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ebtks-reviews · 6 months ago

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The Descent (2005)

(yay my first horror movie review! Expect alot of these lol)

Spoiler sink! Spoilers ahead for The Descent and (technically) The Descent 2.

So this was definitely not my first horror movie or media that I've interacted with that took place primarily in caves and primarily with both hallucinatory and crave creature elements. (Looking at you until dawn and house of ashes) But, for what it was, I quite enjoyed this movie.

Let start off with our plot, the idea isn't too bad on its own: cave creatures in Appalachia that live off animals and climbers. Seen this before. I appreciate the movie for giving our protagonist Sarah plenty of motivation and baggage pretty much off the jump and, although I had the twist and many of the big awesome jumpscares ruined for me, it was very fun to watch my partner react fresh. The first two kills were awesome, definitely not the same in strength as something like the infamous first scene of zombieland saga, but definitely along those veins. Very sudden and realistic car crash kills are always loved in my book. Having the guts to kill a kid (in a non-snuffy way) in the first 20 mins of the movie was taking a chance but definitely not one I think they failed.

The following scene with Sarah finding out first with a dream/hallucination fake out then the real thing felt a little out of place but I think worked by using the suffocating and monotonous halls of the hospital and the lights going out with Sara barely escaping a good foreshadowing of her future cave endeavors. I just wish Shauna Carter (Sarah's actress) would have put a little more energy into Sarah's break down upon realizing the loss of her family. The cries didn't feel like a world-shattering moment of the violent and sudden deaths of the two closest people to her as much as losing a distant family member you knew and loved but hadn't seen in a long time. Ive heard cries of anguish in many a media and this one... Idk just didn't feel spicy enough. It didn't jerk tears out of my cold dead heart like many cries have. It wasn't comically bad but it certainly barely reached "good enough?" Territory.

We jump ahead a year later and she's on a trip with her friends, mostly friends of Juno but she does know some of them. Here's where we kinda arrive at my first criticism of the descent: every girl other than Holly, Juno and Sarah are one or two personality traits and quiet while also having barely distinguishable appearances. Part of this could be that this movie is actually quite dark and although I won't say the darkness of it is too much and ruins the movie, it's very hard to tell which vague white girl in a headlamp I'm looking at. Very few times could I definitely tell who I was looking at and neither could my partner. This resulted in me nicknaming the girls outside of holly, Juno and Sarah and even then, I had to look up their actual scripted names while writing this cause I couldn't really remember them. I remembered them as Sunday school teacher ( Beth)(because she looked like my Sunday school teacher), Older sister ( Rebecca) and Doctor/Younger sister( Sam). I also distinctly remember Juno calling out for a girl named Grace after the big main attack from the crawlers but couldn't find any mention of a girl named Grace. I am going crazy like they did apparently??

Because these characters are vaguely personalized and the way they look in the caves is so indistinguishable and dark, this results in me, half the time, not knowing who I'm looking at. I kind of wish they would of taken the effect bodies bodies bodies did by having each character be more than a one dimensional personality lit by things other than all just wearing headlamps and having that light source be a mild representation of their individual personalities. Anything really to make the girls more identifiable would of been awesome. This dose detract from the movie for me abit. Do I care about all the girls? Yes but Rebecca and Sarah look the same to me and I thought Beth was a brunette for most of the movie( maybe this is who I thought the mythical grace was??). They all look the same in a dark cave outside of our alt queen holly, cheater Juno and the bright blue jacket of our protagonist.

While learning about this movie, I learned they built multiple cave pieces and simply rearranged them to give the appearance of a new cave system. This was genius and very few times in the movie, if any, did I specifically notice a reused set piece. Maybe it's a personal issue but I didn't like that the movie never took the opportunity to give us any idea about the space the girls were in. Maybe it was to add to the special confusion or due to the lack of a map but I would of loved some more sweeping cave shots or anything to establish just a few more wider areas they were in. The audience didn't know where any areas were in relation to other areas so the whole thing felt like a blind person in a maze. Interesting but ultimately makes the audience give up on understanding the space the characters are in which can lead to it, like me, no longer caring if our characters are picking the right or wrong direction.

Part of the issue is based in the fact that although I wanted all the girls to survive, because Rebecca, Beth and Sam are all basically nothing characters with no establishment of personality or emotional investment, you don't feel sad when they die. They, like many many slasher victims before them, feel like meat bags there to increase party size and increase body counts and Rebecca's and Sam's deaths(especially Rebecca's) just feel kills to add the run time and tie up a loose end. Holly's death is brutal and befits the awesome character she was, Beth's was an incident of accident then purposement to show that Juno's ego and fear of looking lesser can end fatally and Sam's was just awesome and one I've never seen before. The brutality of her death in trying to kill something she knows just killed her just to save her friends. The image of a climber just hanging by their ropes with a slit throat in the middle of a cavern is an awesome image. Rebecca just got yanked back and eviscerated mostly off screen. Pretty boring tbh.

Now we get to address the titular moment of Juno accidentally stabbing Beth. I loved this moment. Juno's frozen response, Beth's cries for Juno not to leave her, Juno ultimately choosing to save her own life by running away and lieing about it. However, ultimately, I didn't really... Hit for me. This is supposed to show a "darkening of Juno's soul" and supposed to take the fact she was cheating with Paul, Sarah's husband, and really hammer home that Juno is a shitty person. However, it's as if the story completely forgot that Beth's stabbing was an accident. She didn't intentionally stab Beth, she thought Beth was a crawler. Should she of lied about stabbing her? No but in that situation, where people are so freaked out and scared they could make stupid split second decisions? I would lie about involuntary manslaughter too. It seems the story agrees with me but is more angry with Juno for leaving Beth to die alone. However, again, the story forgets itself and ignores the fact that Juno literally hears crawlers around them, is watching her friend presumably bleed out (and beth should have died there realistically. There's no way Beth would of had enough life to later speak, with an entire hole in her neck, to sarah) and just fought a crawler in very intense hand to hand combat. Would I wanna be there for a friend? Yep. But I'm not gonna die trying to stay by your side in your final moments. I would of ran too.

And yet, Juno is later ATTACKED for doing that. Choosing to save her own life and not play sentimentals to a dieing person who can't speak and get ripped apart and eaten by vicious little rabid falmers bought off wish. Juno is a shitty person, not only for putting them in this situation but also for cheating with a friend's husband. But the whole friend group is also shitty cause they all literally knew she was before Paul died and after and still didn't tell Sarah. Rebecca litterally makes a comment, staring at Juno, saying they all lost something in that crash. None of them thought to tell Sarah! Not until they were litterally dieing or unable to! Juno did not deserve to get an ice axe in her leg and abandoned for the crime of... Abandoning a dead friend instead of dieing beside her needlessly. Not the cheating. Not the involuntary manslaughter. The abandonment. Of a dead person. Huh????

Of course I have to talk about Sarah's transformation from crying, scared and scarred protagonist to badass Carrie looking motherfucker. Dose she look awesome? Yuh but NGL I don't feel like it's fully earned. She did almost nothing this whole movie till the very end when she had that chat with Beth and kicked the ass of like 3 crawlers max. Badass? Yes but if this had come just 20 minutes sooner in the movie, I would of been just a bit more behind it. Small improvement. No matter, the ending with her rising out of a bloody puddle, the climb up the bone ramp and emerging above ground with a labored and emotional gasp were amazing. Good cinematography, good lighting, amazing depth and I deeply enjoyed it. It felt earned.

Small splinter to talk about the general environment and the crawlers before I end this, as someone from Appalachia, I did enjoy this movie's portrayal of it appearance wise. It was gorgeous and I felt like it definitely captured the woodsy areas of it well. It definitely felt like it was missing our giant hills and mountains though and looked like it was more filmed at the foot hills around Virginia rather than deep central Appalachia. You can also tell this wasn't made by an Appalachian because Appalachia covers over 737,000 miles of land, 15 states and gose everywhere from maine to Alabama to Tennessee to Ohio. It covers most of the eastern seaboard of the US. Just pick a state please cause this is so much land. It also suffers from grungy-movie-made-in-the-earily-2000s in that everything is blue and looks like twilight. Gloomy and dead. Regardless,I did enjoy the look of the movie and the realistic appearance it attempted. The caves were ok. Many times I could tell they weren't real and they were made to be moved around but for what they were attempting, I could fool myself for it's run time. The crawlers, being primarily practical, looked good enough. You can tell they didnt cheap out or anything but you could also tell they were benefiting from the dark environment. The way they moved sometimes was abit corny, they like I mentioned earlier just look like falmer with the face shape and chunkier version of golem from the transphobic wizard series. Honestly I could take them or leave them. Good enough but definitely could be better. My suggestion is mostly in that I wish they were a little less human like and their bodies being a little thinner and spindley-er. Not nessesarily rake like but more tik tok mlp infection au type beat. They were ok. Good even. but nothin I would really praise.

I'll rapid fire some criticisms I had: the soundtrack was barely noticeable, the cgi sucked but I could understand why it needed to be used, some cuts/shots were a bit wonky, why did they say piss in every 3rd sentence in the first half of the movie, the necklace felt like kinda a cop out, I wish we had more hallucinations (especially if the first two hallucinations we see from Sarah are supposed to shove a potential unreliable narrator red herring towards the audience), i wish we would of gotten some lore about what the crawlers were, some acting definitely fell flat for me, some scenes carried on too long(the car talking scene), some scenes were a little to overplayed (2 angles is enough, can we get some establishing shots please??) and the extended ending was a bit too bleak(I can see why it was decanonized by the second movie).

Rapid fire praises: dialogue was witty enough to be funny but not cringey, why is there so much sapphic eye fucking during the pack-to-go-to-the-caves scenes??, holly is gay and the writers knew it and that's why they made her want a ton of kids later in life you can't convince me she's not at least bisexual, the first scene with Juno and Paul was an amazing first nod, the cast was cute but could of been better written , the skull shovel was funny, the crazy car driving was a fun nod to show Sarah letting loose and I thoroughly enjoyed that the movie did not shy away from brutality and gore. It was very enjoyable.

