— just pure sibling bickering.

The two of you spot Hoseok later that evening, stuffing a piece of grilled shrimp on a toothpick into his mouth, eyes widening and brightening at the sight. “Oh my god, isn’t it my favorite couple?”

“Hoseok,” Tightening his tie and smoothing out the crevasses of his shirt with your warm palms, his cheeks turn pink in ignominy for not noticing. “You clean up well. I didn’t think you’d be here tonight or I would’ve asked you to tag along with me in the morning.”

“Are you kidding? And third wheel you and Jungkook while he’s still trying to chase you? As great of a show that would’ve been, I could never. There’s only so much of a guy friend that you’re willing to see— what you’re trying to avoid is seeing him naked and seeing him at his most vulnerable state with his girlfriend.”

“You two are rather... cosy.” Jungkook interjects, arms clasped behind his back. 

“I said the same thing the night at the club. But, just as much as a misunderstanding that was, so is this.” Hoseok retaliates, hand on your waist as he guides you back to Jungkook. “Also, did you guys try the dessert bar? Everyone was freaking out about how good the cinnamon buns are—I heard that Mrs. Jeon is trying to ease the crowd from attacking her for info on who the baker is. I’d even kill to know who it is; that shit melted in my mouth.”

Jungkook glances over at you with a proud grin. “Is that so? Perhaps you know who the patissier is.” 

“Who—“ Hoseok watches Jungkook carefully before his mouth drops open when he turns to you. “—no way, you? You told me that you’re too lazy to bake for me and yet you made desserts for an entire banquet?”

“Wrong, I only made the cinnamon rolls. Mrs. Jeon’s previous patissier was able to prep the other stuff beforehand, and I just made sure it was executed. Glad it came out well.”

“Dude,” Hoseok looks breathless at the news. “I knew you just said you wanted to open a bakery, but I never thought that your potential was to this extent!” He babbles on as always, but Jungkook’s gaze never breaks from you, smitten to the point that he’s a lost cause.

By the end of the night, Jungkook already called Hyungjin and directed him to drive your siblings (including Yeonjun) home. “I got my driver to take you home since Ubers don’t really come by the area here during these hours.” Miyoung makes some side comment about how cool it is that Jungkook has his own personal chauffeur, Daehyun chats on about how he wished he ate more of the desserts. Opening the door to let them in, you tug him aside, pulling your dress up to ease the transition. “I’m going to head off with them, so...”

“So... don’t go. I have a bed here big enough for the both of us. Stay the night, will you?”

Nerve-wracking. 

Palms pressed against the silky sheets, you swore that the amount of sweat you’ve been releasing probably drenched through the material. 

Jungkook’s in the shower, after letting you go in first, and the sound of the water running is the only thing soothing your nerves because he’s done his nightly routine... least, not yet. The loose fitted shirt you borrowed from Jungkook isn’t helping with cooling your body down, if anything, you feel exposed. Which leads to another problem that adds to your anxiety.

Why did tonight feel like the night?

The squeak from when he shuts the water off nearly has you jolting out the window. He comes out soaked but your mouth is drier than the Sahara desert. With just a towel wrapped dangerously around his waist, barely hanging on, he has another in his hand to dry his hair out. 

Jesus, when did he get abs? How’d even maintain it? 

Were you... drooling now?

“Are you listening to me?” Startled, you shift back against the headboard fretfully, abashed that you’d been so distracted by his well-built body that you didn’t even heard what he said. “Uh, no. What was that?”

“Gaping at me, weren’t you?” He’s climbing onto the bed, water droplets scattered across his smooth, delicious skin, while speaking through his rosy supple lips. On instinct, you arms cover your chest.

Oh my god, how were you going to survive the night?

[blazlngblade]

Bargello’s finally coming out let’s go!!!

Though while we’re on the topic of the Heroes of Light, I remember you saying a bit back that you didn’t like Rinyuu. You got a laundry list of reasons for that like with Rondo (btw totally agree with you on him) or does she just rub you the wrong way. No offence intended, it’s just that I like her a lot and I was curious about why you’re not a fan.

Yes, it's about time Bargello arrived! When he starts I should have about ~14,000 rubies! I am glad it's enough to remain above 10,000 rubies, if I have to spark him. I had to spark for Elletrix (she wasn't one in my original plan, but dang I grew to love her so much), so I am always prepared to accept that it could happen again. Depending on the situation though, if I get Bargello in 12/15 sessions, I'd consider doing the last 3 to spark Sonia.

Anyway, onto the actual question! This could get spoilery, so I hope you don't mind!

It's a real shame I don't like Rinyuu, honestly. I absolutely adored her during Master of Power, but Bestower of Fame just takes the character and throws everything out the window to replace with some other nonsense.

She goes from such a sweet girl who does her best for herself and for her boyfriend, I think it's nice. Plus a blind character is really cool to have in any fiction. As well as a character who looked First Nations was also kinda nice too, that's not something that is all that common to see. Her design is peak.

I can't even say any complaints about her in Master of Power, I really did like her. I don't want to hate her, but it's hard not to.

As for in Bestower of Fame though... Well, she goes from that strong character we get told in MoP to this relatively weak hearted character who got turned very one noted. Not to mention, Velnorte's miracle medicine just suddenly works now. Erasing the fact she was blind, it feels a bit ableist to me. Another problem with curing her blindness, is her character would have benefitted more if she was still blind. In Bestower of Fame, she just doesn't seem to be able to tell when something isn't right. Basically just thinking she sees the good in everyone instead of that "sensing their heart's warmth" thing she had before.

This character goes from being strong to a lot of her existence revolving around Velnorte's death or... stew, some characters, and the fans too, literally call her "Stew Girl". Not to mention in her playable skillset, one of her early healing skills is called "Stew".

I understand that losing a loved one can be very difficult for a person, and everyone reacts differently, but she had a lot of support from members of the church (like Phina, Dmitri, probably knew Ophilia and Lianna, she was friends with Miza, so in turn knew Monaris, etc). She seemed to be very popular, and Hugo says that everyone seemed to like her presence. Kids absolutely adored Rinyuu, and I think that's just really sweet. But none of this was enough to tell her that life was still worth living? She had countless friends and support, but apparently none of these people mattered to her, and that makes me a bit sad.

