#but I never really thought about what his planned outcome was given how the fight ends up panning out
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ofswordsandpens ¡ 6 months ago
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I rewatched Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai recently and it's left me wondering – when Zuko begins to goad Azula into striking him with lightning, was he making the decision to kill her?
Because had Azula shot lightning directly at him like he planned and not at Katara, the most forthright implication to me is that he was intending to strike Azula with her own lightning. And Azula, for all her mastery, would not have been able to counter that.
On the other hand, maybe he wasn't planning to kill her at all and was simply planning to redirect it elsewhere (similar to what he did with Ozai). But given the tone of tragedy throughout the Agni Kai, the fact that they both acknowledge that this fight will be "the end" to them, I don't think it's inaccurate to read Zuko's actions as him preparing to kill Azula, even though an Agni Kai doesn't have to end with death (and in canon it didn't). Also, why goad her into striking him with lightning if he wasn't planning on doing something intentional with it? If anything, it adds another layer to the tragedy to me, because I don't believe Zuko wants to kill her. And it stands in such contrast to the way that Azula desperately wants to kill him.
I also think that there would have even been something sadly poetic in that sort of demise for Azula should the Agni Kai had gone this direction: Azula, struck down by her preferred sub-skill. Azula, struck down by the very bolt of lightning that she intended to kill her brother with. Azula, struck down by her own power.
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towasdandelion ¡ 1 month ago
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Hotarubi, Obscuary and Jabberwock ghouls when you confess to them
Haku feels so relieved! You finally caught on and understood he wasn't flirty just because? A miracle! Honestly he's so ready to make you his it's almost funny. If you haven't noticed, that guy has had a thing for you since day one. So yeah. Will definitely want to see you as soon as possible so you can... make out already talk about your situation and possibly start dating.
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Subaru is too sweet and doesn't really want to get his hopes up even if he does like you more than a friend already. He definitely didn't see that coming and feels a little lost. He's happy of course but... What now? What does he do? What if this ends up ruining your friendship? After thinking for a moment he decides to ask you to meet so you can talk about everything going on. Expect a shy blushy Subaru.
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Zenji was hoping for such an outcome in the future, but he never wanted to force it, rather just decided to wait and see how the situation develops. He feels so happy he gets a sudden burst of inspiration. But he can't write yet. Not until he gets a chance to ask. You might have been first with the confession, but he's definitely taking the initiative to ask you to be his girlfriend.
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Rui, oh Rui! Like Haku he was so ready to make you his and was constantly trying to make you see that he's not playing around. Well, someone decided not to notice his efforts. (How cruel) until this very moment. Now you confessed to him, and he couldn't be happier. In his head he's already planning hundreds of cute dates he's going to take you on. The fact that you're not really together just yet doesn't seem to bother him much but can you blame him? He's way too excited.
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Ed is way too cocky I swear. You want to back away? No can do I'm afraid. You're basically his the moment you confess to sorry I don't make the rules. Was he waiting for this moment to happen? Maybe. He feels satisfied that he did succeed in making you fall for him after all, though he is a bit surprised given the fact how hard you were resisting his charms before. Believe it or not he's suddenly not feeling so lazy anymore... He's eager and ready to see you right this moment.
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Lyca is a bit oblivious, but at the same time very straightforward and it makes a very... Interesting combination. You like him? Yeah he likes you too, so? Oh, it's more than a friend... Well, then you two should just date right? Isn't it how it works? At least that's what Subaru told him (he forgot some details here and there but not like it's that important to him) so he's going to ask you here and now. The decision is yours to make hehe.
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Towa is a bit sad cause he definitely thought you love him already. I mean he was always so sweet and affectionate with you, so only natural to think that's just his nature, right? Well, wrong. He's only like that with you. The sadness is short lived though. You love him and that's all that matters! He won't waste time and will come and meet you wherever you are just to ask you officially to be his.
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Haru catches on very quickly, almost surprisingly given how busy he can get. In his free time he always did make sure to spend it with you, throwing in some hints here and there and it seemed now that it worked out! Here you were, confessing to him. With three words you made his day just like that. He can't wait to be finished with his work so be can come see you and make sure you really want to be his.
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Ren is freaking out. Like really bad. His crush literally just confessed to him. Keep it calm, keep it cool. He was fighting that 'weird' (love) feeling that just wouldn't go away and with your sudden confession it felt like a new wave of feelings came crashing on him. Just what is he supposed to do? He really needs to sit down and have a moment of honesty with himself. He doesn't want to reject you after all... But how does he go about making you his girlfriend? It's all so awkward to him.
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jenneyquinn ¡ 9 months ago
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𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞
in which the pine tree and llama are the epitome of soulmates (continued) w/c: 10.6k words *not proofread* (actually 2 words shy of 10.6k, but hey, who's counting? masterpost
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once winter had its fun, spring rolls around, and so does that one day that everyone either looks forward to or is dreading with past trauma.
for mabel and dipper, they are one of both outcomes; respectively.
it was so uncharacteristic of mabel to not be excited over a holiday that spreads so much joy and love—regardless if it's platonic, familial, or romantic. as for dipper, he was never really much for luck in that department (love, that is), though not as sociable, let alone well known as his sister, he is very much content with being alone for the most part—especially knowing, deep down, he is grateful to have a family who loves him.
however, dipper felt that this year would be different. he didn't know why, couldn't put a finger on it, but he noticed that something would be stand out amongst the other years as the boy realizes that is isn't as disgusted with valentine's day as he commonly was before.
"duh—it's obvious why you're thinking about that, bro-bro."
"huh? oh, it's because we're technically teenagers and we're at that embarrassing phase in our life where romantic pursuits are more irrational and desperate to compensate for our lack of self-confidence?"
mabel rolls her eyes before answering.
"no, it's because you have a cru~sh! and you just can't wait to call her on valentine's day~"
"what?! that's—"
"don't worry, because being the matchmaker that i am, with the resume of skilled expertise, i can proudly say that i—mabel pines—will get you the valentine's date of your dreams!"
"but—"
"you can't say no, it's already happening."
"no."
"ALREADY HAPPENING!'
given it was already the first of february, it was going to take mabel less than two weeks to pull this off; presuming that she could, that is.
so, on that wednesday night, dipper lies awake at night, thinking about that special someone, despite fighting his feelings for so long. he doesn't want to admit it out loud, but dipper knew, subconsciously, that his sister indeed saw through him, and he is crushing on someone; bad and hard.
the first time dipper had ever lied awake at night, it was about wendy corduroy, the girl he ever seriously crushed on. though, as time passed after his confession, he stopped thinking about her that way. it look him time, fighting all those thoughts during the day while they continued their friendship, and many nights as she remained in his dreams; if he wasn't dreaming about his parents, that is.
however, when dipper lies awake this night, he isn't thinking about wendy. not at all. on the contrary, he's up all night, thinking of another girl—one he knew was perhaps just as (if not more unattainable) than wendy.
eventually, the guy gets some sleep, and mabel has already come up with a whole list of ideas to help her brother in his otherwise, lack of romantic expertise.
however, dipper fights mabel every step of the way, insisting that he has a plan of his own. though he is grateful for the support, the kid genuinely had a clear idea of how he wanted valentine's day to go, and as long as he's got his confidence—dipper is sure he'll have his first good valentine's day yet.
finally, when the big day comes, mabel's nothing short of estatic.
"oh my god, what are you gonna wear? please tell me you're going to wear something good?? what are you planning to do for your date??? it better be something fun! you don't wanna make a bad first impression by doing something lame—in that case, i have to make sure you avoid anything remotely boring!!"
dipper simply blinks, getting everything but also none of the words that just left mabel's mouth right now.
"uh… i guess i'm just going to wear what i usually wear. i mean, i didn't plan to go anywhere fancy anyways. saves time and energy for later, right? i even put together this nice gift and everything…"
"aww, dipper~" mabel coos, clasping her hands together at the last part of her brother's reply, "whatcha get her? actually nevermind, you can tell me later. i'm sure she'll love it anyways!"
then, she takes a quick look up and down at her brother, inspecting his outfit before continuing: "are you really going to wear… that?"
"what's wrong with what i'm wearing? i wear this every day!"
"i know, it's not bad, but that's the point—" mabel pinches the bridge of her nose with impatience, taking dipper by the hand, "look, we still got a couple hours before you're going. surely, there must be something presentable in that closet of yours… that's hopefully been washed."
so, thanks to mabel, dipper was able together a simple, but clean outfit for his first valentine's date: a marine-blue unbuttoned oxford shirt with a cream-white tee underneath, paired with a casual pair of black jeans and his shoes; completely gaining the latter's approval.
"now go on, enjoy your video-chat date with pacifica~"
"w-wait!" dipper exclaims. "how did you know—"
"oh, would you look at the time? candy and grenda must be waiting for me to join their call bye~"
"mabel!"
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"look, i apologized, didn't i? i've been trying to be nothing but a do-gooder; no more evil business for me. even gideon is trying to give me a chance. so, sunshine, what is your deal?"
growing impatient with pacifica's rejections, dipper finally corners her at the ballroom of gleeful mansion—speaking in a hushed tone as to not draw any attention from anyone else.
the former, on the other hand, narrows her eyes; frowning deeply.
"you wanna know why i haven't forgiven you, gleeful? i was the first person to trust you, and what did you do with that?? you toyed with my feelings, deceived me—all for your personal gain?! how dare you think my feelings can't be justified when you suddenly decide to turn things around!"
dipper was baffled, to say the least. so, pacifica continues talking.
"what if will decides to return to you guys? what then?? is it the end of you and your family's redemption arc???" she asks, her facial features now beginning to soften as her eyes start to water and her nose going red as she sniffles.
"i don't want you to hurt me again. i'm not going to let you hurt me again."
as pacifica begins to run off, dipper instantly goes after her.
"pacifica, wait!"
then, out of the blue, the blonde is halted in her tracks. a ray of blue flames stike her, thereafter transforming pacifica from her authentic human state to a wooden statue of her likeness.
dipper gasps, reaching out to her: "pacifica!"
"gideon!"
mabel cries, redirecting her brother's attention to the now-wooden gideon pines; taking the mage aback even further.
suddenly, the gleeful twins hear a bellowing laughter, the source of them coming around the fireplace. a grandfather clock tolls, as the duo take sight of the ghost staring at the gleeful family portrait.
"a forest of death, a lesson learned, now the gleeful manor will burn!"
as the ghost of nathaniel southeast continues laughing, setting the family portrait aflame, mabel calls out to the entity.
"hey ugly! over here!"
the ghost seizes his laughs, spotting the gleeful twins.
"you want us to let in the townsfolk?" dipper asks, "'cause we'll do it! just change everyone back!"
nathaniel scoffs, "you wish to prove yourself? pull that lever and open the grand gate to the town! fulfill your ancestors' promise!"
pointing to the lever which opens the main gates, dipper looks from the lever to the wooden pacifica. then, for a moment, her voice rings in his head.
"i was the first person to trust you, and what did you do? you toyed with my feelings, you deceived me—all for your personal gain!"
you deceived me.
"she's right," dipper admits to himself.
"huh? who's right??" mabel asks, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"mabel, our family has been nothing but liars and cheats. how about we do something right for a change?"
without saying anything further, mabel simply gives dipper a nod in the affirmative; grabbing onto the lever with him.
the twins share a look, then look back at the ghost as they pull down the lever together.
nathaniel gasps as the main gates which once divided gleeful mansion and the commonfolk of the town swing open. as the townsfolk swarm into the manor in waves, the ghost is finally appeased.
"YES, YES, IT'S HAPPENING!" the entity rejoices, "MY HEART, ONCE AS HARD AS OAK, now grows soft, like a birch or something."
as the gleeful twins look up at the ghost with satisfaction, the latter looks back down on them, equally satiated.
"dipper, mabel, you two aren't like the other gleefuls." nathaniel says as his spirit begins to ascend, "i feel… lumber… justice…"
with that, everything in the mansion returned how they used to be: the portrait showed no signs it being previously engulfed in flames, all the resurrected animals were back in their deceased state, and most importantly, all the people originally in attendance had been free from their wooden prisons.
even pacifica, who takes a breath of fresh air as soon as she's freed.
"pacifica!"
dipper runs to pacifica, visibly worried as he pulls her close to him in a tight, protective embrace.
"dipper?"
"you're… you're actually safe…" he exasperates, pulling back to look at her, "look, you were right. i was being selfish and i did mess with you just to get what i wanted, but i didn't fully realize how much i've hurt you until now…"
"dipper…"
"when you were encased in wood, i… i thought that i lost you. i… i… don't want to see you like that again. i don't ever want to make you sad again."
before he could even notice, a single hot tear runs down dipper's cheek, still holding his gaze at pacifica.
"i… i know it's too late for you to trust me… and i clearly don't deserve your forgiveness… but i do wanna try. i want to be a better person."
while pacifica listens to dipper's impassioned confession, she couldn't help but to focus onto the tear that runs down his face. then she looks back into his eyes—which she finally took in for the first time. though it was a glowing blue when they first met, she noticed how the loss of the amulet and will's emancipation from the gleefuls had effected dipper's eyes from the absence of power.
they were brown. it was nothing special, but it was like pacifica was actually seeing him for the first time. if she thought there was good in him before, it finally shown in his eyes now.
so, pacifica does the only sensible thing she could think of.
"oof!"
holding onto him tightly, pacifica buries her face into dipper's shoulder; trying not to cry.
"thanks, dipper. i… i forgive you."
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"wait! where are you all going?! we're supposed to look for dipper pines, remember?!"
when pacifica sees all the government vehicles backing up and driving away from the mystery shack, she's enraged. after all this time, she finally thought that she would be getting him back—but why were the government guys leaving?!
"ahh!" pacifica yelps in shock as a pig runs past her, chomping on a drive labelled 'PINES'.
so, she looks up to the source of where the pig came from, back to the mystery shack, and simple to say the least—she could have never expected what, or rather who, would be standing before her eyes.
"great-uncle mason, that was amazing!"
pacifica's eyes widen at stan's words, as he approaches the aforementioned man with his brother. but whatever happened to—
"let's not go crazy; it was serviceable."
well, speak of the devil, the blonde thinks as the con-artist walks into the scene with the shack's handywoman, lita. welp, time to get over there and give that lady a piece of my—
yet, the man's chuckles cut off pacifica's thoughts: "thank you kids, but please, call me dipper."
dipper?!
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"dipper..."
his eyes crack open the slightest bit before shutting again.
"dipper..."
he hears the voice once more, but the weight of his eyelids win another time, drawing him back to unconsciousness.
"wake up, dipper!"
he shoots up, fully awake at the sound of mabel's shouts.
"gah! mabel!" dipper frowns, turning to the digital clock atop his bedside table before shooting her a look. "this better be worth waking me up at seven in the morning for—you know it's apring break, right?"
"exactly—it's spring break, bro-bro. the first day of spring break."
mabel points to the calendar hung on dipper's bedroom wall; specifically on a date that reads 'pacifica visits'.
"yeah, yeah, pacifica's visiting." dipper mumbles, tucking himself back to bed and pulling his covers back up.
it takes him a second to realize the words that just left his mouth, then he really wakes up.
"pacifica's visiting!"
he throws his blanket aside, bolting right up from his bed, scanning his room left and right.
"oh my god, my room! i need to- i gotta-"
"stop hyperventilating, dippingsauce," mabel says, amused at her brother's behaviour, "that's why we're up early. we've got six hours before pacifica, candy, and grenda's bus arrvies at the stop. so, as your personal matchmaker, i'm here to make sure your room's spotless—as well as you. i'll never forgive myself if i let you talk to your girlfriend without taking a shower first."
"a shower? i'm fine, mabel," he rebutes, lifting up his arm to take a sniff from his pits, which he immediately comes to regret, "besides, pacifica's not my girlfriend."
"not if you don't take a shower, she won't." she jokes, poking him. "blop!"
so, after taking a shower while his sister gives him a head start on spring cleaning, dipper rushes to get ready and look decent for his crush special friend.
unbeknownst to the twins, three visitors had already made their way to the pines residence.
"ah, pacifica! so nice to see you again, sweetie." mrs. pines greets, giving the girl a welcoming hug.
"and i believe you two must be candy and grenda," mr. pines points out, also giving a warm welcome to the two girls, "of course, mabel's friends are always welcome here."
"as well as dipper's friends." mrs. pines winks, playfully nudging the blonde's arm; causing the latter to blush.
candy and grenda also giggle, making pacifica more flustered.
"but seriously, our kids have told many stories about you three," mr. pines says, gesturing them inside as he picks up the girls' bags, "pacifica and mabel's golf tournament, grenda's prince boyfriend in austria, and even candy's little crush on dipper."
"oh!" pacifica says, then she leans towards candy, continuing in a teasing tone. "well, i didn't know about this."
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another day of weirdmaggedon dawns upon gravity falls, not that dipper gleeful minds. in fact, it's just like another regular day for him: he gets up from bed, changes out of his pajamas and into his turquoise suit, and walks out into the town.
just as he promised, he makes his way to the giant floating bubble in the sky—the pink one that's branded with an illustration of a llama.
good morning, sunshine, dipper greets pacifica in thought, looking up at the bubble; eyes half-lidded and smiling gleefully.
pulling out the key from his vest pocket, dipper unlocks the bubble and enters the spherical-shaped prison.
"ah! dipper, you came back!" the blonde cheers, donning an off-the-shoulder, spaghetti-strapped turquoise dress and her hair done up in a simple, but cute messy bun.
"sunshine, looking as radiant as ever," dipper replies, "as if i should've expected any different."
he takes her by the hand, pulling her close to him. swinging her along the floor, which has shifted from a bedroom to a ballroom setting, dipper looks into pacifica's eyes with adoration, feeling complete bliss.
"hey, dippington? can i tell you something?" she asks softly.
"anything, sunshine," he answers without hesitation, "shoot."
"i'm so happy here." pacifica confesses, smiling brightly. "being here, in my dreamland, with you... it's like everything i could ever want. i don't ever want to leave... i just want to be happy here, with you, forever..."
dipper returns her smile, looking down at her as she rests her head against his shoulder.
"i'm happy to be here with you too, pacifica," he admits wholeheartedly, "i don't think i'd want to be anywhere else, too."
so, the pair slow-dances in silence, letting the soft melody of the ballroom music fill the space instead.
