#i mean it's still a sacrifice to ruin his own reputation and to leave all his friends behind. or it should be if he's being written well | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

reds-burrow · 4 years ago

Text

Sorting The Mandalorian

This is an attempt to sort the main characters of The Mandalorian according to the Sorting Hat Chats system. For anyone unfamiliar with the system, I suggest reading about it in this lovely summary by @wisteria-lodge.

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian/Mando): Badger/Lion

Incredibly loyal to the community that saved him as a child, he's driven by his sense of duty, yet he can't bear to walk away from people in need, even those who can't pay him. And if you mention the reputation of the Mandalorians, he immediately folds. Can't bring shame to the community after all! Not the best business model for a bounty hunter, but as a Badger primary, he couldn't live with himself otherwise. He also shows signs of dehumanizing droids for most of season one, not using pronouns for them, doubting their skills, refusing to trust them on sight. Given his first community was attacked by droids, it's not surprising. But once IG-11 proves himself to Din, Din not only stops dehumanizing droids but has difficulty not humanizing IG-11. The droid has to remind Din, twice, that he is not a living thing before Din will allow him to save Din's life or later sacrifice himself.

What happened in season two then? Did Din develop a Snake primary model for Grogu, overriding his Badger primary? While I think that's a valid reading of the story so far, I personally read season two as the story of a Badger changing their community. Having an External primary means that a Badgers can have very different value systems and rules they follow depending on who they consider their community to be. The Children of the Watch grew up in a cult-like community ("This is the Way."). When Din finally meets other Mandalorians who don't adhere to the strict code he's been taught, he begins to understand he can still be a Mandalorian without keeping his helmet on every standard minute of the day. Season three is set up to confront this more directly, forcing Din to decide what type of Mandalorian he wants to be.

As for his secondary, he's a Lion. Despite always covering his face, there is no question of who Din is. He's forthright, outright asking his bounty if they want to be brought in warm or cold. If we're to believe Xi'an, Din did more obvious charging when he was younger. Now, while he's still reactionary, even grabbing thermal detonators and literally charging into blaster-fire, he does so with a tired sigh.

Greef Karga: Snake/Badger

Greef Karga is only out for himself in the first season. A clear Snake primary, he initially tries to capture Din and Grogu because they're ruining his business. However, after Grogu saves him, Greef takes Grogu and Din into his circle, betraying his deal with the Imps to save them in turn.

As for his secondary, he operates as an agent of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, not by going out into the field, but by being the connection between hunters and clients, a Badger secondary way of doing things. Din essentially broke down everything Greef's secondary had built when he broke the code, including the trusted reputation of the guild. No wonder Greef was determined to have them captured or killed. Then, when the Imperial Remnants leave Nevarro, we get to see what a natural leader Greef is as he helps transform his town into a respectable one by investing in fundamental services like a school, a true Inspirational Badger.

Kuiil: Badger/Badger

Kuiil has had his life defined by hard work. A slave for the Empire, he earned his freedom with his Badger secondary, and while many characters would develop a Badger model to survive in such conditions, Kuiil's Badger appears to be his innate secondary. His chosen profession once he is free is labor-intensive moisture farming.

As for his primary, he's a peace-seeking Badger, always helping, and negotiating, trying to find a fair compromise for all, even if the other party is a bunch of thieving Jawas. He also revived IG-11 and taught the droid to be as respectful to all creatures as he is.

Cara Dune: Lion/Lion

Cara Dune is proud to have been a rebel for the Alliance, but she's left adrift after the fall of the Empire. With no cause to fight for, her Lion primary refuses to settle for a role as a peacekeeper, leading her to become a mercenary. A Lion without a cause tends to look like a Snake primary, and that's the state we find Cara in, initially only making moves to keep herself safe and paid. Later, when she finally agrees to become a marshal for the New Republic, she has a new purpose but is perfectly willing to break the Republic's rules to follow what she feels is right, from helping Din and Grogu to letting Mayfeld go.

Her Lion secondary shows in her fighting style. She used to be dropped over enemy lines to wreak as much havoc as possible and watching her aggressive style it's clear why. She's quick on her feet, improvising in that direct manner Lions like to do as seen in the battle against the AT-ST when their initial plan hits a snag.

IG-11: Bird/Lion

His Bird primary first displays as a strict adherence to rules ("Manufacturers Protocol dictates I cannot be captured. I must self-destruct."). The first time we see him, he walks straight into the middle of a bunch of mercenaries and spouts out the Bondsman Guild Protocol as if once they understand the rules, they'll fall in line. This also is a great example of his Lion secondary. As Taika Waititi described him, "[IG-11] is very innocent and direct and doesn't know about sarcasm and doesn't know how to lie. It's like a child with a gun." Later, Kuiil effectively imparts his Badger primary system to IG-11 when he saves and reprograms the droid. To paraphrase Kuiil, droids are a reflection of those who programmed them which has amusing implications for Ani and Threepio. It's a bizarre example of a Bird learning a new system, but that is still what it is at its essence. IG-11 is still all about fulfilling his protocols and base function; his base function simply changed from "kill or capture" to "nurse and protect."

Moff Gideon: Badger/Bird

A mastermind strategist, the first time we see him his Bird secondary is obvious. He uses his knowledge to intimidate, revealing his enemies names and pasts that they hadn't even shared amongst themselves. As Gideon says, "A friendly piece of advice: assume that I know everything."

As for his primary, he is an Authoritarian Badger, loyal to the order the Empire brought to the galaxy and likely to blast anything he sees in the way of it. To paraphrase Giancarlo Esposito, Gideon firmly believes himself to be a warden for the galaxy whose duty is to oversee people and prevent them from overrunning each other. He genuinely believes he is protecting people from themselves by pushing his strong sense of order onto them.

Grogu (The Child/The Bounty/Baby Yoda): ...um.

How young is too young to sort a character? It's unclear how much he understands about morals. With what little information we do have, he looks like a young Snake primary, only thinking about his stomach, his own survival, or protecting Din. But then, you think a young Snake would have more reluctant about the end of season two. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if his attachment to Din affects his training. Anyway, he's either too young to be capable of much foresight, or he's an Improvisational secondary, testing his limits as toddlers are wont to do. He's such a little gremlin, stealing snacks, sneaking eggs. I'm tempted to call him a Double Snake just for that!

#happy father's day #character sorting #sortinghatchats #sorting hat chats #ngl it's weird to call him Din and not Mando

34 notes · View notes

devilsskettle · 3 years ago

Text

okay i want to shut up about fear street more than anyone else wants me to shut up about fear street but i just thought of another reason why it drives me up the wall thinking about how underutilized and underwritten ziggy is in the 1994 part of the plot line: in a movie series where one of the main themes is cyclical forms of violence and trauma, where there’s a focus on characters resolving the conflicts of their narrative parallels from the past, even if the writers didn’t expect the audience to identify with/care about ziggy as an adult, she is a representation for our protagonists of their potential futures.

for sam, this is pretty clear, since it’s the narrative reason why they go to her in the first place (seeing the witch and temporarily dying, she represents the hope that there’s a way to break the curse).

for josh, she is a perfect parallel to the stakes for him of trying to save sam - losing his older sister as she sacrifices herself to try to save the people she loves. i was actually surprised that these characters didn’t sympathize and identify with each other more, like in the mall scene when josh is like “too many people have died i’m not going to let them take my sister too!” and ziggy and martin just stand there like. okay i guess. that was such a weird writing choice to me lol i was like why wasn’t that a moment for ziggy to identify with him as someone who lost a sister like this. make it make sense. (also i’ve seen some people say that in interviews, it’s been said that cindy and alice are meant to parallel the relationship between sam and deena, so i think that would situate ziggy and josh as playing comparable roles in each plot line as well).

for deena, i think she’s the most apt reflection of her potential future out of all three main characters. first of all, they’re the most similar in terms of personality: cynical social outcasts convinced the world is fucked who actually care a lot more than they let on. and again, she is living the consequences of what the stakes are of trying to break this curse. the main risk for deena isn’t that she might die, it’s that everyone she cares about will die and she’ll be trapped alone in a town she hates, just like ziggy.

this would also mean that adult ziggy would play a similar role to the kids in 1994 as nurse lane did for her in 1978. like. god. do you ever think about how nurse lane was the one person who was nice to her and cared about her, and ziggy was the only person who noticed that something was wrong and she was the only one who didn’t write her off as crazy and violent like her daughter when she attacked tommy and instead actually sympathized with her, but no one believed nurse lane, and then no one believed ziggy about what really happened during the camp nightwing massacre, and how they both had to live not only with the loss of their loved ones but also the doubt and mockery of everyone in town who thought they were just crazy. anyway. ziggy similarly is the only adult in town (other than, eventually, martin) who believes and is willing to help the kids in 1994 at the expense of her own safety, just like nurse lane tried her best to protect the kids at camp at the expense of her own reputation (and if she had succeeded in killing tommy before he became the nightwing killer, she would probably have spent the rest of her life in jail or a mental institution, which she had to have known - so she also was willing to sacrifice her freedom, and as ziggy puts it, ruin her own life. god i am sad about this)

oh and also the motivation of ziggy to help these kids in the first place (we assume) comes from a place of self identification with them and trying to save them in the same way she wishes she could’ve saved her younger self and her sister. so like. i want to see that play out in part 3 if that’s the intended interpretation

so going back to the focus on resolving the conflicts of their narrative parallels from the past, the kids do this for ziggy, cindy, and alice as much as they do it for sarah fire and hannah miller. sam does this…. just by surviving lol, josh does this by not only believing in the curse but also unrelentingly telling others the truth about it (and miss queenofairanddarkness actually seems to believe him), and deena does this by breaking the damn curse and (presumably) becoming less cynical and self-defeatist in her world perspective. and ziggy does this for nurse lane, effectively warning the kids about the dangers of the curse and helping them fight it, where nurse lane was unable to stop the events of camp nightwing, and (as we see at the end) giving her closure about the death of her daughter. she also, i think, plays the same kind of parallel role to sarah fier as deena does in different ways, both as a social outcast who is scapegoated for other people’s wrongdoings as well as her relationship with nick reflecting the relationship between sarah and solomon. like deena and sam, she also is connected by sarah by bleeding on her bones and seeing (some of) the truth about the curse

anyway. all this is to say that these movies had the potential to do this effectively, and i’m not even saying that they should’ve set aside a huge amount of time from the plot to explore this concept, but there’s small, easy changes and additions that i think could’ve been made that wouldn’t ultimately change anything about the movies but would’ve made such an impact on the overall quality of the writing. first of all, there’s this big time jump from ziggy’s story to the 1994 “present” which is fine and expected and i wouldn’t expect them to try to include a whole lot about what her life is like in between, but we don’t know anything about her present day life, except that she has a dog and a lot of clocks and that she might be an alcoholic. we don’t even know what her job is. we have no idea what she’s been doing for 16 years. it takes maybe two extra minutes at the beginning of her introduction in part 2 to show a little bit more of her daily life, or a line or two to give us an idea of what that might look like. for character development/relationship building purposes, she needs to actually have a conversation with other people lol. she shares how much silent screen time with martin in part 3? another criminally underutilized character but don’t even get me started.

even in the 1978 plot line, her character is established almost entirely by tell-not-show; everyone is like oh she’s trouble! she’s a creep she’s a weirdo! but we see very little of her actually getting up to trouble or doing anything out of the norm (all of the characters in 1978 suffer from this writing problem, to be fair). then in the 1994 part of part 3, the way that they show her reactions to what’s happening is through flashback to her in 1978, and first of all it’s like. we just saw that we know what happened. second, it’s lazy writing! we see nothing new from her basically the entire movie. (i’m specifically thinking about the part where she learns that nick is behind the curse - cut to a series of flashbacks - moving on with the plot. then at the mall, when she sees the tree - cut to a flashback of the camp nightwing - deena comes up to her: “this is it.” “yup.” and she walks away and leaves deena to her own flashback to her sarah fier vision. and that’s the full extent of either of their emotional reactions to that moment. missed opportunity imo. and sure, maybe that’s the character - she’s not a people person lol - but you can write characters who are closed off and blunt while still being interesting and emotionally compelling and not basically stock characters. 1978 ziggy and deena are actually both examples of this so i’m mainly disappointed because i know they could’ve done better lol)

anyway. i’m not saying they needed to derail the main plot to make ziggy the main character or anything, i’m just saying that with better pacing and attention to her as a character, i think these movies could’ve had the depth and emotional resonance they were aiming for and in fact it would strengthen the themes that are central to the main plot and the protagonists without having to change anything major, making a small shift that could’ve made these movies go from mediocre and forgettable to actually pretty damn good. anyway netflix call me i have ideas for you <3

#okay i know i know it's not that deep or whatever but. it could've been.#fear street #ziggy berman

25 notes · View notes

albelen · 4 years ago

Text

book talk: oathbringer

So. MUCH. HAPPENED.

Granted, it took me two months to read this because I had finals and sometimes I was not in the right headspace to read.

Where do I even begin? My thoughts, as always, are so scattered and since I have the smaller copy of the book I didn't use any sticky notes to write my comments, but instead just doggy-eared some of the pages I deemed important / I liked:

● this is from a conversation between Jasnah and Dalinar about the claims of the latter's heresy:

"I don't mind people believing what works for them, Uncle. That's something nobody ever seems to understand- I have no stake in their beliefs. I don't need company to be confident."

Among all the characters in the book, I feel like I respect Jasnah more than anyone. Her intelligence and confidence in herself and in her work are the things I admire about her a lot.

In particular, I resonate with her when it comes to religious views, which I'm not gonna talk about because that's a conversation for another day.

● there is a page of Moash marching with the parshman and Voidbringers, he's contemplating about the how humans can't govern themselves.

I honestly don't remember why I thought this was an important page, but upon re-reading it there's this line:

Moash had failed Kaladin and the others- but that was merely how men were in this debased age. He couldn't be blamed. He was a product of his own culture.

Now, I don't want dismiss Moash's hatred for Elhokar and the lighteyes, he's more than entitled to feel that way after his grandparents were killed unfairly, but the fact that he thought he couldn't be blamed for his actions and that he is what he is because of his culture... that's just way too easy, Moash. Just because the society you grew up in is as is, doesn't mean you just take it, storming man. I feel so strongly about this because I love everyone from bridge four, but after what Moash did in this book... I don't know if there's a way for him to redeem himself.

● Adolin hanging out with Bridge Four!! ISTG, Adolin is the real GOAT in this series.

I feel for him when he felt small, being surrounded by Radiants.

I mean, who wouldn't? Your father, your brother, your fiancé, your cousin and your friend. Personally I would have had very low esteem in myself, but Adolin fought through it and just did what he can. He is a character I admire a lot too. Because despite his upbringing, his background and his privileges, he still choses to be humble, be nice to anyone and work hard.

All in all, he's really the most likeable character imo. He and Shallan haven't known each other for the longest time, but it really feels like he's sincere with his feelings despite his prior reputation with girls haha

● Kaladin's friendship with Adolin and Shallan: I know our favorite bridgeboy has his Bridge Four and thinks that's they are all he needs, but I can't help but feel relieved that Kal has Adolin and Shallan.

Like I've said previously, I don't think Kal had any romantic feelings for Shallan, but he thought he did because she reminded him of Tien. His friendship with the two newly-weds are important and it's gonna help him along the way. I love that for Kal ;w;

● I need a Wit in my life, I need him to make me see things I don't see, to make my reflect and realise all the important things in life.

There is this line I particularly liked when he found Shallan:

"[...] You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived. [...]"

This is something a lot of us should probably hear, because I know I do especially when I have doubts in myself and I'm scared of doing things for the fear of failing.

● I don't like Taravangian, and I know he's just trying to save the world but also just actually trying to save his people but when he told Dalinar this:

"This is the sacrifice, isn't it?" Taravangian said softly. "Someone must bear the responsbility. Someone must be dragged down by it, ruined by it. Someone must stain their soul so others may live."

This reminded me of someone, but for the sake of not going into a more serious tone I shall leave it like that.

● As this post is getting longer, these two lines are the last ones that I'm gonna mention:

"I will take responsibility for what I have done," Dalinar whispered. "If I must fall, I will rise each time a better man."

I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory. Dalinar frustrated me all throughout this book. I wanted to slap young Dalinar, especially because of how he treated Evi. I have to admit he was so cool in the last part of the book lol I loved his interactions with Lift.

I kinda wish we had interactions between Lift and Kaladin - I hope we got one in the next book.

And the last line and the one that gave my goosebumps:

She pulled him tight, “Maybe you don’t have to save anyone, Kaladin. Maybe it’s time for someone to save you.”

Kaladin always thinks of saving others, but never thinks that maybe he’s the one who needs to be saved. He helped the parshman, he bonded with the Wall Guards... he cares so deeply for anyone he barely thinks of himself.

Oh, Kaladin, I just wanna wrap him in a blanket and give him a warm soup. :(

I’m itching to read Rhythm of War, but I think my brain needs a break from fantasy books.

#book talk #book review #stormlight archive #oathbringer #brandon sanderson #kaladin #adolin #shallan #dalinar #jasnah #wit

69 notes · View notes

nomolosk · 3 years ago

Text

“I hope all the documents are in order,” Adrien Agreste said, looking and sounding smug over the transmission. His ship was currently en route to the Francoise Space Station orbiting the planet Dupont, where the Dupain-Cheng’s had based their surface-to-orbit shipping business. Marinette Dupain-Cheng didn’t bother trying to suppress her glare. He should be well aware of the reasons for her frustration, but she reminded him anyway.

“Yes, Mr. Agreste Junior, the documents are in order,” she replied. “They have been waiting for your signature for the past month. A month in which, I might add, we haven’t been able to do any business at all.”

“My apologies for the delay,” Adrien said - but neither tone nor expression changed an iota.

By all the gods in the heavens, Marinette loathed this man. She couldn’t imagine any future in which she didn’t, especially given the reason for his visit today. He was going to buy out her parents’ business, and Marinette only had to deal with him because she’d refused to make her parents deal with him after everything else they had gone through. Unfortunately, this had only confirmed his awful reputation.