Not a part of the problem with her character, but I dislike how "wrong" her art is. She looks very white washed. The room looks like the dining room in the Cathedral of Tytos, but you know it's not, it's not red themed as the room very much is in the game. Plus her art has too much children in it. Why not have a few adults or elderly taking some seats. That way it really shows how much everyone loved her Also... her artwork is exactly what I don't like about part of her character. "Stew Girl", her Path Action is also holding a bowl of stew.

Okay, I'm going to get spoiler, from here on out, so I understand if people choose not to read anymore!

Well basically, in Bestower of Fame, Chapter 2... The Flamesgrace Cathedral is attacked by monsters and cult members turning into those monsters, and all that such, the whole place is in disarray because Pontiff Julius just about to get assassinated, Sazantos is stressed out trying to find the mastermind, but also protecting the pontiff, and Rondo's a loser who has to go get Sazantos to help despite him being clearly very busy. And what does Rinyuu do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing about the situation, except walk outside to go stand on the mountain to go overlook the church while thinking about Velnorte. After that, the mastermind kinda just comes up, calls Rinyuu as "holy blood" and Rinyuu doesn't really do anything about that.

Chapter 3, Rinyuu is missing most of the chapter until just before the boss fight where it's revealed that the villain needs Rinyuu for a ritual to which a Divine Ring and "holy blood" are needed. We get told that the holy blood is the blood of a Crossford and that Rinyuu is Graham's daughter (of a different mother to Kit). Tbh, I'd have believe this was only a plot point because they wanted to bring Lyblac in, but why through Graham's bloodline? Why not make Rinyuu and Kit be cousins instead? Could Graham not have had a sibling that Lyblac just never knew about all that much?

Being Graham's daughter itself has many problems because when did Graham have time to do this? His son, Kit, can only be old as ~16 (in order for Graham to be at a somewhat acceptable age to have children at 18 years) in the first game, taking CotC's 3 years in the past, Rinyuu is probably ~2 years older than Kit, but that puts her at a measly ~15-17 (15 in Master of Power, 16 in Bestower of Fame, and 17 in Bestower of All) years old, and that cannot be right... We have gotten told that Rinyuu is older than Kit. But that means that Graham would have been like ~16 or less himself when his daughter was born? I know things can happen, but I don't want this game to be encouraging on having children as minors on Graham's end, or sharing a bed with Velnorte at 15 years, in fact, how old is Velnorte??

Okay, back to the point. This Crossford nonsense is barely even touched on, aside from it might be the reason she was allowed in Limbo for a long length of time.

Let's get to that now. In Bestower of All, Rinyuu is somehow considered a Guardian of the Light by Finis. Not sure how, but maybe because of her bloodline? It's never stated why she is a Guardian of the Light. She constantly tells herself that she's not meant to be here and that she can't do anything that the others can aside from cooking stews. She's very much a waste of space, and even she knows that, because during the chaos of chapter 3, she finds a way to slip into Limbo to go search for Velnorte, once again where she would benefit better blind. She's walking around Limbo trying to sense Velnorte's light and how she "can't see". The idea is creepy, yet cool at the same time as we get to see a brief moment of Limbo Emberglow. Just looking at this picture gives me chills.

By the way, this scene was shown in Bestower of All Chapter 3, and we're going to Chapter 7 in a day, and still haven't gone to Limbo Emberglow. Still just Cragspear (chapter 1 and 3), Valore (chapter 2), and Hornburg (chapter 4-6). So basically, this scene was very pointless.

From her disappearance in Chapter 3, she rarely gets mentioned Chapter 5, which is basically a telling sign that we will see her again, and see her again we do... But it is just for her to die. She "kill" Velnorte after he accidentally kills her. (She took the hit for Tytos), then they ascend to the heavens together. It's like. the idea is good, it's very tragic, but I just hate how we get nothing about her search on the way to finding Velnorte, how she went from the Frostlands to the Gate of Finis either is weird. She just spent however long just aimlessly looking for Velnorte until she finds him just to die. The only reason why she's searching, is basically just it being pure selfishness, and I don't really like that much.

I think I'll end my rambles there, you asked why I don't like her, and instead I went more on a summary... but long rambles short I just don't like what she has become. She went from a truly strong girl to a one noted about Velnorte and stew, and just being very selfish. Also the Crossford blood is also just pointless as a plot device. It feels like they tried to hard to be big with it, but in turn it flopped.

[kimtaesss]

Heyyyyyy, I just read part one and two of I loved you ! And I’m speechless. I feel so much for oc and the moment I read that jk was hooking up with the girl who mad fun of oc, my heart skipped a beat and hurt so much it felt too real. The moment oc gets to know this in the following chapters is what I’m yearning, but also dreading for. Jungkook seems like a narcissist to me. The way he keeps hurting her, then asking her rhetorical questions shows me that he indeed has narcissist tendencies. He does not see his wrongdoings, which is really concerning. Especially in part two when acted all hurt bc oc said Jk is hurting her. ,,you really think I could hurt you ? excuse me ? Didn’t you bang a girl who straight up insulted oc ? Didn’t you stand up oc for her ? Didn’t you lie to her ? Wtf is wrong with you ? I hope jk and those girls get hurt so bad ! My heart is rooting for oc and taetae ! Oc made me roll my eyes a few times at her ,,stupidity‘‘ and that submissive state that she’s constantly in, Hugo guess she’ll have to work on herself and I hope she’ll do that fast. Still can’t believe he fucked the girl that insulted her.

- 🧚🏻

Hello! Sorry for the late response, I’ve been super busy with school and work 🥲

But yes, Jungkook is a horrible friend and it’s sad to see how his poor actions are going to affect y/n! Especially since he took it upon himself to bang a girl that was straight up disrespectful to y/n 😒. And let’s not forget how he kept ditching her the whole night, just to fuck her!

I definitely agree that y/n needs to defend herself, but because I know the reason behind her not being able to do so… I won’t hate on her too much 😭. No, but seriously if that was me, he’d be gone.

Jungkook was dumb af to even ask her that. Like no shit, she’s going to doubt you, especially when you hurt her repeatedly 🤨.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I can tell next chapter is going to make you constantly roll your eyes (sorry in advance 😬).