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ever since dipper's return, pacifica had intended to catch up with her old friend, but she knew that he already had a lot of catching up to do with his own family.
at least she had her own family to tend to, as well as her own career as gravity falls' top realtor, making her way to becoming the ceo of northwest realty from the past twenty years.
although she hated to admit it, pacifica kind of wished she was able to bond with her grandson preston as easily as dipper's twin sister and their two great nephews.
so, while preston is out on a date with his girlfriend priscilla, pacifica is left to her own devices as she finishes up paperwork for her recent client.
that is... until she hears the ever so familiar ring of the doorbell.
"heh... h-hey, paz," dipper greets; in his own, typical, awkward way, "l-long time, no see, huh?"
pacifica blinks once... then twice... three times, even.
"uh... pacifica?" he waves over her face; worry rising in his voice. "are you alright—"
dipper gets cut off abruptly was pacifica leaps toward him; wrapping her arms over his shoulders and enveloping him into a crushing embrace.
"dummy... don't leave me ever again."
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"wait, what?!"
dipper stands in his now-clean bedroom proudly, his hands to his sides.
"you heard me: by the end of spring break, pacifica northwest will be my girlfriend."
mabel clasps her hands over her mouth, trying her best from squealing.
"oh my god, dipper! that's amazing!" she cheers, but then her face blanks—as if she's seen a ghost. "oh no."
"huh? what 'oh-no'? i don't like that 'oh-no'."
"look, it's great that you want to ask pacifica to be your girlfriend and all but.. how do i put this... when it comes to girls... sometimes, you tend to get in your own way."
"mabel, i promise," dipper says, placing a hand to his chest while raising the other, "no lists involved. maybe a plan to reference to from time to time, but no multi-phase lists i need to be following closely."
"okay..." she says hesitantly, narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips, "so... what's the plan then?"
"well..." he starts, rubbing his hands together.
"first, i figured there would be no harm in taking everyone mini-golfing. i can't impress her, but at least it's something she likes to do. pacifica will have a good time, so it'll definitely get things running in the right direction."
"um... mini golf?" pacifica asks, a bit weary.
"i guarantee you, there's no lilliputtians involved."
looking at him quizzically at first, she chuckles right after.
"okay, nerd. i've been looking forward to having a rematch with mabel anyways. she owes me a fair game, anyways."
"next, we'll go to the mall—it's full of stuff that pacifica likes, right? fashion and deep-fried foods!"
"here you go," dipper says, plopping down a tray of food onto the table before pacifica, "an order of french fries with a vanilla milkshake, just like the lady ordered."
he mimics a bow, gesturing to the fast-food before taking his seat: "just like home, huh? um... you still have a butler, right?"
the blonde giggles, nodding as she picks up a single fry and dipping it into the shake.
"only the one, though. we had to let go of a lot of staff after... you know."
"oh yeah..." he says, remembering the previous video-calls they've had, "it seems you've been adjusting well, though. oh yeah—how's greasy's? lazy suzan able to hold fort without you?"
"definitely. i miss her, though." she answers, twirling her straw. "between you and me, it's nice working at the diner. lazy suzan is more like a parent to me than my actual parents, and it keeps me distracted from thinking about home..."
looking up from the tray, pacifica looks at dipper with a gentle smile: "at least things in your home is better, right? i'm totally jealous of your parents."
"i guess you could say that..."
but it wasn't better. things at the pines' residence wasn't getting better at all. though there was still some sort of harmony in the household, it doesn't mean that his parents weren't still fighting almost every night.
but this didn't mean that things wouldn't be different with pacifica. sure, dipper's parents have been together for over almost two decades, and their marriage has still been on the verge of collapse even after their children had come back from their summer vacation in gravity falls, but it didn't mean—
oh, who was he kidding.
"hey, hello~" his friend snaps her fingers in front of his face, "anyone in there? you've been zoning out, wanna tell me what's on your mind?"
"um... heh, heh! you know what? how about we hit the arcade?? lost my appetite, anyways."
before she could have any input, dipper already grabs pacifica's hand, running down and out of the food court.
"there was also the arcade... but i don't know how she'd take it, but hopefully she'll come to like it. i mean—pacifica loves winning, right?"
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"gleeful!"
"hm?" dipper gives a hum as he opens his eyes, peering up. somebody from the outside is calling.
"hey, sunshine, i gotta take care of something real quick." he explains, pulling away, his hands still on hers. "stay put, alright?"
she nods, still smiling: "okay, just... be careful, dip."
"you know i will." the brunette winks, causing his prisoner princess to giggle.
then, he finally departs, exiting the bubble.
"what the heck, dipper?!" gideon exclaimed. "i thought you turned a new leaf?! you said you were going to change!"
"oh, if it isn't lil' gideon—"
"don't call me that!" the small boy snaps back.
"never mind that! i'll have you know that i did, in fact, change," dipper continues, "i promised my sunshine, pacifica, that i wasn't going to hurt her, and i intend to keep that promise."
he then points to the bubble, wrapped in chains: "in that bubble, pacifica won't be hurt. never again. i was willing to let bygones be bygones, but she told me what you've done—and if you think i'm letting you in there, think again!"
"you can't do that, dipper!" robbie shouts. "you think you're protecting pacifica, but you're only imprisoning her!"
"valentino." dipper grimaces, his eyes narrowing and a threatening glint twinkles in his brown eyes. "you can't be any more wrong—pacifica told me herself! i am her protector! thanks to will, he granted me the power to create a dream world for her. in this world, i can shield her from anyone and everyone who can hurt her! even you!"
"but, dipper..." gideon speaks, his voice softens as he tries to empathize with the brunette, "do you really think this is the right way to protect pacifica? just because she's in that bubble, doesn't mean she'll be safe forever. eventually, one way or another, you'll hurt her too. so, when that happens—where will she go? who will protect her, then??"
dipper's cold expression slightly cracks, allowing his former enemy to reach out to him.
"we know you care for pacifica, we all do, too," the white-haired boy gestures between himself, robbie, and melody, "but we're still human. we make mistakes, and eventually, we will hurt each other—whether we mean to or not."
pulling out the slip of paper from the front pocket of his pants, dipper unfolds the paper to look back at the cut-out newspaper article; staring into the old picture of himself and pacifica.
she gave me another chance... even when i didn't deserve it.
"do the right thing, dipper. if you want to be pacifica's hero, please let us rescue her. please let us make it up to her."
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"so, let me get this straight..." pacifica speaks, pinching the bridge of her nose in a mix of concentration and confusion, "this whole time, you had a twin sister? but you didn't tell me about her because of she wronged you about thirty years ago?? and then ten years later—she accidentally gets you sucked into this portal that you made??? so you've been stuck in there for the past twenty years until she reactivated said portal—in which she fixed, for the sole purpose to bring you back????"
dipper simply stares at pacifica, still struck by her beauty after all these years. yet, when he realizes a tad late that she had stopped speaking, he shakes his head; getting a hold of himself.
"y-yes. that's exactly what happened."
the blonde blinks once. then twice. then takes a long sip from her coffee; setting it down before slamming the empty mug onto the table.
"you never told me you had a twin sister!"
"well, i didn't think it was relevant..." he mumbles, annoyed.
"of course it's flippin' relevant!" she spats, "whatever mabel did to you in the past, she's still your family! i thought i knew everything about you, but you've been still hiding stuff from me!"
dipper sighs, looking at his old friend with a guilt-ridden expression.
"you're right, paz. i should've been more open with you, instead of being all mysterious and keeping stuff from you. i'm really sorry that i scared you and kept you in the dark all this time."
"ah, forget about it," she waves off, no longer upset. "you're lucky that i'm too old to be fussing over small things. besides, i guess i should be used to it by now, right? you never really trusted me, anyways."
"but i do trust you, pacifica," he says, placing a hand over hers, "i was just being an idiot, thinking that i was protecting you by not letting you into my world, but that's not fair. not when you've trusted me with your secrets. i truly am sorry, paz."
as pacifica looks down at his hand on hers, she looks back up to him; her diamond-blue eyes meeting his doe-brown ones. a twinge of pink spreads throughout her cheeks, letting her old feelings for the awkward man resurface; if only for a small moment.
for the first time in twenty years, her guard is let down again, baffled and stammering by the same guy who caught her heart two decades ago.
"it's alright, dipper." pacifica replies, the smallest hint of a smile graces her face.
"you're here now."
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"SUGGESICA WIN!"
"ha, yeah!" pacifica cheers, pumping a fist up in victory, "in your face!"
though dipper wasn't happy at first that he was once again bested by her, he did have to admit—pacifica looks pretty cute when she gloats over a win. it's rare to see her geek out over an arcade game, after all.
"so, what was that again? didn't you say arcades were for nerds??"
"they're only nerds if they can't win," she corrects, poking his chest, "like you."
"yeah, yeah, you beat me," dipper says, rolling his eyes, "now enter your name for the high score so we can start heading back home. dad must've hooked up the karaoke machine by now."
pacifica giggles, inputting the name 'PAZ' before leaving the arcade with dipper; hand-in-hand.
"so, lovebirds..." mabel teases as she, candy, and grenda reunite with the pair, "ready for some karaoke?"
dipper blushes as pacifica rolls her eyes, smirking amusedly: "yeah, whatever. you wish i was dating your brother, it'll give you something to brag about."
"oh, definitely," mabel replies, "because i'm sure there's a lot of girls out there who are dying to say 'pacifica northwest, walking one-dimensional beached blonde valley girl stereotype, is dating my brother!'"
pacifica gasps, feigning offense...
before she laughs along with her former arch-enemy; walking out of the mall in a side-hug.
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"look, after you said you weren't going to leave with me and move in my parents and i at the end of the summer, i wanted to hide in my sweater forever."
as pacifica explains her choice to stay in pacificaland, gideon feels the guilt rise within him as he is reminded of his promise from the beginning of the summer.
then, the melancholic expression on her face turns into one of resolve as she finishes her story.
"but then i woke up in a place that gives me exactly what i wanted: an endless summer where we'll never have to grow up! here, the sun shines all day, the party never ends, and now that you guys are here—it's finally perfect!"
"listen, pazzy," gideon speaks, "we're not here to party. all of this is crazy!"
yet, the blonde groans, disagreeing with her cousin's sentiment: "ugh! i figured you might say something like that, gid. would it kill you to be more like dipper sometimes? at least he's supportive of me!"
"sunshine..." dipper calls to her softly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "maybe you should go with gideon and the the rest..."
"huh?" pacifica's eyes go wide, suprised by the change in his demeanour.
"what are you talking about, dipper?"
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"wait! hold on..." pacifica pants, trying to catch her breath after doubling down in laughs, "you... dated... a siren?"
blushing madly, dipper frowns: "is it really that hard to believe?"
apparently so, since the woman before him couldn't help but keep laughing; unable to control herself.
"uh—yeah?" she answers between cackles, "whew... oh my god, i'm gonna cry... that's hilarious... hah..."
"but you had two failed marriages!" he points out, still red as a tomato.
that doesn't stop pacifica from laughing herself breathless, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as she finally starts to settle down.
"true... but i'm an heiress, dipper."
she had a point. twenty years is an awful long time, and it was like pacifica was getting any younger. it was inevitable that her parents wanted to secure their fortune by any means necessary—especially if said means was to marry their daughter off to another rich family.
hence, her two unsuccessful unions with marius von fundhauser and gideon gleeful.
"you never told me... how did you get out of them, again?"
"well, marius and i split because he fell in love with someone else..." pacifica answers, reminscing on her relationship with the austrian prince, "no hard feelings, though. it was for the best."
from the look on her face, dipper could tell that she was being genuine. he always loved seeing her soft side.
"and... gideon?" he winces.
"not as sweet as the papers put it." she replies bluntly. "he was just... too show-ey? even for me, which is crazy. i was able to find an out when i took the reigns on northwest realty—i got the chance to prove to my parents i was more than a pretty face, after all."
dipper chuckles, "as if there was any doubt."
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"disco girl!"
"coming through!"
"that girl is you~!"
ooh-ooh's ring throughout the living room, followed by giggles and more of the musical works of dipper pines and pacifica northwest.
"more punch, kids?" mrs. pines asks as she enters the room; a tray of filled glasses in her hands. "gonna need something to drink so those singing voices won't be strained."
so, without any objections, the five kids take a break—drinking punch and catching up on town gossip.
"what?! you broke up with marius?!"
mabel's jaw drops nearly the same time the news drops, but everyone else remains indifferent. sure, candy and pacifica would have already known about this, but dipper was just plain uninterested.
"it wasn't a big deal, really," grenda explains. "there was only so much clinginess i could take!"
"speak for yourself," pacifica chimes in, checking her nails, "sounds to me like you could've been set for life. you were dating the prince of austria!"
"yeah, and it was a long-distance relationship, too!" mabel exclaims, "emphasis on distance!"
"what's distance if he wanted to fly me out to austria every weekend?! the guy just couldn't leave me alone!"
"yeesh," pacifica cringes; her facial expression in her signature look of disgust, "when you put it like that, maybe dumping the guy was right move. i can't imagine dating someone hovering over me like that, laughing and agreeing at every single thing i say."
"ha-ha!" dipper chokes out, blushing madly, hovering over pacifica, "you're totally right, paz!"
as the blonde in question raises an eyebrow, confused, the three remaining girls shares looks of mischief amongst each other; smirking slyly.
"speaking of your dating life, paz..." mabel begins in a teasing voice, "have you... say, got yourself any boyfriends, lately?"
now, it was pacifica's turn to blush—her cheeks a tinted pink.
"uh... no?" drawing out the confused 'no' in her reply, pacifica looks puzzled once more. "mabel, what—"
"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA~" dipper's forced laughs come out more obnoxious this time around, taking his sister's hand as he leads them out of the living room.
"mabel!"
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"no... no... not you, too..."
"pacifica, you know in your heart that gideon's right. summer ends."
"but... i don't want it to end! i don't want to go back and... and..."
losing her words, pacifica looks back into dipper's eyes. deep down, she agreed with him wholeheartedly. she knew he was telling the truth.
but they were in pacificaland now. and the truth is not what she wants. especially if all the truth has done was hurt her and continued to do so.
"you said you wouldn't hurt me, dipper."
then there it was. the ache in his chest had returned. it didn't make sense, though! he was so sure that the guilt had been resolved after that night of the party at his mansion... so, why did it come back? he didn't so anything wrong. dipper made a deal with will so he could be granted full guardianship of the bubble and keep pacifica from harm.
she was all fine until that know-it-all gideon pines got in the way... he thinks he knows what's best for pacifica, and look what that go him—after all, he was the reason why the joyful blonde had felt so down in the first place! dipper didn't hurt pacifica, it was all gideon!
turning away from pacifica, dipper looks into gideon's eyes. if he could glare into them long enough, maybe daggers could materialize out of his brown eyes, shooting straight into gideon's blue ones.
what he didn't expect, however, was for gideon to stand his ground; staring back at dipper with the same amount—if not, more—determination than the once-evil psychic.
then, all at once, dipper's own words have struck him, remembering his promise to pacifica.
"i… i know it's too late for you to trust me… and i clearly don't deserve your forgiveness… but i do wanna try. i want to be a better person."
if i want to be more than pacifica's hero... he thinks to himself, i have to be someone worthy of loving... i have to do the right thing...
i have to be a better person.
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"but, paz, you don't get it... mabel had cost me my dream school."
dipper repeats for the umpteenth time, lamenting over what could have been. he knew better than to be holding resentment over his twin sister for so long, but he just couldn't shake it off.
pacifica clearly notices this, which motivates her all the more to get her old friend to see sense.
"dipper, mabel and i haven't been on good terms this whole time, but after telling me the whole story, i've begun to see her in a different light." she confesses, laying a freshly-manicured hand atop inter-dimension traveller. "what baffles me is that while you can recall having a rich history with her, but it's only the two instances that she's done you wrong that keep a hold in your heart."
"but mabel was the reason i couldn't get into my dream school! she ruined my whole future in the blink of an eye—"
"she ruined your future, huh?" pacifica cuts him off, cocking a brow. "you want to know what i think, dipper?"
"paz—"
"no, maybe that big head of yours has influenced you in the past twenty years, and now it's got to your mouth—but i'm not going to stand for this. mabel is your twin sister. you guys sounded like two inseperable peas in a pod, but you've let that wrinkly brain of yours ruin probably the greatest friendship you've ever had."
pacifica pokes dipper's forehead for effect.
"sure, woe is you that you didn't get accepted to west coast. i'm sorry you didn't get to go into your dream school, but you went to backupsmore. you did the same work you hoped to accomplished at your first choice of school, but you pushed yourself even harder. if anything—you've probably found more success at backupsmore than west coast!"
"but mabel can't just get off scot-free—"
"your parents threw her out on the streets, dipper!" pacifica exclaims, utterly baffled by his sheer audacity, "things might've not have gone your way, but if they did back then, would you have been happier?"
hot tears begin to well up in the blonde's eyes, trying her hardest not to let them fall.
"you would have never come here! you would have never met... me..."
realizing that perhaps he did let his grievances get the better of him yet again, dipper had easily forgotten that he was only wanted to catch up over coffee with an old friend (maybe even get a second date afterwards), but he's blowing it.
blowing it big time.
"pacifica, of course i'm thankful for the way things turned out. meeting you was one of the best things that's ever happened to me."
"well, it sure doesn't feel like it..." she remarks, refusing to back down.
"look, i understand why you would be upset with mabel. sure, she ruined your chances of getting to your dream school, and got you trapped in another dimension for like, two decades, but she didn't mean to hurt you on purpose—and i think, deep down, you know this too."
though he wouldn't admit out loud, dipper did agree with pacifica's words. maybe it was just easier to stay mad at his sister because some part of him, subconsciously, knew that he was also to blame for where he ended up—especially getting himself sucked into the portal that he built himself.
"besides, if mabel was really as bad as you claimed her to be, then she wouldn't have spent all this time fixing your portal—just to get yourself out. in retrospect, what she did would typically require a prayer and a miracle to do: mabel self-educated in sciences, paid off your mortgage, and kept secrets to protect herself and her family. she did all this, her determined solely based on the very slim chance she could fix her mistake and bring you back home."
he wanted so badly to tell her that she was right. his mouth was already open, but with no words coming out, left speechless by the blonde's truth, he disappointed her; yet again.
