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sanguineterrain · 7 months ago

Note

your most recent jason fic has me in a bit of a chokehold and its bc you do so well with the dialogue and the banter!!

HONEYLOVE???#?*×& i need to be physically restrained (i appreciate your fics respectfully)

anyways, the fic has me thinking: imagine it's the same reader, but they know Jason's alive and they're back to being friends again (skipping over the drama of "YOU'RE ALIVE?!?" "yea lmao sorry ily tho") but there's this tension now. and since Jason's not working with a mask anymore (and he's slightly more vulnerable with r), it's him who gets flustered and it's r who does the flirting playful banter. maybe it ends with a kiss (˘ ³˘) ?

i'm such a sucker for a flustered Jason and there's something that tells me he gets really weak in the knees for someone he adores >:) anyways, you can always choose to write this or not but a very big, fat thank you if you do

the reaction pics are SO FUNNY i'm glad you enjoy this au <3

jason todd x gn!nocturne!reader. pt 3 of vigilante reader. this is basically reader just being feral over jason :> they speak for all of us, really. love confessions, tension, somewhat flustered jason, more sparring lols.

pt 1 / pt 2

****

Jason Todd is alive. Jason Todd is sitting two feet away, talking about a case.

You can't quite believe it. You went home two days ago and expected to wake up to the whole thing being a dream or the result of a Poison Ivy hallucinogen.

You can't stop staring at him. It's weird. You're being weird. But you can't help it.

Every time you see Jason, you want to look at him for as long as possible. You don't want to forget his face. This new face. Scarred and hardened, but still good. Still loved.

And, well. It's not like Jason's bad looking. Sure, you thought he was cute when you were teenagers. Resurrection makes the heart grow fonder, et cetera.

But now? Now, Jason makes your heart stupid. You can barely contain your desire. It's been two weeks since he revealed himself, and every time you see him, you have to dig your nails into your palms to keep yourself from showing him what he does to you.

Sometimes you think he sees right through you, but if he does, he never acts on it.

"—listening. Yo. Ground control to Major Tom. Are you with me?"

Jason waves a hand in front of you. You blink.

He's unmasked and in a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and dark jeans—the most comfortable you've seen him, actually. His hair is still wet from his shower.

"Sorry," you say, suddenly zeroed in on the three droplets of water sliding down his neck. "I'm listening. Just looking at you."

"'Cause I'm so pretty?" Jason asks, batting his lashes.

You reach over without thinking. He freezes when you wipe the water off of his neck. Then you tuck a curl behind his ear.

"You should let me blow-dry your hair," you say, taking your time in dropping your hand. "It'll take ages to dry in this humidity."

Jason's eyes have gone wide. Pink splotches bloom on the apples of his cheeks.

"Uh." He swallows. You watch his throat bob. "Thanks. Maybe... next time."

"I'll steal Dick's. He's got the fancy sixteen setting one."

That makes Jason smile. "Hm. Some things never change."

His eyes crinkle at the corners. Fondness swells swiftly in your chest.

You stay like that for a moment, caught in each other's orbit.

Jason breaks it first, leaning away. "Right. You should probably get back to the Manor. Br–the others'll probably think I kidnapped ya."

You shrug. "I quit."

"What?"

"Bruce was getting on my last nerve. I can't work with someone like that."

Jason snorts. "Join the club. Look, I can't say I'm not thrilled that you're stickin' it to the old man. But if this is 'cause of me... I wouldn't be mad if you kept workin' with him. Honest. If that's what you wanna do, don't let me stop you."

"Jason." You rest your hand atop his. "I joined this life because of you. To honor you. You taught me how to help people, not Bruce. You taught me what it meant to be kind, to be a part of something bigger than myself."

To love, you don't say.

"I..." He shakes his head. "You became Nocturne for me?"

You close your eyes, then open them. You've cried so many times. You don't want to stay in your grief any longer. Not when he's right in front of you.

"When you died, I..." You take a deep breath. "Nocturne was something to ground me. I think Bruce recognized that. I think he knew how much you meant to me. He didn't have to take a chance on me, and I appreciate that he did. But I've realized that he doesn't know everything. Can't see what's right in front of him sometimes."

You squeeze Jason's wrist. He sighs.

"God, I'm sorry," he says.

"What're you sorry for, Jay? You came back. That's all I ever wanted."

Jason chews his cheek for a moment. Then he stands, chair scraping the floor.

"C'mon," he says.

You follow him to the living room. He moves the armchair, the couch, and rolls up the rug. He disappears down the hall and returns with two thick mats. He tosses them onto the floor.

"Uh..." you say. "What're you—"

"'M gonna show you what y'did wrong that night on the roof."

"Wow. Can't believe you're still single. Being reminded of my shitty combat skills gets me so hot."

Jason rolls his eyes. "Alright, smartass. Just 'cause you quit the Bats doesn't mean you won't go out there and keep helping people. I know you. The least I can do is pick up where Dickface left off in your training."

"The least you can do, huh? I think you just wanna pin me against the floor again," you say, smirking.

He clears his throat. "That—no."

"No?" You step closer and look at him through your lashes. You're so close, you're touching his chest. "What happened to tying me up 'cause I was out when I shouldn't have been? Isn't that another educational technique?"

Jason's throat bobs. "That wasn't—I was just saying things."

"Hm. That's too bad."

You skip right past him, onto the mat, and hold out your arms.

"Okay. Put the moves on me, J.P."

It takes Jason a moment to craft his usual poker face. When he does, he groans. "'M not an evil Gilded Age financier. Still don't like 'J.P.'"

"But you like me-ee," you sing-song.

He shrugs. "Sometimes. Until you give me a heart attack and run into a burning building."

"Wish I could've seen your face for that one," you say as you steel your shoulders and secure your feet.

"Better you didn't. I'm sure there was a vein or two popping outta my forehead." Jason cracks his neck. "Ready?"

"Lay it on me, big guy."

"You first. Attack me like you normally would."

So you do. You step forward and throw a punch similar to the one from your rooftop spar. Jason catches it, of course. But this time, he locks you in a hold. One leg is between yours, and your arms are twisted behind your back with one hand. Humiliating.

"Dude!" You wiggle. Jason doesn't yield. "Jay, come on. No petty criminal is gonna know how to do all that."

"I know. The point of this is for you to know how to use someone's size against them."

Jason presses his cheek against yours. You tamp down your shiver. You can hear his heartbeat.

"Take a breath," he murmurs.

You close your eyes and breathe. Jason's grip doesn't hurt, but you're frustrated by how predictable you are. How he knows your body. A part of you is missing in not knowing him the way he knows you.

"Alright," he says. "Think. What part of me is exposed?"

"Not the important parts, I hope."

You can feel his eyeroll.

"You're hilarious. C'mon, focus. What can you attack?"

"Um... your legs. You trapped my arms, but my and your legs are free."

"Good." The praise warms you. Being this close to Jason will never get old. "What else?"

"What else? Do you have a tail I don't know about?"

"Sucha wiseass," he says, mouth close to your ear. "Your head. You're still able to move your head, and you're close to my face."

"Yeah, I'm not headbutting you. Out of the kindness of my heart."

"I appreciate that, sweets. Sweep my leg."

So you do. Jason goes down easier than he normally would for your benefit.

"'Kay," he says, once again underneath you. Now you have his hands pinned. "Good. Remember what went wrong last time?"

"You bucked me off like a Clydesdale."

He smiles. "Yeah, okay. So what'll you do different?"

"I'm not in my suit," you say. "I don't have extra weight in my boots."

"No, but you don't need it if you keep my legs apart."

"So that was your plan all along, huh? Perv."

Jason coughs. "Ah-hum... I—c'mon, lock my legs."

You grin and spread Jason's legs, using your knees to keep him immobile.

And then you just stare. This time, it's not because you're thinking about the miracle of resurrection (though what a miracle it is). No, you're just thinking, once again, about how your best friend got really, stupidly pretty.

And how you really, stupidly wanna kiss him.

Jason still looks young, but his jaw is now defined. He's got a five o'clock shadow coming on. His lips are full and pink. Freckles dot his cheeks and nose. The nose that still has a bump from when he broke it during a fight with Riddler.

You remember how he played it off for weeks. Bruce said that didn't even cry. But when you asked if it hurt, Jason had said yes.

You wonder when the last time Jason cried was. You wonder how much pain he's suffered since.

You wonder if he knows he's got your heart in the palm of his hand.

"Hey," Jason says. His voice is soft. Shy. "I lose ya again?"

You shake your head. "No. Never."

"There somethin' on my face?"

"You're a lot to look at," you say. "Pretty, pretty boy."

That gets an undeniable reaction. Jason Todd has never been able to take a compliment. You've been exploiting that all day.

Perhaps you know him better than you thought.

He exhales sharply, like you've sucker-punched him. His eyes dart to you. Waiting.

"Your eyes are green," you say. "Like, mixed. Blue and green."

Jason nods. "I—yeah. The Pit. Changed 'em. Changed me."

You lean in. His gaze flicks to your mouth. You watch his Adam's apple bob in a hard swallow.

"They're still pretty," you say. "Always had pretty eyes, Jaybird."

"Heh, right. Even with this shit?" He points to the scar that crosses over his right eye, stopping at his lip.

You let go of his wrists—not that you were holding them that tightly anyway. If this were a real fight, you would've lost ten times over already. Considering how much of you is touching Jason, you happen to be winning hard.

You trace the puckered white flesh with your thumb. Jason flinches but doesn't pull away.

"Your face could never turn me away," you say. "Never."

He closes his eyes and shudders. "Y'too nice to me. Always so nice t'me. Even when we were fighting. Why're ya so good?"

Your lips are a hair from his now. "I don't know how to make it more obvious, Jaybird. I'm absolutely insane about you."

Jason's eyes fly open. He sees your mouth and his breathing increases. You smile.

"Yeah, want you bad. No place I wouldn't follow you. Do anything for you."

Jason makes a strangled noise in his throat. You grin.

"C'mon, big guy. I'm right here. Come have me, Jay. I'm yours."

Jason soars up and kisses you. Swallows you, really. His hands hold your waist for dear life. You wrap one leg around his.

You nip his lip. Jason whines softly. Delicious.

