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angels-fantasy · 6 months ago

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this is another collab event hosted by @queenpiranhadon :D i'm so happy to be apart of this, it was really fun to write and i hope you enjoy it. the dividers and banner are also made by @queenpiranhadon so tysm <33 pls send her and other writers apart of this event some love, i will link the event master list here.

Hawks/Keigo Takami x Reader

Tangled AU

Word Count: 8.3k :0000 crazy!!

Description: When you're locked inside of a tower for your whole life, the thing you wish for the most is freedom. Luckily on your 18th birthday, your tower is intruded by a charismatic man who's able to grant you that wish.

BY THE WAYYYY reader has long hair, ofc, but the color/texture is not described or anything!!

This story starts with the sun.

Once upon a time, a drop of sunlight fell from the sky, causing a magic, golden flower to grow. This flower had the ability to heal the sick and injured.

Centuries later, there was a nearby kingdom that rose and was ruled by a king and queen - who was about to have a baby, but fell ill. Extremely ill.

Since she was running out of time, the people began to look for a miracle, or in other words, the magic golden flower.

But there was an evil woman, one who hoarded the flower for its power. Only using it to keep herself looking youthful for hundreds of years.

Though one day when hiding the flower after using its powers, she made the grave mistake of running away and accidentally knocking over the flower's bush disguise.

This led to the kingdom's guards finding the flower and taking it to the queen to heal her.

Then, a healthy baby girl - a princess was born - with beautiful shiny hair.

To celebrate the baby's birth, the king and queen launched a flying lantern into the sky and so did the rest of the kingdom.

Everything was perfect in that moment, until it ended when the old, evil woman found the baby and attempted to cut off her magic hair, only to find that cutting it took away it's magical power.

Deciding it was the only way to have her flower back, she kidnapped the baby.

The kingdom searched for the princess, but had never found her, not knowing she was deep in the forest, locked away in a hidden tower. The evil woman had continued to raise the princess as her own.

...

13 years ago

"...Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine."

"What once was mine..."

After singing, you let out a sigh as your mother continued to brush your hair. "Mother, why can't I go outside?"

"Because Dear, the outside world is a dangerous place. It's full of cruel and selfish people. You must stay here, where you're safe." She answered.

"Do you understand, Flower?"

You hummed as you looked at the lit fireplace flicker in front of you, "Yes, Mother."

Later that night, you tiptoed down the stairs quietly and were especially careful when passing your mother's room.

Something you'd noticed was that each year on your birthday, there were floating lights that lit up the night sky.

Little did you know, they were from the king and queen, hoping that you - their lost princess - would return.

...

13 years later

"Hmm, I guess Nezu's not hiding out here..." You trailed off, pretending to walk away from where your mouse, Nezu, was hiding.

Hearing him snicker, you used your hair to grab him by his tail and pull him towards you. "Found you!" you exclaimed, causing him to squeak.

Letting him down gently, you continued, "Pretty sure that's twenty two for me. How 'bout twenty three out of forty-five?" you asked, causing him to frown.

Rolling your eyes at his sassiness you sat on the window sill, "Well what would you rather do?"

He smiled and used his tail to point outside towards the grass.

"Yeah, not happening." You said and picked him up. "I like it inside, and so do you!"

Nezu replied by sticking his tongue out at you and blowing a raspberry.

"Hey, it's not so bad here." You tried, "We wake up at 7:00 AM, do some cleaning, read a book or two, or three..."

Standing up from the window sill you held up Nezu to help him see all of your paintings that ran along the walls of the tower, "Sometimes I add a few more paintings to my gallery - if there's room somewhere!"

You continued, "Then I'll brush and brush and brush my hair..."

As you continued speaking, you realized how often you do the same things everyday.

"I wonder when my life will begin..." You thought out loud.

"Anyways - you know tomorrow is my birthday Nezu! That means the lights will be there, like they are every year."

You walked over to the mural of yourself looking out at the night sky filled with the lanterns, "I hope that Mother will let me out this year, now that I'm older."

...

Somewhere in the kingdom, a young man that went by the name of Hawks hopped from rooftop to rooftop, alongside two other men named Tomura Shigaraki and Dabi.

Standing at the top of a particular tower, Hawks looked out at the view and muttered "Wow... I could get used to this."

"Hawks, come on!" Shigaraki said while he and Dabi held open a trap door.

"Hold on... Alright, it's decided. I want a castle." Hawks said smugly.

Dabi gritted his teeth, "If we do this job, then you can buy your own damn castle." He then grabbed Hawks by the back of his vest and yanked him towards the trap door.

The two men tied a rope around Hawks and let him down slowly. As he was reaching out for the satchel, a guard sneezed.

"Hay fever?" He asked calmly, resting his elbow on the pedestal the satchel sat on.

The guard answered, "Yeah... Wait, huh?" When he looked back, Hawks and the satchel were already gone.

Looking up, he and the other guards saw the three men running away.

As they ran away Hawks asked, "Can't you see me with my own castle? I know I definitely can. We've seen so much and it's only 8:00 in the morning!"

He laughed, "This is a very big day, gentleworms." His words causing the other men to frown in irritation.

...

In your tower, you whispered to yourself while putting your painting supplies away. "This is it! This will be the day that I ask her. You hear me, Nezu?"

Immediately after you said that, you heard your mother's voice calling your name from outside the tower.

"Let down your hair!"

"Coming Mother!" You yelled and scrambled towards the window, making a large loop with your hair for your mother to use.

Once she was inside she sighed, "Oh, how you manage to do that every single day without fail! It must be exhausting."

You chuckled, "It's nothing."

She smiled and tapped your nose, "Then I don't know why it takes so long!" She laughed, "Oh I'm just teasing."

You laughed awkwardly but continued speaking, "So Mother, as you know tomorrow is a very big day-"

She cut you off, "Flower, I'm feeling a little run down. Would you sing for me Dear? Then we can talk."

"Oh, of course." You quickly grabbed a chair for her to sit in and a stool for yourself. Placing your hairbrush in her hands and your hair in her lap once she sat down, you began to sing very quickly.

"Flowergleamandglowletyourpowershine." Your hair then began to glow, making your mother look younger.

"MaketheclockreverseBringbackwhatoncewasmine"

"Wait!" Your mother said as you continued singing. "Flower!" She shouted once you stopped.

"So Mother, as I was saying, tomorrow is a big day and you didn't respond so I'm just going to tell you - it's my birthday!" You said and hugged her arm.

Your mother shook her head, "No, it can't be. Your birthday was last year."

"Well, here's the thing about birthdays...they happen every year!" You said with a sigh. Sitting down on the stool you said, "Since I'm turning eighteen I wanted to ask - I've been wanting this really bad for my birthday, actually a few birthdays now-"

"Oh Flower stop with the mumbling! You know how I feel about it, blah blah blah. It's very annoying, oh I'm just kidding you're adorable dear!" She cooed and pinched your cheek, walking away without hearing what you had to say.

You wrung your hands together and looked over at Nezu disappointedly, but he nodded his little head at you for encouragement.

You nodded back at him and faced your mother. "I want to see the floating lights!" You exclaimed.

She stopped walking, "What?"

"I was hoping you could take me to see the floating lights." You explained as you stood on a chair to reveal your painting of the lanterns.

"Oh, you mean the stars."

"No Mother, I've charted stars and they're always constant. But these, they appear every year on my birthday - only on my birthday!"

You looked at the painting longingly, "I just can't help but feel like they're meant for me..."

"I need to see them Mother, not just from my window but in person. I have to know what they are."

Your mother scoffed, "You want to go outside?" Shutting the window, she said "Why Dear, you're as fragile as a flower. You know why I keep you in this tower."

"I know, but-"

"That's right, to keep you safe and sound." She said and hugged your hair as she continued speaking.

"I always knew this day would come, that one day you'd want to leave the nest. Soon, but not yet! Just trust me pet, Mother knows best!"

Suddenly, the tower went dark. As you lit a candle, your mother continued speaking.

"Listen to your mother, it's a scary world out there. There are things like thugs, poison ivy, quicksand! Cannibals and snakes, the plague!"

"No!" You gasped.

"Yes! But also large bugs, men with pointy teeth. Now stop, no more, you'll just upset me!"

In fear of the darkness, you sat in the ground in front of the lit candle and hugged your knees.

"Darling here's what I suggest, skip the drama and stay with Mama! All I have is one request."

A light suddenly came down, shining on your mother who had her arms open for you. You stood up quickly and ran into her arms to hug her.

As she stroked your hair she asked, "Flower?"

"Yes?"

Pulling away and placing her hands on your shoulders, she said sternly, "Don't ever ask to leave this tower again."

You looked down sadly but accepted her words, "Yes, Mother." She sighed and lifted your chin up, "I love you very much."

You smiled, "I love you more."

"I love you most." She placed a kiss on your head, "Now don't forget it or you'll regret it, Mother knows best!"

As she walked away, you felt a pang of sadness hit you. Thought when she asked you to let your hair down again so she could leave, you did so without complaint.

"I'll see you later, Flower!" She yelled as she made her way down the tower.

"I'll be here." You said quietly, watching as she was able to walk outside of the tower freely.

...

Hawks and the two men continued running through the forest. When Hawks stopped against a tree to catch his breath, he looked up to see a wanted poster with his face and alias on it. Below that were posters with Dabi and Shigaraki's faces.

Ripping the poster of the tree he cried, "Oh, no. This is bad, very very bad." He turned the poster towards his partners, "They never get my eyebrows right!"

"Who gives a crap?" Dabi rasped.

"That's easy for you to say, you guys look great. Dabi, they even got your staples!"

Startled by the sound of a horse neighing, they continued running but ran into a dead end. Turning around, Hawks said "Okay, give me a boost and then I'll pull you two up."

The men looked at each other, then Shigaraki said, "Give us the satchel first."

Acting surprised, Hawks spoke sadly, "Wow, you don't trust me? Even after all we've been through?"

They looked at him with deadpanned faces.

"Ouch." He said but handed them the satchel and used them for a boost up.

Once he was at the top of the wall, Dabi held out a hand. "Now help us up, pretty boy."

Hawks smirked, "Sorry, but my hands are full." And held up the satchel he managed to get back.

He ran away as fast as he could, leaving Shigaraki and Dabi behind. He could hear them yell his name angrily, but he continued on anyways. As he ran, the guards were close on his tail.

Dodging their arrows, he gasped in shock and kept on running. He didn't know where he was going, but anywhere was better than a jail cell.

At one point, only one guard and his horse were behind him. As they chased him he grabbed onto a vine and swung himself around a large tree and behind the guard, kicking him off of the horse.

Hawks himself ended up landing on the horse after letting go of the vine, but the horse immediately stopped running and snorted at him.

"Come on, forward!" He shouted and kicked the side of the horse. The horse didn't listen, but the satchel in Hawks' hand caught his attention and he attempted to take it back with his teeth but failed.

"No! No, stop it." Hawks said, but the horse continued to try and bite the satchel, causing them to jump around. Eventually they ended up playing tug of war, but when the satchel was released from both of them it went flying and landed on a branch of a tree that was leaning over a cliff.

The horse and man glanced at each other before hastily moving to get the satchel back. Hawks had climbed down the tree and grabbed the satchel successfully while the horse stood on the trunk of it.

"Ahah!" He said, but his victory was ruined by the sound of cracking. Suddenly, the tree broke off from the cliff and he and the horse were sent downwards into another forest.

When Hawks landed, he hid behind a large rock to avoid the horse that was sniffing for him. Once the horse left, he leaned against a wall of vines but almost fell through it.

Hearing the horse's neigh, he quickly pulled back the vines and hid inside of the little cave it was covering.

He made his way through the small cave and ended up in a large, open area with a tall tower and a waterfall behind it.

Out of desperation, he made his way towards the tower and climbed up it by using arrows. Climbing inside quickly, he shut the window and panted. Grabbing the satchel, he opened it and sighed "Alone at last."