When it came to systematically ruining and then buying out competitors, Adrien Agreste - the scion of Agreste Shipping - was a one-man juggernaut, apparently all too eager to do a few dirty deeds in order to keep his otherwise indulgent lifestyle. By all reports he was a true Daddy’s boy, playing with money, power, and hearts as if he had no concept of personal responsibility. After all, Daddy Agreste would take care of any... unpleasantness. And all he had to do was be dear Daddy’s hatchet-man. It looked like he enjoyed it, too.

Fortunately, she had the means to wipe that self-satisfied look off his face permanently, thanks to a mole who called himself Chat Noir. He’d been feeding her inside information for over a year - information that had let her and the crew of the Miraculous put quite a dent in the Agreste Shipping bottom line. But for now, she had to play along.

“Just make sure you’re on time,” Marinette said through gritted teeth. “You’ve tortured my family enough. No need to drag it out any longer.”

“I’ll be only too happy to accommodate your schedule, Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” Adrien said. “And perhaps, afterward, you will let me buy you a drink to... commemorate the occasion.”

A smirk - an actual, god-forsaken smirk - appeared on his face. Marinette’s fingernails dug painfully into her palms. If he’d been within reach at that moment, he would have found himself flat on the floor with several broken bones, and Marinette would have found herself in a holding cell on charges of assault. Breathing deeply, Marinette reminded herself of the plan, and terminated the transmission before she could incriminate herself.

As soon as Adrien Agreste’s smug, smarmy, and infuriatingly handsome face disappeared from her screen, she closed her eyes and breathed, letting out all the tension and anger that had built up during their brief conversation. After all, under the right circumstances, Adrien Agreste might be exactly what her parents, and countless other victims, needed: a valuable hostage.

----

Adrien let that god-awful smirk linger for a moment before wiping it away with a weary hand. He slumped back in his seat and started massaging one temple while he swiped back to his desktop screen on the terminal.

He’d always hated this part, even back when he'd been naive enough to believe that the firm he was about to buy out had just had a run of bad luck. Back then he would have been secure in the knowledge that the ‘merger’ he’d ‘negotiated’ was a good deal for both parties, but he’d still been aware that it was a defeat for the original owners.

Now he knew all too well the depths Gabriel would sink to - the depths he would drag Adrien down to - all for the sake of his precious shipping empire. The clear disgust and loathing on that woman’s face only added to his own sense of personal guilt and disgust.

At least this time, if everything went according to plan, this family’s business would be just fine. This time, Adrien could look forward to handing control of that company back to the people who’d built it. He glanced at the time on the terminal and took a deep, calming breath.

Please, Ladybug… don’t let me down.

Adrien, in his persona as the mole Chat Noir, had given Ladybug and her team of raiders especially good intel this time, all but painting the word TARGET in bold letters on his own face. That, plus the file he’d sent containing a preview of every last blot on his father’s stainless reputation… yes. He knew how much Ladybug loathed Adrien Agreste personally. She’d often claimed a burning need to punch his face in their double-encoded communiques - not that she knew it was his face - so he was sure she would jump at the chance. He only hoped she could pull it off.

The raiding crew of the Miraculous had caused enough disruption to the Agreste Shipping lines that Gabriel had actually hired the Akumas - a mercenary group known for their brutal efficiency - to track her down. Chat Noir had warned her, and so far she’d managed to elude their crack agents, making them look remarkably foolish in the process.

He only hoped that, when the time came and he found himself on board the Miraculous at last, that she would leave him enough wits - and teeth - to stutter out the recognition phrase Chat Noir had given her.

----

Ladybug’s assault and infiltration were quieter than Adrien had expected. He wasn’t part of the Hawkmoth’s crew, so when the alarms went off, his only role was to get to a secure area and stay out of everyone else’s way. The most he heard of it was the alarm and muffled shouting in the distance while Nathalie hurried him away.

It wasn’t what he wanted - he would much rather have had an active role in the ship’s defense. But of course Gabriel would never allow that, and Nathalie enforced his rules with an iron fist. So he ended up crouched behind Nathalie and his Personal Gorilla Bodyguard™, waiting breathlessly for Ladybug to find them in the reinforced bunker that posed as a small cargo hold in the ship designs. Every small sound echoed in the space, but he wasn’t bothered by it. In fact, he hoped Ladybug’s team had audio sensors sensitive enough to pick them up.

A touch on his shoulder made his heart rate skyrocket even more - but it was only Nathalie, turning to check on him. Adrien covered her hand with his own and squeezed, letting some of his excitement show with a shaky breath. She must have assumed he was scared and squeezed back before turning to the hatch and adjusting her grip on her firearm.

He’d tried to talk her into giving him one of the shipboard assault rifles, too. He wanted to make sure his ‘protectors’ went down quickly if need be, but he told her that he needed some way to defend himself. She’d only given him a look. Apparently Gabriel was willing to sacrifice his only son before allowing him a weapon.

God he couldn’t wait to be free of his life.

A commotion in the corridor outside focused his attention. A sizzling sound came from the door and it whooshed open, briefly blinding him before the bulky forms of the intruders blocked the light. The dark shapes were outlined in silhouettes the color of their hardened spacesuits: pink, orange, green, and gold. His heart leaped again and he fought to suppress a smile.

Nathalie and the bodyguard were quickly dispatched with stun blasts, though it took several simultaneous shots to bring the bodyguard down. Then it was Adrien’s turn. He scooted back as the leader advanced, heart pounding with excitement and fear. Chat Noir had advocated for a hostage situation, but it was possible that Ladybug had decided on outright assassination. One way or another, this would all be over shortly.

The pink-haloed leader raised her weapon, pointing it at him. Adrien gulped and closed his eyes. He didn’t even have time to register the blast before his mind went numb.

----

Marinette leaned against a cabinet in the medbay, waiting for their hostage to wake up. It shouldn’t take long - the effects of the stunners they’d used could be counteracted by the contents of any decently stocked medbay, and Marinette made sure the Miraculous was always overstocked with medical supplies.

Her crew was there, too, all except for Max, who couldn’t leave the bridge. Nino and Alya were busy flirting with each other, Kim was trying to balance a (needle-less) syringe on the end of his nose, and Markov hovered overhead, ready to record everything. Marinette was taking no chances on being accused of human rights violations, though her hands ached with the need to punch their guest.

The unfairly attractive blonde strapped to the medical chair in front of her stirred, and the tension in the room skyrocketed. Kim put the syringe down, Nino and Alya looked up, and Markov beeped to indicate recording was in progress. Marinette also stood up and crossed her arms to avoid temptation.

Adrien Agreste opened unfocused eyes, staring into space with his head lolling a bit. He was clearly still out of it, but it didn’t take long for him to come to full alertness. Curiously, he remained silent, merely looking around the room in a manner so unconcerned that it immediately made Marinette suspicious.

“Are you carrying a tracker?” she asked harshly. They’d scanned him for any such device, of course, but it was possible Agreste Senior managed to obtain something small enough that it wouldn’t show up on a scan.

Agreste Junior met her eyes and his own widened slightly in obvious recognition. “Uh… no. Not that I’m aware of, I mean.”

He smiled, and it was... joyful?

“I’m afraid I’m going to miss that meeting after all, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, though I still hope for that drink sometime. Looks like you’ll just have to keep control of your own business. Thanks for not killing me, by the way - to all of you. I know you must have been tempted,” he added, looking around at them all before leaning his head back with a satisfied smile. “I wish I could see the look on my father’s face when he realizes he’s not getting me back.”

His tone was so full of glee that Marinette barely managed to keep her mouth from dropping open, but she must have looked as astonished as she felt, because his smile turned into a full-fledged grin.

“Oh, haven’t you figured it out yet, Ladybug?” he said, grinning and winking at her. Then he said the three words she’d been waiting to hear for over a year now, ever since her informant had told her he wanted out. Words she’d imagined coming out of the mouth of anyone - literally anyone - but his.

“Plagg, claws out.”

All four of them gasped. Marinette gaped at the man she'd thought she would loathe for all eternity.

“Chat Noir?”

----

“I trust the papers are in order,” Marinette Dupain-Cheng said, smiling at everyone on the other side of the conference table. Her parents sat beside her, but they continued to let her take the lead.

“Drawn up and ready to sign,” the lawyer said, tapping on a tablet before handing it to her. Beside him, Adrien Agreste smiled softly at her. Marinette ignored him and read the documents carefully, making sure that what remained of Agreste Shipping relinquished all claim to her parents’ business, and that the court-mandated payout would cover all the expenses of getting back up and running, with a nice cushion. Satisfied, she handed the tablet to her mother and father, who read and signed it. There was a round of handshakes and congratulations - sincere, as far as she could tell, with no trace of Adrien’s former smug persona.

“Well,” Marinette said, once everyone else had left. “I believe you owe me a drink.”

Adrien’s face lit up. “I do, indeed! Well, who am I to go back on my word? Shall we?”

He held out his arm and Marinette took it. After all, Ladybug had trusted Chat Noir and that had turned out well. Perhaps the future for Marinette and Adrien was equally bright.

@luckycharmzine

#the lucky charm zine #enemies to friends #space au #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #space raiders #undercover chat #happy ending

16 notes · View notes

touchmycoat · 3 years ago

Text

qijiu bingqiu (bingliushen??) fix-it fic planning blabber

so i think i gotta keep it tight on SJ’s POV. Right before his death, he makes a deal with Xin Mo (who’s kind of a lone operator bc LBH too has to fight its power) to create this alternate timeline in exchange for his cultivation. Xin Mo can open up new dimensions no problem, and with SJ’s cultivation, it even manages to rewind the timeline. That’s not enough though—Xin Mo’s goal is only consumption, so it takes the deal but reveals there’s nothing that will actually change. The price SJ paid only opened the door.

But that’s fine, ‘cause SJ saw it coming. He also strikes another deal, this time with Death itself? Some sort of large cosmic force. The only thing he wants changed is Qi-ge’s death, and in exchange...the universe takes him. SJ will not get to exist in that second universe. SJ takes the deal.

And that’s the start of canon. SJ-as-SQQ can no longer exist. Instead, SY-as-SQQ is brought in. In order to stay cohered though, YQY’s memories and personality get a little glitched—he is physically incapable of recognizing all the ways SQQ is now not SJ. That’s why, despite SY-as-SQQ clearly being OOC, YQY never seems to see it.

Canon happens, now we’re in the post-canon world where bingqiu are married and settling down, but SQQ still kicks it with his buddies LQG and YQY every now and then. YQY still firmly believes SQQ is SJ, to SY’s increasing consternation. Is it just delusions and wishful thinking? The more YQY treats him as SJ though, the worse SY feels—he shouldn’t be stealing all this affection that doesn’t belong to him.

It all comes to head when SQQ overhears public opinion on YQY, how he’s perfect in everything but his crazy devotion to SQQ. SY thinks enough is enough. He can’t bring SJ back but he sure can tell YQY that his Xiao Jiu is dead, right? The System warns him he’ll be punished but that’s fine, it’s just not fair, SQQ can take another little mental horror trip down to BinggeLand if it means YQY can have some closure.

Except that’s not what happens. He gets YQY in private and says, “no, you don’t understand, Shen Jiu is dead.” He sees the recognition in YQY’s eyes, but he also sees the moment that recognition gets wiped. The sad smile that had fallen off of YQY’s face returns, eerily happy, as YQY says, “my apologies, Qingqiu-shidi, I must have spaced out just now, what did you say?”

Right before the System kicks him into another punishment phase, SY tries again: “Shen Jiu is dead!” He sees the recognition disappear once again from YQY’s eyes.

Inside the punishment world, Bingge has him again. “I’ve been searching for an answer to why the sniveling pathetic version of me gets you as his Shizun, and I think I figured it out.” For a moment, SY’s horrified by the possibility that Bingge has figured out his transmigrator status—if his punishment figures it out, would he be trapped inside the punishment forever? But instead, Bingge says, “Liu Qingge is still alive, meaning Shizun didn’t kill him in the spirit caves. Did his survival render such a dramatic change?” SQQ”s like “yup, yup that’s definitely it. We’re such good friends, he really changed my outlook on life, so I treated you better, mhm.”

“Shizun’s very clever then to save his own life this way. Xin Mo’s already told me about your little bargain.”

That’s how SY learns that SJ had made a deal. Holy shit, he’d thought it was just random phenomenon this whole time, but the original goods had made it all possible? He didn’t know whether to thank SJ or curse him.

But that can’t be the whole story—Xin Mo opened up a timeline, that doesn’t explain why SY is here. Bingge doesn’t know this part, but it sure feels like SJ made a second deal, paying with his life.

What would motivate the original goods to do all this? Sacrifice his hard-won cultivation and his entire existence in this last-ditch effort?

The memory of YQY’s glitching came to mind.

Holy shit. SY owns the two of them more than he’d ever thought.

After the punishment, SY goes back home. He’s with Binghe, and LBH can tell there’s something troubling him.

“Binghe, there’s something this husband wants to do, and I need your help to do it.”

“Shizun, anything.”

“...But there’s a risk it might hurt you. There’s a risk it might ruin everything. It might be straight-forward, but it also might not be. It’s safer for all of us—but especially you, Binghe—if I just let things be.”

“But it’s not something that Shizun can just let be, is it? Otherwise Shizun wouldn’t have said anything. Binghe is honored to help. Anything to ease Shizun’s mind.”

“...I promised I wouldn’t let you come to harm again, and I meant that. Whatever happens, remember that I am your husband, this is my call, and you must do whatever you need to do to protect yourself, okay? Swear to me, Binghe.”

SQQ begins figuring out how to use Xin Mo to go fetch SJ from the other timeline. He figures that if Bingge could exist in this dimension without destroying the space-time continuum, the same ought to be true for SJ. Only trouble is, he can only go get SJ after SJ’s made the deals, because otherwise it’s a paradox, and he wouldn’t exist.

So SQQ brings home limbless, post-torture!SJ. That’s where the fic starts.

By all accounts, the deals are squared: SJ no longer has cultivation and SJ died in SY’s dimension, so SY successfully exists. SJ and SY can exist in the same space totally fine, and SJ begins healing.

(Currently, the fic is completely from SJ’s POV, and very much about coming to terms with being saved and what the hell is going on in this better world.)

The trouble is, SY doesn’t know what’s going to happen when SJ meets YQY again. SJ very thoroughly declines the offer to go see YQY because part of SJ still believes this whole thing is a trick, and if he goes to see YQY he’ll ruin his end of the bargain and YQY will die again. For SY’s part, he’s afraid of SJ going to see YQY too for similar but opposite reasons—if SJ going to see YQY ruins SJ’s end of the bargain, then wouldn’t that mean SY can no longer exist? Would SY just disappear from this universe?

So we get ragtag group therapy fun times. SJ thinks this is probably all an illusion Xin Mo is tricking him with, so treats everything with scorn but also existential apathy. This actually works to his benefit because he’s not clinging to things as hard, and it’s easier for him to admit, for example, that he was definitely in the wrong for abusing LBH, and yeah he was being a spiteful bitch when he did not need to be.

SY tries to keep LBH away from SJ mostly, because c’mon, he’s not about to make his darling husband face his childhood abuser. He does explain the situation to LBH though, in the same terms that Bingge had (mis)understood it lmfao—that the act of saving LQG’s life had prompted an entire 180 on his personality so he came out of the spirit caves a better man. LBH’s jealous as fuck of course, but damn if that doesn’t explain some things. Given the opportunity to see his old and new Shizun side-by-side, LBH takes it, and really gets a moment to see how horribly he’s been treated by SQQ.

So it actually prompts some therapy between SY and LBH too. LBH used to figure that getting pushed into the Abyss was squared by SQQ sacrificing himself to save him. But ofc it turned out SQQ came back and kept on, in his perspective, trying to get away from him. Trying to leave him behind. SQQ’s tried to treat his abandonment issues by going “okay sorry about that I’ll never leave you behind again” but he’s never really explained it.

SJ’s presence gives Binghe the ability to ask the question again and gives SY an answer: shame and cowardice. They’re able to put SJ’s mistreatment of Binghe right in front of them and SY-as-SQQ gets to explain how much it hurt to look back on that bit of their past, but also how much he feared LBH's retaliation. LBH is a little hurt, but also he remembers how he’d raped SQQ under Xin Mo’s control and, looking at what’s left of SJ now, he sees his own darkest possibilities. He really did destroy the man he loves now in another timeline. That helps him contextualize SY’s fears and why SY chose to push him off the cliff.

LQG crashlands into the middle of this whole party as is his wont. He gets a little fix-it too maybe. SY very staunchly repeats the reason for his personality swap—saving LQG in that cave made him a Better Person™. Meeting the original goods again, LQG is forced to believe it. Or like, it doesn’t really matter to him either way, but now he really does see pre-cave SQQ and post-cave SQQ as two completely different people.

SJ though, has to swallow this really weird pill. He remembers trying to save LQG inside the cave but failing, and then getting blamed for LQG’s death. If he’d succeeded, he and LQG would’ve become...this close?? A life debt between them would’ve changed his outlook on life so much???

Well whatever. Now that he’s put down all his old posturing, he more readily gives his reasons for why LQG gets on his nerves so much: the insufferable confidence (arrogant prick), the skills to back it up (privileged bastard), and a flawless cultivator family with all the money and the training and the pedigree. (Meanwhile SY’s like “oh shit that’s me too hahahahah awkward, good thing he still thinks i’m him so he doesn’t just murder me immediately.)

LQG’s a little weirded out too. SY-as-SQQ is his favorite person in the world, so it’s hard to get angry at SJ-as-SQQ since they’re “the same person.” He’s more willing to talk all this out with SJ and brings up all their old beef on his side too: high-handed snootiness coupled with underhanded dick moves, also the whole sleeping-with-prostitutes thing hurting Cang Qiong’s reputation. Ofc they’re snapping at each other this whole time. “There’s no reason for you to do all that!”

SY intervenes if needed. “Actually there is.” Considering the fact that SJ gets indicted for so many things that actually turn out to be not his fault, SY figures he’ll just get it out there. “Remember Qiu Haitang’s accusations against me? I grew up a slave in that household. I grew up believing it was kill or be killed—it doesn’t make sabotaging others right, but...that’s why the Spirit Caves made such an impression on me. I learned it wasn’t just kill or be killed, I can also save people. It opened my eyes to everything I already had, and everything I should be grateful for.”