[fremedon]

Brickclub 3.2.1., “Ninety Years Old With Thirty-Two Teeth” and 3.2.2, “A House to Match Its Occupant”

@everyonewasabird points out, “Even the title is an indication that whoever we’re about to meet, he sure isn’t Fantine,” and ooof. It’s true, and I hate it.

As often, even as usual with introductions, Hugo is setting us up for a first impression that he will spend some time undercutting, but I feel like that works less well when the introduction is too easy on the characters. It’s too easy to get drawn into writing off Gillenormand’s truly horrible aspects as amusing foibles.

Even the translators can get suckered in, though my French is not good enough to know if that’s what happened here. The first line of the chapter is “Rue Boucherat, rue de Normandie et rue de Saintonge, il existe encore quelques anciens habitants qui ont gardé le souvenir d'un bonhomme appelé M. Gillenormand, et qui en parlent avec complaisance.”

FMA translates that last clause as “and who like to talk about him.” Donougher translates it as “and speak kindly of him.” Anyone care to weigh in on which it is? Because that’s a big difference.

The light tone--and the genuine nostalgia that goes into all Hugo’s descriptions of vanished places and eras of Paris*--is doing a lot of work to keep us from immediately noticing what bad news Gillenormand is, or at least to imagine that he has some good side. Like, look at what we learn in these chapters!

“He flew into a rage on every occasion, most frequently when wrong. When anybody contradicted him he raised his cane; he beat people as in the time of Louis XIV.” (FMA)

“He conducted himself in a manner that was halfway between that of the courtier he had never been and the lawyer that he might have been.” (Donougher)

“He was lighted-hearted, and affectionate when he wanted to be.” (Donougher)

His most prized bit of decor is a set of tapestries which the overseer of Louis XIV’s galleys and brother of the king’s mistress had made by prisoners for his own mistress! We were literally just a few chapters ago talking about Louis XIV’s galley slaves; we’ve been meeting the generations of children who were made homeless specifically so they could be made galeriens. We know who made those tapestries, in a way.

He still dresses as an Incroyable of the Directory, a style he adopted as a very fashionable 50-year-old and has maintained ever since. (Okay, that one is genuinely funny, as well as horrible.)

All of this is terrible, but “affectionate when he wanted to be” might be the most damning line. Not that anything excuses the abuse he dishes out to Marius (or his other offspring), but it shows so clearly how pointless it was, and how easily he could have just...not.

How. How does anyone Briana Lewis anyone think this guy is harmless?

*Even when, as here, it’s an entirely invented nostalgia: Hugo insists No. 6 Rue de Filles de Calvaire has been torn down and rebuilt, but in fact the building there now was there in Hugo’s day.

[harryissuchalittleshit]

Maggie and Al are fascinating. Are you ever going to write a fic on them?

Yes.

So my idea is called the Album Verse

I’m assigning an album to each of the Weasley/Potter children and friends writing a story that both fits in with my head canons and also the lyrics of the album

James:

His album is Gemini by Macklemore. It’s a bit more serious of an album and also really fun

It will explore his seventh year in how he interacts with his family while in tragedy and while he has more and more responsibilities placed on him

Each chapter will feature James at 17/18 and also a James while he’s older going through his divorce with his son Jason and two young daughters, Kerrie and Hazel.

He will fall in love twice and figure out where his life went wrong and where he broke his confidence, leading to his divorce

Al:

Al is next and his is Evermore by Taylor Swift

He will be 17 and also 23, it will be him and Maggie

It also will intertwine with Dominique and Becca Havings, who both have Taylor Swift albums

His story will be a little more serious and very dramatic

Al just is dramatic and I can’t wait to start on him

Becca:

Becca’s album is reputation by Taylor Swift, she is a mutual friend of Al and Rose

Her story is about the aftermath of her heart being broken by her ex-boyfriend Lysander, who got Dominique pregnant during the summer

It takes place during her seventh year (which is why it’s intertwine with Al’s story) and her struggles with her friends moving on and of course her broken reputation

As we know reputation is an angry album and also a pretty heartbroken album that I can’t wait to explore

It will also involve the story of how her parents got together in a post-war setting, and takes place in a restaurant which is my personal background

Dominique:

She gets Lover by Taylor Swift, and it’s her at 16 being teen pregnant and in love with Lorcan with flashes of Victoire being 17/18 and falling in love with a boy her parents hate

It’s a story about first love and lasting mistakes, but also about learning to love herself

She and Al are the only middle siblings, so they reflect each other a little in being overlooked by their families until they cause trouble

Her relationship with her family is never the same, but maybe that’s a good thing....

Lily:

So Lily’s album is Tapestry by Carole King

Her story takes place her sixth year when she is 16/17 and it’s her first year at school without either of her brothers

She finds her Grandmother Lily’s diary that she kept from age 16-21, basically detailing the war from the front line

It’s the first time she ever feels close to her namesake, but she ends up growing attached to all of the girls and the boys her grandmother writes about after she is shunned by her friend group

Being Harry Potter’s only daughter works against her in this story, and even her own family turns against her

But over the year, she finally becomes the person she wants to be and it’s thanks to her grandmothers diary and some self reflection

It will feature other songs from the 70’s but not as chapter titles

Louis:

Lungs by Florence + the Machine

His story will be mainly his seventh year and getting together with Mia Nott

But will also explore growing up with two wildly different older sisters, parents that are falling in and out of love with one another, and also being autistic and unable to find the right words or actions to convey his thoughts to the world

It will also deal with being put into unexpected and difficult situations that are out of Louis’ control and some water symbolism

Louis is the quietest of the Weasley’s but if only his family could read his mind

There will also be a lot of letters from Uncle Charlie

Rose:

In The Heights soundtrack by Lin-Manuel Miranda, takes place during the summer between fourth and fifth year

Rose and Hugo are sent to spend the summer with the Potters, which is fine, except Rose wants to spend her summer at home

Scorpius is also hanging out at the Potters that summer because his parents are busy and Al is his best friend

Rose and Scorpius start dating in secret (that is only really kept from Ron and Hermione, and Draco and Astoria)

It will also be told with Draco and Astoria’s own love story

Everything will go well, they’ll be having fun, but then their relationship is tested when Rose’s Abeulo Javier passes away

Let’s just say that Rose and Hugo have a thing with ruining wakes (cough*InvisibleStringisonAo3*cough)

Rose has to reflect on her feeling about Scorpius but also her family loyalties, while on the flip side, Draco will have to reflect on his personal loyalties to Astoria but also his family’s reputation

Could Rose understand what it’s like to be Malfoy in a post-war world?

