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martyrlamb · 11 months

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✶ when the clock strikes / leon kennedy

pairing: leon kennedy x gn!reader

summary: you’re starting to think a certain agent might be faking his injuries to see you.

tags: sfw, pure fluff, a bit of angst as a treat, love at first sight basically, silly workplace love story, nurse!reader, 1 year post re4r!leon, no use of y/n, extremely mildly passively suggestive, leon takes his shirt off twice (woohoo!), kissing, swearing, leon is awkward as hell, you are too though so it’s okay, description of bruises, cuts and a muscle knot (not detailed), medical talk, slight mention of gore and blood, reader has a backstory, reader has a mother.

note: i blinked and suddenly there were 8k words in my doc idek how that happened. im actually so nervous to post because this is my first one shot ever!! my cherry has been popped… but also apologies if things are kind of all over the place bc im still trying to get the swing of it all. trying to write in the present tense was like being beat over the head repeatedly so im sure theres many grammatical mistakes in that department

word count: 8.5k (got possessed sorry)

Everyone thought you were crazy when you accepted the offer.

It is crazy—but you aren’t stupid. You knew what you were getting into a long time ago as a nurse; people get hurt, and then you save them. Clockwork.

Years ago, you started studying to be a nurse in some middle of nowhere midwestern school. You remembered the rolling hills and the ungodly heavy blankets of snow that fell during the winter months, the fallen leaves that the snow covered. It was all so peaceful for a while… until the outbreak.

You never saw it coming, no one did, really. At least, you hope no one predicted the atrocities that were about to be witnessed by thousands of innocents without warning.

Gnashing teeth and hands with dried blood that streaked down arms like veins plagued the memory of that point in your life. It was surreal to believe that you got up that morning and made your breakfast like any other day, you slid your shoes on and grabbed your keys, and then your foot hit the front porch and the trajectory of your life changed permanently.

The virus started as a woman with red-ringed eyes and pallid skin that reflected off of the blinding overhead lights—she looked visibly ill. That’s all that mattered at the time. You were actually the one who situated her and her husband in their room, he smiled at you and thanked you for your time and you scribbled down notes before hanging the clipboard and leaving the room for the doctor. The screeching horror music plays when you get to this part of the memory.

A type of calm before the storm. You hold your breath every time.

A few hours later people started screaming, and someone—something ran out of that room and wrenched its grip on the first person it saw. Blue scrubs dyed a nasty crimson, like crushed raspberries on cloth. The next part is a blur of running, watching your coworkers die, and using your medical expertise to help anyone who needed it. People were hurt. You saved them.

Like you said, clockwork. You try not to think about it too hard.

By the time help came, you had cramped a large handful of survivors—albeit, injured survivors—into a small house that was a mile or two from the hospital. Your quick thinking protected many people that day, and your skills were recognized.

A week prior, you were a simple nursing student who was lucky enough to be placed in a hospital, and by the next Sunday, you were being offered a position as a medic with the Anti-Umbrella Pursuit and Investigation Team. You finished your schooling, you got your specialized training, and now you’re on your way to your first assignment out of the country.

So, granted, maybe you are a little crazy for accepting such a prestigious and dangerous position after your humble beginnings. Your mother never ceases to remind you of this, with what little information you were allowed to tell her.

Iceland? she said, pulling her lips into a line. Are you crazy?

You begin to think that you are now that you stand in front of the base, arms tucked around yourself and teeth chattering as a sergeant points you around like one of his troops. Between the hustle and bustle of agents hurrying around and the amount of civilians sitting beneath the large, brown medical tent, you understand why they needed all the help they could get.

Things in Iceland were bad apparently; Umbrella thought the remote location would protect what little was left of them, and their research, from being exposed. Unfortunately for them, (and fortunately for everyone else) the AUPIT caught wind of what was happening and vowed to put a stop to it. You, freshly out of training, were sent to help with the sudden influx of displaced non-combatants and wounded agents.

Within the hour of the helicopter landing, you settle in and pull your cold weather scrubs on.

There aren’t many other nurses—only two—and neither of them seem to be very fond of you. The head nurse is older and straight-laced, following procedure, not mingling with you unless she has to. You don’t think you’re ever going to be put on a shift with the other nurse, but they spare you a few ireful glances. It’s like they could smell the fresh blood, and the scent made them turn their noses.

Nonetheless, you weren’t there to socialize, so you rolled up your sleeves and did your job, trying to ignore the passive aggressive looks being thrown at you from left and right. This kind of mutual ignorance worked for about three days, until you were placed on the night shift… every single night.

Before you came along, it was determined that the night shift could be manned by one person, as injured civilians were sent to the safehouses by nightfall and nearly all of the agents were either out on work or taking a much needed rest. There was no reason for both nurses to be awake when one could conserve their energy and rest while the other worked. So, most nights you spent alone, sitting by the fire in the back of the tent as you waited for the sun to come up.

One of those nights crept up on you again. You bounce your foot against the ground until your ankle aches, sitting in a lawn chair next to the fire with a wool blanket draped over your shoulders. Nothing chirps in the distance like the environment you’re used to, the only noises that float through the air are the wind rustling bare-armed bushes and your own breathing. There was a rip in the tent whistling, too, but you’d be damned if you let the incessant noise drive you insane. You were scared of the eerie silence for the first few days, but that quickly became replaced by the complete boredom that followed it.

You blow a raspberry as you spin a pen in your ungloved hand, fingers numb and stretched stiff with cold. I’ve ought to ask someone for a book, you thought to yourself, or a new job. You immediately push the second contemplation out of your head like it was something dirty and sat up a little straighter; your annoyance made sense, but this is what you wanted to do with your life. You want to help people in need.

Not that there were many people around.

In the distance, like divine intervention, you hear the crackle of wheels against snow, and a black mini-van rolls to a stop in front of the tent. A scuffle inside ensues for a moment, then the doors open and a man comes hobbling into the shelter with his arm over another man’s shoulder.

You nearly fall out of your seat with how fast you stand up and stride over to the men, assisting the injured one onto a cot.

“What happened?” you ask, pushing a cart of equipment to his bedside.

The uninjured one remarks from beside you, “Some snow gave way and he went down this hill with some pretty nasty bushes at the bottom.” His voice is quick and clicky. He looks young.

Clearly, they’re two agents, judging by the leather holsters strapped around their waists and shoulders. You purse your lips and place a lantern on the cart, gently inspecting the injured agent. There’s thorns lodged along the entirety of his left side, looking a bit like a child’s crude attempt at art with toothpicks and styrofoam.

He grunts when you gently lift his arm to check underneath, and you mutter an apology before you turn to the other agent. “I can take this from here.”

The agent nods and spins on his heel, disappearing into the darkness once he stepped out into the open air.

You turn your attention towards the man in front of you and pull on a pair of gloves, the latex makes a sharp snapping noise when you let go. His intense gaze follows your movements with great intrigue—or suspicion… you couldn’t really tell. You pick up a pair of tweezers and set them on the cart. You also finally got a good look at the wounded agent.

Blue eyes that strike down what little defenses you have and brows that spend their time permanently creased, almost erasing the space between them while he inspects you. His ability to make you feel thoroughly grilled with a simple fixated stare would have made you squirm years prior, but now you merely stare back with your eyebrows lifted. The blonde—possibly light brown haired, the darkness didn’t give much way in the form of colour—man averts his eyes first, as if he is caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

You’d be lying if you said he wasn’t attractive, but that’s not your focus right now.

“How are you feeling?” you ask, flicking on a flashlight to check his pupils. Healthy, good. He squints at you through the beam.

“Like I fell into a thorn bush.”

Looks like someone feels funny. You deadpan at him, unamused with the sarcasm while you try to help. Your expression beckons a better answer and he backpedals.

The man’s head bobs subtly, like a scale in his mind is weighing his thoughts on either side, and then he says, “I’m just fine.”

“Are you dizzy? Nauseous?”

“Fine.”

“Okay,” you reply, blowing out a not-so-inconspicuous huff of annoyed air that swirls above you in the cold. The agent raises his brow at your reaction but doesn’t seem too keen on speaking on it. “I’ll try to be as gentle as I can, but it’s going to be a lot of poking and prodding.”

He lets out another grunt that could have possibly been an Mhm… but you aren’t sure. You hold the tweezers between your fingers and begin to pluck them out, placing them on the metal pan on your cart. Clink, clink, clink. They fall from the tweezers with tiny noises.

To your surprise, he doesn’t writhe or make much noise, only occasional grunts and sighs and Shit’s under his breath when you pull at particularly deep thorns lodged in his arm.

Even for an agent, his arms are an impressive size, which means a lot more surface area to extract from. Not that you really mind, as you would have helped him either way, but surely you would feel differently if you were in his shoes.

However, the silence is… awkward; sitting there with your face inches from his huge arms—he could definitely feel your breath fan across the surface with how his skin dances with warmth and goosebumps and you do not want the attractive agent to focus on that. So, you break it with a question.

“You weren’t wearing a jacket?” A valid query, all things considered.

He blinks at you like it was obvious. “It came off.”

“Oh,” is all you say until you extract the last thorn from his arm and begin to slide the leather shoulder holster off of him. “I just need to take this off.”

He frowns slightly, and you realize his brows had been furrowed this whole time because that was all his face seemed to know how to do. When his expression changes, you stop.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Taking it off so I can look under your sleeve.”

“Why?”

“You could’ve pulled something and I need to bandage you,” you pause. “Is that okay?”

Maybe you wrongly assumed that he had done this a million times. Don’t get you wrong, you know how resilient agents had to be and how good they were at their jobs, so it isn’t like you thought he got hurt often… But with a short glance into his eyes, you could tell he’s a hardened delegate with years of experience under his belt. Wasn’t he bound to need help occasionally?

The man gives you a slight nod and shrugs off the holster; it falls to the bed with a soft thud from the weight of the knife tucked into the leather.

His muscles tense under your fingers when you roll the black sleeve over his shoulder. The feathered, pale edge of a bullet scar peeks out from beneath the dark clothing and it makes you wonder how he managed to get it. A mission? Probably. It looks old. You’ve seen scars of all kinds at that point, and each of them held a story that ended in pierced flesh.

They remind you that they will never not be where they came from—your own scars will never not be where they came from. You shake the thought out like a stubborn rock in your shoe.

“Lucky you, it doesn’t look like you pulled anything in your shoulder,” you comment under your breath.

“If this is luck, I’d like to see what happens when I get unlucky.” For the first time, there’s humor in his tone—so faint you nearly miss it, but it makes you chuckle. When he isn’t huffing out responses, his voice almost sounds kind.

You rotate his shoulder slowly and inspect the length of his side, finding fewer thorns than the amount anchored in his arm. Still, your lips press into a line, pitying the fact that his bare skin will be exposed to the frigid, below-freezing air so you could remove them.

“Well, you should’ve knocked on wood,” you reply, “I’ll need you to take your shirt off so I can get the rest of the thorns out and check your ribs.”

Silently, the man hikes his shirt up and over his ribs for you, snaking his arm out of his sleeve and then laying on his side.

As he comes down, stretching, he groans. You see his muscles tense under his skin when he inhales, the dips and divots of his torso flex involuntarily when the squall of air nips at his newly exposed skin. The surface holds blossoms of red and deep purple that litter themselves across his ribs like splotches of messy watercolor dripped onto paper. Scarlet scratches bleed pebbles that drip onto the fabric of the cot.

You suck in through your teeth as you inspect the area. Even without the damage from the thorns, it doesn’t look good.

“Not good?” the agent questions as if he could read your mind. From over his shoulder, he turna his head to look at you.

“Not good. You bruised your ribs, I’d be surprised if one of them wasn’t broken.”

“I didn’t hear a crack.”

“It should be monitored for a day or two, at the very least.”

“I have to get back to work.”

“Look, I understand—“

“I’ll be fine.”

You sigh softly and remove one of your gloves to rub your face in exasperation. Unfortunately, this wasn’t your first rodeo with stubborn patients, so you slide on another glove and begin to pluck at the thorns in his torso. “You won’t be doing much work if you permanently damage them.”

He twists his head away from you again and grunts softly, muttering a short, “Okay.”

How articulate. You guess he doesn’t get paid to talk to people.

“Okay? As in…?”

“As in, fine,” he replies, then pauses for a moment as if to prove a point. “But I’m sure you have better things to do.”

You laugh at this, then stifle it into your elbow so he didn’t think you were laughing at him. He still rolls over a little to look at you, confusion laces his eyes that dart around as they go from your face to the rows of empty cots behind you. Busy? You begin to laugh again.

He can’t be serious, you think as you fan your face. You let your laughter dissipate like it was being dissolved into water. “Sorry… no, you’re right,” you snort, “I was drowning in work before you arrived, agent.”

“I’m sure,” he chirps back, the ghost of a smile haunts his lips.

“I think I can squeeze you in, though. Might have to clear some of my schedule, but… I’ll make it work.”

The pleased look that graces your face is involuntary. You find it endearing how worried he is about becoming too much extra work for you and the other nurses, despite the fact that there isn’t any reason to gather that he would and—believe it or not—it’s your job.

The agent lets out an amused breath through his nose. “Should I be flattered?”

“Oh, of course.”

You place the last of the thorns onto the metal pan and tend to his wounds with gauze and bandages and nimble fingers that have done this hundreds of times before. Sometime along the way his body relaxed—just a little—and you think he fell asleep until he sits up like a puppet that had his strings yanked and puts his shirt on properly.

The sudden movement makes you blink, and he stares at you for a long pause filled with dead air and an expectant look in his eyes. That damn rip in the tent whistles.

Finally, his eyes flicker down to your badge, then back to your face. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“I started here not too long ago,” you inform him honestly, a little embarrassed to admit your newbie title to a seasoned employee of the organization.

He doesn’t say anything else, so you take the reins.

“Well, I think we’re set,” you say, rolling the latex gloves off of your hands. “Let me know if you need anything, Agent…”

You never asked him his name?

“Leon Kennedy,” the agent, now with the name Leon Kennedy pinned to his face, finishes for you.

His name twirls around your head and makes you dizzy to think about. I should have known, you think to yourself once he bids you farewell to report to his superiors.

From what little time you spent at the base prior to meeting Leon, you had heard whispers during dinner drift from mouth to ear of the elusive agent. That he was a man of few words (immense understatement, you consider it more socially awkward, but true); that he had half of the base swooning every time he walked by (you don’t want to comment on this); and that he was immensely attractive (that is also true). You have to admit… you see why he had such an air of intrigue around him. To be so quiet after such successes he’s accomplished—people were on the edge of their seats trying to figure him out.

You also had to admit that you weren’t immune to it either.

During your meals and breaks you found yourself playing Where’s Waldo? with Leon, attempting to catch glimpses of him in his natural state to confirm or deny these claims. Which was impressively difficult for absolutely no reason other than that he did it for his own benefit… the motive for this was lost, and still is, on you.

The few times you did spot him, he had the same clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows. He never stayed in the same place for very long and frequently you only spotted him—or rather, his broad shoulders and white-knuckled fists as they turned corners and disappeared to do whatever he did all day. Important agent things.

Regarding your coworkers… it hadn’t improved much, either. The head nurse, who you later learned was named Winona, loosened up on you a bit—which was practically nothing when both she and the other nurse had been so cold to begin with. However, your determination to help those around you seemed to impress her… most days.

(Peeks of Leon’s ashy blonde hair stolen from cracks in the tent. His fur-lined coat hangs off of his sizable frame, enveloping his arms in the thick fabric—it makes them look even bigger. Not that you care, per say, but—

“You aren’t getting paid to stalk agents,” Winona jeers, jolting you back to Earth from your subject of stolen attention. You swear she smiles at you wryly. “Should’ve tried for one of their jobs if you wanted to do that.”

She turns on her heel and goes over to a trio of injured civilians with her cart, the knot of hair tied taut at the base of her neck stares you in the face. You’re left hot faced and embarrassed for the entirety of the next check-up with your patient.)

The endless night shifts never seem to cease rolling in and you’re afraid it’s begun to catch up on you. By the end of breakfast, when you could finally drag your corpse-like body to your quarters and into your bed, your head drooped comically into your bowl of oatmeal and some of the newer agents had a blast laughing at you. Whatever, assholes.

(You were deeply embarrassed.)

So, you opted for allowing a short nap in here and there during your shift—ten minutes at most—whenever your eyelids began to feel itchy and weighted and you couldn’t help but close them. You really couldn’t. Being sat by the fire with a hot drink made you so warm and the sounds of blowing wind lulled you to sleep in the darkness under the moon.

Truly, a terrible work performance from you, but no one was around to see and surely you’d be awoken by even a hint of an emergency.

Tonight, you count sheep with your wool blanket tucked up to your chin and your head lolls against your shoulder like it’s about to fall off its hinges. One, two, three. They mock you as they hop into their pasture and curl up into white, fluffy spheres, falling asleep within the warmth of their home.

From a distance, your ears almost register the sound of footsteps that approach the tent, crushing the crunchy top layer of snow under their feet as they stop in the entrance. It isn’t enough to completely wake you until they clear their throat and say, “Hello?”