You grab his face, fingers tangling in his curls. Jason sits up, slotting you against him. One hand supports you on your back, the other on your side.

"God—" He breaks away, just barely. "You're way too good for me. Had sucha... sucha crush on ya when we were kids. Y'so sweet."

You blindly find his throat and bite, hard enough to leave a mark. Jason makes a guh sound. You lick the bite to soothe it.

"Missed you," you say into his skin. "Missed you so goddamn bad, Jason."

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah," he babbles, clinging to you as you kiss up his neck. "Yeah, missed you too."

"Not letting you go," you say, almost snarling. You're angry with want, angry at the world for keeping this from you for so many years. "It's you and me now, Jay, mkay? Gonna be mine?"

"Always been yours," he says, panting. Jason finds your lips again. The kiss is messy, uncoordinated. Full of love. "No one but you."

You haven't fallen behind. You're starting anew.

"Never been anybody but you."

#Jason todd x reader #Jason todd x you #red Hood x reader #red Hood x you #Jason todd fanfiction #red Hood fanfiction #Jason todd imagine #red Hood imagine #red Hood x yn #jason todd x y/n #batman fanfiction #dc fanfiction #inbox #blurb

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sunflowerhae · 3 months ago

Text

-Forever.

• established relationship!hyuck, sickening sweet fluff, feeding into yalls delusions BAD. I just need haechan something evil yall and with the sadness surrounding the SMAU im writing abt him , I need to share some love.

• main masterlist

♬　 ❛ (｡•̀ᴗ-)✾🐚 ˚　♡　 𐚱

If every word I said could make you laugh,

I’d talk forever

I asked the sky just what we had,

It shown forever

If the song I sing to you could fill your heart with joy,

I’d sing forever

I’d be so happy loving you

Let the love I have for you

Live in your heart and be Forever

Donghyuck needed to stop staring.

At this point it was getting uncomfortable. Not in a “you’re a creep and need to stop looking at me” way, but instead a “my boyfriend is looking straight into my soul with the look that his whole existence is in the palm of my hands and I’m just trying to eat a sandwich” way. You laugh slightly as you finally acknowledge the look on your boyfriend’s face, setting down your lunch as you stare back at him with upraised eyebrows, “can I help you, lover boy?”

He sighs softly, looking down at his untouched food before glancing back up at you. You see the blush on his face - coated across his cheeks like an Aurora borealis in the night sky. He picks at his nails, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d say your outgoing, extrovertive, attention needing boyfriend of 3 years was…shy. You stare at the sight, trying to imprint it on your mind; burn it into your memory. Donghyuck continues his gentle gaze with a laugh, “just looking at my beautiful girlfriend - what’s so wrong with that?” You roll your eyes and pick your food back up. If he was going to act weird, you were going to ignore him. After all, these little lunch dates in between the two of yours busy schedules were sometimes the only opportunity for you to intake substance in your jam packed day, so regardless of hyuck’s…unusual…attitude, you’ll continue eating.

You just finished taking a bite of your sandwich, and was currently chewing in peace when Donghyuck suddenly popped a question so insane that it was quite literally the last thing you would ever expect him to ask in a subway at 12:42pm on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, “y/n, will you marry me?”

He watched as your eyes went wide, and the bite in your mouth threatened to kill you as you coughed and reached for your soda. After a good 30 seconds of struggle, with Donghyuck just staring at you with a red face, silently handing you napkins to clean up, you finally managed a, “Thanks,” before continuing with a mumble, “Donghyuck respectfully what the fuck.” It’s not that you didn’t want to marry the man in front of you. In fact, it was only two nights ago that you were scrolling on Pinterest in boredom, saving wedding inspo pics to a board you effectively titled “Y/n and Donghyuck <3”. This, however, was never the way you envisioned him asking you. Ignoring the fact that the both of you were still in college, and had $2,566.12 saved in your bank accounts (collectively) - you also still lived with your roommates, and while you know there’s never a “right time” to tie the knot with your forever person, maybe right now wasn’t that time. You were honestly confused, because this was never really something you and donghyuck talked about. Sure, you had conversations about the future - but to you the future was years down the road when you were both financially ready for that type of thing. You suppose that for Donghyuck, the future was now.

You sat in stilled breath, waiting for your boyfriend’s reply as he looked down, gathering his thoughts. You felt bad - you don’t want him to think you’re rejecting him. You chose this as the moment to reach across the table and grab his hand in yours, softly squeezing it and smiling gently at him when he looks back up at you. With a deep sigh, donghyuck explains, “I’m sorry, I really don’t know where that came from. I wasn’t expecting to ask you that. I just…I don’t know what it is right now but I just felt like I had to ask. I needed to hear what you would say, I guess,” he trails off, connecting his thoughts together again, “you just…you don’t understand what you do to me, y/n.” He blushes again, as you cock your head to the side.

“What do you mean?” He laughs in almost disbelief, as if he can’t believe you don’t see it.

“I think of you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year, y/n. I always thought I knew love, I thought I could see it; that I could handle it. But then I met you. You changed my chemistry. You changed who I am as a person. I thought I lived for myself, my future. But as the years have gone by, I realize more and more every day that I really just live for you; your smile, your laugh, your love. I live to have you near me, to have your attention on me. Everytime you talk to me, look at me - even if I think you’re thinking of me - a chill runs up my spine and I feel sick, in the best way. It’s like a drug, what you do to me. I always felt this way about you in some form, and I thought when we first got together that was the most of it. I thought it would calm down and I would get comfortable. But I haven’t, really I haven’t. It’s gotten worse, y/n. I used to think of you a lot, now I think of you every moment; what you’re doing, who you’re with, how soon until you’re with me. I would do anything for you. You could ask me to run across the world, I’d do it. I don’t know what lengths I would go to for you, and I don’t really want to know to be honest. But I do know that the thought of not spending the rest of my life in your gaze, in your arms…that’s no life for me. We don’t have to get married now. But I want to, one day…soon. I want to make sure I have you forever, if you’ll take me.” He finishes with a sigh, sitting back in his chair in relief, like he finally got something off his chest that he was harboring for a while. You can barely see him, what with the tears pouring out of your eyes at a concerning rate. Donghyuck finally finds the courage to look at you, and immediately his own eyes go wide as he leans forward and dabs at your eyes with a clean napkin. You just sit there and let him do so, frozen. Finally, after a minute or so, he finishes and sits back to normal, suddenly anxious as he bites at his nails, “say something, please. I feel like a loser right now.” He laughs softly, obviously uncomfortable with how much emotion he suddenly shared.

“Donghyuck,” you softly exclaim, “I love you so much, I really don’t know what to say. I’ve never had anyone say that about me. I’ve never…” you can’t finish your sentence, the choke in your throat cutting you off. It was Donghyuck’s turn to comfort you, holding your hand tightly as if to say, “it’s okay…I know”. You nod at him, your chin wobbling as you find the strength to finish, “you have me completely, hyuck. I’m never going anywhere. Not today, not tomorrow - never. We can take all the time we want, you’ve got me forever.” His smile that spreads at your words is infectious, the both of you staring at each other in a warm glow of love and happiness, feeling complete together. Maybe you won’t get married soon, but it doesn’t matter, because the both of you know that you have forever.

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byou-shin · 1 year ago

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[BYOU-SHIN] Melancholia (Decor)

Treat #4 and the last treat. Get other treats ☻∔∔ Happy Simblreen~ @simblreenofficial

Melancholia _ Paintings

V1｜35 swatches

V2｜21 swatches

V3｜20 swatches

Melancholia _ Decorative Plate

18 swatches

need mesh by Severinka -> here

thanks for the mesh~

DOWNLOAD : (Gdrive) (Patreon free)

It has come almost the last of October. I'm glad I can provide these gifts :) This one is paintings and a decor plate. I like the result, but I made them in rush since I'm busy with irl job, but I hope it turns out well for anyone who use them ^^ Someday I wish to create more cc for Simblreen and/or for general days

Paintings are for wall, but you can use " 9 / 0 " and TOOL to to adjust so it fits on a surface cc; like table, racks, cabinet, etc (look at promo pic 1~)

and yes, that's a Sukekiyo Amor plate. Actually I was moved to make this set because of the Amor plate lol. Also yes, the cc name is a Mejibray song. All my cc name is from song, I'm not creative hng

[arts and/or bjd photos used are not by me. All credits goes to artists and/or owners respectfully]

#sims 4 #my builds #download #simblreen #simblreen 2023 #sims 4 paintings #sims 4 clutter #sims 4 decor #sims 4 gothic #sims 4 vintage #sims 4 build

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diorsluv · 11 months ago

Text

feather , part 27

“ not pretending to like the wine you like ”

series m. list previous chapter next chapter

( socialmedia!au )

rutgermcgroarty

liked by lhughes_06, _alexturcotte, yourusername, and 70,881 others

rutgermcgroarty 3️⃣🛞❌😁

view all comments

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yourusername

liked by lhughes_06, luca.fantilli, markestapa, and 117,290 others

yourusername summer dayssss ☀️

view all comments

jamie.drysdale cover up

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username45 i audibly screamed. in public. like i SCREAMED.

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jackhughes yeah so how many pics did you take before you got these

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username71 idk bout yall but it seems to me like mr “best friend” luke isn’t really best friend-ing rn 🤨🤨🤨

next chapter notes ) their time will come soon i promise i promise but for now we must bask in the mutual pining and the way the guys taunt lukey pooks and i lied again it’s not that late (it’s 7 pm lmaooo)

tags: @aliaology @hockeyboysarehot @absolutelyhugh3s @jackquinnswife @freds-slut @love4ldr @blueeyedbesson @43hughes @v1olentdelights @dancerbailey3 @random-human02 @ho3forfakeguys @loveforaugust

#luke hughes #luke hughes fanfic #luke hughes fic #luke hughes x reader #jack hughes #quinn hughes #luke hughes x y/n #jamie drysdale #adam fantilli #alex turcotte #cole caufield #trevor zegras #rutger mcgroarty #ethan edwards #mark estapa #dylan duke #luca fantilli #mackie samoskevich

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renranram · 8 months ago

Note

Your stories r so good qigehwjw I keep rereading them when there hasn't been a new one updating, but would like to ask which u can freely ignore.

