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tobiosmilktea · 4 years ago

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umpah umpah! smau

↪︎ bokuto x f!reader x iwaizumi

[033] — epilogue!

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a/n: this is definitely not my best writing cause my brain was going brr the entire time i was writing this, but i honestly can’t believed i have finished yet another smau! 🥳 ✨if i’m being completely honest this smau took a complete turn to what i was initially planning,, but it ended up not being that bad. i certainly feel like this smau would’ve been a lot better if i didn’t have school preoccupying me 24/7, but i’m still really proud of this. thank you guys for reading and dealing with this messy, messy smau!! ☺️

a year flew by faster than you had hoped. Two weeks turned into a month, a month turned into six, and six months turned into a year. A lot of things can happen within a year. Hell, a shit ton of things can happen within six months, yet here you were, all glammed up in your best dress at the move premiere of love cemetery.

you hadn’t felt this nervous in ages. the quickening of your pulse, the rapidly beating heart, to your pals that perspired as the seconds ticked on by. akaashi stood by you this whole time as your gaze keeps looking over to the guest list as if it were to magically change if you were too look away for one second. akaashi had been by your side, your moral support and the absolute backbone of your sanity the moment you and the team landed in los angeles a year ago. he noticed everything about you. he was one of your best friends, how could he not notice the way you were suddenly quiet and not excited right now?

he laid a careful hand on the small of your back to comfort you, leaning over to the same list of guests you were worrying about. “are you worried about who i invited again?”

“i’m more worried they’re not coming.” you confess without a single beat missed.

“oh, they will,” he assured you confidently. there was even a rising smirk in his expression when he let go of you, “have a little bit of faith in me will you? i was the one who got you back in touch with them.”

you huff playfully, rolling your eyes as you recalled the strange feeling of isolation over six months ago when you landed in la. it was in no doubt the longest flight of your life, lasting a good fifteen hours if you counted the two hour layover in hawaii due to reckless turbulence (it was one of the scariest flights in your life too). you had read their texts then, drowning in the sudden downpour of emotions when you read their words, i love you.

it almost didn’t seem real. you swore it had to have been the fatigue playing games on you as you couldn’t sleep for the life of you on the plane. yeah, maybe that was it, you excused. you were so desperate for their messages to be a figment of your imagination, you literally tried everything—turning your phone on and off, asking sugawara for eye droplets, and even ignored it until you were back on the plane and landed in los angeles. it had to be fake, please be fake. yet, in the back of your head you knew damn well it wasn’t.

there was a plaguing thought within you, one that’s so destructive and degenerative that you hated the fact you thought this way. but it wasn’t like you could help it. insecurity was a troublesome venom that coursed through your veins everyday and there didn’t seem to be an antidote to your own self-destruction.

you loved them both, but you weren’t entirely sure if you had enough love to give for the both of them, let alone one. iwaizumi and bokuto’s feelings confused you to the core. you broke their hearts, yet how could they still love you so dearly?

you didn’t know the answer nor did you have time to even find it.

the film crew stayed in los angeles for two weeks and filmed over the course of that time period. days were filled with twelve hour shoots and a tight film schedule. being the author of the work itself, you were a major part of the production alongside the director. he trusted your vision and you’d often find yourself staying on set the entire day while kaori and the rest of the ddd team felt like they were on vacation. your only free time during that time was the ten minute holy grails in between takes that you were able to check social media.

you simply didn’t have the time to think about them. and yet they were like haunting ghosts that followed you relentlessly. every time you checked twitter or instagram, you would see every post, every tweet, every story. all of which would send your heart spiraling and tugging.

you missed them. but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it. you couldn’t possibly strike up conversation with any of them after completely ignoring their calls and texts for weeks. you had to have an odd amount of audacity to do that, and you simply didn’t have the guts to do so. if anything, the only lasting form of communication between you and the boys was the ringing notification that you liked each other’s posts.

it was quite the sad reality.

the film set then transferred to new york city, where the next two weeks would be filled with yet another plethora of twelve hour work days. fortunately for you, the rest of the ddd team were pulling a bit more of their weight, helping you on the creative side of things, yet still having the time to do all the fun touristy things whilst in the city.

you could remember the way your heart lit up seeing iwaizumi and bokuto’s names beneath who saw your story. it was a video of you and your team at the lady liberty statue. in it, kaori and yuko were chomping down on gigantic $2 street hot dogs, sugawara was yelling at semi for getting in the way of his film camera, while akaashi was complaining that the wind kept knocking down his green lady liberty hat.

it was strange thinking how fast things can change. within the first week, you were always up for an adventure in the city when the days were filled with work, but as the week progressed, your social meter decreased more and more.

loneliness hit you then. it was a peculiar type of loneliness, the type that you felt alone despite being surrounded by your closest friends and working on your dream project. you figured you were just homesick the way everyone else was getting all ready for a night out going bar hopping while you sat in the living room of your hotel room in your pajamas.

“are you sure you don’t want to come with us, (y/n)?” kaori asked you, concern washing over her slightly as you flickered her a tired look.

you shook your head, a small smile of gratitude melting upon your lips. “no, you guys go on ahead and have fun.”

your friends could only give you a look. they knew why you were being like this and they knew damn well it wasn’t homesickness. semi specifically threw you a look that’s meant to be teasing and oddly persuasive. “it’s been over a month, this can be a chance for you to finally meet someone new!” he exclaimed optimistically.

what was stopping you, anyway? it was clear nothing was, yet you still held yourself back. homesickness couldn’t possibly be to reason for it either. why are am i being like this?

“it’s okay, i’m with akaashi,” you decline once more, “he’ll keep me company.”

“alright then, join us once you feel like moving on.” says yuko with a hint of venom in her tone. you couldn’t blame her for saying that though as it was the harsh reality of it all.

your friends filed out the door, closing it in a thud and once again you felt alone. isolated as if you were in a void of your own silent thoughts that even the loud murmurs coming from the television wasn’t enough to drown out your shallow inhibitions.

the night continued on like this for a few hours. eating snacks in the dark living room with the remote in your hand, flipping channels every five minutes as your running thoughts couldn’t keep your attention span still. it felt like you were missing something, a part of yourself that you couldn’t exactly pinpoint. you thought of all of the possibilities why you felt like there was a void in your heart, yet the only thing you could properly convince yourself on was that you just missed home. but was that really all that you had missed?

you thoughts are interrupted by steps approaching you. akaashi walks into the living room, flicking on the switches and causing you to grimace at the bright lights. your eyes stung slightly as they adjusted from being in the dark for too long.

“where are you going?” you ask akaashi as you noticed his dressed up attire.

“i got done with all the paperwork and emails,” he answers while he fixes the collar of his dress shirt, “i’m deciding to have some fun tonight with the rest of the group. are you still up for it? i’ll wait for you to get ready if you want.”

the thought occurred within you that you should agree. that the possibility of this unexplainable feeling of isolation you were feeling would disappear if you were to just say yes and go. but as self-destructive as you were on yourself, you continued to hold yourself back—hesitant and always second guessing your actions.

you open your mouth slightly, but you ultimately just shook your head no.

akaashi lets out a sigh. he was genuinely hoping you would come around sooner or later. granted, it had been over a month since you guys left japan and he figured you would be over everything by now, but that obviously wasn’t the case. “you might be receiving a call soon... i suggest you should answer it.”

confusion flushed over your expression, giving him a strange look. but before you could even utter a single question to him, akaashi was already up and out the door.

he left you in a wake of curiosity for the rest of the night. it was nearing one in the morning and you still hadn’t yet received a phone call. it honestly sounded incredibly ominous that you grew a tad bit nervous. there were only so many possibilities on who would call, but it would actually infuriate you if akaashi was just joking around. but then again, akaashi isn’t the type to play something childish like that unless it was kaori or semi’s idea. regardless, the thought kept you awake as you eyes practically weighed like cinder blocks at this point.

you couldn’t believe you wait for two hours for a phone call that might not even happ—it shocked you at first, the ringing of your obnoxious ring tone and the buzzing of the vibrations on the table.

furrowing your brows as you reached over, a gasp left you the moment you read the contact name. your slapped a hand over your mouth to muffle your shock. your hand shook from the growing bundle of nerves in your gut as you hesitate.

the name ‘kou’ shined brightly against your face, coaxing you to answer as if your thumb wasn’t frozen the accept button. out of all the possibilities on who would be calling you tonight, it just had to be him. it wasn’t like you opposed talking to bokuto. if anything, you had spent countless of sleepless nights wondering if you should finally answer that text of his. yet no matter how many different messages you have typed, none of them ever saw the light of day. a hurricane of stupid conversation starters and ice breakers swarmed in your head, all messy and disorganized that if you didn’t just suck it up and answered, you would’ve probably missed a chance to reconnect with him.

fuck it, you thought as you accepted the call.

“(y/n)!” bokuto called out to you, sending your heart running thousands of miles an hour. it had been ages since you heard your name come out of his mouth, “how’ve you been? a little birdy told me you needed a little company.”

you had to hold yourself back from smiling too much as you could already feel your cheeks ache. you wanted to scoff and perhaps groan at the sudden embarrassment of what akaashi could’ve told him. “bo—” you started, but is immediately cut off.

yet another familiar voice emitted from bokuto’s line, almost as if they were shouting, “you’re supposed to say that i’m here too, idiot!”

the volleyball player chuckles, “oh sorry, iwa-chan! here.” muffles and cups clanking against each other travel through to line to what you assume is bokuto handing his phone over to iwaizumi.

“uh... hi.” his voice sounded deeper than usual.

“hi iwa, how have you been?” you chuckle, finding his sudden shyness absolutely adorable.

“good, good. i’ve uhh... missed you.”

“i do too.”

“yeah, yeah, you miss me most though right?” bokuto’s loud voice thunders through the call.

the juxtaposition of how daftly different they were was something you could never get enough of. perhaps it was at that moment you finally understood your loneliness through their bickering. you were in fact homesick, but the home that you were thinking of wasn’t what you were missing the most. you suppose the home you missed was them. they were your home.

you let out an amused laugh, “right.”

“that’s good because iwaizumi and i should be mad at you for ghosting us for the past month, but we understand since akaashi explained to us already.”

your eyes suddenly widen into saucers, panicking what he could have possibly said. “what did he tell you?”

“everything,” bo sings.

you audibly groan in embarrassment, throwing your head back onto the couch in retaliation. you were glad they couldn’t see how flushed and red your cheeks were right now as they even extended out to the tips of your ears.

“you know it would’ve been easier to say that you love the both of us and didn’t want to choose right?” iwaizumi points out in between your panic.

“exactly!” cuts in bokuto, “besides we don’t sharing you, you know. who knew you were such a prude, (y/n).” you could practically hear the smirk in his voice as you couldn’t stop the heat from spreading any further from your face.

now you were really glad they weren’t able to see you at that moment. if they did, you would’ve died from the embarrassment then and there. “give me a break, i was too embarrassed to ask,” you mutter, fearing that they could hear how fast your heart was beating through the call.

“ask what?” iwaizumi teases, “ask if you could date the both of us?”

you were internally screaming at this point. everything that you didn’t think was going to happen, happened all within five minutes and you honestly couldn’t believe it. you were pinching yourself as if you were in a dream, yet no matter how hard you squeezed, this was actually happening. “shut up!” was all you could say.

“even if you did ask... it’s not like we could ever say no to you, (y/n).” says bokuto, his words so enticing that you weren’t sure if you’re heart can handle any more of this.

his words left you absolutely speechless. you honestly didn’t know what to say at this point.

"i’m fine with it and bokuto’s fine with it.” iwaizumi says, “it’s just a matter if you’re willing.”

bokuto then leans forward towards his phone, “so what do you say, (y/n)?”

you swallowed the lump of nerves forming into your throat as the one question you never thought you would ever be asked was right in front of you. and yet you still hesitated despite everything that had just happened. you loved them both, so why weren’t you answering?

a few beats of silence passed before your gained the courage to push out the the very words, “... i’ll think about it.”

“boo! that’s lame!” bokuto shouts.

“i’ll give you guys an answer when i get back home.” you add, hoping to ease the disappointment they were probably feeling at that very moment.

“that won’t be for another few months, though.” iwaizumi deadpans that you could practically see the pout on both of their faces. “but we’ll promise to wait for you, (y/n).”

and so they waited for you to come back home, but you never did. schedules misaligned even when you were finally back home in tokyo. bokuto was getting progressively more busy now that the olympics were coming up and iwaizumi was just as busy, if not busier with the amount of athletes he had to take care of. there was even a constant flying back and forth from tokyo to los angeles for the film, all of which lasted for a few weeks at a time and you swear your couldn’t catch a break.

this went on for months with the only contact between you and the boys were from texting and phone calls that ended up shorter than you anticipated. and now a year had past since you left and this very movie premiere would be the first time you have seen iwaizumi and bokuto for the first time in a year.

this was so ironic how this all played out. you haven’t even realized you already reached the end of the red carpet when an interviewer calls out your name, microphone in hand and a camera pointed directly at your face.

“ms. (y/l/n)!” the woman shouts over the ruckus of snapping photos and other interviewers asking questions to the actors behind you. “there has been rumors going around about your dating life. are you dating msby’s bokuto koutarou or their athletic trainer iwaizumi hajime, who has been getting a lot of attention from stan twitter just recently! could you share some insight on your live life as love cemetery’s creator?”

“um,” you start, not sure how to answer the question as you nervous chuckled, “that’s a secret i’m afraid i can’t tell.”

before the woman could ask you any other questions, you walked away from the carpet and rushed towards the banquet hall. thankfully, akaashi and kaori was nearby and gratefully took your place in the interview without a second thought.

you let out a relieved sigh as much of the noise from the premiere died down as the only people inside the banquet hall were movie critics, the film crew, and other celebrities who were invited. by now, no one in this room would have the audacity to ask you such a personal question which caused weights to fall off your shoulder. you honestly should be used to those types of questions right now as a webtoon author that literally writes romance, but it always catches you off guard when you least expect it. honestly, you were just glad you didn’t slip up.

as a small little reward for yourself, you grab a flute of champagne from the refreshment table, decorated all fancy that you even hesitated to mess up the display. you turn around to face the growing crowd of mingling individuals, talking and laughing amongst each other as you sipped your drink gently. but as you watch you feel a presence on either side of you, both of which sent your heart soaring and a smile to appeared on your cherry colored lips. you didn’t even have to look them up and down to see how handsome they both looked. to think they were all yours.

“so what did you tell that interviewer?” bokuto asks nonchalantly as if he could just get away from a proper greeting. you were surprised he didn’t just engulfed you into his arms then and there.

instead, you opted to play along, “about what?” you tested with a smirk.

“the question about who you’re dating,” iwaizumi adds in from your other side.

you shrug, taking a sip of your champagne, “you guys probably wouldn’t like the answer i gave her.” you could feel the brazen stares bokuto and iwaizumi were giving each other—competitive and oddly provoking.

“she probably said she was dating me,” bokuto hums in response, confidence radiating off him that it caused you to scoff.

“i doubt it,” debates iwaizumi, giving him the same energy. “she probably said she was dating me.”

“actually,” you cut in before the two could possibly start bickering with each other, “i remember specifically saying that i’d thinking about it.”

the boys give you a look, downing their drinks as if they were like the shots they swallowed many nights ago at that bar. it was as if they were trying to win your over again like your feelings had changed since then.

“oh yeah?” bokuto starts, inching closer towards you while iwaizumi rested his arm on the table behind you.

“so what do you think, (y/n)?” says iwaizumi.

they both towered over you, just inches away from your body, but you didn’t cower or back away. if anything there was a playful smirk inevitably resting upon your lips.

now this, was going to be fun.

fun facts! —

sugawara has five rolls of film he had to get developed once they wrapped filming in osaka, each roll is from each city they went to for filming

iwaizumi and bokuto became really close friends when y/n left for la as they bonded over getting ghosted

bc of this,, bokuto posted a pic of him and iwa on his instagram and it got lots of attention that iwa went viral on stan twitter

taglist: (closed!)

@moonlightaangel @elianetsantana @k4tiepie @memorableminds @wheeshllumi @suhkusa @kitsunetea @airybby @noeminemi @truly-a-snitch @keichan @cosmicmermaid25 @bap-kingdom @saturnfarie @kwdflash @ennos-baby @dinablossom @chrisrue15 @seikamuzu @nestlevanilla @chasekudo @yammmers @pixcldust @iwaizluv @h0ngh0ngh0ng @emogrils @tiredandkindaoverworked @tsumue @underratedmage @bokutosuwus @kellesvt @unstableye @oh-tapeworm @scrappyfka @alittlebitofrain @mxngy @tpwkatsumu @atsumuwoah @macchiatoast @dicerawr @kageyamasbabygorl @some-random-stranger-007 @vhskenma @wntrmn @little-plants @stargirlara @kissungjae @je11yfishwriter @sbaepsae @apollochjld

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu smau #bokuto koutarou #bokuto x reader #bokuto scenarios #bokuto imagines #bokuto smau #iwaizumi hajime #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi scenarios #iwaizumi imagines #iwaizumi smau

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galactic-magick · 4 years ago

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As Long As I’m With You: Agnes/Agatha Harkness x Reader

Request: Hi, can you please do where Agnes (a villain) saves fem reader's life because she has feelings for her? In the end they end up together // also took some ideas from this request

Summary: You’re accused of witchcraft in your village, and a mysterious beautiful witch comes to your aid.

Words: 2200+

Warnings: fem reader, Agatha is low key evil so she hurts some people, a swear word, reader has an angsty past

Author’s Notes: This can be read as either a standalone fic or as a prequel to my other fic “Spell Practice.” I took quite a lot of creative liberty with this, hopefully that’s alright. Also disclaimer I am in no way a history expert so even though this is set in like the 1500s-1600s it’s probably very inaccurate, but it’s fanfic so anything goes right?

Taglist: @nyx-aira @midnight-lestrange @thestrangeundoing @thegayances @sleep-deprived-athlete @dr-robotnik-said-hella @fallingfor-fics @p-nymph @thelanawinterrs @sunproud (if your tag didn’t work it might be bc your blog isn’t searchable so make sure that’s on so you’re notified of future fics!)

You had no idea how much your life would change when you left your house that day.

It started out with a simple run to the market and the garden to get what you needed for supper that night, a job that almost always falls to you. You don’t necessarily mind getting away from your family and talking to some people in town, but it’s clear that your family doesn’t want you in the house as much as possible either.

It’s gotten to the point where they’re just looking for a reason to get rid of you. You’re a disappointment, after all. You refuse to marry in order to help your family’s status, even though you’ve gotten a couple offers. You counter your parent’s rules and ideas every chance you get, no matter how much they tell you you’re crazy. They belittle you constantly, saying your dreams are worth nothing and you’ll have to be dependent on them forever if you never submit to the role in society you’re supposed to.

Obviously bullying you out of their lives wasn’t working, so they’ve moved on to spreading rumors about you and setting you up for crimes. None have worked yet, of course, but every day you fear they’ll get too close.

Until you get burned at the stake, though, they’ve given you basically every responsibility of the house. You do all the shopping, cooking, and farming, as well as taking care of your younger siblings. You wonder what they’d do without you, despite how much they seem to want you gone.

As you’re buying a few crops and eggs from your neighbors, you swear you see something move. You turn around and see a little boy floating in the air, screaming.

You drop everything in your arms and reach up to him, trying to grab him and help him down, but he keeps flailing, and his screams start to feel directed at you.

“Hey! It’s okay! Let me help you!” you hold your hand up, speaking as calmly as you can. “I’m not going to hurt you,”

“WITCH!” a man yells as he sees you. “SHE’S A WITCH!”

Everyone around turns and watches you.

“No! No! I’m not the one doing this! I’m trying to help!”

“Let him down and maybe we’ll wait to kill you til tomorrow!” someone else demands.

A couple people march towards you to grab you, and all you can think to do is start running.

You race out of the center of town into the trees, and about five men chase after you. You keep going until it feels like your legs are going to give out and you can barely breathe, but they keep coming.

“Please! Please stop! It wasn’t me I swear!” you cry. “I don’t know what was happening!”

“Shut up, girl,” one grunts. “Your father always said there was something wrong with you, makes sense that you’re a witch!”

“What’s so wrong about witches?” a female voice calls.

You and the men spin around, trying to figure out where it came from.

Before you can blink there’s purple smoke surrounding you, and the men are thrown against the trees. They’re knocked unconscious instantly, but you remain standing and untouched.

“Who are you?” you ask, your voice quivering.

“Don’t be afraid, my dear,” the smoke starts to fade and you can make out her silhouette, then eventually her face. “I’m here to help you,”

She’s beautiful. You’ve never seen someone that immediately feels so friendly, so different in all the best ways.

“It’s alright to stare, I know I’m quite a sight,” she laughs. “I’m Agatha,”

“I’m Y/N,”

“Ah, yes, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of you,” she smiles. “Everyone in the village can barely stand you,”

“Thanks…?” you’re not sure how to respond, especially after all that just happened. “Wait, if you live in my village, why have I never seen you? And how come you’ve never gotten caught using magic?”

“Memory spells, of course,” she shrugs. “Now, let’s get you somewhere safe, alright?”

You nod, and she wraps an arm around you. She takes you deep into the forest until you reach a small house, the glimmer of the fire peering through the windows.

You settle down on a chair while she makes some tea and food. She offers you a blanket and hands you the cup and plate, sitting down across from you.

“So how long have you been practicing magic?” she asks.

“Oh…I…well actually I don’t know how to use any magic,”

“Really? Why were the witch hunters after you then?”

