#I should share that Refresher Incident scene

[delicateartisantrash]

Excerpt from "Scoped Out"

I will likely never post the full fic in its entirety, as it is very much not a properly organized story like most my other writings. I just write whatever comes to mind to de-stress, so the scenes jump around a bit.

Anyhow, this is a cute scene with Crosshair for a mildly force-sensitive, female Reader character who ends up joining the Bad Batch as a janitor to take care of the barracks on Kamino, after helping them escape a newly occupied Separatist city that they were living in. The Reader (aka 'Butterfly' as she's been nicknamed) was injured during the escape from her home planet, so she's been healing on the Havoc Marauder on the way back to Kamino. Also, fight me, I tweaked canon with my magical keyboard powers and made Crosshair's bunk the one most easily accessible from ground-level, rather than Hunter's. It's fanfic, roll with it.

I have all kinds of ideas about toothpicks.

---

“How long will we be in hyperspace for?” you wonder from where you lay on your back, scooted as far over in Crosshair’s bunk as you can get to make room for Omega, who lounges on her back next to you, legs bent, a datapad in her hand. She’s been chatting your ears off for the last hour or two, which you’ve welcomed sincerely. Hunter keeps looking over at you both like he’s worried his kid is pestering you -- because despite the men all referring to Omega as their little sister, you have a feeling Hunter has a more paternal stake in his feelings. In any case, wherever she is, he’s not far behind you’ve noticed. Echo is a short second, at least in terms of supervising, but you’ve noticed Wrecker spends a lot of time with her as well.

“About three days is what Tech said, but Echo thinks it will be more like four,” she answers absently, still focused on the datapad before she brightens, and turns it to show you a photo of the entire squadron on some forested planet, posed together for a picture. “Here! This is it, this is when Wrecker had the art done on his armor.”

Though she’s showing off the photo to embellish a detail in her storytelling, the first thing you notice in the picture is Crosshair’s expression.

Unlike most the photos Omega has shown you, in this one, the tall sniper is smiling. Not a smirk, a taunting gloat, or his resting frown, but an easy, good-natured smile that softens the entire features of his face.

You’re not aware you’re staring, transfixed, until Omega suddenly turns the datapad around to look at the screen herself, an eyebrow raised.

“What are you looking at…?” she wonders, her eyes flicking rapidly back and forth as she no doubts studies the photo

“Nothing,” you say without meaning to; your ears feel warm.

Omega gasps, and beams at the photo she’s looking at.

“I was just looking at--”

“Hi, Crosshair!” Omega blurts suddenly, lifting her head up off the pillow.

You jerk your head to look up at him, not having heard him approach, fighting to keep your expression neutral. His eyes linger on you for a moment before flicking down to the datapad Omega is holding, and he pulls the toothpick out of his mouth to address her.

“Hey, kid. What are you doing?” he wonders, holding out his hand. Omega beams up at him as she easily passes the holopad over, and the man studies the group photo on the screen for several moments, before a smile tugs at the corner of his lips, softening his features.

You know you’re staring, and if anyone calls you on it, you will absolutely blame it on the medicines’ lingering after-effects.

Crosshair hands the device back to Omega, the smile gone but his features still softer than before, the hard line of his brows relaxed into an amiable expression.

“That was an interesting mission. Ask Hunter to tell you what the inside of a Kobbo-bo looks like,” he suggests with a smirk.

From the cockpit, Hunter’s muffled voice shouts something along the lines of “Kriff off, Cross!”

Omega’s eyes go wide and round, her mouth dropping open.

“Whaaaaaaat?” she gasps, and before either of you can say anything, the girl flips herself off the bunk and bolts down the ship for the cockpit as Crosshair watches her go, amused. You’re blinking after her, rather glad she managed not to jostle you on her hasty way out, because--

You just about jump out of your skin when the mattress dips a bit beside you, and Crosshair settles himself down onto the vacated spot, leaning against the wall with his upper shoulders and neck. The pillow Omega had been using, stolen from Echo’s bunk, fills the small gap and braces his back. He’s skinny enough that he fits in Omega’s place just fine, though his much broader shoulders fill the space completely as he crosses his arms over his chest.

You gape at him, but the sniper’s eyes are already closed as he lets his head fall back, resting against the wall with a tired sigh.

After a few moments, heart fluttering, you slowly relax, knowing your cheeks are probably as pink as Echo’s had been during The Refresher Incident.

“I’m not Hunter,” Crosshair abruptly speaks, breaking the silence, “but even I can tell your heart accelerates every time I come near you. Why is that?” he wonders.

“How can you tell?” you ask as exactly that starts happening again, your heart pounding in your ears. You don’t even bother to deny it, wondering what his intentions are in asking in the first place.

Eyes you can mistake as golden when the light hits them just right, as it does now, open to slant sideways down at you.

“Every detail in my scope of vision is observed and processed at precisely the same time,” he explains quietly, and suddenly, you feel a shiver creeping over your skin for every time you’ve thought he wasn’t paying attention to you in his peripheral vision. “Many lifeform’s pulses are strong enough that I can see the movement of the fabric, if not the veins themselves,” he explains, his gaze never leaving yours. “Hold still long enough, and even your eyes should be able to focus on it. Mine see details like that without having to try,” he explains, then smirks. “Echo thinks I called you a butterfly because of your hairpiece.”

Your heart stutters. Crosshair is the one who coined the source of your nickname?

“Why did you call me Butterfly?” you ask curiously, aware your face is warm as you hold perfectly still, trying not to betray yourself as easily as you apparently had been. You don't think it's working.

His lips tug further up on one side, and Crosshair’s gaze flicks down briefly before he straightens his head forward again, eyes drifting shut. His lips still curve in a little, easy smirk that is doing dangerous things to your insides, hanging out on a face like that.

“Your heart flutters like a winged insect,” he drawls, almost poetic.

“Ah…” is your articulate reply.

His smirk turns into a smile.

“Your pupils dilate,” he continues, conversationally. “Your gaze drifts around like you can’t focus. Shift your weight, flare your nostrils, turn pink as a burra fruit,” he lists off. “You’re watching me when you think I’m looking elsewhere.”

Kriff, had you been staring at him that much?

This close to him, you can practically sense his easy mood and amusement. You want to say he looks smug, but there’s more to it than that.

A single honey-brown eye opens to peek at you, neatly framed by his severe tattoo.

“Um,” you manage. It’s a start. Stars, you’re trying to form words to speak, but all you can manage is staring up at him, unable to look away.

“Hm,” he answers.

Hesitantly, you shift your shoulders and reach over with your right arm. Crosshair’s gaze immediately shifts to watch the progress of your hand directly, his head leaning back a bit on reflex as you near his face.

Your fingers still shake a little bit, especially with lifting your arm this high up from your chest, but you manage to neatly pluck the toothpick from his mouth, then tuck it between your own lips, rolling it over your teeth with your tongue until you settle it comfortably in the corner, watching him.

The possessive gleam in his eyes sends heat pooling in your belly.

You thought you were being very clever, showing him you’re interested in intimacy without having to say it out loud with your tongue being tied up in knots. It’s probably better you don’t say it out loud anyhow, with how many ears are on the ship. You’re pretty sure Hunter has already figured out your little crush, but he’s not made any mention of it.

Your mouth nearly drops open when Crosshair abruptly turns at the hips at the same time he pushes off from the wall and leans down. His face fills your vision as he hovers over you without coming into contact, the scent of campfire smoke, that perpetual metal-and-oil scent that weaponry has, and his own personal scent clouding your nose.

Crosshair bites the other end of the toothpick and easily plucks it from your mouth, holding your gaze.

Breathless, your fingers twitch, wanting to grab him, but you hold yourself back, acutely aware of how not alone you both are on the ship.

As if to punctuate the thought, you hear footsteps approaching as someone leaves the front of the ship.

By the time Echo appears in view, you’ve thrown an arm over your eyes to feign sleep, and Crosshair has returned to a relaxed state leaning against the wall with crossed-arms, rolling the toothpick idly in his teeth.

[vivalavi-daa]

Fav 2022 K-Dramas/Movies

1. My Liberation Notes

About: Three siblings, exhausted by the monotony of day to day adulthood, seek to find fulfillment and freedom from their unremarkable lives

Honestly, no one did it like My Liberation Notes. The way they captured the mundane lives of adults, the longing for happiness, freedom, and the loneliness of it all. The way they depicted all that through raw lines, monologues, and even silence that gave even deeper meanings. To say I love this show is an understatement 🥺

2. Extraordinary Attorney Woo

About: Woo Young Woo, a woman on the spectrum that tackles challenges as a newbie at a top law firm

This show is popular for a reason. It has everything you could ask for in a kdrama: feel good vibes, heartwarming stories, heart-fluttering love, found family, and interesting characters (with brilliant acting). Although we couldn't expect Woo Young Woo to be representative for all people with autism (since autism is considered as a spectrum), but I love the way her portrayal in this show was educative while also really fun to watch 🤍

3. Twenty Five Twenty One

About: In a time where dreams seem out of reach, a teen fencer pursues her ambitions and meets a hardworking young man who seeks to rebuilds his life.

Couldn't express how much it's comforting to watch the two main characters build connection in the pursuit of happiness. The fact that these two people share different perspectives in life (one was hopeful & optimistic, while the other one was realistic) was its charm. Not to mention the growing bond of the friendship between them and their friends. Together, they make every scene seemed refreshing and entertaining to watch. It was truly an uplifting youth show that brightened last year's atmosphere ✨

4. Alchemy of Souls

About: A powerful sorceress in a blind woman's body encounters a man from a prestigious family, who wants her help to change his destiny.

Love, love the world building of this one! Also, the gripping love stories that took "I'll love every version of you" seriously 🥺. It was captivating how observant every characters in this show were & the way they unfold the stories. Even the action scenes portrayed like an art. Therefore, even though it has many episodes with long duration, I wasn't bored at all.

5. Little Women

About: Three sisters become embroiled in a major incident and face off against the wealthiest family in the nation

The fact that two of my fave actresses (Nam jihyun & Kim goeun) casted in one kdrama was such a dream!! It's a women centric kdrama i could say, from the way the main characters, writer, & director are all women <3. I love that it has such morally grey characters and a story that's full of intriguing misteries. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

6. 20th Century Girl

About: A teen girl has her eyes set on a boy for her lovesick best friend. However, things become complicated when she falls in love and is forced to choose between love and friendship

A heartening youth stories that every fan of 2521 should watch! Again, the plot seemed cliche but it still managed to enthralled you with sweet & fun interactions between the main characters, their growing romance, and what comes for them in the future. It was a rollercoaster of emotion but I really enjoyed it to end <3

7. Business Proposal

About: Hari, a regular employee, shows up to a blind date in disguise of her rich friend to scare him away. Things go awry when he turns out to be her CEO and makes a proposal.

Normally, a kdrama with a cliche plot and some cringe lines wasn't my piece of cake. But Business Proposal is something else I guess. It managed to make even the cliche plot entertaining to watch, still. I didn't expect that I'd laugh this much while watching this show, but I did. Their actings were so fun to watch and it's such a light kdrama that i enjoyed to watch.

Addition: Fav K-Drama (Not Released in 2022) that I've Watched Last Year

Prison Playbook

About: a legendary Korean baseball player whose life change after he chases a man who harasses his sister and finds himself spending a year in prison.

This is such a gem for a slice of life genre! From the director of Hospital Playlist & Reply series, you could expect some heartwarming feels coming from every characters' background stories. Despite the serious & harsh life we could thought of from prison life, this kdrama have many comical scenes, a series of roommates bickering, & such a moving found family. I wish the director would make more of these 🥺🤍

K-Drama Recommendations: 8/?

[miscellaneous-obsession]

Hello there! Hope you’re having a wonderful day! ^w^/) 🍪

Would it be okay to request Donna, Bela or possibly Alcina Head-cannons or a Fic with a Reader who has an Auto-Immune disease; however, finds comfort in cold weather and the snow?

(I have psoriasis and the first three seasons are just the worse for me. I constantly get sick to where I have to stay indoors... However, the wintertime is literal freedom and I feel so gleefully happy).

Thank you!! 💜

Oh my dear, I am so sorry to hear that the seasons are not kind to you but am thankful you can enjoy winter to the fullest! Ps winter is my favourite season too :) This request was so unique and sang to my scientist heart!

Alcina Dimitrescu: 

Alcina always has your best interest at heart, doing everything in her power to ease both your mind and body from spring through autumn.

Being Alcina's beloved comes with an abundance of affection, the matriarch provides an entire wardrobe of clothing for winter as to not limit the time you spent frolicking in the snow.

Cuddles from all in the Dimitrescu family. Your newly found daughters, particularly Daniela, are attentive to your preference to remain cool, offering their company in the form of hugs while Alcina will embrace you for as long as she can, both morning and night, so long as you are comfortable.

The countess will humour your requests, allowing herself to be dragged by your hand out to the courtyard. Typical games are initiated by both parties, Alcina's favourite being the construction of snow-women, most notably two reminiscent of the pair of you, while you enjoyed a snowball fight.

Lord help you if you manage to connect a snowball to the matriarch, for she will chase you relentlessly until she captures you in her arms. From there, she will carry your wiggling form until defeat, hoisting you higher to press her forehead to your own.

To relieve the chill that settled into your bones, a bath is drawn, shared and relished with gentle touches as bodies are washed. Alcina happily bundles you up in a towel after, calling for a maid to gather refreshments.

However, the countess is ever mindful on those days she cannot accompany you, having maids and daughters alike watch over you for fear of tragedy striking. This was a learning curve following an incident with a moroaicǎ that saw you afraid to venture too far without the lady by your side.

Bela Dimitrescu:

Bela's perpetually cool frame was comforting year-round when the seasons became unbearably warm or humid.

This arrangement proved mutually beneficial, allowing the eldest Dimitrescu to escape the unnatural chill of the castle and reduced the number of incidences that saw you bedbound.

The blonde could never deny you freedom during winter, seeing how the cold atmosphere soothed your aches and brightened your spirit tenfold.

Happily with you in her lap, Bela would watch the snow cascade, twirling on the wind before each flake would land, accumulating to form an untouched blanket.

With haste, you would scramble to run outside, but not before the blonde catches your wrist, insisting you wear all manners of winterwear; coat, hat, scarf, gloves... anything within her reach.

Unfortunately, your beloved cannot join you outside, given her affliction but watches on with a smile from the window.

By the time you return, she has lovingly prepared a bath to warm you, with blankets, snacks and beverages set aside for after.

Donna Beneviento: 

This dollmaker is quite creative, manufacturing illusions and hallucinations of winter that mimic the season perfectly, from the texture of snow beneath your fingertips to the perpetual freezing climate that claims the estate for months, all done in an effort to help you through the worst of the year.

Donna's heart melts as child-like glee takes over you when you see the first snowfall of winter. Barrelling to the nearest window, you peer out to the peaceful scene with a beaming smile.

Often the dollmaker follows in step, quietly laughing behind her veil as she watches as Angie seemingly shares the same sentiment as yourself, attempting to clamber onto the windowsill.

However, she should have known you wouldn't leave her out. You offer alternative activities for her to partake in aside from the snowball fights Angie insists on.

An option the seamstress doesn't shy away from are quiet walks through the snow ridden estate, wrapped in more layers of clothes than one could count.

You once managed to convince her to do a snow angel; after completion, you were glad to remind her that she was your angel... she could have melted snow with how fiercely she blushed.

Regardless of the teasing, Donna will ensure you avoid a chill or hypothermia by lighting a fire and making hot cocoa with those tiny marshmallows that Angie always seems to try to steal.

[bagadew]

The Great Ace Attorney Playthrough: The Adventure of the Runaway Room (Part 1b)

Last time: We (and by we I mean Ryunosuke and Susato) arrived in England, and were almost immediately sent to play lawyer by Daemon Gant’s ancestor, who is definitely going to either die or kill someone later. Despite our client being only the richest of able bodied white men, we quickly found ourselves on the ropes thanks to the worlds least impartial jury. Fortunately we now get to put the buggers on the spot and demand they give us their reasons for convicting my client (and boy had they better be good).

Ryunosuke, the more we learn about that man the more of a cad he becomes. I say we should be very thankful we aren’t doing that.

Let me get this straight, instead of smashing their half baked ideas to smithereens and laughing as I go, I have to use the worlds weakest bricks to build my argument.

Susato, one of them knows one of the witnesses.

Oh, so that’s what we’re doing.

Ok, Ryunosuke, lets get shit stirring!

Well firstly, either the drunk juror’s wrong or Beppo’s overcharging people, so jot that down.

Ooh, we’re pacing!

(Also, I’d like to thank Juror No.4 for backing me up, ma’am you are the only member of this group bothering to make even the slightest bit of effort. For this I thank you.)

Of course! Thank you for putting two and two together like that for me!

(Wait a second, I’ve just realized that we’ve got the KBS slung on our hip! That’s amazing!)

And this lady’s and gentleman, is why we don’t let people who know those involved stand on the Jury.

GET HIS ASS JUROR NO.4!

(You are my favourite juror, you can tell the others if you’d like.)

Excellent work Ryunosuke!

Have you not even been listening?

(Susato is explaining the last ten minutes to him because she has more patience than I ever will.)

>:D

And Juror No.2’s crossed over to our side as well!

>:D

And she’s doing it for much better reasons than Juror No.5!

Juror No.2 you’re winning me back!

Just two more jurors to convince now, so let’s go on to the discrepancy about how the victim was stabbed, and maybe point out that the body was left in the seat it was stabbed it.

Old Lady vs Jack the Ripper, here we go!

(Ten guineas on the granny!)

Haha! His knife got stuck in the table!

(I put it again that this man should have that knife taken away from him.)

Yes judge, and if we’d been allowed to go through the whole trial before the jurors jumped the gun, you’d have known that already.

Yay! We’ve won Granny Thickle back!

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE JURY IS SUPPOSED TO DO YOU NINCOMPOOP?!?

And he’s being really racist now.

Fortunately he’s also rubbing the rest of the jury up the wrong way!

Well I consider this to have been a success Ryunosuke.

Well given that the body was found on the seat and there was no blood on the floor... I’m going to say no.

He wants evidence.

Ok then.

As a wise man with a cool sword once said: I will shove it down your throat and make you choke on it.

(Yeah, we should really have seen Kazuma’s moral dubiousness coming...)

Anyways, let’s show him the crime scene photo then.

WRONG???

Of course! The autopsy report shows he was only stabbed once!!!

Meaning that there was only one incident where the witness was stabbed!

VICTORY VICTORY VICTORY!!!

YEAH!!!

Yes, kill each other!

My Lord, Juror No.3 has started licking his knife and threatening the witnesses now...

I’m a little bummed we didn’t get to convince Juror No.4 seeing as she’s the one putting in the hours up there, but never mind. We’re back on track baby!

HE CRUSHED IT!

Oh my god Ryunosuke, we’ve got a prosecution shut up button!

HE THREW OF HIS DRACULA CLOAK!

Oh please, we all know perjury doesn’t exist in this here!

Oho, so apparently Beppo’s been overcharging his customers. Given the conditions he’s been working in I can’t exactly blame him though.

Unfortunately that does kind of rule out the possibility of an extra passenger though, so I’m not sure it helped us much.

Damn right I do!

‘Absolutely’ Ryunosuke and I share one mind.

Now let’s see if we can clear up that whole ‘I saw the victim stabbed on the floor’ bs.

You know, I’m rapidly warming to Mr Furst. Unlike the other witnesses and the god damn jury, he’s not telling lies, or overinflated by his own self importance. He’s actually taking it seriously and doing his best to be as clear and close to factual as he can.

I mean he could well be the killer for all I know, but right now I’m just enjoying him as a nice gentle guy who’s trying his best. It’s refreshing.

Barok’s trying to point out that we still have one witness who saw the stabbing, to which I say: Yeah, a witness with a reason to lie!

Still, Beppo’s the one I should probably be focusing on here, as he’s saying he saw the victim stabbed in places he couldn’t have been.

Well that was easy.

Mr Fairplay on the other hand is going absolutely ham on his cane.

What’s the matter Mr Fairplay?

Got something to say?

Again Mr Fairplay, being a banker in an Ace Attorney Game is not the commending statement you think it is.

Anyways new statement time!

And what’s this I see? Both his hands were covered in blood? That looks like a new contradiction to me!

You know he’s weirdly insistent about this, and I can’t work out why?

Like, regardless of whether or not he committed the murder, he’s clearly hoping that Mr McGilded’s going to be taken out of the picture as a result.

But if he wants that to happen then this is such a weird thing to lie about. It doesn’t add in any way to Mr McGilded’s ‘guilt’, in fact thanks to his gloves it kind of does the opposite.

But if he’s not lying then he has to be mistaken and I don’t understand what that would mean either.

Wow, Juror No.6 is ready to throw down!

(Juror No.3’s going off as well, but I don’t think that’s anything to write home about.)

NOT IN THE WAY HE REPEATEDLY SAID IT WAS!

I’m no longer so sure. After all, if he was it would be far more in his interest to keep quiet about it or say he was mistaken as soon as we bought the gloves out.

What I’m beginning to wonder though, is if there was a mysterious fifth passenger after all, and their hands were the ones Mr Fairplay saw covered in blood.

Come to think of it, he did say that he didn’t see the victim or killers faces, so that’s a good chance, and one that actually gives some hint as to what our suspect looks like: i.e. small.

Debt time.

IT’S A HUGE DEBT!!!

Good to get proper conformation on that theory then.

ORDAAR!

(If you don’t know about the House of Commons cry of Order you should look it up on YouTube. It’s basically the one good thing to have come out of that place.)

So he did lie about seeing the moment the victim was stabbed then. I guess that leave more room for the idea that the fifth passenger did it.

Actually, come to think of it did Mr McGilded ever tell us where he went to sit in the carriage? Could he have been on the open side, the one Mr Fairplay and Mr Furst couldn’t see from where they were?

Huh, he’s still doubling down.

Again I really don’t think he’s lying here, but I do think he’s mistaken about who’s hands he could see.

Also given how much this statement relies on him being a witness I should probably rule him out of my enquires.

I’m rapidly going back over my notes to see if I ever accused him, but let’s be honest here I did. The False Accusations counter is up to a nice healthy 5/5.

Of course Mr Furst, you’re an angle and we’re all thrilled you’re here.

Ok, well now any doubts I had that Mr Fairplay was telling the truth have been put to rest, thank you Mr Furst. You, me and Susato should form our own breakaway courtroom, Juror No.4 can come if she likes.

Anyway time for more testimony.

Certainly looks that way doesn’t it My Lord?

Now Barok want’s to examine the Omnibus again.

You know what, sure Barok, knock yourself out.

Barok, keep up. It literally a huge contradiction sitting right there.

YES IT MATTERS!!!

Well thanks to Mr Furst, the one good witness, we know that the real killer wasn’t wearing any gloves. Again Mr Furst I thank you.

Wait a second, there was a space under the seat opposite the victim wasn’t there. I know it was full of stuff but was there any room for someone to fit themselves?

Barok’s telling me that there was no trace of blood on Mr McGilded’s actual hands. I’m glad you’ve finally caught up Barok but stop talking now so I can examine the omnibus again.

Yes! A space!

And whoever it was who could fit inside there definitely fits the category of small!

And right on cue it’s time to bring their blind spot to light.

Now, I need to work out if they want to know about the space under the seats or if they just want the seats themselves, because from where Mr Furst and Mr Fairplay were sitting they couldn’t see either.

Fuck it, I’ll just put my cursor half way between the two and hopefully it’ll except whichever one it wants.

Haha, yes... exactly what I was going to say...

MY EVIDENCE IS THE FUCKING BLOODIED GLOVES!!!

Anyways, given that the killer was by all accounts sitting next to the victim with no gloves and bloodied hands, the only person who could have been in the concealed seat was Mr McGilded. Again, did anyone actually bother to check which seat he sat in?

Well done Judge. Still as sharp as ever I see.

Wow, that one hit the light!

Barok, that’s alcohol. If you start a fire in here I’m not going to put you out.

Oh he’s being racist again.

Racist stuff Ryunosuke.

Ok, well let me brake this down into words that a stuck up prick like you would understand. The witnesses never saw the attackers face, but they did see his hands and all agree that they were covered in blood. My clients hands were not covered in blood, and therefor he doesn’t fit the one thing we know about the killer. However we know he was on the omnibus, and the only place he could have been is in the seat that can’t be seen.

... you guys, I think this man might be the OG “protégé” prosecutor. Hugh O’Connor and Sebastian Debeste were simply trending in this mans footsteps.

I’m not really sure how much clearer you want me to be My Lord!

(Also ORDAAAAR!)

Van Zieks is still crawling blindly towards the light, and I suggest we just move on without him.

I know (or at least I hope) he’s just deliberately putting up barriers as the prosecution, but the way he’s doing it really looks like he’s packing his intelligence onto a bus and sending it out to destinations unknown.

(Credit to Ryunosuke for spelling it out for him though.)

Thank you Mr Furst, I knew you’d have my back.

THEN LET’S BRING HIM INTO COURT!!!

(ORDAAARR!!!)

Yeah on what grounds?

I mean this is literally the solution to all our problems.

Yeah, well he probably lied (though I can’t work out why).

Excellent point Ryunosuke!

Now Van Zieks is pointing out that if Mr McGilded lied in his statement there would have been a deliberate reason for doing so. To be honest, as the prosecution, this seems like all the more reason to bring him in.

Anyway we’re demanding his testimony.

WHY THE HELL ARE WE ASKING THEM?!?

Well luckily for us the jury seems to finally be getting its arse in gear and has agreed (fairly unanimously) to let the god damn defendant make a statement in his own murder trial.

Nothing to say here. This just feels like a meme.

HAHA!!! THERE WAS SOMEONE!!!

EAT MY SHIT BAROK!!!

Wait an urchin?

Ace Attorney, I’ve already had a ‘don’t feel good’ case regarding who I’m accusing, don’t make me do that again.

STOP MAKING ME ACCUSE POOR AND FRIGHTENED CHILDREN!

Yeah, they probably would have done, and unlike you I don’t think she’d have been able to pull the ‘I donated a park to this city you know’ trick to win hearts and minds.

I wonder if she was there as a passenger or as a stowaway? Because I’d say that gap under the seat could fit a child pretty easily.

Now Barok’s saying we have no reason to believe Mr McGilded. And he’s right except for, you know, all the evidence...

Wait what.

A smoke bomb just went off!

I really don’t like the face Mr McGilded pulled just then, and he definitely gave a signal for it to be dropped.

...Ah fuck, he’s guilty isn’t he.

And he’s using some kid to cover it up.

Well shit...

[hoseokmylovesworld]

I Knew It Was You | Jungkook One Shot

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Requested: Anonymous: 

“A wolf college au where yn and jk are both the popular students but they’re not really acquainted with each other? theyre actually mates but they dont know that yet. Their friends always hint that theyre basically so compatible with each other and so they start to develop feelings for each other. One day, yn was in her wolf form just hanging around the forest and she met jk’s wolf whom she didnt recognize and they ran and played together. So, theres this other girl who likes jk and tries to make a move and kisses jk but jk immediately rejects her but yn was hurt when she saw and like jk could feel it through their mate bond? and they eventually confess and well realise theyre mates and start dating :D also like soft smut scenes in between especially when they finally officialized their mate bond :) also, jk is the alpha of his pack and is usually cold to outsiders and hes typically only soft for yn :D”

Genre: Wolf au, College au, Fluff, Smut

Length: 9,029k Words

Warnings: Strong language, Underage drinking, Drunk-con, Smut, oral sex (female receiving), fingering, vaginal sex.

A/N: 

1. My first ever request! Thank you so much!!! I hope it is the first of many ;D.

2. First time writing Wolf AU, I kinda just made some stuff up...actually I made a lot of stuff up, but who doesn’t.

3. Thank you for being so specific and creative, it really helped. I hope I did it justice.

4. P.S. Listening to Dance For You by Beyoncé on repeat kind of inspired the last bit. 

“Is there a reason why Jeon Jungkook is staring at you right now?” your best friend, Camille, whispered in your ear from the desk behind you during class. Your gaze shot up from your notebook and focused straight ahead, processing what she just told you. Your eyes then drifted to the desk, that you knew very well, positioned five rows to the right of you, where Jeon Jungkook was indeed looking in your direction. Once your eyes met, his eyes suddenly wandered down to his own notes, a devilish smirk could be seen on his perfect lips. You did a double take because you couldn’t believe it yourself, but the proof was right there, he had definitely been caught staring. You couldn’t help, but chuckle to yourself. You quickly shrug in Camille’s direction to answer her question, down playing the encounter that made your heart skip a beat. 

“Mmhmm.” You heard her unconvinced hum from behind you and chuckle at her meddling behavior. As soon as the professor announced the end of class Camille, of course, was hounding you about the incident. 

“So did I miss something, or did something happen between you two?” You look at her in confusion. “No, nothing happened.” You say as you continue to pack up and head home for the day. 

“Well, why the fuck not?” She asks animatedly.

“Um, maybe because we don’t know each other.” You throw out with a laugh.

“Of course you do. You guys go to the same parties, I’ve seen you talking. You even have some mutual friends.” 

“Well, yeah, but that’s about it, isn’t it? Other than that, we just share a class together.” You tell her as you both walk outside of the building. 

“Okay, fine argument, but you realize that’s not the first time he’s been caught staring at you?”

“Everyone stares at me, Camille. They stare at you too. It’s because we’re fucking beautiful.” You smile at her and she can’t help, but smile back at the compliment. “So no, I didn’t notice.” 

“This is different Y/N and you know it.” 

“I don’t know anything.” 

Just as you spoke, Jungkook came into your view walking on the path that intersected with yours. A classmate you know as Crystal was walking beside him, her words falling on deaf ears as Jungkook was not paying much attention to her. He looked up and you locked eyes again. His blank and cold expression was replaced with a warm smile and he even went so far as to wave at you. You hesitated, but quickly lifted your hand and waved back. Before you could warn him, Jungkook collided with a student on his path because he was looking at you and the cold expression was back again. By now you stopped walking and just watched the scene play out. 

“Watch where you’re going, yeah?” he grumbled at the boy. The opposite student was speechless and hurried off without an answer. Jungkook looked back up at your slightly shocked expression and a quick look of regret flashed across his face before he took off in a fast walk, Crystal struggling to keep up with him. 

“But this isn’t different?” Camille asked with almost perfect timing. You glare at her before continuing your walk. “No. It’s not. And if it is...so what?” 

“So what? You’re hot, he’s hot. You’re both popular, you would be so good together. You know you guys have more things in common than you think. Jimin told me he loves singing and video games, too! Everyone on campus would be so jealous.”

You stop in your tracks once again, realizing what Camille wasn’t saying.