All in all, I enjoyed this movie and all it gave me. It's really a shame that the descent 2 ended up being such a terrible movie that it took all that made the first movie good and just rehashed it. I would of loved to have a period movie that showed who put that original climbing equipment there. Maybe some pioneers with a smart local native guide who intentionally tried to get them killed? Some good yummy lore? Really anything else. I won't count that movie's failure towards the rating of this one though so just pretend TD2 doesn't exist 😘 again, very good and i would suggest it to others. Just probably not best for a new horror fan or someone whose squeamish around blood and gore and a little violence. Great for someone pretty familiar with the genre but you don't need a deep cut life long fan to appreciate it.

8/10 sinks!

This one was pretty much everything!

#ebtks reviews #every thing but the kitchen sink reviews #everything but the kitchen sink reviews #the descent #movie review #movie sink reviews #the descent review #horror movie review #8/10 #8/10 sinks #8 out of 10 #8 out of 10 sinks

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storm-driver · 6 months ago

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ep 20 : AH YES, THE FREAKSHOW EPISODE. im fairly certain i only saw this episode once as a kid, because the plot beats of the episode took me by surprise on rewatch. but i do remember something about danny with the red eyes and almost getting himself in hot water constantly. maybe this episode left that kinda impact on me that i never wanted to watch it again, im unsure.

i know i saw reality trip a lot more bc i can just...remember the name of it off the top of my head. but i have to wonder why this guy was chosen as the season finale villain twice, considering he NEVER shows up in any other episodes besides these finales. or if he does, i just didnt pay attention oops

okay immediately i think i remember why i didnt like this episode that much, it was the designs of the ghosts that freakshow had enslaved. im not really sure, none of them are particularly bad. but they're really bland outside of the tattoo ghost girl. and even then, i was staring at her design thinking "wait, this is a kids show right"

i know showing skin isnt inherently sexual by nature, but she's literally wearing a corsette that barely covers her chest from the waist up, and she doesnt have ANY pants on. she still looks cool though, im just an adult and can now see things i did not see as a child.

sam's family gets properly introduced in this episode, and it's interesting to see them semi-respect her choices in lifestyle. like, yeah, they still want to pamper their daughter into being more pastel and happy vibes. but they let her darken her room and dress it however she'd like, which is nice. they only really question her choices bc danny looks really sus hanging out with her sometimes LMAO. which is funny cause danny is probably the most chill dude surface-wise to just have as a friend, if the ghost powers weren't involved. he's just unfortunately walking into the room at the worst time.

i appreciate that her grandmother is more open to sam's antics, it's nice to see an older portrayal of an adult not be senile and rude. she's a fun-having woman who only wants the best for her granddaughter, but also wants her granddaughter to just have fun. it's v cute and sweet.

so yknow those comics that people make about how danny just transforms blatantly in the open sometimes bc the animators are tryna show off of a little. this is probably one of the most show-off-my-powers one yet. he literally jumps on top of a truck while STILL HUMAN, leaps off the back of it and transforms midair, and then launches himself up. which is BEYOND extra when you consider there's police literally coming down the road as he does this.

the goth dude walking up to danny and spray-painting his shirt black, then proudly saying "you're one of us now" was so fucking real, that was GENUINE. this episode has so many fucking one-liners that got me laughing so hard. the fentons getting antsy over being mocked for wearing jumpsuits, which are admittedly cool af (thank you evangelion for teaching me that). the smash cut from sam saying "lancer let us out" to lancer trapped in the closet screaming "LET ME OUT."

i really would like to know if the staff freakshow uses has some sorta of ties to the ghost zone, or if it was just the episode macguffin. bc lorewise, what if pariah dark used this shit or something in the past? or idk, it links back to the origins of the ghost zone? any they introduce artifacts that can interact with ghosts, i just wanna know WHERE it came from. what's THE LORE.

THEY LITERALLY GOT A RESTRAINING ORDER IN PLACE FOR A 14-YEAR OLD TO STAY AWAY FROM THEIR DAUGHTER, WHAT THE FUCK DUDE, thanks danny phantom for making me google if that's even a thing (yes it is, but there's gotta be legitimate reasons)

this episode ends up diminishing phantom's reputation with the town since he gets forced into committing crimes against both vendors and literal police in broad daylight (or moonlight). i suppose that's supposed to explain away why people backtrack on trusting him, but even so, i find it odd that previous alliances dont get brought up again.

sam's grandmother calls sam 'bubeleh,' which iirc is a Jewish term of endearment for someone you cherish? it's nice to see a subtle nod towards Jewish family and beliefs, it's a really cute lil detail that i love.

i really wish this show had been preserved in something higher than 360p, because there's shots and sequences in here that look fantastic, and im sure would be GORGEOUS in 480p or higher. the shot of sam falling off the train while danny dives to save her, despite still being under the influence of the crystal, it'd be nice to see that in any higher resolution. because this is what it looks like at 360p.

maybe my source just doesnt have the DVD uploads and this was recorded from somewhere else? i dunno

this episode almost feels like it could be a season finale if it had been given a 1 hour block treatment maybe? like the makings are all there, and danny ruining his reputation for the forseeable future has potential in the episode itself. there's literally a line where danny says "hey what if we stayed behind to explain to authority what happened to us" and the other ghosts just run bc they dont wanna. so danny has to just forgo apologizing to the public for his actions and leave the broken glass where it lies. i could imagine a sequence of danny walking out of the train and trying to explain what happened to overbearing and hateful figures, with a good chunk of people believing him and others dont. but this is once again me writing a fanfic in my own rewatch, so dont mind my rambles

freakshow is a fine villain, far from a favourite. it's weird how he's almost like a ghost despite being human. his family was supposedly controlling ghosts for centuries using the crystal artifact, which just leads to more questions as to where they got it, how long has it existed, did his family know about ghosts and for how long, etc. more lore for the graphic novel to exploit im sure teehee

fun episode, banger jokes, good sequence at the end of danny redeeming himself by saving sam, her grandmother kicks ass.

yknow what I'm cataloging my feelings as i rewatch every danny phantom episode, here we go

#danny phantom #storm rewatches his childhood #ep 20 #review #that is season one finished.... onto the big budget episodes #gotta say i do think ill miss season one for the animation alone #season 2 has experimental shots that i can remember off the top of my head #but iirc they really stick to being on model in s2 #and even swap to different animation styles that i dont remember if i like or not?#season 1 was just so fluid and fun so im hoping i have the same fond memories of season 2

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salmonandsoup · 2 years ago

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any other wisdom on the swap au (i am going insane over this au)

asdfkljghsui i'm flattered :""") i gotta thank @zzoupz for the amazing artwork in the first place, because it wouldn't have become a thing without their art ^^

but uhhhh, my brainrot has developed some things. gonna put this under a read more juuuuust in case bc it might get long!

well, i will say that i would envision it like a "two player" game, because gary and amy fight demons together—a MORTIS for her is a MORTIS for gary and vice versa. i'm tempted to say you "couldn't play it alone", but that's not very fair. but the bond between gary and amy is very important to the story

amy loses her family to john's cult, so she wants her revenge and to get them back from the depths before it's too late. while she really hated to leave the home because they didn't respect her choices or beliefs, and she was genuinely fuckin angry with them because they weren't listening to her and respecting her autonomy, she doesn't want them dead, and she's furious with how lisa and john circled like vultures and snatched them up into the cult

gary very much keeps amy at arm's length at first, because he knows how this shit looks from the outside (a nearly forty-year-old man opening his doors to an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl when she's just been booted out by her family? sure it helps that he's a pastor, but ALSO you could argue it's worse cuz he's a pastor, depending on how you see the Catholic church). he doesn't want any harm to come to her, be it from cults or from catty bitches, and he's not going to add to it or give anybody any fuckin ammo to harass her—that part gets a COMPLETE 180 from how gary and amy are in canon and i stand by that. however, they do warm up and become genuine friends/father-daughter figures to each other and just. idk they're able to open up about their fears and experiences to each other and it KILLS ME DEAD to think about because multigenerational friends are So Fucking Important To Me and you can learn So Fucking Much from people both significantly older and significantly younger than you

i was also spitballing with @the-fool-s on some possible "endings" for the story, based on how gary and amy interact with the cult in general and how many threats they stop before confronting john and lisa. i'm still working on the logistics, but i personally want there to be a golden ending, a good ending, a neutral ending, and a bad ending—the bad ending leaves everyone who could die dead, the golden ending, everyone who could live, lives (though don't think anyone evades their justice!). still working out the logistics tho

#john loves you au #faith roleswap au #faith the unholy trinity #faith game #faith airdorf #faith #john ward #lisa pearson #amy martin #gary miller

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starsinalocket · 3 years ago

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Summer Peace

pairing: frankie “catfish” morales x afab!reader

warnings/tags: talk of pregnancy, fluff, frankie being a sweet dad

word count: 859

{if i miss any warnings, please let me know. i want this to be a safe space}

{my blog is an 18+ only space because of mature content. please do not interact if you’re a minor. some works will be explicit some will not and be straight fluff, but i will reinforce the 18+ only on my entire blog}

a/n: just a little short, sweet fic after i had a thought of frankie in a hammock with his baby girl during the summer. i associate frankie with the summer idk :)

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In the months that you were pregnant, Frankie doted on you and always expressed his excitement to meet your daughter. You could see the light in his eyes every time he did something for the upcoming baby or talking about everything he wants to do with her as she gets older. As excited as you were to meet her and to see Frankie as a dad, the first trimester wasn’t easy for you with how often you got sick and felt tired and drained. There were days when it clouded over the excitement, and it saddened you. It wasn’t easy for you to go through, and it definitely wasn’t easy for Frankie to see.

Frankie has spoken about some building projects for the house for your daughter to really make your home a family home, and one of the projects was hanging a hammock in the backyard. It was simple enough to hang, and he thought it would be nice to have sooner rather than later. You beamed at the sight of the hammock when Frankie uncovered your eyes after leading you outside. Your first trimester was during the early months of summer, and having a cozy hammock in the shade during the warmer weather was exactly was you needed. If Frankie was looking for you during the weekends when you both had work off, that hammock was where he would find you more often than not. Sometimes you were even there during the weeknights if it was warm enough.

As you progressed in the pregnancy, it became more difficult to climb in and out of the hammock, and the weather started to cool down so you couldn’t spend as much time outside. Frankie saw how sad you became, but you reassured him that you were fine because it helped you tremendously during those first few grueling months. You would be able to visit again during the summer.