CLANG

You squealed and ran away after hitting the intruder with a frying pan. Hiding behind a mannequin, you peeked over it and looked at his unconscious form. Keeping the mannequin in front of you, you rolled it over slowly and made your way towards him.

Carefully, you used the frying pan to poke his head and move it over so you could see his face. His wild hair still covered his eyes, but you looked over at Nezu for help. He used his little hands to mimic fangs, reminding you about what Mother said.

You used the handle to lift his lip up, peeking at his teeth. "Oh..." You said when you realized his teeth were dull, just like yours.

Continuing to use the handle, you moved his hair out of his face and gasped softly at how handsome he was.

His blonde hair was messy, and he had bushy untamed eyebrows that matched. There was light stubble on his chin and he wore a striking red vest over his white button up, which was paired with khakis and black boots.

While you were admiring the stranger, his eye suddenly opened. Startled, you gasped and whacked him on the head again.

SInce he was unconscious you took it as an opportunity to tie him up with your hair and lock him away in your wardrobe. He was heavy and you couldn't figure out how to get him inside, so you dragged and threw his body around until it eventually made it inside.

Blocking the doors off with a chair, you said "Okay, okay. There's a person in my closet."

Looking at yourself in the mirror you laughed, "I've got a person in my closet!"

You pretended to dust off your shoulders and swung the frying pan around, "And Mother says I'm too weak, tell that to my frying pan-Ow!" You hissed, rubbing at the spot that your frying pan hit.

Then, something shining in the mirror caught your eye. It was coming from the satchel so you looked inside and pulled out a crown.

Looking at it in awe, you wondered what it was. Placing your arm through it didn't feel right, so you looked in the mirror and placed it on your head.

Now that felt right.

Your moment was ruined however, by your mother's voice calling for you to let down your hair. Quickly taking the crown off and hiding it in a pot, you went to fetch your mother who said she had a surprise for you.

"I do too, Mother!"

"I bet my surprise is bigger!"

You looked at the closet and whispered, "I seriously doubt it."

When your Mother was inside she told you she got parsnips and planned on making hazelnut soup for dinner.

"Well Mother, there's something I want to tell you."

"Oh dear, you know I hate leaving after a fight. Especially when I've done nothing wrong!"

Ignoring her words you continued on, "I've been thinking about what you said earlier-"

"You better not be talking about the stars."

"Floating lights." You corrected, "And yes, I'm getting to that-"

"I really thought we dropped this, Flower."

"No, Mother." You walked over to the closet, ready to prove yourself to your mother. "I'm just saying, you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there."

"Oh Darling, I know you're not strong enough.

"But if you just-"

"Flower, we're done talking about this."

"Trust me!"

"Flower."

"I know what I'm-"

"Flower!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Enough with the lights!" Your Mother yelled, "You are not leaving this tower! Ever!"

You flinched at the volume of her voice and slowly moved away from the closet, taking your hand off of the chair that was blocking it.

Your Mother sighed, "Ugh, great. Now I'm the bad guy."

You frowned and looked up at your painting of the lanterns. Getting an idea, you said "All I was going to say is that I know what I want for my birthday now."

"And what is that?"

"New paint." You said softly, "The paint from the white shells you once brought me."

"That is a very long trip, Dear. Almost three days' time!"

"I just thought it was a better idea than the...stars."

Your mother sighed and stood up to walk over to you. "Will you be alright on your own?"

Hugging her, you said "I know I'm safe as long as I'm here."

Later that evening, you packed a basket for her and sent her off, telling her you love her.

Once she was gone, you grabbed your frying pan again and moved the chair away from the closet and let the man fall out onto his face.

You tied him onto the chair with your hair and Nezu woke him up by biting the man's ear.

Hawks woke up with a shout, knocking the mouse off of his shoulder. He looked around confused and down at his hands, trying to move. Surprised at what was wrapped around him, he asked out loud, "Is this hair?"

From the corner you pointed the pan towards him and spoke shakily, "There's no point in struggling! I know why you're here and I'm not afraid of you."

"What?"

Keeping your guard up, you slowly walked towards him and revealed yourself. "Who are you? And how did you find me?"

"Ahhuh." He stammered.

You repeated yourself, but he just stared at you and cleared his throat. "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say...hi." He smiled, very strangely.

You looked at him confused as he continued speaking.

"How are ya? You can call me Hawks. How's your day goin'? Hm?"

You grunted and brought the pan closer to his face, "Who else knows my location, Hawks?"

"Alright, I was strolling through the forest when - oh no. Where's my satchel?"

You crossed your arms, "I've hidden it somewhere you'll never find it."

He deadpanned, "It's in the pot over there huh?"

CLANG

Waking up in the same position a moment later again, he groaned.

"Now it's in a place you'll never find it!" You said.

As you continued interrogating him, you learned that he had no knowledge of your hair or its powers.

After a little talk with Nezu, you decided to offer the man you now know as Hawks, a deal.

Showing him your lantern painting you asked, "Do you know what these are?"

"You mean the lantern thing for the princess?" He asked.

"I knew they weren't stars!" You gasped, "Anyways, tomorrow evening they will light the night sky with these lanterns. I need you to act as my guide and take me to see these lanterns, then return me home safely. After that, I will return your satchel."

"Uh yeah, no can do. Unfortunately the kingdom isn't very fond of me so I can't take you anywhere."

Scowling, you pulled him towards you with your hair and spoke. "Something brought you here, Hawks, and now I'm deciding to trust you-"

"Horrible decision, really."

"But trust me when I say this, you cant tear this tower apart but you will never find your precious satchel without my help."

"So basically, I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home, and you'll give me back my satchel?"

"Yup."

"I didn't want to have to do this but you leave me no choice... Here's the smolder."

Suddenly he was looking at you with a strange expression, one that made him look constipated.

Seeing that you had no reaction, he said "This is an off day for me, this doesn't normally happen. Fine! I'll take you to see the lanterns."

You smiled.

...

When finally leaving your tower, you used your hair to get down but right before you touched the ground you stopped and gasped.

Slowly letting your foot down onto the grass, you laughed at the cold and prickly feeling. Already feeling a sense of freedom, you ran out of the hidden area and all around the forest with Hawks and relished every moment of it that you could.

Though the whole time you were conflicted. There were moments you were so happy you left, but others where you regretted it and felt like a horrible daughter.

Hawks was with you through all of your mood swings, as part of the deal of course. But during one moment where you were crying, he sat down next to you and gave you his best words of advice.

"You seem a bit at war with yourself, but this is apart of growing up, y'know? A little rebellion, adventure, that's good."

"You think?"

"I know. You're overthinking this, trust me! It's time for you to spread your wings and fly."

His words made you feel a little better but you still felt disappointed in yourself. Pushing your negative emotions aside, you stood up and tried to focus on the positives.

There was a sudden rustling noise coming from the bushed and you wrapped your arms around Hawks, scared of what was coming.

Then, a little bunny came out of the bush.

"Careful, it can probably smell fear."

You laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, I thought it'd be a thug or something."

"Yeah...it's best we avoid those." Hawks thought, "Hey, you hungry? I know a great place for lunch!"

Deciding that you were a bit hungry, you followed his lead.

...

"It should be around here - ah! There it is, The Snuggly Duckling." Hawks said as he led you down a dirt path in the forest.

"The Snuggly Duckling?" You asked.

"Yep, great place. Don't worry, it's a good place. Perfect for you!"

When Hawks opened the door, the inside was a much different atmosphere than what you thought. Scary men sat at every table, staring you down.

You gasped and held out your frying pan in fear.

"Hey, you're lookin' a little green there." Hawks said, "Y'know maybe we should just get you back home-"

Suddenly a big, burly man shut the door and held up a wanted poster with Hawks' face on it. "Is this you?"

Before he could answer, another man with a mechanical arm spoke up. "Oh, it's him alright!"

He then told another man to go find some guards, causing a bunch of other men to drag Hawks around talking about how much money they should get from the prize.

You felt yourself begin to panic, was this really happening? Were you not going to see the lanterns you dreamed of seeing?

Determined to make your dream come true, you yelled out "Everyone shut up!" which caused the men to stop what they were doing and face you.

"Okay, I don't know where I'm going and I need him to take me to see the lanterns! It's been my dream to see them my entire life, haven't any of you ever had a dream?"

Suddenly the same man who told another to call the guards walked up to you and said "I have a dream..."

He then went on to explain his dream of becoming a magician to you and so did many other of the men. One of the men had said his dream was to have a love connection, which you thought was sweet.

Though the moment was ruined when a man busted through the door with guards behind him.

"Where is he? Where's Hawks?!"

Hawks quickly grabbed your hand and pulled you with him to hide behind the bar. Luckily, the man with a mechanical arm tapped Hawks' shoulder and eyed a lever with a duck on it. Taking the hint, Hawks pulled the lever down to reveal an underground tunnel.

The man winked, "Go, live your dreams!" and snapped his fingers to reveal a small, blue marble.

You both smiled at him and made your way into the tunnel, running as fast as you can.

A little ways in, you heard a heard of footsteps behind you and began to run even faster while holding all of your hair.

At the end of the tunnel you found yourself at the edge of a cliff with all of Hawks' enemies surrounding you. You threw him your frying pan and used your hair as a swing to get to the other cliff, leaving him alone with his enemies and your frying pan.

From the other side you watched as he dodged the guards swords and use the frying pan to do so. But the pan was knocked out of his hands (by a horse of all people), leaving him defenseless.

You threw your hair at him like a lasso and wrapped it around his hand.

"Hawks! Look out!" You said as he swung down with your hair.

Once he made it to the other side safely, the horse knocked down a tall wooden pillar to use as a walking beam to get to you. Doing this caused a leak in the dam, which made it slowly fall apart and cause a huge wave of water to come down.

You quickly swung to Hawks and began running away from the water. There was a small cave that you both ran into, barely making it inside after a large rock covered the opening.

The water began to seep through the cracks of the rock and the cave filled up with water.

"This is all my fault." You whimpered. "Mother was right... I never should've done this. I'm so sorry Hawks."

"Keigo."

You sniffled, "What?"

"Keigo Takami, that's my real name." He said quietly. "I guess someone might as well know."

You chuckled, "Well I have magic hair that glows when I sing."

"What?" He sputtered.

Getting an idea, you repeated yourself and began to sing quickly before the water filled up the cave. Now underwater, you could see everything with the light coming from your hair.

Keigo looked stunned, but kept his focus and began clearing the small rocks out of the exit that your hair led to.

Now out of the cave, the two of you climbed out of the water and onto land where you caught your breaths.

"We made it." You sighed.

"Your hair glows... Why does your hair glow?!"

"Keigo!" You yelled.

"What?!"

"It doesn't just glow."

Nezu looked up at Keigo and smiled with a nod.

"Why is he smiling at me?"

Later that night, you and Keigo sat together on a log in front of a campfire as you wrapped your hair around his hand that had gotten cut earlier.

Keigo laughed nervously, "You're being weirdly quiet about your magic hair."

You hummed, "Just don't freak out, okay?"

Before he could reply, you began to sing softly, causing your hair to glow once again.

He watched in awe as it shined brightly, listening to your voice sing so beautifully.

When the hair covering his hand began to glow, he could feel a difference in his hand.

When you finished singing, he unwrapped your hair from his hand and looked at his hand, trying to form a sentence.

"I told you not to freak out!"

"I'm not!" He defended, "I'm just, wondering about your magic hair! How long has it been doing that?"

"Um, forever I guess?" You shrugged. "Mother says people tried to cut my hair when I was a baby, they wanted the power for themselves."

Moving your hair behind your ear, you revealed a short, dull piece of hair. "But once it's cut, it loses its shine and power. So, it has to be protected. That's why nobody can know about me, and that's why I..."

"That's why you never left that tower." Hawks finished for you, "You're still gonna go back?"

