Honestly the reaction ficlets are more of a setup for. Something else.
Reaction Fic Aftermath: The Inn
“Subaru, maybe this isn’t—”
“—and we have arrived!” Subaru enthusiastically slammed the door open. “Bonjour! Hello! The Emilia Camp is here, so let the meeting commence!”
“S-Subaru?!” Ferris shrieked, his eyes widening. He was sitting in one of the chairs holding a cup of tea, which had now spilled down his front. He didn’t seem to care. “Subaru, what— WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”
“What are you doing here?” Crusch demanded, quickly standing up. She turned to face Emilia. “What is he doing here?” she snapped. “Why did you let him come here in this state?”
“I—” Emilia stammered.
“We’re here because of Anastasia’s great deal, of course!” The merchant in question was sitting right across from the healer and his Lady, all three of whom had startled violently at his introduction — as had Wilhelm, Ricardo, and the Pearlbaton triplets, all of whom had been standing over their shoulders. Wilhelm was staring at him with a horrible look on his face. Subaru grinned at him, and felt his stomach tie itself into a knot when that look only deepened in response. “I know we got sidetracked with — uh — but you didn’t forget the whole purpose of this meeting, right? Emilia-tan needs her father figure back after all, and you said you could hook us up with a lead on a good crystal he could snuggle himself back to sleep in! We’re a little later than planned but now that we’re here, why don’t we get right—”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Ricardo interrupted, voice harsh in a way that Subaru realized he had never heard from him before. A hand clasped around his arm, gently but firmly. “We need to talk about what just happened, and you absolutely should not be here for that. Now come on, we’ve got some spare bedrooms where ya can lie down —”
“I don’t need rest!” Subaru objected loudly, shaking him off. “And we don’t need to talk about it. I can sum up the major talking points right now! It was a really weird experience, I— I’m a lot less useful than everyone thought, and let’s all hope it doesn’t happen again! There, done!”
“That is not—!”
“Why is Subaru even here?” Wilhelm demanded. Subaru flinched at the pointed lack of a ‘-dono’ suffix. It made sense that the Sword Demon had retired the nickname after the events of — of — but it still stung, much more harshly than Subaru would have anticipated. It made him want to cry. “Lady Emilia, you must have known that we would need to talk about — why did you bring him here for that?”
“I— I thought that leaving him out of it would be mean!” Emilia stammered. “Nobody likes being talked about behind their back, right?“
“He is clearly in no state to participate in any discussion right now, and especially not about this!” Crusch retorted. “Allowing him to come to this meeting was cruel, and I must insist—”
“Hey, that’s pretty rude!” Subaru broke in, voice high-pitched in an attempt to sound as cheerful as possible. “I’m right here, aren’t I? And I can make my own decisions, you know: picked out my own outfit this morning and everything—”
“Subaru, stop talking,” Ferris snapped, visibly frazzled. “This isn’t the time for jokes, just—”
“Who said I was joking? My style might not be the same as yours, but I think I’m very fashionable, thank you very—”
“Subaru?!” a new voice shrieked. Subaru spun around to see Felt in the doorway, accompanied by an equally-horrified Reinhard. Behind them, Rachins had already started to back away. “What are you— you shouldn’t be here! Isn’t that common sense?!”
Subaru flinched, but tried to play off the growing hurt. “You wound me!” he crowed, hand to chest in a theatrical pose. “But I forgive you, because clearly you are confused from the long journey and still a little jetlagged—”
“What is— Subaru, don’t sidestep this! Get out!”
“There’s really no need for— I can behave myself just fine! I know I was horrible last year but I’ll definitely do my best today, so it’ll be—”
“That’s not what I—!”
“Lady Felt is right, Subaru,” Reinhard insisted, stepping forward. “Why don’t we just—”
“I don’t need to ‘just’ anything! Why would you half-ass your work when you can give it your best—”
“Natsuki-kun.”
“—And yes, that is I! Natsuki Subaru!” Subaru spun to face the speaker, finger guns at the ready. “How can I help you, Lady Anastasia? You need some sewing advice, or — well there’s not much I can do, but I promise to try my—”
“Natsuki-kun.” Anastasia’s voice was gentle, amidst all the shouting. “Ya don’t need to do this.”
