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melverie · 2 years ago

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So......about Solomon

Before we get started: Discussions on this post are more than welcomed as long as you keep it civil and constructive. At the end of the day, this is still a game about fictional characters, so there's no reason to literally harass others over liking or disliking a character If it truly upsets you that much--which is valid btw--than the best thing to do would probably be to simply not engage with the other party, and not harass them over it; you won't change anyone's mind that way. I know most of you aren't like this but unfortunately it still needs to be said Also, if you want me to add sources to some points, feel free to ask! I've tried to mention the chapters as I go, but I might still have forgotten some. Some of the arguments I make are also hidden behind certain player options; if you can't find them, fell free to ask about them and I'll gladly tell you Also also, general spoiler warning for both the og game and Nightbringer. I'm not really covering anything specific after lesson 60 in the og game and lesson 14 in NB, but I might still mention things from later lessons

Now, onto the actual topic. There've been quite a few arguments against Solomon in the past few days, but I mostly just want to focus on those three:

Solomon wanted to force MC into killing Lucifer at the end of season 2 in the og game

Solomon betrayed the brothers and keeps hiding behind "wanting to protect humanity" as a scapegoat for his actions (putting these two together bc I think they go hand in hand, but it'll make more sense later)

Solomon tricked Asmodeus into a pact without his consent

This entire thing is very long, so feel free to jump around if one point interests you more than another

Solomon wanted to force MC into killing Lucifer at the end of season 2 in the og game

[mainly 38-12, og & 38-15, og]

He did, yeah. But here's the thing

They were all forced into a corner since the fate of all three realms was on the line here, and with the Ring of Light's whereabouts still being unknown at the time, they literally had no other choice if they wanted to save everyone. It wasn't Solomon that randomly decided the only way to restore the Night Dagger's power was by killing a powerful demon, it's always been that way. And he can't just be like "Oh well, let's switch strategies then and focus on finding the Ring of Light" when the entire cast (minus Simeon) has no idea where the ring is and the last time any of them saw it was centuries to millennia ago, if not longer. They don't have the time to search for it considering all the destruction MC's Ring has already caused in such a short period of time

Solomon first tells MC to do kill Luci, only to add that he was just joking and knows MC would never actually go through with it. Then, he says that if they wouldn't do it, he'd do it himself. Which kinda sounds like forcing, right? Except this happens [38-15, og; pic below]:

He was prepared to, which doesn't clear him of trying to indirectly force MC, let's get that straight. But ultimately he drops it and accepts that maybe their only option really is to just die here. This is also the only time we see him acting against his beliefs btw

Also yes, Solomon might not have been the one that decided they needed to kill a powerful demon, but he seems to be the one that settled on said demon being Lucifer. The only other viable options would most likely be Diavolo and Barbatos. Don't know if the Demon King in his vegetative state still counts but similar to Diavolo, killing him would probably be seen as a direct declaration of war, so they're out. And from a strategic standpoint, Barbatos is the better option to be kept alive simply because of his powers. There most likely also is some kind of sentimental attachment at play here since Solomon is much closer to Barbatos than he is to Lucifer. None of justifies killing Lucifer of course, but we also need to acknowledge that everyone's hands were tied, they were out of time and given the circumstances, this was probably the best decision they could have come to (until Simeon showed up with the Ring of Light, of course)

Solomon betrayed the brothers and keeps hiding behind "wanting to protect humanity" as a scapegoat for his actions

First of no, he did not betray them. Ever since the end of season 2 Solomon has made it clear that his ultimate goal is to protect humanity and that he, similarly to Diavolo in regards to the Devildom and its denizens*, would do anything in his power to protect the human world and its inhabitants [38-15, og; pic in the point above] [38-19, og; pic below]

*friendly reminder that Belphie was charged with treason for planning to destroy the human world, since in Diavolo's eyes that would have severely damaged the chance of peace between the three realms [13-14, og]

Solomon continuously sticks to his beliefs. He said he'd protect humanity, and that's what he's doing. He never extended that kind of protection to the brothers, he never made any false promises, he didn't betray them in any way, nothing

I'd also like to point out he's not actively going out of his way to antagonize demons, or angels, or whatever. In fact, he even explicitly says that he does not wish to make an enemy out of either party [10-A, NB; pic below], which of course also extends to the brothers

You can even outright ask him if he's planning on backstabbing the brothers, and this is what he has to say [11-8, NB; pic below]:

And you know what? That is a valid concern. They can't say for sure what the future holds, and they just recently had to deal with the entire Ring situation that could have very easily destroyed all three realms, so wanting to be cautious and to be prepared for the worst makes sense. He also makes it clear that he does not wish to fight the brothers if it can be avoided, so there's that

And no, he's also not tricking MC into siding against the brothers in Nightbringer. Rather, he just wants to know that they're fighting for humanity should the relationship between humans and demons in general ever turn hostile. He puts the cards open on the table and gives a proper explanation to his reasoning for siding with humanity [11-8, NB], and once again goes a little further into detail before MC gives their answer [14-16, NB; pic below]. Plus it's up to the player if they choose to stand with him or not, and no matter what you choose, he accepts the decision

Also keep in mind that season 3 heavily suggests that the human world at large has no idea that angels and demons even exist, so MC is pretty much the only one he can even ask to help protect humanity alongside him to begin with. He can't just go up to a random guy on the street and ask them to fight something who's existence they aren't even aware of in the first place

Imo Solomon also seems to know more about where things might be heading than he lets on, with him actually knowing Nightbringer and whatnot, so granting himself some peace of mind by making sure he has at least one ally is perfectly reasonable

Also, Solomon is very much aware that he is not infallible. For example, he states that he realized he still has a lot more to learn about demons [60-20, og], and he even admits that he doesn't always know what the right course of action to any given situation is, which was part of the reason he first asked MC to help him with protecting humanity all the way back in season 2 [38-19, og; first pic below]. In season 2 he actually wanted for MC to be aware of what's happening, but it was Diavolo that decided it would be better to keep them in the dark for the time being [36-18, og]. He trusts MC's judgment and that they will help him make the correct decisions [14-16, NB; second pic below]

Solomon tricked Asmodeus into a pact without his consent

Before I get into anything, let's summarize the base situation so everyone's on the same page. This is based on the things Asmo tells us [53-16, og], as well as the things Sol tells us [6-18, NB]:

Asmo was trying to flirt with someone but their friends kept on telling him to leave them alone since he's a demon -> Asmo's dejected by this and goes to a tavern in Solomon's hometown

Solomon notices and feels sorry for him; he offers to talk to him and they chat for a bit

Asmo lets it slip that he's Lucifer's younger brother

they get drunk and end up forming a pact -> Solomon says that he was only able to forge a pact with Asmo because his judgment was impaired at the time

Right of the bat--yes, the way Solomon got his pact with Asmo is not okay. I'm not putting that up for debate. He fully took advantage of Asmo here, and there's nothing that can excuse that. I also want to make it very clear that it is in no way my intention to relativize this in any way. The way he went about getting this pact is, to put it simply, fucked up and I do not wish to condone that in any way. With the following points I simply want to explain how I see things. Maybe it'll put things in a slightly different perspective for you, maybe it won't. Now, I hope I made that clear enough, so let's continue

The way I see it, Asmo seems to be pretty okay with the pact. From the way he acts around Solomon in the present day all the way to him describing his reaction to the pact as just a "did I really sign that" [53-16, og], nothing seems to suggest that he holds any ill feelings towards Solomon, and personally I don't see any reason to be angry for someone who himself seems to take no issue with a situation that is directly about him

If it were as upsetting to Asmodeus as some make it out to be, surely he would have found a way to get out of it? Asmo is one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom; if he truly wanted to break the pact he could have just killed Solomon and that's it. And if the pact itself somehow prevented him from doing so, I'm sure Lucifer would have more than gladly stepped in. Heck, I bet all of the brothers would have made it into a family thing in a heartbeat if Asmo wanted out but couldn't do anything himself. As Thirteen told MC, Solomon is immortal, not unkillable

But speaking of Lucifer, shouldn’t the same sentiment about forcing others into a pact be held toward him, too? Because he basically did the same thing with MC. This is what happens when you tell him you don’t want a pact with him [20-14, og; pic below]:

Yes, this comes down to player choice and yes, you need to make the pact for story continuity, but it ultimately does not change the fact that in-universe he forces MC into a pact if they say no

Also speaking of forcing others into a pact--Mammon and MC, anyone? Yes, MC did it because Levi asked them to so he could get his money back. We know they had no ill intentions. But you never know what the future holds and Levi literally proposed to basically hand over part of Mammon's agency over himself for the money Mammon owns him, to someone Levi has met about 5 minutes prior, knows nothing about and who's only been in the Devildom for a couple of hours at that point, no less. Lucifer also mentions that demons literally cannot resist temptation [4-10, og; pic below], so there literally was no way Mammon could have just noped out of that pact. We all know how badly he wants his credit card back, after all

To top it all of, we have MC's and Mammon's conversation in Nightbringer where Mammon explicitly says that he would only want to forge a pact with someone that is special to him [2-9, NB], and that he'd make sure to be their first pact [2-11, NB], yet he is forced into his pact with MC. A pact that ultimately turns out to be exactly what he wanted, but nonetheless he was stripped of the ability to say no when it was forged

And for the record, I'm not saying "oh, others did it too, so we shouldn't be so harsh on Solomon!!!" No! Forcing a demon into a pact isn't something that should be taken lightly. A pact literally means a demon hands a huge chunk of control of themself over to a human for as long as the pact exists. And on the other hand, for a human, making a pact with a demon usually means selling their soul. Neither party should EVER be forced into it. We of course don't know if MC actually sold their soul to Lucifer when they made their pact, but even if they didn't, Lucifer's "I won't belong to you. You will belong to me" speaks for itself

What I am trying to say here is that if you want to be mad at Solomon for forcing Asmo into a pact without Asmo's consent (which, again, is valid), you should also be mad at MC for forcing Mammon, and Lucifer for forcing MC into a pact

Anyway, back to Solomon now

Solomon actually admits that he used to treat demons like collectables--more or less, at least since he immediately follows the confession up with "just kidding" [14-14, NB]. Judging by what we've seen in the og game though, he seems to genuinely make an effort to better his relationship with the demons he has made a pact with, or at the very least with Asmo and Barbatos. I mean, the difference between Sol's relationship with Barbs in the og game vs in Nightbringer is night and day

In the present time, Asmo and Solomon are also super close. I literally cannot think of a single instance where they did not get along (though it might have happened like once or twice). You can literally pic any part in the og game to see their relationship play out, but some highlights include Solomon saying he got a huge oil painting of Asmodeus as his "permit" to summon Asmo across worlds [39-13, og] (which is not something you would allow someone you hate to do btw) and both of them mentioning that the two of them repeatedly hang out together in the human world [Proud Brothers, devilgram on Asmo's page, og], the hickey on Solomon's neck that's most likely Asmo's doing [Who Left the Hickey?, daily chat with Mammon, og]. Asmo (while drunk) is comfortable enough to tell Solomon that his cooking sucks and Solomon actually takes it to heart [47-16 hard mode, og]. Then there's Asmo's excitement at Solomon being in the Devildom for the first time [Proud Brothers, devilgram on Asmo's page, og; both of the pics below]

There's also that infamous chat pic of them doing face masks together (that I unfortunately don't know which chat it belongs to, so if someone could tell me, I'd appreciate it <3)

I don't know about you guys, but that's not typically an activity I do with someone I despise

So it's clear that current day Asmo holds no malice toward Solomon

Which, finally, leaves us with the way they forged their pact in Nightbringer

[mainly 7-12, NB & 7-15, NB]

@impish-ivy already went over it in this post, especially in the tags (I highly suggest checking out the reblogs as well btw), but to reiterate--Asmo was IN NO WAY forced into that pact. His brothers tried to talk him out of it, but at the end of the day Asmo willingly agreed to it. Yes, they were in a dangerous situation, and yes, Solomon used that as a basis to ask for the pact, but as ivy correctly points out in the tags, Lucifer could have easily handled the situation by himself, yet Asmo agreed regardless. By implying that Asmo was in any way, shape or form forced into that pact you're not only taking away a huge amount of his agency, but you also deny him his character moment and development that came with this scene. Asmo himself says that forging this pact will finally help him accept himself as a demon. Taking this moment from him is doing him a huge disservice

Aaaand that's pretty much all I have to say

If there's anything else you'd like to add, OR if there's anything you don't agree with, feel free to share! And once again, I'd like to remind everyone that civil and constructive discussions are more than welcomed on here!

Anyway, thank you all for reading, hope you have a great day! <3

#can't believe i'm writing something like this about some fictional guys that are loosely based on some other guys from the freaking bible #but here we are i guess #obey me #obey me swd #obey me nightbringer #obey me solomon #obey me asmodeus #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me mc #;mel's analyses #mel's starry musings

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sharuruwrites · 4 months ago

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Ambivalence pt. I

Summary:

“He totally stood you up, Ito-chan!” The girl with a braid slammed her hands on the table, rattling the glass of strawberry milkshake. “Also, he's trash!”

“Stood me up?” Shion shrugged. “I think you got the wrong idea. I’m only seeing him as a friend.”

“Don’t be stupid! Don’t defend him! Don’t ever cover for him!” The anger in the latter’s navy blue eyes matched the frown curled on her lips. “He should have given you a heads up earlier! Even a friend wouldn’t do this to you!”

Masterlist

A/n: I'll post up the previous chapter somewhere this week before things get hectic.

Timeline: Gojo - 16 (first two scenes), 17 (last two scenes) Shion - 15 (First two scenes), 16 (last two scenes)

TW: Self-loathing, Unintentional self-harm, Nightmares,

Tags: Spoilers JJK season 2, Hidden Inventory arc spoilers, Angst

—-----

Hair? Not too messy, not too well-kept.

Make-up? Not too much, or too little.

Outfit? Not too simple, or too eye-catching.

After one quick look at the mirror for final touches, Shion left her room with a small spring added to her step. One would assume that she is a young maiden in love, on her way to meet the person who held her affections.

Yet that wasn’t the case.

Today was the day Gojo Satoru, her self-proclaimed “favorite senpai”, would treat her to lunch. After the whole soy sauce fiasco a few weeks ago, the upperclassman searched far and wide for a way to apologize for his mean-spirited prank. Shion was skeptical about Gojo’s offer. She changed her mind seconds later when she saw the mouth-watering pastries from Gojo’s text.

As she exited her dorm, a familiar cheery voice called out her name. Dressed in casual clothes, Haibara greeted Shion with a bright smile. Honestly, if he and Gojo were in the same room, the energy they gave off was enough to power a whole village–except Haibara’s energy would always be wholesome, while the latter’s energy was usually fueled by menace.

"Aren’t you taking your sister to Universal Studios today, Haibara-kun?”

“That was…supposed to be the plan, but I accidentally slept in because of how tiring our assignment was last night.” Haibara rubbed the nape of his neck, already resigned to his sister’s future scoldings. “What about you? You look very nice today, Shion.”

Shion glaring at her classmate before folding her arms, struggling to contain the embarrassment flaring up inside her. “I’m going out.”

"Neat!" Haibara grinned before giving a pat on her shoulder. "With one of our senpais?”

“I guess… you could say that.”

"Are you going on a da-"

"Look at the time," Shion glanced at her imaginary watch. "I don't want to be late for the train."

And, that’s how she ended up waiting half an hour at the cafe with no call or text from Gojo. She would like to think she’s a very patient person, considering the annoyances (Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru) she had to deal with on a daily basis. But this was really testing her patience.

She was already on her third plate of chocolate crepe, and second cup of coffee when her phone beeped three times.

From: Your favorite strongest senpai (⌐■ - ■) ノ

（ｉДｉ） Sorry kouhai-chan! (T - T) Yaga-sensei forced me to go on a mission today! I’ll spoil you rotten to make up for it! (ღゝ◡╹ )ノ♡

“He totally stood you up, Ito-chan!” The girl with a braid slammed her hands on the table, rattling the glass of strawberry milkshake. “Also, he's trash!”

“Stood me up?” Shion shrugged. “I think you got the wrong idea. I’m only seeing him as a friend.”

Now, one might wonder who and how Shion met this spunky girl in front of her. She vaguely remembered that she planned to leave her table, and order pastries for her classmates. Out of nowhere, this girl approached her with an enthusiastic greeting– a greeting akin to welcoming an old friend.

“Sorry, but, may I ask who you are again?” Shion admitted. “I don’t remember names very well upon first meeting.”

“Riko!” The girl beamed, patting herself on the chest. “You can also call me onee-san!”

Big sister? That’s not right. Shion couldn't possibly be younger than her. Judging by Riko’s height and appearance, Riko would most likely be a middle school student. As much as she wanted to correct Riko, she threw the idea out of the window. Who was she to douse the girl's newfound determination? Especially when she felt such sincerity coming from her offer?

Shion nodded reluctantly. "Alright, Riko-neesan."

Riko pinched Shion’s cheeks. The eyepatched girl groaned in pain at the same time that Riko squealed with excitement.

Riko let go of her friend’s cheeks before cupping her own in delight, “I knew it was a good idea to come here.”

“Why?” Shion asked, rubbing her cheeks to numb the pain.

“You’re like a cat abandoned in a cardboard box on a rainy day.” Riko mimed a square shape. “I can’t turn a blind eye to it, knowing I can help the poor kitty.”

Shion blinked a couple of times at Riko. Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult? Did she look that pathetic and disappointed outside of the cafe?

“Enough about me!” Riko flipped her braided hair to her back. “What about you? Since you consider this no show a ‘friend’, does that mean you have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Is anyone trying to date you?”

“Not really.”

“A crush then?”

“Crush?” Shion pinched her brows together. “I saw my teacher crush a watermelon between her thighs once.”