"you know, i really missed you, dipper—but it turns out i didn't know you as well as i thought. call me when you decide to stop listening to your head and listen to your heart for a change."
with those final words, pacifica pulls out some bills from her wallet, before getting up from the booth, and out of the diner.
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"what?!"
mabel yelps right before her brother frantically slaps a hand over her mouth, then peering over his shoulder to see if her loud reaction drew any attention from their guests.
with dipper's head turned, the other twin takes a chance and licks his hand, causing not only him to retract in disgust, but her as well; forgetting in that brief moment how sweaty her brother really was.
"mabel, seriously?" he asked in a hushed whisper.
spitting out and blowing raspberries with her tongue, she spats: "ugh! when do you ever not sweat?"
"whatever, that's not the point!" dipper replies, still hushed.
after blowing the last raspberries, mabel continues, whispering as well: "you haven't asked pacifica to be your girlfriend yet? spring break's almost over!"
"i know, i know, it's just..." he turns back to the living room, looking solemnly at the blonde; currently laughing along with candy and grenda. "i thought i was ready, i really did..."
seeing the gloom in her brother's face, mabel puts a hand to dipper's shoulder.
"so, what happened bro-bro?"
turning back to face his sister, dipper draws a deep sigh before asking: "mabel, do you think, if pacifica and i start dating... we'll end up arguing more than mom and dad?"
"huh?" she questions, her face puzzled.
"i mean, pacifica and i are just so different... and it's only been almost a year since we've met..." dipper explains, "on the other hand, our parents have known each other for almost twenty years... but that didn't stop them from those big arguments last year... do you think—"
"dipper, let me stop you right there," mabel interrupts, holding her hands up in a 'stop' gesture, "you and pacifica are nothing like mom and dad—and that doesn't have to be a good or bad thing! you guys have an awesome dynamic, whether as friends or as a couple—nudge nudge! the point is, you should ask pacifica to be your girlfriend when you feel you're ready. don't rush it, and definitely don't let other relationships like our parents get to you. after all, there's always summer!"
after giving it some thought, dipper looks away from mabel, turning to pacifica once more, then back to his sister; smiling.
"you make a good point, mabel... thanks. 'sides, there's always summer, right?"
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after breaking free from the bubble in which will has imprisoned pacifica, she—along with the company of dipper, mabel, gideon, melody, and robbie—have made their way back to the tent of telepathy.
though found seemingly empty at first, the battle cries of the townsfolk taking refuge in the shack provokes the group of people who had just came from weirdmaggedon.
that is, until one of the folk—the six-fingered one in particular—had spotted their great niece and nephew, almost immediately standing down.
"kids?"
"grunkle ford!" dipper and mabel cheer, rushing to hug the old man.
"i can’t believe it! i thought i lost you two.” he says, capturing the twins in his arms.
“did you really?” mabel asks smugly.
“no,” ford answers, returning a smug grin back at her, “i was looking forward to not being bothered by you deliquents anymore.”
“you can always try again, grunkle ford.” dipper says.
“so, how did you all get here?”
ford then proceeds to recall the events from his perspective as weirdmaggedon unfolded, noting how the tent was the only place unaffected by will’s powers due to the protection of the unicorn hair.
“eventually, all these injured stragglers show up needing a place to stay. since the mayor got captured, i elected myself de facto chief. the plan's to stay in here and eat brown meat until we run out, then eat the gnomes."
as ford finishes explaining to his niece and nephew impassively, a nearby gnome immediately picked up on the chief's plan and gasped in utter disgust.
"hey! i'm short, not deaf!"
glancing from the kids to the gnome, ford remains indifferent.
"survival of the fittest, pal. sucks to be you, i guess."
"grunkle ford, we can't all just hide inside the tent," mabel reasons, "we have to save the town! gideon, stan, and i tried to do it, but grunkle stan ended up getting captured by will."
"serves that jerk right, it's what you get for trying to be a hero." ford remarks, then gestures to the townsfolk taking refuge in the tent. "besides, look at these people. the reason why they're here is not from the kindness of my heart, they're here out of fear—because people blindly following me would be less torturous than following some all-powerful space demon."
"so, you're really going to let will win?" gideon asks.
"kid, we got the best deal we could possibly get." the elder gleeful says, lounging back on his recliner. "be lucky that my niece is all sweet on you, otherwise i'd be kicking you and your cousin out on the streets with whatever townsfolk were unfortunate to not take refuge."
gideon frowns deeply, disgusted and frustrated with the six-fingered man. pacifica, although offended by the remark, is saddened on her cousin's behalf; considering that her uncle and aunt—despite their significant lack of quality parenting—are still out there amongst the chaos.
so, understandably, mabel is furious, and dipper places a empathetic hand on pacifica's shoulder—sharing in her lament.
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she couldn't believe it... pacifica had waited for so long... she's waited twenty years, just to see him again.
though she would never admit it out loud to anyone else, pacifica's had dreams about reuniting with her former partner, many of them just a grasp away from a happy ending... that is, until she gets pulled back to consciousness at the final moment, and she realises...
he's not there.
after years of hoping, asking whatever external forces in the universe, just for the chance to see dipper pines one more time.
yet, after that lunch at greasy's, when pacifica finally got the chance to catch up with her old friend, she got to really know who dipper actually was... and it was just like in those final moments before she woke up each morning for the past couple decades.
he's still not here.
so, though it pains her heart to do this, pacifica needs to give dipper space. as long as things between him and his sister remain unresolved, how could she begin to think about having their own relationship mended?
but she's waited for twenty years... she won't mind waiting a little bit more.
take the rift...
"huh?" she scans the town around her. "who's there?"
nobody was nearby. in fact, she doesn't remember seeing the town in such a... monochromatic state. it was chilling, to say the very least.
after confirming nothing was behind her, pacifica shook her head rather wildly, trying to get her vision back. she didn't even summon him... she's fully awake... so, how did pacifica end up in the dreamscape?
suddenly, a being manifests before her. yellow, triangle-shaped, demonic. the blonde recognized him from the pages of the notebook, as well as the numerous tapestries she's locked up in one of the many closets in her mansion. after inheriting the property, stowing those demon-tapestries away was just about one of the first thing's she done to northwest manor.
"stay back!" she roars, standing guard.
"oh, llama, i'm sure your family raised you to be more poised than that." bill teases, swarming around her.
"you're nothing but bad news, you triangle goblin." pacifica spats, folding her arms, her hip cocked to one side. "i know you're like some sort of massive psycho, but you'd have to be even more mindless to think i'd make some deal with you."
"no need to be hostile, llama." bill says, backing away and giving her space. "i noticed that you had a lover's quarrel with pine tree lately, and i just want to give you something small to lift up your spirits."
"dipper and i don't have anything together." she states bluntly, clearly uninterested. "and i'm well off on my own, so if you're thinking of making me like, the richest person in the world, forget it."
"what if i gave you a better pine tree?" he offers, floating about and around her again. "in a snap, i can re-wire the old geek..."
with a snap of his fingers, a phantom of dipper appears before the two, walking towards pacifica with a smile on his ghostly face.
"a pine tree that isn't self-absorbed and all-consumed by science."
though he is a phantom, the animated dipper is able to take pacifica's hand in his. bill's probably controlling me, isn't he?
"a pine tree that can listen to his heart."
using his free arm to circle her waist, this dipper pulls pacifica close to him, his ghastly eyes seemingly consumed by her.
maybe, pacifica can't wait any longer. after all, she is getting old. besides, with dipper being the same age, she knows that he's getting old too. he's finally back home, so perhaps he ought to finally get some rest.
but it's not right. if she let herself sank this low, dipper would never forgive her. heck, she doesn't even think she could forgive herself. he wouldn't even be the dipper she fell in grew to like.
"all i need is this galaxy-looking globe of your boyfriend's. it's nothing big, so he won't miss it. so, whattaya say?"
looking from 'dipper' to bill's hand, ready for a shake, pacifica's determination returns to her; hitting her stronger than ever.
"my pine tree is perfect the way he is."
"what?" bill sputters in disbelief.
"you heard me," pacifica pulls away, staring into the demon's eye, "no deal."
"YOU FAKE BLONDE IMPENDING PATERNITY TEST! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I CAN UNMAKE YOUR FAMILY'S LEGACY AND YOU'LL BE LEFT WITH NOTHING—"
"i don't care. i have preston, and i have dipper."
"YOU WORTHLESS WASTE OF STOLEN INCOME! IT’LL BE EVEN EASIER TO TAKE THEM AWAY FROM YOU! MAKE THE DEAL, LLAMA."
without hesitance, she raises a fist; completely all out of patience.
"NO!"
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"wait, so if the answer to the equation is zero, then why can't x also be zero?" pacifica asks as her eyebrows knit together, staring from the homework spread on her desk back to the dork on video call from her laptop. "anything that's multiplied by zero has to equal zero, right?"
"yeah, but if you applied zero in place of x," dipper explains, amused by the blonde's annoyance. "you'd have two multiplying negative one, making the answer—"
"negative two, yeah, yeah." pacifica cuts him off, waving it aside. "lemme try again, but i need you to shut up for a bit."
on screen, dipper looks deadpanned, but he knew that pacifica was really trying. the school year was almost over, and thanks to insufficient funds to keep her original tutor, pacifica was left to her own devices.
the thing was, he has helped her all year, and she was perfectly confident with her grades... so, why are the stakes so much higher now?
"x equals negative two or one-half!"
"see, i knew you could do it." dipper smiles at her through the monitor.
chuckling at the dopey expression on his face, pacifica feels her cheeks grow warm, smiling back at him. "thanks dipper... but i couldn't have done it without you. actually... i think i might've needed to repeat the eight grade if it wasn't for you."
"you kidding me? you're great at practically anything you put your mind to!"
heh, i hope you're right about that, dip.
what pacifica isn't telling him is how much of a big deal her final math exam really is for her. as far as he knows, it's just her first final exam that she's gotten without an expensive tutor nor the safety net of her parents' fortune to get her into the ninth grade.
"bro-bro! tell your girlfriend ya gotta go! dinner's ready!"
mabel's off-screen call promptly causes her brother to be fully red in the face, momentarily losing his cool; to which pulls a giggle from the other end of his video call.
"sounds like i gotta let you go, bro-bro." pacifica teases, reaching for her laptop, over the sheets and textbooks. "same time, tomorrow?"
"heh, of course." dipper replies, chuckling nervously as he rubs the back of his neck. "sorry about mabel, you know how she is—"
"you don't need to apologize for anything, dork. catch ya later."
the dopey, awkward grin on dipper's face is the last thing she sees before she clicks on the 'end call' button, butterflies swarming in her stomach as she's temporarily allured by the goofiness that is her crush—not that she'd admit it to anyone else, though.
soon enough, those butterflies turn into rumbles, her stomach calling out for food as well.
after shutting her laptop and abandoning post at her desk, pacifica begins to make her way down to the kitchen.
"it's about time you showed up."
preston speaks bluntly as he and his wife are sitting on the dining table, with no food before them.
"we're starving, darling." priscilla says. "we thought we were going to have to wait forever for that... pines boy... to finally end your tutor session."
taking in a deep breath, pacifica sighs just as heavily, walking towards the fridge: "what are you guys going to make me prepare tonight?"
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after viewing toby determined by turned to stone, soon to join will’s throne of subdued townsfolk, the remaining people in the tent of telepathy are finally pushed to the edge—the drive of freeing the town overruling their fear of will’s tyrannic takeover.
led by the team of gideon, pacifica, and the gleeful twins, all of the refuged individuals desperately assist tad mcgucket in turning the tent of telepathy into a force for battle.
days later, their combined efforts resulted in the completion of the remodeled tent of telepathy; much to ford’s dissatisfaction.
"thanks for these apocalyspe sweaters, pacifica." melody praises, physically snug in the cashmere. "the end of the world has never felt so comfortable."
"you were always a girl of many talents, sunshine." dipper chimes in, proudly showing off the sweater with a pine tree in the center.
the rest of the refugees are in agreement; nodding and humming.
hearing a shiver from behind her, pacifica shoots mabel a look as she notices she's still sweaterless. desperate to just warm up.
"ugh!" she whines, caving in as she pulls out a pink sweater with a shooting star in the center. "fine i'll wear it," she says, putting it on, "but i'm not gonna like it."
"admit it, this is the best day of the end of the world." pacifica says, taking a seat between dipper and gideon. "i think we actually have a chance to defeat will and win back our future."
"yeah," gideon adds, "can't believe i'm saying this, but i would much rather want to live to see mabel and dipper turn thirteen."
mabel gives gideon a soft smile, something that not even her twin brother has ever seen from her—and surprisingly, gideon even smiles back at mabel.
"if we're lucky, sunshine, i guarantee we'll throw another party at the manor and invite everyone in town."
though she knew dipper was certain about it, pacifica still raises a brow in suspicion; purely out of testing him.
sighing, he places a hand over his chest: "i promise, pacifica."
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hearing the approaching footsteps from one of his two nephews, dipper sighs, putting aside whatever work he was currently tending to, now tending to his nephew instead.
"let me guess: stanley didn't take it well."
the young stanford pines shakes his head, regret and doubt starting to spread across his face.
"i don't know, maybe i'm making the wrong decision." ford replies, looking up at his grunkle. "i need to think about this."
"ford, right now we need to focus on the mission." dipper says, trying to pacify his nephew's gloom. "now come on, i've got the glue—hand me the rift and let's make history."
turning his frown into a smile, ford reaches into his supposed backpack, only to pull out—a birthday flyer?!
"what? oh no! the rift!"
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it's the last day of exam week, and the weight of the world is on pacifica shoulders... or at least that's how she's feeling right now.
pulling up to the front of the school, the blonde unbuckles her seatbelt, picking up her bag, and is just about to open the door before her father halts her.
"pacifica," preston calls to his daughter, causing her to turn back to him. "you are a northwest. remember, if you don't get a perfect score on that final exam, you can say goodbye to your inheritance."
suddenly, pacifica's taken back to the day of the golf tournament between herself and mabel—and it only makes her feel worse.
so, she doesn't give anything to her dad but an affirmative nod, steps out of the vehicle, and watches as the family car drives off.
once the car was out of view, pacifica rushes into the school and in the washroom, locking herself in a stall.
hyperventilating, the distressed blonde holds a hand to her chest—though it doesn't do anything to slow her breathing nor stabilize the rise and fall of her chest. before she knew it, hot tears stream down her face, and the choked sobs that barely escape from her are just a cork from a full-on piercing cry.
get it together pacifica! she begs in her mind. stop being so weak!
feeling hopeless, the floor in the stall might as well turn into a black hole and swallow pacifica whole. it's still early in the morning, maybe she can just play hooky... and just catch the next bus to piedmont. it's not like her parents would miss her, right? especially when she won't get that perfect score they were hoping for. maybe he was right...
YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING.
YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING.
YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING—
it was only a single ringtone that pulls pacifica from her mind. rubbing her tears away and taking a sniffle, she pulls out her phone and reads the caller id from the screen.
𝗠𝗔𝗕𝗘𝗟 𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 💫
pacifica thinks about answering, she really does, but what could she say? the only person she's ever been vulnerable with was her brother.
before she knew it, pacifica lets her phone ring for too long, letting her enemy-turned-frenemy-turned-friend[ish?] go to voicemail.
"hey pacifica! dipper and i are just about to head to school, so we wanted to give you a call and wish you good luck on your math final! remember, no matter what the result is, our support for you is as long as pi! ha! get it? 'cause it's endless?? eh??? anyways, we'll always be proud of you, paz!"
pacifica rolls her eyes, chuckling at the shooting star's oh-so familiar cheesiness.
"mabel's right," a different voice enters the message, "you've done so well in school this year all by yourself, so don't sweat it, pacifica. you're going to nail that final, and even if you're not happy with the score, you should be proud of all the work you've put in this year."
"psst! dippingsauce!" pacifica can hear mabel call out to him, but her voice is rather hushed, likely due to her being some distance away from her phone. "tell paz you less than three her!"
"'less than three her'? what do you mean, 'less than three'..." dipper's voice dies down at the end, dead air follows the voicemail as he figures out what his sister meant.
"MABE—"
just like that, the voicemail ends—or rather, cuts off. pacifica sniffles, but she finds herself smiling. chuckling, actually.
who was she kidding? of course they were right! she's pacifica northwest. the only northwest that ended her family's curse. the same girl who showed up to a family photoshoot because she stopped caring about what others wanted her to be. the llama of bill cipher's zodiac!
bill was wrong, and after all she's done to save their lives—her parents no longer get the privilege to boss her around and treat her like a butler.
so, when pacifica finally cleans herself up, then walks in the classroom to take her final math exam for the school year, she's filled with nothing but confidence. she's pacifica, after all. as if she was going to finish the eight grade with anything less than an A+.
but, her mom and dad can keep that stupid inheritance of hers, she can make her own fortunes.
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"this whole plan is insane, but no one asked the chief what he thinks. after all i've done for everyone!"
"hey dipper? mabel?" pacifica calls to them, but looks in the direction of the twins' grunkle. "shouldn't you guys talk to your grunkle? he doesn't look alright..."
"oh, we already know why he's acting like that," mabel brushes it off, only looking at ford for a second before staring back at pacifica, "don't worry about it, pacifica. he's always been this stubborn, but he'll come around. just needs to blow off some steam, that's all."
then, when mabel turns away to continue chatting with gideon, dipper shakes his head and rolls his eyes before talking to the blonde.
"to make a long story short, sunshine: mabel and i have been helping grunkle ford rescue grunkle stan ever since we could remember. after discovering that will had a connection to stan's dissappearance, understandably, we've tortured him enough to surrender and be subservient to us—using his powers and the tent of telepathy to steer suspeciting eyes away. once we got stan back, he only ever expressed gratitude to mabel and i—holding his grudge against ford."
"oh..." it wasn't pacifica, but gideon reacting to his former enemy's story. "so you guys weren't really evil, after all—just misunderstood?"
"nah, with stan's smarts, and ford's con-man skills, we could've easily turned the falls into gleefulland—ow!"
dipper holds a hand to his side, turning back to pacifica, who looks at him with a dissappointing pout.
"jerk. if neither of you are going to talk to ford, then i will."
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"so, this is how the world ends. not with a bang, but with a boop-boop."
"weirdmaggedon." ford says, he and his grunkle looking up to the x-shaped rip in the sky—which the younger pines could only assume would be the portal to the nightmare realm.