This is for both LQG and SJ. And it works, to some degree. SJ knows he managed to claw to the top of privilege, but he still felt horribly insecure there. That’s because, he realizes, he never got the thing that would actually grant him security. It's not power or money or reputation—it’s Qi-ge. Holy hell he misses Qi-ge. In anger and betrayal, he’d pushed YQY continuously out of his life, but when faced with certain death the only regret he actually had was bringing Qi-ge down with him. YQY was meant to have survived, and in this world, he did.

So now, after all that, SJ really, really wants to go see his Qi-ge. It’s nice to have survived (and gotten part of his power back—at the very beginning, SY gives one of SQQ’s eyes to SJ as a bit of his golden core in order to save SJ’s life), but it’s so damn hard to live on in this world knowing YQY is only so far away, still very deeply attached to Xiao Jiu.

They try to Cyrano it at first. SY-as-SQQ goes to YQY with SJ’s voice in his ear, telling SY how to treat YQY as him. YQY is so fucking touched and hopeful, and SY is damn uncomfortable. He goes running back to SJ and says it’s not going to work—it’s not going to work because he’s no longer Qi-ge’s Xiao Jiu. He’s Luo Binghe’s husband, okay? He can’t go back to YQY as SJ.

SJ’s fucking furious at first (what kind of shitty variation of himself saves LQG’s life and then falls out of love with Qi-ge???? bitch?????) but what can he do? LQG tells them YQY’s on his way here and SJ hides for now. They still don’t know what will happen if SJ meets YQY, so SY continues to front as SJ for now.

But during this conversation, something changes. Maybe YQY says something, but SJ realizes he’s actually a little willing to take this chance. If Qi-ge does disappear—easy, he’d just kill himself right after. He’d already experienced Qi-ge’s death twice before, and at least this time, he can follow, knowing he’s at least reconciled with Qi-ge through SY.

And if he disappears on his own, then at least he knows there’s a world in which Qi-ge does not die horribly. That’s enough for him.

That, however, leaves the very last possibility—that SY will disappear. At this point both LQG and LBH have figured this out, and are very, very reluctant to let this be the scenario. They don’t see it as two people, they see it as their version of SQQ vs. YQY’s version of SQQ.

So there’s a little tension, but in the end, SY gets the final choice. As soon as he learns SJ is willing to go see YQY, he chooses that path. He simply owes qijiu too much to deny them the possibility of reconciliation. So despite knowing he might disappear from Binghe and LQG’s life, he makes it happen.

(They should get a very painful goodbye scene.)

SY goes out to explain things. “Zhangmen-shixiong may have noticed my change since my qi deviation and the spirit caves.” “I’m happy Xiao Jiu has a brighter outlook on life.” “Yes, but I think Qi-ge, of all people, might actually prefer how I was before, right?” “If Xiao Jiu’s happy, I’m happy.” “Yes, but Shen Jiu wants you. Is that alright?” “—of course. I want Xiao Jiu too—”

SJ comes out. Everyone holds their breath.

Scene cut.

It’s said that Cang Qiong’s Sect Leader Yue Qingyuan disappeared suddenly one afternoon...

But jk, YQY just ran away with SJ, they’re recuperating in the mountains and everybody’s fine and it’s a happy ending.

#...nice #that's the whole fic planned then #sv fix-it

18 notes · View notes

sheeswee · 4 years ago

Text

Very long character analysis/headcanons on the kidnap fam + Maglor & Maedhros’ dealings with trauma ahead ^_^

Maglor is more fair tempered and less quick to react than Maedhros, so I feel like the way his trauma would effect him is never talked about... he’s always just “the sane one” but he went through the same stuff as Maedhros (minus some torture and loss of a lover) but he has the same terrible experiences as him and we should talk more about that.

When they adopted (kidnapped) the twins they had just lost their own twin brothers, the last two besides themselves. They were now the only ones left in Fëanor’s line besides Celebrimbor and were completely alone in the world, without allies or hope.

Yes, Maglor didn’t inherit his father’s temperament, but he still murdered, he still fought, he still swore the oath.

I imagine Maglor’s issues are more unpredictable, and that he probably has very intense ups and downs. Most of the time he’s just Maglor. Somewhat serious and practical, but also good with the kids and a bit overprotective and fussy. After all, he was an older brother, too. It wasn’t only Maedhros who looked after and was responsible for the sons of Fëanor.

But sometimes he would break. He would get that look in his eyes and wander off. If you followed you’d hear him rambling, talking to someone not there, or crying, or both.

Sometimes while holding one of the kids in his lap he would go into a trance, playing with their hair for hours, refusing to let them go and not acknowledging a word said to him.

Sometimes they look for Maglor and find him in a trance, eyes fixed on nothing, plucking sharp chords on his harp. They leave his dinner beside him and tell him to eat before it’s cold.

Maedhros is different. Maedhros has days where he is jumpy, and any touch makes him flinch hard, hand on the hilt of his sword, eyes blazing and furious and terrified. Maedhros never appears scared in any situation, not battle nor weather nor sickness... except of an unexpected touch, or a raised hand. He always apologizes profusely, it’s a knee jerk reaction for him.

Sometimes, when he sleeps, which he doesn’t do as often as he should, he murmurs nonsense, twitching and breathing fast, pale as a ghost. Whenever he wakes from a nightmare he is especially jumpy, and often irritable for the day. He does not mean to lash out, and he always says he is sorry, but the words are just noise. He is not himself those days.

Sometimes, Maedhros and Maglor fight. It’s never loud, no yelling or getting physical, but sharp angry words at night when they think the kids are asleep. They try not to make it obvious when they aren’t speaking, but Elrond and Elros learn to read them easily.

But sometimes, Maedhros and Maglor speak so warmly and fondly of people and places in a language long dead, the kids can almost see who they were before. Under scars and lines of weariness and horror unimagined, there were once two young and joyful elven princes, who’s worries were simple of raising brothers, impressing fathers and strengthening alliances with friends rather than enemies.

Despite it all, the kids love them dearly. It’s not always like this, and they’re usually somewhat of a functional kidnap family. They learn to adapt, and become expert empaths after learning all the signs of when someone is having a bad day, or when to be cautious of raising their hand or their voice.

It does not change how they feel towards Maedhros and Maglor in the slightest. To Elros and Elrond, it is just a part of living with them they do not love them despite it, they love them for it. Because it is Maedhros who holds them on cold nights and tells them of valinor, and Maglor who teaches them the stars.

They are a family, in some ways, at least.

...

This is a spin off thought from all that, but I imagine Maedhros at first tries to keep a distance between himself and the kids. He doesn’t want these two innocents to be associated with kinslaying fëanorians. To Maedhros, the best option is to make sure the kids continue to hate and fear him, to maintain the hostage and captor role. That way, when they get returned to someone who can actually raise them, nobody will blame them for being around two notoriously hated and despicable exiles.

This, of course, does not work. Maedhros grows to love the kids immensely, and though he won’t say it aloud, they are the reason he is alive besides the oath. They are the reason why he keeps fighting to lift the curse of his kin. If he can just free himself and Maglor, and protect these kids... because in them, he sees his dead brothers, who he couldn’t save. Who he couldn’t free. Who he couldn’t protect no matter what he did. How many hundreds, thousands of years of war did he fight and sacrifice and amend and break just to keep his family alive, and to no avail? How many times did he play the good guy and destroy his reputation to save his brothers? And every time it was ruined. Every time it ended worse than it began. No amount of time would release him from their oath. It would have to he fulfilled.

And for a while, they ignored it. He and Maglor turned a blind eye to their binds while raising the kids. They knew the consequences of ignoring it would be severe, but at this point why even try to be the good guys anymore? All that had done was spit in their faces.

After a long while, when the silmarils were recovered and stored away, Maedhros convinced Maglor to go with him and steal them back. To give the kids to someone who would protect them and didn’t have a ticking bomb attached to them, ready to go off at any time.

Maedhros knew now that if they could bear through it a little longer- do this the hard way but get it over with, reclaim the silmarils and lift the curse- they would finally be free. It would be over.

But it wasn’t.

When they stole them, bore them away, and held them at last in their hands it burned their flesh unbearably. They had been deemed evil and unworthy by the Valar. What greater betrayal than to be told by the gods they would be broken to the death unless their oath fulfilled, and then told once fulfilled that in doing so they were no longer saveable?

Everything, every word spoken, battle fought, blade bloodied, brother lost, war waged and step taken, was in vain. Every single action Maedhros had every taken, in hopes of saving his family. In hopes of maybe saving himself, was for nothing.

#maglor #maedhros #elros #elrond #kidnap fam #character analysis #long post #the silmarillion #tolkien #addie.txt

31 notes · View notes

anonymouslyangsty · 4 years ago

Note

How does Takaaki feel about vampire Mondo? How does Daiya feel about werewolf Taka?

Good questions...

Daiya took one look at Taka and wondered “Can I put a werewolf in my gang?”

Because Taka’s a victim of what Daiya’s trying so hard to combat: people being ashamed and fearful of what they are. There’s a reason he raised Mondo to be open about being a vampire, and that’s because he didn’t want his brother growing up with the same anxeity Taka clearly has.

But I also feel like Daiya wouldn’t quite understand Taka. Because yes, a lot of Taka’s orderly nature and precision is breed from anxeity over being a werewolf. But a lot of it is also just who Taka is as a person. And it would take Daiya a bit to realize that “oh breaking the rules doesn’t make this kid feel better. He just really likes rules.” Taka would not be a good Crazy Diamonds member.

As for Takaaki’s feelings on Mondo...They’re conflicted. He’s not really a fan of his son being friends with a gang leader, let alone a vampire gang leader. His first thought is that Taka’s going to get hurt, that this is some complex prank to hurt his son. To ruin his reputation further by saying “not only is he the son of a corrupt monster, but he’s also working with a gang”

His second fear is that it isn’t a prank, but Mondo will lose intrest in Taka before long and leave the boy alone again. After all, what intrest does a deliquent have is such a straight laced boy? Takaaki doesn’t care what anyone says; it’s worse to love and have lost then to never love at all. You can’t miss what you never had.

But on the otherhand, Takaaki truly appreciates how Mondo’s helped Taka. He’s the only person, including Takaaki himself at times, that’s ever openly talked about the werewolf thing with Taka. The best Taka usually gets is “it’s scary and potentially dangerous so be careful” and that’s it. Mondo is open about it and his own nature in a way Takaaki is realizing is helping Taka.

It’s also great to have someone looking out for Taka when Takaaki can’t see him everyday. Because he knows how his son is, and Taka will sacrifice his own safety to help others. He just hopes Mondo stops him from doing anything too extreme.

But still, for all the good Mondo is, Takaaki’s still afraid. Yes, Mondo’s advice and openness with his nature is helping now. But that’s in a highschool: if Taka becomes more open with who he is, how will the rest of the world see him? Is this just setting him up for a rude awakening later in life?

And you didn’t ask this, but I’m answering it anyway: how do Takaaki and Daiya feel about eachother? Ohh not big fans at all!

Daiya knows that Takaaki has his whole hangup about werewolves because of his father. But that doesn’t mean he sees the man as less of a coward for pushing that fear onto his son. Daiya thinks that instead of hiding what they are, Takaaki should’ve been open about it and he and Taka would be happier for it.

Takaaki just thinks Daiya’s reckless. Because yes, the Crazy Diamonds have protection now from those who hate vampires. But how long will that last? Especially when the Diamonds are loudly raiding hospitals and causing trouble. Takaaki thinks they’re leaving a bad reputation behind, one that won’t affect them for a long time, but will hurt every vampire who isn’t part of their gang.

Because people are unfair. And because they’re unfair, they’ll start looking at EVERY vampire, not just those in the Diamonds, like they’re a gang leader. And Takaaki resents that Diaya acts without consitering how it affects those outside of his gang.

#kiyotaka ishimaru #mondo owada #takaaki ishimaru #daiya owada #Danganronpa #monster au #taka #an ask tag

31 notes · View notes

kitkatt0430 · 4 years ago

Text

the flash and the problem of the pointless sacrifice

It starts at the end of season one. Eddie Thawne picks up his gun and shoots himself, dying to protect Iris, Barry, and the rest from his dangerous descendent Eobard Thawne.

Season two ends with its reversal, Barry creating the Flashpoint Timeline that, though its eventually set back to 'normal-ish', leaves a time remnant of Eobard Thawne alive and well (if running scared from the Black Flash/Hunter Zolomon as a speed zombie) to wreak havoc once more.

And I get it. The Reverse Flash is one of the Flash's most iconic villains - killing him off in season one couldn't be permanent. But apparently Eddie's suicide could be and the message that sends is... unfortunate.

Eddie is an extremely kindhearted person and we see that about him again and again throughout season one. He always has a smile for the people he cares about and he's an absolutely terrible liar. But we also know that he was bullied as a child/teen and since he never brings up the subject of his own family, it's likely he doesn't have a support structure outside of Central City. And the support structure he does gain in Central City was Barry's support structure first. There's not a single person we see Eddie spend time with in season one that didn't know Barry first.

And that's a big part of what wears him down over the course of the season. When both Barry and Eddie need support, Barry gets it first. Barry's secrets are treated as something Eddie has to prioritize over his relationship with Iris. Barry's loved Iris longer than Eddie's known her and while Iris loves Eddie, she also loves Barry and she's infatuated with the Flash - not realizing he's Barry's alter ego. Over the course of the season, Eddie constantly tries to connect with Barry and Barry constantly holds back. Their relationship is never equal. And that's what leaves Eddie open to Eobard's manipulations with the future news article.

And Eddie tries to make his own future with Iris anyway. But even with Iris accepting his proposal, Joe makes it clear he'll never truly accept their relationship and Eddie's sense of self worth is at an all time low. And that's the state of mind he's in during the fight in the pipeline. When Barry chooses not to let Eobard go after all, it puts them all in a position of potentially having to deal with this fight between the two speedsters just... never ending. It puts Iris in danger because Barry cares about her and because while Eddie is Eobard's ancestor... Iris isn't. From Eobard's point of view, Eddie's the only one who isn't expendable and from Eddie's point of view... he's the only one who is expendable.

His answer is suicide. And his death immediately erases Eobard from the timeline, but its also implied to have contributed to the re-emergence of the singularity. But at least Eobard was dead.

At least, until Barry created Flashpoint at the end of season 2. Presumably Eddie was alive in Flashpoint, but we never see him. Maybe he stays in Keystone instead of transferring to Central City. Never meets Iris. Never gets worn down to feel like he's not good enough. Never kills himself.

When Flashpoint is reset, Eddie's dead again but now his sacrifice has been rendered moot because Eobard's still alive as a time remnant.

It sets a rather nasty precedent for the show.

Season two also ends with a suicide. This time it's Barry's.

Much like Eddie the year before, Barry's been worn down. He had his place in his family's come into question, with Henry leaving at the start of the season and Wally's arrival midway through the season. His back is literally broken by the stress of fighting Zoom and despite everything he's suffered for the city, his honor is called into question the instant a different speedster takes to thievery. He has to give up his speed to protect Wally only for that to immediately put Caitlin in danger. His colleagues are brutally murdered by Zoom to teach him a lesson. His father finally comes back for good, only to be murdered in the same place as Barry's mother.

Honestly, there is no question (to my mind anyway) that Barry's suicidal at the end of the season. And because Barry his time remnants are fundamentally the same person at the moment of their split, the time remnant Barry creates is suicidal as well.

That time remnant tears himself apart to stop Zoom's plan to destroy the multi-verse. His very existence also lures in the Time Wraiths that take Zoom away, transforming him into the mindless Black Flash. All at the cost of a version of Barry killing himself, going unlamented and forgotten. But at least the multi-verse was safe.

Until the Red Skies Crisis when the multi-verse is actually destroyed and rebooted.

Another sacrifice rendered pointless.

HR does not kill himself in season three. But he deliberately places himself in a position to be killed in Iris' place. He arrives on the heels of a scandal on his Earth where he's been revealed to have been taking credit for someone else's work - with that person's blessing, but its still ruined his reputation. He comes wanting to reinvent himself, but from the start he's not the person the team really wants. They want Harry. Cisco wants Harry. He gets it hammered in that his strengths aren't appreciated by the team because he's not a scientist. His efforts to help STAR Labs are dismissed entirely. The only reason any attempts to help his museum venture succeed are because changing the future might save Iris.

It's not that HR is disliked, but he's left acutely aware that he's considered 'a bit much' and that he's always going to come second to the people he puts first. In fact, Tracy's probably the only one who truly and completely appreciates HR as he is.

So HR swaps places with Iris, knowing that he's going to die when he does. And while HR doesn't kill himself, there's an argument to be made that what he did was still suicide by proxy.

And this is a sacrifice that sticks, because Iris West is the love interest. She's never going to be killed off for real.

Three seasons ending with a suicidal sacrifice. And only one of them doesn't have that sacrifice reversed or nullified. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it either.

Harry leaves his Earth at the start of season four. His relationship with his daughter, which was shown to still be strong in season three, has somehow deteriorated to the point where she's thrown him off her support team and he comes to Earth-1 to reconnect with the found family he forged during season two. He's in the midst of a crisis and his understanding of himself as a parent is unraveling. And then DeVoe calls the other pillar of Harry's self identity into question, because Harry's genius isn't enough on its own anymore. He's not smart enough to out think DeVoe and his Earth-1 family is suffering. So Harry creates his own downfall, burns out his own brain trying to be the smartest. And he sacrifices his last moments of lucidity to find the answer to stopping DeVoe. In doing so, Harry puts Barry in the position to save Ralph's life.

But DeVoe still gets the last laugh when he causes the STAR Labs satellite to come falling down, nearly destroying the city and creating Cicada in the process.

But unlike previous seasons, Harry doesn't die. He gets some of his intelligence back and immediately gets exiled by the writers back to Earth-2 due to the massive problems with ableism this show has. But that's a different conversation.

Season five is probably the only season not to include a suicidal character who's kills themselves. Nora dies when she erases herself from the timeline by accident, but we know now she'll be back in the back half of season seven, along with her new brother. But one out five seasons not taking a suicide (or similar action in Harry's case) and painting it as a noble - but ultimately useless - gesture is rather... bad as far as track records go.