What if schlatt takes us once again to Japan and we try out a kimono he's either filming her or someone else it's up to you🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 once again have a great day!!

Kimonos

sfw + fluff

this is like the part 2 from the last japan related schlatt one shot i wrote

a/n; HI YANNVI!! IM GLAD YOU LIKE MY WORKS SKSHSHFJ + YOUR IDEA IS SO CUTE OFC I CAN'T JUST IGNORE IT ILY ( PARASOCIALLY )

schlatt and you return again to japan, this time it's just both of you two, no cameras, no nothing

the photo booth pics of you two are still in the back of his phone, showing you off but in a lowkey way, as you two scroll through a small festival in japan you two look around as schlatt pause, approaching a small stand before picking up a small pink cat plush

“ it looks like you “ schlatt smiles as you chuckle, “ do i really? “ you ask, standing next to him as you pat the small plush before gasping, grabbing a large brown bear

“ it looks like you! “ you giggle, as he chuckles back, gently grabbing the bear from out of your hand as he poses with it

you grab out your polaroid, before snapping a photo of him and the bear, “ you're so cute “ you mutter out as schlatt could only pull you for a peck in your cheek

“ i thought we agreed on not bringing any cameras hm? “ he gently caresses your shoulder before you respond, “ i knoww, i just wanted to snap some photos “ you reply, “ preserve the memories you know? “

“ of course you would “ he states, before glancing at the two plushies, “ do you want them? “ he asks

“ uhm.. but what if they're too expensive? “ you ask, he always spoils you without a problem so why would he care now?, “ there's nothing to expensive for me “ schlatt retorts patting your hair as he grabs both of the plushies

respectfully paying for the toys, as he looks at you proudly, holding the bag, “ it's us but if we're plushies “ you added he intertwines his hand with yours, as you two continue to walk around the festival

you two ate traditional foods, looked at shrines and even paid respect for the spirits by lighting up some candles

your polaroid collections started growing and growing with every shot of you two, that was until fans of his spotted you two, both are wearing kimonos as they reluctantly approaches schlatt

“ hi! we're such big fans “ the boy, who looks about 15 and his friend, a girl, who looks older smiles at them as you glance at schlatt, happy that he was recognized, “ hey im glad you like my content “ schlatt replies

the two kids looks at you before gasping, giving him a cheeky smile, schlatt scolds the kids in a playful manner, “ we keep this a secret alright? “ he daps up the kids before the two nod, being a chuckling mess

“ can we take a photo with you? “ the girl asks as schlatt glances at you, looking for permission as you respond with a small nod, stepping away a little as the two kids, pose, and snaps a photo with their idol

schlatt pats both of their shoulders, “ we're so happy to meet you! “ the kids state in unison as they bow in unison too, “ me too, “ schlatt pauses before glancing at their attire, “ hey, before you two go, can i ask where'd you'd get those? “ he asks nicely, pointing at the kimonos

“ oh our parents rented these in a nearby store… like over there! “ the kid points at a shop, who's only a few blocks from where they were

“ alright, thank you “ schlatt gives them a little bow as the kids run away, giggling, schlatt approaches you, noticing you looking in awe at a beautifully decorated shrine while chewing on her dango

“ hi toots “ he greets you again, his hand on your waist as you smile, “ they seem like nice kids “ you commented as schlatt nods in reply, “ i wanna try something with you “ he added as you raise your eyebrow in interest

“ oh? “ you blink as schlatt gently grabs your wrist as he starts pulling you behind him, “ what is it? “ you ask, smiling, “ just something “

you nod in defeat as schlatt and you stop at a kimono shop, you gasp, “ what's this for? “ you ask him, “ wanna try those kimonos with you “ he nudges your shoulder

“ really? “ you squeal, before nodding, as two staffs comes up to you two speaking in japanese but they're generally greeting you in their shop

you two were separated by them as they let you chose the preferred color of your clothing, unironically, you and schlatt chose the same color, light blue

the staffs gently dresses you up with the obis, such as ( obi-age, obi, obi-dome and obi-shime ), they were that kind to even gently put on the tabi on you, even letting you borrow a tradional umbrella and a kinchaku

schlatt of course paid for everything, the staffs calling him handsome and he could only bow and chuckle in response flustered

as you got out of the dressing room, schlatt swore he fell in love again, he smiles, your hair was put up, the staffs cooes at you two as you chuckling, noticing the same color you two wore

“ we're twinning babe “ you approach him as schlatt pulls you by your waist as the staffs squeal like teenage girls

you two chuckle as schlatt pulls out the polaroid before approaching the staff, whispering something at them as they nod, even with the language barrier schlatt just hands them the polaroid before going back to you to pose

“ ah “ you mutter, his hand on your waist, as the two of you pose, after with a small shutter, schlatt bows in gratitude as the staff returns the camera, all smiles, “ uh…you return in… hour “ the staff states, her broken english is very obvious

the two of you continued to walk around the festival even managing to get into a petting zoo, before it was you who was taking photos him and this time it was him taking pictures

it was an adorable sight really, you chuckle, scrunchiour nose as you feed a lamb, another shutter, “ you keep taking pics of me “ you mumbles, fixing your hair

“ it's cause you're adorable toots “ he smiles at you, “ plus, it saves the memories you know… so.. if we do get children in the future we can show them how pretty their mother is “

you blush like a teenage girl, “ awh come on, it is real tho, i want us to have a photo album of us, a photo album dedicated to you, showing how much we love eachother “

“ … you're so cheesy “ you can only comment, as schlatt pecks your cheek, “ it is real tho, i wanna share these memories with them in the future “

@.isniffschlatt’ssocks • 7 minutes

AHH OMG SCHLATT WAS SPOTTED IN JAPAN WITH THE SAME GIRL, ANY THOUGHTS??

↳ 427 ⇆ 308 ♡ 592

↳ @.jschlatt • 1 minute

that girl is my gf btw

↳ 799 ⇆ 987 ♡ 1.8k

#chuckle sammy #chuckle sandwich #jschlatt #schlatt #sleep deprived podcast #schlatt fanfic #jschlatt x reader #jschlatt x you #schlatt x reader #schlatt x y/n #schlatt x you #schlatt fluff #jschlatt x y/n #jschlatt fanfic

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cuteandhughesy · 1 month ago

Text

This Love | Mikko Rantanen (instagram edit)

summary: your and mikko’s instagram posts after you finally get back together - from vacation, date nights and the new hockey season

warnings: none other than suggestive comments <3

face claim: sydney sweeney

a/n: hey guys! another insta edit for you to feast on - they will all come slowly and surely and you can check out my masterlist to see which fics will be featured! also working away on my vince dunn xmas fic as well as filtering through requests and picking some of my favourite xmas ones ! tis the season ❤️🎄

link to this love

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

liked by cradnec, mel.landeskog and others

yourusername vacation and man of my dreams ☀️

tagged cradnec

comments

user1 also the man of my dreams

user2 holy shit titties

user3 you look STUNNINH

landeskog_92 what a man 😍

yourusername back off

user4 you’re glowing

user5 ugh looks so beautiful

mel.landeskog i’m jealous

user6 mikko can’t handle all that😍

cradnec you’re my favourite girl

kaileyrankin shut upppp 😩

user7 so pretty

user8 boobies

tracymakar_ need to visit this vacay spot asap

liked by landeskog_92, syddbad and others

yourusername back home and cozying up for fall ❤️ a dump of some moments from last week ft. my fav flamingo mug I steal from mikko

tagged cradnec

comments

syddbad miss your face

user1 how does it feel to live my dream?

user2 give the rest of us a shot

juliannemanson still thinking about those coffees

cradnec do I always look that handsome 😍

yourusername so humble

user3 love thissss

landeskog_92 hate that mug

yourusername the flamingo mug lives forever 🦩

user4 you’re so pretty

user5 need that mug immediately

user6 🤩🤩🤩🤩

6erikjohnson6 mikko is so devishly handsome

cradnec stop it you 😍

yourusername yeah stop it. 🤺

liked by kaileyrankin, cradnec and others

yourusername had a long and exhausting week at work and came home to the cutest stuffy 🥲 plus mel and I finally got our boys out of the house for a breakfast date 🤩

tagged mel.landeskog, cradnec & landeskog_92

comments

user1 how cute 🥰

user2 who doesn’t love a good jellycat 🐰

mel.landeskog love you and our bottomless mimosas

yourusername i’m still recovering

user3 this is so sweet

user4 hottest couple

user5 serving looks in those scrubs

jellycat always here to brighten your day

landeskog_92 mikko stunting per usual

cradnec model

user6 i’m looking at your man respectfully

liked by mackinnon29, charlotttewalker and others

yourusername date night 🫣

tagged cradnec

comments

6erikjohnson6 holy shit

6erikjohnson6 this is insane

yourusername jealous?

landeskog_92 I am ✋🏻

user1 omfg 😩

user2 the hand placement are you serious

user3 i need him

charlotttewalker you look so beautiful

user4 am I interrupting???

traceymakar_ so pretty

kerrytoews gorgeous

user5 you are both so hot life is so unfair

cradnec 😍

liked by charlotttewalker, 6erikjohnson6 and others

yourusername hockey season is back in full swing and I can’t tell if I love it or hate it 😩 on one hand mikko now loves the puck more than me and on the other hand I get the bed to myself while he’s away… 🤣

tagged cradnec & coloradoavalanche

comments

mel.landeskog this but my husband doesn’t play but still applies

landeskog_92 I don’t like these comments mel.