"the rift is shattered." dipper says, lifting his nephew up as he gets run over by various animals and creatures. "bill's world is spilling into ours and every minute his powers grow stronger."
"stanley!" ford panics as eyes go wide. "the rift must've cracked inside his backpack. he must be in danger. i have to go and find him."
rushing towards the walkie-talkie, ford calls out to stan: "stanley! come in, stanley! stanley!"
"ford. listen to me." dipper calls to the boy sternly, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "we can find your brother soon, but right now, we need to stop bill. if we could blast him back through the rip he came out of, we just might be able to stop him before his weirdness spreads across the entire globe."
"are you sure defeating bill is even possible?" ford asks, a hint of uncertainty rises in his voice.
"no. i'm not sure." dipper confesses, but with every bit of courage he could muster from within himself, he looks down at ford. taking a knee down to his nephew's level, the elder pines looks into the eyes of the six-fingered boy—hoping that the next words that leave his mouth transfer a spark of a fight in ford. "but being a hero means fighting back even when it seems impossible. will you follow me?"
"to the ends of the earth."
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a/n: omg FINALLY part 2 is done! i just want to take this moment to thank every single one of you for all the support and praise you have given me since i released the first part. i just want to give a heads up that since school is starting again for me, and balancing that with my job, i clearly won't have as much spare time to be working on this fic—but i'll try my best to have the final part posted within two months from now.
writing ilyieu has been so great for me, not just in terms of engagement and the traction i get from other users, but also for my writing. usually, i don't think i would be posting this much writing in such a short span of time... i haven't been this proactive in my writing since 2020 when all i had was quarantine and wattpad, if i gotta be honest.
i hope that this part is just as good as the first, because the next part is going to be last—as it wraps up the stories i have between dipcifica in all thre au's. your ongoing support means so a lot to me, so please send me lots of likes, reposts, and even asks my way! just about any engagement will likely inspire me to keep writing! here, how about i answer some of those future asks right now:
q: jen, your writing is so awesome! do you think alex hirsch will hire you to help him write any future books for gf?
a: uh—i don't have a degree in english or any related subjects, but if he's still willing to pay me—I SURE FRIGGIN HOPE SO
q: do you actually like gravity falls or are you just writing this because the book of bill came out/you just started watching the series/you know gf is trending on tumblr/you wanted to join the gf hype while it's still trending?
a: yes. definitely. absolutely. (stan pines would be so proud of me :,))
q: ur writing sucks/u take so long to post/u copied [insert name here] so unoriginal
a: this is definitely not a rick roll
anyways, thanks a bunch again for your guys' support! you’ve gotten me my first 200+ notes, my recent dipcifica drabble has already surpassed 100 (despite only writing and posting it yesterday), and i’m actually gaining a following (even if it’s small!) i’ll be posting more soon!
taglist: @wwwritererm @a-messy-flower @stormcloudsarepretty @marii-iana @whosbex @seukymin @vegas96 @caro2004 @ghostlyvisiting @frozzuwuwu @cyanside @mcmymuffin @poorlittlerichgirll @invisible-vampire13 @tielmamon @optimussy @hoatzin2 @janis01127 @platonicallyalone @raccoonchild333 @kagura15 @suckerfordylansstuff @cosmic-peonies @ashisuniverse @automaticpandaoperatorpizza
follow #jw: i love you in every universe for more content!
129 notes ¡ View notes
iusorbitdreams ¡ 28 days ago
Text
Selfish. (Ranmaru x Sara)
--- HEAVY SPOILERS FOR YTTD!!!
Sara didn’t like considering herself a selfish person. No one had ever called her selfish before. It was quite the opposite, really. People always sung her praises on how she was so selfless and how she always put others before herself, even if that meant hurting herself. She would do anything for the people she loved and cared about. Or that’s what she liked to think.
She didn’t know when this feeling started or how it did. Maybe it was after Joe died. She felt something inside her break as she saw her dear best friend take his last breath, and as cringey as it sounded, she could feel her heart breaking. A piece of her perished alongside Joe Tazuna in the first game. Was it her empathy? Her ability to feel love and compassion for others?
After losing Joe, she remembered helping the other survivors out in several ocassions, telling herself it was because she cared for them. But was that really the truth? A part of her only did that because it’s what she felt was the correct thing to do, not because her heart called out for her to do so. Every supportive touch, every encouraging word, every reassuring smile, they were all a facade. A strategy, even.
Who would ever suspect sweet Sara? The seventeen year old who was the leader of the group? The one who was always there to cheer everyone up? The only person who could ever do that was none other than Sou Hiyori. Or, better said, Shin Tsukimi. Did she keep him alive so she could prove herself to him? So she could show him she was actually the caring person everyone made her out to be? Or did she keep him alive as a punishment for having these dark thoughts?
It was almost funny. Sara had always made sure to keep everything under control. Every decision she made had been planned to the fullest. She thought of every single possible outcome so she would know how to act in case it happened. But she never expected this to happen.
A guy around her age, with white fluffy hair, bandages wrapped around his slim body and a grey jacket hanging on his shoulders was looking at her with a concerned expression, something that wasn’t usually on his face. They hadn’t known each other for that long. Only a few hours had passed since they had been assigned as “partners” by the “red string of fate”, as Midori called it. She thought it was all bullshit.
But as she stared at the boy in front of her, she felt something piercing her heart. An unfamiliar, strong feeling. Something she hadn’t felt in a while. It wasn’t compassion. It wasn’t empathy. It wasn’t care or love. No, it was determination. Her heart burnt with a strong sense of survival. The tips of her fingers were tingling, and her breathing was growing heavier with each word the boy uttered.
“I... Don’t want you to die, Sara.” He mutters, looking at her with a sense of determination in his eyes.
But his determination was different from hers. Way different. He wanted to fight for her, to make sure she came out of that hellish place alive, but he knew he would have to do inhumane things to reach his goal. Did it really matter? He was a doll, so he surely could do something “inhumane”, right?
Sara knew she had Ranmaru wrapped around her fingers. If she simply uttered those simple words of confirmation, he would kill for her. She was well aware of that. Did she care about his obvious feelings towards her? She didn’t know. She hadn’t given it much thought, really. Her mind was only focusing on what was important: survival. His feelings were a strong weapon she could use to her advantage if she played her cards right. A certain choice of words, an accidental touch, a look of innocence. That would be easy to do, and she was sure it would grant her survival. Maybe even his, if Maple hadn’t lied to them.
“What do you think about... winning...?” Ranmaru finally asked, his voice barely being a whisper. Winning meant freedom, but it also meant killing everyone she had considered friends until then. Had she really considered them her friends, though?
She didn’t get the time to get to know Mishima enough. Kai was her protector, whatever that meant, and he also had a great affiliation with her family, but she also didn’t have the time to talk to him properly. Nao was a good person, even though her emotions were often incredibly intense. Alice, despite his aggressive facade, looked like someone who cared about others deeply. And Joe... Joe had been her everything. He was the only person she could ever consider a true friend, both in the death game and outside of it. Yes, Ryoko was fun to be around, but she couldn’t compare to Joe.
“Look, I...! When I’m with you, Sara, I feel more and more like I wanna live!” The white-haired boy exclaimed.
The desire to live... It was truly something human. Ranmaru felt like he was still human, deep inside. He knew he was a doll, but his heart still felt that he was a human. He felt things just like the surviors did. One of those feelings was selfishness.
“If I wanna get out of this alive... All I have to do is take you out, Sara. But... I can’t do something like that. On the other hand... I’m sure I could kill... Anyone else...!” She could hear the desperation in his voice, how badly he wanted the both of them to get out of there alive, even it was at the cost of the others’ lives.
Her lips started tingling. Her throat tightened, to the point where it was hard to get any oxygen in or out of her lungs. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she was suffocating. Something was coming over her, and she didn’t know what it was. She couldn’t understand what it was.
“Ranmaru... That won’t go well.”
What am I saying?
“I could never kill an ally...”
My lips are moving on their own.
“I know that...! I’ll... I’ll do it all myself! That’s not something you want! Right...?! So it’ll all be something I did on my own...!”
“Don’t do it, Ranmaru. I don’t want to make you do such a thing...”
Stop it.
“It’s okay, Sara...! I’ll...”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Ranmaru... My precious... friend...”
Friend?
“I’ll be okay... Thank you... I’ll handle it skillfully...”
Snap out of it. Please. I can’t make him do this.
“Sou... and Reko... and Keiji, too...”
Why aren’t I reacting? They’re all gonna die if I don’t do something.
“...It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything, Sara. I’ll do it for you. Don’t worry.” The boy said, pulling her into a tight hug. She swore she could feel his heart racing inside his chest. But dolls don’t have hearts, do they?
“I promise it’ll be okay, Sara. I’ll get the two of us out of here soon. Just wait for me.” He whispered with his shaky voice, holding her tighter.
“I love you, Sara.” He admitted, his voice barely audible.
“I love you too, Ranmaru.”
The words had been said. The plan was in action.
10 notes ¡ View notes
stcrgazings ¡ 2 years ago
Note
like a tatoo pt2?
two ghosts ➳ (c.l)
like a tatto pt2, you can read part one here
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note: hi girls it’s been a while, and this is long promised and so I decided to finish it finally today to celebrate p4 and p5 in Canada, truth to be told i struggled terribly with this one, because I didn’t really planned for like a tatto to have a pt2, i mean it was an idea but i thought people wouldn’t even like it but then everyone wanted it so yeah, I basically wrote and rewrote the whole thing about 7-8 times because I didn’t liked it, but after a thousand rewrites I’m finally happy with the outcome, i hope you enjoy it and leave it tons of notes, it doesn’t really have to do much with the song but I thought of it when writing so it only seemed fitting.
pairing: charles leclerc x female reader
summary: Charles can’t stop thinking about a certain someone and manifesting without realizing it’s a powerful thing, but will he be able to fix what he broke?
warnings: angsts (lots of it) swearings, fighting, crying, two heartbroken people almost killing each other.
word count: 5.4K (longest yet in the blog)
He’s thinking of you again.
In his dying car in the middle of the track, he thinks thinks in those same red lips that flood his mind at any given minute and also that he must be the most unlucky person in the world, and that if you were here you’ll probably tell him that he’s just being his negative self and that that he’ll be alright.
But you’re not, thanks to no one but him, so he curses to himself and gets out of the car.
He thinks of you again, as he answers all types of questions to the hound of reporters that surrounds him, he imagines that it’s you that’s waiting for him in the garage, ready to hold him and kiss him and make him feel better but it’s the new girl that he’s seeing that wraps him in her arms, and he hates it because it doesn’t feel the same and her comfort isn’t half as good as yours and quite frankly just because she isn’t you.
But what he hates even more is the lonely road to the hotel, and the way your face is plastered in every single advertisement in that big city he’s in, just like in Monaco, and France and every single country in the globe, and the sour feeling that is to look at your beautiful face knowing that he’ll never have you again is as bad as getting a DNF in the first race of the season, if not worse.
The girl besides him talks and talks, hoping that maybe he’ll feel better, but he doesn’t because her long lashes look just like yours and that definitely doesn’t help him feel better at all, he feels more like being punch in the gut, repeatedly. But he doesn’t say anything and just remains kept to himself the whole ride, thinking about how you are or what you’ve been doing.
Maybe right now you’re thinking of him too.
Eventually he’s too in his head, thinking about what you would tell him in this situation he’s in, what you would do to make him feel better and forget the week if not months he’s had, he ends up sending the girl by his side away, repeating the words that once he said to you “you just wouldn’t understand baby” and watches her face drops, he feels his hearts sinks because your torturing sobs ring in his hears whilst the girl besides him leaves the room without saying goodbye.
(Just like you once did)
He knows that what he is doing is definitely not healthy at all, but he can’t really help himself, the memories of you being the only thing that keeps him a float, because he can’t really have you now, you’re no longer one call or one flight away, he’s by himself now, so reminiscing about you and your time together brings him some sense of peace.
He imagines that you would be waiting for him at his Monaco apartment, or at the airport, he wishes in silence to accidentally bump into you at the supermarket aisle once he gets back, fooling no one but himself, knowing none of those things will be happening when he gets home.
He used to think that racing with be enough, that if he just went day by day by the time season started he would be able to get ahold of himself, and then a competitive car would just do the rest but looking at the car he has right now that doesn’t even look like an option.
It’s like it was one step forward, thinking of last year, how he could’ve had it all, the championship and the girl and everything he could ever wanted, but now a long year later he knows its really three steps back, because he doesn’t have anything in the championship, as not one point adds up in his standings and he definitely doesn’t have the girl, doesn’t have you.
He opens his phone searching up your name, something he does religiously every night, to check on you without actually doing it, to tell himself that you’re okay, that you’re happy, and better off without him, the urge to text you or call you is always there, itching on the tip of his fingers, but it never wins, even though he truly does want it to, so he can tell you that he misses you, and that he’s sorry, and that he can’t live without even though he has tried with everything he has in him.
But he doesn’t, he never does, he just scrolls through his phone, reading about how you were in Italy a few days back, in Rome, for a fashion show or something liked that, and then feels his heart drop like he does every time he reads about you, this time he stares at the pictures of you exiting a club clearly wasted with an Argentinian soccer player, called Dybala or something liked that, by your side with his arm wrapped tightly around your waist and your face was deeply into his neck.
He sighs and throws his phone to the other side of the bed with something that feels like sadness, anger and jealousy all together and decides that’s enough you for the night.
He knows he has no right to feel anything involving you, because he was the one that screwed up, he was the one that had broken up with you and essentially ended things but he still did because he missed you and was still completely in love with you; He would even say haunted by you, his heart still skipping a beat every time someone mentioned you, his mind was constantly flooded with everything that involved you, he still thought about you when he saw tulips because they were your favorite flower, and every time he sees a sunset he can almost picture you with your phone in hand taking a picture and when he listens to Taylor Swift you’re all that comes to mind, even though he probably didn’t know what your favorite song was anymore since it was always changing from time to time.
He thought way too often about the fact that you probably didn’t think of him anymore when you heard lover and probably all too well was the one to go now that it came to him.
Everyone told him that it would get better eventually, but every day it felt like it was actually getting worse because in every living breathing moment of every hour of every day he just wanted to be with you, to be worthy of your love, to be like you both used to be before things had gotten bad, before he became a douche and didn’t realize it, before he pushed away and damaged things beyond repair.
Maybe in another universe he did everything right.
You’re both 20 years old and nothing bad has ever happened to you.
In another universe everything went well, and he won the championship with Ferrari, and you’re sitting on his lap giggling in his neck whilst in the beach in his yacht.
In another universe he’s the bigger person and doesn’t open your contact info just to see your profile picture.
In another universe he does get over you and everything gets better.
But there isn’t another universe so his fingers ghost over your phone number as he wants to call you, but then decides that a text wouldn’t hurt anyone since you probably have him blocked like in any other social media and wouldn’t get it anyway.
So he types an “i miss you” and then presses the send button, with his hands shaking and his heart in his throat, somehow the “I hope that you’re ok” that he types after hurts him even more as he sends it.
He knows he’ll get no answer, like he said before, you have him blocked everywhere, and he wants to say he wrote that just to vent all of the feelings from the past few weeks, but a teeny tiny part of him still wishes for you to read them, and he can’t help but wonder if you’re just as miserable as he is right now.
But that doesn’t change how mortified he becomes as the word delivered appeared on his screen, his heart dropping from his throat to his stomach.
Well fuck.
(…)
I miss you.
You’ve always been an glass half empty type of girl and you’ve never even know why, you’ve always been negative except with everything that involved Charles.
But that doesn’t change how decompose you are after getting that text, silent tears stream down your face as you made your way out of the busy club, feeling like the air inside it was being slowly stripped away from you, your lungs failing to do their job as you felt like breathing was to much of a task.
I hope that you’re ok.
It knocks the air out of you, and before you know it you’re emptying your insides in the sidewalk in the back of the club, and you’re sweating and you feel like you’re about to pass out.
I miss you.
Everything is a blur, you feel your own bodyguards hand around your arm as they get you in the car, your friend behind you.
“You’re okay miss?” The question rings in your ears and you want to answer no but your voice doesn’t seem to come out, so you just move your head from side to side signaling a clear “no.”
From then on the voices feel distorted, worrying looks surrounding you, you feel your friends hands all over your face, her left hand firm on your chin as she took one good look at you, staring deep into your very drunk and disoriented eyes.
“I think she’s intoxicated”
I hope that you’re ok.
You are basically pass out in the back seat of the black Range Rover in, head pressed in your friends lap as she blows air on your face, there’s discussion in the front seat, something about taking you to a hospital, they tell you not to fall asleep, but you can’t really help your closing eyes, and so as everything turns into black you think that this whole thing is unfair, and that he doesn’t have a right to miss you after every he did but a drunk mumble comes out of you anyways.
“He needs to know that I miss him too” is the last thing that leaves you in a dry and tired whisper as your consciousness is lost in the back seat of the car.
(…)
“I fucking hate Balmain” you muster as you fix your hair in the bathroom, still a little drunk, definitely a lot hangover, your head pounding so much it felt like it was going to burst.
You were currently in an event, a Balmain one in case it wasn’t clear, a tiny skirt adorned your legs with a white top from the brand that squeezed you in all the right places, your hair was curly and down, the high ponytail that you’ve worn for the past months gone, since just a few hour ago you told your stylist that anymore pressure in your head would make you puke.
To say that you would rather be anywhere else than in this 20ft yacht was an understatement
but your manager had almost dragged you here in an attempt to do some damage control because of the show you just pulled last night.
So you smile and nod and chat politely with everyone that comes close, and you giggle and flirt with the Argentinian soccer player in front of you, allowing his roaming hands just above of the curve of your ass and into the naked back of your dress, laughing playfully.
And when Paulo Dybala leaves you, you do tell him that you might be free later that night.
You take another sip of champagne when all of the sudden you feel a heavy stare just at the back of your neck, a shiver running down your spine and you would know that feeling everywhere because it’s what you’ve been missing all this time.
Charles fucking Leclerc, your ex, and the one you might consider the love of your life, it’s in the same enclosed space that you are right now, and not any enclosed space but in a stupid yacht that is kilometers away from mainland, kilometers away from any scape from him.