Your eyes snap open and you turn your head so fast you think it might go flying across the room. Really smooth of you, considering Leon is the one to get your attention. By the smug look on his face and slight chuckle that wracks his frame, you know he isn’t fooled with your act awake performance.

He stands there, towering and rigid, unlike the night you first met him, with his palm outstretched flat like he’s trying to show the world something.

“Oh, hey, what do you need?” you reply quickly, standing from your chair as you let your blanket fall off of you.

Leon glances at his hand and then at you. “I, uh, got a papercut.”

“A paper cut,” you repeat, just to make sure you heard him right.

“Yeah.”

You stare at him for a moment, mouth agape as his words register as something he was actually saying to you.

“Well, get comfortable, then. I’ll patch you up.”

In reality, you’re terribly confused about a special forces agent needing first aid for a paper cut, but how could you complain? He needs help and you’re there to offer it.

The blonde sits on a cot near the fire—not before picking up your blanket from the ground and placing it back on the chair, though—and you situate yourself on a stool facing him.

You take Leon’s hand in yours gently and inspect the wound. It’s fairly shallow, but placed in the center of the webbed skin between his index finger and thumb. Tough spot. When your digits graze his rough knuckles he inhales sharply and you glance at him due to the sudden motion.

He doesn’t expect a reaction from you because he pauses for a second then asks, “You think I’ll live?”

“I dunno,” you answer, sucking your teeth. “Could be a close call.”

“Yeesh.”

“I know. My condolences.”

“For myself?”

“Uh-huh.” You turn his hand over so his palm faced the sky. “This’ll sting.”

When you disinfect the injury, Leon’s face twitches into itself but he keeps quiet, opting to focus his gaze on your face while you patch him up. You try not to shift under the intensity.

“What made you want to do this?” he queries, his voice cuts through the silence and startles you a bit. Leon looks pleased with himself and you roll your eyes.

“You’ll laugh.”

“Why would I do that?”

“It’s corny.”

Admittedly, it was—the original story as to why you wanted to be a nurse. You’ve had people laugh at it before and you mostly don’t want to repeat history with someone you find rather charming, but something in Leon’s face softens and he shakes his head briefly.

“Try me,” he challenges.

“Oh, fine.” Like there was a fight put up when you relent, smoothing a bandaid over his cut. “You know those things you’d fill out as a kid? Where it’s like, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Leon nods.

“Every single time, I would write superhero,” you laugh sourly because you got used to other people laughing when you said this, but he listens as if you’re the only sound he’s ever heard. “I’d draw myself with a little cape and all that. Then at a certain age the teachers start telling you, pick a real job, pick something that exists. And, I dunno, I thought: there are real superheroes. They save people every day because they want to.”

“I mean, I always knew I didn’t have all the right assets to be the one rescuing people from burning buildings and punching the bad guys. I wanted to help people when they couldn’t help themselves, you know? I can't carry the weight of the situation—it’s just not in my nature—but I can carry them. That’s why I started doing this, I guess.”

The look he gives you when you finish speaking is indescribable. He gazes deeply into your face like he’s trying to find a new feature he missed the first time. Something akin to pulling apart your mind with his eyes as if it’s clay made for the shaping and a load of a melancholy that’s too heavy for him; like he’s asking you, how do I carry it? Tell me how to carry something like that.

Your hand still lingers in his, over the bandaid you placed on him; you slide yours so the curves of your thumbs interlock and you grip the hilt of his palm. A hidden embrace.

Leon’s eyes dart toward your hands and he makes no effort to remove you from his grasp, his fingers relax against your wrist. He feels your heartbeat. You feel his. When he looks up again, all he sees are your eyes.

You don’t know why you went on that anecdote in the first place, not really. Only that you were finished patching him up and wanted—needed—him to linger for a bit longer.

“What about you?” you ask, voice hushed close to nothing.

“I wanted to help people, too.” He sounds uncharacteristic—sheepish? “That’s it… I can’t follow up with something as articulate as you.”

“It matters just as much even if you can’t express it,” you assure him, your head tilts.

Leon clears his throat and nods, slipping his hand from yours and looking anywhere that isn’t you. You created a shadow in front of his face, back facing the fire, but you can see the subtle dark tinge of his cheeks when he avoids your eyes. He chooses to look at his feet. There he goes, being endearing again, you think.

The harsh edges of his face are lit up with an orange glow, darkness shoots somewhere in between in a soft gradient, and he looks positively ethereal. If you reached out and cupped his face, you know it would be warm to the touch like laundry right out of the dryer. It makes him look all the more delicate and this feels more natural than the pointed looks and pinched expressions he usually wears.

You look back down at his hands. You’re trying to memorize the way they felt against yours (coarse and hot to the touch) and you get the picture of how hopeless you are—even an idiot could see you have a crush on him.

That doesn’t stop you from protecting your pride and you keep it to yourself. You stand up to put the disinfectant supplies and box of bandaids away without a word.

Leon stares at his hand like it’s missing a piece.

You have your head buried too deep into the cabinet to think much about that. Screaming at yourself was an understatement for what you’re doing in your head… a better description would be begging the floor to swallow you entirely with one gulp.

Surely, Leon has someone at home. He’s an attractive, intelligent man with an arguably stable job that pays him oodles more than he would ever need; not to mention how well-built he is, but again, for what seems like the millionth time you push this thought to the back of your mind. You could not focus on that.

“Are you okay?” his voice carries from the cot.

You take a moment’s breather and shut the cabinet door. “I’m good. How are your ribs?”

“They’re good.” Leon pauses, then adds. “Thanks.”

The shake of your head comes faster than your words; muscle memory. “It’s what I’m here for.”

“You do a good job.”

“I’m just a medic.”

“A good one.”

As you utter your gratitude for his comment, you hope he couldn’t feel the heat radiating off of your face from so far away. You weren’t one to get shy from such simple words, but you find your eyes glued to your boots because of his gentle bonniness. Damn you, you curse at him in your head—it held no weight.

The blonde stands from the cot and walks over to you. He bends slightly to catch your eyes in his. “I have to go now, but... yeah. Thank you.”

“Of course, Agent Kennedy.”

“Don’t start using formalities now,” he half-laughs, half-breathes. His face contorts when he stretches back, and his hand came up to massage his right shoulder—you even go to comment on this movement, being a medic and all, but he beats you to it with a smirk. “Stick with Leon.”

And then, in a few strides, he’s gone as fast as he came.

Your entire body deflates when you let out a guttural sigh. How come every time you watched his back, you were left reeling?

Unfortunately for you, that blasted man had ingrained himself into your head, sitting pretty in your thoughts as snug as a bug in a rug while you tried to do your job, or attempted to focus on anything other than your feelings for him. On the contrary, he returned to clearing out Umbrella facilities for the time being, which meant he was out of the base for days, or even weeks, considering he was one of, if not, the best agent they had. This saved you from the embarrassment of being caught trying to catch glances of him from inside the tent or during meals.

This, however, did not stop you from daydreaming when work got slow.

You wondered how someone like Leon behaved domestically, if he was completely different outside of the AUPIT, or if he was still just the sweet, reserved man who needed your aid often. Did he have any pets? What music did he listen to? You guess you’d have to ask him later, but you imagined that the pieces would fall into place and suit him. They’d be so perfectly Leon that when he told you, you would think to yourself, huh, why didn’t I think of that?

The amount of daydreaming you did was not lost on Winona, and occasionally she snapped her fingers in front of your face and grumbled under her breath, “I’ll kill that boy.” With no real threat to her tone.

Please, you can’t help it. He has arms with the muscle definition of a god and he told you-you were a good medic; you were a goner before you even realized it.

On the other hand, your family never let up with their pleas for you to return home, despite the fact that it simply wasn’t possible unless you had a very good reason for it. Which you didn’t, and you didn’t want to—people just didn’t get it through their heads that, yes, your job was difficult, and yes, patients got on your nerves sometimes, but no, you wouldn’t trade it for the world. This meant more to you than anything else you could fathom. You knew the fear these people felt first-hand, and you knew they needed a saving grace; just like you had.

(“Just come home,” your mother coos into the phone, her voice static-y and chopped from the poor signal. You could imagine her face right now, all worried and exhausted like you’re a child balancing on a wet playground. “There’s a hospital not too far from here… I’m sure they’d take you.

You promptly spend the next hour explaining to her that it isn’t that simple, even if you wanted to, and you remind her every few minutes that you aren’t going to leave, either. You’re happy, all things considered; which is why you make the executive decision to leave out all of the bad parts of your work so far.)

As for the efforts against Umbrella, you hear whispers of successes during dinners and fewer agents appeared at the medical tent’s door in need of assistance than when you arrived. So, you think things are going rather well for your organization. Less tired eyes and solemn faces; the fight wasn’t over, but everyone could rest a little easier with every night that passed.

And yet, those damned night shifts. You swear Winona and that other medic were scheming against you for no reason other than pure spite, on the basis of simply because they didn’t feel like doing it. It has to be funny to them by now, seeing you half-asleep at breakfast and looking all mussed at dinner because you woke up ten minutes prior. You let them laugh all they wanted because frankly, you began to enjoy the night shifts. The world went to sleep, and you enjoyed some peace and quiet.

You kick your feet up onto a stool and drape a blanket over your legs, book in hand. The soft sounds of Icelandic pop music crackles out of the radio and floats throughout the tent. You mouth the noises of the songs, unsure of the lyrics, but you’ve heard it so often by now, you could recognize the tune from the first few beats. You scat a few of the instruments, tapping your foot along. You don't notice the figure that stopped in the doorframe.

“Enjoying yourself?” Leon. You shut your book and turn to look at him, embarrassed. “I always feel like I’m coming at a bad time.”

“Never,” you reply with a haste that humbles you further. Worried about his sudden appearance in the medical tent after being gone on agent duties for nearly two weeks, you ask, “Are you okay?”

The corners of his mouth upturn and you barely see a flash of uneven teeth between the slit it creates, cute. This distracts you from how smug his face is. “I think I have a fever.”

“A fever this time?”

“Yep.”

“Make yourself comfortable, Leon.”

A paper cut, then a fever. You begin to think of his inability to soothe his minor maladies as an excuse to visit the tent. Your stomach flutters at the thought, but you have to make sure… just in case he’d fallen ill out there in the cold.

You find the thermometer and placed it in his mouth gingerly. It hangs crooked from the corner and he watches you with a certain keenness that makes you smile. After a few minutes, you check his temperature: 98.7. An amused hum escapes your lips without meaning to.

“Dying?”

“I don’t think you have a fever,” you answer, using the back of your hand to press against his forehead and cheeks. The first cheek is cold, then the left cheek warms under your skin—Leon’s expression falls bashful. “But if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were looking for reasons to come see me.”

It’s his turn to hum in thought. “Maybe.”

“You could just come talk to me.”

“You’re on the clock,” the blonde reminds you, grunting. In a swift movement, his hand presses into the curve of his neck and he rotates his right shoulder, face straining.

You see an opening. “That I am. What was that?”

“What?”

“Your shoulder.”

“I was stretching.”

“Does it hurt?”

Leon grumbles a response under his breath, unimpressed that you might have found something you could actually treat him for. You raise your brows. “I’ll take that as a yes. Let me see.”

“It’s fine.”

“Agent Kennedy.”

He pretends not to hear you.

“Leon.”

“Fine,” he gripes like a child being forced to get a shot and maneuvers to lay his stomach flat on the cot, his back faces toward the ceiling. He takes off his brown, fur-lined jacket and discards it onto the next cot over. You get a whiff of musk and cinnamon from the breeze it makes.

The shirt that clings to him left nothing to the imagination—a tight, black compression shirt stretches snugly over his muscles. You spread your fingers like fans to warm them up, then begin to run them over his shoulder and along the meat of his back.

You tsk, full of knots. This man needs a masseuse. You make a mental note to refer him to a good one you knew.

With the issue at hand, though, you find an impressive knot in his shoulder, which is likely the cause of his discomfort.

You huff, your work cut out for you. “There’s a big knot in your shoulder, Leon. How are you living like this?”

“I wake up and roll out of bed.”

“I need to get this out.”

Leon turns his head, his cheek presses to the cot. He gives you a look that says nothing short of, are you serious? You smile as sweetly as you can at him, an attempt to coax him. To your surprise, he averts his gaze fast and relents. The blonde agent sits up and shrugs his shirt off. It’s tossed next to his jacket.

Under the fire light and the dim glow of lanterns that hang in a line down the center of the tent, strings attached to the ceiling, you see the way chills prickle over the surface of his skin. Goosebumps, like rolled carpets being kicked open, unfurl down his arms rapidly and he lays down on his stomach once again.

Your face burns in the dark—you’d be surprised if you aren’t glowing like one of those lanterns from the amount of heat it exudes.

You use a dollop of skin cream to keep the area relaxed and pliable as you work out the knot with your fingers. You push it in the right direction until you got it in a better spot, then you knead it firmly. It crackles within his body.

“Fuck…” he groans in relief, nestling his head into the fabric of the cot as he sighs. “They teach you massages in nursing school?”

“That might be just a learned from life thing,” you state in total honesty. You wipe the excess lotion from your hands on a rag.

Curiously, he peers at you from the corner of his eye. “You have someone back home you do that to?”

A laugh falls from your lips, though your face feels even hotter than before (if that is even possible). “No—not at all.”

Leon lets out a pleasant hum and sit up from the cot. Good, he says without saying it.

He snatches his shirt and tugs it over his head; you pretend to make yourself busy so you have somewhere other to look than at him. You hear him sigh with great reprieve as he rolls his shoulder back and forth, it must’ve felt like a freshly oiled hinge.

He comes up behind you, his shoulder skims the back of your neck when he peers down at what you were doing on the counter. Which is a whole lot of nothing; moving cotton swabs from one container to the other, counting how many rolls of gauze you had left for the hundredth time. Mindless hand ministrations to distract you from the heart that pounds in your chest.

“Is this what you do all night?” he questions, mildly amused.

“Sometimes.”

“Must be glad I showed up.”

“Something like that,” you tease, glancing up at him with a coy smile.

You watch his withstraint break a little inside of him. He inhales sharply, losing the words you said somewhere between your eyes and your lips—he couldn’t focus with your faces so close to each other and neither could you. Leon reaches for the hand that rested on the other side of you and drags you in between him and the counter, twirling you to face him. Then he pauses and appears lost, like he doesn’t know which way is left and right.

Maybe he doesn’t know what to do, you think. You don’t really know either, so you go on about what you do know.

“You should probably use kinesiology tape on your shoulder,” you comment, suddenly becoming hyper-aware of all of your limbs. His eyes don’t leave your lips. You’d be a liar if you say yours left his.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The man’s body heat radiates off of him and it’s magnetic, pulling you closer, away from the bitter cold. Your breath hitches. His hand hovers over the curve of your neck, then it decides to rest on the side of your jaw, thumb pressed against your flushed cheek. You remember the texture of his warm palm, coarse and calloused from years of wear.

You try to memorize every fine line and crease that scuffs your face as he beckons you to close the gap with the slight tilt of his head. I’d make a terrible agent, my resilience is slim to none, you theorize when your body moves before your mind does. His mouth hovers over yours, his breath traces your cupid’s bow. You close the distance enough that your lips graze each other until someone clears their throat from a few feet away.

Winona stands like a judgmental statue, thin brows raise expectantly. You, and Leon, jump away from each other. It rocks the counter with a loud clatter that echoes.

“Agent Kennedy,” she acknowledges him first as a sign of respect. He nods back awkwardly. “You two look like you’re enjoying yourselves.”

Neither of you talk for a moment and you find yourself desperate to create any word that could explain what that was. Leon’s eyes dart around the room.

Finally, something solid comes to your tongue. “I’m sorry.”

And then she laughs in both of your faces. Her hand waves like it’s fanning your words away from getting inhaled. You and Leon glance at each other, brows knit in honest confusion.

“Kids,” she exhales. “Stop distracting my medic, Kennedy.”

Then he speaks, but it sounds more like a nervous cough. “Yes, ma’am.”

Winona shoos him with a gesture of her wrinkled hand and he musters a sheepish, apologetic smile for you as he hurries away from the tent. You don’t make much of an effort to move as you prepare your ego for the chew out it’s about to receive.

“And you. Try to keep the fraternization out of the tent.” With that, she continues past you to search through some files, snickering to herself and shaking her head.

You aren’t about to push your luck. You get to keep your job and ego intact, and that’s enough for you. So, you whisper a quiet, “Yes, ma’am.” And go on with your day.

The encounter with Leon left you feverish and all tingly in every limb whenever it crossed your mind over the following days. You saw him out and about around the base, and during meals he offered you frail waves that faded in a breath.