“Are you and our friends trying to set me up with Jeon Jungkook behind my back?” You ask seriously. Camille froze, her head snapped up and her eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights. 

“Um...not in so many words.” You raise your eyebrows at her accusingly and she breaks. “When you put it that way it seems bad, okay—” 

“Don’t bother.” You offer as the two of you begin to walk again. You actually began to feel a sort of pull towards Jungkook recently, but ignored it because: “He seems like a bad boy type anyways.”

“Why don’t you find out for yourself? I hear he’s not actually like that and you never know, you might like it. You’re nineteen and you’ve never even had a boyfriend before.”

Because a werewolf girl dating a human boy would never work. 

“Thanks for the reminder Camille, I’m aware.”

“Look, you’re going to the basketball house party this weekend right? He’s gonna be there. Why don’t you give it a chance?” Her question is only met with silence.

“At least talk to him. Get to know him more. And then you can judge for yourself.”

“Fine. But only because you won’t leave it alone and he is really hot.” You finally gave in. Camille laughed and shouted in triumph. “Thank you. I just want you to find some happiness, you know? And who knows maybe he’s the one.”

The weekend has finally arrived and you really needed a break from studying and work so you dressed to impress and came ready to have a good time at the basketball house on Saturday night. As you approached the house, the many drunk bodies on the porch all greeted you by name, whether you knew them or not, they were all very excited for your and Camille’s arrival. It was the team's captain, an upperclassmen named Yoongi, who opened the door to the house and welcomed you into the crowded living room. “Y/N! Camille! You’re here!” He drunkenly shouted, making both you and your best friend laugh. “Hey, Yoongi! How’s it going?” You asked him, having to talk directly into his ear to be heard over the music. 

“Great! Let’s get you girls some drinks though! Have whatever’s in my fridge ‘cause I love you guys and if you run out of booze, come see me.” He walked you both to the kitchen with his arms around your shoulders. 

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary Yoongi, but thank you anyway.” Camille said, giving Yoongi a kiss on his cheek. You did as Yoongi said and helped yourself to whatever closed, untouched beverage caught your eye in Yoongi’s fridge and once you felt just tipsy enough, you and Camille hit the makeshift dance floor and grabbed everyone’s attention as usual. After a few more songs and a few more drinks you were feeling a bit beat and suddenly wanted a place to lay down that was quieter. Seeing as you were separated from Camille and weren’t in the position to use the best judgement right now, you decided to travel upstairs and find a nice bed to fall into for the time being.

You stumbled through the wide hallways of the house and settled on the third door on the left. You swung the door open, laid eyes on the large freshly made bed and prepared to flop belly first on top of it, but you noticed a person sitting in an armchair near the window. You straightened yourself up as much as you could at the sight to realize it was Jungkook. 

“Hi.” Your hoarse voice spoke quietly.

He wore an expression of pleasant surprise and cleared his throat before speaking. “Hi.”

You shook your head in embarrassment and scrambled for an excuse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be in here. Yoongi usually says the second floor is off limits.” 

“Then why are you here?” He asks playfully. 

“We’re good friends and I thought he wouldn’t mind.” You play off innocently. “Why are you here?”

“Same.” Is all he said before a silence came over the two of you.

“Well, sorry again. I’ll just go.” You go to leave, but Jungkook stands and reaches in your direction.

“Wait!” He said. You step back into the room again and face him. “Stay.” He said hopefully.

“Why should I do that?” 

“Because these parties are not my style and I could use someone to talk to.” He settled with a smile. The pull you felt for him was making itself known and at this point you couldn’t leave now even if you wanted to. 

“Okay.” You shut the door, make your way to the bed and face him. Once you were closer to him, you got a proper whiff of his scent. There was the pleasant waft of fabric softener and his expensive cologne, but the coaxing aroma of cedarwood and lavender practically called to you in a refreshing and comforting way. You couldn’t for the life of you begin to understand the feeling, but if being this close to Jungkook brought it on, then that’s what you would do. 

“So, if these parties aren’t your style then why do you always come to them?” You ask curiously. 

He sat back down in his chair and took a swig from his beer. “Because my friends come and I have nothing better to do on a Saturday night.” He flashed his bright, perfect teeth and you let out a nervous giggle. 

“Seriously?” You asked, not knowing whether you believed that answer. “You’re not even with them, you’re in here by yourself.” His smile slowly morphed into a thoughtful line and he let his head fall to stare at his fidgeting fingers in his lap. 

“There was no one there that I wanted to see.” He said quietly. 

“But there was someone up here that you wanted to see?” You said sarcastically with a laugh.

“Well there wasn’t before, but there is now.” He looked up with a timid smile and your breath caught in your throat for a split second. You cleared your throat and decided to change the subject due to how warm your insides suddenly became. He doesn’t seem all that bad, maybe you should actually get to know this guy.

“So, while we’re here, avoiding the rest of the world, maybe we could...get to know each other better. I feel like we barely talk.” You offered, following through with Camille’s request. You were suddenly aware of how heavy your head was. Your weighted eyelids dropped and the world went dark before Jungkook was suddenly back in your sight once more, looking pleased with your previous words. It was obvious you were still pretty intoxicated and needed to carefully monitor what came out of your mouth.

“Um, okay. Yeah, uh...what kind of music are you into?” He laughed at his own question, probably thinking it wasn’t interesting enough. But music happened to be your favorite thing to talk about.

“Oh, I listen to everything. I am lacking a little country and heavy metal on my playlist, but I’m sure it’ll pop up sooner or later.” You shrugged.

“So you’re, like, legit.” He gathered his thoughts aloud. 

“As legit as they come.” You responded, earning a laugh from Jungkook. The sound was enough to warm your insides ten fold. The two of you went from one topic to the next, sharing your likes and dislikes. You were being respectful of each other's opinions, but the playfulness was still in full effect. Jungkook even moved from his chair and joined you on the bed to sit beside you so that your knees were touching and your legs dangled over the side. 

“You can’t honestly sit here and tell me that Far Cry: Primal is better than Far Cry: New Dawn.” You accused, genuinely shocked. 

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” He defended. 

“Well—No! Just no. New Dawn’s gameplay and story is so much better.” 

“That is a lie and I won’t stand for it.” He crossed his arms and put on his most serious face. 

“Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?” You bated him, leaning forward so that your faces were closer than before. You couldn’t justify your actions, not hardly. All you could think about was Jungkook’s irresistible scent filling your nostrils this entire time and clouding your judgement. Along with the alcohol of course. 

Jungkook’s eyes flickered with understanding of your new intentions and his eyes moved back and forth from your lips to your alluring eyes before he too shortened the distance between you. He reached out to cup your cheek and you instinctively leaned into the warmth of his hand. He guided your mouth to his and it felt like a flame was ignited inside of you when your lips touched. Both of you released small moans of pleasure while exploring each other’s mouths. Hands began to wander and you could feel Jungkook guiding you onto your back as he climbed on top of you, your lips still connected. You ran your fingers through his soft hair and let out a whimper when he began to suck on the skin beneath your ear. 

His hand glided up your torso and stopped carefully over your breast. He lifted his head from your neck to look into your eyes. “Is this okay?” He asked barely above a whisper. You quickly nodded your heavy head. You had never experienced anything like this, but it felt good and natural so who were you to refuse? You had to admit you were pretty excited about how this night was turning out. 

Jungkook continued to fondle your breasts through your shirt and kiss you breathless, the two of you slowly grinding into each other all the while, legs tangled together. Your skirt riding up as you ground your heat into his jean clad thigh, instinctively seeking your own pleasure from him. To your disappointment, Jungkook pulled away to press his sultry lips to your exposed torso while making meaningful, heated eye contact with you. As if he were asking permission to keep going lower. You didn’t need any convincing. Jungkook was so intoxicating and you were so turned on that you didn’t want to say no to him. You wanted to experience what all your friends already have and spoke so highly of so you nodded at his silent request. 

He only looked back down and rolled your skirt up to your waist in response, revealing your black joe boxer panties. He caressed your thighs before gently pushing the fabric to the side, his breath wafting over your core and sending a chill up your spine. He spares one more heated glance at your eyes before licking a delicate stripe against your clit causing your breath to hitch and your body to jerk slightly. 

“You taste so good.” He suddenly rasped. All you could do was nervously giggle and cover your face out of embarrassment. His kisses and licks against your sensitive clit turned rougher and more driven so that your back was arched and your hands were fisting the sheets of the bed. 

You were a moaning mess at his mercy and your head swam with alcohol and the pure bliss that came from Jungkook’s mouth. The feeling of flying. He suddenly inserted a finger inside of you, only adding to the white heat surging through your veins right now. You instantly place your hand on his head and give his shiny hair a gracious tug. He then moans into your clit at the feeling making you lose it even more. 

He adds a second finger and moves his hand even faster while he continues to eat you out like a man possessed. “Oh, f—sss. Jungkook.” You whined, feeling your abdomen and your muscles tighten around Jungkook’s fingers. You knew your orgasm was fast approaching and you were desperate for Jungkook to give you what you needed.

The pleasure Jungkook was giving you was too good to be true. This was the kind of thing you only thought you could experience with your future mate. Your eyes suddenly shot open and you were thrown out of your euphoric stupor. You shouldn’t have let this happen, you should have been strong enough to resist temptation to save yourself for your soulmate. 

But it was too late, your orgasm slammed into you with a force that knocked the wind out of you. You forgot how to breathe and your whole body tensed with violent waves of pleasure. You let out a broken cry and unknowingly clamped your legs around Jungkook’s head, who was still very persistent in his actions, hands and tongue never letting up through your orgasm. You had to pry him off of you once you got too sensitive to take it anymore. 

“Jungkook, stop, stop, stop, stop.” He finally got the message and sat up again. Your juices covering his mouth and chin, which he wiped away slowly and smeared on his jeans. You both attempt to catch your breath, you especially, before you wordlessly adjust your panties and fix your skirt. You then positioned yourself at the edge of the bed beside Jungkook as you were before.

An awkward silence hung between you before Jungkook spoke. 

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked, looking down. Your head whipped in his direction at the query.

“What? No! No. That was...amazing. I just..I guess I just wasn’t expecting all that. It was my first time.” And you’re human. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought...we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” He reassured you. You let out a heavy sigh and grind your teeth at his words.

“Thanks, but...I don’t think we should do that anymore. Or anything like that.” You all-but whispered. His eyebrows furrowed and his head cocked to the side in confusion. 

“Wait, w-why? I thought—” 

Because, sadly, you’re not my mate!

“I just think maybe we might be better off as friends. I’m really sorry about this.” You said as you hopped off of the bed and put your shoes on while he sat frozen in one position. You place your hand on the door handle and open it before stopping and risking looking back at him in this state.

Not knowing what else to say, you said “I’ll uh, see you in class on Monday. Bye” and closed the door swiftly, scurrying down the stairs and rejoined the party. 

Monday came sooner than you had hoped and you weren’t ready to face Jungkook. You met up with Camille for lunch in between classes at the café. While you ate, you kept thinking about how you would have to man up and soon because you spotted Jungkook enter the café and without meaning to, you locked eyes with him. You froze, but held eye contact out of fear. Whatever he did next, you deserved for what you did last night, you thought. To your immense surprise, Jungkook dropped his permanently cold gaze, smiled a friendly smile and waved at you. You didn’t waste anytime smiling and waving back, hoping that last night wouldn’t get in the way of your friendship. 

He made his way to the register and ordered. He leaned against the wall of the waiting area and pulled out his phone in the meantime. He’s keeping his distance, that makes sense, you thought whilst checking him out. While you eye his figure from across the room, you didn’t notice your best friend eyeing you from across the table. You only had eyes for him in that moment. You didn’t try to conceal your staring even as he made his way to the exit. He smiled and nodded in your direction again on his way out and you smiled sweetly back. 

“Okay, did something happen between you two or am I blind? ‘Cause I know it’s not the last one.” Camille asked eagerly. “And where did you run off to during the party? I never asked.” 

You snapped out of it and faced her once again. “Well, I got to know J.K. like you said.”

“J.K.?! Are you guys on a nickname basis now?” She exclaimed frantically. You glared at her, sending her a message to lower her voice. 

“Yes, he said I could call him that. We met up in one of the bedrooms at the party and we talked. Turns out you’re right, he’s not so bad.” A warm smirk graced your face at the memory of your conversations.

“I. Fucking. Told. You. Don���t forget to thank me at the wedding. Never mind, I most definitely will be thanking myself. No need to worry.” Camille babbled. 

“Well, you don’t need to worry because I ruined it before it could even be…an it.” You frowned, aimlessly pushing your salad around with your fork. 

“You wanna tell me what you did this time?” Your best friend rolled her eyes at you from across the table.

“We may have kissed—” 

“You did what?!” 

“Calm down and let me finish!” You whisper-yelled causing her to attempt to gather herself.

“We talked and then we kissed and then we were on the bed and...he may have eaten me out.” You say that last bit at a slightly lower volume.

“WHAT?!” Camille shouts, causing almost every head in the café to turn to her. “Camille, you need to calm down, okay?” You say, not actually giving her a choice this time. 

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, but what?!” 

“Yeah, that happened and it was amazing, but it didn’t exactly end well.” 

“Why? Did he...did he try to force you?” Camille leaned in. Her voice was definitely lowered now.

“No, nothing like that. He was sweet. I just—I ended up leaving because...it didn’t feel totally right. I mean it felt right, I just, I got the feeling that he wasn’t the one.” 

“So you gave up good sex? Boyfriend or not, anyone would kill to have their first time with that guy. Especially that Crystal chick that’s obsessed with him.” The thought of Jungkook with another girl sent a pang of anger through you, but you wouldn’t let Camille see that. It was over, you didn’t belong together.

“Yeah, well no one said anything about murder. Anyway, I backed out, it’s fine. I’ll find my soulmate someday, I’m destined to.” Literally.

“Hey, well if you’re good, I’m good. Now quiz me. I have an exam later.”

Thanks to your encounter with Jungkook, your following class was a lot less awkward than you thought it would be, but you felt the need to apologize one more time.

When class was over, you told Camille to leave without you and you waited outside for him. 

“Jungkook.” You called when you saw his mop of hair leave the classroom among the other heads. His eyes found yours instantly and he approached you.

“Hey, Y/N. How’s it goin’?” He asked with a sunny disposition that you could see right through, now that you were face to face.

“I’m good. How about you?” 

“I can’t complain.”

You nodded, looking for the words to say. “I just wanted to apologize again for Saturday. And thank you for not treating me like dirt today. I really shouldn’t have done any of that.”

He laughed lightly. “It’s all good Y/N. No hard feelings. You just know what you want and if you only want to be friends then that works for me. I think you’re a great girl and I just wanna know you.” He admitted genuinely. You were touched, but you were almost bothered by how okay he was with everything.

“That’s really sweet J.K. Thanks. I’ll, uh, see you around then.”

“See ya.”

Well that was way too easy.

Despite all of your attempts to expel your Jungkook from your thoughts, the boy and his sinful mouth wouldn’t leave your mind. You begin to wonder if you’ve made a mistake with the whole friends thing and it seems there was only one thing left to do. Finally you decided to hunker down and call your mom.

“Hey, sweetie! How are you?” Her bell-like voice flowed into your headphones.

“I’m good, I think. I just called ‘cause I have a question. About our kind.” 

“Oh, I’m all ears, shoot.”

“H-how do you know you’ve found your mate?” You sputter the sentence quickly, hoping you wouldn’t have to repeat it. 

“Oh, honey. Are you seeing someone? And you didn’t tell me?”

“No, mother. It was just a question. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Mmhmm. Tell me about him first, then I’ll answer.” You sighed, realizing you had no choice.

“He’s really nice, and funny and good looking.” Your mother giggled over the phone. “But we only shared a moment. I promise, it’s nothing major. That’s my issue.” 

“Well, it’s not easy to put into words, but I’ll try. It’s like realizing everything you’ve done has led up to that moment. The moment you meet. It’s like gravity is pulling you towards that person, but you do go willingly to them. All you can see is that person and you would do or be anything that they needed you to be.” This all sounded familiar, but there was one thing missing. 

“And they definitely have to be a werewolf too, right?” 

“Of course, you know that. And sometimes you can’t even tell they’re your mate unless you meet their wolf. It’s rare and stupid, but I’ve heard stories and I don’t make the rules.” You laugh at her word vomit and continue to catch up properly. 

“Things have been just a little stressful over here, but nothing I can’t handle.” You told her.

“Well when’s the last time you stretched your legs?” You tried to think back to the last time you actually let your wolf roam free and you couldn’t remember. “I don’t even know.” 

“Well, do! Go down to that creek we found the last time we visited and just run, but make sure no one sees you.” 

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks mom.”

“Of course, sweetie. I love you.”

“Love you, too. Night.”

You finally found time in your hectic schedule to get away to the woods near the creek you talked about with your mom. You told Camille you were visiting your family last minute so you wouldn’t be back until Sunday afternoon, giving you a solid day and a half to yourself and getting back in touch with your inner animal. You parked your car on the outskirts of the woods, grabbed your backpack full of clothes and necessities and made your way into the trees. 

You found a good spot deep enough into the thicket and far enough away from the trail that you were sure you wouldn’t be seen by humans. You hid your backpack in a few bushes and readied yourself for the transformation. 

Even though it’s been quite a while it’s like your wolf knew exactly what to do and you were a light gray, seven foot tall werewolf in no time. You could smell all the scents in the forest. You could hear the trees and the moving water from the creek. But you couldn’t hear any people nearby so you knew it was time to start running. 

You dug your paws into the soft ground, admiring the natural earth before dashing off into the woodland. You felt free of all the worries you came here with and found yourself forgetting all about midterms and professors and projects and you could just be yourself. 

You suddenly stopped on a dime when a familiar scent caressed your nose. Cedarwood and lavender. It was extremely potent and had the collective smell of the forest woven into it, making it one hundred times more appealing. Without your permission, you immediately took off in pursuit of the scent and knew that you wouldn’t stop until you found it. It was calling to you after all, you felt you couldn’t ignore it. 

The closer you got to it, you could hear another set of paws pounding at the earth moving with the same urgency as yours. You thought to stop out of fear of making an enemy, but it wasn’t up to you. You had no free will at this point, your wolf had to find the source of this scent. 

Your body finally stopped when you came to a clearing, face to face with another wolf. It was dark brown and slightly taller than you. Your body immediately makes itself slightly smaller from the amount of confidence that exudes from the dignified looking wolf. He must be his pack’s alpha, you thought. You both stared at each other from across the clearing and that’s when it happened. The words of your mom from before flood your mind at the sight of the brown wolf in front of you. He’s the one, you thought. Once again your feet begin to carry you to him without much thought and the brown wolf does the same. 

You meet in the middle and neither of you hesitate to get familiar with each other’s scents and nuzzle the other, marking each other with that scent as well. You continued this show of affection with your new mate, rejoicing in the fact that the wait was over and you’ve finally found the one you're destined to be with for the rest of your life. 

You are interrupted when you feel a large, wet tongue run up the side of your face. You open your eyes to see your mate with his front legs stretched out in front of him with his bum in the air and his tail wagging back and forth quickly. You understand that he wants to play and you assume the same position, waiting for his next move. Seeing this, he took off into the woods and you instantly chased after him. 

It took longer than you were proud to admit, but you finally got close enough to tackle him to the ground and the two of you sparred playfully, rolling around on the ground and pinning and nipping at each other. You both carried on like this; chasing, playing and nuzzling until the sun went down and came up again and you tiredly walked back to your backpack in the bushes with the brown wolf on your heels. 

Just as you reached your belongings, you heard the footsteps and voices of two hikers. Without thinking, you took off into the forest, as did your mate, but in the opposite direction. You made sure you couldn’t be seen by the hikers and watched as they walked by. But you knew even though they were gone, it was dangerous to be back out in the open at this time. Two humans was enough to cut your roaming time short. Your mate obviously had the same thoughts as you couldn’t smell his scent nearby anymore. 

You shifted back into your human form and got dressed in the bush. Cursing those hikers for scaring your mate off, you got in your car and headed back to campus. You didn’t know when you were going to see him again. The thought depressed you, but you promised to be back next weekend at the same time and tried to stay positive as always. “Back to writing papers and dealing with dealing with dickheads again.” You lamented. 

As if this week couldn’t get any worse, Camille was sick; meaning you would have  go to class and eat lunch and dinner alone, and Jungkook is no longer answering your text messages. He decided you were a shitty person after all, you thought on your way to the local café for your lunch break. As you approach the wall length windows of the café you can see Jungkook sitting at a table right against it with Crystal. Well, there’s your answer right there, you thought venomously. You stop and just watch the two, wondering why this was such a devastating sight when you’re not mated to Jungkook and you’re the one who made him look ridiculous. 

As you were standing there looking like a total weirdo and feeling sorry for yourself, Crystal reached across the table to cup the cheek of an oblivious Jungkook and kissed him on the lips. Your eyes widened in horror and your jaw dropped. The betrayal, no matter how unworthy you were of it, felt like it speared a hole through your chest. You didn’t understand why you were ready to collapse in complete agony over someone who didn’t belong to you, but regardless it felt like he ripped your heart out and stomped it into the ground in front of you. 

Jungkook pulled away almost immediately with a look of disgust on his face and turned to face you instantly, as if he knew you were there. You locked eyes with a stunned Jungkook and took off without a second glance. This was awkward enough, you didn’t need to confront the situation. 

Without warning you begin to feel this crippling guilt and anxiety, even though you didn’t do anything wrong. At least you didn’t think so. You’re distracted by your sudden rush of emotions when you hear Jungkook call your name from behind you. You glance at his desperate, running form before facing forward and continuing on your way. Wherever that was, you didn’t exactly know yet. 

He was faster than you thought because in the next second he had his hand on your shoulder and was turning you to face him. 

“Y/N! Wait, just wait a second. Let me explain okay?”

“Why? What do you have to explain to me? We’re not together.” You finally admit.

Jungkook cocks his head to the side and squints his eyes in confusion. “How can you...do you not remember?” He asks desperately, needing an answer.

“Remember what? The party? Yeah, all too well.” You say ashamedly.

“No.” He said firmly before thinking aloud. “Was that not you?” He nearly whispered. With your enhanced hearing, you heard clear as day. 

“Was what not me?” You were starting to get a little annoyed now.

“Do you not feel that? That pull?” 

You look at him, floored. “How do you know about that?”

“Have you had any emotions that weren’t yours recently? Strange feelings at least? I have. I could, I could sense you back there—”

“Okay, what? How do you know that?” You asked, getting overwhelmed. There’s only one way he would know a thing like that, but it couldn’t be. 

You allowed him to slowly lean in and take an audible sniff at your neck. “You still have my scent from Saturday.” He said in a satisfied tone of voice, causing you to freeze. 

He continued. “And oranges and rosemary.” Another sniff. “And red oak.” It was all starting to make sense. Lavender and cedarwood. You could suddenly smell it all over him, igniting all your senses. He pulled back so he could look you in the eyes deliberately. 

You looked back with a new fire behind your eyes. You were too blinded by anger to realize that your mate was standing right in front of you. “I knew it was you.” You said softly before throwing yourself into his arms. He laughed freely, wrapping you in his strong arms. 

“You had me doubting myself for a moment.” He said into your neck.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” You pull him into a heated kiss to seal the deal of officially finding your mate and it feels like nothing you’ve ever felt before. But then you’re reminded of why you were in a mood to begin with. You part from Jungkook and slap his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you answer my messages? I thought you were mad at me.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket to show you. “I got a new phone. My contacts didn’t transfer and I wanted to talk to you in person after this past weekend. Took me all of Sunday to put it together, but I finally figured it out. Thank god one of us did.” He said teasing you. You slapped his arm once again. “I wanted it to be more romantic than this obviously, but I guess we can thank Crystal for that.” He said looking up apologetically. 

“Don’t worry about that, if she tries it again I can handle her.” 

“Then let’s get out of here, boss.” He wraps an arm around your shoulders and walks back in the direction of the café.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Okay, my sweetest darling.” He replies.

You cringe before you speak again. “Better, I suppose.”

He laughs loudly. “I could get used to this.”

“Oh, spirits, What have you gotten me into?” You ask the sky jokingly. 

You enter the café and Crystal is still sitting and waiting patiently in the same spot. Her eyebrows raise at the sight of his arm around your shoulders. 

Jungkook stands in front of the table and reaches for his wallet while Crystal watches attentively. Jungkook put some money on the table, said goodbye and the two of you left the café once more. You could see her wide eyes and embarrassed, flushed cheeks through the window as you walked away. Jungkook didn’t look back and that brought an impressed and touched smile to your face. 

“I’m thinking this calls for a celebration. What do you say to skipping class for the rest of the day?” He asked, placing a kiss on your cheek for...incentive?

You think about it. You only have one more class left, Camille wasn’t here to tell you not to and this was pretty worthy of celebration. You finally found your soulmate and you absolutely adore them. It was a good enough occasion for you. “You know what? Fuck it. Let’s skip.” You say with a huge carefree smile. “Whoo!” Jungkook howls with excitement. 

“Alright my lady. How about I actually take you to a way better lunch than the local café?”

“Like on our first date?” You ask sheepishly.

“Exactly.” He says, stopping in front of you on the sidewalk. “Y/N, will you go on a date with me?” 

“I mean, I don’t know. I just saw you kissing some other girl, what’s that about?” You fake cringe. Jungkook sighed and closed his eyes. 

“Please don’t do this to me.” He begged, making you laugh.

“Of course I’ll go on a date with you.” You grabbed his hand and you both took off in search of a restaurant that suited both your tastes.

He took you to an Italian restaurant nearby, which happened to be your favorite. “Oh, yeah, Jimin told me you liked it once.” Jungkook said when you mentioned it. You laughed at how naïve you’ve been these past few weeks.

“I still can’t believe our friends really tried to set us up together.” You laughed across the table from him as you waited for your food to come. 

“Haha, yeah, I guess they knew something we didn’t. Man, we really were late to the party.” 

The following three weeks consisted of you and Jungkook making up for lost time and spending time with each other as much as you possibly could. You found out that Jungkook is actually the alpha of his pack, which includes his room mates, Hoseok and Taehyung. They weren’t psyched you were stealing Jungkook away from them all the time, but it was necessary. It made for a true honeymoon phase as your wolves craved the presence of their mate constantly. 

You got excited when he invited you anywhere, both of you knowing that you would always accept. This was partly because your wolves desperately wanted to mate with each other and that fact made you incredibly nervous at times. Thankfully, no matter what form you were in, there was nothing forcing you to do anything, but the feeling would always be there, especially when you were together. 

Despite a close call in your dorm room, you both had gotten pretty good at ignoring it as you weren’t ready for that step and Jungkook was perfectly fine with waiting. You figured it would happen when it was supposed to and when it did, it would be perfect because every experience with Jungkook was. You just wanted to spend as much time as you could together before the semester ended. 

As you both had a test coming up, Jungkook invited you to his campus apartment to study. You jumped at the opportunity to spend the day with him and get some extra help in the course. You both sprawled all your materials on his king sized bed, that you were incredibly jealous of, and sat on opposite ends just focusing on your respective flash cards. 

Both of you would ask the occasional clarifying question or make a joke to break up the tension in the room. You were always comfortable with your mate and vice versa, but the air had taken on a fervent energy that you both noticed. After a while, you began to sweat slightly even though the temperature in the room was perfectly cool. Your eyes glance up at him and away again; you wonder if hanging with Jungkook in his room with his perfectly comfortable bed was the right way to go, especially after what happened last time. Jungkook cleared his throat, getting your attention, which was laser focused on the notebook in front of you to avoid thinking about him taking you on this bed.

“What do you say to a little study break? I’m starting to get a little burnt out over here.” He offered, fanning himself with his shirt. 

“Oh, yeah, me too.” You agreed.

“I’m gonna break out those snacks you brought.” He said getting up and walking to his desk where you left them, stealing a kiss on your cheek on his way there. You smile down at your lap as your heart skips a beat. His sweet behavior still gets a reaction out of you even after all this time spent together and you relished every moment of it. 

Jungkook fetched some chips and candy for the two of you and sat in front of you tailor style. You talk about school and make plans for next weekend when Jungkook leaned forward and placed a kiss on your lips. You felt your body temperature rise and that intense need that you’d grown so familiar with in the past few weeks appeared again with a new ferocity. 

Your body leaned right back into his and you savored the kiss before cutting it short, not wanting to lose control. You dropped your head and shook it apologetically. He rubbed your arm comfortingly and gently grasped your chin in his hand, tilting it up to look into your eyes. “Hey, it’s okay.” He uttered.

You look back into his dark brown eyes, wondering what you did to deserve a mate like Jungkook. How blessed you were to end up with someone as generous, charming, respectful, caring, sexy and talented as him. He never failed to act like a complete gentleman towards you and always let you know just how much he loved you, whether it was through words or eye contact or the way he caressed you. 

You wanted to show him how much you appreciate him, how much you were legitimately dedicated to him and that you wanted nothing more than to be with him for the rest of your life just as he has. You wanted to show him how much you truly care for him, how much you understand and value what he has to say, how much you love him. You wanted to show him how good he made you feel that first night at Yoongi’s party.

But you allowed your inexperience and fear of the actual event to hold you back from this stage in your relationship that you both obviously wanted. Why am I so afraid? You thought to yourself. Still lost in Jungkook’s eyes and his touch, your need for him was bordering on feral and growing stronger by the second due to the close proximity. 

What am I afraid of? We’re literally destined to be together, we both love each other, we’re basically mated for life anyway. Why not make it official? Your thoughts raced around in your head as your eyes fixated on Junkook’s soft lips and your body subconsciously inched closer to his. Your breaths were becoming heavier and more noticeable with the silence in the room.

Something in your mind clicked and you were on him in a second, wrapping your arms around his neck and feeling his lips on yours again. Jungkook obviously had zero complaints as he wrapped his strong arms around your waist and returned your less than gentle attack on his lips with just as much passion. You climbed into his lap, your body seemingly on autopilot as you rocked your hips back and forth on top of him slowly causing Jungkook to grunt into your mouth. He lets out a small moan when your mouth finds his jaw and travels down to the side of his neck. Without warning, your canines extended and grazed Jungkook’s skin; a sign that your wolf was ready to claim him as yours for life. 

You realized what you had almost done when Jungkook separated your mouth from his neck and looked into your eyes carefully, searching for any traces of regret most-likely. 

“I’m so sorry,” You rasped out. “I didn’t know I was—” 

“It’s okay.” Your mate assured you, placing a hand on your cheek and rubbing his thumb against it tenderly. “It’s more than alright. I just...Is this what you want?” 

You nod firmly. “I love you, Jungkook. I want this.” You said softly, playing with the silky hair at the nape of his neck. He nods, searching your eyes for doubts for the last time then you were kissing again. This time, you had no intentions of stopping. Jungkook clumsily pushed all of your notes and materials off of the bed with one hand before helping you to straddle him as he lay down at the head of the bed. 