But of course that doesn’t stop you from finding the closest emergency exit from the room, and feeling him behind you before you even start running to the outside of the boat, the bow you think that it’s called, but it’s the last thing you think about as you basically jump stairs down.
“Y/n wait!” He calls out for you and your name from his mouth sounds just as you remember and it breaks you down almost completely.
“Get away from me Charles!” You shout at him, grabbing your dress and waking as fast as your heels allow you to, because you don’t want to see him and let alone hear whatever it is he has to say.
“y/n, please listen” he grabs you by the wrist before you can separate from him even further, you didn’t even know where you were going considering you were trap in a yacht in the middle of the sea but it was definitely away from him.
“There’s nothing you can say that I want to hear Charles, please let me go” you turn around to see him, to finally catch a glimpse of him, a good look into him at the person you used to love the most, and the moment you are met with does same eyes green you’ve thought about everyday since he left you, you feel yourself tremble because there’s begging in his eyes desperation even, and even though you want to look away from it, you can’t.
“I can’t— I can’t keep living like this, I need you to hear me out please” he looks at you too, and god me missed you, moon dancing over your good side making you look as beautiful as ever as he pulls you a little closer to him, because he needs you, like he never needed anything before, and it breaks him, it shatters his heart into a million peace the look that you give him, because it’s filled with hurt and pain, and your eyes looks glassy and broken and he knows that it’s all because of him.
“You need—! you need me to listen!” At this point you’re past hurt, now you’re livid because how dare he and he actually looks scared when you walk towards him and you thank God that all of the guests are inside having dinner because you now think that you might kill him.
“What about what I needed Charles!?” You push him away, freeing yourself from his grab on your wrist and decide that if he wants to talk then you’ll talk.
“I needed you! And you fucking left me, I held together our relationship for months Charles, I booked the flights, I killed myself going from New York to Monaco just to see for six or seven hours because you were busy and never had the time, I waited for you up every time you came back from a race just to see your face even though you never even spoke to me because you were sad, you pushed me away, you quite literally gave up on our relationship and I need to hear you out?. Fuck off Charles” you brush your hair out of your hair, tears staining your rosy cheeks, and you want to hate him you truly do, but as you look at him you simply can’t, and that makes you even more miserable.
The whole thing makes you want to jump from the boat and drown, your head pulsing from how bad it hurts and you don’t know if it is because the only thing you have eaten in the whole day were some olives or because of the hangover or because of how infuriated you are.
“Ange I…” the nickname sends chills down your spine, Charles simply stares at you and just wants to make it all better, wants to take these whole months back, wants to stop himself from treating you the way he did when you were still together but he knows he can’t.
“Don’t call me that” you spit before he can even continue but he walks towards you to grab you again, and you don’t stop him when his hands find your arms again. “Okay but please don’t cry, I can’t stand to see you cry”
“Baby I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am for all of that, and If could take it back I would, in the split of a second, I didn’t know how to value you back then and I took you for granted when I shouldn’t have, and every day since we broke up I’ve lived to regret it, I’ve been miserable since the day you left” he says and it sounds truthful, but you can’t let yourself believe him. “You didn’t look miserable when you hooked up with every other girl in Monaco, including my best friend” you shoot back. Cleaning the tears from your cheeks before he can even dare to.
“Maybe I didn’t take the best choices, that I know, but they weren’t you!”
“It’s that supposed to make me feel better?” You mock him, because you are hurt and angry, and he can’t help but groan in frustration. “Yes—! No—! I mean that, I am trying to make it better, I love you, okay? Like I’ve never loved someone before that I know, and it’s killing me, I hate seeing you like this, every time I’ve been happy it’s because I thought of you, in my car it’s you who I want singing at the songs in the radio, it’s you who I want to wake up to, it’s you who I want to come home to, it’s you, everything I’ve ever wanted, every living day, every night baby, it’s you who I come to, checking to see if you are okay, wondering how you are, if you are okay”
“Well I’m not, I’ve been miserable, fucking going insane because of how badly I’ve missed you, getting drunk every fucking weekend trying to get you out of my mind, because you are all I can think about, wearing your shirts in the bathroom floor while I can’t stop crying because of badly I want you, despite of what you did to, because even after everything I wanted to call you, to hear your voice and to tell you that I loved you, isn’t it pathetic?” You asked, because that is exactly how you’ve felt, pathetic, even now hearing him out when you know that you know better than that.
“What? No you are not pathetic baby, you could never be and I am so sorry for making feel less than how wonderful and amazing you are, I wanted to call you too, you have no idea”
“Then why didn’t you?!” You asked and that is the only thing you actually want to hear from him, because for him to call you was everything you ever wanted, for the longest time it was. “Because I convinced myself that you were better off without me, I didn’t wanted to keep hurting you”
“It’s—it’s what you are doing right now!”
You want to say something, anything really but you can’t, because the whole thing it’s to much and before things can get even worse, your body fucking betrays you and your lungs stop doing what they are supposed.
“Stop” you speak, softly for the first time since the whole conversation started, and it’s quiet and you can’t stop crying, and you want to scream and disappear because you don’t want to keep having this conversation because it hurts, it hurts so much.
“Hey, hey, are you okay?” He asks. Eyes glistening, fighting back the tears seeing you like this, how did you both end up here?, “I can’t breath” you muster and it’s wheezy and you don’t want him to see you like this but you can’t really stop it.
“I just want to go home!” You sob lowering your head, giving up at the whole thing, feeling like a small child who just wants her mom, dropping to the floor, Charles joining you by your side.
And it’s quiet while you sob, and cry, hands on your face and he wants to hug you but he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to, but he places a hand on your thigh, tracing it up and down and it’s gentle and completely innocent while he does it, eventually you place your head in his shoulder it’s almost natural like an instinct and you feel your heart flutter when he places a soft kiss in your temple, “I can’t let you hurt me again Charles, I won’t make it.”
“I won’t” he whispers in your head, and it’s a promise, grabbing and intertwining your hand with his leaves a kiss in your knuckles and stares deep into your eyes. “I love you baby, please give me another chance.” You cry again because you want to believe him but you can’t , falling apart completely into his arms allowing him to wrap you into his embrace, tears staining his shirt, soaking him completely, his hands meeting your neck, now combing your hair through his rings and fingers.
“I didn’t deserve what you did to me” you whisper, still buried deep in this chest while he stared at you and nodded, because he knows it’s true, that you didn’t deserve everything that he did to you, he knows that he did wrong.
“I know that you didn’t deserve it, you didn’t deserved any of it, that’s why I’m apologizing because I treated you so badly when all you did was being there for me, and that’s why I’m also asking you to please give me another chance so that I can prove to you that I’ll make it better, and that I’ll make it up to you for the rest of our lives, if you let me”
Part of you wants to believes him and I’m fact a part of you does, and it’s that part that crawls deep in your chest when you finally look at him, at those green eyes that you used to call home, but now are filled with tears and despair, but even then Charles still tries and smiles at you, and you can almost feel yourself crumble, because you remember the first time you ever saw him smile and thought that, that smile was the one that you wanted to see for the rest of your days, and suddenly you aren’t in the boat heartbroken and crying in his arms, but in your apartment together sitting on the counter tasting the pancakes he just made for you. You are in Monza getting so wasted that you can’t even walk so he has your high heels in hand carrying you in a bridal style back to your hotel room, you are in a simulator in Maranello sitting on his lap while he teaches you how to use it, you are by his side blasting a Taylor Swift song telling him how much you love him, you are kissing goodbye before he goes to another continent to race, you are in bed wearing his t-shirt, hugging him, crying on his arms like you are doing right now but because you saw a movie where a dog died, and you know that despite that everything that he ever did to you, you still love him.
That’s why you pull closer, both of your breaths becoming just one because of the proximity, noses touching completely while breathing heavily because neither of you pull away, Charles tugging a strand of hair behind your ear while cupping your cheek and your heart is beating just as fast as the car he drives for a living, his pupils dilated and you shouldn’t, you can’t.
But of course that he kisses you, and there’s stillness and hesitation because for a second you don’t don’t kiss him back because you are better than this and just when Charles thinks everything is lost, you kiss him back.
And his lips against yours it’s just as good as you remembered to be, and it’s soft and slow but also desperate and needy your back arching against him because the closeness is not enough, both of his hands in your back while yours are cupping his cheeks and neither of you can’t tell if you’re actually pulling or pushing away, and it’s magical and soothing and just as stomach twisting as it always was, even with your own tears mixing in the kiss, and you don’t ever want it, it to end.
So you kiss him, with all that you have whispering a breathy, “fuck.” Throwing your legs over his lap, foreheads touching while he smiles at you and you smile at him too, and it’s the happiest you’ve been in months.
“I missed this” Charles mutters softly against your lips and all you can do is nod, enjoying the gentle strokes in the naked part of your lower back still drunk in the whole thing. “I missed this too” and you kiss him back because it’s true, and the first thing you think is how were you able to survive this long with out it, without him.
You both stay there for the longest time, giggling and kissing and making up for the time lost, and it feels like before everything went to shit and you would be lying if you said that didn’t give you a shrink of hope.
You tell him about modeling, and how everything in your life work wise seems to be working out smoothly, you tell him about all the places you’ve been, and all the countries you’ve visit since you left each other, you tell him about parties and how you are kinda still drunk from last night. “Is that my fault?”, He asks shyly making you laugh softly.
“Well not really, when I got your text I was almost already pass out in the back of the club, I was just thinking about you yesterday” you confess, back against his chest, you’re both standing now against the rail of the boat. “um, I saw the race.” You say, playing with the rings in his fingers, his arms around your waist and his chin in your shoulder and you feel him sigh against you.
“You saw that huh” he mumbles in the crook of your neck, feeling the disappointment in himself in the tone of voice because you know him that well, you always have. “You know it’s not your fault, right?” You tell him, because it truly isn’t, because every time that the team fails him Charles feels like he’s the one that did.
“Doesn’t feel like it” he says pain clear in his voice. “Listen to me, Charles”, you turn around to face him, cupping his face in between his face, “I’ve been your number one hater for these past months, but please believe me when I tell you that that wasn’t your fault, even I can’t deny your talent, and if you need to believe someone, it’s me, I know you, more than Carlos, and Fred, and those reporters and engineers, I know you, and I know for a fact that you are gifted and talented, and that what happened was most definitely not your fault, okay?”
You tell him, still with your hands in his face, shaking him playfully so it enters his stubborn head while smiling jokingly.
“I believe you” he tells you, because it’s you and if there’s someone that can make him believe something it’s you, so he kisses you again, lips crashing against yours once again, loving and hungry and he wants to have you for the rest of his life.
“Soooo…” he begins again, playing with the fabric of your dress at the end of your naked back and just above the curve of your ass.
“…does this mean you’ll give me another chance?”
He drops the one million dollar question, with both your hearts still beating the fastest they can, and you’ve pictured this very exact moment a thousands times in the past few months and you’re shaking because it’s all you’ve ever wanted but even better, and fuck you love him, and his green earthshaking eyes, and his smile that’s every dentist dream, and the way that his lips feel against yours and the way his hands fit perfectly in the curve of your waist and intertwined with your hand, and you love him even when you hate him even when you just were crying because of him not even a hour ago, and is breathtakingly frustrating in the best way possible.
And so you throw your hands behind his head playing with his hair just like you always used to do, “Baby…” and you know the answer even before it can even come out of your lips.
“When we get off this boat I don’t want to see or hear from you ever again.” And it hits Charles like a brick in the face, because yes you love him, with everything that you have in you, but sometimes love isn’t enough and you know that in this point of your lives he can’t give you what you want, what you deserve even, that in the long run it’ll never work out because how could you trust him? Trust that he won’t hurt you again? After it took him almost three months to figure out that he can’t live without you? Because you’ll never look at him with the same eyes again, because you’re not who you used to be, because you are just two ghosts standing in the graveyard of your relationship, mourning what what I’ll never be again.
After that everything it’s foggy, you don’t know if it is because of how hard you’re trying to hold off the tears, because he’s crying at your feet, and it aches you, because he’s begging at you face deep into you, holding you so tightly you don’t even know how to think straight.
“Baby please don’t do this to me, please” he sobs against you, tears sliding freely through wetting your clothes completely with his now red face and you wonder if he felt this awful when he left you just a few months ago.
“If you ever loved m—“ you sob inevitably without even looking at him because you don’t think you’ll be able to take it, “if you ever loved— me like you say you did, you’ll respect my decision, it’s the least you can do for me” you say between tears and sobs before walking away and you think that it might be the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life.
But letting go of you it’s actually the hardest thing Charles ever done too, but at the end of the day all he ever wanted was for you to be happy, even when if it’s not with him, even when he doesn’t know what he’ll do with his life now that the smallest bit of hope that he had, was just crush right in front of him.
He loves you and he thinks that it might kill him, he thinks it’s the biggest piece of karma he’s ever gotten, because even though he’s never loved you more, you don’t want to see him again and if it’s what you want, it’s what he’ll do, because part of loving it’s letting go, right?
When you get off the boat and into your car you cry like you’ve never done before, but you know that you’ll be okay, that you’ll do everything to be so.
That you’ll even do as if you never even met Charles Leclerc because it might have been better that way, and you’ll go day by day trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat without him in your life.
THE END.
————
TAGLIST (everyone who asked for a pt2) [@ushygushybaby @beesbadger @tempo-rary-fix @honethatty12 @jollysaladprunefriend @leclerc16s @haydee5010 @taurussbabe @nmw-am @mycenterfold]
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purble-turble ¡ 5 months ago
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So- wait, in relation to the prince red stuff rn is there an endgame in mind? Since rn its sort of mostly about the sudden love triangle and how despite beng given mutual validation about their debatably noble suicide attempts, nezha and mk aren't actually all that healthy bc they kind of end up encouraging the more 'what do you mean it's an unhealthy coping mechanism all my coping mechanisms are fine' traits in eachother (at least that's how I've been reading it) the romantic endgame is the primary tension- is there an endgame in mind or are we just gonna see how long we can spin the wheels of drama? I mean don't get me wrong I love spinning the wheels of drama and watching lotusnoodles looking happy as they sort of prove they're not good at the whole 'you make eachother better' part of healthy relationships while Red is stuck in a jealous spiral but /still not really being wrong/ in relation to why he was upset with mk in the first place (since they wouldnt have been broken up for more than like a week if MK had just like, apologized for treating his life so cavalier and scaring everyone) stresses me the FUCK out in a delightful way, I just wanna know if its all just the delight of mess or if there's a presumed end to angle asks toward after a point?
You are right to ask, but it is true that I almost NEVER have an endgame in mind when I am answering asks like this 😂
I find it much more rewarding to just expound on the ideas that are provided to me, and if an interesting thought occurs to me while I’m responding or if something really catches my attention, then I’ll follow that thread down a rabbit hole until I reach the bottom… rarely will I ever have a plan for what happens after that. I mostly like to just leave it up to the next asker who will either show me a different rabbit hole or hand me a shovel to keep digging.
Mostly I do it this way in case someone has an interesting idea of where to take things next. I always like hearing others ideas of how a story can progress- it leads to outcomes I wouldn’t have thought of myself and sometimes they’re freakin awesome and electric~ The danger is it can definitely lead to a story stagnating because, as you said, we just get stuck spinning the wheels of drama.. either because it’s fun in that one spot and we don’t want to move on or because no one can think of anywhere to go next with it.
When it comes to this Prince Red storyline we’ve been talking about lately, I do fear it’s a case of the second one a bit, and it’s for both of the reasons I mentioned. It’s an interesting dynamic to have Nezha and Red be fighting over MK and there’s lots of fun to have in that scenario, but also the problems that have been presented for Red and MK run so deep, it’s not something that can be resolved easily, and difficult solutions are hard to convey in something like a Tumblr ask.
Anyway, all that to say, nope there’s no endgame here. So any suggestions on where these dum dums can go next is welcome. Or we can just keep spinning the wheels and making them have a hard time haha
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ask-team-galactic ¡ 2 years ago
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Unpopular opinion: I think Cyrus is more interesting as a character when he isn't redeemed. I understand why the appeal of him seeing the error of his ways is there, especially given how much his traumatic upbringing shaped his philosophies, but I think that many of his incarnations, such as those in the original Gen 4 games, the remakes, the Diamond and Pearl Adventure manga, and the anime (though I dislike his portrayal in the anime) are more interesting as villains. In those incarnations, he shows no sign of doubting or reconsidering his plans- in the anime, he basically opts to kill himself rather than live in the world he despised, while in the games, even during the final confrontation at Spear Pillar/the Distortion World, he insists that he will achieve his ambition, and that the player's intervention is just a minor setback. With that level of belief in his ideals, I don't think redemption would be in character, nor would it be a satisfying outcome to his character arc.
I also find that, in the portrayals where Cyrus is redeemed, it's not done in a way that provides any sort of closure to his character arc. Masters is especially guilty of this- 90% of his "redemption" is Cynthia and the protagonist(s) telling him "you're wrong" with minimal clarification, and he seemingly just decides "okay, I'm wrong" out of the blue. The part with Sophocles was handled very well, and while I could see what the writers were going for with the Commanders talking him out of it, given that he called the entire rest of Team Galactic "uniformly useless and incomplete" in Platinum, I don't exactly buy that he'd be convinced by them, of all people. My big problem with this, and with his portrayal in the Pokespe manga, is that Cyrus was never proven wrong. He was never shown that his vision for the world was going to cause more harm than good. And it would have been easy to do- have any relevant legendary (Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Arceus, the Lake Guardians- even Darkrai or Hoopa in Masters could work) show the world he would have created, and let him realize that it was a fundamentally flawed concept. If they really wanted to redeem him, that's how I think they should have gone about doing it.
Thank you for the very thoughtful ask and the opportunity to talk about my favourite character! I agree with some parts of this and disagree with other parts of it and I think you make some very good points.
Firstly, to give back a milder version of your controversial opinion, I would totally be down for more iterations where Cyrus isn't redeemed! For one thing, I would love an iteration where the commanders realize he's wrong, try to redeem him, and have to find the strength to turn against him. I think that would be interesting, and I say that as someone who LOVES iterations where Cyrus and the commanders act like friends or found family and where they're a big part of his redemption (the great thing about multiple iterations is that we can have our cake and eat it, too!). And for another thing, I think that Cyrus' absolute conviction is part of what makes him great. I actually first wrote him because I wanted to feel as confident in my own convictions as he does. I love that he's relentless and is willing to do anything- any evil, any personal sacrifice, any effort- to accomplish his goals. I love moments where he shows that, like when he decided to go further into the Distortion World in hopes that it would allow him to fulfill his plans, or when he's bleeding and wielding the red chain in Spe. I like seeing him willing to fight to the last breath.