Truth was, you’re too afraid of rejection to ask him about that night—go figure. Maybe you’re a cliche. Maybe you’re both cliches. Who cares? Well, you do, and you thought the ruffled, pink-tinted expressions on Leon’s face whenever you crossed paths meant that he did, too, but neither of you made a move to approach the other. You questioned if you would rather be told that his only plans for you was a short work fling with no strings attached, or if he felt the connection that you did. A terrible predicament, really, and soon your desire for a straight answer outweighed the fear of hearing something you didn’t like.

When you went to find him in the meal tent, sitting alone in one of the back corners, he wasn’t there. Okay. You waited, then decided to check the nooks and crannies of the base where you knew he hung around, and nothing. Leon vanished into thin air the moment you gathered enough courage to speak to him. Somehow you thought he read your mind and planned for this to happen, just to be able to tease you without being present. But that was simply ridiculous. He had to go to work, just like you had to do yours.

A week went by, then two; no sign of Leon’s reappearance cropped up and you began to worry you wouldn’t get the chance to speak to him at all. The only reminder that soothed you was the fact that you knew the organization was on the home stretch for completely wiping Umbrella’s power in Iceland. This reassured you for many reasons. Mainly, that you’d be able to sleep in your bed again at a proper time that didn’t leave you exhausted; but you also found comfort in the idea of finally getting a word with the blonde agent that clung to your brain like a disease once everything was over.

Of course, you had fleeting thoughts that he died and you’d forever be left wondering about what could have been. But, that was just ridiculous—he’s Leon Kennedy, the agent that saved the president’s daughter from certain death. So, you chalked it up to your anxiety being built up as doubt about the succession of the mission began to be put to an end. That yes, you would all return home soon, and no nothing terrible and tragic would happen just as you were about to win.

Eventually, you all received the verdict of the mission. Success. The sun shone through the clouds brighter that day, in ribbons of gold that elevated all of your senses to something dreamlike. Another catastrophe prevented. More people saved—clockwork. To say you were pleased with the conclusion of your first ever out of country operation would be an understatement; you were ecstatic.

Still, you find yourself fretting over that thing with Leon as you help pack up the equipment in the medical tent.

Winona, who has grown increasingly engrossed in your love life, gives you a knowing look when your lips tug downward and you send a pointed glance toward the entrance of the tent for the tenth time in the last hour. She tsks and shakes her head. It gains your attention.

“Just talk to him,” she insists, shoving a couple boxes of bandaids into the case. She’s unimpressed with your antics and just wants you to get a move on.

You sigh and preen your hair like he’ll walk in at any moment. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Hopeless,” she grumbles in response. “Hopeless. If you won’t do something about it, stop looking at the door like a kicked dog and help me.” Winona retreats further into the tent and you succumb enough to follow her.

You must glower the whole time because she won’t stop sending you dirty looks while she tapes the cardboard boxes with a tape gun. Her movements are threatening. You try to fix your expression when the line of spokes reflects off of the bright horizon outside the tent as it slices the tape.

After the innards of the tent are packed into a dozen or so boxes, you’re the person left to pick them up one by one and drop them off with the rest of the cargo that needs to be shipped. Your back is sore from the sorry excuses of beds you have and your arms ache from hours of cramming things. Kicking snow with each shuffled step, you heave out a lengthy sigh and pause to breathe. There’s a reason I’m not an agent.

“Need a hand?” Leon asks from behind you. You’re wondering how he’s always sneaking up on you.

Still, you nod and can’t help but be relieved. “Please.”

Like it’s filled with air, he takes the box from your hands and cocks a barely-there grin at your awed expression. Smug and content, he marches ahead with you in tow. You don’t really know what to say to him, if anything at all.

You walk alongside him for the first time in the daylight, and you take in his features now that they aren’t muddled in the darkened firelight or blurred by distance. He’s chiseled, sunken cheeks and high cheekbones with that intense look on in his eyes—but there’s something else—boyish, is what you think. Soft jaw. Moles and freckles litter themselves across his face.

Leon is beautiful and you would like to kiss him right now.

He stops at the drop off point, places the box next to the others and turns to you. Suddenly, he looks nervous and you feel some resolve escape your mind. He’s about to ask you something. He opens his mouth, rosy lips parting and you break—you pull him behind a tall stack of boxes and kiss him.

The collar of his jacket is clutched between your fingers in a moment and your lips are on his; the fur tickles your skin. His lips are chapped and cold but you create warmth within him, you could be a summer’s day in this frigid air. His hands come to your waist, then your hips and his fingertips make indents when he holds you tight like this was always supposed to happen. When you part, you’re both breathless.

He searches for his words again, the question he was going to ask. “Would you—dinner? On me.”

You hum in faux thought and peck him on the lips again, then again, and a third time for good measure. He smiles into the last one.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t start that by saying you stubbed your toe and needed my help.”

Leon chuckles. “I thought about it.”

He pulls you in again, tongue grazing your bottom lip. You lean in further, desperate for connection until you both go slipping like baby deer. The thin layer of snow on the ground left everything icy. He tumbles into some supplies and you land on top of him. You’re both laughing into each other’s mouths. You’re both happy.

You chime together, like clockwork.

#leon kennedy #resident evil 4 #resident evil #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x you #leon kennedy fluff #leon s kennedy #leon scott kennedy #re4r leon #re4 remake #leon kennedy x y/n #leon kennedy oneshot #fluff #oneshot #resident evil fluff #nurse!reader #nurse!reader x leon kennedy #post re4r

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zepskies · 9 months

Text

Smoke Eater - Epilogue

Pairing: Firefighter!Dean Winchester x F. Reader

Summary: Dean Winchester is the cocky, but well-respected Lieutenant at Firehouse 25. He leads by example, but he’s also known to break a few hearts. He’s starting to crave something he’s never had, though. Something stable. Something real.

That’s when he meets you, on a truly terrible day, trapped in a rickety old elevator.

🔥 Series Masterlist

AN: We made it, friends. 🥹

Word Count: 2,800 Tags/Warnings: Fluff and feels, that is all.

Epilogue: “Easy as Pie”

The week after the incident at Stull Storage, John, Sam, Dean, and Eileen sat down to a family dinner that you cooked in the brothers’ apartment. Aside from Eileen, all of you had injuries in one form or another (but even Sam’s shiner was healing up nicely).

For dessert, you were a bit nervous as you brought out a freshly baked apple pie. Dean caught you mentally bracing yourself before you set it down on the table. He shot you a reassuring smile.

“Looks great,” he said.

Your returning smile was tentative as you divvied out the first piece. Dean was just a bit disappointed when you handed it to John. His eyes followed the plate.

You smiled more genuinely, and made sure the next generous piece you cut was for your boyfriend.

After everyone was served, you sat down with your own plate and encouraged them all to dig in. Forks hit the crumbly top and cinnamon apple filling, and there were collective hums of pleasure throughout the room.

You brightened and glanced over at the rest of the table. John looked contemplative. His fork rested on the plate for a moment.

He gave a rare smile. “That’s some damn good pie.”

Sam nodded. “For sure.”

Dean looked over at you after he’d already demolished half of his serving. A smile spread across his face.

“Best slice of pie since I can remember,” he said, giving you a wink.

Both of you knew the weight of that review. It humbled you, making you blush.

You smiled and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek, rough with stubble.

“I guess this recipe’s a keeper then,” you said.

He hummed in agreement. When he went in for a real kiss, it was sweet indeed.

From then on, you all spent the evening talking, eating, laughing, with you and Sam drinking wine and everyone else their beer. You updated them on Andréa and Benny, who were planning their trip to Greece in a few months.

"We should take a vacation," Dean pointed out, gesturing around the table. "All of us."

Sam raised his brows at his brother. "Oh yeah? Where would you wanna go?"

Dean thought about it for a moment. He glanced at you, and found you smiling.

"The beach," he said. "Somewhere warm and chill, with those fancy little umbrellas in your drink."

"Hmm...I like that," you said, as your smile grew. Tropical, relaxing, a warm sun on your face, and your boyfriend in some board shorts. You could definitely go for some of that.

"Sounds nice," Eileen agreed.

"I'll look into some destinations," Sam nodded. Dean nudged his brother's shoulder.

"One word, dude. Maui."

Sam snorted. "We can't afford Maui."

"Hey, you never know, man! Time to check out some Groupons."

"You can't get a Groupon to go to Hawaii," Sam said. His face was scrunched in what Dean liked to call, his "Know It All" face.

"Are you kidding me?" Dean shot back. "There's a friggin' Groupon for everything nowadays!"

Of course, that devolved into a familiar sibling argument that was only disrupted when John broke into the conversation. He admitted something shocking—that he was taking some time off work, for the first time since he took his sons camping when they were kids. Sam and Dean teased the workaholic for finally "slowing down" in his old age, but it was all in good fun.

You and Eileen shared a knowing look. It all felt as close to family as you’d had in a long time.

And for Dean, it felt like he could breathe again. He’d gotten a text shortly after dessert—from Cas.

Jo made it into the Police Academy. She starts training in a few weeks.

Dean’s lips quirked with a smile.

How do you know?

I’ll be instructing a couple of her classes. Firearm Safety and Weapons Training.

Dean nearly laughed.

Good luck, buddy. Try not to get your ass shot.

To which Cas replied:

My ass will be nowhere within range, I assure you.

Dean did chuckle at that. When you turned to him and asked what was so funny, he just shook his head and grabbed onto your hand on the table.

“Nothin’. I’m good,” he said. He pressed your knuckles to his lips. “I’m real good.”

You smiled at that.

Later that night, Dean walked his father to the door while you and Sam were locked in a trivia game, and Eileen tried to play mediator between two very competitive nerds.

“Dad,” Dean said.

John stopped with a hand on the door, turning back to his eldest.

Dean paused to gather his thoughts, but he eventually grasped his father’s arm and met his gaze.

“Just wanted to say thank you, for what you did for her,” he said, discreetly nodding at you. He kept his voice quiet. “You protected her when I couldn’t.”

John paused, seeming surprised. His brows furrowed as he shook his head.

“You don’t need to thank me for that, son,” he said.

“Yeah, I do,” Dean insisted. He’d heard every bit of that conversation between John and Daniel in that warehouse. His father had been willing to lay down and die for you, not a moment’s hesitation.

Cas was right, Dean had realized. His father did have a line.

John let out a breath. “What matters is we made it here.”

Dean nodded, though he dimmed.

“Yeah, came with one hell of a price tag.”

It still weighed heavily on him, what he’d had to do to end Daniel Savage. In the end, John had lied on his statement of the events. He’d taken responsibility for grabbing Daniel’s gun and shooting him between the eyes.

“It’s the only thing I can do to keep you out of this,” John had told his son. “Should’ve been my hand anyway.”

Dean appreciated what his dad had done to protect him from the law, and his career, but it still made him feel dirty. A strike to his integrity as a first responder, and as a man. That was something he’d just have to deal with, along with everything else.

John distracted him, however, by gripping his shoulder this time.

“You saved my life, Dean,” he said. And with a hint of a smile, “It’s what you’re good at.”

Dean met his dad’s gaze. He wasn’t quite able to smile back, but there was new warmth in his chest.

“Oh,” said John, raising a finger. “Before I forget…”

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver engagement ring with a small stone. To Dean, it looked familiar…

When it finally struck him what this was, he looked up at John in surprise. Dean glanced back to make sure you weren’t looking before he tentatively took the ring.

“Is this…Mom’s?” he asked.

John nodded. “The stone’s nothing special. You might wanna get it reset. Sam already figured out his uh…situation on his own. Maybe you want to find your own too.”

Dean knew what he meant. Sam had bought a ring last year, but he'd proposed to Eileen just a few days ago. They were already planning to get married a year from now, along with buying their first house together.

Dean examined the ring he held with a softer smile.

“Nah, it’s perfect,” he said.

He didn’t know yet if you two were ready for that step. A lot had happened in such a short amount of time…but he knew he wasn’t going anywhere.

He had time to do things right with you.

A few months later, Dean’s medical leave ended. He was physician-approved for duty, psych evaluation and all. He showed up for his shift bright and early.

He entered the doors of Firehouse 25 to a host of his friends and makeshift family cheering, complete with cheesy streamers and an even cheesier cake that Meg held. On the top was scrawled: Good Job Cracking Your Head.

“A smoke eater returns to the house!” Benny remarked with a grin. “Good to see ya, brother.”

He clapped Dean heavily enough on the back that it earned a grunt and a laugh out of him.

“You too, man,” Dean replied.

Meg set down the cake on the table and was the next one to playfully punch him in the shoulder.

“You have a nice little vacation?” she teased.

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, complete with bottomless margaritas and little umbrellas.”

She smirked, but she was still earnest when she touched his arm.

“Welcome back.”

Dean chuckled. “Ooh, now I know you missed me.”

It was her turn to roll her eyes as she waved a dismissive hand at him. Chuck and Jack gave more sincere well wishes, with the latter actually hugging Dean. He’d tolerated it with a smile.

Gordon clapped him on the shoulder once Jack was finally done, and Dean sent the Candidate off with a bright smile on his face.

Gordon smiled. “Welcome back, Lieutenant.”

Dean nodded and shook the other man’s hand. “Thanks for holdin’ down the fort, man.”

“No problem,” Gordon said. “Any time you wanna go on sabbatical, you just let me know. Acting Lieutenant’s almost better than the real deal. It’s not as much paperwork.”

Dean chuckled, but before he could sling back a retort, the alarm went off. There was a working house fire downtown, according to the dispatcher in the overhead speaker.

Bobby appeared in the hall and clapped his hands once.

“All right, gear up. We’re startin’ off the day right,” he said. He gave Dean a look that was somehow both pleased to see him and stern at the same time. Bobby addressed him with a point of his finger.

“See me in my office before the end of shift,” he said. “We’ve got somethin’ to talk about.”

A few days later, Dean had the rare pleasure of welcoming you home from work on his day off. You trudged into the apartment with several bags and rolling a cooler behind you. He got up from the couch and grabbed some of the bags for you on your way to the kitchen.

“How did it go?” he asked, reaching out a hand to rub some flour off your cheek. You smiled brightly.

“Well, there was a little snafu with the mini quiche, but they loved the menu I proposed. They want me to cater the whole wedding!” you said.

“Whoa, that’s a lotta food,” Dean remarked. Once you’d dumped the rest of your stuff on the kitchen table, he slid an arm around your waist and brought you flush against him, earning a squeal from you.

You clung to his shoulders. “You still on for being my official taste tester?”

He stared at you with mock offense.

“Uh, obviously. Mini quiche are my weakness,” he teased. “Just another form of pie, far as I’m concerned.”

You giggled into his lips as he claimed you for a kiss. It was both sweet, and a bit naughty as his hands moved to squeeze your ass. His words were no less heartfelt.

“I’m proud of you, sweetheart,” Dean said. “I really am.”

You smiled and stroked his cheek in answer.

The Monday morning after that family dinner a few months ago, you’d quit your job at Savage & Co. After a month of wracking your brain and your savings, you decided to start your own catering business.

It was your way of starting small, to try and get people in this town to know you for your food and baked goods. And maybe, if you were successful enough, you’d be able to open up your own bakery in a couple of years.

For once, you were going after what you truly wanted…but now, your career was only part of it.

You hadn’t forgotten your conversation with Dean about what he wanted for his future: of getting married someday, and having a family. Something he could build for himself.

Not only did you want that for him, but you’d begun to crave that for yourself as well: a family of your own.

Realistically, you knew that part was years away for you and Dean. However, you had that in the back of your mind. Having your own business had always been your dream, but sometimes your dream could adjust.

Or, it could become something new.

You’d also sold your grandparents’ house. You had contemplated going back, but you didn’t want to be reminded of how the police and the Arson Department had torn it apart after Daniel Savage threatened your life. You didn’t want to be reminded of where both of your grandparents died.

You loved that house, but you also knew it was time to let it go…

Because you finally understood what your grandfather had tried to tell you months ago.

A house did not make a home. And now, you’d managed to make a new one.

For his part, Dean had been happy to have you stay in his apartment. Sam was getting ready to move out in a few months anyway, as he and Eileen were deep into house hunting and planning their wedding.

“So…I’ve gotta tell you something,” said Dean, after he parted from your lips for a moment, and allowed you to breathe. His tone made you tilt your head in suspicion.

“It’s nothing bad,” he said, though he looked a bit nervous.

Your brows furrowed. You led him to the couch, where he held your hands in his. It took him a moment to get started. He seemed stuck on what he wanted to say, or maybe just how he wanted to say it.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure I can handle it,” you teased.

Dean gave you a smile. His shoulders relaxed a little.

“They want to promote me to Captain,” he said.

Your mouth fell open and your eyes went wide.

“They? Who’s they?” you asked.

Dean blew out a breath and scratched at the small scar on the side of his head.

“Apparently it came from the Battalion Chief.”

He explained that the Fire Department had gotten the full debrief from both Sam and John about Dean’s involvement in ending the serial arsons and murders committed by Nick and Daniel Savage. Without you and Dean, they wouldn’t have figured out Azazel’s identity, let alone stopped his criminal enterprise.

You smiled wide with excitement as you held Dean’s face in your hands.