Somehow it was that gentle tone that came the closest to making Subaru burst into tears on the spot. He could feel himself starting to shake, and took a step back. “I…” He desperately fought back his tears: he couldn’t cry! Not here, not now— not after THAT, when they already thought so lowly of him— and had every reason to think— “I-I…”
“…and we could probably stand to— you’re HERE?!”
Subaru relaxed very slightly at the sight of the grape-haired asshole, who had only just walked in alongside his — his little brother, right, the one who had come to deliver the initial invitation. There, this could work. He’d just provoke him like he always does and then things would go back to normal.
“Hey, asshat, how’s the past year been?” he tossed out immediately. “Met your little brother the other day, I think I like him more than you actually—”
“Subaru, stop that,” Ricardo said immediately. “This isn’t the time, just—”
“You beat up any more peasants while I was gone? Hope you didn’t, that’s not a great look you know—”
“Will ya please just calm down a second here—!”
“I mean what— what would your pa— your parents think of you for doing something like—”
“No!” Ricardo snapped. Subaru flinched away from him violently. “Do not finish that sentence! Yer behaving very badly right now, kid— you need to leave before you say something you won’t be able to take back—!”
“Captain, that’s too harsh!”
“Yer gonna freak him out even—”
“What are you talking about?” Subaru tried to laugh off. He felt dizzy. “I’m not — it’s the rest of you who are— freaked out right now—”
“Will one of nya PLEASE take care of nyer knyight already?!” Ferris cried, turning to face the other members of the Emilia Camp, all various shades of lost and panicked. “If he won’t leave on his own, then—”
“On it— c’mon, Captain, let’s just—”
The hand on his bicep was gentle, but for a moment it felt like the world’s most dangerous vice grip had threatened to close around his arm. Subaru recoiled violently. “Don’t—!”
Garfiel flinched away, eyes wide with hurt. Subaru felt a stab of guilt and immediately tried to laugh it off. “Wait— Garf, you just startled me, that’s it! It’s not— It’s not like I thought —”
“Will one of nyew who DIDN’T try to kill him— Oh crap I think that’s pretty much all of nya isn’t it—”
“That’s half the people in this room Od damn it—”
“It’s not like it ever really— you weren’t even supposed to KNOW about this, so can’t we just—” Subaru wanted to cry. He really, really wanted to cry. “It wasn’t that big a deal and it never happened! So just drop it already so we can go back to—”
“Subaru that is a VILE suggestion—!”
“Why do any of you even care?!” Subaru didn’t even know what he was saying anymore. He was talking too fast. His blood was roaring in his ears. He was going to pass out. “You didn’t— didn’t care before, so why is it suddenly—” A flash of anger suddenly cleared his panicked mind, like a bolt of lightning through a stormcloud. “All of you are just faking this!”
Ferris stared at him, mouth agape. “WHAT?!”
“Yeah, okay, I get it! You don’t actually give a shit! This is a ploy to get us to— to step out of the election, or give up something important, or—”
“Subaru, sto—!” Emilia’s voice barely reached his ears.
“Well it’s not gonna work! I already know that sort of trick and I’m calling your bluff now, so you’ll just have to find a way to fight us fair and—”
“Natsuki Subaru, that is ENOUGH!”
Subaru squeaked, finally falling silent. The rest of the room fell quiet as well. Julius rarely got angry enough to raise his voice like that, but when he did, people listened.
A look of guilt briefly flashed through the man’s eyes before hardening into — something else. A large hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled, hard, with Subaru finding himself forced to stumble along as his senior knight pulled him further into the inn.
“I am removing my junior from this situation,” he told Anastasia, bowing briefly and slightly as he moved past her. “Please feel free to start without us.”
“Thank you, Julius,” Anastasia said. He saw Crusch mutter something to Ferris, who bowed wordlessly before starting after them, but Subaru was pulled out of the room entirely before the knight could catch up.
“Now,” he heard Anastasia say as they rounded the corner, out of sight. Her voice suddenly sounded much colder. “I think we need ta have a bit of a talk…”
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hi welcome to my essay
is this based solely in my insane brainrot? yeah probably. i’m doing it anyway
THE TIME TAYLOR SWIFT CONFIRMED ANDERPERRY LORE
This is Josh Charles
If you don’t know who he is, that’s cool. No one does. If you do know who he is, you’re probably gay, depressed, or both. Probably both.