I don’t know, I’m not 100% on this one, but we’ll see

The Others:

So I’ve already written stories about Molly and Lucy (For the Dancing and the Dreaming Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25167997/chapters/60989251)

Roxanne (I Feel Pretty Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13596126/chapters/31210752) warning there are a lot of trigger warnings so please read the tags and author’s notes

Hugo (Invisible String Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28164351/chapters/69012660) this is Folklore by Taylor Swift inspired, but not an album verse story

Freddie’s story will be up within the next few weeks, so watch my tumblr and Ao3 page for updates, his story is tied with George and Angelina post-war

Send me a Weasley and I’ll give you a fic, a couple of head canons, or my opinion on them in both canon and fanon!

[fletchphoenix]

Little Secret

Okay this is chapter 9 of the High School AU

PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION - TW for an attempt at s**c*de, s*lf h*arm and some other morbid shit. please don’t read / skip over the italics if you aren’t comfortable reading about those topics. Please. This is more of a vent piece as well but please be careful.

I love you all so so much.

As Hugo left, Varian let himself lay back on his bed and let out a huff. Wincing at the constricting feeling in his chest, he changed into his pyjamas and laid back in bed. Ruddiger, ever the saint, sat beside his head and let out gentle noises to soothe him, nuzzling his cheek against the boy’s as he calmed him enough to settle into a deep sleep.

----------------------

Teardrops dripped from his eyes and onto his phone as his breath shook with each inhale and exhale he took. Blue light from the screen stung the already teary eyes, the hurtful words that looked back at him instead of his reflection on the screen made the suffering even worse. His throat burned as he swallowed down acidic bile and his shoulders shook. Still, he couldn’t take his eyes away as the shock of the situation finally set in and his hand flew to his stomach, his gags finally ceasing after a few minutes.

He was well aware of the blood that rolled down his arm, indents from fingernails also stinging and buried deep into the pale, freckled skin that now had an ugly coat of scarlet that concealed them from his view. It ran down onto the bed steadily, not even ceasing as it still continued to run and flow across the expanse of skin and pool onto the sheets. They were red anyway. It fit right in, only a slightly deeper red than the covers.

Raising his head, he looked into the mirror - a true sight to see. Rather than a sight for sore eyes, he looked like something that would make someone gouge their eyes out. He wouldn’t blame them either. He felt like a freak, the weight of his secret almost crippling in his brain. Everything looked wrong about him - the way his hips jutted out too much for a boy, his overly feminine face, his chest...he wanted to rip that off. The material that constricted it made it almost hard to breathe every day, his chest heaving as he knew he had it on for too long, but he couldn’t risk taking it off. He just couldn’t.

Quirin had lost it when he found the last one, so buying a new one would be...too difficult. Well, as soon as the man had found out Varian’s secret, he’d lost it on the boy. Told him he’d ‘never be his son’ and refused to even look at him for a few days. He hated it when he cut his hair, even though he’d always kept it at a moderate length to keep Quirin happy. Well, if Quirin wasn’t going to call him his son, he wasn’t going to call him father.

What he hadn’t anticipated was this.

He only told one person his little secret. His almost deadly secret that he couldn’t risk getting spread because he’d already been transferred from Old Corona High to Saporia High, Old Corona apparently not being ‘good enough’. He’d left behind all his friend, everyone he’d ever cared about was gone and he wasn’t going back. 

He met Andrew in his first week and almost instantly they’d bonded. They bonded over thinking the Corona High students were snobs and didn’t even deserve the air they breathed. He’d told Varian that everything he did was great and encouraged him to do more. He cared for Varian when his father was being difficult and had wiped away countless tears. He’d been there for him no matter what. 

So he told Andrew his little secret.

He’d told Andrew. Andrew swore he wouldn’t tell anyone. Well, he swore until Varian befriended Rapunzel and her husband, Eugene. He didn’t even know he hated the pair, oblivious to the fact until Andrew had forced him to stop talking to them just the other day. Obviously he’d refused - why wouldn’t he? Rapunzel and Eugene cared for him. They loved him.

And so Andrew told everyone. Everyone in Saporia High knew his little secret, which is definitely not what he needed in a school that was almost built on republican values. It ached and pulled at his heart as he threw his phone across the room, it banging against the wall and he could swear he heard the shattering of the screen. It didn’t matter though anymore - not as if his father would have to fix it.

He rose to his feet. He had some business to attend to.

The burning returned as shaky legs dragged him towards the bathroom, fists clenched and locked himself in there, the tears still rolling down his cheeks. He felt too warm all of a sudden, sweat gathering and forming beads along his eyebrow as he heaved for breath and a pain spread and blossomed throughout his chest. He’d closed his eyes as he pulled off his shirt before he opened his eyes and stared at the binder that covered his chest. He wasn’t right. He didn’t know why he was born the way he was. The still shaking hands raised to open the glass cabinet in front of him as he took out two containers of pills. If he wasn’t gonna be listened to, he’d make them hear him.

The next time he woke up, all he heard was the persistent beeping of a monitor. A heart rate monitor. He remembered that from when his mother was in hospital. His vision was still blurred as he looked around the room, faces of doctors with masks and nurses opening doors appearing first, then the face of a familiar blonde rushing to his bedside as soon as the aforementioned door was even the slightest bit open. 

“Rapunzel.” He coughed, forcing a smile onto his features. Everything ached. His stomach ached. He let out a wheezy cough as a dainty hand was raised to press against his cheek, the touch welcome and spreading a cooling touch against his skin. He felt too hot. Far too hot. He assumed that was normal, the humid air of the hospital being uncomfortable. The place was too sterile as well, too uniform.

Distantly, he heard screams of ‘Vivian! I want to see my daughter!’. Quirin. He raised his head from the comforting hand pressed to his cheek and dread filled his stomach. “Please don’t let him in.” He gulped, Eugene moving away from the bedside to stand in front of the door and help the staff holding the man back.