Season six has the alternate Barry Allen - implied to be the Barry from the 90s show - who dies in place of this show's Barry. To save the multi-verse and let this other Barry go home to his wife, something he'll never have with Tina again. And the multi-verse is destroyed anyway.

Season seven opened with Nash Wells, whose usual method of investigating mysteries and hoaxes led to the Anti Monitor's freedom and the multi-verse's destruction. His home Earth destroyed so he can never go home. He's confronted with an alternate version of his dead daughter, who can barely stand his presence. He begins to hallucinate alternate versions of himself and is possessed by the Reverse Flash and all his research on how to create a new Speed Force - to try to make up for some of the damage he's caused - points to a single conclusion. The only way to make things better is for him to die.

Instead, Nash's death immediately makes things worse. The artificial speed force is flawed and Barry destroys it in the very next episode. And while one could argue that Nash's death allowed Barry to save Iris and ultimately restored the original Speed Force, it doesn't negate the fact that Nash's suicidal state of mind wasn't addressed by the people who called him friend. And his legacy was immediately deemed a failure and destroyed.

While I wouldn't say the show is glorifying suicide, there's a subtle and incredibly troubling repetition in the story telling on the show that frames suicide as the right decision in certain circumstances. Even though what's being sacrificed for often comes to naught. And it's incredibly uncomfortable, seeing it all laid out like this.

I'm still really not sure what to make of it all, but I've got no doubt it ties into the show's ableism with regards to mental health issues. Because every time its someone whose mental health has been brought down to a low point who commits these acts of 'sacrifice' and while the team grieves these losses... they don't seem to learn from them either. Because it just keeps happening.

(Think I missed something? Please, by all means, add on.)

#the flash #the flash meta #tw suicude #some of the story telling trends on this show can be a little disturbing when you take a closer look at them #discussing several characters on the Flash who commit suicide (or make self-destructive decisions) across the seven seasons #ableism on the Flash

12 notes · View notes

skye-huntress · 4 years ago

Text

RWBY V8 Finale “The Final Word” Reactions

Thus concludes the first Volume I get to watch as it airs week by week, and react to it

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! SERIOUSLY IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE YET AND FOR WHATEVER REASON STILL SEE THIS EVEN WITH THE SPOILER TAG, CONSIDER THIS YOUR LAST WARNING

Sooo, I cannot not talk about this big one first because it gives me personal feelings. Penny is a character that is very precious to me, always has been. I binged the show up to Volume 7 last year so I didn’t have to go through years of new episodes knowing she was gone and then when she came back and throughout Volume 8, she cemented herself as one of my favourites, right up there with Ruby and Weiss. I even warmed up to Frosen Steel. I honestly did not think nor did I want to think that the show would kill her again, even knowing this was going to be a rough volume for her being the central figure in the whole conflict. The only consolation I have is that she died on her own terms.

While we’re on this note, my sympathies to Jaune for having to be the one to send her on her way. My sympathies to a lot of characters because whether or not Nuts and Dolts is platonic or romantic, she was particularly special to Ruby who once again was not there to save her.

Penny finally got her song, and it hurts

I could tell from the beginning that the Ace Ops were overrated. They seemed cool on the surface and as individual fighters they were probably up there, but I’m also sceptical of the ones that everyone (including themselves) called the “best” at anything. The reality is that they were a mess, they told to bury their feelings, and told to always accept their Jimmy’s judgment over even their own. Clover died a meaningless death because he ignored his own better judgment. That said, for Vine, the least expressive of the whole bunch to not only talk Harriet down but make a sacrifice for his team friends was not something I would have called. And yet I remember how he tried to comfort Elm, and how when Marrow was nearly killed how expressive he was in his shock and fear. Honestly, I should know better, as someone who isn’t able to express the full depth of my emotions very well, I should have known that Vine was probably the one who cared for his friends more than they ever realised.

Qrow was actually lucky for once. I have a theory. If Ren’s semblance can evolve from masking emotions to sensing them, maybe Qrow’s semblance could evolve so that he could change his or others’ fortunes for the better and not just for the worst. At the very least, rubbing the pin made him believe he could in fact be lucky, maybe that’s all he needed.

Harriet has a lot of issues to sort through, but maybe now without the toxicity of the military and Jimmy, she and her remaining friends can allow themselves to feel, grieve, heal and grow.

So we have Robyn, Qrow, Harriet, Elm and Marrow on a transport leaving Solitas through conventional travel. They probably can’t fly their transport straight to Vacuo so they may have to make some stops on the way, probably at Argus or Vale.

As for Ironwood, what a fitting end. He always saw himself as the hero of Remnant, the one with all the answers, the one who was always right, and who would save the day. But in the end, he wasn’t anyone even worth killing. To the villains, he was always a joke, someone to be used, and right when he is finally face to face with his greatest enemy, she never even looked at him once. In the end, neither he nor his precious Atlas proved to be very relevant or impressive.

Neo thought she was clever but she was a fool. That’s what happens when you let anger and vengeance consume you, it warps your judgment. Cinder was always using her, to get what she wanted, and as a means to get her own vengeance on Ruby.

Speaking of not letting not letting vengeance consume you, Blake. She saw how close she was to losing everyone else she cared about she switched tacts. I’m proud of her. And she risked the fall to save Ruby, unfortunately this risk was too great for her.

My WhiteRose heart cheered when Weiss went to back up Ruby. I assume Blake knew the partners could assist each other better than she could. It hurt that she had to watch the rest of her team family fall, to be the last one standing, using Gambol Shroud. And then she fell right in front of her sister.

Ruby really needs more practice with her eyes before she faces Cinder again. It was impressive though how she goaded Neo and knocked her over the edge. Unfortunately, there was more than one person there who really wanted her dead.

As for Ruby’s mental state, she never really had time to process anything that had happened, she was in survival mode the entire time. Falling into the same place as Yang did might give her hope that her sister is still alive and if she fell with Blake, all the better, then she won’t be alone. But like I said, Penny was very important to her, and this is the second time she has lost her. Just imagine though, if Penny’s body falls into the void with them and Ruby finds it, that’d be all the worse than just hearing about it from Weiss or Jaune.

Now, Winter, she is the MVP of this episode. Winter is now the Winter Maiden, not because Ironwood chose her to be or because she actually chose it herself but because Penny chose her. Penny believed in her friend. My love of Penny gives me a lot of conflicting feelings for this and the implications but it was satisfying to see Winter own Ironwood and hold her own against Cinder. And now she is the champion for Atlas’ refugees, but failing Weiss and Penny is going to have a significant impact on her. At least she’ll allow herself to feel and she still has some family left.

Now for the weapons. When Crescent Rose fell, it was like watching an entirely separate character fall as well. Gambol Shroud and Neo’s umbrella fell on their own, too. And Jaune’s weapon that was reforged with Pyrrha’s ruined weapon was destroyed by none other than Cinder. So basically the only ones still completely armed are Weiss and Yang, but of course the latter also has a concussion.

It wasn’t the complete victory she wanted but it was decisive. I figured a victory for Cinder would be getting both relics and she did. But I knew she wouldn’t get the Maiden powers, that’s always the part she fails at again and again. She tries to syphon a Maiden’s magic only to be interrupted. Every. Single. Time. Seriously, Cinder will just never learn from this mistake and its why she will likely never have more than one Maiden’s power at the rate she is going. But as decisive as this victory was, it will cost her in the long run. She needed help from Jinn, Neo and Watts in order to beat Team RWBY but they’ll come back stronger, smarter and more pissed off and Cinder won’t have all of that help next time. If anything, she might have put herself back on top of Neo’s shitlist.

Watts’ end is also rather fitting and also completely expected. Like Jimmy and Jaques, he represented a lot of what was wrong with Atlas, particularly the elite. How annoyed would Ambrosius be with Cinder though? “More fire, that’s it? This is my cosmic karma for being annoyed about being used by the same kids twice in a row.”

Atlas fell as I always knew it would, after all the relics exist to help humanity and a flying city did nothing but fuelled the egos of those who lived on that floating rock. Mantle was something to be proud of, but Atlas was a lie. Now Remnant’s “greatest kingdom in the world” reduced to ruin and it’s people refugees in a land their ancestors made a wasteland. This will have dire consequences.

So in the end, no help came for Atlas. Not surprising in retrospect. Atlesians didn’t have the best reputation to begin with, then Ironwood made a series of terrible decisions (that everyone around him strongly advised against), destroying Atlas’ relations with the other Kingdoms. Then came Ruby’s broadcast out of nowhere where she dropped some insane bombshells and then her message was cut off and global comms went down again. Few can vouch for Ruby’s character and even fewer can verify anything of what she said. I still believe it had an impact and we’ll see it as we visit other Kingdoms again, but the full pay off won’t be for quite some time. As I said before, the message was just the first of many, many small steps to uniting the world against Salem

So now for the detour, and that cursed image of Crescent Rose alone, slammed into the ground. It’s likely Volume 9 will focus mostly on our girls, Jaune and Neo, surviving in this strange environment and finding a way home.

Was that everything? Probably not. Now the mourning period begins as I try to process all of that.

#rwby #rwby8 #rwby8 spoilers

12 notes · View notes

yodawgiherd · 4 years ago

Text

You Were Never Truly Gone ch.9

>>>Read on AO3<<<

This chapter was... difficult to write after the full ending, and I will put deeper reasoning in the end note. Anyway, I hope that you will like it, it's basically plot only ^^

“I’m not going to marry the Shogun because I will be one.”

Those words were supposed to mean something, but they just hopped around inside Kiyomi’s mind before flying out, leaving nothing behind. They just didn’t make sense, put together like this.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I will be Shogun.”

“No, you will marry the Shogun you…”

“No, I will be the Shogun.”

There was no spark in Mikasa’s eyes as she spoke, no hidden smile, but it was so absurd that Kiyomi burst out laughing anyway.

“That has to be the worst joke I have ever heard, lady Mikasa. Now…”, she tried standing up, the chair scraping the floor, “let us go before…”

“Sit.”, this time it was from Eren, and she found herself seated before Kiyomi even realized why, “Mikasa is not finished.”

“She is, obviously, she is simply making fun of me.”

Slowly and surely, the raven shook her head.

“I am not.”

“You are joking, you have to be,”, Kiyomi rambled, “all you ever wanted was a quiet and peaceful life, right? I can… I can give it to you, I can give you that solitude you want…”

She half-raised her hand, almost reaching over the table.

“You never asked to be special, you never wanted that burden on your shoulders. I understand and I will help – all you must do is follow the plan and you can have everything you ever asked for. Please, stop this nonsense.”

Mikasa’s eyes didn’t budge, meeting Kiyomi’s pleading ones without flinching. Her hand holding onto Eren’s tightened a bit, but other than that she remained still, as her lips formed the word the old woman feared.

“No.”

“B-But…”

“Listen, I know that you mean well for me, that all you want is for your country to be stable in this ruined world. You are right in almost everything you said, but realize that as the world changed during the war, so did I.”

Mikasa’s voice was not very loud but it carried a commanding tone, one filled with the inner strength Kiyomi admired.

“Do I want a quiet and peaceful life with those I love? Yes. But that is no longer an option.”

“It is if you…”

“Let me finish.”, again, even when interrupting her Mikasa didn’t raise her voice, “Please.”

Seeing that the old woman backed down, the raven continued.

“I have lived my whole childhood behind walls, believing that we are the only human society left. Then, as a teenager, I fought the titans who I believed to be the true enemy of humanity. As an adult, I was told that it was all wrong.”

Behind her, Eren shifted a bit but didn’t say anything, leaving Mikasa in charge.

“You can’t blame me that all I wanted was a safe and stable home, a place at peace. But the world is hellbent on preventing me from having it, in a different way than before but still a valid one. Even if I and Eren hid, even if we ran from it all, the best possible scenario is a delay in the destruction – with the course Paradis is on, it will end up destroyed. I don’t care if it’s a hundred years from now, I don’t care if it's two hundred, I don’t care if it’s a thousand years. In my life, in our life, I want to make it a place that is open and peaceful with the world, not an island marked for destruction. Because if we can’t make it safe for our children and grandchildren, then what did we fight for in the first place?”

Her fingers squeezed Eren’s between them.

“You are right that I would still prefer to have a quiet life somewhere, but I am prepared to sacrifice that solitude in order to have that dream. After all, I realized that home is not a place for me anymore.”, she tilted her head a bit to the side, a tiny smile mirroring that one on Eren’s lips, “It is something I can take with me, anywhere in the world.”

For whatever reason, Kiyomi had a feeling that Mikasa wasn’t talking about the goat.

“Look, that is a nice speech and all, but why would they ever accept you as a Shogun? It makes no sense.”

“Hizuru fell to ruin while it relied on itself – granted, it was mostly caused by the rumbling but your council did little to unite the country. I will bring an outsider perspective, a new and open book that represents Hizuru in its post-war world. Still, without anyone supporting me I would say that you are correct and I have no chance, but I will have a very strong ally on my side.”, once again, the grey gaze speared the old woman in place, “You.”

“No, you are crazy.”, Kiyomi was shaking her head, “I will not support you in this insanity.”

“You don’t really have a choice.”

“I... I don’t have a choice? Me?”, fed up with this, Kiyomi’s fist slammed the table, “You don’t realize that we are in my country now, and I control what happens with you. The Faceless outside? They are sworn to the Shogun but you are not one yet – if I order them to take you they will do so without a second of hesitation.”

She leaned over the table, fuming.

“I can have you locked up in a second, both of you. Sure, your will might be strong but I can take my sweet time breaking you and…”

“You could when I came here,”, Mikasa interrupted her, “But not anymore.”

“… What are you talking about?”

“The parade. All the people who saw me, both here and the harbor, happy and alive and going of my own free will. What do you think they will do if the hero you brought from beyond the sea, the Shogun’s descendant and the last link to his bloodline, will disappear?”

So this was why Mikasa wanted one… this was why she, being usually a very reserved person, insisted on being paraded through the city. This was why….

“You never told the public about your plans, did you?”, the raven went on, “The ruling council knows, but not the ordinary folk – you were preparing this bid for new Shogun and his foreign wife in secret. So, simply exchange it for my scenario – young and motivated ruler, coming from a horrible was she was a hero of. Scarred by her past but ready to be the one we need in these trying times.”

Mikasa was right too, Kiyomi realized to her horror, the situation in Hizuru was on the knife’s edge already, and if the one bargaining chip she brought suddenly went missing that would be enough to boil it over the point of no return. The peasants would storm the very gates of the palace, just to save the blood of the revered Shogun.

“They won’t accept it…”, Kiyomi muttered in her slump, “They will never let you be their ruler.”

“Maybe, but do you realize all the power you could keep? I don’t understand ruling, I am a simple soldier, I would need the council’s help. I would need your help too, Kiyomi.”

Mikasa saw it, saw the tiny flash of greed in the old woman’s eyes, and that’s when she knew that she got her hooked.

“My help?”

“But of course, all the pains and responsibilities… I would very much appreciate it if you were there to help me carry them.”

Power, so much power that could be squeezed out of this situation. A young, inexperienced woman thrust into a role she didn’t understand. She, an old and skilled schemer. Together, they could be unstoppable.

Was it such a risk to Kiyomi herself? If the council went fully against Mikasa she would bow out to save her face – sure, she would lose some credibility and reputation, but it wouldn’t be too bad. If she went carefully about this, she could express her support of Mikasa’s claim without sticking her neck out for her.

So, then…

“I am willing to give it a try.”, she let out slowly, weighing every single word, “However, if everyone turns on you I will not go down with your plan. You have to understand that the chance of the council going with your proposal is minuscule at best, and if they decide that you will marry instead then I won’t be able to stop them.”

A tiny light of hope flashed in Mikasa’s chest.

“That’s all I ask for,”, the replied curtly, “I believe that I can convince them.”

“Remains to be seen.”, standing up for like the third time today, Kiyomi stretched her back with a pop, “Shall we go then?”

“One more thing.”, jerking her thumb towards Eren, Mikasa gave her an apologetic smile, “Do you have a spare Faceless uniform around?”

“……..”

“Well?”

“You want to bring him to the meeting?”

“The Faceless never remove their masks, you said it yourself.”

“Sure, but…”

“I know that you dislike Eren, but he and I are a package deal, I thought that I made that clear.”

“How do you think that the rest of the Faceless guard will react if you just jam your lover between them?”

“I figured that they won’t question it if the order comes from someone as high ranked as you.”, Mikasa had the audacity to blink at her, “Was I wrong?”

Where did this woman come from? Last Kiyomi remembered Mikasa Ackerman was a quiet and timid woman so shocked by her revelation that she couldn’t even speak correctly. This sudden change…

No, it wasn’t sudden at all. Kiyomi remembered this Mikasa too, she showed during the battles and fights, when the goal wasn’t to speak but to fly around and knock skulls together. This goddess in a human form found a way to project her sureness from the battlefield to her everyday life and looking at the man behind her Kiyomi could guess why.

It took her years and an apocalypse nipping at her heels, but Mikasa was a way more adult version of herself now. In a way it made Kiyomi happy because seeing her reach the full potential was amazing, on the other hand it complicated her own schemes. This Mikasa wouldn’t let herself be led around.

“No, I think that I can arrange it.”, pushing herself away from the table, Kiyomi made her way out of the room but not before shooting a last look at the pair.

Impressive.

It was also smart because no one would question a Faceless accompanying the future shogun’s wife -if anything they would congratulate her on integrating into their society so quickly.

The Faceless guard was trained in a lot of ways – fighting, protecting, dying for their master, and most of all not questioning orders. Normally they only took those from a Shogun, but because there was none Kiyomi, as a member of the ruling council, effectively commanded them. Finding a uniform for Eren “Aaron” wasn’t difficult, and soon Kiyomi was waiting outside of the room while Mikasa helped him change.

“There,”, she pulled the last strap tight, “That should be good.”

“Hmm, I hope that it will be enough.”, Eren’s fingers brushed over the mask, “Me getting recognized…”

“… is not going to happen.”, Mikasa finished for him, “Now stop worrying and give me a good luck kiss so we can go, I’m sure that Kiyomi is tearing her hair out by now.”