“I was set up, I think,” you say. “There was a little boy floating in the air, and since I was near him they thought it was me. But I wasn’t doing anything,”

“Well,” Agatha sips her tea. “Sometimes magic can manifest itself subconsciously. Maybe you were doing it but didn’t realize it. It’s quite common,”

“But…how would I have magical powers? I’ve never learned it from anywhere,”

“Some people are just born with the gift,” she grins.

You exhale, thinking over what she said. Could it be true? You’ve been a witch all your life without even knowing it?

That night, Agatha conjures another bed for you to sleep in. But even though she made it as comfortable as she possibly could, you can’t get a wink of sleep.

You lift off the blanket and wrap it tightly around you, getting up slowly and quietly. You walk outside and sit against a tree, looking up at the stars.

You’re sure your family has heard the news by now. Their disappointment of a daughter is finally gone, accused of witchcraft. It seems that the foreseeable future will be spent with Agatha, the only safe person you have.

You wonder just how much she already knows about you. She mentioned she’s heard people gossiping about you all the time in town, yet she still saved you after hearing all those negative things.

Why is that?

“Can’t sleep?”

You jump at her voice, and she chuckles a bit at your reaction.

“Sorry,” you sigh. “I just have a lot to think about from today, I guess,”

“No worries,” she sits down beside you. “So do I,”

“Agatha,” you say. “Why did you save me?”

“Us witches have to stick together. I saw you were in trouble, so I saved you,”

“But you knew, didn’t you? You’ve known I was a witch long before this, didn’t you?”

“I had my suspicions,” she agrees. “Whenever I heard people talk about you, I figured you weren’t like everyone else. But I didn’t know for sure until today,”

“I wish you had taken me before,” you huff, a few tears falling down your cheeks. “It’s been so bad, Agatha, feeling worthless just because you’re different, everyone hates you…”

She pulls you into her shoulder, letting you cry into it, “I know, dear, I know,”

It takes you a while to come to terms with your potential powers, but as soon as you’re ready Agatha begins to teach you how to use them. You spend your days studying her spell books and practicing simple spells, most of which you fail at.

She encourages you as much as possible, explaining to you that magic is not something you can learn overnight, sometimes not even over years. She tells you that she’s actually thousands of years old (a surprise to you due to her stunning looks) and she’s been practicing for much of that time, and there’s still some spells she hasn’t mastered.

Your impatience still gets the better of you most days, though. You can’t imagine waiting several centuries to get something to work, if you get it to work at all.

One day you’re sitting at the table, trying out a simple transfiguration spell. You wave your hand repeatedly at a potato, hoping to turn it into an apple. It doesn’t even wobble, not even a single spark, but you’ve been sitting here for hours and don’t want to give up just yet.

You nearly fall asleep from exhaustion when all of a sudden it happens. It works.

There’s an apple in front of you. Not a potato, an apple.

“Holy shit!” you scream. “Agatha! I did it!”

You run over to her and point at your small accomplishment.

“Look at you go, darling!” she smiles, hugging you. “At this rate you’ll be changing rocks into cats before you’re 200!”

You laugh, “Oh come on, this is literally just one of the beginner spells,”

“So what? That’s where everybody starts,”

You break out in giddy excitement again, jumping up and down a bit and looking back and forth just to make sure your creation is still there.

Without thinking, you kiss Agatha quickly on the lips.

She stares at you, mouth open.

Before you can apologize, she grabs your face and kisses you hard. She’s everything you’d imagined and more, soft and warm but with a spark you can’t ignore.

When you finally break apart, her hands linger, brushing across your features and in your hair, “I’ve been waiting to do that,”

Things change after that, but in only the best ways.

Agatha isn’t just your mentor anymore, the only friend who came to your aid.

She’s your everything now, a soulmate, your home.

You tell her all about your life, and she tells you all about hers. As she has significantly more stories to tell, you’ll fall asleep many nights to her whispering all the legends she lived through that no one else knows are true.

She makes you laugh every day, and makes sure you always know how much she cares about you. There’s only so much you can do in your hidden home in the woods, but with magic the possibilities are endless and she’s never short of romantic ideas.

Tonight you find yourself lying your head in her lap while she plays with your hair, close to the fire so you can watch the little shows she creates with the flames.

“What about love?” you ask.

“What about it?”

“Out of all the stories you’ve told me, you’ve never mentioned being in love before,”

“Well,” she sighs. “That’s because I haven’t been,”

“Why not?”

“It’s just never appealed to me,” she says. “Until I met you,”

“Oh,” you grin, looking up at her.

She leans down to kiss you, but you’re broken apart by a loud noise outside.

You shoot up, looking at Agatha in pure panic. Your heart races as the noise gets louder and louder, eventually leading to shouting and knocks at the door.

“WE FOUND YOU!” a booming voice yells.

“Aggie?” you whisper. Everything crumbles around you. Your perfect, happy life, now about to be stolen from you. You have no idea how they found you, if you are about to be dead, if you’ll be able to defend yourself at all.

She kisses you and stands up, “Stay here. I’ll take care of it,”

With a fling of her fingers the door flies open, and the torches the townspeople are holding are burnt out. She smirks, purple smoke covering the area as she goes through them one by one, some just throwing to the side and others suffering a painful death.

She turns their own weapons against them, their own people against them, and makes them regret everything they’ve ever done.

When she returns to you, you’re still in so much shock and panic you couldn’t tell exactly what she was doing.

“Did you…kill all of them?”

“They got what they deserved for threatening us,” she says nonchalantly. “But we’re not safe here anymore. It’s time to find somewhere new,”

“Okay,” you nod as she pulls you against her. “As long as I’m with you,”

“I’ll always protect you, even when you learn enough to protect yourself,” she kisses your forehead. “Always and forever,”

APPROXIMATELY FOUR CENTURIES LATER

“I’m back, darling!” Agatha calls, shutting the door behind her.

“How’d it go?” you run to her, grabbing her hands.

“Splendid, that poor Wanda already loves her new neighbor!”

“Wow,” you giggle. “You know I must say, this whole living in a sitcom thing isn’t that bad, you look gorgeous in that 50s dress,”

“Oh darling, somehow after all this time you still flatter me,” she pretends to fan herself. “I have to go back over real quick, alright? Gotta give her this spicy magazine,” she holds her hand up in the air and magically forms one in her grasp.

“Ah! Be sure to get some ideas to use on me when you get back,” she laugh.

“Oh I will honey,” she winks, kissing you before going out the door.

You settle on the couch, looking around at your home. Out of all the places you’ve moved to together, this was by far the weirdest. There’s no color, and everyone besides you and Agatha and Wanda are under some kind of mind control.

You never imagined that day all those years ago would bring you here, spending your life with a beautiful witch and being her partner in all things, even sinister ones. But you wouldn’t have it any other way, and you know this strange town will only bring you more opportunities to practice your magic and help Agatha with her plans.

#agatha harkness #wandavision #agatha harkness x reader #agnes x reader #wandavision spoilers #wandavision x reader

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ironwoman359 · 4 years ago

Text

You Don’t Own Me (You Don’t Even Know Me)

Chapter 4

Navigation: Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4, Ch.5, Ch.6

Summary: As the son of a Baron, Roman Sanders always knew that when he married, it would be due to a political arrangement rather than true love. Still, when he is sent away to marry an older, more powerful Earl, he is determined to make the best of his situation. Despite the Earl’s indifference towards him, Roman forges ahead and prepares to become the best husband he can possibly be, making new friends along the way. But when his fiancé’s demeanor turns from cold to cruel, Roman must shift all of his focus to survival, and find a way out of his marriage before it’s too late.

Ships: Logince, side Moxiety and Dukeceit

Content Warnings (overall): arranged marriage, abuse, attempted sexual assault, murder, poisoning, character death, hurt/comfort, angst Chapter 4 Warnings: possessive behavior, verbal and physical abuse, angst, allusions to abuse and murder

Word Count: 4067

Read on AO3: here!

A/N: Co-written with @5-falsehoods-phonated, check out his masterlist here and check out mine here!

---

“And when I tried to get down, Remus spooked the pony and it bolted, with me still clinging to the saddle for dear life.”

Virgil snorted, then immediately brought his hand up to cover his smile.

“You wound me!” Roman said dramatically, placing a hand on his chest. “Eight-year-old me was certain that his life was going to end, and you’re laughing?”

“I can’t help that the mental image of you dangling off the saddle of a pony and screaming your head off is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week,” Virgil replied.

“Be nice, Virgil!” Patton scolded, even as he fought back giggles of his own. “I’m sure it was very scary at the time!”

“You’re telling me,” Roman agreed. “I wouldn’t set foot near the stables for a month.”

“I can’t believe that after all that you somehow grew up to be a competent rider,” Virgil said.

“Well, I probably wouldn’t have if it weren’t for my older brother Remy. He started taking me with him when he went out on his rides; I felt a lot safer riding double with him than I did by myself.”

“Your brothers sound wonderful,” Patton said, smiling.

“Oh, they’re the absolute worst,” Roman said. “But also I love them more than anyone.”

“I hope we’ll get to meet them at the wedding!”

Roman’s smile went brittle around the edges, and he forced himself to nod.

“I hope so too,” he said quietly.

Patton’s brow wrinkled, and Roman knew that look, that was Patton’s “I’m worried about you” look, and as much as he had come to view Patton and Virgil as his friends, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to get into the whole “my twin brother ran away from home to escape noble life and I haven’t seen him in years and might never see him again” topic with them just yet.

“Well this has been great,” Virgil cut in suddenly. “But it’s getting close to midday; I need to get back to work, and you need to get to your little lunch date.”

“Excuse you, it is a perfectly professional business meeting!” Roman protested, and Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Sure it is. That’s why you meet with Logan every single day and always perk up or get this silly smile on your face whenever you mention something that he said, most of which has nothing to do with business.”

Roman gave Virgil a deadpan look. “Do you really want me to retaliate right now?” he asked, glancing pointedly at Patton.

Virgil’s cheeks flushed pink, and he waved Roman away.

“Go on, then!” he said. “Go have your perfectly professional business meeting.”

“I will!” Roman said primly, but as he stood to leave, he shot Virgil a grateful smile, and Virgil nodded in return.

After parting with Patton at the house’s entrance, Roman made the short trek down to the library alone. He hadn’t been sure how he would manage living at the Howard Estate at first, but his life had settled into a predictable yet comfortable routine since the engagement banquet.

Patton brought breakfast to his room every morning, and after Roman insisted several times that he preferred the company, Patton now stayed to eat with him most mornings. After breakfast, Roman changed into his riding clothes and the two headed down to the stables together, where Virgil was waiting for them with Angel. Roman took his morning ride, and Patton and Virgil did whatever it was they liked to do when they were alone together.

When he returned, Roman helped Virgil groom Angel, and the three of them often fell into easy conversation with one another. At midday, Roman took his lunch in the library with Logan, and he spent the afternoons on his own, exploring the mansion or indulging in his creative hobbies. All in all, his days were mostly pleasant, until dinnertime, of course.

His nightly dinner with Lord Howard was, to his disappointment, the most boring and uncomfortable part of Roman’s day. It became clear to Roman after a few attempts of engaging with his fiance that Lord Howard wasn’t even slightly interested in talking with him; what he wanted was somebody to talk at. Roman sat, night after night, and listened to the earl rant about frustrating business partners, idiotic city officials, and even tiny annoyances like a scuff on his boot or a fly in his office. It was difficult to not feel like an emotional punching bag, and Roman always left dinner exhausted from playing the polite, doting fiance that Lord Howard expected him to be.

Roman stepped into the library, and smiled when he saw Logan sitting at a table beneath a window, the afternoon sun casting golden beams of light through his long hair.

At least there were more positives than negatives to living at this estate.

“Ah, Roman,” Logan said, smiling as he approached. “Excellent timing, I was just beginning to review my weekly report for Lord Howard. Would you care to assist me?”

“Always,” Roman said, sitting down across from him.

They poured over the receipts and summaries and work orders together, and Roman couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer amount of work that Logan did every single day.

“Honestly, Logan, you do almost too much for the earl. Especially considering what he pays you.”

Roman had seen the payroll receipts for all the staff, and he couldn’t help but be a little insulted on the servants’ behalf. One of the ways Lord Howard kept costs down was clearly at the expense of his staff.

“While I may agree with your sentiment, the fact of the matter is that if I did not do all this, the estate would fall apart,” Logan said. “And regardless of any...personal feelings about his lordship, there are far too many people who depend on him and his estate for me to consider stopping.”

Logan paused, frowning as he scanned a document, then sighed.

“For instance, his lordship neglected to sign off on a shipment of new armor to the city guard, despite my reminding him to do so three times in the last week.”

He scrawled something along the bottom of the document and set it aside, and Roman raised an eyebrow.

“Was that Lord Howard’s name you just wrote?”

Logan fiddled with his glasses, and he glanced around the room before answering. “This is...not the first time that his lordship has neglected his duties on what he perceives to be minor issues. I, uh...take the liberty of correcting such oversights for him.”

“You can forge his handwriting?” Roman translated, and Logan nodded sheepishly. “That’s amazing!”

Logan blinked, looking up at Roman in clear surprise. “I...it is?”

“Are you kidding me?” Roman exclaimed. “Of course it is...you’re so talented, Logan, really. I’m not exaggerating when I say you’re wasted as a secretary.”

“Oh...well, thank you, Roman,” Logan said, his cheeks flushing slightly pink. “I must admit, you also have far more potential than his lordship would care to acknowledge.”

“I’ll get him to see sense soon,” Roman insisted. “Then maybe together, we can make some real changes around here!”

“I wish I shared your optimism,” Logan said with a sigh. “But I am glad to share your company, at least.”

It was Roman’s turn to blush, but before he could think of a reply, the sound of footsteps caught his attention, and he looked up to see Patton approaching their table.

“Sorry for interrupting, Kiddos, but I’ve been asked to fetch Roman here and get him ready.”

“Get me ready?” Roman asked, and Patton nodded.

“His lordship requests your presence at a business meeting he has in an hour with other estate holders. I’ve been instructed to dress you for the event and bring you to his lordship.”

Roman forced down the twinge of discomfort in the back of his mind at the earl choosing an outfit for him like he was some sort of doll, and grinned as he got to his feet.

“You see, Logan?” he said. “This is our chance!”

“If it is a meeting with other nobility, then I’m afraid I won’t be present,” Logan said. “Lord Howard does not wish for...commoners to be present at such negotiations. He instructs me on what measures need to be taken afterwards.”

“That’ll be the first thing we change then, once I make him see reason,” Roman said. “You’ll see, this is going to be the start of something great!”

“I hope you are right,” Logan said with a small smile. “Good luck, Roman.”

“Thank you, Logan,” Roman said as he followed Patton out of the library.

I’ll certainly need it.

--- --- ---

Roman fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair, shooting a glance over to the earl to make sure he hadn’t noticed. The silky fabric that his pants were made of stuck uncomfortably to his skin and made his legs itch horribly, but he had been in similar attire before and had had plenty of practice in the art of keeping his poise while screaming internally. Thankfully, even though he was seated right next to Lord Howard, he had yet to draw his attention. Howard had been too occupied bragging about his various business exports for most of the meeting to pay much attention to him.

Even through his discomfort, Roman had been learning a lot about his fiance, dutifully keeping mental notes on everything he heard, from which parts of land he had inherited to which ones he had bought or negotiated into owning. Overseas businesses and local investments both let his power reach farther than one might first suspect, and all that put together was what kept the Howard Estate with its acres of land, sprawling mansion and extensive grounds and highly specialized staff all running smoothly.

It was a lot to manage, so it made sense that Lord Howard had Logan figure out most of the work and only signed off on the most important things himself. Having someone as competent as Logan run things in the background so the true estate head could make the actual appearances as the business leader was a strategy many nobles used to keep their properties under control.

Craning his neck to look up at his fiance from his lower seat, Roman furrowed his brow in thought. He wondered just how much Logan did that the earl never saw anything about until he reaped the benefits of it. Sure, Logan was extremely capable, but relying entirely on one person to manage everything seemed a bit foolhardy to Roman.

Tuning back into the conversation, Roman perked up as another lord gestured stiffly at a stack of documents in front of him, smooth calculation clear in his tone of voice. Negotiations were something Roman had always prided himself in handling, and handling well. He had often spoken circles around his own father in their practice debates, and it was rare that Roman participated in a discussion without gaining something in his own favor.

As neither party at the moment looked particularly stressed, Roman figured with a slight twinge of disappointment that such measures shouldn’t be needed this time. He would have liked to show off just a bit and make Lord Howard see what a useful asset he could actually be in their marriage, but he supposed that could wait until a more appropriate opportunity.

“I have most of the influence in this field anyway. Signing your bit of land over to me now would cause fewer problems for you in the future; especially if I don’t have to take it by force when I’m looking to expand.” Punctuating his statement with a firm tap to the papers, the opposing lord sat back with a satisfied smirk.

The icy glare Lord Howard fixed him with was enough to wipe the smirk fully off his face, however, and he tilted back slightly as the earl leaned forward to fold his hands smoothly in front of him.

“I’m not in the habit of signing away what’s rightfully mine, Lord Rilken, Baron of Vilvik.”

Roman flinched slightly at the way he practically spat the other man’s title…a title he shared, and had never once felt insecure about until this very moment. The way he spoke to these men, these people in positions of power, like they were nothing but dirt to be brushed off his own much more impressive riches- it was enough to make Roman want to run all the way back to his own estate and beg for another way, plead to wait for someone else to ask for his hand or to find someone himself. He stiffened in his seat and shook the irrational thoughts away.

No, this is how one played the game when negotiating important matters. Put up a cold and intimidating front until the other person backed down or bent to your own suggestions. If anything, Lord Howard's act was admirable; it almost immediately shut down any arguments, even if it hardly held any semblance of tact. Realizing this would be a good opportunity to show his skills, Roman leaned forward and placed his own hands on the table in front of him, gaining the attention of the opposing business owners quickly.

“It might prove advantageous to you both to simply form a partnership and share the land and business potential it holds. With as much power as the both of you hold over this branch, you’d be able to expand much faster and reap more benefits than you would if you spent all of your time attempting to take control over the others’ sections.” Pleased with himself, Roman glanced over to Lord Howard, expecting at least to have impressed him since he hadn’t really had the time to explain all that he had been trained in and what he could bring to the estate with their union.

However, as he met Lord Howard’s eyes, ice ran through his veins. The earl was glaring, staring him down like a particularly resilient bug that he could hardly wait to smash beneath a steel-toed boot. The room went so quiet that Roman could swear that the other nobles were holding their breath, and glancing around in his peripherals, he saw everyone sitting around the table gawking at him as if he’d just committed high treason. Had he really said something so wrong? Was this not what was customary, nay, expected behavior of the soon to be co-owner of the estate? Shrinking down slightly as his ears burned red, he finally lowered his eyes as the earl turned away. Roman heard him take a deep breath before saying in a deliberately controlled voice:

“You must forgive my fiance, he hails from a country estate you see; he isn’t accustomed to the way things work here yet. If you would be so kind as to excuse us for just a moment so that I may explain a few things?” Not waiting for an answer, the earl stood and held out his hand for Roman to take. “If you would step into the hall with me, dearest?”

Recognizing the order under the request, Roman stood quickly and took Lord Howard’s hand, wincing at how tightly he was gripped and practically dragged out of the room. The door was opened just a bit too forcefully to calm his nerves in the slightest and he watched as Lord Howard seemed to barely refrain from slamming it back closed, instead closing it with deliberate calm before whirling around to face him and jerking his hand out of Roman’s to tower before him.

“Let me make this perfectly clear, you do not speak out of turn in these meetings. You do not speak above me or-”

“But I didn’t! I was only-” Roman didn’t register what the dull smacking sound echoing in his ears and making them ring was until pain bloomed and spread from his lower jaw to his entire cheek. Raising his hand to his face in disbelief, he felt a bit of wetness and looked to see blood on his fingertips. Fear and horror twisted in his gut as he realized one of Lord Howard’s rings must have caught on his cheek and opened a cut. His jaw ached and his teeth felt numb; the blow had been hard enough to rattle them in his skull. Romans looked up and flinched as he saw Howard’s hand still raised to strike should he choose to speak again, and he shrunk in on himself in an attempt to seem too small to expend more energy on.

“You,” The earl spat, “do not speak above me, or make suggestions on my behalf. You are not here to offer up useless opinions that were not asked for or needed. You were brought into that room to sit obediently and look pretty on my arm and that is the full extent that your role will ever be. Have I made myself clear?”

Roman hesitated for just a second too long, and Lord Howard reached down to grip his chin, tipping his head so he had no choice but to look his assailant directly in the eyes. “My dear, I believe I asked you a question, and I expect an answer.”

Biting back a whimper Roman nodded as much as he could with his face trapped in the steely grip. “Yes my lord, I understand perfectly. I apologize for overstepping, it won’t happen again.”

The answer, as demeaning as it had felt to say, seemed to appease the still seething man, and Howard dropped his chin and stepped back with a wolfish smile.

“Very good, see to it that it doesn’t. Now, I believe we’ve been here long enough. If you’re done blubbering, you may join me.”

Startling a bit at the choice of phrasing, Roman hesitantly reached up to touch his face, wincing as he realized there was more than just blood on his cheeks. Taking a deep breath, he carefully wiped the tears away before plastering on a small smile and moving to stand just behind the earl. He was loath to go back into the room like this, humiliation and blood reddening his cheeks, but he didn’t dare speak up for fear of more punishment. As Lord Howard opened the door and moved back to his place at the head of the table, he hardly spared Roman another glance, and Roman had no choice but to meekly follow.