“That’s amazing!” you said. You pulled him in for a hug. Though he held you back, you soon realized that you were happier than he seemed to be. You pulled back and carded your fingers through his hair, earning his gaze.

“What’s wrong, baby? This is great news!”

Dean’s lips pursed. “I don’t know. I broke ranks and defied a direct order at the Savage & Co. fire. And at the warehouse, I was even more reckless. I don’t want to be promoted for disobeying orders.”

You frowned at that, even as you continued to stroke through his hair.

“What did Bobby tell you?” you asked.

Once again, Dean sighed. He’d been called into Bobby’s office a few days ago, after his first shift back at 25.

He’d surprised the hell out of Dean.

“Did you break ranks that day, and put not just yourself, but Benny and the rest of your men in danger?” Bobby said. “You bet your ass.”

Dean averted his gaze. He stood with his hands drawn behind his back, willing to take whatever punishment the Chief saw fit.

“But,” Bobby continued. His fingers tapped on his desk, where he sat on the edge across from Dean. “It wasn’t fair of me to stop you from lookin’ for your girlfriend.”

Dean’s attention sharpened at that, and he frowned in confusion. Bobby didn’t apologize. Ever.

“Sir?” Dean asked uncertainly.

Bobby softened the slightest bit. He heaved a sigh.

The man was a widower, but he still wore his wedding ring. He toyed with it now on his finger.

“We could’ve radioed in with the other teams already at work. I could’ve paired half of your team with the top floor units. But in the heat of the moment, I made a judgment call,” Bobby said, leveling Dean with a look. “As a leader, you’ll continue makin’ mistakes. You’ll make the wrong call. It’s how you learn to keep leading that matters. And there ain’t a person in this house that wouldn’t have gone up to pull your fool head outta that fire.”

Dean stayed quiet in his discomfort. He still wasn’t entirely sure why Bobby was telling him all of this.

“That being said, this is coming from the top,” Bobby said. His gruffness was back. He took a folder off his desk and handed it to Dean. “Here’s the next step, if you choose to accept it.”

You were crying by the end of his story. Dean cupped your cheek and caught your tears with his thumb. You grabbed that hand and gently squeezed.

“He believes in you, Dean,” you said. “So do I. And it’s my turn to be so damn proud of you.”

Dean graced you with a smile for that one. Yours brightened. You moved off the couch and slid into his lap, twining your arms around his neck. Dean welcomed you with an arm around your waist and a hand sliding up your jean-clad thigh.

“Guess I’m gonna have to get used to calling you Captain,” you said with a smirk.

Captain Winchester, Dean considered, rolling the weight of it around in his mind.

He chuckled. “Okay, maybe I'm liking the sound of that.”

“Mhmm, that’s what I thought,” you said, shortly before you pressed your lips to his. He squeezed your hip while your deft fingers once again slipped into his hair. With each new kiss, Dean felt more of his uncertainty melt away.

A new thought occurred to him then. It made him start to grin against your lips, and you parted from him.

“What?” you asked in amusement.

Dean slipped a hand into his pocket, where he felt the outline of his mother’s newly resized ring.

“Hey,” he said. Your brows drew together in suspicion at the gleam in his eye.

“Hey, yourself,” you quipped.

Dean breathed in deep, steeling himself. He looked into your eyes, and he smiled.

“I’ve got a question for you.”

AN: ...And I think we all know what her answer was. ❤️‍🔥

I can't believe it! I started posting this story on September 15, the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. Almost four months later, we finally made it to the end of Smoke Eater. 🥹

Thank you to all of you who've been following along at any point of the journey. Your comments and feedback have truly touched me, and have helped keep me going! 💕

Read the Sequel Story:

Ready for more Smoke Eater?

Here's Something Real:

Summary: Now that you and Dean are officially engaged, you take some much needed time off together for a family vacation. But even with the wedding set for next year, the two of you are still at odds when it comes to one key part of your future together…

▶️ Keep Reading: Something Real

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hauntingofhouses · 9 months

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Thinking about the crazy love triangle situation in Blue Eye Samurai and debating heavily with myself on how I'd like to see it conclude. And yeah this discussion can be thought of purely as shipping, headcanons, and fandom fun. But when analysing the show and engaging with it in a more in-depth, almost-literary level, it's impossible to dismiss who Mizu's potential love interests are and how different endgame romances would affect her character arc and the overall story and themes.

So in this post I'd like to look at the love triangle a bit more closely, and speculate on where the story will take this.

DISCLAIMER: It is my personal interpretation of the text that Mizu is non-binary—I use this as an umbrella term denoting any gender that does not adhere to the binary restrictions, norms, and expectations of what it means to be either a man or woman in a particular society; it's not just an androgynous "third gender" that exclusively uses they/them pronouns. Thus, while I personally believe Mizu is not strictly a cis woman, she does still identify with womanhood, despite definitely feeling a level of detachment from it due to living as a man for so long. With that being said, I will be using she/her pronouns for Mizu in this post, but please note that this is purely personal preference. Everyone is free to interpret the text the way they like. That's the fun of fiction. Now, without further ado, let's proceed.

Okay so, thinking about the pairings on a purely surface level, and even before i got into the show, I was pinning my hopes on some lesbianism going on between Mizu and Akemi, and the show does hint at this; in Ep1, during their first encounter in Kyoto, there is the famous slow-mo shot of their eyes meeting, Mizu's lips slightly parted as she is unable to tear her gaze away from Akemi, while sweet string music plays in the background. This is clear romantic framing, and a marker of attraction. If Mizu was a cishet man, there would be no question that this is a potential love interest.

But then, in the same episode, we meet Taigen, who is introduced to us firstly from hearing Akemi's father describe him as "a fierce and undefeated young samurai", the "best swordsman in the best school" and "a fisherman's son from Kohama [...] whose rise reminds [him] of [his] own."

In the next scene, we meet him in person as Akemi's fiance, and he seems sweet enough. He even gives her sweets! In exchange, Akemi gives him gold, and he feels a bit ashamed that he doesn't have anything better to offer her. But Akemi accepts him and his gift wholeheartedly and flirts with him a little, which makes him smile kinda shyly.

When Akemi confirms their engagement, Taigen is in disbelief because he has no status or noble background, but Akemi reassures him.

So from these first few scenes, we're introduced to Taigen as an honourable and strong samurai, but also as a man who is sweet and gentle with the woman he is about to marry, as well as aware of his own inferiority when compared to Akemi's high station.

Our view of him then changes as his true self is revealed: he is an arrogant and smug bastard among his peers, but more importantly, he is the terrible bully from Mizu's childhood.

And it is this side of Taigen--pompous jerk and unrepentant xenophobic bully--that we continue to see as the show goes on, and it's safe to say that this is his real self, sans any pretense of humility and modesty. Around anyone who isn't an outright superior in terms of class and power (ie. Akemi's father, the shogun), Taigen never hesitates to assert his own authority and "greatness."

But as the show goes on, he gets caught by Heiji Shindo's men, and then tortured. And that's when we see, okay, turns out he's not that bad. He's honourable; "honour" is not just meaningless and superficial pedantry for him, but an internalised, guiding principle.

He was a cruel asshat throughout Mizu's childhood, but in a prejudiced and xenophobic society, he was just playing by the rules. As a child, he knew he was at the bottom of society, but when met with someone even lower ranked than him (Mizu), he can project all those prejudices and insecurities onto someone else. This way of thinking--"if you can't beat 'em, join em"--is what allowed him to climb up the ranks despite being some dirt poor kid from an abusive household*.

*Well, that combined with his cismale privilege of course, because this would not be an option for a woman in similar circumstances.

Thus, his upholding of honour also exemplifies how Taigen embodies the ideals and rules of his society. His insistence on duelling Mizu is another more blatant example of this. He doesn't want revenge like Mizu does. He wants to be accepted by society, within the bounds that society has placed, and that means that his only two options following his defeat at the Shindo dojo were to either chase Mizu down and get his damn duel, or kill himself for his humiliating defeat.

Now! Moving on from Taigen, let's go back to the other end of this little love triangle: Akemi.

Mizu and Akemi only properly meet in Ep4. During their first meeting, when Akemi tries to poison Mizu in Madame Kaji's brothel, she compliments Mizu's eyes, calling them "beautiful."

This seems to genuinely take mizu off-guard for a second before she coolly plays along. We know that Mizu recognises Akemi from the get-go, and thus sees through Akemi's ploy from a mile away. It's also safe to assume she'd expected false flattery, because Mizu understands full well that this tactic is how women get what they want: by using their 'feminine wiles' and playing up their naivety and innocence. But even so, it's interesting that Mizu actually seems surprised by Akemi's compliment.

Then, after Mizu subtly taunts Akemi by lying about Taigen's death, she and Akemi have a bit of a scuffle, and then we get to Mizu saying this:

"Women in our world don't have a single good option. Except you, like some magical forest creature. You could have anything you want, but then you beg to eat trash."

(no screenshot because it's quite a long line but you get it)

Here we see Mizu's opinions on the marginalisation of (mostly poor and under-privileged) women stated outright, and underlying her words is also resentment. Because even though she and Akemi have shared experiences of female oppression, Mizu, unlike Akemi, was also poor, from a rural village, and is a racial minority. Mizu is triply oppressed, while Akemi only faces one primary form of oppression, and to someone as embittered by the world as Mizu is, to see Akemi "beg to eat trash" is a slap in the face, practically tone-deaf to the other injustices around her--injustices which Akemi has not shown much, or any, acknowledgement for at this point.

Then, after this scene, Mizu kills Kinuyo, and this unsettles her to a degree we've never seen from her before. She is visibly distraught, and the entire sequence hammers the theme of this episode (and arguably, a large portion of the show) into our heads: women in this world suffer. And even though Mizu is well aware of this fact, to commit this act is so visceral that is shakes her to her core, and it's what ultimately leads to the ambush of the Thousand Fangs.

But before the ambush, Mizu and Akemi talk a little again, and during this time Akemi taunts Mizu some more.

Right now, Mizu is exhausted to the point where (I believe) she even downs some sake, despite not usually drinking. Thus, worn down, she cuts Akemi's ropes and tells her, "Just go." Akemi recovers from her initial fear of Mizu's blade and taunts her some more, accurately seeing through Mizu's facade of coldness, recognising the raw anger there, and says this:

"I thought you had to be something special. Your face isn't even so scary. You're just... angry."

At this, Mizu is amused and compares Akemi to Taigen ("I see why he likes you. You're just like Taigen when we were children. A fucking brat.")

The reveal that Mizu and Taigen knew each other in childhood surprises Akemi, but before either of them can say more, everything goes to shit.

That's when we get to Ep5. This episode focuses primarily on Mizu, the central piece of this love triangle, and does the most out of all the episodes to shed some light on her character and goals, fleshing her out to be more than just the vengeful, highly proficient samurai we've seen thus far (symbolised by The Ronin), but also a person who is capable of love, domesticity and gentleness (symbolised by The Bride). But in the end, Mizu rejects both these ideals, instead becoming an Onryo, who is neither guided by pride/honour, nor love.

By 'reincarnating' into an Onryo, Mizu is able to win the day and save the women in the brothel. However, as she has now fully embraced her status as an Onryo, and is exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally, she lets the Tokunobu clansmen take Akemi away while Akemi's screams echo in her ear.

Mizu says this choice is for Akemi's own good, that Akemi's better off; because Mizu is jaded and weary, and cannot afford the luxury of idealism, and thus must always be strictly practical and realistic. So of course that's why, in her view, yes, Akemi should not be wasting her time in a brothel where women are exploited and abused, nor should Akemi be so naive to think that her marriage with Taigen is even still possible. However, regardless of Mizu's views, it is not for her to decide, because though Akemi is privileged in some sense, she is still trapped and voiceless, and deserves the right to choose her own destiny.

But as it happens, in the end, though Akemi did not choose who she gets to marry, she DOES get to choose her next move when Edo burns down.

"I want to be great."

This one line is the key to her entire arc, which is only just beginning. We see she quickly has acquired the affection and good graces of the shogun's son after their wedding night and consummation, and with Madame Kaji and the girls now serving her, Akemi will only grow to become a prominent political player.

NOW, only after analysing the characters as they are within this season, only can we speculate how their arcs will continue as the show progresses.

First and foremost, I will reassert the popular opinion that Mizu and Akemi are foils. The climax (pun intended) of Ep7 illustrates this as it parallels the turning points in both Mizu's and Akemi's arcs:

Mizu melts the steel of all her loves and shames, the people she's collected: the broken blade wielded by both Chiaki and Taigen, Akemi's knife, Ringo's bell, Master Eiji's tongs - this symbolises her beginning to accept herself, and in doing so, also accepting the help of others;

Akemi consummates her marriage with Takayoshi Itoh, gains his affection, and cements her position as a woman in the shogun's palace - this symbolises her taking charge of her situation, no longer playing the damsel, but using her position to her advantage, empowering both herself and the underprivileged women around her.

These are thus two directly contrasting, diverging journeys:

Mizu's arc moves inward (yin). It is an internal path of self-love and self-discovery, focused on finding peace and tranquility inside herself, and this involves allowing herself to let others into her life, opening herself up to friendship and empathy once more.

Akemi's arc moves outward (yang), it is an external path of growth, transforming from a naive, caged princess to a powerful woman and a force to be reckoned with.

Akemi is always dressed in red, even her eyes are a bit of a reddish-brown rather than brown-black like most other characters, and in her penultimate scene she stands against a backdrop of flames. She is fire: quick-tempered, passionate, full of energy. Red is powerful, authoritative, and in eastern cultures, it is associated with prosperity.

Mizu is blue: her eyes, her sword, her clothes. She is also named after water; it's where she goes to recover, reflect and meditate. Water is fluid like a brook weaving around a stone in its path, always changing and adapting, it is graceful, it is beautiful and ruthless, tranquil yet swift.

Thus, in the future, I expect we will see plenty of political manoeuvring and intrigue in Akemi's plotline, where she fully embraces control of her life, and begins to take action to help others as well, realising that her own oppression is just one piece in a much larger picture. Her main conflict is with society.

In direct contrast, Mizu's main conflict is with herself. She must realise that her desire for vengeance is a projection of her own deep-rooted self-hatred. Her arc must move towards unpacking her feelings and trauma so she can be at peace with herself and allow space for love in her heart. Because as we saw in Ep5, Mizu had come extremely close to achieving peace and joy, as she had not only loved Mikio, but also had briefly believed that Mikio had loved her (and accepted her for who she is) as well.

Thus, assuming the story is not planned as a tragedy, Mizu will likely end up getting her vengeance, but it will not satisfy her, because it is not what she needs. What she needs is to let go of the Onryo within her and to reconcile both The Ronin and The Bride within herself, as she is both a fighter and a lover, but not a monster.

(Edit: I recommend checking out this post by @stylographic-blue-rhapsody for a much clearer analysis about Mizu'a symbolism as Ronin, Bride and Onryo!)

And now that we've mostly covered each of the characters individually, we can finally get to the main point of this post: the love triangle.

Let's talk about Option A: Akemi.

As I covered extensively earlier, Mizu and Akemi are foils, a yin-yang pair. But while they play off each other very well in a thematic sense, I personally believe that a serious romance between them will be more complicated if they become endgame. This is because Akemi's natural resolution is to embrace a position of power and influence, where she has both freedom and control over herself and to make much-needed changes in a prejudiced society. Meanwhile, Mizu's natural resolution is the opposite; her happy ending would to find a peaceful life where she is safe and free from prying eyes, and able to be her true self.

Thus, it would make very little sense for Akemi to forfeit power and run away with Mizu and start a humble life together. Akemi wants to be great, and that is absolutely what she deserves. On the other end of the spectrum, it would also make little sense for Mizu to dedicate her life in service of Akemi, such as acting as a bodyguard or something similar, because a life in a palace full of court intrigue and conspiracies is far from what Mizu needs to be happy.

With that being said, if Mizu/Akemi is endgame, and assuming their overarching character arcs do not shift directions, their love story would likely be either tragic, doomed, or bittersweet. I do absolutely love this type of story because personally I'm a sucker for catharsis, so it would be very interesting if the writers do decide to take this route.

Also, as a note, please do not take this as me dunking on this pairing. This is just my personal opinion and analysis and I completely understand if you disagree!

Then, of course, we have Option B: Taigen.

Between Akemi and Mizu, Taigen is a bit of a free-floater here, because Season 1 leaves off at a point where his arc is very ambiguous as to where it's headed. While Akemi climbs for greatness and Mizu goes on a journey across the ocean to (presumably) discover more about her heritage, we have little clues about where Taigen is headed. And if I'm being honest, I'm sure he has no idea either! He still hasn't reclaimed his honour, so he would be unable to rejoin the Shindo Dojo; he's been rejected by Akemi; and while he showed loyalty to the shogun, the shogun is now dead, and all the shogun's men who had witnessed his "humiliating" death were left to die by Lady Itoh, who is now pulling the strings within the palace.

Therefore, Taigen has very few options here.

