#I'm watching out of order hence me only getting to that scene now 'cause i have a few

[bakasara]

y'all lied to me that "wanna go for the title" scene is SO MUCH GAYER in context

[lutawolf]

Never Let Me Go, Episode 9-10

Yup, that's right. I waited for episode 10 to come out before watching 9. I don't feel bad about it, either. Cause damn, I saw all the gifs, and I was not here for it.

Ahhh. The way Palm says, "Don’t underestimate my love. I don’t know if Mr. Nueng and I will be together in the future. But right now, The feelings and memories that I share with him, They will always remain with me." This is so important to me. We discount young people's feelings too often. Age is important and should always be taken into consideration, but individuals should be looked at individually. Palm has had to shoulder a lot of responsibility for a very long time. He is the type to make a decision and stick to it. He's solid and steady. "To be honest, I don’t know what the future holds for us. But my feelings will remain unchanged."

Nueng is the opposite. Just look at how he is when Palm is stressed. He was desperately looking for love. He doesn't think things completely through. Carries a much more immature look at life. It would almost seem that they aren't a good match. Oh, but they are. A flighty person can be stabilized by someone like Palm, they'll become the wild geese that mate forever because they just need someone to latch their feelings to. And Palm needs someone like Nueng to lighten the weight that he willingly carries. Hence, the next scene where he makes him smile. Palm, for all his shyness, adores it.

I love that Nueng can read Palm so well. That's something a good Dom should absolutely be able to do. No joke, Nueng just Dominated in a way that a lot of females will dominate their male submissives. It's a playful, but I will get my way, type of way. It's a soft Dom move.

"Why did you get a tattoo of my name?" "I want you to stay with me forever." In my belief system, there are kindred spirits and soulmates. Kindred spirits are those friends that journey through lifetimes with you. We get matching tattoos or tattoos with those people in mind, in order to make sure that we meet in each life. I actually have plans on getting a coconuts tattoo. A soulmate tattoo makes sure you and your soulmate are together forever, like the red thread. That's what this feels like. A soulmate tattoo. The shoulder kiss is everything!

Oh yeah, he is binding them as soulmates. No getting away for you Nueng. Palm being so fucking romantic. Where do I find me a romantic like Palm???

So now they are going back. For Palm's dad. The skin to skin contact for both their comfort. Nueng talks in circles around his fears, but Palm understands him.

"I’m glad that you come to live with me. I’m glad that I have the chance to be your mom, even for only a couple of weeks. Your dad raised you well. I’m sorry that I have never taken care of you." She's not a horrible person. Just not the best. It sucks that she died, but I'm really glad Nueng got that closer.

Oh, shit. There is so much to unpack in this one scene. One is in pain and is absolutely not used to someone being there when he is breaking. So he lashes out. He's a wounded and went away to lick his wounds and doesn't want to be seen. Then he realizes who he has lashed out to. This is his other half, and he immediately regrets, but Nueng does come from a loving family. This is not something you would do if you love another person. The push away in his head is full rejection.

For him, it's like Palm is saying it's his fault. Lots and lots of layers here. Guilt, rejection, and fear that the one he loves will die just like his dad and Palm's mom. "When we are together, something bad always happens. You and I, we shouldn’t be together." "Don’t ever come to see me again. Otherwise, you may end up dead."

That last part. You can see it click in Palm's head what is really bothering Nueng. Now, just because a sub is subby sub doesn't mean they won't fight for what they want. They like being told what to do, but a Dom is their everything, they will absolutely fight for them. Again, I would lean towards Nueng being a switch or soft Dom, but Palm is for sure a subby sub.

If I didn't know from all the spoilers, I would know from how Nueng is acting that he plans on leaving. He has a fake attitude but sad smile whenever Palm isn't looking. Nueng can read Palm, but Palm hasn't learned to read Nueng.

Song from the dance scene. One kisses to say goodbye, and the other kisses because he's never had someone be there. "What would your life be like if you didn’t meet me?" "I guess I would be working on a boat somewhere. I would spend my day catching fish." In Nueng's head, that sounds perfect, so he can't believe Palm when he says, "My life would be very boring. I think it’s a good thing that I met you." That's why he says. "But I imagine your life differently. I think your life would be happier. You might be taking an exam to get into a university. You might be an athlete." and he goes on, because in his head, Palm is with him out of duty. He's putting himself in a place to get hurt out of duty, and Nueng can't handle that.

"But everything that you said, I can do that with you." Nueng's face is breaking me.

Ep 10

"Before you lose everything." "But I still have you."

Both of them trying to protect the other one. Same goal, but they can't achieve it in the same way. Nueng has matured so much in such a short time. "Don’t choose me to be the goal of your life. I still want to see you follow your dream." Um… Who gets in a bath tub with boxers, and just how big is that tub? Ahh... It was a flashback.

Nueng pouring his heart out to his mom is killing me. I'm not crying. Your crying! Ahhh fuck! Now I'm really crying. His jersey. Really. I'm not fucking okay. Now sentimental and romantic flashbacks. Just leave me in a puddle here because of melted into tears.

The river told me lies! OMG, this song kills me.

And Nueng has hardened. He already had his innocents stripped with his dad, but everything that has happened since. It's changed him. Too many people have hurt him and he needs that wall to survive. He's seen what real friendship and love is, and if people want to get next to him, they are going to have to prove capable of that level. I'm the same damn way, so I respect this.

That boy didn't learn shit Nueng.

These flashbacks are killing me! "You plan on having fun without me. Then I won't teach you." Yup, Nueng is a soft Dom. They are so fucking cute.

I like these bodyguards. Yes I do. They are like, do I look like I give a fuck that this is the music room. What Nueng said might be harsh, but it's fucking fair. Just because I don't want you to eat at my table doesn't mean that I want you to starve. It just means that you've done enough to me that I don't want you at my table. Now I'm a big believer in not forgiving people but just moving on. I'll forgive those that have made it through the wall, but I don't feel the need to forgive someone who betrays me. I don't hate them because hating isn't worth it. It only hurts you, and the people you hate don't care.

Yeah, did you really think that he would leave you? As long as you love him, he'll be there. "But you are my life."

"Is this how you treat people? The time that we shared together. The things that we did together. Do they mean nothing to you?" "They mean a lot to me. Believe me. It was the best time of my life. So I want to treasure it. I want you to stay alive and be happy."

"I won’t let you run away from me again. From now on, if we are going to fight, We will fight together. If we are going to die, We will die together." Those are some solid vows. And look at the soft Dom forcing a promise from the subby sub. "You can wear your boyfriend’s clothes." Fuck, I'm not surviving this show.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, all these vows are going to kill me!!! And the way he pulls him to him. Damn.

The next episode is gonna be another tough one. Ugh. But this one. This one was so good. Hope you guys enjoyed! 💜💜💜

[pjunicornart]

Back at it again with more PJ's Daycare shit! WOOOO! This time with more of a focus on PJ and... Hudson~

OKAY. So. First image here... more focused on PJ. With Hudson's very early concept design. I threw in some of the other daycare employees (Melon and Cali) as little cameos, and I even did a scene of them reenacting that one funny video of the kid because I was watching a meme comp. and I thought it would be funny. Plus, let's be honest... PJ's new addiction to coffee definitely has... side effects.

Yes, I believe PJ has an "addictive personality". Which basically means it's really easy for him to get addicted to things. Well, hey... at least coffee is better than alcohol.

Plus, PJ's sudden bisexual awakening!

Second image, more focused on Hudson and PJ. I tweaked his design a bit, but I still wasn't quite happy with it. You'll see that later. But here I established these things: - PJ has a son with his previous partner, Omni. Unfortunately, shit happened, Omni was fed up, and they got a divorce. His son's name is Monochrome, and due to current circumstances, PJ cannot see him until he is cleared by the program he is in. In order to get a sense of how PJ might feel about this, I would listen to "My Little Love" by Adele. - Both Hudson and PJ are tall. But Hudson is only slightly taller than PJ. - Hudson has a daughter named Elaine, and he drops her off at the daycare PJ is assigned to do community service in. Hudson probably works a very demanding day job, hence the nachos. I'm thinking this day job is something within the medical field. - Hudson having a daughter means he also has a previous partner. His previous partner, in Hudson's words: "He was very controlling. Had to have everything a certain way, including me." They got a divorce two years ago. - Hudson's daughter is biological to both him and his ex. This is because Seedling (his species) anatomy is VASTLY different compared to other species, making this possible. I would delve into it, but that's a bit NSFW for this post. - PJ is head over heels for Hudson. But due to past and current trauma, he is having trouble letting Hudson inside. I mean that he's afraid to let Hudson in on his... whole world, so to speak. - PJ probably has a fear of abandonment, as well as issues with intimacy. (Again, caused by his past trauma.) - Hudson, on the other hand, is very chill. He goes to therapy and is actively trying to better himself. He also works out. It's part of his self love campaign. - They probably have one night stands a lot, but because PJ is not fully healed, he's afraid to make it something more. Hudson probably wants to be more, but PJ isn't ready/scared to.

