#like i saw someone say 'he's dependent on her' as if that's all her fault

[bookalicent]

another day another post of acting like jaime was cersei's victim and didn't have at least some autonomy of his actions towards her

[intheholler]

the appalachian murder ballad <3 one of the most interesting elements of americana and american folk, imo!

my wife recently gave me A Look when i had one playing in the car and she was like, "why do all of these old folk songs talk about killing people lmao" and i realized i wanted to Talk About It at length.

nerd shit under the cut, and it's long. y'all been warned

so, as y'all probably know, a lot of appalachian folk music grew its roots in scottish folk (and then was heavily influenced by Black folks once it arrived here, but that's a post for another time).

they existed, as most folk music does, to deliver a narrative--to pass on a story orally, especially in communities where literacy was not widespread. their whole purpose was to get the news out there about current events, and everyone loves a good murder mystery!

as an aside, i saw someone liken the murder ballad to a ye olde true crime podcast and tbh, yeah lol.

the "original" murder ballads started back across the pond as news stories printed on broadsheets and penned in such a way that it was easy to put to melody.

they were meant to be passed on and keep the people informed about the goings-on in town. i imagine that because these songs were left up to their original orators to get them going, this would be why we have sooo many variations of old folk songs.

naturally then, almost always, they were based on real events, either sung from an outside perspective, from the killer's perspective and in some cases, from the victim's. of course, like most things from days of yore, they reek of social dogshit. the particular flavor of dogshit of the OG murder ballad was misogyny.

so, the murder ballad came over when the english and scots-irish settlers did. in fact, a lot of the current murder ballads are still telling stories from centuries ago, and, as is the way of folk, getting rewritten and given new names and melodies and evolving into the modern recordings we hear today.

305 such scottish and english ballads were noted and collected into what is famously known as the Child Ballads collected by a professor named francis james child in the 19th century. they have been reshaped and covered and recorded a million and one times, as is the folk way.

while newer ones continued to largely fit the formula of retelling real events and murder trials (such as one of my favorite ones, little sadie, about a murderer getting chased through the carolinas to have justice handed down), they also evolved into sometimes fictional, (often unfortunately misogynistic) cautionary tales.

perhaps the most famous examples of these are omie wise and pretty polly where the woman's death almost feels justified as if it's her fault (big shocker).

but i digress. in this way, the evolution of the murder ballad came to serve a similar purpose as the spooky legends of appalachia did/do now.

(why do we have those urban legends and oral traditions warning yall out of the woods? to keep babies from gettin lost n dying in them. i know it's a fun tiktok trend rn to tell tale of spooky scary woods like there's really more haints out here than there are anywhere else, but that's a rant for another time too ain't it)

so, the aforementioned little sadie (also known as "bad lee brown" in some cases) was first recorded in the 1920s. i'm also plugging my favorite female-vocaist cover of it there because it's superior when a woman does it, sorry.

it is a pretty straightforward murder ballad in its content--in the original version, the guy kills a woman, a stranger or his girlfriend sometimes depending on who is covering it.

but instead of it being a cautionary 'be careful and don't get pregnant or it's your fault' tale like omie wise and pretty polly, the guy doesn't get away with it, and he's not portrayed as sympathetic like the murderer is in so many ballads.

a few decades after, women started saying fuck you and writing their own murder ballads.

in the 40s, the femme fatale trope was in full swing with women flipping the script and killing their male lovers for slights against them instead.

men began to enter the "find out" phase in these songs and paid up for being abusive partners. women regained their agency and humanity by actually giving themselves an active voice instead of just being essentially 'fridged in the ballads of old.

her majesty dolly parton even covered plenty of old ballads herself but then went on to write the bridge, telling the pregnant-woman-in-the-murder-ballad's side of things for once. love her.

as a listener, i realized that i personally prefer these modern covers of appalachian murder ballads sung by women-led acts like dolly and gillian welch and even the super-recent crooked still especially, because there is a sense of reclamation, subverting its roots by giving it a woman's voice instead.

meaning that, like a lot else from the problematic past, the appalachian murder ballad is something to be enjoyed with critical ears. violence against women is an evergreen issue, of course, and you're going to encounter a lot of that in this branch of historical music.

but with folk songs, and especially the murder ballad, being such a foundational element of appalachian history and culture and fitting squarely into the appalachian gothic, i still find them important and so, so interesting

i do feel it's worth mentioning that there are "tamer" ones. with traditional and modern murder ballads alike, some of them are just for "fun," like a murder mystery novel is enjoyable to read; not all have a message or retell a historical trial.

(for instance, i'd even argue ultra-modern, popular americana songs like hell's comin' with me is a contemporary americana murder ballad--being sung by a male vocalist and having evolved from being at the expense of a woman to instead being directed at a harmful and corrupt church. that kind of thing)

in short: it continues to evolve, and i continue to eat that shit up.

anyway, to leave off, lemme share with yall my personal favorite murder ballad which fits squarely into murder mystery/horror novel territory imo.

it's the 10th child ballad and was originally known as "the twa sisters." it's been covered to hell n back and named and renamed.

but! if you listen to any flavor of americana, chances are high you already know it; popular names are "the dreadful wind and rain" and sometimes just "wind and rain."

in it, a jealous older sister pushes her other sister into a river (or stream, or sea, depending on who's covering it) over a dumbass man. the little sister's body floats away and a fiddle maker come upon her and took parts of her body to make a fiddle of his own. the only song the new fiddle plays is the tale about how it came to be, and it is the same song you have been listening to until then.

how's that for genuinely spooky-scary appalachia, y'all?

[covenists]

✦ FULL OF FAN BEHAVIOR, M. VERSTAPPEN

everybody knows that this account is full of max. from his first win to now, from his most random things to his glory time, she's always there to post his pictures. they only know her as his friend and nothing more, but who is she actually?

req: Saw your post for smau requests, maybe a Max Verstappen where people don't realise his girlfriends account is you know her official verified account. Because practically every single post is about Max. Full on fan behaviour, in the sense she was his first fan as his childhood friend, she has been there supporting him since they were kids, and now they're adults and together, but some habits doesn't change.

(bonus if the posts makes people question why she choose Max as her mans.)

2016 - 2018

verstappenight

liked by maxverstappen33, and 1,942 others

verstappenight WOOOO P1🏆🏁 congratulations to you maximus, i'm soo proud of you!

view all 125 comments

maxverstappen33 I won't say anything about the name Maximus, but thank you 😄

danielricciardo Well deserved! 👍🙌

username look how young he is

username I love a supportive fan ^^ Plz post more of this man.

   ⤷ yourusername glad to be on your service, ma'am

username how old is he?

username He's so happy, he turns red.

username I usually don't trust redbull after Sebastian, but he might be my new exception🤷‍♀️

verstappenight

liked by danielricciardo, and 1,230 others

verstappenight that eyes glint with mischief. #throwbackthursday

view all 65 comments

maxverstappen33 Oh my god, I thought I trusted you by taking this years ago

   ⤷ yourusername never trust anyone

username The half smile😂

username He's been pulling the red string with Red Bull from a long time ago, and look at the hat. I bet it's not a coincidence.

username how is she even managed to get this out? this looks so ancient

   ⤷ username It's not ancient, it's probably old, but not ancient.

danielricciardo He looks like he's planning to steal one of the cars steering wheel

   ⤷ username exactly! 😂😂

username if it's a throwback, how old is this pic then?

   ⤷ username i mean he looks way younger than him on her recent post, so just figure it.

   ⤷ username he always looks younger

verstappenight

liked by victoriaverstappen, and 963 others

verstappenight how is it feel to have a duplicates?

view all 72 comments

maxverstappen33 Why are you taking the second one?

   ⤷ verstappenight and why are YOU posing to that one?

username Why is he looks younger and younger each time?

   ⤷ verstappenight i don't know, but i definitely recommend him to have a slug treatment for anti aging.

   ⤷ username username it's him in torro rosso, so that's why he looks more like a teenager.

username it's not even thursday yet, but i had a bad feeling for this week's throwback thursday.

verstappenight

liked by carlossainz55, and 3,573 others

verstappenight boo! happy halloween #throwbackthursday

view all 269 comments

username what did i say, my feelings are never lying

carlossainz55 Got you! 😆🤣

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 If I got a heart attack next week, it'll be completely your fault

landonorris is halloween on 29 or 30?

   ⤷ username depends on what region you're in, i guess?

   ⤷ landonorris don't guess, answer.

maxverstappen1 And how are you even managed to take this?? Seriously. yourusername

username I can't believe it's actually Carlos who did this

   ⤷ username Yeah, but I think this is so Carlos-like behavior.

username i would do that face too if someone dressed as scream beside me

username Who is running this fanpage?

username why are you liking him so much?

   ⤷ yourusername because he is so nice, cool, and he looks like sid from ice age which is my favorite character.

   ⤷ danielricciardo we got a whole stack of characters here: first we got maximus the horse from tangled, sid from ice age, and then what? jimmy neutron?

username 😂😂😂ajajaja mira su cara!

verstappenight

liked by redbullracing, and 3,782 others

verstappenight found this on twitter and now i can't stop laughing! can't wait to send this to my family group.

view all 90 comments

maxverstappen1 I really can't trust you with my digital footprint 🤦🏻‍♂️

   ⤷ verstappenight i found this on twitter alright, it's not taken by me!

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 Still.

   ⤷ carlossainz55 Ooh, someone's upset...

username who is this person behind this account?

username Why is his reaction is always looking so hilarious

username Max: 😦

username i feel him

username you sure it's not throwback thursday?

MID 2023

verstappenight

liked by charles_leclerc, and 97,182 others

verstappenight i changed throwback thursday with this questionable sense of max's fashion. hope that's alright.

photo credit via verstauri on twitter.

view all 348 comments

username NOOOOOOOOOOOO

username #bringbackthrowbackthursday

charles_leclerc If you get rid of throwback Thursday, how am I going to tease him?

   ⤷ verstappenight by searching it on pinterest🤷🏻‍♀️

username Is that real or photoshopped?

username Okay, I know throwback thursday is made a long time ago since 2015 but man I really miss it sm... 💔💔

   ⤷ verstappenight same, but some people don't need that old max (except for charles). we need the new one because life goes on -max via my message

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I don't remember saying it

   ⤷ verstappenight shut up

username oh cmon i know charles want it because he's in love with max

   ⤷ username should i be surprised?

   ⤷ username i mean if there's no throwback thursday, who's going to tease him with his past when she's not there

   ⤷ username Daniel and Lando or Y/n could...

   ⤷ username oh come on, i don't even know who's the person behind this account anyway, for EIGHT YEARS

   ⤷ username As if you've never heard of twitter, just search her username and you'll see her REAL face.

THE TWEET SHE MEANT:

verstappenight

liked by schecoperez, and 113,809 others

verstappenight guess which one is the real one

view all 462 comments

schecoperez The first one of course!😂🤣

username since when did checos ass becoming that juicy

   ⤷ username since he listened to daddy yankee's song on repeat

   ⤷ danielricciardo His actual morning routine:

username the first one because what else would he be doing if not eating omelette and seeing checo's ass in the morning

   ⤷ username even checo himself agrees

username I'm glad that she still post here, even though there's no throwback thursday anymore😞😔

   ⤷ username but i guess even though we did not have throwback thursday anymore, we still have this crack post of him😄

TWITTER, 3 DAYS AFTER THE COMMENTS ON VERSTAPPENIGHT'S DADDY POST:

maxverstappen1 added a photo to their story! 2h

ON THE OTHER HAND, HER ACTUAL IG:

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1 and 82,147 others

yourusername good moooorniiiiinggggg from my room<3

view all 97 comments

username Thank God it's not private

username damn yall work faster than the fbi

username Anyone come here from twitter?

username Omg I've never realized max pulled this hottie ever since they were born

username THIS IS VERSTAPPENIGHT ADMIN?????

   ⤷ username eight years of waiting is finally getting payed off..

username why are you even choosing max to be your man when there's charles or daniel who's sexier

   ⤷ yourusername sometimes i don't need looks to see to be having someone like max. he's my best friend first, and i'm glad i choose him right the first place.

   ⤷ username Oh that's sweet...

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I love you too, My biggest fan.

   ⤷ username I LOVE YOU TOO??????💔💔

   ⤷ username oh my god max is having a REAL relationship with a fan account admin

   ⤷ username AWOOP🚨🚔 THEIR MEDIUM LAUNCH????

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, and 278,903 others

yourusername nobody knows that this phone addict is once my best friend. happy birthday maximus! 🥳🤍

view all 486 comments

landonorris happy birthday facebook dad.

maxverstappen1 I once again not going to take the Maximus name. It makes me feel like a horse from Rapunzel.

   ⤷ yourusername wait, you've watch tangled before?

danielricciardo Happy birthday, Big boy.

redbullracing Happy birthday to our number one champion! 🥳🥳

username awww baby maxiee🥺🥺🥺

lewishamilton Happy birthday, mate!

carlossainz55 To be honest, your real account is sometimes still kinda feels like your other one.

   ⤷ yourusername force of habit probably?

   ⤷ carlossainz55 No, it's because you're acting like Max's biggest fan everywhere.

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 That's probably because she is.

   ⤷ yourusername wipe that smug smile off your face while you're typing

username He looks the same weirdly or not

username AHA I FOUND YOU VERSTAPPENIGHT ADMIN

username i love how she just hanging to his arm like they're been a couple since god knows how long

username SHE'S SOO LUCKYYY

username i'm gonna melt

username i feel like it's a hard launch, but she have been doing this for a long time ago

sophiekumpen 🥳🥳🥳

maxverstappen1

liked by zedd, and 627,834 others

maxverstappen1 How was I going to get her bad side if she's there and looking so beautifully?

👤: yourusername, verstappenight

view all 446 comments

landonorris poetic. remember your other girlfriend's waiting

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I don't remember having another one?

   ⤷ charles_leclerc How are you even forget about us?

yourusername awww i can't believe you tag the fan account one too!! i love you so much!!!

   ⤷ maxverstappen1 I love you too❤️

username #justiceforcharles #lestappenforever

username SHE'S SOOOO CUTE no wonder max pulled her

victoriaverstappen I didn't know you pulled this cutie

   ⤷ danielricciardo Me too until I found out yesterday at the club

username poetic max is going to be the end of me

username I really had a bad feelings of he becoming poetic and gets all over like this

username Okay, this is max's hard launch. And now I'm waiting for Y/n's

   ⤷ username i thought she already doing it for so many times at verstappenight? 😏🤭

yourusername

liked by redbullracing, and 579,420 others

yourusername 💌

���: landonorris

view all 461 comments

username PARENTS CONFIRMED???

username YESS (adopt me pls)

username is verstappenight still going to be there? let's see for the next two days...

username verstappenight nation how do we feel after this? (we can get a new max pic daily)

username i'm gonna thank lando forever for this

username With the bouquet, the dim light, and the black and white + sepia filters. What are they doin that night?

username AWWW ROMANTIC😍😍

danielricciardo They left Charles in the back that night

⤷ landonorris aww poor him. but anyway...

username how are you converting from lestappen to this one so fast?

TAGLIST @queenofmanydreams @muglermami @4limq @avengers-assemble123456 @cabbyhabs @meowtastick @4mula-1 @miarabanana @amel1ee @dinosushilun1 @auggieblogs @namgification

[breadly-art]

I often see people saying that Miguel hates children. All I can say to such people is that their views are too shallow. And that's why they're wrong:

Let's think logically. Miguel, like the entire HQ, is sure that the violation of canon events will result in the destruction of the entire universe. He has reason to believe so - before his eyes, the whole world disappeared through his own fault. That's it, it's all gone. Of course, Miguel will be sure that it is not worth violating the canon. Moreover, he knows that the universes are connected, and if you lose too many of them, then the entire multiverse will collapse, this is logical. It's like a spider web - the more holes there are in it, the sooner it will break.

Miguel leads a squad that maintains the stability of the canon by dealing with anomalies. He must be sure that each of the spider-men will be reliable enough to prevent a violation of the canon event. He has no other option, he will not just forget about the minor mistakes of any spider-man from the HQ. Not because he's angry and strict, but because the safety of all universes depends on it, God damn it.

He's in charge for a reason. He knows what he is doing and why, he knows what a mistake will cost. "I don't always like what I have to do. But I know that I have to be the one to do it." He knows that the canon event often costs someone their life, he knows that some spider-man will feel bad about it, but are there any other options?... Yes, in the question "one person or the whole universe" he chooses the universe, but that doesn't make him an asshole. He's trying to save millions of lives in the only reliable way he knows how.

And now back to his "hatred of children." Miles. Yes, I can understand his desire to save his father, but it could destroy his universe. And yes, it is not a fact that it will be destroyed, but judging by what Miguel saw, the chance of the collapse of the universe is GREAT. And it's not just about Miles's universe, it's about all universes. A web with many holes breaks faster. If saving the universes costs Miles's father's life, if Miguel has to keep Miles at HQ by force to prevent him from making a mistake, he will do it. I don't think Miguel likes it. But he knows he has to be the one to do it.

Gwen. A lot of people didn't like the way he treated her, but listen - there were reasons for that. As I said, Miguel needs to be confident in every spider-Man at HQ, it's a matter of keeping the universes safe. And Gwen let Miles go, let go of someone whose actions could destroy everything. Miguel can't count on her the way he used to, not after she let Pavitr's canon break and didn't catch Miles. He sends her home not because he hate her, but because the HQ is not a place for those who think with their gut. Here you need to think with your head, only this can be 100% sure. You can't make mistakes. HQ must not allow the disruption of the canon. They must not allow the chance of death of millions of people. So Miguel wasn't mad at Gwen. He was disappointed in her - because she couldn't make a hard choice.

For the same reason, he doesn't take Peter B. on a mission. Peter didn't stop Miles when he had the chance, but unlike Gwen, he hasn't questioned Miguel's theory about the canons yet. Peter believes him, but is clearly not sure what to do next. That's why Miguel takes Jess and Ben with him, the ones he's 100% sure of.

Next... Gwen's father. No one, damn it, keeps their finger on the trigger when they don't really want to shoot. Do you think he wouldn't have shot his own daughter? Oh no, he would have done it. And Miguel understood that - that's why he intervened, even though he shouldn't have been there. After all, remember - a vulture could disrupt some kind of canon event. But which one? Facereveal Gwen in front of her father, perhaps? Nevertheless, Miguel intervened. After all, he knows what it's like to deal with an Irish father named George, who is ready to raise his hand against a child.

And then, even seeing Gwen's insecurity after everything that happened, he suggests that she "join the club", he knows what it's like to be all alone. And he clearly doesn't want that for Gwen.

Miguel is not a bad character. Not a villain. He doesn't hate children. He's just trying to protect the universes the best he can, and he's ready to be the one who has to make the hard choice. I don't think he likes it all. He keeps doing it because he doesn't know any other way. He tried to find it - and the more he tried, the more damage he did. He’s only on the “prevent other worlds from being disrupted” step of this process and he’s already way past worn out.