Sitting down, Roman realized most of the people at the table were staring at him like one would a fresh kill, their expressions a mixture of pity and approval while they averted their eyes. Sinking down even lower as the meeting resumed, he realized this was to be the second part of his punishment. He was to learn and remember his role as Lord Howard’s betrothed and eventual husband. Sit still and look pretty, step a toe out of line and be punished, and make sure everyone in the room knew that the power held over him was just as absolute as the power the earl held over everything else.

“I’m pleased to know some people still know how to keep common folk in line. Truly, the disrespect-” Roman’s ears rang as someone close by whispered to another just loud enough for him to overhear, making him want to sink down even lower and let the floor swallow him.

The meeting continued on for what seemed like forever, but unlike before, Roman didn’t absorb a single word of what was said. The voices of the other lords washed over him as he sat as still as he could, hands clenched in his lap to keep them from trembling. When at last Lord Howard stood, Roman almost stood up next to him, but caught himself just in time and sent a questioning glance up at his fiance.

Lord Howard’s lips curled into a smile, and he held his arm out to Roman in invitation. Roman swallowed down his revulsion and stood, slipping his arm into the earl’s and schooling his face into a pretty smile. Lord Howard covered Roman’s hand with his own, and Roman’s skin burned at the touch.

“Well gentlemen, this concludes our discussion for the day, I do thank you all for coming.”

One by one the nobles stood, nodding to Lord Howard as they filed out of the room. Roman’s cheeks heated as several of them swept their eyes over him as they passed, their gazes lingering on the bruise blooming on his face. When at last, every one of them was gone, Lord Howard turned his attention to Roman, all false pleasantries gone from his expression.

“I trust that after today, any...confusion about your role here has been cleared up?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

“Yes, my lord,” Roman whispered, and the earl smiled.

“Good. Now go clean yourself up. Dinner is at seven o’clock sharp, and I expect you to look presentable.”

“Yes, my lord,” Roman repeated, and as soon as Lord Howard dropped his arm, he practically bolted from the room.

He hurried through the corridors of the mansion, head down and eyes stinging. When he finally reached his room, he all but slammed the door behind him, and collapsed to the floor, his shoulders shaking as he released the sob he’d been holding back for the past hour.

He let himself cry, for how long, he wasn’t sure, not only for the sting on his cheek and the shame that came with it, but for every doubt, every grief, every pain that he’d pushed down and bottled up over the past month.

After everything he’d been through, everything he’d sacrificed, was this really his fate? Chained forever to a man who only saw him as something to own, to display, to use...

Roman lifted his head slowly.

“Remember all that we've taught you, and you'll do fine."

His father had taught him everything he knew about business, about politics, about matters of the state. He knew how to act with decorum, how to spot an opportunity, and how to charm a room while negotiating, all thanks to his father’s teachings.

But now, with tears running down his face and a bruise blossoming on his cheek, he remembered another set of lessons.

Lessons his mother had given him as a teenager, after time had run its course and he was no longer the slightly awkward, gangly kid he had once been.

“You’ve grown into a handsome young man,” his mother had said to him on his eighteenth birthday. “Your father believes that when you are married, it will be purely for political reasons. You need to know that this may not be the case.”

Roman had tried to forget the lessons his mother had passed down to him, had told himself that he would never need them...but here he was, sobbing on the floor, the first of what he knew would be many marks on his skin if he didn’t tread carefully.

Roman learned everything he knew about running an estate from his father, but he learned everything about acting from his mother. Thanks to her, he knew how to conceal his emotions, how to smile when his stomach rolled over and how to sigh when his skin burned. He knew how to mold himself into the perfect husband, because if he did not let himself be molded he would find himself broken before it was too late.

“Too late for what, mother?” the younger him had asked, eyes wide and horrified, and she’d smiled in a way he’d never seen before.

“Did I ever tell you the story of how your grandfather died?”

Roman knew what situations were most likely to result in “accidents,” what weapons were easily concealed and what poisons were difficult to detect. He knew how to pluck a nose hair to bring tears to his eyes and slap his cheeks so they appeared flushed. He knew how to appear calm and collected when he was suffering, and how to appear stricken with grief when all he felt was relief.

He had been preparing for marriage his whole life...every kind of marriage. And now that he knew the kind of husband that Lord Howard really wanted, he knew exactly what kind of husband he was going to be.

Even if he wouldn’t be one for very long.

--- --- ---

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#sanders sides #ts fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logince #moxiety #you don't own me #my writing #abuse tw

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vs-redemption · 4 years ago

Note

Hi! Can I request Dabi with a reader who has an overactive imagination/takes things very literally? Like he could say something sarcastic and reader is just like ???? Okay (sorry if I don't make sense hhh)

For some reason, inspiration for this request struck randomly and I have no idea if it turned out the way you thought it would. I hope you like it anyway anon. It was fun to write!

Sarcasm (Dabi x GN!Reader)

The rain outside was coming down in sheets, only made worse by the intense winds created by the typhoon that had finally made landfall. You let out a sigh and walk over to the door to turn the lock and flip the sign from ‘open’ to ‘closed.’ Owning your own bakery had a lot of perks. You controlled when you opened and when you closed, and since there hadn’t been a customer in hours, you decided to take advantage of that. Another thing you loved about your bakery was that you had creative liberty over what goods you made from day to day. If you didn’t feel like making a whole tray of raspberry coconut squares one day, nobody was going to force you to.

Just as you finish pulling down and locking the shutter over the entrance, you hear a series of loud knocks on the metal door that opened up into the alley behind your shop. You hurry back behind the counter and make your way into the kitchen to open the door. The face that greeted you reminded you that your absolute favorite part of owning your own shop was having a safe place to meet and spend time with your villain boyfriend.

“Dabi!” You frown as he steps inside, drenched head to toe and dripping water all over the tiled floor.

“Hey babe, lovely weather we’re having, don’t you think?” he accepts the towel you hand him and starts to dry off, not realizing that his comment had left you a bit dumbfounded.

“But… it’s storming out…” you furrow your eyebrows and tilt your head in confusion. Dabi sighs and shakes his head while shrugging out of his wet boots and jacket.

“That was sarcasm, doll.” His blue eyes flick up to meet yours, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Why do you always take things so literally?”

“Oh,” you shrug, “I don’t know.” You gather up his wet clothes and beckon him to follow you upstairs to the small attic that you’d converted into a decently cozy living space. There were extra clothes up there for both of you so that you’d have something clean on days when you didn’t feel like catching the last train to your apartment, or for times like this when Dabi showed up unannounced.

“Is everything all right?” You ask him, a hint of concern in your voice. “I can’t believe you came here in this typhoon.”

“Had to make sure you were all right, didn’t I?” He asks with a quirked eyebrow, digging out a clean shirt and pants from the tiny dresser in the corner. Once he’s properly dressed, he lays down on the futon you’d gotten secondhand from one of your regular customers. “Could this thing get any harder?”

You frown at the question while climbing in next to him and laying your head on his chest. “I don’t know,” You respond, oblivious to the sarcasm once again. “I was actually thinking about getting one of those padded mattress toppers to make it softer…”

Dabi lets out a soft chuckle and leans down to press a kiss to your forehead, “I was just kidding. I think getting a better mattress is a great idea. I can try to scrounge up some cash…”

“No, you don’t have to worry about it. I can get it,” You assure him while closing your eyes, feeling glad just to have him close. A few moments of silence pass by when suddenly the sound of yelling could be heard over the howling of the wind outside. You quickly get back up and go over to the tiny window that overlooked the street in front of your shop. “Dabi, there’s a group of heroes out there.”

“Gross,” was the simple reply.

“Babe!” You look over your shoulder, a wild idea suddenly forming in your head. “What if this isn’t a regular typhoon?”

“What do you mean?” your boyfriend humors you, even though he knew how your imagination often came up with exaggerated scenarios.

“What if there’s a super villain out there and they can create massive storms like this? What if it could wipe out the entire city?” You grimace at the scene blooming to life in your head. “What if that’s why the heroes are out there?”

“Hmm, I don’t know love,” Dabi smiles lazily at you, his head now propped up on his hand. “That sounds pretty serious. Do you want me to go out there and ask them for you?” You just stare at him in shock for a few seconds.

“You can’t go out there! They’ll arrest you on the spot!” Dabi just holds your gaze for a moment before you let out a sigh, “You weren’t being serious, were you?”

“Nope,” he shakes his head before flopping back on the bed. “They’re probably just out there looking for idiots who don’t have enough sense not to walk around outside in a storm.”

“Idiots like you?” You fire back while sliding back onto the futon to resume your cuddling.

“Ouch,” He frowns. “Is that how you treat someone who risks their life to come keep you company?”

“I’m not falling for that one,” you tell him with a satisfied smile, wrapping your arm around his waist and nuzzling into the warmth of his side. “I am glad you’re here though. I wasn’t looking forward to waiting out the storm by myself.”

“Well, it’s a win for both of us then,” he says before letting out a yawn. “You get to spend time with me, and I get to avoid looking at Shigaraki’s face for a few hours.”

“Yeah!” you agree until his words sink in, “Hey! Wait a minute!” A deep laugh rumbles up from his chest.

“You know I’m just joking with you,” he says reassuringly. “I’m always happy when I get to spend time with you.”

“You better be,” you pout. “Big meanie.”

“Hey, you knew I was a big meanie when you met me,” He reminds you.

“True,” you concede, suddenly feeling tired and letting out a yawn of your own. “But I didn’t know your sarcasm was going to be so annoying.”

“Sarcasm?” Dabi asks, feigning ignorance, “Me? When?”

“Stop,” you click your tongue at him but he could tell your heart wasn’t in it by the smile you were trying to hold back.

“All right,” He promises before letting out a sigh and pulling you closer. The sound of the wind and rain outside filled the silence, and thankfully the heroes seemed to have moved on or gotten caught up in the storm themselves. Even on nasty days like this, you were thankful to have your shop where you could remain safe and sound with Dabi. He stumped your brain more often than not, but even with your wild imagination, you couldn’t picture your life any other way.

#Dabi x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #dabi #bnha #mha #cindy's writing

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txbbo · 4 years ago

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hey i'm the techno anon from earlier and i couldn't help but respond again. i think it's very interesting, because dream's power is quite unique. a lot of it comes not only from him being a powerful individual, like techno, for example, but also from being the owner of the server. he thinks he's entitled to control everyone because it is *his* server, and other characters off handedly mention he has creative and he dupes obsidian, making him more dangerous than an average individual. 1/?

he also has a lot of godly themes surrounding him, for example in the theseus parallel he plays the role of hades, the god theseus angered which got him exiled. the lack of his pov also adds to this - he is not humanized like other characters, but rather presented as an omnipresent force who knows more, sees more, and is more involved in everything. it's hard to describe his power as just individual, but it's also definitely not systemic. i would call it godly, but it's not really. the truth 2/?

is we just don't know, like many other aspects of dream's character. he might've duped the obsidian, but he might've spent hours mining it off camera. his number of canon lives is unknown - he maybe immortal, but he also might just be a regular dude with a regular amount of lives. in order to understand how dream fits into techno's ideology, we need to understand the nature of dream's power. the problem is, we don't know. we may make guesses, but we don't know for sure. my personal analysis 3/?

is that techno *does* take away dream's power, by humanizing him. dream's power is in mystery, in always having a plan, pulling the strings by always having something over others, and making sure they don't have anything over him. the reason this works is that when presented with mystery, people assume the worst. tommy believes dream when he says he got the disc from skeppy. l'manburg believes him when he says he will build walls and put guards on lmanburg if they dont exile tommy. 4/?

when techno points out he never saw dream's house and dream says it's huge and great, techno doesn't believe him. he doesn't go for the possibility which makes dream the most powerful, he assumes the least. he proceeds to make fun of dream for being homeless, throwing dream off guard and making him flustered. dream's power is taken away here, because instead of seeing dream as a super powerful villain, he sees him as some homeless guy. a huge chunk of dream's power comes from the way others 5/?

percieve him - the way they're scared of him. his source of power over tommy - the discs - are only valuable because tommy gives it value. hence, the reason dream has so much power over tommy, is because, unknowingly, tommy is granting him said power. techno doesn't let dream have that type of power over him, he reduces him to merely an individual. i think that's the problem, it's the difference in how techno percieves dream and most others percieve dream. 6/6

-----

Hello again! :)

First of all I want to say you definitely bring up some good points. It’s very true that we don’t know how much power Dream has, which to me adds to the mystery around his character but also how scary he is. Like you said, when you don’t know the extent of someones power, you tend to think the worst.

Now I don’t know where they are going to go with his character, or if we will ever find out. I think the God theory is interesting, but until they confirm anything we can't really say.

Whether or not he is a God, or perhaps just an ordinary human as you say, he is still the most powerful person on the server. He is always 10 steps ahead of everyone. There’s almost no way to retaliate against him - he doesn’t have a home and he rarely is on the server (which canon wise could imply that he’s always well hidden and no one can ever find him).

At the end of the day, talking about power and who has control, it’s Dream taking away people’s liberty and ensuring that he has no opposition. No matter how many “factions” start up, Dream never gives them any power, and as the people in these factions are often not very powerful individually, they remain nothing more but a group of friends.

I also agree that Techno takes away some of Dream’s power through his taunts, but that also kinda proves my point. Techno is the 2nd most powerful person on the server individually and its this power that allows him to escape the wrath of Dream. Dream has never personally attacked Techno because there is some sort of mutual respect between them that doesn’t exist with the others, because Dream is aware that Techno is also, powerful.

You said that Dream’s power lies in his mystery, and while that is definitely true, it’s not just that. L’Manburg believes him when he says he will build walls because he does. Tommy doesn’t come back from exile because there are guards waiting for his return (Punz). Dream doesn’t just have with empty threats, he follows through on them. They’re not just scared of Dream because he threatens to do horrible things, they're scared because he does. In the first war, before everyone knew what Dream was capable with, he offered an ultimatum: surrender or he will light a piece of TNT. L’Manburg mocked him for this, but it was revealed that this single piece of TNT triggered the tens more that was hidden under the ground of L’Manburg. Since then, Dream has only further showed his power and the fact he is not to be messed with.

#ask #anon #hope you understand my pov :)#Technoblade #Dream #dreamwastaken

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lizzibennet · 4 years ago

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Honestly, I *DO* like episodes 7, 8, and 9. BUT I would have LOVED if they did everything they did AS PLANNED, and then added the alternatives film (the versions we got) as a bonus. Honestly I hate ROS because Rey is related to HIM. Lbh, NOBODY would have sex with p*alpatine

the problem with episodes 7-9 is that each is a standalone film. that is not a problem in itself since every other star wars trilogy movies could technically be watched as a standalone and with a little context you’d be fine, since they tell an overarching story with three more or less independent characters. episodes 7-9 do not tell an overarching story, they are each chapters to a different telling of rey’s story. ep 7 tells the story of rey nobody, who is both the narrative foil and the in-world counterpart of one of the strongest force users alive, and that’s honestly already a really good premise, buuuuut if we’re going to have a trilogy then that main conflict should be resolved either in the second movie or at the very least in the first half or so of the third because things! need! to! happen! for! a reason! except that they don’t because at the climax of the second film kylo tells rey she’s a nobody, and apparently that changes nothing within her resolve which..... fine, let’s push it and say she’s going to deal with that in the third movie, whatever, but we get to it and actually she’s palpatine’s granddaughter so actually she’s all the jedi which. UGH. the point I’m trying to make is that she is a completely linear character being thrown in three different takes of her story, and I hate to say this because I LOVE her, but after the second movie I totally got it when people said she was a mary sue because her faith in the force and the jedi and her kindness and blahblah NEVER really waivers (except when she gets angry at luke which. saves everyone! how fuckin convenient!) and you could come out and say “lori, if we think like that luke skywalker is also a mary sue”, which, again, don’t get me wrong because he is literally my son but he IS. and in the 80’s that is FINE cause it’s the story we needed - a story about this starry (heh) eyed guy whose unwaivering faith in people and The Magic Around Him™️ may seem a little misguided at first but ends up saving everyone, but that was 40 years ago. and maybe it was silly of me to expect a nuanced take on The Human Specificity Of Empathy from a star wars movie but you know what, I don’t think it was since gareth edwards paved the way with rogue one that is the epitome of analysis of what it really means to be good or bad and I’m not going to rant about how rogue one is the best star wars movie today BUT it set the tone for a less us-vs-them view of the world which was VERY exciting and in line with what I think the 2010-20’s really wants from its heroes in general. so if we want to follow the narrative beats of the first trilogy or at least the first movie (no way of knowing where jj abrams would’ve gone in ep 8) I think that’s fine so as long as you make it your own, and imo jj abrams was, and then rian johnson was like nope lol, and jj abrams tried to fix the narrative 180 rian johnson tried to do, and like. episode 8 is a very fun movie to watch as a star wars fan but narratively it does not make any fuckin sense. I thought so then and now with ep 9 out I think so even more. rian johnson is a very creative guy, he had some REALLY interesting ideas, but WHY give him the creative liberty to do so in the MIDDLEEEEE of the trilogy??? WHY!?!?!? give him a star wars story film! he would KILL it! or you know wait a couple years so the director of the first movie who actually knows what the fuck he’s doing can direct the second, but noooooo the damned fucking mouse wants to wipe his ass with $100 bills so we cannot possibly wait. cohesive storytelling? we don’t give a shit about that in the house of le mouse.

that all to say, there is nothing Fundamentally wrong narratively with either of the three movies. they’re fun to watch. even ep 8, possibly my least fav of the bunch, was a fun experience in cinemas. it’s star wars and disney - they know how to make a blockbuster. the thing is that as a trilogy they simply do not make any sense. if you analyze each movie individually all three seem to have different core themes: ep 7’s is “nobodies are people too actually”, 8 is “maybe space fascists aren’t so bad, actually (also luke is here hey luke)”, and 9 is “I take that back, nobodies aren’t a people actually”. it’s satisfying to watch as a casual spectator who goes to the movies, seems some space gays with one braincell between the three of them and is like coolio and then goes home, but it’s not satisfying to watch as someone even the littlest bit invested in the story because there is no cohesive roundup of everything. the original trilogy was like is luke an idiot for being nice? is vader actually redeemable? is han deserving of trust despite being a space nerf herder? and sometimes u were like what’s happenin!!!! but in the end all your questions are answered quite satisfactorily. luke was right, han is sexy, vader was redeemable. in the prequels: how does anakin skywalker become darth vader? how do he and obi juan become the enemies we see in the death star? what happens to padme? and while the sequels are a beautiful mess that I love they do answer the questions they put out when episode 1 begins, so you know, imagine liking the sequels and hating the prequels when the PREQUELS make more sense, the PREQUELSSSS. anywhomst, point is: the sequels are like here is finn. finn is the first stormtrooper we see the face of! he defects! also the first stormtrooper we se defect. the other defector we know is bodhi from r1, who is very sympathetic despite being imperial, and clearly we’re supposed to feel empathy for finn. finn survives! finn finds rey! go finn I love u! and then. WHAT happens to finn? what furthers his character development into a full fledged person when he starts out with not even a name? where’s his anger? where’s his OBVIOUS narrative direction that should be “ex stormtrooper who shows imperials that fascism is bad actually”? nope, goes almost unmentioned from then on. and again, I love finn, he is literally baby, but he also froze after ep 7 because rian johnson decided to fuck shit up and also because disney is racist. poe? the do-good soldier who is supposed to be the Believer™️? actually he is the only one who was any semblance of a coherent role in ep 8... which is promptly retconned when jj abrams makes him a fucking spice runner in ep 9 lol. who is rey? and they’re like she’s a nobody and that’s why she’s spesh, wait no she is a nobody but she’s spesh because space fascist has the hots for her, oh, no, wait, she’s spesh because PALPATINE. what was the theme of this trilogy? what was the thesis? what questions did they set out to answer and did they answer them at all, never mind well? and it’s unclear, obviously, because three movies with three clearly different views behind them won’t magically make narrative sense just because you are trying to piece them together. they’re not pieces at all, they are three independent takes on the stars and the wars. enjoyable as little snacky treats, not as a three meal course. (also I’m not even going to TOUCH on how what was already a narrative mess was made worse by disney’s NONSTOP fanservice. sw sequels and game of thrones last season are the cautionary tales of why fanservice sucks and while a good, intelligent if cliche or predictable story is always better than a Shocking™️ one that doesn’t make any sense. but if I start on that I will LITERALLY not shut up SO AHEM CONTINUE @LIZZIBENNET)

ALL that to say: I agree w/ u and I LOVE your idea of each movie being an alternative version of the story. honestly, that would make more sense than what we have right now off the bat lol. can you imagine ep 7 being the rose colored version of the story via the heroes’ lenses, and then ep 8 being the “actually space fascism is good if ur kylo ren” version of the story, and then, ep 9 is what actually happened... told by rey nobody, who dances the line between the good and bad until there’s not a line anymore. CHEF’S FUCKIN KISS obviously much more risqué than disney would ever go for, but genius! much better than trying to make us care about these conflicts that they make up in the first 15 mins of each movie. ur mad because episode 7 follows the beats of 4? here’s three movies on why you were wrong when you judged it all true and therefore Bad. HUHU I love that

also the galaxy is a vast place... I am sure there are emperor fuckers out there

#nctxrejects #what is my ask tag again #star wars

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justkindaoverhereobsessing · 5 years ago

Text

you stumble, you soar (2/3)

What if Tony and Ziva had just a little more time in Paris during Jet Lag? Part one can be read here and the song from the last scene of this part can be found here.