And it had caught the attention of many beach goers, who begged Tsukumo to do it again. Tsukumo refused, warning them that the next demonstration would be with their heads instead–which, in a strange way, only seemed to encourage them further. Although Tsukumo ignored the interested spectators, Shion had a feeling that the attention boosted her teacher’s ego.

Shion startled at Riko's loud laughter, causing some patrons to cast glances at their table.

“Not that kind of crush! I meant a crush as in someone you admired for a while.”

Admired? There was no doubt that she admired Geto Suguru. Aside from his playfulness, which paired well with his best friend’s, Geto was a considerate and handsome gentleman. Their teachers, Watanabe and Yaga, described him as a model student and a model sorcerer. Should she start acting like Geto then? So that way she could get her own recommendation earlier than expected?

Except there was this weird phenomenon she felt around him–nervousness always swelled up inside her when Geto was nearby, and her tongue became all tied up after just a single glance from him.

Amidst all this thinking, another person popped into her mind. — Gojo Satoru.

The thought confounded her.

He was attractive, although to preserve what's left of her quiet life, she wouldn’t admit it till the end of time. But his handsomeness wasn’t something she admired him for. There must be something in Gojo that caused her brain to see him as her ‘crush’.

Yet she still held that Six-Eyes user in a respectable regard whether it be as an individual or as a sorcerer.

The novels she read gave an idea of what kind of character Gojo would be. The loud ones were the ones who were lonely. They yearned for someone to understand them as they’re too different from anyone else. In his case, that person was Geto. She wouldn’t be surprised if those two ended up together in the end, considering they’re already close, matching each other’s personalities, bickering and acting like a married couple.

As for her?

Shion and Gojo walked the same path of solitude but with different starting points, and different end goals. Gojo Satoru was ‘blessed’ into a world he matters, ‘cursing’ people and spirits who dared to oppose him. Meanwhile, Ito Shion was ‘cursed’ into a world with no memories, 'blessing' her free from the threads of her unknown past.

Admiration wasn’t the word she’s looking for. Envious, perhaps.

Then again, those were her measly assumptions. Who was she to make judgment on a guy she met only a few months ago? It’s pathetic that she’s comparing herself–a literal nobody–to someone who had everything.

The eyepatched girl nodded, making Riko squeal in delight. “And, what do you like about this guy? Is he cute? Handsome? Pretty?”

“He’s annoying. Not to mention, he constantly bugs me as if it’s his favorite pastime.” Shion rubbed her temple. “Yet he’s someone I know I can rely on when the need arises.”

The starry-eyed girl’s expression turned sour, like she'd bitten off a good chunk of the sourest lemon and swallowed it down in one go.

“I think he likes you back, Shion.” Riko said, shaking her head. “What he’s doing is acting like a typical snotty nosed brat in elementary school who doesn’t know anything other than how to be mean to their crush.”

“How did you know?” Shion tilted her head to the side. “It happened to you?”

“With this face? How could it not?” Riko gestured to her face. “I have experienced it lots! It’s cute when it’s obvious and all, but you know how boys can be, testing your damn patience until you throw a punch.”

Underneath the table, Shion’s hands formed a fist. Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer, admired her? That seemed hard to believe when there’s nothing admirable about her to begin with. Did he know something about her that she didn’t?

If Gojo Satoru had a connection or a piece of her past, he could either become the stepping stone for her answers or an obstruction to getting them.

She hoped it wouldn't be the latter. ‘Complicated’ was the best word to describe what would happen if she had to put Gojo’s neck on the chopping block. She would hate to clean up the mess that would inevitably come after.

“Enough about crushes,” Riko stood up from her seat,and pumped her fists. “It’s time to hit the arcades and play hard!”

After paying for their meal, Riko dragged Shion to a nearby shopping district. The streets were filled with people in various stages of life. Some were shopping with friends or family, discussing the different outfits and accessories displayed nicely on the plain mannequins. Children admired the coolest or the cutest toys, while begging their parents to buy them. Others were waiting in line for their turn in different food stalls, eager to get their hands on their orders.

However, Riko and Shion had to take a quick detour at a nearby boutique. Upon entering the shop, Riko beelined towards the display rack full of various accessories. Whoever was in charge of stocking the merchandise didn’t do a good job. Shion itched to organize the products to her own liking. Bright and bold patterns placed next to the calm and simple pieces were quite the eyesore for her.

“Can you try and find a headband that will suit me?” Riko asked while browsing through the display. “It got ruined the last time I did laundry…which was also my first time.”

“How about this one?”

Shion picked up a white cotton fabric. She slid it underneath Riko’s hair before tucking it in properly to secure her hair in place.

“What do you think?”

“I see perfection, that’s what!” Riko beamed. “I’ll buy--wait, where are you going, Shion?”

Shion froze on the spot, and slowly turned her head to Riko while her hand was occupied with her wallet.

Shit.

“L-let me pay for it, Riko-neesan!” Shion waved her free hand frantically as Riko’s eyes targeted her wallet. At this moment, she wished she was much taller than Riko. But she wasn’t, and so couldn’t keep her wallet out of reach. Once Riko saw her student ID, Shion had no idea what would come next. Chaos and disorder ensured.

“Oh no you don’t!” Riko grabbed onto Shion’s wallet, attempting to pull it away from her. “I’m not going to let you pay for it!”

In the midst of the struggle, Shion restrained herself from using her full strength, scared that she might hurt Riko in the process. Reluctantly, she loosened the grip and watched Riko’s smug expression turn into something different. Riko’s eyes widened and her attention went back and forth between her new friend, and the plastic white card that clearly listed Shion’s birthday.

“Y-You’re older than me!?” she said, horrified at the shocking revelation.”How come you didn’t tell me?!”

“Well,” Shion put her wallet away into her bag after whisking it away from Riko’s hands. “You told me to call you onee-san earlier and-”

“You tricked me like a clown!”

Shion scratched her cheek with her finger before she clasped her hands together. “Then…could you tell me how I can exactly make up for it?”

As if she flipped a switch, Riko’s expression lightened up. “Well, since you asked so nicely, I’ll forgive you this time…Only if you defeat me in Mario Kart! I’m warning you that I’m best at it! Never lost once!”

Unfortunately for Riko, Tsukumo’s intense training had instilled a competitive spirit in Shion. The eyepatched girl dominated all three cups in 150 CC–crushing Riko’s soul while at the same time earning her forgiveness and respect. Riko’s dramatic loss attracted a group of boys who challenged Shion in exchange for their hard earned tickets. One by one, they dropped like flies after every track as Shion won first place in all of the races.

Amongst the defeated wails of high school and middle school boys, Shion and Riko pursue other endeavors in the arcade. They sang their hearts out (mostly Riko) in karaoke, danced like nobody’s business in DDR, and took lots of pictures in the photo booth. Riko used the tablet inside to decorate each picture with artistic doodles before printing them. Yet, they had to part ways under the dusky orange sky, which also happened to be the busiest time of the day for train passengers. Whether it be entering the carriage, or waiting for their train to arrive, they all had a goal in mind -- to go home.

“Thanks to your winnings, I managed to get everything I want before I go!” Riko lifted her paper bags full of prizes and plushies in glee.

“Before you go?” Shion questioned.

“Oh, um…” Riko dropped her shoulders in defeat before sighing and facing Shion with downcast eyes. “I’m…actually moving away from…Tokyo, to somewhere far from my friends. I don’t want to, but what choice do I have, when everyone says that it’s the best choice for me?”

Shion was stumped by Riko's line of questions. Yet what Riko felt–anxiety and fear of uncertainty–was something that Shion unfortunately knew. Tsukumo had enrolled Shion in Jujutsu Tech without the girl’s knowledge. Shion had protested and stubbornly refused to admit that she was scared, because she had only known the world through Tsukumo’s guidance. After all, Tsukumo was there from the moment Shion woke from her coma.

Yet after hearing Tsukumo's words, Shion became reluctantly open to the idea of attending, and that reluctance eventually turned into gratitude for her teacher's push.

Despite the constant ugliness of the cursed world, Tsukumo Yuki pried open a door for her to experience and appreciate the smallest things in life.

“Sorry,” Riko scratched the back of her head while wearing a restrained smile. " I shouldn’t dump this onto someone I just befriend-”

"It's scary right?" Shion gently took Riko's free hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "My teacher told me it's alright to be scared and anxious when you’re doing something outside of your comfort zone. Tell them what you're feeling, and even if they don't get it, the heaviness in your chest will no longer be there, right?"

Shion watched Riko's eyes become glassy with unshed tears before letting out a shaky laugh and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her cardigan. Not too long, she pulled Shion into a tight hug.

"Thank you," Riko said, her voice muffled by Shion's shirt. "I'm glad I got to know you, Shion."

Shion returned the hug awkwardly with pats on Riko's back. Man, she really needed to get used to affections such as this.

"Shion," Riko called. She pulled back and showed her smiling face with teary eyes. I know it's not fair to ask you this, but let's meet again, alright?"

Something twisted horribly in Shion's guts. A tinge of foreboding. The possibility of never meeting her again.

Shion took a deep breath before giving Riko a smile.

"Of course. Let’s meet again, Riko-chan.”

—---------------------------

“W-why?” she croaked.

Shion never got an answer to this question. Instead, a sharp breath escaped from Shion’s lips as something pierced in her abdomen and twisted, eliciting a yelp that cut through the silent winter night. As the knife pulled out, a warm and metallic-smelling liquid spilled from the wound.

Her vision was getting blurry, her body grew heavier, and her hand became colder as the red pool beneath her grew bigger.

A sharp tip pressed against her neck, and the familiar bright emerald eyes above her had turned lifeless and filled with contained anger, ready to burst at any moment.

"To understand you, I need to have the same sorrow as you have… no… perhaps even worse than that." The voice was monotonous and cold. The sharp tip dug deeper into her neck. “Die for your sake, Shion.”

Shion gasped loudly, waking herself up in a panic. Her ragged breaths came fast as her hands gripped firmly around her neck. Gradually, her fingers tightened their grasp.

In these moments, she remembered her mentor’s calming presence.

‘Focus on my breathing, Shion.'

The heavy feeling in her chest eventually ebbed away as she continuously repeated the breathing exercise that her teacher taught her. Lips closed as she inhaled slowly through her nose, followed by a long exhale out of her mouth.

When she could no longer hear Tsukumo's voice echoing inside her head, she let go of her throat and sat up. With one last deep breath, she let out the rest of her stress. She wiped off the cold sweat off her forehead with her palms and looked around.

The digital clock on her bedside read 12:45 am. She was still wearing her uniform. Was she that tired from today's mission? No, no she wasn't so exhausted that she’d fallen asleep in her clothes. Typically, she would skip a meal in favor of more rest. Yet she remembered Watanabe scolding Haibara for nearly burning the kitchen down…so she must have had enough energy to stop by the kitchen earlier.

Pushing her thoughts aside, she made her way to the bathroom, hoping a quick splash of cold water would dispel the existing discomfort in her body.

Turning on the light, she saw her own appearance reflected in the mirror. Bed mess hair, dark crescents under her eyes, and the fresh bruises on her neck must be during the nightmare. It felt weird to see herself without the eyepatch. She wore it nearly 24/7 with the exception of going to sleep and taking a bath. She had no qualms when Tsukumo heavily suggested that she conceal her right eye, and Shion had assumed it was for her own sake.

Yet seeing it had no effect on her wellbeing, why did she have it in the first place?

As if responding to her own curiosity, Shion watched as the color of her eyes flickered between gold and blue until a sudden sharp pain tore through her skull. She clutched her head in response, steadying herself on the edge of the sink. The plain and simple bathroom was now covered with dark, crooked black lines. Red and blue vein-like lines spread across her entire body.

Once the pain subsided, Shion looked at the mirror once more. Her eye color went back to its normal shade of amber, and a bloody streak fell from her tear ducts, staining her cheeks. Shion clicked her tongue before splashing her face with cold water. She reached for the towel to dry her face and then opened the medicine cabinet to reach for her prescription.

With a pop, she opened the container and peeked in to find only a few sleeping pills left sitting at the bottom. She frowned at the sudden small amount. Not even three weeks had passed by, and she was already running low on her supply.

"Looks like I have to ask Watanabe-sensei for a refill again," Shion muttered, putting her sleeping pills back into the cabinet. Then she went back to sit down on the edge of her bed.

Before she had entered the student life, the nightmares were nothing but a common occurrence. Typically, she brushed them off with a nice cup of chamomile tea, lulling herself back to sleep. However, the dreams had integrated themselves into her life recently, with a frightening amount of ease. Her fatigue had gotten so bad that Watanabe personally intervened and prescribed her with medication to combat her sudden aversion to sleep.

It didn’t even help that the person in her dream changed occasionally. Most of the time, it was that person with green eyes, always staring at her with contempt. Once or twice she’d seen Geto’s purple eyes filled with yearning, or Nanami’s silent yet contemptuous gaze. It caught her off guard once when–in a dream– her eyes met Haibara’s and she saw the kind boy who never seemed to hold a grudge looking down at her with a disinterested expression.

Riko sometimes appeared, but her eyes were different; unlike the others. Her eyes were full of sorrow, as if she wanted more from her life than her fate as the Star Plasma vessel.

Upon seeing Gojo carrying Riko’s corpse, time stood still for so long that Shion believed it was frozen. Cursing Fate itself wouldn’t do anything to bring back her friend from death. In a twisted way, Fate had honored their promise to meet again. But instead of smiles and shared laughter, their reunion had ended with Riko’s lifeless body in the wooden casket, and Shion’s carefully crafted apathy during the funeral. She didn’t need the unnecessary attention from those who already harbored deep suspicions of her.

Yet because of her perceived ambivalence, rumors brewed amongst the attendees.

‘Heartless child.’ ‘Traitor.’ The constant name calling nearly made her lose her shit. Shion was a nobody; as far as they knew, she had no connection to Riko. What kind of reaction were they hoping for? Should she wail on her knees for someone that everyone assumed she hadn’t known? Look remorseful for a crime that they suspected she had committed? Act belligerent by giving them all a false confession, bragging about how she had doomed them all with the vessel’s death, confirming that they were right to distrust her?

Those baseless accusations made Shion sick in disgust. Despite the warnings from her teachers telling her not to go, she went anyway, foolishly believing she could handle the suffocating animosity in the funeral. For an event to remember the dead, it felt like everyone except for the Tokyo faculty staff and her classmates were playing the blame game and all pointing at her.

In spite of the fact that she was about to leave the funeral early and return to her room, Gojo Satoru whisked her away from the memorial to a nearby park. An unexpected diversion, but she welcomed it, and for once, she was grateful for his presence.

Two cold bottles of Ramune shared between them while staring at the orange-kissed sky. No words exchanged, only silence with the occasional background noises. Children laughing as they were called home for dinner, the wind rustling through the trees.

What Gojo did was nice; he gave her a little slice of life, and tricked her into believing that Cursed Spirits, Sorcerers, and Techniques didn’t exist in the first place.

She felt a few moments of peace, all thanks to that one guy who tormented her constantly, for no apparent reason.

A pointless thought. Whatever version Gojo painted of herself in his mind, he better scrap it and dump it in the trash. She would repeat this many times as she needed to, like a broken record. There’s nothing admirable about a nobody like her; nothing to desire, nothing to be envious of.

However, she hadn’t considered another possibility. What if Gojo was drawn to her for who she actually was? What if there was something about her for him to like?

All this thinking made Shion tired, and her brain begged for her to close her eyes and sleep. Yet a single thought formed as her eyelids grew heavy. She slowly drifted off into slumber.

‘It’s…weird…but…nice… ’

—--------------------------------------

Life truly goes on regardless of who dies and who lives. No pause or stop button to press. But instead of stopping or even slowing, Shion felt her own life accelerating as one tragedy struck after another. The only thing she could do was to try and keep herself afloat against the raging rivers of time.

But then something unexpected happened: Shion was assigned to a mission with Gojo for the first time. It made life for her bearable.

“You can fucking tease me all you want after this.” Shion harshly whispered, tightening her hold around his shoulders. “Just let me hold you, dammit. It’s unfair you were there for me when no one came for you.”

Ever since that day, Gojo slowly integrated himself further into her life, whenever he had the time. He was–and still is–the annoying menace she knew. He still pulled pranks that made her cuss him out, and there was plenty of childish banter between them. Yet from time to time, they basked together in each other’s company whether it be in silence or Gojo talking enough for the two of them, and Shion chiming in with occasional answers.

It was unexpected, but she didn’t mind the gradual change–and funnily enough–she looked forward to his presence more. A little bit of happiness appeared in her whenever he came by or smiled at her direction.

He reminded her of an energetic puppy. Adorable.

Speaking of Gojo Satoru…for once, she found herself wishing that Gojo was next to her right now in the library. Shion stared at the book taunting her from the top of the shelf, just out of reach. She rolled her neck and then her shoulders, tired from trying to reach it. She did everything she could–jumping, tiptoeing, and shaking the furniture itself.

Scaling the wooden bookshelf was a stupid idea. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures.

On the small ledge of the bookshelf, Shion stepped on it as carefully as possible, balancing her weight while holding on to the edges. As she slowly made her way to the book, she could hear the wood creak. It was as if the bookshelf was warning her to stop what she was doing.

She ignored the warnings and extended her hand as far as possible. Her fingertips almost touched the spine of the book, but just barely. She had almost reached her goal–

The bookshelf groaned and began to topple. In an attempt to stabilize the furniture, Shion shifted her weight forward but her fingers slipped, and she lost her balance. She closed her eyes and braced for the hard impact of her fall. Instead of the hard wooden floor she anticipated, she felt the firm and solid arms of a person whose warmth was familiar to her.

She opened her eyes and saw Geto staring back at her. His soft yet concerned gaze truly left her feeling small and vulnerable.