Look at it from this angle - if you had been working on a project for a very long time, which you had already failed once (and it was so terrible that you don't want to remember), which required all your time and effort, required you to lead people you didn't know very well, required you to constantly make choices, after which you would they always looked askance, and you yourself would feel extremely lousy, but which would clearly benefit many people... And then there was a high chance that another person would ruin everything for you, because he has another untested work plan. And this person is not listening to you, this person is not interested in your arguments, he is absolutely stubborn. Wouldn't you freak out about it? Wouldn't you be angry? Wouldn't you try to stop this person with all your might? This is not hatred of children. It's a damn fear.

[synthetickitsune]

Milk Swirls Of Destiny ✧ y.jh

Pairing: Yoon Jeonghan x reader (gn) Genre: coffee shop au, fluff Summary: Yoon Jeonghan is mildly inconvenient at best and infuriating at worst. He's somehow the worst and the best coworker you have. Definitely the most annoying. Word count: 6.8k Warnings: food mentions A/N: he just lives rent free and his pretty best friend too and @hanniedream is holding me hostage in brainrot (aka being my partner in crime and emotional support and muse here) [series masterlist] [next chapter - wip]

“Aaaah… I see now. Hm…” Jeonghan swirls the cup slightly, a look of concentration on his face.

“What- what is it?” the girl standing on the other side of the counter stumbles over her words. She’s looking at him with bated breath. Her hands are clasped together as if she was praying. As if she was looking at something holy. You scoff quietly and roll your eyes once you turn your back towards them. Like there’s not enough work to do.

“Look here,” Jeonghan says and points to the squiggly line where he messed up the milk pour for a flower design. His face is the mask of seriousness. “See the waves? Clear sign of turbulent times ahead. But it smooths out eventually - it looks a bit like a star here, see?”

No. No, it doesn’t.

“-That means you’ll succeed. Just hang in there.”

The girl seems on the verge of tears as she takes the cup from Jeonghan, clutching it with both hands as she thanks him relentlessly. It’s only after a couple minutes that she finally walks off with what has to be a cold and disgusting latte. 

You understand trying to predict the future from coffee grounds, tea leaves, whatever, but to do so from a milk pour in a latte made by a barista who couldn’t pour a heart if his life depended on it? 

“You’ll scare off the customers with that sour face,” Jeonghan nudges your ribs with his elbow once he comes stand next to you and finally starts helping you with the backed up orders.

“Yeah, and the thin ice you’re dancing on will break under you one day when the customers start complaining about their coffee being cold by the time you’re done with your little fortune teller charade,” you snap back. He snickers.

“Someone’s grumpy,” he hums, “I’m here now, we’ll have these done in no time.”

You’d like to believe him. You really would. But you’re annoyed and you know it’s only a matter of time before he runs off again.

It’s not his fault that the new guy called in sick last minute. The boss knows that it’s better to have at least one more person behind the counter whenever Jeonghan is working - partly because he’s busy with his fortune telling side hustle and partly because he brings in a lot of customers. A lot of customers. And without fail all of them become annoyingly obsessed with him, it’s only a matter of time. It’s fine as long as they only come in and stare at him, it’s the ones who have to have their coffee made by him and have him read their fortunes. Like he’s not just making shit up. You’d swear you saw some fan pages dedicated to him online. 

You guess the traffic he brings to the cafe is the only reason the boss is okay with him doing his thing and leaving the rest of you to struggle.

For now though, you work efficiently and neatly together. Working with Jeonghan, when he is doing his actual job, is always smooth. You don’t need to talk to get the orders to the waiting customers fast. At times like these you only have half a mind to cringe at the winks and apologetic smiles he sends to his flock of lovesick fans. Sometimes you want to tell him he’d get even more tips - like he’s not already getting a ridiculous amount - if he let his fingers brush against theirs, but whenever you open your mouth to do it, you can’t. Your stomach twists when the words make it to the tip of your tongue. It must be because you couldn’t witness that without gagging.

“See? We’re doing so well,” he hums proudly, and you fully intend to give him a genuine smile back. You really do. That is until you see the customer he’s handing the cup to. He frowns a little at the way your face falls and your lack of reaction. Before he can say anything, though, the girl squeals: “You’re the one who can read the future, right?”

It honestly looks like she’s meeting an idol. To be fair, Jeonghan has all the predispositions to be one and has the professionalism to match. You’d think the flustered but excited smile he gives the girl is genuine if you didn’t know any better. He always gives them conspicuous smiles like his role is a secret between the two of them. Like he feels seen by them. You sigh, your smile purely professional while you hand the glass to the other customer and simply motion towards the straws and sugar packets. And then you rush to work on the next drink.

Jeonghan breaks character for just a second to give you an apologetic smile - which you pointedly ignore. You’re too busy. Just one scan of the growing line and pool of waiting customers is enough to tell you Jeonghan won’t be helping you any time soon.

And eventually, any time soon turns into well after rush hour, with the most dedicated - and delusional - fans forming a line of their own just to get the most useless fortune reading of their lines. 

It’s honestly admirable in its own way that he acts with the same dedication with all of them, no matter how many there are. Right now though, you finally get to sit down and can’t be bothered to try and think anything good about him. You feel abandoned. Betrayed.

You know you’re the one being dramatic now, but you can’t help it. Your social battery is drained. 

You didn’t even get to go on lunch break - you couldn’t leave the other newcomer, Chan, there alone. No way he could handle both taking and making the orders. He hasn’t even been properly trained for that yet. And it feels like Jeonghan slacked off the whole time. Honestly you had no idea how this could be profitable for the owner but hey, it’s her business and not yours.

You’re still sulking when you finally take off the apron and your work shoes. Even walking to the station and walking home doesn’t seem appealing right now, but you really need a nap. And a nice warm meal. Still, you can’t find the energy or will to pack your stuff, so you’re just zoning out for a couple minutes. Which turns out to be a mistake.

The door flies open to reveal a disheveled Jeonghan. His hair is a mess, like he’s been the one getting through the rush. Once he sees you, however, he breathes out seemingly in relief and smoothes down his birdnest of a hair with his free hand. In the other he’s holding a cup of something iced. 

“I thought I didn’t make it,” he smiles at you, carefully coming closer. You heave a long and exhausted sigh.

“Leaving all the work to the others again?” you say, and although you try to sound unbothered, there’s a bitter edge to your voice. He frowns a little, turning his head towards the door for a second.

“I made sure no one was there when I left,” he shifts his weight, “And I just wanted to bring you this. As a thank you and a sorry.”

He offers you the cup in his hand and you take it. Or you’d like to before he steps a little closer and his eyes fill with that mischief you’re so used to seeing during his interactions with the customers.

Not this again…

“If you look here,” his finger draws a swirl above the transparent lid, “See how it looks like those curls want to tie together? A clear sign someone’s trying to court you. And they must be close.”

While he explains, Jeonghan keeps his eyes on the coffee but once he’s finished he looks at you. His gaze is so hopeful, so so hopeful, and you remember it working on you the first couple tries. It gets old after a while, though.

“Yeah, thanks for the coffee,” you shut down his efforts and take the cup from him, “For what it’s worth, I’d prefer for someone to have my back when it’s busy.”

“I’m sorry,” Jeonghan blurts out. He frowns again when he sees how resigned you look, licking his lips uncertainly. “I’m sorry I made you do all the work. I didn’t mean to.”

“Yeah, I bet you didn’t. Like you didn’t mean to on Monday, or last week, or literally any other day we were short on people,” you roll your eyes. Finally you get the motivation to take your things from the locker and leave. 

“Arguably, the cafe being short staffed is the issue here,” he says almost sheepishly - and visibly regrets it the moment you scoff and set the coffee down to cross your arms on your chest. “What?”

“‘Being short staffed is the problem’ yeah - yeah you can argue that and lose the fucking argument because we only need the extra person because you’re no fucking help,” you snap at him, throwing your bag over your shoulder and slamming the locker shut after hurriedly throwing things in. Jeonghan opens and closes his mouth, the corners of his mouth downturned and eyes wide. “Goodbye Jeonghan. See you Friday.”

You push past him and leave, waving at the poor cashier left stuck here with him. 

Jeonghan looks after you until the door closes and the loud noise makes him jump. He looks at the cup left behind, dripping water on the bench. He groans, sitting down with his head in his hands. He rubs his face, knowing he shouldn’t linger here. You might be gone, but his chest feels tight anyway. Now more than ever, like he’s just proving you right by wasting his time here where he is of no help to anyone.

He picks up the cup sadly and takes a small sip. It’s the best one he made, it shouldn’t go to waste. It’s just the way you like it, your favorite he thinks, yet it doesn’t make him feel any better or like you’re still here with him. 

When he returns to the front, a customer has just finished ordering - an older man, and Jeonghan immediately proceeds to prepare the order. His mind is blank but his heart feels heavy. You didn’t even taste the drink…

“Did you seriously just disappear to the back to drink your coffee?” Chan whisper-yells at him after he hands the order to the customer. Jeonghan is about to argue but then he realizes how pathetic he’d sound and just laughs.

“Eyy, I returned just in time, didn’t I?” he bumps his hip against the newbie’s. 

“Dude, you’re just flirting the whole day. Me and y/n did all the hard work, do you really think you’re the one who deserves a coffee break?” his coworker sighs and takes a rag to wipe down the counter. His smile falls immediately and suddenly it’s hard to swallow.

Way to go, Yoon Jeonghan…

Although you don’t work with Jeonghan again until today, you can’t say you feel any better. It’s not like you hate the job - actually you quite like it. The pay’s decent, the boss is fine for the most part, and your coworkers are all nice people too. At the same time you’d lie if you said you wouldn’t rather stay home and sleep and that your stomach doesn’t feel uncomfortably nauseated just thinking of another shift with Jeonghan. Your only hope is that it’s Friday and those usually aren’t as busy in the area. And it’s your last shift for the week. You can do this.

You wash your face and pray. There’s not much else you can do.

The least you can do is to use your limited control over the situation to take the last possible bus so that you make it in time. So you do. Every minute of peace counts. And although it does make you anxious to imagine being late, it’s not like you come late regularly - you never did, actually. So not a big deal. Maybe it’d show Jeonghan what it feels like to be all on his own.

For a while longer, you let the world fade into the background with music blasting in your headphones. It’s easier to ignore people if you can’t hear them. You push it, only giving Chan and Joshua behind the counter a friendly wave to greet them while you pass them. 

You push it further, opening the door to the staff room. You keep the music on until the last moment, until you open your locker and pull out your shoes and stuff your things in, and then you have no choice but to turn the music off and return to reality.

The first sound to reach your ears is annoying high-pitched whining complemented by a fluff of blond hair buzzing around you.

“You’re so mean,” Jeonghan complains, “Are you ignoring everyone today or just me?”

The temptation to just keep your mouth shut is so strong but you never learn. You still have hope that today will be better. And then you’ll need to get along with him. You’re closing the place together too…

Luck seems to be on your side for now, however, and lets you keep him waiting without any need for an excuse.

“My condolences, y/n. He’s so annoying today - he kept bugging us at the front before you came,” your savior, Joshua, declares right as he comes in and heads for his locker.

“Hey-”

“Are you leaving Chan there alone?” you quirk a brow at the newcomer while you change your shoes and throw on a fresh apron. It’s mostly just an excuse to ignore Jeonghan for a bit longer. But also it’s not like Joshua to skirt his duties.

“He can handle himself for five minutes,” he shrugs, “He’s a quick learner and it’s basically empty.”

You hum and snicker, “So was Vernon and you know how that went.”

Joshua shakes his head with a laugh while Jeonghan, very much cosplaying a fluffy and persistent bee, hovers closer to you at the edge of your vision.

This is a conversation he could join in but he doesn’t want to join in on a conversation you have with Joshua - he wants to talk to you! Alone! 

“Aren’t you supposed to be clocking out?” Jeonghan snorts in the direction of the other man. Joshua smirks, leaning against the lockers.

“Aren’t you supposed to be clocking in? I bet there’s already a line waiting for you,” the other never backs down from whatever Jeonghan throws his way. It’s impressive. It’s what he likes about the guy. It’s a challenge and he enjoys one. Even now, he’d bite back - oh, he would. But from the corner of his eyes he can see how your face falls just a little.

“Well, they can all wait because first, I’m gonna do a very exclusive reading for our dear y/n here,” he can’t let you see him weak and he can’t lose, and by changing the direction, he’s definitely not-

“Nah, thanks, I’d rather Shua does it,” you smile at the other man.

Now it’s turn for Jeonghan’s face to fall. Not like you will notice.

(It feels like a dagger to the back. The boss had this big idea of having more people on rotation for those readings, and with his acting skills and similarly mischievous personality as well as good looks, Joshua was the obvious choice. Jeonghan poured his heart into teaching him. Their back and forths were on another level, Joshua truly was the perfect student and the only one who could possibly match Jeonghan’s skill. Unfortunately, Joshua is also fucking crazy and his readings were anything but the wholesome, uplifting messages meant to comfort and heal that Jeonghan is trying to hand out. So in the end, Jeonghan alone is the chosen one.)

Joshua laughs back, throwing out a casual “anytime” that makes Jeonghan gag.

“y/n,” he whines, propping his chin on your shoulder - and he knows it’s just the surprise that stops you from immediately shrugging him off but whatever - “But he’ll just tell you you’re gonna grow a third eye or something. I’ll give you the truth.”

“If I had a third eye, I’d be able to see when we’ll get busy so I can, I don’t know, slip and break my leg and go home,” you roll your eyes and now you shrug him off and he pursues his lips more. 

Is it really that bad?

“We’d miss you here, you’re one of the good ones,” Joshua smirks at you and checks his watch, “Time to go! Good luck, both of you.”

Jeonghan hears you grumble something along the lines of ‘like he needs it’ way too clearly. He lets you walk in front of him, so he can sigh without you noticing. Joshua pats his shoulder while he passes him and gives him a kind smile. He hates how easy it is to like the guy.

Fortunately the cafe remains virtually empty when you come out, so you greet Chan again but with a genuine smile for a change. He seems to notice and beams at you too.

“Shua said you did well today,” you hum, trying to warm up to the newest addition to the team. Safe for the dude who’s still sick and you haven’t seen before. You don’t even remember his name.

“You know Shua, he’s just kind,” Chan dismisses, but there’s a happy sparkle in his eyes. One that is very much missing in Jeonghan’s - a fact which goes unnoticed.

He goes through the motions of cleaning the counter even though it’s sparkling clean. He refills the beans even though the container is full. He checks the labels and everything is in order…

“What’s up with him?” the cashier nods towards him. You shrug.

To be fair, Jeonghan works hard. Usually he’s pretty cheerful too, but now he’s just a lifeless husk and you wonder if it has anything to do with you basically ignoring him. Maybe you were too harsh on him when he was just being friendly.

“Anything needs a refill? Do we need anything from the back?” you slide closer to the man in question and take the rag from his hands. He looks surprised but before you can even blink, he’s smiling at you and smirking mischievously.

“Are you hinting I should go get it myself? That’s so mean,” he grumbles. He’s giving you a very convincing kicked puppy look but it’s not like there’s anything he needs to convince you about. Safe for his competency maybe, but that would take much more than him acting cute.

“I’d do it myself. This is just me giving you a chance to pull your stuff out.”

He grimaces a little, as if he forgot about it. Still he thanks you quietly. This one you can’t blame on him; it was just another of your boss’ bright ideas.   

‘Jeonghan’s stuff’ is really just a cloth, a nice deep shade of purple with golden embroidery of sun and moon and some more astrological motives that he spreads out on the area of the counter where he does the readings. It’s also an assortment of crystal candy handmade by Minghao.

(Minghao is only a part-timer and has the least hours of all of you, and occasionally you somehow go the whole month without seeing him once. You wonder if it has anything to do with the time he needs to make the candies.

They don’t match the cafe’s vibe - they look too luxurious, especially next to the plain looking macarons, roll cakes, cookies and other goodies - but they do fit Jeonghan’s vibe.

They’re delicious too, so you hope that whatever is Minghao’s contract doesn’t change. Although he could give out employee discounts.)

Anyway, Jeonghan’s corner isn’t much, and thank god it’s not flashy, but it’s a little extra something for whenever Jeonghan’s working. You usually notice some of his groupies peeking in through the front window to check if his stuff is out. It’s also a good way to tell if the day will be a good one or not if he’s in.

“Found something we need from the back?” Jeonghan joins you right as you’re finished going through the supplies.

“No, I think we’re good. Shua usually leaves everything ready for the next shift anyway,” you hum, double checking the dates on everything just to be sure. Not that you expect to find anything amiss.

“You’re so nice to him.” You roll your eyes at him before you can stop yourself, which Jeonghan takes a personal offense to. “I always do my best too!”

“Yeah, but Shua is just more reliable,” you shrug. Unswayed by his sulking, you keep working around Jeonghan, who follows you while listing all the nice things he’s ever done for you. You catch Chan watching you from the side and laughing. 

“If you have nothing better to do-”

Just as you’re about to find a task to give to the youngest, the doorbell rings and in walks a pair of friends. Their giggling and badly hushed squeals tell you everything you need to know.

“Better get in the character,” you say, already giving up, and move on to the cake display and check the temperature. The display cooler is new, but after the fiasco that was the last one you want to make sure.

“What do you mean by character?” he puts a hand over his chest. He’s already acting, though. “I just have powers nobody can explain.”

You scoff, almost bumping into him while he keeps shuffling on the floor. He’s just doing it to get on your nerves at this point.

“What the hell?” you hiss at him quietly.

He looks at you for real. The look in his eyes is close to desperate when his gaze flicks towards the girls and then back to you, standing conveniently between them and him. You only laugh a little. It’s ridiculous how dramatic he’s being, and you wonder why he has to be this eccentric all the time.

“Not ‘hell’, they’re powers from a higher good! And I wasn’t kidding yesterday,” he remains serious - whatever his version of serious is anyway, “There’s someone really close to you who’s interested in you.”

You don’t really want to indulge his delusions but since he’s still behaving like a child seeing his least favorite relative and the girls are taking ages ordering, you decide just once won’t hurt.

“Yeah? Tell me more,” you say simply.

At this point he’s basically cornered against the counter and the girls keep looking your way. There’s very few options left how he could cower from them. He seems more focused on you, however, delight written all over his face.

“Literally so close that when you realize you’ll feel so stupid you’ll want to bang your head against a wall.”

“Already do,” you sigh.

You might say that but there’s something charming about the way Jeonghan tenderly holds onto your sleeve, the way his head isn’t buried in your shoulder but you feel his every breath on your skin anyway. He’s careful not to press himself against you and you appreciate that, even though you’re long since you used to people being squeezed together behind the counter on the busier days. His current position makes your work much harder nonetheless. Though you suppose you’re just making yourself look busy at this point.

Not that you’re not grateful to Joshua, but damn, couldn’t he leave at least something for you to do without customers around?