Once your baby girl came along, Frankie would not let go of her. You always laughed to him saying that you wondered if you would ever get to hold her. Frankie read a lot about skin to skin contact, so that’s how he spent a lot of his time with her. Once summer came back around, you became excited at the chance to lay in the hammock again, back in the comforting swing. You were walking through the kitchen tidying up after making some snacks when you caught the most heart aching sight you had ever seen. Tears started welling in your eyes when you walked to the sliding door and saw the sight of a shirtless Frankie with his eyes closed laying in the hammock with his daughter in a pair of shorts and no shirt laying on her father’s chest fast asleep. One hand held her close to him while the other arm was propped behind his head and one leg was popped out of the hammock to lightly rock it back and forth.

You walked out of the house into the backyard with some strawberries and a blanket to lay down on. How could you be disappointed at the loss of a chance to lay in the hammock when the two most important people in your life looked that peaceful. You leaned down to kiss your daughter on the cheek and lightly played with the dark curls on her head before moving up and kissing Frankie on the forehead. He opened an eye and smiled at you before opening both eyes.

“Hi.” He beamed at you.

“Hi.” You smiled at him and moved to kiss him gently.

“Sorry for taking your spot. It was really nice out, and she wasn’t going down for a nap, so I thought this would help.” He said softly.

“It’s ok. You look really cute laying there with her.” You moved to spread the blanket on the grass and sat down facing them.

“She fell asleep immediately.” He chuckled. “Reminds me of how relaxed you were in this thing.”

“God, that was amazing.” You laughed. “That thing was a lifesaver, you don’t even know.”

“I think I got an idea of it. I thought I was gonna go to bed alone for several nights.”

“Well, I’m glad she likes it as much as I do.” You looked to her sleeping body.

“She’s perfect, babe. I can’t get over it.” Frankie moved one of his hands to glide it over the back of her head which caused her to stir a little and rub her face with her tiny hand before immediately going back to sleep. You both stayed there in a short comfortable silence just glancing down at the life you had made together, still stunned at how she was the combination of you both.

“So, when are you going to get started on that tree house?” Frankie had talked about having a treehouse for her your entire pregnancy. He wanted her to have a space to hang out and express her imagination.

“Might be a mistake.” He teased and smiled a big smile. “I’m gonna come out to see her asleep in the treehouse and you asleep in the hammock all summer.”

#frankie morales x reader #frankie catfish morales #triple frontier #frankie catfish morales x reader

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bigskydreaming · 3 years ago

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Headcanon that everyone within the family may think of Dick as the one most in their father’s favor, but Dick is keenly aware that the general public thinks of him as their father’s ‘Consolation Prize.’

After all, when from their perspective he’s the one Bruce raised since he was eight as his ward, with that dissolving when he was eighteen and very little perceived contact between the two of them for years after that, while Jason was adopted soon after being taken in and Dick was then later adopted years after Jason’s death, without any public fanfare.....

What does that look like other than Bruce ‘settling’ for the son who didn’t appear to be his first choice, just chronologically first, once he lost Jason but still needed/wanted an heir, as he was getting older and the general public still didn’t know yet how closely tied Tim was to the family or that it wouldn’t be long after this that Bruce adopted him too?

Now granted, you can definitely perceive the above as overly angsty and not the only way this situation was likely to be perceived outside the family, but my point is more that like.....nobody ever presumes that the general public are overly kind or generous in their views or assumptions about the Wayne family behavior. I just don’t buy that people assumed there was some optimistic explanation for the way things appeared here, or that people just went “oh its probably because the kid who grew up in that house the longest just doesn’t WANT to be adopted by the billionaire and have all the security that brings, and that’s also clearly why he lives in Bludhaven of all places and a shitty apartment building at that.”

I mean, no matter what WE the readers may know of Dick’s personal priorities and how little he cares about where he lives or that Bruce would have willingly paid for him to have a better place to live if he really wanted it, is that what people are most likely to assume, based on appearances?

Anyway, I’m just saying, I bet it bugs the crap out of Dick to hear his siblings casually refer to him as so obviously enjoying favored son status and being the clear apple of Bruce’s eye, as he’s like, cue internal monologue: gee, sure wish I was as confident of that back during the years he seemed to want nothing to do with me.

Like I’ve said before, I think Dick isn’t actually super insecure and his insecurities such as they are mostly revolve around how his family and friends perceive him, not the general public.....BUT I do think that with as high profile as the Waynes are, there’s no way that nobody picked up on how little contact Dick and Bruce had in the continuities where they literally went over a year without even speaking to each other....and like, felt free to draw their own conclusions.

And I do think this is also part of why I default to thinking a lot of canon takes and headcanons tend to gloss over how shitty Gotham public could be in their views/treatment of Dick. Like just because Dick was basically trained from birth to be able to work a room and entertain people while in their direct presence, that didn’t actually make him ‘one of them’ in their eyes, and I reeeeeeaally don’t think you can actually underestimate the pettiness and jealousy one percenters feel when they see someone they inherently view as lesser than them - as they would’ve viewed both Dick and Jason due to their lower class births - like....’leap frogging’ over them into greater wealth via being taken in by Bruce.

Like, idk, maybe it just comes from having been a scholarship kid who went to a richy rich private high school attended mostly by the children of senators and hotel-chain owners, lol, but like.......I can not for a second picture Gotham’s upper class actually LIKING Dick or being as charmed by him as they frequently are depicted as, just because Dick knows how to be charming and likable. Like they might play it that way when in public at a gala, for appearances or whatever....but the second he turned around they’d be badmouthing him at juuuuust a high enough volume to ensure he’d be able to HEAR them but not be able to call them on it without it looking like he went back and provoked a scene over something ‘nobody else around them heard them say’ or whatever. Just to make sure that no matter how well he came across in public social settings, he never ‘forgot his place’ or whatever or forgot that they were all too aware of it too.

And also also, it always kinda bemuses me that as much focus as the Court of Owls and Talons get in Dick’s narratives in canon and fic, that we’ve barely ever seen any examination of what the Court retroactively means for Dick’s years growing up around upper class Gothamites who likely included more than a few Court members.....like, we KNOW years later that like, all along there were these people who even without knowing who Batman and Robin were, like, knew Dick Grayson was their ‘Gray Son’ and intended to claim him as their weapon someday, and you can’t tell me that wouldn’t have factored into how they viewed and interacted with a child and teenage Dick Grayson as they attended many of the same social gatherings and functions. OR that Dick himself in the aftermath of the Court of Owls reveal, didn’t look back at his OWN childhood and reflect on how many creepy or uncomfortable encounters he had with various socialites that left him feeling decidedly skeeved out and not a fan of how they were looking at him or things they might have said to him, thinking themselves oh so clever for alluding to things he had no idea about......like, I imagine there had to be more than a few encounters from his younger years that always stuck with him, and after the Court of Owls revelation like....looked TOTALLY different to him, especially if he happened to know for sure that some of those very people were in fact Court members. BUT I DIGRESS.

All in all though it all circles back to the same thought for me.....people might have been polite to Dick’s face when he was growing up, but they most likely had plenty of shit to say the second his back was turned, and I doubt they were afraid to be overheard by him. Especially in his later years, once people noticed how distant he and Bruce seemed to be, and thus perceived that as meaning that nineteen year old Dick Grayson wasn’t as ‘protected’ by Bruce the way he was when he was younger.....meaning the people who were most jealous of Dick’s ‘catapulting’ up the social ladder and eager to knock him down a peg because of that, like....probably would have looked at the relative lack of contact between he and Bruce as far as anyone could publicly tell, and felt emboldened enough by that to up their snide whisper game with shit like gossipping about how oh, the Grayson boy may be back in Gotham again, but we all know he’s just poor Brucie’s consolation prize anyway, why, if he really cared all that much about the boy, he’d hardly have ever let him run off to Bludhaven of all places, without even making sure to staple the advantages and opportunities granted by the Wayne name to him the way he made sure to right off the bat with the younger one.....

So yeah. There’s my angsty musings on how Dick likely is perceived by Gotham public at large, and how his interactions with them - especially when NOT around Bruce and Jason and the rest of his family....probably very much does not match up with what they assume public perception of Dick is, given that in their eyes ‘everybody loves Dick Grayson,’ but in Dick’s experience ‘everybody may be charmed by Dick Grayson while he’s doing his best to be charming,’ but don’t mistake that for acceptance. Not when Gotham’s public are just as likely to dismiss him as the second choice Wayne heir and consolation prize to make themselves feel more important/elevated than him the second their own insecurities have them feeling intimidated by the wealth, power and prestige Dick does actually share in by virtue of being part of Bruce’s family.

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nebulaleaf · 2 years ago

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Heh. Giving youuuuu… akira and futaba. for ask game. bc theyr neat.

they ARE neat. tey're probably one of my fave relationships in this game. this is gonna be . real bad because i am not very articulate tonight .sobs cries. this is just me word vomiting about how much i love the sakura family, akira included sorry .

your ideal/headcanon version of it? how does it differ from how it is in canon & why is this your favorite version? any other alternate versions of it you enjoy? definitely siblings. i won't shoot you dead for shipping them as it's none of my business but age gap, futaba's dependency on akira and other various reasons i see not to ship them aside... i think the main killer for me is just how familial they act... I can't ever imagine futaba having a crush on akira like. that's her older brother that's the guy she uses as a human shield in a walmart. that's the guy who'll let her sit on his shoulders to get a pc part that's too high up. that's the guy she'd sicc on a classmate like a dog!! she's so blase towards him in the romantic aspect save for like... one scene that doesn't even feel that romantic, just weird imo. i'm also down for them just being pals and not sibs but... idk there's just a specific layer to it that i enjoy far more when it's played like that. i really wish i could word it blurgh.

what do you like about their relationship, why is it interesting or enjoyable to you? I am not immune to siblings alright. i see a character who's a good older brother and has a soft spot for his sister and i weep because i know he'll probably be my fave. kicking rantaro amami down the stairs fuck you man. anyway i kinda feel bad just reducing them to that because there's so much i enjoy in how they interact but i can't put it to words. im on the cusp of futaba's palace in royal though so be on the lookout for posts where i go fucking insane .