user1 slaying

traceymakar_ amen

user2 i’m obsessed with your boyfriend

user3 you’re such a hottie

user4 🥰

mackinnon29 mikko looking hard in pic 3

user5 mikko is dedicated to the game fr fr

charlotttewalker no thank god for you or else i’d loose my mind y/n

user6 give me a chance

user7 mikko doesn’t even know what he’s got 😩

juliannemanson preach girl

kaileyrankin okay ski queen

liked by bowen.byram, cradnec and others

yourusername it’s been way too long since i’ve posted a selfie - on another note i’m missing summer 😭

comments

user1 BEAUTIFUL

user2 holy fuck 😍

syddbad missing that smile - you look stunning

kaileyrankin stfu you are hot

user3 summer hits so different

mel.landeskog yesss you posted this ❤️

user4 blessed to see this

user5 hottie

user6 the hair is giving in this pic

cradnec 🤩 wow

user7 i’m convinced you’re perfect

liked by mel.landeskog, syddbad and others

yourusername mel told me to come over and help make halloween treats with the kids - they weren’t expecting the amount of dedication and seriousness I brought to the table

tagged mel.landeskog

comments

landeskog_92 get off my island - I eat off there

yourusername you also eat off mine and you don’t even want to know what’s happened on that island

user4 OMG ^

user1 I already know the kids loved it

user2 need a halloween treat 🎃

user3 slay

mel.landeskog i’m still going through cookies

user4 so hot

cradnec 😍😍😍

user5 boobs 🍈🍈

user6 you ate

6erikjohnson6 slippers on the counter 😬

yourusername slippers down your throat ?

user7 such an icon

liked by charlottewalker, calemakar_ and others

yourusername happy november dump (last slide includes a no context bereal mikko sent me)

tagged cradnec, charlotttewalker, mel.landeskog, tracymakar_, kerrytoews & juliannemanson

comments

user1 the bereal is so wholesome

user2 you’re both so nice to look at

6erikjohnson6 need mikko to carry me like that toy car

cradnec come over

user3 😍

calemakar_ squad up

tracymakar_ I can’t 💀😭

user4 tell mikko to score for my fantasy team

user5 i’m so happy for you 😭

user6 you’re so stunning

landeskog_92 look at lehky 🥰

user7 bad

charlotttewalker love you

cradnec you look pretty 😘

liked by josty17, cradnec and others

yourusername has the best bday weekend thanks to my hunny 🤍 also I can’t with mikko using my head as a place to rest his bowl! i’m just trying to cuddle with him 🥲

tagged cradnec

comments

user1 happy birthday!!!!

user2 birthday girl

cradnec ❤️🥳

user3 so beautiful

mel.landeskog 26 🎉

user4 don’t look a day over 18

user5 he’s so lucky

charlotttewalker happy birthday girly 🥰

traceymakar_ ahhh the queens bday 🍾

user6 mikko is so sweet

juliannemanson can’t wait to celebrate with you

user7 the bowl 🤣

user8 that pizza looks delicious- hbd 🎉

6erikjohnson6 need mikko to punch me in the face

yourusername same

liked by mackinnon29, jtcompher and others

cradnec happy birthday babe ❤️

tagged yourusername

comments

user1 everyone shut up. mikko posted

6erikjohnson6 caption king

user2 she’s so bad

user3 😍😍

user4 happy birthday queen !

bowen.byram hbd y/n

landeskog_92 happy 35th birthday y/n

yourusername gabriel

user5 happy birthday 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

mackinnon29 happy birthday y/n

kaileyrankin yasss my queen

devontoews happy birthday!

user6 you’re so lucky mikko 😍

user7 happy birthday mrs. rantanen 🥳

coloradoavalanche happy birthday to an honorary av ❤️💙

user8 give me a chance

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a/n: not spell checked currently.

I do not own any of these photos - full credits to original owners.

32 notes · View notes

didhewinkback · 1 year ago

Text

dolce vita

something old blurb (not the one yet) i just couldnt resist these pics

word count: 2k, warnings: bad italian translations

---

The lads make their way back into the villa, the loud laughter from the walk having petered out into a comfortable silence as they take in the sounds of the house, vegetables sautéing in the kitchen, conversations from the backyard carrying through the open windows. Harry smiles to himself as he toes his shoes off. A house filled with all the people he loves, how nice is that. He salutes the lads as they all taper off, tripping over his feet as he heads down the hallway too quickly, already on his way to find you.

He feels buoyant, light, free, the day with his mates and the bottles of vino they shared has him feeling warm all over. Conversation flowed amongst the group, reminiscing about their messier days when they were younger and celebrating where they are now, with all the highs and lows that come with it. Being able to be vulnerable with each other, openly expressing their emotions with no judgment and not just having lighthearted conversation for the bants…he can’t really explain what that means to him. It’s something he’s sought out in his male friendships all his life and to finally have it will make him cry if he thinks about it for too long.

He loves his life, he muses, as he ducks his head into random rooms before deciding to check the far office on the right, the Italian wine giving him a nice buzz, giving everything a rose colored hue, softening all its edges, smoothing its curves. He loves Italy, he loves wine, he loves sunshine and heat and - oh.

He stops in the doorway, staring at you lounging out on the office terrace, watching the way you’re hyper focused on your laptop, a furrow between your brows as you rest your knuckles against your lip, eyes moving rapidly on the screen.

He loves you.

He thinks about how earlier the lads were ragging on him, begging him to propose while everyone was still here so they could celebrate the one good decision he ever made. Their words, not his, but he’s inclined to agree. He’ll never know what he did to deserve you, thanking his lucky stars and the fates and all who are listening for whatever compelled him to walk onto the courtyard that night. But he had to respectfully decline his friends’ pleas, refusing to succumb to their peer pressure, needing that moment in a few weeks to be for the two of you and the two of you alone.

He slips into the room and quietly closes the door behind him, feeling like he’s walking on air as he makes his way over to you, leaning against the open terrace doors when he does. He softly clears his throat, a sound that makes your head pop up, eyes lighting up when they lock with his, a smile growing across your face, and his heart skips a beat. He can’t believe you’re looking at him like that. He’s the luckiest bastard alive.

“Good day?” you ask and he nods, taking a few steps towards you and lightly tapping you on the back, and you instantly slide forward on the lounge chair to make space for him, this silent shorthand you have communicated in all your lives, always somehow knowing what the other is thinking, something that just has grown stronger these last few years. He slides in behind you and pulls you back into him, his back against the chair with your back against his chest, his thighs bracketing yours. He leans back a bit, sliding his palms up your back to massage the tension in your shoulders as you type, the groan of appreciation you make causing goosebumps to erupt across his skin.

“That’s nice,” you say softly and he stays right where he is, his thumbs digging into your muscles, reveling in how they start to loosen under his touch, as he listens to your fingers against the keyboard, the sounds of your friends’ laughter out back, but out here, off to the side of the house, it’s just the two of you and the birds chirping in the nearby trees, the crickets starting to make their voices known in the late afternoon heat.

He squeezes your shoulders once more, wrapping his arms around your waist and nuzzling his head into your neck, breathing you in, your combination of sunscreen and sweat and peaches, always a hint of peaches though you swear you never use anything scented and he swears it’s how you’ve always smelled, a reason the peach tree in the backyard thrilled him when he first purchased this house. A little piece of you wherever he is, something he knew he needed before he really understood how he felt about you.

“How’s it going?” he mumbles into your skin, planting a kiss on your neck, living for the way your breath catches.

“It’s alright. Had some bullshit to figure out because Suzanne got some deadlines mixed up and was blaming me for reading the applications wrong -”

“Fuck Suzanne.” he says, stomach swooping when you honk out a laugh. He’s always proud when he nails a good line delivery, but never more when he gets you to laugh like that.

“Exactly,” you say with a laugh. “But I think I solved it and I’m almost done.”

“Like the sound of that. My girl needs a break.”

“Well, someone in this house has to put food on the table,” you say and he snorts, quietly watching as you finish sending an email. “This lazy lot.”

“Heeey,” he says, laughing when he hears your giggle. “Y’ know what? For that -”

He leans over, using his free hand to start shutting your laptop before quickly stopping himself.

“Am I going to fuck everything up if I close this?” he asks.

You shake your head. “You may proceed.”

He snaps the laptop shut, waiting for you to place it on the table next to you before leaning back and pulling you with him.

“That’s more like it,” he murmurs into your hair as you relax back into him. He stays quiet after that, letting your work day wash over you as he presses a kiss to your head before settling back against the chair, looking up at the sky.

He slides one hand around your body and down to the hem of your shirt, snaking his palm underneath to lay on your skin, needing to feel you, your warmth, your softness, your smoothness, the feeling of your stomach rising and falling with each breath, feeling the most relaxed and settled that he has in ages.

He tilts his head slightly to look at you, getting mostly a view of your profile from this angle, watching you stare up at the clouds with a soft smile on your face. He could stay here forever, he thinks, your face his favorite thing he’s ever laid his eyes on. The face he always sought out at break when you weren’t put in the same class in year four, the face he turned to right before he got pulled towards the stage with Dermot when he was sixteen, the face he searched for that weekend three years ago, feeling off kilter and on edge, not fully understanding why until he found you. The first face he sees in the morning and the last one he sees before he closes his eyes, the greatest gift he’s ever been given, the greatest friend he’s ever had, the greatest love he’s ever known.

“You’re staring,” you murmur, a knowing smile tugging at your lips.

“Just taking in my favorite view,” he says, snorting when you roll your eyes. You twist in his hold so you're face to face, chest to chest, your hand sliding up his neck and into his hair, his arms wrapping around your waist.

He stares at you for a moment, lips quirking up as he takes you in, the soft smile on your lips, the way you’re looking back at him with such open affection it feels like his heart’s cracked open.

“‘M being serious, you know. I love this face.” he says, his hands coming up to frame your face, thumb slowly rubbing your cheekbone as he takes a deep breath. “‘nd these eyes, the way your right one crinkles more than the left when you’re laughing really hard. ‘nd this smile…’s my favorite smile, feels like it’s just for me.”

“It is,” you say softly and time freezes for a moment, butterflies flying in his stomach because he can wax poetic about you and his feelings for you for days, weeks, years and it still won’t feel like enough and you somehow manage to capture it in a few simple words, words that make him feel like he’s flying, the reminders that you love him, that you’ve always loved him for far longer than he ever deserved.

He knows he’s not subtle about his plans, as secret as he’s trying to keep them, knows you’re starting to see through his pattern of being unable to do anything but tell you things he loves about you whenever you’re alone, tongue practically tripping over his words as he tries to get them out, needs you to know, needs you to understand how much he’s going to mean it when he gets down on one knee, that there will never be anyone else for him, that there never was.

He leans in, nudging his nose against yours before kissing you, slowly, thoroughly, like he’s got all the time in the world, trying to express himself in every way possible. He revels in the way you sigh into his mouth when you open up for him, goosebumps on his neck when he gets a taste of your tongue, sweeter than all the wine he had before, his favorite taste, his favorite kiss, his favorite, his favorite, his favorite.