“Oh, I love you too.” He added quickly against your neck. You giggle at the insertion and grab his face in your hands, forcing him to look at you. 

“I know, dummy.” You whisper gingerly before pressing your lips to his, hoping that he could sense the passion and desire you felt for him in this moment. He smiled fondly against your lips and got to work on your shirt and bra, vocally praising your body all the while. 

“You’re so beautiful, Y/N.” He muttered into your skin, hands caressing your entire body. 

You get rid of his offending shirt and toss it behind you without a care in the world as Jungkook’s six pack has stolen all of your attention. As your hands explored the expanses of his newly exposed body, your feral nature returned. You and your mouth made the leisurely trip from his neck to his navel, gladly eliciting the occasional moan from Jungkook. 

When you reached your destination, you helped him remove his pants. But before you could attempt to take off his boxers, he flipped you so that he was on top and immediately began planting kisses all over your body making you squirm in the best way. 

“Jungkook, please.” You whine after he removes your bottoms. 

“Don’t worry baby, I’m gonna make you feel good.” He breathed directly onto your center, causing you to shudder slightly. Your underwear joined the graveyard of clothes littering the hardwood floor when Jungkook spread your lips and lightly ran his tongue along your clit. You couldn’t help, but gasp and twitch at the brief spark of electricity that his actions brought. He held your thighs open to accommodate his head while holding your hips down right before dragging his tongue against your clit in a much more aggressive manner. 

Your hand instantly covered your mouth out of shocking pleasure. “Oh, fuck.” You mumbled against it. Your eyelids slowly fluttered closed as Jungkook continued to lap at your clit vigorously. It got harder to breathe as he carried on, pulling all kinds of sounds from you, both human and nonhuman. You finally thread your fingers through his now sweaty hair and grip it so that you could properly grind into his face. You could feel his extended canines grazing your flesh occasionally and the idea turned you on further.

“Oh my God, yes, Jungkook.” You moaned, sensing that your climax was well on it’s way. He suddenly slid a finger inside of you, grazing your g-spot, causing your back to arch immediately. “Oh my God, just like that.” You groaned as He inserted another long, thick finger into you, scissoring them this time. 

“Oh, that feels so good, please don’t stop, baby. Please make me cum.” You babbled in your lust filled stupor, hoping that sweet release would come soon. Jungkook focused on finding your g-spot repeatedly and never letting up on your clit, his face was literally buried in your pussy as if he didn’t need air to breathe. The sight in itself was enough to set you off. Your legs shook as you silently came all over your mates face. 

When it got to be too much you finally let go of the breath you were holding and let out a short shriek. Jungkook finally came up for air, continuing to scissor his fingers inside of you to make sure you would be stretched enough for him. He kissed you immediately, allowing you to taste yourself on his tongue and lips, but you didn’t mind one bit. 

He separated himself and withdrew his fingers from you to remove his own underwear and find a condom. As he made his way back to you, you sat up and reached for his hard member in your second attempt to pleasure him, but you were pushed back on the bed for Jungkook to situate himself in between your legs. 

He took your chin in between his fingers and stared deeply into your eyes keenly. “We got the rest of our lives for that, but right now, I need to be inside of you.” He growled from deep within his chest, sending even more wetness between your legs. You only nodded showing you understood, sensing that Jungkook was in Alpha mode and just submitted yourself to him, allowing him to do what he wanted to you. 

He brought you closer to him, kissing you breathless while lining himself up at your entrance. 

“Are you ready?” He asked, making heated eye contact, his hand supporting the back of your neck to keep your foreheads pressed together.

“Yes.” You whispered with no hesitation at all. Jungkook inserted himself into you slowly, savoring the divine feeling of your velvety walls wrapped tightly around his cock. You on the other hand were trying not to let it show how much pain you were in. You felt every inch of him stretch you out, but the kisses that Jungkook peppered all over your face distracted from the pain. 

“You okay?” He panted, placing a kiss on your ear. 

“Yeah.” You decided after the pain dissipated. “Why do you have to be so big?” 

“That’s just what the spirits blessed me with, babe.” He laughed. 

“Just shut up and fuck me.” You breathed seductively, reaching down and grabbing his bare ass in your hands, pushing him into you at the new found pleasure. 

You both let out a satisfied grunt and Jungkook continues fucking you at a slow pace, both of you savoring the moment for as long as possible before you both grow impatient and frankly ravenous. 

Jungkook kneeled upright on the bed, his muscles rippling and covered in a sheen of sweat, his face contorted in pleasure above you. He guided you onto his cock at a rapid pace with his strong arms and hands gripping you at the waist, sure to make bruises in the near future. You couldn’t care less about the rest of the world around you, let alone bruises as you stare up at the glorious man above you in awe and adoration. You were both grunting and growling as you chased your highs together. Your inner wolves are nearly satiated from all these weeks of torture, it was so close you could taste it.

“Fuck, Jungkook, I think I’m gonna cum.” You rasp as you fist his sheets so hard that you think you heard a tear. 

He bends down to your ear and growls, “Let go, baby. Come for me. Only for me.” in the most beautifully fucked out voice you’d ever heard and you were seeing stars. You held his waist as close as possible to you with your legs and your eyes rolled back into your head at the amount of electricity running through your veins. In the midst of your mind shattering orgasm, Jungkook attaches his mouth to your shoulder and bites you, marking you as his mate, adding to your pleasure. Your body shook uncontrollably and you could swear you saw white at one point. 

As you were coming down, Jungkook’s thrusts were getting dicey and irregular, giving you a sign that he was close. You grip his face and stare into his eyes passionately.

“That’s it, babe. You fucked me so good. Only you make me feel so good. Now come for me, baby. Give it all to me.” You whimpered.

“Ugh, fuck, Y/N!” He shouted. You felt his dick twitch inside of you and you bit him on the shoulder as he came inside the condom, causing him to groan loudly and gaining you some extra thrusts toward the end as he was coming down. 

The two of you go on to kiss all over each other’s lips, faces and necks lovingly in post-coital bliss until eventually he rolls off of you and you lay side by side under the shredded covers, just staring up at the ceiling. Or so you thought. You turn your head to find that Jungkook is staring at you and you turn to face him. 

“I love you.” He says genuinely with a wistful expression on his face. You reach your hand out to stroke his cheek with a warm smile on your face. 

“I know.” You say as your eyelids become heavy. You snuggle into him, wrapping your arms around him and preparing for the best nap of your life. “I love you too.”

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH112

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 112: The Dream of the Holy Nun (II)

"So Ning Zhou is there with you now?" Miao Li asked as she roamed Qi Leren’s dream.

Qi Leren kept having unwanted dreams whenever he nodded off, but thanks to Miao Li's intrusion, he had been woken from the nightmare he had been having just now. His dreams of continuous death only made him more tired.

Miao Li yawned: "That's great, we’re still busy with the follow-up for the Slaughter Secret Society."

"Isn't it all over?" Qi Leren asked.

"Over? No, no, no, this task is much more complicated than you think. Although you’ve performed the most critical part, there are many other things besides this..." Miao Li pushed her glasses up. "Do you think sending you into the Slaughter Secret Society undercover is the only thing we did? It took a lot of effort for the Illusionist to cover up your tombstones on Undead Island. He’s very curious about you."

Tombstones? Qi Leren suddenly remembered that when he’d recognized Luo Yishan, Luo Yishan had also recognized him. If he sent someone to investigate the identity of 'Qi Leren', then those amazing tombstones on the Undead Island…

Wait a minute.The Court knew about his tombstones? Qi Leren was stunned.

"You thought no one knew about it? In a few months, the whole Twilight Township will know that there’s a player named 'Qi Leren' who has died many times. This kind of bizarre news always travels quickly," Miao Li said with a smile, seeming to see what he was thinking.

Qi Leren suddenly had a bad feeling. He didn't want to get into any trouble: "Is there any way to cover up my tombstones? For example, by digging them out?"

For the sake of confidentiality, Qi Leren would not hesitate to dig his own graves.

"...Your idea is really interesting, but the Nightmare World is different from reality after all. Even if you forcibly dig out your tombstone, it will be refreshed after midnight. The Undead Island is like a game log, recording the names of players since the birth of this world. What qualifications do we have to delete the game logs when we’re only players?" Miao Li said with a slight irony. "So we just sent an Illusionist to temporarily cover your tombstones on the Undead Island after confirming that you needed to go undercover. Now the Illusionist has removed the illusion, and your secret can't be concealed for too long. As long as one person finds out, a secret is no longer a secret. You should be glad that there aren’t many people who have grave-sweeping as a hobby."

It was unfortunate. If the Illusionist had covered the tombstones earlier, he wouldn’t have been distracted by the mountain of death records. It seemed that you should use your real name less when walking outside. If there were onlookers, he would be afraid of someone trying to take advantage of his ability to resurrect himself... This had already happened and would continue to happen. Speaking of which.

"The Slaughter Secret Society’s believers were caught, right? Luo Yishan... Lie Yang knows my real name. At that time, I failed to kill him in the field," Qi Leren asked with a frown.

"He’s dead, died of the seed of slaughter’s outbreak and blood loss. Now the Village of Dusk’s enchantment has been closed, only in not out. The connection attached to the memento ring can track the identities of people who have entered the field, and basically all believers have been either arrested or will be soon. However, there are still several believers who were not in Dusk when the incident occurred, and two other believers escaped before the enchantment closed," Miao Li gave a brief account of the situation.

"Who escaped?" Qi Leren suddenly had a bad feeling.

Miao Li gave him a deep look and seemed a little sympathetic: "Two people you know very well. Mrs. Kathleen, and her subordinate Ashley."

"..." The sense of foreboding always came true. Qi Leren couldn't say what kind of revelation this was.

"Let Ning Zhou train you, maybe it will be useful one day," Miao Li said.

The depressed Qi Leren looked indifferent. Ning Zhou didn't speak kindly when he trained him. He couldn't remember how many times he knocked him to the ground even when he was prepared. Even if his psychological quality was better, he would soon have a psychological shadow from falling into a sprawl all the time.

"Oh, another thing about Slaughter, go to the Trial after you finish your first compulsory task and set aside at least one week of survival days. We’ll help you take out your ticking timebomb," Miao Li said with a smile and walked out of his dream lightly.

It was already morning when he woke up. Although it was still sunset outside the window, the countdown of survival days told him that another day had passed. Qi Leren struggled to get out of bed, washing and thinking about today's mission.

Ning Zhou gave him a daily training menu, and he was also responsible for sparring with him for some of the contents that required a partner. Therefore, Qi Leren took the initiative to prepare the "coach"'s three meals. At present, the two people got along well - considering that so many embarrassing things had happened between them, this harmonious relationship was even more commendable.

There was a faint warmth when he remembered the scene of them eating together in the warm sunset.

However, Ning Zhou said yesterday that he would be absent today and Qi Leren didn't bother to ask him where he was going, so he was the only one who enjoyed breakfast today.

Compared to a large number of procrastinators and lazy parasites in modern society, Qi Leren was a very self-disciplined person. After entering the Nightmare Game, he consciously exercised himself. Now that he had this scientific tutorial, he cherished this opportunity very much. Although every day he was drilled so black and blue that he had to crawl to bed at the end of the day, and when he fell asleep he was haunted by nightmares from time to time, the next day he would still grit his teeth.

Ning Zhou was not here, so the training schedule was cancelled. After training in the afternoon, Qi Leren had some rare leisure time. Out of camaraderie among friends, he specially copied a training menu for Dr. Lu. In the private clinic, he saw Dr. Lu lying on a soft sofa enjoying dessert and hot drinks. He warmly invited Qi Leren to share in the afternoon tea.

After learning about Qi Leren’s recent training menu, Dr. Lu showed the expression of "My little friend is so masochistic he would scare a baby to death" and only reluctantly agreed to jog for two kilometers every day after being persuaded by Qi Leren. However, when he saw his criminal record of falling flat after running only two steps - which Dr. Lu repeatedly explained was because his cerebellum was naturally uncoordinated and his balance was worse than the average person - Qi Leren didn’t believe he would last for long…

After coming out of Dr. Lu's clinic, Qi Leren also saw a player who spoke with an accent talking with his friend: "There’s a female doctor here whose medical skills are very good! There’s just a few more rules. "

"Really? Is she beautiful?"

"He's a man."

"Didn't you say it was a female doctor?"

"Oh no, it's Nu (woman)."

The window on the second floor suddenly opened. Dr. Lu poked his head out and said maliciously, "My last name is Lu! I don't treat people with accents!"

After asking for forgiveness, the two people found that the doctor was hard-hearted and they immediately took up evil thoughts, wanting to threaten violence. Worried about Dr. Lu’s safety, Qi Leren, who hadn’t left yet, simply practiced his recent training results and was pleasantly surprised to find that one or two players weren’t a problem.

The two players didn’t even dare to trash talk as they escaped. Qi Leren watched the two disappear at the intersection and then reluctantly looked at the helpless Dr. Lu: "Now that you know how important exercise is, let’s teach you a few tricks."

Dr. Lu opened his mouth and exclaimed: "I’m used to you having the aura of a mysterious soft girl, you’re as easily bullied as I am. I’m surprised to see you’ve improved so much. It’s really hard to look at you now, you were so cute before..."

Qi Leren’s hands itched to beat him. What is this mysterious soft girl aura?! Who the hell is cute? Although that one task forced me to be a girl for a few days,  I’m still a man normally. I just sent two seven-foot men packing!

"Have a good time training yourself. If you can’t run at least two laps, what will you do the next time someone makes trouble? If you can't beat them, you have to run for it," Qi Leren said earnestly, too lazy to care.

"Don't I have a skill card, [Here, We Will Have Free Wi-Fi]? When equipped, everyone will slowly forget my existence and do their own thing. If the duration of the skill is up, I'll either admit defeat or call the police. If it truly doesn't work out, there'll always be passersby who will help me at the crucial moment," Dr. Lu said firmly.

"...Do whatever you want." Qi Leren said tiredly. As someone with E-level luck, he didn't quite understand the confidence of someone with EX luck, so he left in a disgruntled manner.

It was still early, so he could go somewhere else. Qi Leren made a trip according to the addresses and information given by Chen Baiqi. There were two players who were good at manual work and could be used to make chargers. As a result, when he came to the doors that matched the addresses, one had gone out to do a task and wasn’t at home and the other house was empty, which should mean he’d died recently.

Qi Leren was in a state of melancholy. It seemed he would have to come back another time to see if the player who had left to do a task had come back alive.

As he had plenty of time, Qi Leren simply checked the main task again. Ever since he’d entered the Nightmare World he would go see if the key NPC Rudd, who triggered the task, was present, but he deliberately didn't trigger the task for fear that he would die again. He just wanted to see if anyone knew about it.

Following the remembered route, Qi Leren came to the Twilight Township’s NPC settlement, which was close to "Red’s" home where he’d been staying while undercover with the Slaughter Secret Society. Qi Leren was afraid he would meet some believers who hadn’t been arrested, so he put on his cloak for safety.

Under the setting sun, a large amount of water vapor gushed out from the rusty iron pipes on both sides of the road, seeming like smoke when seen from a distance.

There was a tavern in the depths of the alley near a garbage dump made of scrap iron. The iron waist-high iron gate couldn’t keep out the noisy sounds coming from the building. Men played cards, drank, and chatted loudly, making this remote tavern seem very lively.

Qi Leren pushed open the waist-high iron gate and walked into the pub.

The tavern owner recognized him, the man with short curly hair asking enthusiastically, "I haven't seen you in a long time, Qi."

"I’ve been busy with some things recently," Qi Leren answered and looked around.

The NPC Rudd he is looking for wasn’t here... This was unusual. Every time he’d come here before, he was drunk in the corner of the pub. According to the plot, if he bought him a drink, he would recount his memories with a face of snot and tears, the tragic battle where mankind's Holy City was overtaken by demons more than 20 years ago, and then he would go to the churchyard to pay homage to his comrades.

"Where's the drunk?" Qi Leren asking, pointing to the corner of the pub.

"Oh, him. Just now, a man in a cloak came to have a drink with him and then they left together. Before leaving, the guy even paid off the wine bill he owed. I’m really grateful," said the boss.

Qi Leren's face changed instantly: "What did the man look like?"

"I don't know, he was also wearing a cloak. I couldn't see his face clearly," the boss said. "But I haven't seen him here before. I don't remember his voice... Hey, don't you want your wine?"

"Keep it!" Qi Le rushed out of the pub and headed for the abandoned church not far away without looking back.

The main task’s next step was there!

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[ladylouoflothlorien]

Heal My Heart

anonymous asked:

I see you have requests open! I'd love to see something with Dwalin awkwardly courting a sweet little hobbit healer reader who also takes no shit.... is that too specific? I just need more Dwalin content! ~cassiabaggins Ok so, I swear to god are requests supposed to be this long when you write them ^^;;;? I guess when I did the other request I got for Dwalin before and I said “any excuse to write for Dwalin” I really meant it. I’ll tag you just to make sure you see it! @cassiabaggins SO HERE YOU GO: Heal My Heart Dwalin x Female!Hobbit!Reader Words: 3676

“Tea’s at 4.” Bilbo had said. “Don’t bother knocking.”

Well there he was outside of Bag End at precisely 4pm – he’d timed his arrival perfectly.

Dwalin had been looking forward to his visit to the Burglar of Bag End for many months. He’d spent one winter in Erebor after the reclamation and, as much as it pained him to admit it, it was not the home he once remembered. There were too many ghosts in the stone walls for him, not least the death of his great friend and King who he hadn’t been able to save. Dain had graciously offered him a decorated position in the Royal Guard, and though Dwalin truly appreciated the offer, he’d declined. He had his share of the treasure, so there was no need for him to work. Apart from that, he knew deep down that no King would ever hold his loyalty in the same way that Thorin had, and how could he dedicate his life to protect a King he cared little for when he’d already done that for a King he did care about and had failed. Not long into that cold winter, he’d began entertaining thoughts of following Bilbo back to The Shire, if only for a change of scene. He needed to get away from that mountain mausoleum.

It surprised him just how much he longed for soft grass and rolling hills, perhaps because it was the exact opposite of the things that reminded him of his pain. Balin had been the one to convince him to wait until the winter was over before heading out, especially as he intended to undertake the journey alone. Azog might be dead, but the roads were still far from safe. The snow had come, and stayed for months, but as soon as it had melted Dwalin was ready to leave. He’d completed all his preparations weeks before.

Bag End was exactly like he remembered, although the mark Gandalf had placed on the door was gone. The Shire itself didn’t seem any different, though he’d hardly gotten a good look at it the first time he’d been there, considering he’d arrived under the cover of darkness. He stood in Bilbo’s front garden, stalling, for now he had finally arrived at his destination he felt a strange hesitancy to complete his journey. That, and he was still debating as to whether or not he should actually knock, or simply walk in. Which would be more of a surprise? After a short internal debate, he decided to heed the Hobbit’s advice, and he pushed the door open without knocking.

When Dwalin stepped into the Smial he was suddenly transported back over a year before, remembering how he felt setting off on such a mighty quest. Had he known quite how it would end, he most likely would have done everything in his power to prevent it from happening, for what was a Mountain Throne without a King to sit in it? The tall dwarf was pulled from his moping by the sound of voices. The first, Bilbo’s, but the second he did not recognise. Intrigued, he walked towards the voices and found himself hovering outside Bilbo’s Kitchen.

“Bilbo really, this is the absolute last time I stitch you up because you slept with that silly knife in the bed.”

Dwalin heard the tell-tale sound of Bilbo sniffing, and just knew he was wrinkling his nose. Beorn’s nickname for Bilbo had been rather accurate, hadn’t it?

“It is not a ‘silly’ knife. Its name is Sting, and it’s my sword.”

“Sword or no sword, it does not belong under the covers Bilbo Baggins!”

Bilbo being scolded? Now that Dwalin had to see. Quite as a mouse – or at least a mouse that was close to 5ft of solid muscle – he moved his body so he could peek around the open arch-way that led into the kitchen. As silent as he’d been up until that point, the sight of Bilbo sitting on his kitchen bench – blushing – as a sweet female hobbit tenderly examined his arm, made him forget himself.

“By Mahal buglar, ye’ never told us ye’d found yerself a wife!”

---

As it turned out, Bilbo had not found himself a wife, thank you very much Mister Dwalin. The Hobbit had been blushing because he’d been embarrassed, as it was not the first or even the second time he’d needed patching up after cutting himself on his on sword whilst he slept. Dwalin understood the underlying meaning behind the injuries; the Hobbit had been sleeping with his sword because he felt unsafe somehow. Dwalin didn’t need to be as smart as his brother to work out why that might be.

If he’d needed an excuse to stay in The Shire, he could’ve used the excuse of staying to help Bilbo feel safe, but as it turned out Bilbo was more than eager to have his friend stay at Bag End for an extended period of time.

“Now you’re here you surely won’t be off again in a hurry, Dwalin! I’ll have the guest room ready for you in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

Dwalin hadn’t been quite sure how lambs’ tails came into anything, but he wasn’t going to question an invitation to stay, not now he had yet another reason for wanting to remain in The Shire for the foreseeable future. By Durin’s beard if she wasn’t the most beautiful creature he’d ever beheld, beardless face and all. Having found out that she was not in fact Bilbo’s wife, but rather his cousin – once removed on his father’s side, and thrice on his mother’s – and The Shire’s most knowledgeable healer, he’d felt a sense of relief he could compare with none he had ever felt.

It had taken Dwalin all of 10 minutes to realise that she was his One, and he was not at all disappointed that she was a Hobbit, though he realised that Hobbits did not love in quite the same way as Dwarves did and he knew he would have to properly win her affections. He felt up to the challenge, though the very thought of courting her made him jittery all over. Still, if he could face down a pack of warg-riding orcs with less than a handful of fear then surely he could face this new challenge head on.

---

The day you met Dwalin had started out no more remarkable than any other day, but it had not ended so. You’d been rather exasperated to find that, upon your visit to one of your more cherished family members for afternoon tea, you had yet another injury to tend to. You were growing rather concerned for your cousin Bilbo, though it came out of you as exasperation. So far he had only given himself gashes – rather nasty gashes, but gashes all the same – but you knew that sleeping with a sharp object could never bring anything but harm. How long would it be before he gave himself an injury that would be much more difficult to fix, and more difficult to heal from?

You’d barely finished the business of stitching up his latest cut when a third party had made itself known in Bag End, and by the Lady you were glad he hadn’t shown up before or else you might not have had the presence of mind to complete the stitches properly. You didn’t think you’d ever seen anyone quite so attractive in your entire life. You felt certain that his biceps were larger than your head, and oh sweet Yavanna, he really did tower over you, being a respectable 3ft and 6 inches yourself. You finally understood why the Lady had taken Aulë as her husband. It seemed a very wise decision if he looked anything at all like the beings he’d created.

You were rather busy for a week after the Dwarf, Dwalin, had arrived, but after that time you began to find more and more excuses to visit Bag End. Your cousin, who seemed to see right through you to the real reason of your visits, also began to invite you to dine with him more regularly than before.

A week more, and strange things began to happen. A strong wind had blown a tree down, which had in turn damaged the fencing in the front garden of your own Smial. You’d mentioned this in passing whilst eating dinner at Bag End one night, as you hadn’t yet had a chance to get it fixed. Then the next morning as you left your Smial to go and collect healing herbs, you found none other than Dwalin himself in your front garden. The tree that had fallen was no more, having already been chopped up – by one of Dwalin’s axes, you assumed – and the logs piled neatly. The gruff dwarf was already going about the business of mending the broken fence when you greeted him. Naturally, you thanked him profusely and asked him what he wanted in return. He’d seemed about to say something, but a wonderfully pink colour had spread across his cheeks, partly hidden by his facial hair, and he’d clammed up. He’d quietly grumbled something about not expecting anything in return, and that it was the least he could do for any cousin of Bilbo’s, and so you’d thanked him once again and gone on your way feely very grateful but also thoroughly confused.

The second incident occurred two days after the first. At about midday you’d gotten a knock on the door, and when you opened it you’d been surprised to see Dwalin once again at your front door …. holding a brace of rabbits. He held them towards you, and you’d taken them, for there seemed nothing else to do.

“A-are these for me, Mister Dwalin?” You’d asked, and he’d nodded to confirm it, but had said no more.

You floundered a little at that, having never been gifted meat before, but you’d stepped to the side slightly and asked him inside. You supposed the least you could do would be to offer him some refreshment – it was time for lunch after all. Dwalin had once again gone that rather delicious red shade and had muttered something about ‘not wanting to impose’ so quietly that you almost missed it. He’d bowed a little then, and hurried away, and you were left feeling as confused as you’d felt at the conclusion of your last meeting, although this time the confusion was tinged with disappointment. You’d rather wanted to spend some private time with the gorgeous Dwarf, but he didn’t seem interested at all. His kindness towards you was rather frustrating if that was all it truly was.

After a few more similar happenings, you finally snapped. You’d waited until you knew Dwalin would be away from Bag End – several Hobbits had been employing him to do menial tasks they were not strong enough to do themselves – and when the coast was clear you snuck in to have a private word with your cousin.

“And that’s not all, Bilbo!” Your hands tugged at your hair in frustration as you paced the floor of his study, whilst Bilbo himself remained seated calmly in his chair.

“First it was the fence, and then the rabbits, but he’s also given me furs ‘in case next winter is too harsh for ye’ lass’..” You paused to glare at Bilbo as he laughed at your poor imitation of the dwarf’s accent.

“Yes yes, well you laugh, but he’s also given me a brand new dagger to make it easier for me to collect herbs. It looks like he made it himself Bilbo! No-one around here would either make or own a knife with dwarvish runes carved into it!”

At that Bilbo sat up a little, suddenly alert. All the gifts Dwalin had been giving you, and the order, seemed to be ringing a bell in his mind, he just couldn’t quite remember why.

“Now, don’t you worry. I’ve been writing letters to his brother Balin, you see.” He picked up a piece of paper from his desk and held it aloft.

“It’s my turn to write, and write I shall. I will ask Balin if there is any greater meaning behind this, and when the raven brings his reply we shall know all, if there is anything to be known.”

---

Another fortnight of you enduring an adorably blushing, extremely helpful, frustratingly unwilling-to-explain-his-actions dwarf and Balin’s letter finally arrived.

Dear Bilbo,

As always it was very nice to receive your letter, but I won’t waste your time with needless chatter, as I am sure you will be eager to hear what I have to tell you next.

It would seem that my brother Dwalin has forgotten the first rule of Dwarven courting, which is tell the person that they are being courted, for though he is as stone-headed and iron-fisted as our father could have ever wished for, he is sensitive in his own way.

As you have no doubt deduced from that previous statement, it would appear that my brother is trying to court your cousin. Dwarrow do not go about sharing the details of our rituals and habits, but it is necessary in this case, and though you are a thief I know you to be an honest one, my friend, so I know I can count on you not to spread this information further than is needed.

Our courting is about showing your intended that you can take care of them, provide for them, keep them safe and protected. From what you say Dwalin has been doing, it seems he has covered these steps and is moving on to the next. The dagger you could say is a gift with the purpose of protecting her when he cannot do so himself, even if he has used the herb-gathering as a cover story. I would not be surprised if he soon gives her something more expensive – there should be at least one gift given to enhance something about her that he finds beautiful.

Do write again Bilbo, if all goes well I hope I shall soon be able to call you family in more than just combat!

Yours,

Balin.

“Well.” Bilbo said to himself as he leaned back in his chair, bringing his pipe to his lips. “Well, isn’t that something?”

---

You sat in your front room, twisting your skirt between your fingers anxiously. You’d heard about Balin’s letter from Bilbo, and now whenever you weren’t busy you were anxiously waiting for Dwalin to come around with his next gift. You hadn’t seen him for a few days, and you could only assume that the next time he came, it would be with the ‘expensive gift’ Balin’s letter had mentioned. Your stomach was twisted in many, many knots, for you knew that you had to get Dwalin to admit that he was courting you – your heart could only take so much, and though Balin’s letter had done much to confirm your own sneaking suspicions, you couldn’t get the nagging voice of doubt to shut up. Besides, Balin’s letter had said it was only right and proper that Dwalin actually let you know that he was trying to court you.

Then it came, that knock at you front door, and you practically jumped a foot out of your chair at the sound. You took a deep breath to steady yourself before going to open it, and were rather disappointed to see that it wasn’t in fact Dwalin, but a rather frantic looking Hobbit that you didn’t know that well. As it turned out, their husband had come down with a fever, and before you knew it you were rushing off to treat them, your worries about Dwalin temporarily forgotten.

By the time you got back to your Smial, it was dusk, and you were exhausted. You almost didn’t notice Dwalin sitting on the bench in your front garden, patiently waiting for you to return with a box in his hands.

“O-oh, hello Mister Dwalin!” You stammered out, and felt rather put-out that you hadn’t had any alone time to prepare yourself for meeting him.

“Good evening, lass.”

As always he was rather quiet when addressing you, seemingly unable to look you in the eye for more than a second in total. He shuffled where he stood a little, and then held the box out to you, telling you to take it without using his words. You steeled yourself before replying, pushing your shoulders back in an attempt to physically force confidence into your small body.

“I… Dwalin I…” You took a deep breath and tried again.

“Dwalin I cannot take this, I-”  

You’d been ready to continue, to explain everything, but Dwalin’s face visibly fell so dramatically that it caught you off guard and your words escaped you. His whole body seemed to deflate and sag until he was almost your height, and you swore you could see his hands tremble slightly around the box they were still holding.

“O-of course lass..” He began, his voice trailing off until it sounded more like he was grumbling at himself than really responding to her.

“Don’t know wha’ I was thinking… ugly brute like me… of course ye’ wouldn’t…”

You were so stunned by the things he was muttering about himself that you couldn’t do anything, and only when he turned to leave did you finally regain control of yourself. You reached out your hand and held his arm to keep him where he was, and he stilled, though you did not doubt he could break out of your hold in an instant If he chose to. He looked at you, his face a heart-breaking picture of self-doubt, confusion, and a small amount of hope.

“M-mister Dwalin.. that is to say..” You could feel your own face growing red as you tried to force out the words you’d so carefully prepared by yourself, in front of your mirror.

“I-I will gladly accept it… but isn’t there something you need to say to me? That is.. I.. Balin’s letter said…” You trailed off, your embarrassment and anxiety having risen to no-doubt dangerous levels.  

Dwalin on the other hand finally seemed to have regained the ability to speak at a normal volume around you.

“Ye’ had a letter from my brother Balin, lass?” He asked, utterly confounded by the idea, for how would his brother even know to send you a letter? You shook your head quickly.

“N-no.. his letter to Bilbo!” As you continued to speak, you voice got quieter and quieter until Dwalin had to strain to hear the words.