what about the individual characters involved? what does this relationship mean to them, what makes it unique among their relationships? honestly i think akira's relationship to futaba means the fucking world to him. obviously he loves all of the thieves, but futaba specifically ... man. i should just say the sakura family as a whole... idk how well akira's home life is or isn't, but the sakura family feels like Just what he needed, y'know? caring but not overprotective, blunt but not cruel... a good mix of giving him the right space but also loving him unflinchingly and hey!! he fucking reciprocates that shit too!!!! and on futaba's end... yeah this is an important relationship to her too. when you first get her and the gang tries to reintroduce her to social situations.............. it's like autism to autism communication. akira is that perfect blend of a safe space, but not too safe where she'll never come out again. he will protect her but push her out to do things when needed and DAMB! she do be needing that. they fill that niche void in the other in ways the other thieves can't. like yeah futaba is the "little sister" of all the pts in a way, but she clearly interacts with akira differently than the rest of them... n yeah you cvould chalk that up to akira being a silent protag whup whup we need her to be clingy so you can have an UwU Gamer GF; but shut up fucka you. It's Different. To Me. and i'm serious like again the scene where all the PTs push her... she ends up reacting well to both situations in the end, but she reacts Best to akira's prompting because he's not too lax like ann and ryuji n' not too forceful like makoto was. zing. zing. i'm gonna shut up on this one now because im embarrassed Ah Hee Hee

favorite interaction they have in canon either the fire crackers scene outside of leblanc or futaba's first beach trip. the way she glances at akira for approval and then he just... gives her that soft smile... it fuckign kills me oh my god. [grabbing you] im so normall about that scene i only watched it thrice. oh my god and then the christmas scene......... that one is a close third

favorite interaction they have in your head/a situation you want to put them in so many. all the time constantly. I want them to get into shenanigans. I want Futaba to bring her classmates home to Leblanc and for all of them to laugh about Akira tripping over the mop as he delivers their coffee. I want akira to gently tuck her back into bed when she stays up too late studying or going too hard at school/social interactions in general. i want futaba nag at him to take better care of himself until she has to whip out the pleading puppy-dog eyes to one hit KO his older brother instincts. i want them to steal credit card information together and make sojiro go grey by next year from the sheer stress of having these hyper-intelligent morons in the same room.

#ask meme #what if i died.#sakura siblings #sure fuck it.#p5ram

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ghostietea · 4 years ago

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Furuba autistic headcanons

With it being April, or autism acceptance month, I wanted to finally drop my list of characters from Fruits Basket that I read as autistic! This is based a lot on my own experience, as well as that of other autistics I know or have seen talk online. I hope some people can get something out of it, feel free to tell me what you think 😊, though please refrain from getting upset that I would dare suggest your fave is autistic.

Hanajima

Before becoming able to better control her powers, she would be constantly overwhelmed by the things she heard to the point that she couldn't even really go out in public. This reads a lot like sensory overload.

Constantly picked on in school because other kids thought she was weird. Eventually reclaimed this weirdness and turned it into a whole persona.

Seems to talk usually in a relatively flat tone.

Had trouble socializing with no friends outside her family until middleschool.

Has a very funny, dry sense of humor that I find very similar to a bunch of autistics I know, including myself.

Hatsuharu

Listen. You have seen the funky little man, you have seen the way he talks, the way he acts around others. He is, and I mean this in the best way, a weirdo. I do not know how you could look at him and see a neurotypical.

Once again, like Hana, Haru is funny in a way that feels very autistic.

Very flat, dry, tone delivery. Sometimes just Says Things that make everyone else go huh??? Suuuuper blunt. Doesn't emote facially a lot of the time.

When this man sees a social norm he doesn't get he WILL NOT follow it. Pierces his ears just because his hair got flak, defends Momiji wearing whatever he wants because sometimes y'know the social rules are just dumb and don't make sense. Especially dress codes.

Sometimes says things not befitting the current tone of the situation.

Represses (masks) a lot of his emotions, leading to outbursts that seem uncharacteristic.

His main childhood trauma revolves around adults branding him as "dumb" and ridiculing him. Haru, however, is super smart and wise!! Just in an offbeat way that not everyone may get.

Machi

Reads as very "flat" emotionally to the point that others would call her boring. Also has a flat vocal delivery.

Relies on specific habits or ways of doing things or else she gets super upset (her hatred of imperfection.

Has trauma surrounding adults completely misconstruing her intentions and thinking she's doing something malicious when she's not.

Generally behaves in a way that's hard for others to understand, one of her formative moments with Yuki was him saying he wanted to "see how the world looks" through her eyes.

Once again, trouble socializing.

Tries super hard to please her parents but in the end they still see her as somehow inherently "defective."

Listen. A lot of this one and the last two are mostly vibes, hard to verbally define. You just have to look at them and trust me.

Tohru

Displays behavior very reminiscent of masking throughout the story, a huge part of her arc is about how she hides a lot of herself and has a very controlled persona. I think it would fit very well if she had other autistic behaviors that she suppresed also it helps explain why she is relatively socially adept, it's learned behavior to make people like her more.

Yes she is very good at saying what others need to hear, but especially early on she is pretty blatantly imitating her mother's words. She only gets better at getting through on a more personal level later on (see her with Rin and Akito v. early series Tohru). She does this by relating her own experiences, a very autistic way of showing empathy that often gets us written off as self centered. The way she relays things her mom said could also be seen as this, and she even worries at a few points that she's being insensitive for going on about things like that.

While emotionally repressed she is hyper empathetic and feels other's emotions so strongly she cries.

Her speech patterns are all imitated from her father and she often copies verbal things from others (see Ritchan-san). Noted in canon that people think her way of speaking is slightly off/not befitting of someone her age. Additionally, her father was polite more sarcastically, while she plays it straight and sometimes takes things very literally or fails to get the message, indicating trouble with reading tone. Has numerous strange verbal tics, including saying parts of her internal monologue out loud without context.

Very expressive with her hands including waving them around and flapping them up and down.

Does have a bit of trouble with accidental insensitivity in social interactions, like how she constantly fixates on her mom and realizes that might bug the Sohma.

Has trouble paying attention in school since it doesn't have much to do with her interests

Her only friend until she was a middle schooler was her mom

Has a pretty unique outlook on things compared to others, people seem to think she's pretty eccentric. There's always a "this girl is nice but in an odd way, she's our weirdo and we love her" vibe.

Sometimes has an "inappropriate" emotional response to situations

Has a lot of trouble with change, similar to Akito. Which oh, look at the time, next hc coming up.

But first, a disclaimer. It is cathartic for me to read Akito this way, but with that reading comes the baggage that she would, mayhaps, be showing a more negative side of things... It doesn't bother me since it's a joint hc with other characters and she does develop at the end but yeah, general villain hc baggage. This is in no way me trying to excuse her being The Worst being autistic doesn't absolve you of being able to do wrong . Also, a lot of these points can and do have other explanations related to her upbringing, but things can be for more than 1 reason. With that said, she really strongly comes off as autistic to me, in a way that's sorta hard to explain. I wrote a lot more for her than the other, both because I felt I needed more to convince people and that this headcanon was more sensitive and I needed to be careful in my explanation. Also hey! She's my special interest within a special interest.

Akito

Shown to have a dislike of summer weather due to heat and brightness, could be due to sensory issues in tandem with sickness things. Also covers her ears when people raise their voice sometimes which is partially her trying to shut down opposition but also 🤔 can read a different way. She'd also avoids louder Juuni like Ritsu and Ayame because she can't handle them.

Wears pretty much the same outfit every single day. Said outfit is also pretty loose fitting.

Always seen sitting in a pretty unconventional way. Evidence:

Of course this is also the isolated in a cult thing and there is a level of her purposefully doing things to intimidate but: doesn't follow a lot of social rules (overly touchy with strangers, legit doesn't get that what she's doing is wrong, ect.). Repeatedly confused when people indicate she should act otherwise without explanation. Has a breakdown when this comes to a head and approximately says that "they" shouldn't expect her to know "common sense" if "they" never explained it to her, that the way that she was was her "common sense."

Often talks in a way uncharacteristic of her age when shown as a child in a more faux mature/pretentious way. Might just be the translation and idk how to explain it but her speech as an adult also seems off from what one would normally use in conversation. Additionally, when she tries to fake being friendly in her intro chapter, it comes of as extremely stiff and unconvincing.

Generally displays behavior that could be thought of as childish as an adult, but a lot of this behavior could also read as autistic (covering ears, emotional deregulation and meltdowns, ignorance of basic social norms, ect.). It's also important to note that she knows that this behavior makes her seem younger and more helpless to the older zodiac and uses it as a manipulation tactic. Has issues regarding people treating her like a child or only hanging out with her because of pity. While she does weaponize it, we can tell that this grates on her, as seen with her finally blowing up on Kureno, which is partially triggered by the maids saying some sorta infantalizing stuff about her. Irl, a lot of autistic adults and teens struggle with being infantalized for our behavior generally or treated as little babies that can do no wrong. Even in fandom, you see people doing stuff like jumping to call autistic adult characters, such as Entrapta from Shera, "minor coded." It is also common for us to have at least one bad experience with someone hanging around us out of pity. This is something that really gave me a similar feeling in Akito's arc. She's not a baby and she can understand and do better if she is given the chance to learn and break from all the freaky cult indoctrination she's been subjected to instead of just being constantly enabled. In the end, a lot of her growth is represented by her showing that she is capable of changing and being independent.

Shows particular difficulty with socialization, often sits by herself spacing out at social events. A lot of her fear is rooted in the fact that she doesn't know how normal relationships work, becoming overly reliant on the curse because she doesn't know how to make friends.

Clings desperately onto the notion of being "special" and in some way superior to others to be worthy and to make up for perceived inherent "flaws." It's the nd gifted kid burnout vibes for me.

Easily bothered by things that don't bother others. Feels emotions very strongly to the point of getting physically ill and has bad emotional regulation.

Relatively good at reading others in an analytical sense (though has more trouble when it comes to seeing how they feel about her since she's wildly delusional) but brings up her observations in a very cold, detached way and hurts people even on the rare occasion she didn't mean to. Has extreme trouble connecting to others and understanding their point of view. This makes her come off as pretty unempathetic even though that might not fully be the case. Also thinks that people like Momiji are trying to look down on her when they try to empathize with her. A lot of why Tohru can get through to her is that she manages to convince Akito that she's not condescending by relating shared traits and experiences. As I said earlier, autistics often empathize by sharing their own experiences with someone, and I know I often have an easier time confiding in other autistics because of a fear of being seen as lesser by those that don't understand me. I think the connection between these charachters and the way that Tohru manages to reach Akito like that while others couldn't makes a lot of sense through an autistic lense!