HOWEVER, I also like iterations where Cyrus is redeemed. I'll explain why further down, but first I'm going to address the part of your analysis that I disagree most with.
I disagree with you that Cyrus needs to be shown that his vision is bad in order to properly redeem him. My reason for that is that I think that at least a part of Cyrus' ironclad determination comes from the fact that he would rather do anything than live out an unaltered lifespan in our universe. In Platinum and the anime short, he'd rather exile himself to the Distortion World. In Spe, he'd rather keep going even as he's battered and bleeding from his eyes. In Masters, he'd rather escape to a dream of utter nothingness and apathy. And as you said, in the anime, he'd rather die.
For that reason, I think you could show him a vision of people and Pokemon languishing in meaningless, empty lives in the world he's planned, and depending on where he's at he might still think that's better because he is suffering to the point where he'd prefer that. In some iterations he thinks that everyone else is also suffering and would be better off that way, too, and in others he just doesn't care about anything but his own relief. And even if such an experience did get him to realize he's wrong and quit, he'd be left utterly hopeless, with no hope for this world or the one he planned to create. That isn't a satisfying conclusion to a character arc, and realistically might still lead him to be destructive- either through senseless lashing out or finding a new villainous plan that gives him hope.
That doesn't mean that I think Cyrus should be portrayed as completely set in his ways, however. Through every iteration, they're actually very consistent with there being one thing that melts Cyrus' conviction like butter: hope for something better.
This isn't always a good thing. In the anime short, Cyrus abandons his goal to live in the Distortion World, convinced that he'll be happier there. In Masters, he abandons his plans to take a permanent nap in the woods so he won't have to feel anymore.
However, sometimes "something better" is of this world, and that's when redemption happens. I like that, because Cyrus isn't scary and dangerous just because his vision sucks. It wouldn't matter at all if he could just have his empty, meaningless world harmlessly in parallel to ours. Cyrus is the antagonist ultimately because the world and our ability to experience it is worth having and would be tragic to lose. I think that him realizing that he could actually be happy is 100% what would get him to choose a better path in life, so I'm glad that's the path we've seen in Spe and Masters. It's nice to see broken things heal, and for Cyrus, healing and redemption are and should be synonymous.
That being said, I do agree with some of your specific complaints on the redemption arcs we've seen. In both Spe and DPA, Cyrus softens on his ideas or outright changes his mind just because he had some time to think. Because it happened twice, I don't think it can be called "out of character," but it's really not my favourite part of his character and I do have a hard time squaring it with him being willing to fight for his beliefs for the 5+ years that Team Galactic existed. So, yeah, I agree with you. I think that Cyrus should have at least taken note of the trio's friendship before his cool-down period in Spe.
As for Masters... well, I only know about Masters through second-hand accounts so I might have some things wrong, but I honestly don't have an issue with the commanders being a big part of why Cyrus changed his mind. There are some iterations (and Platinum is one of them) where there is nothing to suggest that Cyrus has a bond with his commanders, and in others, like Spe and DPA, there's plenty. It seems like in the Masters iteration, Cyrus does care a lot about the commanders and they know that, even though he's far from open about it ("You're tools to me." "Sure, buddy. Let's go be attached at the hip for the rest of Masters"). Given that relationship, I think it's absolutely heartwarming that part of what caused Cyrus to turn around was to see that his commanders still wanted to be there for him even though they saw him at his weakest. I also like that Cyrus is still very dumb when it comes to emotional matters and hasn't solidly changed his mind about anything. He's just put his goal on hold and is looking at his options now that he's feeling a little more hopeful.
I'll end this off by saying that if you want a villain who 100% will never change their mind and will always go down fighting, Lysandre might fit the bill. He's also suffering because of what he's trying to do, and unlike Cyrus, it's unambiguous that he's doing what he's doing for the supposed greater good.
Thanks again for the opportunity to discuss! I hope you got something out my ramble, haha.
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bunnakit ¡ 10 months ago
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lore anon here, vibrating now, because I must ask, do you read tarot yourself? because I definitely do, (hell, I picked my latest daily draw deck that I've been working with since may by just asking each of the three decks I was trying to decide between what they each thought about ateez and then going with the deck that gave the fondest answer because why the heck not since I was changing decks right before the comeback. so why not, right?)
because, I am not kidding, half the reason I sent the last ask was because I'd been watching Don't Stop on loop for like 3 hours yesterday, (HJ standing on the piano while the room on fire has been a mood for me of late,) and I could not stop thinking about the Guerrilla cane and the Don't Stop cane and the fact that Hongjoong is such an absolute Emperor archetype personality-wise and how the Emperor is generally considered the evolved form of the King of Wands. And he was the one who literally got a wand in the photospread, and then got two canes (wands) in actual mvs. And wands are the suit of actions/passion/communication and they show up in the two mv's where the Black Pirates are finally taking action, and using their passion to communicate their message and start fighting to give people their emotions back, and then the one where Hongjoong has to kind of lose his mind and wreck the place in a fit of passion to get the key to ship back.
but I don't mention tarot because if someone's not into the woo-woo it makes me sound like I'm absolutely insane. I AM SO GLAD TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THIS.
(And we've already had one very prominent cups song (Answer with its literal overflowing cup,) and one coins/pentacles song, (hi there WORK, welcome to the canon). ...and a sword song depending on if we're counting the kingdom/stage performances of Wonderland given how iconic Seonghwa's sword is to the song at this point).
Also, also if you want to talk about card associations? Bouncy where they are literally bringing down The Tower, because a system built on corrupt foundations cannot stand.
You could also argue San's toast in Answer relating to the Star card pouring water/healing given how much of an emotional resolution and idea of finding of an understanding between the A and Z pirates Answer is.
Or Yeosang captured by the android guardians and trapped in the glass prison cell as The Hanged Man, forcibly stuck and suspended in time and space and forced into a reflection that does not go well for him before they rescue him.
(Also I have not stopped thinking about that tarot reading all the way back from Codename: Ateez that I basically reverse-engineered the spread positions of based on how the reader lady gave the reading and.... Hongjoong coming up as the Emperor who sees Seonghwa as the Queen of Cups while Seonghwa comes up as the literal Queen of Swords who sees Hongjoong as the ace of wands like aaaaaaaaa. And the fact that she just whipped out the whole husband/wife thing because it seems like the overarching dynamic of their relationship is the 4 of swords, how they are together is 'a stable foundation' with the king and ace of pentacles, all of which if I was reading that same spread I would read as 'they feel like home to each other'. And the outcome of their relationship being 9 of cups/death? completely transform each other while making their dreams come true? aakhgkjhgkrjh hi, yes, they make me insane your honour)
THE TOWER. i stared at The Tower for ages like i KNOW we've seen a version of it and i couldn't think of it but it's absolutely Bouncy!! (The Tower is also the card i always fucking get in readings, thankfully not reversed.)
i don't actually read myself, never really took the time to learn, but i do collect decks (my husband got me the most gorgeous bird themed deck for our anniversary) - i mostly just look up card meanings from time to time and try to remember the iconography in them, but i DO have plans to get the reversed heirophant tattooed on me someday
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i truly can't wait to see where the lore goes, while it made me cry for like 30 mins i'm so so curious to see where Golden Hour's lore takes us because it definitely feels like a HUGE pivotal moment in the story
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seyaryminamoto ¡ 1 year ago
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From what I remember in your story, even taking Iroh's initial biases into account I thought part of his intense hostility leading up to his report to Ozai was that he was truly convinced that Azula's true nature was either no better or even significantly worse than Ozai's due to the Iroh's suspicions arc. Azula herself told Sokka she was worried that by throwing him of the trail of their relationship that she may have brought the worst out of him. Honestly this was probably my favorite exploration of their conflict, because if they were truly able to trust each other and talk they could have avoided so much pain and trouble, but both of them over the course of the story had developed genuine and/or biased reasons not to trust one another and viewed themselves as doing the right thing despite their actions ultimately resulting in the worst outcome. Azula was trying to prevent a known adversary from having ammunition to ruin their lives and future plans, and Iroh believed that he was essentially hindering the fire nation by turning what he thought were essentially two Evil Ozais with a good relationship with one another into enemies. I can't lie that I'm not slightly disappointed that in the latest chapter that this aspect of their conflict wasn't brought up more explicitly in the conversation with Zuko when Iroh was talking about his biases. Was I personally thinking that the dynamic was more significant than it actually was or is that dynamic being saved for a future conversation Iroh may have with Sokka and Azula?
Uuuuuh, as for the last question... I don't really know if I'll bring it up some more since I do think I've had Iroh acknowledge why and how he fucked up in that respect in the past + exteriorized that if Azula had acted differently he might just have done it too? Am I crazy for thinking so? Did I write that or didn't I? That's a complicated game to play when you're almost at 5 million words of a story... 🤣
Azula and Iroh miiiight have one more conversation in the future and maybe this will come up there, but I haven't written it yet so I won't make any promises on that front. Admittedly, I don't expect their future encounter to be particularly fruitful. Iroh is 100% genuine in what he has understood and learned, though, that can't be denied and I always have hoped to portray him not as a super wicked villain but as a character who thinks he understands far more than he actually does, with motivations that push him into making mistakes he very much comes to regret.
This being said, the Azula-Iroh and Zuko-Ozai parallels in this story are and always have been 100% intentional. Those two tugs-of-war have been going on forever, and the crux of them was very much the fact that Azula and Iroh distrusted and second-guessed and suspected each other soooo much... because they have similar natures, similar thought processes, and they're both intellectual, suspicious, hiding what's REALLY going on underneath the surface, and immediately wary when they recognize all those traits in each other too. Likewise, Zuko and Ozai have some REALLY ugly parallels and one of those parallels, already given away by the chapter you sent this ask over, is going to be the driving force of the conflict between those two, much as a similar thing was the driving force between Iroh and Azula, in its own way: the more they fight to push the other away, the harder they reject the other, the more they end up embodying the flaws they see in that other person, to an extent where they could do absolutely TERRIBLE things just out of wanting to push the other one as far away as possible.
So yeah, the point was never for Iroh to feel like some sadistic mustache-twirling villain who wanted Azula to suffer just for shits and giggles. He had his reasons to do what he did. Doesn't mean he was right. Doesn't mean he should've done it. What it means is it made sense in his head due to his biases, the information he had at hand at the moment, and the particularly awful relationship he had with Azula. Likewise, Azula's rejection of Iroh back in "Iroh's suspicions" caused her uncertainty and anguish because she KNEW she had taken it too far. She was afraid of the consequences. A part of her KNEW that if she acted differently, there was a chance, however slim, that Iroh might not have made the choice he did. And that's why this is such a messed up situation! :')
Ultimately, I want my characters to have motivations that just... add up. That can be traced. That, upon looking at their actions and choices, anyone can go "oh yeah, this is why they did whatever they did". This is good when it comes to establishing ultimate goals, and it's also good when you want to put characters to the test: how far are they willing to go, what are they ready to do to achieve whatever they're trying to achieve? How much are they willing to sacrifice for it? And the answers to those questions can be VERY extreme and painful. Just so, we can find characters who decide to back down and simply surrender over their goals when they realize that there are other things that matter more. But it's a manner of game a writer plays when it comes to gauging and figuring out what a character wants vs. needs, what a character will fight for and what it will take for them to surrender, and so on. Fundamentally, that's how I built up Iroh and Azula's chaotic dynamic. Whatever comes from that in the future, ultimately, their biggest problem may just be that they were just too smart for their own good, tried to outsmart each other a little too much, and never allowed themselves to just... accept each other properly. They came close to it once, yes! But... they failed. And it's depressing as hell, but complicated characters will always be challenging this way...
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idealisticrealism ¡ 1 year ago
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TCL 3x03 thoughts
Many thoughts and spoilers, as usual.
The Main things:
Given the timeframe with Fi’s journey back (and needing her in time for the Child Protective Services meeting), it can’t have been more than a day or two since the last episode.
The reappearance of Adan’s name in the credits was very confusing until Russo produced the video. I’m pretty used to the body double use now (managed to not even cry at the sight of my boy, which I'll take as progress) so my main thoughts about the vid were that it looks just like a scene from a fic idea I had last week that did make me cry, and also that if the footage is from a police body cam, I’m guessing that cop is dead/unconscious and slumped against their own vehicle given the angle and the fact they’re not moving…
Calling it right now, ‘Jeremy the handyman’ is undercover FBI. Russo is smart enough and determined enough not to put all her eggs in the Nadia basket, so I think that this is her other plan to take Thony (and through her, Arman) down. And as she later tells Nadia: nothing is ever as it seems. So I'm convinced the racist attack on the Cleaning Ladies office was fabricated by the FBI to allow ‘Jeremy’ to be introduced into Thony’s life in a way that would lead her to trust him quickly and allow him into her circle, especially with his kindness and all his sentiments about the shittiness of xenophobia and how ‘this is her home, no matter what anyone says’. I’m actually genuinely pissed about it tbh, bc Thony deserves that kindness and support for real, instead of having her isolation and fear and vulnerability preyed upon by people who want to throw her behind bars just because she didn’t play by the rules of their flawed and biased system…
Sigh honestly though, Thony is too stubborn and short-sighted for her own good. Like yes she saved Soledad’s life by ignoring Dante’s orders, but in doing so she risked her own life as well as Fi and Chris’ lives, and also jeopardised her relationship with both Ramona and the CPS worker who is responsible for deciding if Luca should be taken from her or not. At least she’s written consistently in that she always tries to do the ‘right thing’ and save the person in front of her, but that means she often overlooks the potential consequences of taking that action and the overall balance of good vs bad that would come out of it. Like I’m guessing she’s one of those people who absolutely hates the Trolley Problem lol
Well now we know how Paolo’s money comes into play… funny that if he’d never given Chris the money, Chris wouldn’t have been able to give it to Camila and her mum, which means they wouldn’t have come on the crossing, so he would have never had to fight the guy to defend Camila, and wouldn’t have ended up getting stranded in the desert…. Again, this show really is great at demonstrating those ‘well-intentioned actions leading to bad outcomes’ moments 
This ep is really trying to give Jorge a bit more depth, from him being all cute about Violeta’s soccer practice (showing he’s an involved dad who is also laid back and knows how to have fun, not one of those intense/pushy ones), and how his warnings to Thony have become less like threats and more like well-meaning advice. He’s willingly acting as Thony’s chauffeur rather than sending an underling to do it, and he’s also letting her debate with him on a more even level than before, where previously he just shut her down immediately. He even actually seems to listen to her about not hurting Nadia and the idea of letting Ramona meet Nadia instead (given what we see in the trailer). The scene where he finds her with the van is likely meant to look like he is hiding something, but I think he is genuinely looking for Arman and actually didn’t know that this was the van that took him, and he just doesn’t trust her enough yet to be open with her about it.  I also think he respects that she cares enough about Arman to stand up to him, to challenge him about his possible involvement– if I’m right and he truly is trying to bring Arman home safe, her persistent loyalty to Arman even in the face of danger to herself would be a big point in her favour. 
Okay what the hell is the little glass jar Thony finds, though?? Something of Arman’s? Something that they can get a bad guy’s fingerprints off of to give them a lead? A sedative medication that indicates he was drugged and taken somewhere, rather than killed and dumped?? I need answerssss
Poor Nadia is suffering through feelings of betrayal on all sides here lol. I don’t blame her at all for going to Russo and trying to save herself and Arman through a deal, but I’m so relieved that Russo’s obsession with punishing Arman has made that alliance an impossibility. Now all we need is for Nadia to cool down a little, and realise that despite everything, there’s only one person she can truly turn to�� (and yes, I’ve written a fic about it lol)
“You ever notice that everyone around him turns up dead?” lollll look at this show being all self-aware about its tendency to just kill off its problems haha. But still, Russo’s got it all wrong; Arman’s not the common denominator here. He may have been the one pulling the trigger a few times, but he was almost never the one actually setting the events in motion. Instead, it’s Thony. Despite being someone who tries at all times to save lives, Thony is like an unintentional angel of death for those she encounters, and sadly Arman is going to be the next to fall.    
Other stuff:
It was interesting to see how clever the cartel is with all the different types of vehicles they use to transport people in order to avoid suspicion, I wonder how realistic that is?
I love that the show has continued its tradition of having cleaners/household staff regularly appearing in the background, highlighting the fact that even if they’re often overlooked, they’re there
The date on the bodycam is messing with my timeframe for the show based on the only other previous reference to dates that we’ve gotten, and though I know they probably just picked a random date, I don’t like it haha
That was very cool imagery with Ramona’s tea, of something shrivelled and dull being put into an intense environment and blossoming into something amazing… hmmm, wonder what they’re trying to say about Thony there haha
Fi totally ships Chris and Camila lol. I love the bond that formed between the two families (Fi protecting them in the store by putting on the Southern Belle act was awesome), and I hope Camila and her mum continue to be in the show, like maybe Fi and Thony could hire the mum as one of their cleaners and help both of them settle into life as an immigrant in the US. 
Also, the ICE raid was hard to watch, but bless the ladies in the store who helped them to hide! True allies!
The emotional song playing at the end as Fi and Chris are left behind is called 'Sister, Take My Hand' which just feels fitting for this show
Anyway, really looking forward to the Nadia & Ramona meeting next week. My wild dream of a badass coalition of mob women (Thony, Fi, Nadia, Ramona) running Vegas may just happen yet…
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blogs-no-giggles ¡ 10 months ago
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The End of Evangelion Reflection
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The End of Evangelion timelines Shinji’s emotional states from inquiring for assistance to despair, to destruction, and finally to resurrection. After the death of Kaworu, Shinji becomes despaired because of the enforcement of the hegemonic masculinity on Kaworu ultimately to save humanity. He resisted to his queer masculinity, which is his true self, but the burden he carried as the 1st offering to Adam forces him to perform such acts ultimately devastating his inner peace. The show begins with Shinji in the hospital bed asking Asuka for assistance with his true queer masculinity and hegemonic masculinity required by society. He felt like there was no way out since society won’t accept him for who he is, but force him to commit acts that go against his own will. It seemed like a never-ending nightmare for him, this turned him into the sob, despaired individual who welcomes death as he is deprived of everything he values in life. In one scenario, when the SEELE forces attacked the main base of NERV, he even stood there welcoming death as the soldiers were given instructions to eliminate the Eva Series and its operator as a way to save humanity.