"Suguru-senpai?" Shion blinked.

"Are you okay?" Geto asked, his eyes scanning her face. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm not." She looked away. The intensity of his eyes made her feel weird–like there was an intangible, messy knot in her stomach. She wiggled out of his arms and fixed her uniform.

"I knew you could be reckless, but I didn't think you would risk your life for a book," Geto teased. He pulled the book that Shion had been reaching for and gave it to her.

Shion muttered a small thanks as Geto chuckled softly and ruffled her hair.

"So, what is it about?" Geto leaned over her shoulder, scanning the cover of the book in her hands.

"It's about curses, and Tsukumo-san recommended it to me," she replied. "That reminds me… What do cursed spirits taste like, senpai? That's how you gain control of them, right? By swallowing them?"

"Yep." Geto pulled back and nodded. "The taste? You're better off not knowing... I'd rather not worry you."

'Poor Suguru-san.' Shion thought.

As took a good look at him, her heart clenched. The soft light coming from the sun by the windows shone on his dull complexion. Exhaustion was evident, and weight loss was evident from his slightly sunken cheeks. There were dark circles under his eyes. His usually styled hair was down and disheveled, and the last time she'd seen him in this state was a few months ago.

‘He's stressed out again.’

“Are you getting enough sleep, senpai?” Shion cupped his cheek, but immediately tried to retract it. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“It's just from the summer heat.” Geto put his hand on Shion’s, keeping it in place on his cheek.

“Still,” Shion breathed, distracting herself from the sudden butterflies in her stomach. “You should look after yourself more, Suguru.”

The boy’s cheeks dusted with a reddish hue as she brushed her thumb against his skin. Oh, crap! She hadn’t meant to call him by his given name! She hoped his reaction wasn’t out of anger at the sudden informality.

Geto hummed in response and leaned further into the palm of her hand, his lips dangerously close to it. “Also, don’t be sorry. I don’t mind this if it’s you…”

They froze, suddenly finding themselves caught up in the moment. A loud cough from the librarian snapped them out of their trace, and Shion removed her hand on Geto's face. They both glanced at the old woman, and the latter's cold and judgemental stare had them feeling embarrassed and guilty for getting caught.

"PDA? In the school’s library?" The librarian crossed her arms, shaking her head. "You youngsters have no shame."

—----------------------------

"Thanks for letting me sleep here, and sorry for the trouble, Iori-san.” Shion said, plopping down on the spare futon. “I'm not comfortable with staying at the Zen’in’s family compound for the duration of my mission here in Kyoto.”

“Don’t be sorry, I too get disgusted at seeing Zen’in.” Utahime gave her a thumbs up. “Besides, I’m pretty sure a special Four Eyes will throw a fit when he finds out I let it happen.”

‘She sure is getting creative with her nicknames for Gojo-senpai.’

Shion’s fascination was soon replaced with curiosity. Were Gojo Satoru and Zen’in Naoya on bad terms? As far as she remembered from Tsukumo’s history lessons, their family clans held such bad blood between them that past clan leaders had resorted to killing each other. The current heirs mostly tolerated each other– except for the time when Gojo dropped by for a quick visit during one of Shion’s training sessions with Nanami and Naoya.

“Something on your mind, Zen’in?” Shion asked, wiping her sweat away with a towel. “You’re quiet for once.”

“It’s for the best,” Nanami remarked. “My headaches have lessened because of it.”

“Don’t mind him, Shion-chan.” Gojo said. “He’s going to say something stupid as usual.”

“If we end up against each other in this year’s solo match and I win,” Naoya stood up from his seat. “I’ll take you as my bride whether you like it or not.”

Nanami and Gojo held two different expressions. The blonde sorcerer tried not to show his annoyance towards Naoya. At most, he rolled his eyes as he quietly drank his ice cold water. Meanwhile, Gojo didn’t bother to hide his dislike. The repulsiveness of Naoya’s words was written all over Gojo’s scrunched up face.

As for Shion, another idea popped into her head.

Before the school exchange event, Naoya kept visiting Shion at school each week and asking for her hand in marriage whenever they sparred. Of course, she declined his proposals as she considered herself to be too young to be engaged and she only saw Naoya as an acquaintance. He insisted her feelings would change, but marriage–with Naoya or anyone– seemed to be impossible for Shion to imagine.

Then again, Tsukumo had often told Shion that a jujutsu sorcerer must have loose screws in their head in order to do this work. Maybe this was Naoya’s own strange way of asking to be friends with her? Or perhaps rivals? The second choice seemed to be more believable with his competitive spirit.

Her teacher did say that competition breeds competence. Afterall, his advances had proved to be useful as she found a big improvement in her reaction time.

"Alright,” Shion pumped her fist with determination, looking stoically at her ‘rival’. “I’ll be looking forward to this year then!”

“WHAT?!?”

That day, Shion nearly went deaf from Gojo’s loud reaction. At Nanami’s behest, Shion was sent to Watanabe’s office for a quick check up. Nanami thought she had a head injury, which didn’t make sense because Shion was completely fine – no concussion, broken bones or bruises; not even a fever. If anybody needed medical attention, it would be Naoya–who suddenly looked very distressed, his face red coloured, similar to a tomato.

“Speaking of that blue eyed brat,” Utahime glanced at Shion. “Are you up for a gossip session? I won’t talk your ear too much as you have an early day with Zen’in tomorrow.”

Utahime cracked open a can of beer and poured a cup of apple juice for Shion while the latter pulled out a variety of snacks from her bag. Immediately, the sorceress launched into a series of rants as they munched in between conversations. It ranged from Gojo’s harmless little pranks to headache-inducing moments so painful that Shion was surprised that painkillers still worked on her.

‘Despite the constant bickering, Utahime-san and Gojo-senpai got along so well...’

The eyepatched girl pinched her brows together. She didn't realize her hands clenched at the thought. Why did that make her uncomfortable? It’s not like she had something worthwhile. Utahime was one of the few sorceresses that Shion got along with. But Gojo? Shion liked to believe that they’d moved past being acquaintances, and sailed towards friendship. But the thought of Gojo also befriending Utahime made her feel strange, to say the least. How come she never got this feeling when she saw him with Shoko?

Could this feeling still be called envy? Or something else?

“Seriously, what do you even see in that boy?” Utahime scoffed, lazily swirling her can of beer. “He’s annoying, obnoxious, loud, and has bad manners.”

“In him? I don’t see his internal organs, senpai.”

Utahime stared dumbfoundedly at her friend. If Gojo ended up with an innocent person like Shion, she couldn’t help but worry for the latter’s sake. She had to do something before that annoying clown charmed Shion into becoming his wife--just like that asshole Naoya had nearly pressured her into marrying him.

Besides, she had to win the bet against Mei Mei. The betting pool on Shion’s relationship grew bigger and bigger each week. It came to an absurd amount that it matched the annual salary of a second grade sorcerer, and even Mei mei and Alex had joined in this affair. At least, that was what she caught wind of during a conversation between Gakuganji and Watanabe. It seemed like everyone was speculating about Shion’s love life.

Utahime, suddenly overcome with empathy, pulled Shion into an embrace.

"And that is why you should avoid boys like Gojo! They will take advantage of your naivety!" Utahime pulled away from the hug, hands still on the latter's shoulders. "Instead, why not go for Geto? At least he’s tolerable, unlike his best friend! And he certainly seems fond of you… You have a crush on him, which means you want him to be your boyfriend, right?"

“Boyfriend?”

Despite the sunny weather and the distance between Kyoto and Tokyo, Utahime felt the first blow of cold winter from Gojo’s glare. Strange, that guy wasn’t even here in the first place.

Meanwhile, Riko’s words resurfaced in Shion’s mind. Was that what Riko meant when she asked Shion if she had a crush? Not just admiring someone, but seeing them as more than friends?

According to her romance novels, becoming ‘more than friends’ meant the two parties ended up entering an exclusive relationship if the condition of mutual feelings was met. A relationship where showing affections such as kissing, endearing nicknames, and hand-holding were the standard. A relationship that puts heavy emphasis on intimacy and vulnerability towards each other.

DOES THAT MEAN?!

…

Shion leaned her head against Suguru's shoulder. “I don’t understand you, Suguru-senpai.”

“What do you mean, Shion?” Geto asked, shifting his position to have his arm draped over Shion’s shoulders and pulling her closer to him.

“W-well,” Shion cleared her throat, diffident at Geto’s sudden close proximity to her. “I don’t understand what you see in me. I’m not mature like Mei-san or pretty like Ieiri-senpai or cute like Iori-san. Not only my appearance, but my personality is not really ideal-”

Her downplayed ramblings halted when she felt something briefly warm and soft on her cheek. She held her breath nervously before concealed her reaction into her boyfriend’s broad chest.

"But, I’m still here, aren’t I?" Geto laughed at his girlfriend's shyness when he caught a glimpse of the tips of her ears red. "Sorry, too soon for me to kiss you?"

Shion’s brain was all too eager to fantasize about this possibility–which meant Utahime was probably right.

Upon this realization, Shion slammed her head on the wooden table and buried her face onto her arms before producing a banshee-like screech from her throat that forced Utahime to cover her ears.

“S-Shion?!”

“I-is that what it's supposed to mean to l-like someone?!” Shion stuttered nervously, the redness on her face couldn’t go any brighter than a ripened tomato. "T-that I-I l- like Su-Suguru-senpai!?”

The eyepatched girl buried her reddened face deeper into her arms and groaned loudly. Everything she felt about that boy clicked in her head. The sudden clamminess of her hands whenever he's in the same room. The sudden acceleration of her temperature whenever he noticed her from a distance. And, the sudden happiness blooming inside her whenever he noticed her.

MADE

MUCH

DAMN

SENSE

This newfound information overwhelmed her. It didn’t help that her heart had begun to beat faster than normal, and her head spun while seeing stars. Wait, was she going to have a full on cardiac arrest if this keeps up?

Meanwhile, a boatload of dumbfoundedness struck Utahime. It was not in her agenda to witness Shion panicking from a sudden existential crisis. Unlike Shoko, whom Utahime had known for two years, Shion was someone she had acquainted herself with not too long ago. Due to her busy work schedule, Utahime never had the proper chance to get to know Shion. She never held much of a strong opinion towards the girl or her for to expect Shion’s current state.

Whenever Utahime visited the Tokyo campus, she always found the girl within the shadows, content to watch from the sidelines, and yet willing to lend an ear if given the time. Because of Shion’s no-nonsense and straightforward outlook, Utahime unintentionally claimed her as her therapist for her mundane problems. To compensate for Shion’s ‘unintentional therapeutic services’, she always brought sweets and snacks from Kyoto.

Yet seeing how Shion had grown out of her stoic persona and bloomed into a shy flower, Utahime understood why a pair of mean, annoying idiots had taken special interest in her.

Because of the said interest, her maternal instincts kicked in.

This time, it was Utahime’s turn to comfort Shion. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of having a crush on someone,” Utahime said, giving her a few pats on the back.

“How can I not?!” Shion squeezed her eyes shut. “Especially after what happened in the library recently…”

Utahime leaned forward intently. “Tell me more.”

#jjk fanfic #gojo x reader #gojo fluff #gojo angst #jjk x reader #jjk oc #jjk oc x canon #jjk geto #geto suguru x oc #geto x reader

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jam-packed · 4 months ago

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i saw someone post abt the netflix show kaos (which is good u should watch it) and during my watch, i did subject my friend to who (in motogp) would best fit the characters in the show.

spoilers cus im gonna explain them within context and talk about the ending and my prayers for a season 2 :( and 3 actually but thats it.

going to separate this in groups of confident to 🤨🤨🤨 yk. anyways.

Set In Stone (to me):

zeus - TOTALLYYYY vale. eccentric bastards, but very entertaining, very likable in the beginning despite their wrongdoings. i feel like in a different world, vale would be wearing tracksuits around his big ass mansion but a guy has to find joy in dressing like a 15 yo boy so props ig (speaking of, i LOVEEE the wardrobe of this show. muy muy bueno to me.....) both have such an intense paranoia on how others receive them and their eternal impact on the world. its all about aging and their race to defy it, but they cant and that comes to be their downfall. regardless, theyre both crazy powerful and crazy in general they are like. the same guy.

poseidon - jorge lorenzo. in some inherent way. poseidon is jorge to me. theres the (for lack of a better term) jealously that poseidon has for zeus (in terms of hera) that jorge has w vale when it comes to personability/marketability. that, and the way poseidon acts is very jorge to me as well. the way he stands like hes in drag race. anyways, theres a nonchalance to poseidon's character and how he interacts with humans that makes me think, "yeah if jorge had this much power, he would act in this way."

hear me out here. hera - dani. not just because hera and poseidon are having an affair, mind you. but yes also mostly that. because im not knowledgeable about dani uh at all im going to base this on how ive seen him ride in the past. dani, to me, is an incredibly strong rider, hes very determined and sound in his efforts. but theres always someone stronger. and while that doesnt inherently mean he is fearful of them, i feel like within the context of the show, hed probably act in the same ways hera does despite how highly she considers herself. hera's a cunt in this and tbh dani is cunt to me with that crazy power i think hed be similar. also im not saying that dani sucks as a rider, its just. the vale/casey/jorge/marc of it all 😕 bad timing

prometheus - casey fuckin stoner, man. were casey and vale ever friends? idk im sure at points. they follow each other on instagram and casey loves to hate so idk. regardless, casey would be totally on board to help a cosmic plan to take down vale, would he kill his wife for it? real vale, no, zeus vale, its reaching towards the table. prometheus and stoner dont have the same humor, but theyre smart, they know how to act. even if casey isnt one for media, he can beat vale on a bike (ducatis on the straights omgggg). and prometheus and zeus are this weird battle of wits and intelligence. im not saying vale is stupid, im saying that he is blind to his insecurities and that can harm him in the same way it hurts zeus in this series.

marc has to have his own segment cus i could make arguments for 4 different characters. walk with me:

riddy/eurydice - stubborn, headstrong, cunt(y), defined moral code. riddy is such an interesting person within this show and i think marc is very similar to her in some respects. one of the main downsides though is the lack of codependency she has with literally anyone. shes not close to a lot of people, shes kinda isolated (from what i interpret, and idk if thats the fault of orpheus but for the sake of ease, lets say riddy does it herself), but she can connect with people easily. marc doesnt really do that. one, no álex, thats never gonna happen; two, he has a hard time being alone, their upbringings are incredibly different, which may have a major part to play in all of that, and that would kinda change who marc is (duh)---if he were alone all his life rather than surrounded by his closest friends and family, as he is now. so, if you want like. bezquez with a sour note, then yeah go marc eurydice, but idk its not my favorite. maybe luca or pecco (pecco is NOT riddy do not listen to me!!!!)

ari/ariadne - the brotherisms go crazy. very similar to riddy in that she is incredibly headstrong. she is not stubborn she is filled with guilt for something she didnt do my sweet lovely little pookiebear i should not be saying that whatever. so, ari's brother is the minotaur (shocker) and i think itd be interesting to explore marc's love for álex despite not knowing he's alive for YEARS (30 fucking years bro free my girl 😭😭😭). regardless, they are both smart, sympathetic to others, and get shit done when it needs to be. i think they match up as people pretty well, but we once again run into the issue of isolation and relationships throughout upbringing. ari does have some very close relationships as we see in the show (for a few episodes and then never again. ok.) like her father and her bodyguard. is that enough? idk maybe. makes me think abt santi........who will come up later actually. all to say, i think theyd make similar decisions to each other, i think marc if put in this story would be ari to an s (close enough, is my joke). anyways, marc is a good ari if you want a calm, semi-levelheaded marc (who kills someone) who will very likely end up with dionysus. but off the dome idk who dionysus could be. hm.

dionysus - he was my favorite in the show im sorry i want my faves to be each other. dionysus is such a character, hes so guy, i need him to get his cat back. ok, so dionysus is the son of zeus and he wants more responsibility/power---upsettingly, because of how marc is as a rider, i think this is why he ISNT dionysus. dionysus is a character that has to grow into himself (by learning about love ❤️) by killing his dad. haha i joke. but cmon. anyways in the context of dionysus's original goal, ehhhh not marc. but dionysus has this (again for lack of a better term) eccentricity that reminds me of marc. they have larger than life qualities but theyre quite mellow outside of that, they want people to be happy, they want love to prevail, if dennis was shiva he would do the exact same things dionysus does with that cat (carry it everywhere). theres a distance dionysus has with humanity that he loses over the course of the series, and i think thats interesting in marc's case cus once again NOT MARC!!! marc, from accounts that arent him (livio suppo is the only name in my mind rn) say that marc is very like. stable. hes a good kid, he doesnt let fame get to him (or at least how he treats others cus wtf is his house), and dionysus's arc is about connecting w humanity and i dont think marc would really have that problem. yes this was a waste of time yes it was just me convincing myself marc cannot logically be dionysus. this is my post man lemme do what i want :(

persephone - a lot of girls here. wonder what that says about how i view marc. womp womp idgaf. so, persephone is queen of the underworld, wife to hades. she LOVES hades and if we're thinking about old men and the young(ish) people that love them. santi. dovi. persephone is not one to lay down and take it, but hades is so gives me smth to play w in terms of who im going to make not a (I HAVE NO BETTER TERMS) pussy. persephone also loves love, she wants to help the gods because she wants to help her husband but she knows that isnt possible with what the gods (ZEUS COUGH COUGH) are asking them to do, so she defies them, she lies to them, she cares for her husband, she feels sympathy for dionysus and helps him to realize zeus is a lying bastard cunt. with great hair. marc to me. again, like ari, he seems the guy to put his money where his mouth he, he WILL do whats best for people cus he knows they deserve it, he wants to help, he will repay kindness, he doesnt forget (dionysus argument actually. repaying kindness this but i digress).