It was supposed to be just a peck but she wasn’t satisfied with that. Her hands circled Eren’s shoulders while one found its way to the thick of his hair, pushing his face down to meet her height. And then it was teeth, tongue, and everything until she pulled back, a blush dusting her cheeks now.

“There, now I think that I’m ready.”

Grinning, Eren fastened the mask in place, making sure that all his features were hidden from view.

“Shall we?”

Kiyomi’s scowl grew from anxious to disgusted when she saw Mikasa’s red face, very quickly connecting the dots and realizing what took them so long. For once she didn’t comment on it, only motioning for them to follow and taking the lead.

The chambers they were looking for were in the palace, but with the sheer magnitude of the building it was quite a journey. One that got interrupted, by a man that walked up to them with wide eyes and a surprised expression all over his youthful face.

“Mikasa? Lady Ackerman? Is that you?”

“Do I know you?”

“Not yet, but I hope that we will get to know each other soon.”, a cocksure laugh, “Lady Azumabito, would you do the honors?”

There was a badly concealed pained expression on Kiyomi’s face as she gestured towards the man.

“This is Daigo Sawamura, heir to the Sawamura clan and one of the most influential men in Hizuru.”, a short nod towards Mikasa, “Your future husband.”

He was…. young, about Mikasa’s age, with a pleasant face and trained manners. Someone who was born to wealth and raised in it, would probably die in it too. This man never had to fight for his life, never had to starve or scavenge on the streets for the smallest scraps of food. He might be nice, as Kiyomi claimed back on the ship, but almost instantly from meeting him Mikasa could say that life with him would be unbearable to her. Their worlds were miles and miles apart, and she had a feeling that no amount of time spent together would bridge that gap.

Now then, there was no need to be rude.

“O-Oh.”, Mikasa’s eyes ticked from left to right, “I.. Uhm.. nice to meet you?”

Behind her, Eren let out a long breath from behind the Faceless mask. Jealousy was not a new emotion for him, and having it from someone who was introduced as the “future husband” of his lover was understandable. Then again, he couldn’t act on it, since he was… well…

Dead. Or at least supposed to be.

Unphased by her embarrassment and ignorant of Eren’s internal struggle, Daigo took a step forward.

“I’ll admit, I was doubtful when lady Azumabito described your beauty to me, especially considering that you were a soldier your whole life, but now I see how wrong and stupid I was. She didn’t overplay your beauty, she didn’t give it justice instead”, with a practiced and elegant movement, he kissed Mikasa’s hand before straightening with a tight and easy smile on his lips, “Consider me smitten by your uttermost perfection.”

In a way Kiyomi enjoyed the way Eren’s hand tightened, shaking dangerously close to where his sword was. But having Daigo cut down by a “Faceless” would do nothing but throw whatever plans she or Mikasa had out of the window. So, Kiyomi did the smart thing and stepped in.

“I am very sorry, but we are expected by the council.”

“Of course, don’t let me keep you.”, he winked at them, “I was told to meet you there, but I simply couldn’t wait to see you for myself. I heard so much about you, lady Mikasa, all about the barbaric society that you were raised in, all about the heroic deeds you’ve done in the war - I must say that I admire you, you are a hero.”

“T-Thank you.”

“And seeing you now, I do hope that you won’t be offended when I say that our children will be perfect, beautiful, and will indeed save Hizuru. Me and you, our dynasty will lead this country to a glorious future, and it will start by our marriage that I’m already looking forward to.”, he leaned even closer, whispering but they all heard the words anyway, ”Especially the wedding night, my dear fiancé.”

God damn it Daigo.

“That is very kind, but we have to go now.”, pushing herself physically between the smitten noble and Mikasa who was one bad touch from showing him what personal space meant, Kiyomi forcefully separated them, “Excuse us.”

Pulling the girl behind herself and hearing the footsteps of Eren, who luckily didn’t stay behind to gut Daigo, Kiyomi retreated to a safe distance before letting go of Mikasa’s hand. She turned to the girl, fists on her hips.

“How close were you to punching him?”, she asked.

“Very.”

A chuckle from Eren, followed by a muffled “Nice.”

No matter how old he got, Eren Yeager would apparently remain a suicidal blockhead. Attacking a noble in the palace was nothing but trouble.

“I can assure you that decking him would have done a disservice to whatever you are planning.”, Kiyomi deadpanned.

“Then I’m glad you were there with me.”, Mikasa latched on, “See? You are already guiding me, it will only get better once you can instruct me when I’m Shogun.”

Stroking her ego, huh? Well played.

“We should get going, the council is not known for its patience.”

Crossing one corridor and the next, Kiyomi slowly but surely led them towards the ruling chambers. Each and everyone was holding their breath – Kiyomi in her nervousness, Mikasa while she was reciting what to say in her mind, and Eren because his eyes kept going left and right and searching for a possible escape route if the plan went haywire.

With last few steps they were at their destination, a large door guarded by two men in ceremonial armor. Upon seeing Kiyomi they both saluted and were ready to open the entrance on her command.

“You ready?”, the old woman asked Mikasa, getting a shaky nod in return.

Eren wanted to hug her back then, stroke her hair and tell her that everything will be fine, but such an act would break whatever illusion he was hiding behind. Steeling himself against the mushy feelings in his chest, he remained still with back straight, the perfect image of a well-trained guardsman.

After a few more deep breaths Mikasa’s next nod became firm again, and Kiyomi deemed her ready to face the council. With a mumbled order to the men, the door creaked open and the trio stepped in, ready to lay their cards on the table.

#eremika #snk #fanfic

7 notes · View notes

lockefanfic · 5 years ago

Text

Business Trip - Pt 14: Temptation

When you awaken later that night, it takes you a few moments to determine whether the soft, slim body climbing atop you is real or part of some wonderful dream - but the warmth of the young woman, and the soft, pleasant smell of her hair, convinces you that this was all real.

Sana places soft kisses on your neck and jawline, before moving to your mouth and kissing your lips softly. You are still only half awake, but your senses and instincts take over, and you find your mouth welcoming her kiss and returning it with one of your own, your hands moving to either side of her hips and finding, to your surprise, that there was only bare skin there and no clothing.

“Sana…” you begin, as she deepens her kiss, her lips pressing more firmly against yours.

“Shhh,” she answers, “please. I need this. I need you, right now. Please.”

The soaring glass walls and abundance of brushed steel and marble lent the SM head office building an intimidating aura. It was modern, yes, and likely cost a fortune to build, but it lacked warmth and personality. This was a building that was the workplace of the rich, powerful, and successful - it seemed fitting that they built a building to match their personality. These people didn’t get where they were by being nice.

You much preferred to meet at a coffee shop somewhere, or perhaps even a park or other open space - somewhere neutral. Sana told you that the response she got from Irene was the address for SM’s head office. It was enemy ground or nowhere at all, it seemed.

You take another glance at your watch, which had moved… twenty four seconds since you last glanced at it. It was now 4:17, a full hour and seventeen minutes after your supposed appointment time.

She was making you wait.

The receptionist, seated at an expensive looking desk to your right, continued to type away dutifully. What the hell was she doing that required her to be typing non-stop since you first got here?

At least she was pleasant to look at, with her cute, round face and pleasantly sculpted, small features. You’d have guessed she was around Momo’s age, or maybe a little younger. The small nameplate on her desk told you her name was “Joy” - clearly not a Korean name. Was that her codename, like Sana said everyone in this department had? The whole concept was silly. What kind of business gave its employees codenames, aside from the military or some spy agency?

Joy’s typing suddenly stops, her eyes snapping to the corner of her monitor where you assumed a notification had appeared. She shows no further emotion as she stands and gestures towards the door to her right. No words leave her mouth. Just a gesture, and a blank, unreadable look. Nothing more.

This place was creeping you out already.

You stand and button your suit jacket as you mentally prepare yourself for the confrontation to come. Taking a last glance at your watch and shooting Joy a look to ensure she caught on to your displeasure at the lateness of your appointment, you walk towards the door. If Joy even noticed your displeasure, she made no outward sign of it.

The brushed steel door is heavy, and took more effort that you were expecting to push open. Yet another thing about this building that made you feel uncomfortable. It was too clean, too neat, too heavy and imposing. This was a place that belonged in a science fiction dystopia.

The room beyond - what you’d assumed was Irene’s office - matched the rest of the building in decor. It was large, far larger than any one person needed his or her office to be, but that in itself exuded a sort of power. Even here in Seoul, where space was scarce, this company could devote what surely must have been almost a thousand square feet to a single employee.

It said almost as much about the woman you found standing at the end of the spacious office, her back to you as she gazed out at Seoul’s skyline through the floor to ceiling windows that lined the two corners of her office. She must be a woman of some power and influence to command such a workspace.

One other woman is in the room - she is sitting leisurely in one of two leather chairs in front of an imposing looking desk. The chairs are the type that sacrifice comfort for minimalist style. Not that the woman looked uncomfortable, leaning back into the seat, her long, smooth legs laid bare by her short black dress.

The seated woman locks eyes with you and makes no attempt to hide the head to toe scan she gives you. A small smirk appears on her lips, and you wonder what it might mean. She is pretty, as every female you’d encountered in this building was - but there was a sense of mischief in her features and especially in her smirk that both interested you and scared you.

“Sit down,” she says, in perfect English. Whoever she was, she must have spent some time overseas, or at least had a damn good language teacher.

You let a snort of air out of your nose, ensuring that it was loud enough for both women to hear. It wouldn’t behoove you to display weakness simply by doing whatever these women ordered you to do. You were here to get a measure of your opponent, not show them an easy target.

You stride, as casually as you can, over to the seat.

“You take your damn time with your appointments,” you say to the woman standing at the window - the one you assumed was Irene.

The seated woman speaks in Korean to the standing woman - so that’s who she was; the translator.

The standing woman lets out a snort of her own before saying something under her breath in Korean. Her comment draws a small giggle from the seated girl, but she doesn’t bother translating it.

“My name is Wendy,” she says, “and I am Irene’s director of operations. And since you don’t speak our language, I guess I’ll be the translator for this afternoon as well.”

“You can tell Irene I don’t appreciate being made to wait.”

Wendy doesn’t bother translating. By your tone alone Irene must have understood what you said.

Finally, Irene turns around to face you - and you are struck, for a moment, by her beauty.

She is beautiful in the way that Mina was beautiful; elegant, sophisticated, the kind of young woman one would find at an art museum, or taking in a show at the theatre. The kind of young woman who seemed to exist at a level above the average girl you’d find on the street. She was ethereal, royal - princess-like.

Irene says something in Korean. A moment later, Wendy translates.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here to ask you why the hell you tried to attack our company by hiring our ex-employee to sabotage our product launch by stealing our data.”

Wendy translates. When she hears what you have said, Irene lets a sly smile appear on her lips. Somewhere in your subconscious you are struck by her beauty, but you do your best to hide it. Irene responds in Korean.

“Your accusation is bold, but pointless without proof.”

You were expecting this. You reach into your suit jacket pocket and grasp a small USB drive that you then toss to Wendy. She catches it with one hand, her gaze never leaving yours.

“That’s proof.”

There was no need to explain what was on the stick. Everyone in the room knew.

Irene speaks again.

“So what if you have proof? What makes you think people will care?” Wendy says, her tone capturing the same arrogance you detected in Irene’s voice.

“We could leak this out to the public. Ruin your reputation. On top of that, we have two of your ex-employees that are willing to speak out against you.”

“Ah yes, the two turncoats,” Wendy says, “What were their names? Chou Tzuyu and Minatozaki Sana?”

At the mention of the two names Irene makes a comment in Korean. Wendy appears to agree, replying to her in the same language and adding a giggle that Irene shares.

“What’s so funny?”

“We were just wondering,” Wendy says, “if you’ve fucked both of those whores yet.”

“You little son of a b-”

You are silenced by Irene raising her hand in the air. She says something in Korean with a distinctly disdainful tone, and Wendy’s smirk deepens as she translates.

“We don’t care about Tzuyu or Sana. Hire them and have them speak out against us, fuck them and ditch them, we don’t give a shit. They’ve served their purpose.”

“And what purpose is that?”

“Showing us who’s really in charge,” Wendy continues, “and apparently it’s you. Now we know who you are. Now we know who our opponent is.”

“That goes both ways,” you say, your glare resting on Irene.

The woman gives you another look from head to toe, similar to the one Wendy gave you as you entered the room. She bites the corner of her lower lip - such a small, almost imperceptible gesture - and you think maybe she wanted you to see it. When she speaks again, her tone is soft, almost flirty.

Wendy smiles as she hears what Irene has to say, a devilish look on her young features.

“Irene says it’s a shame we have to be enemies. Things would be much more interesting if we were partners.”

“There’s no way in hell I’d work with the likes of you,” you spit immediately. Wendy translates for Irene with just a few words, although you know your tone probably told Irene what you said without need for translation.

There is a pause in the room that lasts just a few seconds, but they are heavy and tense seconds of silence.

Eventually Irene walks over to her desk and presses a button that appears to be built into the surface of it. She says something in Korean, and though you didn’t understand any of it, you sure caught the name ‘Joy’.

A second or two later, the door to the office opens and in walks Joy, the receptionist. You take a moment to admire her long, thin legs and slim body, her black minidress - apparently the uniform around here - doing little to hide the delicious looking curves beneath it.

When she approaches the three of you, Joy says something in Korean that might have been a greeting, or something, before giving Irene a short bow.

“You may want to sit down for this,” Wendy says.

“I’d rather not,” you answer, “I think we’re done here.”

“I don’t think we are,” Wendy declares.

You are about to ask her what she means when Irene begins speaking to Joy in Korean, ending her sentence with a gesture towards you.

When you turn towards Joy again, the young woman is reaching behind her, and the sound of a zipper undoing itself is all you need to hear to understand what was going on here. You mean to say something, to tell her to stop, but you are enraptured by the young woman’s eyes as she slowly finishes unzipping her dress. With thin, delicate hands, she pulls the top of the dress off her torso, and with a little shimmy of her hips, lets the black dress fall to the floor.

Joy steps out of the silk pooled at her feet, the click-clack of her black heels on the hard floor sounding almost impossibly loud in the silent room. Her body is almost impossibly perfect, her limbs toned, her breasts perfectly round and pert. Her eyes are heavy now, heavy with lust and sultry with desire. Gone was the cold and aloof receptionist - this was a woman who knew what she was about to do, and her every gesture implied to you that she was good at it.

When Joy reaches you, her hands immediately go to the belt at your waist.

“Stop right fucking there,” you say, grasping Joy’s wrists and pushing them away, “what the fuck is going on here?”

“We’ve heard of your exploits with women in this industry,” Wendy begins, “and we wanted to see if the stories about your prowess were true.”

“I’m here to talk about what you did in Taiwan,” you retort, “not give you some sick sex show.”

Wendy laughs before answering, “That’s rich. As if business has ever stopped you from fucking any of the other women you’ve had over the past few years. Minatozaki Sana, Park Choa, Kim Seolhyun, Miyoui Mina, even Chou Tzuyu… she’s just barely legal, isn’t she?”

“Fuck off,” you say angrily, shooting Irene one last look before turning away, “this isn’t over.”

“How could we forget,” Wendy continues as you begin to storm out of the room, “about Hirai Momo?”

Momo’s name stops you in your tracks. If they did anything to her…

“She’s gorgeous,” Wendy admits, “and if I were you I’d be fucking her too. Tell me, did she spread her legs for you immediately or did you have to buy her a drink first?”

You storm over to Wendy’s seat. You grasp the arms of her chair and lean in until your faces are inches apart.

“Say that again, you bitch. Say it again and see if I don’t do anything about it.”

“Enough,” you hear, and it takes you a moment to realize the English word has come from Irene. Inches away from you, a cocky smile is plastered all over Wendy’s face, infuriating you to no end.

Irene speaks again in Korean, and Wendy translates, her eyes not once leaving yours. She didn't even blink. There is a craziness in her eyes that has overtaken the mischeviousness that was present there before.

“Irene has an offer for you. Join SM. We could use someone like you around here,” she begins.

Irene says something in Korean.

“...and you can have Joy as a fucktoy for you to use whenever you want, to make up for all that tail you’re leaving behind at JYP,” Wendy finishes. As she does so she brings her mouth to your ear.

“Although I might want a turn too, big boy.”

That was the last straw for you. You had to leave now, lest you lose control of your anger.

“You’re all messed up, all of you,” you say, backing away from Wendy and glaring angrily at Irene, “We’re done here.”

“What makes you think we are? We’re done when we say we’re done,” Wendy spits. You are about to rebuke her when Irene speaks again in Korean. It was hard to miss Sana’s name amidst the Korean.

“It would be a shame if Minatozaki Sana’s exploits and her role in illegal theft of data were to reach the police,” Wendy says.

You are frozen by the implications of Irene’s threat.

“You leave her out of this,” you state, “she’s back with JYP now. She’s done with you.”

“Is that so? We’ve been in contact with her this whole time. Can you ever really be sure of her loyalty, ever again?”

Irene takes a few steps towards you, speaking in Korean as she does so.

“We could demolish her career. And not only that - she could spend a lot of time in jail. With what we know about her, we could ruin her.”

“You’d throw your own person under the bus like that?”

“In a heartbeat,” Wendy answers. You are acutely aware of Joy approaching you from your left. Her left hand reaches for your belt buckle again, and this time you don’t stop her.

“Fuck this girl’s brains out,” Wendy says, every word now freighted with lust, “make her cum. If she does, maybe we forget about Minatozaki Sana. Maybe we let her go.”

“You people are sick,” you state, even as Joy succeeds in unbuckling your belt, and her slim fingers are slowly drawing down the zipper of your pants, even as she removes the suit jacket from your torso with her other hand, letting the garment fall to the floor.

“Shut up, big boy. Maybe you’ll enjoy it.”

Joy turns to face you, her cute features inches away from yours, her eyes half-lidded with lust and desire and need. A sly smile perks up the corner of her mouth. She was certainly willing - there was no doubt about that.

Her fingers find themselves inside the waistband of your boxers, and her palm quickly wraps itself around your quickly hardening shaft. She gives you one, two, three soft strokes, and before you know it your eyes have shut as pleasure begins to emanate from your crotch.