“Yeah? Any guesses who could be your secret admirer?” Jeonghan whispers. The girls are paying already and you have no idea what he's hoping to accomplish. They’ve seen him already when they walked in and they see him now.

Fortunately they sprint over before the silence after his question gets long enough that it’d demand you to answer.

Like somebody flipped a switch in Jeonghan’s brain, he springs us from behind you and greets the girls at his corner, asking them for just a moment to let him work his magic.

You join Chan in Jeonghan-watching while he works after he sends you away to prepare the order himself. Not that unusual, although you’d like to have something to do so that the shift passes quickly. It always pleases the fans, though, and this time too it doesn’t fail to make them swoon over his long fingers, his tongue flicking out to wet his pretty lips, or the bow tied on the small of his back that looks so cute and accentuates his slim waist. It’s always this way. You think you learned what they’re into quite well. And it’s not difficult to see. 

You’re just more used to it now.

“Do you think my training could include some one-on-one with him?” Chan whispers to you, “I mean I have no problem getting a date if I want to-”

“You must be really against dating right now then,” you can’t resist teasing him. You have no idea if he’s dating or not, but you suppose if he wants Jeonghan’s help of all people, he must be desperate. Then you remember he’s just a newbie. He doesn’t know him well yet.

“Hey!” he punches your shoulder lightly, “It’s just- He’s on another level, okay?”

“I guess,” you murmur, “But he’s still as single as us, so he must be a loser beyond getting a number.”

“You think so?” he tilts his head, “Makes sense.”

“Yeah, so you just do you.”

Fridays tend to be slower, what with most of the students from the nearby university preferring a club to a small cafe by the time the end of the week rolls around, but it’s just as well. At least you get to show Chan how to do things properly whenever a learning opportunity comes around and for once it’s Jeonghan who has his hands full with work. So much so that both you and the cashier help - at least when all the customers are waiting to get their coffee and reading.

There’s not much you can do to actually help, but whenever you slide the plated desserts on the counter, ready to be matched with the coffee, prepare the boxes for the takeout orders, or you hand him a cup only waiting for him to mess up the milk, he gives you a grateful smile. You think that when your fingers brush occasionally, he might be doing it on purpose - occasionally here being an understatement, but it doesn’t happen all the time either. Whatever, you suppose that’s his own way of saying thanks. 

Slowly, though, even that crowd starts to thin out. 

Back when he used to work here, Seungkwan would always say that seeing Jeonghan and getting a cake were both a sweet treat for the students coming here on Friday evening. 

You wonder if they’d think of him as sweet if they were forced to work with him and deal with his whining.

It’s not that you want to entertain his quirks when you let him rest his head on your shoulder after the place empties. It’s just for now. And when you pet his hair whenever he sighs deeply, you’re just being a supportive coworker. It’s just that he really did work hard.

Jeonghan’s other shenanigans and the shit he puts whoever is unlucky enough to be on the shift with him through make it easy to forget the effort he puts into what he does. All the talking, making stuff up on the spot, the creativity that requires. You don’t think you could ever match that - especially with your social battery being as faulty as it is. And whenever he can, he insists on preparing the orders entirely by himself - and whenever he abandons you to the rest of the orders, even this is a big help. He never really complains either, his sighs and whining are mostly for attention.

Perhaps you’re too harsh on him sometimes. He doesn’t have it easy, just the same as you. 

“We’re almost done,” you pet his hair one more time and wave goodbye to Chan. For the remaining two hours, it’s gonna be just you and Jeonghan. The man on your shoulder doesn’t bother to lift his head and blindly waves as well.

You look around the cafe, empty safe for a single man at the table in the corner. He looks like he’ll be leaving soon too. It’s a relief, especially after the catastrophe that was your last shift together.

It’s been a while since you last closed with Jeonghan, however, so you can only hope that in the little time you have left he won’t do anything that would sour today’s experience. 

“If we start now, we’ll be finished sooner,” you whisper to him, and finally he raises his head. Over the couple months you learned that nothing motivates him quite like the prospect of going home soon. At least one thing you have in common.

“Do you want to do the clean up here?” Jeonghan suggests, but his tone couldn’t be more hopeful that you’ll say no. You huff and shake your head.

“It’s fine, I’ll just do the lobby and help you out when I’m done,” you grant his wish. Truthfully you don’t really care either way. And at least on lobby duty you get to have some space and walk around.

He thanks you cutely, promising another free reading just for you - which you immediately decline, but you know better than to expect him not to go through with it.

The time you have left passes in a breeze. Barely anyone comes in and when they do, they usually take their coffee to go. Stars really must have aligned for you today. Thus you get to wipe down the tables and the counter, clean the bathroom and sweep the floor before it’s officially closing time. You’re so excited by how lucky you’ve gotten that you don’t mind Jeonghan’s victorious smirk when you automatically take over some of his tasks once the clock strikes the closing time. After all it doesn’t matter that he gets to go home sooner when it’s a win for you too.

Once again you’re amazed by how smoothly you work with him. It’s an effortless flow without the need for words. Sure, the tasks you’re capable of doing on autopilot, but whenever you help out the others, it’s never this simple. 

“Thank you,” Jeonghan smiles at you once everything is done and you join him at the back after checking again that you haven’t forgotten anything. 

“Don’t mention it,” you return the smile and stretch your arms above your head, closing your eyes in bliss. You can’t wait to be home.

“No, I will - I promised, didn’t I?”

You don’t like his tone. You really really really don’t like his tone. Allowing your arms to go limp, you let them hang beside your body. Your eyes stay closed.

“Come on, it’s nothing bad,” his voice softens. Maybe you get why he’s so popular. Or maybe it’s late and you’re tired.

When you open your eyes, there’s a small cup of ice latte being held out to you. You frown but he just chuckles. “I kept it in the fridge.”

“And I was wondering why you were acting so weird,” you sigh but you take the cup - or try to, only he doesn’t let go. “Not again.”

“If you look here,” he dismisses your protests. His fingers are cold against yours. “That line and this line are almost one, see? Your secret admirer is closer than before. You should take your chance.” 

You try not to smile but you do anyway, tired and resigned to your fate. “Anything more?”

“Yeah, actually if you follow this… You’re not listening, are you?” Jeonghan pouts when he realizes that you’re not looking at the coffee at all. He holds your gaze.

“Thank you, I really appreciate this,” you finally manage to slip the cup from his hand. You immediately take a long sip, you need something to get you through the way home. It’s good, great, but that’s no surprise. He might not be trained in latte art, but he makes good coffee.

“What are you going to do about your admirer though?” he wiggles his eyebrows at you. You give him a long look and note the discrepancy in his body language and his voice. He sounds playful, the upward curl of his lips give off that feeling too, but he seems tense otherwise. His eyes seem nervous. The late hour must be getting to him too.

“Wait,” you shrug, then elaborate when he gives you a confused stare, “I’m not into this kind of game, Jeonghan. If someone likes me, they shouldn’t be hiding it.”

He looks caught off guard, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“That is - if there was a secret admirer. I’m not buying your nonsense,” you push his shoulders and turn to your locker with a satisfied smile to take your things and stuff the rest in. Finally you silenced the great charlatan Yoon.

“Hey, my predictions always come true,” he bounces back quickly, “The customers tell me all the time.”

“You literally tell them the most generic shit,” you roll your eyes, shutting your locker, “Look, it was really nice today, so let’s not fight.”

He opens his mouth with, displeasure tugging at his lips. There’s a moment of tense silence before he eventually settles on a short dramatic monologue about never being taken seriously by close minded people like you. You watch him while you sip the coffee and check your watch. There’s enough time before your bus comes and now that your last shift of the week is over, you feel relaxed enough not to mind his company.

You make sure to lock up the place and have Jeonghan check that it’s actually locked. Just to be sure, despite the teasing that follows. There’s no malice in his voice, if anything he looks fond and nudges you with his elbow, reassuring you that he only finds it cute.

Sipping on the coffee while you walk, you enjoy how peaceful the night is. The street is empty, safe for the two of you, but you know it’s not gonna be that way once you reach the main road. For now, though, you actually feel quite comfortable chatting with Jeonghan. He's good company when he’s not infuriating.

“So anyway, I won them the whole game,” Jeonghan finishes boasting about his recent outing with Joshua and the new guy you have yet to meet - apparently he’s called Jun and is hopeless at basketball.

“Sure you did,” you snicker. Just to see him whine and try to persuade you he’s not lying. Although unexpectedly you have to admit that seeing him act out some complicated moves without the ball is both amusing and strangely impressive. He never striked you as someone as athletic as he seems to be. 

“Alright, alright, I believe you. Don’t hurt yourself, you’re working the weekend, aren’t you?” you laugh, holding him by the elbow to stop him from more demonstrations. 

“Yeah, jealous hm?” he frees his arm from your hold and throws it around your shoulders. You scoff and shrug him off. 

“Not really, the older I get the more I value my free time over money,” you push him away when he moves too close again. He just laughs at the annoyed glare you give him.

“You know I think your secret admirer is tied to the cafe, so maybe you should come in. Make sure there’s someone to grow old with you,” he hums thoughtfully, but the look in his eyes lets you know he actually means the suggestion.

“No thanks, I’ll be happy not to see the place for a few days,” you wave him off. The ice clashes together as you shake the almost empty cup. Just in time. The main street is already in sight and with it, the bus stop too. Only a few minutes now and you’ll be on your way home, spacing out with your music. “Also you’re more obsessed with this idea of a secret admirer than me. Maybe you should confront one of yours.”

“What do you mean?” he stops walking suddenly. You stop too, your brows furrow on their own. He looks the most serious you’ve ever seen him. Actually serious.

“Your army of fans, duh,” you shrug, keeping your tone playful to hopefully lighten the atmosphere, “I bet every single one of them is in love with you. They’re not exactly discreet.”

He puts his hands on his hips and takes a deep breath, then exhales just as slowly. If it wasn’t him, if you didn’t know him as well as you think you know him, you’d be scared. Even so you watch him warily.

“I don’t care about them,” he says plainly, “It’s fun for the job, but I don’t care about anything beyond that.”

You swallow uneasily, watching him stare at you with an unreadable expression.

“I was just kidding. I’m sorry,” you apologize. He must notice how uncomfortable you feel because he runs a hand through his hair and gives you a small smile.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he catches up with you, “I just take my magic very seriously.”

You burst out. You’ve had people call latte art magic. Never the fuck ups. At least Jeonghan seems relieved to see you laugh too and you can continue the walk comfortably again.

For someone who spent the day making shit up, he has enough inspiration to keep going. By the time you reach the stop and the bus comes into view, you have tears in your eyes as Jeonghan keeps exaggerating and telling you, very seriously, about the inner workings of his magic and deals he had to make with different deities to acquire his powers.

He only shuts up when the bus stops in front of you and the doors open.

“Thank you for today, Jeonghan,” you babble through fits of laughter, “It was great.”

“Thank you too,” he smiles gingerly, “And don’t laugh at me. Or you’ll make some powerful enemies.”

“I don’t doubt that,” you shake your head, “Bye now.”

“Bye.”

You get on the bus and take a seat by the window. Jeonghan doesn’t move from his spot, you see him get smaller and smaller as the vehicle takes off. 

Despite the coffee, you feel tired. Tired but happy, you realize. You wipe your eyes and chuckle. If only every shift could be like this.

You keep grinning even as you put on your headphones and start the music. The glass is cold against your forehead and you hope it’ll keep you from falling asleep. Although you suppose it wouldn’t be so bad now that you feel this content.

The weekend passes by way too quickly. The bed remains unmade and the couch remains a messy nest of blankets and pillows, although that’s hardly surprising seeing as that’s where you spend most of the time. Some chores got done, some didn’t, but you tell yourself that’s fine. You’ll just do them before or after work, it’d be pointless to waste your completely free days on things like that. Starting on Monday sounds better than starting on Sunday night.

Some part of you feels guilty about not being more productive, but when you lay down in bed, you realize that you hold no tension in your shoulders and you remind yourself you’re not a machine. You need to rest too. Chores will wait. Being productive will wait. What needs to be done isn’t going anywhere - the time you get to spend on your hobbies is.

You settle in bed and set up the alarm for tomorrow. You don’t work until afternoon and you’re going to bed early, but you’d rather be safe than sorry.

Staring at the ceiling, you don’t think you’re gonna fall asleep any time soon, but that just can’t be helped. Just closing your eyes should provide some rest, and who knows, maybe your body will surprise you.

It’s hard to keep track of time with your eyes closed and your mind racing. You’ve already thought of six sick burns that you wish you had ready when you needed them, you’ve won two philosophical debates, and you were about to invent a life changing knick-knack if only your phone didn’t light up and didn’t alert you to a new text message.

You consider ignoring it. Nobody really texts you, so it’s most likely just some spam or they got the wrong number.

But then it rings again.

And again.

You pick up the phone and squint at the screen.

The messages keep going.

[narukoibito]

If you’re up for it - i'm not used to seeing you with clothes on.

Harry had no desire to attend yet another Ministry function, but the tone in Robards' voice made it abundantly clear that if he skipped tonight's he would be suffering desk duty so long that he wouldn't even remember what being in the field was like.

But that didn't mean Harry had to actively participate. Which basically resulted in him sulking in the background along the wall, using those stealth skills the Aurors had trained him so diligently on to avoid small talk and intrusive pawing by one of the desperate singles. He shook off Sirius's talks about his lack of social skills (whose fault was that when he had only ever been homeschooled and hidden away until it was time to fulfill a fucked up fate).

Letting his guard down momentarily, he closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back to a few nights again. He'd learned far too early (finding the hidden stash of fan mail) that being the Boy Who Lived meant there would be no shortage of willing participants. He wasn't one for intimacy (Sirius gave him a hard enough time about it), but that didn't mean he didn't have needs. With a good amount of lubrication and a fair dash of loneliness, he found himself at a bar known for discretion.

That was all fine and dandy.

What he hadn't expected was how much that night stuck with him.

Strange enough, she'd been funny. Her quips making his lips twitch in an unfamiliar way. It had been surprisingly easy when they slipped into one of the many rooms upstairs.

A burning ache rose within him. The door had shut, and he had reached out for her, that reckless smirk, the way her eyelashes fluttered at his touch. Hand wound in silky hair. He swore he could still taste her—

His eyes snapped open at the sound of giggling and heels to his right. Shite, the unfortunate owner of said noise was Romilda Vane, the new secretary in the office who would not relent on her advances, no matter how bluntly Harry avoided them.

He ducked to his left, weaving through the crowd. It'd been an hour, and Robards couldn't say he hadn't shown his face.

Harry turned the corner.

"Oof!"

The wind was knocked out of him by some blur of gold and red.

"Sorry," he said, hands automatically reaching out to steady the blur. He was already taking another step toward the exit when a stray glance had him breathless for an entirely different reason.

The redhead pushed the curtain of her hair out of her face. "No, I..." she trailed off when they made eye contact. "Oh."

He was staring. She had disappeared before the morning light crept through the windows, fulfilling her promise of "no fuss." And for the first time, he'd wished differently. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her, about the things he wanted to say, if he ever saw her again. He opened his mouth.

"I'm not used to seeing you with your clothes on," she said.

Harry burst out laughing, the tension in his gut unwinding. She grinned, looking tall and proud despite her small stature.

"A welcome change?"

"Hm," she said, her eyes appraising him. "I'm not so sure about that."

He swallowed hard.

"Heading somewhere?" she asked, her eyes following his original path toward the door.

"I suppose it depends. Would you like me to?" His hand was still on her waist, not ready to break contact.

His heart pounded hard at the thought that she might be here with someone.

She smiled, which seemed answer enough until she rose onto her toes. Her lips brushed against his, soft and warm, like sunshine breaking through the clouds.

She eased away, and only then did he realize he had pulled her close.

"That doesn't sound so bad... Are you sure you like these clothes though?" Her hands smoothed out the front of his robes.

"No promises." He grinned at her stupidly.

Before she could respond, a distinctly male and stunned voice, and she turned toward it. "Ginny!"

Ginny...so that was her name.

Harry followed her gaze, surprised to meet the shocked expression on Weasley's face a few paces away. Ron, he thought his name was.

"That'd be my insufferable brother." Her eyes shined with mischief, holding out her hand. "Still game?"

He took it without hesitation. "You bet."

As they walked toward her stupified brother, she asked, casual, "What did you say your name was?" She knew full well they hadn't exchanged names. His grip tightened.

She hadn't known then.

"Harry."

[heavyhitterheaux]

Got Me Thinking

Part 4: If Your Girl Only Knew (Slight NSFW)

Synopsis: Jack invites you to one of his shows, and everyone is excited to see you, especially him. However, he had to warn you that the time had finally come for meeting the infamous Kelsey face to face.

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Reader

Series Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

Ever since that lust filled night when Jack came to visit, you were longing to see him again and be in his presence. During different times of the day, your thoughts would go back to that moment and how much pleasure he had brought you. So much that in more times than you could count, you found yourself having a river form in between your thighs and often found yourself putting your vibrator to good use. That would have to do at least until you saw him again.

Luckily a few weeks later, an opportunity arose when he called you on Facetime and asked you if you would want to come to one of his shows. Surprisingly, you hadn’t seen him perform since the two of you called it quits and thought it was long overdue.

You had kept tabs on him throughout the years and still supported him, but you simply did it from a distance.

“You busy this Friday?” He asked and all you did was eye him.

“Depends on who’s asking.” You answered while eating your chocolate covered strawberries that was from an edible arrangement that Jack had sent to your house earlier.

“Well I’m asking because I have a show I’m performing at in L.A. and I want you there with me.”

“Hmm, I guess I can fit you in my schedule.”

“What do you mean you guess? Stop acting like you don’t want my face buried between your thighs again. And I definitely want to be one of those strawberries right now. Why are you eating it like that? Getting me bricked up and shit.”

“Jackman! Cut it out, he’s downstairs.” You exclaimed while getting up to close your bedroom door.

“Like I give a flying fuck about that. He doesn’t deserve you anyway. Don’t act shy now, or did you forget what happened last night when I called you?”

You instantly got a smirk on your face remembering how Jack asked you to get off in front of him and all you remember was the camera view becoming blurry as he hit his peak and his cum went flying everywhere as he watched you.

“I see your phone survived what you put it through.”

“Look, it was your fault and I’d do it again too with no hesitation.”

“I know you would.”

Jack then got quiet and you looked at him curiously wondering what was on his mind.

“Jackson, why are you so quiet all of a sudden?”

He simply sighed before answering you.

“Kelsey is going to be there too.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Jack, that’s your wife isn’t it? I would expect her to be with you sometimes.”

“Yes, but….”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll play nice and be on my best behavior and I might give you a private show once you’re done with your own.”

“Oh, do tell.”

“Nope, you just have to be patient and wait and see. But, why am I worried about someone that clearly can’t give you what you want or satisfy you? From what everyone says about her, she obviously doesn’t compare to me.”

“Doesn’t even come close.”

“Isn’t it almost two in the morning over there? And where is she now?”