And when considering his role in the story is as Mizu's begrudging ally, his arc will undoubtedly be focused on unlearning his xenophobia and misogyny, the latter of which we have not seen yet, but is surely present. Now, whether he will do this in Mizu's presence or absence will be unknown until we see Season 2. Following the Season 1 finale, he might return to Kohama and wait for Mizu there as he learns humility and remorse over his past cruelty; or maybe he will follow Mizu to London, and the two of them will continue to butt heads until he finally admits to himself that he cares for Mizu more than he would like to admit. There is no room for doubt that his growing feelings for Mizu are more-than-platonic, because we all saw him get turned on by sparring with her in Ep7 lol. Thus, regardless of the exact choice he makes, I am sure that his overall arc will be focused on redeeming his character.

Now, when it comes go redeeming him, I know there are many who simply don't want him redeemed because he was such a jerk to Mizu, and while yes I agree he was awful, I do believe there is also nuance to his character.

Previously I've discussed in great detail the colour and elemental symbolism with Mizu and Akemi, but have yet to touch on how they relate to Taigen. So, let's talk about that for a second.

While Akemi is red and Mizu is blue, Taigen is green.

Green is a complementary colour to Akemi's red. Complementary colours are directly opposite each other in the colour wheel; when mixed, they neutralise each other, but when put side-by-side, they form a pleasing and impactful contrast that boosts the brightness and prominence of both colours. This mirrors Taigen and Akemi's relationship. They are an "ideal" pair because they complement each other very well, and bring out each other's most prominent traits. Mizu's comment about their similar "brattiness" comes to mind here.

Green is also an analogous colour with Mizu's blue. These colours are sitting right next to each other on the colour wheel; their natural similarity makes it easy for them to form a cohesive overall appearance, but using both in equal amounts will make a design overwhelming and too busy. Thus, the best way to use analogous colours is to make one the dominant colour, while the other will serve as an accent. I feel this also speaks to the dynamic in Taigen and Mizu's relationship. They came from the space place, both from nothing; they're both strong fighters who love the sport, and work well together when fighting side-by-side; however, they butt heads too easily, mirroring how analogous colours can be too overwhelming when used in equal amounts. Thus, to work together in harmony, one has to be the dominant colour, while the other serves as the accent. In this case, the dominant force would be Mizu, as she is the protagonist of the story, while the accent would be Taigen.

By fulfilling this role as an "accent" to Mizu, Taigen's character would easily be slotted in as a the love interest. This is in contrast with a Mizu/Akemi relationship, whereby Akemi is Mizu's foil before she is Mizu's love interest. This is because, by being a love interest, a character usually takes a backseat in the story, serving the plot and the themes by playing a purely supportive role, and this is not possible in Akemi's case because her character exists to parallel and contrast Mizu (red and blue), and not to support her.

It is possible to serve as a supporting love interest in Taigen's case however. And this is because he, unlike the other characters, does not currently have a definitive place within the story. He initially served the plot as an antagonistic force, but now as he is slowly unlearning his prejudices and becoming a better person, he can no longer serve the story by acting purely as a rival.

Instead, he will serve the story by literally supporting Mizu. And this relates to Taigen being earth, which is steady, firm and reliable, unwavering in loyalty and principles, hardworking and rooted in stability, which is seen in Taigen's staunch and inflexible obedience to the traditions and rules of society. These traits are what make him a perfect samurai, but not a good man. However, unlike most people in their world, Taigen is still capable of change and redemption, which is why Mizu says that he has the potential to be great. Not great by way of power or glory, but great in character. Already, he is honourable to a fault, and does not betray Mizu even after she technically robbed him of everything he was striving towards. And when he was shot by an arrow in the chasm, he did not hesitate a second to tell Mizu to use him as a human shield and save herself.

The trigger for his redemption is Mizu. If she had never beat him in that duel, Taigen would live on to become a man like Akemi's father. Cruel, power-hungry, controlling, conservative. But through Mizu, Taigen's sharp edges are ground down, much like water that wears down the stones in a river.

Where Mizu and Akemi's possible love story would be a clash of wills, full of passion and even heartbreak, a possible love story between Mizu and Taigen would be the wearing down of souls. Mizu would make Taigen a better person, and in turn Taigen would dedicate his full respect and support to Mizu as his equal, thus getting her to slowly open up and love herself. Already, Taigen has grown enough to admit (begrudgingly, and in his own Taigen way) that Mizu is better than him; though, clearly, he still has a long way to go, as he still calls Mizu a demon shortly after that.

But basically, Taigen is a very simple man (his main goal now is "to be happy"), and Mizu has great depths that he cannot yet fathom. For this love story to work, it has to begin with Taigen changing for the better. If he succeeds in that, and is able to accept Mizu for all her complexities, I believe that they will make a formidable pair. And though he'd likely still throw a jab or snarky remark at Mizu every now and then, I think he'd come tl wholeheartedly admire Mizu as a brilliant swordsman and a kind soul. Thus, should things work out and this be endgame, Taigen would be able to provide Mizu with what Mikio could not: an idyllic life that is not built on a lie, but mutual trust, respect, admiration, and equality.

Or hey, maybe they could both make their own dojo together! I don't know.

(Edit: This post by @rinandsketches does a great job at delving into Taigen's character and a potential Mizu/Taigen relationship if you'd like to read more about this angle!)

Now, as I move on from Taigen, there are a couple more options on how to resolve this love triangle and that includes Option C: Ringo.

In this option, Mizu does not have an endgame romance with either Akemi or Taigen. In this route, she finds peace and love through friendship, solidarity, and a found family between herself, Ringo and Master Eiji—a bunch of outcasts in society who make a strong trifecta of sword-makers.

Also, as an aside while I'm talking about Ringo, I'd like to point out that I believe his element is air and his colour is a neutral grey; he is talkative, easy-going, wise, curious, light on his feet (stealthy) and free-spirited, which are all traits linked to air, and traits that complement Mizu nicely, as he is capable of getting Mizu to open up and trust others again, while Mizu helps him reach his true potential for greatness.

And finally, there's Option D: Polyamory.

This is basically an "all of the above" option, in which everyone wins and it's a super duper happy ending. It would also be awesome to get some polyamorous representation, and seeing the dynamic between Akemi/Mizu/Taigen play out would be very entertaining and refreshing. So, you never know, this just might be the true endgame!

AAAAND with that, I close my extremely long analysis of what is essentially Mizu's love life. Whatever the final outcome of this love triangle though, I just hope it will be well-written and satisfying to all the characters' respective arcs. (Also I just want Mizu to be HAPPY goddamn it because she deserves the world and her coochie eaten out)

Now, I highly doubt anyone will read any of this (especially not until the end!) but that's fine. I just have so many thoughts and feelings about this show and I just needed to get this out of my system lol! But if by some miracle you did read this far, I wholeheartedly welcome any sharing of thoughts and ideas because man am I obsessed with this show! But of course, if we have an opposing opinions, please be respectful when letting me know; I am very open to friendly discussions.

#blue eye samurai #mizu x taigen #mizu x akemi #mizu blue eye samurai #mizu x akemi x taigen #blue eye samurai meta #also if you ask me PERSONALLY. based on my own analysis which you can read above. personally i'm placing my bets on option b (mizutaigen)#and this is simply bcs i think mizu deserves nice things and that includes getting dicked down and pampered and worshipped #whoops who said that #also mizu deserves to live a life where she can hand taigen's ass to him on a daily basis. ykwim.#BUT i am def open to a change of opinion regarding the mizuakemi rship as the story progresses #i just dont want the writers to reduce akemi into nothing but a love interest for mizu #the only way i can see a happy mizuakemi endgame scenario is if blue eye samurai becomes purely an angsty romance story #in which case then yes i fully endorse the akemi ending <3 #but that would probs require a whole genre overhaul? bcs currently the show is firstly an action-epic where the romance is just a subplot #but even tho i dont reeeeally want a mizuakemi endgame i still DEF want mizu & akemi to be romantically and/or sexually involved plsss <3 #like they cant have that slow-mo shot between the two of them as their first encounter and NOT DO ANYTHING W IT!!!#also i want mizu to be at LEAST a little sapphic plsplspls #shut up haydar #meta dissertations.pdf #haydar's fandom posts #i wrote this whole thing while delirious and covid positive

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thehopelessromanticclub · 10 months

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WONWOO FIC RECS I

💋- smut // 💗-fluff //🥀-angst //💌-personal favourite

Series

introduce me a good person - @taeyegu (friends to lovers au) 💗🥀

“if there is a nice person, please introduce him to me. sometimes like water, sometimes like fire. someone who can love me sincerely. i hope he is someone who is mature and faithful…”

I found love in your smile - @wonlouvre (royalty au, arranged marriage au)💗🥀

The shattered camera - @puppetwritings( celebrity au, paparazzi au)💗🥀

Wonwoo already had enough on his plate as it is—proving his parents wrong, making a living, fighting his just conscience—and with you in the picture, nothing could possibly go more wrong. Or could you be his ticket to the good life that he wanted?

Drabbles/one-shots

Healing hues - @thedensworld (Slowburn, friendship au) 💗🥀

Exhausted by the monotony of his life as a celebrity, Wonwoo makes a pivotal decision to return to his childhood hometown and embark on a heartwarming project: building a small library named 'Healing Hues.' Little does he know, this journey will lead to a series of unexpected and transformative events.

Ruminations - @waldau 💗💌

[08:41 pm] - @jjuniehao💗💌

Deluxe version - @darl-ings💗🥀💌

in which you and Wonwoo spend some alone time together.

Bedtime routine - @yikesmary 💗💌

where you loved times like these with your boyfriend, Wonwoo.

Two umbrellas - @hanniology💗💌🥀

Wonwoo doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but you do after meeting him.

Flustered - @waldau💗💌

Take a chance - @wonwoonlight💗💌

and they were newlyweds - @viastro 💗💌

in which Wonwoo builds the Ikea couch, but something... doesn’t look right.

conclusion number three - @wonwoonlight💗💌

you have a hypothesis you'd like to prove. a/n- this one was sooo Wonwoo-coded

The regular - @trblsvt (bakery au, college au) 💗

Wonwoo couldn't really recommend anything at the bakery he worked at, he couldn't even handle going in a couple days a week. that is until he found his new favorite customer.

Chocolate rum cookies - @wonwoonlight (non-idol au, friends to lovers au) 💗

Play again - @shuarush💗💌

after ten years of not seeing your high school crush you find yourself partnered with him at the company you work for. Since you've been rejected before, you try your best to not let any feelings flourish, but Jeon Wonwoo's charms make that attempt especially hard for you. a/n - totally an all-time favorite.

first kiss with seventeen: wonwoo - @etherealyoungk💗💌

"stay there. i'm coming to get you." - @dokyeomin💗💌

wedding weekends with wonwoo - @suhnshinehaos (fake dating, non-idol au)💗🥀

jeon wonwoo, the perfect man. kind, smart, successful career, and not too bad on the eyes. all his friends are getting married and everyone’s aunts, mothers, and family friends are trying to set him up with their friends, sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews at every wedding he attends. he’s tired of it. what better way to solve his problem than to employ your help, someone who’s having the exact same one?

Thank you authors for all your amazing works.🤩

If there are any fics that anyone would like to recommend feel free to do so🤗😁.

( also the dividers were from @cafekitsune and @baexywth. they have really cool dividers. do check them out.)

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kaybreezy3000 · 3 months

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Do you think the injured girl next to Ben is Jennifer like everyone else thinks? I am kinda indecisive because it's no flashback and she's obviously with Sparrow!Ben. It would be kinda boring that he met Umbrellas!Ben Jennifer in another timeline.

Okay, hold on because this one is going to blow your minds. Jk but I am going to lay down some crazy stuff.

Writers aren't supposed to throw characters in for no reason, so if I had to say, I would say that the women in the trailer, lying next to Ben on the floor, is the 'Jennifer' person that they are all referring to with the Jennifer Incident.

I don't think it's a flashback either, but I do think it's possible that it's Ben back in time with her via the subway time travel/Televator or whatever it is. I also think it is this Ben now, meaning the Sparrow's Ben.

There is nothing in this shot other than Ben's clothes that tell me it's the now Sparrow Ben, but I think that's enough to confirm that. Then as far as where they are and when, I am just guessing that it's the past because that's when she died or that's a least what they lead us to believe. That may have been intentional though, and this could be now, in this new timeline, and Jennifer always died here, and Umbrella Ben was a part of it. 🤯 I know that sounds nuts, but I'll explain why I say this, but first, back to the picture and the person you are talking about from the trailer.

The floor in this shot is cool, but I have no idea where it is. It does look like something from the Hotel Oblivion, as in the same style of art deco flooring it had, and that is very interesting, but I am not saying it's there, only it resembles it which means it could be in one of Reginald's other buildings in this new timeline. It appears he own many.

We need to ask: Are they somewhere at the moment when this Jennifer died the first time, or maybe when the original Ben died?? Or both???

Now this Ben is there with her, taking the place of the original Ben in some kind of timeline melding anomaly?

Maybe...

The key with all this is, they never said how original Ben died, and now in the new trailer, Five is asking his siblings if any of the even remember how their brother and they all look like they have no clue.

Huge stuff with that.

Why is that though?

Did Allison come into play again and have to Rumor all of them in to forgetting per Reginald's request? Can she Rumor herself though, because she didn't remember either? Did she Rumor Reginald too? Why? Or why else don't they remember?????? If they remembered, would they do something other than what they were meant to do, as if fucking up on a grand scale over and over and suffering big time, and if they didn't do that, then the end wouldn't happen in a way that they all survive?

Holy Shit, right????!!!

If this is so, who is driving this whole thing???? 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 I like to think it's Five, but I am only going there a tiny bit with his part in all this in this post. 😏

I think all this stuff is big. If I had to guess, I think the first time Umbrella Ben died, something went bonkers with all time itself and ever since, it's been on the verge of failure. This also goes back to Reginald knowing this would happen, but I don't think he knew exactly how, which is why even he can't seem to prevent it or remember any of this stuff.

We know that this time, it's all going to come down to Ben. He is the one that is going to cause the end of the world in 24 hours. We know that something is wrong with him. Look, he looks like he is slowly burning from the inside-out-that or he's got one hell of a nasty rash. JK

If you look at the woman on the floor with him, she sort of looks like she's having the same problem.

As she's laying there looking back at him while on fire, she looks extremely similar to Sparrow Ben's haunting sketch that was up in his room the last season.

I didn't think much of that when I watched it in season 3 but now, I think it's just too similar to ignore. I think it's her and I think Sparrow Ben was feeling some kind of connection to her, or like a memory, or something, and he was trying to work through these horrible images that must have been creeping into his mind for years.

Sparrow Ben was in a timeline that shouldn't have existed, so I am thinking there are faults in that timeline too, sort of like little rips that let things through that shouldn't be-like a past he'd lived before, one that only he was getting tormented by because he's the one that it's all about and he has a special connection to it that they don't via the portal inside him.

Ben thinks the thing inside him is the real monster they need to fear, but I am thinking it's the portal it comes from that's the real danger.

Then, back to all these Ben's out there. There was this one in the teaser at the end of season 3...

Which fancy looking Ben is this on the train, and when? I think it's really Ben at the end of all of this and he is alive and well-I love this idea so let me have it please. 😄 I need all of them to live. 🙏

It's hard to think it's the present Sparrow Ben on the train because that poor guy seems to have gotten himself locked up and just got out, and now he isn't looking so hot in this season's trailer in any of the shots they gave us.

example: it seems that Ben is having a smelly situation here-not cool, man. That's Luther's thing. 😄

When it all comes down to it, I think all the Ben's are going to collide in a way none of the other Hargreeves could with their own other selfs. All the Ben's have this crazy monster portal in them, so I think they are all connected by it, dead or alive.

I am also going to make another big speculative leap and say Jennifer, or this woman on the floor burning, is Ben's real mom. I totally could be wrong on that, but it makes more sense to me than her being one of the other 43 superpowered children, or some random chick he happens to be tied to for a love interest type of thing.

This is where I know that I am going to go way off the rails and for sure be wrong, but I'll give you some of my thoughts on the reason for all this anyway.

I am going to say that the reason stuff is falling apart again is in part because Reginald didn't get to reset the time completely thanks to Allison chopping his head off, but as I hinted at already, that was always supposed to happen-all this was. Now we have all sorts of stuff being found that should be there like Allison's old movies and pictures and clippings of the Umbrella Academy kids.

The other big reason this is all falling to shit again is because again, it always was supposed to, just as The Handler said. 🤯🤯🤯🤯

YO! Did Five tell her that all along?

Five did maybe found the Commission....

He also may have designed the briefcases.

He may have invented the Infinite Switch Board-which can 'see' or predict inconsistencies in the timeline that may or may not drive it off course and lead to a catastrophic end!!!!!!!

Back on Five again, sorry. 🤣

Reginal knew the end was coming too. And maybe a different version of Five knows this too and that is going to be the real shocker at the end of this. He's the 'time' guy in all this, so it's highly likely he's going to come into the finale reveals in a big-time way. There are just too many plot holes with his character that these ideas help fill.