“Fuck her,” Wendy starts, “and we’ll leave Sana alone.”

You are seconds away from giving in, and as Joy brings her mouth to your neck and plants a soft kiss there, you can almost feel the last remnants of your resistance crack before -

“No,” you state with all the conviction you could muster, “This isn’t right.”

You grasp Joy’s wrist, still pumping your shaft, and rip it off your crotch before quickly re-zipping and buttoning your pants.

“You’re all sick, all of you, for even trying something like this.”

Your statements draw nothing but a sly grin from Wendy and Irene, as if they both knew this was coming and were amused by it all.

Wendy rises from her seat and struts over to you, that infuriating grin still on her lips. She draws a business card from the inner pocket of the short black blazer she is wearing and places it in your pants pocket.

“You have one week to think about it. If you want to join us, give us a call, and we’ll make it worth your while. I know it’ll hurt to give up pieces of ass like Momo and Seolhyun, but I assure you we’ll make it up to you. She’s just the start,” she finishes with a nod towards Joy.

You return Wendy’s smirk with a glare before shooting one at Irene, who still has that slick, sly grin on her lips, as though she were above it all, watching puppets dance on a stage. She reminded you again of Mina’s elegance, but with a ruthless, callous edge to it that frightened you.

You turn to leave, to find that Joy has picked up your suit blazer and is holding it up for you. You are a little surprised to find a little bit of shame and regret and another emotion you cannot name in her eyes. She seemed entirely willing and even enthusiastic about carrying out her superiors’ orders to have sex with a man she didn’t even know - how much of it was her wanting to please her bosses, and how much of it was consensual?

You didn’t care, not at the moment - your only focus was on storming out of the building.

---

You could trace the exact moment Minatozaki Sana’s world shattered. When you met her the next day after your flight back home, she still carried that air of defiance she had been holding since the events in Taiwan, but as you played back the conversation with Wendy and Irene that you had recorded with a listening device hidden in your suit jacket, her defiant air slowly began to crumble.

You reach forward and press stop on the digital recorder. To say that Sana looked shaken by what she had just heard was an understatement.

“They are ready and willing to completely throw you under the bus,” you say, “and if they go to the police or leak info about what you did in Taiwan, it could lead to the police prosecuting you for intellectual property theft, not to mention breaking into a secure server and any one of any number of invasion charges.”

“...Why,” Sana mumbles, the small word seemingly all she could say.

“I don’t know. They want to get me to join them. I guess they expect that if I do, I’ll bring along all of JYP’s inner secrets and help them build up that section of their company. That’ll also disrupt JYP’s foothold in the industry. At the very least, by throwing this threat at me they can disrupt our operations for the near future while we figure out how to deal with it. They gain, JYP loses.”

“What… what will you do?”

“I don’t know,” you answer truthfully, “but I’ll figure something out. I just thought you should know what’s going on here. Tomorrow at work we’ll reconvene with everyone and figure out a plan.”

Sana still seems shaken. You reach over with a palm and grasp the back of her left hand.

“You’ll be okay, Sana. I won’t let them do anything to you.”

Sana looks up at you with her large, expressive eyes. Tears have begun to well up.

“Why? Why are you helping me, after I just tried my hardest to ruin you?”

You take a moment to compose your response. The hurt of her betrayal still lingered somewhat, but it was overcome by the memories and genuine affection you had for her.

“Because it’s the right thing to do. I told you I’d give you a second chance and that I would protect you, and that’s what I’m doing. Besides,” you add, “you still have that blue hoodie I gave you in Tokyo, and I want it back someday.”

You grin sheepishly at the young woman, and you earn a soft giggle in response.

“It’s getting late, so you should stay here. It’s been a long flight and I’m wiped. You’ll have to ignore the complete mess in the guest room.”

Sana manages a weak smile, and you are heartened to find a little bit of color returning to her face.

“Thank you,” she says softly, trying her best to smile for you.

“Oyasumi,” you answer, before leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead and heading to your own bedroom to pass out.

---

“Sana…” you begin, as she deepens her kiss, her lips pressing more firmly against yours.

“Shhh,” she answers, “please. I need this. I need you, right now. Please.”

A part of you wants to stop her, make sure this was what she really wanted. Another part of you wanted to stop her to ensure that sex didn’t further complicate the already tricky circumstances of your relationship. But a final part of you knew that she was in a hurt state, and that she needed something, some comfort, to ease her mind, if only temporarily, from the danger SM posed to her career and her wellbeing.

And so unlike your experience with Joy a day prior, you found yourself willingly giving in. When Sana’s tongue presses softly against your lips, you didn’t resist, and soon your tongues were reacquainting themselves with one another as the passion begins to ignite in your bodies.

Sana is straddling you now, and your hands have begun to roam, up and down her slim torso and finally down to her firm butt, to find again that she wasn’t wearing underwear. As you continue to make out she has drawn the bed covers down with her left hand, revealing your shirtless torso before pressing her naked upper body against you. You revel in the newfound warmth of her small frame, and the sensation of her soft breasts and already erect nipples poking against your chest.

Sana breaks your kiss and, emboldened by your consent for her desire, she returns to placing kisses on your jawline before moving to your neck and lower. You have been with her enough times to realize what she is about to do, and you watch, enraptured, as she kisses her way to your chest, and then your belly, sliding her body down yours until her face is inches away from your boxers and the quickly hardening shaft they are covering.

Reaching up with both hands, she hooks slim fingers around the waistband of your boxers before drawing them down. She wastes little time - the boxers are lowered just enough to let your hard shaft spring free, before she grasps it with the fingertips of her right hand, and, taking a moment to ensure your eyes are glued to hers, licks it from base to tip with one long, slow slurp.

The electricity that courses throughout your body is breathtaking. Sana had given you head before, of course, not that it did anything to dull the utter pleasure that she was able to inspire in your body. Soon she has begun her blowjob in earnest, taking your shaft in and out of the wet, warm cavern of her mouth, her tongue swirling around the sensitive flesh in random patterns, each entry and exit into her lips sending spikes of pleasure from your crotch to the rest of your body.

When she had given you oral sex before it was often hurried, lustful - but tonight was different. Sana took her time, ensuring you felt every flick of her tongue and pump of her palm, the young woman seeking to revel in the moment, enjoy every second just as much as you did. She wanted to lose herself, wanted to forget that anything else in the world existed aside from the sensual act she was performing on you.

“Fuck, Sana, that’s so good,” you say, more descriptive words failing to come to mind amidst the pleasure currently overtaking your senses. A minute or an hour passes - you didn’t know or care. All that existed in the world was the young woman bobbing her head up and down between your legs.

You look down to watch as she performs, taking a stray lock of hair and brushing it behind her left ear, such an innocent act framed by such an indecent one. But there is a certain kind of sweetness to it, in a way - the act of a woman seeking to make her partner feel good by whatever means necessary.

That thought only adds to the pleasure, and you watch, enraptured, for a few more minutes as Sana pleasures you.

“Sana… God, you’re so good at that.”

Sana responds by bringing her left hand between your legs ripping your boxers free, raising her body to allow you to kick them off, finally leaving you as naked as she was. Giving your cock one last lick, she straightens her body and straddles you once again.

“Damn,” you say, “I wanted you to keep going.”

“Later, I will,” Sana says with a soft, seductive smile, “but now I want more.”

You take a moment to drink in the sight of her slim, tight body straddling your hips. Her frame is perfect, a little more on the slim side now than she was before, without losing any of the feminine charm she had in spades. Her breasts, small and humble, sit proudly high on her chest, her torso painted stripes of blue and gold by the street light filtering in through the half-shut window blinds.

“I’ve wanted you for so long,” she begins, “I… I’m sorry for what I did. You’ve been so good to me, even after I betrayed you. And now you’re protecting me.”

You raise your upper body up so that you are almost sitting, bringing a hand to her soft cheek. Your faces are inches apart, and you are struck once more by her simple beauty, her cuteness and sexiness giving way tonight to sincere vulnerability. Sana nuzzles against your warm palm, her eyes closing, a soft smile on her cheeks.

“I would never let anyone hurt you, Sana.”

“I know,” she answers, “and I want you to know that I’m yours. I’ve cut off all my ties with SM. I’m yours, whether you want me just as a fuck, or as a friend, or as something more, I’m yours...”

Sana lets a soft smile appear on her lips before pressing her lips to yours once again. Her left arm wraps itself around your shoulders, and you are slightly aware of her raising her hips, her right hand finding its way between your bodies to grasp your wet, erect shaft, and line it up with her entrance.

You feel the head of your cock press against her wet, tight opening. Slowly, carefully, Sana lowers herself down onto your shaft, your cockhead parting her tight lips to impale her pussy.

Sana gasps loudly as she impales herself fully, and she opens her eyes slightly to match your gaze. You brush stray locks of hair away to reveal her face fully, and you bring her mouth back to yours to kiss her deeply.

As your tongues duel Sana begins to raise her hips, drawing your shaft out of her body before lowering it once more, and soon she has found a soft, slow rhythm as she rides you, grinding her warm, tight body against yours.

You release her from your kiss and lean backward slightly, keeping yourself upright with your hands, allowing yourself to watch as Sana takes you in and out of her body with soft grinding motions, riding you slowly, enjoying every entry and exit of your shaft.

You burn the image in your mind of her slim, young body, her small, alluring breasts, her flat stomach, the tight muscles of her thighs and hips as they work to grind her body on and off your shaft again and again and again. You watch as your shaft appears for a split second or so before driving back into her, each disappearance accompanied by a soft spike of pleasure.

As she always did, Sana has let a long string of gasps and moans stream from her mouth, beginning with your first entry into her body and not stopping, you knew, until you were done.

“Fuck,” she manages to say, “I’ve missed this. I’ve missed you so much. It’s so good.”

She rides you a little harder, a little faster, and you begin to feel her pussy tightening slightly against you, the first signs of an orgasm building inside her young body. You bring your right hand to her left hip, guiding her, pressing her down at the apex of her rhythm while you drive upward slightly with your own hips, crashing your bodies together just a little harder, a little faster against one another.

“Ohhh!” Sana exclaims, throwing her head back, sending sweat matted brown hair flying as your shaft creates a new splash of pleasure on the canvas of her senses. The moan is accompanied by a pulse of her walls around your shaft.

Sana doesn’t stop, the moans and gasps emitting from her mouth rising in volume steadily, contending only with the slap of wet skin against wet skin and the soft slurring sounds of her juices as your shaft swirls them around the inside of her body.

“I… I’m going to cum. I’m going to cum on your cock,” Sana gasps, “I… I’m cumming!”

Sana does just that, and her body erupts in pleasure, her small frame writhing and shivering as the orgasm overtakes her senses. Her lustful gasps turn into a long, passionate moan, her arms tightening around your torso as her pussy tightens in pulses around your shaft.

It takes her a minute or so to recover, but you are more than content to let her cling to your upper body as she recovers, her body occasionally shaking with pleasurable aftershocks as her orgasm winds itself out. You bury your nose in the crook of her neck, planting soft kisses on warm, sweaty skin. Eventually Sana finds the strength to bring her mouth to your ear.

“It’s your turn. Do whatever you want. I’m yours. Everything I am, all of me… I’m yours.”

You are struck by her words, not just by her consent for you to do as you wanted with her - but more so for the genuine gratitude you sensed behind them. She seemed truly contrite for what she had done to someone she cared deeply about, and wanted you to know it.

You know that this isn’t the time for rough sex, and as much as the thought of turning her around and taking her hard from behind appealed to you, this wasn’t the time for it; perhaps there would be an opportunity to do so in the near future. For now, this was a time for slow, passionate sex, and to that end you grasp her upper body to yours before rolling over on the bed so you are on top.

Sana spreads her legs instinctively, and as soon as she is on her back she raises her hands above her head, presenting you with the beautiful image of her body laid out in offering to you - her eyes are filled with lust and passion and genuine feelings for you, her perfectly sculpted body almost an afterthought to the affection you find in her eyes.

“Take me, please,” she says, her voice hardly above a whisper, “fill me with you.”

You have no other reaction than to kiss her again, your tongue invading her mouth even as your shaft does the same to her pussy, beginning to fuck her slowly, carefully, with the same amount of passion and consideration she had when she was riding you minutes earlier. You savor every thrust, every small pulse of her pussy, enjoy the feeling of her juices and wetness coating your shaft and balls and making every entry into her body so slick, so easy, so pleasurable.

You are almost ashamed to admit that your orgasm is fast approaching - something about the emotion in Sana’s eyes and warmth of her body only heightened the pleasure coursing throughout your body and mind. You quicken your thrusts slightly, and Sana wraps her legs around your thrusting hips as she senses what that means. You rip your mouth from hers and bury it in the pillow next to her face.

Her mouth is next to your ear now, and she does her best to encourage you, urging you on with soft gasps and moans with each thrust you take into her pussy. She is tight and wet around you, but most overwhelming of all is the heat of her body pressed and wrapped around yours, welcoming each thrust into your body.

“Cum for me, please… fill me. Fill me with your cum. I want it. Please… cum inside me.”

Almost immediately you begin to orgasm, as though her words are a trigger. The pleasure is almost overwhelming, contributed to by the passion between you, the desire in her words, and the need to provide Sana with some comfort, some security in knowing you were there for her. Your shaft pulses with each burst of semen erupting from it, filling Sana’s pussy with thick, hot cum, every splash of hot juice eliciting a sharp gasp from the young woman.

You breath heavily into the pillow, and Sana hugs you tightly with each of her limbs, breathing heavily and loudly into your own ear. Eventually she recovers enough to kiss your ear lightly.

“Arigato,” she whispers softly.

---

When you wake up in the morning you are immediately aware of the weight on your chest that has rendered the entire left side of your body numb. But your fear is quickly abated by the realization that the ball of brown hair that is the cause of the numbness is Minatozaki Sana’s head. Smiling softly to yourself and taking a moment to savor the feel of her warm body pressed against yours, you slowly ease yourself up and away from the young woman’s tangling limbs - you only partially succeed, and she appears to awaken slightly, but she mumbles something beneath her breath before seemingly falling back to sleep.

You brush hair away from her head to reveal her sleeping features; ostensibly to get her hair out of her face and allow her to breathe easier, but you knew inside that it was because you wanted a clearer look at her sleeping face. She was adorable sleeping, but she could also be sensual and sexy, and smart, and charming, and intelligent… despite the events of the past month, you were nonetheless stricken once more by the young woman.

You smile to yourself as you get up and head towards the kitchen to make some coffee.

On your bedside, there is a picture of you and Momo - a simple couple selfie taken during one of your dates. For the first time in many months, its existence was temporarily forgotten.

---

On the way to the kitchen, you pick up your suit blazer, still lying where it was when you threw it over the couch after you got home from the airport but before Sana arrived. You reach into the suit jacket pocket to find your passport, happy to find that it was still there. You take out the small booklet to find a small slip of paper falling out with it. For a second you think it might have been the business card Wendy had slipped into your pants back in Seoul, but then you remember having put that away in your briefcase before the flight home.

You think it might be a receipt or some other inconsequential scrap of paper - but as you pick it up you decide to open it. Odd, because you don’t remember putting anything aside from your passport into your suit jacket, and no one else would have had the opportunity to put anything in there, except for...

It is a handwritten note, consisting of short note and an email address.

I can help you.

[email protected]

---

#kpop fanfiction #kpop fanfic #kpop smut #Smut #pov smut #male reader #twice #twice sana #sana #minatozaki sana #red velvet #red velvet joy

134 notes · View notes

worryinglyinnocent · 4 years ago

Text

Fic: Friends Forged in Fire and Chardonnay

Summary: Belle and Gold have shared a strange little friendship ever since she first came to town. When the library is threatened with closure, Gold offers to help Belle fight back, and discovers that perhaps the feelings run a little deeper, after all.

Written for the @a-monthly-rumbelling October non-smut prompt: “Is there any reason as to why you’re getting drunk on a Tuesday afternoon?”

Rated: T

Friends Forged in Fire and Chardonnay

“Is there any reason as to why you’re getting drunk on a Tuesday afternoon?”

Although he tried to keep his tone light, Gold would admit to being slightly worried about Belle French. When he had come into the Rabbit Hole to collect the rent, it being the first day of the month and therefore rent day, he had certainly not expected to find her there, and he had certainly not expected to find her sitting at the bar with her chin pillowed on her arms, staring into the depths of a large, half-drunk glass of white wine.

From the empties on the bar beside her, it was clear that this was not the first such glass of wine that had received such a treatment this afternoon.

He slipped onto the bar stool next to her as she gave an emphatic groan, burying her face in her arms and attempting to ignore him. That was all right. He could wait. Belle would tell him her problems in her own time. He had plenty of time, after all. Despite it being the first of the month and therefore rent day, and despite the fact that Gold had come to the Rabbit Hole on the first day of the month to collect the rent ever since he had owned it, the management of the establishment always seemed taken aback by his appearance, and there was now, as there was always, a last ditch scramble to get the rent money together and present it to him.

As Belle continued to drown her sorrows, Gold reflected on his friendship with her. She was a comparative newcomer to the town, and as such she had not had time to become acquainted with his sometimes true, sometimes erroneous reputation before the two of them had met in person for the first time. It had been nice to get to know someone with a clean slate, as it were, and as the library, and Belle’s home above it, were among the few places in the town which did not have his name on the title deed, there was an ease to their strange little friendship that he did not have with most of the rest of Storybrooke’s residents. He was glad that they had continued to be friends despite everyone else of Belle’s acquaintance trying to warn her against him.

As such, he had developed something of a soft spot for her, one of very few true friends that he had, and certainly the only one that he saw on a regular basis. Naturally, when he found her in such a despondent mood, so different from her usual chirpy demeanour, he was concerned.

Eventually, Belle lifted her head up out of her arms and looked over at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, although it did not look like she had been crying, more that she had been incandescently angry and now all the fight had gone out of her.

“Since my entire world is falling down around my ears, I figured why not.” She took a large swallow of wine and then rummaged around in her purse, pulling out a dog-eared letter in an even more dog-eared envelope. “This came this morning.”