You groaned and put your head in your hands, "I don't know... It's complicated."

After a moment, you sighed. "So, Keigo Takami?"

He laughed nervously, "Eh, it's not a big deal. I'll spare you the details of the sob story that is my life."

You gave him a look.

"Well alright." He shrugged, "When I was a kid there was this book about the best heroes, and one of them was named Endeavor."

"I loved that guy, he made me want to become a hero too. So, I started calling myself Hawks." He laughed, "I was convinced it'd make me the fastest man out there, and it did, in a way..." He said, thinking about his thievery.

"Dont tell anyone about this though, okay?"

You nodded and pretended to zip your lips shut, "Locked and in my pocket."

He smiled softly and stood up, "Well, I'm gonna go get more firewood."

As he was walking away you spoke up, "Y'know, I think I like Keigo Takami better than Hawks."

He smiled, "Thanks, you'd be the first."

You smiled back.

"Finally, I thought he'd never leave!"

You turned around, startled, "Mother?"

"How did you find me?" You asked as she hugged you.

"It was easy, I just followed the scent of complete betrayal." She said, making you cringe. "Now let's go home, dear."

"Mother please, I-I've been on this great journey and I've seen so much! I even met someone."

"Yes, the wanted thief! Now come on."

"Wait! Mother, I think he likes me..."

"Flower, this is why you should've never left. Why would he like you? You big dummy. Now come with mommy-"

"No." You said, finally standing up for yourself.

"No? Well, I guess you know best now huh? If he starts lying and hurting you, don't come crying because I won't say I told you so." She said, frowning heavily as she tossed you the satchel and made her way out of the forest, leaving you alone.

You watched as she walked away, wondering if you made the right choice as you looked at the crown inside of the satchel.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Keigo called, "You think I'll get super strength in my hand or something? 'Cause that would be awesome!" He said as he held firewood.

When he noticed your silence he asked, "You okay?"

You turned around after hiding away the satchel, "Oh yeah, just lost in thought."

As Keigo blabbered on about something, you looked in the direction of the satchel and thought to yourself, would he really lie to you?

...

The next morning you woke up to Keigo screaming while being dragged by a horse.

You ran over to him and grabbed onto his hands to pull him away, "Give me him!"

Finally yanking him back, you walked over to the horse. "Sit! Sit down, aww there you go! Good horse!"

Grabbing Keigo by the hand, you brought him to the horse (who you learned was named Maximus), "Now you two can be friends!" You said, making Maximus grunt and turn away.

"Aw come on, please? It's my birthday today!" You pleaded, making Maximus give in and shake Keigo's hand.

...

Walking into the kingdom felt magical, since everything and everyone was new to you! There were so many different people around and they all fascinated you.

Thought while walking around you found your hair to be annoying, so Keigo helped you carry it and found some little girls to help braid it all for you, which they did beautifully and added flowers into your hair.

"Keigo, this is so much fun! Thank you for being my guide." You said while dancing with him, making him smile at you.

"It's no problem, I'm glad you're having fun."

Later when the sunset, you both made your way to the docks and got on a small boat. Keigo had also thrown Maximus a bag of apples to snack on while he waited, which the horse appreciated.

As Keigo rowed the boat, you were looking down at the water when you saw the reflection of a lantern.

You gasped and scrambled to stand in the boat, rocking it side to side, and looked up at the sky to see the floating lanterns you'd always dreamed of.

Hearing a noise behind you, you turned around and saw Keigo holding two lanterns.

"I figured you'd want to light your own." He said sheepishly.

You smiled and sat down next to him, "Keigo... Thank you. Aren't the lights so beautiful? I knew they would be."

He nodded while looking at you, "Yeah, really beautiful."

"Oh! I have something for you too." You said and reached down to grab the satchel. "I was gonna give it to you sooner, but I was scared... But I'm not scared anymore! You get me?"

He pushed the satchel down lightly, "I'm starting to."

You smiled at each other, each of you taking a lantern and pushing it into the sky, watching as they danced around each other.

Looking over, you saw a lantern floating towards you so you leaned over the boat and pushed it up slightly.

Keigo admired you as you enjoyed the lanterns, happy he could contribute to the large smile on your face.

Gaining confidence, he leaned over and held your hand softly. Your face flushed slightly, and you took both of his hands in yours.

"Keigo, thank you so much for bringing me here." You said sincerely, making him smile bashfully.

"It's nothing, I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself."

You giggled at his smile and continued, "You've also helped me see the world in a different light, so thank you for that too."

Your words stunned him, and he didn't know what to say. But in that moment everything felt right, and it also felt like the right time to kiss you.

Beginning to lean in slowly, he held your face softly, making you realize what he was doing.

Your heart raced as you leaned in closer, thought right when your lips brushed against each other, Keigo pulled away.

He was looking behind you nervously, making you turn around and ask, "Is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah." He chuckled nervously as he began to row the boat, "I just uh, have to go check on something."

You frowned but accepted his words silently, allowing him to row the boat back to shore.

When he got out of the boat he grabbed the satchel and turned to you. "I'm sorry, everything is fine I swear. There's just something I have to take care of."

You stayed silent and nodded, not looking him in the eyes.

He placed a hand on your shoulder, "I'll be right back." and left, leaving you alone.

You watched as he walked away, Nezu on your shoulder trying to comfort you. "I'll be alright." You said patting him.

...

As Keigo walked through the forest, he found Dabi and Shigaraki waiting for him.

"Hey! I've been looking everywhere for you guys." He said nervously.

"Uh, anyways - just wanted to say I shouldn't have dipped out on you guys - the crown is yours." He said and tossed the satchel with the crown inside over to their feet.

Just as he turned away, he bumped into Dabi who was frowning down at him.

"Holding out on us again, Hawks?" Shigaraki asked.

"What?"

Shigaraki stood up and walked over to Keigo, "We heard you found something better. We want her instead." He said, making Keigo panic inside.

...

After a while of waiting at the boat, you saw a figure in the distance and assumed it was Keigo.

"There you are! I was started to think you ran off with the crown and left me." You said laughing lightly.

Suddenly the figure split into two and two men were approaching you instead of Keigo. One of them had a lean build with long light blue, wavy hair. The other man was a bit taller and muscular, and wore tattered clothes. His hair was black and spiky, but his most striking features were the dark purple scars that littered his face and body, attached to regular skin with staples.

"Looks like he did leave you." The scarred one said.

"What?" You asked, confused. "No... He wouldn't."

The thinner one pointed out to the water where a large boat was, "See for yourself."

Looking out into the water you saw Keigo's figure on the boat, making you gasp.

Catching you off guard, the two men began to corner you but you ran away quickly, causing them to run after you.

As you were running, your hair got caught in a branch.

"No, no!" You cried, trying to pull your hair out.

Suddenly you heard your mother's voice calling your name, along with the sound of two men groaning in pain.

"Mother?" You whispered.

"Oh! There you are." She said, "Are you alright? I was so worried about you, Dear."

As you tried to form a sentence, your mother ushered you to follow her back home though you couldn't bring yourself to move.

You looked out onto the water where Keigo was, tears filling up your eyes. You had never felt so betrayed in your life. Maybe you should have listened to your mother. She was right, she always was. Keigo lied to and used you.

Turning to your mother, she saw the look on your face and held her arms out to you. You cried and ran into her arms to hug her tightly. "You were right." You cried, "About everything."

She hushed you, "I know Flower, now let's go home."

...

What felt like hours later, Keigo finally woke up and found himself tied to the wheel of a boat. He looked around anxiously, calling out your name.

"We found him!" A guard called out, hopping onto the boat. A group of guards untied him and led him off of the boat, making sure to handcuff him before taking him to his cell.

...

It was the next day and you were back at your tower. You sat silently on your bed as your mother plucked all of the flowers out of your hair.

"There, that's all of them." She said happily and threw out the flowers.

As she walked out of your bedroom, she turned to you and saw the look on your face and sighed. "I really did try to warn you, but you didn't listen."

"The world is a dark, cruel place. It destroys every ray of sunshine." She said sternly and shut the curtains behind her.

Once she was gone, you uncurled your hands to reveal a small purple cloth from the kingdom with the sun on it.

You sighed and lied on your back, looking up at your ceiling. Squinting your eyes, you noticed the sun on your ceiling, and looked back at the cloth, recognizing the resemblance between the two.

Gasping, you stood up and looked all around to see more suns you had subconsciously painted. Stumbling backwards, you realized it was you the entire time!

You were the lost princess.

...

In the kingdom, Keigo was being led to his death.

As he walked past other cells and prisoners, he saw Shigaraki and Dabi in their cell.

He felt himself grow angry by just seeing their faces, he shoved the guards down to knock them out.

He moved his hands from behind his back to the front and grabbed onto Shigaraki's shirt, pulling him towards him.

"How the hell did you find out about her?!" He yelled, "Tell me!"

Shigaraki stuttered, "It wasn't us! It-It was the old lady."

"Old lady?" Keigo mumbled before the guards got up and grabbed him once again.

"Wait, stop! You don't understand, she's in trouble!"

...

Back at your tower, you confronted your mother.

"I'm the lost princess..." You said quietly.

"What? Speak up Dear, you know I hate-"

"I'm the lost princess!" You said, "Did I mumble, Mother? Or should I even be calling you that?"

Your mother stood silently before replying, "Oh do you even hear yourself? Why would you say such ridiculous things!" She said walking towards you, but you pushed her away.

"It was you! You kidnapped me!"

She looked down at you, "I did it to protect you!"

"I spent my whole life locked away, hiding from people who would use me for my power when I should've been hiding from you!" You yelled as you stormed downstairs.

"Where will you go, hm? He won't be there for you. That criminal is to be hanged for his crimes." She said, making your breath hitch.

"But just listen to me. All of this is how it should be." She continued, ready to place a hand on your head before you grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"No! You were wrong about the world - about me! I will never let you use my hair again!" You exclaimed, pushing her arm down and away from you, knocking her back into the mirror.

She frowned heavily, "You want me to be the bad guy? Then I will be the bad guy."

...

As the guards got to the door that led to Keigo's demise, the little peep hole slide open, revealing an old man. "What's the password?" He slurred, catching the guards by surprise when a bunch of the men from The Snuggly Ducking came barreling in.

The men and guards fought, giving Keigo an escape. There was even one man using a frying man, which made him laugh.

The men helped him out of the cuffs and led him outside where a hoard of guards were waiting for them.

The man with a mechanical arm stood next to Keigo, instructing him on how to stand."

"Okay, now knees apart!" He said.

"Knees apart." Keigo repeated, "Wait, knees apart-"

Suddenly a large man jumped down and onto the back of the wagon Keigo stood on, launching him high into the air.

He cringed as he flew down, not expecting to land on the back of Maximus.

"Hey! You brought the guys here?" Keigo asked Maximus, and the horse answered with a smug look.

"Thank you." Keigo said sincerely, "Now let's go!"

Maximus began galloping, running past the guards and jumped onto a roof, sliding down and landed onto a pathway within the kingdom.

"Woo hoo!" Keigo yelled as he and Maximus made their way to your tower.

When he got there, he called out your name, begging you to let down your hair.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that your hair fell down the side of the tower, lifting him up inside.

"Oh my, I never thought I'd see you again!" He cried as he stepped inside, gasping when he saw you tied up and your mouth taped shut.

Catching him off guard, your 'mother' used her dagger and stabbed him in the abdomen, causing him to fall onto his knees in pain.

All you could do was watch and cry out as you saw him groan in pain, blood staining his shirt and vest.

"Now look what you've done." She said. "But don't worry, our secret will die with him." Stepping over him, she walked towards you and unhooked your chain from the wall, yanking you towards her.

"As for us, you're going somewhere no one will ever find you!"

You yelled as loud as you could with your mouth taped shut, trying to crawl away from her grasp.

"Stop fighting me!" She yelled.