ares - ares literally isnt in the show yet. he got a technical mention in the last moments of the last episode but like idk......based on my knowledge of motogp and greek mythology and also his name is marc i think itd be cool.........put my man in the show give him a sword let him go ham let him kill god vale pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pl

marc my beautiful enigma u cannot be placed. except i think ari is your best bet at accuracy. especially if we're talking human strength and determination, ari n marc brother.

semi confident but could consider others

orpheus - marco bezzecchi. in my heart of hearts, as much as i love bez, he would probably act like orpheus. omggg hes so in love, he WOULD journey to the underworld but also hes a little evil hes a cunt hes a bastard hes cringefail but hes winning. except not really at all. orpheus has this tendency to. self-pity is my best assumption at a word. very whiny man. to me. cus i didnt really feel bad for him throughout the show. anyways, bez does have that intense loyalty that orpheus has, i do think he would do what orpheus does. bez is also kinda a cunt sometimes and i think he would say and do the twat things that orpheus does as well. the hardest part abt bezpheus is like. whos gonna fall out of love with him. you got a lot of options but they all kinda dont make sense yk? pecco just doesnt make sense w the character, cele does make sense he just probably wouldnt fall out of love or be in love in the first place, luca is also an option. luca marini my cringefail bestfriend who is famous and good at sports and doesnt know me, actually yea its luca. honda move, its luca.

riddy (again) - luca. it needs its own section ok i feel like i need to explain myself. luca, currently, looks like he wants to explode and die, he wants out of his fuckass brother's shadow (i dont hate vale im just full of vitriol) and if we transfer those feelings to loveless marriage, do we see how being hit by a truck and shipped off to the underworld and choosing to go to honda (I LIKE HONDA OK IM SORRY) are similar. did riddy choose to die? no its fate she doesnt really have a choice, but grand scheme of things did luca have a choice? idk, talk it up with a philosopher. im a math major, i could care less (lying).

caeneus (i think?) - álex. i think they look similar. i see caeneus and i go omg its álex márquez 2 time world champ in motorsports brother of marc márquez. also theres this weird like almost timidness that caeneus has that i feel is very similar to how álex acts and talks. hes kinda, and this is going to sound so mean to álex, average. however, he is meant for something more, he is more than the surface level by a long shot. and i think thats true for álex as well. caeneus is also very truthful, hes going to get mad at you, if he doesnt wanna tell you shit he wont but hes not gonna walk around it idly, and álex is a marc lie detector so. theres that. again, some downsides, no codependency brothers wth. anyways luca álex ship name. lucquez. aluca. lucalex. rosquez 2 less evil edition. this is so hard cus of fuckin marc bro free me.

not super confident but sure id consider it

dionysus - pecco. vale son, the favorite at some moments, biffs it at others. i dont think pecco has a problem with loving others in the way that dionysus does (aro dionysus slay) but i think theres mentalities that they both have (given by their respective parental figures) that hinder them in similar ways. pecco does not have dionysus's early personality. pecco is very calm, very controlled, (very mindful very demure) but he can also fight with someone after they crash into him, hes not gonna take everything lightly. idk if hes quick to forgive, nor do i know if hes privy to stew in his feelings. one of the primary relationships (thats explored in the show) dionysus has is with zeus. he visits zeus (the only child to do so), he gives zeus gifts (that get rejected), he steals from him (lmao), he defies him (yayy), he gets punished for defying him (NOO FUCK). turbo as dennis ough the thought brings me anguish. anyways, i think with dionysus being a sort of foil to zeus it works with pecco being a foil to vale. evil vale would say flopnaia is a disappointment tho. anyways, if flopnaia were dionysus, hed probably be feeling and doing and saying the same things as d is in the show. would he be as sexually promiscuous? probably not so yk. confidence low. but woah omg very likely marcnaia what a trip.

i dont wanna write an explanation cus this is getting too long but bez could also be considered for dionysus. literally any vr46 boy could lbr.

and tbh anyone else in the cast would confuse the shit outta me i dont know enough people in motogp in that way. i barely know the ones im talking about 😭😭😭 anyways pls diregard everything i said because it makes no sense to try to put people in the correct slots of other media, just write based on the person, not the character you want to portray, thats what makes them interesting, its what allows for different stories and outcomes. all to say i did this for nothing ❤️

#motogp #kaos #im clinically insane #i did not need to do this at all jfc #it took me like 2 hours to think abt and write all of this free me from the hell that is my brain

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twdmusicboxmystery · 1 year ago

Note

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-walking-dead-daryl-dixon-season-1-review-norman-reedus

Do you think this makes it sound doubtful that beth will return? This is the first 6 episodes review

Okay, so I've read about 10 of these review articles over the past day or two. I get that it doesn't say we'll see Beth, but I actually think it sounds VERY promising. A lot of what me and my fellow theorists have been saying for a long time now is already being confirmed.

I'm going to combine several Asks into one post so I can gather all my thoughts in one area. I'll also insert some of the articles in case you want to read them yourself. Just keep in mind that they do have a lot of spoilers.

If you read across all the articles out there, some of them clearly are loving the Daryl spinoff, while others are much more negative and hate it. (Most of them seem to harbor negative feelings toward Norman and TWD in general, so I wouldn't take their words too seriously.) But you start to notice similarities between the articles. Most of them talk about the same things in the series, and we start to get a lot of hints toward what we'll see.

It's true that they don't mention Beth and some go out of their way to say that there are no other familiar faces from TWD. But keep in mind a couple of things about that:

1) I think that's aimed toward the Carylers. They're so sure we're going to see Carol at some point, and to me, it doesn't sound like we will. Or, if we do, it will be at such a last possible secondn to kick us into season 2, that her presence will have absolutely no effect on season 1.

2) Several of the reviewers have said that AMC swore them to secrecy when it comes to episodes 5 and 6. So, they've said some general stuff about how amazing episode 5 is gonna be, but overall, they can't say anything about what they saw in those episodes. So even if someone big showed up (Carol, Beth, Rick, Shane, lol) they wouldn't be able to say.

And I think it's SUPER significant that AMC would swear them to secrecy about those episodes. When the show literally leaked Troy's return 15 minutes after the FTWD Coda with the "mysterious" person, why would they demand that those receiving the screeners not reveal anything about the final two episodes of the Daryl Spinoff. Sounds all kinds of promising to me.

But there's plenty more. Let me just mention some things that stick out that seem to confirm we're right about smaller things (i.e. not Beth, per se). If you read across all the articles, there are actually a LOT of spoilers for the first few episodes. You can piece together a lot of the story from what's said. Yet, there's nothing about Carol, as I've already mentioned, and nothing suggesting a Daryl/Isabelle romance.

I did read one that said there are some "romance tropes" they use between the two of them, that are sure to get the Daryl shippers all fired up, but we don't actually hear about a relationship.

To me, that just means we'll see more of the same. Just as with Connie, just as with Carol, or Rosita, or just about anyone else he's had friendships with, he will be close to Isabelle and they'll connect on a deep level. Because of that, we're sure to see some Daryl/Isabelle shippers spring up, and the more angry people who ship Daryl with someone else (we all know who they are) will be on the warpath.

But I think if we were truly going to see a Daryl/Isabelle romance, it would be apparent in some way from these reviews. Even if they didn't come right out and say it, they would be frustrated that something is going to happen to inflame the shipping wars and would say so.

Another thing certain shippers were saying is that the leaked pictures of Daryl near the moose crossing sign were just down the road from the Commonwealth and were a scene where Carol caught up with him before he left the states and they had some kind of interaction.

That's proven to be false. We're now being told by the screeners that he's in Maine, very far from the Commonwealth, and Carol is nowhere in sight. To those of us to *actually* follow the details of the story and the symbolism, this has a lot more ties to Tales of the Walking Dead's Davon episode. If you haven't watched it, I would highly suggest you do. We're hoping to see some obvious ties to it in the show.

Of all the articles I read, this may be my favorite. It just gushes about how good Daryl's spinoff is, and has lots of good clues in it. But yes, the line you mention, Nonny, really stood out to me.

If you read carefully, it says Daryl will be asked about those he loves, and being Daryl, he's fairly closed-mouthed about it. But they specifically entangle that idea with him saying, or almost saying, a name that will break the internet. The Carylers, obviously, assume it will be Carol. But would him saying her name break the internet? I don't think so.

Exactly!

It doesn't make sense that Carol's name would break the internet. He already told Carol he loved her before leaving the CW, so it wouldn't be anything new. The names of any other character (Rick? Judith? Michonne?) wouldn't either because the audience knows they're out there somewhere. To break the internet as the reviewer suggests, it would have to be someone we don't know about (most of the GA doesn't think Beth is alive) or something we haven't heard Daryl say before.

So, here's what I'm guessing/hoping for. What if someone (Isabelle, I'm assuming) asks Daryl if he's ever been in love? Now, it says it's an "almost" name drop, so maybe he doesn't actually say Beth's name, but mentions a girl he once ended up alone on the road with or something.

That would be sublime. 😍

And naturally other shippers think he'll refer to Carol. But here's the thing. Let's say--you know, just for kicks--that he IS talking about romantic love and he DID refer to Carol. I still don't think that would break the internet. Sure, the Caryl shippers would go absolutely ballistic with triumph and joy, but remember that, while they're very loud and vocal, they're just a small part of the internet. Most of the GA doesn't know who they are any more than they know who we are. And I think the after TWD viewer who isn't part of the ship wars would just go, "huh. Okay. So they finally had Daryl say he was in love with someone." And then they would shrug and move on. Because most of the GA wants Daryl to find a happy ending, but they don't care overly much who it's with.

Now, obviously I DON'T think he's going to say Carol's name, in a romantic or any other capacity. My point is just that no matter how you slice it, Daryl saying Carol's name would not break the internet, so that can't be what the reviewer is talking about.

But referring to Beth would be completely different. We've never heard him talk about her before. And if he talks about feelings he had for her, well, even the average viewer remembers his and Beth's storyline (AMC has certainly kept it in the forefront of most people's minds all these years) and would have an emotional reaction to Daryl talking about her, and even more so if he says he loved her.

Now, of course this is all speculation one way or the other. We have no idea what he will actually be talking about in that scene. Again, this is just what I'm guessing/hoping for, because it's the only thing I can think of that would "break the internet" as the article says.

So, I've already addressed most of this. I'm not getting the Daryl/Isabelle romance thing at all when I read the articles. Again, just read them very carefully. It says there are set ups that feel like romance tropes, but it doesn't actually say there's a relationship, and the same thing could have been said of Connie and plenty of others.

As for the happy ending, I really think we'll see something of that by the end of the first season, but remember that the reviewers have admitted they can't talk about that. But even if we don't get a total Daryl/Beth reunion in S1, keep in mind that Judith's line about his happy ending probably spans the entire spinoff series.

And if I'm right about him mentioning Beth, (yes, still a big IF right now) well, there's no reason to do that unless they're foreshadowing her coming back into the story.

So, as always, we'll have to wait and see what the episodes bring us.

Can reviews be misleading? Yes. Definitely. And I don't even think it's always done purposely on the part of the reviewer. Sometimes yes, sometimes, no. But we have someone who has seen the show and is trying to reveal it without spoiling it. Each reviewer has their own thoughts and impressions and biases that naturally leak into their reviews. Some of them don't have English as their first language. Some of them are Caryl shippers, and that will make their reviews sound a certain way.

So, you just have to keep in mind that these reviewers are human beings with their own insights and opinions. And while that might make their review come off as misleading, it's really just that they have their own interpretation of what they're seeing, just as we do. Whose to say who's right or wrong? (Except we're totally right. 😉😁😇)

Overall, I've really enjoyed reading all these articles and harvesting clues and insights from them. I'm more excited for the Daryl spinoff than ever and still think it is leading to Beth. And we'll get episode 1 in just a few days. (Yay! 🎉)

Xoxo! 🍁🍂💓

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #team delusional #team defiance #td theories #td theory #beth is almost here #bethyl #daryl dixon spinoff #dd spinoff

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campcamp5ever-notforever · 9 months ago

Text

Gwen's Therapy Session.

"How am I feeling? Hmm...Honestly, I'm not sure."

Gwen licked her lips and then pursed them, deep in thought.

"Conflicted, I guess. You know, that's just been my whole life, actually. Full of conflictedness. Like, once, when I was 8, I remember, I couldn't decide between mint chocolate chip ice cream or strawberry ice cream. Spoiler alert: I ended up choosing strawberry because mint chocolate ice cream is just frozen toothpaste. Another time, Mother made me choose between her and my dad when they were divorcing."

She sighed at the memory.

"Mother, she...she wasn't a good person, and it took me a long time to realise that. No no, she's not dead. We just don't keep in contact with each other anymore...Growing up, my family and I were well off. Mother, she came from a pretty wealthy family but she, ha-ha, broke ties off with them when she married my father. This...this poor black dude, so yes, they were racist too, as well as classist. Lucky enough for her, her uncle, my gran tío Gabino, he supported her and her decisions so when he died, he gave her all his money in his will, and when she found out, she left her family with my dad right by her side. They had me about two years later."

"...Growing up was no fun. I was this gangly, awkward, quiet child who wasn't sure what to do with her life, and I'm pretty sure that pissed Mother off. She was this assertive, dominant, say-what's-on-her-mind savvy businesswoman so I think she assumed her spawn would turn out like her too. It certainly did not help that my dad is this out-there, outgoing, determined man. In her eyes, I was a failure, so she...kept her distance. She kept away from the constant reminder of inadequacy. I heard her talking to my dad once-she said, 'Tough love will help her grow. It worked with me. Look where I am today'. This was a reason why they're separated today because my father did not agree with her ways. He was trying to break generational trauma, but she was just trying to keep it ongoing. Like Grey's Anatomy, for some reason. You know they're on season 39 now? For no goddamn reason at all. A handful of times, yes, handful, I can count them on my fingers, she did attempt to try talk with me but somehow, she made it about her. Always. How the hell do you turn a conversation about your child's first crush into how you 'worked your way to the top'? When I was in school, I always got As. I never did drugs and didn't get pregnant. I won school trophies and certificates, but I always dreaded telling her about my achievements. Nothing was ever good enough for her. All she saw were the faults in everything I did. Whenever I smiled, she told me she could see my wrinkles, I should stay out of the sun so I wouldn't get too dark, she never listened to me, always had to be the one in the right, told me no man would ever love a stubborn and awkward girl like me..."

Her hand had curled up into a tight fist. A fist curled up so tight that it was trembling on the tabletop. When she realised this, she uncurled it, releasing the tension that threatened to consume her.

"My father left when I was 15. That's a big conflict there. He had enough and he left. It was the week where she went insane; on that Saturday, she wrecked her bedroom, screaming, tearing pillows and clothing apart, throwing things, broke her vanity, and when she was thirsty, she came downstairs to find alcohol and when she found a bottle, she disappeared into her bedroom for a week. I think towards the end of the week was when she and my father had a talk because she came out of her room, eyes red, hair a mess, and asked me: who do you want to stay with?"

Gwen licked her lips.

"Of course, it was a question I had to ask myself. I was thinking about it. I loved my dad, but I knew what he was up to with his time; he was an aspiring musician but that did not make him any money. This was another reason why Mother's family disliked him, by the way. I should know that he didn't make much money; I used to perform with him so I knew how much he would make with his performances. But we were lucky because we had...Mother. Then, he didn't have her. I decided to stay with her for obvious reasons, which I regret a lot these days....I don't remember a moment of her telling me she loves me..."

"She became much colder after that, and I just avoided her whenever she was at home. Escape came in the form of college but the moment she heard that I was staying with my father in his RV, she cut off my college funding and went no contact with the both of us. It was like she was reminding us of who she was. Unfortunately for her, I managed to secure a bursary. My father once pointed out how she had changed after I was born and she'd replied, ‘Maybe it's her fault I'm this way'. I heard her clear as day. I think I was still a child, then."

She looked up at the ceiling, the fluorescent lights shining bright into her purple orbs.

"She, um, she actually called me a few years ago. I was surprised. And shocked, too, you know, considering it'd been...12 years, now, that we hadn't spoken to each other. That was a huge chunk of my life that she'd missed. I think she realised that and that's why she called. Maybe to make amends, I think, because she asked me, 'How are you?' How was I? I was conflicted then, too, because she had called me at an unusual time."

"8 years ago, this shitty camp I used to work at, closed down. Several human rights violations and child endangerment cases but that's another story for another day. The camp shut down a few months before the big Covid scare and when it did, my co-camp counsellor, David, he stood in front of me, and it took a few moments for him to say what he wanted to say. I was just about to leave, my suitcases packed already, waiting to leave for the 5 o 'clock bus that would stop in front of me shortly. It had been about four hours since every child had left with their parents or guardians...except for one boy. Max. He was standing with David, who was consoling him, at the same time speaking angrily into his phone. We couldn't leave him alone at the camp, so he came along with us to the bus stop in town."

"I watched as David crossed the street to where I was standing, a solemn, conflicted look on his face. That was very strange considering the type of guy he was, so I was already concerned. He stopped right in front of me, taking a few minutes for him to say what he needed to say. He just stood there, staring at me intently. I remember what he said, not word for word, mind you. He rested his hands on my shoulders and said something like-"

'Gwen, I know we've had our fair share of disagreements, but there's one thing we can agree on – Max deserves the world. He's a resilient, intelligent, and incredibly unique individual. And I believe, deep in my heart, that we have the opportunity to give him the stability and love he needs. I understand the gravity of what I'm proposing. Adopting Max is a significant responsibility, especially considering our current circumstances. But Gwen, think about it. Think about the joy and fulfilment that comes with shaping a young life, guiding them through their struggles, and celebrating their triumphs.