_____________________

CW/TW: non-graphic mentions of torture

This chapter is a love letter to the capital of France and to the push-and-pull of conflicting fluff and angst that we all love so much about Tiva! Again, super happy birthday to @why-did-you-just-lie-to-mcgee and huge thanks to @indestinatus for plotting this with me!

_____________________

“Paris is a place in which we can forget ourselves, reinvent, expunge the dead weight of our past.”

— Michael Simkin

_____________________

The bed they’re sharing is a large one, and though they went to sleep on opposite sides of it, the rising sun in the morning finds them curled together.

As always, Ziva wakes first; she realizes immediately that something feels… off. She takes quick stock of her body and realizes that her head is pillowed on Tony’s chest; his arms are slung snugly around her back, and their legs are tangled together. She can feel his heartbeat under her cheek, slow and strong, and she finds herself rather unwilling to leave this spot of unexpected comfort. There’s no reason it should be, but it feels… nice.

She realizes quite suddenly that this is the first time she’s been held by someone—truly held, at peace and content—since her time in Somalia.

The thought makes her feel a little sick, horrible memories cheapening the moment, and she pulls away hastily, trying to be gentle and avoid waking Tony. Luckily, he’s a fairly heavy sleeper, and she succeeds.

By the time Tony opens his eyes, Ziva is dressed and ready for the day, and he seems none the wiser about the way they spent the night. “Are you going to sleep all day, or would you like to see Paris?” Ziva teases.

“Leave me alone, woman, I was having a great dream. I was dreaming about this lady…” Ziva turns away so he won’t see her expression. She thinks it’s entirely possible that his dream stemmed from the scent of her hair or the feel of her skin as she slept against him.

“Hurry and get ready. We have things to do,” she says instead of acknowledging what he said.

_____________________

Ziva has a definite plan in mind for the bulk of the day, but Tony almost immediately steers her away from where she’s leading him. “What are you doing?” she demands, surprised enough that she follows him for a moment automatically before realizing what she’s doing and stopping.

“We’re in Paris, Ziva. We can’t just walk everywhere. That would be absurd!”

“We were going to ride on the Metro,” she corrects him, an eyebrow raised quizzically, “but why do I imagine you have a different idea?”

He certainly does.

Twenty minutes later, they’re climbing on the Vespa that Tony insisted on renting. “Are you certain that you know how to drive a scooter?” Ziva asks with a small amount of trepidation. She has little time to die in a Tony-induced accident today.

“Of course! It can’t be that hard!”

“That does not reassure me. You understand, yes, that the rules of the road are different here than in Washington?”

“I’m not stupid, Ziva.” Tony turns around to frown at her, but his eyes are alight with hidden laughter. “And honestly, are you really going to talk to me about road safety? How many times have I almost died with you behind the wheel?”

“I am an excellent driver!” Ziva insists indignantly, but she’s speaking to the back of his head because he’s already turned back around. “It is the other drivers who—AHHH!” She interrupts herself with a yell because Tony has—with zero warning—revved the engine and sent them speeding out onto the road.

“I thought you said you knew how to drive this thing!” Ziva yells over the sudden wind in her ears and Tony’s triumphant, wordless shout.

“I do!”

He definitely does not.

_____________________

Their first stop is one of Ziva’s favorite Parisian cafes, Café de Flore in the Latin Quarter. As they are seated and start to look over the menu, Ziva briefly explains the restaurant’s history. “This is a place that many tourists love, but that is for good reason. It is one of Paris’ oldest cafes, and it has been frequented by some of the greatest creative minds of the twentieth century. Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Robert Desnos, Raymond Queneau… the list goes on.”

“And now we’re here.” Tony glances around; the morning light shining through the panes of glass bounces off the crisps white shirts of waiters as they bustle past. He’s never felt so French; the atmosphere of the cafe demands the feeling.

“Yes, we are.”

“What’s good here?” Tony wants to know, his eyes excitedly scanning the simple black-and-white text of the menu.

“You must try the hot chocolate, if nothing else. I know your sweet mouth will appreciate it.”

“Sweet tooth.”

“Yes, that.”

“Alright, I will.”

What follows is a delicious culinary adventure through several types of pastries, all split between them until they can’t eat another bite. They sit in sated silence for a few minutes after they finish their food and hot chocolate, bellies full and happy as they stare contentedly at crumbs dusting the green table top. “Damn. Parisians really know how to do pastries, don’t they?” Tony says eventually, a vaguely dreamy expression on his face.

“They certainly do,” Ziva agrees completely. “We have more things to see, however. Shall we?”

“We shall.” Tony rises to his feet with a light groan, patting his stomach to emphasize its fullness before offering Ziva his hand in a surprisingly chivalrous move.

Ziva accepts, her heart skipping one tiny beat. (She reminds herself once again that he is her work partner, not a romantic interest—they’ve nearly been down this road enough times that she knows better than to imagine otherwise.)

_____________________

After another mildly terrifying Vespa ride, Tony and Ziva burn off all the calories they just consumed by climbing to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. There, slightly out of breath, they get a birds’ eye view of the timeless city and all its charms.

Observing the yellow-white walls of buildings that have seen centuries of history, neatly arranged down streets and boulevards lined with the fresh green of trees blooming for spring, Tony thinks quite suddenly that there’s no one he would rather share this with. He glances at Ziva—she’s looking away from him, down at the traffic circle that’s too far below to hear its chaos. Her profile is as beautiful as the city he’s falling in love with, and it occurs to him that he came very close to losing her not even half a year ago.

He’s never been so glad for something not happening, and he’d go back to that desert and risk death or worse dozens of times more if it meant he could relive this moment with her again and again, here among the birds and the buttery sunlight and the city that stretches on forever.

He slides his hand into hers. Though she doesn’t look at him or acknowledge the move, she threads her fingers through his.

Eventually, Ziva lifts her other hand to point. “The Eiffel Tower is that way, as you can see. I thought we would go there next. It is about two kilometers away.”

“No.”

Now, she does look at him. “No? Tony, a trip to Paris is not complete without visiting its most famous landmark.”

“I know.” He doesn’t say more, though, and after a moment, Ziva dismisses whatever he isn’t saying with a shrug.

“Alright. To the Musée d’Orsay, then?”

“To the Musée d’Orsay.”

_____________________

They spend close to two hours meandering through the d’Orsay, both particularly enjoying the Monet collection. There’s something undeniably romantic about whispering to one another as they observe pastel water and floral scenes, feeling lost in the paintings and the history and the almost intangible sensation of being at home in this magnificent place.

The whole time, they’re hand in hand, and neither mentions it.

Then they have lunch at Le Galliera. Tony makes Ziva giggle almost helplessly as he tries his damnedest to order for them both in terrible French; the waiter is less than impressed, but Tony more or less gets his point across.

Considering this is still technically a work trip, they shouldn’t order a bottle of wine and then another one, but they do. A meal with wine is the greatest Parisian inevitability; it turns out to be one of the best meals either has had in ages.

Following lunch, they go to the last stop that Ziva has planned for the day, the Louvre.

Tony finds himself far more impressed with the delicate architecture of the Louvre than with its most famous inhabitant—the surprisingly small Mona Lisa—but he finds that he immensely enjoys other parts of the museum.

There are tourists everywhere, milling about the more well-known exhibits, and it’s a good thing that Ziva dedicated their whole afternoon to exploring… it’s an enormous building with too many exhibits to keep track of. At first, Ziva aims to show Tony the can’t-miss art pieces: the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, Liberty Leading the People… but then their tour becomes aimless.

Much like their visit to the Musee d’Orsay, they find themselves just walking, enjoying the art and one another’s company.

Then they stumble across the room that turns out to be Tony’s favorite of all: the Napoleon exhibit.

Here, there are no tourists. They’re alone with the art and the history, free to speak as loudly or quietly as they would like, or to not speak at all; the space feels almost like a church, old and sanctified and echoey and welcoming. Like a church, it brings on the urge for confession.

Tony coughs suddenly, twenty minutes into their Napoleon exploration, and the noise makes Ziva startle... something Tony has rarely if ever seen her do.

He hasn’t spent this much time with her since Somalia, though.

“Are you alright?” he asks, uncharacteristically gentle.

“Yes, of course I am.” Ziva turns to him in surprise. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re jumpy. I’ve never seen you like this.”

“You would be, too, if you spent every moment waiting for your nightmares to reappear,” she answers, her honesty surprising both of them.

“Are you talking about—”

“What do you think I am talking about, Tony?”

That stops him short. He’s often wondered what exactly happened to her in Africa, because she has never told him. He hates himself for wondering so much, though, for fearfully imagining, but he can’t suppress the gut feeling that she needs to get at least some of it out before she loses herself to the memories… as much as he doesn’t want to hear it.

“What happened over there, Ziva?”

“You do not want to know, and I do not want to say.”

“That’s not true,” he argues softly, following her as she stalks away from him, deeper into the museum. “I think you want to talk about it. I think you need to.”

“And when did you complete your psychology degree?” Ziva snaps, looking determinedly away from him; at least she has stopped walking.

“I don’t know psychology, you’re right, but I know you.”

“Do you?” Ziva demands, turning suddenly to face him with fire in her eyes. “Do you know me? Does anyone? Can you possibly know what is left of me, Tony? Because I do not even know myself anymore!”

That breaks Tony’s heart, and he swallows. “Yes. If there’s one goddamn thing I’m sure of, it’s that I know you, even if you aren’t so sure.”

“Think what you would like! You have never stopped forming your own opinions anyway, whether you had any information at all or not! Stop trying to get me to—”

“I’m just trying to look out for you! That’s all! I know you went through hell, alright? I know that! I’m not demanding all the details, and I’m not asking out of morbid curiosity or whatever! I’m trying to keep you from collapsing in on yourself, Ziva!”

“Stop. Pushing.” Her voice is at once quiet and deadly serious.

Not sure if it’s the right thing to do, Tony does stop.

_____________________

They reach an unspoken truce as they finish touring the museum, but neither is paying much attention to the exhibits anymore. Too worn out from both their active day and their suppressed emotions to search out a distant dinner spot, they decide to simply dine at one of the on-site restaurants, Le Café Marly.

They’re both subdued throughout the meal, and it seems to Tony that Ziva is constantly on the verge of saying something. Every time she looks like she’s about to speak, however, she bites her tongue and goes back to her plate.

Eventually, Tony cautiously decides to prompt her one more time—he doesn’t want his head bitten off, but he can’t let her stew like this without giving it another try. “Something on your mind?” he asks lightly.

“I…”

“Something about Somalia?” he hazards.

This time, rather than getting angry, Ziva just looks… tired. Sad. Maybe a little broken. “Yes.”

“Something you need to get off your chest?”

“I… I can’t, I...” The grief that wasn’t strong enough to break through her anger earlier comes suddenly now, and Ziva ducks her head, staring at the fingers of her twisting and worrying hands in her lap as tears start to gather in her eyes. “I am fine,” she insists, though Tony hasn’t said anything, “and you should not have asked me in public.”

“Oh, Ziva… I’m so sorry.” Tony sounds exhausted, too, and pained. He’s not apologizing for asking, Ziva’s sure. He’s hurting for her and what she went through, she knows, and though she loves him for it, it doesn’t make her own pain any easier.

She’s just going to have to feel this. She has been, little by little, but somehow it hurts more now, thinking of talking about it with someone who would go to the ends of the earth for her.

He lets her sit for a moment, tears falling silently to her lap from a curiously expressionless face, until he can’t take it anymore. Then he reaches over and takes her hand. “Do you want to talk about it? Because you don’t have to, but… no offense, Ziva, but I don’t think you would have entertained this conversation at all if you didn’t.”

“No,” she snaps, hating how congested her voice sounds, but then she relents. “I do not know. Maybe.”

“Then let’s maybe get out of here.” Without looking at him, Ziva can hear the small smile in his voice.

He may be an ass, and he may be obnoxious, but he may also be the best friend she’s ever had.

He signals for the waiter to bring their bill, and before long, they’re headed out into the cool spring air. Ziva heads for Tony’s stupid rented Vespa, assuming they’re heading back to their hotel, but he doesn’t follow her. She looks back questionably, glad her tears have dried up for now, but he’s standing back, shaking his head. “It’s our only real night in Paris,” he reminds her. “Let’s go see the sights.”

“What have we been doing all day, if not seeing the sights?” Ziva wants to know. “Tony, I am tired.”

Tony tilts his head to one side. “Come on, I know my badass ninja assassin partner has at least a little more in her, doesn’t she? Humor me, Ziva.”

He looks so earnest that she’s tricked into nodding yes, intrigued as always by the occasional vulnerable side of him that sometimes makes its way out. “Alright—for a little while,” she amends.

“That’s the spirit! Come on, David. Let’s go see the City of Lights by night.”

She can’t help but laugh when he drapes an arm ever-so-lightly around her shoulders. “You are in quite a mood tonight,” she observes, walking willingly toward wherever he’s headed.

“Yeah, well, somebody has to be, right?” he replies pragmatically, squeezing her shoulders.

For some inexplicable reason, the gesture warms her in a way her coat does not.

“Where are you dragging me?” She suspects she already knows, but him leading the way—and walking, no less, the Vespa still parked on a curb near the restaurant—is an unexpected change of pace.

“Really, Ziva, if you have to ask, you’re not half as smart as I give you credit for. Where does any first time tourist in Paris go? Where did we not go already?”

“The Eiffel Tower?” Ziva surmises.

“The one and only,” Tony agrees.

“It is not the only one,” Ziva counters, just to be argumentative. She loves verbally sparring with him, even if she won’t admit it, and the familiarity of the bickering is soothing.

“Where are there others?”

“Do not tell me you have never been to Las Vegas.”

“I have, but—oh. You mean the tiny one.”

Ziva laughs; it’s a little stilted, but it’s genuine. Tony now seems content to let her decide when or if she wants to talk about more serious things, and she appreciates it. “It is not quite as impressive, but the design is the same, I suppose.”

“Well, you may not be easy to please, but I thought it was cool. Anyway, this is why I didn’t want to see the Tower earlier. I hear it lights up at night and that’s got to be the best way to see it, right?”

“Right,” she agrees.

They fall into companionable silence, focusing on the long walk at hand. The sun has long since set, and the energy of the city has subtly changed in a way that few other cities ever do. They become anonymous, just another two Parisians strolling toward Saturday night plans, nameless and faceless among the city lights and the beautiful spring evening.

It’s comforting.

Before Ziva is even aware of what she’s doing, she starts to talk. To his credit, Tony doesn’t say a single word; he just holds onto her and lets her talk.

There’s little emotion in Ziva’s voice as she describes being tortured. It’s factual, like someone reading from a textbook; she has removed herself from her memories to the best of her ability. There’s more feeling, however, as she speaks of losing hope, hope she barely had in the first place. She tells him about wanting to give up, about not being allowed to, about wishing for death and receiving rescue instead.

She talks until the Tower is in sight, and when she’s done, she falls silent.

Tony’s only response is to drop the longest, most heartfelt kiss to the top of her head. Ziva’s glad; somehow, any response he could have uttered out loud would have felt… cheap.

Inexplicably, some of the horrible weight on her tired soul disappears.

_____________________

They stay silent when they reach the Tower; even Ziva, who has seen this sight many times, is struck dumb by the lights as they sparkle across the entire magnificent structure. She feels small, insignificant, like her problems are small and insignificant, too.

The thought brings tears back to her eyes, and she’s just about to voice the idea when Tony nudges her. “Listen,” he murmurs.

She stops and does so, focusing in on a sound that her analytical mind had already tuned out as unimportant. It’s the sound of a violin and a piano mixing sweetly together. Ten meters away, two street performers stand alone and ignored, softly playing Chopin’s Nocturne in C Sharp Minor.

Now that she’s paying attention to it, Ziva’s a little mesmerized, and she’s startled slightly when Tony takes her hand again. “Let’s dance,” he says, the little smile on his face so hopeful that she can’t say no.

Tony uses her hand to draw her closer and rests his other hand on her waist, sighing slightly when her second hand lands on his shoulder. Neither says another word, but they start to rotate and move side to side to the haunting melody; their eyes are locked together, and Tony thinks it might be the most intimate moment he’s ever shared with anyone.

He doesn’t mind at all.

As the song progresses, their bodies get closer and closer together, and the brightness of the Tour’s display illuminates their faces like candlelight. Somehow, Ziva finds her eyes fluttering shut and her head leaning down to rest on Tony’s shoulder. Maybe it’s an illusion, and maybe the pain will come back tomorrow, but here, and now… she feels at once light of soul and cherished of heart.

The last note of the song dies slowly away into the night air, but Tony and Ziva don’t notice, continuing to sway.

#ncis fanfiction #ncis #tiva #tony dinozzo #ziva david #cynthia writes stuff too #here's part 2 tiz!#happy birthday!#here's some angst and some fluff #the smut will be in part 3 #also as requested please observe that there's a piano XD #anyway i tried my hardest to include all of your favorite places that you told me ages ago!#i love youuuuu happy happy happy birthday!#thanks again sof!

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blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk · 5 years ago

Note

Yo I love Nina. She's so badass!! Can I get a scenario where she is helping a shy person get fitted for an outfit? And the shy person naturally opens up to her because she's so talkative and easygoing? Not in a romantic way, perhaps more of a platonic friendship? Love Nina... Love Nina... Lo

I feel like Nina would be a very good friend!

personally I wasn’t sure how this would go because I’m not super confident with writing Nina’s character, but reading it back I think it turned out nice!

All things considered, standing in the tailor shop in their underclothes while a woman they barely know takes their measurements isn’t what (Name) wants to be doing today.

It’s not that the lady doesn’t know what she’s doing, or isn’t pleasant; on the contrary, NINA Hopkins seems to know a bit too much what she’s doing, and she’s rather chatty. (Name) is just very timid around people they don’t know well… which is only amplified given that they need to be practically in their underwear for her to measure everything she needs to.

“So anyway,” the tailor speaks up after a moment’s lull, “what kind of style were you thinking for this ensemble? Formal, of course ― details, though! I personally think something bold and dramatic would suit you quite well, but I could just as easily go with delicate and subtle! It’s spring, so certainly brights or pastels would be equally fashionable.”

They squirm a little as they think about that. Does it really matter what they think? She’s the one making the outfit. “Um… I don’t know. You’re the expert. Just whatever you think would be good.”

Nina scoffs as she bends to finish the measurements on their lower half. “Well, it would all be good! I’m making it, after all. It would all look fantastic, but if you don’t like it, you’ll be uncomfortable. And if you’re uncomfortable, I could put you in a million and a half good things and you still wouldn’t look acceptable. Come on, sweetie, what do you like? Bows or lace? Tassels or frills? How are you planning to wear your hair to this event?”

(Name) clears their throat. To be honest, they haven’t really given much thought to their hair. They’ve been too busy agonizing over how their outfit will look. “I… guess sort of like it is now?” Their fingers reach up to comb through their locks. “Maybe a… little fancier. I don’t really change my hairstyle much.”

“Just as well! A more typical, simple hairstyle will mean you can take more chances with your outfit.” She hums and tilts her head side to side a few times, making her chestnut curls bounce. “Well, if you’d really prefer I take the creative liberties here, I suppose I can do that. You’re so cute, you really will look good in anything. And if you end up not being comfortable in it, I can always try again! I work fast, so we’ll have plenty of time to try a few different things.”

She pulls away, straightening up to give them a scrutinizing look. Her eyes practically bore into them, though for some reason, it doesn’t make them as anxious as it usually does. “How far away is this event, again? Two weeks?”

“Two weeks, yes,” (Name) echoes. “My plus one is going to dress in… black, I think?”

“Black?!” Nina recoils incredulously. They swear they see the light bounce off her glasses so fast it reflects off the mirror behind them. “My God, if we don’t put you in something colorful, everyone will think you’re going to a funeral!! Black to a social function ― how ghastly!”

Despite the fact that they feel like they should be insulted on behalf of their date, (Name) can’t help but chuckle a little. Nina is definitely a character, and they can’t say they don’t agree with her at least a little. “I didn’t want to tell them what to do, but it struck me a bit odd as well…”

Nina huffs and grabs her tape measure again, starting in on their top half. “I should say so! You’ll just have to make up for their horrid taste. Now, how about if I try to balance your outfit out? I could do something with bold colors in the main areas, then I could soften it out with pastels in the accents… oh, yes, that would look darling. How do you feel about ruffles?”

(Name) offers her a smile, feeling themselves slowly becoming more comfortable with the whole situation. This isn’t such a bad way to spend the day, and Nina is a natural conversationalist. They’re already looking forward to picking up their outfit and seeing what she’s done with it.

“… I guess a few wouldn’t hurt.”

#Black Butler #Kuroshitsuji #Nina #scenario #platonic #friendship #fluff #she's so bombastic I love xD #queued

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superhusbands-superfan · 5 years ago

Text

Stony/Below Deck AU

This is such a bizarrely specific head cannon so I don’t really know who it’s going to appeal to, but hear me out. Does anyone on here know/watch the show Below Deck? Basically, it’s a reality show about the crew of a yacht that gets chartered out by rich people. So anyway, I just had the idea of a Stony/Below Deck mashup where our favorite cast of characters is working on a yacht (we’ll just pretend Tony isn’t rich and got disowned by Howard or something) and that’s how they meet.