Additionally, when Akito herself gets around to trying to help others instead of just projecting trauma, she tries to reach out to the old maid by relating back to her own experiences. This however, doesn't work.

Has "cold" emotional reactions sometimes even to things that do make her upset. For example, how sort of calm and detached she acted after her father's death can make her seem uncaring. However, we know that this event did mess her up a lot and she is still (poorly) dealing with a lot of grief from the death of her father years later.

Copies mannerisms from others, the most blatant example is with Ren, who she directly parrots lines from as a child to Yuki.

Partly just her posturing, but gestures a lot with her hands when she talks. Also seen several times clutching her hands in her hair.

Deals extremely poorly with the idea of things changing to the point that it is a driving force of the story.

Does not understand when people tease her.

Ect. Ect. Ect. Listen, I could go on for ages but just trust me, the mean gremlin lady is autistic.

#fruits basket #akito sohma #tohru honda #saki hanajima #machi kuragi #hatsuharu sohma #actually autistic #meta

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lis-likes-fics · 4 years ago

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Concussed

Pairing: Carlisle Cullen x Reader Word Count: 8,820 words smh jfc Warnings: Car crash, many injuries, idk Author’s Note: Okay... maybe I got a little carried away. I did tell you guys I was going to end up writing a couple about him. I’m going through my phase, lemme alone. There will be a part two for certain reasons.

~~~~~

The sound of Chief Swan’s car parking in his driveway next door didn’t phase Y/N. It was when she heard the people talking where she decided to go to her window and see what was going on. She opened the window and stuck her head out of it in curiosity. She saw Charlie and Billy, a very familiar face, play fighting in Charlie’s driveway next to the red pickup that had been parked there for a few days.

She looked over and saw Jacob, another familiar face because of his relation to Billy, and a girl. Y/N smiled when she realized just who the girl was. She waved out of her window like a child, “Hey, Bella!”

The group looked over and saw her peering down at them with the smile plastered on her face. Billy and Jacob smiled and waved, Charlie gave a small wave of her own. “Hey, Chief, Billy, Jake.”

“Hello, Y/N. How are you?” Billy asked with a smile.

“Same ole, you know me,” she responded.

A smile slowly spread across Bella’s face as the recognition settled in, “Y/N, it’s been forever, how are you?”

She smiled, “Hey, Bells. I’m good. It’s great to see you again.”

Y/N and Bella used to be great friends. She lived in Forks next to Charlie Swan her whole life. Her parents died in a car crash when she was very young and she was left with her grandfather, who died when she was sixteen. She began living on her own in the same house, too sentimental to move away. She had Charlie for adult supervision when she needed it, but she was pretty much independent otherwise.

Y/N, Bella, and Jacob used to play together all the time when she lived here with her. When she moved away, it was just her and Jacob. They hung around a little bit afterwards, but lost touch when they got into junior high. Y/N was currently a senior while Bella was a junior. She was a year older than her, which made her two years older than Jacob - another reason they lost touch.

Y/N stuck her head back in her window and made her way down the stairs and out of the house so she could get a better look at the group. She managed to get a short hug from Bella before they started talking again.

Billy smiled, “And there’s the trio. I miss the days you were just little kids playing in the mud.” Charlie nodded in his silent reminiscing.

Y/N smiled and nudged Bella a little, “Are you still clumsy?”

She chuckled lightly, “Are you?”

She smiled, “Fair enough. One reason we were such good friends-”

“You were both accident prone,” Jacob finished with a laugh.

“Still are. You had to make sure we didn’t get ourselves killed,” Y/N joked. He nodded as he sighed, a smile on his face as he remembered the old days where you were just little kids.

Charlie spoke, patting the truck, “So what do you think of your homecoming gift?”

Bella’s eyes widened in wonder and she looked from the truck to the people standing around her, “No way. The truck is for me?”

Charlie nodded, “Just bought it off Billy here.”

Jacob smiled, “I rebuilt the engine and-”

“It’s perfect!” She beamed, rushing to the truck with Jacob in tow. Y/N stuck by the window with a smile as she watched them. Bella got in and was given an overview by the long-haired boy while she rolled down the window for Y/N.

She turned to Jacob, “Maybe I can give you a ride to school.”

He shook his head regrettably, “I go to school on the reservation.”

Y/N spoke, “Maybe you can give me a ride. Jacob’s fixing my car right now and I’ve been snatching rides from a couple friends from school.”

She smiled, “Yeah, that’d be fine. It’ll be nice knowing at least one person there.”

She nodded, “Everyone’s super nice, for the most part. You should make friends quickly.”

Over the next couple of weeks, Bella, like everyone, was instantly interested in the Cullens. They were always the attention grabbers of the school, but no one hung out with them or thought well of them because they never hung out with anyone other than themselves. They were a strange group and they got a lot of unnecessary thoughts and names because of it. Y/N didn’t mind them. They were interesting and that was that.

Unlike the Cullens, especially Edward, he was interested in Bella as well. It took awhile for that to come to light, he’d run off after her first day at school. She’d told Y/N all about it on the way back home after school and, while it was strange, it wasn’t too strange for the Cullens. After some quick reassurance, they were fine.

When Edward returned, so did Bella and Y/N’s chat about him. She was sitting in her car, the window rolled down on the driver’s side so she could chat with Bella while she stood outside of the car. “This homework is ridiculous. You’re lucky you have another year before you have to do this,” Y/N complained as she stared at the sheet.

Bella wasn’t paying much attention, her gaze shifting from her own homework to Edward staring at her from across the parking lot. Y/N sighed and went back to her work before hearing a strange screeching sound coming from the end of the lot.

She looked up and saw a van skidding on the ice, careening out of control, headed directly for them. Y/N moved quickly to attempt getting Bella in the truck before the van crashed. She reached over and got the door opened before Bella noticed the truck, tripping on the ice under her feet and causing her to fall back against the door.

The door slammed hard back into Y/N’s skull and she moved to grab her head, her eyes hurting as she squeezed them shut. When the truck rocked back and forth slightly, she opened her eyes again, against the strain, and struggled to look out of the window to see Bella unharmed on the other side.

Her head was hurting too much for her to question how Bella got out of that without a scratch. She sighed and got back to her side, letting out a sigh as her dizziness crashed into her like the door did to her skull. Her vision strained as it sunk in and out.

Her headache began to sink in after her ears started ringing. Bella, getting over her shock, stood and turned to the window to see if you were okay. “Y/N?” She asked, her eyes wide and concern slipping into her voice. Her voice sounded muffled and distant, she could barely make out what Bella was saying.

She looked at Bella with unfocused eyes, “I’m fine.” Her words were slurred, barely hearing her own words over the ringing in her ears. People moved to look when they realized she was in the truck as well.

Students started swarming over to her side, looking in through the open window. They spoke in a choir of mumbles and muffled questions. Someone pushed his way through the group to look at her. “She needs to go to the hospital,” Y/N didn’t pick up a single word of that, but Bella did.

The last thing she saw before slipping into her first round through consciousness and unconsciousness was someone quickly rushing to get both Bella and Y/N to the hospital.

Y/N sat in the room surrounded by white, her feet hanging off the edge of the hospital bed as she kicked them in front of her. She had her hands steadied on the bed to keep her from falling over from the slight dizziness. The ringing had gone down, but it was still there in the background. Her headache was the only thing that had decided to stick around the way it had before.

She was just trying to convince everyone that she was fine. Just like Bella. She looked across the room at Bella, who was talking with her worried father about the accident. She looked away instead of trying to get her eyes to completely focus, the strain hurt.

When the doors opened, a stunningly handsome doctor came through them with a charming smile. He had icy blond hair, pale, ivory skin, and a smile that could kill. His face is kind, but pale, tired - that didn’t make him any less beautiful. He was drop-dead gorgeous. Y/N was sure she was shot with Cupid’s arrow.

He went straight to Bella first, “I heard the Chief's daughter was in.”

Charlie nodded, “Good. Dr. Cullen.”

Dr. Cullen, the head of the Cullen Family. Well, no wonder he was so beautiful. This was Carlisle Cullen.

He turned to the E.R. doctor, “I’ve got this one, Jackie.” She handed him the chart and left. He reviewed Bella’s chart, then felt the back of her head, “You have a nice knot growing back there, but your x-rays show no indication of concussion.”

Tyler Crowley, who Y/N assumed was the one who hit the truck, spoke, “I’m so sorry, Bella. I’m really-”

He was cut off by Charlie pulling the curtain between them. Yep, he was definitely the one who hit the truck. Y/N watched the interaction with a slightly tilted her. She was focusing in and out, not caring too much about anyone but Dr. Handsome.

Bella muttered, “It would have been a lot worse if Edward hadn’t knocked me out of the way.”

Charlie furrowed his brow, “Edward? Your boy?”

Dr. Cullen looked up before looking back down at the chart. Bella continued, a hidden goal in her words now, “It was amazing he got to me so fast. He was nowhere near me.”

He gave her a smile, “As long as you’re safe.”

Bella sighed and glanced as Y/N, who was visibly spacing in and out. She was still trying to get over her headache, but it was a little hard when it rattled her brain like it did. She was just waiting for a doctor to get to her like they said they would.

Carlisle followed Bella’s gaze to Y/N. At first, it was just a glance before he looked back again with a slight intrigue. He quickly finished up with Bella before turning back to Y/N, walking over to her with a smile on his face. She gave a seemingly distracted smile back and he picked up her chart from beside her, looking over it closely.

“What’s your name?” He asked her, looking back up with that same smile. Only this time, she got a good look at his eyes. They were a magnificent honey gold that would have made her weak at the knees, had she been standing.

Instead, it was substituted by a fluttering in her stomach. But who was she kidding, he was probably already married. He had kids, for God’s sake, adopted or not. She glanced down at his hand while he stared at her chart and felt a little bit of unnecessary hope when she saw no ring.

It didn’t matter, though. He was way out of her league.

She struggled to find her voice for a moment, trying to recall the question before answering in a slurred tone, despite her best efforts to make it clear, “Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Y/N, “ he said, as if tasting her name. He nodded slightly, “How are you feeling?"

She shrugged, “I’m okay.”

Dr. Cullen raised a blond brow very slightly before asking, "Any ringing in the ears? Headache? Dizziness?"

"Maybe a little,” she sighed, the slur becoming painfully obvious. He grabbed a small flashlight from his pocket and checked her eyes, running the rest of his tests. He looked back at the chart and sighed, “You've got a minor concussion."