He slides his hand down your body, refusing to pull his lips from yours for even a second, one hand squeezing the back of your neck before sliding down your back, grabbing a handful of your arse before sliding back up, pushing up the hem of your t shirt to rest there, his other hand rubbing mindless patterns up and down your side, squeezing every so often to get a new sound out of you. He feels drunk on this day and this moment and you, caught up in how good you feel in his hands, how good you taste on his lips, he can’t help it when Italian starts flowing from his lips.

“Mi tesoro”, he mutters against your jaw, pressing kisses in a slow line down your neck, his tongue darting out to taste the skin, feeling you try to catch your breath against him. “Sono pazza di te.”

He hears your light gasp, knows those are phrases you understand, knows you both feel on the precipice of something more, the conversations you had around this time last year soon coming to fruition. He can’t stop mumbling against your skin, spurred on by the way you're squeezing his shoulder, your hand sliding down to rest on his chest, nails digging in when he bites down on your neck.

He makes his way back up your neck, pressing a lingering kiss to your jaw before pulling back to look at you, the two of you catching your breath as you smile at each other. He’ll never get tired of seeing the effect he has on you, your slightly swollen lips, your cupid’s bow rubbed raw from his mustache, the way you’re looking back at him, something he wishes he could bottle up forever. He drags his knuckle down the side of your face, heart clenching when your eyes flutter shut at the touch, sliding his finger under your chin to tilt your mouth towards his once again, humming into the kiss. Your hand slides up to hold his face, your thumb occasionally dragging along his cheekbone, holding him so gently he just might melt.

He pulls away slowly, pressing a line of kisses up your cheek before pausing at your temple, arms tightening around you, holding you impossibly closer.

“Mi rendi felice, molto felice. Ti adoro.” he murmurs against your skin, throat clogging with emotion when he says: “Sei l’amore della mia vita.”

He can feel all the air leave you in a rush before you wrap your arms around his neck, hugging him close, his hand rubbing up and down your back, breathing each other in. You tilt your head to kiss slowly along his jawline, before you whisper in his ear: “And you’re mine.”

Your lips find each other’s once more, holding tight as your lips meet over and over, like you’ve got all the time in the world, the sweep of your tongue making him moan into your mouth, content to stay here forever, on this chair, wrapped up in you, snogging the life out of each other. He’s unable to stop himself from muttering against your mouth, a phrase he knows you won’t know, at least not yet.

“Ti voglio sposare, amore mio. Ti voglio sposare. Amore mio. Amore mio. Amore mio.”

---

rough italian translations:

mi tesoro - my treasure, Sono pazza di te - i'm crazy about you, Mi rendi felice, molto felice. Ti adoro - you make me happy, so happy. I adore you, Sei l’amore della mia vita - you are the love of my life, Ti voglio sposare, amore mio. Ti voglio sposare. Amore mio. Amore mio. Amore mio - i'm going to marry you, my love. I'm going to marry you. My love. My love. my love.

taglist:@tobesolovelysstuff, @louyoursins, @daydreamingofmatilda, @jojo-blog53, @marzhshaim, @devilsqueen722, @just-happiness-only,@lomlhstyles, @feestyles, @spock4presidnet, @sunshinemoonsposts, @indierockgirrl, @jerseygirlinca, @kissitnhekitchen, @goldnrry,

#something old #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles blurb #havent edited it at all but am posting anyway and logging offf #bye lmk what u think !!!

387 notes · View notes

thewhiskersonkittens · 1 year ago

Text

Drive In

Pairing: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Present Day) x Female Reader.

Summary: After unsuccessfully navigating the crazy world of online dating apps, you meet Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and agree to go to a drive-in and perhaps you have finally met your perfect match.

Warnings: Fluff, romantic, some profanity, toxic dating app horror stories.

A/N: This was requested by Anon. Hope y’all enjoy! :)

Back in the day, Maverick considered himself to be quite the Casanova. It used to be so easy, come so naturally. Maybe because thirty years ago he was a lot younger and his jet black hair wasn't fading. His body was still firm and taunt, in his line of work it was a major priority to keep in shape, but his face had become worn, the skin around his green eyes now had wrinkles.

"You're still a very good looking man," Phoenix told him when she, Coyote, Payback, Bob, and Rooster was helping him make his dating app profile.

All eyes were on her when the aviator quickly added, embarrassed:

"Respectfully speaking, of course, sir!"

The guys chuckled while Maverick tried to hold back his amusement.

Coyote let out a low whistle.

"Ooo, Phoenix got the hots for Captain." He teased.

"I do not!" Phoenix defended. "And I swear to God, if this gets back to Hangman, I'll kill you."

She shot a death glare at Coyote, that made him straighten up quick. She shot the look to all the guys meaning business.

Maverick patted Phoenix on her shoulder to assure her it was OK.

"Thank you, Phoenix. I appreciate the compliment."

He held up his phone and returned his attention back to the profile.

"Are you guys sure this is the right thing to do?"

He wrinkled his brow. The whole process seemed so unnatural to him.

"If you filled out all the questions honestly the algorithm will try to bring you the best possible matches." Bob commented.

"But the algorithm doesn't get it right 100% of the time." Payback added, looking at Maverick.

"What do you mean?" Maverick asked.

"He means there might be a dud or two," Coyote answered.

"But still the odds are in your favor." Phoenix encouraged.

Maverick sighed as he closed the app and pocketed his phone. He was tired of thinking about it for now.

"There used to be a point in time when I could just sing to a woman in a club as a way of flirting."

"Sounds lame," Rooster finally chimed in.

Maverick gave him a pointed look.

"Lame, huh?” Maverick chuckled, the memories coming back to him. It all seemed just like yesterday but also a lifetime ago. “Guess who was my wingman?"

***

You were two seconds away from throwing your phone across the room. You'd do it, too, not caring if it broke, the only thing was you knew how much you needed the damn thing.

Stupid dating apps. After trying a month without them, you were having zero luck dating out there "in the wild" so, reluctantly, you downloaded the toxic app again, damn well knowing it would all still be the same old bullshit. If it wasn't some fake bot, it was just the same losers over and over you matched with. You were going to pull your hair out if another dude sent "wyd?" at 11 am on a Wednesday.

You wanna know "what I'm doing?", Chad?! You thought. I'm at work at this time, that's where I am! Why aren't you doing the same?!

You didn't even want to think about how you basically had the same conversation over and over with these guys.

"Hello, beautiful baby gurrl. Good mornin!'"

"Hi, there. Good morning."

"How you sleep last night?"

"Just fine, thanks. HBU?"

"It could have been better. I'd rather be waking up next to you, babyyy."

" ... "

"Send me a pic?"

"No."

"Why not? You shy?"

"..."

" Hello?!"

*incoming unsolicited dick pic*

"You like dat? You like what you see? ;)"

" ... "

"Dat could be alll yours and more! You wanna come over later?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not? It's not like I'm gonna kill you..lol"

"...."

"Sooo...you gonna come over or...I could come over there?!"

"No. I don't even know you! I just met you five minutes ago."

"Don't waste my time! Ya know, a lot of girls like what I got. You're lucky I'm even giving you the time of day!"

"..."

"K. Go text one of them then."

" ... "

"Man, fuck you, bitch. Your loss! I didn't want your ugly ass anyway. LOL."

You sighed. Why was trying to find your person so physically and mentally taxing? Some of your friends actually had good luck on the dating apps but it was just not working out for you. You thought about all your options: keep trying the apps, try in person again, hell maybe even switch teams?! The best option was the idea of becoming an old, single, crazy cat lady. At this point, it sounded like the most peaceful choice.

You were laying on your back on your bed with one arm slung over your eyes, trying to block out all your frustrations.

Your phone next to you vibrated, signaling you had a notification.

Oh great, You thought. Can't wait to see what this one's got to say.

You picked up your phone, punched in your pass code, and opened the app.

Pleasantly surprised was an understatement! You had matched with the most handsome man you'd ever seen on any app ever.

He was definitely older, much older you were sure of it, but the age gap didn't bother you. He only had a few pictures but you saw he had dark hair, green eyes, perfectly chiseled nose and jawline.

Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, USN.

As good as he looked, you couldn't help but have reservations. Living in San Diego, you had been on a few dates with military men before. They could be just as shady as the civilian Joe Blows, if not even more. Plus, he was way too fine looking to still be single. You tried not to judge. Divorced? Widowed? Perhaps he was looking for a last minute fling before his next naval cruise?

Your phone vibrated again and you saw he sent you a message.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Pete Mitchell. But everyone calls me Maverick or "Mav".

"Nice to meet you! I'm Y/N." You typed back. "Cruise to any where fun lately, sailor?"

"What gave it away? The picture of me in my dress whites?"

"Not a bad picture, I must say." It was true. Technically he was old enough to be your father but he was still a smoke show. Silver fox, indeed.

"Ha, ha! Thanks. Ah, no fun cruises. I was recently called back to North Island for work."

You told him what you did for a living and you found out he was career military. A naval aviator for over thirty years. You kept chatting back and forth for the next two days and exchanged numbers. On Friday night Maverick called you.

"Look, I'll be honest with you, Y/N." Maverick explained. "This dating app thing...it's not really my style. My kids put me up to it. They said I needed to get out more and this is the way people do it nowadays. I just don't know..."

"Kids?" You repeated, slightly surprised he never mentioned it before. "You have kids?"

Maverick chuckled. "I'm sorry, I guess I should rephrase that. They're actually a squadron of Top Gun graduates I train. I call 'em my kids even though they're all about thirty-something years old."

You exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh, I see."

"Anyway," Maverick went on. "How would you like to go out with me tomorrow night?"

You were pleasantly surprised again. Most guys you encountered on the apps were either one extreme or another. Some wanted to come over right away and others it was like pulling teeth to get them to actually take you on a real date.

"Is that OK with you?" Maverick asked.

"Oh, yeah!" You said. "Yes, that would be great! Dinner and a movie?"

"You read my mind," Maverick confirmed. "I was thinking I take you to the drive-in. They're doing an 80's movie theme night."