Third and final image! Woo! And here we see Hudson's final, official design! Isn't he cute? Yeah...

So I mentioned that he's a Seedling, yeah? Well, to be more specific - he's a type of Seedling called a "Clover Seedling". No duh, right? Now, all Seedlings are characterized by having skin like soil, moss on their bodies in areas, hair like grass, and three to five "tails" or "sprouts" coming from their tail bones. Different Seedling types have different flora growing from their person naturally. Clover Seedlings have clovers, Apple Seedlings have apples, Buttercup Seedlings have buttercups... you get the gist.

Seedlings are a plant based Monster. Meaning... long walks in the rain or Sun are Hudson's cup of tea! Hudson can even make clovers grow around him by touching the earth. Isn't that cool? Also... no. The blue tipped clover on his chest is not a layering mistake. That's because Seedlings have a sprout on their chest that senses the moods of others. When Hudson is around PJ, it's either an intense pink (passion, lust, love) or varying shades of blue (sadness, depression). Sometimes, it will be purple (fear, anxiety, uncertainty).

Anyways... this image basically solidifies that PJ is holding back a lot with Hudson. Almost like he's not allowing himself to be happy.

WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION. But I hope you enjoyed it somewhat. At this point I might as well just start a Rebooted PJ's Daycare comic.

Hm... we'll see. If I get enough people yelling at me then I guess I'll do it...

(Just an FYI, Seedlings are a closed species of mine.)

[qqueenofhades]

Hi, hope you don't mind me asking questions but I'll admit my government and legalize on this side is weaker and I'm watching multiple sources to try to get a clear idea on some of this but you also seem knowledgeable and passionate so also asking questions. Before the order to release the redacted affidavit many said it wouldn't happen cause they don't do that and from my understanding Trump never actually filed anything to have it happen. Do you think they did it to cut that argument before Trump could get followers to turn up the heat/donate money or why do you think/know they did that?

Well, it depends on who you mean by "many said," because the idiots on Twitter who are suddenly an expert on whatever socio- or geopolitical issue happens to be going on (COVID, electoral law, the war in Ukraine, gas prices, and now evidently the niceties and nuances of federal criminal investigations against former presidents) usually don't have a clue, and are just making up shit as they please. Plus, this is all in unprecedented territory, legally speaking, so actually nobody knows what's going to happen. We can make educated guesses (some, uh, more educated than others), but yeah, the peanut gallery of public opinion is especially bad as a barometer of such.

It's true, as far as I know, that they don't do this for most cases, but then, most cases aren't against, again, the former president of the USA who is under actual, literal investigation for treason, collaboration, sedition, plans to overthrow the government, etc. I mean, it sounds like a bad James Patterson novel; it's that far-fetched. The DOJ cited "public interest" in filing to release the warrant in the first place, because obviously it became a huge issue, Trump's crazy followers were busy threatening MORE treason (they just can't help themselves) and Trump himself is still the de facto head of a major American political party that has lurched wildly to the fascist right in the unfortunate few years since he came onto the scene. So there are a lot of levels here that simply aren't the case for ordinary DOJ proceedings (which lbr, nobody cares about anyway unless it's literally their job to do so). Hence, relying on "precedent" doesn't work here, because again... there is no precedent. This is totally new.

As I understand it, the DOJ moved to release the redacted affidavit because Trump was threatening to request it released UNredacted (since he's too much of a fucking idiot to stop making things worse for himself). He almost undoubtedly wanted this so his crazy followers could have access to the names of the FBI agent(s) who filed the affidavit and carried out the search, since the MAGAts have now declared war on the whole agency anyway. But seeing as almost the whole damn thing was blacked out, that means there's stuff in there that the DOJ can't release for fear of compromising their investigation and/or which is too sensitive for public dissemination (not surprising, given the materials involved). All of this is information which Trump may or may not know, and if he learns exactly what they have against him, he's obviously going to try to blow it up. So the DOJ made the move first to get permission to seal the original and only release the redacted version, because yet again, as with their whole "RELEASE THE WARRANT!" screaming that quickly went quiet when Merrick Garland called their bluff and did exactly that, they somehow think that actually releasing MORE proof will not be EVEN WORSE for them. Which, uh. Is not working the way they expected.

So yes: the DOJ needs to keep a lot of this stuff out of the public eye, they can't have it widely known for fear of compromising what they're doing against Trump, they need to protect the FBI people involved with this, and they obviously know that Trump's calls to RELEASE STUFF are only going to backfire on him, because everything that comes out only makes him look worse and worse (which was difficult, but here we are). So that's why they did it.

[wizisbored]

I'm curious about Beetlejuice in Strange Hill. I'm not familiar with the show but I like this and must know more. It kind of reminds me of school of rock but full Beetlejuice mode. What kind of shenanigans will ensue? How many complaints will be filed about his smell?

do you know. do you know how long i have been waiting to recieve this ask. i owe you my life.

anyway, for context. strange hill high was a kids show i watched in primary school, it had 2 seasons, and it was all episodic shennanigans with no ongoing plot. the premisce is that the main character, mitchell, is the new kid at this really really weird school called strange hill high where paranormal and extraterrestrial and sci-fi stuff just kinda happens on the regular. examples include evil tooth fairy plotting to steal peoples teeth to build a xylophone, alien invasion where the aliens are all identical to one of the main characters and try to eat him, a book so boring it rips a hole in space and time, that one time mitchell broke the concept of mathematics, etc etc.

aside from mitchell theres his two friends becky and templeton. mitchell is always getting into trouble, doesnt care about class, always late with homework. cannonnonically has adhd. bit of a scheemer, doesnt have perfect morals, but he cares about his friends and is a good guy over all. templeton is kinda your steriotypical nerd/weird kid, into sci-fi. he spends the whole first episode convinced their school is a reality tv show. is kinda technically god? (he caused the big bang with a potato during some time travel shennanigans.) and becky is a ray of sunshine optimist full of enthusiasm. sometimes has to act as the voice of reason / moral compass for the group, but is kinda gullable.

putting a photo of them to show off the art style, cause i love it, and its puppets! the mouth and eye movements are cg'd but its not distracting, and apart from that its pretty much all practical, and all of the character designs are very unique. if youre up for some absurd comedy and funky puppet stuff its very easy to find on youtube, in fact i am watching it right now.

for the purposes of this au, i have drawn lydia and beetlejuice in this style before

anyway, context over, onto the au. im not sure whether it will be explicitly mentioned but i think im going to be setting it in year 9 uk grades and 8th grade american which if ive done my research right makes them 13-14, which is a middle ground between the strange hill characters being 12 and lydia being 15. regardless tho its post-cannon for both. lydia goes to england as part of a foreign exchange program and stays with beckys family, and hence gets introduced to her friends, and they get along fairly well.

as a side note, i will be taking this as an excuse to go full british mode. yeah i always write in an english dialect but now im actually setting something in my home country and im going to have some fun with that. there WILL be beans on toast. they get greggs in literally the first scene. perhaps there will even be Big Tesco. but its also probably the only time i will ever attempt an american dialect, just for lydia's dialogue, for the contrast. i apologise in advance for my inevitable fucking up of that.

now back to the au. in order to follow lydia and hang out, beetlejuice gets a job at strange hill. im thinking drama, since i dont think we ever see the drama teacher. music would be another option but i dont want to replace the cannon teacher. but anyway, the strange hill trio see this really fucking weird new teacher who seems to know their new friend and go 'right here we go again its shennanigan time'. they want to get to the bottom of this, lydia finds it pretty funny. over time they become better friends with her while also trying to figure out what the hell her deal with the drama teacher is. meanwhile theres the whole ordeal that is beetlejuice as a drama teacher, and also his increasingly rediculous attempts at finding ways to hang out with lydia that arent really fucking weird because shes a student at the school he teaches at now. also, hes doing a really really bad english accent the whole time. he never drops it. even if its just him and lydia, hes gotta keep it Authentic.