“Course, I do,” she sighed, laughing weakly, “Brilliant.”

He gave her a sympathizing look and smile, speaking in that calm voice of his, “I want you to try to avoid unnecessary movement of your head and neck as much as possible. Limit your exposure to bright lights and loud sounds. Stay hydrated and get lots of rest. That said...you should be staying home for a couple of days before trying to get back to school."

‘Whatever you want, Doctor,’ was what her mind said before she quickly revised her sentence before she said it impulsively, “Alright. Thanks, Doctor.”

He nodded, “You’re very welcome.”

Dr. Cullen finished up with her before helping her off the bed, his icy cold hand placed on her arm so she didn’t trip and fall, which she was bound to do otherwise. Before they left the hospital, she was scheduled for another check up in two days.

She was rather giddy to know that she’d be seeing the blond beauty again in two days. She could hardly wait. She was driven home by Bella afterwards. She told her, “Hey, really sorry about the concussion. It must hurt.”

Y/N shook her head as she lied, “No, not at all.” She would rather not have people worrying over her. She was a lot like Bella in that area. The “suffer in silence” type.

She looked in her driveway and chuckled humorlessly at her car parked in the driveway. She nodded and walked up to the door. She moved the mailbox next to her door to reveal the small “hole” behind it where the car keys were hidden with a note.

When her grandfather was alive, he would often forget where the keys were so she had to put a spare in that space. She might as well use it since it’s there. The note read, “Finished the car. Good as new. You weren’t here so I dropped it off. -Jake”

She grabbed the keys and the note and went inside the house, closing the door behind her. She immediately got a glass of water and took a nap. She was tired.

But the nap didn’t stop her from thinking about the handsome doctor. If anything, it encouraged her as her mind wandered with fantasies of her and the gorgeous man.

Y/N got in her car on the day of her appointment. She was slightly giddy and she wanted to be annoyed with herself - she was acting like a child going to see her crush. She had to continuously remind herself, ‘Dr. Carlisle Cullen is way out of your league. Ring or not, there was no way he would be interested in you. Wake up.’

The reminders deterred her mood a little bit, but not enough to get her to calm down. She pulled out of the driveway and headed to the Forks General Hospital. After waiting for the nurse to show her to the room she’d be getting her checkup in.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” the nurse called, looking around the room that sat four other people. She looked up, a tight smile on her face, “Right here.”

She gave a soft smile and said, “The doctor will see you now.”

Y/N stood and followed the nurse down the hall. She led her to a room where there was a doctor waiting-- not the doctor she was expecting. The doctor smiled at her as she motioned for Y/N to sit down in front of her. Y/N obeyed, her heart sinking in her chest a little bit.

‘He’s probably not here…’

“How are you,” she asked. Y/N gave a tight smile and shrugged, “I’m okay, thank you.”

“Let’s see what we’ve got,” Dr. Lacey looked at the clipboard, “It says here you got a minor concussion a couple days ago?”

Y/N nodded, “Uh, yes. Dr. Cullen assessed me.”

“Ah, yes,” the doctor said, as if fantasizing now. She shook her head and sighed, “So you're coming in for a checkup?”

Y/N nodded. The doctor nodded back and went through the checkup to make sure everything was in order. She took a little longer than Dr. Cullen had, he was efficient and certain of every move he made.

Y/N stopped and sighed to try and rid her thoughts of the golden eyed doctor. She didn’t need to be thinking about him, it would turn into obsession quickly if she continued to wonder about the doctor.

“Alright, you look alright. Be sure to take it easy, if you must go to school, take it easy,” Dr. Lacey broke her from her thoughts.

Y/N responded with a sigh, “I need to get back to school. But I will take it easy.”

“Alright, then. Drink plenty of fluids and be careful.”

“Will do. Thanks.”

After the checkup, Y/N left the room. Her hands gripped her bag as she walked down the hall. She looked up and saw none other than Dr. Carlisle Cullen walking down the hall her way.

He gave a warm smile, “Hello, Y/N. How is your head?”

She smiled back at him, “It’s better. I just came up for my check up. I...expected to see you...” She very slightly furrowed her brow, looking into his eyes. They weren’t the same honey gold eyes they were, they were darker, more brown than they were before.

He nodded, looking down at the chart in his hand briefly before looking back at her, “Something came up and I wasn’t able to take your case.”

She nodded, “Oh, okay.” He motioned to his clipboard and said, “I’ve got to go. Have a nice day, Y/N.”

She smiled at him again, waving, “Bye, Dr. Cullen.” He nodded with a smile and left. She sighed, turned around, and left.

‘So much for ‘not here’,’ she thought before walking off.

It had been a while since she’d seen Carlisle. She hoped the distance and time would help stop her little fantasies, but it only made them worse. Every day and every night, she found herself thinking of Carlisle Cullen. It was driving her crazy.

She could barely focus on the work in front of her as she waited for her next class to start in the parking lot next to her car. When the bell rang, she sighed and threw her bag over her shoulder, beginning to turn to head back into the school. She paused when she saw Bella walking away and towards the forest that bordered the school.

She shook her head, “Where is she going?” She began to follow her, tell her that class was the other way. As Y/N headed over, she saw Edward headed after Bella. She knew she should have turned the other way and given them their privacy but, if they were missing a class period to do something, it would have been good.

And she was never one to miss out on eavesdropping.

She waited after most of the crowd had cleared before headed into the edge of the forest, walking a little ways longer before she finally saw the pair in the distance talking. She could make out some of what Bella was saying, facing away from Edward as he stood rather strangely behind her.

“...skin is pale-white, ice-cold. Your eyes change color. And sometimes you speak like... you're from a different time,” Bella said, slightly shaken, but not scared. She turned to face Edward now and Y/N furrowed a brow. Her mind wandered back to Carlisle, how his eyes went from gold to dark brown (almost black), how his skin is also pale and cold. She shook her head and turned back to them.

Bella continued, “You never eat food, or drink, or come out in the sunlight. And you said no to the beach trip only after you heard where it was. Because of the treaty.”

‘What treaty?’ she thought. She wasn’t at the beach trip, she turned it down to do homework since she was behind. Before she could think on, Bella spoke again, “How old are you?”

Edward hesitated before speaking, something in his voice that somehow made Y/N cautious and alert, goosebumps rising on her skin from the sudden awareness of all of her escape routes. “Seventeen,” he said.”

Bella continued, “How long have you been 17?”

“A while.”

‘Is she calling him a…’ Y/N couldn’t bring herself to even think of the word. That was absurd! Vampires didn’t exist…

“I know what you are,” Bella said to him, Y/N was barely able to understand but it was audible enough for her to make out.

Edward spoke, his voice firm, edging on chilling, “Say it… Out loud… Say it.”

His tone and his look made Y/N feel a little more frightened than she was before and it was ridiculous. She shouldn’t be scared, he wasn’t a vampire. Was he?

Bella hesitated before finally admitting, “Vampire.”

Edward didn’t deny it and that’s what began to concern Y/N and pierce through her unbelieving thoughts, “Are you afraid?”

She shook her head, “No.”

‘Is Edward…’

His tone was angry now, it only added to Y/N’s fear, “Then ask me the most basic question: what do we eat?”

“You won’t hurt me,” Bella said instead of answering.

The fear that had now stricken Y/N to the core was what completely convinced her that this wasn’t just some weird, strange game the two had going on. Edward was a creature that was believed to just be a myth, this thing that hunted humans for their blood. For food.

Y/N turned around, leaving the forest as quickly as possible before she was found. She didn’t know what to do, so she raced to the parking lot, got in her car, and went home. She could worry about her absence in the rest of her classes later. Right now, she had to make sense of things.

If Edward was a vampire, what does that mean for the rest of his family? Were they all vampires? Was Carlisle…

She didn’t want to think about it. This was absurd, she was crazy. Any moment now, she would wake up from this stupid, sick dream.

No one was a vampire.

But when she didn’t wake up, she was truly surprised and shocked. She got inside as quick as possible and paced around her house anxiously. How long had Bella known? How was she not scared, at least even a little bit? If Edward was a vampire, he had to be dangerous right? Was she safe?

Y/N downed a glass of water to try and calm herself. She needed to calm herself so she could think rationally. After a while, she decided she needed a nap. Maybe a nap would make everything make sense. Or at least calm her enough so she could think straight.

A knock on her door woke Y/N up. She looked at her clock, realizing the time. School had gotten out by now, that could be Bella. She got up and walked cautiously to the door. When she saw Edward on the other side through the peephole, her breath caught in her throat as she stilled.

“Y/N,” he called on the other side. She let out a silent breath, tensed up from her unexpected and potentially dangerous visitor. He spoke again, “I know you're in there. Just let me in, I won't hurt you.”

She thought about it quickly before deciding to just open the door. Her trembling hand landed on the knob and she let out another silent breath before pulling the door opened. She ran a hand through her hand and asked nervously, “Are you all…?”

He sighed, “Can I come in?”

She bit down on her lip and stepped aside, allowing him to step into her home. She closed the door behind him when he was inside and then turned back to him. He gestured for her to sit down and she took the opportunity, looking back up at him anxiously.

“Yes, we're all vampires. Me and my family,” Edward nodded, answering her question.

She thought to herself, ‘Did he know I was there?’

As if he knew what she was thinking, he spoke, “Yes, I knew.”

‘How did you-’

“I can hear what you’re thinking,” he answered her thought once again, “Some of my kind have gifts, I can read minds.”

“Then...why did you let me hear?” She asked. If he knew she was there, He could have easily stopped the conversation until she left, or told her to leave himself.

He shrugged, “I had to break the news to you somehow. The opportunity was right there, so I took it.”

“But why?” She asked him, confusion written in her tone. He sighed and stopped to think for a moment before admitting, “It’s complicated… How is your head?”

Y/N brought her hand up to touch her head as she answered, “Better…” The topic of her head made her think about Carlisle again. Her mind wandered as Carlisle’s face appeared in her thoughts. Only, instead of the golden eyes she remembered seeing that first day, she was met with blood red eyes that pierced into her soul.

Edward shook his head, “Carlisle's no monster. He's anything but. You can trust me on that. He’s the reason for our current lifestyle choice.”

The fear in Y/N’s eyes returned very slightly as she thought about that answer before Edward caught himself, “We consider ourselves vegetarians. We don’t feed on humans, we feed on animals instead. It’s why our eyes aren’t red.”