You were able to wiggle the tape down to your chin, finally allowing yourself to talk. "No! I'm not stopping! I will never stop trying to get away from you!" You panted while falling onto the floor and landing on your bottom.

"If you let me save him, I will go with you." You said, making Keigo groan.

"No, you can't do that."

You ignored his words and continued, "I'll never run, I'll never try to escape. Just let me heal him and you and I will be together, forever, just like you want!"

After convincing your 'mother' to let you heal Keigo, she put the chain that was previously on you, onto him. "Just incase you get any ideas about fallowing us." She said through gritted teeth, walking away.

You ran over to him and kneeled beside him, "Keigo!"

He coughed and groaned in pain, clutching his stomach where the wound was.

You removed his hand slowly, repeating reassuring words as you began to wrap your hair around him but he pushed your hands away.

"No, stop. I can't let you do this." He groaned out.

"But I can't let you die." You said softly, placing a hand on his cheek.

"But if I let you do this, then you die." He whispered with watery eyes.

Before you could respond, he said your name weakly and stroked your cheek with one hand, slowly bring it to your hair and gathering it all in his hand.

With the other hand, he held a shard of glass and sliced through your hair with all his remaining strength.

Gasping, you turned and watched as the rest of your hair turned dull and lost its shine.

Your 'mother' cried out in despair, holding onto your dead hair for dear life, yelling as she lost her youthfulness and grew old.

"No! What have you done?!" She screamed, running towards the shattered mirror to observe her reflection.

She cried in disbelief, pulling her hood over her head to hide her looks. As she stumbled around the room, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled out of the window backwards, falling to her death.

Disregarding that horrid woman's death, you turned to Keigo, who was struggling to stay awake.

You scrambled towards him and grabbed one of his hands to place on top of your head, "No, no Keigo stay with me!"

You desperately sang, trying to use your hair to heal him but nothing worked. You began to cry, growing angry that he had cut off the only thing that could heal him.

He grabbed your face weakly, cutting you off, and said softly, "I didn't get to tell you this before, but you were my new dream."

You smiled softly and held his hand, "And you were mine."

Watching as he took his last breath, you leaned against his body and sang once more.

"Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate's design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine."

"What once was mine..." You whimpered, letting your head fall against his and the tears roll down your face.

Though a lone tear managed to find its way onto his cheek, causing it to shine brightly. You sat up and watched as the light grew and beamed throughout the room. Wisps of light formed a flower, which gleamed beautifully.

When it all went away, you heard Keigo breathe from underneath you and call your name.

"Keigo!" You cried happily.

He chuckled. "Did I ever tell you I have a thing for girls with short hair?" He joked, making you gasp and throw your arms around him. He laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around your waist, holding you closely.

When you pulled away, you glanced at him for a second before pulling him towards you and finally placing a kiss on his lips.

...

Back in the kingdom, you and Keigo announced to the guards that you were the lost princess.

One of them alerted the king and queen of your presence and they ran to go see where you were waiting.

As you stood outside with Keigo nervously, the doors behind you suddenly opened and revealed your true parents.

Your mother slowly walked towards you, reaching a hand out slowly and placing a hand on your cheek in disbelief.

She then smiled softly at you, making you smile back. Taking that as an okay, she brought you into a tight hug. From over her shoulder, you made eye contact with your father who was crying, and allowed him to hug you as well.

Even though you hadn't been here in eighteen years, you knew that this is where you belonged.

This was your true home, and you were happy to live a happily ever after with Keigo.

Keigo was happy too. Happy to be the one to finally bring the lost princess home and marry her, living his happily ever after as well.

authors note

omgomgomg i hope this was okay :00 twas very fun writing it, pls go check out the other writers with this link !!

while writing this i was having a sleepover with my best friend and he kept asking what i was doing and i finally told him that i write fanfiction LOLLL it was so funny it felt like i was coming out to him but it went well and he helped me write some of this so everyone thank mr.panda! (•̀ᴗ•́)و

thank you again to @queenpiranhadon for letting me join :) 🩷

#@angels-fantasy #fanfiction #writers on tumblr #fanfic #anime #my hero academia #mha hawks #hawks x reader #keigo takami #keigo takami x reader #˚₊‧꒰ა 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞𝖇𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙 ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

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yappaccinocookie · 2 months ago

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kisses for the archer!

Yo! Could You please write a Silverbell x Reader fic? Silverbell IS one of My absolute favs and i want to SEE more content of him! If thats fine by ya, ofc!

saw this and immediately made a new post. i hear you so much, silverbell is one of my favorites in the beast yeast arc. its sad that there is not much content with him, because silverbell really is a scrumptious sweetheart! i didn't like how this one turned out that much, because it's way too short and he's a bit ooc—but i hope you like it! ill maybe proofread this later... also this is an established relationship!!

LOWERCASE INTENDED!

the knights of the faerie kingdom have a packed schedule, there are accidents and emergencys that happen everywhere the most recent being the escape of one of the 5 beasts. it all happened so fast, they couldn't take a break! most knights had to work overtime to ensure the beast didn't do anymore damage.

silverbell cookie was one of the few that was very busy, since he was a knight, aswell as an archer. he has to keep watch, and even though you know he'll do a great job at his work, you're not so sure about him being great at self–care. silverbell is prone to forgetting about his health, he'd often skip meals if it were to serve the faerie kingdom. this of course made you very worried about him, asking random knight and archer cookies you didn't even know existed about how he was doing and his whereabouts.

when you were able to talk with silverbell he'd brush it off with a simple "I'm fine, no need to worry!" then crack a smile, that stupid face of his... this didn't sit right with you, because one his statements made you worry even more and two you were severely–touch starved because you havent seen silverbell in a long time! you wouldn't be able to convince him to take a break that easily, so you decided to do what any normal cookie would do! sneak up behind him during his patrol.

you weren't a clueless to what the knights did, you knew where they patrolled, so you waited at a specific time before going to the woods... it was a mess to walk around, branches and thorns scattered everywhere. you didn't really have a goal when searching for silverbell just one sound.

chime– eureka! you turned to where the sound came from, and then ran straight there. it was when you reached a specific area that the chiming of the bell stopped, you looked around, confusion visible from your face. you suddenly felt a pair of arms yank you from the ground.

"yn cookie, why are you here?" you heard a familiar voice say, guess the tables have turned, you were the one that got sneaked up from behind. "I uhhhhhh—" you didn't say anything else, and waited for him to put you back down. silverbell searched for a safe landing place, before putting you down.

"so–care to elaborate why you're here?" he asked tilting his head, silverbell wasn't angry no, no, he'd never be angry at you. his tone is more of being concerned, the creatures could've seriously hurt you, it was a miracle that you didnt encounter any of them on your way here. you stood there thinking for a second, while he patiently waited for you to respond.

you didn't respond, instead you hugged him, catching him off guard. "wh—hey! what's all this about?" silverbell asks again, not pushing away from the hug. despite all the movement he was doing in a short time, he still felt so soft! like a marshmallow, you'd probably doze off if you didn't know he was on duty.

he caught on to what you were trying to say, no words needed from you. "you miss me?" he didn't expect or need a response from you. "I'm sorry, I'll do better I promise I sw–" the archer was caught off-guard again with you suddenly tackling him and peppering him with kisses. this was the time he pushed you away, "that was uncalled for!" silverbell laughed. "care to give me another?" he asked sheepishly, 'say less!' you thought

you guys had a small chat, but silverbell had to go soon, but he didn't want to continue working not knowing your safety. silverbell walked you to the safe zone like the good lover that he is! you've got what you wanted, maybe next time you'll be able to talk with him longer.

bonus scenario —

"you seem more smiley today silverbell, kinda odd seeing you shoot things with a smile." a cookie commented, "mhm..." the archer only hummed.

#cookie run kingdom x reader #crk x reader #silverbell cookie #silverbell crk #silverbell cookie x reader #silverbell x reader

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julietasgf · 1 month ago

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bakery au hcs

about the plinths:

vesta and strabo own a bakery (the bakery is technically hers, since she created it at first alone and only after they got into a relationship, but the vesta & strabo story in this is for another time). vesta is the baker: she thinks of the best sweets and cakes and pies, and her bakery got quite famous in D2 exactly because of how special her baking is;

while vesta bakes, strabo works on the management of it. he's the angry attendant that's constantly stressed;

just like how I hc in canon, sejanus is a miracle baby, and overprotected by his parents. he was the type of child that could never go in the school trips because his ma would NEVER let him be out of home for much time;

sejanus still has daddy issues, just not as bad as in canon <3 however, his father's terrible raising still affects their relationship, as strabo is still emotionally abusive. something something "I don't want to hurt anymore, and for some reason, when I'm with you, it just hurts the both of us" something something

vesta wants the bakery to be sejanus' once he grows up, so he knows how to bake since very tiny. his love language is baking sweets to the people he loves. plenty of times, his gift on mother's day for his ma was sweets he baked;

both sejanus and vesta have a lot of scars in their hands due to constantly burning them while baking and cooking;

sejanus grew around all his aunts, a lot of family gatherings and being teased by his cousins that are all older than him (his favorite aunt is tia vênus). his mother's family still hates his father tho.

about sejanus & marcus

not exactly childhood best friends, but they knew each other since little from school and played together a lot of times. actually, saying they know each other is a light word. they had a crush on each other for the longest time;

marcus grew up admiring sejanus from afar. he always thought of sejanus as the most handsome boy in their class, and also the most smart, and also the cutest, and also the sweetest, and also- okay, he has a HUGE crush. marcus was very popular in school, and had a lot of friends and people who crushed on him, and for that, sejanus thought marcus was out of his league;

they started talking more and being closer after marcus started having courage to go to the plinths' bakery. and the thing is: sejanus always gives him a free cookie, every single time. (sejanus SUCKS at flirting, so he's trying but failing miserably, and not being able to get if marcus indeed likes him or is just being nice. ofc marcus likes him back, sejanus is just peak boyfailure to notice this);

sejanus is quite a lonely kid in school, exactly because of how overprotective his parents were of him. so he could never go to any birthday party, or hang out with the other kids. he's always sitting alone. sometimes, someone he doesn't know who is leave nice messages on his desk. the messages always makes sejanus blush. it's marcus, who's too shy to actually say something to him;

marcus is not the shy type of person with anyone, and is very chill in general (he dated some ppl while trying to get over his silly childhood crush), but when it comes to sejanus, he's NOT normal. he's a mess. his eye was twitching when another boy tried giving sejanus gifts when they were children. he's still less of a cringefail than sejanus is, tho;

I imagine that at some point (maybe for a school dance, who knows), one of them got the courage to invite the other to go with them, and finally they started dating (you can hear vesta thanking the mountains in the background, she was TIRED of seeing these two boys crushing on each other and NEVER doing anything about it). marcus was blushing holding sejanus' hand for the first time and running his thumb over the scars on them;

sejanus thinking of himself as not attractive, and being specially embarassed of the scars on his hands. when he tells this to marcus once, marcus spent so many time kissing his scars;

now that marcus is dating sejanus, he got an countless source of cookies and sweets. not only because sejanus will ALWAYS be baking these and bringing to him, but also because sejanus' mother adores him, and every single time marcus visits their house, she'll go "marcus dear take some slices of cake to your family and your sisters... actually, take all the cake <3 and some cookies too, they're going to love it <3", and that's also how marcus' family now have a countless source of sweets too.

#it took me so long to write this and I DON'T KNOW WHY #maybe I should do this to more aus that exist in my head #bc it's so much fun #sejarcus #sejanus plinth #marcus tbosas #strabo plinth #ma plinth #my silly little posts #au #bakery au #hcs

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inqilabi · 1 year ago

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tbh I think it's a miracle that anyone is able to get pregnant at all these days considering that endocrine disruptors are ubiquitous. And you can't even remove them from around you even if you tried. Your laundry detergent, your shampoo, the air fryer.