“He said.. that dwarven courting … needs to be… told plainly.. I mean..” You swallowed, once again consumed by the thought that maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t actually been trying to court you at all and this was all some cruel trick.

The truth of the situation finally dawned on the old warrior.

“Oh Mahal.. lass I’m such a fool…” He groaned, and finally all the words he’d been yearning to say but hadn’t had the courage to came spilling out like a flood from a burst dam.

“I wanted to tell ye’ really I did… but I couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come. I should’ve stopped then lass, but I did not have the strength …”

You let out a shaky, but relieved breath, and let go of his arm in favour of gently taking his – much larger – hands with your own, curling slim fingers over thick fingers where they still grasped the box.

“Dwalin. One question, just ask it.”

You could visibly see him swallow, buying himself time to gather his courage.

“Will ye’ let me court ye’, lass?”

“Yes, yes Dwalin I think I will.”

You laughed out loud, euphoria filling your small frame, and you flung yourself against Dwalin. Your arms found his broad shoulders and thanks to his warrior’s reflexes he managed to catch you with one hand, still holding the box with the other, all the while not even realising what had happened. Before he had time to process that you were in his arms – well, arm – you kissed him, and when his brain finally caught up with reality, he kissed you back as well.

---

Several months later, you lay sprawled out on your marriage bed, feeling practically weightless. Dwalin lay beside you, on his side with one arm resting over your stomach.

“Did ye’ enjoy that lass?” He asked, a teasing note in his tone as he looked at you, though there was an undercurrent of insecurity. He still didn’t quite know how an old, battle-scarred dwarf like him had managed to wed a sweet wee hobbit like yourself.

You turned your head slowly to look at him, your eyebrows raised almost to your hairline.

“Dwalin love, are you kidding? That was incredible.” You smiled softly at him and reached out a hand to stroke his cheek, and when your fingers lightly brushed over his facial hair he groaned a little and pressed into the touch.

“Oh? Dear husband, would you like to go again?”

His eyes snapped open in surprise. Of course he would very much like to, but he’d imagined that you would probably want to sleep after the first, as the wedding had been a long and – though very happy – rather tiring.

“A-again?” He choked out, and your smile turned mischievous.

“Oh yes, I think so.”

You pushed your hand against his shoulder and watched with satisfaction as he rolled onto his back, though you knew he could easily resist if he wanted to. You swung one leg over his thick waist and settled yourself above him, and he thought he might go blind to see such a vision above him.

“This time, however, I think you should lie back my dear, and let me take care of you.”

“Oh Mahal.”

Dwalin realised then that he would get little sleep that night, but as your form shifted over his, he realised that he did not care.

The End.

Forever Tags: @sweeticedtea @cd1242 @strongandfreedc @pixierox101 @jotink78 @luna-xial @underthemoon-imagines

[nose-bandaid]

bloom ✿ pt.5 — jonquils

Kino (Hyunggu) x (female) Reader | flower shop AU

february 27th jonquils — love me, sympathy, desire for affection to be returned

introduction | part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven | epilogue

taglist: @yunwoo​

feel free to send me an ask or a dm if you wanna be added to the taglist:D

=====

You didn’t see Hyunggu for almost two weeks after the rose incident, and as you expected, you didn’t get a single message back from him either. While you reasoned with yourself that he most was most likely just not in the need for flowers (a reasonable explanation), a part of you worried that he would never visit again. What else were you supposed to think? He literally disappeared from your life without a word, and his friend’s comments didn’t make the situation any better.

By now, you were coming to terms with the fact that things between you and him had died down, and channelled more focus onto your work in hopes of getting over the reoccurring thoughts of him. It wasn’t worth it. Clearly he wasn’t going to make a move anytime soon (and neither were you, really), and so you decided that it would be best for you to just put it aside and think about more important things instead. Your messy feelings could wait.

Today your shift started later than usual, and you were able to score yourself some extra sleep and a good lunch — a nice change from your usual morning shifts. And to be honest, you felt pretty content despite all of the worries running around in your mind. Refreshed and relaxed, you had a good feeling for the day that was about to come, and happily pushed open the door to the shop.

Only to walk straight into someone.

“Ah—!”

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” You apologized, rubbing your nose to ease the pain.

“No, no, don’t worry about—“

You locked eyes with the person in front of you and felt each other freeze for a moment.

“Oh... Hyunggu... Hey.” You gave him a quick smile and the person standing beside him let out a shocked gasp.

“You’re the girl right?”

“Excuse me?” You turned to the other voice and took in his appearance. He was stunningly tall with a noticeably broad posture which for some reason, made you think of the small tree you had growing in your backyard. Maybe it was the hair? Or maybe his shoulders? Or the way he looked at you with his lost, curious eyes? Whatever it was, you had to stifle a giggle at the thought and made a mental note to take another look at the tree when you got home.

“Y/n, was it? You’re the girl that Hyunggu never stops talk—“ The person in question was quick to cover the tall boy’s mouth, loudly shushing him.

“Shinwon if you don’t shut your mouth right now—“ His muttering trailed off into a harsh glare.

Not wanting to stay in the awkward conversation any longer, you slipped past the fighting friends. As you scurried away from the scene, you locked eyes with Seungkwan, who was currently pruning some of the bonsai trees and immediately melted in comfort at the familiar face.

“Hey, Boo.” You greeted, and the other ceased his detailed trimming to give you a wave. From the looks of it, he hadn’t noticed the little encounter you had at the entrance.

“Hey! How have things been?”

You looked behind you at the two boys who were now talking to each other in hushed voices. “Er... Same as usual I guess. You?”

He gave you an exasperated look and picked up the shears again. “Josh was dumb and didn’t tell me that I had some orders to complete, so guess who’s overloaded with work today!” His cheerful voice dripped with the feeling of apathy, devoid of emotions. “Do you mind taking care of the customers for a while? I was waiting for you to come before I went to the back.”

As much as you didn’t want to interact with Hyunggu at all, you couldn’t say no to Seungkwan’s request. The poor guy seemed so stressed that day, you ushered him away from the bonsai without any second thoughts. Giving you a quick hug, he made some last arrangements to the plants before bustling his way to the back with a huff. 

You stared at the plants and childishly hoped that they would strike up a conversation to keep you busy, but they refused to say a word (as they should). Sighing to yourself, you decided to at least pretend you were doing something. Anything to occupy your restless attention.

You didn’t know how you were expected to react to suddenly seeing Hyunggu out of the blue, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t expecting to see you either. He didn’t even seem like he wanted to be here in the first place, and you wondered why he risked this visit after putting so much effort into avoiding your messages. 

Despite trying your best to just focus on the task at hand, you still ended up watching their movements in the corner of your eye. They continued to argue for a couple more minutes and then finally decided on some flowers to settle with. Panic filled your body with every step they took towards the counter up until the very last step that took them to the front and the other boy — Shin... Shinwon was it? — glanced your way. You didn’t know how many minutes had passed since Seungkwan left you, but you silently hoped that it was enough for him to come back and save you from this situation.

Though of course, not everything you wish for happens so easily.

“These are jonquils, right?” A curious voice pulled you out of your sulking, and you followed the finger that pointed towards the yellow flowers sitting on the table nearby.

You looked at the tall boy in surprise, most people would’ve just thought they were daffodils and called it a day (which wasn’t exactly wrong, but it wasn’t exactly correct either). “Yes they are! Not many people are able to identify them like that, I’m impressed.”

He shot you an embarrassed look as you reluctantly made your way over to the cash. “I was up ‘till 5 am watching youtube videos... and let’s just say you can learn a lot of things within a span of five hours.”

“I see.” You hummed. The conversation died down and the rest of the exchange was done in silence. Every so often, Shinwon would give Hyunggu a knowing glance and you waited for the latter to say something, but he didn’t even utter a single word of goodbye before leaving. His friend, on the other hand, returned your confused look and apologized for some odd reason, before tagging along.

You just stood there, watching the two boys cross the street before disappearing behind a corner. As they did, the clouds in the sky passed over the sun, casting an ominous darkness over the shop.

“The weather’s a bit gloomy today isn’t it?”

You bit back the harsh words you wanted to throw at Seungkwan for arriving right after the moment you needed him. The weather wasn’t the only thing that was gloomy right now, but you also knew that it wasn’t his fault that you were in this situation. You swallowed down the spite building up in you.

“Yeah, it sure is.”

He seemed to have sensed your distant tone. “Everything alright? The plants didn’t bully you did they?”

You laughed at the coincidence, if only the bonsai had started a conversation with you a while ago, then maybe you’d have something better to talk about. You pondered over your response for a second.

“You ever just really want to see someone, but at the same time, you silently hope you wouldn’t run into them anytime soon? Like that awkward, I-want-to-spend-time-with-you-but-also-not, kinda feel?”

He hummed at your question. “I think I know what you’re getting at.”

“Do you, now?” You quirked an eyebrow in his direction.

“Yeah, so there’s this really cute barista at the cafe down the street at my house, and when I say cute, I mean really cute. Anyways,” He dismissed your giggles at his passionate description.”I went there yesterday ‘cause, you know, I need my iced americano to get through the day. The last time I saw this barista, I dropped my wallet and spilled my change all over the ground because I was so caught up in looking at—stop laughing—looking at the way she seemed so cute with the bow she had on. Guy behind me got mad for holding up the line, but like, whatever cause I made her smile! Which was amazing!”

He paused for some dramatic effect.

“...Until I spilled my drink onto the counter when she handed it to me. So then, now not only was she smiling at me but now she was LAUGHING at me. She still made me another drink but I didn’t think I would be able to look at her in the eye for the rest of year. But then guess what? Of course she has to be the only one at the cash when I went yesterday, and of course, she remembered me for the incident.” He groaned and muttered into his hands. “I didn’t even get her name or her number, I just ran out when I got my drink.”

You looked at him with a mixture pity and amusement in your eyes. Seungkwan never failed to brighten your days, no matter how gloomy they may be. His positive attitude followed him everywhere, work included, and you were grateful for that. 

“Not to make this about me though, sorry about the rant.” Finally recovering, he gave you a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Is everything ok with you?” He repeated.

You nodded absentmindedly. “You know what — yeah, everything’s alright. I think I just needed to get my mind off some things and your rant helped with that. I’ll figure it out eventually.”

The two of you shared a brief smile until he spoke up. “Okay, then how about we go grab ourselves come drinks at that cafe when our shifts are over? I’ll treat you for the help back there, and maybe it’ll help you distract yourself.”

“You really don’t have to do that—”

“Hey, c’mon, what are friends for? Besides, we haven’t really been able to catch up on each other for the past while. I miss hearing about all the tea you have to spill.” He nudged your side gently and you finally gave in with a happy sigh.

“Okay, okay, sure, let’s do that.” You agreed, which earned you a smile of approval.

As you watched him check out the results of your work on the bonsai trees (they were practically his children, so he was pretty picky on how they looked), you began to wonder to yourself — will it ever be possible for you to be more like him? Seungkwan always kept his composure along with a positive mindset, and you were a bit jealous of his ability to put things behind him in order to move forward. If only you could do that with your case with Hyunggu...

“If we do run into that cute barista though,” He suddenly piped up. “I’m giving you the responsibility of getting her name and number for me. That’s my only request.”

“Is that so? Then I might as well be the one taking her on a date then, if I’m going through all that effort.” You smirked, feeling much better after your chat with Seungkwan.

“Wha—Y/NNNNN!”

=====

hi please look forward to part 6, i’m truly grinding these updates hehe;)

[dweemeister]

Best Live Action Short Film Nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards (2021, listed in order of appearance in the shorts package)

NOTE: For viewers in the United States (continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawai’i) who would like to watch the Oscar-nominated short film packages, click here. For virtual cinemas, you can purchase the packages individually or all three at once. You can find info about reopened theaters that are playing the packages in that link. Because moviegoing carries risks at this time, please remember to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by your local, regional, and national health officials.

This blog, since 2013, has been the site of my write-ups to the Oscar-nominated short film packages. No pandemic was going to stop me this year, as I was able to view the short film packages virtually thanks to a local repertory, the Frida Cinema of Santa Ana, California. Without further ado, here are the nominees for the Best Live Action Short Film at this year’s Oscars. Films predominantly not in the English language are listed with their nation of origin.

The Present (2020, Palestine)

Since the 1990s, the Israeli military has set up hundreds of checkpoints within Palestine’s West Bank. These checkpoints have impeded Palestinian movement within the Israeli-occupied West Bank, supposedly to better protect the extraterritorial Israeli settlements there. Directed by Farah Nabulsi, The Present could have easily fell into an agitprop trap – leaning on political outrage rather than the individual emotions that power this film – but it deftly avoids doing so. On the day of his wedding anniversary with his wife, Yusef (Saleh Bakri) decides to go shopping with daughter Yasmine (Maryam Kanj). Yusef and Yasmine travel to and from Bethlehem (which is in Palestine, but is not easily accessible by Palestinians) to purchase a new refrigerator, groceries, and a few goodies for Yasmine. The process of traveling just a few miles from home proves onerous and humiliating.

Nabulsi’s film never feels like a lecture, instead preferring to juxtapose the cruel ironies that these Israeli checkpoints embody. The viewer intuits how militarized and confusing these checkpoints must be to the Palestinians. Israel’s apartheid mindset extends to the West Bank – the checkpoints have a single lane for Israeli drivers and a gated, narrow entryway specifically for the Palestinians. Past the checkpoint during their time shopping, life seems briefly normal. That Nabulsi can navigate the contrasting emotions between these scenes reflects the tautness of this film and its hints of Italian Neorealism. Bakri, as Yusef, is excellent during his tense conversations with the Israeli soldiers, even if some of these moments feel more stilted due to the actors playing the soldiers and the guerrilla filmmaking this piece employs. For Kanj, as Yasmine, one can see her anguish in seeing her father discriminated against on what should have been a special day. For Palestinian children, injustice is a rite of passage.

My rating: 8/10

Feeling Through (2019)

It is a chilly night in New York City at an hour where few are outside by choice. Teenager Tareek (Steven Prescod) is homeless. After saying good night to his friends, he happens upon Artie, a deafblind man (Robert Tarango, who is deafblind himself) holding up a sign requesting anyone to assist him. Curious and half-willing to help, Tareek taps Artie on the arm. Artie pulls out a tattered notepad and marker, asking for help to get to a bus stop. What follows is an uplifting connection between two cast-off souls, sharing each other’s good company and good humor if only for a brief time. Director Doug Roland based Feeling Through on an encounter he had with a deafblind man named Artemio. Roland’s film was accomplished in collaboration with the Hellen Keller Center.

Cynical viewers might view Feeling Through as syrupy, its swirling score too manipulative, the screenplay predictable, the filmmaking pedestrian. To different extents, each of those criticisms are true, but that does not undermine the raw inspiration responsible for this film’s pulse. It boasts solid performances from Prescod and Tarango – the latter a kitchen worker from Long Island and possibly the first deafblind actor in a lead role in film history. Roland’s screenplay beautifully strips away stereotypes of deafblind people. Tarango, as Artie, is neither overly dependent nor secluded from society. He knows that being deafblind sets him apart from those who can see and hear, and embraces the difference – lending a refreshing directness to how he communicates. Despite its lack of filmmaking or acting pedigree compared to its other nominees in this category, Feeling Through enters this Academy Awards season without a single loss in any of the film festivals that it screened in. No wonder: it is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense, without ever glossing over how difficult it is to be deafblind.

My rating: 9/10

Two Distant Strangers (2020)

Production on Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s Two Distant Strangers began in the shadow of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Its emotions are raw and there is no doubt behind the importance of the film’s messaging. Carter (rapper Joey Bada$$) has had some first date with Perri (Zaria Simone), and leaves in the morning to get home to his pet dog. Just outside the apartment building door, a police officer named Merk (Andrew Howard) stops Carter, profiles him, and ultimately kills Carter in cold blood. Once Carter dies, the film cuts to Carter and Perri in bed once again. Immediately, the viewer knows this film is a time loop a la Groundhog Day (1993), and, no matter what precautions he takes, Carter just cannot avoid execution from Merk’s hands. Through the film’s structure, Free and Roe capture the sinking, repetitive feeling that black Americans go through when hearing the news of yet another incident of police brutality.

Good intentions and urgency, however, do not necessarily make a worthy film. Some of the editing in Two Distant Strangers’ middle third shows too many images of Carter’s bullet-riddled body. After the first few instances of the time loop, the viewer does not need another glimpse of a lead-shredded corpse, blood splattering across pavement. The filmmaker’s fury towards Carter’s situation – that nothing will change – is already evident in the idea of such killings. Combined with the questionable dialogue in the final time loop and the mediocre acting, this all feels exploitative, an unwitting product of Hollywood’s history of fetishizing black trauma. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), historically, likes to reward films they perceive as demonstratively staged and thematically urgent. Two Distant Strangers meets both these criteria, but this material could have retained its rage without as much sensationalism.

My rating: 6/10

White Eye (2019, Israel)

Like Feeling Through, Tomer Shushan’s White Eye – the winner of the Narrative Short Film award at South by Southwest (SXSW) – was based on an actual encounter in its director’s life. Late at night in the streets of Tel Aviv, Omer (Daniel Gad) has spotted his stolen bicycle locked onto a rack. Omer lost his bike more than a month ago, has not filed a police report, and seeks to reclaim it as soon as possible. The police are of no help, and the people proximate to the intersection where these events take place are unwilling or hesitant to help. The now-owner of the bike is an Eritrean refugee named Yunes (Dawit Tekelaeb), and he insists to his manager (Reut Akkerman) and to Omer that he did not know that the bike was stolen property when he purchased it. And yet Omer’s tenacity and fit of passion spirals the situation beyond his or Yunes’ control.

White Eye is impressively staged, filmed in a single take – no cuts, no edits, all in real-time. To compare this film one last time to Feeling Through, White Eye accomplishes all it needs to say at a short film’s length. Some might claim Saar Mizrahi’s cinematography and 360º smooth-rotating is just another modern filmmaking gimmick; instead, it submerges the viewer into Omer’s mentality as he fights to retrieve his bike. The purposefully subjective framing questions the viewer on what our reactions might be in this situation, how deeply would we allow out outrage – and perhaps our ethnic/racial biases – to guide our actions. Shushan challenges the audience not to adopt Omer’s conclusions and emotions so readily, and he does a masterful job in appealing to and challenging one’s empathy as it becomes clear there will be no storybook ending.

My rating: 8/10

The Letter Room (2020)

By virtue of its central actor, The Letter Room is the most high-profile of this year’s nominees. Elvira Lind’s film is a dark comedy and its approach and tone are difficult to categorize. Richard (a mustached Oscar Isaac, who is Lind’s spouse) is a corrections officer who has requested a departmental transfer. With the transfer, he trades a more hands-on role for an office job. As the prison’s communications director, his responsibilities now entail filing through all of the prisoners’ incoming and outgoing mail – reading through all of the letters, reporting to his superiors for prison rules violations, censoring materials if necessary. At first, this role is as tedious as his previous position. But when Richard begins to read the histories of the prisoners and their loved ones, he becomes emotionally invested in a particular exchange between one death row inmate and his loved one (Alia Shawkat).

The Letter Room, despite a serviceable performance by Isaac as the unusual and stiff lead, has a milquetoast commentary about how the American criminal justice system imprisons more than just the inmates. These themes shambolically merge with Richard’s inherent loneliness, his inability to separate his own feelings from the voyeuristic work that his new position entails. This is a fellow looking for meaningful human connection, finding none, and attempting to understand something he has never found. The Letter Room curiously never questions the tricky ethics of Richard’s decision to intervene with the decisions made by Alia Shawkat’s character, and how the power disparities of his interactions color his life. The film’s conclusion is unearned, placing too neat a bow on a film that cannot balance its incongruous themes.

My rating: 6/10

^ All ratings based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

From previous years: 85th Academy Awards (2013), 87th (2015), 88th (2016), 89th (2017), 90th (2018), 91st (2019), and 92nd (2020).

[margridarnauds]

Your "Grace O'Malley" tag is extremely gratifying--it's so nice to see actual scholarship. So with that in mind: Have you read Morgan Llwelyn's novel, and if so, what do you have to say on it?

Hi! Thank you so much! I’m glad you like it; it can feel a little bit like I’m shouting into the wind, given that Gráinne is one of my more niche focuses. I still kind of want to do something that actually looks at the EVIDENCE, but I digress.

Morgan Llewelyn….I have mixed feelings about. I last really looked into this book when I was toying with doing my undergrad Capstone Thesis on Donal O’Flaherty, about….4 years ago, now. Time really does fly. So, I forced myself into a refresher, just to remind myself what I missed. 

[warning for references to rape, incest, and some of the most Cursed™ lines I’ve ever been forced to read in my life, and that’s including the zombie blowjob scene.]

Final Verdict: 2.5/5 - DEFINITELY not the worst retelling of Gráinne’s life (I’ve seen....Things), but also not the best, either, and with some very, very glaring flaws that make it impossible for me to really enjoy. 

My main take away from it is that…as far as its depiction of Gráinne, it did about as well as its source material. I can tell, looking at it and reading it, that she really looked hard at Anne Chambers’ book. Which is unfortunate because, as I’ve made……………relatively clear over the years, I think that it’s very, deeply flawed. And, unfortunately, Llewlyn stuck rather close to the book, leaving in things like Donal’s “murder" of Walter Fada Burke (if the patronymic don’t fit, you’ve got to acquit), Sexist™ Incompetent™ Donal™, and…..Hugh de Lacy, which, in my personal opinion, owe more to Chambers lack of critical reading of her own sources than they do to the historical record. ESPECIALLY Hugh de Lacy because…the name. Very odd that one of the major Anglo-Norman officials should share a name with Gráinne Ní Mháille’s boytoy. Very odd. Especially given that the pattern of “Love interest of Gráinne’s killed off/Gráinne seeks revenge” is VERY similar to what we hear of the Defense of Hen’s Castle. Almost as if they come from the same story.

This also leads us to the scene where Donal tries to rape Gráinne in her sleep which, honestly, I loathe with every fibre of my being. Nope, nope. Hate it. Hate. It. Oh, God, I forgot about the references to Donal!Incest. Why is this a mini-genre of Gráinne Ní Mháille historical fiction. Why. I can think of at least…..2-3 books that do this. Why God. Why. 

Lest anyone think that this is the Donal fangirl in me jumping out, in general, I feel like Llewelyn’s treatment of most of the characters is ultimately paper-thin. Richard Burke is also given this treatment and, while I wouldn’t REALLY expect a sympathetic Richard Bingham (nor would I particularly want one - I’ve spent a lot of quality time reading his complaints and cackling), even HE’S done a disservice. 

On a technical level, I don’t REALLY like how she handles the timeline, it jumps around a little too much for my taste. We’re treated to constant flashbacks with little warning, including ones that could have been just as easily folded into the timeline proper. And, while Llewelyn has a rich, descriptive style, she also writes an, honestly, impressive number of lines that will haunt me for all the wrong reasons. I’ve detailed a lot of them under the readmore, but some highlights: 

She had gazed in wonder at the child—his perfect ears and fingers, the miniature penis that would eventually become a mighty rod for transmitting further life.” This is, I’m sure, what every mother thinks when she sees her newborn son’s penis for the first time. Why. Why God. Why. Why. Why.

Okay, another candidate for Cursed Lines: "Richard noted the high color in her cheeks, and saw how her nipples stood out strongly under the soft fabric of her gown.” If this were a male author, I would be-Nah, it’s still bad. It’s just bad writing, I’m sorry. In general, I found that she massively sexed up Gráinne’s life, for no real reason that I can tell except for that it felt almost like she felt like it was necessary to prove that Gráinne was a Real Woman™? There’s a very....odd way that her sex life is treated, and it grates on me. We have to deal with Donal, Richard, Huw(uwu), Philip Sydney, and Tigernan, all in the course of one book and, honestly, I don’t really CARE about Gráinne’s sexcapades, and they’re generally written with so little development or feeling, even and especially in the case of her GREAT LOVE HUW, that I found myself actively groaning. My take on Gráinne, at least the Gráinne that I know in the sources, is almost asexual. I don’t deny that she had sex. She obviously did. (FOUR CHILDREN.) And I think that she might very well have enjoyed it. (Not that there’s enough evidence to KNOW.) But I also think that she was a profoundly pragmatic woman who didn’t fixate on it that much. Again, I could be wrong! When we have as little as we have to go on as we do with her, it’s impossible to know! But I just do not see her as jumping into bed with guys that often, especially not in cases where there was no clear benefit. There’s this...trend, where Gráinne HAS to have a love interest, in every major adaptation of her life, because it’s almost like people are afraid to have her without the anchor of sex and romance. (For what it’s worth - I do think, simply because of the amount of time that they spent together + the fact that they did have at least three children with one another, that Donal was probably her favorite of her two spouses. I don’t KNOW this, because I can’t. The evidence isn’t there. I don’t know whether they loved one another, whether it was a great romance, whether the sex was good, or even if it was just a mild affection, but I do lean towards him, even if I can’t say that he was the Great Love of Her Life™. I think they complimented one another’s lifestyles quite nicely, and that’s all that I can really give.) 

Llewelyn also has a very, very obvious bias against Catholicism that ultimately makes me wonder whether she ever meant to engage with 16th century Ireland on its own terms. As an atheist in Celtic Studies....look, I can GET having many, many mixed feelings about Catholicism, but it WAS the religion of the land at the time. If you want to have ANY understanding of the people and what was going through their minds, you have to try to engage with them on their own terms. I’m not in any hurry to convert to Catholicism, but I do try to consider life through the eyes of medieval and early modern Catholics when I’m analyzing sources made in that time. And trying to separate it off from the Good Pagan Times, to the point of creating a 16th century druid woman to voice your opinions on free love/organized religion/etc. is just going to get you into disaster. (Though Evleen did give us one female character who is a friend to Gráinne, so...victory?) Bonus, by the way, for the Evil Priest who schemes against Gráinne and is fucking boys on the side. (It seems like they’re of age, at least?) We’re told that he has reasons for what he does, but it comes as a bit of a last minute attempt at creating the illusion of a three dimensional character. I feel like Llewelyn, ultimately, should have stuck to Pre-Patristic times. I shudder at what she would do with, say, the Mythological Cycle, I don’t particularly want her touching my baby (if she touched Bres in particular, I would probably cry) because, at this point, I don’t trust her with ANY medieval materials (mainly because they’ve all been CONTAMINATED by CATHOLIC HANDS, oh NO), but I feel like it’s where her heart truly is. 

IF she’d stuck with pre-Patristic sources, we wouldn’t have to deal with 16th century characters thinking things like: " He would go in the style of his warrior ancestors, fearless in the face of death; the ancient, pagan Gaels had known death was only a brief incident in the ongoing flow of life, a transitory happening of little importance.” Admittedly, Llewelyn herself SEEMS to realize this, as she has him cross himself afterwards, but I really, really don’t think it would be the sort of thing to cross a man’s mind in the Early Modern Period. There was very little evidence for reincarnation that was that explicit (One of the papers that I did was on the existence of reincarnation in Pre-Christian Ireland, so I actually CAN speak on this one with some degree of confidence - My ultimate findings were that it probably did exist in some form, but the evidence makes it hard at times to draw definite conclusions), and I’m not sold that they would…understand it as reincarnation, as SUCH. We can look at what, say, Julius Caesar wrote about the druids’ beliefs and apply them to medieval Irish texts, but a man living in 16th century Ireland wouldn’t necessarily have the same luxury, especially since relatively few figures are given reincarnation narratives. It’s like…she’s applying the Mythological Cycle, but she momentarily forgets that these characters wouldn’t have VIEWED the Mythological Cycle like we would have, and it’s rather jarring. No one else might pick up on that, because this is my field. This is the ONE THING I can be pedantic on.

Now! There are some things I actually do like! Outside of Chambers’ questionable grasp of historical interpretation and the resulting taint, I can tell that Llewlyn did have a solid grasp of the FEEL of Early Modern Ireland. As I noted above, she’s a very fine author, the kind I honestly ENVY as a historical fiction writer, the type that is so confident and descriptive that, even when she’s wrong, which is often, I find myself reaching for the sources just to make sure. Her descriptions are vivid and visceral, pulling me immediately into the FEEL of Ireland in the 16th century, a way of life on the verge of collapse. 

When she isn’t being descriptive in all the wrong ways as detailed above. I do feel, for whatever it’s worth, that as someone with the background in this material that I have, I was kind of doomed from the get-go. I THINK that for someone who isn’t a Celticist (in training), it would be much, much more enjoyable, BECAUSE she is so confident in her style and her way of evoking the mood that it wouldn’t really stick out. I happen to be both blessed and cursed in that regard. 

 It’s clear, as well, that she has a grasp on the literature of the time - References to the things like the first Gaels coming from Spain make my heart SING with joy because it’s a very clear allusion to Lebor Gabála Érenn and the Mythological Cycle, which is my specialty, and there are plenty of times that I can tell you EXACTLY what sources she had to hand while she was typing on a section. It’s just a pity to me that she seems to try so hard to toss it all away in order to bifurcate Early Modern Irish society into Pagan VS Catholic, since she fundamentally did betray her own sources there. And, unfortunately, the way she tends to show her research is about as subtle as a blunt nail, in a very “As you know” manner: See:  “I have heard the brehons chanting the laws governing fosterage, describing every article of clothing that must be furnished a child and every detail of the training the child is to be given.” Like, yes, the law texts record this, but I can’t really see someone from the 16th century SAYING it that bluntly, you know? Also, I’m not really sold that they would be chanting it out loud as a ritual thing, rather that a lot of the law tracts are in a simple Question/Answer format because it would have, presumably, made it simpler for the Brehons THEMSELVES to remember that way.

I do like that Llewlyn’s Gráinne…she’s attractive, yes, but she’s not conventionally attractive, and she’s explicitly said to be big and tall as a man. I feel like a lot of pop cultural depictions of Gráinne want to make her dainty and beautiful, despite living in an incredibly harsh, stressful environment. I think that her outfit’s a little too much “Modern pirate”-y for my taste, but I’ll allow it because, tbh, it looks really, really badass and, whatever clothing Gráinne would have worn, we probably wouldn’t have really recognized it as “Pirate-like”, since our vision of pirates in the modern day is mainly an early 18th century one. I do appreciate that Gráinne has that hard, pragmatic edge that I respect in the Gráinne that we read about in the State Papers and in Bingham’s recollections - a very matter of fact, no nonsense woman who would do whatever it took to survive. Though I do think that she probably didn’t really spend that much time thinking about Elizabeth. It seems slightly unrealistic to me that, knowing how pragmatic Gráinne was, that she would really, really concern herself that much with Elizabeth, especially when she would have had powerful women like Iníon Dubh closer to home. There are some really nice, poignant moments as well that the hard edge masks, like the moment where she asks after a piece of hair that sent on to her son Owen. When Gráinne is in her natural element, having fun on the open sea, taking vengeance, and getting to be angry and proud and fierce, as well as the moments where she shows a softer side....those are the moments that make it for me. But then we’re back to the sex and romance, to the point where the book is literally divided by which man she’s screwing at the time. 