Max has faced challenges that most kids his age couldn't even imagine. He's been let down, disappointed, and left feeling like he doesn't belong. But together, Gwen, we can change that narrative. We can show him that he's not alone, that he's valued, and that he has a place where he truly belongs – with us. I know you might have reservations. We both do. But let me assure you, Gwen, that we're not alone in this. We'll be together and I know that when we're together, we can do anything.

I'm asking you to join me on this journey because, truthfully, I will not be able to do it on my own. Please join me in becoming Max's adoptive parents. Help me give him the love and stability he deserves. Let's show him that no matter what life throws his way, he'll always have a family to come back home to. I know...I know this is a lot to take in. I know this all sounds crazy but please, just think about it.'

"It was a lot to think about for the short span of time I had. Imagine if a person, whom you've known for six years, just suddenly asked you to be a parent with him, to a child whom was recently abandoned by his real parents. It was my turn to take a few seconds of what I had to say and then my phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. My eyes still on him, I answered the phone."

" '...How are you?' "

" '...Mother?' I asked."

" 'Hello, Gwendolyn'. "

"She told me that she was going to therapy which shocked me completely because whenever my father brought therapy up, she always told him that she felt like he was ambushing her. Why would she want to talk to a stranger who was just going to tell her she was crazy? I told her that I was happy for her, and she asked me about my job. My blood ran cold but I stood my ground."

" 'I've been working as a camp counsellor.' "

" 'Camp counsellor? Is that what you've been doing with your life? Wasting away in some shitty camp?' "

" 'It wasn't a waste, Mother, I've come to find out. I helped kids discover themselves and grow into better individuals.' "

" 'Helping kids? What about helping yourself? Have you even thought about your own future? A real career? Your ambitions?' "

" 'I did, Mother. I found fulfilment in being a counsellor.' "

" 'Fulfilment? Oh please, Gwendolyn. You always were the pathetic dreamer. When are you going to wake up and realize that life isn't about playing campfire songs and telling ghost stories?' "

" 'Life is about finding happiness and meaning.' "

" 'Happiness? You call that happiness? Living like a vagabond, disconnected from the real world? You're delusional, my dear. Happiness does not pay the bills.' "

" 'Delusional? I think you're the one who's out of touch, Mother. You haven't spoken to me in twelve years, and now you waltz in here expecting me to conform to your idea of success?' "

" 'Don't you dare talk to me like that, young lady! I raised you better than this. You're embarrassing me.' "

" 'Embarrassing you? You know what's embarrassing? Ignoring your own daughter for over a decade and then having the audacity to criticize her life choices, especially when life has been so crappy towards her!' "

" 'I had hoped that by now, Gwendolyn, you would have outgrown this behaviour. I was wrong, and it seems I was mistaken. Stubbornness has always been your defining trait.' "

" 'Maybe I learned it from you. You've never been supportive of anything I've done. You thought I was a failure and you made sure I knew it. You only saw the negative in everything I did. You only care about what makes you look good in society's eyes. You can never ever be wrong because you're so 'perfect'.' "

" '...I sacrificed everything for you, and this is how you repay me? By throwing your life away?' "

" 'I'm not throwing my life away, Mother. I'm living it on my terms. Good things take time and I'm willing to wait.' "

" 'Fine! If this is the life you choose, then don't expect me to stick around and watch you ruin it.' "

Gwen shook her head after her recount and sighed deeply.

"That was the end of that. I dropped the phone call and looked back at David. His eyebrows were raised in question, his face a mixture of inquiry and concern, and I just fell into him, giving him a big, fat hug. At that moment, I told myself that I wasn't throwing my life away. I was still young. Hell, I was just a 28-year-old teenager-"

She chuckled at her lame millennial joke.

"-there was a lot of time for me to figure my life out. I was determined to prove to Mother that I hadn't ruined my life. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the passenger seat of David's car, driving off with him and Max in the back. Our adventure was just starting..."

She looked down, swallowing back oncoming tears.

"We did not know what life had in store for us. The future was a distant, shrouded mystery. These past few years have sucked but my God, we prevailed, and that is one of the best feelings a human can have. I don't talk to mother anymore but if I did, I would tell her that my life is at its peak, and it won't be stopping any time soon. Now, my family and I live in this picturesque town reminiscent of a storybook setting. I mean, we have a goddamn coffee place right around the corner from where we live! I can fucking walk to the school where I work without getting mugged or catcalled! The school itself has given me and David a discount on school fees because I work there! We have a fucking labrador at home Max named after this teddy-bear had when he was younger! I gave birth to the most precious baby girl ever three years ago, David's less stressed now and he sings all the bloody time! Max called me 'Mom' for the first time ever last week, and now I am-"

She glanced down at the time on her watch.

"-20 minutes late to my new job!"

She grinned.

"How am I feeling, you asked? I am feeling...content."

The barista blinked at Gwen in astonishment, his hand hovering above the cash register's keypad, mouth slightly agape. He cleared his throat, composing himself.

"...And what would you like to order, Miss Gwendolyn?" He asked, staring at her with a 'what-the-hell' look, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.

"I think I'll try your mint chocolate chip milkshake," Gwen nodded.

This has been in the back of my mind so I wanted to write it.

#camp camp #camp camp fandom #cc fandom #camp camp fanfic #cc fanfic #camp camp au #cc au #camp camp gwen #cc gwen #camp camp david #cc david #camp camp max #cc max #cc gwom #cc dadvid #camp camp oc #gwenvid

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viktheviking1 · 1 year ago

Text

Minor Spoilers for Season 2 episode 6 (Mostly it just wouldn't make sense without context)

In the dimly lit corner booth of the bar that stank of lost hopes and dreams.

"What ever happened to your quieves? Were they released into the wild to become sewer rats? Because I don't think those pampered pups would survive-"

"They're fine." Fizz interrupted then chuckled, "When Ozzie and I got back to our room, they were there waiting. Practically tackled us to the floor with kisses."

He scrolled through his phone to show Blitz pictures, "The limo driver scooped them up while we were having our fistfight in the street. And I'm sure glad too, because while most of them are tough, this white one is Precious, and she needs her Daddy most of all."

Blitz was surprised to see Fizz gush proudly over the little creature, but was happy to see this side of his friend again, "D*mn, I wish my daughter needed me. I can't even get her to call me Dad most of the time."

"Dad? You in a kinky relationship or some sh*t?” Fizzarolli raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, right.” Blitz smiled and started his own proud dad rant, “No, I actually adopted a kid!”

He pulled out his phone to show his own pictures and began rambling, “Her name’s Loona, she’s 22, and a bit emo. Or was it goth? Anyway, she’s working with me at the I.M.P. Oh, right. That’s the company I started. It stands for Immediate Murder Professionals. We kill people for sinners who still have revenge to get on the surface. Loona’s also pretty d*mn good at tearing humans to shreds, if I do say so myself. But most of the time she’s our wonderful receptionist who is very good at her job even if she starts fights with half of our clients. Most of them deserve it, anyway.”

“Wow . . . A lot can happen in 15 years, huh?” Fizz said, handing back the phone.

“Uh, yeah . . . I guess it does. And that isn’t even the half of it! I went to prison, and broke out.” Blitz winked.

“No f**king way! Are you sh*tting me? We were supposed to do that together! I gotta hear this.” Fizz rested his face in his hands, ready to listen.

A couple hours later, stumbling out of the bar came Blitz and Fizz had their arms around each other together as they made their way over to Blitz’s van, tipsy and trying to steady themselves.

“And then I said, ��What family?’”Blitz said and they both cry-laughed together.

“You absolute little sh*t.” Fizz laughed, “And you said you weren’t a comedian anymore.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a special brand of humor I suppose. Only us circus f**kers really get it.”

“Buckzo would be so ashamed.” Fizz snorted.

Blitz guffawed, “Good!”

Fizz caught his breath and turned to Blitz, "You know, I haven't had such a good time since Ozzie took me to a rock concert with 8 dozen cans of silly string." He wiped a happy tear from his eye, "We should do this again sometime."

Blitz couldn't believe what he was hearing. Only one thing could make this better. He looked around and saw the street was entirely devoid of people.

Too drunk to think clearly, he smirked and pinned Fizz against the side of the van, "Ya know, the night doesn't have to end here. I could take you back to my place, or we could go to yours? I wouldn't mind some quality time with you and the Misses."

Fizzarolli felt a tail curl around his inner thigh, "I- uh- . . ."

"Come on, Fizzy~" Blitz cooed in his ear, "Show me some of what you've learned in the lust ring."

Fizz swallowed and tried not to shudder as he felt Blitz's tongue on his neck, "I'm not sure if-"

Blitz slid his tongue across Fizzarolli's sharp teeth. He felt Fizz melt in his hands and he loosened his grip on the jester's wrists. Fizz's metal arms wrapped around Blitz, pulling him in. Blitz let his hands wander; one found its way to Fizzy's lower back while the other held his chin. He pulled back a little, and looked into Fizzy's eyes. They both stared deeply into each other, intoxicated by the nostalgic scent of an old friend, and the taste of old feelings on their tongues.

"I've missed you so much." Blitz finally let himself say.

"Yeah," Fizz interlocked his mechanical fingers with Blitz's and smiled, "Me too."

Fizz leaned in and kissed him again.

_________________________

Read more here:

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s0lar-ch3ri · 2 years ago

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a tiny ramble on luz's character: the symbolism i saw when she just stood there (spoilers obviously, for both season 2 and 3)

so i've been watching fan vids of the ending for toh and in this one reaction vid i was watching the death scene in a sense and i just had to over analyze it

for context, after belos is removed from the heart, he tries to lie again to luz and it starts to rail, the boiling water melting his human disguise. shes still in this titan form, clearly being as strong as ever, probably getting close to the level of the collector imo, and yet she doesnt do anything as he talks to her. she just stands, blank faced and doesnt move a bit (image shown below, low quality since its from the yt vid)

she just glares him down, not a word. she expresses no emotion other then annoyance, or maybe hate, and thats even just from looking at small details that we get.

yet here phillp is, giving it one last try, one more chance to trick her again. he shows a fake expressing of concern, later on worry that boils to anger and rage. unlike luz, he shows a ton of expression. hes using emotion, a very human concept, as a way to make her believe that he wasn't in the wrong, that he can be trusted, that he can be forgiven in a sense. he talks a lot, repeating with "better" words parts of sentences to show how good it is that she saved him and that wild magic is bad. however, he wasn't always this expressive. infact, the amount of emotion he shows here plays into how luz has reacted before!

i found the screenshot of when hes talking to hunter (its eclipse lake btw, around 1:15) and he seems not so smug but rather relaxed and welcoming. looking from hunter's eyes, this is really his uncle, and his uncle has always looked out for him, hasnt he (no he hasnt lol; also so do note that in hollow mind hunter does hesitiate before going through the memory with the portal door, like he'd take the eyeball monster over going through that again??? (i will be analysing him next hes just so ever))?

now heres an image of when he was talking to the collector in the mind scape. his energy is less familial and cozy but like an adult entertaining a child, he seems so smug and more like someone who you talk trash on others to. the energy he has for the people he surrounds himself with changes with who said people are. however, the amount of emotion he shows isnt excessive like the scenes with luz. even in elsewhere and elsewhen, he's shown more emotion when talking to her then with other characters.

this is how he knows her, the excitment and high energy, want to save everyone luz is how he has seen her. not to mention, he notices how lilith is getting concerned and starts talking differently. i know i keep jumping around with belos, but ill get back to luz soon!

another detail of lesser emotion with belos: we've seen him mostly wearing a mask. now, obviously the mask would hide his face and any form of emotion, but the mask noticiably has no mouth. all it shows is eye holes, lines to represent eyelids id presume, and nose holes. the mask cant show any kind of emotion at all due to the lack of detail. as such, we've only been able to tell his emotions through the tone of his voice, the way he speaks, etc. he has no need for emotion here.

from what belos has seen, luz has shown much emotion and empathy, so he plays into what he thinks is her weakness, pulling her heart strings with a fable that he believes surely she'd fall for. belos is good at manipulation because his style of how he does it changes with whoever he talks to, but one unexpected detail has stopped him now: this human has managed to change in such short time.

however, luz is very expressive even after everything, even in battle, even at the last battle. she always puts her best into whatever she does because she cares (its similar to the papyrus: blink motherfucker post basically, she always puts 110% into whatever she does). shes the main character because shes a very caring person and would never do anything to harm the innocent, making her a very good mc for the show! she speaks out against belos and his evil that one time at the night market because she wants to do the right thing for these people, because she cares for them.

she could just put him out his misery now. she could just kill belos just out of her hatred. yet she doesnt. because shed be stooping down to his level, killing someone because you simply dont like them. in this scene, belos finds sp,ethomg (ok ik ruining mood with that but the mispelling is just too funny, i meant to say something) he never expected, luz just does not care about him. she doesnt care to listen to him, doesnt care for his fate, and will not care in the end. she knows he doesnt deserve the respect of a response.

she doesnt even look at him, she doesnt have the care to now. and why should she? hes hurt many people, and tried to put her on his level of awful, comparing them as if theyre remotely similar. another thing by the way, when trying to use sympathy fails, belos switches to blame, saying how horrible shed be if she didn't help him now.

in this scene, he says "we're human, we're better then this!" with the irony of him being the least human hes ever been. this is pretty noticable, but theres more irony than just this. this is also the least human that luz the HUMAN has ever been. shes constantly been given that title, one example being eda telling luz that her life is great because "shes friends with luz the human"! yet shes harnessing the titan in her, and we see her doing things like eda and king do. and a big human thing we have? emotions and empathy. we sympathize with each other because we care and are run by our emotions, and thats a pretty key part in what makes us human. however, belos uses this against those around him, with promises of things that they desire in a sense. belos has lost any sense of humanity just to fulfill this savior complex (ill be doing more analysing so ill explain this later but no its not like a hero complex) while luz has became more humane with her journey, taking in how what she's done has affected those shes with, understanding them. luz being human is what makes her better then having to stomp him out, needing the last hit. she already did enough and doesnt need to care anymore about defeating him, because even if the rain didnt kick in and he was able to keep his human disguise, he would still lose.

tdlr: luz simply ignoring belos can be very over analysed by my neurodivergent ass, and the reasoning why is simply because when shed care once now she does not.

#watching and dreaming #toh spoilers #toh season 3 #toh season three #toh s3 spoilers #toh season 3 spoilers #toh s3 #toh finale #toh luz #toh belos

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satanicchristiancult · 1 year ago

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Heartstopper 7-30, and why it is that representation matters

Or: the perspective from a queer and mentally ill teen about figuring out your future and moving forward from the past, through an analysis of a singular chapter of Heartstopper

Alternatively: a queer, mentally ill teen projecting their issues and analyzing life itself through a comic about queer, mentally ill teens

Warnings: spoilers for all of the comic version of Heartstopper up until the most recent update (September 11, 2023), past self-harm, issues with self-image, and unspecified eating disorders (all of them both in fiction and in real life). (The last one isn’t really spoken about, but the topic lingers around this essay, keep that in mind).

It’s the second time I’m writing this. Bear with me. It’s long. You’ve been warned. Also, as you can see, this was written over the course of two days, and took multiple days for me to clean up and post. It’s no longer Monday 11th, so there are inconsistencies.

Today I woke up like any other Monday morning. Grabbed my phone at 5 am before getting ready for class. Today is update day for Heartstopper, as is every 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month. I looked up the chapter on Tumblr, read half of it, got ready for the day, read the rest of the update, and kept going with my day.

Usually, I wouldn’t think much about it throughout the day. I would think about it and re-read the chapter during the time between classes, or during lunch. Today was different. We’re in the middle of exam season. Today’s exam had to be done in a very small amount of time, only an hour. All of it was writing and analyzing. It’s 20% of the grade for the class. I spent 15 minutes of said exam just thinking about Heartstopper.

Here’s the thing about me. I have the tendency to fall in love with fiction. I will find something new, a book, a series, whatever, and consume all of it, engage with the fandom, consume all of it again, and repeat the whole thing until I find something new.

I engaged with Heartstopper a while after it had first been presented to me. Just like right now, it was the middle of exam season and I needed to get my mind off of things. I opened Tapas, which I often use to read things, mostly fan comics. I saw that Heartstopper was in there for free. I thought it was odd, but I was bored and tired, so I began reading.

I read the whole thing in two days, only three hours or something like that. At first, it became something like a comfort for me. A world that resembled the real world but made it its ideal version. Heartstopper presented me with a dream-like gay relationship, filled with self-discovery, varied characters, and, once again, an idealized version of the world.

It was so liberating at first. What if the world was like that? What if we didn’t have to fear people that much? What if life could be so filled with love?

Then it got dark.

Holy- then it got dark. It broke me, but I loved it. Gosh, I really did. I love stories about mental health. I love reading about how life can break a human being, but at the same time, how it can slowly and carefully put them back together. Sure, life is not perfect, and therefore, a person will never be fixed, and they will never be “how they used to be”, but life can persevere through darkness and pain. Life can get better. That’s what I chose to believe.

I’ve always related more to Charlie than to any other Heartstopper character, (aside from Tori, but she doesn’t really count as a Heartstopper character). We both struggle with similar issues, and we both deal with them in similar ways. Unhealthy coping mechanisms, baby~!

This arc of Nick trying to choose a university is significant to me, mostly because I’m having the same issues as him. I’m supposed to have figured out what I’m going to do, and I’m supposed to know where that’s going to be. I don’t know anything. I know what area I’m interested in, but that’s still not enough.

Currently, Nick is touring universities with his friends, trying to make plans for the future, while figuring out whether or not he’s willing to leave behind the people he loves for the sake of his education and personal growth.

That struck a nerve in me. I’m also terrified of leaving behind my friends, who are essentially my family. I want to be the best version possible of me. I want to have these new, meaningful, and life-altering experiences.