[blushing-titan]

My thoughts on ch. 139

Some of you may be familiar with my previous writings - I usually try to stay as collected as possible, but today's post will be different. Ever since the chapter came out, I've been reblogging a lot of rants and memes about it. Those of you who follow my blog (thank you so much, really happy to have you here! ❤) know that I didn't really enjoy this ending. I want to elaborate more on that in this post - my only advice is to buckle up, because today we may get a bit heated (I apologize in advance for the sassy approach - I usually try to stray away from that, but guess today's post is more of a stream of conciousness/rant) :'D

1. Ymir

Starting up with one of the most controversial things about this chapter. Up to this point, I felt really bad for Ymir. Her life was terrible - she was a young girl, who was enslaved and abused by king Shitz Fritz. After she was forced to run away from his hounds, she acquired the power of titans and used it to help the king's cause. For that, she was awarded with the king's seed (🤢), and eventually became a mother of three girls. Through her entire life, she was treated as a slave and a lesser-being by the king - she also died while protecting him, and her daughters were forced to eat her remains after that (🤢🤢).

It felt so tragic to see her 2000 years later, still walking blindly in the paths. It wasn't enough that she was hurt so badly when she was still alive - she remained enslaved to the abusive king even after she died. I was rooting for her to finally be freed from this nightmare - hence I was so happy when ch. 122 came out and we got this scene:

I was genuinely emotional when I saw her reaction. Finally, someone expressed some authentic care for her and tried to snap her out of this blind state. She would finally think about what she wants and try to free herself from the paths because, as Eren said, she was never a slave or a goddess - just a regular person. It's just like she finally let out all the pain that she's been suppressing for all these years.

Yeah...except, as it turns out, her awakening here changes nothing. She doesn't come to any conclusions, like, perhaps, that she doesn’t want to let herself be hurt and mistreated any longer...or that she should fight for herself, try to change her fate - because, after all, her life belongs to her - not anyone else.

Nothing like this happens. Why? Because, as it turns out, she's in love with king Fritz and needs to be proven by Mikasa that she can break this bond first.

....

💀💀💀💀

Excuse me, but...what?

Okay, first and foremost...am I supposed to believe that, during these 2000 years, no one else has gone against their unhealthy affection to someone toxic and unworthy of their love? No one? 🤡 Come on, we even saw that happen in the manga. What about Historia, who thought that her own mother hitting her was a sign of love? Who wanted to believe that her father was good, despite wanting to turn her into a titan? Where was Ymir when Historia stood up for herself against her father's wishes? Or when she flew up to him and delivered the final blow against him?

On top of that...what a disappointing conclusion to Ymir's story. I hoped that she would take her fate into her own hands, and - for example - be reborn and experience life as a free person, surrounded by people who actually care about her. Free herself from paths and destroy it - not because someone shows her that she can indeed detach herself from it, but simply because she wants to.

Instead, 80% of the world population is gone, because she needed to see that Mikasa is able to "free" herself from Eren in order to do the same.

🤡🤡🤡

2. Abandoned plotlines and plot-holes

Mikasa being a Hizuru princess? Never heard of that. Hallucigenia's fate? Who cares. Eren directing Dina's titan in Carla's direction in order to save Berthold? Nah, who would want any more info on that - guess he just couldn't direct her anywhere else. The Ackerman's headaches? Pfff. The fact that Mikasa shouldn't be affected by the memory altering, but somehow still is in the ending? "I guess she just forgot that she should be immune to this". Why was Historia's pregnancy implied as relevant if it wasn't in the end? So many precious panels wasted on that, when they could be used to help solve some other "unanswered questions" instead. Ehhh...🤷

3. Blatant character assassination

There, I'm saying it once again. I have no idea what happened in this chapter but the characters are off. What about Eren - the one who has always believed that freedom was his birthright, and has been fighting and moving forward for his goals? Yeah, turns out he has no idea why he was doing all of that. 

Remember Kenny's quote - everyone is a slave to something? I thought that this implication was pretty poetic in context of Eren's character. Through all his life, he sought freedom, but ironically, he was a slave to that dream...

...turns out it may have been a bit too poetic for this story because Eren is a slave to destiny. Literally - he's going on auto-pilot in order to reach that one moment in which Mikasa beheads him, so Ymir can watch and understand that she can do the same.

Nice joke...except not. Here go our main character's motivations 🗑

He casually commits unjustifiable crimes against humanity - not because he wants to be free or because he found the world beyond the walls disappointing, (...as we were led to believe). He did that because he doesn't know why - and then, he cries that he doesn't want Mikasa to ever find another guy.

:'))

Turns out Eren was somehow always in love with her too...? Yeah, weird way of showing it. Or should I say - not showing it at all.

If you read my previous writings, you know that I'm not very fond of Eremika. The way I interpreted it while reading the story: it was unhealthy, suffocating and one-sided. I hoped for Mikasa to move on and start thinking about herself for once.

Right, what about Mikasa? Has she finally moved on? Is she content with her life? Are her dreams coming true? What's her daily life after all this? Sadly, I don't have the answers. The thing we are shown instead, is how she's sitting next to Eren's grave and, once again, thanking him for wraping the scarf around her. The only thing that implies that she may be somehow still seeing other people is one bubble of text. After all 139 chapters of hoping for her character developement, that's it.

Keep in mind that all other characters are shown together - with their spouses, families and friends - yet Mikasa is still separated and alone. That's right - after she disappears with Eren's head, she's not shown with anyone else until the end of the manga.

While we're on the topic of others, too...do I have to talk about the scenes in which everyone shows some level of gratitude to Eren...for wiping 80% humanity for them? Because I have no words for this.

One last note: I found the humor to be slightly out of place, too. Seriously, after all these terrible events, with so many unanswered questions and character developement of these two...Reiner is still weirdly simping for (now married) Historia and Jean is called a horse face :') Idk, but it feels somehow surreal after everything that's happened.

4. Conclusion

What else can I say...the final chapter disappointed me and I'm pretty sad about it. I'm happy for the people who liked it, but also can't help but feel like it was very far from perfect. I've been following SnK ever since 2013 and it's a bittersweet moment for me. The series had a lot of amazing moments that I'll definitely remember forever. Meanwhile, I would like to read some of the author's thoughts about the way he chose to end the story - perhaps it would clear some confusion (...although I can't help the fact that my first opinion is already formed).

Thank you very much for reading my thoughts - as always, it means a lot to me! ❤ The images used in this post are obviously not mine!

[amenomiko]

HI DARLINGGGG 😍😍😍😍😍💕💕💕💕💕💕! Thank you for the request HEWHEW I LOVE this kind of storyline 👀👀👀👀💕💕💕💕💕! Oh, FYI, I made this story into two parts! Turns out that my story is too long to the point I have to split it 🤣 @ikemen-girl

Retrieve That Smile Again (Part 1)

Pairing: IkeSen Ieyasu x MC (Reader)

Type: One Shot

Rated: Angst + Fluff

❤💛🧡❤💛🧡❤💛🧡❤💛🧡❤💛🧡❤

SLAP!!

"..Don't touch me with your filthy hands."

Frozen ice.

That is the best word, the perfect word to describe the air within the council hall right now.

His fellow warlords, even his lord, were utterly speechless with the scene in front of them. Her, in the middle of the room, staring down coldly at him, whose cheek is burning from her slap; a slap that is... No, it is an unexpected thing that caught him off guard, enough to make him lose his balance and stumble backwards from the impact.

"Enough with your contrary words; nothing but a mere facade-- there is no need to proof anything anymore, with what you have caused, with what you have made me the way I am right now."

Her grimness changed impromptu the moment she turned to Nobunaga, "Now, if you would excuse me. I would like to begin my journey to Kasugayama, Nobunaga."

She walked pass him, the bewildered Ieyasu, before Nobunaga give his approval.

......

"Ieyasu.. Are you.."

Hideyoshi stops himself, clenching his fists tightly until it turns white. "She.. Has really changed."

"Our pure, lively Chatelaine. To a cold, ruthless Princess." Mitsuhide added, shrugging to his lord, "She, someone who hesitate to end one's life, wouldn't think twice to do it now."

"...It's my fault." Ieyasu started, gritting his teeth. "For pushing her away back then."

"Indeed you are." Nobunaga scoffed, "It has damaged her so much on the inside few months back."

Really.

She was broken back then.

----

"I know I am just a nuisance to you- n-no- I AM a nuisance, even from the beginning.. But- Ieyasu, I--"

She pursed her quivering lips, hands clenching on her kimono tightly as she continued, "M-my feelings are true. This is not for the spur of the moment, just because you gave me that earrings back then, f-for my reward in practising archery of course..! A-and-"

"....Can you make it quick? I don't have all day." He huffed, rolling his eyes and look away from her, making her more flustered than ever. "I- I'm sorry..! What I'm trying to say is..!"