(this got long, so the full head cannon is below the cut to spare others from my musings lol)

Tbh I think everyone’s positions could be kind of flexible, but I feel like this is probably what I’d go with if I were writing it:

Carol Danvers is the 161 ft. yacht’s Captain (duh). I’m going to refer to the yacht as “The Avenger” in my head unless someone contributes a better name because I find the idea of anyone saying “Hey, it’s the Avenger’s crew” incredibly amusing in this context. From there, her crew is as follows

Deck crew:

First mate (this isn’t a show position, but it’s real!): Steve

Lead deckhand: Sam

Deckhand: Clint

Deckhand: Bucky (he’s still kinda green, and Steve dragged him into this)

Interior Crew:

Chief stewardess: Pepper

2nd stew: Natasha (she’s worked with Pepper before and the two are frighteningly close friends and also scarily efficient together)

3rd stew: Wanda

Galley:

Chef: Bruce (we’re drawing from circa 2012 fanfic where Bruce was a great team chef. Sometimes he gets a little heated about guests not being clear on their preference sheets, but for the most part he’s chill and inventive with the food).

Engineer crew (lmao no, these guys aren’t really on the show often either, but this is the only place I can make Tony fit):

Lead engineer: Rhodey

2nd engineer: Tony (if you’re wondering why he’s not in charge, I had him in charge at first and then I remembered how terrible he is as a manager. He cares about the mechanics, not the politics. And Rhodey is definitely better at the interpersonal workplace interactions, so this works for them)

(Keep in mind, this is just the crew of the Avenger. We’ve also got other yachts. I’m envisioning... The Valkyrie, led by Captain Valkyrie (and yes, she has everyone call her that) and Thor, her first mate. Her lead deckhand is probably Sif. Also there’s a yacht crew with our friends from Wakanda, of course. Captain T’Challa and first mate Okoye are basically running a state-of-the-art yacht everyone else is trying (and failing lol) to beat. Shuri is the lead engineer and Nakia is lead deckhand. Idk how all the crews fit together, but maybe there’s a big yachting conference or something.)

Anyway, now that that’s established, we can get to the reason this popped into my head: Stony. So Steve and Tony meet (beyond just the initial introductions) because there’s some catastrophic engineering failure that Tony and Rhodey are desperately trying to fix, but they need extra hands (and, you know, they’re trying to do all the fixing *without* alerting the oblivious rich charter guests) so Steve jumps in.

Steve and Tony bicker a bit, but then when the crisis is averted they both start laughing cause, you know, they dodged a huge bullet. Now that the pressure’s off, everything between them is great again. Steve compliments Tony’s work and quick thinking and Tony’s basically immediately smitten. This kicks off Tony spending two or three charters obnoxiously, obviously flirting with Steve.

Steve tries to keep a somewhat professional distance between the two of them at first, but he’s also secretly into Tony, of course. (Bucky is very aware of this secret crush, which leads to a lot of teasing that Sam & Clint eventually join in on). Meanwhile, Pepper, Natasha, and Rhodey have to deal with being constantly harassed by Tony and his massive crush.

In the midst of all this, there are some truly *horrible* charter guests (think demanding, ungrateful, perpetually disappointed - even in the face of Pepper’s excellent service) who demand some type of “behind the scenes” tour that includes all the stuff down in Tony and Rhodey’s domain that the guests *never* see. Steve goes down to beg Tony to play nice with these guests who are making the rest of the crew’s lives a living hell (and of course Rhodey’s not around conveniently. Who knows if he’s sleeping or off the boat looking for an important part or something, he’s just definitely Not There). So Tony sees an opportunity to negotiate and he promises to play nice with the guests (“even whichever dumbass is convinced he’s god’s gift to engineering, Steve.”) if Steve will go on one (1) date with him during their next night off at the docks. Begrudgingly (or so he claims) and because “Bucky, I spare the rest of the crew the wrath of the guests,” Steve agrees.

Naturally, the two hit it off, and they’re together (adorably) for the remainder of the charter season. And after, Steve brings Tony home to Brooklyn to meet his mom because he knows Tony doesn’t really have a relationship with his parents anymore. Sarah Rogers immediately adopts Tony as her son-in-law, and then her boys live happily ever after.

(This is much longer than I expected, but I’m not sorry. If someone wants to write this for real, please, by all means, go for it. Just be sure to tag me (and maybe DM me cause sometimes I’m bad about missing when I’m tagged) because I do NOT want to miss it if this ever becomes a fic. Also, feel free to take as many creative liberties with the idea as you like; I won’t be offended, but I will be entertained.)

#stony #stevetony #Superhusbands AU #superhusbands fic idea #stony fic idea #Stony headcanon #headcanon #Below Deck au #marvel #the avengers #superhusbandssuperfan writes #superhusbands-superfan AU idea

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krisseycrystal · 5 years ago

Photo

rated: t

fandom: Steven Universe

prompt: “Drunken Shenanigans” + BisPearl

requested by: Anon

SO UH a while ago a super sweet anon here on Tumblr req’d BisPearl + “Drunken Shenanigans” and the idea is GALAXY BRAIN let’s be real i just had to uh...take lots of creative liberties with ancient gem tech to fabricate a reason/way/method gems could become any semblance of “drunk”

then this 5k monster was born because i also felt like indiana jones-ing it and having a LOT of silly shenanigans

i haven’t written this long of a oneshot in a long while but it was FUN and i hope somewhere, out there, that anon that requested this enjoys it! if anyone else wants to req anything, i have about 3 fluff bingo prompts left so have at it

- o - o - o -

Open Again, My Home [Read on AO3]

- o - o - o -

Here’s the thing about exploring ancient gem ruins to assist an “infected” outpost gem colony on the fringes of gem-controlled space dealing with a problem caused by long-forgotten and time-corroded gem technology: if something in this abandoned temple is a potential threat to gemkind, then it is doubly threatening to humankind.

There are only two things keeping Pearl from completely freaking out: one, that Garnet has silently sworn that she won’t let go of Steven’s hand, and two, that Bismuth and Peridot--the only other two Crystal Gems who might know something about what they’re walking into--are with them.

“Whoa-ho-ho!”

Steven’s laughter is infectious: bright and booming. It bounces up and down the crumbling stone walls, and it would be comforting; it would be wonderful to hear; it would probably make her smile, if it didn’t remind Pearl every five minutes that he is here when he probably (no, definitely) should not be.

Steven’s gloved hands run over a long banner of ancient gem glyphs carved into the stone. A thin cord of light runs along the border, where a red dot zips down its surface. It lights up the transparent bubble of Steven’s helmet and illuminates the stars in his eyes.

“This is so cool…!” he enthuses. The quiet crackle of his suit’s radio underplays the projection of his voice, but does nothing to hide his wonder.

Bismuth scoffs and turns back to look at him. “You’re kidding me, right? That little emergency light-show’s nuthin’.”

“It looks cool.”

Bismuth opens her mouth to answer, but Pearl elbows her and sends her a Look that dries up her words in the middle of her throat. Bismuth holds up her hands. She turns around. “Just sayin’. I can make cooler.”

“Really?!”

“Bismuth, we don’t have time to humor him,” Pearl sighs. The light from her gem swings right and left, carefully analyzing every tile before they step on it. “The longer we’re here, the longer we risk exposure to whatever it is that’s affecting the colony.”

“Not a colony.”

“Outpost.” Pearl’s face squeezes tight. “Right.”

Bismuth watches her. They come to a stop, standing at the forefront of their traveling group. Peridot nearly runs into Bismuth, her eyes glued to the tablet she’s never without. Bismuth puts her hand on Peridot’s head and turns her to the left a few degrees. “You don’t have to be so stressed, Pearl. We’re gonna be fine. Tiny herself said this thing isn’t airborne.”

“It scientifically can’t be,” Peridot agrees, deftly stepping around Bismuth’s legs. “Our light-composed forms would be completely immune to it if it was.”

The hall ends in a T. A perpendicular, second hall stretches right and left. Peridot frowns and looks back down at her glowing screen. She swipes madly with her finger. Amethyst frowns, the epitome of boredom, as she peers over Peridot’s shoulder.

Pearl frowns and wraps her arms around herself. “Yes, I know that.”

“As far as I have been able to surmise, the virus is spread through direct contact with one’s gem.”

“Yes, I know, Peridot.”

“Besides, it’s not fatal to gems. It just makes us act strange.”

“I know.”

“Then relax?” Bismuth suggests. She looks Pearl’s rigid form up and down; there’s nothing but tension in her now. “We’re careful. We’re pro’s at fixing things for gem ex-colonies by this point. Besides, we ain’t gonna touch anything in here, Pearl. Peridot and her robonoids have got this covered.”

“I know. I know.” Pearl sighs again. She holds her forehead in her hand. “I just--”

“--ah-ha!” Peridot cheers and with a dramatic pose, directs the group left. “The central maintenance hub should be this way!”

“Woo-hoo!” Steven cheers with both fists in the air.

Bismuth looks to Pearl again. Pearl gives her a small, pained smile, turning away. Amethyst squeezes beyond them to follow on Peridot’s heels with a quiet, faux-accented, “Excuse me.” Steven giggles behind them after Garnet quietly murmurs something.

Bismuth follows Pearl down the darkened corridor.

- o - o - o -

“Interesting…”

“Whatcha got, Peri?”

“The cave-in above those towers.” Peridot taps her screen and zooms in on the data her robonoids are rapidly inputting. The tiny green orbs crawl all over the corroded remains of the temple’s central mainframe. “This planet’s strange merqua must’ve corroded away the temple stone, causing the ceiling to collapse over a couple hundred years ago.”

“Oh?” Amethyst pushes back the lock of her hair that wants to slip in front of her face. “Is, uh, that important to figuring out how to stop this virus?”

Peridot hums, tapping her finger against her chin. “Perhaps not. Unless determining how the virus came to be is our key to creating a cure.”

Pearl tries maybe too hard not to appear like she’s listening in. She stands like a sentry next to Garnet as Garnet sits cross-legged on the floor, both lap and arms full of a slumbering, space-suited and self-proclaimed moon boy.

When Peridot begins pacing again, stepping away and continually reading her screen, murmuring nonsense under her breath, Amethyst groans. She flips her long, white mane over her face and drags her feet towards the others. “Ugh! This is so boring. I wish we had something to fight.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Garnet murmurs.

Amethyst flops onto her face at Garnet’s knee. Her hair cushions her fall.

Pearl smiles. Her hand curls over her mouth. When she looks to the mainframe again, she sees Bismuth looking at the cave-in. Her broad hands sit on her hips; her mouth is twisted in a way that does nothing to disquiet the anxiety rolling in Pearl’s gut. She puts a hand on the back of Steven’s helmet and then walks over.

“What is it, Bismuth?”

Bismuth glances down at Pearl. “Aw, geez, Pearl. Promise me you’re not gonna flip?”

Pearl’s hands fist in front of her stomach. “Uh. If you tell me what that’s supposed to mean, I’ll think about it.”

Bismuth holds up a finger aimed at the ceiling cave-in. “That merqua is corrosive stuff, right? It ate right through the stone infrastructure of this temple. Course, it took time for that stone to break down, but that stuff’s been sitting here for how long? Centuries?”

“That’s what Peridot said.”

“It’s probably still eating away at this place,” Bismuth mumbles. “No wonder the tech’s all on the fritz. I ain’t ever seen anything like that merqua.”

Pearl lets out a deep and long exhale.

Bismuth turns to her and offers a smile. “Hey, though. Nice job.”

“On what?”

“Not flipping out.”

Pearl’s laugh is too forceful to be genuine. She waves a hand. “Oh, Bismuth, I believe somehow I’ve fooled you if you think this is any semblance of not freaking out.”

“You never did answer me. What’s got you worked up?”

“I--” Pearl stops and looks behind her, to Garnet and the boy curled into her shoulder.

Bismuth nods before Pearl has to say another word. “Steven.”

“Steven,” Pearl sighs. “Look, I realize he’s in that suit and Peridot has assured me over and over again it should protect him, but if it rips and he somehow comes into contact with that merqua, or his gem gets in contact with this virus…”

“If any of us come in contact with that merqua, really.” Bismuth’s face tightens. She scratches the back of her head. “I mean, you did hear me, right? That stuff’s corrosive. That…native liquid to this planet is literally eating through rock and it can malfunction our technology. That’s not something I want anywhere near any of us, human or gem or hybrid.”

“I know, but--”

“--Pearl, maybe for once you should stop bein’ so concerned about someone else, and spare some of that concern for yourself, too.”

Pearl blinks at Bismuth. She opens her mouth as if to say something, stops, and then asks instead, “What, do you think I’m not concerned about my own--”

A shudder runs through the stone of the room as, instantaneously, a loud crack booms loud as thunder.

Steven jerks awake, pulling himself up out of Garnet’s lap. “W-what was that?”

Garnet and Amethyst are on their feet half a second after him.

“Peridot.” Garnet’s voice is low in both warning and question.

Peridot steps back from the towers and monitors. Her fingers hover over her tablet screen, but her eyes roam side-to-side, up-and-down across the chamber. Her gaze lands on the merqua, still steadily dripping down through the broken cracks.

“Uh. I think that was the temple,” Peridot mumbles. “That wasn’t the mainframe.”

Another shudder and a part of the floor drops from under their feet.

It slants at a lopsided angle, the room jaggedly cracked two-thirds of the way across its expanse.

Caught in surprise, Bismuth nearly slips and falls. Pearl grabs her arm to keep her upright. Peridot crashes to the floor with a yelp and a skid until she sticks her heels into the crumbling stonework. Several dark towers, now on uneven ground, crash into one another like dominos. Robonoids squawk as they fall. Sparks sputter and fly, a mini-fireworks show in the dark.

“Are you guys okay?!” Amethyst shouts. She stands square-shouldered in front of Garnet and Steven, on the slender portion of the room that didn’t lurch and tilt out of balance.

Bismuth dusts herself off. “Fine!”

With careful steps, she inches down the floor’s new incline to reach Peridot. Peridot’s eyes are fixed on the gap between the central maintenance hub’s floor and the ceiling of the cavernous room beneath them.

“W-we should get out of here,” Pearl says. “This isn’t safe. Peridot, you have enough data, right?”

Bismuth helps Peridot to her feet and then slowly, up to the other side of the room’s higher floor. Steven and Garnet hurry to extend their hands over the edge’s lip.

Peridot nods, but it’s shaky. “Y-yeah. Wow. That was…something.”

“Yeah,” Bismuth laughs. As soon as Peridot’s on higher, more stable ground, she turns back for Pearl with a breathless smile: more nervous chuckles than anything else. “You can say that again. Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen a--”

The floor drops.

With a great, thundering crack that rips asunder their stability, Pearl and Bismuth fall into open air.

Steven’s scream follows them down--

down--

“Pearl! Bismuth!”

It happens too fast.

Spinning and flapping her arms, Bismuth turns to find Pearl. She reaches out for the speck of white, glimmering teal, and darker blue that she thinks she can see in the middle of the falling temple stone and chunks of floor. Metal crashes behind them, groaning and sparking as it slams into the wall in a free, wild tumble just like them.

And then Bismuth hits the ground.

Earth craters under her. Chunks of floor pierce the ground on either side of her, falling in a dusty upwind. Bismuth coughs and ties to push herself up in the midst of the crashing debris, lifting her head to see if she can find Pearl.

She isn’t sure what it is that makes herself poof: a fallen tower or a piece of what was once the floor--but she knows the instant it happens.

Because all she can think is: shit.

- o - o - o -

Reforming is a surprising challenge and Bismuth doesn’t know how or why or what the heck is keeping her from taking shape until she physically forces the problem away for space to be. Once the glow of her form solidifies, she lands heavily on her knees. A ragged gasp later and Bismuth places a hand on the boulder that had been pinning her down (potentially the one that poofed her?) and pushes herself up to a stand.

“Overalls,” she murmurs. “Nice. I can dig it.”

A glance up and at the pile of broken floor surrounding her brings a grimace to her face. “Literally, I guess.”

After climbing out from under the fallen debris, it takes only a few moments to find Pearl. It takes Bismuth another second to recognize that something must be wrong. Pearl’s curled onto her side, fallen on top of broken and crumpled mainframe towers. She doesn’t seem to be injured. So why isn’t she getting up?

The word cracked doesn’t even finish crossing her mind by the time Bismuth’s already started wobbly descending the rubble, arms outstretched. “Pearl! Answer me, Pearl! Are you okay?”

She doesn’t stir.

Bismuth crashes to her knees beside her and rolls Pearl onto her back. “Pearl! Talk to me!”

And finally, Pearl…laughs?

It’s a laugh Bismuth has never heard, in all the thousands of years she’s known Pearl: high and dreamy, like she’s breathing through clouds and having a great time of it.

“Uh, Pearl?”

“Oh, Bismuth!” And it’s not like Pearl’s voice is particularly different. Maybe there’s a slight slur to her speech and strange saunter to the way she talks, but it shouldn’t be as alarming to Bismuth as it is. Probably. “There…you are. I was worried about you.”

“Uh, yeah. Back atcha.”

Pearl hums and lifts a hand. At first, Bismuth thinks it’s coming for her face but then Pearl tosses her hand back above her head and it lands with an awkward thud on the corner of the tower she’s stretched out on. Pearl giggles. Her shoulders shake, chest lifting up with the motion. She closes her eyes and her head sags towards Bismuth’s knee.

There’s a strange, goopy liquid trailing across her gem, dripping down her right temple and to the metal. Or maybe it came from the exposed innards of the tower?

Oh.

“Aw, gee…” Bismuth swears a colorful storm under her breath. “Pearl, why?”

“Why what?” Pearl blinks slowly.

“Why’d ya have to go and land on the virus?”

“Well, ‘snot my fault. It’s not even on my list.”

Bismuth…tries to follow that line of thought. “Come again?”

“List! My list!” Pearl tosses her hand up again and it falls against Bismuth’s shoulder. Bismuth sighs and gets her hands under Pearl’s shoulder to lift her to her feet as she adds, “You know, the one Amethyst helped me get set up. She’s quite capable, you know. She knows so much more than I do. You know Steven’s been thinking about making a Little Homeworld?”

“Uh-huh.”

Bismuth gets them both standing by the time that she can hear a familiar voice shouting above their heads. She lifts her head to watch a familiar, gleaming pink bubble slowly waft down to them.

“Bismuth! Pearl!” Steven shouts, his voice strange and distant through his suit and bubble. The pink pops away as soon as he lands. “Are you guys all right? You sure fell a long way!”

“Steven, what the heck are you doin’ down here? Don’t tell me Garnet actually let you--no, nuh-uh. Don’t touch her; she’s infected.”

“But I’ve got a suit on! I can help! It’s not like I have a tear in this thing yet; I’ve been super careful and--” Steven brings up his hands to the level of his chest the instant Pearl rolls her head up to see him.

The smile stretching her face is far too wide and bright.

“Steven! You’re okay!” Pearl crows.

“Y-yeah. Uh. Hey, Pearl.”

Pearl takes a step away from Bismuth and wobbles. Immediately, Steven’s gloved hands latch around hers. Her slender knees shake under her as she bends over, elbows bow-legged outward. A giggle runs through her. “Oh, dear. This is a strange feeling.”

“What is?”

“Bops on your head.” Pearl says it so simply, so easily, like it should make sense. When Steven doesn’t answer, she continues, loosely waving a hand. “You know, that apple-falling thing. There were those fig snacks you always enjoyed when you were younger, but only the strawberry ones. Could never get you to eat blueberry until you were seven…”

Steven looks at Bismuth. Bismuth shrugs. “You remember how the other infected gems were acting in the colony?”

“Yeah. Like they were drunk.”

Bismuth makes a strained, odd face. She gestures to Pearl with both hands as Pearl straightens up to frown down at Steven.

“Steven. How do you know how to identify drunken behavior?”

“Uh, well, you see, during our jam sessions, Jenny, Buck, Sour Cream, and Sadie sometimes--”

Bismuth steps in front of him, taking Pearl’s hands and pulling her away. Pearl stumbles into Bismuth’s chest and Bismuth takes extra care to make sure her head is turned away from her gem. “Okay! That’s enough. Let’s just focus on getting us all out of here and rejoining the others. The sooner we do, the sooner we can figure out how to get rid of this virus. Okay? Okay.”

Steven’s booted footfalls behind her are rapid, twice as many for every single stride of Bismuth’s. “Oh! Wait! I know how to get out of here!”

Bismuth stops.

Pearl whips around to look at him. She smiles, nods, then turns to look at Bismuth, smug. “See? ‘Smy smart boy.”

Bismuth doesn’t know what to say to that. She looks over her shoulder to Steven instead. “You do?”

“Yeah! You think I would drop down here after you two without a plan?” he stops, seems to think better of his words, and immediately waves his hands. “Wait, don’t answer that. The others are making their way out of the temple, too. Peridot said she might have enough information to begin working on a cure. Besides, whatever other information she could have gotten is lost, now. So Garnet gave me a future vision kiss and we parted ways and now I know the way out of the temple!”

“Oh.” Bismuth blinks down at Steven.

Pearl grins and pokes Bismuth’s cheek. “You’re impressed.”

“What?”

“Say it. Tell ‘im you’re impressed.”

“What?” Bismuth repeats because her brain feels too full of doe-eyed stupid with Pearl so close to her front that she can’t think of anything else to say. She shakes her head. “Course I’m impressed. This is Steven we’re talkin’ about, here. I’m always impressed with ‘im.”

“Aw, Bismuth!”