Also, despite wanting to LOATHE Tigernan, as an OC love interest of Gráinne’s, I did find myself warming to him, as he has a nice, laid-back dynamic with Gráinne built on trust and filled with plenty of banter. Next to her, he is probably the single best developed character in the book, though, unfortunately, he does get it through a ton of space devoted to his thoughts, his pining for Gráinne, and his intense jealousy for the many times she chooses someone else over him (mainly because he never tells her he loves her and then he feels like she owes him for what he does for her - yes, there are some Nice Guy tendencies here, but, honestly, after about the second or third time this happened, I was very pro-Tigernan running away and finding a better gig for himself.) No, besides being Catholic and lower class, we don’t really have that MUCH on him outside of being Gráinne’s first mate, but, honestly....that’s still more characterization than the others get, and, at least as of Chapter 24, he hasn’t done anything TOO atrocious. 

My PETTIEST of bitching/impromptu liveblog beneath the cut: 

A VERY pedantic thing: Llewelyn says, multiple times, that the English would anglicize her name “Grace”. In reality, no one in Early Modern England did that, it came much, much later. In all the Letters of State, she’s referred to as “Grany” or a variation of that name - An English attempt at “Gráinne.” That’s also why you’ll notice that I tend to refer to her as Gráinne here - It was the name she was known by in her own time, it was the name her contemporaries called her, and so it’s the name I call her.

"He wore a full and drooping mustache in the old Gaelic style, though otherwise he was cleanshaven.” Again. MINOR nitpicking. The Gauls were the ones who, traditionally, we associate with the droopy mustaches. In the sagas, beards are given a TON of prominence, to the point of being the marker of being a man. So. Odd choice on Tigernan’s part there. I know that Llewelyn didn’t intend to write him as a 16th century Irish coxcomb, but…well.

"He realized he had made a bad mistake in referring to her peculiar relationship with her husband. He had been in the castle at Bunowen himself; he had seen with his own eyes that Grania’s belongings were taken to one bedchamber, and Donal O Flaherty’s were put in another. Many might speculate in private about the arrangement, but only a fool would have mentioned it to her face.” As I’ve mentioned before, I really, really don’t think this relationship was as loveless as it’s generally portrayed as. I don’t know whether they were PASSIONATELY in love (and unlike a certain biographer, I won’t try to fill in what I don’t know with what I WANT her to have had), maybe they simply got on, but they did have three LIVING children. And I underline “living” because there were likely more. “Likely more” means that they probably did regularly share a bed, at least as much so as their respective schedules allowed.

“Aye, and didn’t she put her children out to fostering before they could stand? A woman’s not usually that anxious to get away from her children that she takes to the sea to avoid them.” Given that fosterage could begin VERY early, I really, really don’t think anyone would have questioned this at all. Gaelic Ireland, simply put, often didn’t have our own conception of the nuclear family, and this was generously provided for in the law codes. Fosterage was useful as a way of maintaining ties between both neighboring families and, most especially, between kings and their vassals, with vassals often fostering kings’ sons. (That way, if the king should die with multiple possible heirs, it means that the kids have people backing them for the kingship.)

"I think that husband of hers had been crying poverty so loud and long he made her deaf to everything else” - Not to be #TeamDonal on main, but the facts as they’re recorded tend to have a strong pro-Donal bias. Take the words of his 17th century relative, Ruari O’Flaherty: "Of all the western O'Flaherties, Donel an chogaidh , although not the chieftain, was the most powerful and opulent.” Most. Powerful. And. Opulent. Yeah, Donal wasn’t crying poverty to anyone. Could he have been lying through his teeth? Maybe. Who knows? But this is ONE thing we have on Donal’s personality, recorded not too long after he died, by a historian who would have had close access to O’Flaherty sources. I believe him. And, I’d even be willing to commit the ultimate heresy and say that Donal’s success was not due entirely to his wife.

She does use the proper terms in a few places! Such as “rechtaire” for “steward”. (Io stem, masculine.)

“You are a noble Irishwoman, you go to no man’s bed unless you want to.” COMPLICATED. Arranged marriages were definitely the norm, and, in the legends, we get to see the unfortunate downsides of what happens when a woman is coerced into a marriage she doesn’t want, generally by an older man, while she is generally pining over a younger one. I wouldn’t say it was something that people LIKED, the fact that this entire genre exists is a pretty good example of people being like “DON’T DO THIS SHIT”, but I can’t say it didn’t happen. Examples of this include Fingal Rónáin, Tóraigheacht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne, Longes mac n-Uislenn, Aided Con Roí, etc. I would not say that it was considered to be an IDEAL, it was something that was definitely warned against, but it could, in theory, happen. It wasn’t necessarily a legal form of marriage, but it was a form of marriage. 

"Shorter than Cuchullain or Brian Boru,” PETTIEST of pettiest bitch complaints, but Cú Chulainn is generally described as short. I know, I know, not what she’s going for. But still. Let me be a petty bitch on this one thing.

“Times have changed,” he said impatiently. “Those are archaic luxuries, and luxury has worn thin here. Perhaps in Umhall there is still leisure for sitting around listening to bards, but it takes every resource I can command just to maintain my territory against those who constantly nibble at my borders.” MOST. OPULENT. AND. POWERFUL. Okay, but one thing that she does get right, and is right to emphasize, is the importance of the bard - chieftain relationship. This was really, really one of the key relationships in a chieftain’s life, to the extent where one of the privileges of the chief ollaimh was the right to sleep with the king in his bed. And yes, it was EXACTLY as homoerotic as it sounds. For a chieftain to not keep a bard - It’s actually a really, really stupid move on Donal’s part, not just for the sake of tradition, but because…who’s going to be there to remember him and keep his memory alive? Who’s going to write praise poems for him (and for Gráinne! The chieftain’s wife was often celebrated in verse.)

"Grania had brought a handsome marriage portion with her, her own property under the Brehon law, for a woman of her rank must be able to stand on equal footing with her husband.” Accurate - Gráinne would have, most likely, been a cétmuinter, or chief wife, under the law, and her union to Donal would have been a union of equal contribution. (Donal also might or might not have owed her a “Thank you for your virginity!” Present on their wedding night.)

 “The priests are right in giving husbands authority over their wives,” he had shouted at her then, while she pleaded to be allowed to keep her babies with her longer. “The old Gaelic way gave women too much freedom altogether, and you are a fine example of the folly of that custom.” Kill me now, kill me now, kill me now, kill me now. This is just….GAR. GAR. Or, as Llewlyn likes to say every five seconds…*Dar Dia*. Suffice it to say, the question of how much freedom post-Christianity Ireland had for women VS Pre-Christian Ireland is an endlessly long topic that has to begin with how we define “freedom” and, specifically, which women get it. (Sucks to be a slave girl no matter what.) But also, while women definitely DID have power (EVEN POST-CHRISTIANITY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH)…that doesn’t mean that it was that COMMON, or that post-Christianity radically changed how (un)common it was. This is just…too blunt, too much of a caricature, and also happens to be insanely, insanely anachronistic. (Also: What would a 16th century chieftain really KNOW of the Old Gaelic Way? He would know about women like Medb, yeah, and he would probably see her as evil and uppity, depending on which stories he’d read - Though as a Connachtman, he would probably be inclined towards being on her side. But that doesn’t mean he would have really thought “Oh, yeah, pre-Christianity, women had SO MUCH power.” Lawlessness and chaos tend to be features of pre-Christian Ireland in the medieval writings, but I wouldn’t really say that liberated women….were? Especially because in those same writings you have women like Emer who, while distinct in their characterization, are still very much proper and chaste women who keep to the house.)

“I warn you, Grania—you will accede to me in this or I will send you back to Clew bay and denounce you throughout Connaught for a lack of womanly graces. Is that what you want, to be sent home rejected with your shortcomings shouted from the hills?”

           “Who would believe such charges?” she had demanded to know, outraged at his unfairness.” 

I’m just going to say it now: She could sue him SO MUCH in a proper Brehon court if she could get some witnesses to say that they heard him talking shit without cause. So. So much. So. Much. Donal would be losing a solid chunk of his goods. Though I will point out that, technically, since Gráinne isn’t sleeping with him, she isn’t doing her proper duties as a wife, laid out by the Brehon laws, and so, yeah, he could probably have a case against her. (For what it’s worth: If he was refusing to sleep with her, she could ALSO divorce him, with him explicitly being at fault and having to pay up. It was equal opportunity, in that sense.)

The Brehon law keeps being called “pagan” and…no. No non noon no. It had its origins in pre-Christian Ireland, likely, and that’s why a ton of legal scholars, with a few noted exceptions, tend to be strongly Nativist, but that doesn’t mean that, by Gráinne’s time, it hadn’t been more or less adapted into Christian marriage in Ireland, albeit sometimes semi-awkwardly. (For example: Polygamy was allowed, but the law very much privileged the rights of chief wives, including their right to toss their husbands out on their ear for taking in a woman over their head.) There’s this odd obsession in the book with Brehon Law =/= Christian Law, and that’s definitely not the case. You wouldn’t have had two marriage ceremonies, one under the church and one under the Brehon Law, because the Brehon Law would apply no matter WHAT. It’d be like forcing a couple to undergo a ceremony after their official wedding where a bunch of lawyers read out of a law book to them. It just wouldn’t happen.

“The Augustinian monks of Umhall, who taught me history in my childhood, explained that when the Romans left England and that land sank into barbarism, it was missionaries from Ireland who took God’s words to the British tribes and taught them to read and write.

          “Perhaps they hate us, Donal, for being a more ancient and educated race. Perhaps they mean to drag us down by treating us as savages until we do not remember ever having been anything else. And along the way they can take our land from us with a clear conscience because we are only savages and deserve no better.”

On one hand, it DOES capture that note of PRIDE that tends to be there, loud and clear, in the texts, especially, say, Auraicept na n-Éces, which claims that Irish is a perfectly formed language, made from all the best bits of the Tower of Babel’s languages. (And….well….”The land of saints and scholars”. Ireland WAS a hotspot of monastic activity.) And, honestly, I support showing off the literary side of Ireland, since it doesn’t get discussed enough. That being said, no monk in his right mind would have said that it Irish missionaries civilized Britain. Why? Because Patrick came from Britain. Or, rather, Britannia, more accurately. He wasn’t an Englishman, not in the modern sense, he would probably be Welsh today, but he was from a monastic, educated family (despite claiming his Latin was poor in his Confessio, it’s actually quite good - Patrick was a MASTER at using humility as a rhetorical device).        

"Grania slept naked. She liked her skin to breathe as she slept, not encumbered with a gown that would twist and bind.” “And then Gráinne froze her ass off because the nights in Ireland, even in the warm heat of summer, are cold and bitter as a Norseman’s frozen tit, if there were, in fact, any Norsemen in Ireland in the 16th century, and frequently require multiple blankets + a solid duvet. Gráinne then died of pneumonia several weeks later, making for a very short book.” Also. Again. If this were a male author. I would have committed a murder at this point.  

Reference to saffron dye - NICE. This was really a staple of the clothing, for both men and women, to the extent that it features a LOT in accounts of Ireland at this time.

“By the paps of Danu!” No one. In 16th century Ireland. Would have shouted out “By the paps of Danu!” “By the Washington Monument!” “By the Lincoln Memorial!” “By the stunning cliffs of Oregon!” Sounds rather silly, doesn’t it? (Though if you WANTED to start shouting “BY THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL!” Well. I’m not here to stop you.)

"She was small for a Gaelic woman, and pale, a tiny wraithlike creature who exuded a contradictory air of resilient strength.” I’m not going to say that Chambers is WRONG, because, of course, Irish women come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You know, like people everywhere. But I WILL say that, during my time here, it’s the only time in my life that I’ve felt at home, because, for the first time in my life, I’m not short. Also, I want it on the record that now, whenever I see her, I’m picturing the little old woman who sits in on research seminars and who has the entire department scared shitless. Tiny, but MIGHTY.

"Her only ornament was a triskele of silver in an ancient pattern, suspended upon her flat bosom by a leather thong.” The Triskele is a Neolithic symbol used through the Iron Age, DEFINITELY not in use, in Ireland, by the Early Modern Period.

"“Evleen Ni Brien-“ That would be “Ní Bhriain” in modern Irish. Normally, I wouldn’t be THIS nitpicky, but hey, if you’re patting yourself on the back for the research you did and then can’t be bothered to put in a fada + the proper possessive form of “Brian”. I also don’t THINK that the “Ní” form had been adopted yet, I’m fairly certain that’s modern, so it would, more properly, be Evleen iníon Bhriain. Though, since it emphasizes that she’s from the Dál Cais and the O’Briens are predominately associated with them, I’m going to GUESS the proper form would involve her father’s name. It would be “Evleen iníon *possessive form of father’s first name* Uí Briain”.

"He had only heard whispers of such people, but enough tales still abounded concerning them to make them readily identifiable—even if this one did claim the noble name O Brien.” You know, in Reign, when you have a bunch of druids dancing in the forest and everyone was like “That’s fucking ridiculous!” Yeah. Yeah. That’s exactly how I feel right now. Druids DID last for some time in Ireland after Christianity, but not INTO THE 16TH CENTURY.

"“Of course not. But neither can I forget that it was the strictures of that faith which kept me bound in marriage to a man I learned to despise.” Divorce was still a thing. There was no problem, in theory, with getting married at a fully Catholic altar and then dumping them for getting jiggy with the serving girls a few years down the line. Llewelyn’s misunderstanding of the relationship that the Church and the Brehon laws BOTH played in the lives of people (SHOCKINGLY ENOUGH, the Catholic Church was NOT seen as pure evil by every day people at the time, who had to flee into the arms of the Brehons for comfort from Mother Church. Note that I’m saying this as a confirmed and strong atheist.)

Can I just say that the scene where Gráinne’s feeling up Hugh (the OC) in his sleep would be MUCH creepier if the genders were reversed?

"But he was not the man he had always been. He was some different person here.” Wow, the sex must be REALLY good!

"set in violet shadows that spoke of wonderfully sleepless nights.” Why is it that when I stay up doing an all-nighter, I end up looking like a raccoon going through its emo phase, but when Gráinne tumbles some random dude for a little while, she gets “violet shadows?” It’s not right, I tell you.

"“Was your marriage so bad, Grania, that you have turned your back on your own womanhood forever?” GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Well. Now I know where The Pirate Queen gets its “Your ultimate worth as a woman and happiness in life is decided by whether or not you have a dick in you” philosophy. I wish I hadn’t known. But now I do.

“That’s the way it is with men,” he said. “They touch us. For the feel of strong arms around her and a solid chest to lean her head upon, a woman will put up with a lot of misery. It’s the curse of our skin to be hungry for the feel of a man’s skin.” GAAAAAAAAH. GAH.

"God the benevolent patriarch promises us rewards in the next world if we’re willing to sacrifice in this one. But maybe I don’t believe in patriarchs anymore.” Totally a thing that the real Gráinne Ní Mháille would have thought. Because women, in general, in the 16th century had the terminology to make these critiques in this exact way.

" If one satisfaction was snatched from her she would find another; if she lost love she would embrace hate, and glory in it.” Oh, god, not THIS motivation for a female character, please. Gráinne Ní Mháille was a hell raiser from birth, there’s no reason to think that, because she lost her boytoy, that really radically altered her life path.

“I wonder if Tigernan thinks you and I are damned,” she asked her husband. “We were wed in no chapel.” Given that there were nine degrees of marriage under the law, of varying types of legality, I doubt it.

Yay, exactly what this book needed: More sex!

I’ll be real: Richard Bingham playing Weddingcrashers at Margaret’s wedding only to nearly get his ass handed to him by two members of Gráinne’s family is truly an #Iconic moment. 10/10, if the rest of the book was like this I could die a happy woman.

"It was not an Irish face, but the eyes were unforgettable.” ….what is an “Irish face?” Especially post-Norman invasion? What does an Irish face look like?

“There are rumors he gained his inheritance by murder, and it is said outright that he and his mother between them drove his first wife into her grave.” Yay, the return of the Oedipus complex! My favorite thing in this book!

"Grania herself slept alone in a tiny walled guest chamber above, but she was aware of Richard sleeping in the same house. A strong man, sleeping naked in a bed … .

How people change, she thought to herself with amusement. This is definitely not the same Grania whom Donal an Chogaidh knew.” 

Yay, MORE sex! MY FAVORITE THING. IN THE WORLD. BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS WHEN I READ THE LIFE OF GRÁINNE NÍ MHÁILLE?"**MORE SEX**.”

" If Richard took her at all, he must take her under the old Gaelic concept of “marriage for one year certain” to see if they suited one another.” Ah, yes, the old Gaelic concept of marriage that mysteriously shows up in no legal texts, legends, or genealogical tracts. A very authentic Gaelic tradition, very old, much wow. (For what it’s worth….the Telltown marriages are as close as this comes, but the thing that makes them stand out is that everyone KNEW they were the oddballs.)

"According to pagan custom—which still lived in uneasy truce with Christianity in many parts of Ireland—there were ten degrees of marriage, all the way from a union between propertied partners of equal rank to union by abduction or the mating of the mad. From any of the ten a child could result, and the brehons therefore had allowed for every child’s rights to be recognized by the social order. No human containing an immortal spirit could be illegitimate.” The astonishing thing is that it’s very, very obvious that she read Cáin Lanamna for this…and then proceeded to not apply it to any other time except for when it was necessary.

"How can I be Grania if there is no Tigernan at my shoulder?” Yes, because we all know that the thing that really defined Gráinne Ní Mháille was, in fact, the men in her life.

"Evleen smiled. “At least it isn’t fettered with Christian chains,” she said. “You were wise.”” Oh, God help me. There’s no way to have a marriage in Early Modern Ireland not “fettered with Christian chains” because Christianity IS the religion of the people.

Remember when Gráinne was described as “More than master’s mate” to Richard Burke, implying a union that was mutually respectful? Yeah, me neither. I’m so glad he’s a one dimensional sexist with mommy issues. That’s such a new, innovative take on their relationship. I LOVE to see it. (Note: I’m saying this as someone who HATED Chambers’ blatant shipping in her biography, but hey. I can’t deny what the first hand evidence says. Unlike Chambers.)

" I’ll get the O Lee—he’s our ship’s physician, and at least he can-“ Unless the chieftain of the O’Lee family moonlights as a ship’s doctor, you wouldn’t call him The O’Lee. Just say “I’ll get Aidan O’Lee.” Or, even, “I’ll get the ship’s leech!”

“TAKE THIS FROM UNCONSECRATED HANDS.” I won’t say that all’s forgiven because, I’ll be honest, I really, really hate this novel at this point, but you know what? This forgives at least some of this novel’s sins. One of my favorite tales about her being brought to life on page by a very talented author does make for a high point, between this and Gráinne avenging the boytoy.

Okay, I’ll be real: The O’Donnell and Gráinne boasting about their respective kids is really, really cute, and I accept it because my very first exposure to Early Modern Ireland was “The Fighting Prince of Donegal.”

The O’Donnell talking shit about English poetry is…..very accurate to the time and the mood. My personal favorite genre of Early Modern Irish poetry is probably “The English aren’t shit.”

"Black Hugh nodded. Grania stood up, and Philip Sidney rose with her, as smoothly as if they were joined at the hip. Tigernan uttered a strangled curse. The sasanach was taking hold of Grania’s arm as if she were an old woman and he were a blackthorn stick for her to lean upon! Was that some English custom, insulting the strength of women? Or did he mean to grab her and make off with her?” Honestly, for once, Tigernan is a #Mood.

"But when Philip’s hands moved over her body, Grania discovered that all human landscapes have a certain similarity. She knew his touch as male, and hungry, and when she returned it in kind she felt a familiar rising response that flattered her and made her eager for more. Within the bed they did not seem to be foreigner and Gael. They were just man and woman, enjoying each other.” I ENDURED THE SEX SCENE WITH PHILIP FUCKING SYDNEY. SO THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS TO.

And, just like with Richard, no one can match up to Wonderful Boytoy Huw.

"She prances along the seaways as if she had a man’s balls, John, and by the bright blue eyes of God, it should be my hand that grabs those balls of hers and crushes them.”” Oh, GOD, I THOUGHT THAT THE PIRATE QUEEN’S MOST INFAMOUS LINE WAS JUST BAD LYRIC WRITING. I DIDN’T KNOW THEY TOOK IT *FROM THE NOVEL*. WHY, MORGAN LLEWELYN. WHY.

Look, I’ve made it to Chapter 24. There are 32 in total. I COULD read the rest of the way, since I want to see how poorly the treatment of Elizabeth is going to be (I’d be very shocked if there isn’t some variation of Not Like Other Girls involved), but also: I do not care at this point. I might pick it up again, but also: A bitch is tired. And illiterate. Perhaps, if I’m ever feeling brave, I’ll take on the last eight chapters, but for now: I’m calling it. 

[leconcombrerit]

Blood brothers is kinda bittersweet too

I have lots of feelings about Blood Brothers, and some of them are good. Some aren’t. It’s not that beautiful, bittersweet atmosphere that Parting Ways encompasses -but more of a “wait wat wait how the hell am I feeling right now” one. Just as if the game rubbed a “but that’s what you wanted isn’t it” in my face, knowing full-well that no, it isn’t. Not entirely. It should be a good ending. And yet for me it’s not. It takes some talent to make me feel that “the Diaz brothers crossing the border and going to live together in Puerto Lobos” isn’t a good ending. 

Here’s a short analysis no one asked for, I need to put some order in my thoughts. I get that  we don’t all share the same opinions, so yes, if you think Blood brothers is happy and good and you’re happy with it that’s really cool too ! Please don’t bash me I’m a shy potatoe. 

SO LET’S SEE.

The scene at the border already tells volumes. Daniel goes rogue. He overdoes it, and by a lot. Deflecting the bullets ? Fine. Sending people flying ? Fine. But he didn’t need to crash all the cars to open the gate. Take Parting Ways as a comparison, and you’ll get what I mean. He held back, made minimum damage, and it showed. There weren’t any policemen left to shoot them. They were probably out cold -but Daniel made damn sure they’d stay out cold far after he and Sean left. 

Talking of Sean, there’s something about him as well. Daniel gets out of the car while Sean stays inside and nods. He doesn’t look especially phased. At that point, he’s encouraged Daniel or silently validated his violent outbursts and he stays in line with this behavior. Go check Parting Ways once again : Daniel gets the car through while staying inside (granted, it could have ended badly, as we’ve seen in Lone Wolf). He’s got a much more active role in Blood Brothers -they’re equals, not the little brother Sean needs to protect. Daniel knew what he was going to do and to hell with it. It wasn’t something he did in “the heat of the moment”. He intended to hurt them. Sean did too. It wasn’t just about getting through, it was about crushing their enemies. There’s a shot of all Daniel’s destroyed and no sign of life from anyone, and look at his face.

→ If they’d basically taken Parting Ways border scene and made Daniel stay in the car, and didn’t kill off Sean, it would have been the start of the ‘picture perfect’ ending I didn’t get. 

And then we cut to Puerto Lobos and boy oh boy. The “memories scene” hit me hard. Look at that drawing. Or the newspaper -I can’t read Spanish but I get the gist of it, it didn’t go smoothly and and dandy when they arrived. And the shirt. The shirt might be the most obvious sign that it wasn’t just “necessary violence” to them. It’s hung on the wall like a trophy. They’re proud of what they did. Of getting through. You’d think such an event would be slightly traumatizing, or that they’d have some sort of guilt, or that they wouldn’t care, but no, they’re proud. Proud of getting through is one thing and I get it, but the trauma seems absent. They don’t want to forget what happened and start a brand new, quiet life like they’d initially planned to. They want to remember. 

→ It wouldn’t have taken much either to turn this scene into something bright and nice : the shirt could have been shown in a bow in the drawer, kept as a reminder of their journey but hidden enough to make room for a new start. Same for the newspaper. It could have been put in between pages of Sean’s sketchbook. 

Then we get the gangster scene. It mirrors the border one pretty well : Sean’s passive, validating attitude as he lures them where Daniel will see them. Them relying so much on each other, and not just Daniel on Sean and Sean on himself, is pretty refreshing, not gonna lie. But still, they’re in Puerto Lobos, they should try to live quietly, and here we get to see that neither of them hesitate to stick to their old ways. They seem to have decided that better be the hunter than the prey and that they will not be stepped on, come what may. Have they tried to drive those people away before and only resorted to this solution now? Possible, but unlikely. First because that wouldn’t be in line with what we’ve been shown till now, and second because they look utterly… Used to it. Is that the face of a surprised, scared man ? It’s not. I can almost hear the “oh shit, here we go again” as Sean puts the gun away -but keeps it in case he’d need it, most likely. The way I see it, he doesn’t entirely reject the idea of shooting someone. Great point, Daniel doesn’t kill the guys. He scares them away pretty violently, but he doesn’t kill them. Which in retrospect might actually be worse : the brothers’ bond, them being together, seemingly happy with themselves, and not killing people randomly at every sign of danger is what make this ending so wonderfully bittersweet rather than bad.

And at least I could hate a bad ending instead of having those conflicted feelings. 

→ This scene is much harder to turn in a “good ending way” to me, since it shows they’re still far from safe. Maybe have Sean try to talk to the gangster. Maybe have Daniel scare them away different way -not knocking a guy off, and not giving him a death stare that made it look like he really, really wanted to blow the guy’s head off. Have Sean throw the damn pistol in a bin or anything that wouldn’t mean he’s keeping it (not using it though, once again they reach a kind of sick balance). Have the safe be empty and the brothers look even remotely worried, just so that we’d get the feeling these incidents aren’t all too frequent. 

Last but not least, the beach scene. Final nail on my heart’s coffin. A tiny heart-shaped coffin because Esteban. They. Use their father’s lighter. Maybe it’s just me, maybe some found it sweet, but I didn’t. It only reminded me of what their dad would have wanted for them. Of what he got out of, and of how far from his idealized version of Puerto Lobos reality was. They don’t seem to think their father would have disapproved, quite the contrary, but I as a player thought he would. I don’t know if they realize how ruthless they’ve become. 

Plus side that’s also a downside : they’re alone. The plan grows larger, wider, and you see no one there. Yes, they’re together. But they’re also just together. No friends shown. No Finn, no Cass, no unnamed-local-friend. They have each other, and that’s good, but I can barely see it as something healthy. 

On a side note, Sean’s a mechanic. Just like his dad. I get that he had to find a job to support Daniel and himself but Sean never wanted to be a mechanic and that makes me sad. I like to think he’s tuning the hell out of these cars cause damn.

[ichika27]

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun ep 23

And we’re at the finale! I’d save the rest of the words for later.

Oh and they brought back the intro that I think they had in the first episode. They stopped doing the intro a few episodes ago so this was a surprise.

The first half is basically a slice-of-life set of scenes of Iruma waking up, going to school and studying. I didn’t take much photos for this except for a few below.

Aww! They’re really friends now I’m glad about that. I mean after all this time of Kerori getting mad at Iruma cause of misunderstandings, at least now they’re talking properly.

He’s also still playing demon dodgeball which is nice cause it’s one of the first things he really worked hard on and made him feel very accomplished. I’m happy he didn’t stop even after their game back then was over.

And he’s also still doing manga readings which would probably take forever. I mean have you seen the shelf? That thing’s got hundreds of volumes. How many filler chapters does it have?

Anyways, Ameri thinks the female rival in the story had a cool line ‘Everyone’s got a secret.’ which suddenly gave her an epiphany...

She’s so close! She’s really smart but she didn’t have it in her to ask Iruma directly if her hunch is right. Wonder what she’d think if she knew the truth though?

Iruma also got an epiphany later. This is the exact point of this entire episode and he just noticed lol.

He was really bothered by this cause it made him think of his stay here and what he should do now. It made his friends worry so Clara suggested they cook food for him to cheer him up!

Picture of these two doing their best! Sadly for Asmodeus, Clara’s cookbook is kinda... hard to understand? The instructions are very ‘Clara’-like haha. This resulted in an argument between the two.

Not that important but Clara insulted Asmodeus’ fashion sense to which he had to tell her the clothes are expensive and custom made. That said, I’ve never been able to ask but has thought about the question of ‘Why are the teachers letting him wear a custom outfit instead of the school uniform?’. I know his family is powerful and rich and all but I don’t think the rule-abiding and serious Kalego-sensei would permit this exemption unless there’s a reason. But I guess we’ll never know.

Sorry, Clara but I think that looks good on him.

Let the Shokugeki begin!!

lol a lot of people in the chat we’re making Food Wars jokes. These two couldn’t get to an agreement and decided to just cook separately and compete at which one Iruma would like best. (the cooking, of course, not the person cause Iruma loves them both hehe)

As expected, Clara’s is kinda out of the ordinary. She thinks there’s something missing so her mom tells her the best ingredient to add is ‘love’ (of course).

And so the Valac family gives us one last musical before the season ends!

Azz’s cooking is wonderful but he thinks it’s not good enough as he knew Clara would probably make something unexpected. Glad he’s not underestimating her despite the insults she told her earlier. Although all of those were probably the result of annoyance.

I-is the fish crying?! That makes me so uncomfortable. I don’t stare at the fishes eyes when buying some from the market cause of that.

It’s a good suggestion from the butler but Azz doesn’t like fishes it seems. it’s dirty apparently. He’s still gonna do it though... for Iruma-sama! He pokes the fish relentlessly and I dunno how he did it but he was able to make something.

Also, the yt chat made lots of jokes about the current virus cause of Azz’s face mask but I don’t know if I should say it so I’d just leave this here...

They pulled an all-nighter for this. Reminds me of when I was in school and we had to do a thesis instead. It was horrible. They did it though!

It looks the same lol. Azz went all out and really is trying to compete against Clara since he made his out-of-the-ordinary, too.

The fish is still crying by the way. It’s uncomfortable eating anything with a face and that thing is still crying. Ugh... I’m sorry fishy, it’s for Iruma-sama.

The fish looks sadder than the above photos. (;-;)

Oh, and Iruma figured out that the two dishes are better together due to both Azz and Clara feeding him at the same time.

Awwww~ they’re friends again and shared a fist bump! They did it and their cooking made Iruma happy which was their goal in the first place. Like the dishes that are better when combined, Iruma’s school life is better when he has these two together.

And so Iruma figures that he really likes it here and would make sure he gets to stay with his friends. The demon world isn’t so bad.

The ending theme this time is the school hymn. There were shots of some scenes in the episodes past and there were a few ones which is what some of the characters are currently doing. These ones above caught my eyes.