She can do this..! She can do this..! She chanted the spell within her thumping chest; this is the hopeless feelings that she had bloomed for him. To her, Ieyasu had done a lot for her, and love has slowly emerge to the surface, of where, it had been born just from feeling greatful towards him.

She have been in love with him, oh for how long. She even choose him over her future in her era, just to be with him. She even stayed until the end, until Nobunaga's army make an alliance with Kenshin and Shingen. So she must do this..! This is the main purpose of why she chose to stay..!

"I- I love you..! From the bottom of my heart..!"

A sniff escapes from her lips-- finally she said it..! After all this time..! She had successfully gather the last bit of her courage to--

"...Are you done?"

....Eh?

"...H-Huh?"

"...I'm asking. Are you done?"

None.

There is no single, positive expression curved on his face. Nothing but a bored look, a tired, bored look that has been forced to do something out of his willingness.

"If there's nothing else, I will leave now."

"W-wait..! Ieyasu..! What do you think of me? What is your answer?"

"Answer? What are you talking about?"

"But I just-"

"Just what?"

No.. Please. Even if he is the type to say the opposite of what he really means, this is not really the time to act that way.

"What..? An answer to your confession? What do you want it to be?"

"I didn't mean it like that, I--"

"If you expect me to say 'Thank You', or 'Yes', you are wrong. Even if we have gained an alliance, I don't have time for love right now."

"Oh- of- of course." Of course..! Just what she have been hoping? He is a warlord, of course he wanted to focus on nothing but the future just like what Nobunaga wanted. Still..

Why does it hurt so much..?

Especially when..

He is smiling gently to the Princess from neighboring country? His hand wouldn't hesitate to hold hers, to guide her in the steps of the garden, to pardon her when she accidentally fell on his chest?

Ah, of course..!

He is showing a courtesy. For the sake of Nobunaga's image. Even if.. He..

Kissed her on the cheek, rubbing it after and hold her close to him, allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder-- and--

And--

"Mmmf..!!"

"MC..!"

Hideyoshi caught her in his arms as she fall to the side. "You..! Get some medicine from Ieyasu..!"

"No."

She immediately stop the latter from doing so, shaking her head with a wry smile. "I'm good, Hideyoshi. It's just.. I'm not feeling well, that's all."

"...You are, so much."

She had... Unconsciously refuse any intake within her body ever since then. The stress has been piled up, until her body rejects to almost everything. She even force herself to eat, but then again, her fingers made its way to her throat, shoving it by force until her knuckles were injured from her own teeth, so she can push the thing that she has eaten out from her body.

It's an endless cycle, she had stop seeing people altogether as well. She had been crying, sobbing into the night; into her own world, and she would sing to herself, repeating the same words over and over again;

"Why would you bring the good memories in my life when you pushed me away like this?"

Then she will cup her face, brimming her cheeks with endless flow of tears. Again, and again,.... And... Again, and again.

Until one day,

She had stepped out from the room, her tears is no longer there, her sadness has faded away, and.. It is as if she had been born once again.

MC cut her hair, filling her days with constant training, and mastering both long and short range weapons, as well as following the lords to battlefield.

Of where,...

Her ruthless side has surfaced.

She wouldn't hesitate to kill. She wouldn't think twice to give mercy, and there is no single tears nor pity for her enemies anymore. It is up to the point she made them terrified of her, especially when she bravely pointed a sword to any of the warlord's neck.

This matter had reached to Ieyasu, and he himself were astonished to her sudden change.

There was.. A lot of misunderstanding truthfully. But it was too late.

Though,

No matter how late it is, he must do whatever he can to stop any further unnecessary killings in the future.

Hence why, when he had tried to approach her, she had treated him to how he treated her.

Yes, she had changed.

...For the worse.

-----

"A misunderstanding, you say?" She snorted. "My, who would've thought our contrary lord would lie. A bad one at that."

She said it, not even bothering to lift her head and look at him. Just like how she used to be. She.. Always has this.. Sparkles in her eyes whenever he is talking to her. Sometimes he find her staring ahead, into the clear blue sky, taking all the ample time in the world while her long hair gently blown by the soft breeze. Then, when her name is called by someone, she would immediately turned her attention to them, curving a soft smile on her lips, and eyes will see nothing but that person.

She used to be like that, especially for him, someone that she had sincerely pour her hopeless love to. She sees him as if he is her everything, he is precious, and hold everything that she have in his hands; her heart.

And yet he broke it.

Therefore right now, he must save her. From the old pain, and herself.

"I was a fool."

He finally gets her attention.

"I pushed you away.. Yes, at that time I see nothing else but to seek for strength. More power, for myself. Love was never my priority nor focus-- it's not important for me. I think that I am weak, not enough to protect someone with my abilities."

"And-- if you think that I have a special relationship with the neighboring princess, you are wrong. I was the only suitable person to act as a decoy for her back then-- she was-- here, to escape from the arranged marriage she was appointed to. Her fiancee is too old for her, and so, in order not to rouse suspicions, and to make the fiancee believe it, Lord Nobunaga had agreed and chose me to act as her lover-- that is a-"

"..Are you done?"

What..?

"I said, are you done?"

"Are you done?" That is the same line he said to her at that time.

"I--"

"Alright, finally. Now if you would excuse me."

"Wait..! MC!"

He caught her by the hand, pulling her to face him again, "I know you won't accept my apology right now, and I know you are not fully healed from what I did to you, but please..!"

"....."

"Don't kill. Don't touch those weapons again. It's not for you. Those blood that were stained on your hand is not meant for you. For you to change drastically-- because of me-- I--" He grit his teeth when the whole reasons sinks into his heart, "Please just.. Stop."

"Easier said than done."

"MC--"

"What has been done is done. There is no point to return to something that is empty like a nuisance shell to everyone around her. Well, if it isn't anyone but me." She curved a smirk, yanking her wrist away from him, "It is a path I've chosen for myself. You see, Ieyasu.."

He watched her brush her growing hair to the side. Finding himself speechless to the grim in her orbs, "I was a fool too. I chose this era, and I promise that I will even kill for you. Just to be with you. But now," A chuckle left her, "I don't need to do for the sake of being with you. I'm sick of my past that is weak and a huge weight to everyone, so I decided to kill, even. without. you."

"....." He clench his fists, swallowing the lump in his throat,

"It's for the sake of one's survival, Honey." She winked before tapping his nose and walk away.

He was left alone at the castle gate, he could only see her go, and watch her from her back. The back that represents the fragile girl, and were replaced with a back of a warrior.

"...Then so be it."

[niawritess]

The Lovestruck~Chapter 23

(20 February)

8:36 pm

You let out a sigh staring at the view infront of you while sitting on the bench. You had came to your usual place to distract your mind from your thoughts but that didn't seemed to be working.

As you were home after leaving the Café, you started to study as your exams were coming up. However, you couldn't as you felt unmotivated which led you to have several thoughts in mind and they didn't help but demotivated even more.

Wanted to take a walk, you ended up here and at that moment, you got a call from Baekhyun. You tried to sound as fine as you could but as if you were too transparent to him and he instantly understood something was wrong.

Lost in your thoughts, you didn't even hear footsteps from behind until a figure appeared infront of you making you startle. Your eyes looked up only to be locked with familiar soft brown orbs staring at you concern yet warmly.

You stayed still, with his eyes boring into yours making you melt and your heart to welled up. You felt a lump in your throat and instantly gulped before looking down.

You sighed licking your lips and looked up. "I know this is sudden...but...can I hug you?"

His palm went to your cheek caressing it with his thumb as he gave you a soft smile. "You don't have to ask."

You nodded before wrapping your arms around his waist with your face in his stomach and his hand stroking your hair softly making your eyes close and tears streamed down your cheeks.

That was it. You needed a hug. His hug. His warmth. Him. Your favorite person and now your safe place.

Minutes of you weeping and sniffing, you both were sitting beside eachother with Baekhyun's arm draped behind you on the bench with his hand caressing gently on your shoulder.

Baekhyun took a glance at you as you sniffed wiping your remaining tears with your hoodie sleeves. He couldn't help but smile at your red nose and cheeks finding it adorable.

"Feeling better?"

You nodded as you actually felt light after letting it all out.

"Wanna share it?" He asked cautiously and you nodded before taking a deep breath.

"I.. I feel weird. I feel so unmotivated, I have so many assignments to do and exams coming up but I can't bring myself to study and that just left me stressed. What if I fail?"

You felt his hand rubbing your arm as he instantly pulled you close. "Hey, Hey, it's okay. We all have those days, sometimes we get tired and just need a break. So, don't let your thoughts take over your peaceful mind, you are strong enough to pass those days."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He kissed your temple making you smile before looking at him.