And this is Josh Charles in 1989, in the critically acclaimed, cult classic film Dead Poets Society
Does he look familiar? Well, if you’re big on pop culture and/or a Swiftie, he should
Because THIS is Josh Charles in 2024
in Taylor Swift’s Fortnight music video
But who’s that standing next to him?
It’s Ethan Hawke
Who ALSO starred in Dead Poets Society (1989)
Kind of weird right? But whatever
UNTIL you remember that Fortnight is the first track off the latest Taylor Swift album
called The Tortured Poets Department
Now, the premise of the music video is that Taylor was in love with Post Malone’s character but only for a fortnight and losing him after loving him is what drove her into madness basically, so she’s been imprisoned in this asylum called The Tortured Poets Department where Josh Charles and Ethan Hawke are doctors that are experimenting on her to help her get over her love for Post Malone. Note that Post Malone is also there and is another one of the doctors.
Canonically in Dead Poets Soceity Josh Charles’ character Knox Overstreet is in sort of this awkward situationship with a girl named Chris Noel, who’s “practically engaged” to this idiot called Chet and it's assumed that after everything goes down at the end of the film, Knox stops pursuing her and Chris marries Chet to live out her horrific 1950's housewife prophecy.
Similarly, Ethan Hawke’s character, Todd Anderson, is in this tragic queer-coded homoerotic friendship with main protagonist Neil Perry (played by the lovely Robert Sean “Bobby” Leonard) that never manages to come to fruition because of Neil’s untimely death via suicide.
So back to Taylor. Obviously she's a patient in The Tortured Poets Department being treated for her hopeless love for Post Malone. She says she even took the "magical move-on drug" but "the effects were temporary," which implies that what Josh and Ethan are testing on her is this drug, this cure-all for lost romance, and they haven't quite figured it out.
Which makes perfect sense, when you think about what happened to Knox and Todd. They had these short-lived perfect loves with Chris and Neil respectively that ended before anything could ever happen. Love cut too short, just like Taylor and Post Malone. Which is wild when you realize that means TS basically just confirmed anderperry.
Not only this, but in the movie, the boys are encouraged to write and enjoy poetry thoroughly, and while all the boys take it to heart, Knox and Todd are the ones that are frequently seen actually writing poetry. Knox uses it to try and win Chris over, as well as working through his feelings for her, while Todd uses it as a guilty pleasure sort of thing that he's seemingly embarrassed by (which I could talk about for 25 pages but I'll spare you.)
So basically, just like Taylor, Knox and Todd are also tortured poets. Which means not only are they the doctors trying to come up for a cure for their own maladies, they're also patients in the Tortured Poets Department
THEY'RE JUST AS CRAZY AS TAYLOR.
If that seems too big a stretch, remember that Post Malone is there. From his bridge we see that he's going through the same thing as Taylor except on the opposite side, and he's also seen in the poetry room with Taylor, confirming that he himself is a poet as well, and in the lab he's also a doctor. So Josh and Ethan are patients just as much as Post Malone is, who's just as much as Taylor.
All four of them are locked in together, trying to get over these lost loves they are mourning.
By deliberately choosing not just Ethan Hawke to cameo, but also Josh Charles, and not say Dylan Kussman or Gale Hansen, or even MAIN STAR Bobby Leonard, it draws a direct parallel between Knox and Todd's characters, and therefore between Chris and Neil, and therefore, Taylor Swift has basically confirmed the ongoing implication that anderperry was the metaphor all along.
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Second Chance | Chapter 9 - Year 3 and new intakes
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Before Christmas started, Andrew had basketball practice, and you went to visit him. You informed him that you were going since you were not certain if he wanted his teammates to know who he was dating. He was very excited that you were coming, and as the day got closer, he kept reminding you where and when his training was.
“Are you sure you don’t mind sitting here and watching us train? It’s going to be really boring sitting here for 3 hours.” He asked. You had met his teammates and even greeted his coach since you were intruding. Seeing a woman in a male team was rare unless it was match day and the cheer team was there. Everyone surrounded you as you appeared at the gym like you were some kind of new specimen until Andrew told them to back off.