"Drive-in?" You repeated. You hadn't been there in ages. Maverick must have misunderstood your tone because he went to explain:

"Yeah, it's where they have a big outdoor projection screen and you pull up in your car..."

You burst out laughing.

"Pete," You started. "Come on. I know I'm younger than you but I do know what a drive-in is!"

Maverick laughed at himself.

"Sorry. Of course you do."

"That sounds like fun, Pete. Let's do it."

***

You knew you were breaking your own rules by allowing Maverick to pick you up but you felt like you could trust this man. Your jaw dropped when you saw the forest green vintage race car pull up in your driveway.

"She's a '56," Maverick explained as he helped you into the car. "She can go from zero to one seventy in about six seconds."

"Wow," You said, resting the bouquet he just gifted you in your lap. Out of curiosity, you ran your fingers along the dashboard. You'd never been in a car like this before.

Maverick started the car and began backing out.

"I usually just ride my motorcycle but this seemed more appropriate for the occasion."

You smiled. "I guess you have the need speed on the ground as well as in the air."

Maverick turned to look at you then as he shifted the car into drive and you weren't exactly sure how to describe it. It was like a mixture of surprise, curiousity, and a touch of sadness.

"Did I say something wrong?" You asked, concerned.

Maverick shook his head.

"No," He assured you. "It's just...so funny and...kind of weird you said that. 'The need for speed'. I haven't heard that in a long time. I had a friend I used to say that to. A long time ago. It was like...oh, what do you call it? Something that you and one other person knows?"

"An inside joke?" You suggested.

Maverick smiled. "Yeah," He agreed. "An inside joke."

"You don't talk to that friend anymore?" You asked.

"Oh, I do." Maverick replied. "I sure do. It's just...he's not here with us...physically anymore."

"Oh..." You realized and you felt a twinge of gulit in your stomach. This wasn't the best way to start off a date.

As if reading your mind, Maverick took one hand off the wheel and softly brushed the side of your cheek with the back of his hand. His hand felt callous, the result of decades of working on all sorts of aircraft, but it also felt strangely comforting. The feeling guilt in your stomach dissolved and felt something like butterflies replace it.

"It's OK, sweetheart," Maverick said and he really meant it.

After dinner, you two drove in the drive-in. A triple feature of John Hughes movies were playing. You and Maverick laughed when Kelly LeBrock turned Bill Paxton into a talking blob in Weird Science and cheered as Judd Nelson pumped his fist in the air at the end of The Breakfast Club. The final movie was Sixteen Candles and you couldn't help but sigh when Molly Ringwald finally got to kiss her dream guy.

"This is one of my favorite movies," You said.

"You like the romantic stuff, huh?" Maverick teased and you laughed.

"Yeah, I know it's cliche," You said. "But I can't help it. I'm such a sucker for it."

"Nothing wrong with that," Maverick told you. "Just between you and me...I'm a romantic myself."

He leaned in and kissed you and you couldn't help but smile against his lips.

When the two of you parted, your eyes fluttered open and you said:

"I know we just met but I feel so lucky to have found you. I was about ready to give up. The apps were driving me crazy."

Maverick rolled his eyes at the mention of the dating apps.

"I don't get them either," He said. "But I saw your picture and...I don't know. I just...thought you were really beautiful and I'm glad I met you, too."

You felt Maverick take your hand in his.

"If it's OK with you, would you see me again?"

You smiled and answered by kissing him again.

"Sure, I'd really love that."

#top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction #pete maverick mitchell #pete maverick mitchell x reader #maverick x reader #fluff #reader insert

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lovelyjasmari · 8 months ago

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Pomefiore Endnote - Perfectionism, Apathy and the True Tragedy of Book 5

Warning: Long post and pic heavy.

So…this is something of a continuation of my last twst reaction post, where I analyzed the Absolutely Beautiful dance video. I ended the post by saying that the true tragedy was not that NRC Tribe lost but that Vil could be convinced he was an inferior performer compared to Neige. Now I’m going to expand on that…in excruciating detail. XD

In all seriousness, though, I'm not really sure if I'd call this an analysis in the traditional sense. Maybe more like a long-winded rant based on canon observations. But all the same, I’ve been grappling with this for the last year and a half since when Book 6 first dropped in EN. I’ve wanted to share my thoughts for a long time but decided against it because I acknowledge how contentious this topic is in the fandom and I prefer to keep my online space as drama-free as possible. I also didn’t want anyone to get the idea I’m attacking others when at most, I’m just being critical.

But with the new story update imminent and it looking like it will be Pomefiore-centric, I’ve come to the realization that if I don’t share this soon, I never will. My timing is admittedly ass but I think it would be worse if I share this AFTER the update and you’re about to understand why.

So before we dive in, disclaimer. This is going to cover the end of Book 5 and the first few chapters of Book 6 and my in-depth opinions on both. There will be mentions of trauma/mental illness and some very blunt (but honest) Rook criticism. But please keep in mind, that while I have my own interpretation of the twst characters and their respective arcs, I am not Yana and ultimately, my opinions are just that. Opinions. Everything I say is subjective at best but a lot of what’s coming up is based on a blend of canon observations as well as my own specific, personal experiences as someone with very similar life experiences as Vil and has been dancing for most of her life.

Still, these are just opinions and I have no intention to offend anyone. But if you don’t like reading negative things about Rook or take issue with this general way of thinking, I HIGHLY advise you to ignore this and respectfully (or quietly) agree that we disagree.

When I wrote the greater bulk of this, it was around when Book 6 dropped in EN. A year has passed since then and I’ve had time to think more about my opinions here and, to a greater extent, how I feel about Book 5. This may sound strange but I feel that Book 5 is both the best and worst part of twst’s main story to date. I really like how it touched upon something that isn’t really isn’t talked about much; how we as a society both admire beauty but also vilify it. Vil’s primary dilemma is how he is wrongfully villainized for his beauty, wealth, and harsh personality, despite subverting expectations of cruelty at every turn. Ironically, when the fandom mischaracterizes him as vain, cruel, classist, racist and the like, they are falling into that same literary trap. Proving the point of his arc.

And as much as I hated the ending from an emotional point of view, I actually love it as well, ironically for reasons that might not have been intentional. What I hated, mostly, was the fandom’s response. There was a great opportunity here for some deep discussion regarding society’s views on beauty, how constant trauma causes us to internalize false perceptions of ourselves, and the rather fascinating/dangerous dynamic Vil has with his vice dorm leader. Instead, any interesting discourse has been lost in all the misinterpretations of Vil. To the point I wonder if we all actually read the same story. I’m disappointed in the fandom, but somehow not surprised either.

But regardless, Rook’s actions were extremely disquieting but not for the reasons you might think. There was nothing wrong with his decision but the way he went about it and how he (and Vil) tried to justify it really left such a nasty taste in my mouth and I gotta talk about it to get it out.

First I just want to commend Vil for his level of maturity and rationality regarding his overblot. Even when it was happening, not once has he tried to justify his actions and in fact it was his own guilt at his potential wrongdoing that ultimately caused it. His fear that in a brief, desperate attempt to be seen as not a monster, he became exactly that. Throughout Book 5, it is implied that Vil already sees himself as a villainous person and internalizes that image of himself almost with pride. But despite this false perception, his actions have always proven the opposite and it’s clear that Vil has always valued being altruistic, determined and just. And his guilt when he failed to meet his own standards was beyond compare.

I feel that this guilt sets Vil apart from the other overblots thus far. Most importantly, he apologized of his own volition and wasn’t forced to. That alone makes him stand out among the overblot characters and, to my mind, makes him the most compelling of them all. If I’m being completely honest, out of all those who have overblotted thus far, Vil has been the LEAST problematic even before his overblot. And the one instance where Vil displayed any “cruelty” beforehand is EXTREMELY subjective. (his treatment of Epel) But the fact that Vil has been the least problematic overblot student so far also makes him the most tragic. And makes what’s about to happen next all the more disturbing.

Interestingly enough, Jamil is correct about this but for the wrong reason and here comes the first point. There was no indication that the audience was anything but enthralled with NRC Tribe. And if Vil or any of the others made significant mistakes, because of Vil’s fame, I’m certain they would have been pointed out by magicam netizens. With the recent release of the Absolutely Beautiful mv over on twst jp, we now also have a visual to go off from.

I talk about this more in a previous post but basically, yes, NRC Tribe’s performance wasn’t perfect, but based on what I saw, I would have expected A LOT worse considering the circumstances. The fact is all evidence points to the NRC boys giving a wonderful performance made all the more remarkable by the fact they were still able to perform after dealing with Vil’s OB not too long before. And the audience clearly thought so too if they were only one vote away from victory.

To add to this point, when the other characters comment on the NRC Tribe’s performance, they make no mention of any noticeable errors. And when Crowley laments their defeat later, again, there’s no mention of any errors. Considering that Ambrose was pretty pretentious about RSA winning, I'm sure he’d mention that, too.

Even further, one thing you learn from being on stage is that your audience rarely notices mistakes unless they are extremely obvious. You, as the performer, might notice, but you quickly learn not to draw attention to your errors and keep it moving. Now of course, the NRC characters could be biased because they want to defeat RSA. But considering the nature of a lot of them, I doubt they would lie so flagrantly. Especially Jack who is pretty no-nonsense even with the people he likes. And Malleus who seems pretty difficult to impress. So if their commentaries are to be believed, this shows that any errors made by the NRC Tribe were not noticeable.

That Vil would think otherwise speaks to something far deeper and far more insidious. Stick a pin in that; we’ll come back to it soon enough.

Vil then goes on to explain to the boys that Neige and his friends worked just as hard and had their own struggles. That Neige grew up in an improvised environment and had to juggle acting obligations with household chores and helping out the dwarves. Again, it is extremely commendable that Vil is able to acknowledge this about this rival. It shows that his contempt for Neige was never as simple as “boo hoo people think he’s more beautiful than me” and he at least respects Neige’s efforts even if this explanation once again falls flat.

Firstly, narratively speaking it doesn’t make sense that Vil is just finding out about Neige’s backstory now (likely from Rook) because I feel like he should already be aware. In fact, all through Book 5, I thought that he did know but didn’t care. Honestly, Neige’s backstory shouldn’t matter to Vil anyway and surprisingly, it’s Ace of all people who explains why.