  The show later came to the scene where Asuka becomes the conscience and realizes the meaning of life for which she powers up and becomes fully synchronized with Eva 02 and fights off the SEELE’s Evas that were deployed. However, a turn of events happened when Eva 02 is pierced by the Spear of Loginus. Shinji watched helplessly as the SEEL’s Evas tore apart Eva 02 piece by piece. I personally thought it was super pathetic of him to watch his friend get destroyed and possibly die while he just sat there and did nothing. Nothing seems to motivate him until his mother calls to him and he finally synchronizes with the Eva 01 and goes to fight off the SEELE forces. However, the Spear of Longinus and the SEELE forces froze him in place and flew him up ultimately for the goal of commanding the third impact. The SEELE’s plan works after Rei becomes one with the Mother and tries to help Shinji. The SEELE manipulated Rei into implementing the last step to restarting humanity which caused an world-ending explosion which wiped the surface of Earth, and later we also see how all the souls of humans were collected in the impact into the red sphere shown in the film. Within the red sphere, there’s Shinji’s consciousness and Rei who is talking to him about the outcome of his wishes if there’s no one to judge him. He saw the devastated world with no souls occupied within and thought to restore that balance even if it meant he could never be his true self.
  Shinji felt that in reality, although things weren’t good for him. He still feels the emotions of each person, with a sort of genuineness that the empty space will never be able to provide. He ultimately realized that the perfect society within his head is not possible, that it is only a dream, a dream of fiction, something that can never be true. He realizes that although the reality is cruel and horrifying, the experiences that come with it are what make life genuine. I really like the overall show and the film of Evangelion. It really puts you into perspective of what life is really about, why we do things we do, and the tiny things that makes life fulfilling.
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purplechaosguardian ¡ 3 years ago
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Cyclebreakers
The studio newcomer meets a legend
Audrey had never expected to find a relatively normal looking human down here. Granted, she never thought she would fight monsters made of ink or running and hiding from a demon, or having superpowers, so maybe she’d be better off if she just started bracing herself for the strangest outcomes. Nevertheless, she had to blink hard, just to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her, just to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating, that there wasn’t a person that was so close, yet so far away, with only a panel of glass between them.
Nope, he still sat on the stool, scribbling away in the notebook, like his life depended on it. Knowing this place, it might very well be.
Audrey cleared her throat, suddenly finding it very dry. “Hello? Sir? Can you help me?” The man turned his head ever so slightly towards her. “You must be really lost if you’re asking me for help.” Despite everything, Audrey had to fight to hold back laughter. If only he even knew half of it. “I’m just looking for answers. About the Keepers. Wilson. The Cycle. Anything could help.” How much do you know about what happened here? How long have you been here? What do you know about Joey Drew?
“What’s your name?” It was the only bit of information about herself the past few hours hasn’t forced her to question. “Audrey. What’s yours?” “Honestly, I’ve almost forgotten.” He placed his notebook on the stool, and Audrey had let out a gasp when she was met with the face of the most tired man she’d ever seen. And she thought she looked exhausted after working all night. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I-.” The man spoke up once more. “Don’t worry about it, I look rough, I know. But as for your question, my name is Henry. Henry Stein.”
“Have you been a prisoner long?” “When the Keepers think you’re a threat to their plans, they lock you away. Forever. Still, it’s given me time to think. Things like: if you haven’t eaten in years, you might not be human. Still, I’d rather it be me than him, although I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore.” Henry smiled, completely deprived of joy or mirth. Audrey couldn’t believe it. Henry was just an old man, she couldn’t imagine that he could be seen as much of a threat to anyone. “Why would you be a threat to them?” Henry came closer to the window. “I’m what they call a Cyclebreaker. Once upon a time, I knew how to start the cycle over. And when that happens, everything begins again. Completely new.” He sighed, out of exhaustion or frustration, Audrey couldn’t tell. “Obviously Wilson and the Keepers don’t want that to happen.”
Resetting the cycle. That may very well be the answer she’s looking for. A chance to start things over, before everything went to hell. A chance to make everything right. “How did you do it?” “Reset the cycle?” Henry pointed to his right. “It turns out, the Ink Demon himself is the key. This world is his, but even he must obey its rules. For now at least. If you can get him to look at something very specific, it will reset everything.” “What is it?” Henry held an ink stained finger up, turning back to the stool and picking up his notebook, drawing as he spoke. “It’s just a reel of film, labeled with the words, ‘The End’.” He held the notebook to the glass for her to see, and Audrey committed every last detail to memory. “I can see it in my mind everyday.” Henry motioned to his left. “They keep it upstairs in the Pit.”
Audrey nodded, filled with determination. “I’ll see if I can break in and steal it. Maybe, if I reset the cycle, we can make things better for everyone here.” Henry stared at her with a look of concern. “And what about you?” God, there were so many things Audrey could say, so many things she wanted, but all that could come out was “I just wanna go home.” Henry nodded, a feeling of solidarity between the two of them. “So did I.” He turned, about to walk back to his seat, but stopped to give her a genuine smile. “Good luck Audrey. If you need me again, you know where to find me.”
He had his back to her once again, and Audrey headed towards the Pit, filled with renewed vigor. She had to bring an end to this. For herself, for Henry and Alice, for Bendy and every other poor soul trapped in this hell with her. She just had to.
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nyxirrationalstories ¡ 3 years ago
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Hello Nyx hope your doing well may I request a Hades (Record of ragnarok ) x Son of Mictlantecuhli(onyx equinox ) like how they met , got together and how he the Male reader reacts to Hades death to Quin by vowing to be a king of Helheim that his husband Hades will be proud of. And how in honor of his husband Hades , Brother in law Poseidon who actually got along with the Male reader very well , takes Apollo’s place in the roster for the gods and ( since these two are the human fighters I care the least about ) kills either Tesla or Rasputin in a crushing victory for the gods ( no fight scene required ) despite either Tesla or Rasputin being very but like very strong.
Hi, let's do it.
The truth is, thanks to the scenarios you create, you give me new ideas. And I'll try to stick to the glory part of the victory, but I'll give it a twist.
In all honesty, if the opponent was Tesla this fight would be a victory of the gods. But you said Rasputin and that left me wondering what the battle would be like. I also tell you, I changed the lore of the protagonist a little bit… but the origin remains the same.
So I give you this:
The gods screamed in euphoria as they saw Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin fall to the ground while the humans felt the gods catching up to them.
The opposing god: a eunuch demigod son of Mictlantecuhli, who had lost against Ares in a bet and lost all his glory to later be given to Hades. Nobody expected that the young man would offer to avenge not only his lord but also his brother (Poseidon). With Persephone's permission, he was allowed to fight and give victory to the gods.
The young man knew that the goddess had allowed him to do so because both outcomes of the fight would benefit him:
If he won, she would have a champion serving him by proving to him that even though he was second in command in Helheim she would still have power over him.
If he lost… Persephone would get rid of her husband's lover once and for all. She would not listen to Hera when she told her to get rid of the lover, that he would replace his place and steal her husband's heart. Now was when she would put the advice into action.
The goddess was no fool, she knew of the nightly visits of the young man to his master; she knew of the caresses shared and the kisses given with an affection that she saw disappearing. And she knew of the nights of passion, being torn from her to give to the slave who became Hades' favorite lover.
Hades' death hurt both their hearts, but instead of uniting them, it only distanced them to the point of planning to kill each other and swearing to Hades to be the best rulers for Helheim… honoring his rule.
Meanwhile, the warrior felt that he had avenged his lover. That he had brought the victory that would destroy all of humanity, even if it made him a fool in his father's eyes.
"Those idiots, believing that without humanity they will be able to survive. Not understanding the symbiosis between human and god; in a few months they will be food for the primordials… who will start this cycle all over again and again." His father's words echoed in his head, but the young man thought the thought was ridiculous: A god can live without a human, but a human can live without a god. "Don't fight, it would be the sensible thing to do after gambling with Ares. Even if you love your master, don't you dare fight." Of course he wasn't going to listen to that sack of bones, who left him abandoned when Ares came to collect his prize. What neither of them expected was that Aphrodite would get jealous and castrate the poor boy (turning him into a eunuch) and give him to Hades.
Although in that last part… really if he could go back in time, he himself would give himself to his master and lover.
The young man and the gods were so absorbed in the victory, that they never heard Heimdallr claim the demigod as the winner, nor the smile that Brynhildr had on his lips. But above all, the young man did not see the triumphant smile of Persephone… who gave Göll a seed of life; just this once, the goddess and regent would give something to the valkyries since both had kept their word: the death of the young man at the hands of Rasputin.
The warrior did not have the chance to turn around when he saw that the gods stopped celebrating and the humans began to exclaim with joy. The young man only felt the cold of the steel being driven into his left lung, being killed by the one who was supposed to be dead.
--- I was poisoned, but that didn't kill me --- the Russian grabbed the young man by the neck to thrust another sword into the demigod --- I was shot, but that didn't kill me either --- with cruelty, the human tore off both arms of the warrior, The Russian put his hands on the neck of the young man, who looked into the eyes of the one who was killing him in a slow way --- hypothermia was what killed me, nature killed me… as it did you. … as it did with you. You, maybe you are a demigod, but my faith in you is null and void and that nourishes the gods, gives them life --- the stadium was silent, watching as Rasputin tore out the eyes of the defeated warrior --- and just as you can kill us, so can we. You feed on the greatest weapon mankind has: faith. It is time for you to know, that the gods are weak before the wrong people.
And with that said, Rasputin ripped the demigod's head off --- До свидания, мальчик. Пришло время встретиться с вашим учителем. [Goodbye, boy. It's time to meet with your teacher.] --- he said, throwing the young man's head away.
--- And the winner of the eighth round is Rasputin --- Heimdallr announced, causing a great roar in the coliseum from the humans.
Meanwhile, Persephone waited anxiously for the news that the warrior's soul would reach the hands of the Helheim judges… where she would seal her revenge by transforming him into a plant.
Sooner or later, Aphrodite always got her way; as long as love was involved.
Author's Note: Yes, this was all Aphrodite's overly elaborate plan and due to a misunderstanding…like any self-respecting Greek tragedy. I hope you liked it, I'm sorry if I changed the ending but you lit the fuse of my imagination and this came out.
I promise that for the next one you ask for, I'll give you a happy and even tender ending.
Con amor, Nyx.
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husbandohunter ¡ 4 years ago
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What they love about you (part 2)[Genshin Impact]
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Synopsis: It was as if the universe had changed when they saw you.
Characters: Zhongli, Childe, Albedo, Kazuha. Part 1 here
Genre: fluff
"Poetry for my hopeless romantic heart 🥺 and Kazuha, he was the perfect candidate for this. I decided to put Zhongli first of course, he deserves it after saving my ass in Baal's fight."
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Spirit flows through the Immovable rock (Zhongli)
Nations fall, truths be told, iron rusts and earth erode
Through six centuries these were stories he watched unfold.
He sees you and the archon knew that you shall too grow old
But despite it all, he loves you for your existence, as nothing can compare to your intransient soul.
The purpose of contracts were made to ensure there had been a fair trade between two parties. Like merchants striking business deals for a favourable outcome, like mother nature maintaing the balance between life and death, like how you and your beloved said your vows and whispered promises to one another as evening bids farewell by the warm welcome of the moon's gentle glow. Those days were the most treasured that you couldn't help remisicing them-- when Zhongli appeared in your life. Your mortal life. How time can fly so fast.
Perhaps this had been a common notion among human standards. That to be connected, both sides must share the same factors in order to proceed the contract. Clearly your placement proved to be mismatched. Unlike Zhongli there could be a day when your legs gave up and you can no longer walk. He will go on without you, continuing to drift in places where you cannot reach, where time was out of the question, further and further away until the mist begins to seize your field of vision and soon your eyes were too old to see.
The difference in age can truly make someone feel alone and Zhongli knew it well. Thus he smiled softly like he always does and held you close, speaking with so much kindness:
My dearest.
Your soul existed like an evergreen tree blooming through all four seasons, unwithered and everlasting, even against the cold storm of white. And it could be as soft as the sunbeam cascading through the mountain peaks while they dust the land with their ethereal hues and emitting the warmth that breaths absolute serenity. If artifacts were a piece of what someone left behind then maybe everything you made was considered an artifact-- a treasure. A piece of you in those handwritten letters, the beauty in your fingertips after knitting him a scarf which caused scars to mar them, and because of how heavy your spirit weighs through everything you did, it became evident that the one he had fallen for was not your skin nor your body but the person who resides in it.
And sometimes he wonders if he had met you once upon a dream. What else could explain the mysterious feeling that made you seem so familiar, even when he only saw you for the first time? Or perhaps you were an old friend from the long long past, someone he stargazed with upon the infinite mounds of grass and glaze lilies, someone whom he shared the taste of osmanthus wine, someone he came to cherished just like how he cherished his own nation. Regardless, whether you were that someone or not, he wouldn't hesitate to relive those times all over again.
If there was a day when the world around you decided to cave in, where time inevitably caught up and you succumbed to change, he would still be yours. After all, the immovable stone was meant to be the symbol of constancy. He already sworn to you that his devotion and affection will never waver, they were solely held towards your essence for you had touched him through the things he could not touch, and left a mark that would last longer than his ancient self can last. Zhongli may have lived through many lifetimes but meeting you was the beginning of everything. You were a mortal immortalized in the world his heart, etched so deep that it stirs him apart, there was no room for anyone else.
~xx~
Drowning in the ocean flames (Tartaglia)
There was a man who fell deeply in love with war
They raged inside of him like the spontaneous battlefields he came to adore.
Consumed by desire, pain became an addiciton
And he eventually surrenders to the heat of your passion.
While many fear death, Childe learned to dance with it.
He revels in the way his heart pounds endlessly, as if new life had been born from the inside and then bursted like thunder, sending trembling sensations through his veins, bringing him to the peak of euphoria. The feeling was a drug in which Childe hesitates no more when he confronts it, rather he deliberately seeks it. He seeks thrill in the most dangerous situations since they were the moments that made him feel so alive.
Henceforth the Harbinger sought you out. He inches closer and ever so close, those deep cerulean eyes trapped in your hypnotizing ones. Childe loves how you look at him like you were about to devour him, consume him as the flames in hell would, perhaps destroy him completely to the point there was no turning back and yet...he would not mind.
Childe had been so drawn to you like a moth to a light. No. Rather, Adam and the devil, tempting him to sin because the things he would do for you were undeniably impetuous. It was too late. It was too late when you told him you wanted to stay. Too late when you pulled him down, with arms around his neck, stealing away his breath in one swift manner as well as a kiss. Curse you for having so much power over him, from then and there he was no longer the mighty harbinger everyone knew but a man foolish in love. Take him higher. Higher. Take him far. To say you were alluring would be an understatement. The scent of you brings all his senses to disarray and the taste of you-- by the archons-- had never made him feel so starved. All he thought of was mindlessly running his hands over your small back, reveling in the shape of you, exploring every inch and curve in attempt to make you completely his.
This was the reason why he grew accustomed to dancing with death. Because it was you. You were going to be the cause of his downfall and you were the cause of this insanity. Even though you constantly reminded him how risky the situation was due to being a wanted criminal in his homeland's eyes, Childe pays no mind. Didn't he already tell you to trust him? Anyone who threatens you would be an enemy of his, much to their misfortune. Whether it'd be conquering the world and laying it beneath your feet or walking through the depths of the abyss all over again, he'll make sure to have it all and no one can say otherwise.
~xx~
Shelter (Albedo)
Your warmth was his hearth
Like stars falling onto the earth
Gracing the plains in an empereal bliss
As they trembled under the touch of heaven's kiss
Closing his eyes, you are the first person he sees.
The sound of snow chasing the wind fills the silent night once again while it's whispered blows continued to echo just by the cave's entrance. Albedo had planned to take you back to Monstadt that day but Dragonspine was not the place to be merciful with the weather. No one else except the two of you occupied the abandoned space and a singular camp fire to serve as a source of warmth. You place your hand on your lover's forehead, brushing away his ash coloured strands while he seeps into slumber. Albedo sighs contentedly. Despite the world being engulfed in sheer cold, here he felt safe and sound.
Before meeting you Albedo never really had that. People regularly held him on a high regard and had a hard time matching his pace. He was a born genius to the point that he practically stood out like a swan out of the ducklings' crowd as they admired his brilliance. Truly Albedo was a perfect human being. But when turns around to see the rest he noticed how distant everything seemed. He was so focused on his pursuit towards the universal truth that he hadn't given the time to consider; where is he going with this? And what for? Everyone else looked so happy living in their mundane routines and Albedo soon grew curious about such thoughts. Out of all the places in Monstadt, exactly where does he belong?
Opening his eyes, you are the first person he looks for.
"Welcome home, Albedo!"
The answer was obvious. Home was the sound of his name on your lips. When you were side by side with him while he sketched the landscape from the far distance. In places where the lights were on as he entered the room, knowing you were inside. This feeling couldn't be describe with just a word. Home was not a nation nor was it a destination. Home was in your touch where he felt the most protected.
I'm home.
A sky filled with stars and he only saw one; his Starlight. Your warmth held the emotion similar to the kind where there had only been one cande lit amidst an infinite stretch of darkness. But it also brought the joy of flowers blossoming into the vivid future of new spring. There was no place he'd rather be than the shelter of your arms because with you, Albedo believed he truly found where he belonged.
~xx~
Pirr against the Scarlet Leaves (Kazuha)
Silencing the world
My heart begins to find peace
Soothed by your presence
- For my beloved, (Y/n)
I remember how the first petal of spring drifted by as it had flown into the crossroads of our path. Subconciously my entire being began to still. This particular flower... it must have come far and wide for the wind to carry such a pleasant scent. Although I had intended to continue my venture onwards but the air ceased to sound and I knew that this way was true. And so nature beckons me to the shore where the waves lulled back and forth under the moonlight's entrance, only then I began to sharpen my vision to see what was before me. You stood there on a rock with your face looking into the sparkling sky, singing a tune that drew me near. Just the mere sight was enough to stir my heart alone.