I am going to say that 'the final end to the beginning' is because she (Jennifer), having given birth to Ben, also has something very dangerous inside her. Maybe she's not as good at keeping the monster inside contained as her son was???

I am not saying all their moms have bits of their powers but...

Just think about it...

Ben is a very special little baby that was magically conceived by way of sparkling marigold dust. He has a portal to another dimension inside of him that is home to 'The Horror,' and maybe even other horrible beasties, and who knows what else. In those very short seconds his mother had him inside her, that thing was inside her too.

What if even after Reginald came and made her give Ben up, (which she didn't seem to want to do at all), the portal was left open in her, with something inside just waiting to break free?

What I am trying to lay down is, she's connected to Ben through this realm of monsters that they both hold the gate to. They are connected this way through all time and space, but something is very wrong with this and always was.

Now they are both burning, and soon, the whole world will burn again too.

The only way to fix this is to go back to Ben and this woman, Jennifer or his mom or whoever she is. The team with Reginald's help needs to save them to save the world from being taken apart by the thing inside him unleashing it's wrath??? Maybe...?

Maybe there are those out there that want this to happen? Other Aliens, from Reginald's planet or another planet? Maybe they want the thing inside Ben to destroy the world and remove all the people, so they can take it?-like they did with Reginald's planet? This would be the true bad guy that I am talking about, meaning Reginald isn't really the bad guy in this story and neither was AJ Carmichael or even The Handler. The were just cogs in the wheel that had to turn.

What if it also goes back to the Marigold---To Reginald and his planet and everything he loved being destroyed? What if the Marigold was one of his or one of his people's creations-something that was supposed to save them, but Reginald was too late and sent this ethereal dusting of power to Earth to give them all a second chance?

What if something bad tagged along and found it's chance to reign supreme again by laying wait inside of Ben Or Jennifer?

I believe the show said something like this going down with Reggie and the demise of his planet, that stuff about bad things trying to take over and him trying to stop them but not being able, or maybe I made it up in my first TUA fanfic series, (🤪) but either way it really could be the thing that is driving all this something bad out there thing.

They think their power are good and they are, but maybe it's not exactly what it seems. It's morphing in all of them, getting stronger in some and not in a good way? Mainly in Ben.

Inside of him, in this portal, a strength like no other is about to implode? Or something they never wanted to follow them to Earth, something tagged along within its magic is about to come out through Ben and or Jennifer or both?

To win, they need to figure out how to harness the possibilities inside all of them and stomp it into submission, once and for all...

There.

That's it.

Super wordy as always, full of almost no real answers for you on how exactly the Hargreeves will beat this thing, but also full of tons of my silly brain babies that usually lead to nothing. Lucky you, you asked, and you got more of ramblings. 😁

Please feel welcome to punch holes in this stuff, that's what its all about and it's fun to try to guess the end. Talk me up, or chat with others in the comments section, or even go big and let me know your thoughts via my private message option. If you do it though the ask as an anon, I don't always reply if it doesn't seem like a question. I want to chat more to those types of asks but others probably don't want to hear our musings going on and on. 😉

#ben hargreeves #the jennifer incident #the umbrella academy #tua speculation #anon ask #tua spoilers #tua s4 speculation #tua #tua season 4 #tua season four #tua fandom #tua s4 #tua s4 spoilers #tua s4 trailer #tua theories #kaybreezy-on-a03

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phantomantz · 3 months

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okay i put together some things from the trailer i found interesting and my brief thoughts, starting with:

Ben! I LOVE this shot, not only is it very aesthetically pleasing but I love how they put ben in between a red and blue gas pump, possibly symbolizing his involvement in both the sparrow academy and the umbrella academy.

im guessing this is jennifer. interesting that she has the same glowing red stuff as ben. i have tons of different theories but they're too long to get into rn. i wonder if shes one of the marigold kids though...

i don't have anything serious to say about this one I just think its hilarious klaus is wearing sweater vests now

okay so it looks like allison can knock people back with her voice now? i cant tell who it is shes fighting, but it looks like they're in the place klaus holds his seances. that shirt in the back also looks like one klaus was wearing in one of the scenes. also funny how they keep giving everyone telekinesis but klaus 😭

more possession??? reminds me of that scene from the comics...

also looks like luther can take bullets to the back now. good for him

LILA WITH LASER EYES YAYYY! so they'd have to encounter someone with that power right??

lila and five jumping away from a fire ball. the only character we've seen so far that has a firey looking power is viktor. hmmm

aaand the last scene from the trailer. honestly have no idea who this could be but the bigger hand looks like its wearing a glove? my first thought was luther but it could be anyone.

anyway, thats all i got for now. lmk you guys' theories/thoughts!

#tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #tua s4 #klaus hargreeves #viktor hargreeves #five hargreeves #luther hargreeves #allison hargreeves #reginald hargreeves #diego hargreeves #lila pitts

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aclowntiny · 1 year

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Things Seventeen Do That Make Your Heart Flutter

I love these but also like when can I get a Seventeen *cries*

S.Coups

♡ Takes his voice a couple octaves lower to murmur sweet nothings between kisses

♡ Sits behind you with an arm wrapped across you protectively

♡ Texts you to make sure you got home safe if you ever go out late, have something scheduled in the evening, or go somewhere unfamiliar

♡ Moves your hair &/or shirt out of the way to press kisses to your shoulders

♡ Rolls up his sleeves slowly but firmly, looking genuinely a bit surprised that you're watching so intently

Jeonghan

♡ Calls you adorable with the fondest smile directed only at you

♡ Raises your joined hands up to his lips to press a kiss to the back of your hand

♡ Pulls you into bed with him, hands going to your hair as soon as you fall onto his chest

♡ Boops your nose, plays with your cheeks & nuzzles into them

♡ Teasingly swipes his tongue over your lips when you're kissing just to see what you do

Joshua

♡ Tells you this next song is for you as he takes his guitar pick from between his teeth, beginning a new melody

♡ Listens to you & makes eye contact so intently, a tornado could pass by behind you & he wouldn't even notice

♡ Holds the umbrella for you & kisses you in the rain like it's a movie scene

♡ His hands always gently rub your back when he hugs you

♡ Kisses your hand, then slowly takes his time all the way up your arm to your cheeks & finally your lips

Jun

♡ Tells you he just can't resist you, you know

♡ Pretends to bite you, every now & again very lightly actually giving the side of your face a joking bite

♡ When you're done laying down, takes both of your hands & swings you back up, making you feel like for just a second, you're flying

♡ Hypes you up constantly, telling you you're the most beautiful person ever in the whole world, actually

♡ Twirls you around the room when you're dancing just so he can admire you before reeling you in once more, your back against his chest as you move & sway as one

Hoshi

♡ Notices if you ever wear different perfume, leaning in & practically nuzzling your neck to get a sniff after he points it out

♡ Gives you the occasional little nip between kisses

♡ Holds you on his lap with both hands around your middle, resting his head on your shoulder with a huge smile as he lightly sways you

♡ When you're sitting at a table together, his foot finds your leg, hooking it & trying to pull you closer, giving a giggle or a smirk depending on how far he manages to pull you

♡ Finds excuses to slide his hands over your body as you two dance

Wonwoo

♡ Chuckles deeply & fondly when you start showing him affection

♡ Links your arms together when you share a book, pulling the pages a bit closer to his vision & you to his body

♡ Takes you to the most beautiful places, but his eyes hardly fall on the view because they won't leave you

♡ Tells everyone else to be quiet when you're speaking & considers your opinion first

♡ Gently lowers you into bed with a hand at the small of your back

Woozi

♡ Leans in & bites the tip of his pen softly as he listens to you intently

♡ Gently pulls your head onto his shoulder when you sit next to each other, his fingers ever-so-slightly running through your hair

♡ Lets you try his Seventeen ring on, smiling so widely if it fits you, too

♡ Always lets you play your favorite songs, even if he doesn't particularly like them

♡ Can't wait to spend time in private with you, because it's during the moments between only you two that he gives you the most passionate kisses

♡ Sings you love songs, then bursts out into a wide, shy smile afterward

♡ Grabs your hands in his & makes you clap for both him & yourself depending on the situation

♡ Accepts any excuse to tell you xyz quality, situation, skill, or anything really is why he loves you

♡ Does love shots when you guys have drinks or even with your spoons in hand if you have ice cream

♡ Can't give you just one kiss, you'll get a ton of pecks before getting pulled into a more passionate one

Mingyu

♡ Caresses your cheek with the back of his hand

♡ Grins as he flexes & lets you hang off his arm, feeling so cool & looking just as confident

♡ Spends a whole day just to learn how to make your favorite dish with you at his side

♡ His eyes light up when you show him a new outfit you got, gaze drifting over all of it as he smiles Bigger & bigger, telling you how amazing you look in a wonder-filled tone

♡ Turns to steal a kiss on the lips when you lean in to press one to his cheek

The8

♡ Tells you he'd really like to kiss you- may he?

♡ Manages to take the most flattering pictures of you & when you comment such he remarks that that beauty is how he always sees you no matter what

♡ Lays his hands over yours to guide them as you paint a picture together

♡ Presses kisses to the shell of your ear when he looks over your shoulder

♡ Traces patterns on your back as you lay together

Seungkwan

♡ Remembers your drink order & surprises you with it as often as he can

♡ Absolutely melts into your kisses every single time, whether it's the first or the twentieth, his face breaking into the most precious smile

♡ Back hugs you, placing his hands over yours & resting his head in the crook of your neck

♡ Almost always holds your face in both hands when he kisses you, pulling you in so gently & taking his time as his lips move with yours

♡ Reminds you almost daily how much better this world is because it has you in it

Vernon

♡ Idly holds the strings of his hoodie between his lips

♡ Lets his hand slide down your jawline after he places his headphones on your head, pulling you in for a lazy kiss

♡ Reminds you that you can tell him anything, you know, expression solemn yet deeply loving

♡ Even if you're sitting at a table, he'll find a way to brush your knee with his

♡ Really casually will just tell you that you have really beautiful eyes, you know

Dino

♡ Holds your waist & guides you as he teaches you a new dance move

♡ Believes you can do anything, almost completely blind to obstacles as he expresses complete confidence in your ability to carry out your dreams & desires & show your skills anywhere

♡ Pulls up his shirt to wipe sweat off his forehead

♡ Whispers little jokes to you just to make you laugh & see your smile as you fall a little closer into him

♡ Surprises you with kisses at the most random times to keep you on your toes, giving a great big grin at your expression thereafter

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sublimeinal-messages · 4 months

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youtube

OKAY OKAY SO THE TRAILER’s DROPPED AND WHILE IM SO BEYOND PSYCHED TO SEE EVERYONE I HAVE SOME OBSERVATIONS. (With pictures). Apologies for the long post lol

First off:

Powers confirmed coming back for everyone!

Five is teleporting, Viktor’s powered up, Ben’s got the horror, Luther has his muscles again

Speaking of Luther, he seems to be all over the place. In some shots he has his muscles, in some he doesn’t, in one shot he’s donning spacegear, another he’s in a ballpit, and they even make him sit in the back of the van for old time’s sake

No Sloane tho?? No sparrows at all as far as I can tell :| idk how to feel about that

Another little detail I noticed was when they all pile in the van together, Lila calls shotgun and is promptly shoved aside by Five out of sheer pettiness. And then she has to sit in the middle

They seem to have a bonding moment in the subway with Lila sobbing as Five holds onto her, which I’m very curious about (and scared)

Diego’s shown at a birthday party taking care of a little girl!! With braids! Possibly their daughter? Talk of a rescue mission makes me think their daughter might be kidnapped

Allison shown with a kid also has me thinking Claire returns which makes me so happy

Allison also doesn’t seem to be shot in a villainous or shunned light, so it looks like this season isn’t intent on bashing her (yet. As far as I can see, which honestly thank goodness…)

The dark circles under Ben’s eyes worry me, almost as much as the shot of him in prison(?) and him seemingly being out of sync with the others. Is this Sparrow Ben perhaps? Does it have anything to do with the possibility of there being another Ben? (Maybe he’s accused of identity theft?)

There’s also Another Tentacle in the promo image shared yesterday which I noticed. Maybe a second horror?

I thought maybe it had something to do with Jennifer since there’s been an actor hired for a character with that name, but now I wonder with the two Bens situation…

Reginald might have his Umbrella academy in the woods again? aligning with the comics. Unless this is someone else’s house. But the windows and white brick match.

Really curious how the academy has been rebranded in this universe to be a house for boys. Six, specifically. Seeing as how Allison is the only umbrella-born girl, it’s interesting to see how this universe has shifted to accommodate them all

Viktor might be a bartender?? The area looked familiar but it could just be my eyes. But apart from his Direct Interview with Reginald, (oooh scary) he seems to get in a physical fight with someone. Which is a new approach for him as a characater

Forgive my shitty captures but if it’s not Luther, diego, klaus or five I’m guessing it must be Ben?? But it’s hard to say, but he sure is going at it tho

Who are the square dancers??? My heart wants it to be jayme and Alphonso but the people here look older to me, so it could be Nick Offerman and Megan Mullalley.

Actually upon inspection the fuzzy square dancer has a matching beard pattern to Nick offerman Exactly. So that’s absolutely him.

Klaus really seems to be struggling again, and has those plastic gloves in almost every shot I see. Him dressing dark and drab also says something about his state of mind as well as the panic attack he seems to have :( but at least they’re all back together 🥲

Looks like they also seem to celebrate Christmas together? And a birthday. Honestly I’m just so happy to see them together for events like this I love these dysfunctional dorks so much

There’s so many more things I’m sure I missed and I’ll be rewatching this a few more times until the season drops (three months!!) but in the wise words of Diego: Let’s Fucking GOOOOOOOO I’m so excited for this. HELL YEAH, THE UMBRELLAS BACK TOGETHER AGAIN BAYBEEE

#tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #tua s4 #tua s4 spoilers #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #viktor hargreeves #lila pitts #ok no more tagging I’m just #psyched #lol #WERE SO BACK #long post

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soleminisanction · 12 days

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Putting together that list for the death of Superman introduced me to something I'd never heard of before, and now I need to do a write-up about it because it's just so 90s it makes me smile.

Picture this: it's 1993. Over in Japan, Sailor Moon has spent a little over a year rocketing up the charts as a full blown cultural phenomenon that won't slow down any time soon, and western companies want in. Only one company's going to score the license, however, and their first attempt at a localized adaptation (not a dub) was still a year away.

So what's everyone else to do? Make their own pretty fighting princess cartoons to merchandise, of course. And Mattel's first plan was to rope in DC Comics, since they already had the perfect superhero princess on hand.

Not Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld -- who, honestly, would've been an amazing fit for this in retrospect -- no no. Their plan: turn Wonder Woman into Sailor Moon.

Thus: Wonder Woman and the Star Riders.

I love how you can tell those designs were made for dolls because, just like the original She-Ra, they're about 50% hair.

Two of the other characters in this line-up are also adaptations of DC superheroines: Ice (in white/pink) and Dolphin (in blue) respectively. The other two characters, Solara (in yellow) and Star Lily (the token Black) were created for the series, though apparently Star Lily would go on to inspire a kid from the WW Rebirth comics named Star Blossom, so that's cute.

There was supposed to be a line of toys and a cartoon for this franchise, but the only thing that was ever completed was this one little 14-page comic released through a cross-promotion with Kellogg's Cinnamon Mini Buns cereal.

NGL, I find the silly little thing deeply amusing because it's just. So 90s, and so obviously written to sell toys. Like how it's set mostly in this "magical palace" mostly made up of big open rooms with like, one piece of furniture each (so you can more easily move to dolls around). Or how despite being called "the Star Riders" there's exactly two differently-colored pegasus-unicorns, one pink for Wonder Woman and one white for Dolphin, because they're presumably the most expensive dolls and parents will only be willing to spend so much money.

The villain, Purrisa, feels like they came at her from the angle of Magical Girl Catwoman. She gets to ride on a flying cowardly panther and wants to steal the heroines' magical macguffin gems because that's what the plot tended to be in these early 90s Sailor Moon rip-offs (including Sabon Moon, come to think of it).

It's interesting to see this rough approximation of early 90s girly comic art try to replicate the signature sparkles & laser beams style fighting of a magic girl battle show though.

And of course they give Diana a magic wand with a star on it. At least, I think that's what that is? The bottom kinda looks like an umbrella. Maybe she's supposed to be throwing something.

She still has the lasso. I mostly want to share this page because it's the best shots we get of Sailor Diana with the massive cape and even more massive hair. Not to mention the pink bracelets and Star Sapphire belt.

NGL, I kinda wish they would've made that doll.

So yeah, that's Wonder Woman and the Star Riders: goofy, fluffy, never got off the ground, with its toy designs mostly repurposed into something called Tenko and the Guardians of Magic. But still I think a very entertaining little time capsule.