"Thank you."

He gave a nod. "Yeah sure, but next time don't bottle it up. Whenever you are struggling or feeling down, you can share it with me, I'm always here."

You stared at him in awe, wondering how did you got this lucky to have him.

Smiling, you nodded. "I know."

"Good." He kissed your nose making you laugh before leaning his forehead against yours and you both closed your eyes enjoying the calm yet comfortable silence.

All of a sudden, your stomach growled making you both flinch and you gasped leaning away before biting your lips as you looked down clutching your stomach.

Baekhyun, who just got out of the shock instantly bit his lower lip grinning at your embarrassed state before standing up.

"Let's go." He held out his hand and you pouted but eventually grabbed it as he made you stand up and led you to his car while trying hard not laugh.

He took you to a restaurant close to your house and you couldn't even wait to full your stomach as the smell of dishes making you more hungry.

As your noodles were served, you instantly began to dig and slurp while Baekhyun kept taking a glance at you worringly.

You were too imersed in eating and didn't realize his lovingly stare on you. He palmed his cheek as he stared at you before chuckling and got your attention.

"What?" You raised your eyebrows questionly while munching.

"I can't believe, you were crying a while ago and now..." He stopped as he nodded your way and you rolled you eyes. "I wasn't crying, okay!"

"Yeah, sure. And you didn't hug me earlier too." He spoke nonchalantly before slurping and you blushed remembering that scene before clearing your throat while stirring the soup as something crossed your mind.

"Ah, my parents want to meet you." You said and he choked on his food.

You passed him the glass of water and he gulped it down while you rubbed his back before biting your lips to suppress your laugh.

"You sure are a killjoy." He wiped his mouth glaring at you playfully and you shrugged smiling.

It's been more than a month to your relationship and with you being all smiley and cheery made your parents too desperate to meet him and Daniel's nonstop praises to Baekhyun weren't helping either.

"It's not my fault, if Dan likes you so much." You crossed your arms. "He's always praising you and only listens to you and sometimes I get jealous too."

He chuckled. "Don't be, I'm all yours anyway."

You rolled your eyes. "Don't twist my words."

"When should I meet them? Your parents?" He asked nervously.

"How about right now?"

"Right now?!"

You laughed. "Chill, I was joking."

He squinted his eyes. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

You giggled nodding. "Yes, it's so rare to see you like this."

He huffed. "Let's talk when it's your time."

Soon, you went back to home with Baekhyun as he stopped his car infront of your porch. He got out of the car with you and walked towards you before leaning his back against the car while taking your hand.

"Listen, don't think about anything. Take a warm shower and go to sleep early so you can feel better, hm?" He poked your cheek softly and you chuckled nodding.

"Okay, Ajjusshi."

"Yah!"

"What? You think only you can tease me?"

He pouted before nodding. "Okay, then, I won't bring that up and you do the same, hm?"

"Fair enough." You nodded. "Now go before you have to deal with my mum."

He chuckled pinching your nose causing you scrunch your nose and he imitated your expression before walking to the driving seat but you stopped him.

He looked at you confusingly before you tiptoed grabbing his nap to pull him down and kissed his cheek. "Drive safely, Ajjusshi."

You made a face before giggling and sprinted towards your home leaving the stunned Baekhyun behind. As soon as he recovered, his hand went to cheek and he chuckled shaking his head.

"Gosh, I love her!"

***

(21st February)

1:23 pm

Next day, you and Ria went to a restaurant close to your college as you decided to eat outside making your bestfriend confused as ever, since it was the first time you asked to go out.

"Y/n, tell me seriously?" Ria questioned crossing her arms as she eyed you suspiciously and you gave a shrug avoiding her gaze.

"What? I just wanted to eat outside. Is it that hard to believe?" You took a sip from your orange juice before giving her a smile.

She scoffed. "Yes."

You clicked your tongue rolling your eyes before you got a weird feeling and instantly threw your head back to see Baekhyun's face, looking down at you.

"Oh? How did you know I was here?" He asked surprised and you shrugged before he pecked your temple and took a seat beside you.

Ria watched the scene smilingly before her gaze went behind you to see Chanyeol coming towards the table. She suddenly felt nervous as he took a seat beside her before smiling at her.

You and Baekhyun exchanged looks with each other before ordering and getting imersed in the conversation. While between the talks, Baekhyun kept taking a sip from your orange juice and when you offered him to drink it all, he refused but then continued to take sips.

As you all finished your meal, Baekhyun excused himself to the washroom and you continued your conversation with them. You also took the chance to observe the pair infront of you who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Baekhyun walked out but stopped when he spotted a guy other side of your table, scribbling something and gave it to the waiter before pointing towards you.

His blood boiled and he walked faster to the waiter and stopped him before taking a look at the paper. He scoffed lowly reading it as the guy was asking your number.

Taking the pen from the waiter, he scribbled something down the paper before pointing it to give back to the guy.

The guy was imersed in his phone to notice until the waiter gave him the paper back and he expectantly opened the paper only to get confused.

She is taken

He looked towards your table to see you with Baekhyun who instantly locked eyes with him and shot a intimated gaze at him causing him to look away awkwardly.

"Shall we leave?" Baekhyun asked you and you nodded before standing up and Ria looked at you both confusingly.

"What? Where are you going?"

"We have to be at Café, so we're leaving." Baekhyun said wrapping his arm around your waist. "Chanyeol will drop you off."

You controlled your laugh at seeing Ria's expression but you wanted to do this as Chanyeol and Ria needed to have a talk. Hence, you and Baekhyun decided to be cupids for them.

"Yeah, i'll drop you off." Chanyeol smiled at her before sending a smirk towards Baekhyun which got unnoticed by you as your eyes were on your bestfriend.

You waved at them as you exited the restaurant not before Baekhyun throwing a glance to the guy who awkwardly coughed before looking away.

"Are they going to be okay?" You asked him as soon as you were out.

"Don't worry, Chanyeol's gonna take care of it and your bestfriend is in safe hands." He gave you a assuring smile which you returned but then felt his stare.

"What?"

"You must have got confessions a lot and crushes too."

"Huh? Suddenly?" You frowned. "Well, not really because back then I was too naive to notice and about crushes..."

"I know, that Big Boss and Siwon, whatever his name was." He rolled his eyes and you chuckled at his adorable jealously.

"If we're talking about crushes," You crossed your arms over your chest. "Then I do remember Chanyeol Sunbae telling me about your high school crush."

"Oh.. That..." He rubbed his nap before smiling sheepishly."It was just a tiny bit crush, nothing serious."

You nodded giving him the exact smile and he chuckled. "Okay, we have to go."

"Come on! Coffee bean, let's go!" Baekhyun stretched out his hand for you and you squinted your eyes before grasping it.

"Stop calling me that!"

He laughed locking his arm around your neck to pull you by his side. "Why? It suits you."

You groaned rolling your eyes and started walking with him before his eyes stopped at a Café and a sigh left his lips making you look at him.

"Graduation is approaching and I will have to officially start my work and maybe stop working in the Café." He leaned the side of head over yours. "But I will miss you."

You bit your lip thinking about the days without him at the Café. Sensing your silence, he lifted his head up to see the expression which he never want to see.

"Don't be sad." He tilted his head and you looked into his eyes. "We will see eachother and think about it, if I don't work how will we feed our little beans, hm?"

Your brows knitted in confusion but then your eyes widened and you immediately slapped his chest playfully but he caught your hand and laughed.

"Wait, who said I'll marry you?" You raised your brows looking at him with smug expression.

He let out a dramatic gasp. "I didn't know you were that bold to have kids withoutmm-"

You cupped his mouth giving him a glare which he seemed unfazed about before you felt his lips kissing your palm bringing heat to your face and you instantly pulled your hand away.

"You're such a pervert!"

"Umm." He nodded. "Your pervert. And you're stuck with this pervert forever. So deal with it."

You walked back to your college with your thoughts about him leaving. And you already started missing him.

Meanwhile at the restaurant, two people were now sitting in an awkward silence until Chanyeol chuckled.

"You don't have to feel stiff around me, you know?" He smiled at Ria which made her relaxed.

"I know you are confused about this but actually I asked them to give us a space so I could say what I wanted to say." He said rubbing his thighs nervously.

Ria licked her lips nervously with her heart beating fast than ever. "What do you want to say?"

"I won't beat around the bush." He cleared his throat before taking a deep breath. "Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Ria choked on her saliva at his straightforward question causing her to blush and Chanyeol chuckled. "Did I surprise you?"

She smiled shyly nodding as they both exchanged a loving eye contact and that was a new start of their journey.