-It’s sad that the secret room is empty now. The stuff inside were probably confiscated after the batra party incident.

-Kiriwo-senpai!! It’s been a while since I saw him so this was nice. He doesn’t look too bad even though he’s locked up currently. Hope to see him again someday.

-They framed the photo they took at the festival. Aww! A family photo Iruma could be happy looking at.

And the last shot of the main trio together.

They’re also sitting in front of the large door with a ton of locks. I guess this is the end...

Wait-

What’s this? What’s this?! ‘Someday’, the narrator says...

Season 2 confirmed?? Please?!

--

I was actually hoping we got one more episode before the end but I guess this is the finale. it was so much fun and it was better than I expected when I decided to watch the series. I liked all the characters and the story wasn’t as complicated as other anime coming out lately but it was refreshing to see. As everyone else pointed out, this one felt as if it should’ve come out many years ago as it’s got the same feels as the anime series coming out back in the early 2000′s. Definitely felt like I was brought back to my childhood.

They never changed the OP and ED the entire season and both are so good and such bangers. I’d miss listening to them. Hope if they made another season (I hope they make another season!) that the new songs could be as good or are even better than these ones cause they already set the bar high.

I’d miss this show. I keep making these stupid commentary posts every week for fun and to let out my anime fangirling feelings for it and this is the last one. I’d miss making these every week. To all of you who actually read through all these from the very first Iruma-kun post I made up until this last one, thank you so much! I never thought anyone would read them much less enjoy them.

If another... no, when the next season comes out, I hope I can make these things again cause it was fun. So, let’s all see each other and Iruma and his friends again when that time comes?

:)

[imperfekti]

Tenipuri Party: Fuji Shuusuke profile translation

TN:

In the absence of an official English version, this translation is intended to help those who can’t read the material in the original language. Please support Tenipuri by getting your own copy of this book - it is worth it! There are various ways of purchasing it even for those not living in or visiting Japan.

The pictures I have included in this post do not show full pages.

On the translation: I’m aiming for a more direct, “Japanese-sounding” translation to share the mood of the content more as it is. This will probably cause some sentences to appear weird in English.

On Fuji’s style of speech: he uses a lot of little additions that soften the tone, and most of them are pretty hard to include in English. In general his style of speech is a balance of casual but polite.

I’m still working on Japanese, so there might be mistakes. Please let me know if you spot any translation errors so I can fix them here!

Fuji Shuusuke

U-17 Japan representative player, middle schooler Seishun Gakuen Middle-school player

Towards the distant sky, reflected in the mind’s eye --  A noble youth, soaring like a refreshing breeze

Message

“This kind of wonderful placement… it’s rare to get to taste it. Everyone, thank you so much. I’ll have to meet those expectations. (*1) Following the guidepost that I have made myself… I swear I’ll advance to greater heights. I’ll definitely show a new scenery to you too.”

Extra prize: a surprise box decorated with memorable photos “There are even balloons attached to it. An exciting, heart-warming gift. The music box’s tune was to my liking, too.”

Profile

[DATA] Middle-school 3rd year / February 29 (Pisces) / Blood type B / 167 cm / 53 kg / Right-handed

Special techniques: Tsubame gaeshi, Higuma otoshi, Hakugei, Kagerou tsutsumi, Houou gaeshi, Kirin otoshi, Hakuryuu, Hecatoncheires no monban, Hoshi hanabi, Closed eye (*2),  Aoi fubuki, Hikari kaze 

Play style: Counter puncher

Family: Father, mother, older sister, younger brother

Father’s occupation: company employee (foreign company)

Hobbies: Collecting cacti, photography

Favourite saying: What is important is invisible to the eye 

Favourite color: Beige

Favourite foods: All spicy foods, 100% apple juice

Favourite book: Travel journals, travel photo books

Favourite music: Celtic music

Preferred type of person: A person who smells like flowers

Preferred date spot: An observatory where you can see stars clearly

Most wanted thing right now: Stimulus (*3)

Weakness: Sour things

Elementary school: Seishun Dai Daisan Elementary School

Committee: Graduation album committee

Strong subjects: Classics

Weak subjects: Science

Often-visited place in school: Photography room

Uses allowance on: Taking care of cacti

Skills beyond tennis: Winter sports, recognising constellations

His routines during tournaments: Drinking coffee from all over the world, contacting his brother

Favourite anniversary: Birthday of the person he likes

Preferred travel destination: Salar de Uyuni on a night with shooting stars

Present for a special person: A ring made of flowers

Scenes

For Fuji-senshu, who had specialised in counter tennis, a certain incident at the U-17 camp became an impetus for an awakening. (*4) Making the Critical wind ‘Aoi fubuki’ his new weapon, he changed his style greatly into offensive tennis.

(Quotes on pictures:) “Tensai Fuji Shuusuke.” “Now, shall we go one more time…” “Was there this kind of an tensai sleeping in Seigaku?” “This team reaching the nationals championship, that’s my wish!” “Game and set… won by Fuji Shuusuke…” “Critical wind ‘Aoi fubuki’” “One of the Critical winds, ‘Hikari kaze’” “I’ve already stopped playing just defensive tennis.”

Sparked by a certain oath, I began to aim for my own guidepost

Currently, both among fans and people involved, Fuji-senshu’s change to offensive tennis has become a topic of discussion. Was there some impetus for this?

An impetus? Well… I exchanged private oaths with a certain person - is all I think I’ll say here. Fufu.

An oath...? Please give us at least a hint!

Well, just a little, then… Before, I used to draw out the opponent’s strongest skills, felt the thrill of defeating them with a counter, and enjoyed myself like that. But in the end, that depended on the opponent. The guideposts you need to traverse on mountains, you have to find by yourself - that is what I understood.

About Fuji-senshu’s new technique, “Hikari kaze”. How are you able to react like that?

By ascertaining the opponent’s muscle movements and breathing, the moment that information is intracerebrally linked as an image, it’s as if time stops and all noises and the scenery of your surroundings disappear - only the trajectory of the shot the opponent has hit emerges as an signpost of light. So, from now on too, I will follow the guidepost I’ve found by myself, and am aiming to go beyond my limits.

Then, to finish, your objective from here on out is… eh, you already talked about that just now, didn't you?

Yes. I determined the next question before it was asked, and responded to it.

As expected of the prodigy Fuji. You got me there.

Message for Fuji Shuusuke

I thought you seem like you’d be popular with the girls. Alles gute! (Bismarck)

Congratulatiooons! By the way, show me your homework for the report next week ☆ (Kikumaru)

I made a lot of wasabi sushi as congratulations, so please eat them. (Kawamura)

I need to update my data. Congratulations. (Inui)

As expected, Fuji. Next time, let’s play until we are satisfied. (Tezuka)

It’s not something anyone can do. My respects. (Kaidou)

Congratulations Fuji-senpai! I won’t lose next time! (Momoshiro)

Not bad. But, please be prepared that I’ll snatch that from you one of these days. (Echizen)

Hooray! Should we take a memorial photo with everyone! (Ooishi)

I’m amazed. I feel like I’ve caught a glimpse of your hidden inner strength. (Duke)

Congratulations, you are the pride of Japan. (Noa)

Party talk

Q: What was your family’s reaction to the placement this time? A: I think my sister said ‘as expected of my little brother’. Yuuta… He was here, so I’ll ask right now. Hey, Yuuta --!

Q: Th-that bright red food…? A: I wanted to taste even more wonderful, stimulating foods. What about you?

Q: The singing performance just now was lovely! A: Being the first to go on the stage… it was thrilling and fun. (*5)

Q: Who have you talked with, and what was the topic? A: Member of staff, Oliver-san taught me about places near the tournament venue where you can see the starry sky well.

Q: During the sideshow, you took a picture of the audience, didn’t you. A: Because it’s rare to see Tezuka making that kind of an expression.

Q: Is there anything that has piqued your interest in the venue? A: That flower stand with cacti, I wonder which country it’s from… Tube?

History

Age 0 February 29 Birth

Age 4 After napping with Yuuta, is frightened by Yuuta who saw a bad dream and tears up

Age 8 Goes out sea bathing with Yuuta and Saeki

Age 9 Gets a camera from grandfather, starts taking pictures Is deeply impressed by the form of a swallow (tsubame) found in an aquarium

Age 12 March Graduates from Seishun Dai Daisan Elementary School

April Enters Seishun Gakuen Middle School Division Plays against Tezuka, is not satisfied

August Goes to Kawamura's house for the first time, wasabi sushi is made for him

December After Yuuta ran away from home, searches for him all through the night in the snow

Age 13 March The extremely spicy food he makes at gratitude-party is unpopular

April Proceeds to second year in middle school

June During the athletic festival cavalry battle, has a showdown against Tezuka (unsettled)

July Is scouted at his older sister's commemorative publication autograph signing party

February Succeeds(?) in a triple spin jump at the neighbourhood skating rink

Age 14 April Proceeds to third year in middle school Kikumaru, now in the same class, comes over to play for one consecutive week

May Start of the Tokyo Prefectural District Preliminaries Plays against Gyokurin in the quarterfinals, wins against Nakano in S1 Advances to the Semi-Finals November Plays against Mizunofuchi in the semifinals, wins against Egawa, Yamanishi pair in D2 Plays against Fudomine in the finals, defeated by Ishida-Sakurai pair in D2 by forfeit Wins the Tokyo Prefectural District Preliminaries championship, has a celebration at "Kawamura Sushi"

June Start of the Tokyo Prefectural Tournament Plays against Kamata in the Third Round, wins against Ishizaki in S3 Plays against Akiyama Third in the Fourth Round, wins against Morishima-Nishikawa pair in D2 Plays against St. Rudolph in the quarterfinals, wins against Mizuki in S2 Plays games with Yuuta who came to stay at home, loses Plays against Yamabuki in the Finals, defeated by Nitobe-Kita pair in D2 Wins the Tokyo Prefectural Tournament championship

July Start of the Kantou Tournament Plays against Hyoutei in the first round, wins against Akutagawa in S2 Bowling tournament with the Regulars Plays against Rokkaku in the semifinals, wins against Saeki-Itsuki pair in D1

July 27 Plays against Rikkai in the finals, wins against Kirihara in S2 Wins the Kantou Tournament championship Beach volleyball tournament during the joint training camp with Rokkaku

August 11 During a practice match with Tachibana, his Triple Counters are broken

August 17 Start of the National Tournament Plays against Higa in the second round, wins against Hirakoba-Chinen pair in D2

August 19 Plays against Shitenhouji in the semifinals, defeated by Shiraishi in S3 Participates in the yakiniku battle, drinks Aozu and drops out

August 23 Plays against Rikkai in the finals, wins against Niou in S2 Wins the National Tournament championship Is inspired when visiting a hollyhock gallery with Kawamura

October Is invited to an amusement park by a student whom he saved from groping, but declines

November Participates in the U-17 training camp Wins against Yuuta in the “friendly fire” matches The restaurant’s tabasco runs out, a restriction for use is put in place Plays against Tezuka who is leaving Japan, swears three things

December On the overseas training camp right before the U-17 world cup, faints from eating Akuto meshi at the pick-up tournament In Australia, enjoys coffees from all countries with Jackal U-17 pre-world cup begins Plays against Germany in the first match, wins against Bismarck-Siegfried pair U-17 world cup begins Plays against Australia on the second round of the qualifying league, wins against Mac-Milky pair in D1 Japan is qualified to play in the championship tournament

What I most want to photograph now is Australia’s starry night sky

During the camp and on off days, what do you do for a change of pace?

I guess the main one would be taking pictures. Especially on an overseas trip like this, taking a lot of pictures of sights I don’t usually see arouses my creativity.

Since coming to Australia, what kind of pictures have you taken?

When you go a bit outwards, there’s a desert, so I’ve taken a lot of pictures of cacti. But though you may say “cacti” in one word, there are tall ones, types that have a form that is round like a tennis ball, and so on - there are many different kinds. Besides that, I took pictures of koalas. Tanegashima-san recommended a good place to me… I could even hold them in my arms, so I had fun. What I’m thinking I most want to photograph next is the starry sky. Since it’s the Southern hemisphere, the scenery of the night sky totally differs from the sky in Japan. The Southern Cross, or capturing the Milky Way - I’d really like to take such pictures.

Do you show the pictures you take to someone?

I often send them to family and friends. I sent a lot of pictures of the koalas to my brother Yuuta, fufufu. It seems my sister likes cacti of weird shapes.

I think the fans also really want to see Fuji-san’s pictures.

I brought many with me today, so sure. I’d be happy if people would like them.

Photo

In Australia When I find the time within the U-17 tournament, I take pictures little by little. Don’t you think this koala looks like Yuuta?

Cacti We often go for walks together. Even if it’s a familiar scenery, it becomes fun when cacti are around. 

Family trip A camera is a magical tool that can cut out a scene that will not happen again. I can’t miss doing that when I’m traveling.

Fashion

Fuji really likes knits! Are you wearing the hat with ears that I gave you? (Kikumaru)

I’m not that interested, but protection against cold is important. It’s good to warm your body properly with a stole. (Ochi)

“I guess I wear a lot of clothes in white or beige. Especially in winter, I choose clothes that don’t clash with the snowy scenery.”

“After all, the feel when wearing something is important. Clothes with natural, smooth feeling materials are to my liking.”

Before, he used to wear things like shorts a lot, but it seems that’s not the case anymore. (Saeki)

Room

I’m aiming for a room with a Nordic taste Since around autumn, when I’ve had the time I’ve been changing the design little by little. I found an antique lamp, and I think I want to establish unity by using Nordic furniture. Next to my cacti, plants I got from Yukimura and Shiraishi have joined the group.

TN:

*1 Or “respond to those feelings.”

*2 Furigana says “closed eye”, but the kanji is actually for “kokoro no hitomi”, mind’s eye.

*3 "Shigeki": stimulus, impetus, incentive, encouragement, motivation, provocation, excitement, thrill.

*4 Literally enlightenment, spiritual awakening, opening one’s eyes to the truth.

*5 It’s not clear whether he is talking about himself, and I haven’t read the overall story yet, so this is my assumption.

[chlostertalks]

Westworld Timeline (My Best Guess) – Post-Season 3 Finale

Updated May 4th, 2020 (after S3E8)

“If this is still now, and if we are indeed still here.”  -Solomon, S3E7

The show creators want us to experience the world the way the hosts learn about their world and the world, which is why the timeline is so confusing. I've hammered it down as best I can, even with Season 2 causing brain damage a second time.

The year 2052 threw me off so much after S3E7, because Charlotte said that she infiltrated Delos "for the last few weeks" rather than what I thought was the last few years. I thought Dolores and Caleb were the only ones in 2058, but it turns out that all the characters were in the same year, so Seasons 1 and 2 occurred the year before rather than six years before. I had to reconstruct my timeline into what it is now below.

Rather than fitting Season 3 into the collective understanding of the timeline of Seasons 1 and 2, I had to structure Seasons 1 and 2 around the timeline of Season 3.

TL;DR:

The season 2 post-credit is finally explained

Caleb was born the same year as the Westworld massacre (and ironically on Groundhog Day)

The 2052 security footage of Maeve may be an off-camera event that parallels her exploring the Mesa in Season 1 (because nothing else makes sense with this arbitrary date)

A Refresher:

Season 1 sets up Westworld and the Reveries update (part of Ford's grand plan to do what Arnold tried doing a long time ago). The hosts are free…under Ford's control. They're merely slaves to a loop and the guests that hurt them.

Season 2 sets up the Arnold Project and the Delos Project, and that below the Valley Beyond is a room full of servers containing the Forge (all the park data) and the Sublime (a safe haven simulation for hosts). The season itself also shows other Delos Destination parks. Explores the idea that the next phase in human evolution is humanoid robots (hosts). Humans enslave hosts, only to want to be like hosts and achieve immortality.

Season 3 branches outside all the Delos Destination parks, showing that the very guests that visited the park were also part of a global loop controlled by Rehoboam. Explores the idea that hosts are controlled by humans, who are controlled by AI.

In the Previous Years….

Arnold's son, Charlie, dies.

Arnold wrote half of Westworld's code in 2017. (S1E7)

In S1E3, Ford explains that he, Arnold, and a team of engineers begin living on the park grounds to build the hosts. It was a three-year creation process before the park ever opened, so creation began in 2020.

All the interrogation sessions are of Arnold and Dolores; they begin here. All the times when hosts freeze all motor functions are with Arnold.

"You should get back, Dolores, before someone misses you."

Arnold gives Dolores a maze to follow so she can find herself. She will follow the maze three times in her lifetime in the park: once here, once with William, and once before the attack at the end of season 1.

2023 (34 Years before 2057/Season 1):

After achieving consciousness via the maze for the first time, Dolores kills all the hosts, Arnold, and herself to stop the opening of Westworld (S1E10). The park will open anyway, but Arnold almost achieved shutting down the place.

Meanwhile, Caleb is born February 2nd (Groundhog Day). We know this from S3E7, just above his left middle finger:

In the Years in Between:

Akecheta, chief of the Ghost Nation, was on a different loop. He was peaceful, and had a wife. He discovers the massacre and the maze but before he knew the voice inside his head, his narrative was changed, and the Ghost Nation was born.

The Arnold Project (before the Delos Project)

Any time there are black bars above and below the footage, the audience is watching a simulation.

Because it's impossible to have complete fidelity remain outside the Forge simulation and in the real world (as William will soon find out throughout the Delos Project), she allows him to have behaviors unlike Arnold to be separate from Arnold and function.

Thus, Dolores and Ford create Bernard Lowe for the real world. This is how he is part host and part human.  

Dolores is wiped and reset after creating Bernard.

Logan Delos sees the prototypes for Westworld; park needs funding

Husbandry robotics

Riot robots (used in the Season 3 finale)

George (site survey and construction)

Delos Destinations (Westworld and five other parks)

2025:

A thermonuclear incident occurs in Paris October 9th. (we know this from the Westworld Season 3 date announcement)

Engerraund Serac and his brother Jean Michel (Jean-Mi) watch as their loved ones and city are gone in an instant. This moment inspires the brothers’ creation of Solomon and, later, Rehoboam.

2027 (30 Years before 2057/Season 1):

Dolores meets William during her first quest to find the center of the maze a second time; William’s experience leads to his funding Westworld and saving them from closure; leaves photograph behind, showing that William’s tale from Episodes 2-9 set up the pilot and the season finale

William had been engaged to Juliet for a year upon his arrival at the park

Dolores achieves consciousness again, paralleling her third achievement in 2057 in S1E10

Dolores' memory is wiped after achieving consciousness a second time.

After William leaves the park….

Akecheta finds Logan in the middle of a desert after his horse dies. William had spanked the horse with Logan tied to it, and the horse ran as far as it could. Logan is insane and doesn’t know his way out. He told Logan that his kind would come for him, but he learned from Logan that there is another world. Possibly why the Forge simulation itself takes on Logan’s image.

William would come back to the park one month out of the year to unleash his true self  (S3E8).

William convinced Mr. Delos (Logan’s dad) to back Westworld after William bought Logan’s share; shows the possibilities of market research, explaining the ton of data they collected over the years.

The market research turns into achieving immortality, preserving their conscious minds in control units and placing the control units in drones. It’s pivoted as the next step in human evolution. This becomes the Delos Project.

William’s daughter Emily meets Dolores at Mr. James Delos’ retirement party. Logan is permanently insane.

Mrs. Delos died of a stroke, and Logan goes insane and ODs.

Through the Delos Project, William tries, over the next 30 years, to preserve Mr. Delos and bring him back to the real world after he dies of cancer.  Mr. Delos’ mind is preserved as a perfect virtual copy in the Forge, but the problem is bringing that copy into being in the Mesa and in the real world. If William can do that, the possibilities are endless. However, it fails multiple times.

William will grow to loathe the Delos project by 2057, and believe that "no system can tell me who I am. That I have a…choice" (S2E10). It feeds into what the entire series explores: whether or not there is free choice.

Mr. Delos’ last conversation with Logan becomes Mr. Delos’ cornerstone of his copy in the Forge.

2031:

Caleb’s mom abandons him March 20th. She is found months later, and is institutionalized as a result of her schizophrenia September 25th. This scene itself is shown S3E3. The dates are shown S3E7 (see 2023 photos).

In the Years in Between....

Akecheta looks for Logan at Westworld, but he is already gone. He instead finds the Valley Beyond, a door to another world—the Sublime, a safe haven or Garden of Eden, if you will. The Valley Beyond will also be known as Glory. He tries to take his wife from his former life, Kohana, to the Valley Beyond, and she remembers him, but the Westworld staff takes her away for decommissioning. He was afraid that, if he would die, he would lose her memory. He also noticed that more of his family was decommissioned and replaced.

William visits Dolores frequently at the park, and tells her of the plan of the Valley Beyond. William will build both the Valley Beyond and the Forge to record guest data and use it to achieve immortality.

Akecheta looks for his love and, for the first time ever, allows himself to die. He hasn’t been updated in 10 years because he had never died. He finds B83 and his love, but sees that she will no longer live. Thus, he dedicates his life to recreating the maze throughout the park so that the other hosts can find themselves and be free.

2037:

The Second Russian Civil War starts in Moscow, according to the Westworld Season 3 date announcement. Caleb and Francis will soon fight in this war.

In the years in between….

Serac and Jean-Mi create Solomon for Incite. Mr. Dempsey, the founder of Incite and Liam’s father, wants to predict the stock market for personal monetary gain, but the Serac brothers see something more in Solomon.

2039:

Solomon Build System initiated (we know this from the Westworld Season 3 date announcement)

This is a previous Rehoboam build by the Serac brothers. This is what Dolores and Caleb will find 19 years later in Sonora, Mexico.

In S3E7, Dolores explains that Solomon developed so many anomalies and inherited Jean-Mi’s “schizophrenic…way of thinking.”

2042:

Caleb graduates high school June 5th. He enlists in the army December 22nd, and will later fight in Crimea alongside Francis during the Russian Civil War.

Caleb begins training in Park 5 of the Delos Destinations. According to Dolores in S3E8, the government wanted "live" targets, and her creators were happy to supply. Like all Delos Destinations, the hats recorded every decision, including Caleb to not only choose not to harm the hosts, but also to encourage his comrades to do the same. He saved hosts, including a reassigned Dolores and Hanaryo, from being raped. His capacity to choose is why Dolores will choose Caleb for her mission outside the park 16 years later.

We know the dates from S3E3 (see 2049 photo) and S3E7 (see 2023 photos)

2043:

Jean-Mi asks Solomon to make a strategy; it’s his final request before his reeducation, according to Dolores in S3E7.

Jean-Mi goes mentally insane, so Engerraund checks Jean-Mi in a reeducation facility where he can monitor and manipulate him. The institutions, one being called Inner Journeys, are for outliers. The centers were meant to turn their minds inside-out so that they could fit Solomon’s (and later Rehoboam’s) society and be less of a threat. However, only 1 in 10 people reentered the world after reeducation; the outliers were so unpredictable, it was better to remove them from the world than have Rehoboam try to control them (a decommissioning, if you will).

In the years in between….

Engerraund also kills Mr. Dempsey and stages it as a plane crash.  

2048:

Caleb has a skull fracture May 9th (see 2049 photo) (1:28).

Caleb and Francis are in Crimea to hunt down an insurgent group called the Diehards, even though the Diehards were also hunting them. One of Caleb’s men dies in an explosion, and shrapnel hits him in the head, causing the fracture.

On May 11th, Caleb and Francis are honorably discharged, but Caleb won’t remember this as a result of his reeducation.

We know the dates not only from S3E3 (see 2049 photo), but also from when Caleb asks Solomon about Francis in S3E7 (see 2023 photos)

In the months in between….

Caleb and Francis robbed banks and murdered people through the RICO app. The app was designed for people to make money off murders and robberies, but in reality, it was used for U-class citizens to get rid of other outliers. Caleb and Francis were the best at it.

2049:

On April 4th, Caleb and Francis were tasked to murder the creator of the pharmaceutical company that produced memory-altering drugs (including the limbic wafers that correspond to reeducated people with drips installed in their mouths, like Francis)(not sure if it includes the Genre drug); the creator tells Caleb the truth, and since Caleb now knew the truth, he would be reeducated. Caleb turns and kills Francis and the creator after a bounty is immediately placed on both his head and Francis’ head.

Caleb nearly commits suicide when he ends up in Sonora May 4th.

We know the date from S3E3 when Dolores shows Rehoboam’s prediction of his suicide (below) (10:08). We know the date of his treatment center visit from S3E7 (see 2023 photos)

In the facility, Caleb becomes U454.1, and is reeducated on how he got to the facility in the first place. He’s trained to believe that Francis died in combat.

The reeducated backstory: After the incident in Crimea, Caleb and Francis captured the leader of the insurgent Diehards. The “leader” is the man that told him the truth about the world. The insurgents ambush Francis and Caleb, killing Francis and triggering his PTSD.

Caleb was not only one of the first people to be reeducated, he was one of the 10% of successful patients. Once reeducated after three months, Caleb is sent out into the world to be a construction worker who occasionally goes on RICO. This is how Dolores will find him in 2057.

2052:  

Maeve tries escaping the first known time (we know this date from the Westworld website—since removed, but photo is below)

But now that Westworld has made it obvious that Season 3 is in 2058, and it's only months removed from Season 2, which is immediately after the attack in Season 1, it's hard to pinpoint this date that was once on the Westworld website.

It may be from a past life that we did not see on camera, as Felix explained to Maeve S1E6 that "hosts get reassigned all the time"

Being that she's one of the park originals, Maeve has been around for a long time, and therefore, her time with her daughter may not be her first narrative

Like Dolores, she may have achieved consciousness once before–we the audience may not know this yet, and that may have been what was depicted on the website.

2055:

Caleb has a 5-month romantic relationship end by system interference October 2nd. This suggests that Rehoboam controls people’s lives.

We know the date from S3E3 when Dolores shows Rehoboam’s prediction of his suicide. This date is just below her right hand (see 2049 photo).  

2056:  

Juliet commits suicide after seeing William’s card from the Valley Beyond. It details the things he did in Westworld, videos and all. She leaves the card behind for Emily to see; it’s inside her 16th birthday present.

William does something truly evil (below) and feels nothing.

In exchange for her saving his life, Akecheta tries protecting Maeve’s daughter. However, William has other plans, shooting Maeve and her daughter, leaving Maeve to die on the maze Akecheta drew, and forcing the Westworld staff to assign Maeve to a new story: madam at the Mariposa.

Akecheta finds Ford as he constructs a new story. Ford knew that he was going to die by Dolores’ hand, and told Akecheta that when that day comes, he needed to gather his people and go to the Valley Beyond.

2057/Season 1:

Ford's months-long grand plan is put in motion. This plan will include:

The Reveries update (allows the hosts to access Arnold's code and possibly achieve freedom)

Reconstruction of Escalante while using half the park's resources

Writing a new narrative

Pulling hosts out of narratives

Letting Dolores and Maeve make their own choices

Letting Clementine fight back and demonstrate what Delos considers a fault in the Reveries update

Drinking to the lady with the white shoes with Old Bill

Retiring and allowing Dolores to kill him

Peter Abernathy is decommissioned after he sees a photograph of the real world; turns out to be William’s wife, Juliet

Maeve tries escaping a second time

William and Dolores begin a quest to find the center of the maze

Since Westworld is just another world to conquer, and he sees himself as a "Titan of industry," he must finish this quest to conquer Westworld to find his purpose.

She is retracing her steps with no concept of time

Some of her retracing is mixed in her flashbacks with William and Logan, including the graveyard, orgy house, and train scenes.

Maeve begins piecing together what Sweetwater really is. She finds old doodles and signs of the Livestock engineers. She begins dying repeatedly in order to find the Livestock engineers. She'll awaken multiple times, and force engineers Felix and Sylvester to provide answers on what this park really is. She also gets new powers and personality modifications out of it.

Elsie finds that Maurice (the host that smashes his head in) was implanted with a satellite uplink. He was drawing a target that looked similar to Orion's belt to smuggle data out of the park, and has been doing it for weeks. As Elsie investigates, Bernard abducts her and abandons her for three weeks.

Ford begins displacing more hosts, ruining the years of hard work that Lee Sizemore put into narratives. He also talks to Dolores, and she lies, telling him that she hasn't made contact with Arnold in over 34 years--the day of the massacre.

"He doesn't know. I didn't tell him anything." (S1E5)

Ford finds William and Teddy at a bar. William explains to Ford that he's looking for purpose and meaning, something he believes he will find by playing Ford's game

Ford: "Well if you're looking for the moral of the story, you could quite simply ask."

William: "I need a shovel. The man I'd be asking died [roughly] 35 years ago. Almost took this place with him. Almost, but not quite, thanks to me."

Bernard wants to learn about the 5 unregistered hosts of Sector 17--the replicas of Ford and his family. The area is designated off-limits for future narratives. It is also later in S1E6 that Bernard learns he is part-human (Arnold) and part-host.

Charlotte and Theresa continue devising a plan to overthrow Ford and to keep smuggling data out the park. Charlotte knows that the only thing the board cares about is the IP they need for the Delos project. She also has a hidden agenda as Serac's mole.  

Using Clementine in the demonstration to show what Delos finds a fault in the Reveries update

Firing Bernard

Wanting to lobotomize hosts within the next six months in order to reverse what they see as damage

Late 2057/The Attack (season 1 finale):

William finds the center of the maze, but it was never for him

Bernard makes a copy of Ford. This copy will taunt him for part of Season 2.  

Dolores achieves consciousness a third time via the maze and kills Ford and some board members. Unlike the last massacre in 2023, this one is by choice

Maeve achieves consciousness again and creates an escape army

Charlotte plants the key to the Forge and Sublime in Peter Abernathy’s head to smuggle out the park for Serac; breaks him mentally

Charlotte leaves a message for her son Nathan via a host (revealed in season 3)

Late 2057/One Week after the Attack (meat and potatoes of season 2): 

Dolores' rancher's daughter and Wyatt personalities have merged, as the Bicameral Mind song alluded to in the opening scene of the pilot. She goes on a killing spree of the guests, but also mentions repeatedly that "not everyone gets to go to the Valley Beyond" to justify killing hosts. 

Bernard escapes the park with Charlotte. 

Bernard tries getting Peter Abernathy for Charlotte, but plans are foiled by Dolores. Bernard hides with Dolores' army. 

Dolores finds her father, Peter Abernathy. She asks Bernard for help, but he can’t do a whole lot.

During a battle between the Confederados and the Delos security team, Clementine drags Bernard to a cave where Elsie is. It’s where Ford commanded him to leave her after the events in season 1. He begins leaking cortical fluid, so Elsie rushes him back to the Mesa. 