“It is and I have no idea where the hell she is and I don’t care. Probably out spending all my got damn money.”

You stifled a laugh and he simply shook his head.

“Well Clay does call her the wicked witch of the west for a reason.”

“And now I’ve really started to see why over the last two months.”

“We’ll talk about it later, but for right now you need to go to sleep and get all the rest you can get for Friday.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Because you’ll have two performances to put on. One for your fans and the other one is for my eyes only. How do you think Kelsey would feel if we had a few minutes to ourselves after the show?”

“I can arrange it and make it happen and she can get the fuck over it.”

Friday was now here and you were on your way to the venue and made sure to leave a bit early so that being stuck in traffic wouldn’t become an issue. As you were driving, a facetime call came through and you saw it was Clay and quickly answered. You were now suddenly concerned and was hoping that everything was okay with Jack.

“Clay! Hi boo, what’s going on? Everything okay?”

“Please tell me you’re still coming, but hi to you too!”

“What the? What’s wrong?”

“Jack is in a mood again and you can guess why because there is literally only one answer at this point.”

“Oh, goodness.”

“I wish she would have stayed home but NOPE. So here we are and everyone is miserable so PLEASE tell me that you’re almost here. I don’t know how much more of her we can take.”

“Of course I’m still coming and I’m actually almost there. I left a little early because I knew traffic was going to be crazy.”

Just then Urban popped into the frame and was waving at you.

“Y/N!”

“URBANNN!”

“Hurry up and get your ass here. I’ll meet you outside and bring you to where everyone is. But uh, did he warn you about….?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Okay good. Didn’t want you walking into any surprises.”

“I’ll see you two in about ten minutes.” Without another word, you hung up and turned your attention back to the road ahead.

As promised, Urban met you outside and led you backstage where everyone was. As soon as you walked in the room, all attention was on you and Clay was the first one to capture you in a hug.

“We’re saved, we’re saved.” He whispered in your ear and you couldn’t help but laugh. When you looked over at Urban, he was laughing too so he obviously must have heard what Clay said.

“Y/N! Clay, move and stop hogging her!” Ace exclaimed while trying to get in between the two of you.

“Hiii Ace.”

“Hello, Y/N, and we need to talk business. As in business being your older sister.”

“ACE!! Leave the girl alone! She just got here! At least let her settle in before you start harassing her! Hi Y/N, I’m Neelam and I’ve heard such good things about you from Jack. It’s so nice to finally meet you.” So, this was the famous Neelam that everyone talked about.

“It’s so nice to meet you too!” You responded while returning the hug that she was giving you.

You scanned the room and didn’t see Jack or Kelsey so you assumed that they were together and sure enough right on cue, they both entered. Jack was walking in front of her and clearly pissed off about something as she was following behind him like a lost puppy and there was an obvious pout on her face.

“Babe!”

“Kelsey, drop it. I’m done talking about it.”

When Jack looked up and saw you, his grim mood turned the corner for the better and immediately ran over to you and picked you up as you began to laugh.

“Hiii boo. I see you’ve missed me.”

“You have NO idea.” He said loud enough so that only you could hear and squeezed you tighter. 

“When you left, I lost a part of me. It’s still so hard to believe, come back baby please cause weeee belong togetherrrr.” Clay started to sing when the two of you embraced and it was giving everyone in the entire room the hardest time in order not to laugh.

“I just love Mariah Carey. One of my favorites. Yall think she’s going to do a Vegas residency soon?” Clay asked as he was scrolling through his phone.

“I’d definitely come with you if she does.” Urban responded while shrugging and Neelam was eyeing the two of them.

She quickly mouthed ‘Behave’ while trying not to laugh herself.

Once Jack had placed you back on your feet, you suddenly felt a presence next to you and turned around to be face to face with Kelsey herself.

“Babe, who’s this?” She asked Jack and he clearly looked annoyed at the fact that she was even talking to him.

“Y/N, this is Kelsey, Kelsey this is Y/N, we went to high school together. She lives here and I asked her to come.” He answered while not taking his eyes off of you and his left arm was still around your waist which she was quick to notice. 

“It’s so nice to meet you.” You said as you held your hand out towards her, but she examined it before she took it.

“Oh, someone’s jealous.” Clay whispered to Urban and he immediately nodded.

“I didn’t realize you two were so close and had no idea you would be here tonight. I feel that is something important that you should tell your wife, don’t you think, Jackman?”

“Here she goes.” Clay quietly said while keeping his focus on his phone.

“They’ve been a lot closer than she thinks.” Urban muttered next to Clay and they both began to laugh.

“Kelsey, don’t start. So I have to tell you about every single person that I went to high school with and decided to reconnect with them?”

“I didn’t even mean it like that.”

“Well it sounds like you did.”

“Damn, 100 points to Gryffindor. He got her good with that one.” Ace said from behind you as you were simply standing there because it was now awkward.

Kelsey then turned back to you and gave you the fakest smile that she could muster. There was something about you that she couldn’t put her finger on, but she already knew for a fact she didn’t like you.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Y/N.”

“Okay, is she settled in now Neelam? Y/N! Let me at Janelle!” Ace said as he was now at the snack table and all you did was shake your head at him.

The time waiting for Jack’s set was spent with you goofing around with everyone backstage and getting to do a mini photoshoot in the hallway with Urban taking the pictures in order for you to be able to post them on your instagram later.

When you were across the room talking to 2fo with Jack right beside you, Kelsey went and sat next to Clay who had a confused look on his face when he noticed her.

“Uhh? Did you need something Kelsey?” He politely asked as he was silently cursing Urban for leaving him there by himself.

“How does Jack know her?”

“He told you earlier. They went to high school together. Didn’t you hear him?

“And they were just friends?” She asked, trying to find out more information about you.

“Don’t you think that this is a conversation for you and your husband to have?” Clay asked while finally turning to look at her.

“He doesn’t want to tell me anything anymore.”

“Hmm, I wonder why. Evil ass.” Clay muttered to himself so that she wouldn’t be able to hear.

“You still need to ask him and not me.”

“Is there…. Is there something I should be worried about?”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Jack hasn’t taken his eyes off of her since he saw her when she got here.”

“Well.. they haven’t seen each other in a long time and they were really close.”

“How close?”

“Kelsey, ask my brother.”

“But obviously you know something, but aren’t telling me.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re a little jealous? You’re the wife, right? So you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“I’m not jealous! It just seems like everyone adores her and all of the attention has been on her.”

“She’s an amazing person. Always has been. Our parents absolutely love her too.”

“Wait, she knows your parents, too?!”

“Like I said before, they were extremely close.”

Soon there was only about twenty more minutes until it was time for Jack to go on stage and you wanted to give him a small gift since you still hadn’t gotten him anything for his birthday. You knew deep down that he didn’t care and was simply excited to see you, but you still wanted to do something nice for him. As he was about to head to his dressing room, you grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Hey, I have something to give you, but I want it to be when we’re by ourselves.”

“Hmm, is it what I think it is?” He asked as he wiggled his eyebrows and you quickly smacked his arm.

“Behave! And no, but… if we can make our way to your dressing room now, I can give you a good luck kiss and maybe a little more?”

All he did was smirk and start to play with the ends of your hair which Kelsey was very quick to notice and was quick to interrupt.

“Babe, isn’t it time for your good luck kiss since you’re about to hit the stage?”

“Gag me with a spoon.” Quiiso said to 2fo who was trying not to laugh.

“Um, sure in a minute. Let me go get dressed first. And Y/N had something to show me so we’ll be back.”

He put his hand on the small of your back and guided you down the hallway to his dressing room as Kelsey was left sitting there fuming at what just happened.

Once the two of you got to his dressing room, he closed the door behind him and locked it then his lips were instantly on yours.

“Mm, I’ve missed that and this.” He said as his hand went to cup your ass in the skirt that you were wearing.

“You definitely made that clear on our facetime call earlier this week.”

“So, what did you want to give to me? Is it another purple thong? Because at this point I’m about to start collecting them like infinity stones.”

“I literally CANNOT with your ass.” You said while laughing and Jack pulled you closer to him so that he was able to kiss you once more.

“Look, I figured I’d ask and when I collected all of them it would unlock some type of bonus scene.”

“Jackson PLEASE stop talking.” You responded as you continued to laugh.

“What?!  What’d I say?!”

“Anyway, for starters, it’s not a thong because I’m not wearing anything under my outfit at all.” You whispered against his lips and grabbed his hand to place it underneath your skirt.

His fingers grazed against your core and you were getting wetter by the second. He then inserted two of his fingers and slowly moved them before putting them in his mouth and sucking on them. Just like he did the last time the two of you saw each other.

“There’s definitely more where that came from, but we have to save it for later.” He quietly said, but all you did was get on your knees without breaking eye contact with him and started playing with the waistband of his sweatpants.

“You definitely don’t need a good luck kiss from Kelsey, but will good luck head be acceptable?”

All he did was nod his head as you pulled down his sweatpants and boxer briefs and immediately took him in your mouth.

“Ahh shit.”

Jack didn’t want to mess up your hair so he simply pushed it back out of your face as you continued to pleasure him.

“I’m definitely going to need you to sit on my face after this later. FUCK!”

Because you knew that he didn’t have a lot of time, you were trying to move as fast as possible in order to get him to cum and you could tell that it was working seeing as Jack’s eyes were now closed as he threw his head back in pleasure and was trying to lightly force you down on him.

“My girl looks so pretty taking all of me in her mouth. That’s it baby, that’s it. I’m close.”

You hearing him say that he was close made you move even quicker with a sense of urgency because the last thing you wanted was for him to be late for his set.

“Fuck!” Was the last thing you heard as he came in your mouth and you swallowed it without wasting a drop.

When he was finished coming down from his high, he looked down at you and smiled before helping you to your feet and kissing you.

“I want to return the favor.”

“But… we don’t have a lot of time.”

“We have as much time as I say we have. I’m the headliner and calling the damn shots.” Was all he said before leading you to the couch and immediately pulling your shirt down to expose your breasts that he began to play with them, lightly sucking and biting.

“Babe, that’s going to leave a mark.” You whined and he simply shrugged.

“I’m marking my territory.”

He didn’t waste a lot of time before pulling your skirt up to your hips, spreading your legs and diving in head first.

By the time that Jack had gotten dressed and you had given him his gift, which was an exclusive Rolex that was personalized and had his initials on the band inside, he was only a minute late. 

“I’m definitely wearing this onstage. Thank you Buttercup.” He said as he leaned down to kiss you and you were simply admiring his outfit as you helped him put on the watch. 

His outfit was your favorite color.

Green.

“Hmm, you wore this outfit on purpose, didn’t you?” You asked and all he did was smirk.

“What ever do you mean, baby?”

“Such a fucking tease.”

—

As you were in the front and standing off to the side watching Jack perform, Neelam came up to you and smiled. You returned the smile and the two of you watched him in silence before she turned back to you to say something.

“Y/N, I just wanted to tell you how much the people around him see how much happier he’s been since you two reconnected.”

“Well you can thank Clay for that.” You said thinking about when he first asked you.

“I.. look.. Jack is not only my client, but someone who I consider my little brother. He has talked about you non-stop and all I want is for him to be happy and I know that his happiness is wherever you are. Kelsey isn’t good for him and we could all see it from the beginning. He just didn’t want to listen. ”She said, being completely honest.

“That seems to be the running theme of what everyone keeps telling me. He’s definitely important to me and I want the best for him. I just wish sometimes that we never broke up because I always think about how our life might have turned out differently.”

“Well the two of you reconnecting wasn’t by chance and it was definitely meant to happen. I just want you to know that whatever that you two have going on because I know that there is something there because my big sister radar is going off, I support it. I just want him to be happy again. That’s all we literally all want.”

“I wish it was that simple.” You replied while sighing.

“Well, why isn’t it?”

“You said Jack told you a lot about me, but did he mention my husband?”

Neelam looked at you dumbfounded before she responded.

“You act like the word divorce doesn’t exist?”

“And that’s my problem.”

“What is?”

“I love Jack like if he would have asked me to elope when we were eighteen, I would have without a second thought and that is still true as we speak, but I also love my husband as fucked up of a person that he is and I’m having second thoughts about divorcing him.”

Liked by urbanwyatt, jackharlow, neelamthadhani, claybornharlow, thenursecorner, and 450,831 others

anesthesiabae: friends supporting friends

jackharlow love you forever and I will always be proud of you 💖

jackharlow: so happy you came tonight, thank you 😘 claybornharlow: reunited and it feels so good yungskylark: aye! y/n lemme get Janelle's number!!! anesthesiabae: jackharlow any time you need me, I'm here urbanwyatt: mariah carey- anytime you need a friend jackharlow: anesthesiabae so this means I can ask for my hoodie back now right? anesthesiabae: ACE... NO! and jackharlow if I didn't give it back and 12 years have now passed, what makes you think that you'll get it at all? jackharlow: anesthesiabae closed mouths don't get fed, now do they? neelamthadhani: so happy that I finally got to meet you! jackharlowsource: oohh she's pretty! jackharlow spill! who is this pretty lady?!

[thelovelyruin]

𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖓𝖓𝖆.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘 : choso x fem reader

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖚𝖓 : you’re choso’s girl, and he makes sure to give you anything you want.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖒𝖔𝖔𝖓 : smut, love, porn with plot, vaginal sex, praise, teasing, fingering.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖙 : 3.6K

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗 : inspired by lyrics from primandonna by marina and the diamonds.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖊𝖒𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖘 : hello lovelies, thank you so much for reading! i hope you enjoy it; if so, follow me for more. au revoir!

18+ MDNI ADULT CONTENT

Primadonna girl, all I ever wanted was the world…

“Chosooooo…” 

“Yes, princess?” 

“I want it real bad!” 

“That one?” 

“Yeah, that one!” 

“No problem, baby.” 

When you and Choso originally came to the mall, it was to get a dress you saw in one of the catalogs that gets mailed to your place. You’d been excited all week, having to wait til the weekend to get it ‘cause that’s when it released. You were one of the first ones there, trying it on and walking out on the runway in the store. Choso was enamored with you, especially when you did poses at the end, obviously playing around, but nonetheless, he had it bagged for you and paid for by the time you got dressed again. Even though you knew he would get it for you, you were still really grateful, kissing him as he took the bag from the counter. 

You’d decided to wear a pink tracksuit combo that day, a cropped jacket and shirt, and lowrise pants to show off your belly button ring. You wore your hair up in a ponytail, a couple of strands let out, and a cute pair of earrings. Then there were your bangles, clinking against your wrist as you walked in your pink Amiri’s. You called it “athleisure but way cuter!” (not like you were actually going to the gym), but despite what you wore, Choso thought you looked damn good.

I can't help that I need it all!

You and Choso have been together for about three years; it was pretty much love at first sight, at least for him. When he’d first seen you, it was in a magazine feature their team had gotten, getting a couple of models to take pics on the cars; you’d worn this cute top and shorts that left little to the imagination. Yuuji had given the magazine to him at a meet since he hadn’t gone to the photoshoot himself. When he landed on the page with you on it, Yuuji said:

“Dude, she’s a babe. She’s done a couple of shoots, but this was the first for our team. Just had to pick her; I mean, just look at those-”

“Look at my what Yuuji?”

You were standing in front of them now, manicured finger bringing the page down to look them in the eyes. Yuuji choked on his spit as Choso got flustered seeing you in person for the first time. You’d look past them and at the car they were sitting on, a G80 M3 with a candy purple wrap.

“Ooooo! This is so cute! Who’s is it?”

Yuuji pointed at Choso, who awkwardly smiled and gave you a little wave. You walked over to him, arms crossed as you looked into his eyes. Shamelessly, he looked you up and down, eyes landing back on your face as you smirked.

“And who are you?”

“Choso, nice to meet you.”

“Of course it is! Nice car, too bad I couldn’t shoot on it.”

You were a spicy one, but fuck, you were sexy.

“You can if you want to.”

You’d walked up to him, face inches from his as you looked up at him. Yuuji took that as his cue to leave, patting Choso’s hand as he walked off.

“Depends, do you want me to?”

“What I want is to take you out.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely. Let me pick you up on Friday.”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it!”

You say that I'm kinda difficult, but it's always someone else's fault!

You’d walked away from him, leaving him licking his lips as you left. He’d seen you around for the rest of the night, talking to a couple of the other girls, then taking turns with them to flag for the races. Before Choso left for the night, he’d looked for you, but you had already left. He sighed in defeat and walked back to his car, but before he got in, he caught something under his windshield wiper—a napkin with your lipstick print, and your phone number right above it.

Choso did take you out that Friday, picking you up and taking you out for dinner, a little bowling after. He’d fucked your brains out that night, and you two were pretty much inseparable since then. Before you came along, Choso won a few races a month, then bought a dealership; pretty well off but didn’t have a lot of things to spend it on. But you had plenty. After about three months, he’d moved you out of your place and into his apartment downtown, bringing your cat with you. He’d gotten you a C6 convertible, of course, gloss pink wrap with custom cheetah print seats, which you’d drive to and from Pilates and Starbucks, always coming home to kiss him as he spoke to the employees at the dealership. You’d cook him a nice dinner and snuggle up to him at night, a true love story.

Choso fucking loved you and, as a result, had a thing for praising you. Friends would say he kisses the ground you walk on, but he tells them no. He makes out with it. You were his and loved it, wearing a little silver chain with his name on it, him having a tattoo of your initials behind his ear. He’d send you on trips while he went out of state to race, often to fashion weeks, always coming back with quite the list. Like that time you’d come home from Milan, and you just had to have that sparkly Versace dress you saw.

Choso got you everything you wanted, no matter the cost or size. That is until now.

Got you wrapped around my finger, babe; you can count on me to misbehave!

“Baby, you already have that one.”

“Yeah, but not in pink! I got it last year in white before the new drop, so now I just have to have it!”

You looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes, which usually worked, but this time, he genuinely didn’t see a purpose in getting the same bag twice.

“It’s a no, princess. Sorry.”

Unfortunately for him, you were a fucking brat. Not that you couldn’t take no for an answer, but you weren’t gonna be happy about it. You’d walked off from him now, him tailing you to make sure you were okay. You’d walked into another store, real sweet to the attendant that walked up to help, but rolling your eyes at Choso as you looked through the racks.

“Princess…”

“Yes?”

“You’re acting like a brat.”

“Whatever do you mean? I’d like to try these on, please.”

Would you do anything for me?

With that, you walked away, the attendant opening the dressing room for you two as Choso sat the bags down. You’d put the dresses on the hangers as Choso took a seat on the bench in the room. Swiftly, you took off your jacket, hanging it on the door hook and taking off your pants, your shirt following. And what did you have on? One of those pretty lace sets he’d gotten you a month or so ago, a gift for your anniversary. You were wearing probably the only set he hasn’t fucked you in. You weren’t oblivious, taking extra time to get up from the floor while undressing. Choso felt pretty courageous, pulling you back into his lap as you gasped at the sudden motion. He spread your legs over his thighs, keeping your legs open as his hand walked itself down to your panties, which Choso rubbed through the fabric, making you squirm a bit. He brought his mouth to the side of your face, whispering in your ear as his other hand pinched your nipple through your bra.