When I was younger, I used to think that I wouldn’t make it far. I thought that I would die young and I would be at fault for that. I found hope and comfort whenever I thought about college. I always thought/dreamed about leaving everything behind, going to the US, and living the “American Dream”. I never cared whether or not it was doable, it was my dream and it was going to happen one way or another.

Now I’m older. Somehow still alive. More bitter than before. Sadly enough, I don’t allow myself to dream about those things anymore and still believe that they can and will happen. Now, my perception of the US has been broken and I’m truly afraid of even going there.

Back to Heartstopper 7-30, Nick and the gang visit the University of Leeds. Nothing seems to particularly catch their eye, but they speak with a student, and things change.

Nick gets asked the question. That haunting question that almost seems to chase you down. “What are you thinking of studying?” Then comes the dreaded answer, “I’m still undecided.” Lucky for him, he doesn’t seem to take it in a bad way or overanalyze the situation.

How the social life is described to Nick attracts him to the university. He’s interested in the sports facilities, because he’s our rugby boy, so of course he would be. The person he’s talking to tells him that their partner is in the team, and that they are really enjoying it.

That’s the moment in which, even if isn’t consciously, Nick makes his decision. He turns around and sees a group of students playing rugby. One of them turns around and waves at them, signifying that they are the other one’s partner. The rest of the group just looks at them and smile.

They just seem to accept each other no matter what. They show affection between them and don’t even question it. That means the world to Nick. That’s everything he wants. A community. To be accepted. To be able to engage in one of his favorite activities, rugby, and not have to hide who he truly is. He sees himself as one of them. Straight up, imagines himself in their shoes, and he finally finds what he’s looking for.

A year ago, I started telling myself that I should figure things out. I went to a fair with multiple international universities that offered different programs for students from my country. At the end of the day, the dream never fully dies, I guess. I still want that god-forsaken college experience that appears in books and movies. That feeling of community. Anything.

I found this public university in the middle of nowhere, but it truly did captivate me. I don’t even remember why. Cool mascot, a nice ambiance. Good enough. I looked them up on Instagram and fell in love. Their posts were truly everything I had ever dreamed of. Community, acceptance, fun, pure joy, and happiness on that campus.

Then, what meant the most to me: an LGBTQIA2S+ organization. Queer-friendly spaces. Monthly meeting just to talk. I can’t stress enough how relevant this one was for me at first, a bingo game night with drag queens.

Where I come from, people know that you’re queer and you’re dead, honestly. You will never hear the end of it. We isolate ourselves because we know that otherwise, we’d have to fight daily just to be tolerated, to be heard. We’d have to argue why our existence is okay.

This idea of being out, the whole concept to me is wild. I genuinely never considered it a possibility. Being openly queer, alongside other openly queer people is something revolutionary in my head. I do mean it.

I understand Nick. Finally finding a place where you think that you could actually belong is such a liberating experience. The idea of “I could be there”, “I could be one of them”, “I could be myself and not have to worry”. It changes everything. It genuinely does.

I truly do hope that Nick finds himself at home in Leeds. I wish him only the best. May he figure out what he wants to do, and may he be happy doing it.

Now, time for. Charlie.

He barely even appears on this update, yet, his actions are incredibly relevant, both to his character development and to all of the people reading.

Charlie’s mental health has been all over the place, that’s something everyone who has ever interacted with Heartstopper knows. Most fans can also say that they relate to this. A pretty big amount of the fans of this saga would say that they consider themselves LGBTQIA2S+ and/or people who are currently or in the past have struggled with their mental health.

The beauty of Heartstopper is that we get to see these characters grow, not only grow older, but also grow emotionally. They get to learn about themselves. They get to battle their internal conflicts and win them.

Charlie means a lot to a lot of people. He means a lot to me. He is, in some way or another, a reflection of myself. My issues. My life. Which is really worrying, actually, but it does mean something. People relate to him. He is a good enough representation of mental health issues for people to be able to identify with him.

In this update, Charlie wants Nick to see him without his shirt on for the first time ever. This is such a big step for him. For his recovery. Charlie has many self-image issues, especially around his arms and torso. All of us readers know how hard this was for him, therefore, we know how much this moment means.

I love that it wasn’t like a gigantic revelation that was reacted to in an exaggerated manner. Nick, being Nick, just blushed heavily. He truly is the personification of ‘bi crisis’. Good for him.

Some of Charlie’s biggest insecurities, as seen in 7-13, are the fact that he’s skinny and has scars. The entirety of chapter 7 has focused on how hard this is on him, and how much it affects his daily life.

Him taking off his shirt doesn’t mean that he overcame this issues. Recovery isn’t linear. This action only means that he’s finally comfortable enough to try. That’s all that recovery really is. Trying, hoping, to get better.

As the audience, an outsider looking in, we have seen Charlie shirtless before. Something new happened this time. We saw something that we didn’t need to see, but some of us, me included, are glad we saw. We saw Charlie’s self-harm scars.

It could be stupid. It could be worthless, but it meant a lot to many of us. It meant a lot to Charlie.

Charlie finally feels confident enough with himself to show this part of him to his boyfriend. Sure, he trusts him with all of his very being. Charlie is well aware that Nick will never judge him for it, but his mind doesn’t see it that way. Charlie is in a fight of will against himself. He wants this, he truly does, but there’s a voice in his head telling him that everything could go wrong. Even if it’s illogical. Even if he knows that it is.

I love how Alice just subtly writes onto the story small details that will later on become important for the plot. They don’t even have to be really important. Them being there is enough. Every single time in which he holds onto his arm, or anyone touches that specific area, there’s always a reaction from him. Every time he feels insecure, he holds onto that specific area.

It could be because I’m an angst-loving fanfic reader/writer, but I always wanted to see those scars. It might be a morbid thought, but I really did want to. We didn’t need it, sure, but seeing them shows that they aren’t just a plot devise. We know that they aren’t only that, but it’s just one of those illogical thoughts that one might have.

Seeing them shows their severity. Seeing them shows how far Charlie has come.

To me, seeing them meant seeing someone like me in a book. On a published book. In the future, on a TV show.

It is one thing to read about it in fan fiction, in people’s blogs, on YouTube videos of people who are getting better, or anything like that. Anyone can post that. It being on something published in that way, something edited and checked by so many people, something that could be professionally translated onto other languages, something that at some point we may find in a library. It means a lot to me.

Alice Oseman’s book Loveless caused the same impact on me. My first time reading a book where there were asexual and/or aromantic characters, non-binary characters. There are people like me in media. In books. In my home country, as oddly homophobic and transphobic as it is, I can go to a bookstore and buy myself a copy of this book. It is real. I am, in fact, not faking all of this. Other people are like me.

Six years I’ve been hiding my arms from the world. I’ve spent my whole life hiding my legs, but three or four years ago I began hiding them for other reasons as well.

Six years ago someone finally asked me, in a worried tone, what happened to my arms. People had asked before, but no one ever asked as if they were concerned. Six years ago it happened for the first and only time. I haven’t worn a sleeveless shirt outside of my room in all that time. I don’t know if I ever will.

Charlie gives me hope. Maybe, one day I will. Who knows. I don’t really want to do that now, but if I ever do, I know that I could.

It is nice to see oneself represented in media. Small representation means something. A more relevant role means even more though.

As a child from a pretty ignored country, I found myself represented in Elena of Avalor, in Marco Díaz from Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Neither one of them was from my country, not even close, but it was as close as I could get.

Representation to me meant the beginning and sometimes end of the Jurassic Park movies, “Isla Nublar, 120 miles west of Costa Rica.” That island doesn’t even exist.

Nowadays, there’s an NCIS character who at some point talks about wanting to move to a beach in Costa Rica. I thought that was going to be it. She would retire, never be seen again on screen, but would still call every once in a while. I don’t regularly watch NCIS, but I pick it up randomly at times. Recently I saw that she didn’t even move to Costa Rica, so that’s that for my “representation.” I don’t know what has happened since, I mean it when I say that I don’t really know what happens on NCIS.

Representation can come in many different forms, in this case, it comes in the shape of a boy who only wants to belong somewhere, and another one finding his place, and finding comfort in his own body after struggling with it for so long.

Representation shows people that they aren’t alone. It shows how important it is to see someone like you on any type of media.

The mere acknowledgment of one’s identity or existence is an indescribable feeling. Seeing oneself in any type of media genuinely causes a great impact.

Representation is necessary, and it not only helps people feel seen, but it also teaches others about different aspects of life that they might not think about. People’s lives are different. Representation helps to put it into perspective.

-Mori (They/Xem)

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matthew-gray-gubler-lover · 1 year ago

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Sex With Spencer Reid All Seasons (season 9)

If you are under the age of 18, please do not read this story. Thank you.

This will cover what I believe sex would be like with Spencer Reid from season 1 to 15. Warning contains adult situations, Sex. Dirty talk, Orgasms, Crying, Spoilers for all seasons and Spencer Reid being a sex God.

Also includes fingering and oral sex. (Female receiving only.)

These are a little bit longer than I anticipated them to be because I wanted to give a back story as to why the sex is the way that it is for each season. To give it in depth feeling of why Spencer was the way that he was in bed that season. So I will be posting them by each season rather than all at once. I hope this gives you something to look forward to, and please leave comments, I will be leaving links to the next season below.

You are a new agent at the BAU and Spencer Reid's girlfriend, the one who takes his virginity and has sex with him for all 15 seasons and beyond.

Spencer Reid knew the first time he saw you walk through the doors of the BAU that you were the one that he was going to love forever. The first time you smiled, he knew it was the only smile that he ever wanted to wake up to. The first time he touched your hand, he knew yours was the only hand he ever wanted to hold. The first time he kissed you, he knew your lips were the only ones that he ever wanted to have pressed against his own. and the first time he made love to you, he knew you were the only one he ever wanted to do this with, and he also knew he would never be the same you or his life now, his love and his only desire.

season 9

In season nine you and Spencer are officially getting married. Spencer chose Valentine's Day as it is the day of love.

Something that you find very romantic. Even though you know that the day is more than just about roses and heart-shaped boxes of candy, you both know that it is a true symbol of love Valentine's Day Has always been a very romantic day for the two of you.

You almost thought that you weren't going to make it to your own wedding. Since Spencer couldn't keep his hands off of you, he wanted to enjoy making love to his fiancée one last time before you were his wife.

After four mind-blowing orgasms from oral and intercourse, Spencer was finally satisfied with the Amount of loving that he had given you.

When you pulled up to Rossi's, you saw all of the beautiful twinkly lights in the backyard, the archway for the two of you to get married under, rose petals leading the way to the altar/archway.

And there was Penelope, all dressed up in her bridesmaid's dress, light pink with rose petals embroidered on it, and her hot pink heels went wonderfully with it.

JJ and Blake's dresses we're a little bit longer than Penelope's. Penelope's was in true Penelope Garcia fashion, and you wouldn't have her any other way.

While the ladies helped you get ready doing your hair, putting on your makeup, zipping your beautiful white gown up, a ball gown with pink roses embroidered on the bottom, Rossi of course covered the charge of the dress. He told you and Spencer that he thinks of you as his daughter and Spencer as his son, and since he didn't have a daughter to spoil, he wanted to spoil you on your wedding day.

You could see that Spencer was starting to get a little teary eyed as he watched you walk down the aisle on Rossi's arm.

The wedding was beautiful. You had a delicious meal afterwards, catered by Rossi's favorite Italian restaurant.

Then it was time for cake. The four-tiered chocolate cake with chocolate fudge frosting and the cute little bride and groom on top. Spencer and you cut the first slice and he sweetly placed a piece of cake into your mouth before kissing you. It was the most romantic thing that the team had ever seen and would truly never forget this amazing moment. Neither would you or Spencer.

After a day of dancing, partying and eating.(you know how the team of the BAU does a party) Spencer took you home for your wedding night. Even though he has made love to you millions of times by now, and again those four orgasms he gave to you this morning. there was something different about seeing you in your wedding gown and slowly unzipping it.

it was as though he wanted to make the moment last forever.

It was like Spencer was in a trance. You looked so beautiful, even though you always did to him again, there was just something more special and magical about tonight. He couldn't wait to Make Love to his wife for the first time.

Before he pushed inside of you, he looked at you with so much love in his eyes and was rubbing his hands up and down your thighs and hips. "I love you so much my beautiful bride", he told you before kissing you and pushing inside.

You both let out a sweet moan, and he couldn't keep his lips off of you. "I love you so much. I'm so glad that you're my wife" he told you, each word being punctuated by a kiss.

this time lifting your hips slightly so that he could slide in even deeper, something that he had never done before. Maybe he was saving it for your wedding night.

The love making that night was sweet and slow. He didn't want it to end and neither did you. The sounds of kisses filled the room and you couldn't have been happier.

That night, Spencer gave you seven orgasms. You'd never thought that that would happen in your wildest dreams when you were younger, but after you met Spencer, you knew that he was a special man and would always be able to take care of you.

When morning came, Spencer made love to you once more, Again his hands ran up and down your legs and thighs. This time he even wrapped your legs around his waist and kissed your neck saying "I love you so much baby"," it's you and me forever". "Only you You're the only one I ever want".

This is how the two of you spent your honeymoon in your shared apartment, making love for a whole week, something that you both wished would never end. Sadly though the week had ended, you had to go back to work.

That didn't mean though, the Spencer couldn't still take care of his loving wife in hotel rooms. And he did.

If you would like season 10 please leave comments, thank you 💗

#spencer reid #doctor spencer reid #dr spencer reid #criminal minds #dr reid #reid #spencer reid smut

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uozlulu · 5 months ago

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Fic. IwtV (AMC) Sxiteen Nights. Sam/Rashid.

Character(s)/Relationship(s) Armand, Damek, Daniel, Louis, Raglan, Rashid, Sam; Sam/Rashid (main), Louis/Lestat (background), Louis/Armand (background) Genre Drama/Fantasy/Horror/Romance/Slash/Vampire Rating PG-15 (not really PG-13, but not really R either?) Word Count 7,649 Disclaimer As this is fanfiction, I do not hold copyright to the source material(s) nor do I claim that I do. This is for free entertainment purposes only. Summary Rashid receives a concert ticket from Louis and a vacation from his work at the penthouse. Rashid meets Sam the vampire at the concert. They take up with each other. When Rashid returns to the penthouse, he has to decide where his future will lie by the end of the interview. Warning(s) spoilers for seasons 1 and 2 of the AMC show, mention of animals for vampire meals, food consumption, hallucinations, disassociation, fade to black sexual content, vampire bite blood consumption, distortion of perceived reality, brief mention of a canonical suicide, brief mention of canonical attempted murder, language, hypnotism Notes If you’re wondering, “Why this?” I saw a post on Tumblr that said, “work place comedy cut to Talamasca HQ where the vampire Sam and Real Rashid are bonding over stories of their shared Armand-related hostile work environments,” and then proceeded to remember it extremely incorrectly and had to do something with the plot bunnies that ensued.

I originally wanted to experiment with some things for this fic but ultimately decided against it. That's what inspired the characterization of Rashid in this fic.

I know that Dubai still had masking requirements in July of 2022, but since the show ignores this, I decided to ignore it for the fic. I also took some liberties with how the Mind Gift might work. This is because I can't always remember such details. So if there's something I forgot, please think of it as being a little AU moment.

Read on AO3 or below

Sixteen Nights

Night 1

The penthouse where Rashid worked belonged to the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac and his husband the vampire Armand. The décor was a mix of modern and comfortable with contemporary black art and lost paintings of the Italian renaissance on display. Rashid worked as Louis’ personal assistant. He handled Louis’ affairs, received harvests from the blood farm, and followed all requests and orders made by both Louis and Armand. He normally stayed in Dubai, though on one occasion recently, he accompanied Armand to the United States to deliver a package.

Tonight Rashid prepared the final meal for the Arabian red fox harvested from the blood farm. The meal was a mix of the rabbit from the previous blood farm harvest, rice, and vegetables. Louis told Rashid long ago that it was important to indulge the harvest. The fox abruptly retreated to the back of the cage and stared almost unblinking at the entrance to the kitchen. The fox made no noise and did not move.

Rashid followed the fox’s gaze as Louis entered the room. Louis’ green eyes seemed to glow as he surveyed them both. His smile was neither warm nor cold. “Rashid,” Louis said in a firm voice, “I have something for you.” He handed a reservation card to Rashid. On one side was a stylized nightclub logo and on the other side was concert information for an artist Louis enjoyed listening to and a reserved table number.

Rashid put the ticket into one of his uniform’s pockets. “Thank you, Mr. du Lac.”

“For the next two weeks I will be entertaining a friend for an interview,” Louis said. “I would like you to take a vacation from your duties at the penthouse while he’s here, but don’t leave Dubai just in case I need you to return. Armand will perform your duties in your absence.”

“Yes, Mr. du Lac,” Rashid said. The thought of the kitchen covered in blood with every appliance spread across the countertops in disarray appeared before Rashid’s eyes. It was so corporeal that Rashid began to calculate what he might need to do to clean the ceiling.

The scene disappeared when Louis spoke again. “Enjoy the concert and your vacation, Rashid.” Louis looked off towards the left of the fox’s cage and smiled warmly as if hearing or seeing something that Rashid could not. Louis’ gaze returned to Rashid. “Your vacation begins tomorrow.”

“Yes, Mr. du Lac,” Rashid said.

When Louis left, Rashid slid a portion of the cage door aside and swiftly deposited the fox’s final meal inside it. The fox slowly approached the food and sniffed it before eating carefully, the entrance to the kitchen always in its gaze.

Night 2

Rashid was not sure how long he worked for Louis, but the state of the bedroom closet in his apartment suggested it might have been well over a decade. The only clothes unrelated to his work looked like things only a teenager could appreciate. Rashid chose one of his clean uniforms and opened the collar to make it seem less formal.