My beloved, do you know why I named this poem 'Pirr against the Scarlet Leaves?'
Watching you was like witnessing the ephmereal birth of a flower sprouting amongst the slums of an abandoned nation. A fleeting miracle where snow falls from the summer sky. I am compelled to capture these feelings in this poem yet there are moments where my thoughts scatter as if the autumn wind had whisked them away and out of my grasp until a singular leaf is only what was left. Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary for me to keep a notebook of ways I can describe your presence, instead a few simple sentences would suffice. Nevertheless, I only wish to express my feelings for you.
When you're with me it seems I have nothing to think about. The aura around you can silence the world alone, speaking louder than thunder cries, weighing heavily to those around you in ways it would feel empty if you're not here. Yet I could breath as if alleviated from the burdens of my past. This had me realize that this must have been the will of the wind. You were the greatest gift to have ever bestowed upon me and I confess, sometimes my chest aches because of how much I cherish you, it pierces me like a sharp blade but even if my heart bleeds it will continue to bleed only for your sake.
So wherever you are, wherever you may be, I can feel you in the breeze. Return soon my beloved, I'll be here, waiting.
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yanderemommabean ¡ 4 years ago
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Could you do another yandere all smite purge one please?
“This is not a test “ Echoed through the empty streets as the final safety doors slammed shut, leaving poor souls who were too late in the open and in the vicious line of sight for those looking to hunt. “Your government is announcing the commencement of the lovesick purge. All participants must obey the rules given and indoctrinated-” the message drones on, turning to muffled booms as you rush through the alleyways and stomp through the puddles in your way.
God you hated this time of year. You were never prepared for it, never ready to handle the horrified screams and gunshots going off until morning rise. Praying never brought the sun up any faster but hey, it passed the time. This year you just wanted to hide away in your room like last time and blare music through your headphones, hiding in a cupboard or maybe that hallway closet. Last time it was kinda cozy.
You have to actually get home first, but why wouldn’t you? You knew your shortcuts, your danger zones, and how to fight dirty incase someone picked a fight. You’d like to think you could handle yourself.
You slide into another alley and catch your breath, watching as three people rush past and argue over where to go and what to do. You didn’t bother getting involved or helping, it was every man for himself and kindness could very well get you killed. You wait to see what happens to the three, and when nothing but silence follows, you try not to think about the outcome.
Cracking your neck, you take a breath and begin to run again, having just a few more blocks to “safety”. That being a building thats very easy to bust into and a door that could be broken by just a breath. But it was home, and home is where we subconsciously think no harm will come.
A large hand on your shoulder stops you dead in your tracks, yanking you back into the darkness of the alley. You begin to fight, kicking and biting while trying to escape the grip of your possible killer, your fists making little to no impact with every blow.
Well that’s embarrassing. You thought you were stronger than that.
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. I’m not gonna hurt you” the voice pacifies, a deep chuckle following as the male forces your arms behind your back. You recognized that voice, hearing it speak on the news and on social media constantly.
Not in a heroic manner, not in some savior like way. This man was the tormentor everyone feared. This was the infamous villain All Smite. The man who can kill without remorse and destroy with a smile on his face, has you in his grip for god knows what.
“Silent now? I pegged you as a screamer” he joked, watching you roll your eyes at the innuendo. “I don’t exactly know what to say. I know begging won’t do shit” you admit with a nervous swallow, trying to avoid pissing him off and making the situation worse. Panicking wouldn’t help, no matter how good of an idea your brain made it seem.
The bulking blond laughs, and presses his head against the nape of your neck as he tightens your bonds. “This is why I love you. You’re so calm and calculating yet shy and timid. Cute and sexy. Just my type”. Wait, wait, just his type? Wasn’t he tying you up to like, throw you in a river or something? Break your bones and take your money? No! No there’s no way in hell this man is your yandere! You weren’t even given a warning letter!
Then again you suppose he’s a villain, why would he go by the rules? You not knowing gave him a larger advantage on catching you. You shiver feeling his large hands roam over you, as if checking for weapons and hidden items, but also a cheap way to cop a feel. “P-Pervert” you bit out, knowing that no matter what you said, what you did, you’d only lose and be his entertainment. He loved it when his victims begged and sobbed.
You wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
All Smite gently lifts you, cradling you as he begins walking down the street with bravado. Dude always has to put on a show. “You’re just going to kill me after this aren’t you? Hurt me, bruise me up, and slit my neck?” you asked bitterly, accepting your fate a bit faster than mentally healthy. Unless of course you were dead on the inside like the author.
All smite gave you an odd look. Brows furrowed in what you dare call concern, as if you were the one acting odd and dangerous. “I don’t think you fully grasp what’s occurring. You’re mine. Captured. My lover to be unless you escape the next purge. Bonded to me and me bonded to you”.
Yeah...ok you’re kidnapped. That should be sinking in, this shouldn’t be so casual, this shouldn't be so calm as it is. You just don't feel a fight in you. Almost like...like you wanted this to happen. Like you wanted to be caught and give up. You should be fighting more than this, tied up or not, but instead you’re empty and waiting for a fantasy that isn’t to come.
The villain gently brushes your hair away from your face, and sighs lovingly “You’ve been hurting for so long. You’ve been abandoned by those who are supposed to protect you, been cut by those who say they love you. You’re tired”.
“Shut up” you spit “You don’t know shit! You’re just playing mind games”.
He only gives a hum in response, opening the door to his hideout while you try to ignore the fact he hit some nerves. “I’ve watched you for a while, you know?” he plops you down on his couch, watching your eyes avert his gaze as he continues. “I’ve seen the hurt those people gave you. The condescending tones over your achievements, the scolding you when you finally come out of your shell, the audacity to belittle you when you’re doing your best and trying to survive and they only sit on their asses”.
You glare with tears in your eyes, spitting out bitterly “What’s your fucking point? What you-you wanna break me down and start from there?! See how deep those fucking scars go? Want me to tell you how they used to beat me-”
He hushes you softly, making you choke back a sob as he just holds your head in his large hands, wiping away your angry tears. “I want to be here for you. Help you heal yourself and show you that I can be the only person you need. A strong person like you deserves to be spoiled and worshipped. “ he kisses the top of your head, holding you as you shudder out more confused tears. Relief and grief, pain and soothing, it was so odd.
Could you really trust him? He’s probably just manipulating you for some sick game of his! “L-Like I can trust a single word from that snake like mouth” you meekly comment, fists clenching in their bindings as All Smite just continues to stroke your hair. “You can’t. Not yet. But I plan to prove that you can trust me, and plan to show you how devoted I am to you and our love”.
You squint in disbelief once again “I’m not in love with you”.
A wicked grin spreads on his face as he steals a quick kiss “You will be”
-Mommabean
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seriouslysnape ¡ 4 years ago
Text
Moonlight Dip
Neville Longbottom x Fem! Reader
Warnings: Fluff, Sexual content (super brief).
Word Count: 2,588
“We’re going swimming.”
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Hogwarts was always desolate and quiet at this time of night. The only person who was supposed to be stirring was Filch, Mrs. Norris, and possibly Professor Snape keeping an eye out for any students who had grown bold enough to break curfew. Most students didn’t bother trying to sneak around the castle at night. Not because they were afraid of getting caught, but because if they DID get caught, they’d have to deal with Filch’s overly strict behavior. Honestly, that was a punishment in and of itself. 
Which was why Neville just couldn’t seem to figure out why you were leading him through the dark corridors, moving like a woman on a mission. You had crept into his dorm around midnight or so, pouncing on his bed and shaking him from his gentle slumber. You barely waited for him to wake up before you were whisper-shouting at him that you had somewhere for the two of you to go. He never minded a surprise visit from you, but he also wasn’t very keen on attempting to slip out undetected. Still, his curiosity won out.
“Hey, uh, flower?” He whispered, not knowing where Filch might’ve been.
“Yes, Neville?” You whispered back, peering your head around the corner to check for anyone coming. 
“Where are we going exactly? And why are you in your robes?” He questioned, feeling a bubble of nervousness in his chest.
Truth be told, Neville felt a little underdressed. He was clad in his pajamas bottoms and an old t-shirt that he only used to sleep in. You looked back at him with a smile, his heart leaping at how beautiful you looked under the illumination of the Lumos you had uttered from your wand. Neville had learned to be more spontaneous after he had begun dating you. You were as sweet and respectful as anyone, but you definitely had a wild side that sometimes shaved some years off of Neville’s life. He wasn’t sure what to think of it at first, but over time he found that he loved all of your silly shenanigans. Even the ones that had gotten you both in hot water before. 
“I told you, Nev. It’s a surprise!” You answered, squeezing his hand that was interlaced in yours, “It won’t be a surprise anymore if I tell you.”
Neville made a puzzled, yet thoughtful look as he racked his brain of possible ideas. He thought that maybe that you were daring to venture to Hogsmeade for a late night snack. Every now and again, you’d convince Neville to help you with sneaking into Honeydukes after hours to snag a few treats (don’t worry, you always left the right amount of money on the counter to pay for it). 
However, his theory was proven wrong when he realized that you were taking him past the courtyard and in the general direction of the Quidditch field. He was glad that it was well into spring now, and the nights were warm with the days. You didn’t play Quidditch though, and neither did he. So he couldn’t fathom why you were headed that way.
“The Quidditch fields are always dark this time of night. There’s no way we’ll be able to see.” Neville pointed out, mumbling under his breath when he almost tripped on a loose rock. 
You turned to look at him again, another smile plastering on your face. 
“Then it’s a good thing that we aren’t going there.” You replied.
Sure enough, you kept walking towards your desired locating, keeping your antsy boyfriend in tow. About the time that Neville had given up on trying to figure out where you were taking him, his question was answered. The lake was always so pretty at night, and tonight was no exception. The moon was only a phase away from being full, but still offering enough light to where the two of you could somewhat see. The reflection bounced beautifully off of the dark lake, creating glittering ripples in the water when it was agitated from it’s still position.
You let go of Neville’s hand once you were standing on the bank, crouching down to untie your shoelaces. Neville stood still, his arms at his side rather awkwardly. He wasn’t picking up on your plan just yet.
“I didn’t know that you like to fish.” Neville said aloud, not bothering to whisper anymore since there was no chance that anyone would be out here.
“I don’t.” You giggled, removing your shoes and socks.
Neville’s eyebrows raised, still oblivious even as your fingertips worked at untying the cord around your robes. Well, he WAS oblivious, until it was literally right in front of his face.
“Then why are we- oh my God, what are you doing?” He cut himself off when your robes fell to the grass, revealing your bra and knickers underneath.
Neville was glad that it was mainly dark outside, because his sudden deep blush would’ve been painfully obvious otherwise. You smirked at the bashful boy who was frozen in place, unsure of what he was supposed to do.
“We’re going swimming.” You announced, reaching for his hand again. 
Except he didn’t take your hand. He wasn’t on board with this idea at all.
“Oh no. No, no, no. I draw the line at swimming naked!” He rattled off, taking a step away from you.
You weren’t offended in the slightest, and you were even rather amused at his skittish behavior. This was nothing new to you.
“I’m technically not naked.” You reminded him calmly.
“You’re in your knickers!” He hissed back, his eyes widening as he actually took a second to look at the lacy material.
“Exactly. Which equals not naked.” You returned, fighting the urge to burst into laughter.
“Nope!” He protested, sitting down on the grass instead, “I’ve defended us for getting caught sneaking off for Chocolate Frogs and breaking into the library at 3 o’clock in the morning. But I will not try to explain why we were in the lake naked.” 
Neville seemed adamant about staying put where he was. He was tempted to get up and leave, but there was no shot in hell that he was going to leave you out here by yourself. He was perfectly fine with sitting off to the side and observing from a safe distance.
“You see me in my underwear all the time, Nevy,” You said, not really believing that the lack of clothes was what he was timid about, “Is it the ‘nakedness’ or the critters that sometimes live in the lake?”
Neville was frightened of a lot of things, and while he tended to love animals, aquatic animals were an exception. Fish and water-based bugs freaked him out for some reason that even you didn’t quite understand. The only animals that lived in and around water that he liked were frogs and toads. The only aspect of the lake that he might enjoy (aside from seeing you wet and half-naked) were the plants that were undoubtedly growing below the surface.
“Maybe both...” He murmured, resting his forearms on top of his knees that were pulled into his chest, “Regardless, I’m staying right here.”
You shrugged your shoulders, believing your intuition that said that he’d be in the water with you in less than fifteen minutes.
“Suit yourself.” You told him before making a graceful entrance splash into the water.
He watched as you plunged in, your entire frame disappearing under the water that looked black due to the inky color of the sky. Neville felt his nerves get fired up when you went under, a slight anxiety in his gut that you might not come back up. The lake wasn’t super deep by any means, only coming up to just below your hip. Neville knew that it was possible to drown in any depth of water, which was why he became a bit on edge.
Thankfully, though, you emerged from below the water before he could get too worked up. He watched with interest when your hands swept your wet hair backwards, slicking it on your head. 
Neville had always found you pretty. He thought you were the most beautiful girl on the planet. While he always thought that you looked stunning, there were still times where it was much more clear to him. For instance, early in the morning when you’ve just woken up is one of his favorites. Or right before a Gryffindor party on Friday nights when you’ve taken extra time to get spiffied up. Seeing you always made his heart beat with a little more purpose. It reminded him of how much he cared for and loved you. 
And this moment now really had him swooning.
His eyes studied as water droplets dripped from your frame, soaking into your underwear and gliding down your beautiful skin. It created a shiny gleam over you, bringing out all of his favorite parts of you. He must’ve fallen into a lusty daze, because he felt himself snap back into reality when you called to him.
“You sure you don’t want to get in?” You spoke, letting your fingertips trail over the surface of the lake.
Neville shook his head in response. 
“I’m good here, tulip. Promise.” He said, still not sure if this was something he wanted to do. 
You never pressured Neville into doing things he didn’t want to do. You never wanted him to be uncomfortable around you or associate discomfort with spending time with you. However, you knew that Neville was a worrier. He was an avid overthinker and sometimes just let his nerves get the best of him. You encouraged him to live a little more, without thinking about every single possible outcome of a situation. It’s great to be cautious and aware, but life without taking some risks could be...boring. You just didn’t want Neville to grow old with you and wish he hadn’t let his head get the best of him.
You swam out towards the middle of the lake, but not so far that you couldn’t see or hear Neville. You floated on your back and played with things that you found on the mushy, sandy floor of the lake. Neville maintained a conversation with you, but found himself feeling tempted to join you. It was just swimming. It wasn’t like the two of you were trying to blow up the lake or anything. 
“How does...how does it feel?” Neville asked, stifling a giggle at how you were bouncing on your feet with your head lolled to the side to get water out of your ear.
“It’s nice. It’s not warm by any means, but it feels good.” You told him, wringing the excess water from your hair, “Changed your mind?”
Neville chewed the inside of his cheek, but he was warming up to the idea.
“I don’t even have a pair of swim trunks with me.” He argued.
You motioned towards your own body with a look of hilarity.
“Oh, and I’m wearing my swimsuit? It doesn’t matter, love. Just take off what you have on.” You instructed, getting hopeful that he was actually going to do it.
Neville stood from where he sat, stripping down to his boxers at a snail’s pace. He folded his clothes neatly, setting them next to your robes that he had also folded previously. He dipped his foot into the water, expecting it to be much colder than it actually was. It was a lukewarm temperature, something that would be refreshing on a hot summer day, but far too freezing for a frigid winter day. For his moderate spring night, it was perfect.
Neville didn’t love how the bottom of the lake felt on his feet. It was a mix of a squishy, gelatinous feeling. You reached for his hands excitedly, taking them as he waded out to where you were standing.
“So, what do you think?” You wondered, careful not to freak him out too much,
“It feels...nice. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this lake,” He admitted, “How did you even come up with this?”
“Well, you told me once that your Gran used to have a little pond behind her house that you liked to swim in during the summer. You said you enjoyed it and I thought maybe this would be something you’d like too,” You explained to him, suddenly feeling insecure about this whole thing, “I know it’s probably not the same or as fun.”
Now things really started to make sense. Neville felt the cage of butterflies flutter all into his belly whenever you did something sweet for him. Especially when it was something with sentimental value. 
Neville had undeniably fallen in love with you. Not because of your witty personality or the random adventures you liked to take him on. Those things were plenty great, and he cherished those things with everything he had. But that wasn’t what made him decide that you were his future. 
It was the pureness of your heart.
He fell for you more and more each time you did something for him. Whether it was as small as you combing your fingers through his hair when he was asleep on your chest in the common room, or as big as the time you devised a plan to throw a surprise birthday party for him at his Gran’s house. No matter what it was, you never hesitated to spend your energy, time, and love on making him happy.
“I did always like that pond, flower. But...you want to know something?” He said smoothly, with just the faintest hint of shakiness in his tone, “This is a lot better.”
He pulled you in close at the sight of your brightening eyes, bringing you down with him as he sank down to his knees under the top of the water.
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” You pressed on.
“Because you’re here.” He mewled, pressing a kiss to your forehead. 
His descent of kisses trailed down to your nose, to your cheeks, to your lips. His kisses were never rushed in moments like this. They weren’t ever in a rush to get to the point or so rough that he didn’t have a chance to feel it. He liked to take his time with you. He liked to savor you.
“I love you, Nev. I really do.” You professed once he pulled away from you.
“I love you, petal,” He returned, going to kiss you again, but stopped when he took a big swash of lake water to the face.
He let out a startled gasp at how he was totally soaked now. It dripped from his hair, droplets rolling to the tip of his nose before falling off back into the lake. He caught your mischievous expression, your cheeks puffed out as you fought your laughter.
“Really funny, doll.” He sputtered, nonchalantly reaching around to your back and unclasping your bra with one hand. He managed to whip it off of you with ease, leaving you completely naked on top.
“Neville!” You squealed, “Give it back! That’s my favorite one!” 
Neville teased you as he held your bra high in the air above his head, chuckling as you struggled (and failed) to get it back.
“Don’t worry, love bug. I’ll take good care of it. But if you want it...” Neville paused, shimmying past you and waddling further out into the lake with a sneaky, yet innocent sneer on his face;
“You’ve got to come and get it.”
*****
Tags: @lupinsslut @writingscape @msmimimerton​ @thefilmcity​
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