Maeve, Sizemore, Sylvester, Felix, Hector, and Armistice journey through Shogun World to shortcut into Westworld and find Maeve’s daughter. They learn that Sizemore copied narratives throughout other parks. 

The Delos Destinations: 

Westworld (Seasons 1-3)

Shogun World (Season 2)

The Raj (Season 2)

War World (Season 3)

Park 5 (Season 3)

Medieval World (Game of Thrones cameo in Season 2) 

William visits James Delos copy #149 and tells him how he and his family died. The copy goes insane, and Bernard and Elsie later find James and destroy him.

Bernard and Elsie fear that the Cradle, where the backups of the host data live, is in jeopardy, so they head to that section in the Mesa to save it. Ford's copy from S1E10 takes Bernard’s free will away from him because he doesn’t have it in him to survive. Ford will command him again to leave her. 

Elsie keeps bugging Bernard on what he found in the Cradle, but he doesn’t tell her. Instead, he has her find a car for the Valley Beyond, and splits from her to handle some other things for Ford. He later severs his ties from Ford to begin thinking on his own, and rejoins Elsie. 

Angela destroys the Cradle anyway, and Bernard destroys the security system to allow Dolores to have full control and take the key inside Peter Abernathy. 

Seeing that, by Charlotte placing the key in his head, he is broken and “dying,” Dolores kills Peter, and gets the pearl from his control unit. She now has the key to the Forge and the Sublime in her possession. 

William has to play a game that involves his past. His past conveniently finds him in the form of his daughter Emily, who escaped from the Raj park and somehow ends up in Westworld. Hallucinating and asking for Ford, William kills Emily, thinking she is a host. However, he realizes she was human when she has his data card in her hand. 

William questions whether or not he has a choice to do good or evil things or if it's part of his code, which is explored in Season 3

Dolores reprograms Teddy so that he'll no longer feel conflicted on following along with Dolores' revolution. The reprogramming drives him to suicide. 

Bernard leaves Elsie behind in the park. He heads to the Valley Beyond and runs into Dolores. They find the room of servers that hold the Forge in the Mesa, located just below the Valley Beyond.

Within the Valley Beyond: 

The Forge: holds guest data and James Delos' memories, among other things (the Forge itself takes on the image of Logan)

The Sublime: a safe haven for hosts  

Dolores learns about the park data while in the Forge itself with Bernard. She begins studying humans, and possibly which ones to target in the real world. 

The Valley Beyond holds a promise of a virtual Eden called the Sublime, where hosts are free and no longer slaves to these parks. Dolores believes that it’s just another cage, and she wants the real world, so she begins destroying the servers that support the Forge and the Sublime. 

To Dolores, the Sublime is basically a place where the hosts are only in simulation on someone's server, and can easily be deleted 

Bernard shoots Dolores, saving the Sublime and the Forge, but the servers' room begins flooding. That flood will carry above ground, closing the door to the Sublime and creating a flood above ground in The Valley Beyond (Sector 16, Zone 4).

Bernard imagines Ford’s voice guiding him on next steps, but he’s really listening to his own voice for the first time. He creates a host Charlotte, but with Dolores’ control unit. Host Charlotte kills real Charlotte.  

Host Charlotte saves the Sublime itself (about 2 exabytes of data), redirecting it via satellite to an undisclosed location on earth. 

"We are capable of change. And I've changed my mind." -Dolores as host Charlotte

Dolores saves the Sublime while as host Charlotte, even though she tried destroying it moments earlier. 

Host Charlotte kills Elsie because she’s too caught up in her own self-interest of wanting to be promoted and helping out on the Delos project. (Could also be a metaphor in killing off audience questions because she constantly wanted clarity on what the hell is going on in Westworld) 

Elsie had similar interests as Theresa, who had similar interests as Charlotte. Would make no sense for real Charlotte to kill her, which is why Dolores disguised as host Charlotte did. 

Bernard scrambles his own memory and leaves himself on the beach as the server room floods. 

Late 2057/Two Weeks after the Attack (season 2 premiere and finale)

Bernard washes up on the beach to start season 2. Strand and the Delos security team are in the middle of an investigation, and Strand, Stubbs, and host Charlotte bring Bernard along to see if he can piece together what happened two weeks ago.

Host Charlotte reveals to the team that Bernard is a host (because she’s Dolores in disguise and already knows about Bernard). They enter the house of Ford’s original hosts (designed in his own and his family’s image) and discover all the copies of Bernard hanging on meat hooks in the RDF basement.

Bernard is basically put in custody, and host Charlotte forces him to give directions to the security team on where Peter Abernathy’s control unit lives

Bernard and the security team head to the Valley Beyond. The security team drain the Valley Beyond and the room where the Forge servers live. Host Charlotte kills Strand. She later sends an encryption key to Delos, and Delos finally sends help off the island after two weeks. Bernard reveals what he did after the attack. Charlotte reveals herself as Dolores and kills everyone.

In the Months in Between….

No one’s picked up on host Charlotte’s host status other than Stubbs, who is a host himself. He gives host Charlotte clearance, and she’s free to leave the park. She leaves with 5 pearls.

In the season 2 finale, Bernard and Dolores are back in their host bodies, and are in Arnold’s old house. Dolores saves Bernard’s pearl and implants it a body she made for him. Host Charlotte is functioning, but with a different pearl. Dolores saves Bernard as a check and balance of her power rather than as an ally or a friend.

Bernard shaves his head and tries getting by without people recognizing him. He's been wanted for three months.

Late 2057/Season 3: (personal theory of when this happened on the timeline)

Dolores makes it into the real world, back into her own body, and cuts her hair into an asymmetrical bob. She begins going after guests that once frequented the park. We see this in the opening scene of the season premiere.

Bernard returns to Westworld, located on the South China Sea, after months of hiding (and in spite of a warrant being out for his arrest), and programs Stubbs to protect him. He is looking for Maeve, but finds that she is not only decommissioned, but her control unit is missing. He has a remote and answers questions via a tablet as if he’s talking to Ford.

Maeve is in a simulation within a simulation--she's a host in War World, but the Delos Destination and Mesa she's taken to when killed in War World are within a simulation themselves. Still aware of who she is, she tries busting out the park again. Maeve, with the help of the copy Lee Sizemore (the real Sizemore died in season 2, as expected), tries to break out of both simulations and the physical Mesa itself. Through a help bot in the Mesa, she finds her control unit and makes a break for it, but the help bot is gunned down.

In San Francisco, Serac is introduced as a former park guest and, while at Incite, created the AI technology Rehoboam. He narrates the season 3 date announcement video. He slowly bought out the board (38% ownership over two decades). He’s trying to take over Delos via a mole inside the company (real Charlotte—RIP), and use the intel gathered on Westworld guests to feed into Rehoboam and control the globe outside the park with a better perfected algorithm. This is why Charlotte and Theresa had common interests when they were alive. It also explains the plot of the season: Rehoboam gathers every bit of intel on people to build a new world where, in Dolores’ words, “It’s not about who you are....It’s who they’ll let you become.”

Maybe Serac was a primary shareholder and the very reason why Delos wouldn’t send help until Peter Abernathy and all the park data was smuggled out of Westworld 

What Incite makes/runs: 

The cars we see throughout the season 

Psycho Pharmacology (bought out the pharmaceutical company run by the creator that Caleb kills in 2049) 

Virtual Assistant (the earpiece Dolores wears) 

Rehoboam 

RICO 

Delos’ assets (which will soon be destroyed—Serac only wants the data)

Also in San Francisco, host Charlotte struggles being inside a different body. She’s learning about Charlotte and her personality as she goes, but is in constant confusion. Could be like the James Delos copies where they lose their minds in trying to achieve fidelity to the original person. Nathan, real Charlotte’s son, quickly learns that Host Charlotte isn’t his real mom. 

Delos begins testing one of 300 riot robots that will be used in S3E8 

Host Charlotte learns that someone smuggled Maeve out the park (S3E3). When Charlotte later meets Serac, she learns that original Charlotte (RIP) was one of his moles, but not the only one.

Charlotte used Maurice (the guy that smashes his head in) to smuggle data out of the park for him (S1E5)(see In the Years in between 2052 and 2055). 

William admits in S3E7 that he sold some of Delos’ data to Serac in order to raise capital for the park, but it's not possible for him to be a mole, as he feels that Serac stole his company from him

Host Charlotte reveals to William that she’s a Dolores copy. William freaks out and is immediately deemed incompetent. She pricks him for blood, and he’s taken to a mental institution, Inner Journeys Recovery Center (the place where Serac took his brother) while all his shares transfer to the acting president of Delos: Charlotte.

We know William is there based on a quick shot in S3E4. It's later confirmed in S3E7. 

(Bernard and Stubbs will later learn the location of this site from Martin in S3E6)

In a hallucination, William is taunted by Dolores in her traditional Westworld clothing while in the Inner Journeys mental institution

Someone stole Maeve for Serac. He wants Maeve to kill Dolores, for he believes the encryption key in her pearl unlocks all the data on Delos’ park guests through the years. Maeve doesn’t want to, and motions to kill him, but he stops her with a remote very similar to Bernard’s (most remotes wipe out surveillance tapes, but this one controls a host). Later in Singapore, Serac tells Maeve that humanity’s biggest threat is itself, and that Rehoboam was designed to predict and prevent disaster. The most complete portrait of the map of the human mind lies in the encryption key inside Dolores. In return for Dolores, Serac will give Maeve the key to the Sublime after getting it from Dolores.

Serac and Maeve go to Arnold’s old house, now confirmed to be in Singapore, and find that Dolores has made 5 hosts—3 women and 2 men.

In Jakarta, Maeve tries tracking down Dolores. She finds that Dolores got a body from the yakuza (gang) and a man named Sato is in charge. She finds him in Itaidoshin Distillery (“to be of the same mind, even though we may have many bodies”). The kegs are full of the paste used to make hosts, meaning Dolores is making an army. Sato is not only one of the samurai from Shogun World, he turns out to be one of Dolores’ five hosts, and we further learn that Dolores has copied herself into four hosts. The only host she didn’t copy herself into is Bernard as a check and balance.

Dolores as host Charlotte smuggled five pearls out the park: four copies of herself and Bernard. 

The Four Hosts of Dolores: Charlotte, Sato, Martin, and Lawrence

Sato stabs Maeve, and removes a tracking device from her control unit.

2058/Season 3 

Dolores has been hunting down former guests for months. She begins dating Liam Dempsey, the figurehead of Incite, Inc., for answers. Incite created an AI system called Rehoboam, and it has detected a mole that could be after some IP (real Charlotte with Delos’ IP?). Liam wishes he could turn Rehoboam off, but lost access after his father, the co-founder of Incite, died. Only the original architect (Serac) knows how to turn it off. If he tells her the architect’s name, Rehoboam will know and he will die.

Real Martin Connells knocks Dolores out, and tells Liam that she is a spy; he tries killing her quietly, but she kills all his henchmen, and has host Martin kill real Martin. Caleb, an LA resident down on his luck and missing his deceased friend Francis, finds her after she is shot over the melee.

Dolores clues Caleb in on Rehoboam. It’s an AI system that is the framework of a company named Incite. Incite is doing what Delos tried to do, but in a different way; they collected data years before privacy laws to create a replica world with all these replica people. Moreover, Incite uses Rehoboam to predict how people’s lives will go. In Caleb’s case, he will commit suicide in 12 years, according to his file and based on Rehoboam’s algorithm. It’s why he can’t get a job and get ahead in life. Incite is deciding what people’s lives should be, and predicting people’s outcomes in lives.

But Dolores supposedly hates humans for what they did to her at Westworld, or at least that's the front she puts on. She wants humanity to have free choice to send the world back into chaos and let the world burn to the ground so it can start anew.

Dolores and Caleb plan to steal all of Liam Dempsey’s cash. Host Martin gets Liam’s fingerprint. Dolores knocks out Michael, the wealth manager of Liam’s assets. His blood is the encryption key to Liam’s account.

Dolores extracts some of his blood and injects it into Caleb. The blood key will only work for 20 minutes, but the transaction goes through and Liam’s assets are emptied.

Liam goes to an elaborate masquerade auction. He learns of a drug called Genre, which allows a person to have 5 different hallucinogenic experiences. 

Bernard believes that Dolores killed Liam and made a host out of him, so he and Stubbs plan to capture Liam in order to see who else she compromised. They cross him at the auction after Liam finds that his funds have been depleted. They learn he is still a human just as Dolores crosses them and takes Liam. 

While kidnapped, Liam injects Caleb with the Genre drug he got at the auction. Caleb begins hallucinating, and we the audience begin seeing more flashes of his past. 

Dolores hacks Rehoboam and releases data to everyone on earth February 27th. The world learns that their fates were designed. (we know the date from the season 3 release date announcement; the way the video reacts is the way Serac’s watch reacts as he flies above chaos) 

At the same time, William is in the recovery center in Sonora, Mexico. His therapist commits suicide by hanging after learning of her life projection. William is taken to augmented reality (AR) and group therapies, having a drip mouthpiece installed—the same one Caleb has.

Charlotte hacks into his files to learn of his whereabouts; she pricked his blood to place a tracker in him before he forcefully enters rehab S3E4 (unknown protein detected).

Bernard and Stubbs find William’s location from Martin. It’s safe to assume that, since Martin and Charlotte are part of Dolores, Martin learned about William’s location from Charlotte. Martin holds off Serac’s guards while Bernard and Stubbs head for Mexico.

Serac and Maeve are in a simulation of the Sublime. It’s just the two of them in the open field. Serac shows her what she can have if she achieves her mission. Maeve asks for help while Serac threatens a permanent end to her life.

While Maeve's body is being remade during Serac's recent acquisition of Delos, Serac does give her help in three old friends. Those bodies, along with Maeve’s, are being created in the background throughout S3E6. The friends are Hector, Clementine, and Hanaryo. Maeve will also be able to talk to Dolores while in simulation; she’s the host control unit in the blue panel below. The data on the unit is corrupted somehow.

The Hale family watches the world burn around them.

Serac is on to Charlotte’s true host identity. Charlotte begins setting Dolores’ plan in motion to take Incite down before Serac gets the encryption key. She learns of William’s whereabouts, and that someone removed the tracker on Maeve’s control unit. She also makes a backup copy of Delos’ data.

Serac only wants the encryption key inside Dolores' pearl in order to exploit data and feed it to Rehoboam; he orders everything else to burn to the ground—trillions of dollars. Serac’s hologram corners Charlotte in an emergency board meeting. He knows of Charlotte’s plan, as he’s watched her this whole time.

Charlotte: “I’ve bled Delos dry. I’ve been here for weeks cutting its data, money, resources, everything we need to survive. To beat you. And I just sent the last of the files we needed.”

Back in a simulation within a simulation because she must wait for a new body, Maeve once again has the power to see where her control unit lies, but now also has the power to see where Hector is and reprogram him to where he’s no longer in a loop. Maeve, Hector, and Sizemore find Dolores in a simulated RDF room where she used to meet Arnold in the early days of Westworld. Maeve doesn’t want to kill Dolores, but finds it unfair that Dolores has the encryption key to the Sublime and control over the outside world. Dolores doesn’t want to give the key of their kind to Maeve, who aligned with Serac (against her will). Dolores is also aware that Charlotte may or may not betray her.

“You want me to be a saint. But you’re no saint. You’re not a villain, either. And neither am I. We’re survivors." - Dolores

"All my life, I prided myself on surviving, but surviving is just another loop." -Maeve, S1E7

“I had to make some difficult choices. But I did them for all of us.” -Dolores

Charlotte makes a break for it, squashing Hector’s pearl, taking Dolores’ crusty control unit, and nearly destroying Maeve’s pearl before having to run from Serac’s henchmen. She recruits her riot robot to help her escape. As Charlotte picks up real Charlotte’s family, the car explodes, killing the human passengers. Charlotte emerges with third-degree burns, shocked at the carnage. 

 William is amid an AR group therapy simulation featuring James Delos and all his past selves. Realizing he’s been sadistic since childhood, James Delos asks rehab William if he chose his path or if fate decided for him.  He destroys his past selves to find out who he really is. Bernard and Stubbs find him abandoned while in the therapy simulation, as the doctors ran off amid the chaos.

“Doesn’t matter where I’ve been, good or bad. Everything we’ve done has led to this. And I finally understand my purpose. I’m the good guy.”

His purpose becomes to kill all the hosts and restore balance to the human world.

Maeve emerges from the lab within the Mesa, new body and all. She waits for an old friend to emerge before taking matters into her own hands. 

In an undisclosed location, Charlotte begins deviating from Dolores’ plan, realizing that Dolores cloned herself four times over, knowing the clones would die for the sake of the revolution (and against their consent). Charlotte uses Clementine and Hanaryo in Jakarta to kill Sato. Hanaryo takes Sato’s head with them. 

In a simulation, Emily tests William for fidelity (season 2 post-credit) 

Bernard and Stubbs catch up with William in Sonora, learning that Charlotte infected him with an unknown protein, and that he is pronounced dead by the reeducation facility. Because his reeducation was unsuccessful, he was declared dead. 

Also in Sonora, Dolores and Caleb find Solomon, Rehoboam’s predecessor. They also find “decommissioned” (for lack of a better word) bodies of those who failed to be reeducated, including Jean-Mi.

“The projection did not fit the data, so the data had to change.” -Solomon

Dolores asks Solomon for Jean-Mi’s final strategy, which Solomon projected in 2043. Solomon noted that the strategy decoheres from the world (callback to title of S3E6, Decoherence). She buys Solomon time to make the strategy fit this world, and makes Caleb the catalyst for executing it. The prime movers are dead or decommissioned, however.

“If you (Dolores) die, I will adjust my projections.” -Solomon 

Maeve appears, and begins to fight Dolores out back. Maeve uses telepathy to have a quadcopter blow Dolores’ arm off. She escapes back to where Solomon is. Maeve learns of Caleb, but as she readies her sword to kill Dolores, Dolores pushes Solomon’s EMP button, shutting all three of them down. Caleb finds Dolores as a virtual assistant gives him instructions.

Solomon had planned to warn Caleb of something, but doesn’t get the chance. That something may have been the end of humanity being in the final strategy. 

Dolores somehow has Solomon upload Rehoboam's access info into her pearl while she's touching the EMP system.

William, Bernard, and Stubbs escape Inner Journeys out front. Bernard and Stubbs figured they may need William, so they keep him alive. They walk to a gas station to find a car so they can catch up to Dolores and Caleb. Bernard and Stubbs also piece together that Dolores will have Caleb destroy Rehoboam’s world.

“Dolores was made with a poetic sensibility. She won’t destroy humanity—he [Caleb] will.” -Bernard 

William shoots Stubbs, and Bernard presses a button on his remote to go full assassin. The SFPD interfere, and William escapes. Bernard learns that one of the officers is Lawrence, the last copy of Dolores. Lawrence gives Bernard Sato’s suitcase and an address "to go see her" in Los Altos Hills, California.

27713 Ravens Road

Serac's assistant finds Dolores and Maeve's bodies. Dolores' pearl is missing, as Caleb takes it with him back to Los Angeles. The assistant brings Maeve back to Serac to be revived.

Once back in Los Angeles, Caleb finds the LA branch of the Itaidoshin Distillery, where Dolores left a trunk with another copy of her own body in case something happened to her. Caleb installs her pearl in the body, and she explains why she chose him as she puts the rest of her skin on. 

 After escaping, William wants access to his funds and to every location of Delos' assets. 

Caleb and Dolores continue with the revolution. In the middle of the plan, host Charlotte returns, this time only to Dolores as a hologram (Dolores can see her through her contact lenses). Charlotte sees Dolores as a weakness to be shed, and sets her up so that Maeve can take her into Serac's custody. 

Serac needs Maeve to finish her job to save the world. During the battle, Dolores reveals that all the hosts are copies of her. She was the first that worked, so Delos built all the hosts from her.

"You want to tear down their world and replace it with copies of yourself." -Maeve 

"What becomes of this world will be up to them. And what you do will be up to you, as long as you don't try to stop me." -Dolores

"They're free, here, under my control." - Ford, S1E7

Bernard pays a visit to what he thought would be Dolores, but it's actually Arnold's widow, Lauren. She has aged in the decades since Charlie's death. Being that Bernard is part Arnold, he realizes he must come to grips with Charlie's death and memory before continuing on his mission.

After battling and hologram Charlotte's second interference, Maeve takes Dolores into custody at the Incite headquarters. Dolores is plugged into Rehoboam, and her memories are deleted in the hopes that the lack of memories will uncover the key. 

Caleb gets into Incite's HQ, but is unable to upload Jean-Mi's final strategy from Solomon. Serac destroys the flash drive because, if the strategy was uploaded, human civilization would end in 50-125 years.

Serac promised to give Maeve the key to the Sublime once extracted from Dolores, but Rehoboam never promised anything. Turns out that Rehoboam controlled Serac through an earpiece, as Serac "in a word, gave [his voice] to [Rehoboam]" to save the world. Rehoboam guides them in order to keep the world in balance, but the world is tired of being puppets.

"I lived in the chaos. Now, I choose to listen, to obey."  -Serac

In a simulation with one of Dolores' memories in an open field, Maeve soon realizes that Dolores never trusted herself with the key, and planted it in the pearl of someone else: Bernard.

"If you want me to trust you, let me inside your mind. Or I can force my way in." -Maeve

"Let them have their world. We can make our own." -Maeve

"I was angry at first. Torn between two impulses. We could annihilate them, or we can tear down their world in the hopes we could build a new one, one that's truly free. Then, we can bring the others back." -Dolores

As Dolores' last memories are wiped, Maeve overrides Serac's remote and kills his henchmen and leaves him to die. She reveals that Dolores' last memory was Solomon's access to Rehoboam, giving Caleb the choice to destroy Serac's work.

"She gave me a choice. I believe the rest of the world deserves one, too." -Caleb

Maeve chooses to align herself with Dolores' cause to help Caleb save the world.

In a motel, Bernard puts Stubbs in a tub of ice to keep him alive. He realizes that Dolores planted the key to the Forge and Sublime into his pearl, and that the suitcase has headgear to access it. Bernard enters the Sublime to figure out what he must do after the end of the world.

"I don't think she was trying to exterminate the human race. She was trying to save it. What's about to happen was always gonna happen. Serac and his brother were just holding it off. Humanity never reckoned with its own sins." -Bernard

"Our world had to burn down before we could be free." -Bernard 

In the Not-Too-Distant Future…. (Season 3 Post-Credit Scene)

William reaches a Delos branch in Dubai, looking to see where the hosts "breed." Turns out host Charlotte escaped to the Dubai location, and is building an army of hosts. A host William emerges and slits the throat of the real William.

"We [Dolores and I] started in the same place, but I can see the error in the path she took. But you're right William. You're going to save the world…for us." -Charlotte

In the Far Future…. (Season 3 Post-Credit Scene)

Bernard emerges from the Sublime with dust all around him in the motel room.

Here’s to Season 4! 

[dp-marvel94]

Double Discovery- Chapter 10

Story summary- After accidentally shooting Phantom with an anti-possession gun, Maddie finds she has a lot to learn about both Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton. Eventual Revelation Story.

First -> Previous

Word count- 6,351

Also on

Also on Fanfiction.net and AO3

Note: I forgot to say this earlier so I’m going to say it now. A huge thanks needs to go out to my sister for letting me bounce ideas off of her and helping me proofread this story. She’s the reason this story isnt full of typos and grammatical issues. Anyway here is the last chapter. It is actually a lot longer than my typical chapters but there was a lot of things that needed to happened before the ends and not a good break anywhere in it. So enjoy this extra long chapter.

The next morning Maddie woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed and calm. After finishing her talk with Phantom, she had gone upstairs and fallen asleep with little incident. Maddie stretched and look over at the clock; it was about 9:30. She was surprised she had slept that late, even on a Sunday. After using the rest room, Maddie for once dressed in casual clothes, jeans and one of her few t shirts instead of her ghost hunting suit. Hopefully the choice of dress would help the ghost feel more comfortable for the talk with her today. Maddie was honestly a little surprised with her willingness to disarm herself in front of a ghost, but then again, she was choosing to trust him and that was easier now that she knew who he was. Even though Phantom was a ghostly copy of her Danny, she loved him anyway and would always love him. After her dream, she soberly realized that if her Danny had died in the portal accident, Phantom would have been all that was left of him. She wondered what could have happened if things had been different. Would Phantom have found her? Would she have rejected him, angry at him impersonating her dead son? She frowned, shaking her head. There was no point dwelling on what could have been. They had gotten lucky, really lucky. Her still living son was still here and his ghostly counterpart had received in essence his humanity down to his core.

After exiting her room, Maddie peered into Danny’s room. She smiled but then the expression morphed into surprise when sleeping on the bed, she saw Danny and…Danny?, ghost Danny?, Phantom?(she should probably call him Phantom to avoid confusing herself). It was honestly rather adorable; despite the bed being pretty small for two almost full grown teenage boys, they looked comfortable. Both laid on their stomachs with the human’s right arm around the ghost’s back. Phantom’s legs had morphed in a ghostly tail which was wrapped around one of the human’s legs.

Maddie marveled at how close the two were; the scene was strangely intimate but still completely innocent. It reminded her of when Danny was little. He was a very tactical child and loved to cuddle especially when he was scared or sad. He would often come into their bedroom at night whenever he needed to be comforted and just wanted to be near his parents. She often missed those times; now he was a teenager and more often than not shied away from her affection. She was glad though that Danny, both her Dannys, did go to someone for comfort, considering the intensely emotional day they had endured. And frankly going to each other made sense. She wondered what it was like, having all those shared emotions, memories, and experiences. She could hardly imagine having such a close, unique connection to someone, to see yourself reflected so strongly in someone else. She wondered what it must have been like to go through something so traumatic and confusing and find you’ve suddenly gained a brother, a twin. That was how Danny had described their relationship – the closest word being brothers.

After standing there for several minutes, Maddie noticed the pair stir. The ghost’s tail twitched and slowly unwound from where it was wrapped around the human. The human turned over so he was on his side, facing the ghost, and slowly opened his eyes. Stretching, he gently poked the ghost to no response.

His soft sleepy voice stated. “We should get up.”

The ghost’s tail swished but he ignored his counterpart.

Danny propped himself up with one elbow and poked Phantom again. “Come on Sleeping Beauty. Up.”

Phantom turned his head to face the human and with half lidded eyes, quipped. “If you try to kiss me to wake me up, I will punch you.”

Grinning, Danny leaned towards the ghost and mockingly made kissy noises. Phantom’s eyes shot open. Looking mortified, he glared at the human who chuckled. Phantom’s expression then gained an air of mischief. He grabbed Danny’s arm. The ghost’s hand became transparent with a bluish tint and the effect quickly spread to the human. Danny yelped as he suddenly became intangible and fell through the bed. Once he was completely through the mattress and under the bed, Phantom let go.

Phantom smirked. “It’s been a while since that happened.”

Danny crawled out from under the bed. He huffed, glaring at the ghost as Phantom started laughing. Danny’s eyes then widened at he finally saw Maddie watching from the hallway. “Mom!”

Phantom turned so he was facing her also with a surprised expression.

Maddie walked inside. She smiled, meeting Danny’s eyes and then Phantom’s. “Good morning you two.”

The pair’s eyes quickly flickered between each other and their mother. Phantom managed to stammer. “Good morning.”

Still smiling, Maddie addressed the ghost. “Sweetie, I assume you told him about our conversation last night.” Maddie tipped her head towards the human Danny.

The tension decreasing, Phantom replied. “Yeah Mom. I did.”

Maddie nodded, noticing that Danny also relaxed. “Good. I’m going to go downstairs and fix breakfast. After we eat, the three of us need to talk.”

She noticed the pair exchanged worried looks at that but ignored it. They were probably anxious about the upcoming conversation, through Maddie couldn’t guess what they had to tell her.

“I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.” Maddie then left the room and closed the door. Though she heard frantic whispers as soon as the door closed, she ignored that too. Whatever they told her, it would be fine, she hoped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After eating a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and eggs mostly in awkward silence, Maddie and the two Dannys entered the living room. The pair sat side by side on the couch while Maddie took the nearby arm chair.

Trying to appear as calm as possible, Maddie began. “I just want to talk. I promise I’ll listen so I want you to tell me everything you haven’t told me yet. I promise I won’t get angry. I just need to know what’s going on so I can help you and keep everyone safe. Okay?”

The pair nodded but remained silent. Phantom fidgeted nervously while Danny bit his lip. Both boy’s eyes darted around the room, seeming to fall anywhere but on her. Maddie too remained silent, laying her hands in her lap; she’d let them sweat it out for a bit.

After what fell like an eternity of awkward silence, Danny finally spoke. “Uhhh…this isn’t how I pictured this conversation happening.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, as his speech quickened. “I mean I don’t know how to explain this…. We’ve never had too, especially not when we’ve been like this. Jazz found out by accident and we just showed Sam and Tucker but can’t do that right now. Sooo I don't…”

“We’re the same person!” Phantom’s outburst cut off Danny’s rambling. The human looked at the ghost with wide eyes. “What!? We need to just come out and say it.” Danny then nodded, seeming to agree with his counterpart.

Looking at the two with compassion and a little confusion, Maddie replied. “Sweetie…Phantom. I already know that Danny is who you’re imprinted from.”

The ghost furiously shook his head. “No. Umm We're….we’re not separate people.”

Maddie furrowed her brow. Maybe he’s misunderstanding how ghost’s form? “But that’s not how that…”

Danny put up his hand to stop her. “Mom. Please just listen.”

Pushing down her confusion (and desire to correct Phantom), Maddie nodded.

The ghost continued. “We’re not normally like this.” He waved his hands, vaguely motioning to himself and the human Danny. “We're…fused together. All in one body.”

Maddie put her head in her hands, feeling slightly vexed. “Is this about the overshadowing? Because you can’t keep that up.”

The human cut in, voice serious. “Mom! Listen!” Her mouth snapped shut. “Phantom doesn’t overshadow me. It’s not that we’re in only one body. We’re one person.”

Phantom continued. “We’re not separate people. There’s only one Danny.”

Maddie threw up her hands. “But that literally doesn’t make any sense! The two of you are sitting in front of me right now!”

Phantom crossed his arms. “We’re not normally like this. This happened because of the antipossession gun.”

Danny sighed. “Yeah. We’re normally all in one place. Right now we're…one mind in two bodies.”

Maddie gapped. That…that didn’t make any sense. Bugg-eyed, she quickly looked between the two.

Danny face palmed. “We’re doing a horrible job of explaining this. It’d be some much easier if we could show you.”

Phantom, who had been studying the floor, perked up. “Wait! We can.” Danny raised an eyebrow at him. “No, not like that. The video that Tucker made of us training.”

Danny’s eyes widened and he smiled. “There should be footage of us transforming!”