 Rapunzel gripped his hand, a poor distraction as Eugene stopped Quirin from entering. “Oh Varian, we were so worried.” The soothing tone of the woman replied, the yelling outside ceasing as Eugene took a glance over. In fact, Lance and the girls were there as well as Cassandra and her girlfriend. A sad smile graced his features as he leant into the hand resting on his face and tears rolled down his cheeks.

“...And for as long as I live, you’ll never see him again!” The finishing yell of Eugene declared as the door to his room slammed shut and he rushed to his side, giving a silent nod to Rapunzzel. “Kid, you’re living with us. I’ll go get all your stuff and whatever you need, I just...fuck, kid. You should’ve told us sooner. We could’ve helped you, V. We didn’t know it was...that it was that bad. I just...fuck. I'm so sorry, Varian. I’m so sorry.” He explained, very clear tears welling in the man’s eyes as he apologised profusely to the boy.  

By the end of the week, Eugene and Rapunzel had helped him move out and set up his room in the attic of their house. He didn’t want to be an inconvenience to them, but the couple seemed to welcome him with open arms as they took him away from Quirin. They’d also arranged for him to start at Corona High instead, having helped him legally change his name to Varian. No one would know other than the teachers.

Thank god.

------------------------

Varian woke up with a start, sitting up and wheezing. Oh, that was right. Hesitantly, the boy gripped at the sheets before removing his shirt and the binder residing under it before putting the shirt back on again. Rapunzel had always been sure to tell him when he had to take it off, ever the observant. She’d also always been the one to tell him to take his hormones. He knew she and Eugene loved him even after he came out.

But would Hugo? Well, that was a whole different story but...fuck it.

His fingers drifted to pick up his phone. 2:37am. He took a deep breath. He was sure Hugo would still love him either way, even if he wasn’t a biological boy. He was still Varian and he was still the boy Hugo fell in love with. Inner turmoil filled him as he let out a determined breath and dialled his number before raising the phone to his ear. There was no going back.

“Sweetheart, what’s up?” The raspy voice on the other end asked. God, he sounded amazing. Guilt still settled in his stomach as he took a large gulp. Shit, he was calling Hugo at 2am. They had school tomorrow and he’d probably woken the other up. Oh fuck, he’d certainly hate him now- “Baby, you gonna talk? I’ve gotta finish this level on-”

“I’m trans. Well, I was a girl. But I’m a boy. Well, I was never really truly a girl, I’ve always felt like a boy and I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve always been a boy but I have a girl’s body and I thought you should know.” He stuttered out, silence meeting him on the other end of the phone. He facepalmed mentally, wanting to just curl up and die. Was he really this awkward? Why couldn’t he have just been normal and told Hugo face to face. ‘Hello my ridiculously handsome boyfriend, I’m transgender and I hope you love me!’

“Oh..” The other finally said. Varian could tell he was carefully choosing his next words, he could practically hear the cogs in his head turning in the deafening silence. “Well, I still love you and that isn’t gonna get rid of me, V. But thanks for telling me. You’re still my amazing boyfriend and I don’t love you any less.”

“Thanks Hugh. Sorry, I’ll let you finish your game. I uh-I love you. Goodnight.” He replied, hanging up and setting his phone aside as he stared at the ceiling. Hugo didn’t care. Hugo still loved him either way. A warm feeling filled his chest and a goofy grin took over his features as he slowly, but surely, fell into a deep and very happy sleep.

[accomplisheddoubt]

Villareal

Windenburg - Rotation 1

After Jacques’ wife disappeared under... ahem, mysterious circumstances, he was left raising three kids in his enormous mansion. Luna and Hugo are good kids with typical teen problems, but the youngest, Max, is a terrifying force of nature. Will the kids drive Jacques crazy before his eccentric habits and hobbies drive them crazy?

[This story will be different from all other story lines; it will contain incest and will be the only storyline that does. If this offends or repulses you, I urge you do not continue this chapter of the Villareal story.]

Jacques was an evil man, that no one would deny. He was greatly disturbed and still, no one knew what he was capable of. Though some speculate, no one truly believed he murdered his wife. That was until what happened to Luna anyway. A man capable of that, well, he would be capable of anything.

During one of Jacques drunken erratic nights, he was bored, flirty, and looking to cause chaos. His daughter, Luna was always so eager to flirt with boys, while his oldest son, Hugo, had no luck when it came to the ladies. And in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to help his son become a man, he knew his time was near and if he were to teach his son anything, he wanted it to be how to score a woman. How could he pass knowing his son wasn’t even man enough to land a woman and continue the bloodline?

Jacques wasn’t worried about his youngest, as Max was his favorite child. Evil, resilient, and already had a way with the ladies. Max had a crush on his best friend Elsa Bjergesen which pleased his father very much. Wealthy family to wealthy family. The only thing left, was to take Hugo from boy to man. And if his daughter was going to whore herself around, she could at the very least, put that to good use, Jacques thought.

What he didn’t think through, was contraceptive. Therefore, the one night of pure evil would forever haunt the Villareal children as Luna would find herself a teen mother to her brother’s children. Or maybe he did think about contraceptive, and perhaps enjoyed knowing things could go wrong. Because unlike most parents, Jacques was thrilled at the news Luna would be a teen mother. Jacques always hated women, that was quite clear, but hating your own daughter that much, spoke volumes.

After that night, Luna was broken. If she had any type of self-worth before, it was surely gone now. Hugo was in disbelieve of what happened and refused to even look at the babies when they were born, that’s right, babies, they had twin girls Rose and Hope. Their butler quit as well. He tried to stick around for the children after that night, as they needed someone to look out for them, that he knew. But when Luna began making advances at him, that was the last straw. And by this time, news of Luna’s pregnancy had gotten out and no one was willing to voluntarily step foot in that house. Leaving Jacques to hire his drug dealing buddy to be the new butler of the house.

What was perhaps the craziest of all, was how little Max was being looked over. And what the family missed was Max becoming more active with school, doing his homework, makeup work, joining the school’s karate team, and just overall focusing on bettering himself. Elsa was a fantastic influence for the boy. Perhaps Max wasn’t as similar to his father as everyone thought.

 **Notes: The butler quit after Luna flirted with him and the game replaced him with the NPC I had assigned drug dealer. I found it suiting. As for the story line. I had no idea what to do with this family, every other family I let play out based on whims and free will, but no one found Luna or Hugo attractive in previous families and I couldn’t help but be interested in a Lannister storyline. Two children growing close after being raised by an erratic, dastardly man. The pregnancy was unplanned, and once it happened, I realized I had no desire to continue down the road of incest. So, I changed the narrative and removed incest from the game.