“You’re pretty damn wet, princess. Want me to help you with that?”

“Mhm!”

“Gonna stop acting like a brat so I can eat your pussy?”

“Yes, baby, please!”

“My pleasure.”

Would you get down on your knees for me?

Choso set you up on the bench as he sat on the floor, pulling your panties off and gently sitting them down next to you. You met his gaze as he spread your legs, kissing the skin of your thighs as you bit your lip in anticipation. He chuckled a bit as he kissed the outside of your lips, excited to taste that familiar sweetness he’d indulge in every day if he could. Teasing you, he licked lightly into your slit, tongue barely grazing your pussy as you sat there whimpering. He’d brought his face back up, signaling you to quiet down as he tasted you. You shut your mouth, groaning into your hand as he began eating your pussy. He’d make it quick today, on a time crunch, before the attendant returned to check on you. He’d brought his face deeper into you, fucking his tongue into you as you gripped his hair. He’d heard you moaning his name into your hand, smiling into your pussy as you closed your eyes to center yourself from all the pleasure. With that, he decided to mess with you a bit. He took his tongue off you, replacing it with his fingers, you groaning from the lack and returning pleasure. 

I know I've got a big ego; I really don't know why it's such a big deal, though!

“Move your hand.”

Hesitantly, you moved it, trying to moan as quietly as possible as his thumb rubbed your clit, the others pumping inside of you.

“That’s a good girl. How ya feelin’ baby?”

“So good, Choso…”

“Yeah? You like it when I fuck you here?”

“Yessss…”

His fingers had found that sweet spot inside you, throwing your head back as your body arched forward.

“God, you’re so fuckin beautiful, you know that?”

“So sexy, even when you’re pissed at me.”

“Look at you, lookin’ pretty as you fuck my fingers.”

All the praise was driving you mad. You brought your hand to your mouth, bracing yourself for the impending orgasm. Instead, choso brought his hand up to your mouth, pulling his body upward to kiss the side of your face as he pumped relentlessly inside of you, feeling you almost screaming his name into his hand.

“You’re so pretty when you cum, you know that? Let me see that pretty face. Cum for me, baby.”

With that, you lost it, body jerking onto his fingers as you moaned his name over and over into his hand. He replaced his hand with his lips, feeling you groan into his mouth as you came down. He kissed his way back down, putting your panties back on as you sat there panting, recovering from your high. Smiling, he brought his lips to your again, pulling away to get a good look at you.

“Such a good girl for me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, princess.”

Choso wiped your juices off his face, watching you fix your lipgloss. Damn, you were-

“Ma’am, you okay in there?”

When you give, I want more, more, more! 

You opened the door, body adorned with one of the dresses you picked out, as you stepped out and did a spin.

“Do I look good in this dress?”

“Beautiful, ma’am!”

“Great, I’ll take it!”

After you got dressed and the attendant checked you out, she gave a wave and smile to both of you as you left the store. You held tight onto Choso’s arm, smiling up at him as he guided you towards the mall parking lot. He’d opened the car door for you, sitting you inside as he put the bags in the backseat. Starting the car, he looked over at you.

“Ready to go home, baby?”

“Actually, can we get ice cream first?”

I wanna be adored!

Get what I want 'cause I ask for it, not because I'm really that deserving of it!

Choso always went all out for your birthday, going above and beyond to make your day special. He’d started the morning by getting a private chef to come up to the apartment to make you breakfast. Before that could happen, though, he was having trouble getting you out the bed, especially with how you’d woke him up.

“Choso…”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Wanna fuck you, can we?”

Usually, he’d be more than happy to feel your pussy first thing in the morning, but you two had overslept (or, as you called it, beauty sleep), and the chef was gonna be there in the next 45 minutes, which you’d take the whole time to get ready.

“Want to, baby, promise, but your first surprise is about to get here soon; go start getting ready.”

When you’d heard surprise, you’d pretty much forgotten about morning sex, instantly hopping out the bed to start getting ready. You were so excited for your birthday that you got your hair curled the day before, lashes too; they were the finishing touch after you’d done your makeup. You decided on a cute pink tennis dress to match your pink Dolce sneakers, holding off on dressing up until later this evening. With a couple of sprays of perfume and a little gloss, you were ready just in time for the chef.

When you were done eating, you looked up to Choso, waiting to see what came next. He gave you a kiss and a smile, walking you to the living room, a bunch of boxes wrapped in pink paper on the middle of the floor. You squealed as you ran and sat down, waiting for him to come over.

“Oh, baby, you’re too sweet!”

“No problem, princess.”

You went through your gifts: a couple of pairs of heels he’d seen you looking at on Pinterest, one of those new hairdryers you saw on TikTok, jewelry, lingerie, the usual stuff. You’d give him a kiss between every present; lips probably had more gloss than yours did at this point. Some of the stuff you’d try on and walk around in like you were modeling, like the Chanel sunnies he’d gotten you. It always made him so happy; he could tell you loved every single one. You’d always take care of anything he’d gotten you, everything down to the first thing he’d gotten you, a sterling anklet you’d found online. After two years time, the chain snapped, and you had quite the fit. You’d been sad for days. Unfortunately, he couldn’t fix it, but he’d been there for you to reassure you that even though it broke, his love for you wouldn’t.

As you closed the final box, you wrapped him in your arms and kissed his cheek repeatedly, making him giggle as he almost fell over.

“Got one more thing for you, baby.”

Choso walked to the room, returning with a box with a big bow on the top. You looked at him skeptically, intrigued that this gift had been separated from the others. Still, you took it as he handed it to you, setting it on the couch next to him as you opened it. There was a layer of paper on it, followed by a simple dust bag, presumably to hide what was underneath it. Before you opened it, you looked up at him; he nodded to you to finish unboxing it. You slowly opened the dust bag, pulling-

“BABY, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!”

Choso had gotten you the pink version of the Vivienne Westwood bag you’d seen at the mall! You pounced at him as he smiled and braced himself for impact.

“You like it, baby?”

“I like it? I like it? I LOVE IT!”

Going up, going down, down, down!

You’d put your lips on his now as he brought a hand around you to sit the bag down gently. You completely straddled him, body pressing to his as you made out with him. He’d brought his hands to your ass, bringing your hips closer to him as you kissed him deeper. You’d pulled away, looking at him with half-lidded eyes, biting your lips.

“Baby?”

“Yeah, princess?”

“Wanna show you how grateful I am.”

“Yeah, how you gonna do that?”

“You're gonna take me back to the room so I can-”

Choso cut you off, throwing you over his shoulder as you playfully slapped his back, him slapping your ass next to his head. When he got you to the room, he laid you down quickly, taking off your sneakers and outfit; hate to mess up such a cute dress with cum stains, ya know? He’d removed his clothes, lifting your body to sit on the bed so you rested your head on the pillows.

Anything for the crown, crown, crown!

Choso brought his lips to yours, kissing you softly and then rushing down to your tits, making you laugh. He’d wrapped his lips around your nipple, looking up at you as he rubbed his hands up and down your body, tickling you slightly. 

“You like that, baby?

“Hmm, maybe…I think your lips would feel wayyy better somewhere else.”

“Oh yeah? Suddenly, I’m really hungry.”

He brought his body down in between your thighs, in one motion, bringing your thighs up to your chest, spreading you open for him. You whimpered when his tongue found your pussy, holding your legs firm as he fucked his tongue into you. Choso was having a lot of fun, seeing you squirm in the position you were in as he all but devoured your pussy. He let all of your juices spread his face, anything to taste more and more of you. When he started sucking your clit? You went nuts. You moaned his name over and over, gripping the shits as you were able to be as loud as you wanted. You felt that fire growing inside you as his nose rubbed against your clit, tongue sinking further and further, exploring you as you fell out above him.

“Baby…”

“Baby, I’m about to cum!”

“Baby, fuck, I-”

You came for him, closing your thighs out of reflex, nearly suffocating him. He brought his face up, letting your legs down, smiling down at you as you tried to catch your breath. Choso was pretty damn cocky. He knew that his tongue sent you flying, having to center yourself as you came down. He brought his body over yours, kissing the side of your face as you came to.

“You okay, princess?”

When the lights dim down, down, down, I spin around!

In one fall swoop, you flipped Choso over, straddling his waist as you brought yourself down on his dick. He was gone, shocked at how fast you’d maneuvered but also from how fucking good you felt. He brought his hands to your hips, fixing his legs so he could fuck into you. You were on top of the world, literally. He was thrusting into you rapidly, one hand on your tit, the other holding your ass as he slammed you down on his dick. Fuck, you two were in love. Bodies sweating against each other, both getting turned on by the other's face, flustered and fucked out as you brought your bodies against each other. You’d shifted your hips slightly so he could fuck into you at that angle that made you scream his name.

“Princess, fuck, you feel so fucking good.”

“Choso, fuck, right there, don’t stop!”

Got you wrapped around my finger, babe…

He was hellbent on making you cum on top of him; he could make you cum in missionary or doggy style later, but right now? He couldn’t get enough of your face, lips quivering and eyes forced shut as you tried to hold on to any sort of balance you had.

“Princess..”

“Mhm?”

“Look at me.”

Hesitantly, you looked in his eyes, knowing at that point you were about to cum. You were completely self-indulgent, and Choso loved it; you’d brought your body forward, resting on your hands on either side of his head as he fucked into you. Shit, he wasn’t gonna last much longer either with your face as close to his, getting a front-row view of your reactions to how good he was fucking you. He’d gripped your ass as leverage to slam you down harder, slapping the skin there every time you said his name. When your arms started to shake, he knew you were about to cum, so, like a good boyfriend, he talked you through it.

“Look how pretty you are, fuck I love you.”

“Gonna give you the world, baby.”

“You’re mine, yeah? Cum for me, then baby, give it to me.”

You lost it right then and there, arms collapsing and body laying down on his as you came hard all over him. God, you were an angel. Whimpering for him as you milked his dick, pussy spasming around his shaft. Choso came at that point, holding your hips against his as he filled you up, groaning as he sat his face into your shoulder. Panting, he brought you into a hug as he fucked you through your orgasm, smiling as you moaned his name softly.

You can count on me to misbehave!

Choso felt a little bad for fucking you so hard, your curls had fallen a bit, and your mascara had smudged a bit when you came. You lifted your hips slightly, letting him know to pull you off and lay you down. You turned your body towards him, running your hands through his hair. He swore at this moment he could marry you; watch you walk around with his ring on your finger, but right now? He was a little too fucked out to think about it clearly.

“How was it princess?”

“So good!”

He smiled and picked you up, taking you to the bathroom to get washed up. Looking at his watch, it was 10:45. Depending on how long you took to ready again, you guys could make the lunch reservations.

“Hey, baby?”

“Yeah, princess?”

“So, there was this LC500 i was looking at…”

“It’s yours.”

Primadonna girl!

♱ the song used in this story is primadonna by marina and the diamonds. 🖤

♱ masterlist.

♱ all fics playlist.

𝖆𝖚 𝖗𝖊𝖛𝖔𝖎𝖗, 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖞𝖗𝖚𝖎𝖓.

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : chopper's crown (27)

one piece x male reader

i imagine

the grapes on the end of the branches

are sweet

『 prev 』

unfortunately for nami, the only way to get to the other side of the lake was by climbing up a humongous tree and then crossing over it via branches. she was shaking in all of her steps, making [name] slow down his pace to comfort her.

zoro, who was walking behind the two, rolled his eyes in annoyance and began audibly complaining to nami for being so slow.

just as nami was about to bite back with a string of curses towards zoro, something from the white river jumped up and tried attacking them. nami screeched in fear, grabbing ahold of [name] and pulling him in front of her to act as a shield. this action just caused them to lose their balance though and immediately fell off the side of the branch.

[name] held nami tight to make sure she was secure in not falling and outstretched his hand, calling out robin’s name for support. she understood immediately and made two hands sprout out to catch them before they fell to their doom.

“nami, you sure love causing trouble,” [name] teased, adjusting his grip on her waist. her legs were hugging his torso and arms were wrapped around his neck in a death grip. he propped his foot against his ankle, making his thigh act as an impromtu seat for her as they were hanging in the air.

“i am sorry…for troubling you,” she apologized breathlessly, collapsing onto the firm ground of the branch, apologizing to both robin and [name].

“no problem,” robin easily said, an unbothered look on her face.

[name] continued on teasing nami, who in her terrified state couldn’t even scold him, by pinching her sides and cheeks and ruffling her hair, “nami! always the one getting us into trouble, maybe you’re more of a hassle than me and luffy — combined! haha!!” his cheerful laughter rang out in the forest.

just as they touched the ground once more, this time on the opposite of where they originally were, robin had stopped abruptly in their exploration. [name] looked at her in interest, following where her gaze was and questioning what she saw.

unblinking, she responded, “a well,” he hummed in acknowledgement, but then wondered aloud, “what’s so important about a well?”

“why would a well be in the middle of this gigantic forest? someone had to have installed it here, obviously, but why at the root of tremendously large trees?” she rhetorically asked, inciting [name] to theorize on his own why it was there.

“maybe the animals made it!” he childishly cried out, making the other three unsure of if he was joking or not.

zoro slapped him on the back of the head, grumbling, “don’t think too much or else steam might come out of your ears. whenever you do seem to think, anyway, you say stupid shit like that.”

[name] pouted, grabbing ahold of zoro’s short hair and giving it a harsh tug. the action made zoro wince in pain before glaring at [name] as if his life depended on it, “hey! don’t be so rude, you stupid marimo head! you’re the stupidest one in this whole bunch,” [name] scolded, giving another harsh tug to his hair, “you’re bringing the moral of the strawhat adventure team all the way down with your shit attitude!”

“this is not an adventure team!” zoro called back, hand lifting and grabbing [name]’s own h/c locks, “no one else agreed with you when you named us after that, so it’s your own fault in the first place!”

“my fault?! how’s it my fault you’ve got a shit attitude?!”

“at least i don’t think with my stomach instead of my head!”

“oh, that’s a bold statement since you’re insinuating you think at all!!”

the two began fighting viciously, falling to the ground as they were having a mini brawl that included pulling each others hair and scratching at the other person’s skin.

nami could only sigh in exasperation, not having the energy to scold them. instead she informed robin she would try getting a bird’s eyes view to grasp a better way to continue exploring, making the ravenette nod her head in acknowledgement.

as zoro and [name] were childishly rolling back and forth on the ground against one another, the two women were hard at work in trying to make sense of their situation.

idiots.

[name] and zoro couldn’t tell how much time had passed since when their brawl first started, but it took nami hurriedly pulling them up by the collars of their shirts to break them up.

“you two sure like to always be touching each other,” robin noted with a laxed grin.

“what does that mean, woman?!” zoro snarled at her, glare evident on his face, “he’s the fucking idiot who constantly needs to have his head beat in for being so stupid!”

[name] was going to shoot back a couple of more insults, but nami was already quickly dragging him off by his wrists. he began complaining, kicking the ground he was being dragged through, “nami! nami! let me beat zoro up some more, the bastard allways has something to say and it’s pissing me off!”

“no, no, just keep getting walked like a dog, [name]!” zoro teased, looking at how he was letting nami drag him around even though he could have easily stopped her.

“don’t fucking call me a dog!!” [name] shouted, flicking his wrist forward and making zoro’s body fly back a couple of meters into the trunk of a tree.

zoro’s body left a comically large imprint into the bark of the tree at the pure force that was used in propelling his body forward.

“now, now, there’s no more need to be fighting like this, you two,” robin said, attempting to calm the nature of their fight down, “[name], it seems like nami had found a new discovery — more places for us to adventure. why don’t you help her navigate it?”

[name]’s face lit up at the word “adventure” and his attention turned away from zoro and instead to the orange haired girl. robin then looked to zoro and began saying some calming words to him (spoiler alert: they just pissed him off more than actually calming him down), words that [name] wasn’t in earshot to hear.

he was too busy in pestering nami in where they were going and what she had seen to make them go out adventuring in such a rush.

she only ordered him to carry her on his back, to make their trip faster. he obliged immediately, dropping to his knees and carrying her with ease. he followed her orders on where to go, robin and zoro following closely behind.

zoro was still annoyed with [name]’s behavior earlier, but was more interested in finding out what got nami in such a mood of adventuring farther onward — especially when she seemed so spooked earlier by their environment. they reached a point deep enough in the forest they were able to hear the waves of the ocean, which made nami tug on his h/c hair to encourage him to go faster.

“hey! don’t pull my hair, do you think i’m a horse or something?!” he scolded in annoyance, slapping his hand onto the grip she had on him, but she didn’t let up even a little bit.

while zoro and robin watched on as [name] ran in whatever direction nami ordered him to, the both of them realized that they were near the area of a major battle going on. the sounds of explosions going off was far away, but still audible if you focused.

honestly, [name] realized the battle as well, but wasn’t paying it any mind. it was far enough that he didn’t have to worry about it threatening their safety. he was well aware of the fight at hand. but with a click of his tongue, he easily brushed the thought of it away.

“see! right up ahead! keep going!” nami urged him, snapping him out of his own thoughts. he rushed forward, seeing a vague shape of what nami was referring to.

it wasn’t until they ran past the lining of trees did he understand nami’s need to see it up close. he let her off of his back with ease, gulping at the sight.

the other half of cricket’s house was up in the sky island territory. there was no doubt. that fake cardboard cutout that was covering the humble abode made sense now. their house was cut in half and sent up to the sky. as in explainable as it was, it was certainly interesting.

he unscrewed the top of his water container open and took in a couple big gulps before stowing it away. nami was examining it closesly while he just allowed himself to walk towards the edge of the island.

finally, after speed walking to catch up, zoro and robin had joined the two and were also gawking at the sight before them. [name] was standing over the edge, looking down at the calm white clouds in front of them with a stoic look on his face.

he was busy trying to piece all of the information together that he had completely zoned out of what the other three were saying. he smiled softly, though, imagining the possibilities of what the rest of the island had to offer. he thought back to the old story book from the north blue, rubbing his forehead in thought.

“[name], are you alright?” robin gently asked him, walking up to him and placing her hand on his shoulder. he turned around, startled, before calming down.

“no, i’m alright.” he replied easily, “i was just thinking,”

“yeah, the steam was practically coming from your ears-”

nami slapped zoro on the shoulder to shut him up.

“just thinking about what that old chestnut guy would say, that’s all,” [name] grinned, looking at the white sea once more before stepping away from the ledge. “i bet he’d start cursing his stupid ancestor or something,” robin laughed at his playful comment, the both of them rejoining the rest of the group.

“then…that means the city of gold never sank…” nami said, turning the attention to her as she theorized out loud, “that means, this is the city of gold, since this is technically apart of jaya! after all that trouble, we were finally able to make it to the city of gold!! this much be a reward after behaving myself, right, god?!”

everyone sweatdropped as they all were reminded nami’s end goal was always just to find some treasure. and seeing as they were actually given more answers to their questions, they all decided to head back to the merry.