And then the fact that people don't eat right. That our food doesn't have many of the minerals it use to have before industrial agriculture. The fact that eggs are shit these days. The meat that we eat is not usually grassfed. The animals themselves are raised distressed.

And then you add in your stressful jobs being in a chronic state of biological stress which is known to disrupt reproductive function it's amazing anyone gets pregnant at all. Like it's genuinely a battle not against the clock but against the capitalist environment.

I'm not surprised at the rise of autism and other neurodevelopmental issues. Because even if you do get pregnant in under this environment, ofc your baby will have neurodevelopmental issues. Everything around us is poison

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neonmetro · 1 month ago

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KALYPTOOOOGSGDHEHSJDHRJSJFJYRHDJD

Wow.....kalypto......what a woma- *Gets hit by ongoing traffic*

Hey guys, so I know a lot of these characters make me look insane but I promise I am very normal ( totally ). It's just that......kalypto is just kalypto okay.....

THEY MAKE ME WANT TO DO BACKFLIPS WHAT. they are so awesome......I would say I would like to know so much more about them, but I'm not sure if you gave additional info, LMAO

I would, however, like to give Uly appreciation 💕💕💕💕 I know I don't talk about this guy often, but it's just so awesome, man. I'm gonna give it headpats, trust 🥰🥰🥰

ANYWAYS, now that I got that tiny rant out the way.....HAVE A GOOD DAY *winks and throws a rose at you

- paris anon

HEH... yeah... kalypto does that to people... smiles and winks

I CAN'T REMEMBER IF I DID GIVE ADDITIONAL INFO EITHER. but here's a basic run down

the founding is more like a mafia family than a biological family, but even then the direct children between members of the founding are considered highly. unless you fuck up your proof of value. i'm thinking both circe and kalypto failed these tests because they were just considered not special enough (mind you, still talented on normal people standards, but below average for the founding.) and so were exiled to aeaea and ogygia respectively. they're still apart of the founding so they deserve nothing less than luxury, but just distant members as not to draw too much embarrassment to the main family.

circe was able to brute force her way through learning magic through desperation and becoming a magical girl on her own, but kalypto remained powerless. the only power that they Do Have, is specifically tied to ogygia (at least that's what they think).

they have no idea whether or not their power is limited to just ogygia, they did try leaving the island at one point and traveled around the nearby islands and met circe at one point outside of the founding's gaze and had a good time for awhile. they got to socialize, they got to drink and feast, but they started seeing signs of aging, scars, wearing and tearing at their skin. all their life they didn't have to worry about the implications of being mortal, they were a lesser deity and was a failure in that regard, but at least they weren't mortal. all the worst, people were after their head for their careless nature apparently breaking a few local laws. so! they decided to retire from fishing and go running back home to ogygia.

in ogygia, they're able to stay young forever. all their scars and wrinkles disappear, and they look barely a year older than ulysses despite being much older than him. and all life on ogygia remains as it were, growing what it needs to, cycling through some brief change, but ultimately remaining the same.

they haven't had human contact in quite some time, so frankly it was a miracle for them that someone washed up their shores just for them! just for them only, it's only proof of their status, and they can be happy together in a state of constant.

and honestly? ulysses shared that sentiment, and that's why it worked for awhile. it literally took a deus ex machina for him to regain the willpower to move on and not be entirely halted in his own self growth (ofc he did this for the most self sabotaging reasons but the point is he does have the willpower to move on he just needs to break his bad habits.)

i do think after ulysses left kalypto just is. in a constant state of wallowing. they really miss it. to the point of becoming suicidal. but also it isn't worth stopping the cycle and hurting themselves. it isn't a good time for them :/

they do genuinely wish for the best for ulysses, hell even penelope, but what they believe is that they're the best ulysses can do now. they're as good as they get without being a straight up god, and ulysses shouldn't be chasing after a woman who couldn't even compare to kalypto. (kalypto is. incredibly insecure, even if they don't think they are. they constantly compare how much better they are against penelope and even circe and they don't realize how alone they are)

some notes for them...

i really like their flowers in their hair though... originally they had such a diff design all bc i was afraid to make them blonde?????? (brother ulysses is blonde idk what the problem here was) but also the color palette was giving me difficulty... but making them a orange was a good choice. imo

originally they were supposed to be a doctor-like character, but if anything they're more of a nurse than a doctor... the glasses were to give them more interest bc originally they didn't have the flowers? but now i just think they're charming so they get to keep them...

i do want to redesign their outfit again so ... back in the designing trenches i go

for some reason i really associate them with the sun even though they're a child of atlas not helios….????? but whatever close enough go my titan children.

obv i'm taking my own liberties w/ kalypto, i really do think they're interesting and i wish there was more done with them (i have to specify kalypto did not sa uly in novaturi)

#oc #ask #neon tedtalks #novaturient #neon's sketchbook #calypso #kalypto #the odyssey #odyssey #circe #yahooey!!!!#ulysses #odysseus

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princess-of-the-corner · 7 months ago

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Just saw a take from someone that meant it as salt but honestly I'm kind of intrigued by it for the opposite reasons since it unintentionally highlights Chloe being incredibly strategic during the Miracle queen battle.

Extensively the person was claiming that Miracle Queen could flat out control every movement the holders under her control did beyond vocal orders, and while they were referring to Pegasus sending Chat to the Sun with voyage I'm more focused on the fact that would imply she not only had a good understanding of each of their power sets but were able to plan out multiple ways to take out both Heroes while controlling multiple bodies simultaneously

Okay no but like

Season 1-3 Chloé was pretty smart! Not like, a nerd or anything. But she knew how to get shit done and think out plans for situations. Unfortunately she used this to be a nuisance but it's still a demonstrated skill!

And when she becomes Queen Bee, that continues. She's good at this! Thinking strategy and working to strengths.

And yeah even in the Miracle Queen battle, she's calling the shots and only really loses because of one thing: the Snake. Because 1.) It's the one Miraculous she has never seen in action and has no idea how to work with, 2.) She may not know, but LB and CN do, so they know to prioritize grabbing it first and 3.) While they're somewhat Hivemind-ed, Viperion is the only one who would experience the resets so MQ can't adjust strategy she doesn't know about.

Ofc season 4-5 takes that away and tells us that she's such a fucking moron.

Also as a side note: Marinette successfully murdered someone by sending them into the sun literally a season later and has shown no remorse for it.

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carefulfears · 2 years ago

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i think the perfect conclusion to mulder’s story would be being a house husband, actually getting to raise william, finally having his own loving family. i think that would have healed him. and that would have been such an easy thing to do but ofc they had to give him a much more traumatic and depressing ending instead!

anon, you're literally so right and so brave to say it...like i've said before, requiem was kind of the closest he ever got to actually moving forward and breaking out of the "endless line" cycle, and it was in "there is so much more than this, there has to be an end" and seeing scully with theresa's baby.

this was after IVF failed and as much as i give scully shit for asking her coworker to father her babies, i think being thought of in that way means a lot to him. i think for someone who hasn't really seen himself as a "whole person" since being someone's big brother, someone that he respects so much viewing him as capable of being a father, as someone she wants to do this with, as her first choice, is big.

william might've been their surprise miracle pregnancy that they didn't see coming, but they had wanted him and planned for him for years, dreamed about what their roles would be if they were able to do this.

and they dream about it for decades, we get to watch the fantasy sequences in founder's mutation of mulder and scully imagining what their lives would've been like had things been different. getting to share their passions with him. telling him how much they love him, how that's the only thing to remember. hearing him yell "bye mom!" and "dad?"

this story started with a missing child, an empty room, a broken family. a man chasing ghosts because isn't he one, too? is he a whole person when the only one who saw him that way disappeared like nothing? what is he if not a brother?

and "there has to be an end" but when you're chasing ghosts that you'll never find, trying to heal a family that's long gone, is there an end?

the tragedy of it is that the answer is yes, there was, he could've fixed that family after all. but their endless line is a snake eating its own tail and so the story ends with a missing child. an empty room. a broken family. and his last line of this whole thing is, "what am i now if i'm not a father?"

forever the brother without his sister, forever the father without his son, and what is he then? what is there to do but keep chasing?

#asks #kae meta

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sobeautifullyobsessed · 11 months ago

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HOLIDAY DASH GAME

I was nominated by @hobbitsdoitbetter (tysm💖 dear!) to quote any Christmas story or any story of mine that I wish got more love. As it's well past the holidays, I'm going with my beloved, Strangebatch WIP, 'Of Magic, Miracles, and Moonlight'.

Stephen Strange x Teyla of Hadeeth (OFC)

Since his return from that last mission, an unspoken urgency had flourished between them, which threatened the pattern of caution they’d been following to keep their secret safe. Each time they slipped away now into their private world, Stephen had grown incrementally reckless, his need for her pressing him always forward. Teyla counseled him to proceed with greater care, but was helpless as he swept her along, unable to decline his will for them.

Stephen’s recklessness had brought them to this alley tonight; his hot need to hold her, to touch her, to have her, overriding cooler reason. Teyla had offered no defense, allowing him to pull her into the darkened alley without protest, within minutes of them meeting up. He honestly hadn’t planned it this way, but the result was still the same.

Their bodies were pressed tightly together, with Teyla’s back against the coarse brick wall as she submitted herself to his hungry, bruising kisses. She stretched her neck, humming deep in her throat at the greedy way he latched onto her tender flesh; her neck, throat, collarbone, all reddened in the flush of her desire, and from the rub of his goatee against her skin. She flexed one hand in Stephen’s hair, and slid the other onto the delicious dip between his shoulder blades, holding him as close as the layers of material between her body and his would allow--their bodies housing no secrets from one another despite those maddening barriers of cotton and denim. “Oh my dearest…my love…,” she cooed, and then gasped his name when he palmed her breasts through her blouse.

It wasn’t enough for him, could never be enough for him now.

Stephen needed to rake up her top and feel the contours of her ribs on his way to hold her ripe little breasts fully in his hands—yet he hesitated, knowing the wall at her back would be too rough against her exposed skin. “Do it,” she urged him, reckoning his need from his thoughts alone, “Touch me as you will, my love. Your need is my desire as well…” She trailed off into a heartfelt moan as he slipped both hands beneath the cloth and cupped her smoothly, rubbing her stiffened nipples with his thumbs and making her whimper helplessly.

Teyla arched her back as he fondled her, arched into his hands, seeking his firmest contact with her virgin flesh. He cursed inadvertently against her ear, at the sudden, gratifying heat that flared in his palms and thence to his wrists, up his arms, to course through his blood and fill his body with a flame which felt as though only she would be able to quell. Instinctively, Stephen knew this was her energy, pure as her heart, passing into him; there was no pain in this spectacular sensation, only the hunger to give back to her the same, from the depths of his heart. “How is this happening?” he rumbled against her cheek.

“Because I love thee, Stephen,” she answered, lapsing into a patois of a Hadeethan mixed with English. When his mouth recaptured hers, and she accepted the eager thrust of his tongue so she might suckle it luxuriously—the thrill of that intensifying the throbbing ache for her in his groin—Stephen realized he was hearing her in his mind. 'I love thee…I love thee…my heart, it is thine.' This startling intimacy awakened a need in him, a possessiveness, that shocked him.

'You are mine,' he thought back to her, spellbound by their connection; mine, he thought over and over. 'Mine tonight…and tomorrow…and always. Let it be always, my sweet, little angel. Good god…please…'

And surely she heard him, even in the relentless depth of that kiss. 'I am, my darling…for as long as thee shall desire it of me,' she promised him. Incredulous as much from the bond of their minds, as from the miracle that she loved him as he hadn’t dared to dream anyone could, Stephen gently pulled away, to study her face. Her eyes remained shut as she panted softly, her beauty the same pure radiance he had witnessed in her astral form.