[dolphin1812]

Hugo really sums up Javert’s problem when he ends this chapter with “the evil of the good;” his “positive” traits (very honest, dedicated, and avoids corruption) are exactly what make him so villainous (and interesting). 

As much as I hate knowing what he’s going to do, I love the drama with which Javert’s carrying out his duties. His “confused intuition” gives him the sense that he’s in Heaven as he brings the “light” of Justice to the room. The block paragraph is very funny in how over-the-top the language is, but the long sentences (most of them have multiple commas and semi-colons) make the reader dwell on his perceived greatness and grandeur at that moment, emphasizing both the “glory” of his righteousness and the “pitiful” way his joy stems from something so cruel. 

Hugo’s also very careful to avoid saying Javert “thinks” any of this. Instead, he emphasizes “instinct” and “intuition,” which explain why someone with as many seemingly “good” traits as Javert is able to do such horrible deeds: he’s never thought about their morality. While Javert is certainly an exaggerated (and thus comical) figure, he’s also a mirror for the reader in this way. Perhaps the audience has also done wrong (with regard to the poor) without meaning to do so because they’ve never thought about their actions and have simply followed the law because it’s what they’re told to do and what “feels” right. But only a combination of thinking (to be aware of these issues, to think of large-scale solutions) and feeling directed at others (empathy, compassion) can really bring about complete justice. Javert sees himself as the personification of justice at this moment, but in truth, he’s a “demon,” just as Fantine saw in the last chapter.

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 3.4.4 ‘The back room of the Cafe Musain’ part 2

Finishing up this chapter: the Charter Argument.

We only hear Courfeyrac speak for a while, and he’s Not Wrong. The national debt caused by the excesses of kings was one of the major precipitating factors in the Revolution. He also cites article 14 of the charter as a dangerous loophole. This article “gives the King the right to legislate by ordinance ‘for the execution of laws and the security of the State’” (wikipedia).

If I’m remembering right, there was a lot of debate at the time about whether this meant the ultra Charles X could simply cite some emergency as a sufficient threat to the state that he could start ruling by arbitrary fiat, thereby obeying the charter technically but in practice reinstating absolute monarchy.

We don’t hear Combeferre say much, but Courfeyrac sums up his arguments to some extent:

“Secondly, no offence to Combeferre, a charter granted is a vicious expedient of civilisation. To avoid the transition, to smooth the passage, to deaden the shock, to make the nation pass insensibly from monarchy to democracy by the practice of constitutional fictions, these are all detestable arguments! No! no! never give the people a false light. Principles wither and grow pale in your constitutional cave.”

I’m imagining Combeferre’s actual argument about the charter being a lot like Hugo’s arguments about the convent: that it had its place as a step in human development, and that’s important and real--but the world needs to move past it. Hugo finds a gazillion ways--while ostensibly defending the convent--of saying, This Is A Place Of Death You Will Die If You Come Here, Seriously This Is Awful And I Hate It and You Should Also Hate It. Then he makes it psychologically destroy Valjean permanently and horribly.

I suspect Combeferre’s “defended it mildly” is a lot like that.

Because we know from last chapter what Combeferre in snark mode is like. However bitterly biting he might be about terrible bourgeois theater, you can bet he hates the charter a lot more.

Courfeyrac's whole thing is about enflaming the people towards revolution (see the “calorique” discussion), whereas Combeferre cares about the slow and steady--but real--march of progress. He’s aware that culture doesn’t change overnight. The people fell partway back on constitutional monarchy--not all the way back to the ancien regime--because they were exhausted by decades of political upheaval and war. That’s what we learned in the 1817 chapter, when we talked about cats who would transform into lions some time in the future.

When Courfeyrac burns the charter, Combeferre makes his real point, which he does... let’s call it “succinctly.”

He says:

“La charte métamorphosée en flamme.”

(”The charter metamorphosized in flame.”)

Which is a pun on La Fontaine’s fable

“La chatte métamorphosée en femme.”

(”The cat metamophosed into a woman.”)

I found an English translation of the fable, but it’s got some confusing typos, so here’s the French too.

But tl;dr: a man really loves his cat, so he begs and pleads with fate, and the cat is transformed into a woman, whom he marries. As they’re lying in bed, the woman sees a mouse and runs after it. She spends the rest of her life running after mice, which don’t run from her because she doesn’t look like a cat anymore. The moral is that nature is persistent and can’t be transformed overnight.

So Combeferre is:

1) invoking the book’s themes about the transformation of cats equaling revolution

and

2) saying that transforming France into a republic overnight will be pointless if the people aren’t ready to be a republic yet.

I have no idea who’s right or wrong in terms of how actual society works, but Combeferre is sticking closer to Hugo’s arguments about social change.

[jesussavedevenme]

After Effects Chapter 4

Chapter 4 here we go!!!!!!

The first thing Bracken noticed when he entered the room was the blinding light coming from Kendra. The aura that surrounded her seemed to have brightened in a way that definitely didn't fit the sickly pallor of her skin. Bracken squinted against it, willing his eyes to adjust. Over the years Kendra had gotten much better at controlling the brightness of her aura. To the point that, if you didn't know her, she could pass as fairy struck. Bracken wanted to chalk the sudden brightness up to the fact that she was too tired or too ill to control it but something told him it went deeper than that.

Tanu had told Bracken everything he knew about these symptoms,and Seth had told him everything that had happened up until this point. Something still wasn't adding up. Tanu was convinced that this was poison, but Bracken couldn't bring himself to agree with him. Kendra hadn't been in contact with anything to poison her. And no matter how hard he searched be couldn't find any sign of illness. Magical or otherwise. He decided he needed a new set of eyes, someone who wasn't shaking with anxiety. Someone who knew more about everything magic. The only person he knew like that was his mother. Over the course of 30 minutes, the symptoms seemed to be worsening instead of getting better. Her fever seemed to be slowly rising even higher. All color had drained her face, leaving Kendra as white as a sheet. What scared Bracken the most was that he couldn't reach her mind. Something impenetrable was blocking him. This meant he couldn't wake her or reach her mind to ask her what was wrong. Her breathing was ragged and short, as if it was a struggle to breathe. There was no doubt in Bracken's mind that he needed to get her to the fairy realm. Fast.