_______________

8:01 pm

"Y/n, take the big Cart."

You heard your mom saying when you were shoving your car keys in your pocket and frowned but nodded as you grabbed the trolley before walking further into the store.

You were here with your mom at the grocery store to shop as the minute she heard about Baekhyun coming tomorrow to meet them, she started her preparation while you just mentally shook your head.

"Mum, why are you so excited for?" You questioned as you both stopped by a vegetable section.

"Why wouldn't I be? My one and only daughter who was never interested having any boyfriend, got a boyfriend for herself and you want me to just sit still?"

She gave you a duh face and you gave her a poker face before rolling your eyes. Well, she wasn't wrong though.

"Let's not buy too much cucumbers, just for our face masks."

"Why? I'm gonna make salad tho."

"Yeah, but no cucumbers because Baekhyun doesn't eat cucumber." You picked few cucumbers and put them in the trolley. "And not too spicy food."

You looked at her to see her smiling at you causing you raise your eyebrows confusingly. "Why?"

"My daughter just sounded like a wife material and this is such a miracle." She exaggerated dramatically and you blushed at the wife word but then shook your head.

"I'm gonna check that section." You said walking away and she laughed giving you a light slap on the arm causing you wince slightly.

It wasn't hard slap but you were already slapped hard by your bestfriend after knowing about your little cupid plan about her but at the same time, you were happy to know that your plan did work as she has started dating Chanyeol.

You walked to the opposite direction and looked for some chocolates before unconsciously glancing over to the side to see an elder woman walking speedily with her trolley only to get bumped into a lady's trolley.

The lady flinched and looked at her surprised before making a distance between them. The elderly lady looked at her furiously.

"Can't you make space for others to pass by?"

Rude. Instead of apologizing, she's blaming her.

The lady scoffed. "Excuse me? I'm standing at the right side, you were the one passing by without looking anywhere."

"Now, you are blaming me? Instead of apologizing?" She spoke loudly getting the attention of the other people.

You scoffed rolling your eyes and getting fed up with her behavior and decided to jump in.

"Excuse me? Ma'am." You spoke and their head snapped towards you before giving the rude lady your tight polite smile. "I think you should just apologize."

"Listen young lady, this is not your concern so just leave."

"I think it is my concern since i have seen everthing." You snapped at her with a calm voice and her face dropped but then she instantly smirked. "Who's going to believe you?"

"They don't have to but they'll believe that CCTV over there." You pointed at the Camera witnessing the scene before looking back at her with a sarcastic smile. "Should we check that?"

The rude lady scoffed before blinking and tried to turn away but you instantly stopped her. "Aren't you going apologize?"

She shot you a glare and you looked at her unfazed before she looked at the lady. "Sorry."

With that she walked away and people also went their way.

"Such a strange lady." You and the other lady said in unison and looked at eachother amazed before smiling.

"Thank you, young lady." She smiled at you and you returned it. "No worries, ma'am."

"Y/n!" You heard your mom behind and saw her coming towards you before she stared at you and the lady. "Did you cause trouble again?"

You gave her a seriously face and the lady standing with you chuckled before looking at your mom. "No no, she actually helped me. You have such a nice daughter."

You blushed but smiled and your mom nodded towards her before she asked something you weren't expecting her to.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Eh?"

She chuckled. "Ah sorry. I just wanted to know generally."

You mom smiled. "Yes, she has a boyfriend and we're meeting him tomorrow."

You looked at your mom weirdly as she just started talking freely with her and the lady nodded before you both bid goodbye to her.

The lady sighed. "Ah, what a lucky guy would he be to have her as a girlfriend. Wish my Hyun also can get a girlfriend like her."

She turned around to walk away from there and met Kyungsoo who was helping her with somethings before exiting the store.

You went home and got a surprise to see Jae sitting on the couch with Daniel and your dad. Apparently, his training was over and now he's going to join dad's business which means goodbye to Scotland.

You were happy to know this because after Ria, Jae was the person whom you could talk about your feelings freely and he was the first one to know about your relationship too.

Indeed it was a surprise, a good one but little did you know, that another surprise was waiting for you.

***

Coming inside to his Baekhyun's share apartment, Mrs Byun saw him and his friends playing with his nephew and niece. She walked in the kitchen with Kyungsoo helping her putting the bags on the counter with Jongdae and Minseok and joined them.

Baekhyun walked inside the with his niece in his arms and made her sit on the counter before giving her a strawberry which they just bought before taking a bite of it too.

"You called me earlier saying you are done but you are coming now?" Minseok questioned putting the vegetables in the fridge and Kyungsoo sighed.

"Don't even ask." Mrs Byun started as she began to make some tea. "There was this rude lady who started arguing with me out of nowhere."

Baekhyun's ears perked up upon hearing this. "What? Why? What did you do then?"

"Of course I didn't back away but then a young girl helped me." She smiled. "She was such a smart girl but she had a boyfriend."

Baekhyun shook his head. "Eomma, you really need to stop this plus I have a girlfriend already."

Mrs Byun's eyes widened. "What?!"

Baekhyun nodded nonchalantly. "Umm and i'm meeting her parents tomorrow."

Baekhyun's nephew who was in Chanyeol's arms almost slipped from his embrace hearing that but instantly tightened his grip on him.

"Yah! Aren't you going too fast?"

"What are you talking about? It's just a casual meeting since they want to meet me." He told them and talking about it just made him nervous suddenly.

"You have a girlfriend yet you didn't tell us?" Mrs Byun asked him.

"I told you."

"When?"

"Just now."

He smiled playfully and winced in pain when Mrs Byun pulled his ear hardly causing the kids to giggle cutely at the sight while Boys showed no reaction and continued their task as it wasn't something new to witness.

"Whatever, let's have dinner but i want details later." She demanded and Baekhyun nodded rubbing his ear which turned red as his strawberry in his hand which he ate it immediately.

As everyone walked out of the kitchen leaving Kyungsoo and Mrs Byun inside, Baekhyun got stopped by the Boys snickers and shot them a confuse look.

"Hyung, you have to do well tomorrow." Sehun spoke. "If not, forget Junior Y/n forever."

Baekhyun scoffed. "You think i'll be scared of that? I'll be fine."

They all nodded giving him raising their fist in the air as a fighting cheer to him before snickering. Baekhyun who just shook his head and went to his room for a shower as the nervous he already was, his friends made it even worse.

On the other hand, you walked into your room after all the chattering with your family and checked your phone to 2 missed calls and few messages from Baekhyun.

You frowned but then dialed back his number to call him.

Mrs Byun walked in Baekhyun's room and heard the showering sound from the bathroom and took the chance to change his bedsheets.

Not long before, she heard Baekhyun's phone ringing and told him about it which she got a reply from him to check it.

Sighing, she grabbed his phone and checked the caller ID only to get confused by the contact name on it.

"Coffee Bean?" She mumbled confusingly before answering it and pushed it to her ear.

"Hello." You spoke and frowned when he didn't say anything back while Mrs Byun was confused as hell but understood who the girl was.

She cleared her throat. "Hello?"

Your eyebrows crashed together hearing a female voice and checked if have dialed the right number and it indeed was right before pushing your phone back to your ear.

"Who's this?" You asked cautiously.

"I'm Baekhyun's mother."

Your phone almost slipped from your hand but you clutched it tightly before covering the phone with your hand. You eyed the phone shockingly and puffed out your cheeks before taking a deep breath and gulped.

"Hello, Mrs Byun." You greeted her politely though your heart was banging loudly against your chest. "I had something to talk to Baekhyun but it's okay it can wait. Sorry if I bothered you."

Mrs Byun smiled. "No no, you didn't. Don't mind it. Actually Baekhyun is in the shower, so I'll tell him to call you after."

"Yes, no problem. Then have a good night." You said and hearing a same reply from him, you hung up and the phone slipped out of your hand landing on the bed. Thankfully.

Baekhyun walked out drying his hair with the towel and saw his mother smiling looking at her phone and seeing that he approached her.

"Who was it?"

"Your Coffee Bean." She handed him the phone before fixing the pillows properly on its place and Baekhyun looked at her shook.

"She is your girlfriend right?"

Baekhyun smiled nodding before chuckling. "She must have freaked out."

Mrs Byun smiled. "Well, she sounded polite and nice too. How is she like?"

"She's incredible." Baekhyun didn't even took a second to reply and seeing that Mrs Byun just shook her head before smiling at him.

"I guess, she must be as you have been happier since the day you have visited us." She approached him and made him sit on the bed before she began to dry his hair with the towel.