[name] was humming the song that always played in his head, picking up whatever caught his eye from the ground and almost making a bouqet of whatever it was that he got. by the time they arrived back at merry, he had a whole bunch of sticks and odd looking leaf plants bundled together in his clenched fist.

“chopper’s gift!” he announced proudly to zoro, who very much did not care, “and when we get back, i’ll decorate his hate with these sticks — a proper adventurer’s crown!”

zoro only yawned in response.

to the adventure team’s shock, though, when they caught sight of the sacrificial altar and merry, it was very obviously in terrible shape. the mast was gone and, despite being so very far, they were able to clearly see that it was in bad shape.

[name] felt worried, but eased up a little when he realized that at least chopper’s body was still on board the ship. his frame and two other…creatures…were on merry.

“chopper!!” nami shouted, concern etched on her features.

“i hope he’s alright…” [name] said under his breath, walking forward.

“chopper, did something happen?! answer us! are you alright?!”

there was dead silence on chopper’s end. nami dropped her hands from cupping the side of her mouth and she looked up pleadingly to [name] for help. he stepped forward and projected his deep voice loudly, “chopper, answer us! come on out, i got you a cool gift!!”

it took a couple of seconds, but there was finally movement on chopper’s end. everyone breathed a sigh of relief to see that he was fine, awaiting for him to give an update on how he was.

he peaked out from the railing of merry and shakingly called back, “no-nothing…nothing scary happened!!” in a very unconvincing tone.

“that’s my strong man!!” [name] cheerfully answered back, waving the bouqet in his hands, “look! i got something for you, so you did a good job in protecting merry, okay?!”

“obviously not good enough, usopp’s gonna give us an earful for how bad the condition of merry is. i mean, look, the mast is missing…” zoro said under his breath, earning him a swift glare from [name].

just as he was about to lecture him for being rude, there was a loud splash that was heard. they all turned their heads to see that it was some sort of ship driven by usopp, luffy, and sanji.

“ah, it’s everyone else!” luffy said, his loud and boisterous voice echoing in the forest. “which means— [name]!!! are you there?!”

[name] grinned, waving his arms in the air to be noticed, “luffy!!! are you alright?! sanji, usopp, are you guys okay?!”

luffy’s laughter was heard next, along with usopp shouting about how he bravely fought against enemies and [name] didn’t need to worry about him. sanji, since the moment he laid eyes on the rest of the crew, was plainly singing praises of robin and nami.

”[name]!! i’m going over to you!!!” luffy shouted and before anyone could properly react, his arms were already stretched behind him and then shooting forward to grab onto [name].

the tall man groaned and prepared for impact, setting the bouqet down so they wouldn’t be ruined. and when luffy finally landed on his torso, with great force, they were sent tumbling backwards and into the trunk of a tree.

“i found you!!” luffy screamed in glee, nuzzling his cheek to [name]’s face, humming in happiness to be reunited with [name]. as if they were seperated for years.

“yep, like you always do,” [name] breathed out, looping his hands underneath luffy’s thighs and hoisting him up on his waist, “let’s get to merry, now. chopper was the one protecting it all this time, i hope he’s alright…”

luffy only hummed back in response, unconcerned as he just kept trying to sink further into [name]’s arms. luffy’s skin and hair were all wet from the splash they created upon their arrival, making [name]’s own hair dampen just a little bit.

“oi, you’re making a huge mess,” [name] commented, pushing luffy’s raven bangs aside to get them away from his face.

luffy grinned, shaking his head similar to how a dog would to dry themselves, and that grin only got wider when he saw the look [name] was giving him. not an ounce of being pitiful was on the captain’s face.

they all hopped onto the miniature ship sanji and usopp were waiting on, [name] expertly carrying luffy around with ease as he boarded with the others. when they finally reached the altar, [name] went over to chopper immediately and brought him into his arms.

“you’re alright?” [name] gently asked, making chopper’s eyes only well up with tears again.

“usopp!! i’m sorry, i’m sorry for letting merry get ruined like this!” he profusely apologized, the sniper’s expression being masked by the shadow over his face.

knowing how much merry meant to usopp, [name] would not have been surprised if the sniper snapped at chopper. well, at least for him personally, he wouldn’t know how he would react if something or someone so precious to him got so violently ruined. he imagined he would lash out in an aggressive way…

but seeing as usopp was very different from him, the man only turned around and looked at chopper in worry, “did you get hurt? you treated yourself to heal up to be all better, right?” which the reindeer nodded his head to, “well, then, everything’s alright! we can worry about merry another time, as long as you’re okay then it’s all good!”

[name] blinked at the calm reaction, feeling a smile make its way to his face. usopp and his ever selflessness shining through, [name] thought to himself. he grabbed usopp’s hand as the man was walking away, smiling at him gently. a silent “thank you” was exchanged, from the h/c haired man ot the sniper. and that gesture and expression on [name]’s handsome face made the sniper blush bashfully, briskly walking away once [name] released him.

that small interaction made usopp’s heart and mind calm down. the reassuring and thankful smile [name] had given him was comforting, especially after seeing the state merry was in. he was glad he was able to keep a level head to please both [name] and chopper.

“you did a good job, chopper,” [name] whispered to the reindeer, “and now, since you’re the merry’s protector, you get yourself a crown,”

laid out in front of them were all the leafy plants and sticks he had collected. he began explaining to chopper that he had to assemble the crown to be put on around the circumference of his pink hat, claiming that he needed to be wearing it proudly the rest of their stay at the sky island.

“my own crown?” chopper asked in wonderment, sitting in between [name]’s legs and letting the man work on his creation. with a simple string that [name] took from the kitchen (without sanji’s knowledge), he was able to tie everything together and gently nudged chopper to stand up when he was finished.

when chopper felt the added weight on his head, he ran to the railing of merry and outstretched his arms to proudly proclaim, “i’ll be a dependable man!!!”

[name] chuckled behind his hand at the endearing attitude. then he got up and joined half of the crew in looking at the old man’s condition. [name] was sat on one side of his body whilst luffy was on the other, the rest of the crew in the room standing more back to give the old guy some space.

chopper explained how it was really the old man that protected merry and saved his life, making them hum in acknowledgement. after assessing his condition, they all decided that it’d be best to stake claim on the shore of the forest rather than on merry.

it would be a safer option for all of them, but especially their injured protector. [name] helped move the essentials back and forth between merry and the land, grinning in excitement when he saw sanji bring along a skyshark to their camp.

“quiet, everyone!!” ‘everyone’ mainly meant [name] and luffy, who were carnivously tearing into the skyshark meat, “we’re in the middle of reports,”

during their reports, everyone learned what the crew was up to during their separation period. it seemed that the strawhat adventure team had the least amount of trouble, seeing as sanji, usopp, and luffy had to fight off one priest while chopper, the old man, and his weird bird (pierre) had to fight off another.

“dammit, i traded adventure with some good fights…” [name] sighed in disappointment, taking a large bite from the sky shark to comfort himself.

nami sweatdropped at his comment, sipping the coffee he had brewed earlier with an unimpressed look on her face.

“well!! thank you everyone for your reports!! it seems that, the most important finding of all is that — this here is the island of gold, the same one the saruyama alliance was searching for!!” usopp exclaimed, pointing at the chalkboard he was using to draw up all their information.

“gold, huh?! i’ve been waiting for an adventure like this!” luffy exclaimed, dropping the bone of the sky shark he was eating and clenching his fists in anticipation.

nami grinned, happy to see she was finally on the same page as her captain.

“hey, hey, luffy! have you forgotten the guerilla’s warning from earlier?!” usopp tried persuading their captain to back down, but his words didn’t even reach the energetic luffy’s ears.

“the guerilla?” [name] echoed in interest, “what did they say?”

“well, seeing as we are pirates, we can’t just back down when there’s a treasure so close by can we?”

“god’s gonna be pretty angry, right?”

usopp paled as the consensus seemed to be they would continue venturing out into the island, deflating when he heard luffy very excitedly proclaim they were going to go gold hunting tomorrow.

[name] stuck by luffy’s side, the two attached by the hip as they fooled around. as the rest of the crew were looking for ingredients for a proper dinner later in the night, they were left to their own devices in entertaining each other.

sanji had commanded luffy to take care of the distilled water, which by extensions meant [name] was taking care of the distilled water too. when zoro and chopper made it back with some other proteins to be added to their stew, they were finally getting more exciting news.

“sanji, sanji, don’t forget to include the fish i caught too, okay?!” [name] reminded, bounding over with a pout on his face, “if you don’t put it in then we’d just be eating vegetable soup!”

“i already added it, quit pouting like a spoiled brat!”

at that news, [name] went back to luffy while excitedly cheering about fish stew.

“alright, alright, everyone gather around for our strategy meeting!” nami called, making everyone come together in a wide circle.

[name] went up to sanji with his own bowl, grinning when he saw the delicious stew be poured onto his dish. he took it to his seat, grinning when he saw his vegetables were cut up in all sorts of shapes. mainly, it were carrots cut into the shape of stars that were floating around in his soup. but, funnily enough, it seemed sanji cut some up to be the shape of coffee beans (he also could have been imagining it, since they were just cut in an oval shape unlike the regular circle…sanji could have just made a mistake by accident).

it brought a childlike smile onto [name]’s face as he almost felt guilt for eating the stew and ruining sanji’s expert work. but the full feeling in his stomach after washed his guilt away.

nami began the recap quickly, eager to get their plan set, “it was 400 years ago when noland first discovered the city of gold. but when he returned to jaya years later, the gold ruins were gone! basically, during those few years, that island on jaya — which is this one, came up into the sky!”

“you mean it rode up the knock up stream?” chopper asked with a look of disbelief on his face.

“yeah! that’s the only explanation! cricket-san said the sea floor explodes at different places each time.

“but it’s hard to believe that forest on jaya is the same as this one…” zoro thought out loud, making [name] purse his lips in thought.

“at least there’s no swam of unreasonably large lady bugs chasing us around here,” he said in relief.

usopp only paled though, grabbing onto [name]’s shoulders and shaking him back and forth, “no! there’s only blood thirsty god ruled priests and warriors, along with other weird animals that are in these forests! [name], it’s still scary!!!”

[name] patted usopp’s head, saying a monotone, “there, there,” in an attempts of comforting the sniper.

“say, those south birds that helped us at the altar were thiiiiss big!” chopper said, extending his arms to show their size, but with how small he was, it was hard to get an idea of how big they actually were.

“yeah, they probably got bigger over those 400 years,” zoro logically explained, taking another bite of his bento.

“but it is weird,” sanji said, walking over and handing [name] another plate of stew before taking his seat next to him. [name]’s eyes turned into stars as he took big gulps from his bowl to finish the stew in one go, “why did those huge south birds save you?”

“well, i’m not really sure, but they all called the sky knight “god”!”

[name] choked on his stew, making sanji look at him in disgust.

“the old geezer is a god?!”

“then that means he’s the bad guy!!”

“you two don’t know how to put two and two together, don’t you?!” usop scolded the two, making luffy and [name] fall into silence.

“anyways!!! getting back to the story, remember what noland’s log said about the city of gold?” nami rhetorically asked.

“i know! he said it was a city of gold!” luffy answered back with confidence. this only made usopp scold him once more for his obvious answer.

“i recall there being a giant gold bell and that there were south birds…” sanji answered this time in seriousness.

“then there was an incomprehensible line on the last page of his log,” robin finished. “just before he died, noland wrote a passage in his book that said he saw gold in the “skull’s right eye.””

“that’s it! now, look at this!” nami unfurled some paper map she had been working on earlier, making the crew join her side and look at it in interest. “i matched the size of robin and [name]’s jaya map with the old skypiea map! it’s just an approximation, but when you put their locations of the beach house together…”

[name] hummed in interest, then grinned in delight to see that it was really all coming together in front of their very eyes.

“see! this is how jaya looked 400 years ago!”

“whoa it’s a skull!”

“well?”

“awesome!!” [name] and luffy said in unison.

“way to go, nami-san!”

“we did it!!”

“then “the skull’s right eye” is…”

“right here!” nami said, pointing at a portion of map that had what looked like a gold temple drawn into the middle of a circular white sea, “noland was referring to the shape of the entire island. but only half of it is left now so nobody could solve the mystery!”

“treasure!! treasure!!!”

“so we just need to go straight to this spot! we can’t leave the boat, though, so let’s split into two teams tomorrow! no doubt about it! there’s an enormous amount of gold waiting for us here!!”

[name] smirked, looking down at the map in interest. with how lively the forest was now, he definitely wouldn’t mind being part of the team that would search for the gold when the time came for it. maybe they’d run into those guerilla warriors too and understand what they were fighting for.

besides the near death run in they had with them when the first arrived, [name] had no idea what to expect. he chuckled, thinking back on how he had so easily threatened robin’s life upon their first meeting. and now look at them now!! practically two peas in a pod. maybe it could be like that with the warriors…

[name] did like people with a strong fighting spirits, anyway.

as he was thinking of their journey tomorrow, it seemed that sanji, zoro, luffy, and usopp were all thinking ahead of their campfire situation. after all, they couldn’t go camping without a fire to keep them warm!

funnily enough, a pack of wolves had joined them in their celebration. [name] had joined the dancing circle with two wolves being carried around in his arms. he easily lifted them up in his arms above his head, smiling and cheering with the rest of the crew.

“gold!! gold!! adventure!!” he shouted into the air, laughing as he felt the wolves on his arms howl in approval of their celebration. their rough tongues were licking at his skin affectionately, making his laughter only amplify even louder.

[name] and usopp were now pulling the wolves into making funny faces, stretching their fur faces to entertain themselves. their antics made everyone around them, including the wolves, to break out into laughter and hold their stomachs.

their rambunctious behavior lived on until the early hours of the morning, making them pass out soon enough for at least some time for rest. everyone’s faces as they were passed out were stuck in permanent grins.

-

[ .ᐟ ] fun facts: sanji purposely did cut the carrots in [name]'s stew into the shape of coffee beans ; in the original epsiode, he cut the carrots for the ladies into hearts while the others had their cut normally

[ .ᐟ ] song for this chap: sour grapes by le sserafim

-

『 prev 』 ˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌊 ꒱ 『 next 』

-

taglist ! lmk if you want to be tagged/if i forgot to tag you!!! :

@skullr0se, @strawberrii-tea, @triangulartriangles, @anotherlovefool, @sinmp, @3v37773, @taru-nami, @disc0dild0s, @boredwithlifeatthispoint, @kaulitzer, @whotdefak @lcst-at-5ea @zforgottensniper @notplutos @violently-nerdy @cheetosins

[patchworkchimera]

we see this conflict in agatha in episode 9 where she seems to believe that the conversation she had with rio on the day she gave birth was a trade between the two of them, where agatha NEEDED to kill to keep nicky alive, as if she believed that she could lure rio away from nicky with bodies, trade the lives of others for his.

and, so, that one day when nicky said he didn't want to kill witches, and rio took him away, agatha sees that as her shame and her failure, she couldn't keep nicky alive, it was her fault, and there's a certain level of guilt there, of feeling like, after killing all those people to keep him alive, putting him through all those cons, she thinks it was all for nothing, and a betrayal of the highest order that rio took the one time they stopped for too long to strike, to her it's a sign that rio was waiting like some hungry predator for her to make a mistake. she fears that there was never any love there, only a selfish transaction made by a fickle goddess.

but, the feeling i get, was rio never agreed to a trade with agatha, nicky's life was never dependent on the bodies agatha generated for her. rio is all about balance, and not someone who would bend the rules for such a shallow exchange. all rio did was give agatha a little more time, a space to breathe within the realm of plausibility, fingers laxed against a string that still inevitably had to be plucked. so agatha saw nicky's death as HER failure, and rio's taking of him as RIO'S cruelty. however, all it ever was, was the naturally occurring death of a sick boy. agatha's inability to accept the reality of death has lead her to carry this resentment and hate around as an albatross for years. when agatha says she lets people believe she deliberately offered up her son for power because the truth is too terrible, it's because she'd rather people believe that she sacrificed her son in a scheme on purpose for some kind of reward, that she was knowing and in control. what she's so afraid to admit is that she was unable to protect him from the natural course of death, that she killed and killed to try and save him and it was all for nothing, she still failed. the first thought is so outlandish that it acts as a shield over agatha's heart, a distancing from the truth, because what really happened is far too painful for her to bear.

[aleksanderscult]

Hello, I started following your blog pretty recently and I agree with most of what you think. I felt so confused when I finished the books and came on tumblr to see everyone hailing malina as the perfect relationship and I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one who disliked him.

I wanted to ask you something, im not sure if I saw this on this blog, but someone said that zoya is an example of toxic feminism in YA fantasy. Which checked out to me, but it also felt that bardugo added misogyny, feminism and toxic feminism in the SaB series.

Misogyny since alina had to face sloot-shaming in every book (almost entirely by Malyen ugh 😒). I felt that she really tried and suceeded to be feminist with genya, since she actually stood up for herself and had many facets to her personality. She also wasn't an important character just because of her beauty or anything super superficial. Genya IS a strong female character, and she wasn't 'broken' by the king, despite the foul things he did.

But zoya.. my god, I really wanted to like her, but I just couldn't. She is mean and hot headed to the point where I really don't see any redeeming factors to her. I always liked 'mean girl character who isnt as shallow as she seems' in fantasy novels, but she didnt exactly have a redemption arc either. If the darkling had warned her about expanding the fold in the first book, she would have fought for him. I think she isnt a strong female character, but just a girl who is a bully and decided to help mc since the antagonist hurt her specifically. She doesnt even think of the other casualties of novokribirsk. I think the 'break nikolais heart, I'll comfort him and make a magnificent queen' part was a joke, but still....

Please excuse my yapping. I haven't read crooked kingdom and nikolais duology, so I don't know if the characters had any developement since then, so please ignore any innacuracies of this text pertaining to that. Do you have any thoughts on this?

(Do you allow emoji annons? If so, can I be 🎀 annon?)

(Of course I do! You can use any emoji you want and ribbons remind me of coquettish things 😍)

Genya in S&B was my favorite version of her. She was traumatised by the King's abuse, that's true. But she wasn't solely that.

(Here's a meta about that version of her that I once did)

She was very brave, vengeful, intelligent, politically aware, had a sense of humor and was kind. There were different aspects to her personality and wasn't solely "the victim" as many fans of the Grishaverse like to portray her. But in Nikolai's duology Bardugo either forgot how to write complex situations within a court or just doesn't know how to (or it doesn't suit her 🙃).

She threw all the blame to the Darkling (as if he was entirely at fault for her sexually abuse), forgot that Grisha were serfs meant to please and serve the royal family (hence why the Darkling gave her to the Queen) and also forgot how it was the Queen who withdrew her protection and allowed her husband to abuse her. Also, a slight amnesia to how Genya herself decided to stay and take revenge. Essentially, the character became Leigh's mouthpiece to remind the reader that the Darkling is a heartless motherfucker that is undeserving of redemption. How banal.