Rashid arrived at a hotel near Safar Park and took the elevator for nightclub patrons. Veins of moving light led Rashid from the elevator to the terrace. Familiar music with a steady beat sounded behind the club door. The bouncer let him in without question. Rashid found his table and scanned the card into a device discreetly built into it.

An artist from Louis’ music collection rapped on the stage in the center of the room. The first circle of seats around the stage were empty and people spread out about the remaining tables. Rashid leaned back in his seat. His mind drifted with the music like a cork on the Gulf until movement caught his attention. A man casually spoke to single people at other tables. He was shorter than Rashid and his eyes almost seemed to glow in the dim light. He would lean in close, and then the person he visited would slump in their seat as if drunk or asleep. Rashid knew what he was. Rashid could not stop watching the vampire sampling the crowd like a tapas buffet.

The vampire settled beside Rashid. He allowed his eyes to glow fully in the light, a dazzling shade of deep red like blood sitting in the sunlight. The vampire blinked and his eyes returned to a more human color. ‘I’ve never met anyone who found vampires so normal,’ a voice projected into Rashid’s mind.

‘Vampires are only people with fangs,’ Rashid thought.

A chuckle seemed to rumble through Rashid’s mind briefly. ‘I’m Sam,’ the vampire projected.

‘I am Rashid,’ Rashid thought.

‘Are you a trick or a gift?’ Sam asked.

‘A shadow,’ Rashid thought.

The song changed to something smoother, cooler. Sam ordered a drink. It was red and smelled of fruit and syrup. Sam pushed it towards Rashid and projected, ‘I always choose drinks based on color since I can’t drink them. I hope it’s good.’

Rashid smelled it for alcohol but there was none. He took a tentative sip and thought, ‘It tastes like a children’s party.’

Sam laughed aloud this time.

The next song had a beat that matched the rhythm of human hips thrusting.

‘I’ve never met a mortal who could mask their thoughts so well,’ Sam projected. ‘You’re very quiet.’

Rashid thought about Armand using the kitchen as a means to experiment with the blood harvests, Louis conversing and interacting with the air as if it were a vampire, and the fights between Louis and Armand that sometimes tripped the sprinkler system. Each thought was brief and contained. ‘I live it. I dream it. I try not to think it,’ Rashid thought.

‘I used to work under Armand and live with him. I understand what you mean,’ Sam projected. Armand the coven leader, the director, and the executioner played through their minds.

‘Did you learn how to keep him out of your dreams?’ Rashid asked.

‘He has no sense of boundaries,’ Sam projected. ‘He will always find a way if he wants something from you.’

Rashid sipped the drink again. He did not drink alcohol. This drink was definitively in the category of a drink someone who drank alcohol thought someone who did not would want to drink without consulting anyone before putting it on the menu.

‘Can I taste it?’ Sam asked, parting his lips.

Rashid held his gaze a moment and then leaned in closer. They kissed. Rashid’s eyes closed. They kissed again. Rashid ran his fingers through Sam’s hair. Sam nipped teasingly at Rashid’s lip without engaging his fangs. They parted. “We could…” Rashid spoke aloud, his voice trailing.

“We could,” Sam agreed. He offered a hand to Rashid. “I have a hotel room. Stay with me.”

The hotel was so modest that its suites had bedrooms with no windows. The living room in Sam’s suite looked out at Dubai as the city prepared for the darkest hours. Only the lights from the city lit the room.

Sam approached Rashid and reached up, his long nails carefully sliding along Rashid’s ear and down his neck. Sam’s fingers traced the bite mark at the base of Rashid’s neck. “I met someone with a scar like this,” Sam said. “It was a bookmark and a warning.”

Rashid licked his lips. A memory or perhaps a memory of a dream of Louis biting Rashid after offering him employment flitted through Rashid’s thoughts. “He needed a mortal,” Rashid said.

Sam continued to trace the bite mark in thought as he asked, “Why do you want to become a vampire?”

“I do not,” Rashid whispered. “I do not want to drink anything’s blood.”

Sam’s eyes shifted, glowing faintly in the dim light as he gently tugged Rashid down and whispered near his ear, “Let me pull your shadow further into the darkness. Let me show you what I can do without a single fang.” Sam kissed him once and then guided Rashid towards the bedroom.

A light lit on its own. They pulled clothing off each other and discarded it on the floor. The bedsprings sang with their desire.

Night 3

Rashid’s stomach rumbled mournfully. His eyes fluttered open. He was in total darkness. A body laid beside him in bed without breathing or moving. A digital clock on the nightstand read a later time than when Rashid usually woke for work. The holiday was not a dream. Rashid carefully and rapidly rolled out of bed. Sam’s arm instinctively shot out in case of attack and the tips of his nails almost grazed Rashid’s skin.

Rashid stood still in the dark room for a long moment. When the bed grew silent, he found his clothes by texture on the floor. He carefully left the bedroom, not allowing any sunlight to enter. He cleaned what clothing he could and dried them with the hair dryer. He cleaned himself and dressed. There was a note sitting beside the television telling Rashid that there was food in the fridge and clothes in the dresser below the television. The clothes in the middle drawer fit Rashid. The fridge had only ready to eat meals, all of it vegetarian. The packaging was all red like blood. Rashid ate while the sun set.

Not long after twilight ended, the bedsprings sounded and after a while, Sam emerged from the bedroom. “Good evening,” he said in French. He gazed at Rashid and spoke in English, “The clothes suit you.”

“Thank you,” Rashid said. Rashid kissed Sam when Sam approached him. Sam returned the kiss. They headed out into the night.

Like many nights in Dubai, tonight was the temperature of a fever and there was no breeze. Sam led Rashid from transport to the streets. There were more people than in the last two years but the crowds were nowhere near their typical sizes. Sam found ways to pass the night, finally leading them to Kite Beach. It was still hot and humid, but the breeze from the Gulf was welcome. Large spotlights lit up part of the shoreline. People gathered in spread out clusters.

Rashid and Sam walked along the surf. The water was cool but not cold. The city spread out to one side covered in light and darkness spread out from the Gulf allowing for a few stars to survive the safety and city lights.

Sam started to mark the rhythm of something, the beat steady. On occasion, the beat paused only to immediately resume. He murmured words in French to the beat. Something about walking, night, and water. “Le cœur, le cœur… » Sam’s voice trailed and then he asked in English, “Have you ever heard the story of Lestat de Lioncourt?”

“No,” Rashid said, “but I have heard the name Lestat.”

Sam stopped walking. They were in the darkness outside of the safety lights’ reach. He moved closer and kept his voice between them. “This is a story from the Yanks in New Orleans. Lestat de Lioncourt and his husband lived in the Rue Royale. They had money and power, and a daughter no one could account for in the records of the living since all of them were vampires.” Sam paused. “They were known for lavish parties, but also running their incinerator at night and bouts of domestic violence that disrupted those around them. Their neighbors learned to ignore the noises at night.

“One night, their daughter decided she had enough of the theatrics and threats. Instead of running away again, she conspired with Lestat’s husband to kill Lestat. The three of them planned a ball for Mardi Gras. Lestat dressed as Marie Antoinette. He was the center of attention. He gorged on the guests’ blood. It was everything he enjoyed,” Sam paused again, “and the perfect send off before his family poisoned him with dead blood and slit his throat, leaving him in a rubbish pile to burn in vampire hell.”

Rashid watched Sam’s eyes glow in the tiny strip of darkness on the beach and then whispered, “Marriage is poison.”

“There is a lot of poison in the world,” Sam said. “The murder attempt didn’t kill him though. His husband could not commit to it.”

“So he lived?” Rashid asked.

“In his own way,” Sam said. “Last I heard he was playing in a band with some Yanks.” Sam began to sing one of Lestat’s songs. It had a dark, romantic feel that did not sound like Sam’s music when he pretended to be a robot onstage. They resumed walking along the shoreline.

Night 4

Rashid woke late again just as naked as the previous evenings. The food in the fridge made him miss the flatbread, zatar, and ful midammis he normally ate for breakfast, but it was not terrible. The clouds of the sunset drifted like fire on water until the sun disappeared and twilight slowly faded. A building in the distance lit up the same color as Louis’ eyes.

Louis’ eyes pierced the darkness of Dubai when Rashid met him. The night might have been hot and humid like it was now. Rashid only just arrived in Dubai with no purpose, just vague direction. He gazed on Louis without judgment, without fear. Or, that was a dream and they met through other means. Rashid could not be certain Louis ever left the penthouse. At least not since Rashid began working for him.

Rashid blinked and returned to the present. The only light in the hotel room was from the city. Sam appeared beside him and followed Rashid’s gaze. The streets hummed despite the reduced traffic. Sam’s eyes began to glow. “You’re blood is loud tonight.”

Rashid did not know if that was good or bad.

Sam’s long nails ran through Rashid’s hair. He kissed Rashid. “It’s because I forgot you eat at night. I’ll make sure there is food tonight.” He took Rashid’s hand and they left the hotel room.

Voices, shouts, cries, and laughter became an indiscernible noise in the streets where little restaurants hoped to survive the drop in tourism. Smells mingled and every once and a while, Rashid’s mind drifted and soon he observed himself and Sam as if operating a camera moving alongside them. It helped Rashid avoid people rushing about unaware of where they were going.

A man passed by them and stared pointedly at Sam. Sam made a slow U-turn in response. Rashid blinked and his perspective returned to his eyes. He followed Sam and kept one eye on the man. The man was not a vampire. He smelled faintly of sweat and had a healing sunburn on his arms.

The man bought parathas at a nearby food truck and approached Rashid and Sam with them. The man handed Sam a labneh paratha, Rashid a halloumi paratha, and kept a shakshouka paratha for himself. “I’m Raglan James,” he said to Rashid. “I’m one of Sam’s associates. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Loosely an associate,” Sam said and handed Rashid his paratha. “The food is safe, but don’t let him take your body.”

“He is not my type,” Rashid said.

Raglan snorted and looked at Sam. “I have more than one way to do my job you know. Why are you in Dubai?”

“I’m making a new album,” Sam said. “I wanted to go somewhere unknown to me.”

Raglan and Sam continued to talk about business. Rashid ate the parathas. He placed the wrappers in his pockets. Sam gave him so much food already tonight that Rashid would be too full soon. Rashid’s mind wandered before returning immediately to conversation when Raglan said, “…at the penthouse. He’s that kid they were with in the 70’s and 80’s. I think they’re going to turn him when the ‘interview’ ends.”

“Louis did bookmark him,” Sam said, “and I think I read he has MS or something?”

“Parkinson’s,” Raglan said. “He doesn’t have much time left before the next stage if his medical records are accurate.”

Sam’s expression darkened. He glanced at Rashid and then his attention turned to Raglan. “Thanks for the information. Can you keep me informed?”

“Of course,” Raglan said. He bid them goodbye.

Sam led Rashid away. Rashid glanced over his shoulder but Raglan was gone.

Night 5

The alarm clock in the hotel bedroom screeched. Rashid shut it off immediately and stared at the time. It was earlier than he would wake for work and he was sleepy. When he returned with Sam that morning, Sam kissed him deeply and made Rashid swear he would leave the hotel room long before sunset tonight. They would meet at a club later that night.

Rashid showered and dressed quickly. He had breakfast and left the hotel room. He avoided the tower and kept it from his mind. This was the first time he was by himself without an errand or a chore since he met Louis. He arrived at the mall and scanned the options at the movie theater. The only movie starting soon was a western vampire movie.

The movie was not worth the ticket price. Rashid stopped listening not long after the exposition ended and his mind drifted. He flew above Dubai accompanied by a small colony of vampire bats. Rashid settled with the bats atop the Burj Khalifa. The wind was comfortable. The city lights spread out into the horizon. There was just enough light to see everything despite the hour as if it were a movie itself. The bats offered him blood but Rashid refused. His shoulders relaxed.

Rashid blinked and seemingly returned to his seat in the movie theater. The characters were talking about Spider-Man. Rashid left the movie theater. He still had time before he needed to leave for the club.

After twilight ended, Rashid waited fifteen minutes and then made his way to one of the large international hotels. He followed Sam’s directions and soon joined other men following a maze of hallways to a discreet ballroom. A DJ spun music in a far corner. Everything smelled like beer. Blue and green lights lit up the entire room as yellow pulses flashed. Rashid joined the dance floor, moving through the groups of men seeking an escape from the constrictions of society.

Rashid ignored the invitations thrown his way and found Sam among the clubgoers near the center of the floor. The music drove the crowd like a train and Rashid moved accordingly, keeping Sam in sight as they seemed to spiral with the clubgoers around them. Sam accepted an invitation to dance, pulling the clubgoer closer and closer until the room plunged into dark purple light. Pink and orange lights flashed and Sam drank from the man in his arms until the man swooned. Rashid’s heartbeat increased, drumming with the song. Sam passed the man to another clubgoer and disappeared into the crowd. When he reappeared, his gaze met Rashid’s gaze as they moved with the flow of the clubgoers.

Sam approached Rashid and cupped Rashid’s face with his warm hands. His breath smelled like blood. He kissed Rashid right where Rashid’s neck met his jaw. A shudder ran through Rashid. He grasped Sam’s hips and squeezed. Sam nipped Rashi’s neck without using his fangs.

‘Are you a trick or a gift, Rashid?’ Sam’s voice echoed through Rashid’s mind.

‘I am myself,’ Rashid said.

‘Who is that?’ Sam asked.

“I…don’t know,” Rashid said aloud. The smell of blood was overwhelming. He stopped breathing through his nose.

Sam stepped back. ‘One more drink.’ He picked up the next man that danced up to him and drank until the man’s eyes closed.

Rashid did not lose sight of Sam, watching his throat pulse with each gulp of blood. Sam sucking the blood from the puncture wounds seemed audible despite the volume of the music.

Sam discarded the body to another clubgoer. He returned to Rashid and they moved to the music and with the clubgoers. By the time people realized how many men fainted, Rashid and Sam were off the dancefloor, out of the hotel, and well into the night.

Night 6

Rashid waited for twilight to end. He stood at the window of the hotel room but his mind was on the dancefloor from last night. The club spread out around Rashid. The lights flashed and Sam drew each clubgoer close in turn. He bit them and sucked just enough blood to make them faint. Always just enough like an endless buffet. Sam turned to Rashid and approached him, warm fingers cupping Rashid’s face and then Sam kissed him. Rashid parted his lips and accepted the blood still fresh on Sam’s fangs. It was tasteless and without texture.

Rashid blinked and his perception returned to view out the windows in the hotel room. For a moment, he returned to the dancefloor and Sam bit him just as Louis did so long ago. Euphoria filled Rashid’s stomach and he breathed through his nose so it would not move lower through his body. He gazed at the light leaving the sky and willed himself calm and his mind empty.

His thoughts felt like memories but he knew they could not be. Blood could not be tasteless or textureless.

The bedsprings sounded in the bedroom. Rashid’s shoulders relaxed. He did not want to know the taste of blood, but his mind continued to return to the kiss on the dancefloor that never was. He moved away from the window when Sam appeared.

The Ain-Dubai Ferris wheel stood motionless and seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky from the ground. Colorful lights played across the structure in programmed patterns. Rashid gazed at the tallest cabin high in the air.

Sam followed his gaze and then asked, “Should we go see the view?”

Rashid looked away from the wheel. “How?”

“I’m not as old as Armand, but I’ve got some skills,” Sam said. He picked Rashid up in a secure hold and then used the Cloud Gift to hop from cabin to cabin. Rashid watched the ground slip further away with each leap. He kept a tight grip on Sam.

When they reached the topmost cabin, Sam broke the lock and opened the door. He entered the cabin and set Rashid down. The door closed behind them.

The cabin was enormous and allowed them to look out at the Gulf, the Palm Jumeirah, and the city. People steadily trickled through the land like streams. Lights changed colors and places on the streets and buildings. Boats spread out across the water.

It was nothing like the wooden Ferris wheel that appeared in Rashid’s mind from either a memory or a dream. That Ferris wheel was easy to agitate and shook when the bench seat reached the top of the wheel. Rashid walked across the cabin. It remained resolutely stationary. He tried shaking by discreetly jumping, but it did not budge. He did not expect it to, but he wanted to try. He looked at Sam and said, “I cannot move it.”

Sam tried to agitate the cabin. No matter what he tried, it did not shake even with his strength and speed. He settled at Rashid’s side and placed his hands on Rashid’s waist. He licked his lips. “When I woke this evening, I could hear your heart beating waiting for the darkest hours. We could make the cabin move to that beat together.”

Rashid licked his lips and then kissed Sam. Sam returned the kiss and tugged at Rashid’s shirt. Hands slipped under each other’s clothes. Little noises echoed in the cabin. Yet, no matter how their bodies swayed under each other’s influence, the cabin remained steadfast and stationary.

Night 7

When Rashid’s eyes opened, there was no body beside him in the bed and the bedroom door was ajar. Rashid’s heartbeat rocketed into his ears but the rest of his body felt calm. He rolled out of bed so both feet fell to the floor as he stood. He peered out the door. It was already night and Sam sat on the sofa, using a stylus to poke about his phone.

Rashid showered and dressed quickly. Sam turned off his phone screen and said, “You didn’t wake when I talked to you.”

“You could have entered my dreams,” Rashid said. He put breakfast in the microwave.

“I’m not Armand,” Sam said.

“I know,” Rashid said. He walked over to Sam and leaned in close. “That is why you can.”

Sam held his gaze a long moment. They kissed. Sam grasped Rashid’s shirt, keeping him close. After another kiss, the microwave sounded and Sam let Rashid go.

“Let me know when you have to return to work,” Sam said.

“I will,” Rashid promised.