"All we want to see you is happy and seeing you this happy, is enough for me." She smiled before laying the towel around the chair and Baekhyun grinned shyly flipping his hair back out of habit.

"So? When will you introduce her to us? I really can't wait to meet her." She said turning around. "By the way, what's her name?"

Baekhyun chuckled. "Y/n. And I'll introduced her to you soon but tomorrow I have to be introduced to her family."

She nodded folding her arms and approached him with a understanding smile. "I know you must be nervous already. And it's normal since you're meeting her parents as you want to make a good impression. So just be yourself."

Baekhyun nodded and Mrs Byun was walking out but stopped at the door frame and looked back at him. "I want every detail at the dining table."

Baekhyun laughed and then Mrs Byun said something before going down which left him blushing.

"I wonder when will I see my grandkids."

"Eomma!"

He pouted before someone crossed his mind and took his phone before dialing the number.

You were walking back and forth in your room while biting your thumb nail nervously and having a bucket of thoughts before you jumped when your phone rang and saw it was Baekhyun.

You carefully pushed the phone to your ear and kept mum not wanting to take a risk then heard a deep chuckle on the other side making you sigh in relief.

"What do I do? Ah! Seriously! I just talked to your mother. Oh God! What should I do now?!" You whined, ranting nonstop and Baekhyun smiled already imagining you stomping your foot cutely.

Oh, How much he wanted to see that scene.

"Y/n, relax." He said making your babbling to stop. "She likes you and wants to meet you too."

"Me? Right now?!"

He laughed. "No, dummy but don't you think this feels kind of familiar?"

You frowned but then flashback of your conversation at the restaurant crossed your mind and you gasped.

"Dejavu." You both blurted out in unison and Baekhyun chuckled confusing you.

"Karma really works fast in our case." He uttered and you could imagine him smirking causing you roll your eyes.

"Whatever, I'm going down." You huffed and he laughed at his whiny girlfriend before hanging up and you chuckled.

Then your door burst opened flinching you and there was standing a devil at the door frame, Jae.

"Haven't you heard about knocking?"

He shrugged plopping on your bed. "This is my house, why do I have to knock? I heard your boyfriend is coming tomorrow."

You frowned seeing his evil smirk. "Don't you dare pick on him."

He looked at you amused. "Oooh, already protective huh? Let me tell this to everyone."

With that he got up and ran out of your room with you chasing him down.

"Jae! No!"

Life surely becomes an entertainment when you have annoying brothers and a boyfriend who doesn't leave a chance to tease you but were you complaining? No, because at the same time, you loved this.

_______________

@wooya1224 @buttercupbbh @jddcfc-blog @usernameloaa

[aestheticsuwu]

I see forever in your eyes

Sam LaRusso x Miguel Diaz

( Binary Boyfriends + RobbyxDoug + lawrusso + Carmanda ) part 2

.... ...

Sam thought it wasn't that bad being forced to go on a triple date . She gets to see Miguel ,  that reminds her to text him to bring her favorite hoodie of his . They would be leaving at 7 and by the time they would come back she would be cold .

Letting her dad know she was going out , she goes to her room to get ready . Deciding on a black blouse and jeans with some black sandals that her mom. bought her last week . They started their shopping an annual thing including Carmen .

She was glad that both parents were happy as well . Carmen was awesome and beautiful as her mom . Her little brother was upset at first but he's getting used to it , he decided to stay with mom after the divorce .

She was more closer to her dad , so she thought it was best for her to stay with him . Soon after Mr. Lawrence moved in , and then Robby came along as well . Sometimes Robby stays with Shannon when he's allowed .

They have Sunday dinners  that consisted of her dad , mom , Mr.Lawrence,  Carmen , Miguel , her brother and Robby . Sometimes Demetri comes along if he isn't hanging out with Hawk

Demetri has sleepover visitation and he can stay as long as he wants . His foster mom isn't the best , so dad makes sure Demetri is alright .

Demetri was her best friend aside from Aisha , Aisha is usually now with Tory now they had became an item .

But Demetri was more like another brother that sometimes annoys her but she loves dearly . She would always have his back as well Robby would . And if Demetri needed them to feel comfortable on this important date , well let it be it .

....... ........ Miguel Pov ...... ....... .....

Grabbing his hoodie for Sam , he  bid his goodbye to YaYa once she gives him la bendicion . Quickly texting Sam that they were heading out already , pocketing his phone and keys inside his pocket of his jeans .

He walks out until he reaches the dojo , scanning to see if Hawk was there . He hears him first before he sees him . Guess they both got there at the same time .

" El Serpiente ! "

" Hey man , you nervous for your first date with your first crush ever ! ."

" pftt me ! Nervous ! no way ! I'm chill ."

He gave him his signature ' really bitch ' . Guess he had to refresh his memory of yesterday that he ruined for him to hang out with Sam .

" Yeah chill like yesterday , you were shiting bricks to ask out your life time best friend because you had enough of watching yasmine flirt with Demetri . "

" Receipts or it didn't happen " Oh he really wants to go there , pretending to reach for his phone to show evidence of said events . Watching the smug look disappear and replaced embarrassment.

" Guess I will then "

" Okay ! stop ! I'm really nervous I just don't want to ruin this date . Although I imagined our date to be the two of us , but I guess you can keep me in check if I fuck up . And also hopefully Doug won't cause a scene . "

" Don't worry , whats a wingman for ? " Smiling as they do their cool handshake . Hearing a  car coming close they realise it's Doug . Quickly jogging to hop in , putting  music on to get their confidence and mood on .

.... .... ...

So far so good , Hawk and Doug didn't make a scene once he realised his date was Robby.  Sam was perfect as always, they both tried to ease the air with some casual conversations .

 Throwing out compliments for everyone . And if Sam and him weren't OTP then he didn't know what will . Although number 1 OTP would be Sensei and Mr. LaRusso , nobody  could ever be better than those two .

Hes going off topic , Now here they are sacrificing their day to helping out their friends that are in need to become a couple for they could all finally rest at night and not wonder when those two idiots will realise their feelings ....

At least for him .

Anywho , Robby and Doug seemed not to get the memo of getting rid of the awkwardness.  Looking at Sam , communicating through his mind and eyes for the others wouldn't hear . He could try whispering but he can't risk it .

He totally didn't blush when the waitress caught him making weird faces as she came over to take their orders.

.... ..... ...

" That was embarrasing ! "

" What ! Easy for you to say she only saw me , you had your back towards her . "

He pouted to prove a point and looking at the other way . Giggling as she hold his hand , trying to make him look at her . She tells him she's sorry and promise to buy him ice cream .

Miguel could only ignoring Sam's cute voice and big blue eyes and obviously ice cream for so long . As reward she gives him a quick kiss .

" I love you  . "

" I love you too Sammy."

..... .... ..

His excuse that he would give to sensei would be that he wasn't involve with the disappearance of Robby.  He was there and then in a second he wasn't.  Or .......

He could just put the blame on Hawk , he will be missed .

They all decided to get ice cream as they all came to conclusion that both Robby and Doug would come back . Doug didn't take his car , keys and wallet was there . He has to come back for it , guess now they are all having ice cream as he was promised .

" I don't know about you but this ice cream was the best I've had . Maybe because I shared with you . "

His heart still beats so fast when Sam says cute cheesy things , but he couldn't help but tease a little about it . It was payback for the incident at the dinner .

" Yeah same but mainly because it was free , Ow ! " 

He almost tripped from the sudden push she gave him . Laughing at the cute glare she was giving him . He runs after her once she decides to walk faster to Hawk and Demetri .

" I'm kidding ! I love everything more when your part of it . Especially when you give me kisses . "

" Even Eskimo kisses "

" Especially those but you can't tell anyone it would ruin my status . "

Their joking banter stops when Demetri questions out loud if that was Doug carrying Robby . It was hard when the shorter of the two had his head tucked in and both had their hoodies up . Sam calls out to them , it's confirmed when they look at their direction , showing their faces .

...... ...... Sam ........

 " Robby are you okay ? Where were you two , we were worried . ! " 

" I'm alright Sam , Me and Doug went for a walk and I hurt my ankle , hence why Doug is giving me a piggyback ride . "

" Oh I thought you decided to climb him like a tree cause - "

" Demetri ! " Robby tightens his arms around Doug while  shouting to make Demetri quiet  . By the looks they hit it off , Letting the taller boy take Robby to her car , she says goodbye to Hawk and Miguel .

" Today was a success , and all thanks to you for giving the push hawk needed to finally ask out Demitri . "

She swings their hands around wanting to make their time last . Miguel hugs her as he talks .