Bismuth smiles at the stars in Steven’s eyes and the warm flush in his cheeks. She shakes her head and wants to laugh out loud. Instead, she puts a hand on the back of Steven’s round, transparent helmet and ushers him ahead. “Yeah, yeah. All right. C’mon, then,” she says. “Lead the way, lil man.”

“You got it!”

- o - o - o -

“Oh my gosh. This is hilarious.”

“I know, right?”

“What’s funny?” Pearl looks back at the two pairs of expectant eyes gazing up at her. She smiles and waves back at them, wriggling all the fingers on her right hand.

Amethyst loses it. She clutches at her stomach and rolls onto her back, legs kicking into the air.

Steven laughs, too, but more so at how hard Amethyst is laughing than Pearl’s behavior itself. He grins and looks up at Pearl, who seems pleased at being the object of their humor, grinning airily at them both.

“I mean, it’s kind of funny that I’ve never seen you this relaxed before, Pearl,” Steven hums, propping an elbow up on the couch cushion.

Peal has never slouched for as long as he’s known her. Now, her form is a lazy curve against the back of the couch with her thin legs kicked out before her. She folds her hands over her stomach, the absolute image of comfort. “You haven’t? Huh. Steven, you haven’t seen me like this before.”

“That’s what he just said, man.” Amethyst picks herself up the instant the front screen door of the beach house swings open and Bismuth strides in.

Like a switch has been flipped, Pearl’s face lights up. “Bismuth!”

“H-hey, Pearl. Again.” Bismuth chuckles and doesn’t know what to make of the quick glance Steven and Amethyst throw each other from opposite sides of Pearl. She clears her throat. “How’s she doin’?”

“‘Bout the same,” Steven answers honestly and Pearl makes a move as if to stand.

“Bismuth!” Pearl sings again. Her calf hits the corner of the coffee table and immediately, Amethyst and Steven are on their feet to grab either one of her arms. Pearl wobbles, before righting herself and giggling. “Oh, haha! Stars! Thank you. That would have been an embarr-arra-assing spill.”

Amethyst’s laugh starts in the back of her throat with a shocked, choking sound. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Bismuth sighs and steps forward to take Pearl’s hand from Steven before Pearl can repeat herself. The corner of her mouth curls up in a humored smile aimed at Amethyst. “Stop it. She can’t help it; you know Pearl would be mortified.”

“Yeah, which is exactly why it’s hilarious.”

Bismuth rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “Anyway, Peridot sent me. She thinks she has an idea she wants to try. Steven, think could we borrow that bottle of Blue’s?”

“Of course!” Before Steven finishes talking, he’s bounding towards the bathroom.

Amethyst has to stifle another laugh behind her hand. “Pearl, what are you doing?”

Bismuth hadn’t even noticed Pearl’s index fingers poking into either side of her bicep as her glassy eyes are fixed on the way the steel-blue tone of Bismuth’s hue bends and warps under the pressure of her touch. Over and over again. Quickly, Pearl withdraws her hands, throwing them behind her own body with such force she nearly topples over. She giggles, her face ice blue, when Bismuth--again--catches her. “N-nothing! Sorry.”

Steven returns with the bottle outstretched. His eyes rake back and forth between Bismuth and Pearl. “Want me to come with?”

“Oh! Oh!” Pearl bounces on the back of her heels and raises her hand up from Bismuth’s hold to her face. “Yes! Me too; me too! Count me in, Bismuth! Wherever you go, I’ll follow! I’m very good at that.”

“Yeah,” Bismuth slowly and awkwardly laughs. “Sure. Why not. We’ll make it a party.” She looks to Amethyst and raises a brow. “You comin’ too?”

“You know it! I ain’t missin’ this!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Bismuth ruefully grins at the same time Pearl cheers.

- o - o - o -

Peridot’s string of machines and salvaged parts of the outpost temple’s mainframe towers make a curious amphitheatre in the sand. Lapis watches idly, with her arms crossed over her chest, as Peridot runs back and forth between screens and data, huffing and hawing.

“Ugh!” Peridot cries, throwing her hands in the air. “This would be so much better if I had any actual equipment!”

“Well,” Bismuth chimes, holding Pearl up so that she doesn’t sag onto the sand, “Pearl mentioned something about a Little Homeworld I think. Maybe that’ll help you get some, uh, whatever it is you’re wantin’, exactly.”

“Hm? Bismuth, what did I say?”

Amethyst snickers. Lapis Lazuli snorts, turning away.

Peridot spins around to them. “You’re back! Oh, good, good, good, good, good!” With outstretched hands, she makes grabbing motions towards the bottle Steven holds. To Steven’s surprise, she latches on to his arm instead, dragging him over to the biggest screen on display. “Okay, so I have a couple working theories and we’ll probably need to test all of them on Pearl…”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that!” Pearl chimes in. Then, she leans into Bismuth conspiratorially, “That’s what humans call a pair of people who go on dates.”

Bismuth feels her face burst into heat at the same time as laughter busts out of her. “I’m sorry?”

Lapis’ shoulders are shaking as Pearl continues, “You know what I’m talking about, Bismuth, right?”

“I don’t think I do.”

“Couples! A one plus another one! One plus two plus one plus one plus--”

“--how was I supposed to know a human thing like that?”

“Don’t you want to be one?”

Bismuth doesn’t know what to say to that. She thinks she lost track of what it was Pearl was talking about. Or some part of her sorely wishes she did, anyway. “Uh. Pearl, you doin’ okay? Maybe we should sit down…”

“Perfect!” Peridot, fortunately, saves her. “Sit her down on this chair, Bismuth. We’re going to try a few different methods to see if we can combat this virus!”

Bismuth breathes a sigh of relief and pulls Pearl along to the plastic-white lawn chair that looks far too dirty and dusty to be sanitary. Pearl would throw a fit about being expected to sit in it if she were in her right head; thankfully, this Pearl lets Bismuth push her down against its flower-embossed backing without a fight.

Steven raises an eyebrow. “Uh, Peridot? That looks like something out of my dad’s old storage unit.”

“It probably is. I borrowed it from the car wash.”

“Huh.”

Peridot rubs her chin, looking at her glowing screens one final time. Finally, she sighs. “All right. I guess we’ll have to try Steven first.”

“Huh?”

Peridot pushes a quarter-full box of latex gloves into Steven’s chest. “Here. Apply one and lick your hand, please.”

“Didn’t we try this at the outpost?”

“Yes, well, we’re trying it again!” Peridot throws her hands into the air. “Pearl, you’re going to have to look at us.”

Perhaps for the first time in her entire life, Pearl whines. “But then I wouldn’t get to see Bismuth.”

“Oh, what a travesty.” Amethyst sighs dramatically and puts the back of her hand against her forehead. Lapis, now standing at her side, clutches at her stomach, pressing her lips together hard to keep from laughing.

Bismuth rolls her eyes, but with a good-natured grin, she steps around the old chair. “There. Now you can see me, right?”

“Better.” And Pearl extends her hand.

Bismuth can feel everyone else’s eyes on her. Her face blooms with heat. She turns around to the circle of an audience she has, all watching her and Pearl very, very closely. “All right! That’s enough, you guys! Knock it off! We’re just friends,” she shouts as she takes Pearl’s slender hand in her own and squeezes it.

“Oh!” Lapis laughs loudly. “Sure! Because that’s what this is!”

“Just ‘friends.’” Amethyst curls her fingers into air-quotes and bends over, laughing.

“Hey, Amethyst,” Lapis says through chuckles and chortles, extending her dangling hand. “Since we’re…just friends…how about you hold my hand while I get treated for a virus?”

“Why, Lapis,” Amethyst answers, bowing over Lapis’ hand, “since we’re such good friends, I’d be honored to!”

“Oh, Amethyst! Our friendship is just so integral to my feeling of safety and comfort!”

Bismuth tries not to laugh, pushing a hand against her own face.

Steven snickers and tries to stuff his laugh behind his own spit-slobbered hand, until Peridot grabs his wrist and pulls it away. She brings him to Pearl’s front and nods. Steven nods back, mouth pulled into a serious line, then slaps his palm over Pearl’s gem on her brow.

Pearl blinks.

A shiver passes through her.

She giggles. “Wow…it’s been a while since you’ve needed to do that, Steven.”

Peridot squints at her. Bismuth chuckles and moves as if to pull her hand away. “So, uh, okay. How’re you feelin’ now, Pearl?”

Pearl gasps softly. “Certainly not good enough for you to leave me, Bismuth!” And the frown on her face is enough to make Peridot groan and for Bismuth to take her hand back with a quiet, “All right, all right, I’m sorry; I’m here,” that has Lapis and Amethyst snickering all over again behind her.

“It didn’t work!” Peridot huffs. When Steven opens his mouth, she holds up a hand. “Never mind. I know it didn’t work when we were at the gem outpost, either. It was worth a second try. Give me Blue’s Diamond’s bottle.”

Blue Diamond’s essence doesn’t work, either.

Peridot’s a grumbling mess. She pulls Steven and his still-gloved hand aside as Pearl looks up to Bismuth with wide eyes. “Bismuth, is there something wrong with me?”

“What?”

Pearl’s eyes begin to shine with tears, two gleaming, wet pools of baby blue. “The lacrimal essence. It should heal; why aren’t I better? One impossible right after another. Gems can’t get sick! Am I dreaming?”

“Uh…” Bismuth looks behind her to Lapis and Amethyst, but they aren’t even watching anymore. Instead, they are focused on dramatically recreating the scene between Bismuth and Pearl to their own knee-slapping hilarity.

Bismuth sighs and shrugs. “I mean, I guess you’re--”

“--what happens if I wake up?”

“Uh…”

Bismuth moves aside as Peridot comes forward with Steven’s hand again. In the center of his round palm, cushioned against the cool cyan of the disposable latex, is a swirling mix of glowing blue and neon pink.

Bismuth has never seen anything like it.

It’s...remarkably pretty, actually.

Bismuth looks to Pearl and puts on her best, most encouraging smile. “Well, you’ll see me and I’ll be there to tell ya it’s not the end of the world. How’s that?”

Pearl blinks and that’s when Steven slaps his hand against her gem.

There’s a burst of sparkling light.

- o - o - o -

“Ugh, I’m mortified.”

“I knew you would be.”

“How could you let me say those things, Bismuth?”

“I had no idea what was gonna come out of your mouth!” Bismuth laughs and the entire stairway leading up to the beach house shakes with it. “None of us did! It was kinda wild, actually. Amethyst and Lapis got a big kick out of it. Steven, too, I think. Garnet was holding down the fort at the outpost, so she wasn’t there for some of it.”

Pearl groans and shoves her head in her hands. The setting sun casting Beach City in its warm, peach-pink hues should be calming, soothing. Instead, her gut is tying itself in ribbons over her own hazy memories. “They’re never going to let me live this down.”

“Probably not.”

“I’m so embarrassed…”

“Aw, hey,” Bismuth puts a hand on Pearl’s back. “I don’t know if you remember what I told you before Steven and Peridot fixed you, but…this ain’t the end of the world, Pearl. Amethyst, Lapis--we all understand that. It’s why everyone else is givin’ you your space as they fix-up the other infected gems at the outpost.”

When Pearl doesn’t answer and instead, only groans more, Bismuth laughs and wraps her arm around Pearl’s shoulders to bring her against her chest. “C’mere.”

“Bismuth…”

“Yeah, Pearl?”

“How are you not embarrassed?” Pearl pulls away from Bismuth’s arms, slipping down to the step below to frown up at her. “I did so many things that unthinkingly put you in such…awkward situations the entire time. How are you not embarrassed to be by me, right now? How can you look at me?”

Bismuth chuckles. She props her elbow up on her knee and sets her cheek against her loose fist, gazing down at Pearl. “I dunno. I thought it was cute.”

“C--” Pearl’s face flushes with ice. “--Bismuth!” she hisses. “We’re not in one of those anime Steven likes to watch! Cut that out!”

Bismuth laughs again, but it’s soft and fond. “No, not that kinda cute. I thought it was good. It was interesting seeing that side of you, the side of you that wasn’t afraid to ask for me to be there or for physical affirmations. The side that wasn’t afraid to put yourself and what you wanted first for once. Y’know?”

“Oh.”

“I liked it.” Bismuth shrugs a shoulder.

“You did?”

Bismuth chuckles. “Yeah. I like you, Pearl. Every side of you there is.”

Slowly, Pearl smiles. After a moment, she tentatively leans against Bismuth’s knee, eyes on her face as if checking every second, every motion, every contact, was okay. But when Bismuth makes no move to stop her, she lets her cheek bunch up against the surface of Bismuth’s thigh.

The steel-blue tone of Bismuth’s hue bends and warps under the pressure of her touch.

“I like you, too, Bismuth.”

It is as soft and gentle as a thank you.

#steven universe #bismuth #pearl #bispearl #peridot #amethyst #garnet #everyone's here #su #fanfic #krissey writes a thing #drunken shenanigans #minus the alcohol #i invented a virus explanation for drunken behavior #it's all the shenanigans #with zero the liquor #enjoy

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 years ago

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRFTP Book 1 Chapter 17

• I'm...not even sure what's happening anymore or whether this team is trolling us for expecting better from them. This chapter was shit. As has been this book.

• If you don't want to see these posts, here are the tags to block: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post.

• I spent three days doing literally anything else but replaying it coz the writing for this one was so poor from the get-go, focuses on anything but the important stuff when we're two chapters away from the finale and uses Maxwell to retcon two moments from last book that they'd already bungled up in the grossest way possible.

• Ngl they also made Maxwell sound like a self-centered jerk this chapter. The one time they actually made him the focus, they make him into a narcissistic individual who thinks that just because he's friends with all these influential people he gets creative liberty over personal stuff that happened to them, without even fucking consulting them on it. I'm sure the book reading was meant to be funny but there was so much cringe going on that I wound up thoroughly disliking him this chapter (sorry Maxwell stans). Like this was me the entire time:

• Screenshots:

Hana: The Abhirio YouTube channel

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan and the HIMEME YouTube channel

Maxwell: The rash rec YouTube channel

• Title: Hot Off the Press

Alternative Title: High on All Existing Levels of Cringe.

• The first few dialogues obviously change slightly if you're married to Maxwell. He's a little more contrite about not telling the MC earlier about the book tour:

• My MC is as surprised as I am that we didn't go to Castelserraillian instead, since that place is a hotbed of art and culture (I'm also noticing that the writers have been avoiding mentioning Kiara's estate by name since this book began. It's always called "Kiara's estate" now). But no apparently it's because the Lythikos people have no taste, as we're soon about to find out.

• The MC can't stay too long, since the Last Apple Ball, which is supposed to be the final appearance a mother of the royal heir makes before they deliver, is coming soon.

• Maxwell promised the bookstore...that his friends - who are actual people he has written about in this book and who haven't read it yet - will do a live-reading alongside him...again, without consulting them. O boy. This is going to be fun.

•

I have three points to make about this one:

1. If this book wouldn't exist without any of us then why the hell is YOUR face on the cover of MY goddamned story?

2. LMAO @ Maxwell acting like Liam's only strength is his title when:

a. He's the only one among you all who has a job (not applicable for Hana since she doesn't have a paying job but still works her butt off more than the other two do)

b. Liam threw an entire human being over his fucking shoulder. Like if that's not "actual strength" I don't know what is.

• It's more fun to make Olivia guess when you reach her estate. She either guesses that you're having your baby, that Liam is declaring Lythikos the capital of Cordonia, Drake fell into a vat of whiskey or Hana wants her to lead a self-defence seminar for the noblewomen. Maxwell for some reason isn't even mentioned.

• In any case, we arrive at Olivia's keep/lodge, where she's busy fussing over us.

• I liked the fact that you could do a callback to our first Lythikos Ball in Book 1, mentioning "cold lobsterless bisque". And Olivia doesn't pretend to forget it either, reiterating that she enjoyed besting the MC at her first visit there.

• First Kiara, now Hana. Both ladies make sure Olivia doesn't go ahead with giving us gifts related to "self-defense" 😅

• She does, however, have a special gift in store, this time for our nursery. Paintings for the walls. The royal options mostly showcase golden crowns and a castle, while the rustic options display forest animals. You don't get a free option here, pretty much like you don't get one for the crib mobiles. I think there's one element left in the nursery - the soft toy (one of which is a lion).

• Maxwell then offers to have Olivia there for the reading as well, considering the book's popularity in Lythikos and the fact that she is their Duchess. Olivia tries to get out of it, telling us that she has "duchess things" to do.

• I love whatever little we get of Liam and Olivia's friendship in this series. When the writing actually bothers to acknowledge them as childhood pals it shines. Like the bit where Olivia tries to get out of the reading by citing "duchess things" and Liam grins and tells her that he "can always tell when [she's] lying". Or this little bit right here:

• The MC gets to ask about Liam's investigation on what happened to his mother, which he cites as 'ongoing'. Yknow, we would have had more time to investigate that if the writers didn't shoehorn so many chapters into the Texas section. I can understand a mystery spilling over to the next book, but the reason for that spillover being the writers spending too much time on irrelevant bullshit? Can't relate.

• Following this, Olivia agrees to come for the reading, tells the group which rooms are allowed to them and leaves, and the LI tells the MC about their plans to take her out on a final-date-before-childbirth to a resort in the mountains. This is supposed to be our last LI scene for this book.

• It's a short and fairly meh scene, mostly rehashing the LI parenting issues they currently have and filled with some of the same imbalances we spotted way back in Chapter 4 (the LI scene where the couple sneaked off from the ball where we were hosting Auvernal and Monterisso). It's on a smaller scale here, but the imbalances still exist.

• The scene has two sections, the helicopter scene and the resort scene. The helicopter sequence deals with (except in Drake's case) the LI and their worries over how good a spouse and parent they will be, and the resort sequence is mostly a sex scene with no lingerie of the MC's in sight because they felt too lazy to code a pregnant MC minus clothes. In Drake's case, the serious issues revolving around family get spoken about at the resort rather than the helicopter.

Liam: Is extremely protective, maybe even obsessively so. Discovering his mother was pregnant when she died plays a huge part in his worries about the MC and his child now, as does the fact that growing up without her was hard on him, and that's an experience he doesn't want their child to go through.

Hana: Comes with a sweet story about her mother. The helicopter sequence begins with their child having a "kick party" in the womb, and Hana singing a lullaby that her mother used to sing while they spent time on the piano. Hana speaks of this as being a bedtime routine that her mother made, and how nighttime was the only time of day when Lorelai would pay any attention to Hana. Hana wants to be more involved, more present for her child, essentially the mother Lorelai never truly was to her - while still maintaining that there were moments she was happy with Lorelai.

Maxwell: I honestly expected this scene to have Maxwell speak about Bartie Sr or his mother in some capacity...but they didn't even bother to go that route. Instead they show Maxwell initially overthinking and fretting in his care for the MC, before the MC calms him down by quizzing him over his childcare knowledge so he can see for himself just how prepared he is. Like the pregnancy announcement before it, this scene seems to have been the perfect place to come up with something poignant for Maxwell, except they didn't even bother.

Drake: The helicopter sequence is shorter, but features Drake suggesting to the MC that they could "camp in the mountains". However, his resort scene post sex is the more detailed one, and tackles two issues: his need to be constantly tough and protective, and his memories of his father. In the first the MC tells him it's okay if he's not tough all the time, and he reiterates that especially with the MC and their child he feels like he needs to be...and he speaks about how his father - amazing though he was - often had to toe a thin line between his job (guarding the royal family) and his family (he mentions Jackson guarding Constantine, Liam and Regina...which means that he was around when Constantine had his third marriage as well??).

It's not AS bad as the Chapter 4 "sneaking away" scene during the ball in Valtoria...but as you can see, the same problem still exists. They're trying not to be too obvious about it, but the problem still exists.

• Okay so now it's time for this book reading...and Bastien is our driver and our security detail today. O boy.

• Maxwell is nervous, but the group (specifically Hana) reassure him that the crowd can't be too large considering the venue is a bookstore. Turns out...they're wrong. There's hundreds.

• Everyone except Olivia got nicknames (Liam the Benevolent, Hana the Just, Maxwell the Glorious, Drake the Bold). We get to choose ours (Unstoppable, Magnificent, Sexy). In addition, Drake has become a meme, considering people are holding up "THINGS ARE GREAT" signs close to 8-9 months after he was quoted on that (the ultimate irony, that this quote gains popularity among the actual commoners who have to face tax problems, so very unlike Drake who lives griping and moaning in a fucking palace).

• (also didn't Drake read the book earlier. I recall he mentioned as much in Chapter 5. Why didn't he warn his other friends or mention how terribly written this story was?)

• The rest of it...is ridiculous. I mean sure this can be read as a joke, as funny, as entertaining, but even that is a bit of a stretch and sounds more like we're making excuses for Maxwell's writing of his own friends.

• So the reading itself is divided into sections where the group takes turns to read the bits they were a part of, and where Maxwell aggressively rewrote what they said and did without once bothering to consult them. This includes very personal stuff, and he had no way of knowing if they would like the revisions he made. Like this is something I would expect of a trashy, money-grabbing biographer, not someone who is supposed to be a close friend of these people.

• Olivia hasn't read this book yet and she has no qualms saying that to people, which is kinda cool. I'm guessing Lythikos people normally don't like reading.

• Maxwell begins with the masquerade ball:

Yeah dude you knew I was in over my head yet didn't bother to guide me properly all of the social season. Hana Lee had to save your ass a couple times. The other LIs were running around doing your goddamn job. That you will not mention in this fancy-schmancy book of yours!