Something curious about what the whole situation was that Kendra's condition seemed to improve, even if only marginally, whenever she came in contact with Seth. The change wasn't noticeable unless you truly looked for it but whenever Seth got close enough or brushed against her, Kendra's face would take on a much less pained look and her thrashing would immediately settle. Bracken however couldn't decided what significance that held, if any. The siblings were impossibly close and it could very well be a reflection of that bond. Besides they were literally the others counterpart, complete opposites, in everyway shape and form. Over the years they had stunned Bracken, along with the rest of the magical world, with the things they were able to do together. Never before had light and darkness mixed in this way. Never before had they worked together, and the results were honestly astounding. Time and time again Bracken was reminded of how thankful he was that Kendra and Seth were on their side. Otherwise Bracken is sure that nothing would stop them from taking over the world.

Bracken reached for Kendra's face, attempting to brush away the hair that was matted to her face with sweat. He almost recoiled at the heat that assaulted his hand. He took a moment to focus on cooling his hand in hopes that some of that chill would seep in and bring down the fever that was raging through her body. He also tried to send waves of calm through her , as he had done so many times before, attempting to soothe her tortured mind even if he could not reach it. Bracken frowned when this seemed to make it worse and pulled his hand away. His heart aching with helplessness. This was something that he couldn't help her with. Something that he couldn't protect her from. And he hated every second of it. The fact that he seemed to have made it worse made him feel endlessly guilty and caused tears to well up in his eyes. Tears that he would refuse to let fall. Kendra's thrashing was reaching new levels and Bracken was worried that she was going to hurt herself. Tanu seemed to be thinking the same thing but Bracken stopped him before he could grab her.

"Seth, place you hand on her back," Bracken ordered, desperately trying to keep the shake out of his voice. Later when Kendra was settled and on the mend, he would break down but right now he shoved all of those feelings into a tightly sealed chest and assumed his perfectly practiced poker face. Seth looked incredibly confused but still did as he said without asking questions. Something Bracken was grateful for because Bracken wasn't quite sure he could give him answers. Bracken's earlier theories about her improving around Seth were proven true the second Seth's hand came into contact with her body and immediately her thrashing stopped. " Good. Keep it there, " He instructed. Seth nodded, looking every bit as bewildered as Bracken felt. In the moment the new development was very useful but in the long run it made things much more difficult. Kendra needed to get to the Fairy Realm however it seemed that the only person who was able to touch her safely was Seth. The one person who couldn't step foot in the Fairy Realm without lowering the defenses. Defenses that were already lowered because of the imbalance of the sources. Bracken dragged a hand down his face as he struggled to think of a solution and came up with only one.

"Seth pick her up, we need to get her to the Fairy Realm," If it was possible for Seth to look more confused he did. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked for all the world like almost puppy. It was times like these that Bracken wondered why people thought Seth was so scary. But then he remembered the fearsome displays of power and the towering height of the shadow charmer didn't help the image at all.

"I can't safely enter the Fairy Realm," He replied, picking Kendra up despite his confusion. Bracken chose to focus on Seth's eyes which were at least a good inch above his own, instead of the way Kendra hung limp and lifeless in his arms.

"No but you're the only one who seems to be able to touch her with sending her into a fit,"

" So we're going to what? Bring the Fairy Realm to us?" Bracken hand honestly pondered that suggestion however it would be nearly impossible to move everything needed into a either a secluded area or the main house. Even if it was somehow possible, it would take much too long. The solution he came up with wasn't much better in his opinion.

" No, the only thing I can think to do is to walk from here to the shrine and then I'll get her into the Fairy Realm, " Bracken said through a sigh, residing the urge to run his hand down his fave again or better yet tug out every strand of hair he had. The anxiety of the situation was eating him alive, churning his insides and causing his heart to pound seemingly out of control. It was taking everything in him not to break down.

" The walk there is about an hour from the main house at minimum," Came the deep voice of Tanu, who Bracken had honestly forgotten was there. The concern was written all over his face. Bracken picked up on the implications of that statement. The worry that none of them were willing to admit. It sent a pang through his heart and his desperation rose to new levels. " I would suggest taking Hugo. Hugo could carry Seth who could still keep in contact with Kendra and you could have an Astrid carry you."

The plan was brilliant and Bracken couldn't help but beat himself up because he didn't think of it. He tried his best not to think about what would have happened had Tanu no been here because the other man was right, an hour was much too long. Still he couldn't help but feel an immense wave of guilt, he wasn't entirely sure he grasped why but he felt as if this was his fault. Like he could have and should have done something to prevent this. He bring himself to nod, not sure if his voice would hold up, and forced down tears once more before turning towards the door with Seth in tow. He shot a look at Tanu from over his shoulder, hoping that it conveyed his gratitude and the tight but kind smile he got in return seemed to reply that he understood. When Bracken stepped outside, he found Seth had already called Hugo and was currently being lifted unto his shoulder. He wasn't exactly sure how it was possible but somehow, Hugo looked just as concerned as the rest of them. All activity in the yard seemed to have ceased as the fairies all stopped staring and occasionally whispering amongst themselves. Because, no matter how vain they were Kendra was still a respected member of the Fairy Realm. Even the most vain of fairies protect their own. Bracken brought his fingers to his lips in a shrill whistle, summoning the Astrids that had been lurking at the edge of the forest. He quickly explained the plan as Seth in turned explained it to Hugo. And then they were off.

The wind rustled in his ears and his hair blew backwards, occasionally smacking him in the face. He could hear the thumping of Hugo quick footsteps as he easily, kept up with the Astrid flying above him. For a few moments a group of fairies had followed, wanting to watch the event unfold, but one sharp look from him sent them scurrying back to the main yard. Any other day Bracken would have felt bad, seeing as they weren't really doing anything wrong however right now he had other things on his mind.