It was quite a feat for the paper to have become quite so crumpled in quite such a short space of time, but Gold knew that for all her usual happy-go-lucky demeanour, Belle had a fierce and fiery side when it mattered. He was surprised that the letter wasn’t in pieces. He took it and skimmed over the text.

It was a letter from the town hall informing Belle that the library would be closing at the end of the month and she would be required to leave the premises. It was an eviction notice in all but name, and there were no reasons given for this sudden swerve in the council’s direction concerning public services. Certainly, the library was not at all lucrative in a financial way, but it was one of the town’s most beloved and most frequented community hubs. It provided so much more than just books, and everyone, the council included, knew that. Closing the library would leave a huge hole in Storybrooke’s social life.

“Well, we can’t have this,” Gold said. Belle just looked at him, one eyebrow raised in incredulity.

“There’s not really a lot that we can do about it,” she pointed out. “The council’s decision is final, and they don’t normally go back on their word.”

Gold waved aside her concerns. “Politicians go back on their word all the time, and that’s all the council is, at a small and parochial level maybe, but still politicians at heart. Don’t lose heart, Belle. You can fight against this.”

She shook her head, going back to staring at her wine glass. “What can I do? I’m just one person and they’re a faceless phalanx of bureaucrats determined to suck the joy out of everything in the name of profits.” She paused. “You know, a lot of people in town would describe you that way.”

Gold laughed; he supposed that it was true in a way. “At least I’m not a faceless phalanx. There’s only one of me and everyone knows what I look like. Which is a shame - they can always see me coming and run away.”

That raised a smile from her, and Gold was glad to see it.

“Still,” he pressed on, determined to bring her out of her low mood. “You can still fight it. When it comes down to it, you’re more than just one person. Once the rest of the town finds out what’s happening, they’ll all rally to your aid. There’ll be protests outside the town hall in less than twenty-four hours. Placards and slogans and everything.”

Belle just raised an eyebrow, unconvinced and unimpressed.

“Right.”

“I mean it, and I didn’t mean to sound patronising. People will stand with you, Belle. Everyone loves the library; it would be a terrible thing if it closed down. But more than that, everyone loves you. You have so many friends in this town, so many people willing to back you up. Just ask anyone.”

Belle looked away, twisting the stem of her empty wine glass between her fingers with a sigh.

“Are you sure?” It pained him to see her so small and unsure of herself, when Belle had never been anything but outgoing and confident in all she did.

“I know it. And no matter what the rest of the town might do, you’ll always have me behind you.”

The corner of her mouth quirked up in the ghost of a smile, and she focussed her gaze back on him.

“Thank you. That means a lot, you know. And I know that whatever the rest of the town might think, you’re not determined to suck the joy out of everything in the name of profits.”

Gold scoffed. “Evidently I need to work on my reputation.”

Belle shook her head with a little laugh. “No, I don’t think so. I think that once everyone sees that you’re backing our attempt to save the library, your reputation will be completely and utterly ruined.”

At that point, the Rabbit Hole’s rent arrived, and Gold used the excuse of counting it to cover his abstraction. His thoughts were wholly preoccupied with his reputation, coming full circle to the notion that Belle had never really known his reputation before knowing him. It was something that he had come to wear as armour, always reasoning that he didn’t care what people thought of him, and that if they feared and despised him, then so much the better for increasing his power within the town. He had worn it for so long that he didn’t want to let go of it, but at the same time, perhaps it would be nice if people could see him in the same way that Belle saw him.

On the other hand, he didn’t really care how people saw him as long as Belle continued to see him in the light that she did. Her approval and friendship was inordinately important to him, and it had been for as long as they had known each other.

Ultimately, he knew that he would be willing to sacrifice the reputation that kept him aloof if it served to help Belle out of her current predicament. Who knew? Maybe it would bring even more people to their cause. The enemy of my enemy, and all that. If Gold was allying with Belle and fighting against something, then the something must be bad indeed.

“Thank you.”

Belle’s words brought him out of his cycle of thought, and he looked up at her, stowing the rent money in his inside pocket. She was smiling once more, a genuine smile with soft eyes, and for a moment it completely bowled him over.

“For what?”

“Thank you for having my back. The big, bad Mr Gold. You’re not as big and bad as you think, you know. And I like that. I like you.”

“Are you sure that’s not the wine talking?” Gold teased.

“Maybe. But what the wine says is true. I really like you.”

There was a long pause. Whilst Gold didn’t think that Belle was drunk enough not to be in control of her faculties, she was definitely tipsy enough for her inhibitions to have been lowered. He had to wonder if she’d regret her words once she sobered up, but for now, he chose to believe her. They were friends, after all; they had always been friends even without a few glasses of Chardonnay.

“I really like you too, and I’ll always have your back.”

Belle’s grin was positively luminous.

“Perfect. Give me a while to dry out, and then tomorrow morning, operation ‘save the library’ can commence.”

Gold laughed, offering Belle an arm as she slipped off her bar stool and they both made their way to the exit. He had no doubt that they would succeed in their mission, and if it brought them even closer together, well, then he would have to thank the council for enabling it.

And possibly thank the wine, too.

#A Monthly Rumbelling #rumbelle fic #rumbelle #Belle French #Mr Gold #Fic: Fire and Chardonnay

25 notes · View notes

life-rewritten · 4 years ago

Text

The Relationship of Tul and Tin- A Chance To Love episode 5 vs The Heirs (a comparison) Part 1/2

Warning!! Massive essay ahead about A chance to love. I know people hate to read long essays but try give this a go. Breaking down Tul and Tin’s heartbreaking dynamic is just so insane and I want people to see the layer of depth Mame writes her characters, Took me 4 hours to write and edit. So please if you can read it and let me know your opinon.

I find it fascinating that the works of two of my favourite authors' work have a lot of connections though they write for two different genres. One is Kim Eun Sook a Korean drama writer with the work known as Heirs (This wasn't her best work, but it's what I will be analysing today) and Two is Mame, a Thai writer with the work A Chance To Love (ACTL). At first, I thought the similarities don't add anything when analysing the show. Still, after episode 5 of ACTL, I ended up running back to the Heirs and realising the amount of analysis derived from putting the two together. We're going to focus on Tin and Tul, two brothers that are placed in the spotlight in episode 5 of ACTL and we're going to try and understand the characterisation of Tul. Is he really evil cold-hearted and cruel for no reason, or is there a part of humanity still with this character. Let's find out.

Let's first summarise the two shows; why they are similar in terms of character breakdown and arc?

THE HEIRS

In Heirs, we're introduced to Tan and Won two brothers who conflict with each other. The first episode starts with Tan tricked into being exiled abroad by his older brother, he realises the reason as he stays abroad, his brother sees him as a competition for the 'throne,' i.e. their father's heritage to the company. Won sees Tan as a dangerous rival, now that he's managed to secure being the president of the company. Story short Tan and Won are half brothers, Won's mum is no longer living in the household. Tan's mum has moved in as the mistress; the father is waiting for Tan to grow and also be involved with the company, Won who loves the company and wants to keep running it does not wish Tan to steal it from him. So even when Tan returns to Korea later and tries to convince his brother, he does not care about the company affairs, Won refuses to speak to him, moves out and keeps Tan at a distance.

Meanwhile, Tan falls in love with his servant's daughter, and Won realises he has to sacrifice his own relationship with also a girl from different status to him for an arranged marriage with one of his father's partners if he wants to keep the company afloat. As the story goes on though Won starts to bond with Tan again and later takes place as his father figure, protecting his brother's new relationship, taking over the company but at the cost of his own true love. He ends up choosing to get engaged to protect both the company and prevent Tan from having to lose his own lover. His ending is bittersweet, but we're happy he and Tan are together again, a team and dedicated brothers.

ACTL (1-5)

A chance to love follows Tin who is in university and has just started to fall for someone not of his status Can. His brother Tul is also a workaholic, with an unknown wife and a five-year-old child and we can tell he also had an exciting relationship with one of his servants who's no longer with him. Tul has a mask on, he smiles and acts on the surface but when he's with Tin although he pretends, he leaves snide marks and triggers Tin who now detests his brother. Tin used to look up to Tul when they were young (again he took his pseudo father figure position) but Tin later realises Tul was out to get rid of him and also send him abroad with a ruined reputation. Because of this Tin is now cold-hearted and does not trust people anymore, and is determined to tear off his brother's mask. Meanwhile, Tul laments about his choices that made him this way, and we see that he also is suffering in the environment he was forced to be in.

See the similarities? Two brothers with two similar type of lovers, who are forced to hate each other because of the environment somebody nurtured them in. I want to go deeper into each of the dynamics and why it's easy to connect it to Tul's arc and answer the question posed in this post,

THE PERCIEVED FIGHT FOR THE ‘THRONE’

The similarities between Tul and Won is the need to succeed to prove they are essential to their family. The family dynamics between the two is simple; they've been tossed aside by the family because of a new arrival by Tin and Tan. For Won he loves to work for the company of his father, his goal is to own it one day, he enjoys the work he does for the family. For Tul, whilst it's not yet clear, he seems to hate the path he's on, he resents himself and feels alone but believes he deserves it. For both to take over and reach their goals, a sacrifice was made. Won gets married to a woman who he doesn't want to be with, and Tul also ends up in a relationship he was forced into to provide an heir, also sacrificed himself and happiness in the process.

Both believe that their brothers are in their way, will betray them someday if they're not careful, their younger sibling needs to grow up and actually realise the reality of their oppressive environment. Unfortunately, Tul is more vengeful for this, he's put Tin as a proxy for anger at all that he's had to lose, and he ends up betraying Tin more than the way Won betrays Tan. Another difference is how Won is deadly honest to Tan; he tells him never to return and stay abroad messing around, he warns Tan that he sees him as a rival. Tul pretends to have a mask with Tin, and makes snide comments alluding to their past but doesn't even bother to tell Tin the truth; he continues to hide behind an act which he believes is needed, as Tin needs more evidence that his brother is actually as evil as he found out and show this to the world. Tul has decided to keep that mask and never to let it fall to stay and control family assets and manipulate situations. Won did not have that much anger or energy towards Tan.

THE MOTHER AND STEP MOTHER

Another important thing about these two's differences and similarities is the abandonment of both's mum by the family. Won's mum and himself are not the father's priority (she’s dead), and Tan and his mum (who is the mistress) replace their place. Tan's mum wants Tan to try and fight for his assets and not let anyone steal his home, and she goes through the consequences of being seen as a mistress in the show.

Meanwhile, Tul's foreign mum was hated by his grandmother (They'll reveal this later) and she abused both Tul and his mum before convincing the father to marry a Thai woman (Tin's mum) and give birth to another son. Tin's mum, on the other hand, is selfish and vain and only uses what benefits her, she's actually not as caring as Tan's mum hence why Tin becomes more pressured to be better than his brother. The latter is faking being the family's number one son (in terms of talent, work and reputation). It's revealed, and I will get into this even more later that Tul damaged Tin's standing in the family and Tin's mum didn't care as long as she was still looked favourably by Tul ( more likely to take over the 'throne')

Again ACTL has a harsher dynamic with Tul, his own mum isn't available to help him with his trauma, and he ends up being in a very abusive environment once she is kicked out and abandoned. Tin, on the other hand, has no love from his mum, or father and also becomes colder than Tan because of his own trauma from his brother and environment. Tan's mum is actually naïve, gentle and just wants love from the father, her son is her number one treasure. She spoils him despite the stifling environment he's in because of his brother and stepmother and father who fuels that.

The Love Interest

Both brothers also have a similar arc with their love interests, one is darker, but let's focus overall on the meaning. Won is in love with Hyun Ju a tutor for the rich kids similar to the kind of girl Tan falls in love with, she is not of the same status as him, and he and her fight to stay together at first, break up and makeup. Once it seems like everything is right, his father falls into a coma and to save the business, he sacrifices their relationship for the company and his family. Tan, on the other hand, goes through the show always choosing Eun over his money, or society opinions, and chases after her. He gets her to fall for him despite her desperation not to and with the help of his brother later he manages to be with her at the end after having to fight against society, his father, arranged fiancee etc. Eun is his servant's daughter, and they met when they didn't know what the other was, she hates being bought or feeling like she owes a debt, so she tries to avoid Tan as much as possible each time a confession is made. Tul's story has not yet been revealed; however, we can tell he also was in a secret 'taboo' relationship with his servant. Actually, he and Hin have known each other since they were kids, Hin saw the abuse and pain Tul went through and chose to become Tul's 'light/help', they both were traumatised when little by the grandma

. However, we see Tul feel resentful for whatever choice he made (marrying someone or getting someone pregnant) because he also agrees Hin left him because of these decisions, Hin like Hyun Jo is still in love with Tul and can't forget him. Hyun Jo was a victim at the end of Heirs, but from what can be derived from dialogue, Tul and his wife aren't close anymore, might be divorced once he got his heir, but Hin is no longer with him by his side. The love interest for both Won and Tul actually mirrors the relationship both their brothers later have with people who are similar to their lovers. The difference is Tin, and Tan's relationships are more happier, lighter and linked to idealistic love stories whilst Tul and Won's focus on the reality and truth of the sacrifices they had to make. Tul is going to have more reasons to be jealous of Tin when he discovers he's found himself someone like Hin in his life who is just as loyal and bright. This means because of this jealousy he could be the villain and try ruin TinCan or he could only try to prevent Tin from entering a situation where he'll be unhappy (if he's not actually evil). Either way, Tul will try and stand in the way of TinCan.

Storyline

Both Tul and Won sacrifice their happiness and actual self for the partaking of their family customs, both to protect the reputation their family has, and to accept the role that they have to be as the oldest son. Won at first is scared of Tan and tries to push him away. Just like Tin, Tan keeps going to Won to try and uncover his mask (however he doesn't resent his brother, he's trying to get his brother to accept him as his brother and be his pseudo father figure).

Tul uses Tin as a proxy for the abuse he suffered, and wants to get revenge on both Tin and Tin's mum for causing his circumstances, Tul's mindset is warped, he's been emotionally, physically and mentally abused and so vengeance and anger is what he clings onto to keep him going, (this even shows up in his consensual sadomasochism relationship with Hin which I'm not sure is going to be similar in the show).

Either way, Tul only chooses to be number one, and take back 'the throne' by ensuring Tin's reputation is ruined, and he's not seen as a threat. He also later gives in when he's forced to marry and get someone pregnant for the sake of his reputation and also ends up hurting Hin. Tul's story is like a continuation of what happened to Won at the end of Heirs (Won however as I said before has more humanity and less trauma so even though he's heartbroken he's mended the relationship with his family, and friends and so is still happy), Tul's chosen to sacrifice and now has the child, but he believes he doesn't have the right ever to be happy and doesn't have the emotional, psychological capacity to believe in trust, love or hope. He's broken and damaged, and the only person who knows his most authentic self is Hin. Tul might not be like Won in terms of not actually wanting to hurt or ruin Tan, he's determined to ensure Tin doesn't get in his way but shows some conflicting emotions each time Tin comes to him to stand up to him.

So is Tul as evil as we think he is or is he just someone who's layers need to be uncovered to sympathise and understand? I’ll continue this in part 2. Here

#a chance to love #tincan #love by chance #meanplan #the heirs #analysis #cwg #fvete #thai bl #october

21 notes · View notes

sparrow-flies-south · 4 years ago

Text

I Can’t Decide (Whether You Should Live Or Die) 3

Title: I Can’t Decide (Whether You Should Live Or Die) Pairings: Romantic Thomceit Warnings: More murder attempts, stabbing, references to child abduction and abuse, references to torture, and a character who, while not actually suicidal, is prepared to sacrifice his life. Summary: Deceit is one of the best assassins in the business. So assassinating Thomas Sanders should not be difficult - except Thomas seems to have the amazing ability to happen to escape from death. And the longer it takes Deceit to kill Thomas, the less sure he is that he even wants to.

My Masterpost Read on AO3 Part one Part two Fic tag

The agency has safe houses dotted across the country, but it’s only the new members who rely on them. Over time, assassins fain their own network of safe houses and bolt holes; some that belong to them, others that another agent will let them use.

Deceit can’t use any of the agency’s safe houses. He can’t use any belonging to his allies, either, though there were only ever a handful of them. He inherited some of his own safe houses from the Dragon, which leaves only a few that he can go to. Fortunately, one of these is in Florida.

The owner of the building the flat is in gets paid handsomely to not ask too many questions. The other residents believe Deceit is a rich man who spends most of his time travelling the world. There are a number of ways out of the building for if it does get discovered, and it’s located close to the main road out of town.

It’s long past midnight when Deceit arrives, meaning he has officially failed his mission. Officially abandoned his mission, which is worse. If he’d just failed, his reputation would be ruined, and he’d have to fight to repair it, but he’d still be welcomed back.

There’s only one case that he knows of where someone abandoned their mission, when it had turned out the target could pay better than the agency did. Deceit had tracked the agent down in Budapest.

“What the fuck would you know about anything?” she’d snarled at him, back pressed against the wall and bleeding from her side. “You’re brainwashed by the agency!”

He hadn’t taken offence to her insults. Everyone knows that it wasn’t exactly his choice to become what he is today. People wondered why the Dragon had shown up after a mission with a freshly orphaned child, why she’d sunk her time and resources into training him, but everyone agreed that it had worked.

It hadn’t been a violent process, the remaking of him, but a gentle one. A band wrapped around his old self, so that as he grew, that part of him died and rotted away. Before long, the only name he’d gone by had been the one the Dragon had given him.

He’d buried the traitor by the side of the road; one last sign of respect that she didn’t deserve. The greatest honour any assassin could have is to go unremembered.

Janus should be dead and gone like she is, but Deceit dug him up when he’d told Thomas his name, and now he’s Deceits own spectre.

He doesn’t even know why he told Thomas that. A name makes no difference when he won’t see Thomas again.

And he won’t see Thomas again. Going back is too risky, it’s the first place the agency will look for him. And Deceit doesn’t know what he’s doing, doesn’t even know what he is anymore, but he knows he doesn’t want the agency to find him, not yet.

A day passes, two, and Deceit stays in the safe house as much as possible. He destroyed his phone after fleeing Thomas’ house, so he buys a new one when he has to stock up on supplies. He could call Thomas – he has Thomas’ number memorised. Then he can tell Thomas that he isn’t going to kill him, and Thomas will know he doesn’t have to even think about Deceit anymore.