• In this revised version of the Masque, Drake thirsts over the MC immediately (damn, Lady MC cleans up good) and Hana is made to sound like a pompous ass (at last, someone who can match my beauty) and Liam is, well, ridiculous. Revised Liam name-drops House Beaumont and Maxwell when complimenting the MC. None of the LIs are very happy with this book as they proceed reading, and the MC can choose to either agree and they plan to have some words with him later (which will never happen) or pretend it's okay.

I don't mind the revision in this particular scene really. Like the masque itself and Liam's turning down of Madeleine later are not that serious, so exploring it lightheartedly is okay. It's when he gives the same treatment to serious shit that happened to his friends that bothers me.

• The next section to be read is Liam dumping "Madeleine the Mean" (LMAO). Nothing much really.

• The best part is of course the LIs repeating their marriage proposals from memory:

This right here is probably the reason why that book sold at all. Or possibly because Cordonians don't have a lot of good taste in books. Who knows.

• The other best part is the MC refusing to give the assassins proper "assassin noises" during her reading.

• So...up until now you've gotten only tiny glimpses of how self-centered Maxwell's book is. It has his goddamn face on the cover. This guy gave the actual protagonist's origin story nothing more than a page while dedicating an entire chapter to a "playlist" for saving the kingdom. But this...this is on another level. He has Liam name-drop House Beaumont and himself during the Masque. In Drake's playthrough he has Drake worry only about him. During Drake's duel he has both Drake and Liam say this shit:

...did Barthelemy Beaumont ghostwrite this book. Coz he sounds more like Bartie Sr here than he does the old Maxwell. The old Maxwell was often clueless but not really THIS obnoxiously self-centered!

• Like first of all, Drake was doing that duel for himself? He did it because Neville was constantly insulting him? This had very little to do with the MC (unless she was marrying Drake) and definitely nothing to do with Maxwell yet somehow his book is written as if he is the be-all and end-all of this group?

• Also, bringing the MC to Cordonia as a suitor because Liam had feelings for her was perhaps the only thing that indicates Maxwell even considers Liam a good friend? (and even then his House needing to sponsor someone was a big factor too) Liam barely features as a "BFF" otherwise, Maxwell keeps placing Drake in that role more?? I heard Liam speak more about Maxwell (and in terms that acknowledge his unique gifts too, like the hotel room scene in Shanghai and the scene where he talks about his friends before the proposal - both are in Book 2).

Like Maxwell doesn't even once worry or ask after Liam once the MC turns him down for Maxwell in his playthrough (not even when he overhears Madeleine baiting Liam in his playthrough. Even then there's no reaction) and just in this chapter he apparently found no other strength in Liam besides the man's title...and somehow I'm supposed to suddenly believe that Maxwell had trouble choosing between the two of them as BFFs, which got resolved over fake dialogues??

• Then of course comes the worst part of this whole trainwreck:

I'm pretty certain a lot of people will excuse this as Maxwell rewriting these events out of kindness...but the truth is, both of these things are extremely personal, in some ways painful experiences for both Liam and Hana, and Maxwell shouldn't have been assuming what they would be comfortable with without even speaking to them first. He's lucky the two took it as positively as they did, but they shouldn't have been required to.

• What really stings about the use of these two sequences is that these were exactly both things the writers themselves never bothered to explore properly. The Lorelai confrontational was the weakest possible end to her arc...and having Maxwell shoehorn Drake and Liam into this moment in his book doesn't exactly make that any better, PB. And then...to have Maxwell put words in Constantine's mouth when he probably knows jackshit about the man? For something the writers never allowed Liam himself to talk much about? Fuck off.

• Also, I notice that Drake's duel is a default passage for the reading, but you're made to choose between Liam's and Hana's important crisis points. And Maxwell doesn't even have one obviously because TRR Book 3 spent too much time on BertVannah. Plus he doesn't deserve his own passage if he's so busy inserting himself in everyone else's story.

• Olivia's passage about defeating Anton is also a default passage, and perhaps the only thing written accurately in that entire trashfire.

• I will happily never want to hear about this book again, and I would rather Maxwell never wrote another book again either.

• There is a diamond option that features a Q&A, which Maxwell didn't prepare for (obviously). If we convince him, these are the questions the public will ask:

- Is the MC comfortable being Olivia's sidekick. The MC has options ranging from gushing about her, to dubbing them both equals, to calling Olivia her sidekick - and in all three cases she cuts off your mic 😂

- For Olivia, little Valerie asks what she should do to become like our resident Scarlet Duchess. Suffice to say Olivia's answers are...concerning to the girl's mother 😅

- For the MC, Cordonian Woman asks how she got to courage to escape Anton. The MC can either mention she had Olivia with her, mention the LI or take all the credit.

- The next question is to Maxwell, about a possible sequel for the book. This is when the writers of TRH have to admit how full of shit their book is: uh, let's see. There was a honeymoon. We went to a ranch for a long time. Er...baby shower?

- For the MC, if there is anything she would change about her wedding. (they didn't include "I deserved better lingerie earlier" as an option and that's a travesty).

- Peter Graves is now a Cordonian dude who is curious about how Olivia fell for Anton's trap, and she mentions his guard baiting her by mentioning that Liam was in trouble, so the book still wants Olivia to have her lingering feelings towards Liam. I can't imagine why the writers would keep drilling this point in if they're not going to do a damn thing about it.

- All in all, not exactly worth the money.

• Once we finish signing a few books, we're on our way back when we're nearly-trampled by the paparazzi.

• Samir of Them Magazine esp outs himself as an asshole and so does the dude in sunglasses.

• Ana de Luca is nowhere to be found here, and Donnie seems to be the only respectable journalist, asking the rest to give the MC some space. I'm guessing they're mostly making the distinction between "respectable, trustworthy press" (CBC and Trend), and tabloid press like Them and the other paps.

• Dude in sunglasses mentions that his source is paying triple rates for any photos of the MC...which is another in a huuuge pile of really suspicious paparazzi stuff that's been happening this chapter that EVERYONE has been too stupid to explore further so far.

• I can see why the ensuing car chase reminds people so much of Diana. The paparazzi don't give up chasing the MC, there's an overall sense of panic about this sequence and the crash does hark back a little to that devastating news. Except in this case, it's going to be a temporary scare, seeing as we are still in our pregnant sprite for the finale Apple Ball gown which I think means we won't be going into labour until that is over.

• @thefirstcourtesan also mentioned to me that the crash reminded her of an episode from Gossip Girl.

• What I think might happen is that the baby, MC and LIs may make it out of this fairly okay, but there will be widespread condemnation of the tabloid press and possibly laws implemented to limit this scale and level of access. Orrr everyone will simply glower and do nothing since the writers don't allow any of these people to possess any common sense anymore 🙄

• So possibly, there may be some focus on the safety of the mother and child, and on the fallout the press has to face as a result of this incident. We still have one last item (the toy) to feature in our nursery so I think that might happen this chapter too.

• 2 chapters until the finale, and Hana still hasn't gotten her own scenes. Neither flashback nor individual. Somehow they deemed it appropriate to give Olivia those by midpoint!

• Also, interesting how the one time Maxwell gets much attention in this book, they decide to do him badly. First they don't put any effort into his diamond scene, then they write him so. damn. badly. Does Maxwell have his flaws? Sure he does. But they did him so dirty this chapter and made him so ridiculously self-centered that it stopped becoming funny after a point, at least for me.

• This book has been such a load of nothing I can't even tell you. Like at least in the previous books threads would either begin to be tied up or they would give you a clear idea of what would be up next. TRH 1 is getting over in two weeks and the most important thing was dealt with only once and spoken of in an offhand manner only twice. At this rate there are all these threads that haven't even begun to be tied up. And sure, this stuff could get more in the forefront in Book 2...but it's been poorly written and poorly paced so far. That's what you get for forcing us all to play some version or other of the Drake route, unfortunately.

• I'll be off to Kerala until November, guys, so the last two chapters may not get a QT anytime soon (range is pretty awful there), and the same goes for TRM, unfortunately. If I'm able to, I'll try doing chapter reviews for TRM, but I'm not sure how that will pan out, or if I'll be able to catch up enough. I'll try.

• As for TRH...I honestly don't know. Writing for this one hasn't been a very pleasant experience, and I don't have high hopes at all for the next book in the series.

Perhaps by the time the second book or the holiday feature is out I might change my mind but for now...I don't know.

• Until November (or hopefully before that, if a miracle happens and I get good range in my parents' place) then, guys!

#long post #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #king liam #hana lee #drake walker #maxwell beaumont #olivia nevrakis

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jimlingss · 6 years ago

Note

Hi hi! I’m planning to reread the Jungle Park series again, thus I’m in a Jungle Park request mood. I hope this request can be of some help getting the creative juices flowing. 😊 Prompt: Jungle Park! Hobi and Jimin fighting over the last bag of honey butter chips. The entire office starts taking bets as to who will be victorious. Chaos ensues. Thank you so much for all of the dedication and work you put into every single one of your stories!!! 💜💜💜

I hope you don’t mind that I took creative liberties and loosely used this prompt.

↳ A Jungle Park Drabble

2k words || 98% Fluff, 2% Angst || Jung Hoseok

Notes: Read the original series here

There’s something about the mundane that’s comforting.

One knows what to expect in their day. One knows when their day begins and ends, what time to expect certain activities, what their tasks and duties are. It’s easy to get into the flow of things, to fall into the sort of dance, so to speak. But when Dahyun enters the office and finds all her colleagues huddled together, she has an inkling that things aren’t so mundane today. “What’s going on?” “Hoseok and Jimin got into a fight,” Lisa says with a roll of her eyes. Seulgi has her arms crossed and she sighs. “Children, I swear.” The receptionist hums and asks, “Do you know what it was about?” Several turn to Jungkook who shrugs. “I came in first, but I couldn’t hear what was going on in the kitchen and I didn’t really want to get involved. It seemed pretty bad though.” “Do you think the firm’s gonna split up?” Taehyung sticks his nose into the crowd and the sudden question has heads turning in panic. “The firm’s not going to split,” Sunyi snaps at him. “Don’t be an idiot.” “Be nice,” Yoongi chides his wife, throwing an arm over her shoulders to pull her close. “It’s not his fault his brain cells are like that.” “Wow.” Taehyung puts his hands up. “Is no one going to defend me?” “The firm would never split,” Namjoon offers his own input, but as it leaves his mouth, he sharply inhales and reconsiders. “Well………they’d be able to stand up on their own and manage, might even do well, but they’re better together than apart.” “Jimin can be surprisingly stubborn and Hoseok’s just Hoseok. I wouldn’t be shocked if they broke up because of a petty argument.” Seokjin grins and his eyes flicker around. “Who’d you side with if the firm broke apart?” “They wouldn’t.” Seulgi laughs, leaning on her desk. “But….Jimin was the one who hired me, so…” “He hired me too.” Sunyi raises her hand. “I remember during my job interview, Hoseok was not having it, but Jimin was super friendly. He advocated for me.” Yoongi peels himself off of her with a sour expression. “I’m gonna have to disagree with you there, sweetheart. He might’ve hired you, but you should reconsider your loyalties.” “Why? Jimin’s a capable lawyer.” “Let’s be honest, without Hoseok, this firm would be a wreck. He’s the one who gets things done. We wouldn’t make any money if it was just Jimin. He’d be doing constant charity work.” Naul sips on her coffee. “I’m gonna have to agree with you there.” “Oh please,” Sunyi interjects and faces her husband. “You’re only defending Hoseok because he was the one who hired you.” “Hey, I wasn’t hired by Hoseok,” Jin pipes up again, “But I’d side with him. What? Don’t give me that look. He’s actually pretty nice to me, especially after Y/N came along.” “What is this slander against Jimin’s name.” Taehyung pouts and turns to the kid he adores the most. “You’re with me on this one, right, Kook?” Jungkook contemplates and concludes— “I like Jimin.” “Jimin is a peacemaker,” Namjoon hums, “I think that compassionate quality of his is an asset and rare to see in the pool of lawyers. There’s a lot of efficiency out there, but I think it would be difficult to find someone like him.” “And someone like Hoseok’s easy to find?” Lisa has her brows lifted and she scoffs at the argument. “Compassionate or not, I’d rather have a secure job and Hoseok guarantees that. He’s a workaholic so I wouldn’t have to worry about being laid off.” Everyone turns to the last two people for their opinion. Inyoung smiles sheepishly. “I’d….go with Hoseok, because Y/N would go with him.” Taehyung grins. “Are you sure about that?” “They’re married,” Lisa points out as if it’s enough to win the debate, but the mischievous lawyer shrugs. “More reason to be somewhere else. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not put my entire livelihood into one relationship. What? You act like we don’t see it every day in divorce.” Yoongi disagrees at once. “They’re whipped for each other. I wouldn’t doubt that they’d follow each other to the ends of the earth, much less a law firm.” “Yeah, but she’s closer with Jimin when everyone’s working,” Sunyi chimes, just to play devil’s advocate and piss her husband off. “Don’t you know that love is separate from business?” “You should’ve said that the last time you wanted to have sex in the—” “Yoongi!” Seokjin visibly cringes and begs the married couple, “Can you guys please be gross somewhere else?” “Yeah, if Y/N hears, she’ll put us in another HR meeting,” Lisa chides and then does a double take. “Speaking of which, where is she?” Taehyung shrugs. “If she was here, she’d probably be lecturing Jimin and Hoseok in the meeting room. Guess she’s running late. But who’s gonna tell her what happened when she comes?” “Not me.” Seokjin quickly shakes his head. “If Jimin and Hoseok find out I snitched to HR, yeah, that would be not fun. No thanks.” “Me neither.” “Not me.” “Don’t look at me.” Everyone spins around to Jungkook, the original witness. He pales. “I-I’m running to court, right now. I gotta go. Have a client.” The lawyer grabs his briefcase, his blazer, and books it towards the elevators like his feet are on fire. Everybody watches. No one makes an effort to stop him. “Wait.” Taehyung pivots on his heel. “Does that mean the entire firm would be equally split?” “Yoongi, Naul, Seokjin, Lisa, Inyoung are on Hoseok’s side,” Seulgi counts. “Sunyi, Namjoon, you, Jungkook and I would go with Jimin.” “What about Y/N?” “Don’t count her.” Sunyi shakes her head. “We don’t know for sure who’d she go with and she’s not here.” “Oh.” Inyoung smiles and turns to her friend. “What about you, Dahyun? Who’d you go with if Jung and Park split?” “Ummm….” Suddenly, everyone’s eyes on her. They turn to stare and sweat begins to build at her hairline, palms clammy as she tries to make a decision. On one hand, Jimin is sweet and kind. He’s amazing to work with and establishes a great and healthy working atmosphere. There’s an emphasis on team building as well which she loves. But his spontaneity catches her off guard often and while she doesn’t do much with mediation, Jimin’s clientele can be very mean on the phone. On the other hand, Hoseok is strict and demanding. It’s hard to read him. But he has clear expectations and is consistent. Not to mention, he’s out of the office often to go to court, and she really loves you — Dahyun’s sure that you’d go with Hoseok if worse comes to worse. It’s too hard to be certain. “Ummmm……I don’t know.” “Well, make a decision.” Taehyung pressures her. “We gotta know who wins.” “Jesus, Taehyung, give her a minute,” Seulgi scolds. It goes silent again. The clock ticks and it’s louder than it’s ever been. The seconds passing is audible. Dahyun doesn’t know why all the attention is on her. She came to terms a long time ago that she isn’t the main character of this story. Yet, somehow the spotlight has been redirected on her. She’s taken center stage. The receptionist eyes sweep the expanse of the room. “Ummm…” And they land on the windows at the end of the hall. The shades have been pulled down, but she notices a set of eyes peering out from them. “I think Hoseok’s looking at us.” Taehyung pales. “Oh shit.” “Go, go.” And just like that, the crowd disperses to each get on with their morning tasks. For now she’s safe, but it won’t last for long. The rest of the day, Dahyun is bombarded with questions and stares. Lisa turns to her. “Have you made a decision yet?” — Seokjin stops her when she tries to get a photocopy. “You’d choose Hoseok, right?” — Taehyung interrupts her lunchtime. “So we all made bets on who would win. You’re going to choose Jimin, right, Dahyun? Or else I’d lose five bucks. You wouldn’t do that to me, right?” There’s so much attention on her, she doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know who to choose. The tensions only worsen when Jimin and Hoseok are visibly cold to one another, not speaking when they run into each other on the floor. Instead, they shuffle awkwardly to get past. And the rumours of the firm splitting become serious. It’s close to the end of the day when the pressure for her to choose increases— “Dahyun.” But a sweet voice interrupts her inner predicament. She whirls around to find you. You’re smiling and your head quirks to one side. “Are you alright? You seemed stressed.” “I….I’m a little….” “Do you want to come in my office and talk?” She shifts, peeking out the door of the kitchen and swallows hard. “If Jung and Park split, who’d you go with?” You laugh loudly, sipping on your mug and tasting the green tea that makes your chest warm. You swallow and your eyes flicker to her. “We’re not splitting.” But there’s a long, drawn out, excruciating silence. Soon enough, you’re stomping across the floor. Everyone around has their eyes wide, bodies still but pupils following your form. You knock once before opening Hoseok’s office door, hard enough that it hits the wall and he’s startled to death. “We’re breaking up?!” “What?” “Jung and Park is breaking up?” “What?!” Your husband has his eyes large, mouth agape, and he puts down the pen in his hand. “Who said that?” “Apparently there are rumours the firm is splitting and all your employees are trying to figure out where to go and what they’re going to do.” There’s chaos and you’re trying to understand while feeling severely blind-sighted at him not discussing this issue with you at all. The lawyer’s hands press firmly onto the surface of his desk. “That’s ridiculous. Jung and Park have no plans of splitting. I don’t know where they got that from.” You sigh, more relieved than you were before, but you put your hands on your hips, scolding him, “Did you and Jimin argue this morning?” Speaking of the devil, the other partner comes strolling into Hoseok’s office at the ruckus. He looks between the pair of you, wondering if it’s a marital argument that you’ve brought into the office. “What’s going on?” “We weren’t arguing,” Hoseok explains to you. “I was telling him about our…family plans and he began screaming and I told him to calm down.” “Oh.” Hoseok leans back into his chair, exhausted. “I was trying to avoid him all of today because he’s being so annoying about it.” His partner gasps in offense. “Well I’m sorry that I’m excited that Jung and Park is expanding, and I want you guys to have a whole football field of kids,” Jimin sasses his friend. “I wasn’t gonna say this, but I really hope that your children take after Y/N. But I’ll love them regardless, even if it’s a carbon copy of Hoseok.” Jimin continues relentlessly, “Also, this morning I had some time so I did some research on names and this is just a recommendation but you should name your daughter Jinmi. Obviously, it’s cute and also because I think I’d make a great Jung child, so it should take after me. Jung Jinmi has a great ring to it. And speaking of which, I’ve been thinking about it and I’d be absolutely honoured to be godfather to your kids. I’d protect him or her with my life guaranteed—” “Look at this,” Hoseok motions towards his partner, reasoning with you as you can only muster a sigh. You’re reeling, but glad that there’s no real issue. “How could I not get a headache from this?” Little do you know that everyone else was eavesdropping, pleasantly surprised and ecstatic that you and Hoseok are thinking about having kids. They murmur about a possible Jung and Park baby, about what Hoseok would be like as a father, if that meant there would be a toddler wandering around the desks one day. And Dahyun smiles, especially relieved that she didn’t have to make a decision. As long as you’re here, she’s sure that she wouldn’t ever have to choose.

#Requests 2019 #bts fanfic #bts scenario #hoseok fanfic #hoseok scenario #hoseok fluff #btsboulangerie #itsmepokiee #Jimlings #the third of my twelve requests #I swore I wouldn't write for Jungle Park again #but man I couldn't resist #and I don't regret it #here's to the nostalgia

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godlivesonthemoon-archived · 5 years ago

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THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is: canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK (I don’t see lot of content with him so he’s not so popular I guess? :( )

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK (apparently it’s a debate but I personally find him HOT)

Is your character considered strong in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK

Are they underrated? YES / NO / IDK

Were they relevant for the main story? YES / NO (first one to introduce observation haki so heck)

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO

How’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL

How strictly do you follow canon?

I’m trying my best to follow his canon character and the way he reasons, but I have to somehow make sure to be able to interact in several verses as well, which could end up turning him as a more canon-divergent character sometimes. We don’t know much about Enel, especially his past, it’s a vast playground which has never really been explored, so it gives me liberties regarding his interpretation and my own headcanons. I do believe I try to portray him in the most canon way possible, but I’m not Oda, and I didn’t create his set of mind in the first place! That’s just me trying!

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.

Enel is an asteroid suddenly entering your world, highly different from the casual villain you could encounter, with a set of mind different from what you have ever seen before! Egocentric prick full of himself and able to harm your muse either with in verbal joust or physically? For sure! You want to have debate about your muse’s most profound beliefs and challenge their abilities to think and manipulate someone else? He’s always up to have a conversation and will provide you so many topics to debate that you could stay here for years without even being done. Enel is the impredictable character you need to have spice in your life. He drifts between a terribly strong God Complex and a very human persona, leading you to various interactions where I dare you not to feel anything. Because that’s it’s his best capacity : ENEL WILL MAKE YOU FEEL SOMETHING, and either you will love it, or hate it, but you can’t remain neutral when he’s around.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).