Understanding why he paused, feeling his disbelief that he was worthy of such devotion, Teyla leaned her head back enough so she could gaze up into his eyes. Mercifully, tenderly, she reminded him, “My love, I am yours. I have been, from our first kisses. Mayhap even before that night…” Pictures flickered through his mind as she showed him how she had come to love him. Teyla laughing at something silly he had said; Teyla looking up at him empathetically, on the corner of Bleecker and Mercer; Teyla sobbing in his arms on her father’s kitchen floor. In a half dozen heartbeats, she showed him a slew of little moments, wherein he was simply being himself, and all of them illustrating how her heart had fallen irretrievably to him—though in those moments he hadn’t had the eyes to see that amazing truth. There he was, on the Sanctum roof with her in the moonlight, kissing her hand with sweet reverence; there he was kissing her mouth, on one of their secret excursions from Kamar-Taj, with her face cupped in his hands, and a patience that belied how much his blood had come to burn for her.

Overwhelmed, Stephen hung his head down, feeling Teyla’s sweet breath whisper against his cheek; he splayed his hands flat against the wall on either side of her head, trying his damnedest to collect himself. Allowing him his silence, she waited upon him, threading her fingertips through his hairline at the nape of his neck, the palm of her hand blessedly cool upon his flushed skin. She nuzzled his ear, to whisper against it, “Did you not know this, Stephen? Your lips marked me as yours, on our night beneath the moonlight—as I am forever now, if you would have it so.”

Her confession left him weak and filled him with joy—tinged with a trace of shame for the physical hunger that threatened to overrule his better nature. He wondered if she read his lust as well as she read his tenderness for her. Did she understand how his body cried out to take her—to tear through the material that guarded her innocence, to finally breach her after the countless encounters that had sent him to his bed, unable to calm himself except by lengthy meditation? Some nights lately, even that discipline had failed him, and he could only find sleep by picturing her lying sweetly beneath him, beckoning for him to do whatever he desired, while his scarred hands worked the deed he yearned to do inside of her. Would she still adore him if she knew that dirty secret?...

I nominate @strangelock221b @hithertoundreamtof23 @mckiwi @mousedetective @bakerstreethound @aelaer @couldntbedamned

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rozaceous · 1 year ago

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so you wanna know more abt mariko's family

behold, some background and meta abt mariko's family. doesn't really fit into the fic proper (much to my chagrin) but should give some helpful context both to mariko, and the events of ch 18. it's also just a bunch of behind-the-scenes world building, bc i find that fun.

copying from some of my chats w verm:

mariko's family moved to konoha AFTER the kyuubi thing bc they were hoping to avail themselves of the hospital (her mom's health stuff), which is why kaya gets pushed into becoming a medic/ninja. mariko is also encouraged but she would've done it anyway, so she genuinely felt no pressure abt that one lol

but this means there's a lot happening in terms of her family not knowing abt naruto and the kyuubi

so they're like 'rough around the edges but sweet kid who needs food' and they get backlash

that NO ONE can explain

lots of passive-aggressive pushback from the village, but it's literally illegal to tell them anything

and as far as they know uzumaki clan is respectable? like, tragic or whatever, but a big name, so this looks extra baffling to them

her parents actually contemplate leaving konoha a couple times (they're from the capital), but decide to stick it out long enough for the kids to finish academy/become established medics

mariko's family is ordinary, no secret bloodlines or political ties or anything, they just go to konoha bc konoha's hospital is supposed to be the best, can work literal miracles. so this is maybe a year post-kyuubi? i feel like konoha would be eager for some new blood at that pt still; they no doubt took a huge blow to their population, even besides the infrastructure and losing the yondaime, so mariko's family probably isn't the only one to do something similar.

kaya is at the perfect age to start academy, and they absolutely steer both their kids into becoming medics. there might even be weird politics abt providing chakra healing to non-ninja in situations that aren't life-threatening.

i think kanako and kenta would see them pushing their kids into medicine as smart. gathering from the context of canon and elaborating: w civilians, you're pretty limited to whatever the family business/trade is, and i think that ninja villages/being a ninja is actually a lot more egalitarian/meritocratic and free with this. let's maybe also include that they have daughters, and wouldn't be able to totally rely on passing down any business/trade unless they had someone marrying in. so giving their daughters a means of supporting themselves/earning personal prestige is smart.

but so kaya and mariko would be ninja--and thus valuable to the village--but not of a designation that puts them in any particular danger. i also think that being a medic from konoha is the sort of ninja profile that would carry a lot of social currency even with civilians. (this is why mariko's mom makes that comment abt her working in the palace. this also fits in w all the pts abt medicine and politics that we see in haku's chs.)

and yeah, i view the situation w mariko's family as a huge culture clash between--not just civilians and shinobi--but non-konoha civilians and the civilians that were raised in the village. even after over a decade of living there, they're outsiders, and made to feel like it because they had what they saw as basic decency towards their daughter's classmate and then had the audacity to be stubborn about it.

so yes, kenta and kanako were going to leave and move back to the capital once both of their daughters were graduated and working in the hospital. other fics have used as a device abt becoming a shinobi and receiving your hitai-ate as a marker of being a legal adult, and i'm running w that. as far as they're concerned, their daughters would then be adults with stable and respectable work and capable of sustaining themselves, and they could visit each other. i don't think this is irresponsible parenting.

ofc mariko getting assigned to team7 is a wrench in the works. like, a FIELD MEDIC?? （⊙_⊙）

but ok, ok, maybe it's not the worst? she's got a pretty capable sensei (forget that he's popularly nicknamed 'friend-killer kakashi') and naruto is a good boy. not...too sure abt that uchiha kid (they were around for the massacre and were this close to leaving for good bc of it) but it seems like it'll work out?

kaya would have a MUCH more realistic view of the situation than her parents, esp since she's dating a branch member of the hyuuga. but kaya's view is something along the lines of "let's just get mom and dad out of here asap" and then she and mariko can deal with their own problems. (i...really need to give kaya her own outtake...)

but yeah, everything is a disaster and it's delicious

#tcba #tcba meta #i have sooooooo many thoughts abt the culture and society of the naruto verse someone pls prompt me to spill more lol

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mini-jiminie · 4 months ago

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You mentioned the video of JK and that women in JK’s apartment. Do you really think that video authentic?? Because I highly doubt it… I don’t think JK would ever be that careless!! Plus every other day we have some kind of rumours about JK or JM, some girl posting pictures of JM trying to show it’s his apartment or with names written on earbud’s cases etc etc. Do you think all of this is true?? Just curious.

Look, I don't know how many jungkook cosplayers are out there with the exact same apartment, same dog breed, hair and mannerisms.

To say that someone being able to capture a video like that would be the result of jk being 'careless' is a little questionable. There are multiple instances of him directly addressing sasaengs for calling him, trying to stalk him at his gym and even showing up at his house. Psychotic weirdos can slip through the cracks, no matter how bulletproof the protections around the boys might be. it's a miracle that in their 11-year careers as the biggest group in SK and the world, that they've only had a handful of 'scandals'.

I think its plausible that that video is real. If I were a world-famous celebrity, I would imagine that meeting someone within the walls of my own home, where I feel safe and reassured that I am protected would be an ideal place to meet the person I am seeing. Yes, I'm sure that at the back of his mind, he has to be thinking about people finding out but, I don't think he'd ever imagine someone to be filming through his window.

To that. there is nothing wrong with jk having a gf or seeing someone. He's a man in his late twenties and plainly speaking, him being in a het relationship is much safer for him than him being in a romantic relationship with his male bandmate. It's a sad reality but, it is the context of the society they live and have grown up in. This is not me claiming to know jk's sexuality or, saying that jk can't be queer. I'm just saying that he's probably dated people throughout his career.

On the point of that woman who posts cryptically about 'dating jm', I don't take her 'claims' seriously at all. She's bonkers, a horrible person and I ofc don't take rumours like that seriously.

#jikook thoughts #jikook

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softguarnere · 1 year ago

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Like A Girl (Like A Man)

Shifty Powers x OFC

Chapter 35: Alii

Summary: And just as unexpectedly as Shifty has disappeared, someone from her past reappears. A/N: FINALLY - the Bobby faceclaim reveal! Whelp, I'm updating late - again 🫠 We've unexpectedly had some family move in, so trust me when I say that it's been a whole ordeal. Also, I may or may not be procrastinating writing these last few chapters, because I'm going to be so sad when this fic ends 💔 However - I'm always up for writing Zenie/Shifty and the gang, so even when this fic ends, we will see them again! The chapter title is the Cherokee word for "friendship" Warnings: none Taglist: @liebgotts-lovergirl @latibvles @dcyllom @ithinkabouttzu @mads-weasley @mrs-murder-daddy @lieutenant-speirs

North Carolina, 1945

For people who like to talk so much, Zenie’s friends fall into complete radio silence the second that she returns home.

She doesn’t expect letters to be waiting for her when she arrives. That would be ridiculous. She’s not expecting anything for the time being. But that night before going to bed, she dashes off letters to her friends to let them know that she’s made it home safely.

The next morning is eventful. Mama had her wish the night before; all her children were under the same roof again, safe and sound. And the one night seems to be all they will get – all they can take.

Matthew leaves the next morning for Wilmington. He, Marilyn, and Zenie say their goodbyes in the driveway by his truck, the first slivers of early morning sunlight giving their parting a golden hue.

“I’ll write when I get home,” Matthew tells them. He fixes them with a look that’s supposed to be stern, but he’s too good humored for it to be serious. “And I expect you two to do the same.” Then he hugs them, squeezes them tight, presses a kiss to Mama’s cheek, and is off – to his new, happy life as a husband and a father in the place that he should have grown up in to begin with.

When he’s gone, the women return to the house. No one has seen their father yet, but he has a habit of sleeping most of the day, anyway. Danny hasn’t shown himself yet, but at least they can hear him moving around. Zenie doesn’t understand why he and Marilyn didn’t just spend the night with his family on the farm next door. She would have stayed somewhere else if she could.

“I need to go visit Bobby,” Zenie says. She’ll get herself out of this house one way or another.

Marilyn purses her lips. “Well you can’t go empty handed.”

All throughout the war, Malarkey talked about snagging a lugger to take home to his brother. Though nothing of that caliber, Zenie does have a few treasures from her time abroad stashed away. Probably nothing that Bobby would like, though.

Marilyn tosses Zenie a look over her shoulder as she steps into the kitchen. “Danny once mentioned that Bobby is fond of strawberry pies.”

The implication seems to be that Zenie should bake one for him. It’s been three years since Zenie has seen her sister, but her kitchen mishaps have been so legendary that she would be good and truly shocked if her sister had managed to forget them.

“Are you trying to get me to give him a gift, or to poison him?”

Her sister smiles. “I’ll help you.”

Under her sister’s careful guidance, a soft and supple dough takes shape. Not a bit of it sticks to the rolling pin, or the counter, which seems like a miracle to Zenie. Marilyn even uses scraps of extra dough to make a braided rope to decorate the edges of the crust.

Tossing a quick glance over her shoulder to be sure that they’re alone, Zenie lowers her voice as she watches Marilyn begin creating the pie’s filling. “My husband likes pie.”

Marilyn’s eyebrows raise, but her attention doesn’t waver from the task at hand. “Does he?”

Zenie nods. “I won’t be able to make him any, though. So he’ll do the cooking, and I’ll do the cleaning.”

The wooden spoon makes a soft scraping sound against the side of the bowl as Marilyn begins stirring sugar into the berry slices. “You have a system all worked out.”

We have a system all worked out, Shifty had said before they left Europe – back when he was assuring her that everything would be okay. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Marilyn says. “now you know how to make him a strawberry pie.”

A frown tugs at the corners of Zenie’s mouth without her permission. “It probably won’t be as good as yours.”

For a split second, it looks as if Marilyn freezes, trying to absorb the hidden meaning in her little sister’s somber tone. Does she know that she’s perfect, and that Zenie has never measured up to her in comparison?