Neige’s struggles might matter to his fans but at the end of the day if Neige cannot perform better than Vil, then that’s his own fault. There are many artists out there who have to deal with similar struggles but come out as phenomenal performers and yet Neige’s “best” basically consists of the twst equivalent of this meme. Precious, but cannot compare to all the sweat and tears Vil and his team were put through.

There’s actually an interesting analysis floating around this hellsite about how Neige’s childish performance was actually an incredibly manipulative tactic and could have been intentional if he were a different character. I’m not gonna link it cause I don’t want to bring any heat to the op. But I will say that while I don’t think Neige intended to manipulate the audience with his cuteness, in the end, it did indeed work in his favor. And the fact that Vil thought to train Epel to weaponize his cuteness to defeat Neige indicates that he’s already no stranger to seeing such underhanded tactics in the industry he works in. In his beansday vignette, Vil mentions an actor he initially admired destroying one of his stage outfits. If Neige weren’t presented as so naive and twisted from a traditionally “good” character, his choice regarding his performance could be regarded as deliberate. Which is why Vil lamented that he and his team had been “outplayed”.

Back on topic, what I took away from this was that, once again, Vil’s hard work and determination count for nothing because of things he cannot control. Because he was born to wealth, because he didn’t have the same hardships, he doesn’t deserve the same consideration or sympathy as Neige. And his wealth and beauty once again put him in the position of villain to Neige’s hero. It’s a textbook case very common in media, like Sharpay opposing Gabriella in High School Musical. But what’s worse is that from all that we’ve seen of Vil, he could coast on his wealth, beauty and father's fame if he wanted to.

Instead, he chooses to work hard and have his accomplishments come from his own merit. When anyone else in his situation could easily choose the opposite. And just from a personal standpoint, if I practiced day and night for a dance competition and ended up losing to someone under my level simply because they were cute and disenfranchised, I would feel extremely insulted. At the end of the day, Ace is correct and whatever struggles Neige and his team had, they were still inferior performers.

And to add to this point, I believe that at some point Vil KNEW this even AFTER his OB. Despite his earlier anguish at never being able to perform innocent cuteness like his rival, once his mind was clearer, he was able to see that NRC Tribe’s performance was still technically better. He was able to see how the audience responded to Neige and still believed in himself as a better performer. I say this based on another scene earlier in book 5.

Vil was undoubtedly in a very emotionally vulnerable place right after his overblot. He went to great lengths to conceal the aftereffects before going on stage to the point he collapsed as soon as he was alone. After going so long trying to hide them, his darkest, ugliest emotions were laid bare to his teammates and to himself. Manifesting in the worst way possible. And as a professional performer, if any errors were made, he would have been painfully aware of them.

And yet, despite having just dealt with the darkest moment of his life, Vil was still able to stand upon the stage until the very end and give the best performance he could. Against all odds, before a world that has wrongfully perceived him as evil and hideous for most of his life.

And despite knowing that Neige possesses all that he never can, it is strongly implied that Vil still chooses to vote for his own team. Meaning he saw the appeal in Neige’s performance and STILL knew that he did better. And I’d like to believe that even if Vil was aware of Neige’s backstory, he would have still made the same decision. It’s easy to be beautiful when everything is right and perfect in your world. But being able to smile even when you’re struggling and your heart is breaking is even more beautiful still.

Sadly, Vil isn’t likely to realize this anytime soon and will continue to see his own mental struggles as not as valid or “ugly.” Now back to that original pin of thought, Vil will likely continue to believe that he didn’t deserve to win the VDC despite all evidence to the contrary. He’s likely to continue internalizing the false villainous image of himself as well. And for that we now must get to the crux of this matter.

At first glance, this statement doesn’t seem like much but when you look deeper, and look back at some of Rook’s own actions, this comes off as incredibly hypocritical and cruel. As we have seen from Vil’s backstory, he has dealt with untold hardships as well. But Vil’s anguish is more internalized than Neige’s and it’s very unlikely that he has ever really been open about how dehumanizing and hurtful his treatment has been.

And from an outsider’s perspective, his problems aren’t as dire anyway. It’s just like Vil said, his life has been quite different from Neige’s. But mental trauma doesn’t know demographics and can affect anyone. The fact is what Vil has gone through is extremely traumatizing and comes from nothing beyond people wrongfully vilifying him for his beauty. Projecting their insecurities onto him from a very young age. It’s clear that what Vil has dealt with has fundamentally altered how he sees himself.

But at the same time, what do you think would happen if Vil WAS more open about his frustrations? The dehumanizing effect and the bullying? The typecasting and prejudice thrown his way? And the feeling that nothing he does will ever be enough to break free from his villainous mold? What would happen if Vil were to be open about ANY of that? He would be mocked and shamed and perceived as shallow, petty and crying about nothing. Lowkey how many in the fandom already see Vil anyway. We as a society sadly don’t take mental illness as seriously as we should but when celebrities deal with it? It quickly becomes meme fodder and nowhere is this more obvious than on stan twitter. We are all guilty of feeding into it, whether we’re honest about it or not.

Ironically, Vil’s mental struggles is one of the things that would make him more “relatable.” But the truth is that people would never accept that because society has a long history of trivializing the mental issues of celebrities because they seem so far removed from normal people. And then being surprised pikachu faced when they do something drastic to themselves. So Vil internalizes all of it because he knows he can’t be open about it.

A person like him simply can’t be open about his hardships but HERE is the kicker: neither can Neige. He also has an image of perfection to uphold so it is likely he is also internalizing mental struggles of his own. Living and caring for seven others can’t be easy in addition to trying to grow his career. And if his deeper origins are anything like his Disney counterpart, how he came to live with the dwarves must have been traumatic as well.

But here’s the difference: from Rook’s perspective, he is “better” at internalizing those ugly emotions than Vil is. After all, Neige is able to overcome all his struggles and still smile and not give hints to them, but when Vil finally buckled under all of his own trauma, we see what happened.

There’s also the fact that since Rook and Neige attend different schools, Rook doesn’t have as close a seat to any of Neige’s more personal troubles. So it’s likely easier for Rook to project his own ideas of beauty onto Neige because from his perspective, he is perfect. He is beautiful. He is pure. Like the legendary singing princess Rook so reveres. He isn’t plagued with any of the ugly emotions that caused Vil to overblot. And if Neige DOES have ugly feelings or ugly trauma responses, Rook isn’t privy to them, so they clearly must not exist.

I genuinely believe that THIS is what Rook meant when he stated Vil’s performance wasn’t as beautiful as Neige’s. I know he mentions another reason at the end of book 5 but in my mind, they are both one and the same. Whatever technical difficulties NRC Tribe had, they were still polished enough to garner enough votes that it was only Rook’s flawed ideology that sealed their fate. And throughout book 5, Rook is hinted at being aware of Vil’s internal struggles and yet still chose to stay silent. He frequently saw that Vil was struggling but tried to justify his silence by saying it wasn’t his place to interfere.

But that is also untrue because we’ve seen time and again Rook is more than willing to stick his nose in Vil’s businesses. His labwear vignette is the most obvious example but there are plenty of others. In Book 6 Rook admits that his decision to go to the Isle of Woe was fully a selfish one. Leaving Pomefiore without leadership and potentially falling into chaos (the only dorm to have no clear leadership at all during the crisis) simply because he wanted to give Vil skin products that he really didn’t need. A few days without them wouldn’t do that much harm and Rook essentially placed Epel, Yuu and himself in great danger for a reason far more shallow than anything Vil has done in the name of beauty.

He also admits that he would have been willing to drink the poisoned juice Vil gave to Neige for again, a pretty shallow (and extremely twisted) reason. If he’s willing to do that, he is more than capable of intervening in other matters on Vil’s behalf. And later in book 6, it’s revealed that Rook was originally a Savannaclaw student but made the very unprecedented decision to transfer to Pomefiore in part due to his fascination with Vil and desire to further study beauty under him. So Rook had EVERY opportunity to step in regarding his overblot. Even if Rook couldn’t be his “savior”, the fact that Vil would see that he at least had support could have gone a long way.

But Rook’s silence is rather in keeping with his character and his own ideas about beauty. I find this quote very ironic based on how he and Vil are frequently misconstrued. The Pomefiore dorm leaders' views on beauty appear to be the opposite of each other.

Vil can be extremely strict, harsh and can come off as critical at times, but he is never harder on someone than he is himself. He has shown time and again that he sees beautiful potential in anyone. And Vil is more than willing to share the spotlight with his NRC Tribe; build them up from scratch and give each of them the chance to show off their potential. Likely because he knows all too well what it means to be in the shadow of someone else.

Even further, when we look at the dichotomy of a villain versus a hero, the main difference is how they respond to their personal pain. A villain takes their pain and says “the world hurt me so I’m gonna hurt the world”. While a hero says “the world hurt me and I’m not going to let it hurt others”. Up until his overblot, Vil has been the latter of these examples. He wants the best for those around them and while his methods might be difficult to understand, they always bear results. Vil can honestly see beauty in anything, even if he has to coax it out in his own way.

Rook’s views on beauty however, all seem to be based upon the superficial and the evidence can be found in his Halloween vignette. There, he explains further how he grew to adore Neige and based on what he said, it sounded more like obsession than actual reverence. There’s also hints to this in his most recent birthday vignette as well. His ideas seem to be very fantastical, far removed from reality and so obsessive to the point that it actually affects his ability to be a good person. Such an obsession can sometimes make people oblivious to the world and in Rook’s case, often cause him to act out in ways that border on problematic.

In his fixation, he stalks Leona and Jade, says some weirdly otherist shit to Malleus, harasses and assaults Ruggie, and places ridiculously high standards on both Vil AND Neige that rob them of their humanity. Rook saw firsthand how deeply Vil’s insecurities ran. He heard Vil cry and scream out how ugly he felt. He saw Vil’s anguish and despair firsthand and seeing all that, still chose to punish him because Vil’s lack of confidence made him unable to respond to his trauma in a beautiful way. Or at least in a way he could deem as beautiful based on his vapid description of the word.