The short ride seemed to take an eternity. The passing minutes felt torturous. Finally the shrine came into view surrounded by its glistening lake and the gazebos that generally held good memories for Bracken. The Astrid deposited him on the island that held the shrine at the same moment that Hugo came bursting through the shrine sending leaves an birds scattering. The Astrid flew over and took Kendra from Seth before flying back, bypassing the journey over the lake, though he doubted the Niaids would bother them. That had been yet another oversight on his part, another thing he hadn't thought through, another thing that could have held dire results. His guilt continued to mount as the Astrid landed and passed Kendra over to him. He tightened his grip, holding her as her body stiffened and trembled, and stepped into the soothing light that would lead him into the Fairy Realm.

††††

The hospital infirmary was bustling as different healers ran around grabbing supplies and searching for solutions to an unknown problem. Celeste, his normally quite and timid sister, was confidently shouting orders and she stood at the head of Kendra's bed assessing the situation. Bracken stood helplessly at the entrance of the infirmary unable to go any further as it would hinder the progress of the healers. Kendra was thrashing again making it difficult to assess her condition. Pained whimpers left her mouth. He was sure that they were barely audible to everyone else, especially over the chaos but he heard every single one. And each one was like someone took a hammer to his heart, continually shattering it into millions of pieces.

The sounds of the infirmary began to fade out around him, replaced with thoughts that were much to loud. His chest tightened and seemed to restrict his breathing, causing it to come out in sharp pants. A firm hand was placed one his shoulder and an arm wrapped around him and he was forced out of the entryway and eased onto the cold marble floor. He wanted so bad to fight, to get back to Kendra, to help in someway but his body betrayed him. His panic deciding it would no longer be ignored and robbed him of his strength. And so all he could do was sit there and pant, desperately trying to draw in a full breath but failing every time. Hot tears burned down his cheeks and harsh sobs racked his body. The hands that had guided him out now cradled him, fingers gently scrapping against his scalp paired with a gentle rocking. For a moment he allowed himself to believe that it was Kendra. Calming him down after he woke up from a particularly harsh nightmare.

Eventually he began to calm down. Not because he felt better, no if it was possible he felt worse than before but, because he was too drained to continue and numbness had begun to set in. He pushed away from whoever was comforting him, feeling a deeps sense of shame fill him at his display of despair. He felt, as he always did in the palace, that a Prince should be more composed that he had an image to uphold. He slowly worked up the courage to look the person in the eyes and was shocked to be met with the concerned blue eyes of his father. This father didn't say anything, he rarely did these day. A far cry from the loud laughter of his childhood. Instead he just sat beside him keep a firm grip on his hand. He could hear his mother inside of the infirmary, presumably finding a way to help like Bracken wished that he could.

Time passed, though he wasn't sure how much. Everything seemed to move in a bit if a blur. It wasn't like before in the infirmary. This time he was aware that things were going on around him however he couldn't quite focus enough to identify them. Honestly, he couldn't bring himself to care what they were anyway. His thoughts continued to torture him with what if's and the steady presence of his father, while helpful, did little to combat it. If Kendra was here she would read to him, filling the silence with enough to keep his thoughts at bay while also not forcing his mind to Interact if it wasn't ready. That seemed to be all he could focus on right now. Thoughts of Kendra, ways that she always helped him and here he was unable to help her.

He distantly heard the voice of his mother calling his name but it was enough to pull him out of his haze. Next to his mother stood Celeste looking worried and uncertain. Bracken's anxiety began to pick back up but he shoved it down hoping that it would remain at bay. He stood on shaky legs, his father's hand falling from his grasp. He was instantly aware of the loss, he hadn't realized how much it had been helping him until it was gone. He followed them back into the infirmary where his eyes were immediately drawn to Kendra. Her light was still unnaturally bright and her face still held evidence of pain however her body looked relaxed for the first time since he'd arrived at Fablehaven earlier in the day. It was hard to believe that it was only about and hour or two ago. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since then. Bracken's tore his gaze away from Kendra and looked towards his mother and sister, eyes darting between them. Waiting impatiently for either of them to say something. To tell him what was wrong and how to fix it. Celeste was the one to break the silence with the clearing of her throat.

"What Kendra has is actually fairly common. Well, as common as Fairly Realm diseases can be. It's actually the same thing the ill fairies have come in with. Kendra has light poisoning," Celeste explained quietly. Bracken had heard of light poisoning, he had actually experienced it himself after a particularly interesting failed misadventure in his youth. Bracken however, had been visited the infirmary and had been better within the hour. Just time for a lengthy lecture, much to his displeasure. The same could not be said for Kendra who had only slightly improved. Mostly due to the fact that her fever had been successfully brought down. The explanation honestly made sense as it provided an explanation as to why Bracken couldn't sense anything. The problem wasn't being caused by an illness or physical poison, it was caused by light itself in turn explaining why her aura was so bright. It also explained why she improved around Seth. The natural darkness inside of him most likely cut through the light, bringing some sense of balance back into her body.

" Why is Kendra's body responding differently than the fairies?" Bracken asked, glancing around the otherwise empty infirmary that had been filled with fairies earlier in the day. Fairies that were now out going on with their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

" Simple, our make ups are different. When our bodies come across a problem we simply purify and heal it instantly. When the human body runs into a problem it either attacks it or tries to work around it. Kendra's body is attacking whatever is poisoning her." His mother explained, " The problem is the thing that's poisoning her is light. She's a fairykind meaning that the light is a part of her, so instead of her body attacking what it views as poison-"

" It's attacking itself."Bracken finished running a hand down his face at the revelation. A revelation that once again explained many things. Her deteriorating state and her residence to treatments to state a few. " So, what do we do now?" He asked, closing the question that had been heavily on his mind ever since they arrived in the Fairy Realm.

"I don't know," Celeste admitted, her voice sounding shaky. Kendra and Celeste had gotten off to a bit of a rough start, mostly due to Celeste's quiet nature, but over time the pair had become rather close. " The best we can do is repair the damage her body does in an attempt to cleanse itself and hope that the poisoning wears off or lessens overtime," Bracken glanced at Kendra, looking as white as the sheets and much too small. The grim statement fueled his anxiety and he found himself gripping onto her limp hand, trying to force some of his strength into her body and praying that she was strong enough to pull through this.

†††††

Ok so here's chapter four. I honestly kind of hate it because it fought be the ENTIRE TIME! On the bright side I am officially done rewriting and I can now continue the story which is the fun part! As always let me know what you think and what you want to see next. I also absolutely love hearing what you guys think is going to happen next!