#wonder woman #ice #dolphin #dc comics #early 90s cartoons #made me smile #i wonder how many times cheesy superheros have used that cat-astrophe line #between catwoman black cat and cheetah I bet it's a lot #the art on this is especially bad but in kind of an entertaining way #can't help but notice the token black girl is the only one who didn't get a chance to do anything #so nice that she wound up being the inspiration for a modern character later

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iwriteasfotini · 7 days

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September Full Moony Excerpt

I am so excited to share this story with everyone. Waiting is SO hard. In celebration of the full moon tonight, here is a subtextual Wolfstar moment from The Bonds of Friendship, Chapter II - A Trip to Diagon Alley. Read it and then tell me you couldn't picture it perfectly in your imagination. :-P

James and Sirius have spent the summer together and are in Diagon Alley doing their school shopping.

[James and Sirius] ordered the ‘giant’ sized bowls, which allowed them to choose five different flavors of ice cream and three toppings apiece. Sitting under a colorful umbrella outside the shop, they watched the bustle of shoppers, and searched for their other two best friends.

James spotted Peter first, accompanied by his mum.

“Pete!” James called, waving energetically. Peter beamed and hurried over. James wrapped him in a hug and Sirius also stood to hug Peter across the bench seat.

“Blimey, those are the biggest bowls I’ve ever seen,” said Peter, eyeing their ice creams, which were about halfway finished.

“Here, sit down, and you can have some of mine,” James offered.

Peter looked to his mum for permission, and she said, “oh go on Peety, I’ll go shop for you. Just stay in this general area.”

The three boys smiled widely at her and Peter took a seat, digging into James’ ice cream with gusto.

“Why did you have to get chopped nuts?” asked Peter, chewing thoughtfully.

“Because I like chopped nuts, and I wasn’t choosing with you in mind.”

Peter shrugged, and picked around the remaining nut pieces.

It wasn’t long before a head of tousled light brown hair caught James’ eye, and his eyebrows shot up as Remus and his mother came fully into view. Remus had grown. A lot. He had already been as tall as his mother last term, and now he was half a head above her.

Sirius nearly upset their table in his haste to rush out onto the cobbled street, shouting, “Remus!”

“Where’s the fire,” scoffed Peter.

But James was right behind Sirius, and he wrapped his arms around both Sirius and Remus in a tight embrace.

When they broke apart, Remus’ mum looked quite pleased.

“Mam,” said Remus, “this is James, and Sirius.” Pointing at each of them.

“Peter’s over there as well,” James said, Peter gave a wave when all heads turned in his direction.

“Alright. It’s so nice to finally meet you all, Remus talks about you so much at home. I am grateful he has such good friends at Hogwarts.” Remus’ mother smiled kindly at them.

“Oh and this is my mam, Hope,” Remus said quickly.

“Nice to meet you Hope,” Sirius stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek. James and Remus exchanged an amused glance.

“Oh, there’s lovely Sirius.” Hope was blushing and seemed rather taken aback.

“Is that a pureblood thing?” Remus asked bluntly. “Or are you desperate to get in my mam’s good graces?”

James reached over and smacked Remus on the back of the head. It was actually over and up, because yes, Remus actually was that much taller than him now. Remus retaliated in kind, while Sirius looked a bit sheepish, and Hope suddenly had to dig something out of her handbag.

“Look,” said James, breaking the awkwardness, “we were just finishing up some ice cream, care to join us Remus?”

“Er, I need to shop with my mam, she’s not used to wizard money and shops.”

“Of course.” James internally chastised himself for forgetting Mrs Lupin, Hope, was a muggle.

“Meet us when you are done?” suggested Sirius.

“Tidy.”

“We might poke around the shops, but we won’t go far,” James said.

Remus and his mother left to shop, while James and Sirius returned to their table to find Peter had finished off both of their ice cream bowls.

“Hey! I didn’t offer you any of mine,” Sirius objected.

“Whoops, sorry,” said Peter. “We can go to Sweet Fangs, I’ll buy.”

So they headed off to the sweet shop across the way.

…

Find out more about this series in my pinned post.

Ahhh, the anticipation is killing me! It’s like waiting for Christmas Eve, my favorite day of the year. I post a writing update every week. This excerpt is from the third installment titled The Bonds of Friendship which will begin daily posting on AO3 on February 14.

#marauders #fanfic #marauders era #sirius black #harry potter #remus lupin #our love is written in the stars #wolfstar #sirius black loves remus lupin #sirius x remus #third years #peter pettigrew #hope lupin #where's the fire #dead gay wizards from the 70s #james potter

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shelyue99 · 3 months

Text

BoB behind the scene trivia from the 20th anniversary symposium

There is a big difference between those who went to the bootcamp and those who didn’t. Those did already forged a bond and the replacement felt they had to prove themselves to be accepted.

Robin(Babe)’s treatment was different than other replacements because Babe and Bill are friends and Frank is supposed to look after him. When Robin arrived at the set everyone was asking where is Bill/Frank.

First day Rene Moreno (Ramirez) arrived at the set, he and other actors went to a four or five stars restaurant in Piccadilly Circus. They asked what he did the first day, he apparently didn’t give a satisfying answer, said “I got my hair cut, I shot my gun”, and Neal (Compton): what did you say? Rene: I shot my gun. Neal: drop and give me twenty. They were dressed up in suits and there were waiters around. Rene looked at Ron Livingston who he thought is the normal guy for help. Ron looked at him and was like “yeah…”, so Rene took off his jacket and dropped and gave twenty pushups.

Douglas Spain(Garcia) and Frank John Hughes did a movie together a year prior to BoB, but Frank didn’t say hello to him.

Mark Huberman(Heshay) when he first arrived at set, they were shooting the rescue scene in Crossroads. Mark got in the boat with Ross(Liebgott) and Dexter(Martin). It was supposed to be quiet but Mark was too chatty and Liebgott told him sergeant Martin wanted him to stop talking. He said you can tell sergent Martin to shut the f up. And then came absolute silence. Liebgott went: sergent Martin did you hear what Heshay just said? Martin: yes I did. Liebgott: what do you want to do about it? Martin: let me think about it. Liebgott: permission to throw Heshay overboard. Martin: I need to think about it. Mark was in agony for 10 minutes. But he was more afraid of captain Dye if he fell into water.

On the drive to the set Mark told Douglas he was looking for a place to stay. Douglas had a spare room in his apartment but was hesitant because he just met Mark. But he thought Garcia and Heshay are foxhole mates so they are supposed to get along. So Douglas offered the room and Mark took it. The apartment was occupied by Michael Cudlitz (Bull) before. (Michael moved out with his family after they found a bigger flat.) Donnie(Lipton), Neal(Compton) and Kirk(Toye) also lived in the same building.

Matthew Settle was chased and attacked by a random tall guy with umbrella when he was riding a scooter in London. The guy probably hated scooters.

Mark Lawrence(Dukeman) tattooed Dukeman’s service number on his arm.

Ross McCall went to Dukeman’s grave when he was doing a tour for London to Eagle’s Nest. Ross wrote Lawrence said he took a picture of it for him.

youtube

#band of brothers #behind the scene #ross mccall #matthew settle #Douglas Spain

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weolucbasu · 1 year

Text

So, @da-proti-toku-grem kind of inspired me to make a lengthy post, sharing some positive vibes across the fandom, listing the reasons why I love each member of Joker Out and why I would go full mom-mode on them and cook for them and bake them gluten-free cookies.

Anyway:

A Joker Out, brain-rot, appreciation post

(members listed in alphabetical order)

Bojan

First up - as someone who had the chance to see them live, he is an insane performer

His ability to enchant the crowd is insane and you can tell really well that he has great acting abilities too

Watched him in Gospod Profesor too, spot on for someone who is a so-called amateur

His singing voice is... amazing to say the least, it feels really unique

Also, the way he talks, the sound of his voice, the words he uses, his pronunciation, if there were awards for talking he would get one

The languages he speaks, I want to study him, linguistically, he is truly a phenomenon

We of course love a bilingual king

He looks like he has his priorities straight

I also respect him so much for how open he is about his mental illness

I might relate to him a bit too much at times whoops

And the fact that he can somehow befriend literally anyone??? Love that

His friendship with Jere is the main one of course

Oh yeah and the fact that he literally helped people who collapsed at their gigs a few times

Bless him, he deserves all the rest he is hopefully getting

Jan

First things first, I have a soft spot for math guys

And the way he talks about math is fascinating (but you still won't get me to like it Jan)

Cat dad???? We absolutely adore Igor and a man loving cats is such a green flag

I know people say he mumbles a bit and it's hard to understand him at times, but idk, he talks nice and slowly, so it's still really easy to understand him

He comes from my home region, so I am very biased haha

Also, every band needs a guitarist with luscious locks

He absolutely owns the colour red, that colour was invented specifically for him

The nose ring suits him so well too, this man KNOWS what fits him

And if that ends up being jackets with nothing underneath when he performs, THEN SO BE IT

I know people call Kris the lesbian icon, but from what I've seen lesbians are very drawn to Jan as well

Oh, and he gives me Klaus from the Umbrella Academy vibes (I blame the hair and the pink boa)

Jure

Holy shit, sunshine in human form????

The most underappreciated one in the band imo

His surname literally means 'cat' and I am so normal that Jan has called him 'muca'

He also comes from my region haha, bias again

He's really good at filming, he actually shot a few things for RTV (national TV station) and edited them as well, god, talent

Also playing drums... I have sang, I have played guitar, played bass, but drums is something I feel like I could NEVER do, so hats off to you

As @da-proti-toku-grem pointed out, THE MOLE ON HIS LIP? weak knees, yes

He also reminds me of a good friend of mine and I vibe with him so much, I feel like I would vibe with Jure as well

I really don't like the fact that drummers tend to get ignored and I just wish there was more Jure performing content

Though I love it how every time, during Novi Val, he comes to the front and hangs with the others

His hair also looks so soft and fluffy aaaaaa

Again, biased but he resembles my bf the most out of everyone so hmmmm

Kris

The baby of the band! (and the only one in the band I could actually call 'mulc')

In case you didn't know yet, he's half Dutch

And he speaks Dutch, which, as someone who speaks Dutch (in theory, not in practice) makes me really happy

I wish to study him linguistically as well

Also his parents' story feels very close to me, as I'm dating outside of my culture as well

According to him he was menace as a kid and I think we should normalise the fact that you can become a better person as you grow up

But pls don't honk at me on the road Kris, pls, I will cry

The songs he wrote??? NGVOT and Vse kar vem??? Oh boy, I love them, adore them

His holey sweaters are also a vibe

Dutch fans, if you don't shower him and the rest of the band with gifts at their Dutch concerts, I will be mad

Also gotta honorably mention Maks

They gotta be my fav nepo-but-not-really babies out there

Kinda like Maya Hawke?

I am ranting

He also looks like the only member of the band that I would fight, and idk why

Also, I must know if he supports Max Verstappen haha

Minus points for chemistry though, I cannot with that

Nace

Okay everyone

Here we go

We have reached my beloved

I love all of them, but Nace just a bit more

It was love at first sight, I cannot lie

I have a soft spot for bassists and he might actually convince me to try and play bass again

He has been playing it for so long too??? like wow

Oh and of course; THE TATTOOS, BLESSETH BE THE TATTOOS

I will always go feral about his tattoos

At every concert

I know he was the last to join the band but it looks like he fits in so nicely, it's beautiful

Strong mom-codded dad friend vibes

He kinda is the dad of the band haha

And he looks like he gives amazing hugs (lucky all of you who had managed to get one already)

A nice addition to the band

Oh and he's apparently shit at sports which is like... felt

Plus the fact that he wanted to be a vet?

Me too boo, me too, but neither of us is there now

Anway, I'll stop now. In conclusion, this band has my whole heart and they deserve every good thing that happens to them and so much more.

#joker out #nace jordan #jan peteh #bojan cvjetićanin #kris guštin #kris gustin #bojan cvjeticanin #jure maček #jure macek #bee's rants #this probably makes me sound so delulu but I swear I am not #though i will admit #i have yet to have gone outside today #anyway let me know what y'all think about our boys

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justherefortua · 4 months

Text

The Teaser Trailer: Transcribed

I got so hyped that I combed through the entire teaser trailer at 0.25x speed to catch everything for prediction and speculation. But this might be helpful for people with screen readers, maybe? Or who can’t watch for any other reason.

This is pretty informal, but very interesting to think about!

(1) Luther and Ben walking into the a place lit with orange light.

Speculation: (manor?) I also might be wrong about it being Luther, it’s in shadow, hard to see.

(2) Zoom in on a decrepit, old, cobwebbed “Hargreeves home for Wayward Boys”, and a bird flies away.

(3) Reginald: “Our world is changing,”

(4) Five standing in a subway station as an empty train comes by.

Speculation: time traveling mechanism, also Ben was on a subway in the last scene of season 3, so could be connected!

(5) Reginald: “has changed.”

Another shot of Five looking at the subway from a different angle, slightly alarmed somewhat (I think)

(6) Reginald: “There are some among us”

Viktor as a bartender gets a call, and rubs at his eyebrow a bit.

(7) Reginald: “gifted with abilities”

Allison holds Claire’s cheeks, smiling, in some sort of bedroom.

(8) Reginald: “far beyond the ordinary”

Someone closes the door on Ben, who is holding a plastic bag and appears to be facing a bunch of prison cells, or some other grimy facility.

(9) Diego turning around a small girl with a big grin, who’s about to hit a pinata at a celebration, a bunch of other girls in party hats and their parents, presumably, in line behind her.

Speculation + Commentary: absolutely precious. This is likely Diego and Lila’s daughter.

(10) Reginald: “I have adopted six such children.”

Luther putting on a space helmet in a space suit.

Speculation: Something pertaining to Abigail was on the moon…that was the first timeline, but Spaceboy is looking to be returning!

(11) Reginald: “I give you.. the inaugural class”

Klaus in some sort of grimy apartment. It’s kind of hard to tell.

Speculation: He might be hanging from the ceiling, floating perhaps?

(12) Reginald: “of the Umbrella Academy”.

Viktor, Allison, Five, Klaus, Diego holding Ben’s jacket, then Lila in front of a phonebox in a snowy area.

(13) Luther using the camera to take a picture, saying “aaaaand…..smile!” The van (Diego’s van, most likely) is in the background.

(14) Viktor, Allison, Five, Klaus, Lila: not pleased, Viktor and Lila actually partly cover their faces.

Klaus says “oh no”.

Diego and Ben pose cutely, Diego looking serious while Ben is the only one actually smiling.

The screen gains a white border to show us the actual photo taken.

(15) Netflix logo

(16) Shots of them walking, then shots from the top, then shots from the “front” where we follow Diego.

Diego: “We’re back. We’re back, out the way. Out the way. Out the way.”

Lila: “I’m going in the front!

Allison: Why are you yelling?!

A chorus of groans from the rest.

Ben: Shut up!

(17) They get in the van.

Diego, punching the roof of the car: First mission back!

Ben: Hell yes! Let’s go kill this b****!

Diego driving, Five passenger, Klaus-Lila-Allison middle, Klaus is breathing into a paper bag

Ben-Viktor next to each other.

Luther in the very back.

(18) Comedic pause as everyone reacts with “what the hell” faces.

Allison: This is a rescue mission.

Ben: …Right.

(19) The subway line aesthetic comes in.

Typography: On August 8

The song, “The Final Countdown” starts playing in the background

(20) A huge drone helicopter takes off.

Speculation: I’ve already seen this on the timeline, but apparently this is “The Minerva” from the comics. Credit to @/feralnumberfive for pointing this out!

(21) Subway line graphics

Typography: See the Final Timeline

(22) Five and Lila at a glowing orange subway map, Lila running her hand across it.

Speculation: Likely how they traverse the timelines.

(23) Allison(maybe) and Luther(maybe) looking up at a white and blue pristine building, the van is parked.

(24) “You children bicker constantly..”

Luther does a light shove at Diego, who is in his vigilante gear again.

(25) They’re in the manor, Viktor is angrily punching someone (Ben?) while the rest look surprised, Klaus and Diego try to intervene.

(26) Viktor: “Yeah, and we drive each other crazy.”

Cut to Reginald, who is having this conversation with Viktor.

(27) Five and Diego about to punch each other, with Allison(maybe) coming in yelling at the end.

(28) Allison hitting a steering wheel/car dashboard.

(29) I assume our new characters for the season doing a dance and a synchronized clap. In an attic room (maybe) decorated with multicolored lights.

(30) Viktor: “But when things go to hell,”

On the clap, it cuts to an explosion. A dead soldier with a gun lies to the right, but it’s hard to make out.

Speculation: This is likely connected to the last scene with Ben and the soldier.

(31) It cuts away very quickly, but Five and Lila entering a ruined area, bright fires burning around them. They enter out of the subway with some strange runes and symbols for the “Station”.

Speculation: Another timeline, another apocalypse, or a destroyed Commission headquarters.

(32) A retro diner that sells chicken nuggets. The waiters are handing out guns.

(33) Viktor: “They’re there for me”

Shot of Viktor talking, then Five holding Lila as she breaks down crying. I think they’re still in the subway.