That calmed her a little more and she turned to play with her hands. She was clearly still shaken and Edward caught onto that. He spoke through the silence that began to settle, “I should be going…”

He stood and turned to the door. He placed his hand on the door knob before turning back to her, “Y/N… please know that we aren’t going to hurt you.”

She considered her words before allowing them to make sense in her head. If they were going to hurt her, they would have done it already. She nodded, “Okay.” He nodded to her, before finally turning and leaving.

She thought about her visit from Edward a lot after that-- not nearly enough to be more than she thought about Carlisle, but it was a close second. His words calmed her more, they seemed sincere enough for her to be able to believe. But she was still shaken and working on the believing part.

She still went to school. She decided her fear shouldn’t be enough to put her further behind than she already was by missing just two days of school before and then half a day after the big reveal. She was wary of the Cullens, but she wasn’t scared of them. If she was, it wasn’t as much as when she first learned of their secret.

Their eyes seemed to watch her sometimes, as if they were trying to see every move she made, waiting for a slipup. She assumed it was because she knew their secret. She wouldn’t tell anyone, she wouldn’t risk anything by telling someone. Besides, people would think she was crazy if they did.

Y/N assumed Edward had told his siblings this because they stopped watching her so closely after a while.

Her schedule consisted of school and home. She didn’t have reason to be any other place, so she stayed inside. There was apparently some wild animal attacking people in Forks. Now that she knew about vampires, she had her suspicions. After Edward’s admittance of their diet, she had reason to believe and trust that it wasn’t them. So she had to be careful.

She was doing her homework again one afternoon. She saw that there was going to be a thunderstorm sometime later on, so she moved her work outside to get some air before that happened. She didn’t like being outside during any storm, rain or not.

The door opened at Bella’s house and she turned her head to see who it was. She saw Bella and gave a wave, “Hey, Bells.”

“Uh- Hey, Y/N,” she responded, giving a wave of her own.

Suddenly, Edward stepped in view and she looked up at him. She’d gotten quite used to him, but she still wasn’t that used to him. “Hello, Y/N. How are you?” He asked her with a soft smile. He was still trying to ease her into this. He didn’t want to spook her.

She had been spooked enough when she found out.

“I'm fine... Thanks,” she cleared her throat.

Edward thought for a moment before speaking, “Bella and I are going to play baseball with my family. You're more than welcome to come, if you would like.”

She shook her head, “No, I'm okay. I wouldn't want to intrude, I’m not a big sports person anyway... You have fun, though.” She gave a tight smile.

He nodded, “Alright. Good night.”

“Good night,” she said after him as he walked away with Bella. They got in her car and drove away. Y/N sighed and stood, walking back into her house to make whatever she had in her fridge for dinner.

Y/N looked out of her window from her room when she heard a car drive up to Bella’s driveway. She was probably just getting back home. It was already dark outside, it would make sense. When Bella slammed the door, Y/N opened her window and looked out. She seemed angry.

“Bella, is everything alright?” She asked, glancing at Edward behind her.

She looked up at Y/N. She nodded, Y/N could tell through the darkness of the night because of Bella’s pale skin-- although not as pale as Edward’s. “Yeah, just... We're fine. Stay inside.”

Y/N trailed off, “Okay…” She glanced at Edward through the dark. Edward’s pale white skin allowed her to makeout the look on his face. There was a warning in his features, not a warning against him, though.

She retreated from her window, closing it shut and returning to what she was doing. A few minutes later, she heard the door to their house slam as Bella drove away quickly from the house. Edward wasn’t with her. Charlie was standing in the light of the porch, watching her leave with a seemingly pained expression.

Y/N stood at her window, looking as best she could without opening it. She was confused, why did Charlie look like that? She sighed, it wasn’t her problem, she shouldn’t be so concerned about it.

She shook her head, retreating from her window once again and deciding to go to bed. Everything was sure to blow over in the morning.

A strange crash was heard downstairs as Y/N woke up suddenly from her sleep. She thought about what to do, there was an intruder in the house. She looked around her room and grabbed her baseball bat. Her grandfather had made a bat for her when she was younger and it was one of the really sentimental things she kept around, even if she didn’t play.

She carefully locked her bedroom door and went into her closet to hide, clutching the bat in her hands tight. After a moment, her door knob jiggled furiously. She pushed her hand against her mouth to keep her quiet. She was terrified at this point.

When the jiggling stopped, she removed her hand slowly. Then the door was kicked down and off of its hinges, making her jump as she clamped her hand back over her mouth and stopped breathing to stay quiet.

She couldn’t see anything, she didn’t take any chances with leaving the door opened just a crack. She listened closely and allowed herself to breathe as silently as humanly possibly.

Soft footsteps were heard on the other side of the door. With how soft they were, this had to be a woman. Why would there be a woman inside of her house trying to get to her?

The footsteps stopped. Y/N stilled and held her breath again so she could hear anything that happened. When the footsteps continued, they seemed to stalk closer to the door and Y/N’s heart only continued to pound in her chest. It was pounding so fast and so loud that she could feel and hear it in her chest. She was sure it would stop soon.

There was more silence.

Y/N let out a yelp as the door opened violently and revealed a woman with fiery red hair. Her eyes were wild and sadistic as she smirked maliciously at her. “Hello, there,” she said.

The woman grabbed Y/N by her throat, pulling her back to her chest as her hand moved to cover her mouth. Her other hand came to pinch her nose, keeping her from breathing as she slowly and painfully stopped the air flow from reaching her brain and lungs.

Y/N struggled against the woman’s hold, trying to scream and yell to try and get the attention of the chief next door, who’s probably already asleep. Y/N’s struggling slowed as she grew weaker. She started seeing black spots in her vision as if faded in and out with each failed attempt to breathe.

Soon, she couldn’t fight anymore as her body went limp and she went unconscious. The woman let go of her, dropping her to the floor. Her goal wasn’t to kill her… yet.

Rosalie and Esme were sent to Bella’s place to guard Charlie and Y/N. Rosalie was confused as to why she needed protecting. They didn’t associate with her, the tracker, James, would have no reason to try and hurt her.

As they came up on the house, Esme checked quickly for Charlie to make sure he was safe. When she saw Charlie sitting in his house, she nodded to herself. Charlie was safe.

Rosalie took Y/N’s, looking inside the house. She stopped when she saw the door slightly opened. She walked up to the door, pushing it open as it squealed against the motion. She stepped inside and saw the broken vase on the floor behind the door.

Whoever opened the door before must have knocked the vase over by opening the door too quickly. She looked up the stairs, rushing to the top quickly and seeing the door on the floor. It had been kicked down. She searched the house quickly, listening closely for a heartbeat. She found nothing but an empty house.

She rushed back to Esme, “We have a problem. The girl isn’t here. Someone broke in.”

Esme’s eyes widened slightly and she grabbed her phone, quickly calling Carlisle to inform him of the news. When the phone picked up, she spoke quickly, “Y/N’s gone. She’s been taken.”

There was silence on the other end before Carlisle spoke, his voice was still calm, but it was lower in tone and held a slight edge to it that only a vampire could pick up, “What?”

Rosalie spoke, knowing Carlisle would be able to hear her, “The front door was opened and her bedroom door was kicked down. She’s nowhere.”

Carlisle’s grip on the phone tightened, but he eased it before he could break the phone. There were tiny dents where his fingers had squished the phone. He spoke in a disturbingly calm voice, “Watch Charlie. I’ll handle Y/N.”

He hung up the phone and returned his grip to the steering wheel. Edward and Emmett had heard the conversation on both ends. Edward was the only one who knew what was going on, Emmett was still trying to catch on. Why was this girl so important?

Carlisle stepped on the gas, carefully not to step too hard so his foot didn’t go through the bottom of the car, as he spoke, “Continue heading to Bella, I’ve got to turn around.”

Edward saw his plan before he could ask. They came up to a dealership just after Emmett asked Edward’s forgotten question, “How are you doing to get there?” When he saw the dealership, he spoke, “Oh.”

Carlisle pulled over and got out of the car, handing the keys to Edward. Edward told him, “Good luck.”

He nodded and Edward moved to the driver’s side before pulling out and speeding down the road again. Emmett was still confused as to why Y/N was so important, but he thought it best not to ask. The answer would probably pop up eventually.

Carlisle disappeared into the car dealership, intent on finding Y/N.

After the long process-- at least, it was long for him --of getting his car, Alice had called Carlisle’s cell. She spoke quickly, knowing he was already listening. “I see her. She’s in her car, in the back tied up. Victoria’s taking her somewhere.”

“Where are they?” Carlisle asked, his tone patient but his emotions anything but. Alice was quiet for a moment, looking closely into her vision before answering, “They’re headed to Seattle.”

“Thank you, Alice,” he told her sincerely. Alice hung up the phone and he sped down the road on his way to her.

Y/N inhaled deeply as she began to open her eyes. They fluttered before finally settling to see what was around her. She looked up and let out a small groan, “Where am I?”

She looked over when a female voice answered, “She’s awake.”

That woke her up completely. Memories from earlier hit her like a train as she went to sit up, realizing her hands and legs were tied up. The bindings were tight, she could barely move her fingers because her hands were tied so close together. She managed to sit herself up with tons of difficulty.

The woman was driving so quickly that all Y/N could make out through the windows were shades of dark green and blue. It was still dark outside, so she hadn’t been out for too long. The speed was enough to make Y/N nauseous as she moved to put her seatbelt on, going as quickly as possible in her panic. She needed to stay calm and the seatbelt was some sort of mundane reassurance.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked, her breath quick with worry.

“Nowhere you need to be in a rush to be. We're going to meet your friends,” the woman responded with a sadistic smile.

“My friends?”

“The Cullens,” she answered her.

Realization hit her as Y/N let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She spoke in a slight whisper, “You’re a vampire.”

The woman looked in the rear view mirror at her, giving Y/N a view of her crimson red eyes, “Smart girl.”

Y/N gulped, “Are you going to kill me?”

“No, of course not,” the woman said, before shrugging a shoulder and smirking, “Not yet, at least.” She looked back at the road for a moment and Y/N looked around quickly. There had to be some way for her to get out of this situation. She couldn’t defeat a vampire, if she tried anything, she probably would kill her earlier than expected.