" Thank you ! But I couldn't do it without you making Yasmine flirt with Demetri . We make a great team ! . "

" Sam , look ! " By hearing Demetri voice she turns around to the direction of her car where she sees Robby kiss Doug . Turning around giving Miguel one last time before saying goodbye .

Entering the car , she ask if Robbys ok . Once giving the signal to Demetri to voice out their thoughts , she laughs the whole ride at home listening to Robby and Demetri argue .

.

Sidenote : This Part 2 of triple date . Side mention of Lawrusso and Carmanda. Thank you to @oceluna for the boost of confidence!! . Kinda wrote Miguel a lil bit like xolo funny personality in here . Also Aisha x Tory mentioned . Hope you guys like it !

[ladyandherbooks]

Aaravos the Unreliable Narrator: An examination of his bias in 1x01 and what we can learn from it

So a bit of background info about me, I have a Bachelor's Degree in Historical Inquiry and Practice. What that means is that I studied the writing and construction of historical documents in order to determine why this particular source was written, drawn or recorded the way it was. I have been trained to be critical of all historical texts, documents etc and to be aware of and locate the bias', omissions and prejudices, both deliberate and unintentional within each of these resources. This helps me to determine exactly why this resource exists and who its target audience is.

Because of this background I've found myself being continually drawn back to Aaravos' introduction in 1x01, what it tells us about Aaravos and what we can learn from it, especially when it comes to future seasons.

Firstly we must be aware and acknowledge that Aaravos will never be an unbiased narrator, because no one can be a truly unbiased narrator. Aaravos, like all of us has his own bias' and omissions that we need to be aware of when examining an analysing this introduction, not only to the show but to Aaravos himself. We should all keep in mind that he is isn't being 100% truthful in his retelling.

However, that does not mean that we shouldn't pay attention to this introduction, especially when it comes to the key details that he remembers. That is to say what or who he believes is important and therefore what we should pay attention to.

So I'm going to focus on 3 key scenes that we see during his introduction, 2 scenes from the Judgement of the Half Moon and 1 from shortly before Aaravos' downfall and imprisonment.

Scene 1

In this scene we can see Aaravos standing with 3 other elves, 2 Sunfire elves and 1 Moonshadow elf. The Sunfire elves are standing in front of Aaravos and the Moonshadow elf, one is holding the glowing Sun staff and the other is beginning to unsheathe his sword. The Moonshadow elf is holding a Moon sceptre containing a Moon stone at her side. Aaravos is covered in metal jewellery and his eyes are glowing pure white. Below them is an army of elves that appear to be made up of Sunfire, Skywing and presumably Moonshadow elves.

So what can we glean from this memory?

1) Aaravos and the other elves are leaders within elven society. He is well respected and trusted by his fellow elves.

2) The Sunfire elves are ready and willing to fight the humans and are about to begin not only their attack but also the battle. We can tell this because the Sunfire mage holding her staff in front of her, ready to attack and with the Sunfire warrior drawing his blade ready to attack.

3) The Moonshadow elf and Aaravos however appear to be less enthusiastic about the upcoming fight. They are standing behind the Sunfire elves, the Moonshadow elf, while holding what appears to be a powerful magical item, the Moon Sceptre has it pointing downwards and at her side. Aaravos, while appearing to have glowing white eyes indicating that he is about to cast a spell does not have glowing white hands which he has also chosen not to raise. Given the decisive actions of their Sunfire counterparts it seems an important difference to take note of.

4) Aaravos knows these 3 elves well and therefore they must be key players in the Judgement of the Half Moon.

Scene 2

This scene shows the humans being exiled to the western half of the continent. We see 3 Moonshadow elves, 2 on their mounts and 1 on foot pushing a human forward. We can also see 3 Sunfire elves standing guard, watching the humans leave, 1 Sunfire elf appears to be pushing a human. In the background we can see an arch, it's design clearly Moonshadow.

So what can we glean from this scene?

1) That the Moonshadow and Sunfire elves have been charged with escorting the humans to their new homes. We can also see that the Moonshadow elves appear to be the leaders of this mission.

2) That the humans are travelling through Moonshadow territory.

3) This time the Moonshadow elves are the more aggressive while the Sunfire elves are more passive. We can see this not only with the the Moonshadow elf in the foreground giving a human man a hard shove, forcing him to hurry up but when we see the elf on the Shadowpaw is carrying a bow in his hand.

Only 1 Sunfire elf appears to push a human. This is not only in the background but it also appears that the push or shove is much gentler than that of the Moonshadow elf in the background.

We can also see the heartbreak and devastation that the humans are feeling after they have bern uprooted from their homes.

This aggression from the Moonshadow elves is probably due to the fact that they are going to lose their not only their Nexus but also part of their own lands to the humans as each Nexus would have been built in their respective culture's territory.

4) The presence of the 2 mounts suggests that the Moonshadow elves may have long journey ahead of them and that they are possibly doing at least some of this journey on their own, without the help of the Sunfire elves. This could also suggest that this is somewhat of a handover of escorting duties. The Sunfire elved have escorted the humans from their territory and now it is the Moonshadow elves to do the same. Therefore the Moonshadow elves need their mounts to keep a proper eye on the humans and to ensure that none of them escape or cause other kinds of trouble.

Scene 3

In this third and final scene we come to a time not long before Aaravos' downfall and imprisonment.

Here we can see 6 elves standing on a rocky mountain/outcrop/cliff staring directly ahead with an army standing behind them. Of the 6 elves we see 3 are Sunfires, 2 are Moonshadows and 1 is a Skywing. One of the Sunfire elves is Queen Aditi and she is flanked by 1 Sunfire and 1 Moonshadow mage, both holding glowing staffs and with their eyes glowing and white. The Moonshadow mage is wearing horn cuffs, signifying that he is in a serious relationship. This could also mean that he has a child/children (perhaps the assassin standing behind him) Behind them we can see 1 Moonshadow elf, clearly an assassin and probably the leader of the assassins, a knife strapped to his hip and wearing pauldrons, 1 Sunfire warrior, her sword drawn and 1 Skywing elf, one of the rare few born with wings.

What can we glean from this scene?

1) That these elves are important to Aaravos, especially Aditi and the mages due to their placement in the foreground. Aaravos probably knew all of these elves well, some may have even been his friends.

2) Over the centuries the Moonshadow elves have possessed more than 1 powerful magical artefact.

3) That the Moon staff and Sun staff are of great importance and of great interest to Aaravos.

4) That white, glowing magical eyes are not exclusive to Aaravos and may occur when powerful mages use these staffs.

5) That the Moonshadow and Sunfire elves are again the leaders and commander of this battle, with Aditi appearing to be the head of the army.

So what do these scenes mean for season 4 and beyond? An educated guess regarding future storylines

Given that the other events that Aaravos references in his introduction, the death of Avizandum and Ziard the dark mage played out on screen in season 3 I think that it's safe to say that we'll get to see these two events ourselves at at some point on the next 4 seasons.

We're also going to learn more about the elves in scenes 1 and 3, see just who they were to Aaravos and what roles they played not only in his life but also in his downfall.

I believe that the Moonshadow elf seen in the first scene was the one who asks Luna Tenebris to spare the humans and that in doing so she and the rest of her people were forced to abandon not only their most sacred site but also part of their ancestral lands.

Sceptres have long been associated with royalty, at least in Europe and so it would not be surprising if the daughter of an elven leader possesed and used such an artefact.

We'll see what happened in this battle, what happened to Aditi, how Aaravos' plans were uncovered and who was responsible for his undoing, imprisonment and erasure from Xadian history.

Given that Aaravos has already gotten his revenge on Aditi and has stolen and corrupted the Sun staff as well as killed the mage that wielded it my guess is that he will plan on going after the Moon staff and the descendant/s of the mage which once held it, not only for revenge but also to fulfill his goals. If this comes to pass and Aaravos is looking for the descendants of the Moon mage my guess as to who this elf will most likely be is Runaan. The Moon mage in scene 3 is in a serious relationship, hence the horn cuffs and this could also suggest that he has at least 1 child.

This ancestry would put Runaan in the spotlight and at the centre of the conflict between Aaravos and the rest of Xadia. And just to make this even more complicated I posit that Runaan and the two elves in scene 3 are all direct descendants on the Moonshadow elf in scene 1.

In conclusion Aaravos, the mysterious, charming and manipulative elf told this story in a very specific way and chose to represent, portray and remember these events and the elves at the centre of these events as they were not only key moments in his life and but also key relationships at different stages in his long life.

These are the elves that he wanted us to remember and he wanted us to remember them in a very particular and specific way. He wants us to know that they are important, that they were leaders and that he knew them. He just didn't tell us how or why.