The Dubai Fountain Show shimmered and changed color in time to the music as if it were a visual display on a music player. Water continuously shot up into the air and spun. Multiple camera shutters rapidly clicked and beeped. People tried to hold their phones as still as possible for video clips. The spectators let out little cries multiple times during the performance.

Rashid and Sam stood towards the back of the small crowd on the boardwalk. Rashid glanced at Sam. Sam watched the water. Before, Rashid could speak, a voice called out, “Rashid!”

Rashid stiffened. He grasped Sam’s arm and tugged him in a direction. Sam allowed this and followed. Rashid did not run but he took increasingly longer strides. Footsteps followed them along with the voice repeatedly calling out to Rashid. The boardwalk around the lake was too open. There were not enough people to hide and no way to easily exit.

Sam fell behind. Rashid slowed and looked over his shoulder. A man stopped running and stared transfixed at Sam. Sam did not speak aloud but the man did not look away from him as if listening raptly. The man murmured something to himself and then turned away and left.

The man’s face was unfamiliar to Rashid, though for a moment a boy walking away with the same gait appeared in Rashid’s mind. Rashid’s heart thundered in his ears. The man disappeared.

Sam returned to his side. He guided Rashid towards a wall that separated them from other buildings. There were no benches or anywhere to sit. ‘Who was he?’ Sam’s voice projected into Rashid’s mind.

‘I do not know,’ Rashid thought. He took deep breaths and slowly his heart calmed. ‘I only knew to leave.’

After a long silence, Sam asked, ‘Did you leave your home by choice?’

‘Yes,’ Rashid thought. ‘It was time. More than time.’

The fountain show ended. Spectators moved along the boardwalk. Rashid started to walk in the opposite direction that the man left. Sam followed.

Night 8

When night fell, Rashid and Sam went to the aquarium. Sharks rolled their eyes back in their sockets so only the whites of their eyes appeared. Some fish swam under rocks, plant life, and others seemed to rocket themselves away from the glass. Stingrays buried themselves in sand and prepared their tails for battle. Manta rays left for deeper parts of the tank. The crocodiles serenaded everyone with tense hisses. The penguins tries to leave their enclosure.

Other aquarium guests murmured to themselves at the strange animal behavior. Rashid did not find it strange.

Sam sighed and quietly said, “Animals always know. I should write a song about fear responses.”

“It is the smell of blood,” Rashid said. “It is always there.”

No one else seemed to notice that Sam smelled of blood.

‘Shouldn’t you be used to the smell of blood by now?’ Sam projected into Rashid’s mind as they exited the aquarium.

‘I know what I smell,’ Rashid thought. ‘I know it is there.’

‘You’ve been around vampires too long,’ Sam projected. ‘Shouldn’t it put you off?’

‘I prefer vampires to humans,’ Rashid said.

‘And when Louis decides to return to the bookmark on your neck and you still don’t want the Dark Gift?’ Sam asked.

‘Then I will die,’ Rashid thought.

“Do you want to die?” Sam asked aloud.

“No,” Rashid whispered aloud, “but I want to feel the bite again.”

Sam moved closer. “And what if I bit you?”

Rashid did not look away. “Yes.”

“‘Yes?’” Sam asked.

“I want you to bite me,” Rashid said.

“You would give me that power?” Sam asked.

“I do not want to serve a God of my own making forever,” Rashid said. “I want to walk alongside you.”

“Then,” Sam took his hand, “come with me.”

They returned to the hotel room.

Rashid showered as he did every night. His heart would not calm even though the rest of his body felt at ease. He exited the bathroom and watched Sam who stood by the window gazing at the city. They always returned to the hotel room during the darkest hours, giving themselves enough time to wind each other up and down before sleeping. This was the earliest at night they returned.

Sam stepped away from the window. He approached Rashid and pulled him down into a greedy kiss. He pulled back and continued holding Rashid’s face as he spoke, “You are not a trick, a gift, or a shadow. You are Rashid. You are mine and I am yours.”

Rashid’s hands moved along Sam’s sides. He did not look away. “You are mine and I am yours.”

Sam’s hands slipped from Rashid’s face and took Rashid’s hands. Sam pulled Rashid into the bedroom. The light lit on its own and the door closed on its own behind them. As they had for so many nights, they consummated their desires and then Sam leaned down and his fangs sank into Louis’ bite mark. Rashid’s nails dug into Sam’s skin. The pain subsided into euphoria. Sam drank for a long moment and then pulled back, gazing down at Rashid. His fingers ran through Rashid’s hair. “This is when a vampire would share its blood with its mortal partner. Do you want it?”

“I want you,” Rashid said and his fingers tiredly tried to cling to Sam, “but not any blood.”

Sam smiled as Rashid’s eyes closed. “Then we will be bound by choice, not by blood,” Sam said.

Rashid made an affirmative noise in this throat as his mind filled with a dark landscape.

Night 9

Hours ago, Rashid woke from a dream in which Armand told him to return to work while dressed in white. Rashid complied and slipped a note under the bedroom door before leaving the hotel. Rashid cleared his mind of his vacation and prepared himself for a return to the penthouse.

The day staff kept the penthouse clean as usual. There were mail and packages to retrieve and sort, a request to the blood farm to make, a mortal’s dinner to plan and prepare, and plenty of notes from Armand to read. By the time darkness fell, Rashid had everything where it should be. He began prepping the mortal’s meal. Its timing would dictate when and how to handle the blood.

Louis entered the kitchen. There was tension to his lips and shoulders. “Rashid, welcome back,” he said in a firm but tired voice. “How was the concert?”

“The music was impressive in person, Mr. du Lac,” Rashid said. “Thank you for the holiday.”

Louis nodded. “Good and you’re welcome.” He observed Rashid’s knife work and then his attention drifted to a corner of the room. His lips seemed to relax and some of the exhaustion in his shoulders seemed to lessen. His gaze returned to Rashid and he said, “Tonight I will continue the interview. I would like you to serve the meal in the dining room at the time Armand specified in his notes.”

“Yes, Mr. du Lac,” Rashid said. “I will prepare the blood immediately before serving.”

“Good,” Louis said. “I will leave you to your work.”

Rashid watched Louis leave and slowly, silently exhaled. He could not remember a time Louis looked so stressed, not even when fighting with Armand. Rashid exhaled slowly and returned to his work.

Night 10

The interview was about Louis’ life, maybe Armand’s life too. The vampires’ behavior was also strange. Last night, Louis told Daniel about a vampire committing suicide. Tonight, Louis and Armand held hands while talking about their romance in Paris. Rashid only heard portions of the stories. He stayed a shadow and went about his duties elsewhere in the penthouse and the tower for most of the night.

When twilight lit up the sky in the early morning, Rashid finished his duties and left the penthouse, heading for the elevator that would take him to his apartment. Damek was in the hallway heading to his shift. Rashid looked away and continued to the elevator.

“Why was Armand you?” Damek asked.

Rashid paused. English was the only language they shared and an acquired language for both of them. “Armand is Armand.”

“He called himself Rashid,” Damek said. “We all called him Rashid.”

Rashid did not know what to say. It would explain some things that happened since his return.

“They changed everything for you. You do not even want the Gift,” Damek said.

“Armand loves the theater,” Rashid said.

Damek frowned. “They will turn that man. He waited fifty years. I do not want to wait so long.”

Daniel exited the penthouse just as Damek entered it. He was the journalist conducting the interview that Sam and Raglan talked about, with the bite scar on his neck. Daniel saw Rashid and immediately joined him in the hallway on the way to the elevator. “So, they didn’t provide you with your own room in the penthouse, Real!Rashid?” Daniel asked.

The nickname still did not make sense even if Armand impersonated him for a week. Rashid never felt real. “I have my own quarters elsewhere,” Rashid said.

“I was going to go to breakfast,” Daniel said. “Do you want to come?”

‘Say yes,’ Armand instruction projected into Rashid’s mind.

“Yes,” Rashid said. He pressed the elevator button for Daniel and followed Daniel down to a small Japanese-themed restaurant on the lowest level of the tower that was open at all hours. Daniel ordered them both a traditional Japanese breakfast. They each received a whole grilled fish, rolled omelets, miso soup, pickled vegetables, a bowl of rice, and various garnishes. Rashid stared at the fish’s head a long moment and then started eating one of the omelets beside it.

“So, tell me, Real!Rashid,” Daniel said, an edge to his voice as if Rashid knew his employer’s husband would pretend to be him for a week, “why do you want to be a vampire?”

“I do not,” Rashid said.

“Why not? Immortality, health, strength…there’s a lot to offer,” Daniel said.

Rashid did not wish to explain it. He continued eating while Daniel continued to sort through the pros and cons of vampirism. The staff behind the counter politely did not comment or seem to notice that Daniel spoke of vampires as if they were not myth. Rashid looked at the untouched fish on its plate. It seemed to echo Daniel’s words, its mouth moving in little tiny o-like shapes. Rashid could not wait to return to his apartment, wind down, and sleep.

Night 11

When Rashid arrived at work, he immediately went to the package room to inspect a recent sculpture Louis acquired at an auction. As he moved through the halls, he heard Armand speaking. It was the earliest he heard either vampire awake. Armand paused and then leaned closer to Daniel where they sat across from one another. Armand described sharing blood with another vampire in a theater during a show. The other vampire was Lestat, the same vampire that Sam mentioned on Kite Beach and Louis seemed to speak to alone.

Rashid heard more of the story than he should. He left quickly to deal with the sculpture. When he finished checking the sculpture and repacking it, he retrieved the blood farm harvest and entered the kitchen.

Armand stood waiting for him in the center of the kitchen his orange glowing eyes unblinking. He did not startle Rashid. It was not the first time Armand appeared in such a way in a room Rashid entered.

“Rashid, you must accompany Mr. Molloy whenever he leaves the penthouse for the remainder of his stay. Is that understood?” Armand ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Rashid said.

Louis entered the kitchen and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Our guest met an operative at lunch,” Armand said.

“One of the ones with no sense of subtlety?” Louis asked.

“Yes,” Armand said. “Almost as if they are all the same person.”

“The Identity Matrix…” Louis’ voice trailed and then he nodded. “I agree.” He turned to Rashid. “Keep an eye on Daniel, Rashid. Don’t let him out of your sight when he’s not in the penthouse.”

“Yes, Mr. du Lac,” Rashid said.

The vampires left the kitchen. Rashid sighed. The guinea pig in the cage remained frozen in fear. Rashid began preparing its final meal.

Night 12

“Have they ever let you read Claudia’s diaries?” Daniel asked at dinner that morning. It was another traditional Japanese breakfast. It was supposed to be good for things like Parkinson’s disease.

“I am a personal assistant,” Rashid said. The morning chef no longer put the fish on his plate and gave him an extra omelet instead without asking.

“The thing I don’t understand,” Daniel said as he crunched on the fish’s body, leaving the head on his plate, “is how they all survived, how they all ended up in Dubai. I heard there was a fire, but Louis has all of them.”

Rashid did not know. Rashid finished eating and set his chopsticks sideways across his plate.

“You’re a man of few words, Real!Rashid,” Daniel said. “Don’t you ask questions?” He paid for their meals.

“I do not,” Rashid said.

Daniel continued talking about his questions and analysis on the elevator ride on his way back to the penthouse. Rashid exited on his floor and entered his apartment. He brought the dry cleaning waiting at his door into the apartment with him and prepared for bed. The sun streamed in the windows seemingly too bright. Rashid shut the curtains.

Rashid could not sleep. Images from his week with Sam moved through his mind. He viewed all of it as an outsider, any of it possibly a dream or a distorted memory. Rashid felt the scar at the side of his neck. It felt different now, a mix of Louis and Sam’s marks. Sam’s bite in the hotel room was real. The bloody kiss on the dancefloor with no taste was not real. Rashid closed his eyes. Colors moved together and flickered, skyscrapers loomed, animals ran away, and fangs pierce his neck. Rashid opened his eyes and immediately rolled out of bed.

He retrieved his suitcase from the closet. He wiped the dust from the fabric and packed everything he owned except for the uniforms. His belongings took up a fraction of the space. Rashid zipped the suitcase closed and placed it by his apartment door. He returned to bed and finally fell asleep.

Night 13

Tonight it was time for Armand to feed again. Armand fed regularly but his time between meals were much longer than Sam or Louis. Armand left the penthouse with his prey. Rashid continued his work on dinner for Louis and Daniel. When finished, he brought it to the dining room, but Louis and Daniel were not there. Rashid went to the study and found them with their feet in the rock garden talking quietly but earnestly.

Louis looked over and said, “Rashid, you can place the tray on the floor tonight.”

Rashid carefully placed the tray between Louis and Daniel on the floor without upsetting any of its contents.

“Tell me, Real!Rashid,” Daniel said almost conversationally, “what would you do if you found out that someone fucked with your memory?”

Rashid did not answer. He looked at Louis. “Is that all, Mr. du Lac?”

“Answer the question, Rashid,” Louis said.

Rashid looked away from Louis respectfully. “Memory is malleable. I would not notice.”

“What if someone told you about memories you no longer have?” Daniel asked. “What if they were deliberately stolen?”

“I would not miss them,” Rashid said. “No one’s perception is true. A memory is not different than a dream.”

There was a long silence of reflection.

“But it did happen,” Louis said. “The pain is no lie.”

“Yeah, that smell is too real,” Daniel agreed.

Louis nodded to himself and then said, “Thank you, Rashid. You may go.”

Rashid left. The conversation in the rock garden resumed. Daniel seemed to have a memory of Armand repeatedly slamming him to the floor while Daniel sat in a chair. Louis recalled horrific burn injuries and pain. If Rashid had not packed his bag last night just in case, he would pack it tonight.

Night 14

It was time for breakfast for Rashid and Daniel but time for a late lunch for Dubai. A whole fish stared up at Rashid on his plate once again. He could not look away from it. This chef and Daniel had not noticed Rashid did not eat meat. Daniel talked about the interview, his mind hyper-focusing on the job.

Someone entered the restaurant and bumped into Rashid from behind. Rashid glanced over his shoulder. Raglan gave him an unsubtle nod, indicating a man behind him.

The man was Arabian. He held Rashid’s gaze for a long moment unblinking as Sam might. Then he disappeared into the restroom. Rashid excused himself and followed.

When the restroom door closed behind Rashid, the man spoke carefully as if Sam spoke through him, “I used my Mind Gift on this man a few nights ago. It should work.”

“It did,” Rashid said.

“Here’s my phone number,” Sam said through the man as the man handed Rashid a piece of paper. “Raglan thinks that Louis and Armand are going to turn that bookmarked journalist at the end of the interview. He’ll need a first meal.” There was a deliberate, pointed pause. “Don’t become that meal.”

Rashid’s heartbeat increased even though the rest of his body felt calm. He took the paper.

“I’m in Paris. Come find me,” Sam said and then he kissed Rashid through the man.

Rashid guided the man to the floor when he fainted. Rashid memorized the phone number and destroyed the paper.

“What…? Where…?” the man murmured in his first language as he became aware of his surroundings.

Rashid did not answer. He left the restroom and returned to Daniel just as Daniel’s conversation with Raglan ended. Rashid let his mind empty of everything he saw and experienced. He could remember it when it was time to use the phone number. He returned to the penthouse with Daniel.

Night 15

The interview would end tonight or tomorrow night. Rashid knew he did not have to complete his service to Louis, but staying until the last moment possible seemed appropriate. Rashid collected the blood farm harvest and entered the kitchen. He deliberately listened to the interview in the other room. Lestat was once Louis’ husband and their daughter was Claudia. There was some kind of trial where Claudia died. Lestat somehow saved Louis’ life during it. Daniel’s voice grew increasingly triumphant as he placed his discoveries before Louis and Armand. Rashid left the harvest in its cage. He fixed one last martini with extra vermouth and retrieved the evening paper. He kept his mind blank and entered the room, depositing both in front of Daniel. When it appeared no one needed more from him, Rashid bypassed the kitchen and headed to the door.

He continued to keep his mind blank as he left the penthouse and opened his apartment door just enough to grab his bag. He tossed his keys inside and did not bother to shut the door. He did not think a single thought as he took the stairs down several floors and then the elevator down the rest of them and exited the tower at a fast but not suspicious pace. He found a cab outside and left for the airport where he bought a ticket and a burner phone.

Once he was at the gate, Rashid exhaled seemingly for the first time even though he must have been breathing throughout his journey. He texted Sam and then put the phone in his bag. Sam would not respond for a while. Paris was two hours behind Dubai and their twilight much later at night.

Rashid gazed up at the ceiling of his gate. His thoughts danced along the architecture. He could not relax. He could not sleep. A gate nearby began boarding. The flight attendant’s voice sounded like a trickling stream. Rashid saw water rushing all around him, pouring from the ceiling and puddling on the floor. No one reacted to it. Not even when it turned colors.

Night 16

Rashid flew from Dubai to Istanbul and then Istanbul to Paris. When he exited the airport in Paris, the sun was still high in the western sky and the sunset would not be for a long time. Rashid found food and stayed away from places where he might have to speak too much French. As the sun began to lower in the sky, Rashid followed the instructions that Sam sent him last night.

Rashid arrived at a park as everyone else left it. He followed the paths to a long, old bridge that led to an island. The bridge swayed and protested as he crossed. The sun disappeared and twilight began to fade from the sky. Rashid stepped onto the island and approached a replica of a temple. There was no sign of any lights on the island or the structure. He climbed the steps and stood near a far column so no one might spot him from afar. Paris spread out across the lake, lights becoming more prominent as darkness finally settled.

The bridge protested in the distance behind Rashid. A swift noise rushed up the steps. Sam’s eyes glowed as he stepped into the temple. Rashid moved towards him and soon they embraced, sharing a kiss. There was no moon, no humans, and no vampires. The temple was theirs alone.

The End

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