Before she could think of anything, the woman’s eyes turned to the mirror again and she frowned, snarling at what she saw. She turned around to see through the windshield in the back. Y/N looked back as well, but she couldn’t see anything. They were going too fast for her to make out a single thing.

The woman huffed and turned the wheel harshly, vastly overestimating the turn before the car swerved dangerously off the road. They were in air for a second and that’s when time seemed to slow.

Y/N was nauseous as she felt herself lift off of the seat as she seemed to float on thin air. A cry left her throat and tears pricked in her eyes as she feared for her life as she thought about the impact of crashing at this speed.

In the second they were in the air, Victoria managed to open her door and dart out of the car, leaving Y/N there. She was already gone before the car even crashed.

The front wheels crashed onto the ground harshly and the nose of the car dug into the soil. It flipped the car over as it landed on the hood, the back of the car propping up against the tree behind it.

Y/N groaned and she smelt the smoke and gas. She moved, but she was stuck and there was a pain in her chest that made it hard to breathe. A strangled cry let her throat as she looked down and saw a large shard of glass sticking out of her chest. Her head spun and she was nauseous all over again.

She looked down at her seatbelt slowly, pressing the button to take it off before falling to the bottom. The glass on the bottom sliced at her skin and she winced. Blood, sweat, and tears covered her. She looked to see if she could find a way out of the car. She could hear the gas leaking out of the car, it would blow with her in it if she didn’t get out.

She ignored the glass and other sharp materials, moving to get to the door, to open it so she could escape. She tried all she could but she couldn’t reach the door, she was trapped.

But then the door ripped off of the car, allowing a passage to escape. She wiggled toward it, but she could barely move, the car was beginning to collapse in on itself and it was weighing down on her.

She could barely see, her vision was blurry and going in and out. It was so hot, it was making her dizzy. She saw a pale form in front of her, but she could make out a face. The form ripped the car apart over her so he could grab her, pulling her out of the car and to safety.

When she was finally out of the car, away from the heat and the gas, a round of coughs rattled through her. The smoke was no longer trying to cloud her lungs as she went to breathe. When the coughs subsided, she blinked until her vision slowly came back to her.

She looked back down at the glass shard in her chest, she brought her hands up, reaching her fingers to grab the shard nervously. When she had a good enough grip, she closed her eyes shut to brace herself.

“No, don’t do that,” a voice said. She knew that voice.

Her eyes flew open and she saw Carlisle, reaching to grab her hands. She reacted quickly, rushing to get away from him. She couldn’t move very well, the bonds wouldn’t allow it.

“No! Don’t touch me!” Y/N screamed, flinching away from the desperate touch of Carlisle. Her eyes were wild, her breathing fast and shallow, her whole body trembling in uncontrolled fear.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Carlisle said, gently taking Y/N’s hands and holding them firmly. Their eyes met. “Listen to me,” he told her, “You’re safe and they aren’t going to hurt you again. I’m here now. Trust me, I won’t let anybody hurt you.”

Carlisle almost expected Y/n to yank her hands away in her panic, but she didn’t-- instead she relaxed a little, tears slipping from her eyes, and let out a breath, “I…”

“It’s okay,” he said, smiled, and pulled her into a hug she didn’t resist. “It’s okay, I’m here.” She calmed the best she could and her exhaustion snuck up on her, causing her to pass out in his arms.

He sighed and looked at the wounds all over her body, then glaring at the glass in her chest. He needed to help her quickly. He took off his jacket, removing the shard and tying it around her chest as tight as he could without suffocating her.

He set her in the back of his car so she could lay down and made sure she was alright. He stepped on the gas and they were off to his house in no time at all.

Y/N breathed in suddenly, her eyes shooting open as she went to look around frantically to see where she was. Her body was in pain, but it didn’t hurt as badly as it did before. A soft, calm, soothing voice spoke to her, “Hey, hey. It’s alright, calm down.”

She looked to see Carlisle hovering over her, cotton in hand as he tried to get her to calm down. “Where am I?” She asked quickly, still working on the adrenaline she’d built up while she was asleep.

“Just relax,” he told her, “You’re in my home.” She took a breath in and allowed herself to lay back again. He gave her a reassuring smile, dabbing the cotton ball against a cut on her forehead. She winced and looked up at him while he worked.

“What happened?” She asked quietly.

He looked down at her, his eyes darker than the honey gold. They were around the same color she saw when she went to the hospital the second time, only they were slightly darker. “You don’t remember?” He asked, just as gently.

She looked down at her chest, there were stitches there that explained the numbness.

The glass shard in her chest from the crash.

She looked at her hand, seeing her bruised wrists.

The rope she was tied in by the woman.

It all came back to her as she looked over herself and then back into Carlisle’s still calming eyes. She remembered seeing those eyes after being dragged out of the burning car by him.

“You... You saved me,” she mumbled, sight disbelief as she stared at the gorgeous man.

“Of course, I did,” he told her gently as he bandaged the cut on her forehead. She had quite a few bandages on her body. She remembered the cuts and scrapes from trying to escape from the car.

She shook her head and blinked, “But...why?”

“I couldn't let you die, Y/N,” he said softly.

“Because you’re a doctor,” she concluded, feeling a little down by the answer.

“Because...it's complicated,” he shook his head and let out a sigh.

Y/N nodded, sighing slightly before wincing from the action, “That’s what Edward said, too.”

“You know our secret,” he stated more than asked. She nodded, “Yes.”

“Edward told me,” he replied.

She looked back at him, “Are you mad?”

He glanced at her, a small smile on his face, “Of course not.”

She managed to crack a joke, surprising even herself, “Just disappointed?”

He chuckled lightly, she felt triumphant about getting a chuckle out of him, “No, not that either.”

She smiled slightly before it dropped again, “Then what?”

Carlisle hesitated, setting the cotton ball down as he looked back at her, into her eyes. He stood blinking at her, lost in thought as if he tried to find out how to respond. He finally spoke, looking away from her as he did, “I’m captivated by you.” He returned his gaze to her curious, sparkling eyes.

“Me?” She questioned, shocked and surprised, “How?”

He chuckled weakly again at how shocked she sounded, “It has a degree of fate in it…” He returned to his work, picking up a cream and rubbing it onto her wrists over her bruises without hurting her.

“Ah, yes. Fate. My favorite thing,” she joked, watching his hands move along her wrists. He genuinely laughed, the two of them relaxing a little more before he turned to her ankles to rub the cream on the bruises there as well.

After rubbing in the cream, he bandaged the bruises and flashed her a smile, “I’m all done.”

She smiled at him, “Thank you, Carlisle.” She moved to sit up a bit more and he helped her so she wouldn’t hurt herself more than she was already hurt.

He shook his head, “There’s no need to thank me.”

She stared at him, memorizing his features like it would be the last time she’d ever see him. Another gaze into his eyes and she remembered the second checkup. He was supposed to be her doctor. She knew his answer was a lie, she just didn’t want to point it out. But she felt a degree of necessity now.

“Why weren't you the one to take my case when I went for my checkup?” She questioned, a soft expression on her face as she examined his.

He sighed and looked down at his hands holding the role of bandages. “You,” he said, only looking up after, “It’s the same reason my ears are a different color than the first time you met me.”

She listened intently, her eyes never leaving him as he spoke, “When I said a degree of fate, that's what I mean... Your blood attracts me. I’ve lived a long existence and I’ve never had to try and hold myself back. It’s how I know…”

She furrowed her brows and he looked down and away from her again. She moved her head so he would look at her again. She threw her legs over the side of where she was sitting so her body was facing him now, “How you know what?”

He looked back up at her, the way she was sitting now put him standing between her legs. Neither of them seemed to notice, though. They were wrapped up in their conversation.

“It’s how I know you’re… my mate,” he finished, watching for her reaction closely. Once again, she was caught by surprise. “I’m-” she closed her eyes and shook her head before looking back up at him, “Like a soulmate?”

He licked his lips with a light chuckle, “More or less, yes.”

She blinked at him, “Me?”

He sighed slightly, furrowing his brow as he gazed at her. He spoke gently, “You really don’t see it?”

She shrugged lightly, “I don't see how you could be… How I could be... You're way out of my league.”

A smile tugged at his lips, “Apparently not.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she chuckled.

He shook his head, “You don’t have to say anything.” He set a hand under her chin, lifting her head a little to see him better before dropping his hand. He spoke in a gentle tone, “You’re perfect for me.” He smiled and kissed her forehead softly.

She gazed into his eyes, the eyes that seemed to turn lighter with every moment that passed, as if her presence was restoring their warm, honey golden hue. She licked her lips, her eyelids fluttering. They were so close now.

“Why did you save me?” Y/N’s voice was barely above a whisper. Carlisle had managed to take her breath away as she tried to regulate it again.

His hands moved to her arms, just above her wrists. He slowly drifted down until they took her hands in his own. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes darted from his to his lips. Their fingers intertwined as they relished in the slow, sensual moment. Everything was still and calm, nothing was disturbed or had any sign of turning out that way.

It seemed like they would be frozen in place like this before Y/N made the first move, her hands moving from his as her arms wrapped around Carlisle’s neck. She pressed her lips to his, letting out her breath at the relief of the kiss.

Carlisle’s hands fell to her waist, steadying her as he kissed her back. Their lips molded together, moving in sync with each, in perfect harmony. She could feel what he meant about being his “mate”. She could feel that bond, that connection that they held. She was Intoxicated by him.

Her fingers intertwined in his hair, keeping him as close to her as possible. She wanted to feel him against her, his body close to hers in that sensual moment. It was as if the world stopped around them, as if it allowed them to have the moment for as long as they wanted, allowing them their forever.

It took awhile for Y/N to finally pull back to allow her lungs some air. Their eyes were closed, her forehead pressed against his as she caught her breath. He didn’t move from where he was, relishing in her presence. He spoke, his voice a whisper in the air, her words meant for her ears only, “I don't want to lose you.”

That was enough for her as she smiled and brought him back into another life-altering kiss.

#twilight #twilight fanfiction #carlisle cullen #carlisle cullen x reader #carlisle cullen x you #cullen #cullen x female reader #carlisle cullen x fem!reader #female reader #twilight x you #twilight x reader #the twilight saga #fanfiction #fanfic #i may have gotten a little carried away #pls i know #eight thousand eight hundred and twenty fucking words #jesus fucking christ #shaking my head

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