Even if you believe he could be nice and understanding towards your muse’s sorrows, Enel remains a villain and probably one of the most unpredictable. He’s not here to be kind, not here to waste his time either. He’s more often harsh and insulting than really patient and open-minded. Could he really love your muse one day? That’s a harsh question, and he will probably disappoint them if you expect something more casual around him. Enel loves to destroy his environment, challenge his RP partners (all of them, not necessarily on a romantic ship), and your muse could walk out of his garden, thinking that they waste their time with someone like him.

What inspired you to rp your muse?

I JUST LOVE ENEL SO MUCH.

I have always been hooked by complicated characters in the first place, and when I started RP with my OC when I came here, I was already interested in having another canon character. I wanted to roleplay with him, and no one else. Enel is such... a forgotten character? We forget about his haki, we forget about his set of mind, we forget about his combat skills (DAMN he masters martial arts so WELL), we forget about his impressive logia fruit... Enel is a smart man, cruel and impetuous, but his philosophy is so interesting to develop, I’m just a weak girl for this boy.

What keeps your inspiration going?

Definitely the numerous roleplay I have, and the awesome friendships I developed with awesome muns!! I have received so nice comments regarding my portrayal that it’s a real pleasure to keep musing with him. Really, guys, thanks a lot for everything!!

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you do your character justice? YES / NO (doing my best)

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO

Do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO

Do you think a lot about your muse during the day? YES / NO

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO

Are you confident in your writing? YES / NO

Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO (I’m tough for sure but I’m also a bby)

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?

Only if it’s constructive and genuine in the first place! I totally get that people might find my portrayal divergent regarding his canon character, but argumenting is always important, and it’s still a game... I wouldn’t actively criticize someone in the first place because I don’t agree with the way they portray their muse ; everyone should be able to bring more diversity in the RP world and have fun in the way they want to play, as long as they’re having fun! So yes, and no, it really depends and I guess criticism comes with trust between two mutuals.

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?

I’m a sucker for these questions! I’m often surprised by a lot of them, and it allows me to explore topics I didn’t think about!

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?

Like the criticism part, it depends on the way that person is talking to me! We can all have different opinions regarding characters, it must remain genuine. Sure we can have two points of view, that’s even amazing! But it doesn’t mean I will change my headcanon, because this is the way I like to see my muse :) People needs to respect my own creativity, as I respect theirs when it comes to their muses, it’s simple.

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?

I just block and don’t care anymore. We can’t all get along for sure, and I’m too old to actually change the way I want to portray my muse, and also... too experimented on the RP world to turn it into something toxic again. You don’t like it? That’s alright, let’s just live our lives in peace, there’s no point in continuing interacting and seeing each others. Nothing personal! Just having some peace :)

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?

You can hate Enel, it’s absolutely normal to find him arrogant and despicable, but people need to draw the line between ENEL’s actions and ME as a mun. I’m not him, I’m writing how he WOULD react to something, so I don’t want to suffer from people’s hate towards me, or disappointment I guess if the RP relationship doesn’t go the way they want/hope? I have an EXTREME tendency to really separate my RP passion and my real life thanks to former experiences, which means I’m definitely able to play with my muse with a completely detached set of mind (it’s actually the only way for me to play villains XD). I’m perhaps not the best partner to interact with if RP gets under your nerves too much, or if you take things too... personally. Because actually, I have no more patience for this...

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?

I don’t mind, because english isn’t my first language in the first place! I’m always trying to write readable contents, and even if I have a good level in english, mistakes happen so... I really don’t mind if someone corrects me!

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?

I’m easy-going, an extrovert for sure, it’s easy to actually reach me, and it’s easy to talk to me. I won’t pretend though that I don’t have my flaws! Sometimes I’m not in the mood to talk on discord or here, and I have the terrible need to withdraw into myself after a long day at work. Though, I love interacting with people, musing, talking about everything!! I’m always up to share a chat! :)

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

➸ Tagged by : @seraphiixa (thank you ma’am!)

➸ Tagging: @chillin-at-partys-bar @kingofdesert @godsnaturalenemy @mightyxsprout and whoever is interested!

#⚡️god always wins the game | meme #⚡️deeper in the verse of spirituality | character study #⚡️the woman behind god | ooc #; thanks for the tag! that was a long introspection :P

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wematch · 6 years ago

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Avatar: The Legend of Neil

For many years, the four nations lived together in harmony.

Then, everything changed when a conspiracy to start a war began.

Only the avatar, master of all four elements, could stop it, but when the identity of the new avatar was found, he vanished.

Many years passed without anyone knowing where he was. Then he appeared in a farm in the Earth Kingdom, disguised as a firebender named Neil. And although his bending skills were weak when he got there, with practice he grew stronger every day that passed.

Now with a war looming by, Neil must find his own path into becoming the new avatar and bring balance to the world.

***

A/N: I remember watching atla in nickelodeon way back in the day and I still love watching it. So one day, when I saw art about Neil being the avatar my mind went crazy thinking about that world and how these characters would fit there... I originally planned on writing a one shot about it, but when I started to write I just kept going.

For those of you who still remember watching atla, I tried to make the same structure of the series. Each “book“ here will represent a part of Neil’s journey to master a new element. As far as the other elements go I took some creative liberties here and there, hope it’s okay! Enjoy!

A huge thank you to @jsteneil for being an amazing beta! Your feedback made all the difference <3

This fic was inspired by this amazing piece of art by @aymmidumps, go check it out! [here]

You can also read it on [AO3]

***

Book 1: Air

Chapter 1: The Beginning

When the new cycle of the avatar begins, Nathaniel is born into the Wesninski family. His mother belongs to an ancient fire nation family, and his father is a powerful and ruthless firebender that has built his reputation working for the Moriyamas, helping taking care of unwanted resistance against their plans.

The Moriyama family is an old and very wealthy family that has gained their power through war many generations ago. They control most of the transactions with the other nations and any business in the city outside the law is also connected to them. Ichirou, head of the Moriyama family, is always looking for ways to expand their territory to have more power, so Nathaniel grows up hearing whispers of conversations in his house of their plans to make it happen. The problem is that the current council and the Firelord were wary of the idea of expanding their territories into the other nations. They didn’t wish to start a war when the fire nation is prospering like never before.

However, it doesn't take Ichirou long to realize that that isn’t reason enough to stop his plan. Nathaniel is shocked when he listens through the wall about what plan they want to put into motion: if the council and the Firelord don’t want to take part in this change in history then they would have to be taken down.

To make something like this work required careful planning and discretion so Nathaniel keeps seeing more people come and go to their house. He can feel everyone on edge, too afraid of the repercussions if their plan fails. And if the plan was to succeed, they couldn't be linked to it.That could cause the fire nation to be divided between not wanting to go to war for those who had just killed their Firelord and the ones who supported the idea. And a civil war was not the purpose of it. Ichirou needed the full support of the fire nation to bring his plan to life. And he needed someone they could manipulate as Firelord so that they could then use the full army to conquer the other nations.

Time continues to pass and even though there’s no big developments on how to achieve this plan, regular meetings keep happening. One winter night a reunion is held at the Wesninskis’ house that has the presence of most of the advisors of Ichirou, and that caughts Nathaniel’s attention. So once the reunion starts he goes to the stairs to listen in. The advisors don’t waste time and are quick to explain their newest idea to form the Ravens, an elite team of skilled firebenders trained to serve them as private, disposable soldiers that could execute the plan when the time came. Tetsuji, Ichirou’s uncle, will run the academy. Training young firebenders owned by them under the disguise of being a private restricted school.

Before the reunion is over his father walks out of the room and Nathaniel is caught listening in. He has never seen him more furious. Nathan has a murderous expression on his face as he drags Nathaniel down the stairs spitting insults and threats for him to never embarrass him ever again. Nathan throws him against the wall and attacks him. It all happens so fast that Nathaniel only has the time to put his arm up to shield his face when the fire hits him.

***

Months pass, and Nathaniel knows that the Moriyama family is growing impatient because of the lack of results. And he knows that that didn’t bode well for either him or his mother: his father frustrations were often released on them. At least it meant that they hadn’t come up with a way to dethrone the current Firelord without causing complete chaos over their nation.

However, everything changes when Nathaniel arrives home from school one day and the fire sages are waiting for him. They declare him to be the next avatar and shock runs through him. Nathaniel doesn’t know how to process what he has just heard so he looks around the living room. He can see that his mother is trying to disguise it but he knows what that look means: she’s terrified of what this could mean. His father, though—his father is smiling coldly at him, showing all his teeth, and that’s what really scares Nathaniel too.

When the Fire sages leave, Nathan takes him into the Moriyamas’ academy and goes to talk to Tetsuji while Nathaniel waits outside the door. Nathaniel looks around and notices a boy with dark hair train firebending on the field to his side. The boy must be his around his age and seems to be practicing advanced movements. Nathaniel moves to the side to be able to watch him more closely and as he moves he begins to hear his father’s voice in the background. He scans the building and notices a window on the far corner and continues to walk towards it. He doesn’t take more than two steps when his father’s voice begins to rise and Nathaniel starts to understand what he’s hearing and realizes that it’s not anger that’s making his father raise his voice, quite the contrary.

“If it’s the avatar conquering in his name, what do you think the firelord will do? Refuse the new territories?” Nathan throws in the air. And Nathaniel feels like an ice bucket of water has been thrown at him. They want him to start a war?

“No, he will not,” Tetsuji agrees. Nathaniel cannot believe what he’s hearing. He looks around feeling panic rise in him and that’s when he notices another boy getting closer to him with a cold expression on his face.

“A new era will soon start, Admiral.” Tetsuji continues. Nathaniel steps away from the window in direction to the boy. “Ichirou will be very pleased to hear this. You must go now. I will call and emergency meeting to tell him about it.”

The boy steps closer, and looks down at him.“ Are you coming to study here too? I’m the best student they have here.”

Nathaniel looks up and instantly dislikes the look of arrogance the boy has. “I’m not sure,” he answers.

“I’m Riko, and you are?”

A door opens and they both look to the side. His father exists and keeps walking. “Lets go, Nathaniel.” Nathaniel is quick to jog to catch him. And when he’s about the exit the property gates he glances at the building once again and sees Riko still watching him. And Nathaniel hopes he never sees him again.

On the same day that Nathaniel finds out that he’s the new avatar, Mary takes him away and they vanish.

***

Nathan is quick to send his most trusted soldiers to find them and bring them back. Through the years Mary and Nathaniel have had a few close calls but always manage to escape them. But Lola and her team are persistent and eventually one morning comes when they’re finally caught.

That morning, Nathaniel is walking back from the lake when he hears an explosion. His mother had still been asleep when he left not too long ago. Fear and panic settle in and he starts to run toward the house they have been staying in.

He starts to see the flames and the smoke rising to the sky. As he gets closer, he sees Lola’s team circling the house, and freezes. From where he is he can see Lola’s cold grin. “He must be close, search the woods,” she shouts to the others.

Nathaniel starts to feel his control slip away as rage overpowers him. They’ve found them, and he quickly realizes that her gloating means only one thing: his mother is inside the burning house.

In a moment his control is gone. Nathaniel feels power run through him like never before. All of a sudden he’s getting higher into the air, moving fast towards Lola and the others. The earth shatters to his will and boulders begin to rise, then he throws them to where they are staying. Lola and the others start to run to find cover and try to block his attacks and that's when they see him flying towards them. Nathaniel can see the hesitation in their eyes when they realize what is happening, but they don’t run. They start to fight, shooting blasts of fire at him but Nathaniel can easily predict their movements and easily block their attacks as well, using all the elements. And one by one Nathaniel knocks them out unconscious. Lola is the last one still standing but even she can't fight him like this and soon he sends her towards the wall of the burning house, knocking her out too.

Nathaniel regains control over his body and drops to his knees, feeling weak. He looks at all the destruction around him in shock. Uprooted trees are thrown around and the house is still burning, creating a big dark cloud above his head. The smoke in the air is making it difficult to breathe, and three unconscious bodies are scattered around the area.

And his mother is gone.

Nathaniel tries to calm down. He clenches his fists and bites his lip until he can taste the blood. For a moment he just stares at Lola’s unconscious body in front of him, wishing that he had killed her. Wishing he was strong enough to get up now and do it. He knows he’s just entered the avatar state, but it wasn’t on purpose, and he had no control of what he was doing at that moment.

He hates that he was the new avatar now more than ever before. He didn’t ask for it. He can’t even control it. That power inside of him just got his mother killed. And now he is all alone.

Nathaniel begins to cough and slowly gets up. He spares a moment to look at the unforgiving fire burning down the house and turns around. His mother is gone. There's nothing he can do for her now. He runs back towards the lake. Tears start rolling down his face but he pays them no attention. He needs to get as far away from this place as he can. Lola and her team will wake up soon enough and he needs to put as much distance between them before that.

Nathaniel begins to run, on his mind the constant reminder of what his mother kept telling him when they managed to dodge his father’s men: never stop running.

So he runs, and runs, until he finally approaches the nearest village. There he looks for an ostrich horse to steal. Once he finds one tied near a fence with no one around, he jumps on his back and pushes it to run as fast as it can through the night. Tears keep falling down but he keeps going. Because stopping means he is going to get captured and delivered to his father. It means he is going to be punished for running away, and be sent to train as a Raven. It means he would be forced to start a war. And he would rather die too than let that happen.

#myfic #aftg #neil josten #andrew minyard #andreil #atla!au #atla au #nathaniel wesninski #avatar #tfc

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sansloii-a · 6 years ago

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coughs so am I allowed to request all of the “salty af munday meme” answers or—

oh my fucking god || @imbruedinfear

strap in y’all ‘cause someone wants to hear me complain

What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

if you post excessive ooc in quick sucession, i will unfollow you faster than the speed of light. i’ve done it in the past. i will not hesitate to do it in the future. i don’t care if it’s tagged. if i’m on and i see it, you’re gone, my friend.

What’s the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

uuuuuuuuuuhhhhh there was this one dude that legit tried to monopolize one of my old muses on another blog, got upset when i set a main ship for said muse, complained to me nonstop, was trying to use me to get back into rping with my friend group ( which he called “the popular group” for a reason I don’t understand to this day ), only wanted to ship, got pissy over a fucking pokemon au ( if you ever wanna hear about this, lemme know ), tried to insert a ship into every au we made automatically, tried to tell me how to write smut for no reason ( said he would read it and give me tips and everything ffs ), was an asshole to my sister ( who rped way back when but doesn’t anymore ), made several friends of mine uncomfortable to the point of leaving the rp scene for a bit, blamed other people for issues that he honestly had a part in causing, and a bunch of other things that i’m forgetting right now.

i figure that’s the worst because nothing has topped that. nothing. that happened years ago, though, so i’m good now. no one fucks with me like that anymore.

What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

i got about 10 asks from someone when i wanted to do other shit ( my asks that are in the double digits ) ‘cause they wanted me to send them an ask. annoyed me to hell and back and i promptly deleted those asks

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ tough shit. i was not in the mood for games and i’m still not.

Has anyone ever tried to steal your blog? Your headcanons? Icons? All that jazz?

not that i know of??? i hope not ‘cause i worked real hard on all this and if you steal anything from me, i’m gonna throw a huge-ass heaping of karma your way.

How many people don’t like you?

i dunno. i’d say none but i know not everyone is going to like me so if you’re out there and you don’t like me, you’re entitled to that. don’t tell me, though, ‘cause i don’t wanna know if you don’t like me.

How many people do you not like?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i don’t really care enough to actively not like anyone. you can annoy me but unless you piss me off and continue to piss me off, you get stuck on the “do not care” list.

Have you managed to stay away from drama?

i give advice when needed on how to avoid whoever my convo partner is talking about and i avoid getting involved. unless it’s like… a close friend or involves a close friend, i refuse to get in the middle of whatever issue people have. i’m not about to have my ass dragged into problems that do not concern me.

i don’t cause drama either so that’s also how i stay away from it. 100% guaranteed to keep you out of drama.

Have you ever been in the middle of drama?

personal/friend drama? yes. rp drama? see above.

none of that was fun btw. it was a lot of me getting angry, being frustrated with certain behaviors, having to cut people out for doing shit/saying shit that they knew they shouldn’t have and refusing to recognize that they have fucked up and use that to change their behavior, etc. it’s draining and not fun and i’m pretty sure it shaved years off my life but y’know, it is what it is. the most i can do about it is look out for myself and keep out of relationships that will put me in those situations again.

Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

no because i used to be friends with people that weren’t straightforward with shit and made excuses instead of changing their behavior. i don’t wanna go into it ‘cause and i can’t remember all the details but boy, peace was hard to come by and it didn’t last long. i wasn’t going to try to bring peace if people didn’t really seem to want it and level with each other.

How long do you stay mad?

depends on what you do, tbh, but it’s a couple hours at least. a couple days at most.

What’s your rp pet peeve? ( i have a lot of these )

playing “find the links” on someone’s blog. if i can’t find your links, i’ll try “/rules”, “/r.”, “/g.” and whatever else i can think of to get your rules and a couple more things to get your muse’s about. however, i shouldn’t have to and it takes little effort to make it so that your links are easily distinguishable from the background. if i don’t find them, i don’t find them. and i don’t follow/follow back

Have you ever forgiven a partner when you shouldn’t have?

nope. not now, not ever.

Have you ever been forgiven when you knew you shouldn’t have been?

i’ve never been in a situation where i’ve had to be forgiven for stuff i’ve done so no.

What fads/trends are you so over?

the first thing i thought of was the fucking double ampersands thing that was everywhere at some point. those annoyed me so much and i’m so glad they’re gone. super small text needs to die too. i may not wear glasses but i sure as shit ain’t straining my eyes to see what you’ve written in 3px font.

honestly, a lot of the excessive aesthetic shit that sacrifices accessibility for #aesthetic

Have you ever rp’d with someone you knew for a fact was abusive but tried to give them a chance/to make up your own opinion on the roleplayer? Did they change or did you understand what people were talking about?

nope, nope. nu-uh. if i knew for a fact that this person was abusive in that moment, i wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole. absolutely fucking not.

Have you ever made a public call out post?

-loud snort- hell no.

What has made you completely lose your chill?

honestly? look at my worst experience and that about sums up shit that has made me lose my chill. you really gotta push my fucking buttons to make me mad ‘cause i’m usually pretty laid back.

What do you think about public call out posts?

answered here

A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i dunno. i’ve only been in one before and that was f.ire e.mblem

A fandom that you feel is open and accepting?

imma be real honest with y’all--the only fandom i’ve been in that i will acknowledge is f.ire e.mblem and i had a pretty sweet time there. i had some ups and downs but it was an overall good experience for me. it was pretty open and inviting in my opinion but i tended to stay away from the douchebags in the fandom ‘cause i just wanted to have a good time there.

Thoughts on duplicates following you?

if i have duplicates of my oc following me, i’ll have a whole fucking cow

Do you agree with reblog karma or is it forced interaction?

i don’t think it’s forced interaction most of the time ( with sentence starters, symbol memes, memes that take literally zero fucking effort to send in ) ‘cause... everyone likes getting stuff, y’know. if you wanna reblog it from someone, just take a moment to send something in if the interaction is feasible. that’s the key thing here. if it’s feasible, then i don’t see the issue with sending something in before you reblog it from someone ( especially if you’re mutuals ). if it isn’t and you just wanna reblog it, reblog it from the source. it’s not that serious.

if someone nitpicks you for rebloging the same meme they did but you reblogged it from the source, i wouldn’t feel too bad. you know what’s best for your muses and if you don’t feel like the meme is cohesive for interactions, then that’s your prerogative and the

Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

answered here

Has someone been jealous of you?

i’ve only been told that someone was jealous of me once and it was a long time ago. i have never heard that from anyone again ( not that i remember, at least )

Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

mhm! but it usually comes when i’m feeling super down about my blog and doubting my ocs ( which isn’t often ). when i do get jealous, it’s over interactions and the like and my big dumb galactic brain is like “wow, don’t you wish you had those interactions? don’t you wish you were rping with those people?” and makes me feel bad about the interactions i have, the speed at which i reply, my ocs, how many people are interesting in my ocs, etc. however, this shit doesn’t last long ‘cause i have a bunch of wonderful people that motivate me to get out of that funk and just... focus on what i have instead of what i’m seeing on my dash. i remind myself that i’m here to have fun and i shouldn’t try to match my experience to others’

How has Tumblr RP changed since you started?

more formatting, smaller icons, more focus on having a fancy ass theme, more formatting, more callout posts, less communication in some regard, more reminders for communication.more psa posts, more formatting--

honestly, i’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and most of it is a blur lmao. i probably don’t remember everything ‘cause i was.... 15 when i started rping on here. i’m 22 now. i’m sure a lot has changed in seven years but i definitely haven’t seen it all.

Thoughts on the fandom you're currently rping in?

i’m currently a fandomless blog and boy, is it a lot more fun XD i have a lot more creative liberty and i can shape the world my muses live in to my liking, as opposed to following or just adding onto what the fandom universe already is. it’s a lot of work and it takes a ton of time but it’s fun and i’m enjoying every second of it!

How salty are you feeling right now?

answered here but i’ll just say it again: not salty. just tired and rambly because holy shit this took a while

#imbruedinfear #🗪 ┊ ⧼ yᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʀᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴛᴛy ᴄᴀᴛʜyꜱ! ⧽ ⇹ ( asks. )#ツ ┊ ⧼ ᴄᴀᴛᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛᴀʟᴋ ⧽ ⇹ ( ooc. )#.i answered ALL those questions #.i hope my salt was enough for you

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