She shrugs. “He’ll like it better, though, because you’re the one who made it for him.” Zenie drops her elbows to the counter, cradles her chin in her hands as she watches her sister work. Before she can say anything, Marilyn continues in a quiet voice, ��I would teach you how to make others, but Danny and I are leaving tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? To go where?”

Marilyn looks equal parts wistful and bashful when she admits, “Florida.”

“Florida?!”

“The Dills have some family down there. An uncle that was a doctor is leaving his practice and has offered to let Danny take over.”

Zenie isn’t quite sure what to say. She’s happy that her sister and brother-in-law will be going somewhere warm and where they can make a life for themselves, but she’s also struck by the realization that, not for the first time, she’s going to be stranded in this house again.

“Congratulations,” she finally forces herself to say. “That sounds exciting.”

A soft smile spreads across her sister’s lips. “I think it will be. And you can always come visit if it gets too cold in – “ She pauses, raises an eyebrow. “Where does your husband live again?”

“Virginia.”

“If it gets too cold up there, you’re welcome to visit us in Florida,” Marilyn offers. Then, she does something unexpected: she asks Zenie a question and seems genuinely curious as to the answer. “What’s your husband’s name? What’s he like?”

Until the pie is done being cooked, the sisters have the most pleasant and honest conversation that Zenie can ever remember them having. About their childhoods, about the war. And for once, Zenie doesn’t find herself comparing her own experiences, her own words, or even herself, to Marilyn.

The perfect pie finishes cooking all too soon. Zenie hardly waits for it to cool before she whisks it up and transports it over to the Dills’ house, balancing the warm plate on her right hand while knocking on the door with her left.

Shocked eyes greet her, but they’re quickly replaced with the biggest smile Zenie has ever seen. In one swift motion, Bobby manages to set the pie plate aside and wrap his arms around Zenie, picking her up as they embrace.

“You’re back!” He exclaims. He’s taller than he was when she left. From the strength in his hug and in his lifting her, he’s grown stronger, too.

“I am,” Zenie replies. “Mostly in one piece.”

Bobby is still smiling, but his eyes are full of concern. “I was getting worried. Your letters got few and far between, and then the war was just over.”

Zenie winces, explanations already on the tip of her tongue. There’s no good way to articulate the fact that she just started to get overwhelmed – especially after discovering the camp. “Sorry.”

But Bobby is still smiling. He puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezes. “Don’t be.” He chuckles. “I mean, you brought me a pie. How could I be mad?”

Of course, Bobby knows most of the story from the letters that she sent him, but he doesn’t know the secrets that she wasn’t able to slip into her messages. Once he spies the pie in her hands, he grabs two forks and whisks her off to the field that separates their houses, staying close to the shade of the tree line, and closer to his family’s land than hers, just in case. They settle in and she tells all.

“I can’t believe it,” he says when she’s done telling him her trials and tribulations. He shakes his head, his voice soft. “You had all the fun.”

With one line, he confirms what she suspected the last time that she saw him, all those years ago. This was about more than helping her escape from the life that she hated – this was a way for him to be part of something big, too, even if it had to be done through someone else. Looking inward, Zenie realizes that she isn’t even upset about it. Hell, she would have done the same thing.

“What about you?” She nudges his shoulder with hers, trying to keep the mood light. “Been up to anything exciting? Any plans now that the war is over?”

A frown pulls at the edges of Bobby’s lips. He scratches the back of his neck. “That’s the big question, isn’t it? You and my momma both.” He leans his head back against the tree they’re perched under, lets out a laugh. “Oh, I don’t know yet. My parents want me to go to college. My excuse for not going has been the war, since I would feel guilty if I was writing papers in a warm, safe dorm room while every other boy my age was fighting for his life in foxholes. But now it’s over in Europe . . .”

“They’re still fighting in the Pacific.”

He nods. “My folks don’t seem to think it’ll last long, though. I applied, just to get them off my back.”

“And?”

“I got in.” The simple answer lacks all the joy that usually accompanies such news. In fact, it’s grim, and sounds more like a death sentence than the segue into the next chapter of a young man’s life. “I’ve managed to convince them that I shouldn’t start until the spring, though, so you’re stuck with me a little longer.” He offers her a tight smile.

“Don’t worry,” Zenie assures him. “You’re also stuck with me, for a time.”

He uses his fork to procure himself a bite of pie from the plate in his hands. “I won’t be in bad company, then.”

For a man who has spent so many years in the back parlor rotting away in his rocking chair and doing nothing but complain and listen to the radio, Zenie’s father very suddenly develops a keen interest in the window by the front door. No one says anything, though Zenie assumes that it’s so he can make sure she doesn’t slip away again. Apparently he’s forgotten about the backdoor – the door which, ironically enough, she returned through – but no one says anything about that. Either way, it’s obvious that he is sticking to his word about Zenie not leaving.

For lack of anything else to do, she begins accompanying her mother to work. It’s mostly to spend time with her. Although she would be remiss if she didn’t admit that part of her does it just to flaunt the fact that she can and will go wherever she likes.

The two women rise early every morning. They eat a warm breakfast together at the kitchen table before heading out. In the mornings the world is peaceful and awash in a soft glow as they embark on their walk, baskets bouncing against their hips as they walk along. When they cross though town, Zenie deposits letters to her friends at the post office. Then they stop at houses, picking up peoples’ dirty laundry and delivering their clean clothes. At home, they work in the sunlit backyard, scrubbing clothes and enjoying each other’s company.

It starts slowly, like a sprinkling of water before a spring rain. Zenie had allowed her mind to wander as she worked and ended up giggling at the memory of something Bill had once said. When Mama gave her a questioning glance, she couldn’t help but tell her the story. Which gave way to another one, and another, and another, until she was telling her mother everything about her time at war.

Mama, for her part, asks questions about Shifty, smiling the whole time Zenie talks about him. “You look so happy,” she says.

“What?”

“When you talk about him,” her mother clarifies. “If you look that happy just talking about him, I can’t wait to see what you’re like when he’s actually here.” Through the soapy water of the wash bin, she reaches over and takes Zenie’s hand in her own, offering her a smile unlike one that Zenie has ever seen on her before. “I’m happy for you. I’m glad that you found someone to love so much, who makes you happy like this.”

Zenie has questions, too, and her mother has a story of her own.

“The morning I left,” Zenie begins one day, quietly. “When I turned back and saw you, I didn’t know where you thought I was going. And then I got your letter. On D-Day – the big jump. How did you know?”

There is only silence. For a moment, Zenie thinks about repeating herself, unsure if her mother heard her. But after finishing the skirt she’s washing, her mother lets out a sigh through her nose.

“I didn’t know where you were going. I just knew you were gone. And then one Sunday at church, the pastor asked for prayer requests. Bobby asked people to pray for a friend he had who was a paratrooper that had just been shipped to Europe. He doesn’t have many friends. I don’t mean that in a mean way,” she adds when she sees Zenie’s reaction to her last observation. “Besides, no one around here has a son in the Airborne. I had a feeling he knew where you had gone, so I slipped him the letter one day and asked him to make sure that it got to you. When I got a reply, well, I knew I was right.”

They lapse into silence again.

“I’m sorry,” Zenie apologizes. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Or to leave you with him.”

Momma shakes her head. “You did what you had to do.”

The silence is not so loud this time. Her words give Zenie something to think about. Because she did do what she thought that she had to do. But as she watches her mother work, she wonders if it was the right thing to do.

Much like her time back in Toccoa, the days bleed into each other in their similarity. The change of weather and the turning of the leaves marks the passage of time. Not the things that Zenie would like, such as letters from her friends, or Shifty’s glorious appearance. Not even the announcement that the war has ended in early September fixes things.

Every day when she returns home, she inspects that day’s post to find nothing for her, no matter how many letters she sends to her friends. First, her heart grows heavy. Then it grows hard. She’s been down this road before. Last time it was when Beckie moved away to the city, promising to write, and then never doing so. Funny – she wouldn’t have picked any of her fellow paratroopers as the type of people who would leave her hanging like this. Especially not Bill.

And not Shifty, who does not miraculously appear, no matter how often Zenie squints out at the top of the driveway in the distance and wills him to do so. He said he wanted to marry you, Zenie has to remind herself each and every day that passes with no word from her husband. He wouldn’t just abandon you.

He wouldn’t. She knows that. But it makes her wonder what has happened that could have made him disappear like this.

And just as unexpectedly as Shifty has disappeared, someone from her past reappears.

“Well Zena B, as I live and breathe!” The voice is so sudden, so unexpected, that Zenie drops the clothespins in her hand as she turns to face it. She’s alone in the yard, hanging up the wash while Mama makes dinner. As soon as her eyes land on Beckie – of all people – striding towards her, she’s filled with the childlike urge to run for it, though she’s not entirely sure where she would go. And she doesn’t have time to decide, because Beckie is upon her at once, wrapping her slender arms around Zenie in a hug and allowing herself a squeal of delight, as if she’s actually happy to see the friend that she stopped writing to with no explanation. When Beckie pulls back, she holds Zenie at arm’s length, inspecting her. “Your hair!”

It's been growing back quickly. Between not having Liebgott cut her hair near the end of the war and all these months spent at home, it now barely brushes the tops of her shoulders, and she hasn’t been attempting to style it like she once did. It’s not exactly like she’s been expecting anyone to see her, since her only forays into the public have been to help Mama on her rounds to collect laundry. She likes the way it looks, actually. But Beckie’s exclamation insinuates that it’s something that she should be ashamed of.

She shrugs. “I cut it.”

“Why?” Beckie lets out a gasp, her expressions exaggerated when she asks, “When you ran away?”

“How did you know about that?”

“My parents told me. I was so sad to hear that you had disappeared without a trace. But now you’re back!” She raises her eyebrows, leaning forward slightly, like she’s inviting Zenie to spill all the gory and glorious details of her adventures.

There was a time when Zenie would have divulged anything if she thought that it would make her friend happy. Except, Beckie isn’t a friend, is she? Because none of the friends that Zenie made in the army were anything like her. Not Bill, not Babe. Not Gene, who protected her secret to the last and never asked Zenie for any personal information until she offered it herself, freely. They didn’t expect things the way that Beckie does – and currently is.

Zenie shrugs again and says like an echo, “Now I’m back.”

In one swift motion, Beckie hooks her arms through Zenie’s and starts towards the house, abandoning Zenie’s laundry basket under the line, forgotten. They’re halfway there when Zenie realizes that her old friend means to invite herself in. And in the few seconds that they’ve been walking, Beckie has been talking, launching into the story of her life, seemingly picking up from where she last saw Zenie that day at the diner.

She walks a few steps before she registers that Zenie has stopped walking. Their hooked arms hold her in place, forcing her to look over at Zenie. “Aren’t we going inside?”

“No,” Zenie finds herself saying.

Beckie lets out a small laugh, just like she always did in school whenever she found something that Zenie said or did to be strange and took amusement in it. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to,” Zenie replies. Hearing the words aloud, she realizes that they’re true. She doesn’t want Beckie here. She doesn’t want to hear about how well she’s done in her life and her career. Zenie has done pretty well, too. But with the sadness that lurks in her heart and mind while she waits for Shifty and to hear from her friends, she knows that if she hears Beckie brag, she will fall back into the trap of comparing herself to the model and it will make her miserable to feel like she still doesn’t measure up after all this time.

“We can just talk out here,” Beckie improvises. She frowns when Zenie shakes her head and lets out a sigh. “Zena, you sure do make it hard for a friend to catch up with you.”

“That’s not what you want to do.”

Beckie blinks. “Excuse me?”

“This – “ Zenie gestures vaguely, indicating all the words that Beckie had managed to pack into their short walk. “ – isn’t catching up, Beckie. You just want to brag.”

“Well, I never! Brag?! I’m just telling you about what you’ve missed since you’ve been gone.”