Now about Zoya. Zoya is the typical female character that we encounter in media nowadays. A girlboss that kicks ass, is rude, has no sensitivity and threatens everyone. Again, cliché. But Leigh broke her own in-universe laws when she gave Zoya the protagonist's role.

Meaning:

The narrative with Alina as a protagonist: "You can't have feelings for your enemy!! You can't be independent! You need to depend on your toxic, childhood friend and...what is this? Power?? You took three amplifiers?? WELL SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR POWERS THAT KEEP YOU HEALTHY AND STRONG!!"

The narrative with Zoya as a protagonist: "Take the amplifiers, take the power to turn into a dragon, let's also have a Saint in your head giving you advice and guess?!? You just got promoted into a Queen and soon enough you will marry the love of your life!! Kudos!!"

That's basically what happened.

It would be an amazing end if only:

- Otkazat'sya didn't hate the Grisha's guts.

- Zoya had the qualities of a leader and a Queen instead of being handed the throne on a silver plate from an illegitimate son who failed in his job.

- The author didn't break her own rules just to prove and show how "awesome" her protagonists are.

- The same author didn't copy paste the storyline of Daenerys Targaryen into Zoya's (somehow she needed to appear cool and sympathetic)

- Half of the fandom didn't hate the primary protagonists now than they ever did before.

So basically Leigh infuriated the fandom even more about Alina's fate when she gave Zoya everything.

And about your question if the characters had any development in the later books after the trilogy. I've got some bad news, my friend. 🥲

[ravenclawloverofseverussnape]

Lily was a pretty, popular 15 year old, who behaved like all pretty popular 15 year old queen bees. She was fearless, resolute, affectionate to many and admirably sure of herself but also thoughtless, self-centred, lacking in empathy, reactive, quick to deflect blame and expected to be worshipped. In short, she was the golden child. She’d have grown out of her worst qualities and into her best ones, but unfortunately never got the chance. Severus had her on a pedestal despite there being an undertone of classist contempt in all her interactions with him even as children because he had nothing else to measure her up against. And then she was murdered, it was partially his fault, and that pedestal got raised 100 feet higher. He really needed a true ride-or-die friend (or ideally, an adult who wasn’t worthless) and never had one. I don’t know if JKR intended Lily and Severus to read as a ride-or-die friendship that he fucked up by being awful, but that’s not what she put on the page. She put on the page a brittle childhood friendship of convenience that was doomed to fail once Lily found less weird people to hang out with.

I don't know which user sent me this but thank you very much, you inspired me to make this post.

I agree, because the interactions I've seen in the books don't help me much: there are people who think that she didn't see the extent of the Marauders' bullying of Snape, I respect that point of view but I don't agree with it for one thing.

Professor Slughor said she was very intelligent, which i would have let slide, but does she believe everything the other Gryffindors tell her that Severus? Is she so gullible that she believed that James really saved Severus?

Severus tells her that he went to find out what's wrong with Remus, so that everyone can see that the Marauders are not heroes, what does Lily do? She accuses him of being obsessed with them, Lily says that Mulciber put a spell on Mary (a Gryffindor girl who happens to defend her) and when Severus points out that is exactly what the Marauders do to him, she He talks about how: "at least they don't use dark arts" which that simple phrase drives me crazy because for any good friend it wouldn't matter if they used dark arts, I would support them to defend themselves in any way, because Severus didn't use dark arts when he was a student to torture, but rather; in case of defending himself, to occupy him.

I'm going to say something, do you really think she's smart? If she were really smart she would have tried to ask Severus' version, not even a simple: are you okay? did anything happen to you? she didn't even ask that and for me that's a failure.

Lily is the one who blames Severus for the bullying he receives at school, you know with that of "at least they don't use dark arts? If she's so smart, why the hell doesn't she know that there's an entire school that teaches (to a certain extent?) the dark arts, she doesn't empathize with anyone, if she was such a good friend why didn't she get help for Snape? And the only time she "defends" him, she doesn't do it well.

Side note: any spell, be it washing or levitation can do damage depending on how the user uses it, the dark arts must be explored to defend against them, whether they are dark arts or not they do damage anyway.

In Snape's worst memory he only talks to James , I saw an interesting post where she mentions that Lily points out that James changes when she's around, good girl you're on the right track, she takes out her wand but..... doesn't she do magic with Item? If she's so smart, doesn't she know how to do non-verbal spells? and I would let it go that maybe she didn't defend him because she was scared of Sirius and Peter, but isn't she supposed to be popular? she could have called someone or just come in fighting.

Or he could have undone the spell but what did he do? He spoke to James alone, only taking out his wand to show.

Later Severus calls her a mudblood, she coldly replies: I would wash my pants Snivellus which only gives me a hint: Lily knows that Severus is poor, the theory that "Lily doesn't know the extent of Severus' domestic abuse and bullying" no longer applies, this little snippet confirms it for me.

Then we move on to the scene, Snape apologizes to Lily, she argues that he calls people like her mudbloods, why would that be any different, at which point I tear my hair out, because it shows that she is capable of tolerating insults as long as they are not directed at her, because if they are directed at her now it is a problem.

Then she marries James Potter, which (Snape aside) makes him a masochist to me, because who would go out and marry a sex offender? (take note: the worst memory was sexual harassment) James went on to harass her and what do they come up with? becoming parents in the middle of a war.

Then there's the hunt for the Potter family, anyone would think that Lily would have her wand on hand or even James would have it on hand in case Voldemort could find them, but no, that night Lily forgot that she is a witch (here I criticize the writing of this character).

In short: I don't like how superficial she is, her mentality that Gryffindors can do whatever they want because they are good, her lack of understanding of Severus' situations, how manipulable she is that she falls into the absurd, the fact that they want to sell her to me as "Miss Perfect" makes me a little angry.

[soaringthroughthegalaxy]

Prompt: someone is mean to wrecker and the rest of the batch either chooses violence or chooses to comfort wrecker

Hello there!

I saw this as an opportunity to write about the Batch as cadets, and I RAN with it. Though I broke my own heart having to write a few mean things about Wrecker 😭 They’re sweet babies, and I want to give them the galaxy 🥹

No reader in this, just the boys. Hope it's okay!

Art by @alligatorpie1945 - go check out her awesome art! I kept her 'Through the Ages' series on my screen while writing to help get me in the headspace. All her art is gorgeous!

Brotherly Bonds

The holonet can be a wonderful yet vicious place. When Wrecker’s feelings are hurt, and he questions his place in the squad, his brothers rally together to fix it and comfort him.

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: Bit of whump, Wrecker being cyber-bullied by a Reg, caring brothers, protective brothers, bully gets called out, conflict is resolved, comfort and reassurance, happy ending.

The light of his datapad casts a blue glow over his face as he reads. It’s late, their barracks dimly lit by the moonlight, but Wrecker can’t sleep. His eyes trace the words repeatedly. Slow. Clumsy. Idiot. Each one feels like a vibroknife between his ribs.

It started a few days ago after a training drill with his brothers and a handful of Regs, who had seen him struggling with hand signals and tripping over his feet. It wasn’t his fault he was bigger than everyone else and that hand signals all looked similar to him from a distance. He’d been made this way. He was trying his best with what he’d been given. One day, he’d grow into his size and understand the signals. He was sure of it.

Wrecker sighs softly, turning onto his side to face the wall of his bunk. He pulls Lula closer, tucking her under his chin as he continues to read. He knows he should stop, that he’s only making himself feel worse by continuing, but he wants to know what everyone’s thinking and doesn’t want to walk into the mess hall tomorrow and be caught off guard.

The mean comments continue in the thread posted to the cadet chat boards. He and his brothers frequently ignore them, not caring for gossip, but Wrecker had heard things whispered under a Reg’s breath at mealtime – a Reg who hadn’t been part of their earlier drill. Other than hearing it through the grapevine, the boards would be the only other place.

Wrecker’s fingers tighten around the edges of his datapad, the cold metal digging into his palms. He takes a deep breath, trying to shake off the hurtful words. Despite his tough exterior, the comments on the chat boards have chipped away at his confidence. The camaraderie he shares with his brothers shields him from most insults, but the online world has found a crack in his armour.

As he scrolls through the thread, Wrecker can’t help but notice the lack of empathy in the words of his fellow cadets. The faceless avatars behind the comments don’t understand his challenges, trying to fit in a world where he doesn’t – metaphorically and literally. He wonders if they’d say the same things to his face or if the anonymity of the virtual space emboldens them.

Lula provides some comfort amid his turmoil, a reminder that his brothers care and love him, the stuffed tooka being a present from them. He squeezes her a little tighter as he contemplates shutting down the datapad, shutting out the negativity, but a stubborn curiosity keeps him scrolling. It’s as if he’s searching for that one comment that might offer understanding or support, even though he knows the likelihood is slim.

Wrecker’s brow furrows as he reads a particularly cutting comment. ‘Idiot can’t even understand signals. How'd he even make it out the tube? The rest of them are carrying him.’ The words sting, and Wrecker feels a surge of anger, but beneath it lies a more profound, more insidious emotion—doubt.

He glances at the sleeping forms of his brothers in the dimly lit barracks. They trust and depend on him, yet the doubts the Regs have planted in his mind start to take root. Wrecker wonders if he’s genuinely holding the team back. Maybe his brothers would be better off without him in the squad, with someone more agile and quick-witted in his place.

Lula’s stitched eyes seem to gaze at him with understanding, and Wrecker can almost hear Tech’s voice in his head, rattling off statistics and probabilities to prove that their team is more robust with him in it. But those voices are drowned out by the relentless comments scrolling on his datapad.

In the solitude of the night, Wrecker quietly shuts off his datapad and gets up, careful not to wake his brothers. He steps outside into the bright corridor and starts walking, going until he reaches one of the many bridges connecting different parts of Tipoca City. It’s cool out, but the earlier stormy weather has passed.

Leaning against the railing, Wrecker looks up at the stars. The vastness of the galaxy puts his problems into perspective. But the doubts linger. As he contemplates his place in the squad, he wonders if he should ask to be transferred. He doesn’t want to be the weak link, not when his brother’s lives are on the line.

A voice startles him. “Hey, Wreck, having trouble sleeping?” It’s Hunter, concern etched on his face as he reaches him, standing at his side at the railing.

Wrecker tries to shrug off the unease. “Nah, just needin’ some air.” He slaps on a grin. “Was hopin’ to see that big ol’ creature they say lives out here.” His gut rolls with the lie as he gestures to the choppy sea surrounding them, not wanting Hunter to worry. Although they were still cadets, he knew his older brother was already carrying a heavy weight, and he was being primed to lead them once they were old enough to fight.

Hunter studies Wrecker for a moment, his sharp senses missing very little. He sees beyond the forced grin and recognizes the turmoil in Wrecker’s eyes. Without saying a word, Hunter leans on the railing beside him. “Yeah, I heard about that creature too.” He says with a faint smile as he plays into his brother’s lie. “But I think it’s just a story to keep cadets like us from wandering too far.” He adds on. Silence lingers for a second before he speaks up again. “You doing okay, Wreck? You seem a bit off tonight.”

Wrecker hesitates, then sighs, the weight of the words on the datapad still lingering in his mind. “Just... things people are saying. About me. On those chat boards.”

Hunter’s expression tightens as he glances at Wrecker. “You shouldn’t let those get to you. People don’t know what it’s like for us.”

Wrecker nods, but the doubt remains evident in his eyes. “I know, but sometimes I wonder if they’re right. If I’m really holding the squad back.”

Hunter turns fully towards Wrecker, his gaze unwavering. “Wrecker, you’re an essential part of this squad. Don’t let some unfounded comments make you question that. We’re not just soldiers; we’re brothers. And brothers stick together. You’re not holding us back; you’re lifting us up with your strength, both in training and out of it.” His tone leaves no room for doubt.

Wrecker looks at Hunter, a mix of gratitude and uncertainty in his eyes. “You really think so?”

Hunter reaches out, placing a hand on Wrecker’s shoulder. “I know so. Who else could toss droids across the room like you do? Who else could diffuse a bomb so quickly without breaking into a sweat? We need your strength and steady hands, Wrecker, and more importantly, we need you. We wouldn’t be the Bad Batch without you.”

Wrecker’s tense shoulders gradually relax under Hunter’s reassuring touch. The doubt in his eyes begins to fade. He takes a deep breath, absorbing Hunter’s words.

“Thanks, Hunter. I appreciate it.” Wrecker says, a genuine smile breaking through his earlier turmoil.

Hunter nods, squeezing Wrecker’s shoulder before letting go. “Anytime, vod. Remember, the opinions of others don’t define you. We know your worth, and that’s what matters.”

Hunter’s words gradually sink in, pushing back against the doubts that had taken root in Wrecker’s mind. As they head back to the barracks together, Wrecker can’t help but feel grateful for the unwavering support.

The following day, as Wrecker takes his turn in the fresher, Hunter slips across to Tech’s bunk, gesturing with a hand for Crosshair to join them. The three boys gather, and Hunter shares what happened last night. Before he’s finished the story, Tech reaches for his datapad and other equipment strewn around his bunk area, fingers flying over the screen as he starts to pinpoint who started the thread and the names of every cadet who’d commented.

Crosshair’s expression darkens as he listens, his hawkish eyes narrowing on the information on Tech’s datapad. “We’re going to have a little chat with this individual.” He hisses, anger curling through his body that Regs were daring to pick on his brother. None of them deserved to be tormented, especially not Wrecker – he was the softest.

Tech nods in agreement, his fingers working efficiently on the datapad. “I’ve already gathered enough evidence to expose them.”

The day progresses as usual for the squad, with their training and drills occupying most of their time. Though still carrying the weight of the hurtful comments, Wrecker finds solace in his brothers’ unwavering support. Hunter keeps a watchful eye on him, and Tech and Crosshair discreetly work on their plan to confront the Reg who had started the thread.

As night approaches, the boys gather in their barracks after dinner. The atmosphere is tense, a mix of anticipation and determination. Wrecker can sense something is brewing, but his brothers maintain their usual poker faces. He decides not to pry, trusting in their brotherly bond.

They settle in for bed, comfortable in their bunks. Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair wait until they hear the familiar sounds of Wrecker’s light snores before they move, pushing back the flimsy sheets to put their plan into action.

The trio slip out of their bunks with practised stealth, moving like shadows through the dimly lit room. As they exit the room, the hallways of Tipoca City are eerily silent at this hour. Tech guides them towards the quarters of the cadet responsible for starting the thread.

They arrive at the designated quarters, one of many identical doors in the sterile corridor. Hunter knocks firmly, and a moment later, the door slides open to reveal a surprised cadet dressed for sleep.

“Hell do you want?” the cadet asks, eyeing the trio suspiciously.

Without a word, Crosshair steps forward, scowl firmly in place, making the cadet uncomfortable. Tech, meanwhile, holds up his datapad, displaying the evidence of the derogatory comments. Hunter’s gaze is stern.

“Axel, right? We need to talk.” Hunter says calmly, but there’s an undeniable edge to his voice.

Axel stammers, realizing the gravity of the situation. The brothers are not here for idle chit-chat. The door to the next room opens slightly, curious faces peeking out to see the commotion.

“Your comments about Wrecker end now.” Crosshair declares, his tone cold and uncompromising. “And we’re making sure everyone knows the consequences of targeting one of our own.”

Tech steps forward, his datapad at the ready. “We have evidence of every comment you made and the names of those who joined in. You can either stop this now and publicly apologize, or we can take this to General Ti and let her handle it.”

Axel, now visibly nervous, stumbles over his words. “I... I didn’t think it would get this serious. It was just banter, y’know?”

Hunter narrows his eyes. “Banter or not, it stops. Now.”

Axel nods quickly, realizing he’s caught in a situation he hadn’t anticipated. “Okay, okay. I’ll delete the comments, and I’ll apologize. Just... don’t involve General Ti, please.”

Crosshair leans in, his eyes piercing. “You mess with one of us; you mess with all of us. Remember that.”

The trio leaves Axel’s quarters, their message delivered. As they walk back to their own barracks, Tech speaks up. “I’ve ensured that the evidence is backed up in multiple locations. If they try anything again, we have leverage.”

Hunter nods in approval. “Good. Hopefully, this won’t happen again. We’re a team, and we protect our own.”

The three brothers slip back into their bunks in their barracks with the same practised stealth. Wrecker stirs slightly, arms tightening around Lula, but he remains blissfully unaware of the nocturnal mission his brothers had just undertaken on his behalf.

In the morning, as Wrecker and his brothers assemble for training drills again with the Regs, there’s a noticeable shift in the air. Although he’s still feeling a lingering sting from the chat boards, Wrecker picks up on the change. Only when they pause for a break, and he’s approached, does he start to piece together bits of the puzzle.

Axel approaches Wrecker with a hesitant expression. His eyes avoid direct contact, and there’s a nervous shuffle in his stance. The other cadets nearby glance between them, sensing that something is about to unfold.

“Wrecker.” Axel begins, his voice a mixture of discomfort and reluctance. “I... I wanted to apologize. I started the chat board thread, and what I said was out of line. I didn’t realize how much it would affect you. It was just stupid banter, and I didn’t think about the consequences.”

Wrecker looks at Axel with a mixture of surprise and scepticism. He wasn’t expecting an apology, and part of him wondered if this was just another act. Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair watch from a distance, ready to step in if needed.

Axel continues. “I deleted the comments, and I’m sorry for any hurt I caused. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Wrecker studies him for a moment, then nods. “Apology accepted.” He says, surprising not just Axel but also himself. Despite the hurtful words, Wrecker knows that people can make mistakes, and perhaps this is an opportunity for growth.

Axel visibly relaxes, a mix of relief and gratitude on his face. The tension in the air began dissipating, and the other cadets exchanged glances, unsure what to make of this unexpected turn of events. Wrecker, however, feels a strange sense of closure, as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.

“Thanks.” Axel mumbles, still avoiding direct eye contact.

Wrecker grins, clapping a hand on Axel’s shoulder, being careful not to jostle him. “No hard feelings. Just remember, we’re all in this together.”

Axel nods, and with that, he retreats to his group, who shoot curious glances in Wrecker’s direction. The training drills resume, but the atmosphere has shifted. Wrecker notices a few glances exchanged among the cadets and the odd appreciative smile as he uses his strength to help them, but this time, he holds his head high.

Later that day, as he and his brothers gathered in their barracks, Wrecker couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude towards them. They hadn’t said anything, but he knew they’d played a part in Axel’s apology. Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair may not have erased the pain caused by the hurtful comments, but they’ve shown him that he’s not alone. They’ve stood by him, defended him.

As the evening progresses, the solidarity among the brothers remains strong. They fall into their usual cuddle pile, sharing laughter and snacks salvaged from the mess hall, reinforcing their unbreakable bond.