“I’m going to be fine.” You assured him. “I sat through six hours doing nothing but seeing my archery mates shoot before I got my bow. Three is nothing.” You patted his shoulders before letting him join his training.
Seeing them train reminded you of the days you trained for it in middle school. Train was a big word, it was more like playing with friends. It was part of the school’s curriculum to let students choose which sport interested them, and it was really basic coaching, but it was the only time you could play basketball with the same gender that included you. Not that the guys didn’t welcome you, but they were so strong and big that you couldn’t contribute much, and you were kinda afraid of the strength they threw the ball.
You watched as they did some basic drills to warm up, their formation all in sync. The coach gave them a few drills to practice and train their muscle memory before making them do physical training. Each of them grumbled when they heard the dreaded PT. Andrew turned to face you, and you raised your hands to cheer him silently. “You can do it.” You mouthed.
When Andrew came to talk to you for a bit, it was really nice being able to talk to someone and feel included in their training. You even had a chance to touch the ball and throw some hoops as they refilled their water and took a break. You did some random shooting at the free throw line and 2-pointers until it was time for them to use the court.
They ended their training with friendly matches to reward them for participating in the gruelling training. Who isn’t excited to be able to play?
“Thanks for coming. I know it may be weird to say, but your presence here was the motivation everyone needed to get through these last few training sessions before the tournament started.”
“It’s not a problem, really. I really like basketball too.” You waited for Andrew to shower and clean up before heading for lunch together.
===
The new year finally came, and after lots of celebrating with families and friends, it was time to head back to school to start a new year. Lots of new responsibilities and subjects to study for. This time you were more certain of your results as the modules you bid for were something that you knew more about. This was your chance to bring up your GPA.
With the new year, it was time to bring in new sets of freshies for Archery before school officially started. The event directors have done their best to attract a new batch of people, but one stood out the most. Once the sports festival started, she appeared at our desk asking if she could join the club. We asked if she had any experience in archery, and she nodded her head and told us about the competition she had participated in and won. You were all amazed by her achievements. Of course, it was alright to join without any prerequisite, which was how you joined, but it’s nice to have someone who really knows what they are doing. But the school allocates club points, and part of it is based on the number of medals you win.
“Kate! You’re here!” Clint just arrived, as usual, being one of the last few to arrive to avoid setting up.
“Yeah! I told you I’ll join!” She said enthusiastically. “I’m excited to be able to shoot with friends in school again.”
“You don’t even know when our training times are.”
“It doesn’t matter, I would do anything to be able to shoot.” Everyone could feel her energy buzzing off her.
She was the type of person that would be great friends with anyone other than you. Her energy was just too much to keep up for you. You could feel your energy draining just by watching her interact with Clint, she doesn’t seem to have the ability to stay still for a moment.
The day peaked when Kate arrived in the morning. After that, everyone seemed pale in comparison to her.
The club has gathered quite a number of new sign-ups, but according to experience, more than 60% of the people will disappear even after paying application fees. That doesn’t matter as long as there are new people staying in the club.
===
When the new term started, you used your new motivation to start studying as hard as possible, planning your time wisely so as to not burn out during the late game. You spaced out time between studying and hanging out with friends. And before you knew it, it was time for Andrew’s basketball competition.
At this point, you felt like you were friends with his teammates, when you arrived at the hosting school, everyone said hi to you. You were told Andrew was late because he felt slightly under the weather. After checking if he was alright, you still gave him a text to make sure he was alright. He replied instantly, saying he was feeling better, had already reached, and just needed to park his car.
You tried inviting Camellia and Diana to join, but they were not a fan of sports, especially one that could potentially be quite physical. Yet somehow, you spotted them near the cheerleader's station.
You waited until Andrew arrived and wished him good luck before going to your friends, who were shocked at your presence. “Y/N! What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you that! I told you I was coming here and even invited you!”
“I thought you were talking about another basketball game in our city! Not the one our school was competing in!”
“Why would I invite you to such a game?” You shook your head. “It’s okay. You can stay with your friends here. It’s going to be boring for you to sit near the guys anyway - nothing for you to talk about.” Without waiting for their reply, you went back to Andrew and participated in their cheer before going back to my seat and seeing them step on the court.