He doesn’t call.

And then, on the third day, someone calls him.

Deceit answers it solely out of curiosity. It isn’t hard to recognise the high pitched, nasally voice on the other end.

“Sup, Deedee,” the Duke says. “Heard you fucked up.”

Out of everyone in the agency, Remus is the closest thing Deceit has ever had to a partner. They’re both the best at their job, though they have very different methods, and Deceit is one of the few people who tolerates the Duke’s antics. So when two people are needed for a mission, they end up paired together. And when a job is outside one’s realm of expertise, the other gets called it.

Deceit has been asked to clean up after Remus many times.

“How did you find this number?” Deceit asks.

The Duke laughs. “Figure it out! Unless you’re getting too rusty. Heard you’ve been having trouble getting it up – and by ‘getting it up’ I mean killing people. So now I get to come out to play instead!”

“You’ve been given the Thomas job,” he realises. It’s not much of a surprise; the agency doesn’t leave their targets alive just because one of their members fails.

“Ooh, first name basis. What’d he do, suck your dick? Or did he turn out to have secret ninja training or something?”

“Remus-”

“Sorry, Dee, can’t talk, got a plane to catch. See you when I’m done with him!”

The Duke hangs up before Deceit can say anything. Deceit stares down at the phone. He’d known something like this would happen, he just hadn’t thought about it. He hadn’t wanted to think about it, though that’s hardly an excuse for getting sloppy.

The Duke is going to kill Thomas. That’s without question. He might kill Virgil, too, but that hardly matters, since Deceit isn’t the one doing it. And Thomas knows he’s going to die, has been given time to make peace with it. Deceit has granted him that kindness.

Remus is among the best. Even if Thomas and Virgil get lucky again, they won’t be able to stop him for good. Only an assassin would be able to do that.

Deceit groans and buries his face in his hands. It’s one thing to fail, it’s even one thing to desert. But it’s a completely different thing to turn traitor, and that’s what he’ll be if he tries to intervene. And then he’ll be killed horribly, and Thomas will die as well, and none of it will have mattered.

Is Thomas worth such a pointless, suicidal mission?

Deceit curses, then storms out of his apartment.

He finally finds Thomas and Virgil and the mall, between Hot Topic and Pandora. Virgil is on his phone, and Thomas is talking to him. Thomas looks up, spots Deceit coming towards them, and smiles, face relaxing with relief as he raises a hand to wave.

Before Deceit can get there, Virgil is in front of him, putting himself between Deceit and Thomas.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Virgil snarls. His hands are clenched into fists, but Deceit can still see that he’s shaking.

Clearly, Virgil must have the sense that Thomas is lacking; he’s hostile and suspicious, and Deceit won’t be able to change that any time soon. It would be good to see, if it wasn’t getting in Deceit’s way right now.

“We need to get out of here,” Deceit says to Thomas.

“Yeah, no,” Virgil snaps. “I’m not letting you take Thomas somewhere to murder him.”

“As opposed to murdering him right here?” Deceit asks. “Or when he gets home? You know, for people with assassins after you, you’re not taking many precautions.”

“Deceit, buddy, you’re not really helping your case,” Thomas sighs. Some sense of urgency must show on Deceit’s face, though, because Thomas goes serious and asks, “What’s wrong?”

“You’re in danger,” Deceit says. “Quite possibly very immediate danger.”

“Pretty sure the danger is standing right in front of us,” Virgil mutters.

“The danger is that you’re standing here talking when you should be moving,” Deceit hisses. “Or did you actually think ignoring the problem would make it go away?”

“Okay.” Thomas pushes between them. “Deceit, I am very confused. Could you please just explains what’s going on? And where have you been?”

Deceit forces him to take a slow breath in and out. Is helping people always like this? It’s exhausting.

“I’m not the only assassin out there,” Deceit explains. “The Duke is looking for you, and believe me, you do not want him to find you. So we need to leave now.”

Thomas goes pale. Virgil tenses up.

“No fucking way,” Virgil says, at the same time as Thomas says, “Okay, let’s go.”

Virgil stares at Thomas incredulously. Deceit feels the same way, but he’s not about to question it now that things are finally doing his way. Virgil has no such qualms.

“What the fuck?” he snaps. “You’re seriously trusting him right now? His name is Deceit.”

Thomas shrugs sheepishly. “He hasn’t killed me yet.”

“That cannot be where the bar is.”

“If you’re quite done,” Deceit says, and Virgil turns all the venom in his gaze back to him. “We really should be going.”

Thomas nods, takes a step forward. “Virgil, I know you don’t trust him, but trust me. I’ll be fine, okay?”

Virgil shakes his head. “Fine,” he snaps, “But I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Thomas says immediately, and the intensity startles both Deciet and Virgil. “I’ve already put you in danger, I’m not putting you in any more.”

Deceit scans the mall. They really do not have time for this.

“Please,” Virgil says. “You’d be dead five times over by now if it wasn’t for me, Sanders. Someone has to watch your back.”

“Wonderful, we’re all going,” Deceit says. “Can we just get a move on?”

Thomas and Virgil seem to have a conversation with just their eyes, and then Thomas nods. “Okay,” he says. “You, uh, you do have somewhere to go, right?”

Deceit rolls his eyes, already leading the way out of the mall. He hears Thomas and Virgil hurry to keep up with him. “No, I barged in here without a plan,” he answers. “Honestly, Thomas, what do you take me for?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Thomas roll his eyes fondly, even as Virgil grumbles.

They don’t go far. Deceit takes them to an empty shop close to the mall, and ushers them upstairs, into what used to be an office room. Virgil hovers close to Thomas the whole time. Deceit leaves them there, and goes downstairs to check the perimeter.

There are a lot of places the Duke could enter – the main door, a back door, the large windows at the front of the shop which are boarded up but not boarded up well, and the windows upstairs. It’ll have to do for now, though, as Deceit doesn’t want to risk taking Thomas and Virgil across town until he knows where Remus is.

So he gets to work making it as safe as he can; he blocks off the front door first, as that’s the most obvious point of entry, and then switches to the back. There’s not a lot he can actually use – he was able to move some furniture still left in the front to block off that door, and he finds some wood and nails, presumably from boarding up the windows.

He’s only just set to work when someone moves behind him. He spins, already pulling out a knife and preparing to throw it when he realises who it is; Thomas, hands raised and a sheepish smile on his face.

“Sorry,” Thomas says. “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

“Be glad I’m too well trained to have thrown that,” Deceit answers, and Thomas’ lips quirk up even more into a smile, as if Deceit isn’t talking about killing him.

“If I’m not back upstairs in ten minutes, Virgil’s going to come down,” Thomas says, grimacing. “He made me say that.”

“Okay.” Virgil’s suspicions is equal parts refreshing and grating, though he’s not sure what Virgil thinks it can possibly accomplish.

“What happened?” Thomas blurts, and it’s clear he’s wanted to say this for a while. “You show up at my house having a panic attack, and then you just disappear. Where have you been?”

“A safe house,” Deceit answers.

“Yeah, that narrows it down,” Thomas says. “Janus-”

Deceit goes perfectly still when Thomas says that name, and Thomas trails off, looking uncertain.

“I just- are you okay?” Thomas finishes.

“Clearly,” Deceit says. He’s here, isn’t he?

“That’s not what I mean,” Thomas says. He places a hand on Deceit’s arm, and Deceit’s brain short circuits. “Look, if you- want to talk or something, I’m here, okay?”

Deceit stares at Thomas’ hand. His touch is gentle yet solid. “You won’t like what I have to talk about.”

Thomas shrugs. “I can deal with it.”

“I’m fine.”

Thomas doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t push it. Instead, he asks, “Who’s the Duke?”

“An assassin who works for the same people as me,” Deceit explains. “Since they aren’t happy with my progress, he’s been given the job.”

“And now he’s trying to kill me,” Thomas finishes, and Deceit nods.

Deceit gives Thomas a moment to process this before continuing, “The Duke is one of the best. Dealing with him will be difficult.”

“You said you work together. Is he your friend?”

An absurd thought. “I don’t have friends.”

“Except for me,” Thomas says.

That= Deceit doesn’t know what to say to that. It’s ridiculous – he and Thomas can’t be friends, even if Thomas is still touching him. He’s tried to kill Thomas multiple times, and Thomas kidnapped him (technically), and now Thomas is worried about Deceit’s mental state, and Deceit is risking his life to protect Thomas.

Deceit is about to explain all of this, when upstairs Virgil cries out, “Thomas!”

The panic in Virgil’s voice is clear, and the shout Is cut off at the end. Thomas takes off running first, but Deceit quickly overtakes him, so he is the first one to enter the room.

Virgil is still alive. The Duke stands behind him, one arm wrapped around Virgil’s neck, keeping him still. The other hand holds that ridiculous morning star that he likes so much. Somehow, Virgil manages to look both scared and pissed off all at once.

“Hi, Deede,” Remus says cheerfully. “Didn’t expect you to be such a sore loser. I got this job fair and square, you know.”

Deceit can tell the minute Thomas catches up, because Virgil’s eyes fly to someone in the doorway, and Thomas himself lets out a strangled noise. Deceit takes a smooth step back, so he’s standing next to Thomas.

“Funny,” Deceit says. “I didn’t expect you to get the wrong person.” He wraps his fingers around Thomas’ arm, and pulls him towards himself. Thomas stumbles as he moves, clearly not expecting Deceit to betray him.

Deceit pulls Thomas in front of him, and wraps one arm around Thomas’ chest. With their bodies pressed so close together, Deceit can feel Thomas’ breath speed up. Across the room, Virgil snarls and struggles, only to go still when Remus tightens his grip. Remus tilts his head, looking rather like a dog that just wandered in from the street.

“Why haven’t you killed him yet?” Remus asks, and Thomas’ breath stutters.

Deceit shrugs, watching for any sign of movement. “I’m having fun.”

“You fucking bastard,” Virgil snarls, kicking at Remus. Remus just holds onto him and whoops with laughter.

“Careful,” Remus says. “There’ll be time for you, too.”

Remus might very well kill Virgil here and now – the only reason he hasn’t is probably so he doesn’t get distracted.

“Why wait?” Deceit asks. “Consider him the consolation prize.”

Remus’ grin turns feral, which means he recognises the challenge. That ends up being the only warning Deceit gets before Remus in launching himself across the room, Virgil thrown to the side like a discarded doll.

Deceit flings himself and Thomas to the floor, dodging the swing of Remus’ mace. He leaves Thomas there and moves to meet Remus. He’s fast enough to grab Remus’ arm and twist it, forcing Remus to drop the mace.

Remus grabs Deceit’s wrist where he’s still holding Remus’ hand, and tries to flip him to the ground. Deceit is able to break free of the hold, and he aims a kick at Remus’ legs. It makes Remus stumble, and Deceit uses that to knock Remus to the ground, and pin him in place.

He can’t see Thomas or Virgil. He hopes this means that they’re smart enough to get the hell out of here while they still have a chance-

The knife slides into Deceit’s abdomen, and the surprise is enough for Remus to be able to throw him off. Deceit gasps in pain, tries to pull himself upright, but Remus is already there, pushing him back down again.

“Eh, don’t feel too bad,” Remus says, patting Deceit on the cheek. “Better luck next time, right?”

“Remus, don’t,” Deceit begs, but Remus ignores him and picks up the morning star.

“C’mon, I won unfair and square,” Remus says.

Deceit is able to push himself to his feet, though he knows fighting Remus won’t do much good. Thomas and Virgil are standing in the doorway, which means he hasn’t even managed to give them a head start.

He lunges forward, grabs Remus by the arm, desperately trying to stop him, but Remus shakes Deceit off with a snarl. Deceit is already off-balance from the wound, and now Remus throws him to the ground. The air is forced out of his lungs, and he can only stare up at Remus, standing over him.

“Please,” Deceit is able to gasp out.

Remus tilts his head. “It’s only a job,” he says, a bit reproachful.

Deceit shakes his head. He wants to tell Remus it’s not, but he can’t, and someone is running across the room towards them.

“Stop,” Thomas cries, and Remus swivels to look at him. “Look, let him and Virgil go, and- and you can kill me. I won’t try to fight you.”

Remus glances between Thomas and Deceit, and then shrugs. “Kind of a weird thing to say, but I’ll take it.”

“No,” Deceit snarls. He tries to push himself upright, but is unable to.

“Deceit, don’t,” Thomas says. “It’s okay. You did everything you could.”

“Hang on,” Remus says, lowering his mace. “He knows you name?”

“Well,” Thomas says shakily, “It’d be kind of weird if I kept calling him Mr Assassin.”

“Okay,” Remus says. “Can one of you tell me what in the ever loving fuck is going on?”

Deceit opens his mouth to explain, but before he can Virgil is at his side, one hand gingerly touching near the wound on Deceit’s abdomen.

“What the fuck, you just got stabbed,” Virgil hisses, which Deceit thinks should be fairly obvious by this point.

Virgil shrugs out of his hoodie and presses it against the wound, stemming the bleeding. Thomas crouches down on Deceit’s other side.

“Is he going to be okay?” Thomas asks.

“How the fuck should I know?” Virgil snaps. “I’m not a doctor.”

“I’ll be fine,” Deceit says. “I just need to close it.”

“What if it hit something important?” Virgil asks.

“Oh, please,” Remus says. “I’m not an amateur.”

Virgil and Thomas both startle at the reminder that Remus is here. Deceit sighs.

“If you find me something to stitch this with, I’ll tell you everything,” he says to Remus.

Remus hurries out of the room, and Deceit stumbles to his feet.

“What are you doing?” Thomas asks.

Deceit staggers to a chair, pushed against the side of the wall, and sits down in it. Virgil hurries over to press the hoodie against the wound again.

“It’ll be easier to stitch it like this,” Deceit says.

“Stitch it, right.” Thomas sounds faint. “Because that’s what we’re doing.”

“It’s what I’m doing,” Deceit corrects, waving Virgil away. “I don’t trust you with a needle.”

Virgil is reluctant to let go of the hoodie, until Deceit begins to peel his shirt off. He drops his shirt to the floor, next to Virgil’s blood soaked hoodie – he’ll have to help Virgil get the stains out of it later. When he looks up again, Thomas and Virgil are staring at him in horror.

“What happened to you?” Thomas asks.

Deceit glances down at his chest, and then shrugs. Most of the wounds he’s received are from accidents, or training, or times when the target decided to fight back. Those are the smaller scars, though, and Deceit has a feeling Thomas and Virgil are looking at the big ones. The ones that only happen when someone knows what they’re doing and wants to make it hurt.

“Business,” Deceit says.

“That’s a shit explanation,” Virgil points out.

“DeeDee got caught a few years back,” Remus says from the doorway, where he is now standing. He’s found a needle and thread somewhere – most likely something he brought with him.

“And they did that to you?” Thomas asks, choked.

Deceit glances at Remus, who shrugs, looking as confused as Deceit feels. “It was a long time ago.”

That doesn’t seem to make Thomas or Virgil feel any better, so Deceit takes the needle and thread from Remus and busies himself with stitching his wound. Thomas makes a strange, choked noise, but Deceit chooses to ignore it.

Remus is able to keep quiet until Deceit is almost done, when he blurts out, “Okay, seriously, what the fuck? You guys know he wants to kill you, right?”

It’s a fair point. Deceit looks up at Thomas and Virgil to see what they have to say to it.

“We got that after the first couple of assassination attempts,” Virgil mutters.

“But he hasn’t,” Thomas says. “And I don’t think he really wants to.”

“I don’t,” Deceit agrees. He finishes the last couple of stitches and ties it off.

“What, did you suck his dick or something? Cause if so, you must have been really good.”

Thomas turns bright red at that. Deceit avoids making eye contact with him.

“It’s not like that,” Deceit says quickly. “It’s-” Deceit hesitates, uncertain what it is like. “He’s my friend,” he finishes, though that doesn’t quite fit.

Remus pulls a face. “Gross.”

“This doesn’t change anything, does it?” Thomas asks. “I mean, even if you decide not to kill me, they’re just going to keep sending more people, right?”

“Then we go into hiding or something,” Virgil says, glancing at Deceit desperately.

“It would be difficult,” Deceit says slowly, “But not impossible.”

“And what happens to you two?” Thomas snaps, gesturing at Remus. Deceit doesn’t answer. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Maybe we should just- get on with it.”

“Absolutely not,” Deceit snarls.

“You just got stabbed. He could have killed you! He could have killed Virgil! I’m not- I can’t just let you guys get hurt for me.”

“Too bad,” Virgil hisses. “Because we’re not leaving.”

“Um,” Remus says, “Do I get to make a suggestion?”

“No,” everyone snaps.

“Alright, fine. I mean, I was gonna suggest we stop the contract, but sure, don’t listen to me.”

Wait.

“Stop the contract?” Virgil echoes. “As in- make it so there isn’t a price on Thomas’ head anymore?”

“The Agency doesn’t just stop contracts,” Deceit points out.

“Unless the client cancels it,” Remus corrects. “Honestly, Dee, were you even paying attention to how things work?”

“Hey, that- that actually sounds like an idea,” Thomas says.

“Barely,” Deceit says. “You’re suggesting that we find the client – something which is kept secret – and then somehow persuade them into not having Thomas killed, all without the agency finding out what we’re doing and killing us.”

“Okay, well, when you put it like that,” Remus mutters.

“Do we have any better ideas, though?” Thomas asks. “Because, no offence, but the idea of spending the rest of my life on the run isn’t very appealing.”

And the thing is, Deceit doesn’t have any better ideas. In fact, he’s pretty sure he could figure out who the client is, though the Dragon would almost certainly find out about it.

“Actually, Remus might be on to something,” Deceit says.

“You just listed all the reasons why it’s a terrible idea,” Virgil complained.

“Well, yes,” Deceit says. “There’s no way of getting to the client without the Dragon finding out. But we’re not going after the client.”

“Then who are we going after?” Thomas asks.

Deceit smiles. There’s a rush of energy through his body, the same as he gets before a particularly difficult mission. “We’re going after the Dragon.”

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #tss fanfic #character thomas #janus sanders #tss janus #thomceit #my fic

5 notes · View notes