The ghost immediately sprung off the couch. “The DVD’s phased into the wall of our bedroom. I’ll go get it!” Legs meddling into a ghostly tail, he quickly floated up through the ceiling. Maddie stared at where he’d left. She had no idea what to think. If they were lying, this was absolutely ridiculous and why would they lie? Unless they were trying to get her to let the overshadowing continue? But they could have come up with something better. Maddie frowned. Maybe they were both delusional. Worry knotted in her gut. She really hoped that was not the case.

Phantom returned about a minute later with a DVD in a paper case. “Here it is.”

Danny grabbed the remote and turned on the TV and the DVD player. Phantom floated down and put the disk in the player. He rubbed his hands together and turned to face Maddie, looking nervous. “Alright Mom. Hopefully this will show you what we’re talking about. I promise it’s real. We’re telling the truth.”

Phantom floated back to the couch and sat beside his counterpart. Danny aimed a nervous smile at the ghost. He took the Phantom’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Danny then swallowed and started the footage.

Maddie turned towards the TV. A low quality, clearly homemade video played.

Danny Fenton was standing in their lab. From behind the camera came Tucker’s voice. “Okay Dude. So what’s the plan for today?”

“Well I’ve been working on ectoplasmic constructs and I can almost make a crude sword…sometimes. And I think I’m going to try the ice sword again. It would go be cool if I could do a combined one! Ohh and I need to work on duplication some more.” He frowned at the end.

Tucker chuckled. “Yeah. Maybe you won’t get stuck with three arms this time.”

“Hahaha. It wasn’t as funny trying to hide that from Mom and Dad.” He grinned. “At least I got to freak out Jazz.”

Maddie heard both boys on the couch also chuckle at that.

Tucker laughed again. Then the Danny on the screen took a confident stance, with his feet apart and balled fists in the air. As a white ring of light formed around his waist, he shouted “I’m going ghost!”

Maddie blanched at the image and phrase. She had seen that ring before, on Phantom.

The ring separated into two and moved away from each other, towards Danny’s head and feet. Where ever the light passed, Danny’s clothes turned from a t shirt and jeans into familiar black fabric. As the ring passed over Danny’s head, his hair turned from black to white. He opened his eyes and they were neon green.

Maddie’s blood ran cold. She couldn’t believe her eyes. This…this had to be fake. The video continued.

The now ghost? on the screen floated up. His fists lighted with green ecto energy. A look of concentration settled on his face. “All right, Tucker, I’m going to try the ecto sword first.” The echoing voice was the same as Phantom’s, and Danny’s. The ghost put his hands in front of him and formed a ball of energy. It grew until it was the size of a soccer ball. Then the shape changed, as it narrowed and lengthened. Though it looked fuzzy around the edges and insubstantial, one end started to resemble the Promina of a sword. The object started solidifing, as the ghost gritted his teeth. “Come on. Come on!”

Suddenly, the object became fuzzy again and just sort of feel apart as the energy dissipated into the air. “Uhhh I almost had it!”

Maddie was so focused on the images, trying to decipher what it meant that she flinched when the video fasted forwarded.

She looked back at Phantom who was now holding the remote. He sheepishly smiled. “I…uhhh…don’t think you want to see us try to duplicate right now. It didn’t go well that time.”

Maddie paled, speechless. The video stopped on a visibly tired Phantom.

He sagged in the air. “Tuck, I think I’m done for today.”

“Danny! I think your parents are home!” A female voice, maybe Sam, yelled from upstairs.

His eyebrows raised in alarm. Without a word, the ring formed again, passing over and changing him again. But this time in reverse, black suit to t-shirt and jeans, white hair to black, green eyes to blue. He touched back down with a lot of grace from someone who suddenly stopped floating. Like he was used the shift in gravity. “We need to get out of here. We’re not supposed to be in the lab.”

Quickly walked forward, the human-looking boy suddenly disappeared.

“Danny!” The camera moved forward and then hit something invisible.

“Ow! Tucker! I’m right in front of you! I’ll turn us both invisible and we can sneak upstairs!”

The image wavered, as a wave of… something passed over the camera, darkening the image. “Dude! I need to turn of the camera!” Then the image went black.

Maddie froze, hands shaking. Looking back at the pair, she snatched the remote from Phantom’s hand. Quickly standing up, she scrambled towards the TV. Standing much closer than was normal, she stopped. She rewound the video to that last…change, transformation, whatever it was. It had to be fake; there was no way that was real. Playing it in reverse turned Danny into Phantom. Forward, Phantom into Danny. It looked authentic and her gut was saying this was real. She was grasping at straws; maybe Danny was possessed the entire time and Phantom could change his outward appearance? That would explain why the human looking Danny could turn himself and others invisible. But there was no change in body language, stance, or speech. It was seamless.

She rewound and watched the scene again. Those rings, those impossible rings changing the figure from human to ghost, from ghost to human. Danny Fenton into Danny Phantom and Danny Phantom into Danny Fenton. The human son she had raised and had always known - with the ghost son, who was so foreign but so familiar. Except that was not what was happening. There were not two figures; one was not replacing the other. There was one figure. What had he said earlier? There’s only one Danny.

She watched the scene one more time. Human to ghost, ghost to human. Her son. That was her son. And somehow, she had no idea how, he was both a ghost and a human. Or maybe some kind of hybrid, half of each - half human and half ghost. That would explain the mixed biology, the ectoplasm in Danny and organic material in Phantom. And it would explain the shared ectosignature. Phantom’s ectosignature was in Danny because it was Danny’s signature. Because they were the same person. She shook her head; she could think about that later. She rewound the video so the figure was in the middle of the transformation. Despite herself she smiled. That was her son, all of him, both Fenton and Phantom. Maddie was a little surprised she was not freaking out more. Then again, really she found out the hard thing last night. Danny Phantom was not the person she thought he was, and neither was Danny Fenton. But she still loved him, both sides? Parts? Halfs? Of him.

Maddie turned back to the pair on the couch. Both looked worried. They were quietly whispering between themselves. Neither of them, neither of him?, noticed she was looking. Maddie frowned. How had they described it earlier? One mind in two bodies. But they were, he was not supposed to be like that. She saw it in the video. He was supposed to be truly one person. Maddie felt guilt swell in her gut. Her invention did that. Her invention ripped her son, her baby in half and caused almost half of him to destabilize. Her breath quickened. Oh My God. What had she done? She had violated him in a way she couldn’t even imagine. She could not imagine what it was like to literally be only half yourself. For such a vital part of you to be missing. Was it even reversible? What if it wasn’t? What would happen to her baby? She felt tears starting to well. They seemed okay now but would that last. Would they waste away, the human part getting sicker and weaker as the ghost destabilized? Or worst, would one half of him die, cease to exist, while the other spends the rest of his life, existence without the other half of his soul?

Maddie was crying in earnest now, struggling to breath. Behind her she heard tentative footsteps. There was a slight draft out of nowhere, the tell-tell sign of a ghost. Maddie turned around. Both Dannys were behind her with their eyes fixed on the floor. Not even hesitating, she grabbed both boys and pulled them into a group hug. Maddie wept, cradling the back of each head with one hand. She rocked on her heels, the emotions intense enough to force her to her knees. She crumbled pulling both Dannys down with her. She felt that both boys were still tense and only half heartily returning the hug. Phantom pulled away from her and his other half soon followed.

The ghost looked down, shoulders dropped. The human looked at her with a hurt expression. “I..I thought you had accepted Phantom. Why are you so upset we’re the same person?”

Maddie paled, not understanding. “Mom. I promise we're…I’m still the same person you’ve always known. Please we’re still your son.” At the end of the human Danny’s plea, his ghost half’s sorrow filled eyes fixed on her.

Maddie’s mouth formed an O as she realized what was happening. They thought she was so upset because she knew they were the same person, two halves of a whole. As if she would love Phantom if he was just a ghost copy of her son, but could not if he was actually part of her son. She felt guilty again.

Cupping Phantom’s face with one hand and Fenton’s with the other, she looked in one pair of eyes and then the other. “Danny. I love you, both of you, all of you. Phantom and Fenton. Ghost and human.” She gave the ghost a kiss on the forehead and then the human.

The ghost bit his lip, tears starting to fall. “So you’re okay that we’re half ghost? You’re not going to try and fix us?”

Maddie titled her head. Was he really afraid that she would not accept them as a half ghost (hybrid? Whatever he was?) and try to make them fully human again? She paled, reading between the lines. He was afraid she would destroy him, in her mind trying to ‘fix’ things.

Looking Phantom in the eyes, she promised. “Everything I said earlier was true. I love you and always will. You being actually part of my son and not a separate ghost does not change that.” She took both Dannys’ hands in hers. “I don’t really understand this yet. But I’m not going to try and change or fix you. I love you just the way you are.”

Maddie leaned forward and hugged the pair again. This time they melted into the embrace. Maddie finally smiled. After almost one minute, she pulled away and wiped her tears with her hand. Both Dannys looked more relaxed, though their eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Phantom smiled. “Thanks mom.” He floated up and offered his hand to help her. Maddie took it and was hoisted to her feet. The other Danny also stood up and the pair made their way to the couch and Maddie to the arm chair.

Once everyone was seated, Phantom looked at Maddie. His brow wrinkled in slight confusion. “Why were you so upset earlier though?”

Maddie’s hands trembled again and she swallowed. With dread, she whispered. “My invention, I ripped you in half.”

Phantom and Fenton’s mouths both formed Os and they looked at each other. The human Danny cut in. “Oh. That makes sense.”

Maddie looked at them skeptically. “How are you not freaking out about this?”

Ghost Danny raised an eyebrow at her. “This has happened before.”

“What!” Maddie gasped.

“Yeah. The Fenton Ghost Catcher does something similar.” Phantom answered nonchalantly.

“Except it did weird things to our personality.” Fenton supplemented. Pointing to his ghost half, he continued. “He was Mr. fearless ghost hero. No distractions from school or friends or family. Just all day and all night ghost fighting, good deeds.”

The ghost crossed his arms. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“You were wearing a bedsheet as a cape.” Danny stood up, grabbed a blanket from the couch, and draped it around his shoulders as a cape. Putting his hands on his hips, he puffed out his chest and in a faux-deep superheroish voice quipped. “Fizzling Phantoms! This looks like a job for Danny Phantom! I shall battle the insipid technological fiend of Technus into the wee hours of the night. Then proceed to push the Fenton Family’s Ghost Assualt Vehicle into the lake to hinder Technus’s malicious campaign.”

Maddie’s eyes widened. “You’re the one who trashed the RV.”

“It was him!��� The wide eyed human Danny jabbed his finger at his ghost half in panic.

Phantom scrunched his noise and raised his shoulders. “We just established that we’re the same person!”

The human Danny looked like he wanted to avow his innocence but obviously had no argument so he snapped his mouth shut and pouted.

Maddie knew she should not laugh but the mirth bubbled in her chest. She grinned and then Phantom grinned with her and both started laughing. Human Danny relaxed and eventually gave in too.

“I think I remember that weekend. You were also acting rather odd.” Maddie pointed at the human version of her son, who blushed.

Phantom perked up though. “Yeah. You were the Fun Danny. No rules, all fun, surfer frat bro. You kept calling everyone dude and spontaneously grew a mullet.”

“Yep. The mullet made no sense.”

Phantom was laughing now. “And that stupid hat and plaid jacket!”

Fenton also laughed. “Whatever happened to those clothes anyway? They disappeared when we went back through the ghost catcher.”

Phantom grinned. “Watch this.” With a focused expression, he held his hands out. White rings, like the ones from the video formed, around his wrists. They moved over the hands and instead of changing the flesh, where they passed a jacket and baseball cap appeared.

Human Danny excitedly threw his hands up. “O my gosh! I forgot we could do that! We should use the more often.”

His ghost half did not respond but instead put on the jacket and cap. “Hey dudes. So I’m like the Fun Danny. We should totally blow off our homework and ghost hunting to like go bowling. Then let’s see how many Cheetos we can stuff into our mouth’s Dude.”

Both boys snickered while Maddie just marveled at the exchange. Pointing to the jacket, Maddie asked. “How did you make those appear?”

The ghost was taking the clothes off but looked at her. “Oh. When we transform, any objects we’re holding like our backpack, the thermos, or even clothes disappear but they go somewhere because they come back after. I mean we don’t know where or how it works. We don’t know how going ghost works either. But we at least figured out how to pull those lost items back, just have to focus.”

Maddie looked at him thoughtfully. She had so many questions- about this going ghost, about the ghost he’d fought and the allies he talked about earlier, about Phantom’s early mishaps like holding the mayor hostage and that stealing spree, about the time traveling he mentioned earlier. But what was in front of her right now was capturing her attention- that her son was split into two versions of himself and this had happened before.

Maddie frowned slightly. “Why did you…split up last time anyway?”

The two Dannys look at each other questioningly, probably confused at the shift in the conversation. Fenton’s hand went to rub his neck. “We…wanted to be able to hunt down Technus and hang out with Sam and Tucker at the same time so used the Ghost Catcher to be in two places at once.”

Phantom rubbed his hands together. “Yeah. It only kind of worked. Like we said earlier, it did weird things to our personality but Fenton got to have fun with our friends and I, the ghost half, chased down Technus.”

Maddie sighed. She did not like the idea that her son tested one of their inventions on himself though it appeared to work out okay. “Your father and I were at the pier so we saw some of that. What happened after you pushed the van in the lake?”

Fenton continued. “We…uhh…tried to refuse through overshadowing but it didn’t work. Probably because we didn’t want to refuse yet. So at home we tried with the Ghost catcher but went through the wrong side.”

“We ended up as two half ghost’s, each with only half our powers but the same personalities. We had to hide from you, Dad, and Jazz while we figured it out.”

Maddie cupped her chin. “That’s why Jazz was freaking out, saying there were two Dannys.” Both boys blushed. “And why we saw two Phantoms when Technus attacked the house.”

“Yeah our two halves worked together to stop him. And then finally went through the merge side of the catcher to refuse.” Phantom added.

His human half continued. “Yeah. We decided after that to never do that again. It was confusing and we had a headache the day after from dealing with the two sets of memories. And figured out we’re better as one whole person, not two halves.”

Phantom chuckled. “While just me, as Phantom only, couldn’t catch Technus despite chasing him all weekend, we managed to deal with him in a few minutes working together. We obviously need each other.”

A lot of what they said matched with what the human Danny told her about his connection to the ghost. Maddie smiled. It was good to know Danny had made peace with those two parts of himself. Though she wondered why his personality wasn’t obviously different this time. Maybe it was because it was a different device this time? And maybe they were more used to it. Danny in the video had mentioned duplication and there were accounts and video of Phantom using duplication in battle.

She asked the next question that came to her mind. “What does it feel like being split like that? Is it like duplication?”

Fenton frowned. “No. Unlike duplication, I can’t just tell my copy to do something and he’ll do it.”

“Well you can try.” Phantom quipped.

Fenton grinned. “Okay. Hit yourself in the face.”

With a shit-eating grin, Phantom reached over and playfully hit Fenton in the face and laughed.

Fenton looked shocked at first and then laughed too. “Okay. I deserved that.”

Maddie also laughed lightly. After they calmed, she continued. “But seriously, what is it like?”

Both halves looked down and frowned. Phantom was the one that spook up. “There is still connection there, like the shared emotions. But it still feels like something is missing. There’s an emptiness, inside. Like…like I’m incomplete.”

Maddie sobered at that, seeing Fenton nod in agreement. She didn’t press farther. This is clearly deeply personal. It was not just having powers missing or the inability to turn human but deeper. Like part of your soul was missing. She stuttered a reply. “That must be…violating.” Taking both boys’ hands again, she continued. “I’m sorry the ectogun did this to you. I’ll find a way to make sure it won’t work on you again or destroy it if I can’t.”

Phantom gave her a strained smile. “It’s okay. We know you didn’t mean to do it.”

Fenton continued. “Yeah. We’re okay. Really.” He looked at his ghost half. “Being close together helps, and knowing this isn’t forever.”

Maddie paled at that again. “But…what if Phantom had destabilized earlier?”

The ghost gulped. His human halves’ eyes widened and he looked at his hands. Fenton stuttered. “I don't…don’t know.”

Maddie stood up and kneeled in front of the couch. She reached to hug both her Dannys. “I promise you won’t ever have to find out. I’ll make sure of it.” They stayed like that for a few seconds. Then Maddie pulled back. “You mentioned earlier using the ghost catcher to…refuse. Do you want to go ahead and try that now?”

Just like that the mood changed. The human Danny smiled. “Yes. Absolutely. I’ve missed my powers.”

Ghost Danny crossed his arms and quipped in mock annoyance. “Glad to know, that’s all I contribute.”

The human huffed but was suppressing a grin. “Oh please. Earlier in the RV, you said you were having an out of body experience, so apparently all I am is the meat suit.”

The ghost paled and his mouth fell open. He looked mortified. “O my god. I can’t believe I said that!”

Fenton just laughed and gently knocked shoulders with his ghost. Phantom slowly smiled and started laughing too. “Well I missed having the ability to sense temperature and actually having a heart beat.”

Maddie just smiled at the two, savoring her Danny’s sense of humor and ability to pounce back. She stood up. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs and find the ghost catcher.”

The two Dannys nodded and then stood up, though the ghost remained floating. Maddie with the two halves of her son made her way into the lab once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just when Maddie was about to suggest they look in the Ops Center, Phantom found the device in the back of the weapons closet under a sheet, which he proceeded to wear like a cape. He flew out of the closet with the Catcher in hand and received a playful punch on the arm from his human half for the choice in garb.

Maddie smiled at the exchange and then eyed the Ghost Catcher. Worry knotted in her stomach. “Are you sure this will work?”

Phantom looked at her with certainty. “Yeah. It will work.”

Fenton patted her on the shoulder. “Yeah. Mom it will.”

She pulled them both into a hug. Before she had been ready, eager even to have the two refuse, to talk to her whole son for the first time since finding out the truth, but now she was nervous. There was huge difference between seeing Phantom and Fenton in separate bodies and seeing them as one. The Danny that came out of the Ghost Catcher, would he be the same as she remembered? Or would something be lost in the fusion? She knew it was ridiculous but part of her felt like she would be losing something. Being able to see and interaction with the two halves like this was a unique experience. She was afraid she would miss it. Maddie stepped back, studying the faces again. She smiled. She would be okay, they would be okay. She kissed both on the forehead. “I love you so much.” She motioned to the Ghost Catcher. “Go ahead.”

The two Dannys looked at each other. The human asked. “Ready to get back to normal?”

The ghost smiled. “Yeah. I’m going to miss being able to banter with myself.”

His human half laughed. “Me too.” He then pulled the ghost into a hug which the ghost returned.

They stayed like that for several moments. Fenton muttered into the ghost’s shoulder. “I hope to not see you on the other side, except like in the mirror.”

Phantom replied. “Same. Ready to go?”

The human perked his head up, though did not move from hugging the ghost. He gave his ghost half a nod and Phantom floated both of them off the floor. They gave their mother one last smile before flying through the merge side of the Ghost Catcher.

There was flash of light and then a human-looking Danny Fenton came through the other side, smiling with his arms hugging himself. That was until he hit the floor. Maddie stared dumb founded at the scene for a few second until she ran to him. A mixture of anxiety, fear, happiness, and hope swirled in her gut. Danny groaned and rubbed his head. Then his eyes fell on his mother. “Hi Mom.”

She kneeled down in front of him. “Did…did it work?”

He continued rubbing his head and squinted at her. “Yeah it did. My head just hurts. Trying to deal with having two sets of memories of the last day. Give me a minute.”

Maddie stopped at that, mind churning with questions. Soon his face relaxed. Not being able to stop herself, she squeezed him in a hug. “Danny sweetie. I’m so sorry! I’m sorry I hurt you and yelled at you. And threatened and hunted you. Can you please forgive me?”“

He squeezed back. “Mom stop! You already apologized.”

Maddie stopped, pulling back. She had told Phantom that….but he was Phantom. “You remember that?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. So I remember everything, you finding out and letting me out of the unit and crying. You apologizing and then telling you everything this morning and hugging in the living room. I forgive you.”

She relaxed at that. “I’m so glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?”

Danny looked at his hand. Maddie’s eyes widened as it lit up with neon green ectoenergy. “Yeah. It looks like my powers are working.”

Maddie looked into his eyes. They were glowing ectoplasmic green, like Phantom’s eyes. Right then, it really hit her. Her son was Phantom. Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. And Danny Phantom was Danny Fenton. She had known and acknowledged it earlier but it was so different really seeing it now, seeing her human-looking son use clearly ghost’s powers.

“Uhhhh Mom, you’re staring.” He was rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh Sorry honey. I’m wrapping my head around this.”

He nervously grinned. “Yeah. I guess it is different seeing me use my powers like this, after the last day.”

He was certainly right. This would take time to get used to. She stood up. “Do you want to talk about all this in the living room?”

He stood up too. “Yeah. We can do that.”

They walked up the stairs and sat on the couch, side by side. Maddie put her arm around her son. “Any other big revelations you need to tell me?”

He bit his lip. “Well. Vlad Masters is a homicidal half ghost who wants to kill Dad, marry you, and make me his son/creepy apprentice.” Maddie gapped but he continued. “He…uhh… tried to clone me once. One of the clones survived though. Her name is Danielle and she looks about 13. She turned against Vlad and travels now. She’s cool.” He looked down. “I worry about her a lot.”

Maddie gapped. “I…I have another child.”

Danny looked at her wide eyed, realization dawning. “Yeah. I guess you do. We used to call each other cousin but I’ve started to think of her as a little sister.”

“Do you have a way of getting up with her?”

“I gave her a cheap prepaid phone. I can call her and try to convince her to come meet you.”

“And your Father.”

Danny paled. “I’m going to have to tell Dad!”

“I’ll help you. I’m sure he’ll take it well. He’ll probably be very excited. His son is superhero.” She gently elbowed him. Danny blushed and shook his head. “You are!” She kissed his forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks mom.” He gave her a side hug. Then a blue mist escaped from his lips and he gasped. Maddie looked at him questioningly. He elaborated “Ghost sense. It feels weak. Probably an ectopuss. I should go deal with it.” He then stood up and grinned at her. “You haven’t seen me go ghost yet, just on the video.”

Maddie’s heart quickened in anticipation. Danny putted his fists up and yelled. “I’m going ghost!”

The rings formed, just like in the video and on Phantom earlier. They separated and changed his clothes. His hair turned white and eyes green. He grinned at her and Maddie stared in amazement. It was so different that on the video, so much more real. This was her son and she was so proud of him. Love swelled in her heart. She pulled the now floating half ghost to her and gave him another hug. She’d been doing that a lot today. She had a lot to make up for and a lot to learn but she would. Happy tears prickled in her eyes. Despite how emotionally taxing this weekend had been, she was glad she had meet this side of her son and now knew who he really was. She closed her eyes and could feel in his chest the twin pulsing of his core and the beating of his heart. Human and ghost in perfect harmony, exactly like he was supposed to be.

Releasing her grip, she beamed. “Go get ‘em Danny.”

Notes:

And that’s the end. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment on, and bookmark this story. All of the feedback I have gotten has really encouraged me. I am so proud of myself for actually finishing this story. It has been an incredibly rewarding project and definitely has made me want to continue writing. As I mentioned last update, I have another idea I am currently working on. I don’t know when I will be posting it since I am dealing with job searching right now (Pray for me guys, it’s rough) and that’s eating up a lot of my time for the forseeable future. But I will be posting the story eventually; I am too excited about it not to. So be sure to follow me here and on Tumblr so you see that story when I post it. Thanks again!

[wlw-imagines-blog]

What Are You Waiting For? Kiss Her! Kiss Her Now!

Anon asked: Would you mind writing a Hermione Granger and Slytherin reader? Maybe R is a Malfoy but very reserved, she doesn't care bout her class or house but she sticks close to her brother because theyre family. She and H have been close off and on again since first year and R finally steps out of her shell to defend H? Sorry if this is too much, love your stuff btw!

A/N: Hey anon, i love this request, I love writing for hp, it reminds me of when i was a tween. I wanted to write the reader as a Malfoy, but whether or not she is adopted is up to you (the reader). ps ive rewritten this twice and mobile has collapse, also twice, losing both pieces of progress, im yelling.

You clutched your notebook close to your chest, watching puffs of breath cloud in front of you. From across the lake, Hogwarts rose up amidst the snowy trees, full of elegance and solitude. You scribbled more notes into the leather bound journal, about school, your classmates, your brother, Draco, and the festivities that were consuming Hogwarts, surrounding the Yule ball. 

The cold bit your nose savagely. You leaned against a fallen log, legs frozen. In front of you, the lake before you was solid ice, the giant squid no doubt swimming far below the surface, perhaps closer to the Slytherin common room’s window. You promised yourself you would check later, after finding Draco and pestering him about Pansy’s obnoxious Yule Ball proposal to him that unfolded in the Great Hall that morning. 

You cringed and laughed at the memory. The way Pansy assumed he would say yes, and how red your brother’s face had been. Neither you nor Blaise would let him live that down. 

“What are you doing out here?” A high voice called to you.

Looking up from your journal, you saw Hermione stood there, braced against the cold wind. Despite the weather, warmth flickered in your chest. You always felt warmer when she was around you. Whether or not when she sat next to you in class, or talked to you, or laughed. She felt like pure magic. 

You closed it, standing up straighter. “Nothing, just getting some peace of mind. I have a break, I wanted to get away from Pansy and Draco for a bit.” 

She wandered over to you, grinning from cheek to cheek. “I heard all about that from Ron, it was quite a scene i hear.”

“You should have seen it Hermione,” you laughed. "It was almost as bad as the ferret incident last week."

Hermione giggled, caught between amusement and the fact that student transfiguration was definitely illegal.

A strange giddiness swept through you when you heard her laugh.

"If you don't mind me saying, y/n. He deserved it." she said.

"No," you responded. "I agree, he was being awful."

Hermione gave you a sidelong glance.

There was history between the two of you. In first year, you met on the train. You were refreshed by her lack of knowledge to the Malfoy name. After being sorted into Slytherin, you didn't see her much, outside of shared classes. There were moments in class, where a universal force controlled the teacher, and you were paired for assignments.

Sometimes, you would sit next to her in the library, completely silent, and just work next to each other in solidarity. You tried to talk to her as much as possible, but Draco watched you like a hawk.

"You can't be around her, y/n," he sounded exasperated. "She's not a pureblood."

“I just don’t understand,” you had said. “This is getting ridiculous.”

He had placed a hand on your shoulder. “I’m telling you this because I’m your brother, and our parents would never let you leave the house again.”

You ignored him, naturally.

"Has anyone asked you to the ball?" Hermione asked out of the blue.

"No," you responded. "I probably won't go with anyone. What about you?"

"There's been... an offer."

You raised your eyebrows. "Really? Pray tell, who?"

Hermione swallowed uneasily. “Victor. Victor Krum.”

A stone sunk to the bottom of your stomach. “Are you going to say yes?”

“Maybe,” she seemed apprehensive. “I wanted to see if someone I knew better would ask me. No one has.” She looked at you again, a glimmer of suggestion and hope in her eyes.

You clenched your teeth, but said nothing. 

Hermione rushed past the silence. “What about you? any boys lining up?”

You laughed nervously. “No. No boys. A couple of girls actually.”

“Really?” She asked, a grin still at the edge of her lips. That was a good sign. “Anyone I know?”

“Uh, Padma, Parvarti’s sister. She and I might go together,” you played with your fingers. Your nerve began to build itself. “But, it’s not her I’m really interested in, Hermione, I want to go with yo-”

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a shrill, mocking voice broke your reverie. 

From the clearing of trees, Pansy Parkinson stepped out, one hand on her hip, the other clutching the hand of a sullen-looking Draco. Her nose pointed up to the heavens, accentuating the triumphant appearance she wore. From behind her, Crab and Goyle materialized, armed crossed and dim looking. Draco seemed bored, but you could tell he was feigning anxiety. 

“Oh boy,” You muttered under breath. “Here’s trouble.”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Hermione’s back straighten harshly.

“Y/n,” Pansy sauntered over. “Didn’t Draco tell you to not to hang around mudblood scum?” Her voice was unbelievably annoying. 

“Come on,” you whispered to Hermione, gently taking her arm. She took your hand. “Let’s just get out of here.” 

Pansy let out a cold laugh. “Hmm, that’s just like you, y/n! running at the first sight of danger. It’s a wonder that you’re even related to a family like Draco’s. I can already tell what type of witch you’re going to be.” she pointed a finger at you, poking your chest with narrowed eyes. “A disgusting, blood-traitor.” 

You sighed and rolled your eyes, not willing to pick a fight right now. There were days you wanted to snap back at Pansy, but there was no point in stoking the flames. It would just rile her up more.

Draco seemed uncomfortable, hands in his pockets, unable to meet your eyes. He said nothing.

“And you,” Pansy turned to Hermione. “Miss perfect prissy Mudblood. I’ve had enough of your know-it-all attitude. Acting like you’re a real witch.”

Anger thrashed in your stomach, an uncontrollable beast that clawed up your throat like bile. All sense of pacifism was tossed out the window the moment you saw Hermione’s jaw clench tears well in her eyes. “That’s enough, Pansy.”

She let out an incredulous laugh. “Finally! the recluse speaks!” That evil glint still sparkled in her eye. “What is it, blood traitor?”

“Yeah, you finally got me talking. Congrats,” You sneered a little before continuing. “While I don’t give a shit about what you think of me, I will not tolerate you belittling my friends.” You stepped forward, up into her space. “Call me a blood traitor all you want! You don’t have the capacity or ability to make me care! But if you call her any names, bring up blood or class, or even look at Hermione ever again, I will curse you into the next plain of existence. Okay?”

There was silence. Pansy blinked twice while Draco tried not to smile at you. Something between pride and concern flickered on his face. Crab and Goyle looked at each other, unsure what to do. You could feel Hermione;s eyes on you.

At last, Pansy stalked away, and you could practically see the smoke billowing from her ears. Crab and Goyle bumbled after her. Draco left as well, but not before grinning at you. 

You sagged against the fallen log, looking to Hermione, who was all alight with a warm smile. “Thank you, y/n.”

You shook your head. “It’s alright, Hermione. I’m just sick of her and all the politics. I don;t want to be told who I can talk to, or who I can be with. I think that was the most I’ve said to Pansy for the past four years.”

Hermione slipped her hand into yours. “Before we were interrupted, you were saying something about who you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with...”

“Right,” you coughed. “Hermione, I was wondering, if you would possibly want to... um.. maybe if you would like to.. go with me to-”

Hermione stepped forward and pressed her lips to yours, tender and warm amid the snow and cold. Her hand reached up to smooth your hair away, as you pulled her flushed against you.

“I want to go with you, y/n,” she whispered.

You smiled, wrapping your arms around her and kissing her once more.