The toss-up happened, and the opponent managed to get the first possession. However, the team did really well defending and managed to get back the ball after the rebound. You watched as the ball got passed back and forth before scoring the first goal. Everyone that came to support your school cheered loudly, trying to dampen the spirit of the other school.
These players were strong mentally as both sides kept scoring goals one after another until it was halftime. When your eyes locked with Andrew, you gave him a wide smile and a small cheer. “You can do it!” You mouthed before he had to listen to his coach’s plan for the rest of the game. Seeing the smile on his face made you feel like coming to his game was worth it.
The referee blew the whistle, and both teams were supposed to head back to court.
Both teams were pretty much tied up at the three-quarter mark. There were only the last 12 minutes to put in all the effort. You were on the edge of your seat each time your school was ahead of the other team, hoping they could pull away safely.
You watched as the timer ticked down to the last few seconds. They were defending, stretching their limbs as far as they could, covering their space. The whistle was blown before the basketball left the player’s hand, cementing the victory for your school. All your school players gathered at the centre of the court and cheered loudly that they managed to move forward in the bracket.
It may look simple from the outside eye, but you know the amount of effort it took to get them there. When you finally reached the court, he went to give you a hug but stopped himself. “I’m sweaty and stinking. But thanks for coming! You have no idea how much that encouraged me to play at my best.”
You smiled at his words. “I’m glad I managed to help, even if it was just my presence. I can’t promise I’ll come to all the games, but I’ll try. If you make it to the finals, I’ll drop everything to be there.”
“We’ll make it to the finals. You’re my good luck charm.” He bounced on his feet, still feeling the adrenaline from the match. “Just give me a moment to shower, then we can go.”
He wanted to leave, but I caught his elbow. “No, don’t. You should celebrate with your teammates and coach. It’s really thanks to them that you guys managed to win. It’ll really bring up the morale for the next game.”
“Are you sure?” He asked reluctantly. “I can leave now, you know.”
You nodded. “I know. But these are the only times you get to hang out with all of them. I’m not counting the times you hang out with them separately but as a whole group. It’s a different feeling, trust me.” You assured him.
“Alright. I’ll text you when I get home tonight, though. I can’t wait to talk to you again.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Andrew stuck to his promise and texted you at night once he got ready to sleep. He told you where his team went and how much fun he had. It was also the first time he facetime with you, and you actually had to hide under your cover to make sure your parents didn’t know you were still up.
The next day, you had a hard time getting up for training as you and Andrew talked late into the night. This was going to be the last training before school officially started.
Naturally, Kate cleared Clint’s and Coach’s tests and was allowed to shoot straight away with us without any additional training. The juniors were supposed to come for their first session in the morning, and we taught them the proper way of holding and releasing an arrow.
There were a few promising ones and those that were really interested, and we could see them investing in a bow in a few months’ time.
Finally, the time for seniors to start practising and preparing for the competition came in two weeks. Kate was also joining as Clint helped her sign up under our school when the registration opened, knowing she was going to join anyway.
You assumed that Kate had been shooting since she was young, as all her shots scored more than 7 points. Something very hard for you even now. Ever since meeting her previously, you always had one question in mind. How does she always maintain such high optimism when she doesn’t score a 9 or 10?
“I’m just waiting for that feeling to come again.” You didn’t realise you spoke that out loud until Kate turned to face you. “In the beginning, it was very demoralising not being able to hit the inner two circles. But thanks to Clint, I managed to hit three consecutive 10s in one end. And that feeling was unlike anything I’ve felt. It definitely came at the right time, I was ready to stop it all.” She answered with a balance of seriousness and admiration. That revelation was shocking to you. To everyone, she was the happy-go-lucky person, nothing would be able to bring her down. You knew Kate looked up to Clint a lot, but you never knew he was the reason Kate was in love with archery.
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@queen-of-chaotic-surprises @esposadejoyhuerta @gemz5 @natsxwife
@dyslexic-dreamer @unexpected-character @eternalnight410
@leenasayeed @oh-thats-sad @skz-xii @gay-frogs-dancing-around
@justspance
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