(34) Room with blue neon lights. Reginald strapping Allison down into a machine. Someone else strapping Diego down into a machine. There is a woman behind him. The lights turn red.

Speculation: The woman might be Abigail, Reginald’s wife. Doesn’t look like Grace. This machine might have something to do with the marigold that powers them all.

(35) A lever is pulled. Screen goes dark.

(36) Klaus: “God, what a bunch of losers…”

Klaus sits on the floor, Five, Luther, Allison on a couch.

(37) Diego shirtless and Luther, who seems to be big again, doing a fun little handshake.

(38) Five blinking except its purple instead of Blue.

Confusion: is this the subway again, or somewhere else? There’s a bunch of tile.

(39) A Santa running while shooting guns in both of his hands.

(40) A shot of the magical timeline subway from the subway’s perspective.

(41) A reveal of an Umbrella Tattoo, except instead of curving down it looks like the Umbrella is inside out and spiking up.

(42) Klaus with a bunch of candles and Knick-knacks, likely doing some sort of Seance.

(43) They’re in the van again. No Ben. Diego driving, Allison passenger, Lila-Luther-Five, and Klaus in the back.

(44) The drone thing flying somewhere

(45) Luther emerging from a ball pit with joy in his eyes.

(46) A gloved hand grasping another non-gloved hand with intense orange-yellow-red energy

(47) In a extremely white and fancy room, Reginald approaching with a gun and someone in the foreground falling over (unclear)

(48) Viktor with orange palms sending a plastic of energy at someone.

(49) Luther seems to be fighting someone, and Diego is throwing someone wearing heels through a glass door, same outfits as the handshake scene.

(50) A soldier being dragged by a tentacle. There are dismembered limbs on the floor (hand, head, part of a leg, maybe?).

In the background, something is on fire. Ben’s tentacles sprout from the back instead of his stomach. He takes a deep breath, the soldier flung far into the background with ease.

#tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #tua s4 #tua s4 spoilers #tua spoilers #tua teaser trailer #tua speculation

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1-imaginary-girl · 2 years

Note

Hello! This is my first time requesting so i don't know how to do this, but can you do a Five Hargreeves HC where he has feelings for reader but don't know if she feels the same so he asked Diego or Luther for advice. Sorry if it's a bit confusing. But here's the prompt (i saw this at Pinterest)

"she doesn't love me, she's not that stupid". " What are you talking about?! Ofc she loves you! Everyone could see it!"

Uncertain Feelings with Five Hargreeves (Headcanon)

Warnings: None.

A/N: Thank you so much for submitting a request! Sorry it took longer than usual to get back to you. I've never done a headcanon before but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Also, keep an eye out for a new Five one shot on the way ;)

You would have been friends with the Hargreeves children since you were five

You moved in across the street and introduced yourself

The kids immediately loved you, from your positive attitude to the fun you brought them

You made them feel like normal children

Despite Reginald’s strict protests, the children would refuse to stop seeing you

After he saw the positive affect your presence started to have on them, the old man finally relented

You were the only outsider allowed inside the Hargreeves home

It seemed all of the Umbrella kids loved you, but none more than Five

He knew there was something different about you from the moment he saw you

His little heart would beat out of his chest and his cheeks would turn a shade darker

Unlike his siblings, you didn’t mind his off-putting personality. In fact, it would have made him more interesting to you

He became a little possessive over you, not wanting to share your time with his siblings

It wasn’t hard for them to notice the change in him, but they all thought it was funny and instantly took to teasing him about it

Luckily, you liked him just as much and the two of you became the best of friends

Cut to present day and the two of you still enjoyed one another’s company

You often hung out in Five’s room. He would be working on some boring equation which he tried to explain to you but it went in one ear out the other, while you would read on his bed

One day, an alarm goes off on your phone and you curse

“Shit, I have to go,” you say

Five pauses his work and turns to watch you pack up

“Why?” he asks

“Ugh, my mom set me up for some job interview with her company. Apparently, she's had enough with my unemployment period.”

You would stand to leave and, as always, Five would walk you to the door

“Let me know how it goes,” he says as you both reach the bottom of the stairs

“Oh I’ll be calling to complain the second it’s over,” you say

You would open the door and say “Bye Five” with a smile

“Bye,” he replies as the door closes

All this time and his heart still speeds up when you smile

“Is this still going on?”

Five would hear a voice coming from the living room and scowls when he sees Luther sitting at the bar

“What are you talking about?” the boy hisses

“Oh come on Five, we all know about your feelings for Y/N. Why can’t you just admit it?”

Apparently the man was feeling rather brave to talk to him like this

Five would go to snap back when he pauses

His damned brother is right. It’s been years and he’s never even said the words out loud

He doesn’t know why, but at that moment Five’s decided he’s had enough and relents

He teleports to the stool next to Luther, giving the big guy a scare

“Jesus Five—”

“You’re right”

“…come again?”

“I…fuck it, yes, I’m in love with her. Happy?”

Five would steal whatever alcohol Luther is nursing and down it before releasing a hiss

“There you go! Good for you” Luther would say, annoyingly without sarcasm, as he pats his brother on the back

“This is pointless. I’ve said it, now what am I supposed to do?”

“You tell her”

Five hesitates. “I can’t”

“Why not?”

He hesitates again before looking down into the now empty glass. “Because she doesn’t feel the same way”

Five’s jaw would tighten as the words he fears spill from his lips

“You’re joking, right?”

Five scowls. “Why would I be joking?”

“Five, Y/N loves you too”

Five would only shake his head at his brother’s naïve optimism. “She doesn’t love me, Luther. She’s not that stupid”

“What are you talking about?! Of course she loves you! Everyone could see it!”

But Five wouldn’t hear any of it. “Stop trying to cheer me up.”

Luther would be determined to change his mind. “Five, trust me, Y/N—”

“What about me?”

The two of them were so distracted by their conversation that they failed to hear you re-entering the house. When both sets of eyes turn to face you, you panic

“Sorry, I forgot my phone upstairs,” you would quickly say with an apologetic look

Luther would try to cover. “Oh, uh, we were just talking about—”

But Five has a different idea

He isn’t sure if it was the “pep talk” with Luther or the realization of how long he has been harbouring his feelings, but he teleports in front of you

Unlike Luther, you don’t flinch

“Y/N I have to tell you something” Five would say

You would blink, caught off guard, but nod, preparing yourself to listen

Five would figure he should just rip it off like a bandaid. And when he looks into your eyes, it unlocks something in him and his feelings pour out

“I love you,” he would say. “I’ve loved you my whole life, and I know you probably don’t feel the same, but I had to—”

You would lunge at him and pull his face until your lips collide

Five would freeze at the sudden contact but quickly melt into you, wrapping his arms around to pull you in lighter

Your arms would curl around his neck

Luther’s cheering would cause both of your faces to light up red but neither of you wanted to pull away

Eventually, you would lean back and whisper, “Took you long enough.”

Five’s eyes widen. “You knew?”

And you would shrug, and say, “I had hoped.”

Then with a beaming smile, the smile that started it all, you say, “And I love you too dummy.”

He would smile back, his heart threatening to burst with the sudden abundance of happiness, and shake his head

“Come here” he would say before bringing you into another kiss, eliciting a squeal of delight from your lips

At this point, Luther would feel uncomfortable lingering around and would leave to immediately inform the other siblings of the big news

#five x reader #five x you #five x y/n #five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves x you #five hargreeves x y/n #five hargreeves #five hargreeves fanfiction #tua #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy fanfiction #tua fanfiction

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blueberrypancakesworld · 7 months

Text

The nightmare under the dress

(Og)Fem!freddy/(Re)Fem!freddy x fem!reader

warning : tiny comfort, flirting if you look deep into it, implied wound, nightmare, no use of Y/n

Summary : Welcome to Springwood Kindergarten the new place for your child a place full of dreams…and two charming ladies who take care of the little ones and your dreams with lots of fun for everyone!

Info : This one-shot is based on the amazing and so brilliant art au (This Post) from the lovely and talented @fresm-ay check out the blog the art is just so good. Again thank you for letting do this and have fun reading everyone else too;)

gif by me

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

The dark car drove towards the kindergarten, the morning still hanging over the small town of Springwood. The sun hid behind the fog the lights of the town, the houses and the lights of the cars on the streets that stretched into the town. The light music from the radio filled the car and the weather report had prompted them both to take an umbrella each.

A large dark one and a small colorful umbrella. ,,Are you ready for your first day?" the woman asked and her gaze went for a few seconds to the little girl who was looking at her mother, beaming with joy.

The two braids that kept the tangled hair under control were interspersed with hair clips. The gap in her teeth from her latest success and another precious memory for her mother. The car continued to drive through the streets, but the two were heading for a very specific destination.

They had only moved to the small town a few weeks ago. They had practically fled the big city to escape the many people, cars and overcrowding that had demanded almost everything from them.

Especially in a time without a husband, useless, lazy, out for her body and not taking care of his daughter, he paid the maintenance to keep the cops off his back, but otherwise he didn't let himself be licked.

No use, she thought, focusing back on the road, having written down the route and seeing that they had arrived at the street.

She waited briefly before turning off and, after a few meters, saw the wire fence at the civic victory to keep the children out of the street and avoid the danger. ,,We're here!" the little girl shouted when she saw the colorful flags and toys outside in the garden area or play area for the others.

A smile full of serenity appeared on her mother's lips as she found a parking space after a few minutes and went to her daughter. ,,We're here and you my little frog have your first day of kindergarten," she said, helping her out of the car before taking her little hand and walking across the crosswalk towards the building.

The colorful backpack and the umbrella harmonized with the little red dress and the orange ribbons embroidered on it.

The grin and the gap in her teeth made her mother smile, but she was also proud and a little wistful that her daughter had grown up so much. Opening the waist-high gate and going inside, she saw a few children already glued to the window pane, watching the newcomer with interest and curiosity.

Just as she was about to open the door, it was yanked open and she came face to face with a blonde woman, her long curly hair tied back in a plait, her slightly vulture-like nose and her piercing yet empty-looking green eyes.

Long, gentle fingers lay against the door frame and a green, gray and beige dress clung to her body. A charming, almost arrogant smile and a shimmer of pink lip gloss could be seen.

A beauty, a dream woman who looked after my house. ,,Good morning, Miss, I wanted to drop off my little one for the first day," the mother caught herself and already felt the warm hand on her shoulder pulling her into the kindergarten, into something she didn't know what was happening to her.

,,Oh come in sweetie, I'm Miss Krueger the teacher and every child's dream" she introduced herself and winked at the little girl who seemed fascinated by the pink lip gloss and was probably wondering where she would get something like that.

,,I run the dream group over here together with my...colleague," she continued, her high heels clicking in the corridor and the mother followed, deeply fascinated.

Maybe the other reason wasn't just the financial situation, the separation from her useless husband, maybe it was that she was listening to her heart and was finally looking for a female partner.

Maybe she would find that happiness. Maybe even here in the city? The three of them went into the dream group where, when the door opened again, a pleasantly large play paradise opened up for the little girl. ,,So big!" She called out and her mother felt her clinging to her and begging for permission, which she let go with one last hug and a kiss on the cheek.

,,The girl with the curly hair is Nancy, the boy with the painting coat is Quentin and the girl by the CD player is Nancy too," the blonde whispered to her, watching her protégés with a look of pleasure before placing her hand, which was reassuring and inviting, on her mother's shoulder to lead her around.

The younger one hung her little one's backpack on her heels, placed the umbrella next to it and with one last look of affection went to her daughter with Miss.Krueger who continued to lead her around.

,,A coffee? I mean, we have time and my colleague will take care of everything else...tell me, where did you get the earrings if you don't mind my question dear" the blonde quacked and giggled a charming smile, a smile full of amusement as she suddenly came closer to the younger girl and put her fingers on her body again.

She could feel the other rich girl's perfume on her legs, a smoky note, she thought, and couldn't help but feel a bit perturbed.

She liked the blonde's amused manner, but there was something in those green eyes that looked at her. ,,A coffee please... and the earrings, well, I made them myself," she confessed and smiled slightly as the blonde made a surprised expression, moved away from her and turned to the coffee machine to pour the hot caffeine drink into two cups.

Without seeing the younger girl's gaze pass over her, she didn't take her eyes off the blonde as if she were being drawn to her again and again. ,,So this is homemade, maybe it's something for us to try together for coffee and cake, isn't it?" the blonde asked, handing her the cup as her fingers deliberately moved over the younger girl's.

The two women smiled at each other, their eyes meeting before they both enjoyed the coffee, knowing that it was a little break before they all had to go to work.

Until the clacking of shoes could be heard again, another attendant was there to chat with the mothers and fathers. Before slowly, rather cautiously, a woman joined them, a slight, almost shy smile on her lips.

The slightly sunken cheeks, the pointed nose and the dark blue eyes harmonized with the dark brown hair that had been put into a plait. The black high-heels at her ankles lay up her bare legs to a brown dress lighter than her hair with a white plaid that gave her a certain authority like a teacher.

Topped off with a beige brown cardigan that looked big and soft to protect her from the cold when she was out with the children. ,,Frensis, how nice wouldn't you have to look after little Quentin, you know how he is with his attention," came coolly from the blonde, but the smile on her lips didn't fade as she walked over to the brown-haired girl and simply tipped her coffee into the sink and joined her colleague.

,,Yes, well, hello Ma'm, I'm the other attendant here, pleased to meet you," she said to the smaller of the two attendants and held out her hand. Despite her gentle smile, her demeanor was somewhat submissive, as if she had already been through a lot.

Something she wouldn't wish on anyone else. ,,Nice to meet you, I have to go but I really appreciate the work you're doing here," the mother replied and squeezed her hand in gratitude, seeing the slight blush on the brown-haired girl's cheeks as she slowly loosened her grip on the blonde so that the two could wave goodbye to their "customer" until the main door closed and would only open again in the afternoon when it was time to pick up the town's children.

She listened to the sounds of her daughter as the little child bubbled over with joy about her new friends Quentin and Nancy, who were also super nice.

It was a joy to see them like that. ,,I'm so proud of you for making it through your first day and I'll give you hundreds of kisses for it," she said softly as she pulled the blanket up to keep out the cold and handed Mr. Bunny to her daughter and gave her a goodnight kiss before walking out of the room, slowly closing the door and letting the radio play the rest.

She spent the evening watching something on the old television, but her mind was also on something else. The two women who seemed so different and yet so alike that it was almost funny.

But after she had watched the movie and made herself a warm soothing tea with melatonin and the sweet soft sleepy feeling on her body did the rest, she went to her bedroom with a yawn, defeated by the day. She snuggled under the covers of her bed and sighed exhaustedly before turning off the light with her weaver and falling asleep.

A dreamless sleep for the beginning it seemed, at least for the time being, until the image formed of the sleep she was unaware of becoming something more real. Slowly, snow and soot formed the image of a kindergarten, the same kindergarten she knew, only different.

Different it wasn't full of warmth at least the place itself was glowing but outside it was cold so cold that she warmed her hands before going into the building to be safe from the snow. She was right about the heat the once colorful building with the children's alchendne voices had fallen silent.

As if someone had gone through hell and back, the place had changed. the place was a patchwork of dilapidated walls, back alleys and old factories with hot steelworks. ,,Hello?" she called out into the place and cringed as she heard a female but not of this wlet rather amused...demonic.

Trying to find a way out, she went back to the front door but it was no longer there and something told her that this could not mean anything good in the dream.

Especially not when the scene went completely awry in the factory and she almost ran into one of the hot pipes, which the unknown voice found amusing even if different. ,,Come here pretty Ma'm...let me look at you" she heard the voice a familiar voice as she felt something cold and sharp on her shoulder move around she saw Frensis stuck in a sweater her face burnt and on her right hand a leather glove with small rings on the fingertips.

A scream of anguish escaped the younger women as she rushed away from the figure, the metal trying to lay on her body and the brown-haired woman seemed amused.

She watched her prey, taking her time to touch the warm real skin it was something special and her victim didn't dare to move in fear and confusion.

A gentle touch on her cheek sent a cold shiver down her body. ,,Let me give you a dream!" she shouted and pulled out her weapon to strike her victim, who raised her hands defensively but was pushed away by something. As if someone else was grabbing her and with the opening of her eyes she was back in this confusion of confused scenes.

,,She's a pretty thing bitch take your own...now I'll show you a real nightmare" said the voice and she saw the shimmer of pink lipgloss before burnt skin wrapped around her waist, the same glove moved along her body and she looked into the burnt face of Miss.Krueger, blue eyes showing the joy of the hunt.

A laugh escaped the barely recognizable lips before the gloves came off. Oh the two dream demons would show their new pretty favorite victim what it meant to have her as "friends". Let the new nightmare begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@rl-nancyholbrook hey dear maybe you can get more invested threw this

@paranormalfool

#a nightmare on elm street 2010 #a nightmare on elm street #freddy krueger #freddy kruger x reader #female freddy krueger #robert englund #jackie earle haley #female x female

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