Rook will likely never be privy to any ugliness Neige has displayed so for him, the fantasy remains intact. And in chasing that fantasy, he betrays not just Vil, but his other teammates as well. Then has the audacity to try to justify it with bullshit ideology and sadly, because of Vil’s low opinion of himself, Rook succeeds. Vil holds Rook’s opinion so highly that he is able to take advantage of that and compel him (and the others) to see his point of view. And believe it or not, in chasing that fantasy, the NRC Tribe members were not the only ones Rook hurt.

Neige might have been happy to have won but he was essentially rewarded for an inferior performance and robbed of an important lesson. One far more valuable than any “lesson” Vil had to learn. As mentioned before, even with all of his hardships, if what we saw in book 5 was the best Neige could do, that still means he is not as good a performer as Vil. If cuteness, nostalgia and warm fuzzy feels are the only thing Neige can offer, he could easily find himself struggling to remain in the entertainment industry as he ages. Not unlike many other former child stars in real life.

Losing the VDC could have been a major wake-up call to Neige that if he wants to continue acting, he has to do better. People might not take him seriously when he’s still doing the cutesy bullshit ten years from now. But because he won, this will likely never cross his mind. Neige will learn nothing.

Now before anyone begins writing up their comments about how Vil verbally stated that Rook was right, I’d like to bring up one final point: Vil agreeing with Rook was another trauma response. Internalizing Rook’s response because it is so in keeping with all he has been made to believe about himself, about Neige, and how it has all now been “confirmed” by his overblot. From his point of view, Rook has no reason to lie to him.

But just because Vil states that Rook was correct, does not mean that it’s true. Despite being one of the more positive characters in the game and being twisted from a “good” character, Rook is just as morally grey as everyone else in the twst cast and just as capable of dubiousness. And this would not be the first time something like this has occurred between Vil and Rook. Once again, I bring up Vil’s labwear vignette. Particularly this exchange here:

Okay, so beyond the general tactlessness of telling Vil he’s gaining weight in spite of knowing how such a statement would affect him, what Rook is basically suggesting to him is that he cannot trust anyone but him. Not even his own senses. That for all of his perceptiveness, Vil is incapable of seeing himself accurately. Though he initially does not believe it, Vil eventually does accept Rook’s statement despite knowing it was bullshit twenty seconds before.

Later on, Vil mentions to Trey that Rook’s only crime is being too blunt and perceptive. It’s true that having another point of view is important at times, but the level of trust Vil has in Rook’s opinion can also be dangerous if he can convince Vil to doubt himself so easily. Theirs is an interesting dynamic but it also has potential to be extremely toxic and detrimental to Vil. At best, Rook gives him useful insight and pushes him to be the best he can be. But at worst, Rook contributes to Vil’s insecurities, enables his more toxic tendencies and his fawning of Neige feeds into his obsession to be the fairest one of all in the worst way possible. Rook can’t be completely oblivious to this. It would be such an easy thing for him to take advantage of Vil’s doubt in himself and value/dependency on his opinion.

Which is exactly what Rook does. As much flack Vil gets in this fandom for being critical and harsh to others, he never criticizes someone harder than he will criticize himself. This is a person who has grown up in the spotlight and has had to maintain an image of perfection for most of his life. A person who gave up one of his favorite condiments because of the damage it caused to his skin. A person who has so deeply internalized the villainous image people have projected on him that he wears it almost as a badge of honor. And because he holds himself to such a high standard and already internalizes a lot of toxic beliefs about himself, it makes perfect sense that Vil would agree with Rook. In his current way of thinking, Vil has no reason to disagree with Rook because from his point of view, Rook has always been honest to him and his overblot already proved he was unworthy of victory anyway.

Of course Vil must be gaining weight. How could he possibly be objective regarding himself? How vain he must be. And how could Vil possibly be objective regarding his VDC performance and still vote for himself after such an ugly trauma response? He can’t trust his judgment, he can’t even trust his own senses. How arrogant and pathetic Vil must be if he can still vote for himself in good conscience after witnessing the pure wholesomeness of Neige Leblanche. Someone who would never overblot. Thankfully, he has Rook to humble that arrogance and tell him what he needs to know. Even if he’s tactless about it.

I mean, Vil literally ran looking for a scale immediately after Rook’s comments on his weight. He probably added an extra hour to his daily workout routine the morning after eating the cake Trey gave him. I don’t believe that Rook is completely oblivious of Vil’s darker feelings, just as Vil has stated, he keeps too close an eye on him not to be oblivious. And he was astute enough to keep his infatuation with Neige a secret from Vil for nearly two years. This had to have been intentional. It honestly makes me wonder what Rook thinks of Vil on a more personal level.

But regardless, the fact is, Rook was always going to vote for Neige and his explanation at the end of Book 5 was always going to be his reasoning. Vil’s overblot just gave him a more “legitimate” reason to do so. For whatever reverence he holds for Vil, it was never going to trump his reverence for Neige. The fact he brought all of his Neige photos with him to the training camp further implies that he was never going to be objective in this situation. And seeing Vil almost poison Neige probably further convinced him that Vil was undeserving of victory.

That may make Rook seem duplicitous considering how positive and sincere he seems to be, but he’s still human. And truthfully, him voting for his bias is not an inherently bad thing. What makes him inconsiderate in this situation is openly telling Vil he prefers the catalyst for all his insecurities and overblot, while Vil was still grieving and in a very vulnerable place. Then justifying his decision as the correct one based on his own personal preferences, weaponizing that vulnerability to avoid being called out. Knowing that Vil wasn’t likely going to object.

Even if NRC Tribe did win, it’s very likely Rook would have still brought up his vote to Vil and still convinced him it was undeserved. I would even go so far as to argue that Rook’s remarks about Neige early on in book 5 as well as Vil’s labwear vignette foreshadow the ending of book 5/start of book 6 far more than the fact that the huntsman betrayed the evil queen in the original Snow White.

That coupled with a perfectionist like Vil looking back at their less-than-perfect performance is what compelled him to agree with Rook. If we take into account the idea that Vil still chose to vote for his own team afterwards, Rook’s actions and words probably further pushed him into believing in the idea of his inherent villainy and inferiority to Neige. After all, surely Neige Leblanche would never be reduced to such a hideous state. His heart is too pure, the fairest one of all and as different from Vil as night and day.

If left to his own devices without Rook to influence him, Vil might not be so hard on himself in this case and would resent his defeat more. As he has every right to. But instead, Vil agreed with what was easiest and what made most sense based on everything that has happened in his life and all that he has been made to believe about himself. Why should he continue protesting when no one else will?

Nevermind all the evidence we’ve seen of Vil’s tenacity, excellence and kindness. Why should he believe that he is the most beautiful one of all when Mira frequently tells him the opposite? Why should he believe in his own noble spirit when people openly say it’s not enough and that he’s not relatable enough to be a hero? Why shouldn’t he believe he is hideous when the entire world says it’s so? When even a large majority of this very fucking fandom mischaracterize him as such and agree with Rook anyway?

Why should Vil question any of this?

And Vil will sadly continue to be second to Neige and will likely never question it. He will continue to internalize the toxic dichotomy between him and Neige and again, why shouldn’t he? After all, Vil is the evil queen to Neige’s Snow White, the Sharpay to his Gabriella, the Odile to his Odette. And Neige is the Madonna to Vil’s whore. Vil is not supposed to be the hero in this story and not even his trusted vice dorm leader has faith in him.

In discourse regarding the end of book 5, I’ve often heard it said that this was a “lesson” Vil had to learn in order to become a better person. I believe there was indeed a lesson to be learned from this, but not the one that many think. Since Vil knew from the beginning that trying to poison Neige was wrong, he didn’t need to learn how to play fair like Leona.

Despite being a harsh leader, Vil was generally always fair with his teammates and again, as a former dancer, the way Vil instructed the NRC Tribe members seemed tame compared to some of the dance teachers I’ve had in the past. So learning to be less tyrannical wasn’t the lesson to learn either, like with Riddle. And part of what led to his overblot was realizing that NRC Tribe had been “outplayed” by Neige’s cuteness. But he still had enough faith in his ability to vote for his own team, so learning not to be manipulative wasn’t really needed either, like with Azul.

No, the lesson for Vil here is that hard work is rarely ever rewarded fairly. And that his trauma is not valid because he was blessed in a way that Neige was not. He must always take second place to him because of his blessings while simultaneously ALWAYS being perfect. And because of his blessings, he can never express ugly emotions, he can never express anguish, and he must always, ALWAYS, take his mistreatment in stride. And God forbid if Vil DOES respond to his trauma in an ugly manner, he WILL be punished for it. He will ALWAYS be punished for it and by those closest to him no less.

If Vil doesn’t like how they’ve treated him in his darkest hour, tough titties. It’s all his fault for not hiding his trauma to begin with. And he doesn’t even have the right to a moment to himself to cry.

But that is where my analysis ends. Honestly this was kind of painful to write because it has made me fully realize just how much I’ve grown to disdain Rook after adoring him for so long. You all have no idea how hard I was hoping he would have some scrap of redemption in book 6. It’s really upsetting that so many people in this fandom look down on Vil or mischaracterize him but somehow don’t notice the glaring red flags in his dynamic with his vice dorm leader.

Honestly, when I think about it, the ending of Book 5 is actually kind of brilliant, even if it’s also emotionally sadistic and lacking in other aspects. I'm not sure if that was Yana’s intention, but the fact that so many in the fandom tend to see Rook as the kinder one compared to Vil is very telling.

Now I’m not saying that Vil is absolutely without flaws, Heaven knows he has many. As does every person in the twst cast. Vil is impulsive, domineering, harsh, difficult to please, overwhelming at times and extremely complex. But he is also helpful, perceptive, intelligent, genuinely kind and wants the best for those around him. Not for his own glory but for their own happiness and well-being. He is also clearly a deeply misunderstood and insecure young man, so I guess because of Vil’s faults, it’s “easier” to mischaracterize him.

As for me, I find Vil’s character all the more compelling in spite of his harshness because I can see in him a true understanding of beauty that is both profound and attainable by anyone. If we are brave enough to behold it.

#twisted wonderland #jas reads twst #long post #twst book 5 #twst book 6 #twst vil #vil schoenheit #pomefiore #shut up jas

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