Wrecker reflects on the events of the past few days in the quiet moments before sleep claims them. The weight of doubt and hurt that had burdened his shoulders has been replaced by a newfound resilience. His brothers, the pillars of strength in his life, have reassured him of his worth and taken action to protect him. 

As Wrecker drifts into slumber, he clings to the knowledge that, no matter what challenges they might face, he’s part of a united family. In the moonlit barracks, the Bad Batch rests, stronger than ever, ready to face whatever the galaxy throws their way.

Tag list: @clonethirstingisreal

[idkjustletmescroll]

Can I just say that I was legitimately disappointed they brought viren back at first because i was down with him being dead? Like, I ended up loving the way they went about his story, but when season five ended I was like "okay, that's a good ending for him." I knew they were probably going to bring him back, but I kind of wanted to close the chapter on him.

But I LOVE that he's the one who leaves claudia, not the other way around, the parent leaving the child; I love that we saw how dependent claudia is on her dad, insisting that she can only know the right thing to do if he tells her what it is because she's always done as he says (except, like, saving soren instead of zym's egg, but anyway). I loved him writing his confessions and deciding not to give them to soren because it would just be another burden on soren, who needed to be strong. I love viren admitting that he led claudia down the path she's on now, he's at fault, he's the reason his family split apart; i love soren getting to see his father one last time and doesn't forgive his father or even really reconcile with him.

And I LOVE how viren ends up going out, and I love that they made us believe he'd used soren's heart. For a moment there I was like "oh, shit, he ended up doing the whole 'blood of child' thing, that's crazy!" But then soren comes out of nowhere, and it turns out that viren is using his own heart and i loved every second of it. We've seen how viren seems to not care about soren, even telling claudia near the beginning of the show to save zym's egg instead of her brother and his own son. We've seen him doubt soren, mock soren, humiliate soren, and gaslight soren. And we know soren would give up his own life for katolis and the people living there, without hesitation. While viren, for all his talk of being a servant, which he probably genuinely meant at some point, ends up doing a lot of things for his own self-interest. Even when he and harrow go to kill thunder, harrow hesitates. Viren has to convince him, which in the long run causes harrow's death. He tries repeatedly to take power in katolis "For the good of katolis" despite the fact that there's a council that, frankly, seems to be running things fine, and legitimate heirs out there. When the other human kingdoms won't go to war because of a lack of information (reasonable), he sends literal assassins after them. He turns a bunch of humans into essentially mindless beasts without asking their input or seeming to care about what it'll end up doing to them. And he goes out using his dark magic for something good, using his own body instead of someone/thing else's; and when he says "i am a servant," now, it's the truth, that's the role he's playing. Viren does unquestionably bad things, and i literally just said he's selfish while claiming to be selfless, but everything he does, however questionable, does stem from a place of love for katolis. In retrospect, i'm not sure there was any other way to finish him off (probably for good now; season 7 will probably be too crowded to bring him back, and they just shouldn't), than with him doing what he always claimed to do and never quite achieved: using dark magic to help his people.

[laf-outloud]

Hi, I hope it's okay to vent this out here. I'm sorry, I just don't know where I can safely share this opinion and criticism and not get attacked for it so I hope it doesn't have any hate tossed your way if you decide to post this (if you don't, that's totally fine, I understand, I don't want you to get attacked either).

I've admittedly been a fan of Jensen for the last few years, Supernatural longer, but recently more and more my respect and appreciation of him as an individual has been waning. I still appreciate the characters he plays, the shows he's on, him as a performer, but as a person, he has been straight up saying (and doing) some problematic things that have opened my eyes and pulled me out of the stream of blind consciousness known as AA-world. From what happened with prequelgate (which history has now shown just how much of a cash cow it was and how shady he acted about it, this new One Tree Hill show proving this is how the Ackles apparently conduct themselves professionally) to "Bitch Alba" to the way he speaks about his kids sometimes (and that includes Danneel, I'm not a fan of hers but in general, that's how you talk about your wife and mother of your three kids?), the inflating of his ego, the constant adaptation of his demeanor depending on who he's with (Misha and JDM are the worst, he acts like Misha and he always seems to want to impress JDM), "old titties", and now last night. My respect for him was slowly sliding down to the bottom of the mountain of all of these things he's been doing and saying lately, and then it finally flatlined last night.

I'm all for respecting people's political beliefs and even though I can't stand Misha (I have never had a good feeling about that guy even before I found out all of his problematic history in the fandom and how now it's painfully obvious how attention seeking he is), I have to admit that the guy has been consistent when it comes to his politics and taking action. Despite my dislike for him, I do believe he is very genuine when it comes to that particular arena. I saw it in action with the last election for example, so this one didn't surprise me that he got involved with some of the Harris-themed livestreams. Had Jared been there (I have no idea if he was invited, couldn't make it, or what), I do feel that he would have been genuine in his presence there as well as his answers. He's a genuine guy who appears to wear his heart on his sleeve a lot. Mark was very genuine. Jim Beaver, too. Curtis. They all listed why they were there and why they were voting for Harris.

Then there was Jensen. Sigh. To be fair, I didn't see the whole Boys section so perhaps he answered further during that segment if Eric or someone else asked him, but during the Supernatural one...I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. I'm not defending him (obviously) but I do think nerves played somewhat of a part because he looked a bit uncomfortable, but that still doesn't excuse (in my opinion) how disingenuous his answer was. I can understand the kids part because that absolutely makes sense, but he worded it in a way that made it sound like a) that was the only reason he was voting this way & b) almost as if it was their fault so if anyone got annoyed with him voting for Harris, they're being used as a tool to keep people appeased. Because how can you argue or get mad or disappointed in his choice if he's doing the right thing as any parent would and consider their kids' futures? And here's the thing, I never would have thought that it sounded like a ploy had he not done this previously at cons, when meeting fans, in interviews, etc. He always downplays something he says or does that he thinks is going to be problematic for his fanbase and shifts responsibility in a way that isn't super obvious (except to those of us paying attention and not drinking the AA kool-aid). He may have been aggressive with the whole "hate watch" commentary about TW but he even eventually set up Danneel, the cast, and others to be blamed if it didn't work out. There is ALWAYS one reason or another that he throws up there on why no one should or would ever blame him. So that's why this one, while yes a valid reason (and could be part of the real reason he chose this candidate), it sounded like yet another shield to throw up "don't blame me if you don't like my choice, I have kids and I have to do what's right for them, don't get mad at me" etc.

Then he tries to stall to think of something he can say that's non-specific (and non-committal in my opinion) by making the joke that Mark just listed the many reasons, the several various reasons, everyone is there. That's a copout if I've ever seen one.

Then he says "When you look at the two candidates, there's just no question of who I want to be on the right side of history with." This to me is the most disingenuous of all. Having watched this guy speak publicly the last few years, this reeks of image to me and not genuine endorsement or even concern for the kids' futures he just referred to or about any policies or the direction the country should head in or hope or change or anything. It's about "who I want to be on the right side of history with". Who even says that except someone thinking ahead on how this will affect their image and if they're not on the "right side of history" with? I get it, he's an actor, he has to think about his image in that way and how it will affect his present and future work opportunities, and Misha did indeed corner him by purposely drawing attention to Jensen specifically and asking him that question (to be fair, he wasn't the only one asked during that segment and who answered), but come on. I believed Curtis when he spoke. I believed Jim when he spoke. I believed Mark when he spoke. I even believed Misha (like I said, yuck about the guy, but he is genuine in this one topic). But Jensen saying that just royally pissed me off because to me it was so obvious that he truly doesn't give a shit as to why everyone else is there. (the same guy who has a public platform and could use it for something other than himself or his brewery for example) He was there because of Vought Rising and Soldier Boy being up front and center, because of Amazon Prime and Countdown, and to "be seen". That's it. He wasn't there because he wanted to be an activist like Misha or because he truly believes in Harris or the Democractic party or any politics (except Hollywood's). I know he's been part of political events and discourse before (I forgot how long ago he and Danneel were at that campaign event in Texas after endorsing that candidate and Danneel has spoken about politics before on social media when they lived down there), but this just reeked of "opportunity" to me and not the kind Harris keeps talking about. It was purely self-serving and good PR for him (in his and his team's minds anyway). Why do I believe that? Because he then follows it up with "But for my kids" as the last thing he says on the subject. Once again, throwing that you'd-be-an-asshole-to-question-this-reasoning shield up.

My respect for him as an individual person completely tanked once he finished speaking. Totally, without a doubt, fully disingenuous bullshit answer in my opinion. I'm not saying this because I expect him to be fully committed to his politics or this election or passionate about any of it like someone like Misha for instance. It's not because I wanted to hear him say something different. It's not about his political beliefs or mine or anyone else's. That's not why this was so disappointing (and slightly infuriating if I'm honest) to me. It's because it was more of the same crap from him, just in a different arena. And this election, no matter who you vote for, no matter which party, really matters. I truly believe that. Like any election. Rich celebrities are always trotted out during these times to help sway the vote one way or another, and to be able to tell the hard-working middle class what's best for them while their bank accounts and tables are full, sitting in a cushy house (or mansion) and never having to worry about their kids' education. Because rich celebrities always know what's right for the American people of various economic and living situations as a whole (can you sense my sarcasm here?).

So in my opinion, it's like, if you're going to sign up to do one of these things, then nut up or shut up. Not saying he has to divulge his private thoughts on the matter or go knocking on doors like some, but if you're going to use this for PR and so people can continue thinking "well" of you (and thinking of you period) and everyone around you states something realistic in relation to the event you are there for, then perhaps don't continue your usual bullshit? Perhaps don't make it obvious that you're only there to get PR perks and bonus points with your friends and those who can employ you/are employing you? Don't be so fucking transparent that you don't mind being up front and center in front of the camera for Supernatural (I know he stayed in the back of The Boys one, but I personally think it had to do with Karen and Erin being there, that's not me implying anything about them or him, more like implying something about his image and Danneel, etc) but then looking like you'd rather be elsewhere when the not-a-surprise question is then posed to you of why you're there? And maybe not make some awkward joke about alcohol while you stall for time to think of the most neutral self-conscious image-positive answer you could think of, all while throwing your kids up as a shield?

Maybe you disagree with me and you didn't see his answer that way. Maybe some others might, too, and that's cool if you or any of them do. We should all think for ourselves (I think one of the most important messages to come out of the Supernatural segment of the livestream last night). But for me, it was beyond disappointing that this was yet another confirmation that this guy appears to be full of shit everywhere we turn, and that he thinks all of his fanbase is that stupid and unable to see it for what it is, newsflash: not all of us are AA's, Jensen, some of us actually use that big spongy thing inside our heads). And it's even more frustrating that any other celebrity can be called out for this bullshit ploy online, no matter their wealth or status in the industry, including his castmates on any show, and yet you can't say a fucking word of genuine criticism when it comes to him. Instead, you have to enroll yourself in the Ackles Critic Protection Program and state anything less than a "he's king and she's queen and they can do no wrong ever" mentality anonymously. So, that all being said, I've lost complete respect for him and I'm done being a fan of his. That doesn't mean I hate Dean or Supernatural all of a sudden or any of his work, I can compartmentalize, but when it comes to the actor/individual himself, nope, no more. He can keep his sheeple of a stanbase who will be there to keep swallowing and buying (literally) the bullshit he gives and sells them. I'll be over here, actually using my brain and eyes that were given to me, and I'll head off on my merry way.

I'm truly sorry for the long rant, but that really bothered me last night and put me off of him for good. This is the last time I'm even going to refer to him online. I truly feel sorry for those who can't (and those who won't) see past the image he projects. Maybe that's why most of his fanbase focuses shallowly on his looks most of the time. Perhaps that is a reflection of the individual.

A public persona who likes their private life private is one thing, but this is a whole other in my opinion. Never meet your heroes is very true, but I would add to that never look for any authenticity that doesn't come with a dollar sign or Instagram follower count attached from them either. Extremely disappointing.

Thanks for letting me get that out. Again, if you don't want to post this, I wouldn't blame you. If you do decide to post, I hope no one attacks you for my stated opinion. If they do... 🐑 Enough said. Thanks for listening.

I've had a few people rant in my inbox before. Welcome!

It was easy to see last night who's truly engaged in the process and who isn't. Though, I will disagree about Misha. He may be vocal and consistent, but he's still only doing it for attention and exposure. He even said early on that the reason he got into politics, and then acting, was to be famous.

And while I don't believe everyone has to be as passionate about politics as someone else (I'm certainly not), I do see what your saying about Jensen's appearance. It felt very rehearsed and disingenuous, like he was there simply because Eric's his boss and that it would be good publicity. Frankly, there are other ways to get publicity than attending any event and acting disinterested the majority of the time. The most sincere words that came from Jensen were when he was saying Hi to Cory Booker.

As for his politics, there's only one time I saw a genuine interest from Jensen and that was when he supported a bill that would help his brewery. I don't expect him to share his politics with the world, but if he's going to attend a political rally event, he should at least act more interested than what we saw. He is an actor, after all.

[neilgill]

Wish Defense I: The 'Complaints'

“Be to her virtues very kind, Be to her faults a little blind.” ― Matthew Prior

Disney's Wish was actually great and I'm here to defend it.

I'd like to start by negating most of, if not all, the 'complaints' this film's been getting. Please join me as I do this in 12 brief points:

Asha is a great protagonist. She is not just 'quirky' or one-dimensional: she's caring, strong, beautifully flawed, and doesn't solve every problem on her own; the movie makes a point of every one of these. I never saw her as a clone of someone like Mirabel or Anna. And she does have a character arc: she matures and learns to work hard for what she believes in. She learns that doing the right thing is difficult, but it's necessary. All this makes for a beautifully put-together character that gets through challenges and comes out stronger. Why aren't people talking about how great that is?

Magnifico is a great villain. He's an amalgam of familiar villains like Maleficent, Ursula, and Gaston, done in ways that seem fresh and unique. I've seen a lot of people say his motivation seems to change every few minutes or so, but I disagree. Him using his traumatic past is his excuse for his bad behaviour: that's what narcissists do. Just look at Mother Gothel and all her gaslighting. He was always a self-absorbed jerk who wants everyone under his heel, and whose darkness just got revealed more and more. And his 'villain shtick' is a cool and terrifying one: stripping people of their hopes and dreams to make them docile subjects who depend on him. He takes away their agency, essentially their souls and who they are as people. That is the bad thing he's been doing from Day 1, it's what makes him a villain: the film tells us that. How can people defend him? It's like people defending Gaston all over again. He's a great villain in that he goes against the values the story holds dear, challenges the protagonist in personal ways, is wonderful to hate, and is rightfully depicted as in the wrong for doing bad things. He's the selfish one, not Asha as the 'critics' are claiming. Why aren't people talking about that?

Star is a great secondary character. He is intentionally supposed to be a character that harkens back to those like Jiminy Cricket or Timothy Q. Mouse (I have a very personal connection with Dumbo, so this was important to me). People are REALLY misinterpreting that concept art of them: Star and Asha were never supposed to have a romance because Human Star would look like her grandfather. And 'Starboy' would just be a copy of Peter Pan or Genie, which people would definitely slam, thus I'm glad they changed him. See point 11 for more on Star and why his current form is the one they went with. People just care about having a Jack Frost clone (if they did go that route, they'd probably be slammed for copying Dreamworks, knowing 'critics'). The idea of a mute, magical sidekick, something that we haven't seen since Tinker Bell, is a pretty fun one that feels new and cool. And it's important to note that he never grants anyone's wish: he just helps out, letting Asha and others know that they themselves have to make it come true. Why aren't people talking about that?

I was really worried Valentino was going to be little more than a gag, but he wasn't. He helps out here and there, especially when aiding the Teens in freeing the wishes, proving his importance to the narrative. Plus I did find him pretty funny.

The Teens do stand on their own. I went into the movie knowing they were going to be new versions of the 7 Dwarfs, but each of them felt like their own unique person to me, especially Dahlia and Simon.

The animation is gorgeous: you have to watch it in HD or 4k, which people are doing for other films like Spider-Verse or Nimona, just not this one. It is far from 'lazy' or 'Disney Junior level': it harkens back to art styles Walt Disney himself loved. I can't believe they managed to replicate the feel of classic Disney backgrounds, like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, so perfectly with modern technology. It looks like a painting, or a tapestry. Disney movies are still beautiful. Why aren't people talking about that?

The music is great: I've caught myself singing every song at least thrice. Each song brings something to the table. 'This is the Thanks I Get' fits Magnifico's character, and is something in the same vein as Gaston's song; you cannot tell me that one rent line is worse than 'nobody spits like Gaston'. I still get chills listening to 'This Wish' and its reprise. I don't know how people online are starting to think it's a bad song, but now others are just jumping on the bandwagon. You can see Asha's love and struggles within the song, and it even has the melody of 'Part of Your World'; how can you hate that? I've seen so many people personally connect with that song, myself included... Why aren't people talking about that?

'At All Costs' was never a love song between Asha and Star: Julia Michaels just wanted a love song (find that Variety article), and now it can be used for all kinds of love. I actually did tear up watching that sequence for the first time, seeing Asha hold her grandfather's wish dearly in her arms. I've seen people say it reminds them of what a parent would sing to their child, like 'You'll Be in My Heart', and I think that's just so wonderful and heartfelt. Why aren't people talking about that?

I don't have the actual post, but I'd like to bring attention back to what an artist on the film said: every 'Easter Egg' is meaningfully placed, a tribute to what has inspired generations. Not one of them felt shoehorned in to me. This movie is a tribute, a love letter, a celebration of what people have loved for 100 years. Why aren't people talking about that?

Magnifico's defeat is far from silly. It makes sense given the rules the world of the film runs on: the fact that 'we are made of stars' is a good Chekov's gun that carries a lot of meaningful importance. Each of us is special, each of us has magic, and each of us has hope. And this is where evil dies and good endures: Magnifico cannot comprehend that anyone but himself is worth anything, thus why he cannot quell this and it is the reason for this downfall. He, the villain, loses because he lacks the virtues the heroes possess. Why aren't people talking about that?

The story of this film is special: as confirmed by the staff, the film is an allegory for Walt Disney's life, and the story of Disney overall. Asha is Walt Disney, Star is Mickey Mouse: a magical force of creativity and inspiration that lights up a dark time. Because of the special nature of this, even though I'm a die-hard Disney fan, I'm fine with there not being any romance in this film (even though I'd like it back someday). This was intentionally made as a simple film à la Snow White, which was meant to be a happy, hope-giving film for people back in the 1930s. Just like this film is supposed to be now. One last time: why aren't people talking about that?

This is the first of a few posts I'll make defending this movie, so for other Wish fans out there, please stick around. I don't care if I get dragged for this: I'd rather stick up for my beliefs and defend myself my way than let online bullies like Schaffrillas, Aldone, or Astor Rhymemaster stop me from loving something I really enjoyed. I really hope this movie gets the Atlantis treatment and becomes a beloved cult classic down the line. Until next time.