The last time that Zenie saw Beckie had been back at the diner, shortly before she had made her decision to run away. Beckie had bragged the entire time then, too. She probably thought she was just catching Zenie up on all the terribly interesting and fabulous things that had been happening in her life since she had moved to New York. Talking a mile a minute and never bothering to actually listen to Zenie’s responses – when she had actually bothered to let Zenie attempt to speak, that is. It had been enough that time to make Zenie realize that her life could not go on as it was. And now it’s making her realize that she’s back at square one.

She needs to get out of here – again. Even if it’s just getting away from Beckie by escaping into the house.

“You never wrote to me,” Zenie says. “after you moved away.”

Beckie scoffs, then lets out a little laugh at this ridiculous joke. “That’s why you’re upset? Zena, that’s so – so childish.”

Maybe it is. But it’s not just about those letters that she never received. It’s about Beckie kissing the boy she knew Zenie had a crush on at that Christmas party in high school. And about how she looks down on Zenie, talking over her and assuming that everything about her own life is more interesting and more important. She’s always gotten her way. Zenie had thought that after Nixon had announced her marriage in one of his current events speeches. That had embittered her, made her jealous . . .

And then she had seen Shifty. Had seen how beautiful he looked in the sunlight that day. She had realized then that she had gotten something that she wanted, too. Jealousy had melted off her, leaving her fresh and free, like new blooms in a flowerbed after a spring rain.

It doesn’t always have to be this way. There is a life out there waiting for her that is so unlike this one. She knows, because she’s been living it for the past three years. And now, her future with Shifty is so close that all she has to do is reach out and take it.

“Beckie,” Zenie starts again, only to stop herself. She doesn’t want to explain herself, and she won’t. She wrenches her arm away from Beckie and takes a step toward her house and says the thing she should have said back when they were just kids, “I think it’s best that you don’t come over anymore.”

They stare at each other for a moment, each waiting to see what the other will do. When no one speaks, Zenie finally turns and starts towards the house again.

“Fine,” Beckie calls from behind her. “You’ve changed, anyway.” From behind her, Zenie can hear Beckie start to walk away, those stomping footsteps she used to use when upset still the same after all these years. “And it’s Rebecca, by the way!”

Zenie shrugs, even though she’s not sure if Beckie can see her or not. “Okay. And my name is Zenie. Only one person gets to call me Zena.” She does turn now, one last time, just to make sure Beckie’s jaw drops when she adds, “And that’s my husband.”

#band of brothers fanfic #shifty powers #shifty powers x ofc #shifty powers x original female character #oc zenie mcglamery #like a girl (like a man)#my writing

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chirpsythismorning · 2 years ago

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I am going to be honest, I want a quick Mlvn breakup and a quicker Byler buildup/it going canon BUT I also think it is very fitting for Mlvn's breakup to take place in the later episodes. E1 is literally into action, El's focus seems to be on Max and she doesn't break up her relationship issues with Mike for that reason. I just cannot really see El coming at Mike and bringing up her relationship issues or breaking up with him with everything else going on in these first episodes. It seems very likely that she'd just ignore the topic and would want to focus on Max and the fight that is coming to Hawkins. Her breaking up with Mike could potentially happen in EP3 or E4 when she feels ready to talk or when Mike finally brings up the argument when the time comes. Ofc they will have to focus on relationship issues too but I just think it doesn't fit in the early episodes to go for a Mlvn breakup.

It really does depend on how the first two episodes go down I feel like.

I doubt they're saving the time jump for smack dab halfway through the season. I just don't think mid-point would be enough time to have left to finally jump into the time difference. And I also doubt they'll devote up to 5 episodes to directly post s4, bc in all reality, they probably want to have the aged up cast be doing as much footage post-time jump as possible.

Along with that, they did say that early s5 would be fast paced. They revealed that s5 opener was pretty much set in stone, and that the first 2-3ish hours are pretty fast paced and they have a plan.

And for those reasons I do think we're in for an early s5 time jump.

Which means if we're looking at them having a plan and getting to work within like 1-3 hours, i'm going to guess that whatever happens at that 3 hour mark is going to be massive, leading to the time jump, into a setting where Mike and El are most certainly broke up.

This doesn't even have to do with byler purposes.

Mike AND El deserve closure on their relationship as soon as possible. Fans that love Mike and El don't need to be wasting their time watching s5 El scenes thinking she's holding out hope for Mike or this or that. She did not like his monologue, as it was quite literally the opposite of what she wanted to hear. So why leave that truth up to interpretation for half the last season? Why not let El speak for herself, allow the audience to digest it and accept it, so they too can focus on El focusing on Max.

I think if they were going to do a whole other half season of them being together along with them still being together post-time jump, it would make their point of having El distance herself from Mike at the end of s4 sort of moot?

I do truly think the next time they hang out or talk, she's not going to want there to be this present assumption they are still together because of what he said at Surfer Boy. I think that after what happened at the hospital, Mike might have started to convince himself that she did feel all those things for him and that his love for her saved max and it's miracle worthy. But then she's ignoring him at the cabin and that's not exactly great for that interpretation of things...

Being in a relationship means there is going to be an expectation that they want moments of privacy to be alone together and they're going to be gravitating towards each other in group settings and stuff... and that's just not happening, s4's ending made that more clear than anything else arguably.

So while I do think that El is going to be focused on Max, having this ambiguity most of the season that Mike is like in the back of her mind and stuff would take away focus from El finally having an arc compeleltely seperate from Mike and with the audience finally being able to let go of Mike and El. Because arguably, a big part of the reason fans can't let go of it is because they are convinced El wants and needs Mike romantically, irrefutably, and she still feels this way at the end of s4. But that is not the case. And with this being the very last season, the whole season needs to feel cohesive and not like a back and forth fake out for love triangle reasons.

This is why I think they've always made a point to have conflict between couples early in the season, because then it allows you to give the other part of the love triangle a chance without feeling guilty about it.

For example, Steve and Nancy technically never broke up. They went through almost an identical situation as Mike and El did, where Steve asked her to tell him that she loved him and she couldn't, followed by them just not seeing each other for the rest of the season and her showing up at the end with Jonathan by her side. They had a talk about it and Steve seemed to understand. They didn't need to say out loud I break up with you, for both of them to know it was pretty much over. Arguably it was even more over in Mike and El's case, because El actually sent Mike a letter without the word love, making it pretty obvious where she stood in their relationship.

And this is sort of how I understand the break-up in s5 to go down, where it's not even really a break up? Like are they even technically back together? Following the approach they went with jancy in s2, arguably, all that needs to happen is Mike and El having a moment alone, with Mike struggling to try to be who she wants him to be (bc he still probably assumes she wants him that way) and her just confronting him that they both cut the bs... I'm praying PRAYING for an I'm not stupid final parallel from El to Mike.

Basically, it can be argued El already broke up with him, or at least wanted a break and so her acknowledging her side of things and how she felt, now after years of not being able to really speak for herself (like literally), she finally can, and addressing how she feels about everything is something that needs to be done sooner than later.

El doesn't need to be in silence with the audience assuming her thoughts for her, any longer than necessary at this point. And she can focus on Max before during and after all of that, with the audience being forced to accept that there is no room for ambiguity in where she stands in the situation.

And I think Mike is obviously going to be confused.

And I think Will is probably going to be trying to give them their space assuming they want privacy.

And it's all going to be very tragic and epic basically.

But with the time jump likely happening earlier in the season than later, I think that we're due for an early milkvan breakup for the obvious reasons, but also because both of those characters deserve closure instead of living in uncertainty any longer.

Not to mention, byler getting together after like a few days or a week after mike and el broke up, would be uncomfy. It's just not ideal when they have the affordance of a time jump right there that they can take advantage of, give Mike and Will a little more slow-burn (depending on where they're even at I'm scared someones going to get stuck in the UD or something like JESUS).

To me it all just makes sense when you consider a bunch of other factors beyond just El needs to focus on Max. Bc... Yeah no shit and she doesn't need the audience thinking she's focused on Mike when she's not...

Like let's give El her independence arc and have it be for real and not with this cloud of she needs romantic love to feel fulfilled dragging her along. Romantic love is wonderful and beautiful, but for women it is always always framed as peak endgame for us, when we are more than that and we deserve some stories that focus on those other aspects of ourselves as being enough to make us whole, especially when the person we want to love doesn't love us the way we want to be loved, and so we're just settling for a love for the sake of an idea, and not how it actually makes us feel.

And I also think it's likely that we're looking at byler being stuck together at least 2+ episodes by themselves, and that's likely to be middle season, and Mike and El will definitely need to be broken up at that point to appreciate those scenes...

For now I think it's very likely that the break up will happen either in 5x01 or 5x02. If it happens later than that, then I think it's likely that we'll get a flashback revealing they've been broken up for a while and it'll make us rethink their previous scenes a little bit differently.

I also think it's likely that no matter what happens, there's a big possibility Will and maybe even the others won't be clued in on the break up right away, but especially Will. And that will cause him to distance himself and lead to a convo where he's basically confronted by Mike frustrated over Will avoiding him, with Will revealing that he'd thought that's what Mike wanted, for Will to give him and El space... And Mike, already broken up with El at this point's reaction to that... would be interesting. Because obviously that's not true. Maybe that could lead up to their 3rd and final boss fight?

I do believe we're getting a s5 fight (Will packed a blue shirt for himself in his backpack, which he has in Hawkins), but I also think it's going to end differently than the previous two..

On that note, when it comes to the byler aspect of it, it really is crunch time. Each season has to make you feel a certain way about things. I don't think it would make sense to have s5 be exactly like s4 for half of the running time, and then switch up halfway through, to like okay NOW it's obvious Mike and El aren't in love and Mike and Will are on their way. The WHOLE season needs to make us feel that way, so that we can appreciate it as like a whole experience.

Like I said, they could get away with it being 5x02, maybe 5x03, but I do think that they need to give off a vibe of 'we want you to be rooting for Mike and Will' as early as possible, so people can register it, agknowledge it and then have the capacity to appreciate it the way they intend, all in time for them actually getting together. And 1-2 episodes near the end isn't enough time for that. And having too much ambiguity for Mike and El simultaneously as they're building up Mike and Will's obvious endgame, would be just unfair to all of them, but especially El.

Please give us an I dump your ass part II and have them laugh crying bc it's something Max said...

Now that I think about it. Max being in the hospital could make Mike feel a little bit in agreement with how Max felt about his actions in s3... Like it's not like he would be resentful or arguing with a person in a coma right? If anything he'll be thinking even more critically of his behavior with El when he doesn't have Max there to call him out for it...

Thinking thoughts...

#byler #stranger things #st5 predictions #also thinking about how filming being postponed could mean plotlines slightly shifting just because they're going to be writing later #what i mean is #lets say hypothetically #they started filming s5 in late may early june like it was speculated #how that would have looked and played out #is going to very likely be different than what we end up getting #bc it's just how it works #they'll have more time to think about it #maybe the casts aging up even more than they intended changes everything #little things could change everything #it's so complex #but there's a lot of working parts going on #i do think it's actually quite possible there is some unused s4 footage #we know 4x09 was supposed to be 2 hrs and 30 minutes but within the last couple weeks before the premiere of vol 2 #it was downsized to 2 hrs and 17ish minutes #and then there's the rumors and speculation about rink o mania footage...#and the fact that birthdaygate does seem like something that they hinted at a lot in s4 #it would be cool if s5 opener addressed it and jumpstarted the time jump...#people wouldn't even be able to be mad about it bc then they wouldn't have any excuse to complain about the aged up actors #bc all of their scenes filmed for the s5 opener could presumably already be filmed...#openers are usually just under 10 minutes...#don't try to tell me it's impossible for them to have at least 10 minutes of s5 already filmed #when we already know 4x09 was cut by roughly ten minutes...#s5 is what will get promoted earlier than anything else once filming does start up and they release teasers slowly but surly into filming #and so we'll probably know about it sooner than we think #bylers are a lot more ahead of the game #whatever is posted about in relation to promotion

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